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#yeah in this Bai he wants him gone
starrclown · 15 days
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Do I particularly like how this looks? No. Will I still post cause it has Bai He in it and I love her? Yes. Honestly I'll probably remake this some day but not today.
If your someone that likes Macaque and Bai He as a father and daughter duo that's cool and all but I never saw the hype. I like Bai He and Wukong as father and daughter more. How Bai He is in my au(?) is that she HATES Macaque and Not Mayor cause they helped Lady Bone Demon. So yeah, she doesn't like Macaque at all and wants him gone.
Yeah definitely remaking this someday.
- ⭐️StarClown⭐️
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todayisafridaynight · 11 months
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Sohei 🤝 Kazama: Bad dads
who even IS a good dad in this series like who even is a dad that we can all look at and go 'now THATS a good dad right there'
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bcyhoods · 2 months
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hi! can I please request the prompt “caressing the other's cheek softly, hoping to wake them up that way” with steve and shy!reader? maybe it’s their first time waking up together and he’s just so in love?
thank you for the req nonnieeee <333 need him in my bed immediately, thanks! | 0.5k gn!reader
Steve can’t seem to put his finger on it.
Maybe you were born with some sort of super power. Like you’re able to induce serenity with just a touch of your fingertips, a timid press of your lips to his cheek. Or it could be something spiritual. Something about your souls being intertwined due to something living in the stars or the color of your aura or something.
He doesn’t really know. Waking up to you in his bed for the first time makes his brain all fuzzy.
The sun spills in through his blinds and covers every inch of your exposed skin in golden warmth. Your hair is wild, splayed out over his pillowcase — which he’s sure now smells like your shampoo. You’d slowly inched apart from each other during the night, but your hand still rests over his torso, accidentally bunching up the material of his shirt around your fingertips. The longer he lets himself look at you, the harder his heart thrashes around in his chest.
He doesn’t really want to wake you, but he so desperately wants to talk to you. With a tentative hand, he trails up your arm to cup your jaw. His thumb gently passes back and forth over the swell of your cheekbone, reveling in the softness of your skin. A blithe grin hijacks his mouth once he sees you beginning to stir.
“Hmm.” Your hand is gone from his torso to grasp onto his own hand, still just barely caressing your face. You blink a few times, adjusting to the brightness filtering in when you see his face. Warmth settles on his freckled cheeks and paints his skin pink, and it only gets deeper when you give him your own sleepy smile. “Morning.”
“Good morning,” he answers, voice raspy and deep.
He’s looking at you like he can find an answer in your eyes. You might have the entire universe hiding in your pupils. Definitely something akin to stardust shines in them, he swears.
His attention makes you feel lightheaded and your skin burns beneath his touch. You squeeze at his fingers and pucker your lips to fruitlessly keep your nerves at bay, but it produces a kind of upside-down grin that makes him beam and chuckle. You giggle and ask, “What are you doing?”
“Nothin’. Just wanna look at you.”
“Ugh,” you groan and roll your eyes, but the wide smile on your face reveals your secret. Steve Harrington makes your stomach flutter and makes your heart beat so erratically that you can feel it thump and shake against every inch of your body. That’s why you’re quick to shield your face with your hands, muffling your nervous giggles in your palms.
“Oh, stop.” Peeling your hands away from your face, he brings them up to his lips and kisses your knuckles, unceremoniously. The smacking sounds make you laugh, and when he notices, he makes sure to kiss them louder. He stops the assault on your hands to cup them together and press them against his chest.
His heart beats as quickly as yours does.
“I liked sleeping with you,” you tell him with a gummy smile like it was confidential.
“Yeah?”
You’re immediately recognizing the double entendre, but he’s too lovesick to notice. You consume his every thought, it’s impossible to get his mind working accurately. So instead of teasing you, he whispers
“I liked sleeping with you, too, honey.”
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lipglossanon · 1 year
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With Devils Inside Me
꒰ ͜͡➸ ꒰ ͜͡➸ ꒰ ͜͡➸ ꒰ ͜͡➸ ꒰ ͜͡➸ ꒰ ͜͡➸ ꒰ ͜͡➸ ꒰ ͜͡➸
Dark Stepdad!Leon S. Kennedy x Virgin fem!reader
For the anon who asked for virgin reader! Leon is very dark in this compared to my others so I hope you like it!! 🫣
Warnings: 18+ minors DNI, dark Leon, stepcest, creeper Leon, mean Leon, dirty talk, unprotected sex, creampie, oral (f receiving), Leon has a dark breeding kink, unwanted pregnancy kink ? not sure how to label it lmao
Not proofread ✌️
Title from Christmas Kids by Roar
part ii
꒰ ͜͡➸ ꒰ ͜͡➸ ꒰ ͜͡➸ ꒰ ͜͡➸ ꒰ ͜͡➸ ꒰ ͜͡➸ ꒰ ͜͡➸ ꒰ ͜͡➸
The new husband your mom acquired while you were gone over the summer is a huge surprise to you. You stayed with your dad over the course of few weeks since he’ll be gone on a business trip during your birthday. So here you are now, standing at the arrival bay in the airport closest to home waiting for your mom. You wave when you see her, but you also notice the tall, muscular man standing directly behind her. 
“Honey!” She smiles and pulls you into a hug, “oh it’s so good to see you again! I have some big news to share.”
You smile confusedly as she grabs the man’s hand. Your gaze moves from their clasped hands to his face, feeling a thrill of surprise at his dark blue eyes staring straight at you. 
“This is Leon! We eloped a few weeks ago,” she gushes, showing you the new ring on her finger, “he moved in with us so no worries on having a new room,” she titters, completely missing the heated way his eyes drag down your body.
You smile awkwardly, “Oh uh that’s great, um, congrats mom. A-and it’s nice to meet you, Leon.”
“It’s so nice to finally meet you, sweetheart,” his low voice gives you goosebumps, “your mom talks about you nonstop.”
“Oh, stop, I do not,” she giggles, patting his wide chest, “can you grab her bags, Leon?”
Your mom links your arms together as Leon brushes past you to grab your luggage. You catch a whiff of his cologne then your mom is tugging you along, chattering about her summer and why she wanted to keep her new marriage a surprise for you. 
“I hope you had fun with your dad, honey,” she sighs happily, “I know how much you miss him.”
You smile softly, “Yeah, we had a great time. He said when he gets back from this trip that I can come stay for a while again.”
“Oh that’ll be nice,” your mom coos, patting your cheek. 
She leans in a little closer, “I know it’s not the same, but Leon’s around now so—“
“Mom,” you cringe a little, “I don’t even know him that well and—“
“But you will,” she states firmly, “all I’m saying is he’s so excited to have a daughter in his life. He said he’s always wanted someone to take care of.”
Your eyes cut back behind you to see Leon scanning the airport as you three walk out; feeling your gaze on him, his eyes snap over to you. He tilts his head and gives you a strange smile. Hurriedly, you drop his intense gaze and face the airport exit. You feel anxiousness fizzing in your chest at his behavior.
“C’mon, once we get home and you get settled, you’ll see how nice it can be.”
After that first day back home, you make sure to avoid being with Leon—alone or otherwise. His vibes are off as your friends would say. He’s always staring at you, no matter what you’re doing. You’ve subtly brought it up to your mom, not wanting to make things weird cause Leon hasn’t actually said or done anything to you. Well, outside the niceties of things like ‘how was your day?’ or ‘dinner’s ready’. He’s perfectly normal, but something about him just squicks you out.
Unfortunately, you can’t avoid him forever. Your mom rarely travels for work, but there was an emergency at a satellite branch in the next state and so she packed up her bags, kissed you on the cheek, and bid Leon goodbye at the door with a hug and a kiss. The door closing felt like the lid on a coffin snapping shut. You felt small and alone.
Leon watches your mom pull out of the drive and then turns to face you, “Guess it’s just us, huh sweetheart.”
You laugh nervously, “Guess so.”
His unnerving blue eyes just watch you with that strange smile hovering over his mouth. 
“Well, I’ll go get started on dinner. I’ll call you when it’s finished,” he walks past you to the kitchen, brushing his fingers along your arm, “don’t be late, sweetheart.”
You hold your breath until he’s out of sight and then let it go in a shudder. Walking over into the living room, you curl up on the couch and put some mindless show on the tv. You scroll through your phone, browsing through your friend’s updates and random news until the hair on the back of your neck raises. You jerkily turn your head to look behind you and see Leon leaning in the doorframe, staring—always staring—at you.
“Was just about to let you know dinner’s ready,” he smiles crookedly, eyes empty, “wanna go wash up while I set the table?”
“S-sure,” you clear your throat and shakily stand on your legs, “I’ll be there in sec.”
He hums and turns back into the kitchen leaving you to anxiously make your way to the bathroom to wash your hands. You gaze into the mirror and see your wide eyes peering back, anxiousness written all over your features. You pat some cold water on our cheeks and dry them off. Cutting off the light, you head back over to the dining room.
You frown as you see your normal seat is empty; Leon has you sitting beside him, where your mom would usually be. You walk over to the seating arrangement and jump when Leon brushes your arm.
“Here,” he murmurs next to your ear as he pulls the seat out for you.
“Uh, t-thanks,” your voice shakes as you sit down.
His fingertips graze the back of your neck as he situates your chair. You shiver and lean forward, pretending to fiddle with your glass. Glancing from the corner of your eye, you see a smirk flicker over Leon’s face before he schools his expression. You can feel your heart in your throat.
“I hope we can get along the few days your mom will be gone, sweetheart,” he speaks, his voice low as he sits down next to you.
You give him a weak smile, “I-I’m sure we will.”
He hums noncommittally, ignoring the food on his plate to take the hand you have closest to him.
“You’re trembling, pretty girl, you feeling okay?” His voice is all rough concern but his eyes are wicked.
You softly try to tug your hand back, but he has it in a firm grip.
“Oh uh, yeah, I-I haven’t been f-feeling too well. Think I got a headache,” you wince a little as he squeezes your fingers, “maybe I should go lay down or something.”
You watch with sick fascination as you see his demeanor shift from lax to alert. His eyes are dark and his lips twitch into a smile.
“I think that would be best, sweetheart. C’mon let me take you to bed.”
You stand up quickly, nearly tripping over your chair, “Ahh, no I’m fine really.”
You laugh but it sounds a little manic even to your ears, “I uh I’ll be just fine, but thanks.”
He frowns at you and stands from his chair too. You feel cornered but try your absolute best not to show it. 
“I really think I should help you, sweetheart,” he looks at you with hungry eyes, “you know, I’ve always wanted a babygirl to take care of.”
“O-oh? Mom m-mentioned you always wanting t-to have a d-daughter to take care of,” you smile shakily, swallowing at the way he’s tracking your every move.
The smile is slow to overtake his features, but it makes your heart rabbit in your chest.
“She did? Well, I did say babygirl. I guess you could infer daughter from that,” he chuckles, no mirth in the sound, “always wanted a pretty girl of my own, a sweet babygirl who just needs daddy to take care of her.”
You can’t hold back the gasp as you push away from the table and back into the living room, not taking your eyes off of Leon.
“Aw, don’t be that way sweetheart,” he coos, slowly stalking forward, “you can’t imagine how lucky I feel at finding your mom; I almost dumped her, but then she springs your picture on me. Such a sweet little thing, but sadly wouldn’t be back til the end of the summer.”
He continues to slowly follow you as you make your way to the front door, afraid if you turn around and run that he’ll grab you.
“So I bid my time til that sweet looking girl comes home. And if I fix it to where I’m more of a permanent figure in her life, all the better,” he smirks, “no offense, sweetheart, but your mom is only a means to an end.”
Your eyes are wide and panicked, darting to the couch you can see where you left your phone not thinking anything of it. 
“Well as much fun as this is, think it’s time to wrap it up,” he pauses and rolls his shoulders back. 
You turn and run for the door, but Leon catches you in next to no time. Wrapping his bulky arms around you, he easily lifts you from the ground. You scream but it’s cut short as he moves one hand to cover your mouth.
“Nuh uh, sweetheart,” he clicks his tongue, “I’m afraid none of that.”
He scents your hair and groans, “So fucking sweet. Now I’m going to ask you something and you better answer me honestly cause it can get very nasty very quick.”
You nod your head, tears leaking from your eyes blurring your vision.
He chuckles, “Good girl, god I knew you’d be perfect. You a virgin, baby? Daddy needs to know how to treat you.”
Sobbing harder, you nod.
You feel his hold tighten around you, “Fuck. I’m just the luckiest daddy in the whole world, huh.”
Your legs kick as you feel yourself hyperventilating. Twisting your head you try to move his hand, nostrils flaring as your breath quickens. 
“Shh, shh, baby, it’s okay,” he soothes you, “I’m going to move my hand but if you try to yell, I’m gonna be very upset.”
Nodding you agree, tears and snot running down your face. He moves his palm away but doesn’t let up on the hold he has on your waist. You breathe in a deep, gasping wheeze trying to calm your racing heart.
“There’s my good girl,” he pets your hair away from your face, “now we’re gonna go upstairs. I’ll put you down once we make it to the bedroom.”
A sob slips past your lips but you don’t do anything to fight his hold as he carries you upstairs to his room—the room he shares with your mom. A whole new slew of tears stream from your eyes, breath hitching on every exhale. He enters the room, shuts and locks the door behind him with an actual lock and key. You feel defeated looking at the heavy ornate lock. 
He walks over to the bed and sets you down on it carefully. He tucks the key away in the nightstand, eyes watching you watch him. 
“Don’t even think about it, sweetheart,” he pats your cheek softly, a hard look in his eyes, “it won’t end well.”
Sniffling, you nod yes.
“Good girl,” he purrs, eyes glinting, “really such a sweet, perfect girl for daddy.”
He slips off his shirt and jeans leaving him bare chested in a pair of briefs. You hate yourself for gawking, but you’ve never seen him in such a state of undress. His abs flex as he shifts his jeans down his thick thighs; you drag your gaze down further and see the outline of his cock filling out his briefs. God he wasn’t even hard and he’s already so big. A sick thrill of arousal pulses in your clit. Flushing, you can’t stop staring at his muscles flexing as he folds his clothes and sets them aside.
“C’mon, baby, let’s lay down to help with that headache,” the low timbre of his voice makes your nipples tighten.
You use your palm to wipe your nose and then dry the tears off of your face, feeling disgust war with your arousal as you lay down with Leon pressed along your side.
He doesn’t do anything more than hold you, running his fingertips over the bridge of your nose, across your cheekbones, then lightly across your lips. After a few minutes, your muscles start to relax in his hold, the heat from his body seeping into your thin shirt and shorts. 
He tugs you closer until you’re tucking your face under his chin. His hands now running up and down your back, broad palms soothing you. 
Without consciously realizing it, you sigh and press closer to him, nuzzling into his neck. 
“Such a sweet girl,” he rumbles, chest vibrating against yours, “gonna take good care of you, sweetheart.”
You’ve cried all the tears you can and numb acceptance has taken its place. You don’t want to make things worse for yourself so you nod. 
“Okay,” your quiet voice mumbles in his neck. 
Surprisingly, this is the most he does to you for the rest of the evening. Just pets you softly and murmurs praise into your hair, dropping a kiss every now and then to the crown of your head. In some dark, messed up part of your brain, you’re preening under the attention. 
You’ve always shied away from attention that boys gave you; always told they’re only ever out for one thing. Your friends have come to you with tales of heartbreak or horror stories of how their boyfriends treat them. To have this older man so obsessed with you, wanting to take care of you, makes you ache with want at the same time it frightens and disturbs you. 
The argument that dark part of you has put forth is what can it hurt? Your mom will eventually come home and this whole thing is going to fall apart for Leon. Why not indulge in this sick fantasy while it lasts? Let him take care of you just to see what it feels like.  
You fall asleep on him like this, pulled under from the thoughts swirling in your head and Leon’s steady heartbeat in your ears. A loud buzzing sounds in the quiet and the warmth surrounding you disappears. You reach out and only touch empty space. 
Groggily, you raise up on your elbows to look around. Leon is talking softy on the phone on the other side of the room. You shiver, missing the warmth of his arms. Rubbing at your eyes, you stand up from the bed. Leon’s eyes narrow at you and he walks back over to your side. 
He pauses for a second as he sees you pull back the covers and then climb back into bed. 
“‘m cold,” you whisper to him, pulling the blanket up to your chin. 
“Let me call you back, okay? Yeah, you too. Bye.”
Setting the phone down on the nightstand, he tugs the covers up and slips underneath to lay next to you. 
“Sorry, baby, had to take a call,” he smooths a thumb under your tired eyes, “didn’t know you’d get cold.”
“S’okay,” you mumble, letting him wrap his arms around you again, enjoying the warmth they bring. 
“Such a good girl,” he praises, “I wonder if you can do me a little favor?”
You hum in reply. 
“Can you call me daddy, sweetheart?”
Your breath hitches and that dark part you keep hidden is excited at the prospect. 
“Yes, daddy,” you whisper, a hot flush of arousal making your toes curl under the covers. 
“Good girl,” he kisses your forehead, “such a good girl.”
He continues to kiss you, pressing one on each cheek, on one of your ears, across your jaw, and lastly on the corner of your lips. 
“Daddy,” you whine, eyes fluttering in embarrassment as you squirm from the attention. 
“Shh, babygirl,” he coos at you, kissing the other corner of your lips, “let daddy treat you for being such a good girl.”
Your hands press against his pecs, not pushing or pulling him away, as he kisses across your face again. His lips move closer and closer until he’s ghosting them across your own. With your bottom lip trembling, he presses your mouths together softly. 
You mewl and lightly scratch at his chest. This time he kisses you heatedly, tongue dragging across the seam of your lips. You pull back, eyes widened in surprise. 
“Uh uh, sweetheart, don’t be rude,” he tsks at you, eyes narrowed in disdain.
“I’ve n-never kissed anyone,” you duck your head, “I h-haven’t done anything.”
“Baby,” he croons, hand coming up to cradle your jaw, making you look back up, “I’ll show you, teach you what daddy likes best.”
You clench your thighs together, “Okay daddy.”
The side of his mouth ticks up in a grin, “We’ll go slow, don’t want to scare my sweet girl.”
Warmth pools low in your stomach. 
You’ve already decided on letting this thing happen between you two, so steeling yourself you whisper, “I’m not scared, daddy. We don’t have to go slow.”
“Oh?” his hands drag down your body until they settle on your lower back, “such a brave girl huh?”
You nod, biting your lower lip, “I can handle it.”
His cold, blue eyes crinkle at the corners when he smiles crookedly, “You will one way or another, sweetheart.”
Expecting him to push for more, you’re surprised when he just goes back to kissing you. This time you let him slip his tongue inside your mouth; it’s so hot and wet, it makes you whine, rubbing your thighs together. He lets his hands drift from your lower back down to cup your ass and pull you flush against him. He pulls back for a second then greedily licks back into your mouth when you chase after his lips.
You pant against his mouth, trying to copy what he’s doing, letting your own tongue slide against his into his mouth. He coaxes you to taste him, stroking your tongues together before pushing yours back into your mouth, chasing after you to eagerly plunder your mouth. A low whine builds in your throat and his grip on your ass tightens, his hips rolling into yours. 
He grabs your leg and hikes it over his hip, pressing up against you more intimately. You pull your lips away and moan at feeling his half hard cock pressed against your cunt, feeling the heat even through your thin shorts.
“Like that, babygirl?” He grins at you, swiping his thumb over your swollen lips, “we’ll get there, don’t worry.”
Your eyes flutter as he rolls his hips into you again, grinding against your damp center.
“Got you so wet already, sweetheart,” his eyes drop down to your splayed thighs, “already soaked through your cute little shorts.”
You feel embarrassment clawing in your chest, “S-sorry, daddy.”
“Don’t apologize, honey,” he coos, “just means daddy’s taking good care of you.”
He rolls you over onto your back while he raises up, “Let’s get you out of those clothes. You can’t be feeling too comfortable with it rubbing against that sweet little cunt.”
You gasp and press you palms to your face as more wetness fills your panties.
“Oh I know,” he chuckles, low timbre making your clit pulse, “take off your shirt too so daddy can see your tits, babygirl.”
You whine but do as you’re told, hands shaking as you pull your shirt off and fumble with your bra. While you’re doing that, Leon’s slowly tugging your shorts and panties down your legs. Your thighs are wet with slick, pussy throbbing and leaking.
“Mmm, good girl,” he praises, dark eyes taking in your trembling thighs and wet cunt, “got a juicy little pussy don’t ya, sweetheart?”
“Daddy,” you whimper, closing your thighs as you put your hands down to cover yourself. 
“Uh uh,” his eyes narrow down at you, pulling your hands back with one hand while opening your legs with the other, “daddy’s looking at your hot little cunt, so behave and sit there, baby.”
You feel more slick dribble from your hole at his mean look and dirty words. He lets go of your hands and you tangle them in the sheets. Your hips jump when he strokes his broad palms across your legs and up your thighs, pinning them down.
“Daddy just wants a little taste, sweetheart,” he hums, dipping his head down and kissing your hip bones, “wanna see if you’re as sweet as you look.”
When he swipes his tongues through your wet folds and across your clit, stars spark behind your eyes as you cry out.
“Sorry, baby, didn’t get a good enough taste so I’ll have to do it again,” his dark eyes watch you hungrily.
Even though you know what to expect this time, it still sends white hot pleasure pulsing throughout your cunt as he laps at your slick hole and throbbing clit. You moan and thrash your head, fingers gripping the sheets tightly.
“Mmm, you taste so good baby, knew you would,” his slick shiny lips hover over your clit, breath teasing across the sensitive bud, “want daddy to keep kissing your pretty pussy?”
“Y-yes, daddy,” you choke out, hips arching against the hold he has on your thighs.
“Good, so good for me, honey. This virgin cunt hasn’t been touched has she?” He thumbs across your clit, “you ever play with your cute pussy, baby?”
“No, I don’t— it’s embarrassing,” you whisper, eyes watering.
He groans, pressing a sloppy kiss to the hood of your clit, “Don’t worry, daddy’s gonna show you how to feel so good.”
He kisses your pussy lips, running his tongue through your wet folds until he’s pressing his face fully into your cunt. His tongue thrusts in and out of your leaking hole as his nose rubs against your clit. Feeling so much at once has you moaning loudly, heels digging into the bedding not able to move from the firm grip Leon has on your thighs.
He groans, the sound vibrating in your cunt making you scratch at the sheets before shakily grabbing onto his hair. His eyes flicker open and stare at you, pupils blown so wide you can barely see the blue. He greedily laps up the slick dribbling from your clenching heat. He presses his nose firmer against your clit and moves his face back and forth, rubbing his chin against your spread pussy lips while his nose bumps and grinds against your sensitive clit. 
“Daddy,” you mewl, petting through his blonde strands, “feels good.”
The whispered praise makes your heart race with anticipation and nerves. Leon pulls away from your pussy, face wet with your slick. 
“Yeah?” his gravelly voice makes you shiver, “seems like this juicy pussy needed some attention.” 
You whine, hips bucking, “Y-yeah, daddy, needed your attention.”
“Mm,” he hums, eyes dropping back to your throbbing clit, “she sure does. Gonna taste you some more, babygirl. Then we’ll see if daddy can fit some fingers in you.”
Gasping, your back arches. 
“Then he’s gonna taste those pretty nipples that are so hard for me,” he rumbles, “think I’ll give’em some love while I finger this tight kitty.”
“Daddy!” you feel slick gush from your hole, wetting the sheets, arousal burning hot in your blood. 
“Baby did you cum?” His dark eyes look back down at your thighs, a mean chuckle leaving his mouth, “god, you’re so easy sweet girl.”
 With a groan, he goes back to shoving his face into your cunt, tongue eagerly lapping into your fluttering walls. It feels like your orgasm never wanes, only continues to climb higher and higher until you’re crying out and cumming a second time against Leon’s tongue. 
When he finally pulls away from your oversensitive pussy, his lower jaw and chin are coated in your slick. 
He runs a thumb across his lips, tongue licking the excess slick off, “Taste so good, babygirl. But as much as I wanna stay down here, I really need to feel you cream your virgin pussy on my cock.”
Dread and elation make you feel dizzy with nerves, hands shakily running through your hair, “I-I’m nervous, daddy.”
He smiles at you, all sharp teeth and hard edges, not even trying to instill any comfort in you, “It’s okay, baby, daddy’s gonna make you feel so good. You’re gonna want my dick all the time.”
He moves up to lay between your spread thighs, mouth eagerly latching onto a hard nipple. He slips a finger inside your tight cunt and slowly thrusts it in and out. You cry out and scratch at his back. He swaps to suckle at the other nipple as he continues to loosen up your clenching hole. 
“Open up for me, baby,” he murmurs against your breasts, lazily sucking marks into your skin, “just relax and feel good.”
You squirm, but settle against the bed with a low moan; Leon takes a moment but then slips another finger into your pussy, using both to gently stretch your hole. He pulls his fingers out to spread your pussy open, mouth suckling at your puffy nipples. 
“D-daddy,” you gasp, eyes wide as you look down at him. 
Leon slowly circles your swollen clit, teasingly dragging his first and middle finger down to your leaking hole. He slips them in just a little and then drags the wetness back up to slide over your pulsing clit. You whine and buck into the feeling, guilt and arousal swirling through your thoughts. 
“Your mom called earlier,” Leon’s voice pulls your attention down to his serious gaze, “said she’ll be gone all week, baby. That I need to take care of you.”
He presses a kiss on your areola, lips dragging against your hard nipple. Your pussy leaks more slick out onto his fingers, dizzy with the thought of being trapped in this house with Leon for a whole week. 
“Told her it would be my pleasure,” he smirks at you, feeling your walls clench down on him, “daddy’s going to take very good care of you, sweetheart.”
Too many thoughts and images of Leon and you at home, all alone, flitter through your hazy mind. You’re sick excited at the prospect—all the things he’s going to do to you, things you want him to do to you— it leaves you dizzy and breathless. 
“Daddy,” you sigh, eyes drooping, “so good to me.”
His eyes narrow at you before a slow smile spreads across his handsome face, almost gleeful at your new tone, “Of course, baby. You’re my sweet, sweet girl.”
The tension in your body melts as his fingers continue to thrust and rub against a spongy spot in your cunt that makes you whine and roll your hips down into his hand.  Leon notices and his fingers speed up from their slow, steady movements to rough strokes until he slips his fingers out to rub against your wet, swollen clit. He pinches lightly before tapping his fingers wetly against the bundle of nerves then goes back to rubbing your clit softly. 
You mewl when he stops fingering you only for Leon to dip his fingers back into your pussy and scissor you open. Moaning, you lift your hips off the bed to angle your pussy to fit his fingers better. Having Leon take you apart across his marriage bed is making you feel dirty and desperate. 
“Good girl,” he whispers to you, eyes watching your blissed out face, “almost there, sweetheart.”
Leon goes back to mouthing and sucking at your breasts, his other hand moving down to rub and flick your clit as he stretches you open. He fucks his fingers into your soppy cunt a few times then takes his hand away. 
“Noo,” you whimper, eyes watering in frustration, “daddy, please.”
“Shhh, babygirl,” he soothes, lifting himself up until he’s kneeling over your naked body, “daddy’s about to make you feel so good.”
You watch as he slides his underwear off and tosses them to her floor. He then grabs his dick in one hand and presses the head to your leaking hole. Tears slip from your eyes as he pushes more of his fat cock into your virgin pussy. He groans, stilling to give you time to adjust and stretch around his dick. 
He brings a hand to wipe the tears away from your cheeks, “Doing so good for daddy. So wet and tight. Gonna love popping this cherry, baby.”
You whine up at him, head feeling cottony from the arousal swallowing your thoughts. He presses more and more of his cock inside your tight cunt, making you hiss from the pinching displeasure when he breaks your hymen.  
Your nails break skin, digging your fingers into the muscles of his biceps. 
“God, that’s it,” he murmurs down at you, stormy blue eyes practically black with want, “this virgin pussy’s all mine now, sweet girl. Gonna stay that way too.”
You only gasp and pant, eyes rolling back in your head as he keeps bullying his cock deeper and deeper into your cunt. 
“That’s right, baby,” he coos mockingly at you, “just need me to take care of you, show you what you need.”
He grinds his cock deep into your spasming walls, the fat leaky tip kissing the opening to your womb. You whine, static filling your brain at the pain the head of his dick causes as he keeps pressing against your cervix. 
“Daddy, h-hurts,” you wheeze, voice thin and reedy, “too much.”
“Hush,” he growls, a low rumble in his chest, “you just have to get used to it. Daddy’s gotta be this deep to feel good.”
Your legs kick out and he settles his weight down on you more, pressing your body firmly into the mattress. His pelvis pushes onto your swollen clit making you buck upwards with a low cry. 
“There you go,” he praises, slotting his  fingers with yours so he can press your hands above your head and hold them down, “just gotta train this cute pussy to take daddy’s cock.”
He chuckles as he noses along your hairline and drops a kiss to your forehead, “And look at that, you take daddy so well.”  
You blearily look down your body and see the bulge in your lower belly; you watch as Leon pulls out halfway and the bulge disappears before reappearing when he pushes back into your cunt. 
Your head drops back down to the bed as you moan loudly, tears streaming from your eyes as the pain and pleasure blend into a kaleidoscope of feelings. 
“Daddy,” you hiccup, “daddy, d-daddy.”
“I know,” he purrs in your ear, smoky and dark, “daddy’s going to cum in you, baby. Give you a little brother or sister. Wouldn’t you like that, sweetheart?”
At those words, your pussy spasms around his throbbing cock; you hiccup a sob as tears slip down your face, “C-can’t, that’s w-wrong, daddy.”
He licks the salty trail of tears on your cheeks as buries his cock into your pussy again making you squeal at the sharp pleasure.
“Aww my stupid sweet girl,” he huffs a mean laugh into your ear, pressing his dick as deep as he can inside you, grinding it harshly against your cervix, “just so fucking dumb. Daddy does whatever he wants.”
With a throaty growl he presses all the way into you, bottoming out in your wet, silky heat, “And you’re not even on birth control, sweetheart. So if I want to give you a baby, it’ll be easy for it to take.”
His thick cock splits you open, pussy greedily sucking him into your body as you cry harder because of Leon’s treatment. That dark part of you loves how he’s treating you—using you, breeding your pussy how he wants. 
You draw a deep shuddering breath, hands clawing at his biceps, “Noo, daddy, can’t—“
He’s thrusting into you still, making you feel split open. Your cunt feels raw and overstretched, his cock bullying deep into you on every thrust to the point it feels like your cervix will be bruised later.
“Knocking you up would be perfect, baby,” he growls burying himself balls deep and stilling, “keep you tied to daddy for the rest of your life.” 
You keen high in your throat, a broken moan slipping from your lips as your walls flutter and grip Leon’s cock. Clit throbbing with wanton disgust at how hot that makes you feel. 
He goes back to slow deep thrusts, dragging his cock all the way out until his fat tip is spreading your hole open then rocking deep into your cunt; you can barely breathe with how deep he’s fucking you, tears still slipping from your eyes. 
Leon moves each of your legs up over his shoulders, ramping up his pace to drill his cock harshly into your squelching pussy. 
“So fucking juicy, babygirl,” he pants, hips humping down into you roughly, “just listen to that fucking pussy cry for me.”
His pelvis presses onto your clit just right with every thrust while he rails you into the bed. You feel your orgasm ramp up with every thrust and slow drag across your swollen clit. 
Your thighs spasm where they’re pressed against Leon’s shoulders and your toes curl as your orgasm starts to hit you; a tidal wave drowning all your senses, your pussy clamping down on his cock like a vice. Your blood rushes to your head, dampening any noise, as you thrash underneath Leon’s body; a low, keening cry from your panting mouth has Leon growling in satisfaction. 
“Good girl, so sweet for me baby,” he groans, grinding himself into your clenching hole, “so god damn tight.” 
You choke out a moan, hands squeezing onto his until your joints creak, feeling overwrought as you keep cumming around his cock. 
“Fuck,” he hisses into your ear, hips stuttering, “going to make me cum early, sweetheart. Squeezing me too fucking tight.”
He presses your hands down into the bedding as his hips rabbit into your puffy cunt; half a dozen thrusts like that and he groans, cumming deep in your raw pussy. 
“So good,” he presses a wet kiss on your cheek, “love filling you up, babygirl.”
He drags his mouth from your cheek to kiss you, tongue licking into your panting mouth. You kiss back messily, feeling his cock kick and throb as he steadily spurts rope after rope of hot jizz in your pulsating cunt. 
Leon’s dick finally starts to soften and he slowly lets himself slip out of your wet heat. He sits back on his haunches and watches hungrily as his cum leaks from your hole, pussy looking swollen and puffy.
Your brain is empty, sick satisfaction radiating from your used body. Whimpering, you lay there as Leon swipes his fingers through the mix of cum and slick dripping from your cunt and feeds it slowly back into your drippy hole. 
His empty smile makes you feel small as he pets your hair back, “Daddy’s going to take such good care of you, baby. I promise.”
1K notes · View notes
uluvjay · 8 months
Text
Fucking situationship!Quinn in a bathroom during a Michigan football game
“Quinny we can’t, they’re gonna notice we’ve been gone for a while” she whined as he lifted her onto the sink of the family bathroom.
“Gotta be quick then” he shrugged before dipping his head into her neck to leave kisses as his hands worked to unbutton those damn Jean shorts she decided to wear.
“Just had to wear these shorts didn’t you? Knew I was coming and had to dress like a slut with your little crop top and tight shorts” he spat at the girl
“Just wanted to look cute” she whimpered as her shorts were yanked down her legs revealing a maize blue thong
Quinn only replied with a scoff as he undid his own pants, only pulling his boxers down enough for his cock to spring out. Her mouth watered at the sight of the older boys hard cock, precum slowly dripping from his slit.
He grabbed her jaw so he could slide his fingers into her mouth to get them wet as his other hand moved her panties to the side.
“You’re lucky we’re running on short time or else I’d have you bent over while I spanked your ass for dressing the way you did. Letting all these little college fucks watch and drool at how good you look” he smirked as he felt the vibrations from her throat on his fingers.
He pulled his fingers from her mouth and finally reached down to rub circles over her clit, dark glint in his eyes as he watched the way she swallowed her moan not wanting to be loud and get them caught.
Her worked her for a moment despite knowing they didn’t have a lot of time he didn’t want her to be uncomfortable once he slid his cock in. As he pulled his fingers away a huff escaped her and a pout took over her pretty lips.
“Relax you brat I’m gonna fuck you” he told the girl as he pumped himself a few times before placing his tip at her entrance, he pulled her into a kiss to swallow her loud moan as he pushed inside her.
“Fuck” he breathed into her neck when he pulled his mouth away from hers, he stood still for a moment allowing her to adjust to his size.
“Fuck Quinn, need you to move” she whimpered breathlessly at the feeling of him filling her up so well.
Not wanting to waste another moment he quickly picked up a pace, his hands gripping the sides of her thighs as she threw her arms around his shoulders.
Tightly gripping his built shoulders she let out light whimpers right into his ear, “so good Quinny” she whimpered.
“Yeah?” He teased the girl as he began to place kisses along her neck again, doing his best to keep his own moans at bay.
She wanted to reply, she really did but as Quinn lightly shifted their position to make her back be pressed against the mirror and hips lifted at a new angle, all her breath was taken from her chest when he hit her g-spot.
The man smirked at the sight of the Michigan senior below him, head tipped back with her eyes shut and a hand placed over her mouth as he sped up slightly and reached a hand down to play with her clit.
“Quinn! Baby I’m getting close” she cried as she felt the band in her stomach getting tighter and tighter.
“Fuck me to baby, just hang in there” he groaned as his own head leaned back.
Feeling himself get closer and closer he quickly spit onto the girls clit before applying more pressure to the sensitive bud and started to fuck her deeper.
“I’m coming!” She exclaimed loudly as her thighs began to shake and she felt all her breath get stuck in her throat pulling Quinn down for a kiss to help cover the sounds bound to escape both of their throats as he fucked her through her high and reached his own.
Quinns thrusts became erotic as he felt himself right at the edge and all it took was a hard tug to his hair and her tongue to run over his before he came hard and endless ropes spilled inside his girl.
“Holy fuck” he breathed out as they pulled away from one another, dipping his head to give her one last kiss as he pulled out, light groan escaping him as he watched their mixed juices spill from the girls core.
He pulled his shorts and boxers back up and safely tucked himself away before getting some toilet paper to clean her up, before fixing her underwear and pulling her shorts back up her legs.
He couldn’t help but laugh at the fucked out look that took over her face as he lifted her up and placed her legs back on the ground.
She smiled up at him as he held her against his chest with a hand running down her hair, “sorry that wasn’t the most romantic” he laughed
“It’s okay, it was pretty hot” she blushed before continuing, “plus I did wear this outfit to get a reaction out of you, knew you loved these shorts and knew you’d get irritated at all the guys staring” she smirked at the older boy.
“Fucking knew it you little minx” he laughed as he reached a hand down to slap her ass.
-
Hardly proof read!
@luvmatth3ws 😘😘
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tarjapearce · 9 months
Text
Ley Del Hielo
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Pairings: Miguel O'Hara x Reader
WARNINGS: ANGST. Strained and unhealthy relationships, break up, arguments.
Summary: You and Miguel say things you shouldn't say, a final straw in your already strained relationship.
Requested here
Hope you like ✨ (Yeah, Im a sucker for angst >:'))
At times you didn't know if you were fighting crime, or fighting to keep your sanity together. Miguel was for sure a difficult person to deal when he got into stubborn mode.
You were stuck in this limbo where your patience could only last for so long, even though your relationship with him wasn't falling apart completely, and there were little moments that actually made you stay, there were moments like this that made you wonder if sticking around him this far was a good idea.
"Don't."
You warned before sighing and shaking your head. You knew where this was going. He was getting frustrated over the fact that a teenager, an anomaly itself, as he liked to call the boy, had escaped his grasp.
It wasn't something you liked to discuss since you found each other's triggers, and you both exploited them with a temporary guilt-free anger, only to patch each other up, with little service acts that had drawn each other into your current relationship.
"Don't what?" He prodded with a sharp tone. He wasn't having a good day, and of course, the fact you were the only one that would actually stand him and his verbal retaliation, made you the perfect subject of 'With what are we hurting each other today?'
You didn't like the game but it was impossible for you to remain shut, whenever you felt things started to get personal. Like exposing each other's terrible traits.
"I'm not doing this today, Miguel."
"All I asked you was to know your input."
"You already damn know it."
"Miles needs to be stopped. We don't know how this will affect-"
"The canon. Yes. The fucking canon." you couldn't help but hiss in anger. A signal that you were done of hearing it.
"We have a day off, once in like, forever. And we are holed up here, trying to come up with ways to stop him. Fucking romantic" Your anger this time was justified or so you wanted to think. It was a rare occasion when he actually decided to take a break, and you both had decided to spend it as normal as you could.
Meaning, you both at home, away from the HQ, away from all the mess. Instead, you were in the lab with him. Again.
"We found a possible lead on where he might be. Can't miss a chance like this." His end of the floating bay was full of screens, cramming up with data and other information. Lyla had been long gone ever since the first hostility signal  was shot. You wished to be her for a minute.
"A bit of normalcy is all I'm asking. Is it that hard to get it?"
"We're not normal people."
"But we're still people nonetheless. You are obsessed with that boy."
"A threat to everything I have worked for!" His voice raised and it tugged rougher at your simmering hurt seams.
"I? You think only you had sacrificed shit to get where WE are?" even though raising your voice wasn't an habit you had, your patience had dictated it was enough.
"Look at our team, Miguel. It's divided because you're too stubborn to actually-"
"To actually what? Give a fuck for what might happen to all of us?"
"You hurted Miles!"
"I did not" He hissed while pointing an accusatory finger at you. "If I had actually done that I wouldn't be in this fucking mess trying to fix it, (Name)"
His breathings turned more agitated, as your voice trembled with anger. You were definitely baiting into his game.
"He is a kid, Miguel. A fucking fifteen year old that is barely hanging cause he is already taking grown ass people desicions. He's doing what he think it's right!"
"Im. Not. Risking it." each word felt more venomous than the other as they left his lips.
"What if it was your daughter trying to save you? "
But of course you had the annoying ability to turn it around in the worst way possible.
His eyes flashed red and his neck almost snapped by how quickly it turned to face you.
"No te atrevas..." (Don't you dare)
"Would you chase her down, and hurt her like you did with Miles?"
"CÁLLATE!" (Shut up)
he roared as his fangs and talons immediately poked out, his frame towering on you. And for the first time in forever, you were afraid of him. Silence crashed the emotional crescendo. He sighed, you followed but none of you were humble enough to speak.
-------
You were in your bedroom, removing the traces of dried tears from your face. You had gone home first, the need of fleeing the suffocating space you shared with Miguel was too fresh on your mind that the sheer thought of you going back, made you uncomfortable in a way you couldn't describe.
But there he was, stepping out the window, and removing his mask to then drop some plastic wraps of food on the dining table. A familiar scent egging you, or at least attempted to lure you out of the room. A failed first attempt on its own.
"Food's on the table." he mumbled from the doorframe as you put on a bit of moisturizer, "It's your favorite." Silence.
His brow pinched with a slight simmer of frustration.
Too soon.
He gave you space, and slept in the couch.
-----
Four days of pure silence, four days devoid of your acknowledgement, your voice, your touch, your acts of services like bringing him coffee in the morning, a little empanada in exchange for a kiss. Your presence.
You were not one to remain quiet, but the sudden, almost immediate change towards him, made him anxious to a certain degree. Despite you being in the same working station, you felt miles away. You didn't fear detachment, something you had once told him, but never believed, until now.
"(Name)" His voice called, first time, you ignored. He sighed and approached. Hearing his advancing footsteps only made your skin crawl and tears blur up to your eyes.
"I think we... should need a break from each other." your voice had stopped him dead in his tracks. His mouth tasted sour suddenly
"I've been thinking and it's the only rational approach for all of this... mess."
Heart pounded hard against his ribcage. His mouth gaped softly, but no words came out of it. His eyes darted to your hunched form. You looked tired, emotionally burnt out and almost... broken. It felt like a cold knife piercing through upon realization. He had pushed you too far.
" All we do is fight, and hurt each other. Im... Im tired of that. Work has turned in your main priority and..." you trailed off, tears menacing your eyes
"It has stopped being good. Good for us. I can't..." His eyes softened and his breath hitched, "I can't do this anymore, Miguel."
He had imagined such words coming from your mouth in many occasions but finally hearing them, were equally destroying. His heart beat faster
"I'm sorry" even though weak, an honest apology. You shook your head
"Sorry doesn't always fix it. Not this time I'm afraid."
His chest heaved as he approached you carefully. His hand reached for yours and tears finally rolled down your cheeks.
"It's not healthy."
"I know."
"We can't do this anymore."
"I don't want you to go" He mumbled. His hands reaching for you, you were still there in the flesh.
"We'll only end up hurting each other again." He shook his head as you voice broke.
Was this another canon event he wasn't aware of? You were slipping away through his fingers despite having you within his embrace, cradling you.
"I need to go"
Stay
His mind chanted despite his limbs loosening around you. Freeing you. His eyes settled on you and the relieved sigh you gave as he granted a much needed space.
His eyes locked into yours, there was no need to speak. A mutual understanding between you. You offered a small pat on his bicep, almost reassuring, hopeful. You left him be.
You'd be back. When you felt ready for it.
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forever-rogue · 11 months
Note
hi miss bee 🐝💛 would you pls bless us w more joel x wife!reader 👉👈
since it was joel being protective of reader maybe this time it can be the other way around where he comes home from a patrol and is slightly injured and she makes a huge fuss over him and then tries to o make him feel better through some sugar and spice 😋🫶
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AN | Well, well, well how the turntables have…anyway, I love this concept so much! 💕
Pairing | Joel Miller x Fem!Reader
Warnings | Language
Word Count | 2k
Masterlist | Joel, Main
─── ・ 。゚☆: *.☽ .* :☆゚. ───
You paced around the kitchen as you waited for him to walk through the door. You’d already been waiting…and waiting and waiting. You’d done so much that you’d made enough baked goods to feed a small army; it was something to keep your mind and hands occupied. 
“Holy shit,” Ellie’s big, brown eyes went comically wide as she stepped into the kitchen and looked at the mountain of cookies and muffins and breads. You turned to face her with a guilty little expression on your face, “that is a lot of food.”
“I…yeah,” you admitted sheepishly, “I was going to go and give some stuff to the neighbors…I needed a distraction.”
“Joel?” she asked hopefully, her eyebrows perking up as you leaned against the counter and shook your head.
“Nothing yet,” you sighed, trying to keep all the bad thoughts and worries at bay, “I’m sure he’ll be back any time. Soon.”
“Of course he will,” she promised, wanting to keep you from panicking while trying to convince herself of the same thing. The truth was that she too was worried about how long he’d been gone. He should have been back two days - he was almost never late, “Joel’s a stubborn old man. He’s coming home no matter what.”
“He is and he will,” you agreed, “I just…I want him home.”
“Me too,” she confessed quietly, “me too.”
─── ・ 。゚☆: *.☽ .* :☆゚. ───
Long after Ellie had gone to bed, and you should have as well, you were still sitting on the couch. Waiting. After every couple of minutes, you’d look at the door as though you were somehow going to will him to come home. You’d read the same page of your book about ten times, but still weren’t fully sure what was happening. 
But then - as you were almost dozing off - you heard it. The unmistakable sound of the door being unlocked and then slowly opening. You tossed your book to the side and jumped, scampering to the door. When it fully opened you found yourself face to face with your husband. 
“Joel,” despite your best efforts, tears were rolling down your cheeks, ‘you’re home.”
“You’d never get rid of me that easily,” he smiled, a tired and crooked thing, “hi baby.”
“Oh my love,” you threw yourself into his arms and held onto him tightly, melting into his familiar body, and enveloping yourself in his scent, “I’m so glad you’re home. I’ve been…”
You trailed off as you pulled and looked him over. You could see the grimace on his face, despite his best efforts. It was then that you noticed the bruising and cuts on his cheek. He could sense you growing worried and shook his head, “baby-”
“What happened?” you stood in front of him and reached up to take his face in your hands, gently brushing your thumb over his cheek, “who did this? Where else are you hurt?”
“It’s fine,” he insisted, but he knew that you weren’t going to relax. That wasn’t your nature; you were caring and nurturing and always fiercely protective of those you loved, “I’m not that hurt.”
“I don’t believe you, Joel Miller,” you reached for his hand and gently pulled him over to the couch. You reached for the hem of his sweater and silently looked for permission to take it off. He gave you a small nod and you tenderly pulled off his sweater, and set it to the side. Your frown only grew when you noticed all the bruising on his left side, “what happened? I hugged - oh no. I squeezed you so hard. Did I make it worse?”
“I did this to myself,” he insisted as he reached for your hand and gave it a gentle squeeze, “I tried and fell - landed too hard on my side. Just a clumsy old fool.”
You huffed lightly - you were still worried. Nothing that he could say would change that, “has one of the medics or anyone taken a look at you? Are you sure-”
“I’m sure,” he tugged you softly towards him onto the couch and you reluctantly sat down next to him, “nothing permanent and nothing terrible. Just a lot of bruising and soreness and some cuts. I’ll be alright, I promise.”
“You know that I’m still going to worry,” you huffed, making a small sound of surprise as he shuffled you so you were perched on his lap. You delicately ghosted your fingers along his ribs, sighing softly at the lavender haze on his skin, “you’ll tell me if it hurts?”
“Of course I will,” he set his hands on your hips and gave them a gentle squeeze, “baby, let me just enjoy being back with you. Let me enjoy you.”
And you almost gave into him - almost. You wrapped your fingers around his wrists and shook your head. Your husband groaned heavily as he tossed his head back dramatically, “nuh uh, Joel Miller. Not right now.”
He was a good man through and through, so while he was going to be dramatic, he was going to respect your wishes. He sighed softly as he took your hand in his and brought it to his lips, placing a delicate kiss to your knuckles, “I love you.”
“I love you too,” you melted under his reverent gaze, “I’m glad you’re home, my love.”
“I will always come home to you,” he promised and you knew it was true. It still didn’t mean, however, that you weren’t going to take care of him. Oh no; as long as he was hurt, you were going to take care of him.
─── ・ 。゚☆: *.☽ .* :☆゚. ───
Joel was fast asleep next to you, snoring softly and bundled up in blankets. You, meanwhile, weren't able to sleep and were sitting up and leaning against the headboard, an unopened book on your lap. You were too busy worrying about Joel, and if the extent of his injuries were more than he was letting on.
You'd made him take a long, hot bath before getting into bed, taking care of his cuts and scratches. There wasn't much you could do for the bruising besides be gentle with him. 
"Baby," he murmured softly, eyes still closed as he rolled onto his side, "sleep."
You couldn't help the small snort of amusement that escaped your lips. He knew you way too well. The book was tossed onto the bedside table as you turned the light off and snuggled up to him. He wasted no time in throwing an arm around your waist and pulling into his body. He could feel you tensing up with effort to keep from hurting him.
"Relax," he insisted through kisses pressed to your shoulder, "'m alright."
"Promise?"
"Swear."
─── ・ 。゚☆: *.☽ .* :☆゚. ───
You slipped out of the house before either Joel or Ellie were awake. You pulled on some clothes and walked over to Tommy Miller's house, going over the conversation you planned on having over and over again in your head. You didn't want to be over the top or dramatic but you also felt instinctively drawn to protect your loved ones.
You knocked on his door and rocked back and forth on your heels, trying to remain calm. When Tommy opened the door a few moments later you reached for his hand and pulled him onto the porch light. 
"Hey - hi- what's up?" He looked confused for a moment before noticing the worried expression on your face.
"What happened to Joel?" And yeah, everything you'd practiced in your head faded into non-existence. You sounded as hysterical as you felt, "he c-came home and he was hurt."
"It's okay," he put a hand on your shoulder and gave you a gentle squeeze, "I had him checked out as soon as we got back."
"He's -"
"A stubborn old fool," Tommy insisted as you couldn't help but chuckle at him, "but he's okay. The steps to the cabin on our route were slippery and he fell. He wasn't paying enough attention and down he went. That's all."
"And you're not lying to me?" You visibly relaxed when he nodded. At least now you had the reassurance that nothing was seriously wrong, "good. I know I probably seem -"
"Protective," he finished for you as you smiled softly, "loving. That's all."
"Yeah," you agreed, "thank you, Tommy. Thank you for keeping him safe."
"He does just as much for me. Besides, we're all family," he gently nudged your side as you laughed softly, "but you're welcome."
─── ・ 。゚☆: *.☽ .* :☆゚. ───
By the time you made it back home, you heard commotion in the kitchen and were met with the smell of coffee and delicious foods. Your heart kicked into overdrive as you almost ran into the kitchen, expecting to find the worse but instead -
“Hey baby,” Joel wore a lazy smile as he looked at you from over the cup of coffee he was drinking while Ellie was busy making pancakes. You relaxed sightly at the sight of your family, “what’s wrong?”
“I…” you ran a hand through your hair in exasperation before shaking your head fondly at them, “Joel, you should be resting!”
“Hey,” his voice turned soft as he put his coffee mug down and stepped over to you and touched your cheek gently. You pouted at him, and if you weren’t so upset he might have laughed and kissed it away, “it’s okay, I’m okay - I’m right here. Please don’t worry about me.”
“But you’re all…bruised up,” you looked at him with big doe eyes and he sighed wistfully, “I don’t want it to get worse.”
“I know,” he promised, “I know it’s all out of love. I’m sore, but that’s all. It already feels better just being back home with you.”
“I like to worry,” you admitted as your face grew warm and he brushed his knuckles along your jaw, “I can’t help it.”
“And that’s okay,” he insisted, “I love you, baby. You know you’re not getting rid of me that easily.”
“Or me!” Ellie chirped from the stove, a bemused little smile on her face.
“I love you yoo,” you went over to the young girl and gave her a tight hug which she pretended to abhor but you knew she loved it. You turned your attention back to Joel and gingerly hugged him too. Joel responded with a bone-crushing hug that had you breathless and giggling, “Joel!”
“It’s alright,” he leaned down and kissed you softly, stealing away all of your worries and fears, “promise.”
“Okay,” and finally, a real giggle bubbled up as you leaned up to kiss him in return, “I love you too, stubborn old man.”
“But I’m all yours, baby.”
“And I’m yours too.”
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marvelfanfn2187a113 · 7 months
Text
Abandon
Sam Winchester x little sister!reader, slight Dean Winchester x little sister!reader
Requested by anonymous
Synopsis: you and Sam haven’t been the same since he left the for Ruby, but he has to fix it before it’s too late
Warnings: injury, death
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“Just talk to her.”
“She doesn’t want to talk to me.”
Your brothers’ voices were the first thing you heard as you were pulled out of your deep sleep by the jostling of the dirt road beneath the Impala. You kept your eyes closed and your breathing steady, not wanting to alert them that you were awake.
“Just try,” Dean sighed.
“There’s nothing I can do if she won’t talk to me.”
“Maybe she just needs some time, Sam. I mean you did run off with a demon.”
“Dean, I’ve apologized for that a thousand times.”
Deciding you’d heard enough, you made a show of slowly “waking up”, stretching and yawning.
“Hey kid,” Sam turned in his seat to look at you, but you turned your attention to Dean.
“Are we almost there?”
“Probably another hour,” Dean replied, glancing at you through the rear view mirror.
“I think we should talk.” Sam kept his unflinching gaze on you.
“It’s quiet in here,” you said, ignoring Sam as you reached over the partition and turned on the radio.
“Y/N-“ Sam began, but you just turned the volume up before leaning back and looking out the window, tuning your brother out completely.
For the rest of the ride to the motel, no one even looked at each other.
“I’m gonna get us some food, both of you stay here.”
You tried to protest as Dean left the motel, but he completely ignored you, and you gave up as the door slammed behind him.
“So…” Sam began. In response, you yanked your headphones out of your backpack and put them in, cranking the music on your phone and closing your eyes as you leaned back against your bed.
Your plan lasted all of six seconds before Sam marched over and yanked your headphones away.
“Hey!” You protested, but Sam just held the headphones out of your reach and shook his head.
“We need to talk.”
“Fine.” Your jaw clenched. “Talk.”
“I know you’re angry with me,” Sam sighed. “And I get it, I really do, but—“
“You get it?” You scoffed. “No, no you don’t. Because when was the last time someone abandoned you? Never! Because it’s always you, Sam! You’re always the one that leaves, and I always get left behind.” You shook your head. “I understood when it was Stanford, ok? I knew how much you wanted out, and I was happy for you. But…” you felt your anger slipping into despair, and you fought to stop the change. “B-but Ruby? Dean was in hell, and-and you left me for a demon.”
“It wasn’t about Ruby—“ Sam began, but you shook your head again, harder this time as you struggled to keep your tears at bay.
“I don’t care why. Dean was gone, and I-I needed you, Sammy.” Sam’s heart ached as your voice cracked. “I needed you, and you just left.”
“And I’m so, so sor—“
“I don’t want to talk about this anymore,” you choked out. “Can I please have my headphones back?”
Sam opened his mouth to speak before closing it again. He wordlessly handed you your headphones, before turning and walking out of the room.
“I thought you were watching her!”
“I was!” Sam insisted. “She was right next to me, that guy came out of—“
“Sam,” you groaned, and he stopped and twisted in the passenger’s seat of the Impala to look at you.
“Hey, hey just hang in there, ok?”
“I can’t get to a hospital,” Dean said, gritting his teeth. “There’s no time. Bobby’s is closer, we should be there soon.”
“Dean…” Sam was watching you squirm around in the back seat, which by now was covered in your blood.
“She’s gonna be fine,” Dean growled.
When you started to groan in pain, Sam climbed over the back of his seat so that he could be with you.
“Hey, I’m here,” he said with a forced smile as he reached down to press against your wound.
“Sammy,” you whimpered.
“Yeah, I know it hurts, I’m sorry kid.”
“No…Sammy…” Sam watched as you struggled to speak, to breathe.
“Hey, hey, deep breaths. Don’t try to talk, it’s ok. Just breathe.”
“Sam…” your hand gripped his with surprising strength. “I’m-I’m sorry Sammy.”
“What are you sorry for?” Sam felt tears spring up behind his eyes as he watched your breathing slow, and your hand started to weaken its grip.
“I love you,” you breathed. “I always have, I’m-I’m sorry—“ you broke off in a fit of coughs, but you started again quickly, as though you were afraid you’d run out of time. “I’m sorry for being so mad.”
“No, no,” Sam swallowed, pulling you impossibly closer to him as he tried to keep pressing down on your wound, which was still bleeding too much. “Don’t you apologize. I-I left you.” Sam’s voice cracked. “I left you, and you get to be as mad about that as you want, ok?”
“You came back.” You gave Sam a watery smile, and his heart constricted, like it couldn’t tell whether to be comforted or even more damaged. “That’s what—that’s what matt—“ you broke off into another fit of coughs, and Sam noticed Dean glancing back nervously.
“Ok, ok I get it,” Sam insisted. “I do. Thank you, sweetheart. I—“ Sam choked. “I love you too.”
Another one of those beautiful smiles, and this time Sam smiled back.
But then the smile seemed to freeze on your face, for just a second, before it dropped. You began to blink slowly, and Sam suddenly noticed that your stomach was no longer moving in those shallow breaths that you’d been taking.
“Sweetheart?” Sam breathed. “Y/N c’mon, stay with me, ok?”
You blinked one last time, and this time your eyes didn’t open again.
“Dean?” Sam croaked. “Dean, he-help…”
Sam’s voice trailed off. There was nothing Dean or he could do.
“Y/N?” Dean looked back from the front seat, his eyes wide. “Baby c’mon, open your eyes. Sam?” The last word came out in a desperate plea, but Sam could only stare at his big brother.
There was nothing they could do.
503 notes · View notes
captainfern · 8 months
Note
Hello!! I’ve got book club brain worms..it was so cute hehe ❤️ but what if angst: reader is KIA, the boys filtering into readers room and take their designated spots leaving room in the middle where reader should’ve been before falling asleep. Sometimes they light the candle and when it’s running low one night they all show up with the exact same candle. Everything in readers remains the same as it was before that mission, except now on the desk is 4 additional candles.
Alt reader just gets injured and has to stay in the medbay so the boys take it upon themselves to get into the book club positions on the tiny cot until a doctor shoos them out (they do this frequently enough the doc leaves them be)
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"Okay, Maybe This Is A Book Club."
141 x gn!reader [platonic!]
[Imagines 1 follow-up]
[SFW]
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• summary - the 141 bring your book club to the med-bay :) • rating - sfw • wordcount - 1.1k • warnings - none
NO ANGST AHHH
but the medbay idea is cute !
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You'd gotten injured during one of the missions.
You couldn't remember much, but you do remember clearing a dark building with Ghost and Soap exchanging jokes in your ear-piece. The next thing you knew, the building exploded around you and you lost consciousness.
Turns out that yeah, the building exploded and you were somehow lucky enough not to explode along with it. Ghost and Soap fished you out of the wreckage, and they carried you to medical evac over three and a half miles away.
Two weeks on, you lay in the med-bay, injuries slowly healing with the care from the nurses. You were doing alright, and the boys would visit you often, but strict visiting hours meant they weren't allowed to stay for much longer after dark.
The boys hadn't admitted it yet, but they missed you. Additionally, they missed you reading to them. It had been an act of normalcy in their lives, and now it was gone, they felt empty without it. Gaz tried to pick up a new book and read to Soap and Ghost, but it just wasn't the same. Price didn't even want to listen to anyone else but you.
They missed your little book club. They missed the calm that came with it, and the warmth of your presence. While you were healing, they didn't want to trouble you with their woes. But now that you were feeling better, and on the cusp of returning to work, they figured that now was as good a time as any.
After your nurse had finished tending to you, she left you alone in the small, sterile room. You sipped at a cup of tea, sitting up in the bed, a book folded out across your lap. It was dark outside, a light patter of rain hitting the window.
The door creaked open, and you looked up in pleasant surprise to see Ghost, Soap, Price and Gaz trailing in, one after the other. You chuckled when they all shuffled towards your bed, loitering around it awkwardly, like children waiting to ask their mother for something.
You smiled at them, placing your cup of tea to the side. "What are you guys doing here? The nurse'll kick you out if she catches you."
Slowly, Soap— who'd had his hands behind his back— moved his hands around his body, holding up a book. He held it proudly towards you, smiling bashfully. You cocked your head to the side, taking the book tentatively.
"What's this for?" You asked, moving the book you'd been reading alone off your lap and onto the table at the bedside. "I already have a book."
Soap bounced nervously on the balls of his feet. "Well, we were wondering if you'd... you know... read to us?"
You looked between the four men gathered at your bedside. "You... want me to read to you?"
All four of them nodded.
"Aww," you pouted. "Do you miss our little book club?"
"It's not a book club." Ghost grumbled beneath his mask.
You shot him a pointed look, lifting the book in your hand and wiggling it in his direction. He sighed, shaking his head slowly. You imagined him smiling softly beneath his balaclava.
"Okay, maybe this is a book club." He muttered, and Soap and Gaz beamed from beside him.
You chuckled, but then looked helplessly around the narrow hospital bed. You gestured at the lack of room. "You guys aren't going to fit—"
"Not with that attitude!" Soap grinned and as he said that, Gaz was already clambering in beside you.
You laughed, shuffling over and making room for Gaz to slot in beside you. He was careful to move slowly, his legs hanging off the bed, his head resting in your lap, looking up at you with an expectant smile.
Ghost, Price and Soap grabbed visitors chairs from the edge of the room, dragging them over.
Soap pulled his chair near the head of the bed so he could lay his head up against your side, hooking one of his arms around yours, tracing his fingers up the soft skin of your forearm. Ghost and Price settled their chairs as close to the end of the bed as possible, with Ghost being parallel to your knees so he could rest a gloved hand over them, and Price being beside him, a hand settling into place at your ankle.
You smiled, feeling warm and comfortable. The aches and pains of your injuries seemed to disappear with the four pairs of eyes on you.
You shook your head softly to yourself, mumbling a laugh as you opened to the first page of the book and began to read.
The boys listened intently for the first ten-ish minutes, caught up on every word that fell from your mouth. However, as the night dragged on, they grew sleepier and sleepier— something you were familiar with during "book club" back in your own room.
While you were reading, you had been periodically petting at Soap's head, combing your fingers through his mohawk gently. He'd fallen asleep by the way his breathing slowed, and his hand had stopped drawing shapes on your forearm, just resting there. Gaz was asleep, too. He usually was the first one to go. Head on your lap, a hand on your thigh, eyelashes brushing against his cheeks.
You paused the reading, looking up. Price had his head down, arms folded over his chest. Asleep.
Ghost had folded himself half over the bed, his upper body against the mattress with his arms resting over your knees, almost hugging your legs. His lower body was still seated on the chair, and you wondered how he even managed to fall asleep like that.
As you closed the book, the door to the room opened and your nurse popped her head inside. She had her mouth open to speak, but caught herself, looking around the room in confusion, taking in the four men piled like sleeping dogs around your bed.
"Um...?" She prompted, and you shrugged at her.
Usually, she'd kick them out— she'd done so on three separate occasions. Once, when Price stayed past visiting hours to catch you up on, quote, "all the trouble the boys had been in lately". Twice, when Soap and Gaz smuggled contraband (snacks) in at two in the morning, along with Gaz's laptop, so you could catch up on RuPaul's Drag Race. Thrice, when Ghost somehow managed to bypass security an hour before midnight just so he could show you funny photos of Soap he'd taken throughout the day.
The nurse had given up by this point.
"Just... make sure they're out before the day nurses start their shift." The nurse said, turning off the light before ducking out of the room and closing the door behind her.
You smiled, placing the book on the bedside table, careful not to disturb the sleeping men hunkering around you. Like clockwork, you pet Soap and Gaz's heads gently, before reclining back in your bed, wriggling to find a comfortable position. You felt Ghost's arms hug your legs tighter.
You loved your book club.
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1K notes · View notes
zepskies · 1 month
Text
Take Me Home - Part 7
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Pairing: Beau Arlen x F. Reader 
Summary: You are another lost soul at Sunny Day Excursions. You’re aiming to settle in Helena, Montana, where Beau Arlen is the new sheriff in town. But you’ve both got a past you’re running from. 
AN: For everyone who has Easter plans tomorrow (Happy Easter!), I decided to release this part a bit early. And yes, we’re at that part of the season 3 plotline…
Word Count: 6.6K
Tags/Warnings: Major angst, survival situations, violence, hurt/comfort.
❤️ Series Masterlist
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Part 7: On the Edge of a Knife
Beau returned home that night with a large pizza for Carla and Emily. He’d already eaten with you an hour ago, but true to his legendary appetite, he still found room for a slice of pepperoni. They got comfortable around the fire out in front of his trailer.
“What held you up?” Carla asked.
Beau sighed and first wiped a bit of sauce from his face with a napkin. He admitted there was an altercation between you and your ex-boyfriend, Michael Hadley. Beau happened to be there in time to settle things down and help patch you up after you fell through a glass coffee table.
“Oh my God. Is she okay?” Emily asked. Beau noted her concern with a smile.
“She’s fine. Some minor cuts and bruises,” he said. “But I had to encourage the guy to leave town. If he’s got any sense, he’ll get gone.”
Emily looked relieved at that. Then she eyed him with a suspicious smile.
“And you just happened to be in the neighborhood?” she asked slyly, voicing the thought that Carla hadn’t wanted to.
Both women watched him closely, but Carla knew the tell-tale signs of Beau covering his embarrassment, giving his daughter a wry look.
“All right, smart Alec. Why don’t you break out the extra sheets I got in the trailer? We’ll set up the bed and the couch.”
“If you can call that glorified bench a couch,” Emily muttered with a grin. 
“Ey!” Beau called after her, though he watched her go in amusement.
After a couple more hours of chatting and catching up, showers taken and plates washed, Emily headed for bed. The adults stayed up for a while, bundled in warm coats as they sat together by the fire.
Beau remembered what Emily told him days ago; that he hadn’t needed to be a perfect man for his wife and daughter. They’d just needed him to be a bit more honest about what he was going through, to let them in. After what happened today with you, your patience and understanding with him…he was beginning to get what she meant.
“I’m really thankful for you helping us,” Carla said. It unearthed him out of his own head.
“Yeah,” he replied with a nod.
Admittedly, he was still a bit distracted. Besides how he left things with you (which still made heat crawl up the back of his neck), he still had Avery and that stolen money to worry about. Otherwise known as the reason Carla and Emily would have to cram themselves in his little trailer.
“Hey, what’s going on?” Carla prodded, laying a gentle hand on his arm.
“I just got a bad feeling about all this,” he confessed. “It’s like in Houston with Randy.”
“No,” she shook her head. “You can’t go there.”
“It’s too late,” he replied. “‘Cause it feels the same. Like something’s…something is comin’, and I’m powerless to stop it.”
“Randy’s death was not your fault,” she reminded him. Just like you had.
Beau looked over at her with a humorless quirk of his lips.
“We both know that’s not true. He was my partner and I let him down. And then…then I wasn’t there for you, or Emily. I don’t blame you for leaving me.”
Carla couldn’t help it, but a part deep inside her had been regretting that choice. Her eyes burned with unshed tears. She managed to blink and keep them at bay, though she let out a shaky breath.
“Well, you’re here for us now,” she said. And yet, she could’ve predicted his next words like clockwork.
“It don’t make up for the way I checked out,” he said.
Carla licked her dry lips and swallowed down the emotion clogging her throat. She didn’t cry often. She could have an ironclad grip on her emotions when she needed to.
It was part of what made her a good lawyer. She knew Beau had sometimes gotten frustrated with that aspect of her personality in the past, because he was the opposite.
The man kept a good lid on things for his job, but at heart, he was driven by his passion, his anger, his love, and right now, his bone-deep guilt and shame.
She knew he’d been drowning in it for a year and hadn’t known how to pull him out. Every time he pushed her away, it had hurt her, hardened her, making her will to try again less and less. So she left him. 
It was the choice she made, and she knew she had to live with it. Just like marrying Avery.
Carla laid a hand on Beau’s over his knee. She made sure he looked her in the eyes when she said this.
“I forgive you. For all of that, okay?” she said. After a moment, he nodded. This time, she felt like he actually heard her.
“But I’m telling you, this thing with Avery…this isn’t over by a long shot,” he told her. “I’m not saying that to scare you. You understand that?”
“Yeah,” she nodded, even though those tears from earlier were working their way down her face. She wiped them away hastily.
“I’m not gonna let anything happen to you two,” Beau said, in a firm, reassuring tone.
It worked, and it didn’t. Carla nodded again. “I know.”
He sighed through his nose and squeezed her hand. His gaze shifted away, back to the bonfire dancing in front of them. His eyes stung at both the smoke, and the emotion rising in his chest. He steeled himself.
“Carla, I’ll always love you…”
She smiled slightly, brushing the remaining tears from her cheek.
“Though I sense a but coming,” she said.
When she said your name in question, Beau glanced back over at her and nodded. Carla had been his first real love, besides Daisy Harlow in the eleventh grade.
But you were unexpected. How quickly, how deeply you’d gotten under his skin was too hard to ignore. And at this point, he didn’t want to.
Meanwhile, Carla stared at her ex-husband in bemusement. She slipped her hand from his and folded hers back in her lap.
“What’s she like?” she asked. Half of her was genuinely curious. The other half would rather not hear his answer, but she supposed it was only fair. She was the one who moved on first.
Still, the flicker of Beau’s soft smile stung, just a little.
“She’s special,” he said. “Resilient, like you. And smart to boot. You know she’s a college professor?”
“Yeah, Emily told me,” Carla said. 
Beau’s smile dimmed when he noted the resignation in her voice. She gave him a knowing look. 
“I have no right to complain,” she said. “And you deserve to be happy too, Beau.”    
He considered that with a nod. He wasn’t sure if he believed her, but for your sake…he would try.
“Can you promise me something?” Carla asked. 
“Name it,” he said.
“I know Avery is in this thing deep. He lied to me and he created this mess. Even when this is over, I don’t know what’s going to happen between us. I know I’m asking a lot of you, but please, look out for him,” she implored. Beau uttered a wry chuckle and rubbed at his chin.
“He is in this deep. And he’s being stubborn about it,” he said. “I might not be able to help him walk it back, but I will try.”  
Carla released another sigh and nodded in response. She supposed that was the best she could hope for. 
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A few days later, you walked up and down the grocery store aisles with a basket in one hand and your phone against your ear with the other.
“Okay, I’ve got all manners of junk food and chick-flick movie watching snacks, including Reese’s cups, ice cream, frozen pizzas, and no less than three bottles of wine,” you said. “Am I missing anything?”
“I don’t think so, hun. That sounds very comprehensive,” Denise replied.
She was at work, and you were still getting ready for the fall semester. It was only a little over a month away, which meant you were excited, and also nervous.
You had five classes on your roster. You’d also visited Carroll College yesterday to set up your office with all your books, both textbooks and your favorites in fiction and non-fiction (but mostly fiction). Much Ado About Nothing was front and center in the Shakespeare section of your shelf.
You also wanted to at least try and relax for the rest of your summer. Denise was all too willing to help. You’d always had a good relationship with your aunt, albeit distant, since you’d lived in different states.
Living so close now just made you realize how much you two had in common. It was nice to find a friend in her, not just someone who would try to mother you in your own mother’s absence. 
“Yes! Good. Then get ready to brainstorm what movies we’re gonna watch tonight, and in what order,” you said.
“Oh, don’t pretend like you don’t already have a color-coded checklist,” Denise quipped.
You laughed. Yes, she knew you too well. “Okay, maybe I do, but you still get a vote.”
You turned a corner in the aisles and nearly ran right into Carla, who was pushing a cart. You both jolted in surprise and recognition.
“Oh, hi! I’m sorry,” you said, at the same time she said, “Sorry, I…”
You two did the polite, nervous laughter people did when put in awkward situations. You noticed all the food she had in her cart—enough to feed a family of three for the week.
“Yeah, finally getting around to doing a grocery run,” she said. “Beau’s trailer leaves much to be desired in the form of amenities, so…”
You adopted a more amused smile. “Yeah, he’s not much of a cook, is he?”
“Do frozen fish sticks count?” Carla remarked.
“Only if there’s expired tartar sauce, according to Emily,” you joked. The two of you shared a laugh that was a little more genuine. You chatted for a couple minutes more before you parted with amiable handwaving. Then you realized that your aunt was still hanging on the line.
You sighed and put your phone back up to your ear. “Hey, sorry.”
“Was that who I think it was?” Denise asked. She was probably trying to be cryptic, if Emily was in the room with her.
“Indeed, it was. Doing a nice family-sized grocery run,” you whispered back, to make sure you weren’t overheard. You brought your basket of junk to one of the checkout lines.
“When was the last time you heard from him?” Denise asked. She must’ve heard the heaviness in your voice. You both knew exactly who “him” was code for. Beau friggin’ Arlen.
“Not since we said goodbye last week,” you replied. And the memory of that kiss had been torturing you for days. It had also been the fuel of many…late nights with yourself.
Speaking of which, need some more AA batteries, you thought with a warm blush.
“Okay, forget candy. We should get cheesecake,” Denise proposed.
You smiled. “You know what, that’s a damn good idea. Definitely cheesecake.”
You hopped out of line to do just that. You knew it probably wouldn’t be as good as Chicago made, but you went over to the bakery side of the store and hunted for the most good-looking cheesecake you could find.
“Hey, if you want, stop by here later,” your aunt said. “Em is here. We’ll grab lunch, make it a real girls’ day.”
“Sure,” you agreed. You hadn’t seen Emily in a week or so either. “Where are you thinking? I’ve been wanting to try that Indian place down the street from your office.”
“Sounds good to me. Come over after you drop those groceries off at home.”
“Okay, will do. I’ll see you guys soon!” you said. 
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Beau knew that he was going to be working straight through lunch. What he, Jenny, and Cassie had discovered in the past 24 hours was deeply unsettling. 
Not only was Walter Sunny Barnes’s son, but Paige was alive. She’d been found in the foyer of Sunny’s home, brandishing a knife, convinced the married couple were in it together on her kidnapping. Sunny claimed she’d had no idea her husband had taken the poor girl and kept her in a shack for days.
According to Paige’s testimony, Buck Barnes had tried to kill her. And since she was alive, it meant Walter had lied in confessing to her murder. It was also likely that he hadn’t killed Mary or Luke either.
That wasn’t even the worst of Beau’s headache.
He rubbed his face in frustration after getting off the phone with Carla. Thanks to this whole business of Avery’s stolen cryptocurrency, she was being followed. 
Fuckin’ hell, Beau thought. The next time he saw Avery, it had better be with handcuffs, or he was going to start working on his punch list for real. Instead, Beau grabbed his cell and called his daughter.
“Hey, Dad,” she answered on the third ring.
“Hey, honey. You doin’ all right? You good?” he asked. Maybe he was coming on a little strong, but worry was a living thing inside his gut.
“Yeah, totally. Just doing some research…but guess who’s coming to have lunch with us later?” she asked.
Her tone was leading him somewhere, and Beau thought he knew the destination. His lips curved with a half-smile. When he guessed your name, Emily confirmed.
“You’re welcome to join us. If, you know, you wanted to,” she teased.
Beau’s smile twisted with disbelief. Was his daughter trying to set him up? And better yet, it seemed like she liked you well enough to do it. While the thought warmed him, his smile dimmed.
“Wish I could, but uh, I got a lot of work here to do. I’m just…checking up on ya, like dads do,” he said.
As much as he wanted to see you (and he really, really did), he wasn’t lying. He needed to follow up on the man who’d trailed Carla to the drycleaners this morning. And he already had Jenny and Poppernak looking into finding Buck Barnes. He’d fled the scene after Paige and Sunny were picked up at the Barnes residence.
“Well, okay, consider me checked. We can talk later if you want,” Emily said. She sounded a bit disappointed. Beau felt guilty for that, but he’d make it up to her tonight. Maybe he’d bring home some takeout so Carla didn’t have to cook again in his tiny kitchenette.
“All right, honey. If not, I’ll see you tonight,” he said. “Just…don’t go anywhere by yourself, okay? Make sure Denise or Cassie’s with you. Matter of fact, I’ll pick you up from there today.”
“Yeah sure,” she said. Though he didn’t think she really heard the warning in his voice.
“‘Kay. Bye, Dad.”
She hung up, leaving Beau still feeling off-balanced. Until news came in from a fellow officer: while Paige had been brought to the hospital, Sunny Barnes had been brought into the station for questioning about her husband.
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“Sorry I’m so late. I started cleaning my apartment and lost track of time,” you said, walking into the office of Dewell & Hoyt. Denise and Emily waved at you from their respective desks.
“That’s okay. We’ve been busy here,” Denise said. You looked at the large pinboard on the wall filled with news clippings and pieces of evidence. Bleeding Heart Killer, read many of the subject lines.
“Ech. Still working on this?” you asked.
“Unfortunately,” said Denise. She grabbed up her purse and went over to kiss your cheek in greeting. “But we might’ve gotten a huge break on it. I’ll tell you all about it when I get back.”
“Get back? Where’re you going?” you asked.
“To get the food! I already placed the orders,” she said, patting your arm. “I’ll be right back.”
You gave her a narrowed look. “I was going to pay for it—”
“No need!” Denise sing-songed on her way out of the office. It had you smiling, shaking your head. You looked over at Emily and tossed a thumb over your shoulder.
“Careful with her. She can be devious,” you said.
Emily smiled and stood up from her desk. She went over to sit with you on the small couch near the center of the room.
“I’m actually glad you’re here,” she said. “I’ve kinda got a question for you.”
“Kinda?” you echoed with a smile, but you pat her on the knee. “What’s on your mind, honey?”
Emily looked a little unsure. It had you giving her your undivided attention.
“It’s about my dad,” she began. Your smile slowly fell, but now you were really listening.
“Okay,” you nodded.
Emily opened her mouth to reply, but before she could, the lights in the entire office went out.
Natural light still came in from the large windows at the front. It was odd though. The weather outside, while chilly, wasn’t cold enough to create an outage. You hadn’t heard anything fizzle when the lights went out either.
“That’s weird—” Emily said.
The back door burst open with the sound of hinges breaking. Both of you gasped and stood from the couch. You slipped a hand into your purse to find your phone, and then the first contact you could think of.
You were about to press the call button when a tall man with broad shoulders stepped through. He was older, balding, and his clothes and neck were stained with blood.
Buck Barnes.
“Buck?” you gasped. “What…what’re you doing here?”
He didn’t look like the easy going, kind-hearted man you knew at the camp. Now, he looked haggard, injured, and dangerous, like a wild animal.
“Hush up,” Buck held up a silver pistol in his right hand. “And drop that phone, nice and slow.”
Your heart was in your throat, but you couldn’t just think of yourself. You subtly tried to pull Emily behind you as you set your phone down on the ground.
“You tried to kill Paige,” Emily accused of the man. It had you turning to her, your eyes going wide. When you looked over at Buck to gauge his reaction, you saw how his lips pursed.
“Sit down and shut up,” Buck ordered, gesturing with his gun at both of you. He drew closer and forced you and Emily to sit beside each other on the couch. There he grabbed a roll of duct tape from his pocket and began taping your shaking hands together.
“Why’re you doing this?” you asked Buck.
“I need some collateral if I’m gonna get the hell outta dodge,” he replied.
“Fine, but let Emily go. She’s just a kid,” you begged, as tears stung at your eyes.
Buck just continued taping you up. Thankfully not your feet, just your wrists. He moved to Emily next. 
“You don’t need her,” you tried again. “Come on, Buck. You really think Beau Arlen’s going to want to work something out with you if you take his daughter?”
“Oh, I’m bettin’ he’ll be more than willing.” Buck grabbed you and placed a strip of tape across your mouth, then on Emily’s. He hooked a large, calloused hand around your arm.
“Now get up.”
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“What?!” Beau asked. His eyes widened in alarm. “Slow down, Denise. What’s going on?”
The more he listened, the more his heart plummeted into his stomach. He had to grip his work desk for balance.
It took him and Jenny under half an hour to meet up with Cassie and Denise back at Dewell & Hoyt, along with a forensics unit of officers. There was evidence of struggle in a turned over table and a broken back door lock.
Denise explained that she left you and Emily for just a few minutes while she went to grab a late lunch order. By the time she returned, the power was out, set off by the breakers, and you and Emily were missing.
Jenny found your purse on the couch, while Beau found your cell phone on the ground. He picked it up with a gloved hand. He’d seen you unlock your phone enough times to remember your passcode.
When he inputted those six numbers and unlocked the screen, he found his own name and phone number highlighted there. You’d been about to call him.
He squeezed your phone tight in his hand. He looked up and saw another officer pick up Emily’s backpack.
“No power means no surveillance footage,” Jenny said. “Okay, let’s think. Why take her and Emily?”
“It’s gotta do with Avery and the money he stole,” Beau said, grinding his teeth. “I needa find him.”
“Any idea where he might be held up?” Jenny asked.
“Carla will know,” he replied.
“Do you want me to go with you?” Jenny was quick to offer. She could see his rage bubbling.
“No,” he said, cutting her off with a swift hand. “Get a response team ready, but I don’t want anybody doing anything without checking with me!”
He was out the door before any of the women could stop him. Denise was in tears, both for you and for Emily. Cassie wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
“We’re gonna find them,” she promised.
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You and Emily were in the backseat of an SUV. Buck was singing along to some country song, driving them down a highway to hell knows where. 
The tears had begun to dry on your cheeks. It didn’t mean you were no longer petrified, but for Emily, to give her support, you’d been able to keep breathing through it. She was still in panic mode, hyperventilating as tears streamed down her face.
“Y’all better quiet down back there,” Buck warned.
You grabbed Emily’s hands and met her frantic eyes with your calmer ones. You were hoping to reassure her, let her know that while you were scared too, you were with her. She wasn’t alone.
She squeezed your hands back, even though it made you wince. Your right hand was still injured. Again, you breathed through it so you could hold her back. You rested the side of your head against hers to try and help steady her further. If you could, you would’ve held her like a mother bear.
Emily leaned against your side and began to calm down, bit by bit. Meanwhile, Buck continued to talk your ears off—about country music, and how this particular song was the one he and Sunny danced to at their wedding. Though frankly, you couldn’t give a shit about anything that was coming out of his mouth.
All you knew was that it was nighttime, pitch black darkness by the time he pulled into a plaza. It looked like a gas station next to a bar.
Only in Montana, you mused. Though you perked up at attention when Buck parked and actually left the car.
Of course, he took the keys with him and put the child locks on the doors, but you tugged at the duct tape Buck put around your ankles when he’d forced you and Emily into this car. If you could get free, then you could shove your way into the front seat and unlock the doors.
Emily tried to help you. You winced as the tape tugged at your skin. At least I shaved yesterday.
She gasped around her gag when she saw a young man coming their way in the parking lot. You joined her in banging on the window, trying to get his attention.
“Oh my God,” you heard him say, muffled as it was through the window. You pointed at the front of the car, trying to communicate to him to break the window open there.
“Hold on, I’ll get you guys out of there,” he said. He went to the front of the car and tried at the door handles, but before he could get very far in his attempt to free you, Buck came up behind the younger man and grabbed him in a chokehold.
You and Emily screamed at him, but it was no use. You did your best to shield Emily’s eyes when Buck snapped the man’s neck.
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Bad call, bad leadership, bad police work.
Beau felt the weight of his shame like never before—all while he held Carla and rocked her in his arms. She’d just arrived at the police station, after getting the news that her husband had been killed.
When he learned that Emily was taken, Avery tried to help Beau and the police confront the men he’d stolen the $15 million from, but Avery had gone rogue by bringing a gun into the equation.
Beau had just one chance to pull Avery out and send in his unit of officers on standby. Jenny had asked him what he wanted to do, hoping he would make the right choice.
Beau had been selfish. He wanted to see if the men would give up the location on where they were holding you and Emily, so he kept Avery in play. He’d thought the man would be fine with Tonya and Donno backing him up in the room.
After all was said and done, however, Avery lay dead in a pool of his own blood with a bullet in his chest. The criminals also hadn’t taken you or Emily.
By process of elimination, Beau now knew it was Buck. The man had already killed a hiker on his way out of the woods, where he’d been holding Paige.
Now it was a whole new manhunt.
“Beau,” Jenny said. “We have something on Buck.”
It prompted him to drag himself out of the dark spiral of his thoughts. He let Carla go, but kept a supportive hand on her back. She was still distraught, and understandably so—not just for her husband, but for her missing daughter.
Jenny gave Carla a sympathetic look. She beckoned him over though.
“Come see this,” she said.
Beau comforted Carla one moment more, rubbing her back, but she encouraged him to go with Jenny. She led him into another room where Cassie was waiting for them, and Jenny’s laptop was connected to a smart TV.
On the screen was new surveillance footage of a parking lot, outside a bar a few hours out of town. There was a green pickup truck parked next to a black SUV. Beau couldn’t see you or Emily, but he watched Buck drag the dead body of a man behind the truck.
“Buck was casing the lot for a car to steal,” Jenny said. “We’re guessing this unlucky guy found them.”
“It means they’re still alive,” Cassie pointed out. Jenny drew attention to the keys, or whatever it was that Buck dropped and picked up off the floor. It was hard to make out from the footage.
Cassie agreed to ask Cormack Barnes if he knew what the keys were for, considering he already had the keys to the pickup trick in his hand when he picked up the fallen set. Beau knew it was time to question Sunny Barnes again.
He headed down the hall to do just that, with Jenny on his heels. Soon though, he found himself slowing down in the hall, like his feet were made of rubber. That, and his heart was fracturing. Jenny slowed down with him, giving him a questioning look.
“It’s just…it’s the one thing we’re supposed to do. Protect our kids,” he said. “The one thing.”
“Hey,” she said. Her blue eyes were understanding. “You couldn’t have done anything differently.”
And yet again, they both knew that was a lie. Beau held a curled fist against his lips for a moment, as he tried to swallow down the lump of emotion in his throat.
“She’s gotta be so scared, Jenny,” he said. His eyes stung, but he tried to blink the unshed tears from his eyes. It wasn’t working.
“Both of them,” he said. “They’ve gotta be terrified. And every minute we waste chasing our tails just gives that twisted son a bitch a chance to do something to them—”
Jenny grabbed his arm to steady him. “I still think he’s keeping them alive for leverage.”
“Well, I hope you’re right, because there’s nothing stopping him from making an example from one of them,” he said.
But the moment it escaped his lips, he wished he hadn’t uttered the thought out loud. It was too much.
He felt like a failure of a father. That was already destroying him from the inside out. And though he’d vowed to himself otherwise, you got dragged into this too.
You’d already been through the wringer enough. Beau hadn’t even checked in on you in damn near a week since he left your apartment the last time.
Now, you’d been taken by the very same man who murdered your friend Mary. Beau hadn’t had the chance to tell you…
He hadn’t been able to tell you a lot of things.
And maybe, he’d never get the chance.
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The pickup truck Buck stole had a small trailer attached, convenient for stuffing you and Emily in, along with the corpse he’d made of the truck’s owner.
On the long and bumpy ride down the road, you’d been able to search the dead man’s jeans and found a small pocketknife. You pressed a small button to click the blade open. You showed it to Emily, and then tried to cut her bonds.
You only got halfway through when the truck and trailer stopped. Moments later, you smelled gas. Buck was probably stopping for a refill on the pickup truck. You closed the knife and hid it in your hands. That instinct turned out to be a good one, because Buck slid the trailer door open.
You and Emily winced as the bright morning sun hit your bleary eyes. Not only had you not slept all night, but you’d gotten used to the perpetual darkness of the trailer.
“You girls behaving yourselves back here?” Buck asked.
You and Emily stayed quiet, but fearful. He stepped into the trailer to lower your taped gag, and then the girl’s. He uncapped a water bottle to give her some. It was a strangely humane thing to do, you thought.
But then you realized that he just didn’t want you two to pass out of dehydration. He was trying to keep you alive long enough to use you as bargaining chips.
“My dad’s going to find you,” Emily said, staring up at your captor. Buck chuckled at her cheek.
“You want water or not?” he asked.
“And when he does, he’s gonna kill you,” she said. Buck rolled his eyes and gave her a few sips of water. He offered the bottle to you next.
Instead of drinking, you used his distraction and proximity to pop open the pocketknife and jab it at his face. He pulled back fast, but you managed to sink the three-inch little blade into his neck. Buck backhanded you so hard, it made the side of your face crack against the back of the trailer.
Emily screamed and tried to catch you when you accidentally fell on her shoulder. When you recovered after a bit, blinking the black splotches out of your vision, Buck punched at the spot right above your heads and made you both flinch. By then, he’d taken the little knife out of his neck, even though it made a new wound ooze blood down his shirt.
“Forgot to check his pockets,” he gritted out. His anger then bled away, into a dark chuckle. “Gettin’ a little rusty.”
He poured out the rest of the water over your boots, but he didn’t make any further threats. At least, not physically. He stepped away and began to exit the trailer.
“Next time it’ll be gasoline and a lighter,” he warned. “Now both of you, shut the fuck up.”
Then he closed the door, casting you and Emily into darkness once again.
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“You okay?” Emily whispered. You could barely make out her face in the dim light, coming from the smallest crack in the trailer door. You rolled your head her way so you could give her a smile.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” you replied. Truthfully, your head was ringing and aching at the same time. Buck had knocked you out for a few seconds there. Plus, you were exhausted, and hungry, and parched.
“At least the gags are off,” she said. You nodded, letting out a sigh. You welcomed her to rest on your shoulder and tucked her wrapped hands under yours.
“We’ve just gotta keep holding out,” you said. “I’m sure your dad is on the way.”
Emily nodded in agreement. She believed every word of what she’d told Buck. She just hoped it was sooner rather than later.
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It was much, much later.
Still, you and Emily were no better off. Actually, you were pretty sure this was worse.
Buck had driven you deep into the woods, then forced you to walk what felt like another half-mile until you reached a dusty old shack. He’d unlocked it and forced you both inside, kneeling in the dirt and dead leaves. Along with the duct tape already around your wrists, he’d tied you both up with ropes around the metal hooks hanging from the short roof.
Even with the gags off, it was hard to breathe in the hot, stuffy woodshed. It felt similar to being buried in a box and left to rot.
You weren’t sure how many hours it had been, but the sun was slowly inching by. If you had to guess, it was around mid-afternoon. You were sweating down your neck and back, now uncomfortable while kneeling in the jeans you were wearing. And sometimes, your vision started to blur in and out.
By now you were beyond hunger. Dying of thirst? Quite possibly.
“How’re you doing?” you asked Emily. She nodded, but she didn’t have much energy to talk either.
So instead, you tried to twist your wrists out of the rope. Very quickly you gave yourself burns, however. Buck had tied your bonds so very tight, not to mention the duct tape underneath.
What a fucking asshole, you thought. He could’ve at least left a bottle of water. Or some protein bars.
“How are they supposed to find us out here?” Emily asked. Her voice was small and coarse with exhaustion. You nudged her knee in comfort.
“The police will get it out of Buck, I’m sure,” you said. “Even if Beau can’t, damn certain Jenny will.”
You gave her a smile. Emily tried to smile back, but she didn’t quite make it there.
“God, I’m so thirsty,” she coughed.
“I know, I’m sorry,” you nodded, letting out a shaky breath. “All we can do is keep trying to get loose.”
You both tried twisting out of the ropes for a while, but it was no use. You were just going to bruise or cut your wrists further through the tape.
You knew that you and Emily had been in the woods for hours at this point, somewhere in the middle of the mountains. You tried not think about how unlikely it would be that someone actually heard you, let alone found you.
You knew you were the adult in this situation. You had to keep it together for the girl beside you, but after a while, a feeling of desperation and despair rose up again in your chest, no matter how hard you fought it all.
Tears welled up in your eyes, though you tried to breathe through it. Emily nudged your arm this time, giving you a comforting look.
“It’s gonna be okay,” she whispered. “I know Dad’s coming for us.”
Your lip wobbled, but you nodded and sucked in a breath. If she could be strong, then you could too…
And that was when you started to hear voices. You knew they weren’t just in your head, because Emily perked up too. You both called out the best you could to whoever was out there.
You squinted watery eyes when the door to the shed finally slid open.
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Beau tested the limitations of Jenny’s SUV on his way out from the woods, and then back into them. 
At the very least, Buck was dead. 
Sunny had shot him—before they had gotten a location on you and Emily. Beau had been about to have a serious breakdown before Cassie called him. 
“They found them,” he’d told Jenny, with red and shining eyes. 
In another five miles, they reached the old cabin. Cassie had said there was a woodshed attached on the south side. Beau tore out of the car and sprinted up a hill, through a patch of dense trees, until he found the cabin and the shed. 
Cassie and Cormack were talking to someone just out of Beau’s eyeline, but his gaze focused on his daughter. The moment Emily saw him, she brightened and ran to him. He met her in the middle, grabbing her tight and secure in his arms.
His tears burned in his eyes and fell as he held her, comforted her, rubbing her back. She held onto him just as tightly.
He struggled and failed to keep himself together. Relief wasn’t even the word for how he felt; it was beyond words.
And it was almost unreal to be able to hold his daughter and see that she didn’t look hurt, just shaken.
“I’ve gotcha, sweetheart,” he said. “God, I’ve got you.”
Letting out the deepest breath, Beau’s gaze ventured past his daughter and up ahead. There he found you, being supported by Cassie up the hill. Beau’s eyes widened.
You were rubbing your wrists. They looked raw. Your eyes were also red and watery when they met his. Your breath seemed to catch as well.
Your name fell from Beau’s lips, his voice breaking. Emily looked up at her dad and had to smile. She even made room for you when you came up on his other side. Beau still kept his daughter tucked against him, but he reached for you as well and brought you into his embrace.
He felt your body shaking with quiet, wracking sobs. His heart broke for it, but he soothed a hand over your knotted hair and down your back.
“Shh, it’s okay now,” he whispered in your ear. His voice was choked with emotion. “I’ve got you, darlin’."
Never gonna let you go again, he thought.
You nodded, sniffling, but you kept your face buried against his chest.
Eventually, you lifted your head to meet his kind, if tearful eyes. He was a mess, and so were you. He was right though; you knew that it was all right now, as long as he was here.
You looked over at Emily, who was still hanging onto her father. You touched her shoulder.
“You okay?” you asked through tears. She nodded back at you with a smile.
“Good,” Beau said. “Let’s get you two home.”
You realized then that you were clinging to him like…like he was yours. 
“Oh,” you uttered, releasing his shirt. “I‘m sorry.” 
Beau’s eyes widened at the way you pulled away from him, unconsciously lowering your gaze. He frowned, and he pressed a gentle hand to your cheek, so you’d look at him again. 
“Don’t you do that,” he said, his voice still a bit unsteady.
Almost every cell in his body said to pull you back in. To sink his fingers in your hair, and to kiss you.
But he noticed Jenny, Cassie, Cormack, and even his daughter watching with some kind of smile on their faces. You stared up at him, teary eyed and waiting.
Beau cleared his throat.
He hesitated a bit too long, warring with himself all the while. So he just stroked your cheek and guided you, along with his daughter to the car.
You and Emily were going home.
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AN: 🫣 Lol please don't hate me for the little tease at the end there. But how did you like how all the action and drama of the kidnapping unfolded?
Don't think this is the finale though. We've still got some drama and fun things to come. (Also, I think it's funny how this next particular chapter is going to post on my birthday lol.)
Next Time:
“I’m the one who needs you to forgive me,” he said, gently squeezing your arm. “I promised myself I would keep you safe, that I wouldn’t drag you into this mess. And I couldn’t keep my end of the deal.”
“Stop that,” you said. You grabbed the front of his shirt. “How many times do I have to say it’s not your fault before you get it in your stubborn head?”
It came out a bit snappish, but the moment your eyes met his, you both seemed to realize where your passions had led you. Just inches away from one another.
“Maybe one more time,” Beau said, in a quieter, but no less heady voice. There was a hint of humor in his eyes. You couldn’t help but smile back.
You released his shirt and instead, took his face in your hands.
▶️ Keep Reading: PART 8
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bucks-babe · 23 days
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maybe angel!reader helping bucky thru a panic attack? like he thinks when he dies hes gonna suffer in hell for the stuff the winter soldier did and we calm him down and help him? u can add smut if u want but u dont have to !!
My Guardian, My Angel, My Love
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Pairing: Bucky x angel!reader
Summary: For the first time Bucky gets to experience peace because of his sweet angel.
Word Count: 5.5k
Warnings: Angst?, actually a lot of angst, I don’t know how it got that way but it did, it gets happy though, fluff, smut (I can’t help myself), oral f!receiving, handjob, awkward sex talk, like really awkward, talk about heaven and dying, talk about life after death and immortality, angels based off of Supernatural but I changed a few things, blood, nearly dying, gunshots, reader doesn’t have a soul but can still love because I said so, reader knows when and how everyone dies but can’t tell them, reader has wings, 3rd person, age gap (reader is eons old), wings being a metaphor for sexual assault?, think Maleficent, no use of Y/N, so many emotions
A/N: This is not supposed to force any religion nor be an accurate representation of any religion. I din't go with panic attack, rather I had him almost die. I was feeling angsty
The moment Bucky’s knees hit the ground he knows it's over, that this is the end. He knew this was the way he would go out, on a mission, desperately trying to atone all his misdeeds. Tendrils of pain shot throughout his stomach, blood seeping through his fingers. When his side hit the ground, he knew it wouldn’t be too long before he went, limbs feeling too heavy. He couldn’t hear Steve screaming for help, scrambling for anything to stop the bleeding.
What Bucky did hear though, was a ruffle, almost like a flock of birds flying by, then a figure he’d never seen before stood above him. She’s here to take me. It didn’t strike Bucky as odd that she was the only thing that was clear, the rest of his view blurry and unfocused. He tried to speak, he really did, but no words came out, the breath leaving his lungs not enough to push any words out.
The woman crouches down, hand cupping his cheek with such softness tears leave his eyes, wiped away by Steve in the quinjet who seemingly can’t see her. “Close your eyes, my love. When you wake up, I’ll be there.” Fuck, this is really happening. Fear coursed through his body, scared of what punishment his sins earned him. I deserve to go to hell for what I’ve done. 
A guttural whine passes his lips; Steve chokes back sobs next to his lifelong friend. “Shh, none of that, now. I won’t let anything bad happen to you, I promise. You can rest now.” All at once, the pain is gone. Bucky feels like he’s floating - it’s wonderful.
Bucky has no problem opening his eyes. What the fuck? This is hell? Well damn. The most wonderful sound meets his ears - a giggle, soft and delicate. “No, my love, this is not hell and you’re not dead.” She comes into view. She’s gorgeous. Wait, I’m alive! Apparently, Bucky says that last part because Steve’s gasp enters his ears.
“Yeah, Buck, you’re alive. Gave us a scare though, didn’t uh, didn’t know if you would make it.” Bucky doesn’t respond right away, too busy looking around for his mystery woman, only to be met with the walls of the med bay. “Hey, I’m right here, Buck, look at me.” It’s not the woman, rather it’s Steve.
“How long was I out? What happened?”
“A few days. It was touch and go for some time but you bounced back. When we were on the mission, Hydra had a sniper posted outside. He got you right in the stomach.” Bucky could hear the emotion in Steve’s voice, the fear of losing his best friend still leaving him shaken up.
“Well, they’re a pretty shitty shot if you ask me. Could have gotten one right between the eyes with one of those shit guns we got in the war.” Steve coughs out a laugh, turning into a belly laugh a few seconds later. Bucky would laugh with him, but the bullet wound in his abdomen says he shouldn’t. He still doesn’t see the woman, though. Maybe I just made her up. 
A few days later, doctor Cho gives him the all clear to leave the med bay; however, he’s off duty for the foreseeable future and not any amount of his grumbling changed her mind. Still, Bucky hasn’t seen the woman. He feels a little crazy that he misses her, well crazier. 
Slowly, he makes his way to his room. Steve offered to help but Bucky wanted to do this on his own, having been tended to his whole stay in hospital. He puts in his password on the keypad Tony installed when Bucky first arrived, when the fear that Hydra would come back and take him was too much to bear. His room is the same way he left it, except for a woman on his bed. Not just any woman though, it was his mystery lady. 
Someone’s gonna have to put me in the cuckoo's nest. She laughs as if she can hear his thoughts. God, I hope not. “God has bigger things to worry about than such an inconspicuous fear as that, my love.” She sits up, facing him, the most beautiful smile gracing her lips.
“Can you hear my thoughts?” He feels like he already knows the answer, but asks anyway. If this woman is made up, of course she can read his mind. She just smiles and rises to her feet, walking over to him.
“What do you think, my love?” She tilts her head, a soft smile still resides on her lips. He feels so safe with her and she isn’t even real, just a figment of his imagination, a ruse to comfort himself in what he thought were his last moments. “I am very real, I’ll have you know.”
Bucky doesn’t know why, but he believes her. He believes this woman who showed up randomly on a field, who his best friend couldn’t see, and who disappeared without a trace. “How then? How did you do it?”
“Do what, my love?” She grabs his hand and leads him to the bed, helping him sit, finding a spot next to him.
“Save me, hear my thoughts, hide from Steve, disappear, get into my room, all of it. It’s not natural. Either you’re a ghost, or a mutant, or a reaper who was trying to take me. I don’t know, but you’re something.” Another laugh escapes her. He should be terrified of her, but he can’t find it in himself to be, her presence emanating calm.
“Well aren’t you a clever one? However, I’m none of those things nor did I save you. It just wasn’t your time yet. I’m an angel, though, to answer your question.” Bucky just stares, not believing her. This has to be a joke. “No joke, my love. If you want, I can prove it to you.” Bucky doesn’t even question why she calls him my love, the sound of it just too nice to stop.
Bucky just nods, words failing him. She rises to her feet, turning to stand in front of him. He hears them before he sees them, the same ruffle he heard as he lay dying. Then he sees them. A pair of dark wings coming from her back. She doesn’t spread them all the way, too big to fit in the small space of his room. “They’re black.” She throws her head back, a loud, beautiful laugh fills his ears. 
“That was your first thought? You don’t like them? Personally I think they’re quite nice.” It was the first thing that came to his mind, the rest blank. Maybe he should have asked for more proof, but he knows she would never lie to him. He doesn’t know how he knows, he just does. 
“I don’t know. I guess I just thought they’d be white. With the whole angel thing, you know?” She hums.
“There is a lot humans have wrong about us. I mean, plenty of us have white wings, but they come in many colors. If you can believe it, this isn’t even my true form.” Bucky is confused, she looks so real. A tangible human, someone he can touch.
“What is your true form then? Can I see it?” That’s a little personal to ask, dumbass.
“Well, that is a little complicated. Only one human has seen my true form and it didn’t go well. I thought she could handle it, but when she saw me, well let’s just say she couldn’t see from then on.” Bucky’s eyes widened, not expecting that answer. “Anything else you want to ask me?”
Her wings are still out, folded against her back. They look so soft. “Can I touch your wings?” Her wings shift slightly. If he wasn’t trained to observe everything and everyone, Bucky wouldn’t have known that she was uncomfortable. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked. I didn’t know-”
“That’s okay. An angel’s wings are very personal. They’re sensitive and even for an ethereal being, it's very personal - intimate.”Clearing her throat, she changes the subject. “I know your name, my love. Might I say, it’s very pretty, but you don’t know mine.” Bucky picks up on her attempt to move his attention away from her wings.
“What is it then? I can’t call you angel forever, however fitting it may be.”
“Well I don’t exactly have a name. I’m a cherubim. The only angels who have names are the archangels, the first borns.”
It was Bucky’s turn to smile.”My little cherub.” She doesn’t tell him that cherub is the plural of cherubim. Until this day, Bucky didn’t know that angels could get shy, yet here his sweet cherub is, shying away from his piercing eyes. He bets if he felt her face he would feel the heat on them. “I have to ask though, my little cherub, why did you come to me?”
She became serious, staring right into his eyes. “Because God commanded it.”
“What does God want to do with me? Out of all the people in this world, he chose me?” A pained look crossed her face and she walked over to him, kneeling in front of him like he was her God. Her hands ran up his arms, goosebumps rising at the pass of her hands. He almost stopped breathing - he could feel her hand on his left arm. He hasn’t felt anything with that hand since he fell of that train.
Hands still rising, she cups his face with both hands, making him look into her eyes. “You don’t think you deserve to be saved.” It wasn’t a question. She knew. “That is why he sent me. He sent me because you deserve it. You deserve to let go.” At that moment, Bucky broke down. Sobbing uncontrollably, somehow without pain in his fresh wound.
She pulls him into her, wrapping her arms around him. His face buried in her neck, arms clutching her back. She hesitates for a second, no one having touched her wings in thousands of years, yet she cocoons him with them, shielding him from the world. It only makes Bucky cry harder, her wings holding every bit of softness he thought they would. The comfort she brings unlike any other he experienced before.
Her arms rub his back as she coos to him. Soft words spoken into his hair. “Shh, my love, I’m here. Nothing bad will ever happen to you again. I will die before I let that happen.” The conviction in her tone sets him off more, unable to comprehend someone would do that for him without a second thought. A being, older than he can even fathom, is ready to give it all away for a mesley human. A speck of dust in her life. His entire existence no longer than a second when compared to hers.
That’s how it was for a while, Bucky’s sweet cherub staying with him. At night she would wrap her wings around him, keeping him safe. Bucky knows that her powers are the reason his nightmares are gone. At first he was glad that he could finally sleep, but then the guilt crept in. Why should he be allowed to forget the horrors he committed? Their families didn’t get that condolence. 
When he told her this she wasn’t having any of it, wings jerking in annoyance. It was something that he picked up on, how when she experienced emotions her wings would move in different ways, always giving her away. 
“I swear, my love, you’re going to make my wings turn gray with all this. I have lived a long life, longer than you can comprehend, so when I tell you that I have seen the best and the worst of this world, I mean it. And you, my love, are a good man. There is a reason God sent me to you.” Her wings surrounded him and he felt himself relax. “There is no quest to send you on, no mission that the world hangs in the balance of. It’s just you. A man who needs to see the good in himself.” Bucky hangs his head in shame, not meeting her eyes.
“You think your purpose is suffering for the things you couldn’t control? My purpose is to save you. My love,” she cups his face in her hands, wiping away the tears he didn’t know had formed, “I have done far worse things in my life. Horrific things, yet I’m here right now, with you. Please, let me take your pain away.”
None of this was easy for Bucky. No one has ever had their sole purpose be him. Back in the forties he took care of Steve, he stepped up when his father left. When he was no longer the Winter Soldier, Steve helped him, but Steve’s care never felt like this. Bucky knows that he’s fallen in love with her. He knows that she knows, but what he doesn’t know is if she feels the same.
What he doesn’t know is that she is fighting the same battle, the feeling of love is one she has never had before. It all came to a head one night, Bucky wrapped in her wings, her head on his chest. “Cherub?” She felt the vibrations in his chest.
“Yes, my love.”
“You said that we could be together for the rest of my life, right?” She did say that when he was worried that she would leave him after her mission was complete.
“I did.” One thing about her is that she never gave long answers to questions, not used to having to talk with humans.
“What happens when I die? Where will I go? I want you to be there with me.”
She sighed, thinking about how to convey her words properly. “When you die… you’ll go to heaven. It has already been decided. If you choose, when you go, I will be there with you for the rest of our existence, but you don’t have to make a decision now. My body will age with yours, follow you to the end of your life. When your time comes, we will leave and go to heaven where we will both be young again.”
Without hesitation Bucky answers, “I want that. I want you to be with me for the rest of eternity.” There was no doubt in his mind. Even though he met her a few months ago, he knew. “I have to ask, what is heaven like?”
She sits up a bit, shifting to lay on his chest, wings still cocooning them, keeping them in their own little bubble. “There is no one heaven. Not everyone who ever went there is in the same place. Heaven is made up of small pockets of personal heavens. People who lost their loved ones meet again, your happiest memories are relived, there is no pain or sorrow, you can have anything you want.”
Bucky felt the pull of his chest, emotion bubbling up. “Is my ma there? And Becca?” The words come out thick, a lump forms in Bucky’s throat. “Please, don’t lie to me.”
She looks into his eyes. “Yes, they are. They’re together and they’re waiting for you. I have seen them myself, right before I left to meet you. They talk very highly of you, my love.”
Tears fall from his face, the pain in his chest all the time at the greatest loss of his life eased slightly. “Can I talk to them?” He knows it's a long shot, but if there is a chance he wants it.
“I’m so sorry, my love, but I can’t. Even I don’t have the power to do that. If I could, I would.” A pained whine leaves his lips. “Hey, you know who is waiting for you too?” She waits a beat before speaking anyway. “Your dog from when you were a kid. He’s in his prime, always will be. His days are spent chasing rabbits around the yard.”
“Balto’s up there too?” A small smile graced his face, crows feet appearing by his eyes.
“Yeah. If it is any consolation, time passes differently up there. The longing you feel right now for them, they feel the same only it’s made easier by us.” Bucky only nods, staring into her eyes, seeing nothing but truth. His eyes flicker to her lips and back up. “You can, my love, I want you to.”
That was all Bucky needed to hear. Gently cupping her cheek, he guided her lips to his. There was no rush, no sense of urgency. They had all the time in the world and then some. Bucky never felt anything this good in his life and he was only kissing her. When she licked his lips, he opened mouth without a thought, brain clouded with love just for her. 
He moaned into the kiss, the feeling of her tongue on his incredible. At his sound, Bucky felt her wings flutter under him. Breaking the kiss, he giggled. Bucky actually giggled. She reared her head back, slightly affronted by his laugh when she just kissed him.
“I’m sorry, my little cherub, it’s just that your wings tickled me.” She huffs and a second later, her wings are gone the only sign they were ever out is the small black feather on the bed. “No, cherub, don’t put them away. I love them.” She wasn’t really offended, but she wanted to tease him a bit.
Her wings were always out around Bucky, comfortable enough to reveal the most intimate and personal part of herself to him. He was the first human in thousands of years to touch them, but he was the only one to be wrapped in them. The only time they were touched was when a man cut them off her back. It was a time when she trusted humans, not knowing the atrocities they were capable of. 
Her wings were white then, when she was pure and unknowing of the hate humans possessed. God crafted her a new pair. Of course she accepted them, but her feathers turned black, scared she looked to her father. When he said that it was because of the wrongs his creations did, it broke something in her, took away her purity, teaching her a lesson. Father never blamed her for it, he knew she would heal with time. It was part of the reason he sent her to the man she lays in bed with.
Bucky didn’t know this, he didn’t know how much she was betrayed by humans, only for her to trust him and him alone. She playfully glares at him before bringing her wings back out, sitting up on his lap. Gently, more gentle than he has been in years, Bucky reaches out to touch them. She lets him feel them whenever he wants, even wrapping him in them as he sleeps, but this was a completely different setting.
She was so vulnerable at this moment. Her wings flapped, a nervous tick of her’s, making Bucky pull away immediately. “Cherub, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.” She swallows before meeting his eyes.
“It’s not that I don’t want you to touch them. It’s just that only one other human has touched them. There was a time where I was naive and innocent, not knowing what humans were capable of.” She pauses and Bucky sits up, back against the headboard and laces his fingers with hers, feeling the softness on his metal hand.
“It was a man, he had a family, a kid and a wife. They struggled to survive, trading their valuables for a slice of bread. Father sent me to help them, take away their sorrows. Said he was an honest man trying to make an honest living.” Bucky senses where her story is going, hoping that it doesn’t end the way he fears, but the pain in her eyes is palpable, a human emotion angels almost never experience.
He waits for her to continue, not forcing her to speak. “At first, they were grateful, having everything they needed. They had their health, food on the table, but the man grew greedy. He wanted more. One day, as I was watching his child in a field, keeping her safe from the horrors of the world, he snuck behind me with a sword he got from a blacksmith, sharper than any blade. He-he cut my wings right off my back.”
Tears fell from her eyes, not having relived that moment for thousands of years. Bucky felt his heart physically ache. She was sent to heal him, but it was his turn to do the same. “You know, my wings used to be white?” She looks into his eyes, red with tears. “When he hurt me, Father took me back to heaven, crafting me another pair. They were white but when he gave them to me, they turned black.”
A whine leaves her lips and Bucky pulls her into him, careful not to touch her wings. “Oh, my sweet little cherub, I’m here and I won’t let anyone hurt you again. I’ve never felt as content as I have with you, never so happy and I will do anything to keep you safe. I love you, no matter what you have done, I’ll still love you.” This only made her cry harder. Human emotions were foreign to her, but spending so much time with Bucky caused her to develop them. It was almost overwhelming, going from not having anything to having so much fill her body.
“Father said that it was because the man took my innocence, showed me the evil of the world. I’ve never seen him apologize for anything, yet that day he was broken, realizing that his creations, even the ones he thought were good, are capable of unspeakable atrocities. They will never turn white again because I’m ruined.” Tears welled up in Bucky’s eyes. His sweet cherub thinking she is anything less than perfect breaks his heart.
“My cherub, you saved me, now let me do the same for you. Let me heal you like you have me.” Leaning back slightly, she took his hands in her own, drawing them up her waist to her back, moving them to touch her wings. At his touch, she gasped, eyes closing forcing more tears to cascade down her face. The feeling of his gentle hands, hands that have done so much harm, resting on the most violated part of her body was something she never thought would happen.
She didn’t know she could love until she met Bucky, finally placing a word to the indescribable warmth that spreads throughout her body every time she thinks of him. “I love you too, my love. Forever and ever, til you die, til the end of time, in heaven and on earth.” They were both crying, neither experiencing the tenderness of love before.
He brings her down, kissing her with as much passion as he possibly could, tasting the mixture of both of their tears. Her arms clutching onto him, trying to get closer. He did the same, one hand running across her wings like he was trying to wash away the taint of betrayal his kind caused. 
Shifting on his lap, she feels the bulge of his cock, half hard pressed up against her. Gasping, she pulls away. “Cherub, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean, it just-.” She silences him with her lips, drawing a groan from him, subconsciously grinding down onto him. “Cherub, we have to stop, I don’t want to take advantage of you. You’re vulnerable right now, I can’t do that to you.”
Her hips stutter on his. “My love, I want to, I need to. Need to be closer to you, please grant me this.” His hands run up and down her sides, soothing the heat of her skin.
“Any time you want to stop, or don’t like something, you tell me. Okay? This is about me showing you how perfect you are.” She nods, kissing him one more time. Bucky’s hands slide up her shirt, resting on her soft skin, palms feeling the goosebump under his touch. Looking up at her for permission to take her shirt off, she nods.
Bucky did that with every piece of clothing, every move he made. Soon they were both naked, her wings splayed out on the bed, twitching in a way he never saw before - arousal. “My, my love, I have to tell you something.” He pulls his eyes away from her wings to look into her eyes. “I’ve never done this before. Angels, we don’t do this, I don’t know what to feel right now.” 
Hands cupping her cheeks, he smiles at her, relaxing into his touch. “Do you feel safe?” She nods. “Do you feel like you have to do this for me?” She shakes her head. “Do you want me to please you?” She nods once again. “We don’t have to do anything with this,” he gestures to his throbbing erection. 
“I want to, I just need you to show me what to do.” The thought that she trusts him enough to take care of her makes his cock pulse, aching for some type of relief.
“Let me make you feel good, okay? All you have to do is lay back and tell me how it feels.” She nods her head in understanding, worries slowly fading away. He kisses down her body, taking the time to swirl his tongue around his sensitive nipples, grinning at the small gasp it draws from his cherubs lips.
Going further down, his face is right in front of her pussy, smelling her intoxicating scent. “Keep your eyes on me, cherub.” She gulps. For a minute, Bucky just stares at her pussy, breathing her in, memorizing how wet she is before his tongue flicks out onto her clit. 
“Oh, that feels good. Can you do it again?” She was so sweet, asking so kindly for him to deliver her pleasure.
“Of course I can.” And with that, Bucky dives into her pussy, restraining himself from devouring her. He groans into her cunt, already addicted to her taste, the moans she lets out are soft and breathy, yet it’s one of the most beautiful things he's ever heard, only competition being her laugh.
“My love, I don’t, what is happening to me?” Bucky pulls away from her cunt, reaching up to lace their hands together. 
“Just let that feeling wash over you. It’s okay, I’ll catch you when you fall, I’m here.” He goes right back to her pussy, lapping her juices up, eyes boring into hers. She was twitching on the bed, hips bucking up to meet his tongue. Bucky chuckles when he sees her wings flap, not knowing what to do with the pleasure coursing through her.
Her orgasm comes as a surprise to her, never experiencing one before, nor knowing what they were. Her eyes shoot open, wings beating wildly, body almost convulsing on the soft sheets. Bucky pulls away, not trying to overstimulate her. He almost cums at the sight of her, it was the most beautiful thing he has ever seen.
It takes her a while, but she comes down, wings falling limp on the bed as Bucky crawls up her body, resting in between her legs. “My love, what was that? I thought I was about to die.” 
Barking out a laugh, Bucky leans down. “That was an orgasm, sweet cherub. How did it feel?” She whines, not able to put what she felt into words.
“Like nothing I have ever felt before. It was incredible.” Her eyes close. Bucky is perfectly happy to hold her, not caring about his own orgasm, but her eyes shoot open, wide and curious. “Can you have one, too?”
Another laugh leaves him. “Yes, cherub, I can. It’s a little different from yours though.” Her eyes squint in confusion, clearly not understanding what could be different. “Well, for one, what I have looks a little different to yours, doesn’t it?” She nods. Bucky never thought he would be giving “The Talk” to an angel, but here he was. “When I have an orgasm, stuff comes out of this tip, right here.” He grabs his cock to show her. 
“Can I see it? How do I make you do that?” It was Bucky’s turn to be surprised. 
“Cherub, you don’t have to do that.” Her glare is enough to make Bucky continue. “Um, there are a few different ways. I could put it inside of you, that feels good for you too.”
“In where?” Bucky huffs, not in annoyance, but this talk is turning him off. Not that he’s mad at that, but the conversation feels like talking to a child, someone who hasn’t experienced anything sexual and it wasn’t exactly turning him on, it felt wrong to have this talk naked.
“In this hole right under where I was touching you. There is another one under that, but it’s different from the other. Or your mouth, but also a hand. Pretty much anything that could rub against that area.” Bucky felt his cheeks heat up. His cock was going soft right in front of her eyes.
“Can I do one? I want to see you orgasm.” Her eyes were so bright and eager, he couldn’t say no to his cherub. He nods, only for her to glance down at his soft cock. “Why is it smaller now? I think it’s kind of cute.”
This has to be the most embarrassing thing that has ever happened to him. No woman has ever called his dick cute, or made a comment on its size when soft. He gets compliments on how big he is when he’s hard, but soft is a different story. He’s a grower not a shower. He has to admit, his encounter is damaging his ego a bit. “It gets bigger when I’m aroused, but if it’s not touched it gets softer.” He’s lying straight through his teeth, he can stay hard for hours without touching his dick.
“If you touch it, it gets big again.” She switches positions, having him on his back, resting between his legs, face right next to his cock. He feels himself twitch and she jerks her head in surprise, giggling at her own reaction. She begins to almost pet him, it feels good but not what he needs.
He reaches down, guiding her hand to gather the precum at his tip, slowly pulling it back down, tightening her grip on his dick. “Oh, wow, it’s getting bigger. It’s so hard.” Her amazement at something so simple as a dick getting hard is endearing. 
Bucky grunts when he twists her hand. “I liked that sound.” Her words make him groan again, cock all the way hard. His hips buck into her hand and he lets her hand go, trusting her to keep her pace. It’s slow but firm, driving him insane. He wants her to go faster, harder, but this is about her, letting her discover at her own pace.
“Spit on the tip, it’ll make it easier to move.” She does so without hesitation. Bucky’s head flies back into the headboard, moaning at her soft hands working his cock. “Just like that, cherub, you’re doing so good. This feels incredible.” Bucky meant every word of it. Her hand honestly felt better than the full blown sex he’s had in the past. Maybe it was because he loved her with all his heart, or maybe it was because she was an angel, either way, Bucky didn’t have it in himself to care.
“You look so pretty like this, my love. I love this, making you feel good.” Bucky’s hips pick up speed, feeling his orgasm building up in the base of his cock. 
“Cherub, I’m going to cum. Please keep going just like that.” She figures he means orgasm since he is jerking just like she was. The urge to make him orgasm was almost too much to bear, wanting him to show her how beautiful he was when he lets go. “Oh, cherub, I’m about to, oh fuck.” He moans long and loud, cum spurting out of his tip. She gasps at the force of it but doesn’t let up her pace. She had never seen anything more beautiful than her love in this moment.
He has to stop her, not knowing that he needed a break. “Love, I want to make you do that again.” She scoops some of his cum off his stomach with her finger and just stares at it.
“You can taste it if you’d like.” She eagerly licks her fingers, eyes bulging at his taste, dropping down to lick the rest of it off his body. “Come here, cherub.” He pulls her into a kiss, tasting himself on her tongue. He pulls the cover over their bodies, her wings instinctively wrapping around him.
“Thank you, my love, for always taking care of me. I was sent to save you, yet I feel that it’s the other way around.” Bucky doesn’t think so. He knows that she saved him. They fall asleep together and in the morning they will find that her wings are just a bit lighter than the night before.
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astrophileous · 7 months
Note
currently i just keep thinking of derek talking to little bug while bug is still pregnant and bug thinking it's hilarious but also adorable
OMFG yesss hear me out, I personally think derek persuades bug to move in with him as soon as she comes out of the hospital because her place is trashed during the investigation of her kidnapping (at least that was the excuse derek gave, even tho everyone knows he just wants her around 24/7) and since THAT FIRST NIGHT he's been doing this
Love Bugs Masterlist / Criminal Minds Masterlist
You awoke to the sound of gentle whispers against your stomach.
This wasn't the first time that it had happened. You had been waking up in the middle of the night to Derek murmuring things to your belly. The first time it occurred, you kept your eyes shut throughout the whole thing, discreetly listening to the conversation Derek was having with the baby. At first, you thought the whole ordeal was a one-time occurrence, until it had happened again the next night, and the next night, and the next night after that.
This time, it was no different.
"Hey, Little Bug," Derek said softly. "Just checking in. How ya doin'?"
You clenched your jaw to keep the laughter at bay.
Waves of cool air from the AC flowed against the skin of your abdomen, courtesy of Derek rolling your night shirt up to expose the bump that had grown even bigger in the last couple of weeks. You could feel his large hands cupping your belly, seemingly trying to coax a movement from the baby despite Spencer previously telling him that he wouldn't feel anything for at least another month.
"I'm just making sure you're doing okay in there," Derek continued. "Now, I know you've been through a lot for such a small bug, and I know it wasn't easy what you've gone through. But I just wanna say how proud I am that you held your ground through it all."
Your heart stirred at Derek's statement.
"Stay strong and healthy in there, Little Bug. Just gotta hang on there for a few more months and you'll be out in the world. Once you're here, I promise, you won't need to fight for anything else 'cause I'll do that for you. There's a whole lotta people here who can't wait to meet you. Me and your Mama, we can't wait to meet you. So you hang on tight, alright?"
Derek peppered dozens of tiny kisses on your belly. The scracthy sensation of his stubble made your abdomen constrict involuntarily.
"You know," Derek's voice suddenly erupted, "it's rude to eavesdrop in a private conversation."
You opened your eyes to see Derek staring mischievously right at you.
"As long as this baby is still inside of me, privacy is sadly a privilege you can't have, Derek."
Your reply earned an impish grin from him.
"You hear that, Little Bug? That's your Mama for you. A very sneaky--"
"Hey!"
"--impatient--"
"You know I can hear you, right?"
"--and hot-headed woman. But God, if she isn't the most gorgeous thing I've ever seen."
A stealthy smile slipped onto your lips. "You're trying to sweet talk me, Derek?"
"I'm tryna teach our child to appreciate their Mama's beauty." Derek grinned.
Unable to resist the flutters in your stomach anymore, you pulled Derek closer with the collar of his T-shirt before connecting your lips in a deep kiss. His hand creeped up your waist with a touch that burned your body to its core. When the two of you finally pulled apart for air, the fire you saw inside Derek's eyes was unmistakable.
"Hey, Little Bug," Derek said, bending himself down so he was leveled with your belly once more. "I'll get back to you in a sec, yeah? Me and your Mama got some important business to attend to."
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tswwwit · 2 months
Text
Cult Part Four, coming at ya! Here's parts One, Two, and Three for reference.
Bill’s patience is running out. 
Dipper can see the way his eye narrows from across the room. His tapping fingers hit a frustrated staccato, rather than an idle bored beat.
Any moment now he’s going to act. There’s no preventing it; only enduring. Dipper hunches down in his seat. 
Hopefully it won’t end up as bad as last time.
“Boring!” Bill shouts. He throws his arms in the air before slumping down dramatically on the couch. “Are you really gonna spend all your time reading?”
And there it is.
Dipper watches Bill for a deliberately long moment, then turns back to his book. 
Unfortunately, for Bill, yes, that is how Dipper’s going to spend his time. After the last debacle, he knows better than to ‘go with the flow’, as Bill so annoyingly put it. 
“I get that you’re quiet for respectable enough reasons, but do you gotta be a homebody while you’re at it?” Bill rolls onto his stomach, chin braced in his palm. “What about all the other entertainment around? Our little outing the other day was way more interesting.” Without looking up, Dipper gives him a thumbs down. And though Bill makes a derisive sound, he doesn’t argue. 
That’s as good as admitting Dipper was right. One more day without horrifying demonic escapades in the nightmare realm, and a personal win.
What’s good for the demon… isn’t nearly as good for squishier, more mortal beings. Annoying as it is for Bill, he knows that as well as Dipper does.
Which is likely why he’s not pushing it. 
Even he has to admit that the outing didn’t go great. Keeping his human captive alive must be worth a little boredom.
That ‘fun little tour of the Fearamid, to ‘show you around the place!’ was supposed to be easy. As if wandering around a physics-defying realm is a walk in the park. One filled with hundreds of overpowered monsters who think  ‘mortal’ is a synonym for ‘snack’. 
Even if Bill had advertised it as a trainwreck, it couldn’t possibly have gone more off the rails.
To Bill’s credit, his infinite power did keep the slavering hordes at bay. They were on their best behavior. It’s just that their ‘best’ behavior is barely human-adjacent.
The day ended with Dipper somewhat more informed, miraculously unharmed, and only shaking a little. Getting all the ash and viscera off took three rounds of laundry and two baths. 
Bill, of course, laughed nearly the whole time.
So yeah. Dipper’s not going out again anytime soon. Eventually he’ll have to, if he wants to go anywhere but the apartment - but he wants to get way better at magic first.
Unfortunately for Bill, that means waiting. And he hates waiting.
Another long, bored groan from the couch. A quick glance shows Bill practically melting off it onto the floor. Torso dangling, arm draped along the carpet.  
More dramatics. Typical Bill. It’s not serious and Dipper doesn’t need to placate him. He has to remember that.
Instead, he stares at the text in front of him. Concentrating on it is a lost cause, but it’s better than meeting Bill’s eye. That just makes him uncomfortable.
It’s just. 
Like, he can understand if having a guest sit around the house all the time is a bit boring. Bill’s used to higher stakes. More excitement, and explosions. 
But Bill’s also a hypocrite, because Dipper’s absolutely caught him with his nose stuck in a volume or six of dense magical literature. He just shoves them under the couch cushions and pretends he was doing something cooler. 
There’s a billion ways Bill could entertain himself, and ninety-nine point nine repeating percent of those options don’t require some random human to be involved. He could run off into any distant realm of reality. Pull some pranks in another galaxy, bamboozle some head of state on a random planet. And if he didn’t want to go out, he could stick around and torment some demons in the Fearamid.
Nothing is making him bring Dipper along for the ride. Hell, if he’s that desperate for this specific company, he could try out some peace and quiet. Sit on the couch, whip out a book, and spend time reading. All he has to do is stop putting up a front for like, five seconds.
Dipper watches as Bill slowly oozes onto the floor, about as liquid as a presumably flesh-and-bone demon shape can be. 
Yeah. No way Bill’s going for the last one. But that’s not Dipper’s fault. 
Seeing him sulk is kinda reassuring. Any time Bill spends complaining is time he’s not concocting a devious ploy, or taking up his hobbies of conquest or slaughter.
Best of all, it means this has nothing to do with Dipper. Aside from being convenient to complain at.
Because Dipper is special. He’s there for a reason. 
In the fullness of time, he’ll be tangled up in some complicated, demonic scheme. Designed for him by fate, and handled by a master of machinations. He’s been waiting for the other shoe to drop for a while - but apparently it’s not happening today.
Right now Bill’s just being obnoxious. Just like every other day that ends in ‘y’.
Judging by his slumped position, Bill also doesn’t look like he’s getting up anytime soon. Maybe…
‘What’s wrong?’ Dipper traces the letters with his finger. A thin glowing line left behind in its wake.
He’s still learning the hand gesture language, with a limited vocabulary, but he already knows how to write. Learning a little illusion magic has been useful, and Bill wasn’t even a jerk about it. Much.
The words hover in midair, alight with white-blue light. Dipper waits for a few seconds, then frowns.
The downside of writing to Bill is that he has to see it to respond. The big sulky demon god is too busy contemplating the pile on the carpet to pay attention.
Dipper’s frown turns into a glare. 
A snap of his fingers makes a bright burst of light, sharp as a flashbang. Bill jerks up from his liquid position like he was never out of shape.
“What’s up, sapling?” Bill rolls onto his side to lounge, head propped up on one raised arm. Likely aiming for suave, but with his legs still on the couch it just looks stupid. “Are you as bored as I am?”
“No,” Dipper writes, then again, “What’s wrong?”
“Pfft, nothing! Don't be ridiculous.” Bill says, letting his legs slide down to join him on the floor. “I got everything under control here.”
That’s ominous. Dipper didn’t even imply that something might be out of control.
“What-” Dipper continues. Then hesitates. “You seem antsy.”
Bill snorts. Though Dipper knows he doesn’t have any trouble reading backwards script, he doesn’t offer a reply.
Not helpful. Classic Bill. And he’s avoiding the question. Dipper slumps in his seat. 
Trying to make Bill admit there’s a problem won’t work. He could spend a million years on that quest and still get evaded.
With that in mind, Dipper taps his foot on the floor a few times. Redirection, then. He tries, “Who messed up?”
“Ha!” Bill claps once, grin resuming its rightful place. “Astutely observed, sapling. You wouldn’t believe the amount of incompetence I gotta deal with on the daily.”
Dipper nods in sympathy, rolling his eyes when Bill’s not looking. Then he sits back, an audience for the oncoming speech. 
“You’d think that one simple request wouldn’t be tough to pull off.” Rising to his feet, Bill tucks his arms behind his back and starts pacing. “But no! Apparently the losers for hire these days take over two weeks to manage one tiny,” He pinches his fingers together. “Itsy bitsy little request! Even with encouragement!”
Dipper raises an eyebrow.
The type of ‘encouragement’ Bill typically offers would light a fire under anyone’s ass. The fact that it hasn’t says a lot.
For a short while, Bill simply paces back and forth. He looks like he’s about to say something, glancing at Dipper - then he turns away, eye narrowed. “I hate waiting.”
Yeah, no kidding. All evidence points to Dipper getting the most patient version of this creature, when others barely get seconds to respond. He punched him in the face and he’s still around to tell the tale.
Other beings aren’t so lucky. Even for minor infractions, or just ‘looking funny’ at him. 
Dipper should know. He scraped plenty of their viscera off the other day.
Writing something to placate Bill would get him huffy. Asking a question… Dipper has a sense that he’d deflect. If Bill wanted to go into greater detail, nothing would stop him from spilling the beans.
So instead of any of that, Dipper smiles. 
Like always, Bill responds with one of his own. Everything about him brightens, like flipping a switch.
“Eh, whatever. It’s no big deal!” Sauntering over, Bill leans against the back of the chair. His arm dangles down to brush the back of Dipper’s head. “Word is they’re finally done with the job. Should be here any day now!”
Bill’s playing a bit with Dipper’s hair, but he doesn’t come any closer. Not because he doesn’t want to, but because the high back of the chair prevents him. 
Tough luck for Bill. This seat is comfy and all, but Dipper really picked it because it made it hard for him to loom.
Disobeying his god’s will is, of course, blasphemous, insolent, and absolutely forbidden.
But Bill doesn’t care. And frankly - Dipper doesn’t care much anymore, either. 
Making Bill work for what he wants feels right. Appropriate. 
Every time Bill runs right into a roadblock, watching him grumble and scheme his way around it is honestly kinda fun. Giving Bill something to work around seems to entertain him, and for Dipper - it almost feels righteous to thwart him. He’s kind of getting the hang of it. aside from the occasional burst of guilt.
Overall, Dipper’s really, really glad he read all those books.
The mini-library in the guest room has been an amazing resource. Not only for magic, but for the Fearamid, and monsters. It’s helped him brush up on his Latin and learn a bunch of spells.
He also learned that Bill probably didn’t stock these for him. No, these were there well before Dipper ever showed up. 
Though Bill tries to hide it, he likes books. The guest room ones wouldn’t be of much interest; the magical material’s too basic for him to care. Of course Bill would have flipped through them anyway, but if anything truly bothered him, he’d have pruned the collection, merely for his pride.
But Bill either didn’t notice - or didn’t care - about the anecdotes.
Sprinkled in those studious texts are dozens of tiny notes. Between every monster examination, or explanation of a complicated magical theory, there are mentions of Bill himself. A sentence scribbled in the margins, or a short paragraph explaining how Bill ‘thought it was stupid’ or ‘helped with this part’. All written with a steady, studious hand.
There’s nothing about Bill’s powers, or his domains. No sense of any weaknesses or strengths. Some anecdotes are a little funny, some a little strange, but for any academic or enemy purposes they’d barely be worth reading.
To Dipper, they’ve been absolutely invaluable. 
They speak volumes about Bill’s personality. 
That’s totally critical information if you have to deal with the demon himself. Reading between the lines revealed traits Dipper never learned in sermons. 
How Bill loves a good joke. How he’s temperamental, but easygoing as long as he thinks he’s in charge. The kinds of things one can get away with, if they’re clever. All of it written with absolute confidence, oozing a type of exasperated affection that leaps off the page.
Someone lived in that room before. A human. A guy who knew Bill, who did tons of fascinating stuff - and that guy got away with way more defiance than is rational or reasonable. 
Though that must have been centuries ago. The books are really old. 
There’s a low hum behind him. Dipper can feel the chair rock a bit, as Bill either tests its balance - or whether he can rip the back off, in service of more efficient human-bothering.
Another one of Bill’s personality traits. One Dipper could have guessed by himself.
He loves being the center of attention.
“Hmmm,” Bill hums again, stalking around Dipper with a contemplative look. Circling much like sharks are said to, though thankfully without the testing bites. Treating this more like a puzzle than an act of defiance.
Looks like the chair is giving him some trouble. Even though he offered to create the seat since Dipper wouldn’t join him on the couch. If anything he’s at fault for making it an option. 
With a huff, Dipper shifts until his back is pressed against the cushion. Bill pauses in his circling to inspect the new position, tilting his head. 
Once Dipper saw a video of a tiger in its cage, rolling a pumpkin filled with raw meat. It seemed like it was having a lot of fun, batting it around and biting into the flesh. 
Bill might not mind some defiance, if it serves a similar purpose. 
Before Dipper can wonder what amount of it fits the - well, bill - he’s interrupted by a foot stomping on the seat.
Dipper claps the book shut. Leaning away, he stares at the leg beside him. 
Bill’s taken his shoe off and stepped right onto his chair. His three-eyed monkey-patterned sock, toes wiggling, trying to nudge itself under Dipper’s thigh. 
What the hell is this supposed to accomplish? Dipper glares upwards at a bright, bold grin. 
“What’s the big deal? It’s my chair, technically speaking!” Bill winks with his single eye, tenuously balanced as he barges into Dipper’s personal space. His foot finds a weak place and slips between Dipper’s thigh and the cushion. “Scoot your cute butt and make some space.” 
It’s a big deal because it’s rude, for one. And second, Dipper’s not scooting anywhere. 
Drawing his legs up in an attempt to kick Bill’s out fails spectacularly. A whole calf gets wedged underneath him. Bill’s straddling the arm of the chair, his idiot bulky leg nearly shoving Dipper out of it. 
Shoving him back just makes him laugh. And work harder.
It’s a tense ten, maybe twenty seconds of squirming struggle. No matter how Dipper tries to use balance or leverage, he ends up with more inches of Bill underneath him. 
This is ridiculous. Bill has an entire couch to himself. He can make furniture appear and disappear out of nowhere. If he wants a damn chair, he could just create one.
But. That’s not the point, is it?
He wants Dipper’s seat because he’s not allowed to have it. The desirability is directly tied to the difficulty of obtaining it, with a side of annoying a human to boot. Dipper could be lying on a bed of nails and Bill would still tip him out, just to get his kicks.
He’s not even sitting in the chair at this point, merely hovering while using the arm for balance. Trying to plop back down would land him more on Bill than on cushion. 
Screw it. Dipper cedes his position with as much dignity as possible. Standing up tugging the rolled-up flannel sleeves down his arms. 
The newest conquest of Bill Cipher: One seat in the living room. Dipper hopes he’s real happy about it.
Funny thing though. In the process, he left his own throne unguarded. 
Dipper stalks towards the couch - he doesn’t like the material it’s made of, but it’s either make a point or start huffing off to his own room - 
Only to be hauled right back in. 
The grip on his hips is firm and fast enough that Dipper doesn’t have time to resist. Butt hits thigh, then gets tugged further back until he’s fully, unquestionably, in Bill’s lap.
He just got out of the chair. Bill had won. What the hell. 
Dipper gives him an incredulous look, and Bill responds with a big, self-satisfied smile.
“Well, well, well,” Bill says, dripping smugness so thick that Dipper could wipe it off in globs. “Look what we have here.”
The only reply he’s getting for that is a grunt. While this isn’t the first dumb stunt Bill’s pulled, Dipper knows better than to react. It only eggs him on.
Of all the people Dipper’s met, Bill Cipher is by far the most touchy. The closest runnerup is a few lightyears away. 
Even now, his arms loop loosely around Dipper’s waist, patting him on the side. He’s warm and close, in an alive way, not like a warm bed or a shower, or even a seat that was sat in before. 
It’s… not unpleasant. Not exactly. Dipper shifts around, trying to settle into his new ‘seat’ on Bill’s thighs. It’s just - 
Damn it, he doesn’t know what it is. Touching someone else isn’t bad, Dipper has to admit that - but it makes him too aware of himself. Feeling every way he positions his arms, or moves his weight. Like remembering he can breathe manually, with an extra uneasy sense that someone might catch him in the act.
Bill’s unbothered. But basically nothing bothers him. He’s chummy and touchy and weird, the concept of ‘guilt’ might not even fit in his head.
Something about Bill just... Makes Dipper think too much. Makes him weirdly restless.  Like he’s doing something wrong - but also like he’s totally going to get away with it. A tense energy that builds slowly over time, until he either has to escape, or like. Explode or something.
It’s probably Bill’s magic. He should rein that in better. It’s far too strong to dunk an entire human in all the time. 
“Ah, ease up already.” Bill says, clapping Dipper’s thigh with a startling motion, squeezing him just above the knee. “You still got a seat, only it’s better.” His voice grows quieter, close to Dipper’s ear. “Don’tcha like it?”
His breath is warm. It tickles. Dipper barely avoids slapping him in the rush to cover his neck. 
Which doesn’t bother Bill. In fact, he laughs. Dipper has a sneaking suspicion that even if he had smacked him, he’d be outright cackling, because again, total weirdo.
Across the room, there’s a wordless, agonized scream. 
Dipper nearly leaps upright, kept in place only by an instantly tightened grip. Bill snaps towards the sound, looking surprised.
Ah, right. The doorbell. 
That goddamn sound. Even when Dipper knows what it is, the temptation to run for cover is as strong as the first time.
“Oh for - “ Bill draws a hand down his face. “Had to be right now, didn’t it.” His leg jogs in place as Dipper tries to get up. “Hey, hey, hold up! Where do you think you’re going?”
Off his lap, duh. With someone at the door, Bill has to get up anyway. Not that he’s making it easy. 
Dipper takes the initiative to pry himself away - or attempts to, until Bill clamps back down without even looking at him. 
This is getting ridiculous. He can’t hang on to one human forever.
When the doorbell screams again, Bill looks downright sour. 
“Ughhh.” Bill groans, standing without warning. It nearly topples Dipper over. “Yeah, yeah, hang on, will ya?”
Giving Dipper a brief pat on the small of his back, Bill stomps over to the door. Another scream rings through the penthouse, then again, the sounds overlapping.
Freedom. Finally. Out of sheer pettiness, Dipper drops down to reclaim his rightful seat. 
Still, he’s curious. 
From this position he can’t quite see the doorway. Only the sight of Bill’s back, storming towards it.
There haven’t been many visitors. When Bill wants demon interaction, he heads outside the apartment. The only other time someone rang the doorbell, they brought some big weird box Bill grabbed before kicking the delivery guy to the curb. 
Yet another interesting fact, filed away in his personal Bill folder. That he gets deliveries. He doesn’t make everything out of nothing. Maybe he can’t.
Which means even in his own personal realm, Bill Cipher isn’t totally omnipotent. Another knock to his all-powerful status. Not a big one. Bill’s still so close to a god that it might as well not make a difference.
But it does. To Dipper, it does. Knowing that not everything bends to Bill’s will feels…
He’s just glad he’s not alone in that, he guesses.
Off in the distance, Bill opens the door. His frown flips right into a smirk - then he steps outside, and shuts it. 
Probably another package. He looked extra smug about the last one, like he’d been waiting for it for a while. This follows the last one.
Dipper leans over, staying seated. With the door closed he can’t see anything, and if they’re having a conversation, he can’t hear it. 
Secrets. Smugness. The mentions of ‘errands’ earlier, and the waiting - 
Bill’s up to something.
The Grand Plans of Bill Cipher are invisible to those outside his circle. His divine machinations are how he leads his followers and manipulates the masses. All eventually leading together into the Grand Goal: the subjugation of Earth, illuminated eternally under his golden image. 
Though if conquering a world involves internet delivery, it’s a lot less dramatic than it was made out to be.
Dipper lets his head thump back against the seat cushion. 
Not that, then. Something else.
Pretending Bill isn’t up to something would be dumb at best, and Dipper’s not the type to ignore evidence right in front of him. Getting strange deliveries. Rubbing his hands together and cackling to himself, the fact that he’s Bill Cipher - all of it points towards a plan. A poorly hidden, minor one, but still.
None of the scriptures he learned are accurate, according to the god himself -  and Bill’s kept mum about any new escapades. Without clues to go on, all Dipper can do is speculate.
Eventually, Bill will show his hand. An offhand comment, or an extra-bizarre set of actions. Until then, he’ll have to keep an eye out for Bill acting weird. 
Well. Weirder. 
And hope, rather nervously, that he’s not too deeply involved.
Dipper sets the book aside, folding his hands in his lap. He looks back at the door, then over the living room. 
The fireplace in front of him crackles with warmth, typical fire-colored flames lapping up into the nonexistent chimney. The flannel shirt he’s wearing is almost too warm, but he keeps it tucked around him anyway. Under his weight, the chair’s cushions sink around him, sturdy yet soft. Rich and opulent and comfortable.
Despite how strange it is here. How confusing, weird, and occasionally frustrating…
Living with Bill doesn’t suck. 
The other shoe is going to fall at some point. That unpreventable, oncoming disaster. Dipper’s always worried about it, he never won’t be. 
But right here, and right now, he’s…
Not safe. Never safe, not around a god and demon. But maybe close enough to feel that way, sometimes. 
Despite the fact that it’s impossible - if things could stay like this, then -
His thoughts are interrupted by a sudden loud slam. Which is. The door. Right. 
Dipper pries his nails out of the arms of the chair. He shuts his eyes, and lets out a slow, careful breath. He needs to stop flinching, damn it. 
He hears Bill’s cackling laughter rings through the room, loud and bright. Dipper rolls his eyes, leaning back in his seat.
Alright. Time to make some mental notes. 
What’s Bill up to now?
If it’s anything like the last package, he’s going to act all mysterious about it, while also implying Dipper should be very curious and intrigued. Then never answer literally any question and giggle before running away. Both stupid and annoying. 
“Finally! I’ve waited way too long for this,” Bill says. There’s a package wrapped in brown paper, tucked under his arm. He rubs his hands together, looking Dipper over with anticipation. “Paid a pretty penny for it, too.” 
Dipper runs over a slew of options - subtle, hinting. Maybe if he throws in a smile, that’ll sway Bill into spilling a secret….
Fuck it, he’s in a good mood. Dipper just asks. Writing out, “What is that?”
“Oh, you’ll see. You’ll see.” Bill tosses the package aside - it floats in midair - then seizes Dipper by the shoulders. “Get yourself ready, sapling! Cause we’re doing this tonight.” 
What. 
Dipper tries for a smile. He tries to gesture out ‘My what’, and is immediately thwarted as Bill hauls him up from his seat; he grabs onto Bill’s arms so he’ll stop with the shaking. 
Enthusiasm is nice and all, but seriously, what the hell?
The way Bill talks makes it sound like he was in on this. A co-conspirator, who should share his excitement about getting this delivery -  Which wouldn’t be too bad, except he has no idea what’s going on. 
“Aw, don’t make that face,” Bill tuts, chucking him gently under the chin. “Getting all the junk required was a pain to subcontract, lemme tell ya - but wait’ll you see the results! Your surprise is almost ready!”
A surprise. Just for him. How fantastic.
So much for not being involved.
Dragging his feet doesn’t help; Bill’s arm comes around his waist and pushes him along. If he dawdled any harder he might just be picked up.
Getting Bill’s attention fails, because he’s not looking. Gesturing words, writing them - nothing turns his head. He’s laser focused on dragging Dipper up and towards his fate.
No, not ‘fate’. Surprise. 
That could be bad. Really, really bad, or it… could be good. Some surprises are good. That’s within the realm of possibility. 
Who the hell is he kidding. It’s never a good surprise, not even once. 
Bill hums to himself, bright with energy and - now Dipper’s certain - deliberately ignoring the struggling human in his arms. He’s too busy pulling Dipper towards a doorway. One that wasn’t there a minute ago. 
Dipper’s seen this happen before; it’s another part of the penthouse. Leading to a different, unknown part of the Fearamid.
He casts a longing glance back at his chair. Can’t they just do whatever it is in the living room.
“Now, to set the scene-” Bill says, opening the door wide.
Into a dark room, candle-lit. Sconces flicker with fire on the walls, draped red fabric over seats, and at the end - a large, flat mass of stone. Dipper goes very, very still.
“Whoops! Wrong setup.” Bill slams the door shut, flashing a grin at Dipper that entirely fails to be reassuring. He taps the doorknob a couple times. After a moment, he opens it again “Here we go!”
Clutching Bill’s arm tight, nails nearly cutting the fabric - Dipper gets a glimpse of white and black and gold, a bunch of tile - then shuts his eyes and digs in his heels into the carpet. Useless. Pointless. But a small, deliberate act of defiance.
“Not the most dramatic scenery, but eh, whatever.” Bill keeps talking, as casual as if he’d flipped to the wrong photo on his phone. Dipper’s socks skip on the carpet, then slide against the tile as Bill drags him forward. “There’s something to be said for easier clean up!”
Cleanup. 
Dipper clenches his mouth shut, ducking his head and refusing to look. He can’t watch this again. Not ever. He’ll-
“Now stay here, sapling.” Bill pats his back twice, and Dipper hears his shoes clacking on tile as he walks away. “Gotta do some quick concocting, be about five minutes - and then we’re gonna have a great evening!”
Great for who, Dipper wants to ask. He wisely doesn’t. He doesn’t move an inch. 
This is going to be bad.
Bill leaves, still cackling. Dipper stands where he is, eyes shut. Tucking his arms around himself, even though it isn’t cold. 
This entire time, he’s known he was here for a purpose. That living here wasn’t some grand generous gesture, that Bill’s ulterior motive would rear its ugly head. He should have spent more time figuring it out. Learning how to escape it. He has a whole huge list of things and none of them are any goddamn help. 
Bill said he was special. Gods don't grant that adjective without implications. 
What little information he has gleaned isn’t useful. The last time Dipper asked, Bill just looked amused. Closing the distance between them with a slow, dangerous smile, repeating exactly what he said again, low and pleased.
Dipper had to go and sit in his nice quiet room after that. It made him really nervous. Not knowing what’s coming makes him nervous. 
Okay, a lot of things make him nervous, but this time he has very good reasons to feel that way.
Time to think. Get ahead of whatever’s going on, and find a way out. What does Bill want?
It could be he was kidnapped from that particular sect because of… something something magic reasons. Anything could cause it. Maybe something in the ritual. What if whatever it did didn’t just summon Bill, but affected Dipper, now he’s roiling with sacrifice potential, he could -
He grips his wrist, tracing a thumb over the scar.
With the bandages gone and the stitches out, it’s nothing more than a line. Slightly raised from the rest of the skin, pink with healing. 
No. Blood’s not the answer. That’s all staying inside. 
But it is a major magical component, both literally and symbolically. If something else made Dipper weird, it’d show up like antibodies after an infection.
And Bill brought him into a special place for easy cleanup. If anything’s more ominous, Dipper sure as hell can’t think of it. This place with the shining tiles, and the cold floor, full of - 
He hasn’t checked what it’s full of.
Swallowing dryly, Dipper takes in the clean surfaces, the shining tile, and all of the…
Bathtubs?
The one set in the floor is big enough for three people. Two are stuck into the walls, another bent ninety degrees to fit in the corner, and one on the ceiling, of all places. There’s a big, semi-transparent curtain around an alcove containing over eight showerheads. There’s a rubber duckie that has six wings and too many teeth. 
This looks like a bathroom. One weird, physics defying, nonsensical - wait a minute -
On impulse, Dipper scoots over and picks up one of the bottles near the multi-headed shower. He sniffs at the cap.
Yeah. He knows this smell. It’s close enough to put a finger on. In that it’s put finger and palm and annoying arm around Dipper, all the freaking time.
He sets the bottle back down, setting fists on his hips. Glaring at his surroundings doesn’t make them change, but it does make him feel better.
This is Bill’s bathroom.
What kind of evil plan takes place in a bathroom.
Freaking out seems less reasonable and more a waste of time. Easy cleanup - was that literal, or another bad joke? Bill would think that crap was funny.
He breathes in, and then lets it out, slow and careful.
Obviously there’s still a purpose. Probably it’s not great. 
Terror’s just hard to sustain when he’s wondering why Bill needs four different loofahs. His list of awful fates never involved shower gel.
Dipper shuffles back over to the sink - wishing he’d had shoes on, he nearly slips twice - and checks himself in the mirror. 
He looks small and oddly colorful, out of place among the black-white tiling. Standing out like an awkward, human thumb.
Pulling some big, important move here doesn’t seem likely. The aesthetic’s terrible, Bill’d pick somewhere way cooler.
Overall the bathroom is kinda normal - by Bill standards - both fairly humid and warm. The air smells like shampoo and soap, instead of blood and magic. 
Now, the altar room would have made sense. Human sacrifice, demonic soul-devouring, messy blood ritual - it’s a multipurpose setup. Getting dragged in there would have shortened Dipper’s list by a ton. Only to the goriest and most awful fates, but at least it would narrow it down.
Unless… this doesn’t have to do with why he was kidnapped. 
Dipper frowns at his reflection.
Thinking about it, didn’t Bill suggest getting in the tub with him a few days ago? At the time Dipper thought that was a joke. Unless it wasn’t?
All this happened because Bill got a delivery. Something Bill couldn’t make for himself. He’s been planning this for a while, and he was really, really excited about it.
…Bath bombs better not be literal in this place. That’d be a stupid way to die. 
As he stares in the mirror, his reflection looks back. Dipper looks tired, but mostly, kind of exasperated. He sighs, rubbing at his eyes with the heels of both hands. 
Yeah. Bill’s being Bill again.
And honestly? Could be worse. Dipper knows how to deal with a few random deific impulses by now. He can ride this one out, too.
Since Bill isn’t back though…
After that first panicked flight into Bill’s bedroom, Dipper hasn’t seen much of his private stuff. Staying clear of another incident took priority. Now, there’s an opportunity to investigate.
A close sweep reveals zero secrets, other than Bill using like, ten different skin products and a stupid amount of hair ones. The sharpest object in the entire place is a bunch of toothpicks and nail products. There isn’t even a razor in here. 
In the middle of wondering how to bathe in the Rube Goldberg machine that passes for a shower, he hears the door open again.
“Here we are!” Bill says brightly. “Didja miss me? Admit it, you missed me.”
Dipper spins around with a start, socks skidding, and meets one of the biggest grins he’s ever seen. Which is saying something. 
“No time to waste! I’ve got a whole evening laid out for us.” Bill says. He gestures in the air with a thin glass syringe. “And it all starts with this.”
Light glints off an absurdly large needle, thinned to an impossibly sharp point. The glass underneath swirls in a sickening cloud of grey-green fluid, dotted with tiny rainbow sparkles. Actually, the shower might not be good for bathing, but could be a good place to hide. There’s a lot of things to grab onto when someone tries to drag you back out.
“Hey hey hey!” Bill snags him by the waistband before he moves more than an inch. Almost like he anticipated the retreat. “Don’t get your knickers in a twist, kid. This is gonna be great! You’ll love it!”
Dipper shakes his head rapidly. He makes an X with his arms. Neither of which stop Bill from pulling him in with relentless strength and terrible amusement.
Running’s off the table. Squirming away from Bill hasn’t worked literally any time he’s tried it, either - but that’s no reason to quit now. Even with Bill grunting and swearing as limbs flail and sorta-maybe accidentally on purpose get him in the gut, if Dipper can get to a faucet and make everything wet that’ll make it harder to hold-
“Calm down, Pine Tree.” Bill says, then sighs as Dipper’s elbow collides with his chest. “Don’t you want your tongue back?”
He’s got to -
What?
It’s surprising enough that Dipper stops. A little too fast, maybe; he should have toed his socks off earlier. If Bill weren’t holding onto him, his face might have hit the floor.
“Ha! Knew that’d get you listening.” Bill says smugly. With a quick tug, he gets Dipper back on his feet - primps his collar for him, in an annoying way - and winks. “You, me, your tongue - we’ll all get along famously, guaranteed.”
That’s not possible. That’s - 
Dipper glares at this asshole for playing yet another game, and not a funny one at that. Bill beams back at him, and doesn’t elaborate. 
“What, still a skeptic?” Bill raises an eyebrow. “Hello! I’m Bill friggin’ Cipher. You think a little body horror’s outta my purview?”
Okay, fine, but. But Dipper just figured out that Bill isn’t as much of a bigshot as he claims. 
This is - has to be - another big fat stinking lie.
Before he can argue, Bill starts talking again. “See, I’ve been thinking about it for a while now.” Tilting his head back, he looks up at the ceiling like he’s being thoughtful, instead of frustrating. He taps the terrifying syringe against his cheek. “And I figured - Hey! I don’t like fixing other people’s mistakes - but this screwup was too bad to ignore!”
A mistake, he says. A screwup.
Dipper bites his lip. Sure, Bill’s said those things before. But. He’s never even breathed the word ‘fix’. 
This is something that he wants Dipper to believe. There’s no basis in reality. To bring this up now, out of absolute nowhere, is cruel and insane. There has to be a complication, it won’t be easy, or -
Possible. It’s not possible. 
Dipper wants to slap himself; he grabs his shirt instead, holding it tight in balled fists. 
This has been over with for a long, long time now. He screwed up, he got caught, and even if he didn’t deserve it then, well. What’s done is done. He’s learned to live with that. Been there, done all the steps of grief, despair and rage, bought the t-shirt.
Nobody could have stopped it. Nobody would do anything about it then, and won't now. Nobody was ever going to save him, or make things right. 
Maybe Bill didn’t order this. Or condone it. It doesn’t matter. 
None of that changed how things turned out.  
Bill has been watching Dipper for a while. Not in an upset way, just curious. Like he’s reading Dipper’s mind - which he probably is - but hasn’t bothered to correct him. He catches Dipper’s gaze in the mirror and flashes a smile, before his face returns to semi-neutral.
Guess he isn’t going to fess up. That’s fine. 
If this is Bill’s idiotic plan, getting Dipper worked up, he might as well know what the cruel, senseless motivation is. Or make it look as dumb as it clearly is.
Time to pick this ploy apart.
Unfortunately, that brief moment of hesitation bought Bill enough time to get behind him. His stupid face is so smug in the mirror’s reflection, and his palm is warm on Dipper’s waist.
Dipper grimaces, hunching his shoulders. He can’t let himself be swayed. Not to this insanity.
Some things just have to be cut off.
“It won’t work.” He writes. 
“Bullshit.” Bill says flatly. He taps Dipper’s shoulder, slight irritation in his voice. “I didn’t put in this much effort and that much cash to make a friggin’ placebo.” A quick, semi-gentle shake. “You think I don’t know what I’m doing? That I’m some run-of-the-mill sucker? I deserve more credit than that!”
And - yes, hard to argue with. For all of Bill’s many flaws, he’s not truly stupid. 
Still a liar, though. A fact proven over and over again. That he’s persisting with this one shows real commitment to the bit. This awful, prank that he’s - 
…pretty damn excited about it. Practically bursting with enthusiasm, bright and eager to move on with things. Like regrowing a body part is like running a quick, exciting errand. Like it’d be simple. Dipper wonders if it is, before glaring in the mirror again.
It’s the confidence. Bill always acts like could stride forward into any situation, and no matter what, the forces of his magic and his ego will come out on top. He’s so certain of himself it’s downright convincing.
Damn it. Dipper rubs at his eyes.
Overthinking, again. Leading him to the train of thought Bill wanted him to take. Now he’s finding it hard to derail.
And - and besides, even if Bill could do it, he would have earlier, wouldn’t he? Would have fixed things as soon as he knew. He waited with bated breath to hear Dipper speak, that expectant look started from day one. Spoken at length about how much he hates the tongue situation, too. It’s like it bothers him more than Dipper at this point, which is so weird that it almost loops back around to make sense. He would have used anything he had on hand -
Dipper looks up. His own face in the mirror stares back at him, wide-eyed.
Unless he didn’t have it on hand. 
The packages.
Another glance at Bill’s face shows the same expression, maybe a little more intrigued. It might even pass for reassuring, if he wasn’t holding a needle sized more for puncturing cat-sized butterflies than any medical procedure.
Bill can’t do everything. Only mostly everything. Dipper’s seen that firsthand. 
And when he does have everything he needs for a plan, he snatches the first possible opportunity to pull it off. 
It’s - 
Dipper can’t. He needs more information.
‘What’s in that’, He writes the words in the air. Legible, if shaky.
“Eh, you got your hydra plasma, some troll platelets, unicorn spit,” Bill casually lists off the ingredients with practiced ease, flicking the side of the syringe. “Some stuff of my own design - and a few drops of your blood.”
His - Dipper pats himself, checking his arms, his torso. Nothing hurts, and he hasn’t noticed new scabs. Surely he would have seen Bill coming over to - 
Another snort. “Uh, hello? You left plenty around the place when I stitched you up, kid. It was hardly in short supply.”
Another bit of truth; it did kinda go everywhere. And Bill would save some, like a creep.
Dipper rubs at his wrist, reminding himself that it’s absurd to be embarrassed about getting an arm slashed open. 
“I get why you’re not jazzed, kid. Not a fan of mouth stuff after your last big show, am I right?” Bill moves to sling an arm around his shoulders, missing as Dipper ducks and slides closer to the sink. He holds his arm out wide instead. “But think about the benefits! Don’tcha wanna talk again? Taste again? All the other stuff?”
Yeah, of course Dipper does. He’s thought about it over and over and over.
He remembers what it was like. Moving around. Talking. How food tasted better, in that he could taste something without it nearly being in the back of his throat. All those aching nights feeling a deep literal emptiness, clamping his teeth shut as if it’d make the yawning gape feel more complete.
Staying awake, with a burn he couldn’t swallow and a pain that wouldn’t stop. 
He was up night after night after night, hanging with those thoughts. Hoping for something entirely out of reach.
Eventually it was easier to stop thinking about it. 
When he dreams, he still has his tongue. 
“After all this time, you got the solution right here! In a solution, conveniently invented by yours truly.” Bill claps a hand to his chest, grinning from behind Dipper in the mirror. “Give it a shot! Literally!”
The ceramic of the sink is cold. Dipper’s holding onto it too hard, his knuckles are starting to hurt. 
He’s so tired of hurting. 
“Or, y’know. Stick with the super happy situation you have going on right now.” Bill makes a face, sticking out his own tongue before blowing a raspberry. He lowers the syringe. “Your choice.”
 Before Bill’s arm can fully fall, Dipper seizes him by the wrist. He doesn’t know when he moved, fast enough that even Bill looks surprised. 
Gotta calm down. Think about this rationally.
There's an all-powerful demon. A smart, conniving asshole, who spent time and effort on a completely crazy plan in this unearthly, magical realm. Carrying an evil implement of unknown origins, wanting to stick it right into his face. 
Because he’s been planning this. He played the long game. Bill’s been wanting to hear from him for ages, and he’s anything but stupid.
If there was ever a place this could work, it would be here. 
Despite everything. The position he’s in, the man standing behind him, and his own internal swearing at himself -
Dipper feels a flutter of long-extinguished hope.
A million things could go wrong with this. As far as he knows, he might have like, his head exploded instead of a good result. He could grow five tongues instead of one, or maybe it’ll come out rainbow colored or everything will taste like blood forever. He shouldn’t go along with this. It’s going to suck and be dumb and there’s no real guarantees.
Also, that needle is fucking terrifying. Another reason not to let Bill do whatever he wants.
Dipper shuts his eyes briefly, then writes, ‘Will it hurt?’
“Yep!” 
The expression on Dipper’s face must alert him to how bad that answer was, because for a brief moment Bill looks chagrined. He glances away, clearing his throat.
“Look. We’re talking about a piece of flesh smaller than a pack of playing cards.” Pinching his fingers together, Bill squints through the gap. “So what if it’s not a great time? It’ll take like twenty seconds! A minute, tops.”
In the mirror, Dipper watches his reflection’s shoulders drop just a bit. He breathes out through his nose, and rolls his eyes.
That… really shouldn’t be reassuring. 
Only it is, because Bill didn’t sugarcoat it.
He could have claimed it was a totally painless process, or tried to deflect and change the subject. Which would set off Dipper’s bullshit alarm pretty much instantly. Leaving him to wonder exactly how bad this would be.
As it stands, Dipper’s betting that ‘not a great time’ actually means ‘will horribly, horribly suck’. And it’s still better than being lied to. 
Another question. “And then what?”
“Then the fun starts, kid! I got a lot of ideas for activities, once you got the ol’ wiggler back in your yap.”
Not what he was asking; Dipper elbows him none-too-gently in the stomach.
“Yeah, yeah,” Bill grumbles a bit, then sighs. “Yes, it’s gonna hurt, you’re gotta shed some scar tissue,” He lifts a few fingers with each point, “Lotta bleeding and liquids and whatever. But super simple! Don’t chicken out now!”
A minute of agony. That’s it. Straightforward. Temporary. Super easy.
Dipper’s palm slips on the sink; he wipes his sweating hands on his pants. He’s standing on the floor but he has to grab the sink again to stave off a swelling sense of vertigo. 
If it’s as quick as Bill says, he can handle that, maybe. If it works. 
It better work.
“Remember, Pine Tree! All the benefits! Like talking! Midnight snacks!” Bill chimes in, sounding too much like a used car salesman to be truly convincing. “Attempting to stick it up your nose, getting it stuck to a lamppost in winter, making out with handsome immortals! Everything you’ve been missing out on.”
Dipper knows all of those, or - most of them. Bill doesn’t need to tempt him, he gets it already.
He just. Needs a minute. To think some more about the implications and all the details and such. A little more time and he’ll have his head on straight.
“We might even take a trip to your old cult.” The thump of a hand on Dipper’s shoulder has him tense, briefly, before relaxing again. “Dontcha wanna let ‘em know exactly how dumb that move was?” His voice lowers, quieter but closer. “Imagine the looks on their faces when you tell ‘em - out loud! - that they could never hold you back.“
Dipper looks up. 
Of all the scenarios he’d dreamed about, that had never entered the picture. Too impossible even for a daydream. Stupid and self-indulgent and insane. Only a madman would think of it. 
In the mirror, Bill’s eye has gone very bright. Leaning over Dipper, and muttering right into his ear.
Dipper writes, “Do it.”
“Finally!” Bill lets out a breath, a tension dropping that Dipper didn’t notice until it was gone. He beckons him in. “Alright. Show me the ol’ lingual stump there, sapling.”
In the second Dipper needs to parse that, Bill’s already turned him around. With a bright grin, he makes an odd gesture at his chin; it takes a second to get.
Right. For Bill to stick that huge thing in there, Dipper has to open his mouth. 
A simple motion. Dipper can manage. The first thing to do is stop clenching his teeth together. 
With effort, and a bit of struggle, Dipper lowers his jaw and tilts his head back. Bill takes hold of it, and Dipper deliberately doesn’t go tense. Watching the syringe lift into his vision, as shining bright as the grin on Bill’s face. 
He shuts his eyes tight. He might have to feel it, but Bill can’t make him watch.
As Bill gets into position, he keeps up a tuneless cheerful hum. Dipper tries his best not to picture it. The way Bill’s probably loving the entire situation, even when this is gonna suck. 
“You’re gonna feel a little pinch here.” Bill says, peppy as ever, and something stabs into the stump of his tongue.
On instinct Dipper tries to jerk his head away, but struggling against the grip Bill has on him - fuck, moving only makes it hurt more. And that awful groaning sound, he realizes, is him. Strangled and inhuman, ringing against the tile and in his own ears. 
Fighting - not this time. He has to let this happen, let it - 
A moment later his teeth clink on thin metal, and he realizes with a start that the needle was probably that long so he wouldn’t bite Bill’s fingers off. 
“There we go!” Bill sounds delighted. The needle slips back out, almost nonchalantly, as he hums a little tune to himself. “Great job, sapling. Not much left now!”
Dipper blinks rapidly; his vision’s gone blurry and he tries to clear his throat.Thank fuck, the first part’s over with. 
The rest better not be too long. Better not hurt much more. The back of his mouth feels like he’s been stung by a bee, a hot and growing ache. Touching the underside of his jaw with cool fingers helps for a brief moment, but it’s only cool on the outside. 
And it spreads. Fast. Down his neck. Up into his jaw. A stinging heat, rising and expanding.
Dipper clamps his jaw shut, teeth grinding, but the pressure’s barely a distraction. This - he grabs onto Bill’s arm, shaking it hard.
“What?” Bill looks nonplussed. He tilts his head to the side. “I toldja it would hurt!”
Yeah, but he could have been more descriptive.
More pressure helps; a hand on his throat, one over his mouth. The burn builds, like bile rising in his throat, like acid. Like he swallowed fire, spreading down his throat and up into his face and nose; his eyes start watering. 
Throat bobbing, trying to swallow, Dipper wants to make a sound, but doesn’t dare. Not when things are moving in his mouth with increasing wetness, thick and metallic, just like - god, he’s such an idiot. He knew he shouldn’t have trusted him, never should have let him touch him, ever or at all, not if this was the result. 
“Don’t hold it in, kid!” Bill says brightly, adding a light smack on the back of his head that sends him leaning over the sink. “See? Not so bad, is it?”
It’s so, so bad. Like his head is going to explode, like his throat will shut; it’s hard to breathe. The throb redoubles, then triples, mouth so full his cheeks are going to split open, why does Bill sound so calm. 
Leaning over was a good idea though.
Dipper opens up over the clean white porcelain, blood pouring out of his mouth. More than he thought could come out, even after the last time. A sick flood partly mingled with clear fluid, spiraling into a pink swirl in the basin.
Which. Does help with the pain. The disgusting torrent washes away the ache, even as it makes a miniature murder scene in the sink. Dipper’s whole head feels like it’s bursting, his nose is running, he spits and gags, and a thick chunk of grey-red fleshy gunk splats into the basin. 
He spits again - his jaw throbs with pain, but there’s less liquid this time. A couple more times and it’s dry. His head feels clearer, more headache than fire - and says “What the fuck.”
Then he jerks his head up, staring at his reflection. 
What he just heard. That wasn’t Bill. 
The Dipper in the mirror stares back at him, wide-eyed and pale in the face. Chin wet with blood and unknowable fluids, some dripping on his shirt. 
Behind him Bill stares in starry-eyed, open-mouthed delight. 
“What the fuck,” Dipper repeats, watching his mouth move in the mirror - and claps his hands over it. Bill claps his hands rapidly, like a huge, yellow, demonic seal. 
Dipper said that. 
His voice. Strangely deeper than he remembers, resonating in his own head. 
The pain is fading, fairly quickly. A thin sweat is cooling on his skin. Pulling his sleeve over his chin only gets about half the mess off. As the pain fades he’s aware that his whole face feels gross. 
In the first actually helpful move of the evening, Bill turns the sink on for him. 
Splashing his face with warm water feels good. Refreshing. Especially scrubbing away the slick mucus and sticky blood. He has to spit again a couple of times; the inside of his mouth feels so thick.
Then he feels a heavy clap on his back, one that drifts up to tousle his hair. Bill starts laughing. “Ha! Toldja it wouldn’t be so bad, kid. How ya feeling?”
What a question. How to answer.
There’s simply too much feeling. His mouth is full. Like he put too much food in there, but it’s not - not bad? Weirdly wet and taking up so much space. Like… a really new big finger he can wiggle around. Touching it to every single tooth in his mouth, and tapping it against the roof, and feeling - no, tasting - a strange, metallic tang that makes him want to spit again. 
Was Dipper’s mouth always this wet? He thinks he needs to brush his teeth. There’s ridges and bumps and - he winces as he bites down a little too hard. 
Strange yet familiar sensations. Feeling and touching and tasting. Not a distant memory that he focused on too hard. Not a dream.
In disbelief, Dipper sticks his tongue out. 
The air is cool and tastes like nothing, aside from the bizarre feeling of his tongue drying out. There’s no extra tentacles, no visible scars. He only sprouted one rather than seven, and it’s not forked or some bizarre color. Just pink and damp and round. 
Hell, there’s even the birthmark, just like before. Like it was never missing. 
Tentatively, he presses a finger against the surface - yep, that’s real. Also, he can taste himself touching it. Which isn’t bad, but is super weird. 
“Huh.” Bill says. Soft, almost surprised.
Dipper glances up in the mirror. There’s a weirdly contemplative look on Bill’s face, which blossoms moments later into a grin. 
“So that’s where that was!” Bill says. A second finger joins Dipper’s, touching the mark. “Pretty cute!”
Dipper’s tongue zips back inside at the first tap. He claps a hand over his mouth, glaring back at Bill.
Welp, now he knows what ‘god’ tastes like. It’s skin, with a hint of soap. At least Bill washed his hands first. 
The move was also annoying enough that he almost forgot that truly out-of-nowhere comment. Almost.
Dipper narrows his eyes, and asks, “Where what was?” 
Okay. Just kinda blurted that one out.
He touches his throat, rubbing his palm against the soft flesh. Then his mouth, pressing fingers on his lips.
Three more words. He’s speaking words. 
Flexing a muscle he hasn’t had in ages comes with fewer issues than he’d imagined. His voice is a little creaky, but his tongue moves just fine. One relief there; he’d worried he’d need to learn everything again.
“Eh, it’s nothing.” Bill lies. With a flourish, he pulls Dipper around so they’re face to face. “Now, what about you?”
Dipper opens his mouth again. Then he catches Bill’s expression, and shuts it. 
Of all the smiles he’s seen on Bill’s face - angry, smug, arrogant, amused, excited - none of the others compare. 
This one seems genuine. 
“Ahem.” Bill clears his throat. “So! Any first words for your very handsome host and healer, here?” His single eye flutters, like he’s trying a coquettish bat. “Maybe a thank you? A ‘you’re so great’?”
There’s the expectant look again. 
One of the first things Dipper learned about Bill Cipher - he wanted Dipper to talk to him. An insane request for an unknowable reason, from an equally insane and unknowable being. So far they’ve made due with other methods, communication has improved, but at the end of the day - 
Bill really wanted this. A lot. 
Now what the hell should Dipper say?
He rolls his tongue around, trying out silent syllables without opening his mouth. The words came so easily when he wasn’t thinking; now they’re all scrambled around in his head. 
The first thing he says should mean something. Be important. They should be - not devoted, Bill hates that. It should - 
No, wait. He knows the answer. 
Dipper turns around, bracing himself on the sink.  
When he smiles, it’s not because Bill expects it, or because he thinks he should. Just because he wants to.
“Hi, Bill.”
And Bill bursts out laughing, high and delighted. 
“Ha ha ha!” With startling swiftness he scoops Dipper up, raising high and swinging him in a circle. Dipper grabs at his arms, his heel clips the sink as they twirl. “Finally!”
Two disorienting turns later, Dipper hits the floor again, only for Bill pulls him into a tight, unmistakable hug. 
Dipper goes still for a moment, squished by strong arms - then fumbles, awkwardly, to pat Bill’s back in return. That’s what people in hugs do, right.
Normal people probably don’t get squeezed like someone’s trying to pop them, though. A few seconds in he thumps Bill on the back, until the jerk finally remembers mortals aren’t so durable.
“Nice to hear from you again, kid! Not much flair to your intro, but we can work on style later.” Bill holds him out at arm’s length, looking him up and down. “So! Now that you’ve got your tongue back, whaddya say we give that thing a workout?”
For a split second, Dipper wonders how tiny a barbell that would take, and how it would even work, before remembering that’s insane. Those aren’t a real thing.
Then he remembers that he’s hanging out with Bill Cipher, so. Hopefully it’s a very small barbell. 
Before he can ask or write the question, though, Bill seizes his wrist again. Dipper shakes his arm - no good, as always. Still worth doing.
Surprisingly, Bill snorts - then lowers his grip, taking Dipper’s hand instead. He squeezes that once, because everything’s a stress ball to him, then goes right back to dragging Dipper around like a toy wagon.
Matching his pace this time, Dipper follows in his wake. They leave the bathroom quickly, fading into a long, elegant hallway. 
Glancing around the place - opulent, check, grandiose, obviously - Dipper looks down at their joined hands and frowns.
So much for getting any context. Bill’s just. Going to do the physically impossible, celebrate it, then move right onto the next thing. Without looping Dipper in on any part.
As Bill reaches his target - another door, big and fancy and frankly tiring in how much Bill’s clearly showing off - Dipper grips his hand tighter.
No, wait. If he remembers right, this time there was a clue. 
Earlier, Bill said there was a surprise for him. The tongue had to be that, but then… there was an entire evening he wanted to get to. A series of events, perhaps. Knowing Bill, each one’s more bizarre and frightening than the last. 
“Hey!” Bill snaps his fingers, and tugs Dipper’s hand. He’s backing into the new room, grin alight as he spreads his arm wide. “Get outta your head and in here already.”
Shrugging, Dipper follows him in. After the last ‘surprise’, nothing’s going to catch him off guard. He doubts it’ll be as out of nowhere, or as bloody. Bill’s set a pretty high bar. 
This time, the room is… Dipper pauses. 
Dining room. Big table, the super long kind from medieval times, fancy tablecloth and chairs and heaped upon it, so much food.  
Taking his tongue out didn’t ruin his other senses; it smells fantastic in here. The spread is lavish and vast, piled way too high for any two people to possibly finish. Like everything Bill has, it’s over-the-top and way too grand. 
Dipper feels a sharp pang in his chest as he remembers he won’t be able to - 
Wait, no. Not anymore. 
He rolls his tongue around in his mouth - still weird - and swallows. He rubs at his throat, and glances, carefully, at Bill. 
That gets a smile, and a fairly smug wink. Bill clicks his tongue twice, gesturing him over to the table.
Things click into place. Exercise. An evening plan.  
Bill set this up for the express purpose of using his tongue on stuff, which is, mostly, duh, eating. 
As Dipper hesitates, Bill rolls his eye. “What’s with the holdup? You’ve got a major sensory organ back!” He nudges Dipper forward to the table. Pulling out a chair, he gestures with a flourish for him to sit. “Why not enjoy it?
Refusing would be rude, Dipper guesses. He takes the offered seat, then braces himself on the table as Bill pushes the chair in, patting his shoulders. 
A moment later Bill’s taken his own seat right next to him, looking pleased. “Whatd’ya think of the spread? ” He waves over the table, nearly knocking over a candlestick in the process. “Anything catch your eye?”
It’d be easier to list what doesn’t. There’s too much. 
Dipper’s only read about half of these dishes, and there’s a solid quarter he’s never even heard about. Bowls of noodles and a whole roast something that he can’t identify; platters of pasta and fried tidbits, a whole board full of cheeses, green vegetables piled high -
His mouth is watering. Like, a lot. A strange sensation, though not unpleasant. 
“Go on! All yours, sapling.” Bill scoots his chair a little closer, grinning wide. “Have anything you want.”
How does he manage to make an invitation sound ominous? Dipper side-eyes him as he slowly picks up a fork.  
What to choose. What will Bill let him have. To start with he’ll go for something simple; nothing that would be funny to yank out of his hand. 
Now to just… narrow down the dozens of dishes into ones he can identify and probably aren’t poisoned.
Bill watches him fret for about thirty seconds, heaving a huge sigh. He plucks something up with his fork - some kind of noodle in green sauce - and tries to shove it right in Dipper’s mouth.
His jab takes out an eye instead of hitting the target as Dipper flinches. Some sauce smears on his cheek, Bill makes another stab at it. Before he can do any damage, Dipper seizes the fork out of his hand. 
Alright, jeez, he gets the hint already. Being cautious is the smart thing to do here.
And what is this.
Pasta, obviously, though it’s a weird noodle shape. A green sauce when it should be red. It was handed to him by a crazy demon. Multiple reasons not to put it in his mouth.
But it looks pretty good, and it smells pretty great. Kind of herbal and rich, and - actually, Dipper’s really hungry, now that he’s thinking about it.
Fuck it. If he was going to get in trouble, it’d probably be that one time he punched Bill in the face, not for eating food he was nearly forcefed.
Here goes nothing. 
Dipper opens his mouth, trying to ignore Bill staring. Carefully guiding the food past his lips.
And with a thump, he sets the fork down. Shutting his eyes, and letting out a closed-mouth groan. 
Oh fuck. 
It’s great. 
The flavor alone has him reeling back like he’s been punched, filling his whole head with taste and smell. The sauce is creamy and rich, both herbal and slightly sweet, while the pasta tastes bready and not at all like sad cardboard. He can even taste the cheese on top, savory and sharp. Nothing like a microwaved plastic plate of mush. Something real, and filling, hot and fresh. Something substantial.
And chewing. He’d almost forgotten chewing like this. The simple sensation of a noodle, firm but yielding between his teeth, makes him have to blink rapidly to clear his eyes. 
No more tilting his head, no dry mouth. He can swallow with absolutely zero effort. At no point does he have to struggle to get it down, it just happens, without ever feeling like he’s going to choke. 
Dipper takes another forkful. Then another, pulling the bowl towards himself without bothering to put it on his plate. Bill looks on, with that same eternal smile, but whatever. He’s not the most important thing in the room.
Eating, so painlessly, effortlessly simple. He’d almost forgotten what this was like.
Forget everything else Bill has done, for a moment. Ignore the way he’s staring like a creep. Right now, Dipper could kiss the ground Bill walks on. Maybe even his cheek. 
Giving Dipper this back is the only thing Bill’s ever done worth worshiping. 
Eventually Bill drags the pasta away, tutting about Dipper being ‘unadventurous’ and ‘boring’. Whatever, there’s a lot more to try. More to investigate.
“How’s the grub, kid? Good?” 
Dipper glances at his plate - piled high with nearly a dozen things - then raises an eyebrow. Bill raises one right back. 
Oh right. Words. 
Swallowing, Dipper says, “It’s. Really good.” Then, uh, he should probably add. “Thanks.”
“No problem at all. In fact, my pleasure!.” Bill leans an elbow on the table, resting his chin in his hand. He pokes him in the ribs; it tickles a little. “You gotta put more meat on those bones, anyway.”
With a shrug, Dipper tentatively takes another serving of the green pasta. Currently it sits at number one on his list, but the rankings have been changing rapidly with each taste test. 
Bill’s also making odd comments, as is his wont. Sure, Dipper guesses he could stand to be a little less scrawny, though it’s not like he’s meatless. All humans are made of - 
Now there’s an unpleasant thought. 
“Wait, is, uh.” Dipper carefully sets his fork down, bracing his palms against the table. If he has to make a quick escape, it’ll give him leverage to shove off. “Is any of this. People?”
“Nah! Human flesh is really more for show than for taste, unless you’re an obligate anthropophage.” Bill snorts, waving off that thought. “You guys’re kinda stringy and bitter. That’s novelty food.”
Then he pauses. His eye narrows, he starts looking thoughtful. 
Before he can open his mouth, Dipper interrupts. “No, that’s fine. I really don’t want any. Thanks.” 
“Eh, suit yourself.” Shrugging, Bill settles back in his seat. He plucks a couple of mozzarella sticks off a platter and pops them into his mouth. “Like I shaid, y’re not mishing muh.” Wow, he has terrible table manners.
Another ‘horrible fate’ crossed out on the list: Bill isn’t fattening him up to eat him. 
Dipper didn’t think it was a likely option, but it never hurts to be sure. And with that out of the way…
Eating is so much better now. He has a lot of things to taste.
During his search, Bill’s eager to offer suggestions. A slice of rich dark meat, a sampling of something sticky but savory that goes well on it. A smattering of vegetables, a mozzarella stick or three. He even insists Dipper take a bite of some white meat pried out of the shell of a huge red bug. Deflecting his offer fails miserably, so thankfully it does end up tasting good. Though Dipper thinks that the dipping butter’s doing a lot of the heavy lifting.
Between the spread on the table, and Bill’s infinite creativity, there are infinite possibilities - and only one limit. His stomach.
When Bill tries to push another crepe on his plate, he waves it off. He leans back in his chair, breathing slowly. 
Good news is, he learned a lot about a variety of foods. He’s full and content. Bad news is, he really, really can’t take another bite or he might be sick. 
As far as Bill Plans go, this one’s hardly the worst. Even Dipper has to admit this was a good idea.
“Wait wait wait. One last thing,” Bill interrupts. He holds up a few fingers, turning away as he rifles through a small box.  through something with a bunch of frilly paper. Once he finds what he’s looking for, he turns around with a flourish. “Can’t have dinner without dessert.”
Dipper nearly waves him off again- then does a double-take. Is that - 
The small circle in Bill’s fingers is definitely chocolate, and Dipper’s only had that like, twice. Ever. Full or not, he can make room for this.
His first grab at it misses; Bill dodges easily and wags the treat with a mocking smile. “Ah ah ah, not so fast! Lemme do the honors.” He brings it close to Dipper’s mouth, eyebrows wiggling. “Open up.”
Dipper tightens his lips, narrowing his eyes in suspicion. Then looking from the chocolate, back to Bill. The smugness of his grin does not waver. 
Normally Dipper would skip this entirely, rather than let Bill go ahead with this shady-seeming move. Unfortunately, the box is behind Bill’s elbow; he can’t just make a grab for the others.
So with a sigh, and a bit of a shrug, Dipper opens his mouth and lets Bill push the treat in. Reminding himself that Bill literally just fixed it, he won’t ruin it now. 
The moment the chocolate hits Dipper’s tongue he knows he made exactly the right choice.
Reach and sweet, just as good as he remembered. No, better. Smooth and not too cloying, as it warms and melts it fills his whole mouth. An involuntary groan comes out of his throat as it vanishes, gone all too soon - but some of it has melted on Bill’s fingers too. Dipper flicks his tongue out to catch the last of it, warm and sweet.
A sharp intake of breath. Dipper blinks his eyes open. 
Bill’s staring at him, very close. He must have scooted his chair over, they’re almost touching.
“Pretty great, right?” Bill says. His thumb brushing Dipper’s chin, tongue flickering out over his own lips. “How ‘bout you let me have a little taste.”
“Uh.” Dipper licks at his teeth, nose scrunching up  as he frowns. “I already ate it?” He glances over at the box, tilting his head to get Bill’s face out of his vision. “But, uh. There are more over there.”
Bill blinks twice. His lips tuck in, mouth in a flat line. The box on the dinner table must have slipped his notice somehow, because he turns to stare at it with a narrowed eye. 
“Hm. Mhmh.” A grunt, his eye twitches - then the grin slides back into its rightful place. “So there are!” 
With one snake-fast motion, Bill snatches a ball from the crinkly paper. He jams it into his mouth and bites down hard with too-sharp teeth. Chocolate splinters from the force, scattering on the table.
Ignoring the atrocious table manners beside him - Dipper leans back in his seat. He’s never had a meal like this before; Bill really went all out this time.
A second later, he yawns. It takes a few shakes and some blinking to clear his head.
Eating too much has side effects, he guesses. Part of him wonders - but no, if Bill wanted to drug him, he’d be passed out at the table. “Looks like you’ve had enough kid. Now up you get,” Bill says out of nowhere. An instantly later he’s pulling Dipper up  hands under his arms. “Can’t just pass out at the dinner table when the night’s hardly started!”
Wait, this wasn’t it? He’s got more planned? What the hell else could there be?
As Bill surges forward, Dipper just manages to step away before he’s bodily picked up.  He brushes off his shirt as Bill blows a disappointed raspberry behind him.
“Fine, fine. Use your legs if you gotta!” Bill scoffs, as he slides a guiding arm around his waist. “Get ‘em moving, then, ‘cause we’ve got at least one other stop tonight.”
He’s always fast. Always rushing. Always dragging Dipper out of one situation and towards another door. This could be his whole life, it seems; always another mysterious room, another terrifying situation, all with a jerk who doesn’t explain anything. 
Keeping up with Bill is easy once Dipper’s expecting it, but he casts a worried glance back at the dining room.
Leaving all that food there seems like such a waste. Then again, it is god-demon realm and all. For all he knows it could remain there in stasis, awaiting the next visit. Or just evaporate into nothing now that they’re done, which is even more of a waste.
Rethinking it, though - Bill did say he could have all he wanted. Encouraged him to indulge himself.
Maybe his full stomach is making him too optimistic, but he thinks some might ‘magically’ end up in his kitchen later. 
Or it’ll vanish completely because Bill and conserving go together like oil and water. Better not get his hopes up.
Whatever their next step is, Bill seems pretty cheerful about it. He’s even humming a tune to himself, one that Dipper can’t place. Refraining from giving Dipper any helpful information, per usual. 
Bill loves secrets. Mysteries. Keeping the events of the evening must amuse the hell out of him what with making it all seem intimidating, and ominous. 
Unfortunately for Bill, his secrecy has some holes in it. A pattern has been building in their night. Two data points, both leading to… 
Not a certainly positive third. Nothing’s certain. But it is trending in that direction.
Besides, if Dipper had to guess, the next one’s not the bad one. The theoretical fourth event is where Bill will pull the rug out from under him. Breaking a fully established pattern, right when he has his human lulled into complacence, is much more dramatic.
Before that happens, Dipper will cut things short. 
The guiding arm steers him around a corner, through a series of doors, leading into…
The living room again. 
Dipper gives it a quick once-over. Same furniture, same lighting, same obnoxious company. He’s been steered around a mobius strip leading back to the original spot.
“Pfft, what’s with the look? Relax!” Bill says, and shoves him onto the couch.
Dipper nearly jumps off of it; this not his favorite furniture material.  Bill pushes him down again, grinning like it’s a game of ping-pong rather than a guy not wanting to sit on furniture that’s slightly cannibalistic and could lick him at any time. Another attempt fails; Dipper’s palms sink into soft fabric, there’s not enough leverage to - 
He stops. Patting once, then twice. Looking down at his seat with mild surprise.
Okay, there’s one difference. This couch isn’t made of human skin.
A weird, but rather welcome change. Getting up at this point feels like too much effort, so he slumps into the seat.
The new couch, fabric and all, sinks easily under his weight. Soft enough to mold around his body, like it’s eager to absorb him. For a moment he worries it might, until Bill flops down right beside him.
“There’s only one way to follow up dinner with company. The classic human scene for this kinda thing, one might say!” says Bill, clapping his hands together. “First - setting the mood.”
A quick snap of his fingers, and the firelight dims. So do all the lights in the room.
“And second -” Bill grins, like he’s being very clever, and says, “Pick your poison, Pine Tree.”
Wait - they already ate, what is - 
At Dipper’s startled face, Bill rolls his eye, and holds up a finger. His face scrunches up as he leans forward, fishing around in the couch cushions.
A second later, Dipper gets a remote chucked into his lap. 
“You didn’t get a lot of shows back in the ol’ cult digs, am I right?” Bill jabs his thumb at the opposite wall - and the TV that’s appeared in the last five seconds. “No time like the present to start getting caught up!”
Secular media causes degradation of the spirit. Outside influences are absolutely forbidden. The only way to get access would be by sneaking around, or sticking one’s nose where they shouldn’t.
Dipper’s seen several shows, and he got them by himself, not through the cult’s terrible black market selection. Calling himself an expert would be an exaggeration, but he’s been around the block before. 
And honestly, getting back into that sounds great. Ten or so TV shows can’t compare to the likely hundreds that are out there; people must never run out of stuff to watch.
Plus, Bill will have demon media, too. Finding out what that’s like could be downright fun. 
Two minutes into channel surfing, Dipper has to admit he’s out of his depth. How much of it is missing out on a normal person’s experience and how much is Nightmare Realm stuff is hard to tell. Except for the obviously demonic shows, none of these seem familiar.
There’s literally a million freaking channels. Picking any one is impossible.
Meanwhile, Bill offers quick, one-word comments about how one’s ‘boring!’ another ‘meh’, a third ‘wow, that one?’, and a fourth ‘ooh, body horror!’ - Dipper flips quickly through the next twenty channels, hoping he won’t decide for them. 
At one point Bill tries hitting the opposite channel button so they flip back through the same two things for over a minute, until Dipper finally wrestles the damn remote away. If he ‘accidentally’ kicks Bill in the leg, either Bill doesn’t notice, or does a good job of pretending he didn’t. Either way, he’s laughing the whole time.
Eventually they settle on a demonic movie, something that Bill casually mentioned was ‘alright’, with an askance look at Dipper. Applying Bill-knowledge to that look - Dipper interprets it as him, wanting to watch it. With a side of ‘can’t show interest and still Be Cool’, and a half-serving of  ‘maybe the human shouldn’t see it’. 
Dipper sets the remote down. They’re sticking with this one. Anything Bill doesn’t want him to see probably has very juicy information. 
And if he notices that eternal grin widen, a bare fraction of an inch - he doesn’t comment on it.
About ten minutes in, Dipper realizes he should have asked if this would be all in English. This one has some, sure, but seventy percent or so is in Bill’s demonic language. Subtitles aren’t a thing; he poked at the remote for them but it just made the channels jump around, until Bill very casually flipped it right on back. 
Between the lack of language knowledge and demon knowledge, following the plot is hard. Dipper squints at the screen, as if that’ll make things easier. 
What little of it he follows shows a long, complicated drama. A lot of power plays, interpersonal violence. Mild-for-demons gore interspersed with over-dramatic arguments. The two main characters seem to be at each other’s throats all the time, while also being metaphorically attached at the hip. 
Nearly an hour passes before Dipper gives up on fully tracking the plot. A valiant attempt was made, but the language gap’s too large, even though the actors are basically chewing the scenery. Sometimes literally. Changing the channel’s out of the question, too; Bill too enraptured, Dipper too tired. 
It’s strange, really. Sitting here, with his ‘god’. Something he’d never thought he’d do, ever. Because Bill wasn’t real, then because Bill was up to something, and now….
A glance at Bill fails to clarify anything, as always. 
He knows Bill had a plan for the evening. He said as much. And it hasn’t gone off the rails, or Dipper would have noticed; this ‘god’ never misses a chance to complain.
The only conclusion is that things are going how Bill wanted. What that might mean is more of a mystery than the demon himself.
So far, they’ve only done a few things. Terrifying bathroom regeneration, dinner, and sitting here watching TV. A list too short to be helpful. None of them have much in common.
Dipper nestles down further into the couch, blinking slowly. Nearby, Bill pours himself another drink by snapping his fingers and summoning it.
What, exactly, is Bill’s goal with this? There has to be a purpose.
Giving Dipper his tongue back is obvious. It’s for talking. 
Bill’s been bored more than once waiting for a written reply - and while Dipper’s pretty sharp, he’s still a beginner at sign language. Add on Bill being a good but very impatient teacher, and things weren't going great. Hearing him make twenty guesses at Dipper’s next word while he was trying to remember the damn thing left both of them frustrated and annoyed. 
So the first part makes sense, even as a standalone. Regrowing an organ is way faster than learning an entire language, and Bill gets exactly what he wanted, right from the first time they met.
The food, well. Dipper’s still running that over in his mind, but he thinks it’s not much more complicated. Mostly a followup to the tongue thing. Possibly to show Dipper how great going along with Bill’s absolutely insane ideas is. Plus, Bill gets company, and to show off his power and all his ‘cool stuff’. He’s never hesitated to prove how quote, ‘awesome’, and ‘swimming in money, kid’, he is. 
If that’s right, it could be very useful. A little finesse, maybe a smile or two, and Dipper might get a repeat performance.
Both of those events fit with what he knows of Bill. Dipper can see how they work together, one leading into the other. 
That brings them to now. 
Sitting on the couch. Watching some way overextended drama thing with a language Dipper maybe catches one word out of ten in, while this ‘god’ lounges next to him with zero signs of ill intent.
This one… doesn’t fit.
Hell, he’s not sure how any of this fits. Not into a greater purpose. There’s no benefit. No grand plan, no conquering. No motive beyond ‘convenience’ and ‘entertainment’. No real gain for Bill himself, which more than anything makes zero sense, and these days Dipper can find a little bit of that in Bill’s actions, even if it’s backwards from the human kind.
But. 
If there isn’t a greater plan in mind. No scheme to empower himself, no urge to torment or conquer - 
Then this entire day was simply a series of selfish, bizarre whims from a guy who can do anything.
Which… is like most of the days Dipper’s spent around the guy. 
Beside him, Bill swirls his drink, snorting at something onscreen before taking another sip. Looking pleased with himself - typical - and wearing the common domestic smirk. No sign of any ulterior motive.
Okay. Say that there was a plan, of sorts. Just one that Bill thought would make his life more fun, and convenient. Hell knows just does whatever, whenever he wants. 
Then…
…Maybe it’s just movie night?
There’s a low groan next to him. With a huge, almost theatrical yawn, Bill stretches his arms wide, raising them in the air Once he's done, they thump onto the back of the couch; the closest one lands around Dipper’s shoulders.
Wow, even Bill’s tired. A big meal must have that effect on demons, too.
Dipper holds back his own yawn. For about five seconds. It happens anyway, leaving him slumping down, eyelids heavy.
He still can’t put the pieces together. None of the respective tabs and slots seem like they line up. 
But fuck it, it’s late. He’s tired. Trying to think through Bill’s convoluted mind is a task for a more life threatening scenario. 
Sitting here with Bill, sinking into the soft fabric of the couch, in a dimly lit but very warm room -
As far as plans go, Dipper can imagine far worse fates than this. 
In a way. A small one. He could almost get used to this.
Underneath the strange dialogue, he can hear the gentle flickering of the fireplace. Between the full stomach and the dim light, there’s a warm lassitude filling his limbs. Dipper stretches his arms, then his legs, before shuffling further into the enveloping embrace of the couch. 
Clearing his throat, Bill adjusts his position. The motion bumps his side up against Dipper’s, a solid, surprisingly not-unnerving presence.
Dipper grunts. After a moment, he tilts his head to look at Bill. He doesn’t seem to notice, too focused on the drama playing out onscreen.
It’s strange - everything about Bill is strange - but in this relevant quiet and calm, Dipper can get a good look at him. Most of the time they’re close because his personal space is being invaded, and that doesn’t leave any space to think.
For a magical shape inhabited by an interdimensional entity, Dipper has to admit - the human form is very well designed. 
The body next to him isn’t full of sharp edges. Much softer than metal. It feels like a real person, somewhere underneath that permanent suit. The angles of Bill’s face and the shape of his body fit easily within the human spectrum, he could pass easily for one on the street. Anyone taking a second glance would notice the positives before the oddities. Even those weirder bits kind of fit Bill; they come together a strangely compelling way. 
Hell, Dipper knows it’s an artificial body, and he’s still fooled sometimes. It’s a truly excellent facsimile.
Given the chance, there could be more to figure out. Stuff to prod at, or examine. But Bill probably wouldn’t like that, and anyway it’s late. 
Dipper feels the weight over his shoulders shift. He hums a brief sound of apology; he didn’t mean to jostle Bill’s arm too much. It’s not bad, having it there. A warm, solid thing that holds him close, silk shirt soft under his cheek.
Too warm. Soft shirt. 
Slowly, Dipper lets his heavy eyelids shut.
A scream cuts through the air. Kinda tinny sound. Must be the doorbell again.
Then Dipper’s pillow shifts under his cheek, and he startles slightly. Not very far, maybe an inch. 
Wait. This is - not his room. The living room.
Orienting takes a second. The scream was - from the tv, right. Onscreen a demon gets murdered in a grisly fashion, swearing as it’s carved open. For some reason Dipper’s view of it is sideways. 
Wait, where is he? 
Dipper  leans up slightly to get a better look, and hears a muffled snicker. A firm hand presses his head back down, fingers carding through his hair. His face gets smooshed against silken fabric. 
Not couch fabric. Clothing fabric. And underneath it, a body. 
Which is the person next to him, who is sitting next to him, who can only possibly be Bill. 
Dipper nearly drifted off right next to the guy. That’s no good. 
How did this happen? One moment he was vaguely watching TV, the next he was out like a light, it’s weird. It hasn’t been a long day. He hasn’t exerted himself, he’s not sick or hurting, he hasn’t even lost any - 
Alright, he did lose some blood. The wound just healed over too fast for it to be a problem. 
And now that he’s concentrating on it - physically, he’s fucking exhausted. His arms and legs have a faint familiar ache, like he’s been running and hiding for hours.
Maybe regrowing an organ took more out of him than he thought. 
Trying to open his eyes is more difficult than anticipated. Dipper has to open them. Just gotta get up the will to move. Shove himself off the couch and escape. 
Forcing his eyes open, Dipper catches the movie just as a dramatic confession scene starts playing out. There’s a lot of arguing. And some kissing?  He can’t tell if it’s eternal rivalry or love, but either way Bill seems deeply intrigued.
Dipper could get up. There’s no compulsion on him. No curse, or any kind of spell.
But between the exhaustion, his full stomach, and sitting in a dark warm room, watching the fire flicker - Bill’s fingers, running in slow circles on the back of his neck and through his hair - it’s hard to think why he would.
Moving’s effort. Nobody’s making him do it. Even Bill’s distracted, watching his ridiculous drama; Dipper could drift off again, right here and now, and be totally, probably fine. 
He’s gotta get up anyway. 
Falling asleep on a literal Lord of Nightmares is a bad idea. Time to go to bed. In a real bed. Even if Bill doesn’t mind getting Dipper-drool on his fancy shirts, at best it’s rude as hell.
Eventually Dipper gets his heavy arms to move. He tries lifting his head. It’s briefly stopped by the pressure of Bill’s own cheek, before it disappears like… okay, maybe Dipper imagined that part. From there - standing’s effort, but surprisingly easy without demonic interference.
Not that Bill doesn’t look a little like he wants to grab Dipper again. His eye narrows, but he doesn’t move when he asks, “Hey! Where’re you going?”
“Sorry,” Dipper starts, then pauses. Bill’s got a weirdly pinched expression; he must not have liked that - The words start stumbling out, unbidden. “It’s not - Sorry. I mean, I just. Uh, I’m really tired. I should go to bed-”
“Why do you gotta leave for that?” Bill leans back further, onto the arm of the couch. He pats his shoulder, then runs his open hand under it like a showcase display. “You were plenty cozy here! Stick around!”
“You’re not a pillow though,” Dipper tries to argue, but Bill keeps talking. “Says who? I can be anything I want, whenever I wanna.” Bill sniffs, lifting his chin. “You should see me shapeshift, sapling, it’s a hell of a sight!”
Dipper shrugs. He looks down, digging his toes into the carpet. 
By all rights Bill should be offended that Dipper touched him at all, except for how he’s pretty touchy himself. It can’t add to any plan or conquer any planet, at best it would….
Does Bill… want human drool on his shirt? Is that a thing? Collecting blood is one thing, what do other fluids do?
“Ahem,” Bill pats his shoulder again, then his lap. “Get back here, already. You know you wanna!”
A command, though one that’s not harsh. And Dipper doesn’t have to follow Bill’s orders. He knows that. Bill hates that, he prefers to make a solid, convincing argument rather than watch Dipper fold like paper. Dipper could leave, right now, and it’d be fun for him, it’d be fine.
There’s an argument to be made that this order wouldn’t be too awful. He was pretty comfy. 
Unfortunately for Bill, it's also a bad idea.
Leaning up against a literal Nightmare Lord and taking a nap is bound to have terrible effects on the human psyche. Between the way Bill radiates magic like heat - like a goddamn furnace - feeling his chest through the thin shirt, the arms coming around him -
Dipper covers his mouth, looking away. He can already feel the flames of Bill’s magic licking through him, and they’re not even touching.
Definitely a pass. He prefers his brain unfried, thank you. 
He almost speaks up to say so before Bill snaps his fingers. An idea has struck him, apparently. By the look, he thinks it’s a great one.
“Not where you wanna rest your head? No problem! You got options.” Bill says, casually waving off any concerns like errant spiderwebs. “How bout this?”
In one quick motion, Bill undoes his tie, letting it drape loose around his neck. Another flick opens the first button of his shirt. He continues down, in a line of quick movement. One, then two; three and another. Dropping down, step after step, fabric parting until it reveals a wide expanse of skin.
What is he- Dipper turns his head away - then back when there’s no horrible explosion of fire or blood or, or - 
He doesn’t know what he expected. It’s just an open shirt.
With his work done, Bill kicks his legs up on the couch and lounges back, arms tucked behind his head. “So? Whatdya’ think?”
There’s probably a good response to that. Thinking of one is hard, though. Dipper’s never, ever seen the suit come off. Wasn’t sure it could.
He’d kind of wondered if there was skin under his clothes, and, yeah, turns out there is. A lot of it. 
“Hey!” Bill snaps his fingers, then grins at Dipper’s slight startle. “Now, if a shoulder doesn’t appeal to ya, this might suit your fancy.” He motions over the half-opened shirt. The body’s so human looking under the clothing; all warm-looking skin and the curves of muscle. “Mortals love nestling up against flesh, am I right?”
“Um,” Dipper says. Reaching for a word, or a phrase, to tell Bill that this is.
Not wrong, exactly. Sleepovers exist, not that Dipper’s had one. But he’s sure they don’t work this way. Neither of them are in their pajamas, there isn’t a pillow for or a bed around - and demon gods with dubious motives are never part of the equation.
Cultural clash, maybe. Bill could have misunderstood how this works. A brief moment of confusion, or insanity -
Billgiving Dipper a look that makes his stomach do a flip. Both dark and a little playful, a strange mix.
So much for misunderstanding. Bill seems like he knows exactly what he’s doing.
Dipper wipes his suddenly sweaty palms on his pants. His newly-grown tongue feels thick in his mouth. He tries to look at the carpet instead of at- anything else, and fails miserably. 
Each time he looks up, he’s confronted with Bill having a body and a chest, looking at him with a half-lidded gaze in the dim, flickering light of the fire.
The fireplace should have been turned off fully, come to think of it. It’s way too warm in the room right now, making Dipper lightheaded and slightly damp in his own shirt. Along with building energy. A weird tremulous feeling, like he shouldn’t just stand there. He should take action. Move.
“I gotta go,” Dipper blurts, and heads for his room.
He keeps a respectable pace while he’s at it. Not too slow, not too fast. This way it feels - and looks - less like fleeing.
“Whoa, wait wait wait,” Bill says. The thump behind Dipper tells him he’s gotten up from the couch.  “C’mon, kid, no need to rush off back to your bed! What, is it the mini-me you’re after? Cause the real deal’s a million times better than that bite-sized scrap of fabric.”
The door’s nearly there. Though Dipper hears Bill storming up behind him, he only picks up his own pace. A brush of air ghosts over his arm as Bill makes a grab at his wrist.
The heat, the energy, the weird, light feeling in his stomach - Dipper can put a pin in the core feeling now. 
Nervousness. 
All the more reason to leave. Feeling scared means something’s coming. Ignoring the danger only lets it catch up. 
Time to leave.
He gets his hand on the doorknob just in time for Bill’s palms to slam into the wood on either side of his head. 
Too fast, damn it, he doesn’t know why he didn’t think of that - and the low chuckle behind him sends a warm shiver down his spine. 
“What’s the matter kid?” Dipper’s stomach does an awkward somersault as he feels Bill’s breath ghost over the back of his neck. “You didn’t think you were gonna get away that easy, did you?”
The doorknob isn’t turning. Dipper grabs it with both hands now, but no matter which way he moves it, it’s stuck or something- Bill’s laughter rises into a high, delighted cackle, fingernails scraping down the wood.
“Not a chance,” Bill says. His voice is low as he presses Dipper closer to the door. “I’ve got big plans for you, Pine Tree.”
Oh.
The flushing warmth drains from Dipper’s face; his blood runs cold. The way Bill crowds him in feels less like his normal bullyish habit and more like being in a trap.
There was an ulterior motive; something dangerous and demonic. Stupid. Idiot. He should have known better before this happened. He shouldn’t have gotten so close, shouldn’t have agreed to anything tonight. Everything was leading up to a part of Bill’s grandmaster plan and running away ruined it, now he’s in trouble, he should have listened to his gut and gotten out of there first thing. 
Bill keeps saying that he’s special. How stupid was it to hope it was in a good way.
“No running off, kid!” Strong hands turn Dipper around and push him back. He hits the door with a thump. “You-”
Bill might be quick, but in this, Dipper’s quicker. He already has his arms up, covering his head, his face. His mouth works without permission as he says, “Please don’t-” 
Then clamps his teeth shut before the next word. Maybe Bill won’t - he probably wouldn’t, or not start now, he hopes. He thinks. Saying it could put the idea in Bill’s head if it’s not there already and protesting wouldn’t stop him if it was, it’d just make Dipper sound weaker than he already is now.
A hand reaches out. Dipper flinches away so sharply it hits the door behind him.
Nothing touches him. No punishment lands. 
Each moment that it doesn’t makes Dipper think that maybe, just maybe, nothing’s going to happen. Hopes it won’t. Bill hasn’t harmed him so far and he wants things to stay that way. 
But he’s so, so close.
In the silence, Dipper hears only his own harsh breathing.
“To start with,” Bill says, slow, though not as loud - Dipper realizes he’s drawn back a bit, one hand is lifted. “You’ll need this.”
He’s not going to look. He’s not - 
Okay, he does peek, because he’s curious. Since he’s already in trouble, he might as well know why.
Held between Bill’s fingers is an elaborate golden key. 
“Your door’s locked, kid.” Bill wiggles the key back and forth between index finger and thumb. “Might wanna do something about that before going beddy-bye.”
“Oh.” All of Dipper’s held breath escapes him in a rush. He lifts his head slightly, checking - but Bill’s standing a good two feet away now. Not. Doing anything. “Oh, yeah, um. Right.” 
That’s all it was. The knob wasn’t working because he locked it. That’s all. It’s fine. He’s fine. 
He doesn’t remember doing that, though- Wait, did his door even have one.
“Seemed like the sorta addition you’d been waiting for. No skin off my nose to make a quick renovation.” Bill purses his lips in a pout, like he’s about to sulk again. “I was gonna tell ya, but then you ran off! Ya gotta hear me out before fleeing, sapling.”
Oh. That’s - yeah, he did kind of want that, he just thought. Bill controls this place, he owns everything here. Asking felt wrong, could have got him in trouble, and anyway he hasn’t barged in in weeks, so really, Dipper hadn’t minded. But now….
Though the key’s right in front of him, it’s hard to get his limbs to cooperate. Dipper takes a slow breath, brushing off his shirt, smoothing back his hair. 
He just. Needs a second.
“Lemme just get that for you,” Bill says, with a brightness that doesn’t quite ring like his usual. He winks, stepping to one side and unlocking the door with practiced ease. 
The instant it’s open, Dipper rushes into his room.
Bracing himself on the footboard, he takes stock of the situation. The light is on, and everything’s in place. His bed is halfway made and his book is on the table where he left it, there’s no ominous presence chasing him into this miniature sanctuary.
He’s fine.
He’s back in his room. Back where there’s a soft bed, with cozy blankets, all of his stuff. Everything’s in place, nobody’s messed with it, even the plushie is still  next to his pillow. Nothing’s hurt him in here before and it won’t start now.
A few moments helps him compose himself. Dipper runs a hand through his hair, letting out a shaky breath.
 Plus. There’s a door that locks. Not much protection against the creature he’s cohabiting with, but that’s okay. If Bill does burst in, he won’t be able to lie and say he didn’t know he shouldn’t. 
…Bill hasn’t burst in now, either. 
A quick check over his shoulder shows him still standing in the doorway.
For a man who doesn’t like being ignored, he’s gone unusually quiet. Dipper waits. He fidgets with the hem of his shirt. 
Any moment now Bill’s going to fill up the silence. Babble something inane or intimidating. 
He doesn’t.
In fact, he hasn’t moved an inch. 
Bill stands just outside the threshold, hands by his sides. Watching Dipper like he’s a million miles away instead just a few meters, looking like - Dipper can’t place it. An expression that, on another face, would make more sense. On Bill it’s more like something’s gone wrong. 
More seconds pass in silence. Too awkward, and too quiet, Dipper should - Bill shouldn’t look like that.
“Um. Thank you,” Dipper says, stilted and awkward, but sincere. “For, uh,” He gestures, even more furtively, to his mouth
The corner of Bill’s mouth quirks up. “Eh, no biggie.” He flicks his fingers in a dismissive manner, then polishes them on his still-opened shirt. “Don’t get me wrong, I do love the sound of my own voice - but a guy can use a little variety around the place, y’know?”
“And, uh. Dinner was nice too,” Dipper continues, a rush of words, whatever comes to mind. Knowing that any moment Bill could leave gives him a weird burst of energy to keep rambling. If he’s talking, Bill will listen. He just said as much. “I really liked that. Did you always have a dining room that big? Does it always exist? I mean, yeah, you can just make stuff, but making entire architecture’s a big ask. Do you just move stuff around, or make it from scratch every time? I know you have a lot of magic, but don’t you need to, like, save it up for stuff, or does it-”
The questions keep coming, awkward over his new tongue. All the ones he’d been wondering about, and now that he can just say them, they pour out in an almost involuntary flood. So much faster than writing. 
Getting all the thoughts out of his head is kind of a relief. Bill’s eye widens briefly; he must not have expected that.
At some point Dipper realizes he’s been rambling at Bill levels of length, and shuts his mouth with a click. 
“So, uh.” Dipper clears his throat, feeling awkward. “Yeah.” That was way, way too many questions. Stupid. Intrusive.
Bill leans casually against the doorway now, raising an eyebrow. Again, amazingly, he hasn’t minded a bit of it.
In fact - while Dipper was speaking, every word added an incremental increase to his grin. Now it’s bright on his face again, full-force.
“Dinner, huh?” Bill says, electing to skip over any kind of answers, like a jerk. Looking amused now instead of - whatever that was. He claps his hands together, rubbing them with anticipation. “We should do that again sometime! Tomorrow, even!” 
“Sure,” Dipper agrees in a rush. Damn, maybe that was too fast. He sounds too eager, Bill could use it as leverage, dangle it in front of him then pull it away. He shoves his hands in his pockets. “That. Sounds okay.”
Bill chuckles. He takes a half-step, stopping just before he enters the room. “What, no followup questions?” His smile is teasing now. “Here I thought I was gonna get the whole spiel!”
“No I- It’s cool.” Turning away, Dipper rubs his face. He clears his throat. 
No more distractions. He was going to bed. He was getting away. Conversation over, he shouldn’t drag it out. 
“Forgetting something?” Bill speaks up. Dipper glances back at him, where Bill, again, raises an eyebrow. Again, he waggles the key in Dipper’s vision. 
Damn, he did forget; he’ll need that. Dipper takes a step closer. Then another. 
His own hesitance annoys him; Fuck it, it’s not like this is the worst thing that’s ever happened to him. With a huff, he draws himself up and stomps over to Bill. Holding out his hand, palm up. 
The slow smile that spreads across Bill’s face is downright wicked. Another bit of showmanship; he’s clearly covering for something. 
Dipper narrows his eyes, and stands firm. 
One of Bill’s hands comes up underneath Dipper’s, cupping the back. The other sets the key into his palm, a motion that comes off as almost too casual. It might have worked, too, if he didn’t slowly trace his fingers over it, tickling the skin. “Here ya go, kid.” 
The touch leaves a tingling feeling in its wake. Probably magic, something with the key - Dipper pulls his hand back a second too late, clutching it to his chest. 
“Nighty-night, sapling.” Bill winks, and annoyingly, gives double finger-guns at him. As he backs away, the door slowly closes in his wake. “Don’t forget about tomorrow! Mark the date!”
Dipper raises an eyebrow. He’s not going to forget the literal next day. Bill’s an idiot. 
“‘Cause I’ll be seeing you real soon,” Bill continues. His face leans into the slowly closing crack of the door. Aiming for ominous, probably. Pity his timing’s off. “Sooner than you think! In fact, I could-”
Dipper steps forward and shuts the door with a ‘thunk’. The muffled ‘Hey!’ from behind it has him forcing down a grin of his own. 
Defying Bill shouldn’t be good. It should scare him. It should feel more wrong.
Instead it gives Dipper a bit of a spring in his step, and a faint burst of pride. The weirdness of this place must be catching. 
He makes a quick change into pyjamas, shutting off most of the lights. Flopping back into the comfy bed, with the lamp on the bedside table letting out a dim glow. 
Mini-Bill, keeping vigil on his pillow, stares at Dipper with the same focused intensity as the real version. Dipper scoops it up in his arms, and rolls onto his back, holding it above his head.
“At least you’re not scary,” Dipper says, and smiles. Because he can speak now, god, it’s going to take a while to get used to that. He pulls mini-Bill down and into his face, nuzzling the soft, worn fabric. 
Then sits up, suddenly alert. Somewhere Bill just swore really loud; it’s since faded into a long, complaining groan. He stubbed his toe again, didn’t he. 
A minor annoyance, considering. As exhaustion looms. Dipper flicks the bedside light off, and pulls up the blankets. 
This is probably the… not the longest day he can remember, but certainly up there. So much has happened. He’s learned some stuff - not enough yet, but some - and he’s going to get to do even more tomorrow. Because Bill’s a lot of things, but he’s never boring, and the whole time Dipper will be full and fixed and whole.
Thanking Bill earlier was sincere. But it didn’t cover everything, or how much it meant. It’s too vast; a mind-reader like Bill can’t know how he feels when even he’s still working it out.
One day, Dipper might find the words to describe it. How important this was. And, well. Special. 
Maybe he’ll even say them out loud.
He squeezes the plush tighter, and almost doesn’t feel dumb for doing it. Bill’s never judged him having mini-Bill and if it could be made fun of, he would, so. Keeping this, holding this, is okay. Curling up around it in the cozy bed, and holding it close.
Sleeping with it in his bed. In his room. He has a key to the place and everything.
…Dipper could live like this, he thinks. In this place of danger, extreme weirdness, and relative peace.
He also knows better than to think it can last.
But hey, screw it. Until then, he might as well enjoy himself. 
Back in the cult he never had a tenth of the creature comforts, and the company was definitely subpar. Here in the Fearamid, he’ll learn new things, all the time. Doing magic, having his own place, living and eating well. Finding secrets. 
And occasionally getting a bout of sheer terror, but, well. Bill is a Nightmare Lord and all. Complaining about that would be like bitching about water being wet, and here it happens less often than back on Earth.  
For now, he’s doing okay. Comfortable, warm, well-fed. Mostly, temporarily, safe. 
When Bill finally makes his move, Dipper hopes it’ll be obvious. Most of what he does is too weird to find a pattern. There may not be any clues until Bill’s already kicked off the events that will seal Dipper’s eventual fate. 
All because he’s special. And he only has one clue as to what that means.
Dipper wedges mini-Bill further between his chin and his shoulder. Running his tongue over his teeth, curling it in over the birthmark - then letting it lay still, heavy in his mouth.
As far as he knows, the plan could have already started.
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Imagine helping Benn get away to see a 'friend'
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Benn: *trying to slip off the ship during dinner for the third night in a row*
Shanks: *notices he's gone almost immediately* Where's Beck?
Lucky Roux: *counting the money Benn bribed him with to keep quiet* I dunno
Shanks: *Runs out on deck to find Benn trying to sneak over the side of the bot* Where we going?
Benn: we aren't going anywhere, I'm going to port by myself.
Shanks: You're leaving the crew! *Starts to tear up*
The crew: *piles out when they hear Shanks' caterwauling* You're leaving! Without even saying goodbye!
Benn: I'm just leaving for the night, not forever...*realizes no one is listening to him* oh my gods, FINE! Fine, I'm not going anywhere.
Crew: *cheers as they herd Benn back into the mess hall*
An hour later
Benn: *finally manages to claw his way out of the impromptu game night to take a breather out on deck*
You: *watches him lean on the railing, trying to light night cigarette* Need a light?
Benn: *jumps in surprise and drops his lighter into the bay* You scared the shit outta me!
You: *hands him your lighter and leans against the railing*, so why were you trying to sneak off?
Benn: what's it to you?
You: maybe I could help if you have a good reason.
Benn: I wanted to go see a friend I always hook up with when we make port here. She knows I'm a pirate, but not what crew I'm apart of.
You: and you don't want us to meet her? Are you shamed of us?
Benn: *no hesitation* very...Nah, nah, it's just she's a sweet gal and rather timid.
You: and you think she'll be scared off when she finds out you're the emotional support idiot to one of the four emperors?
Benn: yes...Wait, I'm no one's emotional support idiot.
You: In order to stop Shanks from pouting you had to let him curl up in your lap.
Benn: so?
You: You looked like you were burping him, like a baby, when he's a whole ass grown man.
Benn: *purses his lips because he knows you're right, so he elects not to respond*
You: Anyway, you want help sneaking out?
Benn: No offense rookie, but I don't think you can help me. They're a group of seasoned pirates, and you.... You've only been in this life for what? Three years?
You: You're forgetting that they're also just a bunch of dudes who are children at heart.
Benn: what are you getting at?
You: What I'm saying is sneaking out will cost you.
Benn: how much?
You: Take me shopping tomorrow and we'll find out.
The next night
Benn: There's no way this is gonna work.
You: Boys! Benn bought you some stuff! *Presents them with a 10,000 + piece Lego set of the Red Force (I'm making Legos cannon for a plot device), a dial set of Uta's newest album, and twenty barrels of booze*
The Crew: *move like a wave, taking up the gifts*
Shanks: What brought this on?
Benn: Just thought we could use a new activity for tonight, you've all been working so hard lately and all.
Thirty minutes later
The crew: *absorbed in sorting Lego pieces and reading the instruction manual*
Benn: *also absorbed*
You: *elbows him* aren't you trying to get laid?
Benn: but Legos.
You: You really gonna pick Legos over pussy?
Benn: but what if they finish it without me?
You: I'll make it have an accident, so they have to start all over. Now get out of here.
Benn: I can't believe that your plan worked.
You: yeah yeah, get outta here before they notice you're gone
Benn: You're the best *kisses your forehead and flings himself off the side of the ship*
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steddieas-shegoes · 2 months
Text
crawl home to you
for @steddiesongfics february song 'work song' by hozier
rated e | 5,223 words | full tags on ao3
🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸
Steve should never have kissed him. He knew that now.
While Eddie was dying, bleeding out on the ground of their version of Hell, the only thing Steve felt he could do to help him was kiss him. It was quick, just a peck on the lips, lingering only for a moment. Their eyes never even closed.
Steve wanted to take in every remaining moment that Eddie had.
There was nothing else he could do, just hold him, try to whisper comfort that may not have even been heard.
Dustin was yelling to save him, but there was no way to do that. His injuries were too severe, he’d already lost too much blood. Moving him now would just kill him faster and more painfully. Nancy and Robin were trying to hold Dustin back, but their tears were making it harder to maintain any control.
When Eddie was gone, Steve set him back down on the ground.
“We have to get out of here,” he said, biting back the sob he could feel in his throat.
“We can’t leave him! Steve, please,” Dustin begged.
“We can come back for him once we check on everyone else. I promise. I’m not letting him stay here,” Steve lifted Dustin in his arms, ignoring his protests.
******
When they finally managed to sneak through the safest gate, Eddie’s body was gone.
Steve fell to his knees, silently begging any higher power to make him appear.
But Robin’s hand on his shoulder and Jonathan’s voice by his side made him stand up and leave.
He was gone.
He couldn’t even bring his body back to bury it properly.
He’d made another mistake.
******
Nobody moved on quickly, but Steve seemed to feel the most guilt. It was written all over his face anytime someone mentioned Eddie, it was in the way he visited Eddie’s uninhabited grave every weekend to clean it and leave flowers, it was there when he wore the battle vest around town, still bloodstained and obvious.
No one commented on it. Only Robin ever saw him cry over it.
Only Robin knew that part of his guilt was from not saying how he felt before Eddie died.
The kiss was too late and the words were nonexistent, and now Steve had to live with the missed chance.
******
It was a hot summer day when things changed.
It was subtle at first, the sky darker than usual and the air stagnant.
He got ready for his day, skipping the vest since he’d be volunteering and “bloodstains scared the children.”
And then he heard a crash outside, followed by yelling and banging on his front door.
“Steve!” “Open up!” “Code red!”
Steve ran downstairs and threw open the front door.
“It’s time,” Dustin said.
“Now?” Steve asked, incredulous. How had they not had more warning?
They all thought El and Will would be able to sense more of the Upside Down leading up to Vecna’s return, even Dr. Owens had mentioned a possibility of signs for days or even weeks leading up to his return.
How could they all have been so wrong?
“Where are we meeting?” He asked, running through a checklist in his mind of everything he would need to bring with him. Most of the emergency things he planned on having were already in his car, but it helped him keep the nerves at bay to have something to do.
“The cabin. It’s closest to the gate we can use. El’s already there with Will and Hopper getting what they can done. We don’t know how long we actually have.”
“Do they feel him?” Steve had to ask, had to know.
“El said she’s not sure if it’s Vecna or the mindflayer, and Will thinks it’s just the entire hivemind, but yeah. They do feel something. They expected it to be stronger so Nancy thinks something is messing with their connection,” Lucas said.
Steve nodded and told them to load their bikes in his trunk while he finished grabbing some things.
Most of what they would wear was already at the cabin, but he couldn’t do this without a piece of Eddie.
He slipped the vest on and laced up his boots. He put the only ring he had of Eddie’s on his ring finger, the only one it would fit on.
He checked the mirror once to make sure he didn’t look like he was falling apart at the seams.
The black shadows under his eyes and greasy hair would have to be alright.
******
They split up, but differently this time. One group stayed with El, protecting her while she protected the world. One group stayed with Will in the Upside Down.
Steve insisted on being part of the group in the Upside Down.
He carried his nail bat while Robin carried a flamethrower. She had lessons and everything.
Joyce had a rifle loaded with special bullets that exploded into actual flames upon impact, something Dustin and Suzie had cooked up over the last month to try to gain any leverage they could.
Nancy and Jonathan were ahead of them, rifles in hand to fire warning shots if they saw anything before Will felt it.
Will was quiet, but he’d been pretty quiet since he’d arrived in Hawkins.
It was eerily quiet, more than they were expecting. They’d come in thinking they’d be fighting off demobats and demodogs constantly, but so far they were met with nothing but falling ash and the occasional sound of a tree limb breaking.
“Are we sure he’s still here?” Steve finally asked.
“He’s here. I can feel him. He’s just being quiet, waiting,” Will answered. That was the most he’d said all day.
So they continued.
A gunshot went off.
Everyone froze.
Jonathan yelled to them that something was nearby.
“It can’t be him. He’s still too distant,” Will said as Joyce stood in front of him.
“Unless he’s messing with you,” Robin whispered. “He knows we’re on high alert, right? He knows we’re strong and we aren’t just gonna give up. He’s not gonna let himself be known until he’s certain he’s got us in our weakest spot.”
Will nodded. “I don’t think he has that much control over what I can feel, though.”
“He has a lot more control over all of you than you think,” a voice said from to their left.
All weapons were pointed towards it except for Steve’s, who would recognize that voice in any situation, no matter how insane.
“Eddie?” He pushed everyone out of the way and moved towards the voice.
“Wait!” Eddie said from the shadows, barely an outline visible in the darkness. “Don’t come closer yet.”
“Why not?” Steve felt Robin’s hand on his shoulder, comforting and holding him back at the same time.
“I’m not…Steve.” Something in his tone told Steve to actually listen to him, to not push.
“Can you at least let me know if you’re alright?” Steve was scared to actually believe this was Eddie.
Eddie was dead. His body was missing.
If this wasn’t actually Eddie, Steve wouldn’t handle it well. He’d do what he needs to make sure everyone gets out of here, but after that?
Who knows.
Eddie sounded like he was cursing under his breath, which felt like such an Eddie thing, Steve couldn’t help smiling a little.
Maybe the world would end today, maybe he’d die, maybe everyone would die. But right now, Steve felt Eddie’s presence, and that was something worth dying for.
“Okay, this is gonna sound like a trap.” Eddie cursed again. “But I don’t know if I can be trusted near anyone except Steve.”
“Yeah, hard pass,” Robin said as she tugged Steve back. He’d already put one foot forward like he was actually going to get closer. “If I can’t see you, you’re not getting any closer to him.”
“That’s what I thought you’d say,” Eddie sighed. “I just need you to not freak out if I come out there.”
“Why would we-” Steve started to ask as Eddie stepped out of the shadows.
It was still pretty dark, but it was easy enough to see the outline of him.
In many ways, he looked the same, still pale, still long dark curls, still wearing the clothes he’d died in. But there were things Steve noticed immediately.
His wounds seemed healed, which should be impossible. Well, he shouldn’t even be alive, but even still, there should be way more scars covering his face and neck. His eyes were nearly black, not the deep brown they’d been before the life left them in Steve’s arms. When he opened his mouth to speak, his teeth were pointed, sharp.
“I don’t want to hurt anyone. But I haven’t been around anyone since-” He gestured to himself. “And I’m not sure how much control I have.”
“What…are you?” Nancy asked from behind them.
“I wanna say vampire, but nothing is really that simple, so blood-thirsting creature who hasn’t had blood since he discovered he needed it.” Eddie flashed his teeth. “I’ve got no heartbeat, which is weird. And I can hear what Steve’s thinking.”
“What?” Steve asked, almost too shocked by seeing Eddie to actually process what he was saying.
“Your thoughts have been like, the only thing keeping me alive. No blood yet, remember?”
“How does that even work?” Joyce asked, hand on Steve’s arm. “Did you feel anything strange?”
“No,” Steve answered, not taking his eyes away from Eddie. “So you…you know?”
“Yeah, Stevie. I know,” Eddie took one step closer and paused, closing his eyes. “I don’t wanna get any closer to anyone. But I know for a fact that I wouldn’t hurt you.”
“You know how that sounds, right?” Will finally spoke up.
“Yeah, Will the Wise, I do. Which is why I won’t push. But I think something happened when Stevie here kissed me while I was bleeding out in his arms and I’m pretty sure that I would actually die if I hurt him,” Eddie said.
Everyone looked to Steve, who could no longer think of a single reason not to go to Eddie.
Robin seemed hesitant to let him go, but he smiled at her and said to trust him. They all had plenty of weapons if something went wrong.
He walked closer, his only thought being able to actually touch Eddie again, maybe kiss him when he wasn’t dying.
“I wouldn’t be opposed,” Eddie said quietly as Steve stopped right in front of him. He seemed taller, just a couple inches, but definitely noticeable. “Gotta watch the teeth though. They’re pretty sharp.”
“It’s really you,” Steve reached a hand out to cup his cheek. Eddie nuzzled against his palm. “You came back.”
“I’ll always crawl home to you, Stevie.”
“How did this happen?” He whispered, his hand dropping to Eddie’s chest. He really didn’t have a heartbeat. “How are you here?”
“I don’t really know. I woke up and got flashes of your thoughts, and then my own memory kicked in and all I could think about was getting back to you.” Eddie leaned forward until his forehead touched Steve’s. “It killed me to hear how much you were hurting and I couldn’t do anything.”
“Why couldn’t you come through the gate?” Steve asked, fingers curling into Eddie’s shirt. “Why didn’t you come to us when we came to get your body?”
“Every time I tried to leave, I would pass out. One of those times was when I could hear your thoughts about coming to get me and I wanted to meet you at the gate, but I blacked out somewhere by Skull Rock?” Eddie sighed. “I didn’t get to you in time.”
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” Steve sobbed.
“Hey,” Eddie cupped his face and shook his head. “You didn’t know. This isn’t your fault. If anything, you’re the reason I’m even alive-ish to begin with.”
It was like everything around them disappeared when Steve leaned up to peck Eddie’s lips.
It was even quicker than the first time, barely even a graze. But they both felt the spark.
Steve fell against his chest, his face nuzzling into his neck as he let out another sob. “I needed you.”
“I know. I’m here now,” Eddie said.
Steve hadn’t realized how much it was true, how much he did need Eddie this whole time. The grief he’d felt was beyond what he should’ve felt, more than what even some of the people closest to Eddie had been showing. It didn’t make sense to him why he felt so much for this man he barely knew.
“It feels like I have your heartbeat in my chest,” Steve mumbled. It didn’t make any sense.
“Maybe you do, sweetheart,” Eddie kissed the side of his head. “Must’ve stolen it from me when you kissed me.”
Steve smiled against Eddie’s skin. “Maybe I did.”
“Um, not to break up…whatever this is,” Robin started. “But Will’s hearing things.”
Steve whimpered as Eddie pulled away.
“It’s okay,” Eddie said as he laced his fingers with Steve’s. “I’m right here with you.”
And it turned out, he was more help than anyone could’ve expected.
He wasn’t exactly connected to the hivemind, but he could sense Vecna. He was almost certain Vecna was the reason he passed out anytime he tried to leave.
Which Nancy had explained probably meant Vecna would need to be severely weakened or die before Eddie would be able to leave.
If Steve had to kill Vecna himself to have Eddie back, he would. He would do anything.
But since Eddie seemed connected to him, he could give them more warning than even Will could when something was going to happen.
That warning is probably what saved them and ultimately helped El get into Vecna’s mind to finish the job she started in March.
It was obvious almost immediately when she won, when they won.
Steve’s first response was to hug Robin, her tears and sweat and a little blood soaking into his shirt while he cried into her hair. He could distantly hear everyone else crying and yelling, cheers coming from the walkie that Joyce was holding.
Everyone was okay.
Robin patted his back and pulled away. “You better get to Eddie before he rips my face off.”
Steve’s brows furrowed as he looked over to Eddie. He’d distanced himself from everyone, and even though he was smiling about their victory, he looked incredibly uncomfortable.
“Hey,” Robin said, patting his cheek. “I’m happy for you. If he’s what you want, I’m glad you get to have him.”
“Thanks, Robs.”
Robin turned to pull Nancy into a hug and Steve made his way over to Eddie.
“We couldn’t have done it without you,” Steve started. “You made sure we got him before he could get us.”
Eddie’s wide eyes wouldn’t focus on him, darting from his face to his neck to behind him.
“Stevie, I-” He groaned. “I really need blood. Everyone smells so strong. I think Vecna was covering some of my hunger before.”
Steve paled. “Okay. Let’s just- okay.”
“Steve.”
“Bite me.”
“Steve!”
“No, seriously. You won’t hurt me. You can’t hurt me. And I barely even lost any blood today. Might as well let you have some.”
Eddie whined. “I-”
“Eds, look at me,” Steve guided his face towards him. “If you drink a little now, we can all leave here. You can come home. You can see Wayne. You can see the kids. You can stay with me if you want.”
Eddie nodded. “I just don’t wanna freak you out. I feel like you’re handling this too well.”
“Maybe,” Steve snorted. “But this is not even top three weirdest things to happen to me. I want you to feel like you have control again. You can be in control of your own body.”
“I don’t know what it will feel like for you. It may hurt,” Eddie said.
“It won’t hurt as much as knowing you’re suffering.”
“You would fall on a sword I’m holding if it meant I was happy, wouldn’t you?” Eddie asked, shaking his head. “How have you not died?”
“I almost have many times.” Steve cupped the back of Eddie’s head and pulled him in, tipping his head to the side so he had better access to his neck. “This won’t be one of them. You can’t hurt me.”
“Steve,” Eddie nipped at his neck. “You smell so good. I can’t-”
“Then don’t, baby. Drink.”
The moment Eddie’s teeth sunk into his skin, every surrounding noise and sight was gone from Steve’s mind. All he could think about was giving Eddie everything, whatever he needed was his.
He could feel Eddie moaning against his neck, but couldn’t quite hear it.
Eddie’s arms were around his waist, holding him up while he took the blood he needed.
Steve lost track of time, lost track of everything except the way Eddie’s lips felt against his pulse point. His tongue lapped up the blood leaking from where his mouth connected to his veins.
They both shivered.
Steve blacked out.
******
“If you killed him, I swear to god Munson, I will kill you.”
Robin’s voice was the first thing Steve became aware of.
And then he felt Eddie’s fingers on his wrist, probably checking his pulse.
“‘M not dead,” he managed to say.
He was definitely in a bed, though he couldn’t be sure if it was his own. He didn’t really want to open his eyes yet.
He turned his head a few inches and let out a small whimper at the sting in his neck.
“Can’t believe you tried to eat my babysitter,” Dustin’s voice said from somewhere across the room. “After he basically saved you by kissing you. I gotta call Suzie. There’s theories on a “sleeping beauty” kiss, but there’s no actual science to back it up. Yet.”
“Dustin, please shut up,” Steve groaned. “I’m fine.”
He finally opened his eyes to emphasize his point, shocked to see almost everyone surrounding the bed he was in.
“This wasn’t really an everyone needs to be here situation, was it? I just passed out.”
“Eddie was panicking. He thought he killed you,” Lucas provided.
“But he cannot. You are soulmates,” El said from a chair on the other side of the bed. She looked exhausted, but otherwise okay. “It is impossible for him to kill you.”
“Well that’s…nice.” Steve was feeling a bit exhausted himself. “How long was I passed out?”
“Long enough to get through the gate and get you back to your house. 30 minutes maybe?” Eddie said, pulling his hand up to kiss his fingers. “I was worried I took too much.”
“No,” Steve said, certain he hadn’t. “I think it was just overwhelming. It won’t happen next time.”
“Did I hurt you?” Eddie’s voice sounded broken and unsure, like he would crumble into pieces if Steve said yes.
“No. You didn’t hurt me. I promise. It felt…good,” Steve was hesitant to say more with so many ears listening in, especially young ones. “It was just a lot.”
Eddie watched him for a moment, determining if he was lying. But he could read his thoughts, knew he wasn’t, and eventually gave a nod and another kiss to his knuckles.
“Well, since we know he isn’t dead and probably won’t be anytime soon…we should go!” Robin said because she was a good friend who knew what Steve was thinking even without the mindreading superpowers.
“But we should monitor him and make sure nothing weird happens. We don’t know what Eddie’s got going on and-” Dustin started to argue.
“Yep, he’s fine.” Hopper started to nudge everyone out the door. “We have stuff to do anyway. Eddie can watch him. He’ll call if anything weird happens, right?”
“Right,” Eddie answered, not taking his eyes off of Steve.
As everyone filtered out of the room, Steve blinked back at Eddie, fond smile spreading across his face.
“You need any more?” Steve asked when the door closed.
“You’re joking,” Eddie laughed, but there was no amusement in it. “I could have actually killed you. I’d never drank before and you tasted so good, Steve. You have no idea how hard it was to stop. And then you passed out! I almost had them bring you to the hospital!”
“I’m fine! I passed out because it felt good.”
“Steve. No one passes out like that just because something felt good.”
“Well, it did! It felt kinda like having five orgasms at once. Except kinda different, too. Like I wasn’t quite over the edge?” Steve shook his head. “Either way, I’m okay and it felt good and if you need more, you can have more.”
“I don’t need more right now,” Eddie sighed. “But I know I will. We’ll figure out what to do to make sure you get enough vitamins so I can drink from you next time.”
“Mhm. Sounds good,” Steve closed his eyes and tugged Eddie’s hand to rest on his chest, where his heart was beating against his ribs. “Feels like you’re part of me.”
“Yeah. You feel it too?”
“El said we’re soulmates?” Steve opened his eyes again and found Eddie’s gazing back at him already.
“I don’t know, but there’s definitely a connection. A pretty strong one. I don’t think we can ignore it,” Eddie admitted, almost apologetic.
“I wouldn’t want to. I should’ve told you before how much I wanted to get to know you,” Steve felt tears in his eyes. “You didn’t deserve to only know after you were already dead.”
“I’m not dead. I’m here with you.”
“But I watched you die. I thought you were dead. I mourned you with the kids. Robin had to stay with me for a week straight because I could barely sleep, blamed myself for everything. You must have heard all of that.”
“I think I heard a lot of it. You tortured yourself. I wanted to come here and tell you I was okay so many times. I tried so many times,” Eddie kissed his forehead. “But I’m here now. You’re mine now. I’m yours. We can figure out what this means for us.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah, sweetheart.”
“Will you get in bed with me?” Steve asked.
“To sleep?”
“Eventually,” Steve smirked. “Remember when I said I was still on the edge?”
Eddie snorted. “I’m not fucking you tonight. No way.”
“Why not?” Steve pouted.
“Because it should be special and because you’ve already been through enough today,” Eddie chuckled. “You can wait a day or two.”
“Can we at least make out a little?” Steve tried to compromise.
“Will you get some rest after?”
“If you make me tired enough.”
“I didn’t know I’d end up with Steve Harrington, The Brat.”
“You’re the one who pointed out I was a spoiled rich kid,” Steve argued, turning on his side so that Eddie could climb into bed next to him. “I’m used to getting what I want.”
Steve hadn’t felt this light in a long time, maybe even years.
Eddie must have sensed it, his beaming smile lighting up the room, his sharp teeth glistening in the low lamplight.
His lips crashed against Steve’s, his arms pulling Steve closer and then on top of him as he rolled onto his back.
Steve moaned into his mouth, licking past his lips and across his fangs.
He could almost still taste his own blood in Eddie’s mouth.
He rolled his hips forward, cock already straining against his pants. The friction was perfect, just enough to keep Steve on the edge, but not so much to make it seem like he was pushing.
He was pushing though. He wanted to see how far Eddie would go, how far they could get tonight even with the events of the day behind them and the exhaustion sinking in.
Eddie nipped at his lip, just enough to break skin, and Steve whimpered.
“Shit, sorry. Forgot how sharp these things are,” Eddie pulled away and thumbed away the blood.
“It’s good, I like it,” Steve gasped out. He pulled Eddie’s thumb to his mouth and sucked on it. “Bite me anywhere.”
“Sweetheart…”
“Please, I’ll be good. You don’t have to drink. Just…bite me.”
Eddie held him still for a minute, his eyes searching his face.
“I have an idea.”
Steve nodded. “Anything.”
“Ever fingered yourself?” Eddie asked casually.
“Um, kind of? I mean I have, but I got frustrated with the angle pretty quick.” Steve suddenly caught up to what Eddie was suggesting. “Are you gonna finger me?”
“If you have lube.”
Steve sat up, nearly falling back over from a head rush. Once he managed to stay upright, he reached over into his bedside table and moved a couple things over to get the lube.
He handed it to Eddie and started to get off of him, but Eddie’s hands grabbed his hips and stilled him.
“Nope, like this. I want you to ride my fingers,” Eddie smirked. “You can find what feels good like this. Use me to get off.”
“Is that what your idea was?” Steve gulped. He’d never done anything like this before and wasn’t sure he’d do it right.
“No, but it’ll make my idea more fun,” Eddie squeezed his hips. “But we can stop anytime, okay? Even if it’s just because you’re too tired.”
“I’m not.”
“Love, you defeated an alternate dimension and its super evil guy today. Plus, I drained you of a pint or two of blood. You can be tired,” Eddie opened the cap of the lube. “You wanna get undressed?”
Steve rushed to pull his shirt off, and quickly stood up to remove everything else. Eddie tried not to laugh at his eagerness; It was honestly pretty endearing.
Once he was naked, he got back on Eddie’s lap. “Are you gonna get undressed?”
“Not right now. This is all about you, sweetheart.”
Steve’s blush went down to his chest, and Eddie was ready to proclaim his love to anyone who would hear it. He didn’t care how ridiculous it was; He loved Steve and his beautiful red glow.
He hadn’t mentioned it to him yet, but Eddie could hear the blood rushing in his veins, could hear his heart pounding even from across the room. He could almost feel every breath in his own lungs.
He spread the lube across his fingers as he helped Steve scoot up enough to make this easier for both of them.
Steve’s breath hitched as he circled his hole, and Eddie heat rushing to the places his fingers brushed against.
He pushed a finger in slowly, slow enough that it felt like Steve’s entrance was making his finger a part of him. Steve let out a long, low moan as he pushed himself down further, until Eddie’s knuckle was resting against him.
“You were made for me, weren’t you?” Eddie said in awe. He’d done this plenty, but never like this, and never with someone who wanted him this badly. “Taking me like you’re starving for it.”
“Am starving for it. Need you,” Steve moved his hips forward and back, barely riding Eddie’s finger.
Eddie pulled his finger out and replaced it with two, trying to take it slow, but Steve wouldn’t let him.
“Oh fuck,” Steve whined when Eddie crooked both his fingers inside him, brushing against his prostate repeatedly as Steve’s hips started moving again.
His cock was leaking, dripping precome down his length and onto Eddie’s stomach. He couldn’t wait to have a taste of it later. Soon, if the way Steve’s heart kept skipping a beat was any indication.
“You want another?” Eddie asked him, somehow feeling breathless despite the fact he may or may not even need to breathe.
“Please,” Steve begged. “Need to be full.”
“You want me to fill you up?” Eddie stretched him open around three fingers, going a bit slower this time when Steve tightened around him. “How much can you take? Think you can do four fingers? Think you can have my whole cock in there next to a couple fingers?”
Steve nodded, though Eddie was pretty sure he had no idea he was doing it. He wasn’t picking up any actual thoughts from him right now, which was definitely good for his ego, but a little concerning.
“Hey,” Eddie paused with his fingers inside him, his free hand against Steve’s chest. “Let me see those pretty eyes.”
Steve blinked his eyes open and Eddie was gifted with a few random thoughts about how nice his fingers felt and how much he wanted to come.
“You wanna come on my fingers?” Eddie asked.
“Mhm.”
Eddie thrust his fingers in and out a few more times before tugging Steve down.
The new angle caused him to nearly scream, Eddie’s fingers putting constant pressure against his prostate as his cock got trapped between them.
“Gonna test something. Can I bite you?” Eddie whispered against his ear.
“Fuck, yes,” Steve agreed, tilting his head to the side like the good boy he was.
Eddie stilled his fingers, but kept them as deep inside Steve as he could. He leaned forward and breathed in the scent of Steve, his sweat, the lingering smell of his body wash from his last shower barely clinging to his skin, his blood.
His teeth found their mark and he bit down, groaning as he broke the skin and tasted the first drop of blood on his tongue.
He didn’t suck, didn’t need to. He lapped at the droplets of blood as he felt Steve tense, let out a high-pitched whimper, and warmth coat both their stomachs and chests.
He pulled off immediately, pulled his fingers out so he could wipe them off on the sheets.
“Fuck, sweetheart, that was perfect. You were perfect for me,” Eddie kissed his neck, his shoulder, the side of his head. “Can’t believe I get to do that.”
“Mmm…again?” Steve’s raspy voice breathed out against his shoulder.
Eddie laughed. “Not tonight, beautiful boy. I need you to rest. You did so good.”
“Mhm. You too.”
Eddie laughed again. How did this become his life? Or death? Undeath? Whatever.
He didn’t have the heart to move Steve, but he knew they’d end up literally stuck together with dried cum if he didn’t at least wipe them down. He managed to lift Steve enough to wipe them off with the sheet, but it wasn’t perfect and they’d definitely need to shower as soon as they woke up.
Eddie had changed as soon as he got to Steve’s house at everyone’s insistence, but he had yet to shower, and he was pretty certain the only reason he didn’t smell worse was because he technically wasn’t alive to produce any body odor.
He turned his head to look into the bathroom.
Steve had a huge bathtub. They could share in the morning.
For now, Eddie ran his fingers up and down Steve’s back as he fell asleep on top of him.
“Thanks for kissing me, sweetheart,” he whispered before closing his eyes and letting out any of the tension he’d been holding onto.
Tomorrow, they’d find a way to explain his presence to Wayne, and he’d really be back home.
But tonight, he’d let the weight of Steve and his love cover him up.
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freesia-writes · 1 month
Text
Bad Batch Prompt Event #1
Much love to @arctrooper69 for making this official, and I can't wait to see what anyone else has written for these prompts! I'm gonna post the SFW part one here and NSFW part two over on @spicy-clones.
Hunter x F!Reader WORD COUNT 3000 my bad! Content: some basic medical descriptions, reader gets her butt smacked at 79s, and a wee bit o kissin. GONNA USE MY SEXY DIVIDERS WITH @pinkiemme's art since it's HUNTER! :D
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“Seriously?” you sighed. “This again?”
“This is completely different than last time,” came the smooth reply, earning both a snort and an eyeroll from you. 
“It’s almost exactly the same.”
“Different arm.”
“Oh my gosh.” Your almost-laugh was overshadowed by concern and frustration as you made quick work of the injury and carefully wrapped the gauze around his bicep, trying not to pay too close attention to the gentle curves of the muscles and tendons, the light dusting of hair, the scars and bruises… You cleared your throat, shaking your head minutely and looking back up to his face. That wasn’t any better. His sharp eyes gazed steadily at you, framed by his distinctive nose and the strands of hair that brushed the sides of his face.
“Well thanks as always,” he said quietly, the hint of a rare smile touching the corner of his lips, which were almost always curved in the ghost of a frown from the burdens he carried. You tried to ignore the flutter in your chest, instead nodding and picking up your datapad abruptly to see what else was on the agenda for the Kamino medical bay that day. You looked back to him, offering a small smile and an honest exhortation.
“Take care of yourself, Hunter.”
* * * 
You were surprised to see him only a week later, stepping into line behind you in the mess hall with the rest of his squad. They were normally a boisterous bunch, but there seemed to be a heaviness upon them as they moved rather listlessly. Perhaps a mission gone awry, perhaps the regular wear and tear of being mere property in a seemingly endless war. You caught Hunter’s eye as he moved to the front of his group, setting his tray on the shelf beside yours as you slid down the food line. 
“You alright?” you asked softly, startling yourself with the gentleness and vulnerability in your own voice and cringing at the fact that you didn’t even lead with a “hello”. 
“Yeah,” he said automatically, his flat affect provoking more anxiety than you’d like. You left it at that, unable to stifle the simultaneous warmth and concern emanating from you. You didn’t know what it was about his mere presence, but he exuded both competence and compassion, intelligence and wit, and you perceived the weight of responsibility that hung over his head, both a gift and a curse of his engineered fate. 
You’d come to enjoy his med bay visits more and more, although it was never the ideal circumstances to meet. The elaborate fantasies you concocted as you drifted off to sleep were far more appealing, consisting of stargazing cuddles, fancy galas, coffee shop chats, and many other situations you’d want to share with him. As corny as it seemed, more than all of it, you simply wanted to know him, to know the inner workings of his mind, his joys and worries, the things that made him laugh, the way he liked his caf… It wasn’t the first time in your life that you’d harbored a crush for someone who was as unattainable as they were oblivious of your affections, so you settled to daydream and enjoy the times you did get to share. 
It helped that your occupation allowed you some quiet moments and gentle touches here and there. Although, perhaps “helped” was the wrong word. 
* * * 
“We need you in room 6 immediately,” crackled the voice on your commlink, and you set aside the instruments you’d been cleaning and adjusting, heading that way with urgency. When the door slid open, you felt a jolt of electricity run through your body at the sight of a hulking clone on the exam table, covered in dried blood and haphazardly-wrapped bandages. You knew who it was without seeing his face, which was almost entirely obscured, and before your emotions could catch up, you snapped into work mode.
“What are we dealing with?” you asked the others, who were moving in smooth synchronization to free his head and scan him head to toe. 
“CT-9903. Explosion and shrapnel, blunt force trauma, multiple lacerations…” your assistant reported, eyes flitting across the scanner screen.
“That’s gonna leave a mark,” your other colleague said, stuffing the wads of bandages into the garbage and pulling on a fresh set of gloves. 
“Let’s get to work,” you muttered. 
A few hours later, he was cleaned up and sleeping comfortably, one eye closed serenely beneath a spiral of neatly-wrapped gauze that covered the rest of his head. You slipped into the room and tapped the screens, confirming the notes your assistant had entered, then rested a hand on his broad forearm, watching his chest rise and fall and sending out all the comforting and healing vibes you could muster. 
“He seems alright,” came a smooth, low voice from behind you, making you jump and emit the tiniest squawk. You whirled around to see Hunter in a chair in the corner, reclining with his legs crossed out in front of him. He’d phrased it as a statement but the inflection of his voice indicated a question, and you exhaled in an attempt to regain your composure.
“First of all, hi. Next time, can you greet me when I come into the room instead of scaring the crap out of me?” you said, accompanied with a little laugh that sounded forced. 
“We’ll see,” he returned evenly, keeping his face straight despite your smirk.
“That’s an order, Sergeant,” you attempted, delighting in the slight spark in his eyes as he raised his eyebrows.
“Oh really,” he said, lowering his chin just enough to bring some hair across his forehead as he regarded you with a stare that you could have sworn held a hint of smolder. But perhaps you were seeing what you wanted to see. Your fingers twitched at your sides, yearning to stroke the tufts back from his face… and other stuff…
“Yeah, anyway…” you said suddenly, clearing your throat and turning businesslike all of a sudden. “He should be fine. We’ll run some more tests when he wakes up to check on his hearing. The lacerations should heal easily, and he was lucky enough to avoid any serious contusions, somehow. I don’t know what you all were doing out there but this guy needs a thicker helmet.”
“I’ll make sure to request that from the armory.”
“I’m sure they’ll be wildly helpful and accommodating.”
“Always.”
A silence fell for a moment, then he rose to his feet, stretching to his full height and picking up his backpack.  He slung it across his shoulders, along with the concerns and duties that awaited him, and gave you a cordial nod. 
“Thanks for taking care of him,” he said with genuine sincerity, regarding you with fondness as he stepped closer. Your heart skipped a beat and you felt frozen to the spot, mind racing with a million scenarios you’d envisioned that started out just like this. 
“Just doing my job… sir,” you said feebly, swallowing hard as he moved the tiniest bit nearer. You gazed at his eyes, brown at first glance but peppered with pale green and gray upon closer inspection. You could swear you felt the sparks flying between the two of you… until he spoke, shifting slightly to your side. 
“Gotta… head out…” he muttered, and you suddenly realized he had actually been trying to get past you. Flushed with hot embarrassment, you moved aside in a flash, turning away to hide your reddening cheeks. 
“Sorry, I didn’t sleep too much last night,” you explained quickly, trying not to stutter. “The old brain isn’t working quite so well today.”
“I’m glad you performed cranial surgery on Wrecker, then,” Hunter observed, and you buried your face in a hand.
“I mean, it wasn’t really surgery, but good point,” you laughed, thoroughly mortified now.
You didn’t see the pursed lips hiding his smile as he turned and disappeared out the door. 
* * * 
You were deeply saddened at first when you were transferred from the Kamino medical bay to the general medical center on Coruscant. But, as your fellow clone-obsessed friend reminded you, you would be able to go with her to 79s on your nights off, where you could enjoy the company of the types of men you’d come to prefer. It had been a hellish week, with too many patients and too few staff members, and you had worked yourself to the bone. It was as good a time as any to blow off some steam, so it took only a little urging from your friend for you to change into some going out clothes, fix up your hair a bit, and hit the town with her. 
Typically one for softness and gentleness, you felt an edge to yourself that night. Perhaps it was the build up of all of the frustrating situations at work, but whatever the cause, you didn’t feel like putting up with any kind of BS. So when the first trooper you walked past tried to smack your butt, you turned on him with the raging fury of a thousand suns and gave him a piece of your mind. Your friend stared at you, dumbfounded, and you heard some chuckles and comments from the crowd. Turning away before you melted into an apology, you stalked off to the corner booth you had left your stuff in.
“That was brutal,” a smoky voice said, and you were floored at the sight of Hunter sliding into the booth next to you. Your friend winked at you from where she stood at the bar, still flirting with a couple of troopers. You stared at him, speechless, and he held his hands up in surrender. “I’ll clear out if you’re going to chew me out like that guy. Just wanted to say hi. Haven’t seen you in the med bay in a while.“
“No, stay!“ You said, more eagerness in your voice than you would like to admit. “They transferred me here…”
“And you just had to get your clone fix?”
You blushed, palming your face before taking a long swig of your drink. It was a stiff one, and a fitting way to end your week. 
“Just kidding,” he continued, “We both know you just miss yelling at people.” 
“Oh, I’m such a yeller,” you rolled your eyes. You had never been anything but gentle and kind with him and the other patients. And he knew it.
Before long, you both found yourselves lost in conversation, and it felt as though your dreams were coming true. Details of his life and thoughts were flowing freely, well, as freely as possible considering the covert nature of most of his experiences, and the two of you settled into a comfortable rhythm as you nursed your drinks and regarded one another. You shared about your training days, mishaps and mayhem, and your goals for the future. He was happy to listen, answering questions but also content to simply sit. You didn’t want to admit just how much you were thrilled by the entire situation. 
“Refills?” You asked, gesturing to the empty glasses on the table. He nodded, but then followed you out of the booth. As the two of you leaned against the bar, waiting to be acknowledged, you tilted your head at him, feeling slightly emboldened for a moment, but it quickly melted when his eyes met yours.
“Yes?” He asked, a smirk on his own face. 
“Nothing.”
“Doesn’t look like nothing,” he teased. “Looks like you’ve got something you want to say.”
“Maybe there’s lots I want to say,” you clapped back, putting your hand on your hip. “But I don’t think I’m going to.” You gave him a sassy smile in an attempt to hide the complete and total whirlwind of thoughts raging for consideration within you. 
He took a step closer, coming into your personal space, and his hand that rested on the bar counter was dangerously close to your waist. You could almost feel his touch, without any contact being made at all. His eyes were dark beneath his brows, his sharp profile illuminated by the colorful lights all around, and your heart skipped a beat. 
“You sure?” he purred, a smug look on his face as though he knew the effect he had on you. “Nothing at all?”
“You’re the worst,” you stammered, dropping your chin and fixing your stair on the ground beside you.
“Yeah,” he conceded with a snort. “Well, you still like me.”
Your head flew up faster than a ship jumping into hyperspace, and you stared at him in utter shock as your stomach plunged. Your mouth fell open a little bit as you frantically searched for words, coming up with none and snapping it shut again. He shifted the tiniest fraction closer, looming over you now in a way that would be intimidating if your veins weren’t coursing with adrenaline and the sheer desire to grab his shirt and show him all that you couldn’t say. 
“Thought so,” he said with a satisfied rumble of laughter that made your knees weak.
“I don’t… I mean, I couldn’t…” You fumbled hopelessly, turning away a tiny bit as you grappled for any kind of response.
“Hey lady,” a clone voice said from behind you. “ This guy bothering you?” You turned around to see a trooper with his head closely shaved except for some intricate designs along the sides. He was standing tall, an inch or two over Hunter, and had a warm intensity to his gaze that showed genuine concern more than creepiness or bravado.
You looked back to Hunter, who was still leaning on the bar, relaxed and unbothered. He lifted his eyebrows at you, uncharacteristically playful, and said, “Well?”
“I’m fine, thank you,” you said to the blue-armored clone, who gave you a polite nod before leaving with one last suspicious glare at Hunter.
“So… you were saying?” Hunter poked, tilting his head at you and fanning the flame. Was he flirting? For real? Or just trying to make you flustered, for his own fun and entertainment? 
“Now you’re just being cruel,” you whined, and he laughed, an authentic, deep sound that made you swoon. 
“I would never.”
“Hunter, we’ve got to go,” a pert voice broke through your fantasy, and you turned to see a bespectacled man with a serious face standing beside Hunter, who looked at you with an unreadable expression as your heart sank and disappointment lay heavy over the two of you.
“Well. Hope I see you again,” he admitted, a wistful tone to his voice as he brushed his fingers across the back of your hand, sending a jolt of electricity through you, and dipped his head in goodbye before disappearing out the front door. 
You went home to your “personal massager” that night. 
* * * 
You were finishing the patient notes for the day as you bent over your screen at work, tapping away with diligence as you looked forward to freedom for the evening. It had been nearly a week since you’d seen Hunter at 79s, and you’d been kicking yourself for not speaking up more, or flirting more, or making a move, or something. You doubted your paths would cross again, as your friend shared that she’d only seen Clone Force 99 at the bar once before, and she was quite the regular. Bringing your thoughts back to the present, you groaned inwardly as your comm pinged with an incoming message, and you considered not looking at it to avoid any calls to stay late. But curiosity got the better of you, and you took a look at the screen. 
//18:42//-ENCRYPTED- {Chewed out any regs lately?}
Your mouth fell open, brow furrowed, as you studied the message. It wasn’t an internal memo, nor was it from any sort of source you’d seen before. It couldn't be… Could it? You smirked, curious to try something that might seem inconspicuous if it were, in fact, an error, but might be playful if it were him.
//18:43// - {Unfamiliar source number, identification needed.}
The response seemed to take ages.
//18:47//-ENCRYPTED- {Identification can be provided in the maintenance alleyway of the med center.}
You were embarrassed how quickly you got there. 
The door swung open into a long, narrow gap between the large hospital buildings, filled with random parts and trash chutes, and your heart leapt in your chest when you saw his gray and red armor.
“What are you doing here?” you asked, positively thrilled and unable to hide it.
“I… Well… I don’t know,” Hunter admitted with a chuckle, rubbing the back of his neck. “I haven’t been able to get you off my mind since we had to leave… So I thought it might need some medical attention.” 
Now it was your turn to laugh, the sheer delight of it all cascading over you. “Oh, and a crusty alleyway seems like a very sterile environment.” He grinned, shaking his head, and you caught a glimpse of his own vulnerability, realizing that he, too, was fairly out of sorts when it came to smooth talk and flirtation. Somehow, that made you feel better, and all the regrets and “what ifs” of the last number of days began a relentless protest in your mind. “Well, let’s see what I can do,” you murmured, stepping closer to where he leaned against the wall. His eyebrows climbed up his head, giving away his utter surprise, and the sight gave you tingles. 
“I… ah…” he began, but you leaned into him a little, fueled by months of daydreams and a lifetime of self-loathing for all the opportunities you were too cowardly to take hold of. Plus, his sheepishness and his admission were all you’d needed to hear, and there was an undeniable affection in his eyes that melted you to the core. 
“Let’s see if we can help you out a bit?” you offered, simultaneously cringing and delighting at the complete and total ridiculousness of it all. But then he tilted his head and lifted a single, curled finger to your chin, tipping it up toward his face and sealing your fate as hopelessly enthralled. His dark eyes glittered with warmth and trepidation, and the next thing you knew, your lips were pressed against his, eyes closed, arms around his neck. 
It was so soft, so absolutely mind-blowingly perfect; your entire body was electrified as his own arms wrapped around you. You felt him exhale, his nose against your cheek, and you were overwhelmed with joy at his closeness, his vulnerability, his all-consuming presence that filled your senses. His body formed around yours, his mouth still gently nestled against your own, and you melted a little further into him, wishing that it would never end. 
When you finally did separate with a soft smack of the lips, you left your faces close, your eyes darting to his, which remained closed for an extra second before slowly opening with a relaxed warmth that had you feeling weak all over again. You couldn’t resist leaning your forehead against his own, reaching a hand up to caress his cheek for a moment before begrudgingly pulling back a bit. 
“Thank you,” you whispered lamely, and he exhaled through his nose.
“Thank you,” he echoed, sheepish and disarmed. 
“Please contact me anytime you need any sort of medical attention,” you continued, wrinkling your nose at just how terrible it all sounded, but he snickered, slowly releasing you with a nod.
“My job is quite harmful.”
Are you 18+? Interested in a smutty part two? Click here. ;)
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