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hayleythesugarbowl · 8 months

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please an ian hecox x reader fic i need🥺 maybe like a first date or something like that there’s just not enough Ian fics

First Fake Date || Ian Hecox x reader

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚ masterlist • smosh masterlist ⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚ summary: oneshot where Ian finds out his ex-girlfriend is going to be at an upcoming event and when you volunteer to go as his fake-date things don’t go quite as either of you planned.

word count: 2.5k

warnings: none

a/n: thanks for the request babes!! I agree we need more ian x reader fics, i hope you enjoy this one!! i kept the first date theme but i took some liberties and i made the reader female so i hope this is what you wanted <3🍒🪩

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“Alright the event this Friday, what’s everyone wearing?” Courtney said, putting her legs up on the table in front of her.

You were lounging around the studio with almost the entire Smosh cast in between shoots.

“Exactly what I’m wearing right now?” Angela lifted her head from Amanda’s lap and gestured to her sweatshirt.

“Very funny,” Courtney said.

“Honestly same,” Shayne agreed, looking up from his phone.

Courtney shot him a look but secretly you agreed with him. It wasn’t that you didn’t care about the YouTube event Smosh was going to, it was just that you weren’t exactly excited about it. You kind of had a history of embarrassing yourself at things like this. Like last month when you tripped in your impossibly tall heels and landed in the lap of a very unhappy old man. In his defense, you had spilled wine down the front of his dress shirt.

“As long as there’re no heels involved, I don’t really care what it is,” You said.

“You people have no sense of style,” Courtney faked disgust.

“Speak for yourselves, this chain begs to differ,” Ian walked into the room, pretending to model the outfit he was wearing.

“He wears one chain and suddenly it’s ‘his brand’,” Amanda joked.

“Hey laugh all you want, but this thing’s a magnet for the ladies.”

Everyone burst out laughing and Ian mocked offense.

“Well I for one think you look great,” you smiled at him and he beamed back at you.

“Besides,” he continued, “I have to look good ‘cause my ex-girlfriend is going to be at the event this Friday. I bet she’s bringing that perfect boyfriend of her’s too who ‘has a real, important job’.”

“Wait, the same girlfriend who broke up with you at the last event?” Damien asked.

You hadn’t been at Smosh yet then, but you’d heard the story multiple times.

“That’s the one. And now I get to show up a year later, still without a date.”

“If only you had a girlfriend you could bring, but oh wait, that’s right—” Shayne teased.

“That’s right,” Ian agreed

“I’ll be your date,” you burst out.

You didn’t know what made you say it. Maybe you sympathized with having embarrassing moments at classy gatherings. Maybe you just felt like helping your boss out. Or maybe, just maybe, it had something to do with the fact that you may or may not have had a tiny crush on Ian when you first started working at Smosh.

But that was a long time ago…ok maybe months ago, and something you’d never admit aloud. You were just offering to help out a friend. Right?

“Really? You’d do that for me?” Ian asked you.

“Sure! No one has to know it’s our first date—or not-first-date. We can tell your ex we’ve been dating for months.”

“That actually might work,” Ian grinned at you.

“Ooh, I can pick out matching outfits for you guys!” Courtney interjected.

“No,” you both said in unison.

“Well, I’ll pick you up on Friday at 8:00 for our not-first-date,” Ian looked at you, his eyes gleaming.

“See you then,” you tucked a strand of hair behind your ear.

“Actually you guys will see each other in like 45 minutes for TNTL,” Amanda said.

“Right.” You said.

After this Ian left the room and you turned back to your friends who were all looking at you as if they knew something you didn’t.

You took in their scheming stares. “What?”

₊˚ ✧ ‿︵‿୨୧‿︵‿ ✧ ₊˚

The rest of the week passed fairly quickly with no more talk of the event except for Ian asking your advice on what to wear—which everyone seemed to think so adorable for reasons you couldn’t understand or just refused to entertain.

And suddenly, just like that it was Friday and you were answering your door to a nervous-looking Ian holding out flowers to you.

“Since it’s our ‘first date’,” he winked at you and you rolled your eyes at him, a smile blooming on your face, “I thought I’d bring you these.”

“Thank you,” you said, “and you look great!”

And he did. His maroon suit fit him perfectly and you couldn’t help but notice that it did end up matching the light pink dress with a crimson belt you chose.

“And you look…wow.” He admired you and it took all of you not to blush at his words.

He took you to his car, and insisted on opening your door for you since it was a ‘first date’. You looked over at Ian from the passenger seat and thought how you were surprised at how much of a gentleman he could be. Your goofy, laid-back boss definitely had a romantic side and would make some girl very happy someday, you thought.

By the time you arrived at the event, you and Ian had barely said a word to each other. Which was odd, to say the least, seeing as you never really felt awkward around him or anybody at Smosh.

“You ready for this?” Ian asked you as you stepped out of the car and headed toward the building the event was held at.

You answered by taking his hand in yours and smiling up at him.

You walked into the venue together and took in the layout. A makeshift stage had been set up for guest speakers at one end and as for the rest of it—cocktail tables scattered throughout the room, lights hanging from the ceiling and trailing down the walls and onto the refreshment tables lining the edges of the room, and hundreds of people, some who you recognized and others you didn’t, mingling and eating and—in the case of your friends—waving at you and Ian.

You two walked over to them. Everyone took in your fingers intertwined.

“Can’t keep your hands off her?” Angela teased Ian.

“I uh—”

You thought you sensed a faint blush on Ian’s cheeks as he tried to respond.

You interrupted. “It’s a fake date, remember? Would you prefer we stood 8 feet apart at all times?”

“So,” you turned to Ian, “where is this ex of yours?”

“Yeah, now that you mention it, I haven’t seen her yet,” Damien said.

“And anyone could spot her curly red bush—I mean hair—a mile away,” Shayne joked.

“Maybe she’s not here yet,” Ian said, and then to you, “let’s go get some drinks.”

He led you over to one of the refreshment tables, and as you were walking, you saw her.

A tall, gorgeous woman in a tight green dress stood about 20 feet away from you. This had to be her, you thought, looking at her auburn curls done up in a twisted updo that made your simple bun look…well, simple.

You nudged Ian, “Found your ex.”

He looked over at her, his brow furrowed, and then recovering quickly he looked back at you.

“Yep, that’s her.”

“Well, then let’s go introduce ourselves as a couple.”

“No,” he said quickly, and then added “I mean, no not yet. We don’t want to seem too desperate.”

You looked at him curiously but figured he was probably right.

You had a new idea.

“Then let’s give her a little show.”

“(Y/n), what are you—”

You dragged him more into his ex-girlfriend’s line of vision.

“Ok, now kiss me.”

“What?”

“She’s looking, kiss me.”

He looked at you like you might be crazy but he also had a look of determination on his face. Determined to impress his ex, you figured. He leaned in slowly and suddenly his mouth was on yours, kissing you quickly. It was awkward at first but as you pulled apart and looked to make sure the woman was still watching you—she was—you thought that it hadn’t been altogether bad.

“That was, um, thank you for…that,” Ian said, breathless.

“Sure,” you said, “anything for a good vengeance plot.”

“Oh, be careful,” Ian said suddenly,

and you looked around, confused. “Old man two o’clock.”

“Ha ha, very funny,” he elbowed him in the ribs remembering the horrors of last event, but you were grinning as you did so.

“Hey, ouch!” He laughed, “We’re supposed to be in love remember?”

And so that’s how you spent the rest of the night. Making sure she could see you when you touched Ian or pretended to laugh at a joke he made or leaned in close as if you were whispering something in his ear.

As the night went on it became easier and easier to pretend to be a couple. You hadn’t talked to Ian’s ex yet—he always had some reason for not going over to her. But you thought you’d done a good job of making her think you were dating.

And the truth was, you were enjoying yourself. You were having a great time, spending hours with Ian.

Like now, as you looked in Ian’s ex-girlfriend’s direction before saying to Ian, “So, since this is a date I guess I should do this.” You wrapped your arms around his neck. “And tell you how gorgeous your eyes are.” They really were, you thought as you stared into them.

Ian leaned closer to you, planting a kiss on your jawline. “And since it’s a date I guess I should tell you how you shine brighter than all the lights in the room and how I’ve never seen anyone more beautiful.”

“And I should pull you closer,” you added, grabbing his lapels.

“And then maybe I would tell you how much I wanted your lips on mine. Again,” he said.

He leaned farther towards you and your lips met his. He kissed you, really kissed you this time. He was gentle at first, but then his hands were in your hair as he kissed you harder and you leaned into it, kissing him back.

“For a fake date this sure seems pretty real.”

You broke apart, looking up and finding Courtney standing in front of you smiling.

Your voice came out more breathy than you would have liked. “We were just—Ian’s ex is right there and—”

“She’s not even over here,” Courtney said looking between you too. “See?”

You looked around you and realized she was gone. How long had she been gone? You let yourself imagine what it would be like if this was a real first date. Would that be so bad? Was it bad if it already felt real?

Courtney left you guys with a cryptic smile before walking over to a table with drinks on it.

“So,” you started, “I—”

“I’ll be right back,” Ian said, then quickly walked towards the door at the back of the venue.

You stood there for a second. Was he avoiding you? Just leaving after you’d shared a moment like that? Was the kiss that bad?

You walked back over to the table where all of your friends were standing and chatting.

“Hey! Where’s Ian going?” Courtney asked you

“Bathroom?” You guessed.

You scanned the room. There was Ian’s ex again. Now she shows up, you thought wryly.

Courtney followed your gaze, “You know her?”

You looked at her, “That’s Ian’s ex-girlfriend.”

“No, it’s not,” she said.

“What? Yes it is.”

“Here,” Shayne pulled out his phone and a moment later showed you a picture of your boss with his arm around a short woman with red hair, “that’s Ian’s ex.”

You were shocked. “But then who’s she?”

“That’s a question for Ian,” Angela said, pointing towards him. You saw him walking towards you and you met him halfway.

“Ian? Who’s the woman in the green dress?”

He looked taken aback by the question, and putting his hands in his pockets, he said, “What do you mean?”

“Well, apparently you never dated her.”

“Um, about that” he started, hesitating, and then taking a deep breath he answered you. “I don’t know that woman. I’ve never seen her in my life.” He admitted this in a rush, looking for your reaction.

“Why did you tell me she was your ex-girlfriend?”

He looked down, almost bashful. “My ex isn’t at this event.”

You took a step back, in shock, “Then why did you need me to be your fake date?”

He looked at you intently, “I didn’t…need a fake date, I mean.”

“But—”

“I did, originally. But then I found out my ex wasn’t going to be able to make it because her and her boyfriend both have the flu.” He started to smile, then stopped himself, coughing, “Which is really too bad.”

Another time you might have laughed, but now you stopped yourself, rolling your eyes at him.

“So you lied to me?” You asked him, hurt.

“I didn’t mean to—

“But if you knew your ex wasn’t coming, then what’s this?” You gestured between the two of you. You were asking yourself just as much as him.

“I may have—withheld the truth—because I,” he cleared his throat, “I may have wanted to go on a date with you.”

“What?” Of all the answers you were expecting…

“I think you’re great (Y/n), and I’ve wanted to ask you out for a while but I never quite knew how, and then you offered to be my date to this thing and it was going to be perfect—even if it was fake—and I couldn’t bring myself to tell you the truth. I’m sorry.”

“So yes, I lied to you. But I meant what I said though,” Ian said softly, “about you being beautiful and about wanting to kiss you.”

You thought back through the night, taking all this in. All the fake moments that apparently weren’t so fake. For either of you, you realized. Because you had enjoyed being his pretend date, even if at some point you stopped pretending.

“I just wish you would have asked me to be your real date. I would have said yes you know,” you told him.

“Really?” He was definitely blushing now and you grinned up at him.

“The night’s not over yet, we could still make this an official first date,” you said.

“(Y/n), will you go out with me?”

“I’d love to Ian.”

He began slow dancing with you even though this most definitely was not a slow dancing event.

“Ian!”

As you looked into his eyes, though, and you saw the way he was looking at you—like he’d been waiting for this for a long time—you couldn’t ignore how perfect this moment was and you let him sway you.

“Not bad for a first date, Hecox,” you joked.

“Here’s to many more?”

“Definitely.”

He kissed you, your first officially real first kiss, and you couldn’t have been happier.

Cheering erupted and you looked over where all of your friends were standing, whistling and clapping at you.

“Still think it’s a fake date?” Courtney called to you.

You looked at all the people around you, some of which had begun to stare at your display. You looked at Ian looking at you like you were the only girl in the world. You looked back at your friends, still waiting for your response.

“I think nothing’s ever been more real.”

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ˋ°•*⁀➷ hope you enjoyed!! i love ian so much and im glad someone else does too!! if you want more ian x reader check out my other ian fic!! have a lovely day/night <3

#ian hecox #ian hecox x reader #smosh x reader #smosh fanfiction #smosh imagine #smosh pit #smoshblr #smosh #smosh squad #angela giarratana #damien haas #shayne topp #amanda lehan canto #courtney miller #fanfic #fanfiction #reader insert #x reader #oneshot

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notyour-valentine · 2 years

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Dragon's Blood ~ Aemond Targaryen x Rhaenyras!daughter (Fluff/Smut)

[Navigation] [Moonboard Masterlist] [House of the Dragon Masterlist]

All my writing is produced by an adult and created with an adult audience in mind (18/21+). You are responsible for your own media consumption. I do not consent to my work being translated, copied or posted elsewhere on this platform or any other.

Summary: There is a small rocky island in the Narrow Sea easily reached on dragonback, and it has become a home of many secrets for Aemond Targayen and Rhaenyra Targaryen's only daughter (Fluff/Smut)

Note: Ahead of nexts episode, and finally getting the man, the myth, the menace that is grown!Aemond, I wanted to write something nice about him before everything burns to the ground. Loosely connected to this moonboard of mine.

Warning: sword fighting, mention of blood and injuries, smut, mention of war and death. Expect canon conforming tone and language. (18/21+)

Wordcount: 4667 words

Part I ~ Part II ~ Part III ~ Part IV

Part I

The sun warmed her face and the gentle winds made the strands of her hair fly like banners in the wind.

The salt and water from her earlier swim had made it coarse and curly, a tangled mess no hairnet could hope to tame.

Even though it had only just dried, she felt her bare feet carry her to the waves once more.

The sea called to her, the same way the sky did.

Both had been screaming her name from the moment she was born- half dragon, half sea creature.

She closed her eyes as the incoming waves washed over her feet, splashing against her ankles. It was as sweet a caress as the wind and sun were.

This was her place, her own little kingdom, and even if it was just a bleak, rocky forgotten island, to her it was as beautiful and as dear as the entire Valyrian Freehold at the height of it’s glory.

And it was hers, hers alone - or at least close enough.

She was not meant for peace, hardly any of them were, but right here, with nothing but the waves and the wind, she could feel the temptation to never leave.

Her eyes snapped open a split second before a hand grabbed her belt and tugged her back.

Her body crashed into an immovable force, her head hitting his shoulder, but before she could react, she felt the icy bite of a blade under her chin, forcing her head upward.

Her hands dug into his arms, feeling the weather-worn leather not unsimilar to her own, which she had taken off earlier with her boots, leaving her in only her shirt and riding trousers.

She crawed at his arm with all her might, but it only earned her a soft chuckle.

"Too easy, soldier.", came the immediate but no less amused scolding, his lips brushing against her ear, tightening his grip on her stomach.

A soft smile came to her lips.

Her feet were bare but he still wore his boots, which wasn't ideal, but she still had her elbows.

She leaned her head against his shoulder and sighed, feeling his arm relax slightly, before driving her elbow into his ribs the same moment she yanked the arm that held the dagger down, using that split second of distraction to twist out of his grip and pull a blade of her own.

"Too easy, soldier.", She mocked, as her blade sparkled in the sunlight, like his own.

He smirked devilishly as they circled each other on the sands. He was still wearing full gear, from boot to collar in heavy leather, having only just arrived.

Late, as usual.

With his long limbs and fast legs, he was faster but she had agility on her side and far quicker feet.

"I did not hear Vhagar.", She admitted, glancing at the sky for a split second.

"I kept her quiet.", He shot back, but as soon as he had started speaking she dashed for the rocks.

His boots sunk in heavy in the sands, buying her the extra time to reach the hiding place before he could. From it she drew the practice sword and kept him at bay.

Sure, he had a sabre of his own, but he would never use live steel against her, she had dared him once, in the black of night on the battlements of King’s Landing.

All too quickly he had knocked her back and taken the sharpened steel from her hand the same way one would take a toy from a child.

And the next time they had practice swords in their hands, he had sent her home black and blue from heel to collarbone. If they had used live steel she would have been carved up like a peace of ham and that was his way of driving that particular lesson home.

Chuckling, he sheathed his dagger.

With her foot, she closed the trapdoor that lead to that little hollow space which held their practice swords.

"Now, now, play nice, niece!", He warned her, clicking his tongue.

She smirked as she pushed him back.

"I was taught never to play nice.", She reminded him.

She saw pride glint in his eye, and the light reflect in the other.

Around her, he never wore his patch, instead showing off the sapphire he had picked as a replacement.

"You must've had a good teacher."

She was about to respond, which was her mistake as the sand landed not only in her eye but her mouth as well.

Cursing, she stumbled back- it was never good to be stagnant, not for one second.

She wiped at her eyes with her sleeve and spat out the dirt.

It was the time he needed for retrieve a sword of his own, leiserously cutting circles in the air.

"Let's see what else he taught you!", He insisted before lunging at her.

Now this is unfair, she thought.

He was taller, stronger and had longer arms. But that was just why she trained with him.

When she trained with her brothers they would treat her like she would shatter.

Once, after accidentally landing one blow on her wrist, Jace had even let her win- it had taken weeks for her to forgive that.

Baela and Rhaena were good sparring partners, but they were women like her and most enemies they could ever face in battle would be bigger, stronger, taller men with every advantage in the book.

Her uncle thought the only advantage they would ever need were their dragons, which she understood and even believed, but if the boys were trained in the art of swordplay, she wanted to master it too.

Say what you want about Aemond Targaryen, but he never went easy on her, making him just the kind of teacher she needed.

His blows drove her back, and once she nearly stumbled, but managed to keep her footing despite having to block a blow coming to her side.

He could afford slashing from the sides in wider motions, but she was too much in his range to do so.

Instead, her only chance was lunging forward in quick motions before pulling back at once.

This piercing stab wasn't as easily blocked as wide slashes, so he jumped to the side instead, making her hit air.

She ducked to avoid his next attempt before she had an idea and darted away.

One, two, three hastily taken steps until she felt the warmth of her sun on the back of her neck.

Perfect.

And only then did she attack.

He had to take a few steps back, seeing them a split second later.

Their swords crossed around an inch before his face but with a single show of force, he brought the locked swords down.

"Naughty.", Aemond said, still squinting slightly from the blinding sun he now faced.

She grinned from ear to ear, knowing it was the highest praise, as her chest rose and fell from the exertion.

Then he gave her shoulder a single shove that sent her crashing to the ground.

She raised her sword at once, but he was towering over her, the tip of his own aimed at her throat.

Then he let it travel lower to the lacing that held her undershirt together.

With expert precision, he dipped the tip of the practice blade in between the first and second cross and tugged it upward, making the ribbon hiss as it came slightly more undone.

"You could have just asked.", She chirped, her eyes never leaving her opponent.

"I don't have to ask when I have the upper hand.", He reminded her.

But while he was standing over her, he hadn't seen her twist her legs.

With all her might she kicked her foot into the back of his knee.

It folded just as she had expected, while she scrambled back, seeing him kneeling for one split second.

But it gave her enough time to get away and raise her sword in response for the new flurry of blows he sought to rain down on her for spoiling his fun.

She could never win in a straight one-on-one, but that wasn’t what she was practising nor what he was teaching.

Outmatched as she was, she practised what would be useful to her in real combat - a good defence that would buy enough time for a sneak attack or a victory by trickery.

“Are you getting tired, old man?”, she teased after almost landing a strike of her own.

“Perhaps I’m going easy on you.”

She took a blow to the side only so that she could crack her blade against his shin.

“Don’t you ever go easy on me, Aemond!”, she demanded, her anger overshadowing her pain.

And he didn’t. They sparred until she felt her arms would fall off, until her sides ached and her feet throbbed.

Tomorrow, she’d have to tell her siblings all sorts of lies.

It was the sweetest kind of pain, but it did exhaust her and when her sword shot up to block his once more, her arms could no longer stand the impact. She had also forgotten to prevent another of her oddities.

“Shit!”, she cursed, as a sharp pain shot through her lips, not because either sword had struck her but because a bit of flesh had been caught between her lips.

She tasted metal and closed her eyes to the treacherous pain that brought tears to her eyes.

“Let me see, let me see!”, Aemond demanded.

The same hands that had delt her blow after blow now cupped her face with the utmost gentleness, tilting it upward slightly.

“I’m fine!”, she hissed and tried to turn away.

“I said let me see!”

His voice allowed no room for argument.

He frowned as his thumb traced the outline of her lower lip before pulling it down so that he could see the already swelling flesh inside.

“I said I’m fine.”, she insisted, wiping her lip with her sleeve and seeing the red dots.

“Enough for today.”, Aemond announced, his thumb brushing against her lower lip once more.

“No!”, she argued.

He, however, picked up his sword and began to walk back to where they would hide them.

“I said no!”, she snapped, storming after him.

She swung at his shoulder to get his attention, but he had anticipated her blow, spun and blocked the practice sword with his lower arm.

Before she could draw back, his fingers had wrapped around the edge of the practice sword and pulled it forward harshly, making her lose her footing once more due to his force.

“I said enough.”, he repeated, now holding both practice swords firmly in his grip.

For the longest time he had been short, even smaller then her, until just after his eleventh birthday he had decided to turn into a beanpole, surpassing not only her but Helaena, Aegon and finally even Jace in rapid succession.

It just wasn’t fair.

Something changed in his gaze as he looked at her.

“We heard about the trouble with the pirates.”, Aemond said. “Were you really there?”

She beamed from ear to ear and nodded.

“Daemon took me and he was right to.”, she admitted. “The clouds were low that day, so they didn’t even see Syraxes until she breathed her fire.”

“What about Vermax? Or did my dear nephews stay at home and let their sister do all the work?”

She didn’t miss the slight in that.

“Jace and Luke were there too.”, she quickly said. “But Vermax and Arrax aren’t as practised with sea winds.”

Her dragon egg had hatched on Driftmark, all those years ago, revealing a pale blue almost grey dragon, and she loved the sea. While other dragons resided in the Dragonmont, Syraxes had made her lair on a cliffside, close to the water and sky.

Even during practice, they raced on land, while she and her dragon both preferred the open waters.

And during a sea battle, that was an advantage.

“Tell me.”, Aemond demanded to know.

“They wanted to disrupt the Velaryon shipping routes.”, she said with a shrug. “So they faced the Velaryon dragons.”

Aemond’s lip twitched.

“And Caraxes.”

“Yes. Caraxes.”

What a fierce dragon that was, long and terrible with that twisted neck of his.

“But it’s not just strength, you know.”, she argued, rubbing her sore hand between her fingers.

“Are you teaching me now?”, he demanded to know sharply.

“Maybe.”, she argued. “I’ve seen more of battle than you, at least on dragon back.”

Aemond scoffed.

“Vhagar has seen a thousand battles.”, he hissed.

“And you’ve seen none. I’ve seen three now.”

Granted, they were all at sea, and one was just her and Vermax against a single pirate ship, but then again, practice was practice.

“There’s not a dragon alive who can defeat Vhagar.”, he argued.

“In strength, no, but she’s not as agile nor as quick. That is our main advantage on dragonback. We can more faster than they will ever have time to replace their trebuchets.”

That was something Daemon taught them.

For all his battle skill, Aemond and his siblings weren’t taught the art of fighting on dragonback.

But it was her grandmother, Prince Daemon and before them even her own father who had taught them more than merely flying on dragon back.

Agility, speed, those were just as fierce as dragonfire if one knew how to use them.

“A large dragon and a quick dragon, that is the best pair for battle.”, she decreed.

“The large dragon will win every time.”

“Not against each other, you fool!”, she hissed. “Together.”

That was the way they had succeeded against the pirates, with Caraxes drawing most of the arrows and Vermax and Syraxes attacking from beyond where they could see, setting mast and sail ablaze.

But Aemond didn’t look convinced.

So she had to be a little more convincing.

“You underestimate the impact of a strike from above on an unsuspecting enemy.", She said innocently, enjoying being able to look down on him for once, from this pile of rocks.

He did reply something, but she never heard it, not while she jumped to the closest stone and cried out the Valyrian order for attack.

Aemond spun and dropped the swords but too late- by that time she was already crashing into him with full force. Her weight hit him straight in the chest, toppling him and her both.

He landed with a thud as he hit the sand. She was kneeling on his torso, one hand around his throat, the other pressed firmly to the middle of the chest.

“Do you yield?”, she asked, squeezing her hand just slightly, not nearly enough to cause him pain or make him lack air, but enough so that he would feel it.

His groan of pain turned into a breathless chuckle.

"Fair.", He admitted, still laid out on the sand. "But when you strike like that, make sure you strike well."

His eye flashed as he grinned up at her.

"Because it brings you in too close proximity and there strength will win again!"

All air left her lungs as her back hit the ground, his broad frame blocking out the sun.

Not only had he thrown her to her back, he had also grabbed both her hands in his and pinned them above her head.

She tugged at her hands but he only smirked, shaking his head slightly.

The tips of his silver blonde strands brushed tickled the delicate skin on her neck.

She tugged at her wrists, but she might as well have tried to move a mountain and it didn't even faze him.

That alone made all sorts of emotion bubble up inside her, good and bad and dangerous.

She kicked her legs but only hit thin air as his hand, the one not holding her wrists hostage found the ribbons at the top of her shirt once more.

He picked one between his fingers and pulled at it agonisingly slowly, then the other, then the third and fourth.

For such an impatient man, he was impossibly good at being slow, if only to aggravate her further.

But she wouldn't give him that.

Instead she merely leaned back and closed her eyes, choosing to look like she enjoyed the sun more than his touch.

His fingers brushed against her skin, tracing along her collarbone, stroking up her neck to her chin.

Still, she did not react, knowing fully well that Aemond could suffer nothing more than indifference.

His grip on her jaw proved her right as he held her face in place, crashing his lips down on hers.

His kiss inflamed her, and it took all her will not to kiss him back with equal passion.

But if she couldn't beat him in strength, she could match him in will.

She could hear the low rumble of rage in his chest, before he traced his teeth over her bottom lip.

The pain made her gasp and he used the chance to invade her mouth.

Aemond's kisses had gained in skill over time, but they had always been consuming.

Even during their very first kiss, years ago when they were but children, it had made invisible flames burn inside her, and yet it felt like he wasn't just making her feel things she never had before, he was taking something from her too.

And she couldn't hold onto her pride for much longer.

When he finally pulled back, she could see her smeared blood in his swollen lips and a hunger in his eyes.

She grinned up at him, rubbing her leg against his thigh slightly.

"My, my- have you pulled yet another dagger on me?"

"Tease me and you'll be sorry!", Aemond warned.

"How sorry?", She wanted to know with a grin.

His eyes darkened in a different kind of way as his hand slipped under her shirt.

She knew this, all of this, was beyond dangerous. It was playing with a kind of fire even Targaryens could not hope to harness.

But they knew above all others, above any mere mortal men that fire was addicting and they were part fire themselves.

And their touch burned.

Once more she was at a disadvantage- her shirt was too easily removed while her fingers fumbled with his leather lacing.

And again, he beat her to it.

The first time, her first time at least, had been clumsy and cautious, with Aemond taking the lead.

He had been gentle then, kissing and caressing her and while he had taken the lead, he was guiding her too.

That gentleness they shared had been replaced by a battle of its own.

Now their kisses bruised instead of tickled.

He entered her with two of his fingers, and while she was soaking for him already, it made pleasure mix with pain, but so was their way.

Giving her no chance to adapt, he thrust them into her again, and again, making sure to brush his thumb over that particular with every stroke, until she was breathless and shaking.

Everything melted away in the light of his touch, and the determination he had to bend her to his will. She squirmed in his grip, desperate to free her hands, to reach for him and bury them in his hair- but he was unrelenting in everything but bringing her closer to the edge.

"Aemond!", She whimpered as she bit down on her lip by instinct, feeling the slightest of wounds his bite had worsened earlier.

"Look at me!", He ordered, driving his fingers in as deep as he could.

Her eyes fluttered open, already glassy with pleasure.

His eye was black as cole and his lips glistened, tinted red by the rush of his blood and the stain of hers.

"Yield.", He demanded, his voice so cold it made her stomach coil in even more pleasure.

Inside her, his fingers curled, making her back arch, desperate for more.

All this pleasure he had built up inside her, she was so close to claiming if as her own, so close she could almost touch the stats she began the darkness of her eyelids.

"Yield or I'll leave you as you are."

It was not an empty threat, she knew.

She could see the lust in his eye, the desire for her, but she also knew he had the power of will to get up at once, call Vhagar and fly back to King's Landing without a mere glance back.

He'd be raging of course, but he would leave all the same.

But she wasn't about to risk that, after all, she wanted him too. And she wanted all of him, in every way a woman could have a man, but for that she would have to give herself to him entirely first.

Her everything in exchange for his'.

Nothing less would do.

She tugged at her hands once more and this time he let her go.

At once she buried them in his hair, pulling him so close she could feel his haughty breath on her lips.

"Only to you.", she whispered in the faintest of voices.

That was enough for him.

He pushed her over the edge with ease.

There were three thrills in her eyes, riding a boat in a storm, taking flight with her dragon and then the pleasure Aemond could bring her, and whenever she experienced one she was sure the others would never compare.

He did not give her the time to recover.

Instead he had pulled her up like a ragdoll and entered her in a single motion before she had the chance to come down from her high.

She was so sensitive now, that it hurt, but it was that place where pain and pleasure met that they craved.

As she buried her face in the crook of his neck, she dug her nails into his back, clinging to him.His own hand weaved its way into the back of her hair while the other was pressed firmly to her back.

It was almost as if he wanted them to melt into each other completely.

Even if it would be the last thing he ever did.

Her second climax was fast approaching but she held back, bearing down to hold on for but a moment longer.

His grip loosened and he almost stroked the tips of his thumb over her head.

"I've got you.", He whispered in her ear, just as breathless and panting as she was. "Let go, I've got you."

And she knew he did.

It was the wind that woke her, blowing loose strands of hair into her face until it tickled.

Then she heard the sea and smelled the salt.

When her eyes fluttered open she shifted slightly, feeling the soft sand move.

When she sat up, his cloak slipped off her shoulder. It was black bordered in green and smelled of him. And of dragon.

But when did Aemond ever not smell of dragon?

It wasn't difficult. He never strayed far, especially not when she was asleep.

Sometimes she'd wake with her head in his lap, or with his fingers stroking through her hair or over her shoulder.

Today he was sitting beside her, cross-legged in the sand.

He had completely undone his hair, the wind playing tricks like the waves.

She'd have to braid it up again before he left.

As she shifted, her thighs brushed and a single touch confirmed her suspicion of the lingering stickiness between her legs.

"You didn't clean up your mess then?", She asked. Brushing her hand over her neck she felt a spark of pain. “And I’ll have to wear a high collar gown too. Couldn’t you have been careful for once?”

Aemond looked up, meeting her eyes.

"Why would I?", He asked, tilting his head. "Word is you're hosting the Archon of Tyrosh's ambassadors."

His words made her smile.

"That's it then?", She asked, leaning over.

The cloak slipped, but she didn't mind.

Apart from Aemond, no one was around for mike's and even if they were, they wouldn't dare come near with two dragons on and around the island.

"Jealousy?"

Aemond scoffed and spoke with nothing but disdain.

"All Tyroshi look like mummers with dyed hair and painted beards."

"They have the largest fleet of all of the free cities."

He glanced down and began to tear a piece of seaweed to shreds.

"You are a dragon rider, not a fish haggler's wife.", He sneered.

She couldn't help but giggle as she pressed a playful kiss to his cheek.

He pulled away the way he would have done when he was ten, before he knew the value of kisses.

"Jealousy suits you."

He threw her a dark glare, but it's burning fury was not directed at her.

With a sigh, she lowered her arms and layed down in his lap.

On instinct, his hand found her head.

"An alliance with Tyrosh would guarantee peace with the Free Cities.", She repeated what she had heard again and again.

She knew it was foolish, of course. There was no guarantee for peace, not ever. But it would bring them a lot closer.

"Is that why you would marry?", He asked. "For peace?"

"There are worse reasons.", She sighed.

"If your mother wants you to marry for peace she should have given you to me."

"It was your mother that turned down the true marriage for peace.", She reminded him. "Jace and Helaena and Aegon and me."

His fingers stopped his caresses.

"If you want Aegon, all you have to do is dress up as a silk street whore or a serving wench and he’ll have his hand under your skirt before the hour is up.", Aemond sneered.

That made her roll over so she could look at his face.

“If he does, will you kill him or me then?”, she wanted to know curiously.

His sapphire eye caught the light as he met her gaze, his own unreadable.

Sometimes, here on their little island which they kept secret from everyone but their dragons, when he was as gentle with her as he was now, his fingers drawing lazy lines through her hair, or his hands working on the soreness of her muscles after yet another harsh lesson he taught with more diligence than their master of arms, she was almost sure he loved her, or as sure as one could be with Aemond Targaryen.

Sometimes, when he held her with no sound but the waves and his calming steady heartbeat, her mind would wonder and carry her far away, to the Free Cities and beyond, to everything that strange continent across the Narrow Sea could offer.

Daemon and Laena had done it, so it wouldn't even be the first time Vhagar took to Essos.

They could resides like Kings there, could cross the Dothraki Sea, or visit the strange worlds of Yi-Ti, or go to Ashai, Volantis or the other places where they worshipped fire.

There they would be more than kings. They would be Gods.

But she didn't need that, not really. Both Aemond and her weren’t meant for ruling, for worship and praise. They had a restlessness in them, the same restlessness that brought Aegon to these shores a century ago. The two of them were the blood of the dragon in more then name, conquerors, warriors, not rulers and priests.

With a sigh she banished her thoughts and girlish dreams of foreign shores.

They were impossibly far away for her, even on dragon back.

And like her, Aemond was his brother's keeper.

Her mother needed her, as did Jace and all their younger siblings, not only as a sister, but as an advisor, ally and protector. That would only grow when first she, and then her brother sat the Iron Throne.

And for as long as they needed her, she would never leave their side. Not even for Aemond.

End

Part II

Thank you so much for reading! I'd love to hear what you think!

#aemond Targaryen #prince aemond #aemond one eye #aemond targaryen imagine #aemond targaryen x reader #aemond Targaryen/ reader #aemond targaryen x oc #aemond targaryen / oc #house of the dragon #hotd #rhaenyra targaryen #daemon targaryen #the man the myth the menace #valentineswritinga #dragon's blood

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sparklingchim · 2 years

Text

long way home 21 | jjk

pairing: jungkook x reader

word count: 2.7k

genre: dilf!jungkook, friends to lovers, angst

rating: pg

warnings: jaykay being a huge simp for miss oc, he ,,, licks her lip gloss off his face ???? 🥸 don't ask plis, them lowkey acting like a couple but it's all platonic guys !!!!! don't worry !!!! , sad gukkie in the end 😔, his broken heart </3 awakens the lil whore in him 😐

summary: the one where jungkook gives up.

a/n: talking bout this jungkook look in this chapter <3 without the bucket hat tho !!

chapters: 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08| 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 |

masterlist | long way home masterlist

⭒☆━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━☆⭒

4 years ago

"You're early," you say as Jungkook slips out of his shoes in the hallway.

"Was bored at home so I figured I might as well come over." Jungkook bends down to gives you a peck on the cheek.

"So that's why I kept getting Snapchat notifications from you?"

He stops, leaning away from you. "You saw and ignored me ?" There's an accusatory pitch to his voice, the perfect complement to the frown that slowly contorts his features.

"I'm doing my make-up. I don't have time for your silly snaps," you huff and turn on your heels, heading back to the living room.

Tonight Jungkook, Namjoon, Seulgi and you were going to go clubbing. It's been a while since the last time you went out so you're excited...to get drunk.

You hop onto the little cushion you have placed in front of the coffee table. You've been sitting here for a while, doing your make-up while watching a kdrama on TV.

"They weren't silly. I was showing you my outfit." Jungkook follows you and sits down somewhere behind you on the couch.

You turn around. He's wearing a black t-shirt, plad shirt on top and a leather jacket. The tight, ripped jeans he is wearing accentuates Jungkook's muscular thighs and oh wow, the holes on both knees are big enough to get a glimpse of his thighs and...you actually have to gulp to think straight again.

"I like this," you point out, tugging at the plad shirt. Your voice seems a little thick so you turn back around again and busy yourself with putting on make-up to hide your flaming cheeks. You see a little grin playing on Jungkook's lips through the small mirror placed in front of you.

"You can change the channel if you want," you offer as you put on some (actually, a lot ) blush on your cheeks.

"I don't mind."

You furrow your brows. You look at Jungkook through the mirror and notice that he's still staring at you. "Came to watch me getting ready or what?"

Jungkook shrugs. "Better than lazing around at home alone."

"You should get yourself a girlfriend then."

Jungkook nudges your back with his foot. "You don't wanna spend time with me?"

"No but, you shouldn't feel lonely."

"But it's fine when I'm with you."

"What, so you wanna spend the rest of your life with me?"

"Well, yeah?" He says, like it's the most obvious thing in the world. As if he couldn't believe that you'd ever dare to ask him such a foolish question. "Obviously I am." Big round doe eyes watching you.

Instinctively, a smile flits across your face as you register Jungkook's sweet words.

"Kinda rude of you not to say anything back," Jungkook utters in the tiniest pout, mock offense leaking through this gentle voice.

"Just keep saying nice things like that and I'll consider spending my life with you."

"You act like I'm hardly being nice to you."

"You bailed on me yesterday," you remind him, grabbing the eyelash curler.

"I told you beforehand that I wasn't sure if I could make it."

"Had to get boba all by myself."

"You could've asked Seulgi?"

Yeah, you could've. But it wouldn't have been the same cause you wanted to go with him.

You don't say anything in return, focusing on making your lashes look longer.

"Watchu gonna wear?" Jungkook asks after a while, but you don't hear him. Well, yes you do actually hear him but you're in the midst of coating your lashes with mascara. Definitely not a good time to start a convo.

Jungkook pokes your side with his foot. "Jungkook," you whine and Jungkook snickers at the immediate pout that pushes at your lips.

"That's what you get for ignoring me."

You smudged the brush of your mascara on your eyelid. When you lean back from the mirror you can see how his smile has him scrunching up his nose and how he gloats over teasing you. Asshole.

"Go get me a cotton swab," you demand, tugging on Jungkook's pants to get him to stand up.

Jungkook pats your head when he brushes past you to get to the bathroom. You shoot daggers with your eyes when you feel his hand, the playful twinkle in his eyes not showing anything remotely close to remorse.

Seconds later he comes back with the cotton swab. "Want me to clean it?" He's standing next to your seated figure, looking hella tall as you look up at him.

"Need to wet it first," you answer, making a grab for the cotton swab, but Jungkook holds it out of your reach. "Huh?"

"Tongue out."

You blink.

What.

Jungkook clicks his tongue, sounding a tad bit annoyed when you don't proceed to do what he told you.

He pops one end of the swab in his mouth for a second and sits down on his knees in front of you, softly grabbing you by the chin to draw your face closer.

Your reaction to Jungkook's weird antics is a little slow - you only manage to squeak "ew" once the wet cotton touches your eyelid. Your fingers fly up to his wrist, though you don't stop him. You curl your fingers around him. "You're so disgusting." You wrinkle your nose.

"I'm just helping you." He mumbles the words to himself and you find it almost adorable how concentrated he is right now.

"Weirdo."

Jungkook tosses the cotton swab on the table after he's done. He remains seated next to you, leans back against the couch and plants his feet on the carpet.

You subtly sneak a peek at Jungkook, his ripped jeans rousing emotions in you that has your skin prickle with a thin layer of heat. Your best friend looks hot today.

Forcing your attention back to finish your make-up, you screw your lip gloss and brush the applicator over your lips. You cover the whole of your lips in the sparkling substance.

"What?" you ask when you see Jungkook staring at you applying lip gloss. You turn to him, holding the lip gloss close to his face. There's a faint dust of pink on his cheeks when you meet his eyes. "Want some?"

He shoves your wrist away.

"Tastes like cherry," you coax him, putting a little more on your lips before you smack your mouth for emphasis.

"I'll pass."

You screw the lip gloss shut and place it on the table.

"Are you ready soon? Namjoon's always on my ass when I'm running late."

"Yeah, just need to change," you reply, leaning on Jungkook's shoulders to get to your feet.

Padding to your bedroom you start to rid yourself of your clothes. You change your bra into a strapless one. Then you grab the black dress from your bed that you selected earlier and quickly change into it. It's a pretty dress you've recently bought. It has a straight neckline and is long-sleeved, but it only reaches mid-thigh and has a slit at the side.

You puff in frustration when you have trouble zipping up your dress.

"Jungkook?" you call him and try with impatient hands to close the zip yourself, but it's no use.

A few seconds later you hear his footsteps on the floor approaching your bedroom.

"What's wrong, baby?" he slowly opens the door and peers in with his head. His eyes are wide when he takes in your whole figure.

You show him the backside of your unzipped dress. "Help me, please."

Jungkook chuckles at your helpless state.

Soon you feel his hand gently pushing your hair to one side of your shoulder. He zips up your dress in a matter of seconds. You don't wanna complain, but feeling his hands on you felt nice. Made you feel fuzzy inside.

"You look really fucking pretty."

The giddy feeling grows at his gaze. You stand on tippy toes to peck his cheek and beam a "thank you".

As you pull back, you see the subtle rosy mark of your mouth on Jungkook's cheek. "Oops."

But then Jungkook swipes a fingers over the shiny stain on his cheek pops his tongue out to give it a little lick.

"What are you-" you stop yourself, looking at him in disbelieve.

"You made me curious with the cherry flavour."

You walk to your bedside table to grab a tissue. "You haven't even had a sip of alcohol and you're already acting so weird."

"Yeah but you're the one who transforms into the weirdest person on earth when you're drunk."

"Pschh," you shush him, trying to wipe the lip gloss off his face as best you can. "We don't talk about that."

Jungkook chuckles and playfully jabs you in the side.

You jerk at that. "Yah, I had enough of that today." You press the tissue against his chest and leave the room.

"Come back to me," you hear Jungkook whine in the back.

You're on your third drink of the night.

Despite your plans to get drunk, you're still pretty much sober.

Namjoon has been getting you drinks he thinks are "so goddamm delicious", but every time you have to disappoint him with an involuntary grimace after taking a small sip.

You shouldn't have told him that you wanted to try something new tonight. Because now he's coming back to your table with his fourth attempt to make you like some of his favourites.

"Here." Namjoon presents you another drink. He sits down next to Seulgi. "This one is really good. I promise."

Warily, you give it a try.

When Namjoon doesn't see you pulling a grimace he says, "See? I told you it was good."

"You said that all the times before. This is the fourth drink," Seulgi points out.

Namjoon shrugs. "My job is done here." His gaze wanders from the bar to the crowd of people dancing on the dance floor. He clasps his hands. "I'm just gonna..." He walks into the crowd of people and you hope he won't try to impress a girl with his poor choices of drinks.

You feel the glass slip in your hand as Jungkook takes it. He's been sitting next you all night.

You watch him taste it. "Isn't this a little too strong for you?"

"Yeah, but I didn't want him get me another one. So I didn't say anything."

"He would've spent the whole night trying to find something you'd like," Seulgi says, sipping on her own drink.

"You think we'll see him again?" you ask Jungkook, pointing at the crowd where Namjoon has disappeared.

"Nah, he told me he needed to get his mind off things today."

You notice a guy looking at you from across the club. He's leaning against the bar counter. You intuitively you move closer to Jungkook. He immediately understands, resting his warm hand on your thigh. And as quickly as the guy eyed you up and down he spins around.

Having Jungkook as your friend comes in handy sometimes.

"Oh, me too," Seulgi groans.

Your eyebrows furrow at that. Nothing has happened in her life recently that should make her say something like that.

"Why?" you inquire.

"I'll tell you later." She pushes the glass you had placed on the table into your hand. "Let's get drunk and then dance, please."

"But..." You examine the drink in your hands. "I don't wanna drink this."

"What do you want? Lemme get you something," Jungkook offers. He holds his empty glass up. "Gonna get myself something too."

"Strawberry Daiquiri, please."

As Jungkook leaves, you feel Seulgi's gaze on you.

You cock your head to the side. "What's up?"

Seulgi downs the rest of her drink. "I don't understand you."

Scooting a little closer to her - now that Jungkook's gone, you can feel the looks of many men ogling at Seulgi and you - you change glasses with Seulgi because whatever it was that Namjoon had got for you, it was a bit too much.

"Watchu mean?"

"I just don't get why you and Jungkook don't...y'know, try to be more than friends."

You quirk an eyebrow but Seulgi remains unfazed. She's confronted you with this question multiple times - most of the times with a sharp sideway glance at Jungkook, eyebrows up on her forehead and then back at you.

"Never."

"At least fuck him?"

"Seulgi."

"You don't think he's fuckable? Y/n, please. Don't tell me you haven't been staring at those thighs all night 'cause I certainly did."

"Jungkook is handsome, but that's not the point."

"Then tell me. What's stopping you?"

You tap a manicured finger on the round of the glass. A sigh escapes your lips.

"What?" she asks. "Does he not meet your standards? Is he not enough for you?"

"I - I don't know."

Seulgi wears a questioning look on her face. "What do you mean you don't know?"

"I don't wanna ruin what we have right now." You shrug. "I don't want things to get weird between us. I mean, yeah, I shouldn't assume what could happen without even trying but ... I don't wanna risk anything. Not with Jungkook." You nibble at your bottom lip. "I can't imagine my life without Jungkook. And I don't wanna lose him because of something stupid that could've easily been avoided."

"As long as I have him in my life I don't care in which relation to me. I just need him," you tell her.

"Jungkook's got you wrapped around his finger," Seulgi says.

"No." you frown, deeply in denial. "I just really like him."

You switch glasses with Seulgi again and take a big sip of whatever Namjoon had ordered.

"Let's talk about something else."

"I just don't get why you and Jungkook don't...y'know, try to be more than friends."

Jungkook comes to an abrupt halt.

Had he really just hear Seulgi say that? To you?

Jungkook shouldn't be listening on your conversation. He knows that. But he had to know your answer to Seulgi's question.

"Never."

Was this his instant karma for eavesdropping?

Jungkook feels something twist in his stomach with a strange pain.

It's not like he expected a different answer. But maybe there was a spark of hope that made his heart beat a little faster.

He almost starts walking again when he hear Seulgi asking, "At least fuck him?"

And that catches his attention again.

"Seulgi."

"You don't think he's fuckable? Y/n, please. Don't tell me you haven't been staring at those thighs all night Cause I certainly did."

He's noticed your glances. But he didn't think anything of it.

"Jungkook is handsome, but that's not the point."

Jungkook has spent a lot of time thinking about what he could do or change for you to make you like him the way he likes you. So what is he missing?

"What?" Seulgi asks. "Does he not meet your standards? Is he not enough for you?"

Jungkook gulps.

Suddenly the whole club is silent. And he's waiting for your answer. Seconds pass and you don't say a single word.

All at once, every cell in Jungkook's body becomes ice cold and every part of him freezes. His feet are frozen in place. He can't move. Jungkook needs to know what you're gonna say next.

He must look ridiculous right now - standing quietly in a club while everyone around him is dancing, chatting and laughing.

"I - I don't know."

Everything is silent in Jungkook's ears, but at that moment, he heard his heart breaking. Right in the middle. And Jungkook knows he isn't imagining it, because he felt it. It's deep and painful and so intense.

And that's Jungkook's cue to turn around and leave.

Jungkook doesn't allow himself to dwell on his feelings. He shouldn't be having them in the first place. It was his own fault. His own stupidity.

So he walks back to the bar, putting both drinks on the counter. He exhales deeply and stares at the marbled counter to calm himself.

In the corner of his eye sees a woman standing right next to him. Jungkook looks at her. She has a playful, teasing smile on her crimson lips. And soon, he feels himself looking at her the same way.

"Hey," Jungkook says.

"Hi." She bats her eyelashes. "Can I have that?" She points her finger at the Strawberry Daiquiri he had originally ordered for you.

"Of course." He hands her the drink. Jungkook won't come back to you anyway.

"What's your name, pretty?"

She giggles at the pet name.

"I'm Sora."

#jeon jungkook #jungkook angst #dilf jungkook #jungkook fic #jungkook scenario #bts angst #bts fanfic #bts imagine #jungkook x reader

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pensat-i-fet · 10 months

Text

From one wedding... (Rúben Dias x Reader)

**Naturally, after seeing Rúben at Bernardo's wedding, I got some requests to do a wedding related imagine. The person who requested here on Tumblr was @mountsgirl and I think I managed to do the request as close to what was requested as possible. I already had another wedding imagine from a couple of months ago and my aim was to make them different enough that you wouldn't feel you're just reading the same thing twice. Also, the title is explained in the imagine. Enjoy!! ❤️**

Word count: 1866

Masterlist

Wattpad

“Tomorrow is the big day”.

“You say it as if it was us getting married and not your friends”, you laughed, falling on the bed and wincing.

“What’s wrong?”

“My back still hurts. I knew we should have taken the sunscreen bottle to that cave expedition you wanted us to do”.

“Let me see”.

You took your shirt off so Rúben could see your back and flinched a little when he touched the still sensitive area.

“It looks much better. You can barely tell it’s red anymore”.

“Really?”

“Want me to put some more cream on it?”

You nodded, thankful for his help. Your dress for the wedding showed half of your back and the last thing you wanted was for everyone to see a big ugly sunburn.

“That feels nice”, you said, closing your eyes and enjoying the cooling effect of the cream and the way Rúben’s hand massaged your skin.

“Done”, he said, kissing the back of your neck.

“Thank you! Let’s go to bed now. Long day tomorrow but I can’t wait to see you wearing a suit”.

“I was wearing one the day we met”.

“And that’s how you tricked me into dating you”, you joked, pecking his lips and going to the bathroom to brush your teeth.

Rúben stared at you and then kept staring at the closed door. He had been feeling some type of way lately, and the wedding you were about to attend only made that feeling bigger. But he shook his head and got those ideas out of his head. It was too soon.

Between the slight jet lag you had from your time in America and how early you had to wake up, you began the day already exhausted. Your eyes kept closing and you tried your hardest to stay awake.

“That coffee isn’t helping”.

“Don’t mock me, Rúben. I’m so tired”.

“Yeah, me too. Maybe we could sleep a little. I think we have another hour until we get there”.

“Can’t”, you groaned.

“Why?”

You and Rúben had never been on a long car trip together so he didn’t know. “I get travel sick when I’m on long drives like this one. But it’s better if I don’t sleep. Don’t ask me why”, you shrugged. “It’s how it works”.

“Well, we can’t have that. Is there anything that helps?”

“Funnily enough, looking outside of the car. Apparently, I get sick because I’m moving but I’m also not moving so my brain doesn’t understand what’s going on. And so seeing the outside moving helps. I don’t know, I read that in an article once”.

“You and your I read that in an article once”, he laughed and you hit him in the chest, making him laugh harder.

Once he was done laughing, Rúben moved to sit in the middle of the back seat to be closer to you. He turned you slightly so you could still look outside of the window and he could bring you closer to him to hug you.

“Let’s talk about what we see. Concentrate on that”.

Smiling, you did just that and started to describe the mountains and the little houses you saw sometimes. Not only did it help you not feel bad, but it also made the whole trip go by so much quicker.

“We are here. Let’s find our room”.

Rúben took your hand and a couple of minutes later, you were in your room. You placed your dress on the bed, carefully, and started to unpack all the things you needed to get ready.

“I’m going to need your help, Dias. Don’t get too comfortable”.

“With what? I can’t do your make-up. I mean, I can. But you don’t want me to”.

“Just with little things in general. Please”.

“No need to use puppy eyes. I was going to help you anyways”.

While he was helping you get ready, Rúben couldn’t help but go back to those thoughts he had been having lately. You looked so adorable wearing one of his old shirts and moving around the room getting all the things you needed.

“Last one, please”, you said and he gave you another roller to put on your head. “Rate how sexy I look from 1 to 10”.

“80”.

“Wait until I put the black face mask on. It’ll be a 100!”

“Can I have a kiss first?”

You leaned down to kiss Rúben before running to the bathroom again to put on your mask. The smile on your face couldn’t be bigger and his was matching yours.

"So you had the rollers on but now have to curl the hair anyways. It doesn’t make sense”.

“It actually does, hence why I did it like this”.

“If you say so…what else can I do?”

“Why don’t you start getting ready?”

“I don’t take as long as you. I’m fine”.

You moved the curling iron away from your face to laugh properly. “You don’t take long to get ready…right”.

“So funny! But I mean today. I just have to put the suit on and brush my hair”.

“Can I brush your hair? Please!!”

“Sure”, now it was his turn to laugh.

Once your hair and make-up were done, you and Rúben started to get dressed. You kept trying to look in the mirror to see how red your back looked and Rúben noticed.

“It’s fine. Not red at all. Does it hurt?”

“Not really. Can you take a photo so I see how it looks? I could always wear a jacket to cover the area, even if it would look terrible with this dress”.

He took the photo and showed it to you. And you were so relieved to see the skin was back to a normal colour. It still hurt a bit but no one would know.

“Do you like the dress?”, you asked, spinning around the room.

“I love it. And the colour looks great on you”.

“Thank you. I liked it better in white but obviously had to go for this shade instead”.

“White?”, now Rúben’s mind went back to those feelings that wouldn’t leave. “I wanted to see you wearing the white dress”, he said, almost to himself.

“I can’t wear white to someone else’s wedding”, you laughed, not understanding his comments.

“Of course”.

“Give me the brush now. I want to play with that gorgeous fluffy hair you have”.

Sitting down on the bed, you positioned yourself in between his legs and started to brush his hair gently.

"Ready!", you winked. And you both made your way to the ceremony.

The wedding venue was so stunning you had to remind yourself that you should be looking at the ceremony and not at your surroundings. Rúben noticed and he put his arm around your shoulders, bringing you closer to him so he could whisper.

“We’ll come back here another time so you can see the area better, ok?”

You nodded, smiling. You were having the same idea at the moment. And even if Rúben didn’t know, other ideas he had were also reciprocated by you. But you weren't going to tell him.

Everyone gathered around the newlyweds to congratulate them and take photos. And when it was your turn, Rúben gave Bernardo a little “friendly” push. Bernardo looked as shocked as he always did when Rúben hit him, even if he should be used to it by now, and moved to hide behind his now wife.

"You can't be violent near a pregnant woman".

"Rúben, I told you your wedding gift was not hitting poor Bernardo", you said, slapping his arm.

"But it's fun".

"Psycho", said you and Bernardo at the same time, making Ines laugh.

More photos were taken, some with you in them but most of them with just Rúben and his teammates. You didn’t mind, not really enjoying being seen much on social media. But you did check the photos other people were taking and noticed one of Rúben’s friends added an interesting caption.

“Look”, you said to him, showing him the photo.

“What is it?”

“The caption”.

He read it and when he got to the end, he looked at you quickly. Why were you showing him that?

“Who’s next? Well, Ines didn’t throw her bouquet to the guests so we don’t know”, he laughed uncomfortably.

“You know? There is a saying in Spanish that says “de una boda sale otra”, which is like from one wedding we get another one. The caption reminded me of that”.

“Would you like it if there was another wedding soon?”

You looked up at him, trying to understand the meaning behind that question but he looked away. “I guess. It’s fun to attend them. And I get to see you wearing a suit”.

“It’s fun, yeah”, you wanted to say something to him but he spoke first. “They look so in love”.

You nodded and hugged Rúben’s arm before putting your head on his shoulder. “I like to think that’s how we look when people look at us”.

He kissed your head and kept looking at the band that was playing music, enjoying the moment. And also hoping that you both looked like that when people looked at you.

After a few hours of dancing and chatting with all the other guests, it was time to go back to the room.

“The gifts they got for the guests are so adorable. I even got pyjamas to wear while we’re here with my initials on them. You know how I love those silly details”.

“I didn’t get any pyjamas”.

“You’ll have to sleep naked then, Rúben. Terrible news but what else can we do?”

Rúben slapped your bum when you walked towards the bathroom but there were no more playful looks when you got out, wearing the white pyjamas Ines had picked for the female guests. They looked like something the bride would wear. It was a little inside joke she found funny and so did you. For Rúben…it only made those feelings harder to contain.

“Have you seen a ghost?”, you asked, walking to stand in between his legs while he just stared at you. “Or are you going to be super corny and say you saw an angel?”, you laughed.

“Marry me”.

“What?”

“I’m stupid”, he said, standing and moving away from you.

“Why would you be stupid?”

“I’ve been thinking about proposing for months now. And thinking about all the big gestures I could do because you deserve that. And now I just let these feelings I’ve had all weekend take over and just ask you like that…and I shouldn’t even ask you. We haven’t been dating for that long. I don’t want to scare you away. But…”.

“Stop talking”, you said, standing now in front of him and placing your index finger on his lips. “I’ve been having the same feelings, or thoughts, whatever you want to call them. But I didn’t want to scare you”.

“Really?”

You nodded. “And I don’t need gestures or you getting down on one knee or whatever. I just need you to really mean it when you say you want to marry me. So…do you really mean it?”

“I do”.

“Then let’s do it!”

#ruben dias #ruben dias imagine #ruben dias one shot #ruben dias x reader #ruben dias x y/n #ruben dias fluff #footballer imagine #footballer one shot #footballer x reader #footballer x y/n #footballer fluff

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lokiforever · 7 months

Text

🖤 Love in the Dark 🖤

•Intro

•Series Masterlist

Mafia! Loki x Fem! Reader

Chapter 1

➡️

The Girl He Saved

As he cut the phone he was in a great hurry and was practically fuming. "What's wrong?" you mused "It's none of your concern" he blankly said and stood up "Your arm- the stitches are not as necessary but you must disinfect it" "It'll be fine" "But-" "I. SAID. It. Will. Be. Fine" he firmly answered and left the room before stopping to say "Issac will show you the room. Eat something."

Once he was off to God knows where the same guy from earlier entered the room. He showed you your room and gave you dinner.

After having dinner you took a shower and changed into what seemed to be Loki's t-shirt, it was already placed on the bed when you entered the room and hell, it was so comfortable.

The sleep you had that night seemed to be the best you had in a month. That was untill you woke up in the middle of the night because of the nightmares. Now, those are the side effects of being kept hostage.

You were panting heavily, a thin layer of sweat covered your body and your throat was drier than the desert. Checking the time, you noticed that it was 3am. You got up from the bed to fetch some water for yourself for which you had to go downstairs....

As you took your glass of water from the kitchen, you heard the main door opening. You grabbed the nearest object for your defence which was a spatula and stood in a defensive stance. As the door opened you were relieved to see that it was Loki.

The sleeves of his black shirt were rolled up, a few top buttons undone. His hair were tied up in a loose man bun , some stary inky black tendrils coming in perfect contrast of the porcelain skin of his face. He looked Godly as the dim light caressed his face.

He walked towards the kitchen as he heard the shuffling noise and found you there instead. He let out a small chuckle "Were you planning to hit me with that spatula?" Your face immediately turned beet red "I uhh... i didn't know it's you.... it's freaking 3 in the morning." "And pray tell what were you doing at 'freaking 3 in the morning' ?"

"I...I came to get water" you felt his eyes run up and down your frame and that was when you realised that you were literally standing there in his t-shirt. Just his t-shirt. Sure it was long enough to cover but still....

"My clothes suit you quite well, darling" he said with a smirk. This caused you to turn even redder...if that was possible. "Did you eat dinner?" you asked changing the topic. There was a flicker of surprise on his face before he masked it "I- no. No, I didn't" he said

"Seriously? Wait, I'll make something for you. What do you want to have?" you asked him. "It's fine, I'm not hungry" he said "No it's not. What was the last meal you had and when?" "Uhh..I had lunch at....1" he answered.

You raised your brows "Do you even realise how wrong it is to go hours without meals? And it's been more than 12 hrs since your last meal.".....no response. "Now you sit here, I'm bringing you something to eat. Yes or yes?" he playfully rolled his eyes and said "Ok, ok, fine" putting his hands up in mock defence.

You made him some grilled cheese with tomato soup and served him on the dining table. "Loki... it's ready" you called him cuz he was not there, he said he was going to take a bath before you started cooking.....so now he must have finished.......

Your thoughts were stopped midway as you saw him coming downstairs without much clothes.....all he was wearing was a pair of sweatpants. His black curls were dripping from the shower as the water droplets grazed his strong, muscular body.

"I'm here, darling" he said in his unfairly arousing, spicy, delicious, sexy, hot, amazing voice.

"Have a seat, your meal's ready." you said with a smile. He graciously sat on one of the chairs of the dining table. "What about you? Are you not joining me, darling?" said he "I already had dinner" you replied "Oh, come on. Join me." he said "Loki-" "No, you're joining me. Now." he said in a tone which didn't leave much to argue.

So, you took a seat beside him. "How's your arm?" "It's fine" "Did you disinfect it?" "Uhh....." "You didn't, did you? Where's the medical kit?" you asked him. "I don't remember exactly...uhh..- no - wait, it's in my bathroom, in the top right shelf"

"You eat your food, I'll bring it"

As he yook the first bite, a moan of satisfaction slipped his lips.

"Mmm, this is scrumptious, Y/N! It's the best I've ever had on midg- Earth. It's wonderful." he heartfelt words made you blush "Thank you so much, Loki. I'm glad you like it" " 'Like' is an understatement, darling. I love it" you thanked him and smiled.

"I'll just go and bring the medical kit" you stood up and went towards his room, upstairs. "There's one in the guest room too" he called after you, so you chose to bring the one from the guest room.

After getting the kit you went back to where Loki was. "You can eat, it's on your left arm so it won't bother if I disinfect it even while you're eating." "Ok" he extended his arm towards you and you started disinfecting it.

Once it was done you dressed the wound. You looked at him after it was all done only to find him looking at you intently "What?" you asked "Nothing" he said averting gis gaze back to his plate. "It's done" you said referring to the now dressed wound. He gave you a little nod "Thanks" he said.

By now it was 5 am and your sleep was long gone. "Are you going to sleep?" you asked as Loki stood up "Yes, I am. Are you?" "Uhh ....no, I'm not sleepy anymore" "What will you do, then?" "I dunno" "You can go to the library or watch some movies if you want. The library is upstairs" "Sure, thanks"

You went to the library after he went to bed.

"Issac will show you the room. Eat something"

Sitting in the car he dialled a number "Handle him. I'll be there in a moment. He better not escape, for if he does, I swear I'll kill you"

In less than ten minutes, he reached the spot and barged inside, banging the doors open. He was fuming. "Master- " one of his men started but he stopped him and strode straight towards the captive .

"You thought you would spy on me and I wouldn't know? How mudane" he chuckled darkly. He took out a dagger and placed it on the boy's throat "Now, you have two options: tell me everything I ask or die" he said pressing the dagger closer .

"I-I w-w-will tell you . Please spare my life. Please. I will tell you whatever you ask" the boy meekly said, trembling with fear. "Wise decision, agent"

"You will tell me everything about you master. Every .Fucking .Thing."

~°~

Loki's POV

(time: when you were dressing his wound)

I knew she is trouble. I knew it when I saw her in nothing but my t-shirt. I knew it when I sensed the care and concern in her voice. I knew it.

Her nimble fingers tended to my wound so gently. She looked so determined, so concentrated. When I first saw her I didn't know why I did what I did. I didn't know why I brought her here. I didn't know why I seemed to.......care...for her .....no, this is not normal. She's just a stranger. I should not let these things cloud my judgement. Not again.

"What?"

(Three days in)

In these three days you got to know a little about Loki. He didn't talk much. Only when necessary. He completely avoided any sort of physical contact and remained either outside the house or in his room. He didn't seem overly friendly but he had a good heart. You knew it deep down.

Today, as you both were on the breakfast table he got a call. He saw the contact name and exited the room while you ate your breakfast.

"Mr. Laufeyson, that girl, Y/N......" the man on the phone said .

"What about her, Barnes?"

-----------------------

Taglist:

@holdmytesseract @lokisgoodgirl @jennyggggrrr @lotsoflokilove23 @jaidenhawke @wolvesmom1 @gruftiela@mary-jinx@mischief-dream@ladychota @dishahaldar @eleniblue

Please let me know if someone wants to be added the taglist🖤💚

#loki #tom hiddleston #loki x reader #loki mcu #marvel loki #loki x female reader #mafia #mafia! loki #mafia!loki x reader #loki layfeyson x you #loki layfeyson imagine #loki laufeyson #loki laufesyon x reader #loki x reader insert #loki x you #loki x y/n #mafia!au

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sanjithesimp · 2 months

Text

♡bite me (pt.1 )ft. jeon jungkook & min yoongi♡

a/n: i couldn’t stop thinking about this idea so i had to write it right away. though i will be dividing it into two parts hehe

warnings: nsfw (minors DNI).fem reader. pwp (porn with very little plot). unprotected sex. fingering. rough sex (kinda). nipple play. degradation kink. praise kink.

summary: some horny thoughts i had.

playlist to listen to while reading this fic

he had always been very quiet but always nice to you. you had become somewhat very close, living all together in the house they have bought after they debuted. he was like a big brother for your boyfriend, they shared everything; yoongi took care of him, taught him a lot of things. jungkook always looked up to him. but now you weren’t so sure, you had made a mistake and this would change jungkook forever…you were doing everything possible to make sure he would never know about what happened that weekend when he was away for a photoshoot.

you had cheated on your boyfriend. it was a hot afternoon, yoongi and you were the alone in the house. a total mistake. he was nice to you, and he would give you advice whenever you needed it. you never imagined something would happen between the two of you.

“bored?” he asked, suddenly startling you. he smirked, something about his smile was

“a little bit, yeah” you admitted.

“want to play a game or something?” he suggested, it was kind of weird coming from him but you had nothing better to do. so you ignored it and followed him.

he was fond of playing cards, you never understood what was so fun about it. but you were going to give it a try. he offered you something to drink, and was surprised when you answered that you wanted exactly what he was drinking.

“didn’t think you would like whisky?” he said as he poured the golden brown drink in an old fashioned glass with a few of slices of lime and a couple of ice cubes.

as the hours passed, you kept on playing and drinking. things started to get more serious, but at the same time you both had loosened up, probably from all that drinking.

while yoongi poured some more whisky on his glass you watched him. you didn’t know what it was, maybe the alcohol but you seemed to think he was incredibly hot. you had never thought of him like that, he was like jungkook’s older brother. but his pink lips, his long raven black hair, his hands adorned with veins. it was almost driving you crazy so you had to look away before you started having more nonsense thoughts.

“what’s on your mind?” his voice made you jump.

“n-nothing, i just think i should stop drinking for now” suddenly feeling heat all over your body. “is it hot in here?” nervously going to open a few windows.

“i think you’re right, you should stop drinking” yoongi said laughing at your actions.

as the night went on, you kept on playing. things were starting to get weirdly flirty but you tried to ignore it, telling yourself that it was the whisky going straight into your brain and making you imagine things.

“should we make this more interesting?” yoongi asked, getting closer to you.

“how so?” you said, worrying about what he would say next.

“let’s play strip poker.” yoongi said so casually, as if he suggested to eat some ice cream.

“what? no, no, no…are you drunk?” he snickered at your last question.

“it’s just a game, or are you worried you will lose?” he dared you.

you dammed yourself for falling into his game. also you were wearing way less clothes than him.

“no of course not, i’m not a chicken.” you said, feeling confident.

but that was the last time you felt confident. even though yoongi had taken a few pieces of clothing you were the one who would wound up fully naked. it was just your boyfriends shirt and your panties still on you.

“i think we should stop” yoongi said without explaining, his face had changed.

“what, are you afraid you might lose?” you said mocking him.

“no, it’s just..getting late”he said as he started washing the dishes.

”i think you’re just afraid…” you whispered in his ear, teasing him again. he suddenly stopped and looked at you and without saying anything else pulled you in to kiss you. the taste of the strong whisky still on his lips.

you yelped as he placed his wet hands on your ass. you could feel the hunger in how he kissed you, the way he nipped at your skin. the way he moaned as you pressed your body closer to him.

“fuck-” yoongi said, feeling your hand palming his erection through his pants. he then guided you to your room, and then to your bed. the bed you and your boyfriend shared, you could still smell him on the bedsheets. this was all wrong, but you couldn’t help it. you couldn’t stop yourself, you wanted more.

yoongi slid his hands under jungkook’s shirt, his fingers ghosted over the lace of your panties. suddenly feeling an electric shock all through your spine. a moan escaped your mouth, suddenly making you feel embarrassed.

“are you that desperate to be touched, little whore?” he said, a smirk drawn across his face.

you nodded, not being able to formulate any coherent answer.

“i’m going to fuck you so that you never forget this” yoongi said, it was as if he was another person. you couldn’t believe the words he had just said.

he then ripped your panties off your body and discarded them somewhere in the room, you shivered feeling the cool air, your pussy already dripping wet, with desire to feel yoongi’s fingers. he teased you a bit more, his hands running up and down your thighs.

one of his hands went under your shirt, his fingers teased your cunt, he traced them up and down as he spread your juices all over your folds while the other hand fondled your breasts.

“fuck, i had never seen those.” yoongi said surprised that your nipples were pierced. he licked his lips at the sight of your hardened nipples decorated with the metallic hearts piercings you had chosen.

“do you like them?” you bit your lip, loving the way he was devouring you with his eyes.

“no…i love them” yoongi said and he took one of your tits with his free hand. he started licking it, his tongue making circles around your bud, and gently sucking on it. making you moan and whimper, you were sure you were just gonna cum by how he was sucking on your tits.

he introduced two of his fingers into your cunt, curling them to reach your g-spot. you could almost see stars as he kept on pumping them in and out of you, watching carefully what you liked the most by how your moans got louder whenever he sped up his movements.

“have you ever been like this for jungkook?” he said as he left a trail of kisses all the way from your chest to your neck “soaking wet, like a little whore”

you moaned his name, his thumb pressing on your clit. he was such an idiot for asking you something like that.

“answer…now” yoongi said, desperate to know the answer.

“n-no” you replied, loving the way he kept rubbing circles on your sensitive bud. you definitely didn’t want him to keep asking you questions about jungkook

“fuck me hard, yoongi…please” you begged him. right now you didn’t want to think about the terrible thing you were doing to your boyfriend.

“as you wish, princess” he said, pulling his fingers out of you and licking them clean, not leaving a single drop of your juices as he looked at you, his eyes filled with lust. you audibly gasped, thinking that was one of the hottest things you had ever seen.

you had imagined he was big, but not that big once he released his cock from the confinements of his boxers. it was painfully hard, his tip red and dripping with precum. you wanted to suck it clean but first you wanted him to fuck you senseless, until you could forget that this was so wrong yet it felt so right.

“you’re so big…i-” you started saying but he shushed you.

“i know you can, baby”yoongi said, lining his cock with your cunt, sliding it up and down, coating his dick with your juices.

you gripped the bedsheets until your knuckles were white as the sheets, every inch was getting less painful but you still weren’t sure you could take him all. once he bottomed out, you both moaned in pleasure, he could feel your velvety walls tighten around him, as you could feel his tip kissing your g-spot.

“see, i knew you could do it…such a good girl” he said as he started slowly sliding his cock out of you, leaving only the tip inside. you suddenly missed being full of his cock, but it didn’t took seconds before he thrusted back into you.

the lewd sounds filled the house as he rammed in and out of you, your loud moans and whines, his groans and moans, his balls slapping your ass, it was a sinful orchestra that you had both created. and you didn’t even care anymore if someone found you like this, under your boyfriend’s best friend, moaning and babbling nonsense as he fucked you hard on the matress that you and your boyfriend shared.

his thrusts were getting harder, you both getting close to your high. he could feel your cunt tightening around his throbbing cock. he could cum in that moment, but he wanted to enjoy it a little more. he liked the sight of your tits bouncing up and down as he sped up the pace, your face contorting with pleasure as he fucked you like no one else had.

he fucked you until you squirted all over his cock and the bedsheets. your legs gave out as he was still trying to reach his own orgasm.

“you look so fucking pretty, y/n” he said, your body glistening with sweat, a soft flush in your cheeks and your lips swollen. he continued thrusting in and out of you until he came inside you, filling you with his hot cum, not letting any drop go to waste.

he then pulled out of you, and laid next to you. his raven hair messy and some sticking to his forehead. he had never looked that handsome as in that moment. you turned and got on top of him and kissed him hard, tears started to run down your face.

“i’m so sorry, i-” you started saying but you couldn’t finish your sentence. “jungkook, must never find out about this…” you said, still crying as yoongi cleaned your tears from your cheeks.

he didn’t say anything else for the rest of the night, or the following days.

#oooof i-#idk where this came from #but is HAWWTTTT #omg fanning myself rn #a second part is coming hehe #idk if soon but i promise ill try to work on it #suga smut #yoongi smut #agustd smut #bts smut #yoongi x reader #bts fic #yoongi fic

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creelteeth · 2 years

Note

perv! steve? well boy oh boy do i have headcannons

perv! steve who can't handle when you wear those cute little pleated skirts. like he sees it and can feel himself getting hard and is running off to the bathroom to fix his problem

follow up he loves when you bend over and forget you're wearing it, giving him a full flash of whatever panties you have on that day

perv! steve who turns on the ac so he can see goosebumps, and see your nipples harden under your shirt

perv! steve who comes over and finds a pair of dirty panties in your dirty clothes hamper, and can't stop himself from stealing them. he thinks he's slick but he doesn't realize just enough of the lace is sticking out of his pocket for you to see

from there you put everything together and realize just how infatuated he is with you, and you feel the same. from then on you start wearing clothes that tease him, like really low cut shirts and lingerie so he can see the pretty lace bra you're wearing.

one day you're teasing him, purposely in a thin little white shirt and white lace bra, with the shortest, tightest little skirt you own. you're going full force on him, "accidentally" spilling water down the front of your shirt so he tells you to go get one from his drawer. he follows you, and when you bend over to look through his shirts, he almost busts on the spot. not only are you in the drawer where he's hiding your panties, you aren't wearing any. poor boy starts stuttering "y- you might wanna c- cover up"

and you just don't mind at all, you wanted him like this. "oh, right! i was totally going to put on a cute pair to add to your little collection but instead i didn't wear any at all! easy access, right?" you say with a smile, and he's shocked. "y- you know what ive been d- doing?"

you act like it was obvious, "of course i do, and ill let you in on a little secret, i want you too, stevie" and suddenly the stuttering, shy boy you've been teasing is gone. "you've been doing this on purpose, baby? you wanted me to get all riled up, and fuck you?"

now you're a stuttering mess, barely able to speak, and he's absolutely mocking you for it.

lmao im cutting it off there ive never written before okay byeeee

anon you get me.

he'd thought he was slick, that no one ever noticed the growing bulges in his pants but you most certainly did. it didn't take a genius to realize the pattern of events. you wear that one pair of shorts that he likes so much and he's off to the bathroom. you reach over his lap to grab the pack of gum from his front pocket while he's driving and suddenly his left leg is shaking.

he swears he felt the charms dangling off your bracelet graze his crotch.

he can't look at you. it was pretty amusing to you, the amount of power you had over him. the smallest things were enough to make him squirm so you decided to have fun with it. deciding on a particularly hot day to wear that old white t shirt of yours. it was pretty worn thin, one of his favorites. he didn't even have to try to make your body more visible to him when you wore it. your perfect nipples showed through with ease. sitting on the trunk of his car you noticed he was struggling to keep focused. he kept glancing over at you while his hands were busy fumbling around with some task at hand. dustin had asked him to help him build some silly little thing and bring it over later

poor steve was no handyman. especially when you were there, looking like that. you decided now would be a good time to mess around a bit more. he was grumbling to himself, none of the allen wrenches he was given were fitting where he needed it too. his mind clouded when he heard you.

"fuck!" you gasp, looking down at the mess made all over you.

the water bottle you held was gushed down the front of you the clothes you wore now tightly clung to your body. the white fabric gone clear against your chest and stomach. steve froze. all the blood rushing to his head, he felt dizzy at the sight. your clothes were soaked, your body was more visible to him now than it had ever been before. oh my god.. steve swallowed thickly.

he didn't really know what to do so he did nothing for a moment. eyes flickering between your face your chest. he thought he had died and gone to heaven when you came outside with no bra, but fucking hell he didn't expect to see this much of you. it was cute to see him in shock, staring down at you shamelessly. the time that passed from when you poured the water on yourself til now felt like ages but really it was only a few seconds. quickly, he realized what just happened. stumbling over he pulled his own shirt off to offer you. his words choking their way out of his desert dry mouth.

"um. here you can.. you can wear mine. since y' spilled." he closed the distance between you his eyes daring to the sky.

he couldn't look. he couldn't manage to look at the pair of perfect little nipples that prodded the soaked cloth, if he looked he'd have to touch and he can't do that. you're his friend. the way he reacted made you giggle. he was being so very cautious. and while you loved it, you needed him to stop.

"aren't you gonna help me get dried off?" you ask him kindly.

that question making his eyes find yours again, cock twitching in his pants. you watched him open and close his mouth a few times, searching for words. It was like you could visibly see the gears turning in his head.

you wanted him to help you? why would you want that? drying off isn't a two person job?

oh.

his eyes going wide as he realizes. you did this on purpose. such a naughty little thing you are. his expression hardening.

"did you make a mess of your self on purpose?" he asks, stepping in even closer.

it was now that you started to realize you didn't think it though very well. shying away a bit as his hands settled on your still damp thighs. all you could do was nod at his question.

"you're that desperate, hm?" he pouted at you mockingly.

his fingers crawling their way up your slippery skin, stopping when he reaches the hem of the denim.

"is this what you've been up to? trying to torment me so I'd fuck you?" his bluntness causing you to gasp, chills spreading over your dampened skin.

you could tell he was amused at the way you retracted. all of the confidence you once had, gone, now that his hands were on you.

#perv!steve #anon #casey answers #this is so long for no reason.#keep getting character limit too ughhh

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violetrainbow412-blog · 2 years

Text

Hair emergencies [E. M]

Eddie Munson x reader

Word count: 1.1k

"Eddie?" you asked, slamming the trailer door hard "Ed?" you repeated in a scream, without stopping your blows. He hadn't been to school that day and you thought he was just being lazy, but what really bothered you was that you spent a whole hour waiting for him in the theater room with the Hellfire club and he never showed up. That's why you drove so late to the Munson trailer.

“Y/N?” you heard from inside. His voice sounded weird, like something was covering his nose, and your first thought was that he was sick.

"It's me, can I come in?"

"Nope!" he practically screeched, making you frown.

"Are you sick?"

"No, just… go away, please"

"What is the matter with you?" you exclaimed in confusion, getting as close as possible to the door to try and hear something. "Why didn't you go to Hellfire today?" you murmured. There was no response from the other end and that was the straw that broke the camel's back of your concern "Eddie?" you repeated with fear, without being able to imagine what was so bad as to have left the most talkative boy you knew in the world speechless.

It was then that the door opened and your body fell slightly inwards, revealing a figure standing shyly. Eddie was wearing red pajama bottoms with black plaid, a shirt so worn you couldn't even read the band's name anymore, and his eyes were red and puffy. But what caught your attention the most were the strands of blonde hair that were cut unevenly.

“I look horrible” he cried, flopping down against you for a hug. You had to confess that you imagined something very different from that, so you were surprised.

"What the hell…? What happened Eddie?” you asked, looking over his shoulder at the tangle of curly hair. It was enough to inhale a little to realize that he smelled of peroxide and understand what had happened "Did you try to dye your hair?" you exhaled, hearing you unintentionally amused, while he continued to cry on your shoulder. You forced him to separate from you so you could look at him more closely and no matter how hard you tried you couldn't help but burst out laughing.

"Don't mock!" he sobbed loudly, as he hugged himself. He really looked shattered and you pulled him back into a hug, placing your cheek against his.

"Oh, Ed…" you murmured pityingly, running your hand up and down his back. "How did this happen, honey?"

“I thought it would be easy and the box said to leave it on for 30 minutes, but I wanted it to look lighter so I could paint it differently and I left it on for 1 hour, and then when I took it off the hair got all nasty and it started to fall and I wanted to cut it, but it looks horrible and Wayne isn't here to help me and I'm… my God I'm so ugly” he stammered, then burst into tears again. You really wanted to laugh at the situation, but you knew that Eddie would never forgive you so you did your best to stay calm while trying to calm him down.

“Yeah, yeah, my love. It's okay, we can fix it” you exclaimed, maintaining the soft tone with which you would speak to a small child who had just ruined something with a mischief. A smile crept onto your lips as you did this, but he couldn't see you.

You kept holding him for a while until he finished crying and when he did you lifted his face with both hands. He had a red nose and the same eyes, which made you feel a lot of compassion and in a certain way tenderness too.

"Do you really think you can fix it?" he asked as he rubbed the back of his hand to wipe away his tears.

"Yes, I can do it," you said gently, as you took his hand and led him to a bench in the kitchen. You went to his bathroom to get some scissors and there you found strands of hair along with the box of dye, as well as a pair of gloves full of product. You shook your head, totally amused, and went back to him, who was already a little calmer "I have to cut the damaged part, but I'll try to make it as long as possible, okay?" you said in his direction, receiving a nod.

"Okay"

It wasn’t such a difficult task to cut his hair, since regularly Wayne was the one who did it and always let it grow like a mane. Eddie felt your hands taking strands and cutting them, the sound of the scissors filling the silence of the room. After a long time you finally managed to get rid of the blond and burned strands of him, leaving him a cut above shoulder height, almost at the level of his ears.

"All set, handsome," you said cheerfully. He had already stopped crying, but he still looked quite sad "Don't worry, it's not that bad"

"Are you serious?" he asked, guiding one of his hands to his messy mop of hair. "Jeez, I'm so fucking stupid," he sighed, throwing his head back and closing his eyes in obvious pain. You walked over to him and wrapped your arms around him, allowing yourself a small laugh.

“How did you think leaving the dye in twice as long was such a good idea?” you scoffed, hoping he wouldn't start crying again. But instead you heard him let out a bitter laugh against your chest "What color were you going to paint it?"

"Red" he replied, feeling extremely embarrassed.

"Next time ask me for help, airhead" you exclaimed amused, while you left a kiss on his crown. The atmosphere was more relaxed and Eddie felt calm now that you had come to fix it. Your very presence made him feel better.

“Do you still like me like this?”

"This dumb?" you joked, but from the bite he gave you on the side you figured he wasn't very amused “Of course I like you, Eddie. I like you, not your hair”

"Thanks for coming. I probably would have shaved my head out of desperation,” he confessed. He raised his head in your direction and stretched his lips towards you for a kiss, which you gave without complaint. The contact made the tension in his shoulders disappear and he practically melted in your arms, completely forgetting the stress that had accompanied him all afternoon. "Will you stay tonight?" he asked in a whisper, desperate that this kiss wasn't the only one he received that day.

And well, to those bright and pretty eyes you could never say no.

TAG LIST: @sweetdayme4427 @smol-book-nerd

#eddie munson #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x female reader #stranger things 4 #joseph quinn

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aehyei · 2 years

Note

i saw you were bored so here am i to ask something 😁 could you please do something (idk if its angst or not) with mark and fem reader where they're arguing about something and then he yells at her (something triggering or not) after that he realizes what he has done and try to fix the things between them

ik it's very specific but i REALLY love readind this stuff, thanks!!

OF LIES AND WRONGS

when mark wants to be proven wrong.

PAIRING: mark lee x reader

GENRE: angst, fluff at the end (?)

WC: 2.040k

WARNINGS: panic attacks, heartbreaks, mark’s kind of an asshole???, mentions of cheating, tbh their relationship seems toxic bestie, cuss words

AUTHOR’S NOTES: HI BAEE sorry for the late reply😭😭 but i hope you enjoy this!!! also you beauties are worth more then u think you are and if someone does not see that leave em.

“YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND!”

“What? What don’t I understand!? Fuck, Y/n, I work day and night for our future and when I come home you’re tangled arms with my best friend? My fucking best friend.” Boyfriend!Mark Lee outbursts, his eyes all blurry from anger or betrayal—he really couldn’t pinpoint the difference right now. All he sees is red.

“Please, Mark, listen to me.” You plead, not being any better than him. Everything was happening too fast and you were scared the situation might get out of hand then it already is. “Please, it was just a misunderstanding. Donghyuck didn’t mean any harm, he was just—”

“—They warned me about you.” Mark didn’t even let you finish. His glare was cold and his voice was deep. You stopped talking and stared back at him silently, heart dropping.

“What…what do you mean?”

“They said you only used me for money. I didn’t want to believe it. Shit. How can I be so blind?”

“Y-You…you think I used you?” You were hurt, a look of disbelief flashing through your eyes, “Is that what you think of me?”

“You should’ve told me the truth.” Mark was too blinded by his own pain to realize his mistake. He spat those words as if he meant them, and he did. He meant them more than anything.

It was useless trying to explain to him, you realized. He would never listen to you. But still, the memories you two used to share kept holding you back. With a small hope in your heart, you shakingly reached for his hand.

But Mark pulled away from you harshly, his action only breaking your heart more.

“I wished I never loved you.”

You let out a soft scoff, still frozen in place. A shaky sob erupted from your throat and then the tears you were trying to ignore came out flowing. Why wouldn’t he listen? You’d always understand him, letting him explain, but why can’t he do the same for you? It was like the filters of life were suddenly stripped down and you were forced to watch the cruel reality.

He thinks of you of someone else.

“Mark, I love you.” You breathed out, voice unstable from all the overwhelming emotions drowning you. “And I will never stop doing so. But if you want to let go of all we’ve been through, if you’re doubting me over something so simple…”

“Just leave. Please.” Mark didn’t look at you. He just couldn’t. He bought a hand to rub his jaw and exhaled shakily, squeezing his eyes shut when he heard the front door close. When he was all alone, in the apartment where you both used to do everything together, he broke down and tried to cover his ears to stop the mocking voices in his head.

“Y/n?”

Just by Haechan’s voice, you started to cry once again. The boy’s eyes softened before wrapping an arm around your waist, pulling you closer to his warm body. “What’s wrong? Where’s Mark?”

You couldn’t bring yourself to reply, but you shook your head repeatedly, gripping tightly on his shirt until your knuckles turned white. It was only when Haechan understood.

“I’m going to kill him.”

“No, no, please,” You manage to choke out, “Please, it wasn’t his fault.”

“Y/n, are you fucking with me right now? It’s fucking snowing and you’re just wearing pajamas. Where’s the shithead when you need him?” Haechan spat, full of rage and worry. He pulled you in and closed the door, repeatedly caressing your arms in a way to warm you up.

“H-He broke up with me, Donghyuck.”

“What? Why?” Haechan’s jaw dropped as he asked in a harsh whisper. You pulled away from him and tried to calm yourself down to speak properly, but Mark’s words kept messing up with you. “He saw your coat—you left it last night by the couch. He asked why it was there, a-and I tried to tell him but he just a-assumed w-we were…”

“Shit.”

“I don’t know what to do. I tried to explain, but he wouldn’t listen.” You started to hyperventilate, your breath shortening and your chest tightening. It felt like someone was punching the oxygen out of your lungs and everything was blurry.

Haechan immediately jumped into action, cupping your cheeks and making you stare back into his eyes. “Hey, hey, look at me. Just me. Listen to my voice. Yeah, just like that. Breathe in, breathe out. You’re doing an amazing, good job, I’m so proud of you. That’s right, just focus on me.”

When you calmed down a bit, Haechan squeezed your shoulder and tried to hide the fact that he too, was angry, but you could see the rage circling his dark orbs.

“Please don’t hurt him…”

“He hurt you.”

You closed your eyes, opening your mouth to speak but no words came out. Mark Lee did hurt you and you had no excuse for that. But you know he’s hurting too.

“Does he even know why I came over yesterday?” Haechan tried to keep his voice stable. And when you shook your head, his anger only flared more. “Does he at least know about your panic attacks?”

And you shook your head again.

“Fuck, Y/n,” he cursed, running his fingers through his hair, “I want to make him pay.”

Three weeks.

It’s been three weeks since he told you to leave. But still, despite the anger and betrayal, Mark still found himself staring by the door, waiting and hoping you’d come back.

You didn’t.

“You can’t expect her to come running back to you right after you chased her out, hyung.” Jeno sighed, catching the older man’s undivided attention. “She cheated on me. I don’t want her to come back.” Mark lied, knowing fully well what he truly wanted.

“Did she tell you that?”

“What?”

“Did Y/n tell you she cheated?”

That question made Mark blank out for a moment before he snapped back into reality and shook his head. “Well, s-she wasn’t clear on it. All she said was Haechan came by and something, something—she was stammering all over and breathing heavily. When I asked what they did, she answered he hugged her. Then I snapped.”

Jeno observed him and hummed, smacking his lips together. “Did she look guilty? Scared? Surprised?”

“Hurt. She looked hurt.” Mark whispered, your trembling lips and teary eyes still haunting him.

“Did you let her explain?”

That stunned Mark. He furrowed his eyebrows and opened his mouth, realizing that he never let you explain in the first place. “I-I don’t think so…but the stammering and she was panicking. I assumed it meant she was guilty? I don’t know, man. I just snapped.”

“Hyung,” Jeno exhaled, “Haechan has been your best friend ever since daycare. Do you really think he’s the type to steal your girl? The key to every relationship is communication, and maybe that’s what you and Y/n had missed.”

“She’s not here.”

Mark almost winced at Haechan’s tone of voice and he did look down at his feet in shame, even if he didn’t know why. “What happened that day?”

“Oh, so now you want to listen?” Haechan scoffed, “You had three weeks, Mark. Three fucking weeks. Where were you when she needed you most? Where were you when she was crying your name? Huh?”

“You were there though.”

Haechan licked his lips, analyzing how much of a mess Mark looked. There was a bittersweet message behind those sentences. “I’m not the one she loves. You know that. I can’t give you the answers you want, because it is not my business either. You know where she is, I know you do.”

Mark's lips trembled, then he buried his cold fingers on the pockets of his coat. He turned around to leave as Haechan was right, he does know where you are. It’s where you two promised to be whenever one felt lost.

-------------

“Hey, someone’s here for you.”

“Huh?” You confusingly look up to your coworker. She shrugged, “I don’t know. But he said it’s important or something. Go, I’ll cover for you.”

With furrowed eyebrows, you smile at the children you volunteered to take care of and clasped your hands together. “Guys! I’ll be right back. While I’m gone, no fighting, okay? I’ll get those snacks I promised!”

The children cheered then continued to paint while your coworker attended to the little girl having trouble mixing purple and pink. You exit the room, wiping your tinted hands on your apron and loosely tying your hair while walking outside to the playground just in front of the daycare.

When you were able to take a glimpse of a familiar coat, you froze.

Mark slowly turned around to face you, his eyes immediately scanning your figure. You’ve grown thinner and paler, he noticed and couldn’t help but let worry fill his heart. Then he remembered you were still a meter away from him, so he stepped forward, eyes meeting yours.

“How’s the children?”

“They’re…painting.” You reply breathlessly, not understanding a thing. You shook your head and stepped back when he went closer. “W-What are you doing here? I thought you didn’t want to do anything with me. I thought—”

“Please tell me I was wrong. That whatever I thought happened didn't happen.” Mark pleaded, looking down. He sniffled and looked up to meet your beautiful eyes once again, a tear leaving his. “I want you to prove me wrong—no, I want to be wrong.”

“Mark…”

“Please.”

You let out a shaky exhale, the hurtful memories from three weeks ago mocking you once again. But you pushed this aside and carefully placed a hand on his arm, gently dragging him with you inside the daycare.

----------

“Apple juice?” You asked, handing him a box. Mark’s widened eyes were stuck on the juice then back at you before hesitantly reaching for one. “Thank you.”

You gave him a small smile and poked your straw on yours, taking one sip. “I know you've been busy lately, with work literally being an ass and everything so I tried to not add to your burden. I want you to feel relaxed whenever you come home—I want you to feel that it’s alright to take a break whenever I’m around.”

He slightly flinched but didn’t show any more reaction other than drinking on his apple juice.

“You do know about my panic attacks, right?”

“I do.” Mark breathed out, afraid of what he was about to hear next but a bigger part of him was somehow grateful. Maybe it really wasn’t what he thought it was.

“I had another one recently.” You bitterly chuckled, biting your lip. “I couldn’t breathe that day, and I was all alone at home. I wanted to call you, I really do, but I remember how stressed you already are at work. So I called Hyuck.”

“And…you two hugged?”

“I guess it was his way to calm me down. He was too focused to ever realize that he left his coat.” You shrug, hands starting to shake. You tried to stop them but Mark had already placed his hand on top of yours, both of you sharing an eye contact that holds more than words could ever tell.

“I tried to explain…”

“I know. I’m sorry. I’m the worst.” Mark gently pulled you to his side, making your head rest by his shoulder. “I should’ve listened to you, I should’ve understood. But I pushed you away. Shit, I’m such an idiot. The worst of them all.”

“You said you believed them.” You whispered, eyes already starting to sting too. Mark shook his head and placed his lips on the top of your head, closing his eyes in pure content of having you in his arms once again.

“I lied.”

“You’re such a great liar.”

“I love you.” Mark pulled away from you just to softly peck your lips. “I love you and I will always be there for you. I will never let you go ever again. Just, please, don’t hide from me anymore. We’ll talk everyday, we’ll talk about everything.”

“Yeah, I’d like that.” You nodded your head, smiling when he connected both your foreheads together.

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beansnsoup · 2 years

Text

Love at first sight

Eddie Munson x reader

Request: idk if ur still asking but if u are could you maybe do an eddie x 70's stevie Nick's, fleetwood mac style vibe fem reader ???? I think their vibe would be so cool,,, like opposing a little bit but they fit really well together and almost like a rocker and hippie vibe idk what it would be about maybe like her going up to him at lunch and hes with hellfire or smth and they are kinda like 'oh,,, guess that makes sense' like the vibes but they get so soft around

☆

Summary: Being a quiet yet out there person Eddie begins to obsess over you, and so do you.

He first saw you when he's putting his campaign folder back into his locker, he glances at you through the side of his eye but ends up staring. You're wearing a loose, half tucked in blouse, with a long brown skirt, a sachel type bag, and a Walkman playing in your ears.

He tears his eyes away fast before you can send a glare his way after feeling his stare. You never hated Eddie, he always found ways to surprise you during lunch times, how he'd jump on the table and have little speeches, which either riled people up or made them weirded out. Either way, you found him intriguing.

His rings, and the same Hellfire shirt he wore almost everyday, and his hair, oh my God his hair. But you tried not to get too caught up about it, you've never had the best luck with the boys at your school. You normally kept to yourself and since your style was different from all the preppy girls at the school you were mocked for it by the basketball team and sometimes the cheerleaders, but you never cared. It's not like it mattered.

But after that moment in the hallway you found yourself being more interested in him, you weren't a D&D person so it's not like you were about to ask questions about Hellfire just to spend more time with him. Then you had the brilliant idea to write him a note instead. That'd be the right thing to do right?

It's better than asking him out loud if he wanted to hang out with you then getting turned down, then being utterly humiliated for the rest of your life. Then you pull out a piece of paper and your pencil and start to write.

'Hey, I was wondering if you maybe wanted to hang out. You don't have to, I'm not going to do one of those cheesy ass 'yes' or 'no' type things, but if you wanted to, I'm going to that one table in the woods, if you don't want to you can stand me up. It's fine either way. -Y/N'

You thought that was good enough, you fold it up and wait for the bell to ring for next period so you don't have to walk infront of everybody in the cafeteria.

A good 5 minutes later the bell rings, you go to throw away your trash and then rush to his table where they all are starting to get up. You tap his shoulder to catch his attention, when he turns to look at you he doesn't say anything, just stares. His friends are staring at you too. You hand him the note, "Don't read it now, you have nosey ass friends." You chuckle under your breath and then walk away.

"Not going to lie, I saw this pairing coming." Mike says. Dustin smiles at him, "Honestly, I did too." Her replies to Mike. Both of them not daring to look at Eddie because he's most likely giving them a death stare.

—————————————

Your sitting on the top of the of the table, finishing up your book, when you finish the last couple pages you have left you check your watch. 'It's been like 15 minutes. He was probably just judging me, I took it in the wrong way.' You think, kind of upset about this outcome.

When you start to get up Eddie rushes into the secluded area, "Sorry I'm late, I got held up with my last class. You're lucky I don't have a campaign tonight." He says to while going to sit at the table. "You're fine." You tell him.

This is more awkward than you thought it'd be. He glances at you, "So..did you want to talk to me or something?" He asks you, sitting up from his laid back position. "I don't know, you've just peaked my interest lately." You respond, grinning at him. His cheeks flush a little but you pretend not to notice.

He gains a bit of confidence, "If it makes you feel better M'Lady, I've also taken quite a liking to you." He admits to you sliding closer to you, his arms crossed. You look at him smiling at his words. Not knowing what else to do, you pull him in for a kiss.

He's shocked a bit at first, but accepts it. Lips moving together perfectly. He pulls away so he can pepper kisses on your jaw and your forehead. He leans back to take you in for a minute, "How would you feel if I take you out on a proper date, princess?"

The request with the nick name makes you want to melt, "I think that's an amazing idea." You agree, putting your arms around his neck pulling him in for another kiss.

——————————————

You guys are now the new power couple at Hawkins High, second to Jason and Chrissy of course. You make him listen to your Fleetwood Mac records, he hated it at first because it obviously wasn't his type of genre but you eventually got him obsessed.

Making him crystal necklaces that he wear around his neck religiously. His friends love it, they've never told him that, but they think it alot when the two of you are hanging out.

You somehow match his aura perfectly, making him soft towards you. His uncle loves you. Knowing you were the just right thing that Eddie needed, what Eddie was missing.

And Eddie couldn't agree more.

The idea/request is from @lydiascottage !!

Tysm for this idea, I hope I did it a way you like, again thanks sm for the idea!

#stranger things #eddie munson x reader #dustin henderson #stranger things 4 #eddie munson #joseph quinn #joseph quinn x reader #fleetwood mac #request

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plainemmanem · 2 years

Note

STEVE HARRINGTON WITH A DUMBIFICATION OR SIZE KINK PLEASE OMFG😭

i want him to make me feel dumb and pathetic so badly

it's the fact that you read my mind anon???? how'd you do that ??? plus we all know steve is massive that’s an irrefutable fact

18+

Steve was… breathtaking.

There was nothing particularly different about him. Same quaffed hair, striped t-shirt, and faded jeans. His beat up sneakers were the same, even his breath had that typically minty scent that accompanied his gum.

But tonight, he was doing something to you.

You wanted him. So so so bad.

You’d been playing coy all night. Little brushes to his arms and those fuck-me eyes from across the table. But he only gave you those warning glances that said "not now" anytime you pushed his buttons. Sure, you were with the kids. And sure, it would be a little much to be all over him, or worse, ditch the kids before you got them all home. But to be honest, you couldn't really think clearly with him across from you in the booth. So close yet so far away.

How badly you want to touch him. Feel his heated skin, the taut muscle hidden beneath it, his pretty smile and the moles that line his face. You were working yourself up all night and you needed him desperately, it was becoming rather obvious.

But Steve was being stoic and cool, despite all your teasing, a feat he was very proud of. But he knew the second he got you home all bets were off.

You were looking particularly alluring tonight, too. Lips sticky with gloss, hair wind tossed, and that little skirt you insisted on wearing even though it showed a bit too much skin. Steve needed you just as badly, but he was doing a much better job at containing himself.

But the second he stepped foot in the house, his composure snapped.

"Stevie, please. Please, just kiss me."

“Easy, pretty girl."

His hand was holding your hip, keeping you pressed to the mattress so you didn't get the relief you were wanting.

"You going dumb, baby?"

Your head moved of its own accord, frantically nodding yes, willing to do anything to appease him; to get him to fucking touch you. You knew he was mocking you, no matter how sweet his words seemed, but you were too far gone to care.

He was impossibly hard, both at the sight below him and at the power he was holding over you. Pants and shirt long forgotten, he was hovering over you in just his boxers, watching you carefully. Your every twitch and jerk signaling how he could wind you up tighter.

Your hands were gripping weakly at his wrists now, your legs kicking about subtly, unable to think let alone control your body.

He kept his hand between your legs, slowly pumping into you shallowly with his ring and middle fingers, purposely ignoring your clit. His other hand moved from your hip up to your neck, giving you a slight squeeze before raking his fingers through your hair gently. Methodically, his hand moved to cup your cheek, his thumb bumping against your lips, seeking entrance. You gave it willingly, sucking on his thumb desperately, happy at the small contact he was kind enough to give you.

Steve couldn't pull his eyes away from your lips. He couldn't believe you were here, lying on his bed, giving yourself to him. You were a dream, you must be. His lips parted gently as he focused on the feeling of your tongue swirling around his digit. He’d keep you here all night if he could, but he wanted to go even further. He wanted you pliant and brainless.

He pulled his hand from you, much to your chagrin, and pulled his fingers out from inside you, leaving you helplessly empty below him on the bed.

He could have sworn his heart stopped as your eyes darkened slightly, still giving him an innocent look, as you brought your hands up to play with your tits, giving yourself the relief you craved.

He was speechless standing there. God, you can't be real. His palms went to your sides, dragging your shirt up slowly to expose more and more skin, until he reached your chest, massaging you himself.

"Want you, Steve." You were so breathless, whimpering and mewling at his touch.

He chuckled a little at your desperation.

"How, sweetheart? How do you want me?"

It was cruel, but he wanted you to beg.

Your calves came up behind him, wrapping around the back of his thighs and pulling him in slightly. You grabbed his biceps and ran your nails up to squeeze at his shoulders, tugging him down an inch from your lips.

"Inside me, Steve. Need you in me. So bad."

You could hear him chuckle under his breath, but all you cared about at that moment was getting him on top of you. Your hips rose slightly, desperate for any semblance of friction, when he grabbed your sides and pushed you back down again. A pout formed on your lips, making him smirk.

"All right," he gave you a light kiss on the nose, grinning harder upon seeing you chase after his lips. "Sure, honey. I'll give you what you want. Since you asked so sweetly." You could tell there was something more patronizing behind his words, but your head was so empty, only thinking of the familiar stretch he promised to give you.

"Yes, y-yes, thank you. Thank you, Stevie. Thank you, I'll be so good." You were babbling now, and Steve found it precious. He had barely even touched you and you were already gone.

He leaned back now, grabbing your thighs, and spreading your legs as wide as they would go.

This was always his favorite position. You spread wide, a clear view for him as he first slides into you. He loves watching you stretch around him.

He lined himself up, then slid in slowly, watching your face contort and your hands come up to hide your face.

You've had sex plenty of times, but every time it always felt like you were practically being split in half.

"W-woah, Steve, hold o-on." Eyes squeezed so tight, your just doing your best to try and take him. He swears it's the prettiest thing he's ever seen: those first few seconds as you try to adjust to him.

Lightly, your hips started to roll, your confidence building up once again. You're grabbing at his hips now, his abdomen, trying to simultaneously push him away and pull him closer.

He's only in you about half way, but he always makes sure to give you as much time as you need, especially when you're so vulnerable beneath him. His hands grab your ankles now, keeping one pressed to the mattress and bringing the other one up to rest on his shoulder, manipulating you into a new position.

"God, you're such a little trooper, takin' all of me," he mumbled with a faint smirk on his lips. Stroking at your calf, he turned his head slightly and brought your ankle up to his lips, planting a small kiss there. Then another one, right on the insole of your foot.

Your cheeks heat up at the intense look he's giving you and you once again hide your face behind your hands at his brazenness.

He drops your leg, leaning down to press his front to yours. His nose brushes against your hands, prompting you to peak at him. You indulge him and his hands quickly find your face, his lips connecting with yours sweetly. All the love and adoration that could be seen behind his eyes was now being poured into his kiss and you could feel your heart beating a tad faster. He was always a man of action, and it never failed to make your lashes flutter and your stomach flip.

Just then, he pushed his hips that little bit further, his pelvis just kissing yours. You gasped at the stretch, Steve's lips now roaming around to suck and nip at your jaw and your neck and the spot right below your ear. Your pussy fluttered around him as he whispered faint praises into your skin. Languidly, you wrapped your legs around his waist, pulling him impossibly closer.

One squeeze around him, then two, and he moaned at the feeling, grabbing your chin and tilting your head up a touch further to give him more access to your neck and collarbones.

"Steve. Please. Move."

You were certainly begging now, and Steve couldn't help but smile against your skin.

"Whatever you want, pretty. Whatever you want."

No matter how much he controlled you, you had him wrapped around your finger even tighter.

He was putting all his weight on you now, suffocating you in the best way possible. His hips raised, pulling out just a fraction. And for a split second he was still, locking eyes with you so intensely you almost had to look away, before he pushed into you again. It felt somehow deeper than before, thanks to this new position, and all you could do was mewl and run your nails over the expanse of his shoulder blades.

It was insanely good. Steve knew exactly how to read you and that only turned you on all the more.

His hands were roaming all over your body, wrapping around your waist and squeezing at your ass, anywhere he could possibly reach. Your legs were tangling with his and you found it hard to decipher where he ended and you began.

"How's it feel, baby?" Steve was thrusting so deeply now, rhythmic and slow, you could barely squirm underneath him he was so close.

"Yuh- yeah. Yes- ugh. Uh huh, yea-" You couldn't even get a coherent word out, just muttering little syllables between your moans and whimpers of his name. That only made Steve go faster.

"Ok, good." He was smirking down at you again, leaning down to attach his lips to your neck and suck a blossoming hickey for all to see.

You were gripping at his neck and shifting your hips so his pelvic bone brushed against your clit each time he thrusted into you.

He just felt so crazy deep. He was hitting that spot inside you over and over and you couldn't help but squeeze your eyes tight at the sensation.

His thrusts were steady and you quickly found yourself starting to rock your hips in tandem with his movements. Your back arched into his and your chest heaved in the thick, hot air around you. You were having trouble catching your breath.

There weren't any sounds in the room besides his occasional grunting and your soft whimpers and the slight rustle of trees just outside his bedroom window. It all felt so intimate and close and something that only the two of you shared.

Feeling that you were close now, he leaned back, resting his forearms on either side of your head, caging you in. You were drowning, all your senses numbed to anything besides him, his movements, his feel, his sounds. Your head was swimming with him and anytime you opened your eyes he consumed your vision. You grabbed onto the hairs at the nape of his neck, tugging down on him for a kiss. He granted your wish silently, kissing you so deep and wet you didn't even want to stop for air. You grabbed his face roughly, trying to express to him all the words you couldn't say.

His chest pressed to yours was burning and sweaty and you could feel your eyes rolling back as his hips started to waver, a sign he was getting close.

He grabbed both of your legs now, bringing them to wrap around his waist, letting him get that tiny bit deeper.

"Gah- Jesus H. Christ, Steve." You were tugging at his hair and breathing in his exhales and you still couldn't get enough of him.

"You kiss your mother with that mouth?" he asked you teasingly, lips brushing against the shell of your ear now.

"Shit, Steve. You're so deep." Your mouth was hung open wide and your nails were clawing at his neck.

The vibration of his chuckle shook you slightly and you could feel his lips press in that secret spot right below your ear. You groan at the juxtaposition of his gentle kisses and his deep, relentless thrusts.

"I know, sweetheart, I know. But you're doing so good for me." He pulled his head back, looking down to your navel. He pressed a hand there, feeling the bulge of himself through your skin, before groaning and thrusting deeper. He pressed down on your tummy, pulling a mewl from your lips.

"Feel me? Feel me right here?"

You couldn't even speak, just squeezed your eyes tight and gave him short little nods and whimpers.

His hands ran up your sides, squeezing at your waist and your shoulders, just soaking up the look and feel of you.

He pushed on your stomach once again, and you couldn't even describe the intensity of it. You threw your head back, Steve's thrust getting even more erratic.

"Kiss me. Please, kiss me, Stevie. I'm so clos-"

His lips cut you off, as well as a particularly hard thrust, which immediately threw you over the edge. His mouth swallowed up your moans and all you could do was grab at his shoulder blades and his arms and his cheeks.

You felt euphoric. You never wanted this moment to end. This closeness, this understanding you’ve never been able to find with anyone else.

It was only a few seconds later when he spilled into you, a groan leaving his lips. His head dipped down beside your ear and you could hear him panting your name lowly.

Your fingers ran through his hair, scratching at his scalp comfortingly, helping him through his high, your legs tightening around his waist and keeping him locked into you.

A couple of minutes passed with you two lying there, trying to catch your breaths, chests pushed together and arms wrapped around one another.

Steve peered at your face, a ghost of a smile coming over his pretty, sexed-out features. His hair was wild and the tips of his ears were a little red and you couldn't stop the sickly sweet smile from coming to your lips as well. You grabbed his chin, giving him a small kiss on the nose.

A light giggle of disbelief left him as you ruffled his hair gently, love struck at his cute demeanor.

"How do you do that?" you ask him, chuckling.

"How do I do what?" He slowly rolled off of you, now lying on his side, his head perched up on his arm, a dopey grin on his face and his eyes warming tenderly.

"Go immediately from plowing me senseless to giggling on top of me?" you poked at his chest accusingly, no heat behind your words.

"Hmm, I don't know..." Slowly, he leaned towards you, eyes flashing from your lips back up to your eyes. "Maybe we should go again and figure it out. You know, for science." He gave you a nonchalant shrug before planting his lips on yours.

You smiled against him as he slowly deepened the kiss, running his hand into your hair and pulling you in tighter.

You both pulled away, breathless.

"Yeah," you beam at him, rolling on top of him now to straddle him. Your eyes turn lusty and mischievous as you loom over him, connecting your lips in a slight peck. "I think I can help you out with that. For science, of course."

#steve harrington x reader #steve harrington x you #steve harrington

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countrymusiclover · 11 months

Text

13 - The Mikaelson Ball

Part 14

Gemini Runaway

Tag list ask to be added @dragonixfrye @secretdreamlandmentality

(Raelyn's Dress)

Caroline and I with our arms linked together with one another, walked up to the Mikaelson’s mansion. She was wearing some heels but I kept my boots on since you could see them with the front of the dress being see through it part of the front. There was music blaring when we came through the door and from the looks of it the whole town was invited. “I’m going to find Matt. I’ll see you later.” She squeezes my arm leaving me on my own.

Scanning my eyes across the crowd I couldn’t find anyone I really recognized but I paused feeling someone staring daggers into the back of my head making me slightly turn around finally seeing it was Klaus. “Klaus…..woah. You clean up rather well.” He was in a black tux but he had a white bow tie that went well with the white shirt underneath his jacket.

“Raelyn, you look stunning in that dress. I must say your designer must have good taste.” He shook his head almost frozen in place by the girl in front of him. I had actually curled the ends of my hair and tied two strands of my hair back in a clip. Paired with my brother's necklace as always.

Leaning up on my toes I smiled up at the hybrid who was taller than me. “Oh I'll be sure to let him know…excuse me sir are you perhaps Nik Mikaelson I must tell him what a splendid job he did on this dress." I mocked pretending to search around for Klaus even though he was standing right in front of me.

"You're so silly sometimes, Rae. I don't think I've ever laughed this much with anyone else." He chuckled, bending his head down to me smiling.

Placing my hands together in front of me, sending him the same expression back. "I can say the same about you, Nik. After what happened to my brother I - I didn't think I could have fun anymore."

"I'd do anything to keep you happy, Ms. Lane." He responded simply lifting his gaze up towards the long winding staircase where his gaze locked with his mother who was watching us and wearing a black cocktail dress from the looks of it. "If you're still worried about her, why don't you just go talk with her?"

"Oh hell no. I can't possibly do that." I made a noise in disgust at his proposal.

He responded. "She might like you."

"Or she might want me dead like the Bennett witches did. A witch without their own magic is basically against nature." I cut him off quickly.

He stepped closer where I could feel his hot breath mixing with mine. "A vampire is also against nature, Raelyn."

"Yeah but that doesn't mean…" I didn't really know what to say back.

Klaus whispered, sending me a cheeky smile. "Aren't we the perfect pair then? Uh Raelyn I have to join my mother. I'll find you shortly." He maneuvered through the crowd of people now standing on the staircase with his mother and siblings.

Elijah declared to everyone in the room. "Welcome. Thank you for joining us. You know, whenever my mother brings our family together like this, it's tradition for us to commence the evening with a dance. Tonight's pick is a centuries-old waltz, so if all of you could please find yourselves a partner, please join us in the ballroom."

I moved through the crowd of people accidentally stumbling over someone's dress where we both tumbled to the wooden floor. "Oops sorry I'm sorry." I immediately apologize for getting to my feet and helping the girl up.

"It's fine, it was an accident. I'm Elena…and you're the new siphon witch in town the Salvatore's are afraid of." She knitted her brows together for me to notice she had dark brown hair and brown eyes. "But they won't really tell me why."

Knitting my brows at the girl I asked softly. "If they are so protective of you then why are you here exactly?"

"The original witch invited me. Apparently she wants to speak with me alone about something." The brunette responds.

Glancing over my shoulder back at the staircase I could see that she was indeed watching us from above. "I wish I could tell you what she wanted to tell you but I don't know anything about it. What I can tell you though is the Salvatore Brothers have nothing to fear from me. Klaus has no intention of using me as a weapon against you and your friends. He's simply offered me a home and protection from my own monstrous family."

"What do you mean monstrous family?" She asked.

Sternly looking at her I decided to tell her what she really wanted to know. "My Coven tricked me into killing my twin brother. Have a nice dance, Elena." Turning on my heels I could faintly hear Damon ask her.

"Why were you talking with the enemy witch?"

Clutching my hands into fists I was getting really annoyed with him anymore. I might just consider throwing his ass around since I revealed the other night that I have enough power to take the Originals to their knees. Some people pushed me around where I nearly tripped until someone put a hand on my waist. I grabbed their forearm making them wince siphoning some magic until they spoke up. "Ah! Raelyn, it's me, love."

"Oh sorry, Klaus." I apologize quietly removing my hand from his arm.

He cleared his throat, removing his hand from my waist and offering up his right hand instead with a slight bow like I was a queen. "May I have this dance, M'Lady?"

"Yes." I snorted a laugh at him placing my hand in his letting him lead me into the crowd with everyone else getting in line for the dance. Placing one hand on his shoulder he put his other on my waist keeping our other hands intertwined together.

"You seem nervous. Your heart's beating faster." He pointed out making me roll my eyes at his vampire hearing.

"Is this going to be like the dances we practiced?"

He said. "Yes, except we will have to switch partners occasionally."

"Switch partners!"

He leans forward nuzzling his nose against mine chuckling. "Don't worry, little siphon. If any of my siblings becomes your partner they all know the moves quite well."

The music began playing where everyone started spinning around the room in step with the tunes that were being played. Klaus squeezed my hand twirling me out and back into his chest a few times making me smile. “Let me try to twirl you now.”

“Alright let’s see you try, Rae.” He smiled when he removed his hand from my waist. I let go of his shoulder. I raised my arm as high as I could where our hands were still intertwined and he spun out. Yet when I spun him back in I did it faster than I thought where we tumbled to the ground causing some of the people dancing beside us to break away and send us glaring looks. “We might have to work on that one, love.”

I chuckled, hugging my knees to my chest even though I had a dress on watching him get to his feet offering me his hand. “Yeah you’re probably right, Nik. Thanks.” He tugged me up to stand with our chests pressed up against one another beginning to get back into the dance routine.

“Don’t panic darling but we have to switch now.” He told me where I gulped nervously letting him twirl me out of his arms with my blonde hair throwing around in the air.

A new set of hands caught me where my gaze lifted up meeting the brown eyes of Kol. “Hello darling, fiery witch.”

“Hi Kol. I hope you know this dance like your brother said. I’ve only had a few lessons.” I responded by placing my hands where they needed to be and we began the dance once more.

Kol smiled down at me closely, focusing on my necklace around my neck. “So what type of witch are you. I have never seen one who was strong enough to bring all Originals to their feet.”

“I apologize for that I was just afraid that he would die, he’s the only person I honestly trust at this moment in my life.” I explained meeting his gaze for only a brief second.

He tilted his head cursively. “Hmm. So what type of witch are you?”

“I wasn’t born with my own magic. My mother referred to what I am as a siphon. I draw magic from anything that has supernatural powers. Vampire, werewolf or witches. I can also take it from objects such as I took magic from the wall. But I always have to take from something else regardless.”

Kol smirked, moving one of his hands to brush over the blue diamond necklace. “Have you ever considered turning this into a source to place your powers.”

“I don't know what you mean, Kol.”

“Turn this jewelry into a talisman for your magic. That way you can just siphon magic from it unless you need a stronger source then you can siphon from someone else.” He explains spinning me out and back into his chest where we broke away bowing to one since everyone else was doing so.

I smiled actually, never thinking that was possible. “I never thought of that. How do you know about it. Could you teach it to me?”

“Before I was turned into a vampire I was a very powerful witch like you clearly are. But yes I can help you do such a thing someday but it seems my brother wishes for your attention.” He nodded his head making me look over my shoulder seeing Klaus coming over to us.

He smiled, holding his hand out for me. “Brother may I steal Ms. Lane froze you. I wish to show her something in private.”

“Of course, Nik.” Kol took my hand kissing the palm of it before going to find another dance partner. “It’s been a pleasure, Raelyn.”

Klaus led me up the staircase and down some hallways before we entered a large room filled with paintings and drawings. The supplies were scattered all across the room putting me at awe until he shut the door letting the music die down. “In the time I have lived in this house, how have I never come across this room before now?”

“It’s one of my passions.” He replied with his hands behind his back. “Do you like it?”

I smiled in his direction seeing that he was worried that I wouldn’t. He probably wouldn’t dare to let his guard down with anyone else. My eyes landed on a large painting on the wall in front of us. “This is amazing. You weren’t kidding when you said you were an artist…I take the curators at the louvre aren't on vervain.”

Klaus sighed with a smile. “Yeah, well, that's their mistake. So how was your day with Caroline?”

“It was good.”

“Oh come on there has to be more than that.” He presses on wanting to know more.

Shaking my head at him he was trying to be noisey. “Sorry Niklaus but if I told you that would break the girl code.”

“Not even a peak.” He tried again nudging me with his arm, making me nudge him back.

“Not a chance.” Moving my eyes across the table in front of us I could see piles of sketch drawings. Picking up one of a girl looking off in the distance I asked him finally to look at him. “Wait a second. Did... Did you do these?”

Klaus nodded at me watching my espression. “Yeah. What do you think of them?”

“They’re incredible. My brother would be more impressed than I am. He wanted - um would have been an artist.” I sucked in a breath fighting back some tears.

“Actually one of my landscapes is hanging at the hermitage, not that anyone would notice.” He replied, biting his lip.

Pushing some of them away I paused recognizing a familiar face on one of the drawings he had done. Lifting the page up I scanned over the image carefully hoping that I wasn’t missing something. But the image was so clear: the matching eye shape, the slight curly hair and the genuine smile that he last gave me before he died in my arms. “You….you drew my brother, Jacob. But how…I…I don’t see how you could have.”

“Yes I did, Rae. It…it was the night you showed me into your memories. I did my best to remember what he looked like. I am not completely finished with it but it was supposed to be a surprise.” Klaus turned to fully face me not expecting that I would have found it underneath all the others. “What uh - what do you think? I can have it finished by tomorrow if there’s something I missed.”

I cut him off sitting the picture down grinning through happy tears that I now would be able to see my brother happy and not go to sleep seeing him die at my hand. “No don’t do anything it’s perfect. That’s how I want to remember him - that’s how he should be remembered. I can’t believe you did this for me…no one ever has…I - thank you.” Flinging my arms around his neck I buried my face in the crook of his neck.

“You’re welcome, little Siphon.” He wrapped his arms around my waist, hugging me back until I broke the hug still keeping my hands on his chest. “What do you say about getting out of here huh?”

“And where would we go?” I decided to play along with his game. “London, Italy or New Orleans.”

His grin grew wider across his face. At my words the blue of his eyes lightened up. “Rome, Paris, Tokyo. Wherever you want. All you have to do is ask, love.” He slowly began to lean forward and I did the same moving my hands around his neck feeling him move his arms around my waist tugging me until I was pressed up against his chest.

I moved my head upward so close to kissing him until we heard someone banging on the door causing us to pull apart. “Nik. Rae. Mother is ready to make the toast!” That could be identified as Rebekah.

“I’ll put a dagger in the next person who interrupts us!” Klaus growled showing me his golden werewolf eyes.

Running my hands down his chest I broke the embrace we shared. “Hey, be nice. She’s your sister.”

“I’m still annoyed with Caroline too.” He grumbled watching me open the door waiting for him to follow me.

Smirking at him playfully I flipped my hair over my shoulder leaving the room. “We could always run away for the weekend with the world at our fingertips, Nik.” He grinned at the idea following me outside to see that there were waiters bringing around glass filled with red liquid and his mother was standing at the top of the staircase holding her own drink.

She makes a speech while Klaus handed me one of the glasses clinking it with mine. “Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Waiters are coming round with champagne. I invite you all to join me in raising a glass. It provides me with no greater joy than to see my family back together as one. I'd like to thank you all for being part of this spectacular evening. Cheers. “ He takes a drink first and I followed but I felt a bitter taste in my which was weird but I sent him a smile back.

Comments really appreciated ❤️

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screechthemighty · 27 days

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Fair warning, this chapter is a bit of a doozy. That seems to happen with poor Wolfwood. Also, it sprung into my head fully-formed while writing the LAST Wolfwood chapter, so that was fun. Anyways, AO3 link in a reblog, enjoy the full chapter below, happy Wolfwood Wednesday!

the unknowable tomorrow | a tristamp fanfic

part thirteen: wolfwood

content warnings: religious trauma, psychological abuse, physical abuse/torture, mass murder, gore, displayed corpses, dissociation, guilt/self-loathing, and references to human trafficking

citations: this chapter is based on events described in trigun maximum vol. 12 ch. 6. it also uses a quote from 1x3 of trigun: stampede.

Wolfwood stepped from darkness into darkness of a different kind.

As his eyes adjusted, he could see he was in some kind of storage room, packed full of odds and ends. He’d think he was in the back room of a general store, but something about it was off. A second look confirmed that none of the clothes had duplicates, none of the bags matched, and the boxes were haphazardly packed with odds and ends. It was either a thieves’ hoard or a scavenger’s hoard, maybe both, all prepped to be sorted and resold to people who didn’t care where their purchases came from. If a portal had taken him here...

Wolfwood started rummaging through the clothes. His fingers glanced over a familiar material. It was hard to see color in the low light, but he knew that coat.

Damn it, Vash.

It took some feeling around the pockets, but eventually, Wolfwood was able to find his lighter. He took the rifle off his back long enough to throw on the coat. It felt perverse to wear it, but he needed to keep his arms free. He grabbed the rifle, clicked the lighter on, and used the dim light to start looking for more of Vash’s things. Vash’s bag, a pair of pants and a shirt that looked like his, a pair of boots that were roughly the same size and look. Various survival supplies that probably didn’t belong to Vash, but weren’t going back to their original owners any time soon anyway. No sign of the pistol, but weapons might be stored in a different place, or taken by the thieves instead of being resold. He'd worry about it later. Wolfwood clicked the lighter off, readied his rifle, and carefully opened the door to the storeroom.

There was a storefront on the other side. It looked like every general store he’d ever been in, but with a strangely abandoned feeling to it. All the shelves were empty, and the roof was partially collapsed, but he could hear voices coming from outside. Wolfwood crept across the room, trying to stay low. The voices grew clearer as he got closer to the door. “…can mock them all you want,” said an immediately familiar one. He sounded hoarse, weak, but it was definitely Vash. “But they’re not the monsters you think they are.”

“Is that so?”

Wolfwood froze. His mouth went dry.

No, no, no.

Wolfwood kept moving, even though his legs felt like they were turning to sludge. The moons were full outside, giving him a clear view of what was happening. He saw Vash, chained up by his flesh and blood arm in the middle of a town square. He was in rough shape: stripped down to his underwear, practically dangling from the handcuffs, prosthetic gone, body covered in bruises. And standing over him, glinting in the moonlight…

Millions Knives, in the flesh.

“These men beat you and left you out here to suffer,” Millions Knives continued. He sounded amused, as if he were talking to a toddler who was doubling down on a really obvious lie. “They intend to sell you into slavery. What is that, if not monstrous behavior? How can you defend this?”

“I’m not defending it,” Vash said. “It’s wrong. But they’re not malicious. Didn’t you see their faces? The Plant building? There was an explosion. She flooded the place with radiation when she died. The town and everyone in it was abandoned. They can’t go anywhere and they don’t have any other way to survive. They have people depending on them, people they need to protect…” Vash glared up at his brother. “…and they wouldn’t be in this situation if you hadn’t crashed those ships.”

Knives’ head tilted. “So, you’re blaming me for this?” he asked. The amusement was gone from his voice. In its place was a deliberate blankness. The sort of calm that never led to anything good. “Is that what you’re saying?”

“I’m saying you have no right to judge them. No right at all.”

Stop it. Stop talking. You’re just going to make this worse. Wolfwood’s grip on the rifle was so tight that his hands ached. Vash, please, for once, shut up…

Suddenly, he had a terrible thought.

I could end this all right now.

Knives didn’t know he was here. He had the element of surprise. In the back of his mind, Wolfwood remembered that he didn’t believe that Knives was anything close to an angel, that if Vash could bleed so could Knives, that if Vash could be killed, so could Knives. He remembered all the harm that he’d cause so many people, all the lives lost, Vash and the kids and even Wolfwood himself…

I could stop it.

One bullet was all it would take.

He raised the rifle.

Knives didn’t turn around. He had no way of knowing Wolfwood was there. But the second Wolfwood got a clear look at him, he froze. It wasn’t just the sight of a being more powerful than him that did it, wasn’t just the Eye of Michael’s bullshit spreading through his mind and freezing him in place. It was the look in Knives’ eyes as he stared down at Vash. Wolfwood knew that look. Even when it was directed at someone else, it made him want to run and hide.

But still, Vash met Knives’ eyes. Stared up at him in defiance, not fear.

How? How can he do that?

After what felt like an eternity, Millions Knives sighed. “If that’s how you feel, perhaps you haven’t learned.” He turned away. “Rot with these humans, if you’re so convinced they’re not malicious. See how you enjoy their hospitality. We can talk again when I come back for them.”

Those were the words that made Vash’s eyes light up with fear. “Come back for…no. No, Nai, don’t…” He scrambled after Knives until he hit the limits of his restraints. “Please, no!”

“Don’t worry. I won’t let them sell you.”

“That’s not what I mean, Nai, please! You don’t have to do this!”

“Don’t have to keep you safe?” Knives stopped, glanced over his shoulder. “Of course I do. You’re my little brother, after all.”

He kept walking.

“Nai, no! Please…don’t! Don’t!” Vash strained against his restraints. “I don’t want you to do this!”

But it was too late. Millions Knives was gone, disappearing into the shadows of the night. Wolfwood lowered the rifle with a sharp gasp. It felt like a vice had suddenly been removed from his chest.

Stupid, stupid, you should have taken the shot, you should’ve taken the damn shot!

But Wolfwood didn’t have time to berate himself. He had other things to worry about, like the people suddenly running out of nearby buildings to see what Vash was screaming about. “Will you shut the hell up?!” someone snapped.

“Please, you have to run!” Vash begged. “You have to get out of here while you can, he…he’s coming back, he’ll kill everyone here, please!”

Someone scoffed. “He’s lost it already…should we bring him in?”

“After the fight he put up? Nah, let him stay a bit longer. We don’t want any trouble when the merchants come over.”

“You’re not listening to me! You have to think of the kids, you’ve got to…”

“Shut up!” A well-aimed kick made Vash double over with a pained sob. “Quit yelling or we’ll put the gag on!”

“Please,” Vash begged. “Please, you have to go…I don’t want you to die…”

“Right, because the boogeyman’s coming for us.” Another kick. Another sob. “Shut the hell up. Trying to sleep here.”

The figures departed, but Wolfwood stayed rooted in place. Other people were probably awake. Other eyes were probably on Vash. If he wanted to grab him and run, he’d have to wait a bit longer, make sure that the town was quiet again before he made his move.

It hurt, sitting there and listening to Vash’s hoarse sobs instead of helping. But it at least gave Wolfwood time to plan.

He wasn’t sure where they were, but he could make some guesses. If the community had survived this long cut off from most other people, they had to have a water supply nearby. Probably one of the planet’s rare springs or aquifers, since their Plant had died, and one close enough that outsiders wouldn’t risk the residual radiation of the Plant explosion to harvest from it. If he made a break for the water supply, figured out a safe place to stash Vash…that’d be a start. He could improvise from there. He busied himself with sneaking around the store and grabbing a few more empty bottles. They’d need as much water as they could get if they had to keep running.

Assuming Vash could run. Leaving your captives tied up and letting the elements weaken them was a tried-and-true method of pre-breaking people for slavers. Depending on how long he’d been exposed…

You’ll figure it out. You don’t have any choice.

The moons marched across the sky. Eventually, the town felt still again. Even Vash’s weeping had quieted. Wolfwood was still cautious as he made his way out of the building. Vash was slumped against the pole, curled up tightly, his body shaking in the cold night air. He’d been out there a while, if the peeling on his shoulders and his dry lips were anything to go by. Wolfwood carefully brushed his fingers against Vash’s cheeks. Despite his previous sobs, they were completely dry, caked in sand that hadn’t been disturbed by tears any time recently.

Shit. Not good.

Vash shuddered at the touch, flinching away. His eyes took a second to focus. “Nico…?”

“Shh.” Wolfwood looked around. “Hold still, okay? I’m getting you out, but you have to be quiet.” Vash did as he was told, which almost worried Wolfwood as much as how dry he was. Wolfwood picked the handcuff lock in record time, letting Vash slump to the ground. “Can you walk?”

Vash struggled to stand, but quickly slipped. Shit, okay. Plan B. Wolfwood made sure the pack and rifle were secure on his back before scooping Vash up. Vash curled up against him immediately. Wolfwood examined their surroundings. Buildings in various states of disrepair. Rough road cutting up the middle of town. In front of him, a gate leading out into a vast expanse of sands. Behind him, further off, another gate leading out of town, this time to a nearby cliffside.

And if there’s a road leading there, that’s probably where the water is.

Wolfwood adjusted his grip on Vash and started jogging.

No one tried to stop him as they left, so they hadn’t left any guards posted. Probably figured Vash was too broken-down to run or smart enough to realize that running without any supplies was suicide. Fine by Wolfwood; trying to shoot his way out with all this extra cargo would’ve been a pain in the ass. He paced himself best he could, stopping only long enough to re-adjust his hold on Vash or straighten out the pack and the rifle. Vash whined quietly every time Wolfwood had to put him down, and clung desperately to him once he was back up. Whatever fire had driven him to backtalk his brother had bled out of him with his screams, or been kicked out of him by the townsfolk.

And yet he’d still begged Knives not to kill them.

And Knives still left him, Wolfwood thought, suddenly furious. That bastard left his own brother with these people…to what? Teach him a lesson? Because it sure felt like that was what he was doing. Let him suffer a few days, then make him watch as Knives massacred the place. Wolfwood might not have agreed with Vash about whether or not these people were monsters, might not have agreed with him about killing, but what Knives was doing here…

This isn’t about protecting Vash. It’s about sending him a message. He almost growled in frustration. Son of a bitch…

But he had to abandon that line of thinking for now. They were getting close to the cliffs. He had to focus on following the trail up. It was wide enough, well-maintained to allow for water to be moved up and down it, but tripping and falling down it would be embarrassing at best.

Wolfwood kept following the path up the cliffside and into the caves within. The walls were marked with some kind of glowing substance—cultivated fungi, maybe, another sure sign there was water somewhere—that lead them deeper and deeper inside. Eventually, they emerged into a large room, marked by more glowing fungi, a sleeping worm colony, and below all of that…

Water, thank God. An entire spring coming right up from the ground, trickling down into a river leading deeper into the caves. Wolfwood carefully set Vash down and pulled the first water bottle he could get access to out of his pack. In an ideal world, he’d boil it first, but he decided to cross his fingers and hope that it was fresh enough from the source to be clean. Vash needed water now, and he didn’t have anything to burn anyway. He filled up the bottle and brought it back to Vash. “Here…”

He had to help Vash sit up. For a moment, Wolfwood was worried the kid had fallen unconscious, but Vash’s eyes sprung back open the second water touched his lips. Wolfwood went from being worried he wouldn’t be able to get the guy to drink to angling the bottle so he wasn’t drinking so much. “Slowly, slowly…kid, you really can’t be throwing up right now…”

Vash’s hand jerked up, tilting the bottle back down and splashing water over his face and neck. That was fair; some of the burns looked like they stung. Wolfwood moved him closer to the spring and grabbed the first piece of cloth he could find out of the bag. He soaked it in water and draped it over Vash’s shoulders. “There, that better?”

“Mm.” Vash relaxed almost instantly. His next few sips of water weren’t so frantic, and his eyes looked a little clearer when they met Wolfwood’s. “Nico.”

“Yeah, I’m here.”

“You came back.”

“’Course I did. Had to get my lighter, didn’t I?” Wolfwood smiled gently, resting his hand against Vash’s forehead. He felt hot. Even with how cold the night was, he felt hot. “How long did they have you out there?”

“Couple days…sun’s…bright…is that my…?”

“Yeah, I know, it looks like shit on me.” Wolfwood shrugged off the jacket and lay it down next to Vash. “But I couldn’t just leave it there. Do you know where they took your arm?”

Vash shook his head. “Brad’s gonna kill me,” he mumbled.

“If Brad’s an even halfway decent man, he’ll just be happy you’re alive. Maybe wait a week to kill you.”

Vash nodded. His eyes suddenly grew frantic and scared again. “My brother…Nai, he…”

“I know. I saw him.” His skin still crawled at the memory. “Don’t worry, we’ll be long gone before he gets back.”

“But he’ll kill them. I know he will. He can do it. I’ve…heard stories, and after the Fall, I…” Vash struggled to sit on his own. “I have to warn them…”

“You already tried. Vash…” Wolfwood caught his shoulder. “You can barely walk. I had to carry you up here.”

“I…” Vash tried again, but had to lie back down just as quickly. His face crumpled, but he still didn’t have enough water in him to shed actual tears. “I can’t let them die. I can’t…”

“You’re not letting them die. Hey, look at me.” Wolfwood carefully tilted Vash’s face towards him. “You tried. If they don’t want to listen, that’s on them.” Wolfwood didn’t point out the obvious: that Vash shouldn’t care so much about people who hurt him so badly, that maybe this would teach them that if you fucked around, you’d find out one day. He knew what Vash’s response would be, and he didn’t especially want to go through that whole conversation again. “And whatever Nai’s going to do, it’s not your fault.”

A pained noise tore out of Vash, almost like the noise he’d made when he’d been kicked. He curled up towards Wolfwood. Wolfwood was worried if he hugged him, he’d just drive his body temperature back up, so instead he rested his forehead against Vash’s.

It was still too warm.

“We’ve gotta get you cooled off,” Wolfwood said. “Here…”

He pumped as much water into Vash as he could, carefully doused his head, re-wet the cloth around his neck. He examined Vash’s injuries while he was at it. Bruises, scrapes, sunburn. Nothing too deep, nothing that would kill him any time soon, and Vash claimed that none of his bones felt broken. Could be worse.

But he already had some scars hiding among the bruises. The bullet wound Wolfwood had treated last time had left a thin white line along his leg. Wolfwood felt his throat close up at the sight, but he tried not to get too visibly angry. Vash needed to rest. Them having the same old debate wasn’t resting.

Slowly, Vash’s skin cooled. The feverish look faded from his eyes.

The pain didn’t.

“We should get out of here,” Wolfwood said quietly. “They’ll notice you’re gone eventually and this is probably gonna be one of the first places they look.” There were other branching tunnels moving off from this area; all he had to do was make them hard enough to find that it wasn’t worth looking. “Can you walk, or do you need me to carry you?”

“I’ll…I’ll try…” Vash sat up slowly. He was able to make it upright on his own power, though Wolfwood had to help him stand and support him as he walked. They moved slowly through the first random tunnel they could find. Wolfwood carefully tracked the twists and turns until they hit a dead end. The space was larger, with a crevice that overlooked the space leading back to the town. Technically, they were cornered, but it was a convenient sniper post. Wolfwood decided to take the risk and helped Vash sit back down. “You sleep,” he said. “I’ll keep watch.”

Vash hummed quietly and leaned against Wolfwood. His hand tightly gripped Wolfwood’s sleeve. That would slow Wolfwood down if it came to a firefight, but Wolfwood couldn’t bring himself to make Vash let go.

Afte the night he’d had, he deserved some comfort.

By sunrise, he had a plan, or at least a workable half-plan.

Step One: grill Vash about the town once he was awake. Did they have any working transport, any thoma, food or ammo stashes. Did he know where his pistol and arm might be. The answers would help him shape his mental shopping list.

Step Two: Lay low for the day. Let Vash get his strength up. Catch some worms, fill up the water bottles.

Step Three: Once it got dark, make their way into town, grab what they could for supplies.

Step Four: Run and don’t look back.

There were a lot of holes, a lot of places things could go wrong, but it would have to do for now. Unfortunately, once the plan was squared away, he didn’t have much else to think about except what he’d seen that night. The conversation between Vash and Knives specifically.

It infuriated him, pissed him off in a way that made him want to get violent. He didn’t agree with Vash about a lot, he’d argue with the man until he was blue in the face, but he could never imagine just leaving Vash so casually. If he ever treated any of the littles that way…if he ever treated Livio that way…

I’d deserve worse than a bullet. Worse than any kind of death.

Wolfwood knew how messed up people could be. This was the first time he couldn’t fully grasp the level of cruelty he was faced with.

He’s your brother. How could you? Wolfwood glanced down aft Vash, still sound asleep. Still clinging to Wolfwood’s sleeve. He loves you more than you deserve. Isn’t that enough? What’s the end goal, here?

To break him, probably. And the sick part was, Wolfwood knew it wouldn’t work, at least not the way Knives wanted it to. It didn’t matter how many times Knives left Vash to humanity’s cruelty; Vash would never give up on them. He’d never give up on Knives, either, no matter how incompatible those two things were.

Something had to give. Vash would have to pick a side, eventually. Wolfwood just wasn’t sure which side was worse.

The rising sun sent rays of light in through the crack in the wall. Vash whined quietly and buried his face in Wolfwood’s shoulder. “Morning, Blondie,” Wolfwood said.

There was a pause before Vash leaned back. He looked genuinely shocked to see Wolfwood there. “Am I dreaming?” he asked.

Wolfwood smiled and poked Vash between the eyes—gently, though, just enough pressure to make his point. “100% real,” he said. “Sorry about that.”

Vash broke into a wide, relieved grin. “Oh, that’s…” He leaned forward until he was resting against Wolfwood. “That’s good. That’s really good.”

“I dunno about good.” Wolfwood checked Vash’s forehead again. He was cooler than he had been the night before, but still warmer than the usual. “Thirsty?”

Vash nodded eagerly. Wolfwood passed him one of the water bottles. He waited until Vash had taken a few good chugs before asking, “How do you feel?”

“Sore. Really sore. Head hurts.” Vash winced as he tried to straighten up. “Tired.”

“Do you think if you took the day to rest, you’d be able to walk out of here?”

“I could…try.”

That’s a “no,” then. “Do you know if they have any transportation down there? Cars, bikes, thomas? Did you have anything when they grabbed you?”

“I had a thomas, but she got away when they grabbed me. Probably kept running to the meetup point, so…” Vash trailed off, then shook his head. “Sorry. Ship Three will know something is wrong when she shows up without me, but without any way for me to…”

Another pause. This time, Vash seemed to hold on to whatever thought he’d had, and grabbed his jacket. He reached into a hidden pocket even Wolfwood hadn’t been able to find, and pulled out some kind of thin contraption with an earpiece attached. “Okay. Okay, good. We can call for help.”

Perfect. Wolfwood would have to dodge seeing anyone from the ship, but at least Vash would be somewhere safe. “How close can they get?”

“We’d have to move away from any population centers…” Vash froze. “Nico, was Nai really there last night?”

Damn it. Should he lie? Vash would be furious if he caught Wolfwood in a lie, but if Wolfwood told him the truth, he’d probably do something stupid. Try to fist fight Knives on his own or get himself recaptured while trying to warn the town, or something like that. Unfortunately, Wolfwood took too long to decide one way or another, and the silence was all the answer Vash needed. He tried to get on his feet; his expression was furious, not terrified like it had been the night before. “That asshole...”

“Steady on!” Wolfwood was glad to see Vash getting visibly pissed for a change, not just mopey and depressed, but he did not like the thought of where that anger might lead them. “Where the hell do you think you’re going?”

“I have to stop him.”

“How? You going to give him an ass-whooping with no gun? Bite him into submission or something?”

“I’m thinking about it.”

Heaven help me, he’s serious about this. Wolfwood dragged Vash back down as best he could without hurting him. “You are not going to fight your brother. We are staying put until you can walk, and then we are getting you home.”

“But…”

“But nothing.” Wolfwood tightened his grip on Vash’s arm. “You want to see Ship Three again? Because I can promise you that you won’t if you go after him.”

“He wouldn’t hurt me – “

“He left! You were baked to a crisp when I got to you, and he wasn’t planning on coming back until you were completely burned up! All that to prove a point. How is that not hurting you?”

Vash’s lips parted. His eyes slowly widened as a dozen retorts formed and died. Wolfwood could see something in there was close to breaking, so he grabbed his chance, even though he knew it would hurt.

“Don’t you think killing those people is more about getting to you than it is keeping you safe?”

Cruel to be kind.

Wolfwood couldn’t tell if the question was enough to sever Vash’s loyalty to Knives entirely—in fact, he was pretty sure it wouldn’t. But from the way Vash’s face crumpled, it had fractured something. “Oh,” Vash said quietly.

A few tears slipped down his cheeks; the sight only compounded the guilt Wolfwood felt. This is the right call. You didn’t tell him anything that wasn’t true. You’ve seen where that stupid loyalty to Knives gets him. He has to face what his brother is. Still… “Hey, c’mon.” Wolfwood pressed the bottle of water back into Vash’s hands. “Vash, I…”

Voices suddenly started carrying up the tunnel. Wolfwood and Vash froze at almost the same time, their eyes locking onto each other. After a pause, Vash leaned over and whispered, “It’s not Nai. I’d know.”

So, it was just people from town. Probably entered the caves while Wolfwood was arguing with Vash. So much for my sniper position.

Wolfwood put on his sternest face and pressed a finger against his lips. Vash nodded.

It was hard to get a read on where the speakers were. Too many tunnels, too much echoing. Wolfwood caught snippets of conversation—can’t have gone far, maze in here, probably come crawling out—but the voices grew quieter from there until it was silent again. This time, Wolfwood made sure to keep his eyes glued on the valley below. A small group crossed back into town eventually, hauling a water wagon behind them.

As Wolfwood had suspected, they’d assumed a fleeing Vash would come here. Probably figured he’d either wander the tunnels until he died (in which case, there was no reason to potentially lose men looking for him), or wander out on his own when he couldn’t find a way through (in which case, they could just kidnap him again). Maybe they’d left a guard, but considering the haul of stolen goods they already had, they probably didn’t need Vash to get by.

Good. That works out in our –

“I have to warn them,” Vash said.

Wolfwood closed his eyes and counted backwards from ten. “No,” he replied with gritted teeth, “you do not. And spare me the victims-of-circumstance speech. I heard it all last night and I don’t care.”

“I care, though.”

“Well, we’ve already established that you’re insane, and way too forgiving, so…”

“Do you really think they deserve to die? All of them?”

“Doesn’t matter what I think. This is called consequence. They messed with the wrong person and pissed off someone stronger than them. It was gonna happen someday, even if they never met you. And the consequence of us showing our faces is them capturing or killing us, so if you don’t mind, I’d rather stay…”

“They have kids down there.”

Damn it.

Damn it, Vash knew that was a tactical missile of a statement. And he kept going, too: “At least one that I’ve seen, but they’ve talked about more. Kids who weren’t affected by the blast. They don’t have anyone to defend them. If the town goes, they’ll die.”

Wolfwood tried to think of a rebuttal. Almost all of them left him feeling like a raging hypocrite. How was he supposed to point out the brutality of their caretakers when he had the same damn log in his eye? How could he argue without Vash sensing that hypocrisy?

“Do you see why I have to try, now?” Vash said.

Wolfwood did. He hated it. He hated what he knew he had to do even more.

“Not you,” Wolfwood said. “I’ll go.” He glanced Vash’s way, then looked away again at the startled look on his face. “Listen, you can barely stand, and I was gonna see if I could grab some transportation anyway. If you’re serious about this, I’d rather it be me.” He started checking the rifle. Not many bullets left; he’d have to be careful, however he handled this. “Do you know where these kids are kept?”

“Uh…not in town. I saw people going towards the cliffs with supplies, sort of southeast, so I think over there.”

“Right. Might start there.” He wanted to confirm that he was dealing with actual helpless kids before he put his safety on the line. “I need you to promise me you’ll stay put. Don’t come out for anything, understand?”

“I promise.” Vash sighed heavily when Wolfwood gave him a scrutinizing glare. “I really do. Look.” He held out his pinkie. “Please be careful.”

Wolfwood rolled his eyes, but relented enough to link his pinkie with Vash’s. “I’ll be more careful than you are,” he grumbled. He shoved the water bottle back towards Vash again. “Drink up. I’ll refill when I get back.”

If I get back, he couldn’t help thinking, though he had no intention of letting these people get the best of him. Didn’t matter if he was out of vials and down to a handful of bullets. He was Nicholas the Punisher. He’d figure it out.

Wolfwood crept back through the tunnels to the spring room. No guard there. No guard anywhere else along the passage out, or down the cliffside. The sun beat down on his head as he reached the bottom and scanned the valley. The path up into the cliffs forked off, leading to a cluster of buildings he hadn’t paid much attention to the night before. Didn’t necessarily look like residential buildings, but they weren’t falling over, so they were probably suitable enough shelter. He jogged towards the building, his head on a swivel. Everyone must have been inside to avoid the heat of the rising sun, because he didn’t hear any shouts of alarm and he wasn’t shot at.

So far, so good.

He arrived at the buildings. It looked like a storage building, probably for keeping surplus water. He could hear movement inside, voices. Wolfwood peered in through a window.

His stomach sank.

Vash was right; there were kids. The youngest looked maybe ten or twelve, the oldest pushing adulthood (sixteen, maybe?). They had a weary maturity to their eyes that said they hadn’t really been kids in a long time. He knew that look. He’d seen so many kids come in with it—kids even younger than these ones. Their clothes were patched up, but clean, their skin unmarred by the Plant explosion or excess sun exposure. They may have been alone out there, but they hadn’t been shoved outside the nest by necessity just yet.

Because they had people providing for them.

He watched two of the middle-looking kids play cards. Another one had his nose in a book. It was quiet, aside from the humming of the oldest girl as she folded laundry, but the space still felt comfortable. A bit sad, but…safe.

Is it far enough away from the town that Knives will spare it?

Wolfwood knew it wasn’t. That Knives wouldn’t see any innocence here. That even if he did spare them, not all of them would survive being thrust into the world on their own. Maybe none of them would

Damn it…

Wolfwood’s head snapped away from the window at the sound of creaking wood. Someone was coming up the path, dragging a cart behind him. Wolfwood ducked to cover behind the corner. Just one guy, from the look of things, all wrapped up to keep the sun away from their skin as much as possible. And as they got closer…

Bingo. There was one item on Wolfwood’s mental list crossed off. Vash’s gun was pretty distinctive, even when it was strapped to a stranger’s waist. And since it was just one guy…

I can take him. I can definitely take him.

But still, Wolfwood waited. He waited until the cart had been pulled up alongside the house and unloaded, until the person had knocked on the doorway and stepped back. The oldest girl was the one who answered and hauled in the supplies. She chatted with the stranger from the village, asked how things were going. Wolfwood noticed the way the stranger skated past their escaped captive, instead saying that they’d had some issues with supplies but everything would work out. They also issued a stern reminder that everyone needed to stay inside tomorrow until the convoy left.

Yeah, because if the slavers see a group of healthy young people, they’ll take them by force. They were fine with selling other people, but not with their own people being taken. Wolfwood would be bothered by the hypocrisy if it weren’t so common. Even people who weren’t active participants tended to turn a blind eye to No Man’s Land’s human trafficking. The various gangs who engaged it in were too powerful, especially the Roderick gang. All your average person could do was lay low and hope they weren’t singled out as especially valuable.

Still, his frustration with the situation made the next steps a lot easier.

He waited until the door was shut, until the stranger from town had turned around and was headed back. He moved from behind the corner, first at a slow crouch, then at a careful sprint. It was a lot easier to move quietly without the weight of his old weapon on his back; he was still a little surprised that he wasn’t noticed until he was within range and had the rifle aimed at the stranger’s head.

“Don’t move.”

The stranger froze and glanced over their shoulder. Their face was obscured by scarves and goggles, but Wolfwood could see the shock in their body language. “Not a sound. Hands where I can see them.” The stranger obeyed. Wolfwood could see their hands were shaking. That worked for him; if they were scared, if they wanted to live, that made it easier to control them. “Slide the pistol over here.”

The stranger hesitated before removing the pistol and sliding it towards Wolfwood. Wolfwood stepped forward carefully to kick it behind him. “What do you want?” asked the stranger shakily. Their mouth was so muffled it was hard to tell if he was dealing with a man or woman, but it didn’t matter. Either one could trounce him if given the opportunity. “We don’t have much…”

“Yeah, I know that’s not true. I want to talk to whoever’s in charge.”

“I’m vice-foreman. You can talk to me.”

Wolfwood narrowed his eyes. He couldn’t tell if the stranger was lying or not, but he decided to take the gamble. Rolling up into town, even with a hostage, was probably asking for more trouble than he could handle. “Can I see your face while we’re talking?”

The stranger hesitated again before pulling off the goggles and lowering the scarf covering the lower half of their face. As expected, Wolfwood saw a face laced with scar tissue, white and shiny and definitely more sensitive to the sun. One eye looked blinded. The whole effect made it hard to tell if he was speaking to a man or a woman, young or old. They were just a human person worn down to grim survival instincts. “What do you want?”

The voice was female, though. It reminded him of Miss Melanie a bit, a thought that Wolfwood shoved aside as quickly as possible. He didn’t need to be thinking about her right now. “I don’t know how else to say this, so I’m gonna cut to the chase,” Wolfwood said. “You fucked up big time. That guy you were holding last night? His brother’s coming and he’s going to be pissed.”

The vice-foreman rolled her eyes. “Yeah, we all heard him screaming last night. Unless his brother’s bringing an army…”

He wasn’t. He wouldn’t need one. But Wolfwood had no way of explaining that without it sounding impossible, so he tried a different angle. “What year is it?” Wolfwood asked.

“…what?”

“What year?”

“Thirty-Four, abouts? What, you want me to try and figure out what Earth Year it is? No one knows that anymore, pal.”

Planetary Year Thirty-Four. That gave him something to work with. Wolfwood pulled out his lighter and held it up so the design etched into it caught the light. “Does this look familiar?”

It was a gamble that paid off. The vice-foreman’s eyes widened at the emblem. Must’ve had a run-in with the Eye before, so this half-formed plan of his would probably work. On paper, Wolfwood was one of their pastors. He’d been taught to do the whole fire and brimstone bit, shock and awe before the bullets started, but he never did. They wanted him to kill, so he killed. No sense in dressing it up as something other than a slaughter. That was why he preferred to refer to himself as an undertaker. Fit the job description better.

But all of it was still there. Wolfwood dug into the deep recesses of his brain, drawing out all the details that had been drilled in there.

“In the past, God rained fire from the sky, destroying the city of depraved fools. We seek to fix the world once and for all…”

He barely recognized his own voice then. It was flat, dull, the voice of a kid who was barely hanging on, who ignored the pain and the smell of blood and thought only of home. Of everyone who would be safe as long as he kept his head down, said everything correctly, did as he was told.

“…to bring everything back to even.”

He never thought he’d say those words willingly, but here he was.

The vice-foreman took a step back. “They sent you?”

“Not they. The man you kidnapped. He doesn’t want you to die.” Wolfwood pocketed the lighter again. “Shit if I know why, but his brother…he won’t listen. You really picked the wrong guy to try and sell.”

“But he escaped. We don’t have him anymore, I swear.”

“Doesn’t matter. You did what you did, and now you pay the price.”

“We have children…”

“Don’t.” Wolfwood shook his head. “I’m just the messenger. I’m not here for your excuses or your explanations. I’m just here to tell you to run. Get as many people as you can and get out before he comes back. Far as you can.”

“We’re in the middle of nowhere. How…how do I know you’re not lying to me?”

Wolfwood lowered his glasses. “Look me in the eyes and tell me I’m not dead serious about this.”

He held eye contact with the vice-foreman. Watched as her expression changed from defensive to quiet dread. “Why warn us?” she asked. “If you’re with them…”

Wolfwood shrugged. He could’ve corrected her, but he wasn’t not with them. If letting her think he was currently made the warning more credible, he’d take it. “I owe that man a few. Frankly, I don’t care if you live or die, but…he does. He’s terrified for you, even after everything you did. Think about that.” He tilted his head back. “And think about them.”

And with that, he backed away, keeping his eyes on the vice-foreman as he backed up to scoop up Vash’s pistol. Holding it felt wrong. This thing was as close to a weapon of peace that a gun could be; he wasn’t worthy of touching it. But it wasn’t going to grow legs and walk back to Vash, so he did what he had to. “What time is the convoy coming in?”

“Tomorrow morning. Sunrise.”

“Then I suggest you get out of here before then. Assuming you’ve got transport…”

The vice-foreman laughed sharply. “Do you think we’d still be here if we did?”

Good point. Guess we’re walking after all. And he’d wasted time he could’ve spent stealing having this little chat, so…

I hope you like eating worm for the foreseeable future, Vash, Wolfwood thought as he kept backing away. I really hope this is worth it to you.

Once there was enough distance between them, the vice-foreman picked back up the cart and started walking away. Wolfwood still didn’t turn his back until she was far, far down the road. It was only then that he made his way back to the cliffside path, running as fast as he could.

No one chased him down on the way in. Vash was exactly where Wolfwood had left him, more or less. He’d moved a little up the tunnel to get out of the sun and was curled up under his jacket, eyes closed, breathing slow. Wolfwood had to step over him to check the crack in the wall. No sign of any pitchfork-bearing groups coming to storm the cliffs so far.

“Did you tell them?” Vash asked quietly.

Wolfwood glanced Vash’s way. “I told the second in command. She’ll pass it along. Think I left an impression. And I got your gun back.” He stepped back to lay it on the ground near Vash. “That’s all, though. We’re on spring water and worm meat rations until Ship Three picks you up.”

Vash carefully picked up the pistol and rolled over onto his back to examine it. There was something sad in his eyes as he did. “I know,” he said. “But…thank you for trying.”

Wolfwood looked down into the valley and didn’t reply.

He couldn’t sleep again that night.

It wasn’t that he was worried about their upcoming travels. Vash was on the mend after a lot of water and rest; they probably would’ve run for it that night, if it hadn’t been for the threat of crossing paths with Millions Knives. Right now, it was a waiting game. See if he followed through on his threat. If the town would still be standing come sunrise.

Vash took ages to doze off. Wolfwood stayed glued to his spot near the crack in the cliff wall and watched.

He tried to tell himself at first that he was just keeping an eye out, to see if anyone came up looking again or if anyone ever left. But as the night wore on, as his eyes kept scanning the valley for flashes of silver…

“So, what did the Ninevites do? Did they listen?”

It was one of Miss Melanie’s secret stories, the ones he carried deep in his heart but would never repeat to a soul. The one about a prophet who decided he would rather run away than preach to a people he hated. God had a whale (like a grand worm, apparently, but not a worm) swallow him up, then spit him out at the right port when the prophet repented for his disobedience. The name had come up in the Eye’s teachings, he remembered, something about the disobedient nature of man, but only Miss Melanie had ever told him the whole story.

“They did listen. They wore ash and sackcloth and prayed for forgiveness. And God heard them. He spared them.” That was the part the Eye would have objected to. Sinners didn’t get reprieve in their teachings. “But that wasn’t enough for Jonah. He wanted to see them suffer for what they had done to his own people. God rebuked him for that. It’s not right, to hate others so much that you would…” She’d trailed off, up to her wrists in soapy water. “It’s not right.”

He remembered the smell of laundry soap, the dampness of his palms as he hung up small shirts to dry. The distressed look on her face as she contemplated the cruelty of denying others forgiveness. He’d been upset for her, changed the subject so she wouldn’t look so sad, but now…

Shit. I’m the guy she was talking about, aren’t I?

Because he wouldn’t lie: there was a part of him, deep down, that wanted to see that place torn down. There was so much cruelty in the world, cruelty that those people had undeniably contributed to. Wolfwood couldn’t stop any of it. Sometimes it felt like no one could. He hadn’t been lying when he told the vice-foreman that he didn’t care what happened to them. If they lived, whatever. If they died, they’d brought it on themselves, and at least they wouldn’t be able to hurt anyone else.

But then he remembered the look in the vice-foreman’s eyes, the flat sound of his voice, how monstrous he must have looked to her…

I had let go. I don’t like who I was back then.

Wolfwood shut his eyes tightly.

I don’t want you to do that for me. Please don’t do that for me.

Just an extension of Millions Knives’ hatred.

When other people change your destination for you…it’s one of the worst things you can do to a person.

He dug his thumb into his bruise until Vash’s voice stopped echoing in his head. Until the pain was so bad that he couldn’t help jerking his hand away, hissing sharply as he did. The sun was starting to peek over the horizon. Dawn was coming.

Vash was awake.

“Sorry,” Wolfwood said. “Go back to sleep, it’s…”

But it wasn’t nothing.

Vash wasn’t looking at him; he was looking past Wolfwood, towards the crack. His eyes were wide, afraid, and he clutched the jacket around him as tightly as possible. “Vash?”

Whatever Vash might have said was cut off by the sound of an approaching truck. Wolfwood turned around in time to see one pulling up to the outskirts of town. Just the one, which felt weird since they were expecting a convoy. Unless…

Of course, Vash took off running. Wolfwood raced after him. “Vash, Vash…” He knew what was coming. They both did. “Vash, don’t…”

For a man who’d only just stepped back from death’s door, Vash was quick. He was out of the side tunnel, darting past the spring, and heading towards the entrance before Wolfwood could stop him. Wolfwood was terrified he was going to have to wrestle the guy back inside, but Vash collapsed at the entrance, gasping for breath, staring down over the town.

It was already burning.

Wolfwood was briefly transfixed by the carnage below. He could hear the flames, the slashing of blades, the sound of gunfire being abruptly cut off. If he listened very closely, he could hear screaming. “…come on,” Wolfwood whispered. He grabbed Vash’s arm, ready to haul him back to his feet, to carry him if he had to. “Vash, you don’t have to…”

Vash jerked his arm away and stayed where he was. His body shook and tears streaked his face as he stared down into the valley, watching carnage Wolfwood had been so quick to dismiss as consequence. Seeing it now, seeing the horror in Vash’s eyes…

Wolfwood looked away. His own hands started shaking, but for different reasons. He waited for one of those blades to come streaking up the cliffs and cut his throat.

It never did

The sun rose. The screaming stopped. For a while, it was quiet.

Vash’s voice felt like a sudden slap in the face.

“Help me up.”

Wolfwood blinked. He wasn’t expecting it to be so bright. How long had he been standing there? Long enough that his legs ached as he turned around. Vash looked terrible again—the mad sprint to the entrance must’ve taken a lot out of him. Wolfwood did as he was told, walking to Vash’s side to help him to his feet. Vash wobbled, took a deep breath, then pulled away to start hobbling down the path. “Where are you going?” Wolfwood asked.

“Some of them might have…” Vash had to stop not too far away. “…some of them might have gotten out. I need…I need to find survivors.”

Wolfwood tried to remember if he’d seen anyone leave. There had been some activity around the town that night, but he couldn’t grasp any details. His mind was still someplace else, still bracing itself to be struck down for being such a miserable piece of shit. That guilt was what shut his mouth. Objectively, he knew they should be focused on getting out of there, that Knives might still be there, but those thoughts stayed stuck in his head. He just jogged to catch up to Vash and helped him down the path.

The walk seemed to take ages. They took a detour to check the kid’s building. It was completely empty, door wide open, no sign of carnage. Didn’t mean there were any survivors. Each step closer to town from there brought out new details. Most of the buildings had been leveled. Wolfwood thought he could see the truck peeking above the ruins. There was blood on the sand—people had tried to run, hadn’t gotten far, but no sign of the bodies. Just rubble, bullet casings, blood, and the unoccupied truck that had started it all.

Then they reached what had been the town center.

The post Vash had been tied to was the tallest thing left standing. The bodies were laid out in a neat spiral around it, their scarred faces turned to the sky. Throats cut. All missing their left arm.

Vash’s prosthetic was hanging from the post by its wrist.

Wolfwood couldn’t help it: the sight of the arm yanked a disbelieving, strangled yelp of a laugh from him. What kind of sick joke is this? Was Bluesummers here already? Or had he learned how to be such a monster from Knives? Vash stared over the tableau with a dull expression before walking to the truck. It was unoccupied, but the driver’s seat was stained with blood. “Guess he found the slavers, too,” Vash said quietly. “What would you have done?”

Wolfwood tore his eyes away from the bodies. “…huh?”

“You told me that you don’t go out of your way to be nonlethal. That you choose the people you care about. If you were in Nai’s position…”

The question jarred Wolfwood out of the nightmarish fog clinging to his mind. “If I were in Nai’s position, we would’ve been long gone by now,” he said. “I wouldn’t have let anyone stop me, but…Vash, I wouldn’t have…”

He wouldn’t, right? He may have been a monster, but he wasn’t this.

No, you’re just fine with seeing it happen. Is that much better?

“You wouldn’t have done this,” Vash finished, unaware of Wolfwood’s crisis of conscience. “Because this isn’t…normal. This isn’t…” He looked over the wreckage. “This isn’t how people act.”

Wolfwood suddenly understood what Vash was really getting at. The realization that was slowly sinking in. He’d wanted Vash to understand what his brother was, to pick a damn side already, but…

Not like this.

Vash’s hair was slicked back and sticking up from restless sleep and the repeated soaks he’d taken to cool off. Getting the golden mop out of his eyes made him look older. Wolfwood wasn’t sure he liked it. “…we should get moving,” Wolfwood said finally. He stopped to tousle Vash’s hair as he walked to examine the truck, trying to push it back into place. “Do you think this thing still has juice?”

Someone started screaming.

Wolfwood’s first thought was that someone was still alive in there, somehow, half-bled out or trapped under rubble. What he saw when he turned around was almost worse. There was a handful of people nearby, all wrapped up in clothes and scarves and goggles, save for one. It was the eldest girl from the depot. She collapsed on the ground in front of Knives’ bloody display, sobbing hysterically. The others standing nearby were frozen in place, staring at the carnage. “Don’t let the kids come over here…no, stay over there!” one called.

The vice-foreman. Her and maybe four other adults, and from the sound of it more someplace on the edge of town with the other kids. Some of them had run.

They had survived.

“You’re alive,” Vash breathed.

The vice-foreman’s gaze jerked over to them. Wolfwood didn’t need to see her face to tell how terrified she was at the sight of them. “Please,” she said. “Please, you made your point…”

“You’re alive,” Vash repeated, seemingly not hearing her pleas. “You…” He cupped his hands over his mouth, tears suddenly flooding his eyes. “Oh, thank God…”

Wolfwood had never heard Vash invoke a higher power of any kind in the future. It sounded genuine here and now. As if he had been struck by lightning and suddenly believed that maybe God could exist. Something had finally worked out. Even something small.

Wolfwood had stopped getting that feeling a long time ago.

He wondered if the same thing would happen to Vash.

The vice-foreman looked confused, even pulled off her goggles to get a better look at Vash’s relieved face. “I’m sorry,” Vash said, his voice muffled by his hands and his tears. “I tried to stop him, I did…what can I do? We have this, there has to be someplace we can go…”

“The truck might not be charged.” Wolfwood wasn’t sure why he said that. He was pretty sure he was still in shock. Vash’s bittersweet joy at seeing survivors didn’t help.

I don’t understand him.

“We’ll figure it out. We’ll…” Vash’s voice cracked as a tears started slipping down his face. “We’ll figure it out.”

The vice-foreman kept staring. So did the other adults. Wolfwood wondered if any of them had been the ones to strap Vash to that pole, if they’d been the ones to kick him when they tried to warn him or if they’d just turned a blind eye when it happened.

He wondered if the guilt choked them as much as it did Wolfwood.

“We need to bury them,” said the eldest girl. “We can’t just leave them like this.”

Vash hobbled over to kneel next to her. “We will,” he said. “I’ll help.”

“No,” Wolfwood said. “You’ll rest. I’ll help.” He sighed quietly. “Undertaker, remember?”

It was going to take hours, especially if they insisted on individual graves. He wasn’t even sure if he’d be able to find a shovel in this wreckage. But it was his job.

Maybe digging a few graves would make up for his inaction.

In the end, they made burial mounds out of the town’s rubble.

Wolfwood tried not to think too hard about the fact that they couldn’t find the missing arms. He tried not to think too hard about any of it. He just kept moving rocks, stacking them carefully over body after body after body.

“Nico?”

Wolfwood looked up from the latest stack. The sun had moved across the sky. Vash was standing near him with a water bottle. “Here,” he said quietly. “Are you hungry?”

He wasn’t. He was barely even thirsty, but he forced himself to down some and dump some more over his head and neck. “How long have I been working?” he asked hoarsely.

“It’s been a few hours. I think I got the truck working.” Vash took the water bottle back. “It has a built-in solar recharger, so the battery’s topped up. We just have to figure out where we’re going.”

“Anywhere that isn’t here sounds good.” Wolfwood looked down at his hands. They were coated in dust, and the rough edges of the stones were starting to bite into his skin. He’d tear right through if he wasn’t careful. It wasn’t until Vash gently took his hand that Wolfwood noticed he’d popped his arm back on. “Good thing they didn’t break that.”

“Yeah.” The smooth surface of his prosthetic fingers slid over Wolfwood’s palm, as if testing the integrity of his skin. “You should wrap these. Come on.”

Wolfwood let himself be led to the truck. Details about Vash filtered in as his mind started settling back into his body. He’d put on some clothes and shoes along with his coat. His hair was starting to flop back down into his face. His eyes were tired, tired, tired, but focused as he cleaned off Wolfwood’s hands. The water evaporated almost instantly in the heat. “Are you okay?” Vash asked.

“Are you?” Wolfwood retorted.

“I’m not the one who’s been on autopilot for hours.”

“I’m not the one whose brother…” Wolfwood took a deep breath. “Sorry.”

“…no. No, you’re right.” Vash dug one of the random shirts Wolfwood had grabbed out of his back. “Honestly, I’m…not great.” He grabbed the hem and tore fiercely, tearing a long strip off starting from the bottom. “I’m not doing great.”

He kept tearing. The destruction seemed to do him some good, because when he’d gathered enough cloth to wrap around Wolfwood’s hands, his next words came easily.

“I don’t like being angry. I don’t like how it makes me feel. But I’m so angry at him right now, and I don’t know what to do with it. Has that ever happened to you? You get angry and it just…” He tied off the makeshift wrap. “…sits there? Right here.” He tapped his chest, right on his sternum. “I feel like I’m going to explode.”

“Think that might be heartburn,” Wolfwood said. The joke was instinctive, but he knew it wasn’t what Vash needed right now. He forced himself to be serious: “I get what you mean. I do.”

“How do you deal with it?”

Wolfwood snorted. “You don’t want my advice on that. Did Brad never tell you I broke his nose?”

“Fractured his orbital bone,” Vash corrected. “But yeah, he told me. And that you broke a tablet.” He didn’t sound disappointed or shocked at all. “Usually, when I’m mad about something, I can figure out a way to fix things instead. That’s part of why I come out here. But I don’t know what to do about this.” Vash met Wolfwood’s eyes. “I’m not that crazy, am I?”

That felt like a trick question. “I’m gonna need some more context for that one, kid.”

“I mean…I’ve tried to talk to him about things before, but it feels like he doesn’t hear me. Ever. So, either I’m crazy and I’m not making sense, which I can fix, or he doesn’t want to listen, which I can’t fix. And that would also mean that a guy who’s been falling through portals scattered around my life cares more about me than my own twin.” Vash let out a strangled laugh and tore another strip of fabric. “Which, as much as I appreciate everything you’ve done for me, is kind of messed up.”

“I think the word you’re looking for is fucked.”

“There’s kids around, you know.”

“They’ve heard worse by now.” Or at least, he had by that age. “Listen, you probably don’t want to hear this, but your brother isn’t a good person.”

“Like your uncle. How did you…?”

Wolfwood grimaced. “I…shot him, actually. In my defense, he shot me first, so I figure that made us even.” His free hand strayed to his side, to the place where there had once been a scar. “Don’t ask me if it was fatal. I didn’t stick around to check. But I shot him, and I ran, and I found someplace safe. Have you called Ship Three yet?” Vash shook his head. “Maybe you should.”

It was the last thing Wolfwood ever thought he would say, but the way Vash had described the place made it sound better than out here. He just hoped Brad and Luida had actually put in some effort.

“Okay,” Vash said. “Okay, I’ll call. Thanks, Nico.”

“For what?”

“Listening.”

Vash walked a safe distance away to start speaking into that device of his. Wolfwood stared after him, suddenly too tired to stand back up.

He wished it could be that simple for Vash, that all he’d have to do was break things off with Knives and run back to Ship Three. He knew better, though. Wolfwood’s uncle had never bothered looking for him, assuming the son of a bitch had survived, because he didn’t care. He’d never wanted Wolfwood anyway. But Knives did want Vash for whatever crazy scheme he was cooking up. He wanted Vash shattered to pieces, malleable. And he’d never stop until he got that.

I should have taken the shot.

But he hadn’t. All he could do now was keep driving a wedge between Vash and Knives. Make it so a few decades from now, going back to July was unthinkable. Or at least, going back to negotiate was unthinkable.

Sorry, me, Wolfwood thought as he pulled out a cigarette. If this goes well, our job is gonna be a lot harder.

Future him would just have to deal with that.

Vash walked back over as Wolfwood lit his cigarette. He had a few new tear tracks on his face, but he looked relieved. “Someone can pick me up,” he said. “I know where to go. I don’t know what it will mean for the others, but it’s better than here.”

“Sounds good to me.” Wolfwood took a long drag from the cigarette. “So? Where to, co-captain?”

Vash smiled, and Wolfwood was relieved to see it looked genuine. “East,” he said. “We’re going east.”

East it was. Hopefully, no trouble would follow them that way. Especially if that trouble’s name was Millions Knives.

They buried the last of the bodies, gathered what supplies they could find, and drove east. It was almost two straight days of near-continuous driving, and they were two of the most awkward days of Wolfwood’s life.

No one really knew what to do with each other. The survivors were wrapped up in their grief. Vash was still in pain, and napped to escape it. Wolfwood still felt the haze of his guilt trying to drag him under, along with all the aches and pains he’d accumulated since this whole mess started.

(His ankle still looked fine. Wolfwood was still afraid to ask Vash what he might have done to it.)

Vash, on the rare occasion he did talk, didn’t bring up Knives again. He tried to talk to the kids (they just stared at him), then the adults (who gave short, terse answers and sounded like they were scared he’d go full Knives on them), then Wolfwood (the ensuing debate about the merits of mechanical versus animal transport killed a few hours, even if that came at the cost of Wolfwood having to admit he had no clue how to ride and had eaten dirt every time he tried to learn). At least most of the adults knew how to drive well. He didn’t have to deal with Meryl Stryfe’s ability to find every pot hole in her path.

Scratch that. He would’ve preferred it if Meryl were there. Her driving may have been bad enough to put the fear of God in the staunchest atheist, but she’d probably do a better job helping Vash find answers than Wolfwood.

The relief Wolfwood felt when he saw signs of civilization felt like having a glass of ice water dumped on his head. “This the place?” he asked.

Vash discretely checked one of the many gizmos he had tucked in his coat’s seemingly endless pockets. “This is it,” he confirmed. “Hopefully, they won’t think we’re here to cause trouble.”

Wolfwood kept one hand on his rifle as they got out of the truck, just in case. They got a few odd glances, but no one tried to talk to them, which was fine by Wolfwood. “Right, we’re off,” he said as he tossed the keys to the vice-foreman. “You can keep driving…sell the thing…whatever you want, I don’t really care.”

She caught the keys and stared at the two of them. “That’s all? Really?”

“What, you want a kiss or something?”

Vash rested a hand on Wolfwood’s shoulder and shot the vice-foreman a reassuring smile. “That’s all. No bad blood from me, I promise.” The vice-foreman looked immediately confused. Vash kept on smiling. “Just be safe. You can do something better now. Look after each other…” He turned and started walking away. “Look after other people, too.”

The vice-foreman’s baffled eyes locked onto Wolfwood. He shrugged. “You heard the man,” he said as he turned to follow Vash. “Ash and sackcloth.”

And that was that. They walked into town and no one tried to stop them. It felt anticlimactic, but Wolfwood wasn’t going to complain. He’d had enough craziness to last him two lifetimes.

“Do we need to get a hotel?” Wolfwood asked.

“I don’t know,” Vash said. “They said our people were about two days out, too, so I might just have to – “

“Vash!”

Wolfwood recognized that voice. It took him a second to spot its owner, though. Brad was out of his Ship Three uniform, wearing a battered brown jacket and jeans, but it was definitely him.

Wolfwood still wasn’t sure how he felt about the man. The look on Vash’s face nudged him towards a more positive opinion: joy, then relief, then crumpling under the weight of everything he’d been through. When he dodged his way through the crowd and reached Brad, the man didn’t hesitate to give Vash a tight hug. Vash sank into the embrace with shaking shoulders. Safe to cry.

He's okay now.

As if on cue, Wolfwood felt that familiar, someone-hovering-over-him feeling again. A portal had formed at the end of a nearby alley. When he looked back, Brad had his back to him and was examining Vash’s visible bruises like a mother thomas fussing over her chick. Vash glanced over Brad’s shoulder and caught Wolfwood’s eye. Wolfwood tilted his head towards the alley, then pointed to Vash and gave him a questioning thumb’s up. You good?

Vash smiled and nodded.

He was safe. He’d be back on the ship soon. Wolfwood had done as much as he could. It was time for him to go. Still, he lingered by the alley entrance until Vash and Brad vanished into the crowd.

The eldest of the depot kids had wandered into town with the adults. They looked overwhelmed by all the people, but determined. Maybe this would be a good place for them. Maybe they’d get a second chance here.

He just hoped they used it for something good.

Wolfwood slipped his hand into his pocket as he stepped towards the portal. He still had his lighter. He hadn’t had the chance to give it to Vash.

Next time, he thought as he stepped through.

I’ll give it to him next time.

#three guesses who shows up in this chapter first two don't count #trigun #trigun stampede #fic: the unknowable tomorrow

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