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#1. Tag your salt posts
ninadove · 10 months
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So. There’s this show I really hate.
I didn’t even want to watch it, but I was forced to sit through literally all of it because my parents liked it for some reason that completely eludes me. Not only is the plot catastrophically bad and the characters inconsistent — it’s also very, very misogynistic in essence. Just thinking about it now makes me want to chew on the writing team’s bones.
I genuinely have nothing good to say about this show.
So. Do you know how many posts I uploaded to the corresponding tags?
ZERO (0)
Because there’s no point in spending energy on a thing I hate so passionately, and even less in ruining it for other people.
Don’t get me wrong — it’s OK to point out irregularities in writing, and to talk about specific aspects of a story that upset you. But uploading dozens of posts about how you Hate The Thing, Analysing The Thing Is Pointless, Everyone Who Worked On The Thing Is Stupid, and Everyone Who Loves The Thing Is Delusional, is maybe not the genius take you think it is.
It doesn’t make you smarter than everyone else. It just makes you boring.
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popcorn8784 · 3 months
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Saw a lot of matching outfits on team friends, which makes me realize...if Shiver wins then it's probably bc the players actually had friends to be on comms with. My family doesn't play Splatoon though :'(
Edit: So it was solo then...no clue what that implies other than everyone playing splatoon is antisocial lol. I'm guilty as well in that aspect
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ugh-yoongi · 5 months
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hi! would it be alright if i asked what your favorite namjoon fics are? thank you and have a great day 💗🥹
hello nonnie, it is always okay to ask me for fic recs! <3
most of these works contain mature themes/content. please heed tags and do not engage with any explicit work if you are a minor!
i know there are a bunch i've forgotten, so please reblog and share your own work and your faves!
also, please note: there are a lot of fics on these lists that are posted to ao3. it has recently come out that a volunteer was removed from their position for being pro-palestine (you can find the twt thread here). i am in the process of looking for a better alternative, but until then, it is unfortunately probably the best way to share these stories. while i personally won't be posting to or reading on ao3 for the time being, how you choose to engage going forward is completely up to you! i just wanted to make sure i was being transparent.
namjoon x reader
anything by @effortandmore
anything by @hamsterclaw
anything by @miscelunaaa
1-year anniversary by @johobi
omerta by @anotherbtswriter
hammer it home series by @gukslut
hey, it's me & leave no trace behind by @yoongiphoria
love bytes by @stutterfly
real magic & park and ride by @here2bbtstrash
house of cards & guilty by @xjoonchildx
lacuna by @eoieopda
dream team by @bangtanintotheroom (feat. hobi)
cyanide on my bedsheets by @jimilter
laundry day by @snackhobi
bloom by @hobidreams
the snow globe effect by @gukyi
you've got a friend in me by @wwilloww
pronoia by @junghelioseok
limbo by @beahae
love hard by @raplinesmoon
swiss miss by @here4kpopfics (feat. seokjin)
my feet to follow, and my heart to hold by @daechwitatamic
a fine line by @moni-logues
roommates with benefits
as always, mxm fics under the cut!
member x member
softer than steel (namseok)
frustrations in late foucault (namseok)
the universe needs more you (namseok)
in your atmosphere (namseok)
why don't you figure (my heart) out (namseok)
i'm on fire (rap line)
delta (rap line)
꽃꽂이. kkotkkoji (namjin)
you have 1 new message (namjin)
beta tau sigma (namjin)
white rabbit (namjin)
local dumbass idiot helps sexy criminal and then writes sad bird poems instead of just saying Yes Seokjin I Like You Too (namjin)
easy (namjin)
and they were roommates (namjin)
burn me like an ember (namjin)
the understood boundaries of self (namjin)
more walls (collected along the way) [namjin]
imprints & magnitude (namjin)
salt water (namjinkook)
disgruntledofficebrat [active] (namkook)
you can leave the cape on (namkook)
108 degrees (namkook)
the whole of the moon (namkook)
travelogue with a frat boy (namkook)
it's a color that i can't describe (namkook)
how much to give and how much to take (namkook)
the courage of stars (namkook)
come take it (if you want a piece of me) [namkook]
a feel so sweet (namgikook)
objects in mirror are closer than they appear (namgi)
green carnation (namgi)
the added bonus (namgi)
tear you apart (namgi)
different when i'm with you (namgi)
adrift (namgi)
i'll fuck you if you let me, baby (namgi)
sleepless in (namgi)
恋の予感 (namgi)
take it or leave it (namgi)
baby, but we will (namgi)
verified amateurs [online now] (namgi)
cyrano more like cyraNO (namgi)
record it for later (namgi)
into the red morning (taejoon)
don't call it love (taejoon)
i am red with love (taejoon)
the bad thing (minimoni)
you were more than just light (minimoni)
wish we'd fall in love (minimoni)
but i want it anyway (minimoni)
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peachsayshi · 18 days
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Hello can I request a part 5 for the inexperienced reader where they finally do the deed? Thank you and I really love all your writings. You’re amazing!
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✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄ playboy geto x inexperienced female reader (part 4) ⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧
wc: 7,712
·˚ ༘₊· ͟͟͞͞꒰ previous parts: 1/2/3/4
minors / ageless blogs / blank blogs - do not interact.
notes: hi, nonnie! I haven't posted the official part 4 for playboy geto x reader, so here is an update! part 5 is the final part of this mini series and I am still figuring out the scenario for the big moment. I had this idea in my head and really wanted to write out. I hope you enjoy the update!
ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ tags: other jjk characters are mentioned, virgin reader; lovesick geto & reader; hurt/comfort; the first fight; making up; smut; oral (f receiving); nipple play; overstimulation; fingering; practice makes perfect *wink wink*
There’s a downpour outside - a peaceful shower trapping you in a cocoon of stillness. Grey clouds collide, orchestrating a rumble of thunder to disperse across the horizon. You squeeze the glass of tea in your hand and breathe out a heavy sigh as you continue observing the waves crashing onto the shore in the distance.
Standing in pensive thought, you find yourself contemplating why the sky isn’t a saturated blue, and why you are not wiping away grains of sand between your toes while tasting the salt in the air and getting kissed by the sun in the red bikini that you are wearing.
This is your first weekend away with Suguru and it was supposed to be perfect…magical even, but…
You haven’t exchanged more than a few of sentences with him in two whole days.
The truth forms as a discomforting lump in your throat. At this point you’re convinced that the turbulent events of this week is what conjured up such a dreadful storm to hijack your mini vacation, and you’ve been a bundle of nerves ever since because you’ve never had a fight with him before.
Not a real one, anyway.
Whenever a situation got remotely tense, your boyfriend would be the first person to jump in to talk things out. Suguru hated having petty arguments and always relied on strong communication to put out any fires before they set everything ablaze. You know it’s entirely unfair to put that expectation on him but, the truth is, you’ve grown used to him mediating, and depended on him to squash potential disagreements without question.
What you weren’t expecting was for things to escalate between you two because it’s never happened before, and now you aren’t sure how to proceed.
What if he leaves me?
The nauseating thought of a potential break up twists your gut, but you brush off your anxiety as you lift the cup to your lips and take another sip of soothing chamomile.
Couples fight, you think, it’s normal to fight.
Your fingers pinch the ceramic so hard, you feel it might crack from the pressure. You’ve tried to reach out since then, but Suguru remained unresponsive to your little gestures of peace.
Why is he still ignoring me?
You lean your head against the window and exhale, eyes fixated on the storm’s dramatic performance. A bolt of lighting crackles across the sky, channeling you back to the night on Suguru’s sofa just two weeks prior.
His fingers were trailing the outline of your thigh, keeping your body tucked perfectly into his frame. You were twirling a strand of his onyx hair between your fingers, listening to him proposition the idea of the weekend trip away.
“Yuki is one of my oldest friends. She lives in a beach house, so that’s where we will all stay…” he casually stated. “We visit her a couple of times a year, and I know she would love to meet you.”
You said yes without hesitation.
At the time, there was no need for you to question who Yuki was or how Suguru knew her. There was no need for you to pry deeper into the memories of his past because you were just living in the bubble of present happiness.
“We used to spend every summer at her beach house while I was in university,” Suguru informed you a few days later, slipping in that tidbit of information right after describing all the places he was excited to take you to. “I love that her beach house is so far away from the city. Plus, they have the best soba in the village. You’ll love it, I just know you will…”
This deep infatuation you shared for Suguru had your heart swelling up more often around him. Your valves were arrows to a compass that always spun directly towards him, your shining North Star. Your eyes were glazed over in a rosy shine of deep romance, making it hard for you to blink away the hue of its affection, but you should have taken a breath to catch yourself.
Maybe then you wouldn’t have reacted so harshly later on.
The ”problem”, as Suguru dubs it, happened two days before the trip.
Shoko invited you to join her and Utahime on a shopping date to pick up some new swim suits for the occasion. However, you weren’t expecting to see Mei Mei upon arrival. Your friendship with Shoko made it easier for you to blend in with the rest of Suguru’s group, but Mei always kept you at an arm’s length. For the most part, you approached any interactions with her with caution. You made sure you were nice and didn’t try to pursue anything beyond cordial conversations. Despite your attempts at playing cool, Mei continued making snide remarks about you being “Suguru’s Girl” and enjoyed addressing you condescendingly.
Truthfully, she treated you as if you were simply a stranger with one foot out the door and not the person who was in a committed relationship with her friend.
Your eyes, powdered with pink infatuation, had you feeling indifferent about her sharp tongue on this particular outing, and it made you loosely speak up about how excited you were to go on this trip with your boyfriend.
Your walls were completely down when Mei went in with a new attack while you were all having dinner together.
“It’s adorable how excited you are. Besides, I think it’s about time that you met Kiki…” she giggled, earning a glare from both Shoko and Utahime.
“Kiki?” you replied like a naive child, all wide eyed with an innocent pinch between your brow.
“Suguru didn’t tell you?” Mei coos as she proceeds to take a sip of her milkshake. “That’s his special nickname for Yuki. The two of them used to spend their summers together getting high and fucking. She was his first, you know…”
Your cheeks were stinging with embarrassment. You glanced over to both Shoko and Utahime, praying that one of them would denounce Mei’s confession.
Instead, Shoko shook her head with disapproval and simply added, “we all know that it wasn’t serious…”
“Wasn’t serious?” Mei interjected, her cruel eyes fixed on you. “Suguru was in love with her…”
“He wasn’t in love with her,” Shoko sternly answered. “They were friends. Don’t make up stories in your head”
Mei swirled her straw around her vanilla milkshake. “We are his friends too but that didn’t stop him from hooking up with us either. The only difference is that Yuki is the one who broke his heart afterwards. Suguru didn’t speak to her for an entire year...”
“How about you don’t stir up problems for no reason, Mei.” Utahime bit back, and Mei responded by rolling her eyes with mild disinterest.
“I’m not saying anything that isn’t true. Everyone at this table, except Shoko, hooked up with Suguru at one point,” she let out a pretty laugh, one laced with wicked intent. “Maybe this is something we can all bond over at the beach house. Compare notes and what not…”
“How about we dial back the bitchy attitude and put the subject to rest” Shoko interjected, and Mei merely huffed before sipping her milkshake with nonchalance.
Hot, heavy jealousy coiled around your skin, and you used every ounce of restraint not to pick up Mei’s drink and toss it right in her face. By the time your brain was able to connect the dots to formulate even a single sentence, the conversation swiftly moved onto another subject.
You reached for your soda, slurping the icy beverage in an attempt to cool yourself off.
This isn’t the first time that Suguru’s friends have made teasing comments about his past, but Mei took it too far.
The worst part about that god-awful interaction is that it was working out in her favor.
Why didn’t Suguru tell you?
The question sat in your head up until you returned home. You were in a bitter state, choosing to curb Suguru’s calls and ignore Shoko’s messages.
She still called you the next morning with a heartfelt apology.
“We’ve all known Mei for years so we put up with her attitude,” Shoko explained, “But you owe her no allegiance and what she did was uncalled for. I’m really sorry about that…”
“It’s fine, Shoko…” you insisted, but your tone was hard and defensive because it wasn’t fine and you barely got any sleep thinking about what she said.
“I had a long conversation with her last night, and she’ll be backing off from now on,” Shoko consoled.
“Great,” you answered through gritted teeth, trying your best not to hurl the phone at the wall.
“Look,” Shoko added on with a sigh, “I know Suguru doesn’t have the best track record and I know we all give him shit for it, but we also all know that we’ve been too hard on him. He really, really cares about you.”
Tears pricked your eyes. You wished those words were enough to sway you back but they felt just as empty as the space in your chest.
Why didn’t he tell me?
You couldn't stop wondering why.
The day before you left for the getaway, you were giving Suguru the coldest shoulder. He had come over to help you pack your things, but instead was left puzzled by your behavior.
You leaned away from his kisses, always tilting so he aimed for your cheek. You shrugged off his touch, pretending to busy yourself with searching through your closet and picking your outfits. You could feel his piercing stare from over your shoulder, those dark eyes dissecting the softest parts of you to get to the root of the problem. You tried to focus on the music from gently playing through the speakers, but as you walked over to your bag to pack another dress, Suguru quickly reached for your hips to drag you onto his lap.
“What’s wrong?” he asked seriously, his voice the tip of a sharp blade pressing into your heart.
You shook your head, caressing the fabric between your fingers. “Nothing, I have a headache,” you repeated firmly, sticking to the same excuse that you had given him earlier.
“Sweetheart,” he replied tenderly, your body stiffening when he brushed his lips over your shoulder to leave a contemplative kiss. “What’s actually wrong?”
You froze, your anger scalding your insides as it bubbled to the surface. You squeeze the dress between your hands, creasing the smooth surface. Suguru rests his chin on your shoulder, patiently waiting for you to at least acknowledge him.
“Is it true that you were involved with “your friend” Yuki?”
You hid your hurt with sarcasm, her name rolling off your tongue with a hint of disgust.
Suguru lifted his head from your chin, his fingers pinching against the fat of your hip while his other hand moved to reach for your jaw. He angled your face towards him, a pained expression masking over his breathtaking features.
“Who told you?”
“Mei,” you answered sharply, “apparently Shoko and Utahime know all about it too…”
“Look,” Suguru sighed, “it’s…it’s not what you think…”
“Did you to spend your summers getting high and fucking?” you interrupted harshly, mimicking the cruelty in Mei’s voice as you posed your question.
Suguru closed his eyes. “Yes.”
“Is it true that she was your first?” you asked, your voice wavering slightly this time.
“Yes, but…”
You rolled your tear soaked eyes as you stood up on your feet, tossing the dress into your bag as you folded your arms across your chest to give Suguru your back.
You weren’t sure what hurt more. The fact that Mei had all the ammunition in the world to hurt your feelings, or that she knew that your doting boyfriend would keep this from you.
Suguru stood up, carefully approaching you from behind as he extended his hand out to find your waist once more.
“Mei’s a gossip,” he contended, “I told you that when we first met…”
You spun on your heel to meet his anxious stare, drilling your fury right into him.
“That’s not the point,” you argued. “The point is that you lied to me! The point is that you spent weeks going on and on about “your friend” without even warning me that you were both intimately involved…”
“We put that shit behind us years ago. I didn’t want to bring it up, and I didn’t think I had to. Mei shouldn’t have said anything.”
“Didn’t think you had to?” you repeated with confusion.
“There was no reason to,” he replied with annoyance, his fingers digging into your waist. “Because you and I are supposed to trust each other, and considering how things have been going between us, I thought we did.”
Your heart raced at the fact that Suguru was still keeping his mouth tight lipped over what happened with Yuki, which did little to help your own dramatized theories on their relationship.
If he was being secretive about something as serious as this, then who knows what other tales he might have been spinning with that honeyed mouth of his.
The knot that’s wrung itself around your mind finally snapped.
“Easy for you to say, you don’t have an inventory of people I slept with to keep track of…”
Suguru winced, the involuntary grimace an unusual sign of hurt. Your apology shot to the tip of your tongue, and you were ready to jump right into his arms and plead for forgiveness. This brutish commentary was so unlike you, but you didn’t know how to keep a handle on your own insecurities this time around.
“Keep track, huh?” he answered softly, the faintest hint of distress coming through and making you nip at your bottom lip out of guilt. “Must be hard having a boyfriend who is so used up…”
“No...you're not. That's not what I mean, I’m…I’m just saying that it’s different,” you retracted, easing your delivery to try and explain yourself. “You just don’t have to worry-”
“Is there a reason for you to worry?” he rebuked, quirking his brow in genuine surprise.
You scoffed, “You told me about everyone else you’ve been involved with but with her you are suddenly keeping quiet-”
“Please, tell me you’re fucking joking right now-“
“You can’t-” you interjected, clearing the catch in your throat as your voice warbled uncomfortably. “You can’t just expect me to be okay with this, Suguru. I have to be able to trust you and that’s only going to work if you are honest with me. Keeping something like this from me doesn’t help…”
Suguru dropped his hand away from your waist, and folded them over his chest tightly. There was a twitch in his jaw, and the disappointment in his eyes spoke volumes. You both stood there in silence, studying the other in deep concentration.
“I thought you did trust me. You were practically naked in bed with me when you said it. So what is it then? Do you trust me or not?”
Your face grew increasingly hot recalling his birthday, the way you were soft, vulnerable and pliable sprawled out against his chest...
“I do…” you replied with very little confidence. “Sort of…”
You swallowed your regret to stare down at your feet shamefully, and allowing your pride to fight the battle for you. If you can waver his insecurity even a little then maybe you might find some equal footing with the discomfort.
“I can’t change my past. I can’t erase the people I’ve been involved with. Yes, we both had different opinions about how we viewed relationships, but we aren’t going last long as a couple if I’m the only one that has faith that this is going to work,” Suguru informed calmly, using his fingers to gesture between you both.
Hearing those words from your lover’s lips felt like surprise blow. You parted your mouth to exhale quietly, clenching your hands tightly by your side as you naively waited for him to attempt to turn things around.
“I’ve given you everything. I’m not going to force you to trust me,” Suguru adds on, his tone morphing into a cold, cruel note. “And if you fucking can’t, then I’m done.”
Your head shot up in surprise, the front of your brows upturning sorrowfully but Suguru had already turned on his heel to walk out of the room, slamming your bedroom door right behind him.
__________________ ׂׂૢ་༘࿐ ┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ┊ ┊ ┊⋆ ┊ . ┊ ┊ ⋆˚ ✧. ┊ ⋆ ★
The car ride to the beach house was terrible.
Neither you or Suguru said a single word to one another. He kept his focus on the road, while you kept replaying the words “I’m done” on repeat in your head.
It was disappointing to start off on such a sour note because Yuki’s beach house was the perfect getaway spot as Suguru described. The location was rural, and the building was quaint and cozy. The size is big enough to fit your entire group, but not to the point where it was gaudy. Suguru mentioned that the property belonged to Yuki’s mom, which she eventually inherited after she passed away.
Meeting Yuki took your breath away. From the moment you laid eyes on her you understood how a young Suguru would be infatuated. She was striking - tall, with long, golden hair that cascaded all the way down to her butt. Every part of her was perfect, from her toned tummy revealed by her short black cropped top, to her legs that seemed to go on forever which were covered in only a pair of loose denim shorts. She had a naturally cheeky grin, like there was something up her sleeve that no one could quite point out, and sharp brown eyes that were simply inviting.
She pulled Suguru in for a warm hug, and ruffled his hair like a sister would.
“Sug! Your hair’s getting long! I like it!” she chirped with a big smile, while Suguru held an effortlessly casual stance to play off that the two of you haven’t been ignoring each other this whole time. Yuki instantly turned to face you, “And you must be the girl that stole his heart! I’m so glad to meet you! This guy never shuts up about you…”
You felt small against her, and it wasn’t just due to her height. You could feel yourself shrinking into your own shame hearing her talk about your lover. Whatever doubts that sparked due to Mei’s burning statements were quickly turned to ash.
Yuki gave you a house tour and explained that Shoko was sharing a room with Mei and Utahime, while Satoru and Nanami bunked in another.
“If you’re comfortable you can stay in Suguru’s room. He kind of has his own bedroom from how often he’s stayed with me. If not, I’ve got a pull out sofa in my room,” Yuki informed, while you were trying your hardest to undo the tight knot in your belly.
Getting to know Yuki over the course of the two days only fed into your regret. You couldn’t help but watch her interactions with Suguru, only to conclude it was no different than how he behaved with Satoru and Shoko.
Even when he addressed her as “Kiki”, it came out with a level of comfort that felt a familial familiarity. If it wasn’t for Mei and her devious manipulation games, you would never have even have assumed that the pair were intimately involved with each other.
As your stubbornness started chipping away, you decided to at least try and make amends with your boyfriend.
On the first night, after getting ready for bed, you broke the long hours of silence by asking him where he was going after watching him get ready to leave the room that you both were supposed to be sharing.
“I’m staying with Satoru,” he curtly responded, and slammed the door behind him before you could get another word in.
Yesterday was painful to say the least. You attempted to sit down with him and Satoru for breakfast, but Suguru excused himself only a couple of minutes later. By mid-morning you texted to ask if he would like to join you and Shoko to walk around the village. You even brought up his favorite soba shop, but found yourself left on read.
His behavior was harsh and quite obvious. By lunchtime Shoko pulled you aside to ask if everything was okay.
“We’re fine,” you answered breathlessly, your worry sending tingles to the tips of your fingers and toes. “We got into a bit of an argument in the car, but we’ll talk things over”
Dinner last night was supposed to be a fun get together at one of the local omakase joints, but it turned into you and Suguru sitting on opposite sides of the table barely acknowledging each other.
You were trying to steal his glance, but he wouldn’t stop avoiding yours. Afterwards while all of you were standing outside, you found the courage to reach for Suguru’s hand to grab his attention.
“Hey,” you whispered low enough for only him to hear to avoid making it obvious to the others. Your heart fluttered when you noticed that Suguru didn’t let go of your hand, but instead pressed the pads of his fingers lightly against your palm to return the gesture.
Almost like he was saying hello.
“Do you maybe want to go for a walk?” you asked, eyes hopeful and desperate. “It’s nice outside tonight, don’t you think?”
You couldn’t gauge what he was thinking, but you paid close attention to his reactions. Like the way his eyes dipped to your fingers slightly interlaced with his own, and how his digits were merely tracing yours in the most featherlight touch.
Did he miss you too?
“I’m going out with Yuki tonight,” he announced, his tone sharp and daring.
Your heart winced.
You weren’t used to this side of Suguru at all.
You let go of his hand, and nodded your head to feign acceptance but your throat was tight and tears were glazing over your woeful irises.
“Oh, okay!” you answered with as much confidence as you could muster up. “I guess…I guess I’ll see what Shoko is up to. And-”
Your voice cracked when Suguru let go of your hand. The emptiness a cold touch against your palm.
“I-I hope you guys have fun catching up tonight-“
Suguru nodded his head, taking your breath away for only a second when he leans forward to leave a chaste kiss on your brow. Not giving you a chance to finish your statement.
The gesture shatters you, because you know that it wasn’t genuine.
He was simply putting on a show, keeping up appearances so that the others don't suspect that something is wrong.
You cry yourself to sleep all alone in bed, all the while holding onto the hope that he might just show up to remind you that everything is okay.
__________________ ׂׂૢ་༘࿐ ┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ┊ ┊ ┊⋆ ┊ . ┊ ┊ ⋆˚ ✧. ┊ ⋆ ★
You’re still staring out the window, watching the droplets trickle down the glass. Lost in the peaceful moment, you barely hear Suguru enter the bedroom, which is why you jump in shock when you suddenly notice a large hand press firmly against the glass by your side.
“It’s pouring, huh?”
His voice, smooth like velvet and soft like storm clouds sent a tremor of desire in your belly. You steadied the cup in your hand, sensing your body trapped between the window and your boyfriend who was now standing prominently right behind you.
“Yeah,” you whisper quietly, your chest rising and falling with anticipation.
You watch him tap his index finger against the glass, your gaze falling to the bracelet on his wrist. It was the other gift that you gave him on his birthday, and he hasn’t taken it off since. The rain patters outside, the white noise your safety barrier against the awkward tension, but you can feel it brewing behind your spine as you steady your breathing.
“Where did you stay last night?” you ask with a mousy voice, hoping that your tone wasn’t coming across as accusatory but simply concerned for wanting to check in on Suguru’s whereabouts.
“Yuki’s room, we were up late talking…” he responds gently, a hint of amusement in his voice but not one that was cruel. “She told me I could sleep on her pull out only after admitting that I’m acting like a little bitch…”
Your mouth naturally ticked into a smile at his playful tone, and you sink your teeth into your lower lip with relief from the casual delivery.
He huffs out a small laugh, "in case you're wondering, I just so happen to agree with her."
“It’s not just you,” you acknowledge, finding the courage to slowly spin on your heel so you can face him. “I started all of this…”
“Yeah, but you’ve been trying to fix it and I’ve been difficult about it…”
Your body crumples when your eyes met his, the power of his gaze forcing you to press your back against the window to stop yourself from buckling at the knees. His yearning matches yours, and the tension in your shoulders relaxes slightly when you note that he might have actually have been missing you too.
The ease in his expression is a white flag of surrender.
You place your tea cup on the table by your side. “I shouldn’t have let Mei get to me,” you admit, “I was caught off guard, and I took my anger out on you…”
“I shouldn’t have put you in that position,” Suguru adds on, shaking his head in disbelief over his own decision. “I should have been upfront with you about Yuki from the star, I just-” He drops his hand away from the window to find yours, and takes both of them between his fingers. His thumb smooths over your knuckles, his grip firm and protective.
“I just didn’t want to give another reason not to trust me”
Your brows furrow with confusion, and Suguru sighs.
“My family were in a bind financially. Even though I got a full scholarship to univerisity, there still wasn’t enough money to put both Mimi and Nana through school. I've known Yuki since I was sixteen. She told me to spend the summers with her and hooked me up with well paying jobs ,” he explains solemnly, almost like he is ashamed by the situation entirely. “So, that’s what I did. Her mom never stayed during the summer break. And yeah, shit happened between us. We’d get high, fuck around, drink, party…but it was just…a release.  It didn’t mean anything else. I swear…”
“Mei said that you loved her,” you fill in, piecing together parts of your own personal indignation. “I think that’s what really got me. Especially when you didn’t tell me yourself. I couldn’t wrap my mind around the secrecy…”
Suguru scoffs, “Mei says that only because I went back summer after summer. I didn’t let anyone else know the real reason why. They had no fucking clue what was going on with me and my last summer with Yuki is when we decided to stop but I-I fucked it up…”
You could see the strain on Suguru’s face, and you squeezed his hand reassuringly to let him know that he could share whatever he needed to say.
“There was this girl that Yuki liked. I mean, really liked. She wouldn’t shut up about her. She was the reason why we stopped sleeping together. One night while we all went out, I got…carried away. I drank too much, I smoked too much, I wasn’t fucking thinking. I don’t even really remember what happened, but when I woke up the next morning…the girl was in my bed. When Yuki found us, she was…heartbroken. She didn’t speak to me for a year, and…I was devastated because her friendship means everything to me. She was the only person who knew how bad things were, and I returned the favor by…well, being myself, I guess…”
“Suguru, don’t say that…” you blurt out, your hands letting go of his as you eagerly clasp his jaw with equal protection. “I see you with your friends. You’re so loyal, and would give them everything if they asked. For somebody whose always so put together, what you did…is so out of character…”
He winced, his eyes narrowing with humiliation but it only taps into your empathy.
You bring his face closer, press your forehead to his own and notice him flutter his eyes close.
“You rarely talk about how hard it was with your family,” you mumble so close to his lips, keeping the conversation as private as possible even though it’s only the two of you in the room together. “I can’t even imagine the kind of pressure you must have been feeling. If you and Yuki are as close as you say are you, I’m sure she came around because she must have seen it too…”
His hands find your your bare waist. “She was the only one who could see it. Satoru, Shoko…it went over their heads…”
The quiet loops in right then, a rumble of thunder echoing in the distance. The hurt in Suguru's voice was loud and clear. The fact that he's always been there, but is so easily forgotten in the long run.
“I need to know,” Suguru confesses, his shoulders slumping in defeat. “I need to know what else it’s going to take to get you to trust me because the odds are stacked up against me, sweetheart. And if I can’t make it happen, then I don’t have a single fucking shot at making us happen…”
The sting of regret burns your cheeks once more, and you extend your arms out to circle around your boyfriend’s neck. You want to kick yourself for making him doubt himself, especially after he working so incredibly hard to earn your favor.
“I swore I would never throw your past in your face. I’m so sorry that I did. You’re not the same guy that the people in your life paint you out to be, and I shouldn’t have let them try to convince me otherwise,”
You seal your apology with a small kiss to the corner of his lip, goosebumps pebbling your skin from Suguru’s thumbs tracing tiny streaks up and down your belly. “For whatever reason we don’t seem to make sense to anyone around us…”
When Suguru finds your eyes, you lose yourself into a dark abyss, sinking back into the depths of his soul.
“Is that how you feel too?” he questions seriously, “that we don’t make sense?”
You shake your head instantly to disregard the claim.
“Being with you is the only thing that I seem to understand, and I think that’s why I’m so scared to let you in,” you admit, the past forty eight hours of desperation formulating the next statement on the tip of your tongue. “I’m falling in love with you, Suguru. And-And I can’t seem to stop it from happening…”
Your breathless at the proclamation, your heart hammering so hard in your chest like it’s ready to burst out and bury itself into Suguru’s instead.
You watch your lover pull back slightly, his brows raise with astonishment.
“In love…” he breathes, like he can't believe the words himself, “with me?”
You nod your head, your hands roaming back to the front of his chest where you can feel his own stammering heart against your palm.
"Yeah, with you."
Suguru withers into your touch, his hand cradling your jaw as he dips in to press his mouth over yours. He parts his tongue to deepen the kiss, the weight of his body pushing yours into the surface, where behind you lightning bolts across the sky and grey clouds envelop you both in a shadowy cocoon.
__________________ ׂׂૢ་༘࿐ ┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ┊ ┊ ┊⋆ ┊ . ┊ ┊ ⋆˚ ✧. ┊ ⋆ ★
You freely unravel, your joy sparking from the tips of your toe as to the top of your head knowing that your lover has chosen not to abandon you, knowing that you both are desperately seeking forgiveness.
You swear to yourself that it’ll never get this far again.
Suguru baptizes you with his kiss; it was a long reminder of your submission, of fully surrendering your feelings towards him. In between he moves your body, away from the glass and across the room, until you're pinned underneath him on the bed. He uses one hand to undo the wrap skirt around your waist, leaving you clad in your bikini to bathe under the light of his love instead.
His index finger loops around the string of your bikini top. He pulls away from the wet kiss, the tip of his nose lightly brushing your own, with the heat pooling in those dark irises enough to singe your skin.
“I’m not done with you,” he confirms, going back to the statement that ate away at you like a parasite. “Truthfully, I don’t think I’ll ever be…”
A lock of his hair brushes his brow, and you move it aside to kiss the space.
“Even if you were, I’m not willing to let you go that easily,” you counter because you need him to hear it. You need him to understand that you see what he’s put into this relationship and that you are more than willing to return the effort.
He smiles, and it’s devastatingly perfect it makes you want to scream at the heavens for allowing someone to be this beautiful.
“Still think I’m worth the trouble?”
Your fingers trace down the bridge of his nose, your heart gooey and soft in more ways than you can understand.
“I’m the luckiest girl in the world to have you, Sugu.”
His head tilts with curiosity, eyes drooping in contemplation. He doesn’t say it but you can hear him asking “are you sure?”, but his doubt is enough for you to seal the truth with a kiss, and when Suguru returns it, you’re once again dissolving in his affection.
Your limbs tangle into one another, your bodies pressed so close that you can feel every hard muscle. The bed sheet rumples, is lifted away from the corners as it gathers messily. Suguru’s hand glides up your torso, over the swell of your breasts, and he hooks his fingers around your throat to tilt your neck to the side and allowing him the access to kiss the column.
You thoughtfully sigh, your eyes fluttering close at the sensation of him sucking on your delicate flesh. He leaves a trail in his wake, and you shiver when his hot breath fans your ear.
“Can I ask you something?” he questions in a hush tone, his voice dipping down an octave and sprinkled with desire.
You nod your head.
“Can I go down on you?”
Your body seizes, every single cell on fire. There’s a catch in your throat, and your thighs clench together nervously at the suggestion.
You tilt your head back to face him, your noses and lips bumping in the process. “I-I can do it for you-”
He interrupts you by shaking his head, his mouth carefully kissing your cupid’s bow. “You’ve gone down on me three times already…”
You can feel yourself soaking through your bottoms. A mixture of pleasure and shame heating your cheeks.
“But...what if-what if you don’t like it? I read somewhere that not all guys do...”
Suguru scoffs, baring his teeth as he gives you a full grin. He prods the tips of his nose onto yours, wiggling it teasingly from side to side.
“You’re so fucking cute,” he confesses before adding, “I promise you, I’ll like it”
Your heart is beating so fast you can’t think, but your body speaks another language as your thighs naturally spread a little wider to invite him in.
“Okay, yeah-” you consent, “yeah, you can…”
He smirks, his hands tracing to the strings of your bottoms. You lift your hips, watching him shimmy the fabric down your legs. He stuffs the material in his back pocket, his palms spreading your inner thighs apart.
You sit yourself up on your forearms to study your boyfriend with intrigue.
“God, you’re so fucking pretty…” he sighs, his attention focused on the triangle between your legs, and your belly flutters at the direct compliment.
He doesn’t move for a second, his hands adding the slightest bit of pressure on the meat of your thighs. He licks his lips and breathes out once more, taking just a second to compose himself.
“It’ll only feel good, no pain,” he informs, “but if it’s too much for you, just tell me and I’ll stop, okay?”
Your hips relax further into the mattress, his assurance easing some of your apprehension. Your boyfriend knows how sensitive you are at this point, but you nod your in head in acknowledgement while gratefully appreciating that he regards you with such consideration.
He kisses up the apex of your thigh, carefully avoiding your sex to find a path to you hips. His tongue is sof and warm, tasting every part of your skin as it travels across your lower belly and further down your pubis. You gasp at the sensation of his breath so close to your cunt, your calf twitching when he finally places a gentle kiss on your lips.
And another kiss.
And another kiss.
And a fourth until your toes curl and he finally flattens his tongue along the slit.
“Oh,” you coo, the sensation so delicate and delicious. Suguru drags his love between your folds, up and down, and side to decide, his mouth circling around each lip as he sucks on them in between returning to glide his tongue around.
Your legs clasp around his neck, your heels resting comfortably on his back. The sound of Suguru sucking and licking up your pussy reverberates along with the storm outside. He reaches one arm to find your hand, and you intertwine your fingers to hold him tightly. His other hand slithers up your torso, and slips underneath your bikini top. He pushes the fabric above your breast, his thumb and index finger finding your tender nipple which he massages steadily as his uses his mouth to pleasure you.
The sensation builds, filters throughout your body in waves that roll over and over again. You squeak when he sucks on your clit, your heels pressing into his back but the weight of his body holds you in place to keep you from wandering away.
Your brows furrow, little tremors shaking your collar bones and your belly. “Suguru,” you whine sweetly, a moan following after when he pinches your nipple and nibbles on your clit. He lets go of your hand, his touch traveling down to your legs. He spreads your pussy, giving himself more access to bury his soft tongue deeper, further, to taste more of your nectar as it dribbles down his chest like he’s biting into fruit.
He groans into your cunt.
He grazes his tongue over your weeping hole, and your body thrashes with anguish and rapture. Your eyes spark in white, glittering like the lightning as it bursts and recedes into the ceiling above you. The band in your core is a tight spring that finally unfurls quickly and quite suddenly, your orgasm unfolding throughout your stuttering body.
“Oh, god…” you cry out, your back arching as Suguru keeps his mouth over your cunt, his hand holding you down by your lower body.
You gasp, panting heavily trying to cope with the aftermath. You think that Suguru might stop, but instead you feel him paint kisses all over your sex, rolling your nipple between his finger and moving to suck on your throbbing clit.
“Sugu?” you call out, your spine shuddering.
“Hmm?” he answers, his tongue massaging across the bud.
“You’re still…” you whimper, “you’re still going?”
He releases you with a pop, blowing air over the swollen bud before smiling into another kiss.
“You have no idea how long I can keep going”
Suguru only manages to keep his word by delivering another orgasm with his mouth buried against your cunt. You had tears in your eyes when you came, panting out “no more” with desperation because you couldn’t handle the detachment you were feeling in your own skin.
It feels so fucking good, but all too much at the same time.
Suguru doesn’t push. He won’t test his boundaries right now. Not when you’re just a vulnerable kitten in his eyes. No, the stamina will require time and patience, and for you to get used to him in the bedroom as well.
His disappointments sits between his brows when he pulls away, his hand smoothing over the curve of your pelvis as he kisses your hip and lower belly. He crawls over you like a panther, his shoulder blades rising with each calculative moment. You can smell yourself against his lips, savor your own arousal when he dips in for a kiss.
“Taste like heaven, baby girl,” he mumbles, his balmy words running over your skin like hot oil. “I could eat you out all night…”
He traces the column of your neck with his lips, and grins into your skin. You’re too shy to say anything, and he knows it. He presses his mouth against your neck, pecking over the marks that he’s imprinted.
Your hands fumble to reach for his jeans, your body desperate to do something for him too but Suguru grabs your wrists and pins them to your side before standing upright and undoing his jeans himself.
“Relax,” he insists.
Your eyes fall to his large hands undoing the button, and then unzipping the front of his pants. His grey boxers have a noticeable wet spot, and your pupils dilate when he pulls his dick out for you to see.
You tuck your bottom lip between your teeth, waiting to see what he’ll do next. He pumps his cock a few times, sighing heavily as his thumb runs over the slit. To your surprise he shifts his position, and adjusts himself until he’s perfectly aligned with you.
He taps the fat, mushroom head over your clit. “You just open up for me, don’t you?” he whispers deviously, “Let’s practice…”
He slides his dick back and forth over your slit, supports his movements by holding both your knees as he grinds his length against your cunt.
“See how far I’ll stretch you out?” he mumbles, eyes hazy with hunger. “See how deep I’ll go?”
He slides his hands up and down your thighs, rocking back and forth and using you for friction. Soft grunts and moans escape him, and in between he halts for only a second when your quivering hand finds his length. His hips stutter when you start to lightly jack him off, your thumb teasing over the head.
Your eyes fall close, imagine the burn of him spreading you apart, of him making love to your body as you mold into his frame. To feel him in all his glory, for your bodies to become.
The image is raw, vulnerable, and so, so perfect.
There is nobody else you would rather give yourself too.
Suguru is the one.
“I can’t wait,” you beg dreamily, “Need you inside me, I can’t wait-”
His grip on you tightens out of surprise upon hearing your words, and he suddenly thrusts harshly as he curses out a broken “fuck”. Ribbons of white spurt out of him, painting your belly and tainting parts of your chest.
The both of you freeze as you look down, caught off guard by what just happened.
__________________ ׂׂૢ་༘࿐ ┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ┊ ┊ ┊⋆ ┊ . ┊ ┊ ⋆˚ ✧. ┊ ⋆ ★
Suguru cleaned you up using a wet towel to wipe his cum off your belly and chest. You discarded your bikini top afterwards while he removed his jeans, with the two of you then choosing to snuggle up against one another under the sheet.
“That’s never happened to me before,” Suguru confesses, finally breaking the silence. There was a slight blush tinting his cheek bones, and you giggle as you cradle his face in your palm and trace the shade of red.
“You’re usually so in control,” you playfully remark, and Suguru simply rolls his eyes.
“Not with you, I’m not,” he admits, his arm clenching around your waist as he closes the gap of space to tuck you into his chest.
You breathe in his scent, nuzzling your nose into the fabric of his tee.
"I'm glad we're okay now."
"I am too"
You curl your fingers around his shirt. “On your birthday, and just now…we could’ve…just gone all the way. You could’ve just-”
“Not here,” Suguru states seriously, the intensity in his voice prompting you to tilt your chin up and meet his stare. He plays with your ear, traces the shell thoughtfully before gently tugging on your lobe.
The butterflies flutter once again, your irises tinting in pink. You lean forward to kiss the sharp angle of his jaw.
“What was it like for you? Your first time?”
Suguru sighs, and purses his lips as he contemplates the memory. “Yuki was good to me, and it was nice,” he admits, but you’re entranced with the way he holds your gaze. “I sure as hell wasn’t as nervous as I am now…”
“Is that why you keep holding back?” you question innocently, apropping yourself on your elbow to rest your head on your hand. The bed sheet falling and exposing your chest.
Suguru’s eyes fall, his touch tracing the slope to outline the curve of your breast. “Do you want your first time to happen after a petty argument?”
You pout your lips with amusement. “Does it matter?”
“You’re not the only one who might be in love, sweetheart,” he responds, his words greeting the shining sun peeking through the clouds. “Of course it matters.”
__________________ ׂׂૢ་༘࿐ ┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ┊ ┊ ┊⋆ ┊ . ┊ ┊ ⋆˚ ✧. ┊ ⋆ ★
tags: @sellenite @kiwibao @allofffmypeaches @sugurussbby @kunigamisbaby @pandoraium @brownskinnedgirll
my works are available on tumblr and ao3 - any fics reposted on other platforms or other Tumblr blogs have been plagiarized. do not share my works on social media (tiktok etc.) © peachsayshi 
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cinnamongorll · 4 months
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'a fragile line' - masterlist
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Pairing: Joel Miller x Female OC
Fic synopsis: three years ago, Juliet escaped her father's religious survivor camp, ending up in the Boston QZ. Juliet created a life for herself in Boston, desperate to forget the trauma of her upbringing. One day, Juliet arrives home to find a mysterious letter which forces her to return to her home town. Juliet can't travel the harsh post-apocalyptic landscape alone, so she enlists the help of the grumpy and, at times, frightening man she works alongside: Joel Miller.
Tags: extreme slow burn, age gap, older man/younger woman, protective joel, jealous joel, hurt/comfort, pov third person, mutual pining, angst, sexual tension, friends to lovers, canon-typical violence, feral joel, parental abuse, eventual smut.
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Inspired by ‘Strangers’ by Ethel Cain, ‘Haunted’ by Taylor Swift, and ‘Francesca’ by Hozier 🫀
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read on ao3 - currently 30 chapters (139k words) & usually updated every 1-2 weeks!
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read on tumblr:
chapter 1 'Marked for death'
chapter 2 'Put it on me'
chapter 3 'Twice'
chapter 4 'Something in the way'
chapter 5 'Way down we Go'
chapter 6 'Hearing Damage'
chapter 7 'Slipped'
chapter 8 'Killer + The Sound'
chapter 9 'Carolina'
chapter 10 'Salt and the Sea'
chapter 11 'Tulsa Jesus Freak'
chapter 12 'The Night We Met'
chapter 13 'First Defeat'
chapter 14 'Who We Are'
chapter 15 'Bloodstream'
chapter 16 'Villain'
chapter 17 'NFWMB'
chapter 18 ‘Funny’
chapter 19 'Strangers'
chapter 20 'No Sound But The Wind'
chapter 21 'I'm Your Man'
chapter 22 ‘Running Up That Hill’
chapter 23 'My Tears Ricochet'
chapter 24 ‘Safe and Sound’
chapter 25 'House Song'
chapter 26 'My Body is a Cage'
chapter 27 'Happiness is a Butterfly'
chapter 28 'Illicit Affairs'
chapter 29 'The Last Time'
chapter 30 'If You Lie Down With Me'
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tellmeallaboutit · 6 days
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knock knock (Raphael x F!Player)
Chapter 1, In Which You Install The Mod
FOREWORD: inspired by this post
SUMMARY: Careful which mods you install for BG3. Did you read the terms and conditions carefully?
TAGS: meta romance, psychological horror, smut, the character is the player, Raphael is after you, you wanted him, you invited him to our world, he accepted your invitation
RATING: explicit
AO3
***
You hesitated for a moment before downloading this “Devil Wears Nada” mod. It felt slightly inappropriate, absurd as it may sound. There was something disrespectful about making Raphael deliver his final monologue in the nude.
Well, you would have to live with offending a bunch of pixels because you do want these screenshots. You put the salt and vinegar Pringles out of the way and wiped your fingers on a napkin before committing this digital sin.
Clickity-click-click. You dragged-and-dropped the mod where you wanted it to be and launched Steam. Now to load the saved game where you made the deal with the devil and gave him the crown of Karsus… pretty much any saved game really. 
Raphael had been spared in each one of your playthroughs.
A sigh escaped you when the devil still appeared fully clothed in the game; had something gone wrong? You double-checked, only to realize that you'd forgotten to activate the mod - odd, since you clearly remembered doing so. Leaving the game, you dragged the mod back into place.
On your phone, in the Devil's Den discord chat, you informed everyone of Raphael's stubborn refusal to undress.
MAKE HIM! came the immediate reply, followed by STRIP THE OLD MAN, accompanied by raunchy gifs. Couldn't help but grin at that.
Back in the game, you loaded an earlier save file and sank into your chair to watch Raphael emerge from the flames, clothed once again. “You son of a…”, you muttered to yourself. It was getting late anyway; this would be your last attempt before calling it a day. Tomorrow is Tuesday and thus another work day. 
“It won’t be long before you come knocking at my door”, Raphael said, looking straight at you from the wide screen. This wall-breaking sequence was brilliantly executed—you had to admit it—very eerie.
Raphael let out a deep, hearty laugh, head thrown back, pearly teeth glistening in orange-red lighting. You didn’t see this animation before. They must have added it with the latest patch, so you moved in closer. 
Handsome as sin, this devil - if he asked for your soul, you’d hand it over on a silver platter.
Suddenly, he fell silent for several seconds, staring directly at you from across the digital divide. You reached for the mouse to check if there was a glitch in the cutscene when Raphael's voice sliced through the silence.
“You are quite eager to see me naked, aren’t you? Naughty little mouse,” Raphael taunted.
What the fuck?
WHAT THE FUCK!?
You recoiled in shock and slammed your laptop shut. A shriek must have escaped your lips, but you were too stunned to notice. It took a moment for your heart to settle and for you to remember what date it was today.
A quick glance over the watch on your wrist confirmed: it was the first of April. April first, two thousand and twenty-four. 
It was an April Fool's joke from the modders.
Oh, fuck. Having recovered from the initial shock, you cautiously opened your notebook, only to be greeted by the familiar "ta-ta" outro. Oh, fuck. This is some kind of really fucked-up prank. How did they get this voice line?
AI, probably. Not probably. Definitely. There was no way they could have involved Andrew Wincott.
You scanned the game screen for any other surprises, but found none. Picking up your phone, you opened Discord and began recording a long voice message - your fingers too clammy to type.
The replies came soon after.
Haha, this is so fucked up, did they really do this? Hm. I have to try it myself. RECORD IT, RECORD IT PLEASE!
You stared at the loading screen but couldn't bring yourself to replay it. Instead, you searched “Raphael naked mod April joke” and clicked on the first Reddit thread that popped up. You didn't even bother to open it; a quick glance at the preview comment – “crazy I almost had a heart attack” – was more than enough.
Enough for today.
You quickly brushed your teeth in the bathroom and changed into short pajamas before glancing at the laptop on the other side of the room, its camera eye peering at you from across the room. You closed the shutter.
“Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't after you”, you read somewhere.
You tucked yourself into bed, phone in hand, blanket between your legs. Was it time for a quick stroll through selected Raphael / Tav bookmarks?
No. Well, maybe. The threesome with Haarlep, just a quick re-read to help you fall asleep quicker. You were creeped out, but not that creeped out. You’ve heard of such meta jokes before. Black & White did it, Metal Gear Solid did it, too. 
But still… they really should tag this sort of stuff.
Your nightly reading was progressing nicely; things were getting interesting - “the ridges of his devil cock stroking your sensitive walls” interesting. Your hand slid into your underwear, working your finger past your hair down to your clit. This scene was very well written, you could almost feel it, picture yourself spread open between Haarlep and Raphael. 
The smut got better and better right until your phone vibrated in your hand, and you dropped it on the blanket.
Unknown caller ID.
Don't answer it, came the panicked, irrational thought as it grabbed you in a chokehold. 
You stared at the screen - the call went on and on - and pushed it aside. Swiped to the right in one quick motion and heard an automated female voice:
"This call is from Europol. We would like to inform you that your identity card number has been misused. For further information please press 1."
You hung up immediately, recognizing this as one of those scam calls that had been making rounds recently. Your mum had received one too. 
Nothing to lose sleep over.
You put the phone down and turned your back to it, trying to calm down. Screw the fanfic, you were not in the mood anymore. Well, you were, but…
Another time. 
It took some time before you could relax, your gaze fixed on the blank wall in front of you, re-playing that cutscene all over again in your head, occasionally wandering to the large window looking out over the courtyard (what a pitch black night). 
Eventually, you did. 
As you drifted off to sleep, a voice whispered in your dream:
“You are quite eager to see me naked, aren’t you? Naughty little mouse”.
The silky soft voice was so lovely; it made you feel less alone. A small smile crossed your lips as you slept.
Yes, Raphael. Very eager indeed. 
Tomorrow. You’ll try again tomorrow.
NEXT: Chapter 2, In Which You Meet A Tall Dark Stranger
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ladynoirjuly · 11 months
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Ladynoir July 2023 is almost here! We are very excited for this year’s event and hope you all are ready to create some content since we are missing it in canon right now! Super huge thanks again to one of our mods @chocoluckchipz for making this amazing calendar (with some assist from @ladyofthenoodle)!
The Ladynoir July discord server came up with and voted on this year’s prompts. If you would like to be part of the prompt selection process in the future, or if you just want to hang out in a quiet, salt-free server that loves Ladynoir, feel free to reach out for an invite in DMs.
To participate in this event, use the prompts (also written out below the cut) during the month of July to create art, fic, gifs, music, cosplay, anything you want! Just be sure to @ this blog and use the tag #ladynoirjuly2023. You do not have to do the prompts in order, nor do you have to do all of them. Do as many or as few as you’d like, and, most importantly, don’t forget to have fun!
That being said, please keep in mind a few rules:
1. This is a salt-free event. Please keep all of your submissions free of heavy critique/bashing of the show/characters/ships.
2. Please keep your submissions centred around Ladynoir. You may include other corners of the Lovesquare, but the majority of the work should be revolving around Ladynoir.
3. This event is open to people of all ages. NSFW submissions are allowed, but please put them under a Read More and tag appropriately.
4. Have fun!
Works that do not adhere to these rules will not be reblogged.
If your work hasn’t been reblogged within 48 hours, please, check if you’ve mentioned this blog in your post ( @ladynoirjuly​ ) AND tagged your work with #ladynoirjuly2023. If everything is in order but your work was still not reblogged, please, reach out to the mod team. We’ll do our bests not to miss anyone, but sometimes things slip through.
We can’t wait to see what you all come up with this year!
Wedding Bells
Emergency Contact
Truth or Dare
Cards
Shooting Stars
That Costume Suits You
My Boyfriend vs Your Girlfriend
In Another Life
I Lied
Trust Fall
Don’t Let Go
Trapped
In the Dark
Lingering Touch
Shared Dreams
Rewrite the Stars
Roses
Sunrise
Vigilante
Undercover
Masquerade
Entangled
If I Never Saw You Again
Out of Time
In the Rain
Oh… oh.
Name
You Still Have Me
Back to Back
Against the World
In Every Universe
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cranberrymoons · 4 months
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tis the season
prompt: platonic stobin (@steddieholidaydrabbles) word count: 581 rated: t tags: road trip, bickering, fluff, and one (1) daddy joke 💀
welcome to Day 17 of the fic advent calendar – bite-sized fics posting every day during the month of december. enjoy!
“If you’d just –”
“I told you, I didn’t –”
“It’s not my fault you –”
“Listen, Buckley, I’m –”
“Guys,” Steve says, cutting through their bickering. His hands are tight on the steering wheel, and he can feel his shoulders bunching up around his ears, and they’ve been trapped in this car for god knows how fucking long, and he just – “Cool it.”
Robin huffs, flopping back in her seat. “Sorry, Dad.”
Eddie does too, turning around from where he’d been twisted fully in the passenger seat to argue with her about whose fault it was that they ran out of car snacks a half hour ago. (It was Steve’s actually; he finished the pretzels when no one was looking, but he’s not about to rat himself out and face down the combined force of their snack wrath.)
“I’d call you Dad too,” Eddie says. “But that usually goes the other way around for us, doesn’t it?”
Robin makes a disgusted sound, and Steve catches a glimpse of her outraged face as she surges forward to punch Eddie on the shoulder.
“Okay, just –” Steve reaches behind himself, batting at Robin halfheartedly, cheeks going warm as he glares at Eddie out of the corner of his eye. “Chill. There’s a truck stop –” He squints at an approaching sign. “A mile ahead. Just hold out for literally one minute, and then you can have all the snacks you can carry.”
Robin huffs, and Eddie grumbles under his breath, and they both lean against opposite windows like a couple of sullen teenagers, but Steve manages to get them safely off the road and to the gas station without further incident, which he counts as a win. 
“We both know it was you, by the way,” Eddie tells him once they’re inside, wandering down a long aisle of chips, shoulders bumping under the glaring fluorescents of the convenience store. “Snack monster.”
Steve smiles, letting out a little laugh. He turns to Eddie, toe to toe in front of the salt and vinegar chips. 
“You don’t actually know it was me,” he says, narrowing his eyes. “You can’t prove it.”
“Are you kidding? I was present at the scene of the crime.” He leans closer, and Steve sways toward him, but Eddie just grabs a bag of Doritos from the shelf behind him and retreats. He shakes them in Steve’s direction. “These are going under lock and key, by the way.”
Steve rolls his eyes. “Whatever, dude.”
“Dude.” 
Eddie’s grin flashes at him as he starts back down the aisle in the direction they came. Steve follows, and they find Robin near the register, examining a rack of Santa hats with possibly too much intensity. 
“Buckley,” Eddie says. He tosses her a bag of Combos, which she catches in two fumbling hands. “Dude. What’re you doing?’
“Trying to decide which of these Christmas-themed trucker hats I’m going to buy,” she says. She plucks one off the rack and shoves it on her head, turning to face them. “Thoughts?”
It has an embroidered torso with ornaments for boobs, and it says Tits the Season in script. Steve nods very seriously, clutching a fresh bag of pretzels. 
“It’s perfect for you,” he says, and he’s only joking a little bit. “Matches your eyes.”
“Good,” she says. She takes it off her head and shoves it into his chest. “You can buy it for me, since you’re the one who ate all the fucking snacks.”
[also on ao3]
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jinxed-lemon · 2 months
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Part 2 to my original post of Mean Siblings Unbreakable Bond because it’s funny writing them:
Whenever they play an outdoor game like Hide and Seek or Tag, it’s a battle to the death to achieve victory. Sonic usually wins the most bc he’s the fastest, so the one ace in his sleeve that Tails learned to pull is the waterworks. Sonic find him during hide and seek? Tears. Sonic is close to tagging him? Tails will fall down and pretend to get hurt and start sobbing. Sonic falls for it every time.
Doing laundry? They make it last for hours on end bc they’ll literally take each others stuff out of the wash mid cycle to out their own in. It pisses the other off so much to the point where they’re constantly stopping the wash to switch out the clothes. Oh, Sonic is washing his old blue hoodie??? Too bad, Tails yanks it out of the washing machine sopping wet and drops it on the floor with a splat to put his blanket in. They know that they can probably just wash their stuff together but it’s funnier this way.
They’re play fighting and Tails learned to do that infamous leg kick. You know the move you do when you’re cornered on your back? He just starts kicking his legs at full speed and Sonic starts screaming bc it’s nearly impossible to get past that move.
Sonic is eating chips and he has dust all over his hands? He purposely bypasses the numerous napkins they have just to go up to Tails and wipe his hands over his head to have the chip dust fall on top of him. Tails retaliates by shaking the empty chip bag over Sonic’s head.
Tails is an avid coffee drinker and Sonic has tried everything to stop his addiction. So he tries the famous ‘replace the sugar with salt’ trick to mess with him. One morning Tails puts the salt in instead and when he takes a sip Sonic already had that shit eating grin on his face. Tails immediately spits the coffee in his face and Sonic fall to the ground screaming.
Tails take advantage of his shorter height and sneakiness to kneel down and tie Sonic’s shoe laces. He’ll fall face first and before Tails can book it away Sonic will stick his leg out and make his brother fall too.
Their favorite way to embarrass the other is going onto each others social media accounts and changing something about their profile. Tails logs on one day and finds that his profile picture had been changed to an embarrassing photo Sonic took of him one day and PROMISED not to show anyone else. Sonic goes into his Twitter and for some reason there’s hundreds of posts hyping up Eggman and basically talking about how Eggman is the best/greatest, etc. His profile, header- everything is basically changed to pro-Eggman propaganda.
Fans: are you and Eggman friends now???
Sonic: I was hacked I would never say this shit pls you gotta believe me 😭
Tails LOVES bringing up the ‘divorced parents’ story whenever someone asks about the relationship between him and Sonic. Like Sonic is about to explain how Tails is his adoptive brother and Tails immediately interrupts and says, “Yeah, this is my dad. He got custody of me after the divorce and it’s been really hard lately so try to be nice to him ok? :(“
They’re eating out at a diner/restaurant and Sonic looooves secretly telling the waiters that it’s Tail’s birthday so they’ll do that embarrassing thing of coming to their table and singing happy birthday in front of the whole restaurant. Tails is mortified and covers his face every time and Sonic will record the whole thing like a corny parent and say “Oh he’s just a little shy! Smile at the camera Tails!1!!1!! 😁”
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thedreamlessnights · 4 months
Text
Give The Devil His Due - pt. 1
Gale x F!Reader
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Warnings and Tags: Major BG3 Ending and Epilogue Spoilers. Mentions of death, the use of the Netherese orb, grieving/loss. Deal with a Devil. Angst with a happy ending.
Synopsis: After Gale sacrifices himself to save Faerûn, his soul resides in a place out of reach of mortal magic. Not out of reach of immortal magic, though.
Word Count: 2.8k
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It’s not like you to linger at the edge of a party, and - gods. Especially not one like this.
In every respect, this night should be fantastic. Friends are all around, there's wine and lively music, and you’re the closest thing to happy that you’ve been in the last six months.
Yet here you are, hovering on the sidelines, feeling like there’s a hole cut into your chest. No, this isn’t much like you, but you haven’t truly been yourself since the day you lost Gale.
He should be here, you keep thinking. He should be at your side, making awful puns, looking handsome as ever. Missing him is a constant, now, but the pain has flared into agony tonight. It feels like it’s splitting you in two. You can barely stomach the wine.
You’ve done your dues, of course. Greeted your companions, hugged your fair share, and talked briefly about life. Still, the pity in everyone’s eyes had felt like salt in your very open wound, and now you don’t trust yourself to make conversation without crying.
Which leaves you to wander around with your wine, trying not to feel like every bit of this familiar camp is a dagger between your ribs. Judging by the way you can’t seem to breathe, it doesn’t seem to be working.
And then, mid-sip of wine, you look up and there he is. Gale of Waterdeep, with Tara at his side.
You’re no stranger to these hallucinations; you’ve experienced them nearly every day since his sacrifice. A flash of Gale in the crowds, a hint of his face in strangers, the ghostly feeling of him pressed against you on the coldest nights.
But those had been different. In your previous sightings, he’d vanished just as soon as he’d appeared. This Gale is here, standing off to the side of Withers’ party, flickering with magic. No matter how many times you shut your eyes, he’s still there when you open them again.
It isn’t him. You know it isn’t. You’ve seen his magical projections before. Still, Gale must have made this. And, aside from the glowing eyes and outline, it’s a dead-on replication of him. Having one of his creations so near, so very like him, is enough of Gale’s presence to make your knees feel weak.
When you approach, the form speaks. You barely hear it. Your hands are shaking so badly that your wine sloshes out of the glass and onto your clothing. You finally let it fall, not sparing as much as a glance toward it, even when you feel it splash against your boots.
Gale, or this image of him, is your sole focus. Everything else, stains included, is irrelevant.
“I am a magical projection of Gale of Waterdeep,” the false Gale is saying. It takes a moment for you to process the distorted tone, the muffled voice you remember so very well.
A projection. Just as you’d known.
“If you see this manifestation,” he continues, “that means I have prematurely perished.”
You know this spiel, too. You’d seen it after a terrible moment where Gale had died post-ambush in the Shadowlands. It had given a complicated set of instructions to revive him. You’d know this speech in your sleep.
The next words are different from the usual, though.
“Alas, on this occasion, I appear to have been erased from this plane in both soul and substance, so the usual protocol for revivification cannot be followed.”
Something twists internally. Painful. Sharp. Not that you’d had any hope, but… hearing it is like this so much worse. You swallow hard, suddenly wishing you hadn’t dropped your wine, but the damned thing is still talking.
“I am, however,” the projection continues, “available for the duration of this spell to assist with the tying of any loose ends related to my recent departure from mortality.”
Those words feel like a harsh kick to the ribs. Gale is dead, and what he’d left behind is insurmountable grief, not loose ends. The weight in your chest is loss, not something that can be mended by a quick word or brief spell.
And yet, your mouth moves of its own accord. “Revivification?” you find yourself asking. Anything to hear more of his voice, even marred as it is.
“Indeed,” he replies. “A series of elegantly designed failsafes to be executed in order to reverse the occurrence of my unexpected but impermanent demise.”
The mild taste in your mind sours. Gale’s death had been unexpected, yes. But not impermanent. You know that. Still, you nod as he further explains, clinging on to every trace, every syllable, every detail of him.
He goes on: “As I am unable to detect any trace of my existence in reach of mortal magic, however, such a protocol would in this instance be destined to fail.”
But of course. Mortal magic. Surely Mystra could bring him back if she wanted to, but his death is far too convenient for her, isn't it? To have Gale out of her mind, no longer nagging her?
You can't think of a single thing to say in response that isn't plain cruel.
The projection pauses at your silence, then proceeds on. “The good news is, I am here precisely to assist in cushioning that heaviest of blows.”
You fail to bite back a laugh hearing that. It spills from your lips like tar, dark and sticky; the sound is pained, but it bubbles up through your chest all the same. It’s so like Gale, to think he’s worth so little that a mere projection could somehow aid in his loss.
The next thing the projection says, however, renders you completely and utterly speechless.
“I have been entrusted with the delivery of a letter to be read by the one who loved me most,” he announces. “I hope these words do something to ease the tragedy of my untimely and honestly quite unexpected passing.”
Gods, you think. A letter. Had Gale left something behind that you’d missed? Had he set this up in advance, knowing this might be the outcome?
The projection conjures up a pouch very similar to the one you’d seen when you’d had to revive him all that time ago, and it gently floats over to you until it’s within reach.
The moment it meets your hands, you can swear that a shiver of magic runs through your fingers. Sharp tingling, the scent of rosewater, a flash of Gale’s smile in your mind’s eye.
How could you ever have let him go? How could you, despite his insistence, have let him sacrifice himself that way? Even more than loss, you feel self-hatred. You feel regret, anger, despair.
Gale is gone. All that's left of him is the objects he’d left behind. They’re nothing at all in comparison to him.
“With that,” the projection says, interrupting your thoughts, “I’m afraid my spell is waning. Is there anything else you need of me, before I blink out of existence?”
Yes, you think. Yes, don’t go, stay here with me - even if you aren't him.
And like a complete fool, your treacherous body reaches out to this projection of him, false as he is, and tries to kiss him.
Your lips meet nothing but air. Nothing but that same shiver of magic you’d felt when touching the pouch, so undeniably Gale.
The projection stares at you for a moment, something like sadness in his eyes, and steps just the slightest bit closer. “I can see why I loved you,” he says.
With a burst of light, the projection fades into nothing but the flickering remnants of magic, shimmering in the air like stars in the deep velvet sky.
The immediate, immense grief that possesses you brings you to your knees.
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After the night with the projection, two words stay with you.
Mortal magic.
Gale is beyond the reach of mortal magic. But the projection hadn't said anything about magic beyond mortal reach.
So, you do what Gale had done best: you research.
Your grief turns obsessive. You toss and turn through the nights, unable to sleep. You’ve been staying in Gale’s tower in Waterdeep, but the echoes of his presence prove too much, and you soon find a place nearby - close enough to visit when you’d like, but distanced enough to remove yourself when you need.
There’s only so many times you can listen to Morena crying for her son before it feels like it’s suffocating you.
When you finally find what you’ve been looking for - after blood and sweat and tears, bargaining, crying, pages and pages of research, and countless sleepless nights - it almost doesn't feel real.
But there’s a summoning scroll that’s warm in your hands, and it’s real enough that when you open it and read the words, the scent of cinnamon and honey fills the room. Within seconds, a familiar figure is materializing before you.
Tall. Smug. Wreathed in hellfire that slowly fades away.
“My, my,” he purrs, his gaze trailing over you from head to toe. “The Savior of Baldur’s Gate, calling my name. To what do I owe the pleasure?”
Your eyes narrow. “We both know that it wasn't me who saved the city, Raphael.”
The crown’s power is so potent that you can almost see it: a flickering aura around him, present even in the curve of his cutting smile. It’s true, then. He’d fished the Netherstones out of the river and recrafted it. If Gale had been the one to wear it…
“Perhaps,” Raphael replies. “But seeing as you currently hold the title, I thought it appropriate.”
You’ve been planning this out for weeks now, but your planned speech turns to ash in your mind. “I want him back,” you say instead.
“Him?” Raphael repeats, perching his hand under his chin. “I’m afraid you’ll have to be a touch more specific-”
“Gale,” you cut in. You’re in no mood for his games. “I want Gale back. Alive.”
Poorly-masked delight crosses over the devil’s features. You doubt he’s really trying to hide it, though. “And what could you possibly offer me that I don't already possess?”
“My soul.”
Your voice shakes a little as you say it, betraying you, but you’re more sure about this than anything else. No one will miss you like Gale is missed. You have no family left behind to mourn you, no tower full of unfinished research, no tressym to ache for the warmth of your lap.
Whatever the cost, you want Gale back. With the crown, Raphael has the power to do that.
But he simply tilts his head back and laughs. “I’m afraid I’ve… outgrown those kind of deals,” he says.
A small shard of fear slices through your gut. You hadn't considered anything else, but what could you give him that’s any worse than your soul?
You fold your arms across your chest and hold his gaze, ignoring the way your eyes desperately yearn to flit away. “What do you want, then?”
“Now that is the question,” Raphael muses, holding up a hand and giving it a loose twirl. “I’ve always had a fondness for humans. Such spirit; such devotion! You’re hailed as the hero of the city, yet here you are - offering me your soul. All in exchange for someone who, if I’m not mistaken, chose to sacrifice himself.”
Red-hot anger flares in your chest. There are a thousand things you could say, but you force yourself to swallow them down. You only have one chance at this.
“Yes,” you reply softly. “The someone who made it possible for you to retrieve the Crown of Karsus.”
“True,” Raphael admits, lifting a brow. “His sacrifice was useful, I suppose.”
You wait for him to go on, but he doesn't. Instead, he sits and watches you the way a lion watches its prey. Patient. Tense. Waiting for its reward.
“Raphael-”
“I’ll... consider what you’ve said,” he interrupts, straightening up and flashing you a smile. “Until then, I suggest sitting tight. What a waste it would be for the hero of Baldur’s Gate to waste away in grief, hm?”
He snaps his fingers, and as soon as the sound has hit your ears, he's dissolving into a burst of flame. You’re left with nothing.
You’ve been left with that more often than not, lately.
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What would a devil want if not a soul?
It's the question you keep pondering time and time again. Raphael had laughed at your offer, but he hadn't turned you down flat. He’d said he would consider your proposition.
You aren't even sure what it is you'd proposed.
That he bring Gale back simply because his death had allowed Raphael to access the crown? That he do you some form of favor because of his admiration for humans?
You know enough of devils to know there is always a cost, but what exactly is it? What greater offering is there than a soul?
It’s the thought that keeps you up at night as the months roll by, plagued by insomnia. What could he possibly want from you that would prove more valuable? All you can do is wait for Raphael’s return, but the waiting is agony. Whatever his response, he’s in no hurry to give it. And in the meantime, you’re still forced to live without Gale.
The one year anniversary of the city being saved is a celebration for most. For you, it marks one year from the worst day of your life. That scene still plagues you most nights. Gale, insisting he sacrifice himself. Teleporting you and the others to safety. A flash of light. The tadpole, disintegrating in your brain.
And the worst part: the emptiness afterward. Knowing he was gone. No joy. No relief. Just numbness. A neverending loss.
The days afterward were a blur. Finding his pack. Gathering his things. Giving Tara and Morena the news.
You hadn't had the strength to look at his possessions for months, and when you had, your findings had made it so much worse.
A small ring, fitted for your finger. A note, written with clumsy handwriting. Addendums scrawled on the sidelines. Phrases scribbled out, and rewritten. A rehearsal for a marriage proposal he’d never gotten to give.
Gods, the loss you’d felt. The self-hatred.
It’s unbearable. It's what you keep thinking to yourself - that all of this is so unbearable.
It’s even what you’re thinking in the middle of the library in Gale’s tower, Morena at your side and Tara at your feet, mourning your losses. The three of you are so caught up in grief that you nearly miss the swirling oval of purple light that appears in the middle of the room.
It’s unbearable. And then, as your eyes lock onto the portal, it’s suddenly not.
Purple light begins to swirl through the room. Your limbs go cold. From head to toe, electricity seems to course through you - soaking into skin, into veins, almost painful. Even before anything happens, you simply know that something is either incredibly right or incredibly wrong.
Then Gale Dekarios stumbles out of the portal as if shoved, gasping for air, his hand placed over his chest, and the room goes silent.
Your heart starts racing so fast, you’re half sure it’s going to explode. Tara lets out a yowl that could rupture an eardrum. Morena freezes in place, practically a statue, not seeming to believe what she’s seeing.
Gale is here, and alive, and seemingly unharmed.
He’s dressed in his classic purple wizard robes. His earring is in place, as always. Beautiful grey streaks in dark hair. Warm brown eyes. Almost exactly the same as he’d looked when you’d first met him.
The only thing missing is the orb in his chest.
Your body moves automatically. Your hands reach for his face and find warm skin - real Gale, your Gale - and your mouth meets his the way you’ve longed for the last year.
Against your lips, Gale lets out a soft sound of surprise. You’re so happy to see him, to touch him, that you have to fight off the urge to melt into his arms. But as soon as you’ve pulled away, you know something is wrong.
His brows are pinched together in confusion. He’s not pulling you close. And, as you stare up at him, he lets out a shaky breath. Perplexion, not relief. Not desire. Not love.
You take a small step back.
“Mr. Dekarios, surely you can do better than that,” Tara chides, perching herself on a table beside him.
“Tara?” he breathes, glancing at her. His eyes turn back to you, and it’s like your lungs won’t quite get air. “I, er - forgive me,” he starts. “Do we… know each other?”
And all at once, as your heart tears into a thousand tiny pieces, you know Raphael’s cost.
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when-pigsfly · 3 months
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WITCHING HOUR, CH. 1/3 — [18+]
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(18+) - MARKED FOR EVENTUAL SMUT, MINORS DNI!
fem!reader x arthur morgan
summary: most people in the area had issues with coyotes. yours wore a cowboy hat, but you let him in anyways. tags: marked 18+ for smut in later chapters, reader has a backstory kinda (but also not kinda), referred to as lady/ma’am/etc, arthur doesn’t know how chickens work, i really don’t know my farm lore
word count: 5.5k
a/n: setting this pre-chapter 2 ish and post chapter 1, except it’s winter for realsies, Because I Can. and please no questions about chicken logistics or I Will Cry.
you can find a link to the playlist here!
The fictitious “stranger,” by all accounts, was possessed. 
Possessed by an air so overwhelming, so sure, that it incited perversity in even the most upright.
He was an outlaw, by the cut of the whispers. The story went that he’d rolled in like a heavy fog, altogether quiet and unassuming, though still carrying the foreboding quality that preceded the raising of hackles. Mothers kept watchful eyes over their daughters, and more notably, the fathers brandished their guns. 
And yet—that maddening yet—the mothers seemed to care little for their own warnings, and even the fathers were envious of a man dripping with exploits they didn’t have the luxury of entertaining.
Luxuries and lack thereof aside, the fickleness of those who spoke of him had not gone entirely unnoticed; it lent no plausibility, no substance to the dream-like tales they’d crafted in their drunken stupors. The most substance you’d seen had been spewed into the shadowy corners of Valentine, pissed into not-quite pristine patches of snow, foul stench leaking out onto already foul streets before it followed you back to the farm.
It stunk. 
It stunk, and it loitered, and it’d been stealing from you.
Which is exactly why—when he shows up on your rickety porch just as winter has begun to bleed out into spring—you take up the mantle of digging your loaded barrel right into his sternum. 
The front door tremors behind you.
The stranger shifts on his feet. 
You shift with him, and gloved hands inch toward the stars in surrender not long after. 
Amorphous mass comes to your mind first, rather than man. You can only discern the more essential points of his appearance: the gloves, the satchel, the rifle slung over his back. Knives are stashed somewhere you can’t see—if he’s worth his salt—but everything else blends into the dark line of trees behind him. You swallow a rather painful yawn.
His hat, evidently beaten to hell and back several times over, sits low enough on his forehead to cast shadows over his features—though not low enough to completely obscure the faint outline of a face from your view. The rest of him only falls into place once you crane your head to find his eyes. 
As is customary in situations concerning your immediate safety, your throat constricts, and the second yawn you feel crawling up your throat nearly succeeds in asphyxiating you. 
Petty crimes would have granted him a slighter frame, but no petty crime you can think of could have afforded him the sturdy chest, the buckling of the air around him, the crooked line of his nose, clearly less cared for than his battered clothing. He’s still a little blurred—largely from a lack of sleep on your end, and the protection of his hat on his. Even so, the hard set of his gaze offers nothing other than the tale of cruelty lived and the promise of cruelty to come. 
There was no doubt. This had to be him.
(You might think him handsome, if not for the fact that it’s a quarter past three in the morning.)
The first breach in his stony composure that you catch is paper thin. Fleeting. And he’s quick to recover; any indication of surprise is sequestered with a blink. The second is an awkward shifting of his stubble-shrouded jaw, and you note with a squint that his bandana still hangs feebly off the jut of his chin. 
He admits defeat after a few clumsy seconds. Cracks a wicked smile, bright as the moon peeking out from behind the crown of his hat. But it falls away quickly. Somewhere in the distance a tree branch creaks, tiny shards of ice scattering to the ground and tinkling like bells.
He was calm. Entirely too calm, considering where he stood. His hands haven’t budged, and nothing in his stance hints at an intent to attack. If you didn’t know any better, you’d say he looks more annoyed by your presence than you are by his. 
You try not to think about his eyes. There’s something else in there, too. Apart from the agitation that radiates from them, that is. It lurks deep beneath the blue and wades through the slight dilation of his pupils; it urges him closer—or, is it you?—like the distance between the two of you isn’t sustained by the twitchy arms of a jittery woman holding a rifle.
But there’s an abrupt wind that fiddles with the cotton threads of your chemise, and you’re suddenly struck with the realization that no, your hunting rifle isn’t loaded, and in your haste to confront him you’d forgotten your boots and shawl. 
The nighttime chill, ever the tyrant, lodges itself where the wooden boards scratch eagerly at your bare feet. You were cold, so cold that it ached, and you were tired. But it’d do you no good to show your hand this early. So like the hiss of a rattlesnake, you keep your voice low, and you keep it lethal. 
The stranger is named by the venom falling from your tongue.
“You’ve got ten seconds to convince me not to unload this lead into your chest, Morgan.” You track the added prod of the gun to ground yourself, eyelids still heavy with sleep.
It doesn’t do much, as far as threats go. Morgan’s ever steady breathing still accents the now stagnant winter wind, a stark contrast to the throb of your heart striking your ribs. But a small scar, carved into the flesh of his right cheek, has made an almost imperceptible shift. The rest of his features take far more liberties with their movement—
—and he’s scowling.
Your heart strikes louder.
God, the shit you would shovel to be able to read minds. Animals have always been more your speed; people were a hassle—far too unpredictable, and they tended to reap fewer rewards. 
In your mind's eye, Arthur lies silently amongst the fallen snow, red unfurling behind him like wings. You’d hate to have to kill him, you really would. But there was nothing more dangerous than indecisiveness: it killed, and often relentlessly.
Only, you’ve been staring too long. It’s long enough to rouse Morgan from whatever state he’d been in before you’d spoken. He’s smart enough to keep his palms facing you, and he dips his head with the same mildness that one might use to soothe a startled mare. The scowl is tamped down, smile returning to him like water running through a scraggly creek. 
“Evenin’, Miss.” He drawls.
And it works. You hate that it works. There’s a dull heat that seizes your lungs at the low timbre of his voice, something akin to fire. 
No. No, nothing like it. It was more like the cheap whiskey you’d downed that first night working as a farmhand, all those months ago. It’d numbed your tongue, tumbled down your throat like sun-warmed stone, and simmered in your stomach. You hadn’t dared take another swig after that. Too dangerous. But it’s easy enough, passing your shudder off as a trick of the cold and cocking your head incredulously. 
“Showing up uninvited, and you can’t do me the courtesy of knowing my name?” One push of the rifle sends him back with surprising ease—away from the cabin, and away from that damned moonlight. “Ma’am will do you just fine,” you spit.
His smile fractures. Not enough to truly frighten, but enough to make your fingers clench. “You talk to all your guests like that, Ma’am?” 
You steel yourself. “Only the sneaks.”
At this, Morgan stills. Shuts his eyes. 
Did he really think you wouldn’t notice?
The farm had more issues with coyotes than crooks; that’s what you’d been hired to take care of, more or less. Your employers—the Campbells—were getting on in their years, and were in desperate need of someone to help keep watch during the nights. So imagine the surprise when you’d found not a coyote, but a wanted man sliding through the shadows. 
It’d angered you, that first time he’d gotten away. You’d only recognized him long after he’d left. But after that night, you’d made a show of firing off rounds into the nearby woods and roaming the perimeter of the grounds under the guise of a late-night hunt. 
From what you knew, he hadn’t come back to steal, but you knew you’d seen him lingering. Felt him watching. Waiting for something—but you’d made sure that every pop of your rifle drove him further and further from whatever it was that he’d been aiming for. And now Arthur Morgan is here.
He furrows his eyebrows, purses his lips, and they disappear for a moment when he goes to wet them before he speaks again, a little less amused. “Now you know I mean no offense—”
“No offense? Well, I’d kill to see what you and your ilk consider offensive.” 
The wind slams the front door shut. 
“My ilk?”
You wonder if it’d been your goal all along, trying to rile him up like this. Accusations slide out of your mouth and into the night air far too easily for it not to be. But the thought of anything other than catching him red-handed occupying your head unnerves you, sending you another two steps forward and into the powdery snow.
“Jesus, woman! Alright, alright.” Morgan’s eyes finally leave you, darting between where your feet dig into the cold ground and the muzzle of the gun pressed to his chest. He slumps his shoulders and looks up to the sky, still an ugly grey-black from the thin dusting of snow the night before. 
“Look,” he starts, hands fighting the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose, “I don’t mean no harm. I swear it. I’m—just give me a minute to explain, will you? One minute, and I’ll be out of your hair.”
There’s a please somewhere in there, left unsaid yet still ever so loud. You think it might have left him in the puff of breath that still hangs above your heads; hot and heavy in his mouth, but turned to nothing but vapors once it misses its chance to solidify.
You eye him warily. This could be over and done with in a matter of seconds, and you might be able to knock that godawful mustache clean off of Sheriff Malloy’s face. You kill him—or turn him in so long as he didn’t bleed out, whichever came first—and get whatever bounty was nailed to his head. Use the money to get out. Get your freedom. Stop biding your time, and get revenge. 
And yet.
And yet.
“…You lying to me, Morgan?”
His shoulders straighten out, suddenly very tense. “‘Course not. You think me the lyin’ sort?”
Your voice flattens. “I figured that much was obvious.”
“Ouch, lady. Not willing to pull your punches for little old me?”
“You’d rather the lady use the gun?”
“Neither, thank you. And, speaking of which–” His chest deflates a bit, putting space between the two of you without having to step back. “—quit swingin’ that thing around. You’ll take someone’s eye out.”
Exhaustion mounting, you lower your rifle slowly. You keep your eyes trained on a pebble that’s escaped the snowfall relatively unscathed, not trusting yourself to look anywhere else. Conceding with a sniff, you toss your head toward the front door. It’s quiet, now. 
“Get in, before I change my mind—and no funny business, neither. Guns, knives, whatever else you’re hiding, drop ‘em. Right here.”
Too groggy to note the stalling of movement, you wait for the clinking of metal to stop. His boots retreat from your peripheral far more reluctantly than you expect. There’s a telltale groaning of wood, and you turn to find Morgan gazing down at you with an outstretched hand from where he’s hopped onto the porch. He murmurs with a reverence that you’re sure is misplaced, so quiet that you have to watch his lips to catch even a smidgen of what he says. 
“Yes, ma’am.”
This was a game to him. You knew games. And so when you go to place your hand in his it’s to eye him down, back him into whatever corner would hold him and keep him there till you knew why he’d spent the last month haunting your lodgings like a ghost.
Calloused fingers wrap around your hand like a vice, and when he’s guiding you and your icy feet up the stairs it strikes you that maybe—just maybe—your assessment of your situation had been far too impetuous. Arthur’s touch is surprisingly clinical, but even through the leather of his gloves, it was warm. Too warm. 
Ghosts weren’t warm. Or, at least you didn’t think they were. And Morgan, looking like the very paragon of the West, all bright eyes and honeyed words, had given you a glimpse of something far too beguiling not to investigate. It’s when he presses the back of his free hand to your wind-bitten cheeks that you wonder what your father might think.
“Chilled, right to the bone.” It isn’t so much a mutter as it is a rumble, reverberating somewhere deep in his throat and traveling up to where the two of you have made contact. You’re avoiding his eyes again, but you’re close enough now to be able to see his muscles working his neck. 
His smell overtakes you much like the cold has. The freshness of the pine needles still stuck to his coat makes up most of what you’re able to distinguish. A little bit of horse, too—he’d ridden here. Where exactly he’d hitched his horse was a mystery. But with the proximity of his sleeve to your nose, you can make out the faintest hints of a potent musk. It’s everywhere: in your nose, your mouth, under your skin. Every inhale turns your muscles into piteous liquid. There’s no hiding your shudder, this time.
Morgan suddenly yanks his hand back as if scorched, and schools whatever expression he’d been wearing prior into one of indifference. He hums. Frowns. 
“Let’s…uh, get you inside.”
You offer a tight nod and turn away, but Morgan is quick to the draw; he whispers a quick “pardon me,” and goes to retrieve the weapons he’d dropped in your stead. 
Oh. You’d forgotten. It seems he’d forgotten too, brushing the mixture of dirt and snow away and mumbling something about keeping his guns warm. You’re left standing dazed on the porch, skin still blistering from where his fingers had met your skin.
Morgan has the decency to look at least a little troubled when he returns. He places what he’s collected into your arms before opening the front door, and gestures for you to enter. You offer one last look to the moon before following him inside.
__
Your judgment on Morgan—Arthur, now—was still up for debate. But your punishment for rushing to catch him had been doled out almost immediately. 
For your feet, a numbness that the fireplace had been bullied into chipping away at. Your hands are still tight from the cold, and they sit tucked underneath your thighs with the added protection of a few blankets that’d been placed over your shoulders. Your eyes flick over from the fire to Arthur, and your chest tightens. 
He’s found his seat across from you: coat and satchel on the back of a chair he’s pulled from the dining table, big hands tapping away absentmindedly at his knees. With the coat set aside, there’s nothing to hide the first few buttons of his shirt that hang open, pitch black and rolled up to his forearms to account for the warmth of the fireplace. His hat remains, hair still tucked away and settled at the nape of his neck.
You’d both been sitting in silence for the last half hour, despite Arthur’s insistence on “one minute,” letting the cold of the outdoors thaw out before saying anything that might get the rifle pulled again. You did gain a bit of satisfaction at the slight tinge of red in Arthur’s ears; it seemed the cold had gotten to him, too.
You watch as his eyes wander over the furnishings of your cabin. Thankfully, the door to your bedroom is only slightly ajar, and the knot in your chest lessens. It wasn’t often (or ever) that you had visitors over, which meant that most of your things were tucked haphazardly into corners or set on kitchen counters.
The Campbells—generous as they already were—had insisted you take up residence in a cabin on their property that once belonged to a daughter of theirs. She’d long since moved out, but the light in their eyes at the thought of it being occupied again was undeniable. It wasn’t much, but it was yours. And Arthur was seeing all of it.  
“Don’t get too comfy.” You frown. “…Arthur.” He beams, and suddenly there’s something incredibly interesting lingering right by your foot. 
His name still feels foreign when it leaves you. At first, you’d taken it as a show of good faith; he’d sworn to keep his mud-caked boots off of your rug in exchange for keeping his feet from becoming bullet-ridden by the time the sun came up. Arthur, feeling like he’d gotten the shitty end of the stick, had joked that you may as well call him by his first name. The last person with the guts to threaten him with a shotgun had, so what was one more?
It was a weak threat, if one at all. You knew, and he knew, that you were just about the only person this side of the Grizzlies who was vaguely aware of who he was. You’d seen it in his face when you’d called him by name. It’d be an insult to call it fear; an expectation of an inconvenience would be more accurate.
Luckily for him, you didn’t care. Not right now, at least. Imposing as he was, you refused to be cowed into going along with whatever it was that he'd planned. 
Your heel messes with the leg of your chair. “Don’t you go forgetting why I brought you here in the first place.”
“Not quite sure if I’d use that wording—“
“Can it, Morgan.”
His jaw clicks shut this time, but he’s still got that goofy grin smeared onto his face when you chance a peek at him. You’ll let it slide, for now. You’ve stalled long enough.
“So. My eggs. You gonna tell me, or do I need to start pulling teeth?”
“No need,” Arthur assures, “shouldn’t be stickin’ your pretty little fingers in just anybody’s mouth, Ma’am.”
An outlaw and a flirt, to boot. Wonderful. You’re wondering how long it might take to chuck the nearest inanimate object at him when he pipes up again.
“You piss in somebody’s cigarette box, lady?”
“Did I piss—Morgan, quit it!”
This seems to reign him in a bit, and his smile dips.
“I’ll be frank, since you asked so kindly.” Arthur leans back in his chair, flexes his palms. “You had people tailin’ you.” 
You quirk a brow. Ah, that’s right. He didn’t know, couldn’t have. But just as you attempt to explain, Arthur holds out a hand to stop you and shakes his head.
“Killers.”
The hand fussing with the material of your blanket falters.
“...I beg your pardon?”
“Hired guns, Ma’am. Out for you. You’re real…fortunate, I’d been passing by when I was.” A rueful look clouds his face. “Not much to hire once I was through with ‘em, though.”
The quiet that follows isn’t entirely unfamiliar. He’s an outlaw, you muse. Things like this are to be expected. But it doesn’t occur to you to ask who they were, what they looked like, what they wanted. Because Arthur didn’t know, didn’t need to know, and you aren’t sure if you want him here when you wrap your mind around the sobering fact that your long-held suspicions now bear fruit. So, you settle for the obvious.
“You kill ‘em?”
His jaw twitches. “Nothin’ gets past you, Ma’am.”
“...‘Suppose I should be thanking you, then.”
“Got my thanks when I checked their pockets.”
“But—”
Arthur gives a grunt of protest. 
Jackass.
Though your concerns about theft were long gone, it doesn’t seem like he wants to talk about this any more than you do, so you do your best to set the conversation back on track.
“Well, uh…the eggs, then?”
The tension in his jaw lessens. Arthur unfurls a long leg, digs the heel of his boot out in front of him, and rocks his foot back and forth.
“You know these winters. I can tell you do—despite all the…” he trails off, nods the brim of his hat toward your newly cultivated relationship with the fireplace, and you flush. “So, I uh, started out sneaking a few off, along with some other things for my people back at camp. Snagged some extra rations. Kept an eye on you. Two birds, one stone.” 
“So it wasn’t just the eggs you’d been stealing, then?”
“It’d behoove me to tell the truth and shame the devil, Ma’am. Not that he and I are unacquainted.”
So that was a yes. 
The part about “keeping an eye” on you is tacked on rather reluctantly, but at the mention of camp, your brows raise. It was true, then. The tales you’d heard during your trips to Valentine, the new faces you’d noticed in corners and back alleys, they were all real.
There was a time when you thought you might be able to find your place sleeping under the stars, free to do as you wished and go where you pleased, so long as the law kept their greasy mitts to themselves. But circumstances had seen to it that your dream went unfulfilled. 
You muster up what you hope is a sympathetic smile, and Arthur takes it stiffly.
Even so, something else with his phrasing catches your attention.
“Hold on now, you said ‘started.’ There something else you’re not telling me?”
A hand, previously settled on his knee, finds its way to the back of his neck and rubs. 
“Uh, y’see,” he starts, looking damn near ready to wring his own neck, and you have to laugh, because what on God’s green earth could have Arthur Morgan this bothered? But instead of finishing his sentence, he turns his gaze toward the small sliver of moonlight coming in through the curtains and poses a question:
“You know anything about chickens?”
You blink.
“Arthur Morgan,” your eyes shut, and your mouth hangs open. “I work on a farm.“
“That you do.”
“And you’re asking me if I know about chickens?”
“That I am.”
He’s looking mighty sheepish; his hands return to their places on his knees and begin to tap again, with the added scrunch of a nose. You stifle a snort and oblige him.
“Yes, I’m well versed in chickens. Now tell me what the hell is up.”
And tell he did. Turns out, one of the eggs he’d snatched had somehow been fertilized, and hatched. Arthur, of all people, had been far too mortified to go and ask one of his own for help, so he’d spent the last two months slinking around to find out if his luck might earn him another to keep the one he already had some company. 
He’d named it and everything, so eating it (Marlene, he corrects gruffly) was completely off the table. By the time he’s finished his story, you’ve spent an exorbitant amount of energy fighting off several fits of laughter, and you’re fighting off your ninth when Arthur interrupts.
He leans forward, as if to confirm something, then settles himself back into his chair once he finds what he’s looking for. “You ain’t from around here, are you.” It’s a statement when it leaves Arthur’s mouth, not a question.
Observant. Observant, and deflective.
Chewing at the inside of your cheek, you pocket the uneasy feeling in your chest for later.
“Long story,” you offer. And a difficult one, at that. It wasn’t one you liked to revisit.
Arthur replies almost instantly. “Shoot.” For a moment his face pinches, like he’s dropped his last cent down a splinter-ridden nook he can’t reach. He deliberates, for a bit. But the money is long gone now. “Got a full audience right here,” he continues, a tad slower. “I’ve got…time. Why the hell not?”
There’s no smile, but there’s a genuine curiosity that creeps into his voice. It wafts over the crackling of the fire, blows fresh wind underneath wings long forgotten. 
This wasn’t good. Not one bit.
You cast a skeptical glance toward the bottle of whiskey on the table. It’d been set out on instinct when you’d let him in, a habit formed from a time long gone. Would Arthur want some, maybe? He seemed like the type. And you weren’t too pissed about the eggs now, anyways. So you wrap a blanket around yourself, stand, and turn to the cupboards to find a glass. But something stops you from making it over, and you instead choose to wrap a hand around the bottle and offer it to him.
If Arthur is as confused as you are, he doesn’t show it. He mutters a word of thanks as he takes the proffered bottle. But you don’t miss the way his eyes rake over your bare legs like hot coals. Or the slight twitch of his fingers—now free of their gloves—at the light brushing of your hand over his as you pass the bottle to him. 
You follow the bobbing of his throat for what feels like a lifetime as he takes down gulp after gulp. Amber liquid slips from the corner of his mouth; it catches the firelight on its trek down, and steals your air along with it when Arthur moves to wipe it away with the back of his hand.
It startles you, how quickly you’ve become accustomed to cataloging his movements. You’ve met him before, you’re almost certain of it now. If not in the fields here, then maybe somewhere in Valentine, or the woods. But somewhere. He felt too familiar to be new, too invigorating. A part of you wants to pinch yourself for giving in so easily. Maybe…maybe the folks in town had been right? Maybe Arthur Morgan was possessed? It was either that, or you were an idiot. You sincerely hoped it was the former.
The sound of the glass bottle hitting the table is what snaps you out of your trance. Blinking rapidly, you chance a peek at his eyes again, only to find them peeking right back. You do your best not to turn away. That thing you’d seen lurking out on the front porch is still there, submerged in the depths of his pupils. Still waiting.
You pull the top off of the bottle, take a quick swig, and return to your chair with an inhale and newfound resolve in tow.
Blabbering seems to come unfortunately easy with Arthur. He sits, silent and attentive throughout the entire retelling—save for the occasional grunt of approval, disapproval, whichever was appropriate. You tell him of your mother, young and hungry, and how she’d made herself available to the highest bidder—your father. Some wealthy businessman from God knows where. Twenty years your mother’s senior, it’d been no secret what exactly he’d gotten out of their short-lived union: a wild young thing to look after his progeny and keep his bed warm.
He was nice enough, for a time. Or at least nice enough for your mother to be able to tolerate. But something had sent her fleeing from that big, big house. She’d kept you in her arms and her heart till you’d found somewhat of a safe haven in the Grizzly Mountains.
“Safe” had been a bit of a stretch, though. Anyone with half a brain knew exactly what the Grizzlies were like. Arthur agreed. But your mother had been raised there, just as you would be, if only for a little while. You’re only able to remember a short split of time—just before your mother passed, and before your father had come to take you away from her. 
By then your mother had already taught you most of what you’d needed to survive: reading, writing, hunting, flattery, the works. The only thing she’d left out was how to survive without her. 
Your father had come to find you only a few days after, bearing news of his intentions to turn you into a “proper lady.” He made no mention of your mother or where she’d been buried. 
Polite society hadn’t taken too kindly to a daughter hailing from unsavory origins, and it was safe to say that you hadn’t taken too kindly to polite society either. So, you’d spent the last decade or so making your father’s life a living hell and warding off any potential suitors.
But it became clear stunt after outrageous stunt that he had no intention of cutting ties. Rather than cutting you off, he’d settled for the next best thing: manual labor. Your father was old friends (though “friends” was a bit dubious) with the Campbells, and deemed it an appropriate enough punishment for your wrongdoings. He’d relied on your aptitude for hunting to pawn you off on them, and with the help of some expertly feigned resistance, you’d gotten him to plant you exactly where you’d wanted to be. 
Away, and alone.
“Threw a wrench in my plans, but…life here has been peaceful, I reckon.” You pick at the beds of your fingernails, head bowed. 
Peaceful. 
Peaceful and quiet, save for the occasional moo. 
Though, now that you thought about it, you’d have to tally it up to several wrenches if you counted the hitmen. But you could open that barrel of horse shit later.
The creaking of wood alerts you to a shift in Arthur’s positioning, and his voice barrels down at you from the ceiling; he must be looking up. 
“You don’t seem all too ‘at peace,’ if you ask me.”
“I ain’t ask you.”
“Tuh.”
The two of you fall into yet another bubble of silence. It’s comfortable enough, though still laced with the slightest bit of awkwardness. 
You couldn’t get a read on Arthur. Just about every decision he’d made tonight—or told you he’d made—had been a contradiction. It didn’t make a lick of sense. But now that you’ve had more time to ruminate, it didn’t seem like it made much sense to him, either. His body language divulges as much. 
The quiet agitates you, now. Itches. You need to know more. Understand more. But you can’t do that without retracting your fangs and reigning in your apprehension. Finger beds picked raw, you test the waters.
“Not at peace, hm?” You mutter. “…How you figure?”
You hear him shrug. “Dunno.”
Silence.
You wait for him to continue, but it’s not until you look up at him that you realize he’s been waiting for you to look back. Arthur’s voice cuts through the silence once you can meet his eyes without squirming.
“Met enough people to know who’s livin’, and who ain’t.” He crosses an ankle over his knee, and gives an exhale when he puts his hands behind his head. “I’m in no place to be dealing out life advice, but you seem awfully dead, Miss.” 
“Ma’am,” you correct. 
Arthur makes a face, and you bark out a laugh at the sheer absurdity of it all. Some stranger he was, telling you off like this.
Your eyes crinkle, smile working its way from the inside out. “Takes one to know one, I assume?”
He blinks at you. “Yeah. Yeah, somethin’ like that, I suppose.”
More silence. 
“Do you think—”
“I ought to be heading out, now.” The dream is cut short. Arthur is standing suddenly, intercepting before you have the chance to say something incredibly, incredibly stupid. He tugs on his coat, fingers closing the buttons with frightening efficiency before he gathers up his gun and whatever else he’s brought with him and heads for the door.  
You're scrambling up out of your chair before your brain has a chance to process.“Arthur,” you say, half to him and half to the floor, “Arthur, wait a damn minute!” 
The spurs on his boots cease in their clinking. He’s got one hand wrapped around the doorknob, squeaky and now half-turned.
“…Got business to take care of.”
“At three in the morning?”
He glances at the small pocket watch you’d left open on the table. “Half past four, actually.”
“Didn’t realize you could tell time.”
He hums.
And Arthur stares at you for a moment, unabashedly. It’s unreadable at first. But then scars are shifting, and he’s leveling you with a look so bitter that it nearly has you reaching for your rifle again.
“Goodbye, Ma’am.” Arthur waves a noncommittal hand at your feet as he turns the knob. “And…go and see about those feet of yours, will you?”
He sweeps out the door.
He’s left it open.
It’s only after the faint sound of hoofbeats is nothing more than a whisper that you realize he isn’t in the cabin anymore. But somewhere between the shutting of the door and the hanging of your rifle, the faint impression of his parting words is pressed into your palm.
You look down, a bright sting and the sight of red specks on the floorboards making themselves known rather insistently. 
“Oh.”
next chapter >>
175 notes · View notes
ninadove · 10 months
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OK, so you didn't feel like saying anything about the show you hate. Doesn't mean others aren't allowed that luxury without having people try to yuck their yum.
Boring 💖
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fallow-hollow · 6 days
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loved your kabru fic!! would you be willing to write a 5+1 chilchuck/reader fic? along the lines of “5 times they nearly kissed, and 1 time post-canon where they actually did”?
count to six
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…ft! chilchuck x gn! reader
…tags! pining, almost kisses, arguments but they make up, extremely minor manga spoilers, chilchuck being bad with feelings, pre-relationship and post-relationship, most of these take place pre-canon
…word count! 3697
…notes! i think receiving a chilchuck request is just a rite of passage for a dunmeshi blog at this point. i hope the old man likers are pleased by this one!
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one
You’d always admired Chilchuck, really. And not just in a professional sense, mind you.
Of course you respected his skills and his professionalism, but after working with him for some time, you could clearly see that there was so much more about him that continued to catch your eye. Those little slips in his usual attitude were what fascinated you, keeping you waiting for the next snippet of his personality you could get a glimpse of.
As a man of great pride in his profession, accepting help or being “coddled” weren’t exactly on Chilchuck’s to-do list. If he was interrupted or goodness forbid challenged while he was trying to do his job, he’d become even crabbier than those literal treasure crabs monsters he hated so much. Nonetheless, you cared for him and your party, so you offered to lend a hand where you felt it was appropriate.
Maybe it was just you, but the half-foot almost seemed more receptive of your intervention than he usually was with others. Perhaps it was because you did your best to be unobtrusive but firm in your offers, cementing yourself not as someone looking down on him, but a teammate who understood the importance of cooperation.
While your professional relationship was an enjoyable one, it was nice to see the man let loose every now and again. Around and after mealtimes he’d become more talkative, especially if he’d had some booze to wash down his helping of whatever was available that night. This particular evening, you’d had a particularly nice stir fry with the grains you’d bought and even a bit of salt-cured meat and some dried legumes that kept extremely well. Even if your meals were sometimes a hodgepodge of whatever would be cheap or long-lasting, it filled you up, and you were grateful for that.
The rest of the party members had just stood up to go and wash their dishes and utensils, and you were about to rise as well before stealing a quick glance at the half-foot next to you and immediately blurting out,
“Oh, you’ve got something.”
Chilchuck could only raise one of his eyebrows, not quite understanding what you meant from your wording. “Something?” he parroted.
“On your face,” you would quickly clarify, leading to spending several seconds watching him try to get it, making both amusement and slight frustration bubble up within you.
In fact, you were so concentrated on wiping off the smeared food with your sleeve that you didn’t even notice the sound of his squeak — yes, his squeak — when you leaned forward to get a closer look. In hindsight, perhaps you’d miscalculated the amount of space between you, because your faces were practically touching, despite you not realizing it at the time. In your concentration, your companion even noticed the tip of your tongue sticking out of your mouth in concentration. It wasn’t something he’d intended to fixate on, but in the moment it seemed like it was all he could do while he waited for you to be done. After all, it moved suddenly, you two might accidentally…..
“Alright, got it.” You pulled away so quickly that he hardly had time to comprehend the motion before your grinning face was already visible, albeit more distant now. Only after the fact would you realize that you had most certainly invaded his personal space without asking, though it felt too late to really apologize for it properly without making things awkward.
What both you and him didn’t notice, however, was the way his ears tinged pink at the proximity between the two of you.
two
With the embarrassment of the previous incident still fresh in your mind, the second offense certainly didn’t fly over your head this time.
Though, with all fairness, it wasn’t like it was something that could be helped. Rather than simple ignorance of personal space, this was a total accident.
In order to progress into the deeper floors of the dungeon, it was only natural that any party would eventually have to deal with some traps getting in their way. Your party in particular was currently being led by your expert, that being Chilchuck, through a plain, narrow hallway that was purportedly rigged with various traps and projectiles.
Both the walls and floor were made of what appeared to be a completely uniform stone construction, but with his keen senses and knowledge of dungeons, Chilchuck was able to deduce a pattern of which stones were safe to step on, the rest being triggers for various dangerous mechanisms.
Everyone was following behind Chilchuck in pretty much single file. He would traverse the safe path, then you would copy his steps, so on and so forth down the line. Usually, this method worked perfectly for these sorts of puzzles, as long as nobody moved too early or had a misstep. Unfortunately for you in particular, a misstep is exactly what you made.
When trying to land gracefully on the ball of your foot, the weight shifted, forcing you to roll onto your ankle with a pained sound. Instinctually, you tried to put your weight back into your other foot and staggered, hardly even comprehending the way you felt the ground beneath you sink ever so slightly.
All you really registered at first was the sound of somebody shouting, not to mention the feeling of your body being tugged forward with a roughness that stemmed not from malice, but from desperation. Someone was tugging on your shirt, so much so that you immediately fell onto your knees and proceeded to slide across the floor for a short distance as well. If you didn’t have something covering your knees, you’re sure that would have hurt like hell.
The pain was just on the cusp of excruciating, making you want to reach down and hold your injured foot, but not before you noticed the warmth of a body directly in front of you, close enough to wrap both arms around.
Chilchuck still had a grasp on your shirt, breathing heavily after what was most certainly a terrifying moment for him. It’s strange, really — he always insisted that he was only here to guide you, not bail you out, but in moments like these, the sight of a party member in harm’s way always seemed to seep through his stoic exterior and inflict him with sheer panic.
You almost wanted to smile at the thought, finding it almost soothing, but you figured it would seem pretty odd considering you’d freshly injured yourself and you were also far too close to your coworker for comfort.
A free hand laid itself on top of Chilchuck’s, still shaky. The man subsequently withdrew his hand, shocked at the unprompted touch despite literally having grabbed you moments before. That was…. different, he attempted to reason to himself.
Some voices sounded from behind the both of you after you withdrew from one another to catch your breath.
“Are you alright?” came a soft voice that you instantly recognized as Falin. “If I could, I’d heal you right now, but I really can’t reach you with these trapped tiles all around. I hope it’s okay that we have to wait until we clear the traps.”
“Not like we have much of a choice, so I’m fine.” You listened to your own voice bounce off the walls, noting how wary you sounded. Outside of your field of vision, the half-foot also winced. You weren’t in great shape, sure, but it really could have been worse…. he thought that maybe telling himself that would make him feel less guilty about the state you were in, but for some strange reason, the feeling just wouldn’t go down. Almost like an especially bitter tasting liquor.
Toshiro — or Shuro, as most of the party tended to call him — was the next in line behind you, and luckily well equipped to carry you the rest of the way. It was a good thing, some might even say a stroke of luck that you’d been positioned in front of him instead of, say, Marcille, but Chilchuck couldn’t help but follow you with his eyes. Seeing you be carried by the man somehow only made him feel more on edge, instead of at ease like he naturally should have. That bitter taste again…
Despite your injury, you felt surprisingly alert, and your eyes continued to dart around, assessing your surroundings now that you didn’t have to focus so intensely on the floor. You saw an arrow lodged into a gap between two of the stones in the wall, probably freshly fired when you triggered that trap. If you hadn’t been pulled away in time, you might have gotten seriously injured or even died.
By the time your gaze landed back on Chilchuck, he was already turning around, but you could’ve sworn that he was looking at you in the split second before he turned his back on you.
The thought that maybe you captivate him even half as much as he captivates you lets you close your eyes with a smile on your face.
three
Ever since that incident in the hallway, you’d started to suspect that Chilchuck was avoiding you.
It wasn’t anything offensive or egregious, but you could sense him becoming even more withdrawn than usual. You two weren’t exactly the chummiest of people with one another in the first place, but lately he’d been acknowledging you less and less, not responding to smart remarks or offers to help him like he usually did.
You knew that he was still noticing you, judging by the slight turn of his head towards the sound of your voice and the occasional clenching of his jaw. Clearly, something was on his mind that he didn’t feel like sharing. Fairly typical, though you couldn’t help but miss that thin sliver of himself he let others see. With you, he was open just enough to at least let you get your foot in the door, and you didn’t want to lose that.
So, determined to get to the bottom of your companion’s heightened defensiveness, you were able to catch him alone when he’d volunteered to be on night watch. With everyone else asleep, you’d finally be able to talk to him without the concern of being overheard.
The half-foot immediately noticed your presence, you’re sure of that. Of course, you were still quiet as to not wake anyone up, it was more so that no matter how quiet you could be, absolutely nothing would slip past his keen senses. Detecting threats and things of note in the dungeon was his job, after all.
No time was wasted in cutting to the chase, certainly.
“Are you avoiding me?”
You couldn’t catch a glimpse of Chilchuck’s face from where you stood, but the way he slowly shifted from one foot to another suggested he was deliberating his response. There was also also a light tapping sound that rang through the space between you, and after a minute of darting your eyes around you realized that he had his arms crossed and was tapping his index finger against his forearm.
The thing you couldn’t notice, of course, was the way his eyes were blown wide with the fear of a man who had absolutely no idea what to say. It’s not like he was ever any good at talking about these things. That’s why he thought it better to just avoid the issue altogether!
Clearly, he should’ve known better. You had other plans for him, just like you always do. Most of those plans usually ended up making him somehow feel like a total fool, even if he was just trying to keep it professional. So why? Why did he respond in earnest instead of shooing you away?
“It’s just sort of a habit, I guess. I try to avoid forming personal biases, especially ones based around personal relationships.” Once those words were finally pushed up and out of his throat, the man at least felt brave enough go turn around and face you, scratching the back of his neck now. “It’s pretty much the most common cause of issues within and between parties, so it’s something I’ve come to be wary of over the years.”
His words caused something to click in your head, and you couldn’t help but grin at him despite the circumstances.
“Are you essentially saying I’m your favorite?”
Perhaps that wasn’t the best thing to say in response, but you couldn’t bring yourself to regret it, what with how the man’s face scrunched up in both embarrassment and frustration. Maybe it was just an effect of the dim lighting, but he seemed a bit red as well.
“Now’s not the time to act smug, you know that’s not my point.” The hand that was previously behind his neck shifted to point at you accusingly, but it didn’t quite feel sincere. There was something about the way it wavered in midair that made you feel certain that he wasn’t truly angry. “I’m just saying that I prefer to regulate the group environment than just go around making merry without a second thought!”
Dark pupils followed your form, moving up to stand next to him now. “I understand what you mean, but there is a lot of value in making merry, you know? Or even moments like this, for example.”
Chilchuck felt so confused at those words that he dropped his irritated expression entirely. What could possibly be valuable about something so frustrating as his own biases? It’s not like his feelings had any tangible value like a gold coin or a precious jewel. Love was nice, sure, but that alone couldn’t put food on the table.
Sensing his confusion, you could only continue. “Maybe you only view it from a professional lens, but that doesn’t mean it can’t make sense from that standpoint, you know? Your coworkers like to know you. Playing favorites really isn’t an issue when you’re not out boss or anything, I’d think. You’re our equal. And I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but it’s hard to confidently stand on equal ground with somebody who’s so closed off. Makes it hard to trust.”
Trust?
Wasn’t trust in his skills enough? He was already an extremely skilled individual, what reason would most people have…. not to trust him….
Ah.
It felt so shameful to just look at the ground as if he was being scolded. What else could he do, though? It felt like the mechanism of a trap with a tentacle wedged in the crevices, keeping it from moving altogether. Your words were that obstruction, stopping the inner workings of his mind in its tracks.
“Could you look at me, Chilchuck?”
Total bewilderment did nothing to prevent the half-food from turning to meet your face, level with his own. One of your hands hovered over his cheek, never quite touching. In a similar fashion, his fingers ghosted over your wrist.
“Even just taking a moment to look at someone, take in each other’s presence…. it’s a start. Not open, but not closed, either. You can just leave that door open a crack. It shows people that you trust them with not only your time, but yourself.”
His eyes were utterly transfixed on the movements of your lips.
You were right there, you were so close. A perfect chance served on a silver platter. Even so…
“…Thanks. I’ll keep that in mind.” The moment Chilchuck’s hand departed from your wrist, you withdrew your own hand, backing off into the distance the two of you previously had. He turned to stand shoulder to shoulder with you now, not quite facing you, but not quite facing away, either. By no means did the man want to shut you out, but he couldn’t bring himself to open up just yet.
The brief silence was interrupted by a quick remark. “You better mean that, because I’m not opposed to cornering you like this again.”
Chilchuck snorted at your words. “Fine, fine, I heard you. Never let me catch a break, do you?”
No, not just yet.
four
It had hardly been two days since your talk, and the man was already admiring you while you slept like some kind of freak.
Lord, what were you doing to him?
He just couldn’t sleep, that’s what he said to himself as his eyes remained fixed on your face. In hindsight, he almost regrets letting you put your sleeping bag next to his. If you hadn’t, he wouldn’t have such an easy way to stare at you instead of sleeping like he was supposed to.
In the end, though, he supposed it was his fault. He had a harder time saying no to you, and he hated it.
More than that, he hated how vulnerable you were in this moment. So close to him, yet so at ease. Did you really trust him like you talked about? In truth, Chilchuck himself wasn’t sure if you should. Did you really know just how depraved and selfish he actually was?
I mean, if he really wanted to, he could do something horrible and you wouldn’t even know. Take advantage of this state, and do whatever he wanted.
He bet he could even get close enough to…
The half-foot turned over.
Not tonight.
five
Just after the party lost Falin, as well as Toshiro and Namari leaving as a result, Chilchuck asked to talk with you.
“You shouldn’t go looking for her. Especially not with us.”
You weren’t sure whether you were angry or just disappointed. Did he really not understand?
“I’ve already made up my mind, Chilchuck. You already know how I feel.” This response only seemed to further provoke your companion. With nobody else around to hear, he had no problem raising his voice at you.
“Oh, I know perfectly well!” When he pointed at you, his hand didn’t waver, trained perfectly on your form. “I know that you’re absolutely insane if you think this is in any way a good idea.”
Frustration started to overtake your face, and in turn you shouted back, “I don’t know why you always feel like caring about others and being insane is the same thing! It isn’t!”
“Don’t assume how I feel!” As you both shouted back and forth, you both slowly inched closer to one another, until eventually you were standing toe to toe. The pressure eventually got so intense that you could only collapse to your knees and plead,
“Then just tell me. Tell me, please. All I want is to know.”
Well, that was a quick way to make him feel like the biggest asshole on earth. You on your knees, asking him so simply for something that couldn’t be bought or sold. Asking for him.
“I…”
I can’t, he wanted to say. He tried to force out the words, but he nearly choked, as if he was about to cry. Holding back that reaction, he tried his best to do what he knew you needed.
…He leveled with you and put a hand on your shoulder. It really was so hard to say no to you.
“Not yet, okay? I promise I will once this is all over, just… not yet. Wait for me, will you at least do that much?”
After a few moments of catching your own breath, you were able to look at his face again, your own now being blank and receptive. “Outside of the dungeon, you mean?”
He nodded. Your expression shifted to become more unsure, but only slightly.
“And how do I know you’ll come back?”
Perhaps just to give you a taste of your own medicine, Chilchuck grinned softly, deciding to throw your own words back in your face like you’d done to him.
“I thought you knew that you were always my favorite.”
All that and more, really. One day, he’d be able to tell you all about it.
six - after the dungeon
You’d often catch your lover slumped over at the counter of the shop after it closed. One of your favorite things to do was come up behind him and put your hands on his shoulders. Sometimes he’d be too lost in his thoughts to notice you and be startled by your sudden appearance. Tonight, however, he merely sighed and relaxed into your touch.
“Hard day today?” When he groaned in response, you had to suppress a giggle. That man really could be such a drama queen sometimes.
“How could you tell?” His question, unlike yours, was laced with sarcasm. Eventually, he lifted up his head and twisted his torso to look at you. “Had a fair amount of house calls today. Kahka Brud is a nice place to live and all, but I’d rather not be running around it at my age.”
“Yes, yes, you poor thing.”
“Hey!” His exclamation in conjunction with his pout sent you into a fit of hushed laughter.
Wiping a tear from your eye, you continued, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, just teasing. One of these days you really ought to hire someone else to split the workload. When Mei’s in the area, we can certainly ask you about it.”
Chilchuck acknowledged your advice with a hum, but didn’t respond, instead choosing to fully turn around and put his hands on your sides.
“Mhm, I’ll get to that later.” His voice slurred from tiredness. “Right now, I just missed you.”
Your lover’s blunt declarations of missing you never failed to make you feel warm and fuzzy inside. In fact, you were about to return the sentiment in kind, but didn’t get the chance before the half-foot lurched his body forward to close the space between you.
His mouth was lax against yours, and his tongue lazily poked through the gap, not stretching the inside of your mouth, but merely resting as if it belonged there. It was a lazy kiss, but one full of warmth and a true sense of… home, really.
No mind was paid to the string of saliva left by him as you withdrew, all you could say being a quiet “I missed you too.”
After all, your faces didn’t stay apart for too long after that.
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aliensunflower-fics · 4 months
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Man, Adrien's just wants everyone to be happy, and because he goes on the wrong way, he gets a raw deal.
Will he ever get a break in your fics?
... Okay I have gotten 1 to many asks like this even though if you check my pinned post you would see all my fics with tags a fair few of which include Adrienette or even just cool friends Adrien and Mari but to make your life even easier HERE I will link every single fic I have written (to this date) in which there is 0 Adrien salt ENJOY:
Alya Salt Prompt: Views (Alya Salt / Prompt / Mild Lila Salt )
Ladybug Is Addicted to Pastries ( Fluff / Comedy Short )
Corruption: A Prompt ( Light Adrinette / Lila Salt / Prompt)
Marinette Changes Schools: Funny Prompt ( Adrienette / Kagaminette / Felinette / Fluff / Comedy / Lila Salt)
A Sinister Sneaky Lila Prompt (Marinette Harem / Lila Salt / Prompt )
The Liar Trap: Lila Salt Prompt (Comedy / Lila Salt / Hints of Kagaminette )
Marinette The Perfect Daughter In-Law (Marinette Harem / Fluff / Comedy)
‘Akumatized’ Marinette: Funny Prompt (Marinette Harem / Fluff / Comedy / Lila Salt )
The Interview (Comedy /Gabriel Salt / Nathalie Salt / Lila Salt / BAMF Marinette)
The Interview Part 2: Live Broadcast ( Comedy / Gabriel Salt / Nathalie Salt / Lila Salt / BAMF Marinette / Hints of Daminette / Gay Adrien / AdriJon )
Jealousy & Honesty: Sugary Prompt (Innocent Lila AU / Marinette Is Insecure but Sweet / Marinette Talks to Her Mom / Prompt)
Who Framed Marinette Dupain Cheng (Comedy / Marinette Harem / Fluff / Class Sugar)
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gracieheartspedro · 9 months
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masterlist
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before we start, here is a link to a post about writing for ‘the last of us’ and the genocide of the Palestinians. read it and make yourself aware of the situation.
hi lovers, here I am with my masterlist!
everything here has tags and warnings on the actual link. if there's a * that means there's smut so minors do not interact with those! I will update this list as soon as I post new content! happy reading!
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JOEL MILLER
I Can See You ~ a story where reader is pining hard for her dad's employee/friend and she does everything in her power to get his attention.
Part 1* Part 2* Part 3*
Cool About It ~ inspired by boygenius' song "cool about it", this is a three part series that uses the lyrics as a guidance of joel and reader's relationship.
Part 1* Part 2* Part 3*
How Long ~ your boyfriend, tommy miller, is a big ole cheater. his big brother joel helps you get over him. but you didn't know using joel as revenge would turn into a mutual pining for one another. it's complicated.
Part 1* Part 2 Part 3* Part 4*
Who We Are - joel miller is your dad's long-time patrol partner. so when your dad falls ill, he decides to help you out by traveling to salt lake city to get some much-needed medicine. with all the time spent together, can you seriously resist falling for your dad's best friend?
No One Fucks With My Baby - set a couple months after you and joel establish your relationship (post Who We Are), he defends you while you're working. you decide to treat him with some fun at the bar.
Oneshots
I Will Leave Your Words - a lover's perspective on what it was like to lose joel by the hands of a mystery girl.
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ABBY ANDERSON
Trash Talk* - she hates you, you are crushing on her. when the bullying goes to far, she ends up "teaching you a lesson"
Part 2*
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ELLIE WILLIAMS
More Than Friends* - you and your best friend ellie try to make your crushes jealous. turns out, you two are too good at being with each other.
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REQUESTS ARE OPEN!
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everlastlady · 6 months
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Bloody Legend: Mammon X Reader 3
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✰- Author's Note: Day 3 of getting back into writing and writing part 3 of Bloody Legend. I still have to make icons from the new episode which I'll probably do today or tomorrow since I make icons on polarr because better filter options and I make my own filters. Happy November 1st, I hope everyone had a good Halloween yesterday and that last month was kind to you. I hope that this month is kind and gentle with you. Remember to eat a meal or a snack, drink some water, get some fresh air, take your medicine, and remember that you are loved. If you loved this story remember to comment, click or tap that heart button, reblog with tags, and blaze if you can. Always remember to support your local writers. ♡♡♡
✰- Story Contains: Mammon, Striker, Verosika Mayday, Angst, Tad Bit Romance, Sick Reader, Mammon Trying To Be Decent/Caring, & Scheming.
✰- Posted: 11/1/2023
✰- Series Parts: Part One | Part Two
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After finishing up autographs and getting pictures with fans. It was time to go home. Now you would think that you had your own place. But you don't! You live in Mammon's palace he thought it was a good idea because he was protecting you and it was easy to reach you. Also because he didn't want anyone at your place if you had your own place. You sat in the bath soaking up and enjoying the warm water and bath salts that smelled like honey and roses. You felt tired and sore. You eyes and muscle ached. After the bath you stepped out and threw on your robe. You stepped towards the mirror and looked at your reflection; still seeing nothing. You thought about your life and that you been through to have this lifestyle. But something about this didn't feel right... You ran towards the toilet and threw up. Breathing heavily you sat down on the cold bathroom floor. You didn't feel mentally or physically well. " (Y/N)! Guess who booked you spot on Beelzebub's morning cooking show! " Mammon yelled out bursting into the bathroom. But his gleeful expression dropped when he saw you on the floor. " Why are you on the floor? " Mammon looked concerned and knelt down.
Without your makeup that decorated your face. You truly did look sick and pale. Mammon placed his hand on your forehead. Now Mammon was a greedy man, he never cared about the well-being of others. He only cared about money and himself. Others well-being didn't matter to him. But seeing how you burned up and looked sick made Mammon's heart feel like it was cracking, he felt fear and panic. " C-Come on, let's get you into bed. I'll have the servants make you something to eat and bring you some medicine can't have my star all sick and looking like they are dressing up to see death. " Mammon picked you up and carried you out of the bathroom. He laid you down in the large soft bed. " Are you cold or hot? " He asked holding up the blanket. " Both. " You said in a tired voice. Mammon nodded and decided to go with a blanket that wouldn't make you too hot or cold. " I'm going to cancelle your appearances until you feel better. I'll find another way to make money, your new gig is to rest and feel better. " Mammon sat down on the bed tucking you in. Mammon felt like this was his fault. " I'll check on you in the morning. " Mammon did the unthinkable and placed a kiss on your head before getting up and leaving the room. You could hear him yelling at the servants to make you soup and get some medicine or throw them out the window.
You were surprised that Mammon had dropped what you had to do to make him and you money. You were surprised to see this side of him and especially the kiss. You pinched yourself to see if you were dreaming but you weren't this was 100% real. You laid there in bed and looked up at the ceiling. You weren't sure how long you would be sick but you hoped that it would be for a while because you truly wanted a break. The door opened as one of the imp servants brought you soup, water, tea, and medicine. You thanked them; you turned on the TV to watch your favorite show while you took the medicine and ate the soup. Eventually you finished and had falling asleep. Mammon walked in and saw your sleeping form. He crassed your cheek and sighed. " You need to feel better soon (Y/N) not because I need you for money. Because I'm worried, I never really felt this way but I care about you. So feel better so I can stop worrying and feeling scared... I think I love you... " Mammon said, looking down at you while you sleep. He saw how peaceful and comfortable you looked. You deserved a peaceful and comfortable life, soon he had a thought... He would give you that comfortable and peaceful life, I think it's time for another clown off.
Meanwhile back at Verosika's home she had sat at her mirror doing her skin care routine while Striker talked about what happened. " Ver, I can tell that (Y/N) isn't happy working for Mammon. They aren't doing this for themselves, they are doing it for that dumbass royal and their mom. All this working and pushing themselves if going to kill them. " Striker sighed. Verosika turned around and looked at Striker. " I know, I've seen that look they had because I had that look before, also that whole diet thing isn't healthy. But what can we do to help. Mammon has gold chains on them, would (Y/N) even listen to me to us? " Verosika said with worry in her voice. Striker sat there thinking and he remembered how you had bodyguards and how he gave you his card, Striker grinned and looked at Verosika. " Hey Ver, remember how you said I should give up on the whole assassin thing. " Striker smirked. Verosika knew that smirk all to well, so she also smirked. " Yes~ " She said walking over to him. " I'm going to see if Mammon has any openings for a bodyguard for (Y/N) and I'm going to make sure he has an opening. " Striker pulled out his gun and kissed it.
That night Verosika and Striker schemed on how they would help you escape from the puppeteer strings of Mammon. They also banged so yeah. Anyway next morning Striker was able to track down your body guards and make their deaths look like accidents. While you laid in bed eating breakfast and watching a Studio Ghibli movie. Mammon busted in and looked pissed. " (Y/N)! All your fucking bodyguards are dead, I knew spending money on those muts would be a waste now I have to find a way to get you a better one. " He muttered. You set aside your tray of food. You remembered Striker. You reached into your drawer and pulled out his card and walked over handing it to Mammon. Now this was a secret between you and Mammon but this bitch wears glasses. So when you handed him the card with a snap of his fingers, his glasses appeared. " Striker? Hmm, he doesn't pay a lot and he'll kill anyone. An assassin does sound more skillful and more reliable than a hellhound. I guess I'll hire him, go back to bed and rest. " Mammon patted your head with one of his hands as the other pinched your cheek. As he left the room, you smiled. You really enjoyed your conversation with Striker so having him as a bodyguard would be nice; like Mammon said, you went back to bed to rest.
With things going as planned. Striker stood in the kitchen making himself some breakfast. Verosika was out shopping while Striker was cooking his phone rang. He pulled it out and heard Mammon's voice. It took a while but Striker finally striked a good payment with Mammon, they don't call Striker, Striker for nothing. " Don't you worry your lordship, I'll be sure no one especially those creeps lay one finger ot breathe on your precious (Y/N), once she feels better I'll be sure to show up and protect them. " Striker hung up the phone and dropped the scrambled eggs onto his plate. He leaned against the counter and text Verosika know that everything was going as planned. They hoped this plan would work.
" That imp sounds more greedy for money than me. Paying him to protect (Y/N) better be worth it. " Mammon set down the phone. As he looked at the different posters that his assistants showed for the clown off. " I like the right one, it makes me look handsome. " Mammon snatched up the right one and looked at the large light green text that said clown off. He didn't want to do this so soon or replace you. You did make him a lot of money but just like Fizzarolli, you could be replaced. But this would be for a good reason. He wanted to give you a peaceful and comfortable life. He would ask you out or even marry you. So that he could forever give you a peaceful, comfortable life, and also spoil you. Because he would buy you anything you wanted and let everyone know that you are his. It would also make a cute love story. Mammon's mascot became his partner. Mammon looked at the picture of you on his desk. " Don't you worry (Y/N), you'll still be a bloody legend~ " Mammon said looking at the picture.
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Waaaa!!! I'm going to make a tag list for this series so if you want to be in the tag list just comment down belong I'll be calling y'all in the tag list Bloody Legends or Mammon's Clowns. So if you want updates for this series just comment down below <3
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