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theteasetwrites · 2 years

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Objects of Affection

❧ Pairing: Daryl Dixon x Reader ❧ Era: pre-apocalypse (circa 2003) ❧ Pronouns: not specified ❧ Warnings: mild swearing, claustrophobic/stampede situation ❧ Word Count: 4.1k

❧ Prompts from this list

❧ Summary: It's that time of year again—time to wake up extra early to go Christmas shopping the day after Thanksgiving... Daryl isn't too excited, but he'll do anything for you, even if it involves Black Friday.

❧ A/N: Is this a Hallmark movie or what? So much cuteness it makes me sick, I love it. I absolutely adored playing with pre-apocalypse Daryl. I think he's still grumpy but a little less hardened since he's younger and stuff. Also loved putting him in the holiday setting. So cute! And I couldn't resist the urge to put our guy in a knit sweater. How cute would he look?! Absolutely adorable. God, I need a boyfriend... anyway, enjoy!

You knew you were going to piss him off. You knew it, but you warned him a week in advance that it was going to be this way.

“Wakey, wakey,” you said softly, tussling Daryl’s scruffy hair as you leaned over him from the other side of the bed.

He let out a muffled groan from the pillow he had his head buried in. Daryl was no stranger to getting up early, not one bit. He often arose around 5am in order to get ready for his job at the auto shop, but he wasn’t looking forward to waking up today.

Black Friday, the bane of his existence.

“Five more minutes,” he grumbled as you began rubbing his bare back, trying to coax him up from your bed.

You huffed before throwing the covers off you and reaching over Daryl to flick on the bedside lamp. He scrunched his eyes closed even more to keep the light out.

“Jesus, (Y/N)!” Daryl turned his head to face towards the other side of the room as you straddled his lower back and leaned down to whisper in his ear.

“Come on, mister, ‘I don’t mind getting up early.’ You promised me.”

You pressed a small kiss to his ear, to which he lifted his head from the pillow and faced you. “Promised what?”

You straightened up, then dismounted his back to lay next to him. You had to admit, you were also tired, and you also hated Black Friday shopping, but you needed to do it this year. There were just too many people to buy for, and you wanted to get everyone exactly what they wanted, now that you had a real, relatively high-paying job.

“You promised you’d go shopping with me,” you said while studying Daryl’s sleepy face. He closed his eyes and let out an exasperated moan before flipping himself over to look up at the ceiling. “Come on, I really don’t wanna go alone.”

Daryl’s eyes shot open and he looked at you sharply. “‘Course you ain’t goin’ alone,” he said, the volume of his voice returning to usual waking Daryl mode. “Think I’m gonna let ya get trampled by them idiots?”

You laughed, then rolled onto your side to snuggle up to him. “Well, if they’re idiots then that makes us idiots too, but I need to get this shopping done before everything sells out.”

He wrapped an arm around you and pulled you into his chest. “Can’t we just stay home all day?” he asked, closing his eyes and enjoying the feeling of your hair draping over his shoulder. “‘Sides, I’m still digestin’ that turkey. Think it had some kinda disease.” He patted his stomach.

You scoffed. “God, I hope not. You caught that thing, you better not have fed me a rotten turkey.”

Daryl knew how much you were wary of eating that wild turkey he hunted with his brother a few days before Thanksgiving, and that day was a whole ordeal in and of itself.

“Jus’ messin’ with ya,” he said with a smirk. He looked over at you, your eyes wide as you waited for him to say something regarding your shopping trip. “Okay, okay,” he said, reaching his hand down to playfully pat your bottom a few times. “Jus’ gimme a few minutes. Gotta take a piss.”

You beamed, squealing a bit as you grabbed his cheeks and gave him a long, exaggerated kiss. He scrunched up his face, but enjoyed your enthusiasm nonetheless.

“Thank you, sweetie.”

The line stretched for what seemed like miles outside of the local indoor shopping mall, with hundreds of eager shoppers dressed in mountains of coats and gloves and hats to beat the chilly late November weather.

You and Daryl had seen these people on the news the past few years, pushing past the security guards and trampling over the stampede to get to that fancy new sixty-five inch flat screen TV. Packed like sardines, they’d perambulate around the big-box stores until the shelves, and their pockets of hard-earned money, were completely barren.

“Oh, the humanity,” you said to yourself, waiting with Daryl towards the end of the excruciatingly long line. “Black Friday is the worst.”

Of course, this was your first year actually participating in the event, but you already hated it. You hadn’t anticipated the lines to be this long since you thought you were getting there early, but apparently other shoppers were more prepared than you.

“Gonna open soon,” Daryl said, trying his best to keep your spirits up. He knew how much it meant to you to get everyone gifts this year. You’d never really been able to get anyone anything special, so it was important to you, even if he didn’t understand it. “Ten minutes, I think.”

You nodded, smiling at Daryl, wrapped up in his army green coat you got him for his birthday last year. That was another thing, Daryl’s birthday was coming up in January, and you were hoping to find some things for him when he wasn’t looking (as well as for his Christmas presents, of course).

“What do you want for Christmas, Mr. Grinch?” you asked him, snaking your arm around his and pulling his body closer to yours in an attempt to keep warm in the early morning cold.

He rolled his eyes. “Told ya, don’t want nothin’. Don’t need nothin’. Just make me those Christmas cookies and I’m happy.”

Ah, yes. The famous sugar cookies you made from scratch and decorated together every year. Daryl always got a rather juvenile kick out of biting the head off of Santa once he was all frosted with buttercream icing and red and white sprinkles.

“I know that’s not all you want,” you replied. “What about that fancy crossbow you’ve been looking at for ages? I bet I could finally afford to get that for you.”

Daryl shook his head, but his eyes betrayed a childlike wonder that didn’t elude you as you studied his face underneath the parking lot lights. “Nah,” he said. “Don’t want ya spendin’ your money on me. ‘Sides, I don’t need it.”

“It’s not about what you need, honey. It’s what you want. Do you think anyone gets what they need for Christmas? I mean, you need new underwear but that doesn’t mean it’s the only thing I’m getting you.”

He smirked at you. “You just get me whatever you wanna get me,” he said. “I’ll be happy with it.”

The man was too practical for his own good. You really just wanted to spoil him, getting everything his heart desired, but you knew he’d feel like shit for not being able to get you everything you wanted.

Daryl didn’t make nearly as much money fixing cars, even though he’d been doing it since he was in high school. He was a genius with mechanics, and it infuriated you that his boss hadn’t given him a raise in the nearly ten years he worked there. He was a hard-working, reliable employee who never missed a day of work, even when he was sick, and yet he was treated like a replaceable part-time trainee.

So, you were intent on buying anything and everything you thought he would like this year, even if he was going to be difficult about outwardly telling you what he wanted.

“Does that mean I can get you a turtleneck sweater?” you asked, unlacing your arm from his and rubbing his chest up and down as you gave him puppy dog eyes.

“No,” he said firmly. “Not wearin’ no damn turtleneck.”

You laughed before kissing him on the cheek, the scruff of his light brown facial hair scratching you just a little as you did so.

“We’ll see about that.”

Just then, the voice of a man speaking through an intercom blared out into the parking lot. You both turned to face the front doors of the mall, which were beginning to open, and you could already see a small stampede beginning to form at the start of the line where security guards were trying to hold back the increasingly rambunctious crowd.

“Everyone,” the man with the intercom said, “we’re about to open the shopping center. Now, in order to make this a pleasant experience for everyone involved, we ask that you please enter in a single-file line and that you refrain from pushing and shoving—”

Suddenly, the line ahead of you began to swell and move forward as you caught a glimpse of heads bobbing to and fro against the backlight of the brightly lit shopping center.

From behind, you felt a surge of pressure push you and Daryl towards the entrance.

“Whoa,” you said, caught by surprise as your body seemed to move without its own volition.

Daryl was a bit more sturdy, maintaining his balance against the crowd (no doubt due to his experience in mosh pits at rowdy punk shows). You, however, were almost knocked over onto your knees until Daryl grabbed your forearm and steadied you, but you were soon both being pushed again.

“Hey!” Daryl barked at the man pushing against you from behind. “Back off, asshole!”

The man mostly ignored Daryl, seemingly much more interested in continuing to push against you and the line ahead until you were quickly plunged into more of a glob than a straight, single-file line.

It was at this moment that you were incredibly glad Daryl agreed to come with you, because he immediately went into survival mode, acting almost as a shield against the bodies thrashing against you. He held your hand tightly, keeping your body with his as he moved around you to absorb any of the pressure the crowd was directing at you.

“Stay close,” he said amidst the clamor of voices that sounded from all around you.

You were in the heart of the stampede now, and it began to move faster and faster the closer it moved you to the entrance.

“Daryl,” you said in a panic, looking at him with big, worried eyes as you held your body against his, feeling the pressure increasing with each step.

He was about to say something when a woman’s arm extended over your head, and the large leather purse looped around it smacked you in the head. “Shit!” you yelled.

Daryl yelled some profanities at the woman who, once again, mostly ignored your foul-mouthed boyfriend.

Just like that, you were transported into the mouth of the building, where the pressure from the crowd finally abated and you could actually breathe comfortably.

You stumbled around with Daryl for a bit until you happened to find yourselves in the middle of the busy mall, with Daryl holding you tight and the both of you out of breath.

Daryl quickly placed his hands on your shoulders and scanned your body up and down to see if you were hurt anywhere, as if he could see past the three layers of clothing you had on.

“You a’right?” he panted.

You paused for a moment, then let out a boisterous laugh. “That was crazy!” you said. “What a rush.”

Daryl looked at you incredulously for a while, then broke out into an amused smirk. “C’mon, let’s get this over with.”

The first store you hit was the big-box tech store, which housed all the neat gadgets and devices you knew would sell out quickly.

Daryl agreed to push the cart while you walked alongside him reading the multi-page list you had been editing and revising for a few months in preparation for holiday shopping.

“Let’s see… electronics…” You flipped through the pages until you found the list of clunky objects you intended on getting. “Mom wants a TV, forty-three inch… and one of those new Blu-Ray DVD players… and Dad says he’s getting her that MP3 player, so we can cross that off the list.”

Daryl folded his arms over the push bar of the shopping cart. “Just get ‘er a candle,” he grumbled. “Moms love candles.”

You lowered your list to look at him. “Daryl, do you know how many candles I’ve bought that poor woman over the years? She could bathe in the wax at this point. I’ve never gotten her a big thing… I wanna get her a big thing.” You gestured your hands to illustrate the importance of the word “big.”

He shrugged as he followed you, pushing the cart as dutifully as he possibly could given how out of place he felt.

Daryl had never really gone Christmas shopping before he met you. Hell, he hardly celebrated Christmas growing up. He never got any gifts, and his only family consisted of his two neglectful alcoholic parents and his aloof older brother, Merle. He couldn’t even fathom ever buying anything for anyone in his family. Now his mother was dead, his father on his last legs, and his brother in and out of jail… he didn’t have much of a family to buy for even if he wanted to.

Thus, he found a family in you and your parents, who always welcomed Daryl with open arms to their home on Christmas morning to exchange presents. Though he wasn’t the best at gift giving, and he never made much money, he always tried his hardest to get you at least one thing you wanted, or something he thought you would like.

This year, he had already bought your main present several months in advance: a pair of genuine Tiffany pearl earrings.

Now, Daryl didn’t know the first thing about jewelry or fashion or high-end retail, but he knew one thing—he always heard you talking about these earrings. He knew that your mother had received a pair from your father one Christmas, and that the joy on her face when she opened that gift and first laid her eyes on the stunning alabaster globes was something you always wanted to experience.

Though your mother told you she’d hand those earrings down to you when she passed, Daryl wanted to get you a pair of your own that you could wear now.

The little things were expensive, though. Daryl had to save up for three months worth of paychecks to even get his hands on the cheapest pearl earrings Tiffany sold, but even he had to admit they were a sight to behold. He couldn’t wait to see how they’d look on you (though he had a hunch you’d look beautiful as always).

Soon, you had found and purchased everything on your list for your family and friends, and now you made your way into the nearest Macy’s.

“Everything smells like cinnamon and tinsel,” you said as you took in the aroma of the holidays pulsating through the air. Christmas music blared from the speakers and the whole place was decorated from top to bottom. Macy’s always did go all-out for Christmas.

“Yeah, it’s givin’ me a headache,” Daryl replied, once again pushing your cart and keeping a close eye on you to make sure you didn’t get knocked over by any crazed customers.

“Poor baby,” you said with a pouty face, then threw your arms around his chest and nuzzled into the crook of his shoulder as he reluctantly pushed the cart towards the men’s clothing section. “I really appreciate this, you know. It’s nice to go shopping with you.”

Daryl rolled his eyes, though he felt his heart flutter a little. You always had that effect on him. “Yeah, yeah. Guys’ clothes up ahead,” he said, nodding towards the approaching racks of menswear that looked much too formal for him, but you were on a mission to buy some things for your father, and Merle, even though Daryl insisted that he didn’t need anything.

“Do you think he’d wear this?” you asked Daryl, holding up a red and black plaid flannel shirt.

Daryl tilted his head as he studied the garment, then shrugged upon realizing that it was just a basic shirt. “Don’ know,” he said. “Your dad’ll wear anything.”

You lowered the shirt with a sigh. “Daryl, I meant for Merle.”

“Told ya, we ain’t gettin’ that son of a bitch jackshit. Wouldn’t even like anything you get for ‘im ‘less it’s a bag of crystal.”

You scoffed, refolding the flannel and returning it to its place on the display table. “You’re such a scrooge. Where’s your Christmas spirit? Love thy brother, or something.”

“Serious, (Y/N).” He narrowed his eyes at you and pointed his finger. “I don’t want ya buyin’ anything for that asshole.”

You paused for a moment, folding your arms over your chest before eyeing a rack of knit turtlenecks in the distance. “Oh my god, Daryl!” You grabbed the edge of the shopping cart, taking Daryl along with you to the rack.

“Goddamnit,” he said when the cable knit sweater of rich forest green came into view, its ropes of intricate knit patterns twisted around each other like overgrown vines of ivy.

“Oh, Daryl,” you gasped as you held the sweater over his frame to imagine what it might look like on him. You beamed at the way the color blended with his warm olive skin tone.

The sweater conversation was one you had with Daryl numerous times whenever the cold weather came around in autumn. He never wore them, he either wore button-up shirts or flannels, with occasional overclothes of leather or denim. All you wanted was to see him in something different for a change, and you always had a thing for men in sweaters, especially turtlenecks. You just knew he’d look adorable, but he was worried he’d look too “yuppy.”

“Please,” you pouted. “It’s on sale.”

He scoffed. “Everythin’s on sale, girl. It’s Black Friday. Whole thing’s a ploy to get you to spend money and make ya think you’re gettin’ a deal.”

You ignored him, smiling at the way it looked on him even just as you were holding it against his strong, broad frame. He’d definitely need a bigger size, but it looked as if it were made for him.

“It brings out your eyes,” you said. “The cool green with the blue… and it looks beautiful with your hair, too. Oh, you’re so wearing this to Christmas dinner.”

His eyes widened. “Nah, no way. Not a chance. Your mom’s gonna be all over me more than she already is.”

If there was one woman in the world who loved Daryl more than you, it was your mother. She practically screamed when you told her that he finally asked you out, and nearly had a heart attack when she first met him.

“Genuine Irish wool,” you read on the tag, still choosing to ignore Daryl’s exaggerated grumpiness. “Spun by hand in the Aran Islands… you couldn’t ask for a better sweater.”

He crossed his arms and chewed his lip studying the wool garment as you held it up for him to see. You peeked your eyes over the shoulder to gauge his reaction, but he was just quiet for a while. He never had any piece of clothing so nice, and it looked very, very warm.

He shook his head. “Jus’ for Christmas dinner,” he finally said, still maintaining that tough outward expression. You lowered the sweater and smiled sweetly at him, then inched forward to place a long, grateful kiss on his cheek. “Ain’t wearin’ it anywhere else.”

You raised an eyebrow. “Mhm,” you hummed, carefully placing the sweater in the cart. “Whatever you say.”

The rest of the shopping trip went off without a hitch. You were even able to sneak off to the sporting goods outlet while Daryl was off putting the other presents in the car. There you found the last Horton Scout HD 125 Red Dot Crossbow on the shelf.

Of course, there was some confusion as you compared each and every crossbow contraption to the one Daryl had scribbled down on your notepad upon your request (after several failed attempts to remember the name on your own).

You knew it was exactly the one he wanted, and that he was going to be over the moon when he opened it on Christmas day. This was the very last thing you needed to be the holiday hero you always wanted to be, the person who bought everyone the best gifts, and exactly what they wanted.

For Daryl, it was even more important that you get him this. You weren’t into weapons, or hunting, or outdoorsy things like Daryl was, but you loved going camping with him and watching him string up the arrows and get genuine enjoyment out of hunting. He was always considerate enough not to rub the animals’ deaths in your face, or to be anything but respectful to his kills, so you could at least appreciate that too.

Since his last crossbow recently met its demise after years of regular use, you decided you’d go all out and get him his dream bow. After all, you had the money now, and Daryl deserved it.

Little did you know, Daryl was also buying you extra gifts when he split up from you, and had a special hiding place in his cooler in the backseat of the car for all the things he saw you eyeing for yourself.

Certainly, the Christmas season was off to a great start.

December passed with the usual stress of the holidays, mitigated by decorating the house and forcing Daryl to snuggle up and watch old Christmas movies with you.

Finally, Christmas day arrived, and so did you and Daryl upon the steps of your parents’ home just outside of Atlanta.

“Merry Christmas!” your very peppy mother cried out to you both as she practically threw the door open and wrapped her arms around you. “Come in, come in.”

The place was decked out in lights and Christmas merriment, as usual. Your father was in the kitchen working on the ham, and you and Daryl began placing your presents under the giant tree in the living room.

Then, when Daryl took off his leather jacket, your mother gasped. “Daryl!” she said. “My, you look so handsome!” She rushed over to Daryl and cupped his cheeks in her soft, warm hands, squishing his face to create a pout and eliciting a giggle from you as you watched from across the room. “Look at this sweater, it’s beautiful!”

“Uh, thanks,” Daryl replied.

As many family functions that he had attended, he could never quite get used to the exaggerated motherly affection he received from your mom.

“I think your mother loves Daryl more than us,” your father said to you.

You laughed. “I can’t blame her.”

When it came time to open presents, you insisted upon Daryl opening his best present last, and Daryl did the same for you.

You opened your earrings at the same time Daryl opened his crossbow, and the joy in the room was unparalleled, like Christ himself had just been born.

You immediately put the earrings on, and Daryl wasted no time in removing the bow from its box, disregarding the paper instructions as he fully knew how to use it.

“You like ‘em?” he asked you, between admiring his crossbow.

There were already tears in your eyes, glistening along with the shine of the pearlescent jewelry framing your face. “I love them, honey. Thank you so much. I’ve always wanted these.”

He smiled and thumbed away your tears. “I know,” he said.

“You like your bow?” you asked with a tearful laugh.

He nodded emphatically. “Hell yeah,” he said, holding it up and pointing it at the ceiling as he admired it some more. “Can’t wait to use it.”

Just then, you noticed that your parents had both left the room to work on setting the table for dinner (and to give you both privacy as you opened your presents for each other), so you took the opportunity to gently grab Daryl’s crossbow and set it on the coffee table. You planted your hands on his chest and leaned in to connect his lips to yours.

He wrapped his hands around each of your upper arms and moved into your kiss, massaging your lips with the sweetness and passion only he could show you.

Slowly, you separated with a smile. “I love you so much,” you said. “Will you think of me every time you use your crossbow?”

Daryl snorted. “This a trick question?”

“No,” you laughed, rubbing your nose against his. He brushed your hair back and began caressing your ear, so simply and elegantly decorated with its pearl. He knew you would look wonderful.

“‘Course,” he replied. “I’m always thinkin’ ‘bout you.”

Daryl never cared much for Christmas, but that year was truly magical, and he never felt more love than he ever had in his entire life.

All just because of one stupid, commercial holiday.

Thanks for reading! Likes, reblogs, and comments of any kind are always appreciated!

#daryl dixon x reader #daryl dixon fanfic #daryl dixon #the walking dead #the walking dead fanfic #twd #twd fanfic #norman reedus #norman reedus fanfic #norman reedus x reader

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salazarslytherin · 3 years

Text

midnight rendezvous (b.w x y/n)

requested: yes! by @weasleyswizardwheezes1 [i love you arms your writing so uh anything w bill weasley. either smut, angst, fluff, etc. is fine, but could it be on the longer side. please and thank you, no pressure btw :)] send in your own request here

summary: where you and bill have a penchant for meeting in the night

part two here

🃛 masterlist

cw/tw: angst, smut AND fluff babes fem!reader, bill's kind of a dick for a part. sexual tension to the MAX doll. age difference (~6-7 years?) reader IS 18! jic anyone was worried. also i imply reader is short-ish? but in my mind bill is like 6’3-6’5 so he’s massive and like most people would be shorter than him

word count: 5.25k (so i heard u say ‘on the longer side’ and interpreted it as ‘i want a short novel’. hope this satisfies u doll, there'll be one or two?? more parts coming!!)

a/n: requested by @weasleyswizardwheezes1 . hope you like it! pls leave a comment, like or reblog to help boost if you did xx

☯︎ join tag list here

Being the best friend of the Weasley twins definitely had its perks. Spending summers at the Burrow, having a second family that was closer to you than your own, friendly banter that came along with the family.

However, there was an unexpected drawback that came with this.

A drawback by the name of Bill Weasley.

⚔︎

Although in the same year as the twins, you were a year older than Fred and George, meaning you had always felt a little more mature than the two pranksters.

Thus, you felt like you noticed things that the two of them never really noticed. Girls having crushes on them, boys being envious of them, the ways rumours would fly around about the three of you.

The main thing, however, that you felt the two of them didn't notice, was the way Bill treated you.

It wasn't that he'd always been like this. The first few years you'd known the man, he was very nice to you – familial and brotherly, much like the rest of the family had been to you.

However, sometime in fifth year, things changed.

⚔︎

You arrived at the Burrow with the twins for Christmas, ready to be welcomed by the family you'd come to call your own, but was left feeling hurt, weirdly hollow.

Every Weasley had welcomed you with open arms, except Bill. Harry, the only other non-Weasley around, was embraced heartily by the curse-breaker, but you were given a sharp nod, and nothing more.

Confused, you shook it off, moving to sit next to George, his arm wrapped around your waist as you snuggled into him. Fred landed on your other side, passing you a mug of hot cocoa as he landed a kiss on the top of your head, arm enveloping your shoulders with a tight squeeze.

Surrounded by the younger Weasleys as you watched Ginny, Ron and Harry play a game of Exploding Snap, you felt an intense gaze on you, looking up to see the four oldest Weasleys sat around the dining table, watching all of you.

You caught Bill's eyes, sending him a familiar smile, but was ignored as the man took a sip of his coffee, turning to look out the window instead.

Your hurt was short-lived as Fred leaned into whisper a soft quip into your ear, letting out a laugh, turning to relay the same quip to George.

The rest of the trip went similarly – every time you attempted to catch Bill's eye, to hold a proper conversation, he'd ignore you, or brush you off, pretending that he had something else to do.

The day all of you left the Burrow to go back to Hogwarts, Bill had even left the group before you could say goodbye to him, and you could only be left wondering, what did you do?

⚔︎

Now that you've graduated, you were relishing in the last summer you could spend in the Burrow as a teenager without the pressure of work hovering over you.

Determined to have the best time you possibly could with your 'family', your days were consumed by pranks with the twins, quidditch with the family, and helping Molly bake.

Yet, you still felt empty; a hole in the warm pit created by familial love, a hole marked with the name 'Bill Weasley'.

The cursebreaker was still actively avoiding you, for no known reason, and you stopped seeking out why a year ago. Instead, you sought to live your life with one less brother, one less family member to love.

Tossing and turning, you found yourself particularly restless one night. Not wanting to wake Fred, who was sleeping soundly in bed next to you, you got up, tiptoeing down to the kitchen to have a nice cool sip of water.

You'd taken to sleeping in the twins' room since the first holiday you were at the Burrow. Molly was against the idea at first of course, but was incapable of stopping the pranksters who managed to sneak you in night after night, insistent on having 'sleepovers' with you.

After the third night, Molly gave up, only giving you three a strict 'no funny business!' warning, before trudging back off to bed.

⚔︎

The dim lamplight from the kitchen illuminated just about enough for you to see your surroundings, having been around the Weasleys' long enough to know which boards to avoid so as to not have them creak and wake the family up.

However, what you hadn't taken into account was a body on the ground, hitting your foot into a blanketed torso, making you elicit a shriek, the unknown body on the ground letting out a muffled groan.

"What the fuck?"

You muttered a quick 'Lumos', pointing your wand at the person under the quilt, only for the fabric to be thrown aside, revealing a tousled Bill Weasley, sleep clouding his narrowed eyes as he massaged his abdominal with one hand, ruffling his hair with the other.

"Oh."

Realising that the man on the floor was, in fact, a Weasley, and not some thief who'd stolen into the house in the middle of the night, you dismissed the charm, lowering your wand and shifting awkwardly on your feet.

"Sorry, I didn't know you were there."

Throwing a curt apology at Bill, you moved off towards the kitchen, grabbing a mug from the cupboard above and wordlessly filling it up, intent on finishing your business as quickly as possible before heading back up to the twins.

"Pour me a cup?"

The deep voice startled you for a moment. At some point Bill had gotten up from his mound of pillows and now found himself stood behind you, his hand holding out a mug that had a 'B' painted on it, gesturing at the water jug you were holding.

Nodding curtly, you poured him his water, Bill thanking you before moving to lean against a counter, watching you from behind the rim of his mug.

"'m surprised you're down here."

Furrowing your brows, you looked up at the man in confusion.

"What'd you mean?"

He shrugged, downing the rest of his water before placing the mug down on the counter with a tad bit more strength than he needed. He stretched for a moment, arms pulled over his head to pull the sleep out of his eyes, shirt moving up with the movement to show off a slither of his toned stomach.

"You're always around the twins, never see you without 'em. Expected you to be, in their beds or something I don't know."

A protest spluttered from your throat, choking slightly on the water that you'd been drinking.

"I–what?"

The man lifted an eyebrow, tilting his head to the side.

"Am I wrong? You've been in and out both their beds since you were firsties. I mean, it's not hard to guess what you're doing in there with 'em."

You huffed at the implications of Bill's words, putting your mug down with much of the same vigour as he had just now.

"First off, I'm an adult, and I can do what I please."

You were fuming, steam practically coming out your ears, and hearing the muttered 'clearly been an adult for a while' from Bill's lips didn't help.

"Second, even if I was sleeping with your brothers, which I am not, I don't understand why it'd be any of your business. It's not like we're friends or anything."

An odd, emotionless laugh came from Bill's lips, pushing off the counter to come stand over you. His tall stature forced you to stumble backwards, pressed against the wooden cabinets as he glared down at you.

"First off," Bill's deep voice was modulated up an octave, mocking your previous rebuttal.

"I am not saying your life is part of my concern. I'm concerned for my brothers."

A hand landed next to your head, pushing against the cabinet harshly.

"But second, you're practically a Weasley. It's my duty to look after you guys."

You laughed indignantly, looking away from the intense man to focus on his arm instead, as if studying the tattoos that covered his tanned frame.

"I'm sorry. It's your duty to look after me?"

You pushed him off of you, moving away with a huff, grabbing the two abandoned mugs to wash them with far too much tenacity, water splashing everywhere.

"Yes, that's what I said. I've known you since you were eleven – of course I have to watch over you. You're like family."

You rolled your eyes, giving up the facade of placidity as you left the mugs clattering in the sink, whipping around to face Bill.

"I'm like family? That's rich, William, truly rich."

Now it was your turn to advance towards the man, causing him to back up as your anger fueled you with energy, stomping dangerously close to his feet.

"If how you treat me is how you treat your family, I pity Molly for having you as a son."

Incoherent words left Bill's mouth in an attempt to argue further with you, but you didn't listen. Turning on your heel, you left the man in the kitchen, no longer concerning yourself with which steps to avoid as you stomped back to the twins' room, leaving Bill accompanied only by the dim light from the lamp, and the creaks coming from the floorboards.

⚔︎

After that infuriating night, it was no longer a 'hidden' fact that something was off between you and Bill.

While it had seemed that Bill used to be the one avidly avoiding you, the tables had quickly turned – you were now the prey ardently avoiding any encounters with your predator.

Any time Bill came into the room, you'd either leave, or place yourself as far away as humanly possible. During meals, you'd move yourself to sit next to Ginny, as opposed to in between the twins as you'd been sat for years, just so you no longer sat across from Bill. Even during quidditch, one of your favourite things to do with the whole family, you opted to sit out and stay in the twins' room or help Molly with the dishes, just to make sure you never had to interact with Bill.

Honestly, you weren't quite certain why the conversation with Bill had ticked you off so much. Maybe it was because he accused you of sleeping with your best friends, as if that was all you were good for. Maybe, it was because he had no right to insert himself in your life like that, to pretend like he cared about you in the first place.

It was clear he no longer wanted to be a part of your life when you were sixteen. You had no desire to welcome the curse-breaker back into your life now.

⚔︎

Three days after the midnight meeting with Bill, you found yourself restless again, unable to sleep.

George shifted slightly as you moved out of his bed, turning to cuddle with your now abandoned pillow as you slipped out of his grasp.

You decided to go for a quick midnight broom ride, hoping that the adrenaline rush and energy that you'd burn while flying would tire you out so you could finally fall asleep. A lot of the time you'd spent avoiding Bill turned into naps, which meant you were increasingly unable to fall asleep at night, disrupting your sleep schedule massively.

Cursing Bill under your breath, you creeped down the stairs, hoping that he wouldn't be down there again. You didn't want to have to deal with the eldest Weasley again.

Thanking your lucky stars, you landed on the final step, noting that the first floor was empty. Hoping that the door wouldn't creak when you opened it, you ran towards the small shed out back, grabbing a random broom from it and got ready to fly.

"Y/N?"

You were already mounted on the broom and ready to kick off as that dreaded baritone resounded from the door.

You should have known you weren't that lucky.

Yelling a quick "Nope!", you kicked off and flew out towards the countryside, only looking behind you to see Bill standing in his sleeping pants, hands gesturing out at you in exasperation.

"Now how's that for some good ol' avoidance?"

⚔︎

Though you'd initially planned on flying only for a little bit, seeing Bill at the door really put a damper on your plans, making you decide to fly to a nearby watering hole the Weasleys used to bring you to.

Illuminated by the moonlight, you descended upon the grassy area, smiling at the way the water rippled in the soft night breeze.

Tranquility was what the scene spelt.

In a moment motivated by something you'd come to dub as 'Weasley Whims', i.e the reason the twins had gotten the three of you in trouble constantly, you decided to strip down to your underwear to take a dip in the cool water, abandoning your clothes and wand on a mossy rock nearby.

Taking a running leap, you threw yourself into the water, feeling, for the first time in three days, free. A laugh rippled the waters as you broke through the surface, swimming back over to the edge, only for the laugh to be stolen away as you noticed a shadowed figure land next to your broom.

Bill Weasley was here to ruin your night, yet again.

You let out a strangled scream of frustration as the man alighted from his broom, feet and torso bared to the moonlight.

Clearly, he, like you, had not bothered to dress properly for the impromptu flight.

"Why are you following me."

Your question held no semblance of curiosity, only frustration as you demanded an answer from the man. His answer did not come, only moving towards the water to kneel in front of it, looking down at you.

"Why are you running away from me?"

Wisps of his ginger hair fell forward, covering bits of his handsome face as the rest was carelessly thrown up into a short ponytail, clearly done to prevent his hair from falling into his face during the flight, a precaution that you'd forgotten to take.

"I could ask you the same. Only, it must be a bit harder to hide from someone when they're already hiding from you in the first place, hmm?"

You turned away from the man, diving back down into the depths of the watering hole to kick yourself over to the other side, wanting to do nothing more than swim away from the ginger, or maybe, have him leave you alone and fly back to the burrow, alone.

But of course, fate never let you have your way.

You turned around only to see the man had sat himself down cross-legged, body illuminated by the moonlight as it highlighted the tattoos decorating his forearm, the several scars that littered his chest a sharp white juxtaposing his tanned skin.

"I never ran away from you."

Your head fell back as you tread the water lightly, looking up instead to admire the stars that embellished the night sky, recalling fondly the astronomy classes you'd taken in the past two years as you focused on constellation after constellation, intent on ignoring the man in front of you, hoping your disregard would drive him away.

"Y/N, I'm talking to you."

The words drew a monotone chuckle from you, your eyes snapping to meet Bill's.

"Well that's a first."

Bill moved to stand up, and your heart jumped for a moment. Maybe he would finally leave you alone.

But yet again, luck never did seem to favour Y/N Y/L/N.

Instead of moving further away as you'd thought he would, Bill moved closer, stepping into the shallow of the watering hole, the water soaking the bottom of his pants.

Your eyes darted at the ripple of his abs with every movement, swallowing as your eyes darted to look anywhere else you could. You were not about to find this man attractive.

You could see him coming towards you in your peripherals, and moved back to face him, his pecs the only part of his torso above the water.

"You haven't spoken to me for almost two years, and now you've just got so much to say to me, huh?

Bill looked down into the water, nibbling on his lip as he looked back into your eyes, almost sheepish as he tried to answer.

"I–"

"You know how much that hurt?"

You swam closer towards him, your feet finding ground as you stood next to him, your shoulders bared to the world as you were no longer submerged.

"You were like family to me for almost five years, and then one day. You just fucking stopped. Stopped talking to me. Stopped joking around with me. For a while, you didn't even look at me!"

Your hands came up out of the water, gesturing wildly as you basically screamed at the man, Bill flinching slightly as the water splashed into his face, looking back down at the water again.

Ashamed.

"D'you know how fucked up that was? I had no clue what happened, why one of the people I considered family, one of my favourite people in the world, just fucking despised me all of a sudden."

Bill looked up at you in surprise at your words.

"And you know the worst fucking part?"

Your voice suddenly fell to a hush, almost a whisper as a tear welled in your eye, prompting you to shut them as your head tilted down, urging your breath to slow down.

"The worst part, the worst part was that I thought it was my fault, that it was something I'd done to drive you away. I blamed myself for ages, didn't know what I said, didn't know why you hated me."

"Didn't know why you'd never like me back."

The last part was said in a true whisper, barely audible despite the silent night.

Yet Bill still heard it, and his breath hitched in his throat, eyes searching your face as a tear escaped you, rolling down your cheek.

Unable to restrain himself, Bill's hand darted forward out, cooled by the waters you two found yourself in, a blatant contrast to the warm tear as the pad of his thumb wiped it away.

You flinched away from Bill, feeling vulnerable for the first time that night, coming to the sudden realisation that you were clad only in your underwear, your unintended confession drawing heat to your cheeks as you moved away from the man.

"I, I was afraid."

Bill's own confession halted your movements, making you turn back around to look up at him, confused.

"I–, how do I say this. I was ashamed of myself."

It was now Bill's turn to feel vulnerable, his unease making him shift in the water, the water rippling around the two of you at his movements.

"That winter when you came back here, when you turned sixteen, I started seeing you as more than family. I– I found you attractive, and I felt disgusted with myself."

You huffed, disbelieving of the words you were hearing.

"I'm being serious Y/N. You just, grew up over those few months, and just came back different, somehow. I felt like a predator, I was twenty-three! You were still a kid, and I, I just didn't know what to do anymore."

"I wasn't a kid!"

"Of course you were! You were still in school, I'd been working for five years, I couldn't live with myself feeling like that. I didn't know what to do, so I just, distanced myself. Hoped that the feelings would go away eventually, then I'd just, go back to being normal."

Your eyes scanned the ginger's face, searching for a speck of a lie, a pinch of deception but only found uncertainty, attraction and lust dusting the man's face.

"But you never stopped..."

Your breath stopped for a moment as your eyes met.

"Are you being serious?"

His breath fanned your face as both of you instinctively moved closer towards each other, more of your body exposed to the world as you came further out of the water.

"As serious as I could be Y/N."

Your breath was taken away as Bill leaned in, ghosting his lips over yours, strands of ginger hair falling to tickle your face.

"Can I kiss you?"

A breathless whisper fell from Bill's lips, prompting you to nod in assent, the man falling to capture your lips before you even finished the move.

Sparks flew in that moment, the man's lips gliding over yours as he stole your breath away. You pulled apart after a second, before your lips fell back together again, insatiable in your desire to taste each other.

Bill's tongue teased you, mouth falling open for his teeth to graze at your lower lip, making you gasp such that your lips fell open in the same way, his hand moving to cup your jaw. Taking advantage of your momentary shock, the ginger slipped his tongue into your mouth, exploring every nook and cranny of you as you moaned into his lips, pressing your chest against his.

The water waded around you as Bill's left hand moved down your body, fitting snugly under your ass as he muttered a soft 'jump', which you obliged.

Your legs wrapped around the man's hips, Bill walking the two of you onto the soft grass, muttering a charm against your lips before placing you down.

Instead of feeling prickly blades of grass on your skin, a soft blanket had appeared, making you smile, pulling away from the man.

"Quite the romantic, Mr Weasley. Know how to treat a girl right don't you?"

A deep chuckle sounded from the man who hovered above you on his hands and knees, biting his lower lip at the sight of you.

"Only the best for my girl."

Your heart leapt at Bill’s words; were you his now?

Not wanting to dwell on it, to overthink this moment of passion, you pulled his lips back down onto yours.

His girl.

⚔︎

The moon hung high in the night sky as both your hands explored each other, frantic, as if it was your last day on Earth and you only had here and now to envelop yourselves in each other.

The pure animalistic need that pulsed through the two of you allowed no time for foreplay, fingers hooking into the soaking fabrics that clung to both of you.

“Can I?”

Bill fingered the waistband of your underwear, thumb brushing your hip bone with motions feather light, wildly disparate from the way his lips devoured yours hungrily.

One act designed to ruin you, the other almost afraid he’d break you.

“Yes, I need you.”

You deigned to show him just how much by hooking your own fingers into his waistband, soaked pajama pants pulled away to reveal his boxers, clinging to his muscular frame.

Bill responded by undressing you with much of the same vigour, moving to pull your underwear down to your ankles, his pants in very much the same state, gazing down at your soaked private with lust clouding his vision.

“Next time,” he breathed out onto your glistening lips, “I’ll make you cum with just my tongue.”

Your breath hitched at his words, no, his promise, of a next time as Bill made his way back up your body, peppering kisses on your exposed skin, his hard-on grinding against your leg as he moved up.

The cursebreaker’s deft hands unhooked your bra expertly, sucking in a breath as your pert nipples were revealed to him.

“Beautiful.” He mumbled, almost as if he was speaking to himself.

Bill moved to unclothe himself fully, before you stopped his movements, his hands already pulling at the waistband around his hips.

“May, may I?”

He nodded as you sat up, eyes glazed as he studied your body, memorising the way your breasts glistened in the moonlight. He would make it his mission to mark them, to show anyone who came near you that you were no one’s, but his.

You hooked your fingers into his boxers, pulling them down to his thighs at an almost agonising pace as every part of Bill was unveiled to you, standing proudly in the light.

“Are you... a virgin?”

The man above you asked as it dawned upon him. He was really about to have the girl he’d been craving for.

“No, I’m not.”

His jaw clenched at your admission, the thought of someone else’s hands on you ticking him off, before pushing it away.

It didn’t matter. You were with him now.

He nodded, coming back down to kiss you as one hand braced him by your head, the other reaching down to pump himself slowly.

Your hands wrapped around his neck, eyes falling closed as you immerse yourself in him.

Bill’s knee nudged your thighs apart, moving himself so he was lined up against you, hand brushing his cock up and down your lips, causing both of you to shudder.

His head dipped into you, your tight heat causing him to hiss, pausing for a moment to savour the feeling before pushing himself in fully, stopping only once he’d bottomed out.

“Are y’okay?”

You bit your lower lip as Bill moved away from you to scan your face for discomfort or pain. His girth, while not quite painful was definitely bordering on pain, your walls stretching as he filled you entirely.

“Yes, just, one second.”

Your hands gripped his neck, lacing your fingers through the tresses of his hair as you adjusted around him. As the pain receded, you nodded, a silent signal for the man to move.

He carefully pulled out of you, then pushed back in slowly, hands landing by your head to brace himself, testing the waters whilst both of you moaned at the feeling.

“Faster.”

Bill obliged, moving to thrust in and out of you at increasing speeds with each movement. His hips snapped against yours at a speed that could only be described as vicious, eliciting sounds that defiled the tranquil nature you were surrounded by.

You were breathless as the man thrusted in and out of you, his movements only capable of drawing pants and whimpers from your mouth, the activity rendering you a simpleton who knew only two words - ‘Bill’ and ‘please’.

Your climax soon drew close, a coil tightening with his every sound and every move, your body notifying the man above you by the clench of your walls around him, the motion drawing him closer to his own orgasm.

“Are you close baby?”

A nod was all you managed as you threw your head back, Bill’s tip brushing against your g-spot edging you even closer to your precipice.

One of Bill’s hands moved down your body, landing on the bundle of nerves above where the two of you met, rubbing figure eights onto you, making you let out a gasp of surprise as the older man helped you move closer to your orgasm.

His movements didn’t falter as your moans grew louder, seeming instead encouraged by the promise of your climax, your moans growing loud and unabashed.

Each pant of his name made the man groan in return, moving both his fingers and his hips so ferociously that your breasts bounced with each thrust, your back sure to be red and chafed in the morning from the friction against the blanket.

But you didn’t care - the only thoughts you were capable of manifesting was how good it felt to have Bill inside you, how this was the one thing you’d ever needed to feel full, how he never stopped in his stimulation, the way his mouth felt on your nipples - sucking on the skin of your breasts, a reminder that would last of this fleeting night.

As Bill stimulated you with his cock, his fingers, his mouth, you couldn’t hold it in any longer - and you could tell Bill was reaching his breaking point as well - you let out a moan that would awaken the sleeping birds in the tree nearby, a scream of “Bill” that would leave the twins wondering why your voice was hoarse in the morning left you, legs trembling as you released around the man.

Yet he still never relented.

As you rode out your orgasm, your cunt throbbing, Bill never faltered in his actions, hips thrusting into you as he bit into your neck softly, intent on marking you for all to see as his cock twitched inside of you.

With a moan that you could only describe as sinful, yet angelic, a sound that would haunt your dreams and bless your nightmares, teeth grazing your sensitive skin, Bill came into you. Hot stripes of white liquid coating your walls while his thrusts slowed to a stop.

Getting up on trembling hands, Bill hovered above you, exiting you in a slow movement that had you whimpering at the sudden emptiness, your eyes still shut from your post-orgasmic bliss.

Lips pressed onto your forehead, as if Bill was savouring something he didn’t want to lose.

Something you didn’t want to lose either.

⚔︎

The flight back to the Burrow was silent, the two of you side by side as you flew through the wilderness of Ottery St. Catchpole.

When you landed, you looked out onto the nature around you, Bill landing almost immediately after you.

In the distance, you could see the sun readying to rise in the East, colours bleeding into the sky that had been pitch dark save for the spattered stars hours ago.

“Did you regret that?”

The man standing beside you asked after a moment of silence, not daring to meet your eyes as he appeared vulnerable, afraid, feigning an interest in the rising sun.

His muscular arm was what you were faced with as you turned towards him, his tall stature casting a shadow over you. You eyed the red marks you’d left on him, the little reminders scattered on his shoulders and back.

“No. Did you?”

The cursebreaker turned to face you, an unreadable expression on his face as he watched you, scanning your face for the umpteenth time that night.

“Of course not.”

You crossed your arms over your chest, drawing Bill’s gaze down towards them, a small smile telling you he was admiring the slowly darkening marks he’d left on you.

“Then why’d you assume I would’ve?”

He caught his lower lip between his teeth, gnawing on it absentmindedly as he shrugged.

“I dunno. Just assumed you wouldn’t have wanted that with an older man or somethin’, I s’just worried, s’all.”

You inhaled deeply, letting out a long sigh as you reached out towards the man, cupping a hand on either side of his chiseled jaw, making him look into your eyes.

“Bill, that was my decision to make. If I didn’t want to have sex with you, I wouldn’t’ve done it. It’s not your place to decide for me whether I wanted it.”

You leaned in to capture his lips in yours; this time deepening the kiss on your terms, slipping your tongue into his mouth and savouring his taste.

Cinnamon, with a hint of mint and tobacco.

You pulled away, tracing your lips to the sweet spot under his ear, sucking softly before turning to whisper in his ear.

“I wanted it, and I’ve wanted you for longer than you could have known.”

part two out now x

#mine #writing #request #bill weasley #bill weasley x reader #bill weasley angst #bill weasley smut #bill weasley fluff #harry potter fluff #harry potter imagine #harry potter angst #harry potter smut #bill weasley imagine #hp angst #hp imagine #hp fluff #hp smut

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kookieswan · 3 years

Note

Could you do one for Jungkook in which his s/o is finally back from the states from her ph.d program and they haven’t seen each other in 2 years bc of the pandemic? And the first thing he says to her is “move in with me”. Thank you in advance!

Sure thing! Let’s kick off Fluff Night correctly 🌸✨🌸✨🌸✨🌸✨

Jungkook x Reader (f)

Word Count: 632

Warnings: None

With You

You hum to yourself, eyes gazing out as you ride the elevator up. It had been so long since you were in Seoul, having spent a good portion of the last few years in North America to study for your PhD. It was worth it of course, but the pandemic hit hard and seeing your boyfriend was a no go.

You had just got in earlier today, choosing first to take all of your stuff back to your apartment. You decided to keep it early on, thinking that you would be able to come home and visit every once in a while. Thankfully it hadn’t collected too much dust as Jungkook couldn’t erred to check up on it every once in a while.

The elevator sings and brings you out of your thoughts, a huge grin coming to your face. You practically run down the hallway in excitement, coming to the door of Jungkook’s apartment. Pulling out the key he gave you all that time ago, you unlock the door and go to step in.

“Kookie?!” You call out excitedly, opening the door fully to his apartment. He warned you that he might be late due to his schedule, but you assured you’d be as his place as soon as possible anyway. It’s already been 2 or so years, you don’t want to late any longer.

Hearing a thump from his bedroom, you just manage to take our shoes off before he’s running down the hallway and barreling into you. Shrill giggles leave your lips as he picks you up and spins you around, hugging you close to him.

He kisses you desperately not long after, wrapping his hands around the back of your neck. You feel overwhelmed with emotions, grasping at his shirt as you lean into him just as desperately. Two years is a long time to not see the love of your life.

“Move in with me.” You blink up at him, not actually too surprised with the request. In the time you’ve been apart, he’s brought up more than once not wanting to be far from you ever again. You can’t blame him either, chest having ached constantly from how far apart you were.

“Okay.” You agree without much thought, knowing both of you would be super happy with the development. It’s not like you don’t stay with each other most of the time anyway when you can find the time.

You gaze up at him, awestruck with how long it’s actually been. His hair is on the longer side, he’s got an eyebrow piercing, and his arm is completely full of tattoos. You’d seen pictures of course, but nothing compared to the real thing.

You had both tried your best to keep each other updated on your lives, although it was hard with how busy each of you could get. You had been distraught initially, knowing that you’d miss out on a lot of inner thoughts and feelings, but you had to go nonetheless.

He rouses you out of your thoughts as this time when he brings you to him, he’s lifting you off the floor, face buried in the crook of his neck as he rocks back and forth. You wrap your legs around his waist quietly and give him small kisses on his head.

“I missed you a lot Jungkook. I’m so happy to be home.” Your hear a little sniffle before he tilts his head back to look at you. His eyes are glassy and bright but he has the biggest smile on his face. He’s always been one to show his feelings, and you’re happy to see how giddy he looks.

“I missed you too, so much. Let’s never leave each other for that long again. Now, tell me all about your trip!”

#fluff night #jungkook x reader #jungkook fluff #jungkook one shot #jungkook drabble #bts x reader #bts fluff #bts one shot #bts drabble

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baepsaesbae · 3 years

Text

None of Your Business

Pairing— Jung Hoseok x reader

Genre— SMUT, enemies to lovers au, business/professional life au, slight angst, slight fluff, mutual pining bc im a slut for that

Warnings— inappropriate workplace behavior, explicit unprotected sex, face sitting, slight biting, one (1) butt slap, dirty talk, swearing, switch!Hoseok, Hoseok being a god damn nuisance, (also I’m not a business person so if you are and I state inaccurate/dumb things I apologize in advance)

Word Count— 8.9k

Summary— You have a shot at attaining a huge promotion at your company. The only problem standing in your way is the same one that annoyed you in college. Jung Hoseok. How will you manage to spend an entire weekend at a conference juggling impressing your supervisors while simultaneously battling Hoseok?

A/N— This super cool banner was made by the one and only @kimtaehyunq, thank you so much! Please let me know what you guys think. Feel free to leave a comment or send an ask!

The business world has always been mercilessly cutthroat; that’s one of the first things business students learn when they enter college. The competition to get an internship at a top company was fierce. Recruiting has to start at least a year in advance if you even want to give yourself a chance.

Luckily for you, you were the top student in your program. Well, one of the top students. Over the past four years, your position had been flip flopping with some surprisingly competent bonehead who annoyingly plagued your life.

“Excited to be graduating this semester, ___?” an all too familiar voice interrupted your studying.

“Excited to graduate as top of the class? Yes, of course,” you replied coldly.

“Top of the class? That’s a little presumptuous, don’t you think?” the handsome boy sat on your table.

“I think it’ll be pretty much set in stone after this last final,” you returned your attention to your notes.

“Well, even if you’re number one, I think experience matters a lot in this field,” the boy refused to leave you alone.

“Then it’s a good thing I did an internship with one of the top companies over the summer,” you glared at him.

“Oh yeah, how could I forget about the internship that you stole from me?” the boy pouted.

“I was obviously more qualified. And how could you say that when you stole my opportunity to go on a study abroad trip with my favorite professor last Spring Break? I’m still furious that he chose you over me solely because you were sleeping with his daughter,” you retorted.

“That was a coincidence! I don’t know how many times I need to tell you that,” he tried to defend himself.

“Whatever. Do me a favor and leave me alone, Hoseok. Hopefully today will be the last time I’ll ever see you.”

“That’s kind of sad to think about. Who else will get under my skin and annoy me every time they open their mouth?” Hoseok bantered, “Also, I told you to call me Hobi.”

“That would imply that we’re on friendly terms. I don’t like lying, Hoseok.”

“Fine. Good luck on that last final. See you around,” Hoseok hopped off the table and patted your head.

“Don’t touch me,” you grumbled as he walked away.

That was five years ago.

The company that you interned with gave you a job offer immediately after graduation. Quickly moving up through the ranks proved to be an easy feat since your tenacious nature made you the ideal employee.

You were currently waiting outside of the CEO’s office. Seconds felt like hours as you mindlessly bounced your leg. It was eerily silent, and all you could hear were the click clacks of the receptionist’s keyboard as she worked. You looked around at the bleak décor that was a sorry excuse for modernism as you racked your brain. Were you in trouble? Did something happen? You were summoned up for a meeting but had no clue what it was going to be about.

Once you were finally called in, you were greeted by both the CEO and VP of the company.

“___, please take a seat,” the CEO politely smiled, “As you know, I am getting old. I am unmarried, so therefore I have no one to oversee the company after I’m gone. The executive council and I have been looking for people to fill my shoes. Or at the very least, take a seat on the executive council if one of them were to take my place.”

“Your numbers have been exceptional this month,” the VP chimed in, “And every month prior. After much deliberation, your name has been cast into the lot.”

You couldn’t believe what you were hearing. Being a member of the executive council at your age was almost unheard of.

“There is one other candidate that has also been hand selected at the other branch. You both are to attend a conference in which you will mingle with executives from other companies. There will also be a time in which you will pitch an idea to me on how to make this company better,” the CEO continued when he saw your loss for words.

“First and foremost I would like to thank you for this opportunity. I will do my best to live up to your expectations,” you bowed to show your gratitude.

“Perfect. The conference is in two weeks. I believe that should give you ample time to prepare your presentation,” the VP shook your hand.

After shaking hands with the CEO, you turned to leave. However, something was nagging you.

“May I ask who the other candidate is?” you inquired.

“Jung Hoseok from the northern branch,” the VP answered without missing a beat.

“Ah,” your brain exploded.

“Do you know him?” the CEO asked.

“We went to college together. I know of him,” you said curtly.

“Well you’ll finally get your chance to meet him. I’ve heard he’s very popular with the ladies at his branch. That’s not pertinent to his skills; however, you can’t blame an old man for wanting to know the gossip of his own employees,” the old man chuckled.

“Of course,” you smiled politely as you excused yourself from the office.

Jung Hoseok? That douchebag? Just your luck to run into him again (to fight for the next step in your career no less!). You think back on all the run ins you had with him during your collegiate days. Nothing but irritating memories of the two of you competing for the top spot came to mind.

Whatever. It didn’t matter who the other candidate was. You had to get to work and come up with a brilliant plan that will impress the CEO. You brushed the thought of Hoseok aside. It had been a couple of years, maybe he wouldn’t even remember you. There’s no need to stress out over something so trivial.

The weekend of the conference had finally arrived. You were instructed to travel together with Hoseok. You waited alone at the airport terminal. If you were lucky, Hoseok wouldn’t show up at all. You weren’t.

“___!” Hoseok called out your name in a sing songy voice.

“Hello Hoseok. Glad to see you haven’t changed,” you were already irritated.

“How are you? It’s been so long. You look great!” he went in for a hug but you turned away.

He stood awkwardly with his arms in the air for a second until he bounced back. He took the seat next to you and began chatting. You answered his list of questions apathetically.

“Did I do something to offend you?” Hoseok finally asked.

“I just think it’s funny that even after all these years, I still have to compete with you,” you retorted.

“Still hung up on that? It doesn’t even matter anymore. We got good jobs and now we’re here. Together! Isn’t that cool?”

“No, not at all. Although I guess it will be nostalgic coming out on top once again,” you smirked.

“Your competitive nature always amused me. You’re so cute when you lose,” Hoseok teased.

“I never lost to you,” you gasped.

“That’s not what that one study abroad trip with Professor whatshisname says,” he cooed.

“Professor Namjoon! You knew he was my favorite, you prick. At least I graduated as top of the class with honors,” you argued.

“My GPA was off by thousandths of a point. That doesn’t really bother me. But I’m glad you have something that makes you happy,” Hoseok shrugged.

‘This is gonna be one long fucking weekend’, you thought.

The flight was short and pleasant since Hoseok left you alone. You wanted to see as little of him as possible during this trip. You intended to get that promotion no matter what.

After the plane landed, the two of you made your way to the hotel that was hosting the conference.

“Hi, last name ___ and Jung?” you smiled at the hotel concierge.

“Ah yes, you guys are here for the business conference?” the concierge asked.

“Indeed we are!” Hoseok chimed in from behind you.

“Alrighty, I got you guys all checked in. Enjoy your stay!” the concierge handed you a singular set of keys.

“Oh, I’m sorry, there must be a mistake. We’re in two separate rooms,” you politely tried to hand back the keys.

“The reservation is for a singular suite,” the concierge explained.

“Probably cheaper that way,” Hoseok reasoned while nodding.

Your fake smile faltered for a second. How the hell are you supposed to spend an entire weekend sharing a room with the most despicable person on the planet?

At least the hotel itself was grand. There was no way you’d ever be able to afford to stay in such a swanky place. The lobby was decorated with ornate marble pillars that were laced with gold trimmings. It even had a fancy fountain in the middle to greet incoming guests, which you thought was a bit overkill.

“Excited to sleep with me, princess?” Hoseok teased, obviously picking up on your annoyance.

“Fuck off. Stay the hell away from my bed and my things,” you spat.

“Who’s to say that you won’t be able to stay away from my bed?” he smirked.

“You wish,” you rolled your eyes as the elevator finally stopped on the top floor.

You led the way to your shared suite with Hoseok. The trip was exhausting; you couldn’t wait to take a nap on your large luxurious bed that was probably topped with Egyptian cotton (one can dream).

You immediately dropped your bags on the side of the room and flopped onto the bed, shutting your eyes.

“Interesting,” Hoseok said.

You ignored him.

“Very interesting,” he continued.

“What? What is so interesting?” you sat up and glared at him in frustration.

“Take a quick glance around the room,” he suggested.

Your heart sank, “No fucking way.”

You loved this trope in fanfics, but in real life? Fuck no, not with this asshole. Yes, there was only one luxurious king sized bed in the room.

“Well, looks like you're going to sleep on the floor,” you smiled sweetly at him.

“The bed is huge, we can definitely share,” Hoseok argued.

“I think the fuck not,” you dropped back onto the bed, “I’m sure you’ll whore your way into someone else’s bed each night anyway.”

“I don’t think I need to, not when I’m already sharing a bed with you,” he flirted.

“Bite me, Hoseok,” you sighed, not in the mood for a tit for tat.

“Are you into that? I’d happily oblige,” he responded as he sat on the other side of the bed.

“I’m afraid that’s confidential information that you are not privy to,” you huffed, turning away from him.

“Are you really going to make me sleep on the floor?” he asked quietly.

“Would you listen to me if I said I wanted you to?” you were curious to know.

“Look, I’ll admit that I can be an asshole, but I’m not a creep. If you’re really not comfortable with sharing a bed with me I’ll sleep on the floor. All I’d ask of you is to spare me a pillow.”

There was a short silence as you mulled over your options.

“Fine, we can share the bed. But I demand a pillow divider to be set between us,” you caved.

“Wahoo! Thank you so much for your generosity, ___. Do you want to use the bathroom to get ready for bed first, or shall I?” Hoseok celebrated.

“I’ll get ready first,” you lazily rolled off the bed and trudged to the bathroom.

You were so tired that you missed hearing Hoseok’s soft chuckle as he watched you stumble to the bathroom. He patiently waited for you to finish before it was his turn to get ready for bed. You were sound asleep by the time he was done.

The blankets were haphazardly sprawled out on your side of the bed. One leg was under the covers while the other was completely exposed. Your mouth was agape with a bit of drool seeping out, and your shirt lifted up to expose some of your tummy.

Hoseok smiled at the sight. Never in a million years did he think he’d ever be lucky enough to see you like this. He pulled down your shirt in an attempt to make you look decent, but there was nothing he could do about your drooling. He tucked you into the sheets properly, making sure that the blankets covered you up to your neck.

He settled into his side of the bed. You forgot to put up the pillow divider. Hoseok stared up at the ceiling, unable to sleep. He turned over to face you in an attempt to get comfortable.

‘She looks so sweet. Almost cute,’ Hoseok thought.

He quickly brushed the thought aside. You were his rival, and have been since the first day of college years ago. He sat up and created a pillow barrier. Bickering with you first thing in the morning was the last thing he wanted.

The first day of the conference was filled with attending various meetings while attempting to make as many networking connections as possible. You got up early and left the room before Hoseok was even awake. The less time spent with him, the better.

Of course, completely avoiding him was impossible. You were to sit with your respective company during the meetings and presentations. The VP sat between you and Hoseok, while the CEO switched between sitting on either side. You were thankful for the separation, but nervous nonetheless.

The CEO would occasionally lean over to ask you questions about the presentations, and he intently listened to your responses. The VP would merely look over occasionally to give you a smile or wink; he acted more like moral support. You knew the entire weekend would practically be an interview, but you underestimated how anxiety inducing it would be.

The higher ups finally left you alone when lunchtime came around. You picked up your lunch in the hotel’s decadent ballroom that had been turned into an eating area. You scouted an empty table in the far corner of the room in the hopes of finding some peace and quiet.

Hoseok had other plans. He saw you sit down at the table and happily followed you.

“Hey there buddy!” he greeted you as he sat down.

“Shouldn’t you be networking with new people?” you rolled your eyes at him.

“I could ask you the same thing,” he retorted as he took a bite of his sandwich.

“I’ve been doing that since before you were awake. I think I deserve a break,” you replied.

“I forgot that you’re quite the hard worker. I couldn’t have asked for better competition,” he said.

“Was that a compliment?” you asked with an amused grin.

“Yeah, and it’s the only one you’ll ever get from me. Is your pitch to the CEO ready?” Hoseok inquired.

“It has been. And no, I’m not going to tell you what it is,” you proudly answered.

“Oh c’mon! Mine is ready too! You’re a damn fool if you think I’m gonna steal your idea. I’m just curious,” he pouted.

“Fine. I’ll tell you if you tell me yours first,” you offered.

“So distrustful,” Hoseok feigned offense, “Okay, so I think offering higher bonuses for working overtime would be a good start. There could even be competitive bonuses in each department for the person who gets the best numbers that month.”

“That’s not a bad idea,” you said at first, “But don’t you think that would just create more animosity between coworkers?”

“I think competition is a healthy motivation factor. It worked for me in college,” Hoseok defended his idea.

“Everyone is competitive in college. Especially in the business schools,” you argued.

“Yeah, but not everyone is you,” Hoseok stated.

“Excuse me?”

“Honestly, I probably wouldn’t be here today if you weren’t always on my ass,” he admitted, “Being your rival was kinda fun. You got flustered so easily, it was almost cute.”

“I do not get flustered easily! Plus, it was always you who was on my ass,” you huffed.

“I see that you still do,” Hoseok laughed, “But seriously. The universe brought us together again so I guess it’s telling me to thank you.”

“That’s uncharacteristically nice of you to say,” you looked away from him to hide your reddening cheeks, “You pushed me too, so thanks for that...I guess.”

“Mhm, no problem buddy. I’ll see you in the next presentation room,” he got up to leave.

“Wait Hoseok!” you called after him.

“Yeah?” he turned around quickly.

“I didn’t tell you my idea--”

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to. Whatever it is, I’m sure it’s brilliant,” he winked before walking away.

The rest of the day passed by quickly. You retired to your room, exhausted from all the forced socialization. Your mind was stuck on what Hoseok said earlier. Maybe he wasn’t as big of an asshole as you thought. Perhaps you mistook a friendly rivalry for toxic competition.

You were sprawled out across the bed in your pjs when Hoseok entered the room.

“Are you gonna sleep like that?” he asked.

“You’re gonna have to forcibly remove me from your side if you want it that badly,” you replied with your eyes still closed.

“That’s fine,” Hoseok said as he abruptly rolled you over to your side.

“Hey!” you squeaked out in protest.

“It was either that, or I laid on top of you and suffocated you.”

“Hmph,” you let out a displeased noise.

“Oh my god, you’re so bratty. How old are you?” Hoseok chuckled.

“Old enough to know that you’re a meanie,” your response was muffled by the pillow you buried your face in.

“Sorry I’m a what?” Hoseok teased.

“A meanie!” you quickly got up and slammed a pillow into Hoseok, catching him by surprise.

“I’m the meanie? You just pelted me with a pillow!” he cowered away from you.

“And I’ll do it again!” you threatened.

“I don’t think so,” Hoseok suddenly lurched forward, tackling you back onto your side of the bed.

You’re both laughing at this point. Seeing Hoseok up close and personal made you realize how handsome he truly was. Had he always been this attractive? Hoseok’s cheerful laugh echoed throughout the room as he loomed over you, pinning you down.

“I’ll get off if you promise not to hit me with a pillow ever again,” Hoseok tried to say in a serious tone, but his smile betrayed him.

“Sorry, I can’t make such a ridiculous promise,” you sassed.

“God, you really are so bratty. Kinda cute, kinda naughty,” Hoseok tsked.

“There’s nothing you can do about it,” you stuck your tongue out at him.

Hoseok leaned down to whisper in your ear, “Oh, I’m sure there’s something I could do.”

That sent chills down your spine. This was perhaps the most intimate moment you’ve shared with someone in a long time.

“Keep dreaming then, lover boy,” you said. Truth be told, just that one sentence turned you on, but you couldn’t let him know that.

“As you wish,” Hoseok released you and retreated back to his side of the bed.

“Maybe you aren’t as big of an asshole as I remembered,” you chuckled.

“You thought I was an asshole?” Hoseok laughed.

“I did. Maybe I still do. Not that it matters, we’ll never see each other again after this stupid conference.”

“That’s not true,” Hoseok disagreed, “I’ll be on the executive council, so you may see me from time to time.”

“I like the confidence. Too bad it’s in vain,” you teased, “I’m going to bed. Our day starts early tomorrow.”

“Our?”

“The. The day starts early tomorrow. Just go to bed Hoseok,” your turned over to conceal the faint smile on your face. Maybe he wasn’t so bad afterall.

The second day of the conference started off as boring as the previous day. The various presenters droned on about different strategies regarding the improvement of a company with a plethora of charts and numbers to back it all up. The CEO wasn’t as talkative today to either you or Hoseok. The VP still made his reassuring gestures to you, flashing smiles and winks here and there.

“Can I see you privately after the last morning presentation?” the VP whispered to you.

“Yes, of course!” you excitedly answer. Currying the VP’s favor may come in handy later.

After the last presentation, the VP discreetly led you to a vacant corner. His tone became serious as he began to speak.

“The CEO discussed his initial thoughts with me last night. I know I probably shouldn’t tell you this, but he’s currently leaning towards Hoseok,” he explained.

The news made your heart sink.

“I’d rather see you on the executive council, if I’m being frank. My pride is on the line since I recommended you,” his voice lowered, “However, I think there is a way to sway his opinion.”

“Which is?” you eagerly asked.

“Someone might overhear here, meet me in my room in an hour,” the VP covertly handed you his room key.

He walked away without another word. The fact that the VP was on your side gave you a faint sliver of hope. The next hour of free time was spent frantically networking while your mind was obviously elsewhere. Every now and then you heard Hoseok’s voice, and just the sound of it spurred you on to make even more connections. By the end of it, your face began to hurt from all the fake smiling.

You were standing in front of the VP’s hotel room exactly an hour after your secret rendezvous. The door opened immediately after you knocked.

“You’re extremely punctual; that’s wonderful,” the VP observed as you entered, “Make yourself comfortable.”

You scoured the room to find a place to sit. Your uneasiness must have been obvious, as the VP gestured towards the bed.

“Thank you,” you said as you awkwardly sat at the edge of the bed, “What is your plan?”

“It’s quite simple actually,” the VP sat beside you, “I just need to get to know you better. That way I can give an authentic and flawless review to the CEO.”

“So, you’re going to conduct an in-depth interview?” you asked timidly as you noticed him scooting closer to you.

“You could say that,” he voice lowered as he rested his hand on your thigh, “We have about 45 free minutes remaining. I believe you should make the most of this interview, Miss ___,” he smiled slyly as his hand began to travel upwards.

“How dare you?!” you yelled as you abruptly pushed him off of you, “I’m going to report you to HR!”

“Then say goodbye to your promotion. You really think you were chosen just because your numbers have been decent? You definitely were not the CEO’s first choice. He didn’t even know who you were. If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t even be here,” he explained with a shit eating grin.

“Then why the hell would you even bring me up to the CEO? Just so you could try and sleep with me?” you were enraged.

“Don’t blame me for wanting some eye candy to entertain me during this god awful convention,” he smirked.

“Fuck you, you fucking pig,” you spat.

“Ohhh feisty. I like that in a girl. If you leave now, you can kiss that promotion goodbye,” the VP called out to you as you stormed towards the door.

“And you can kiss my ass, and shove that promotion up yours,” you snapped, flipping him off before slamming the door behind you.

Tears welled in your eyes as you made your way to your room. You were absolutely distraught. Had all your hard work been for nothing? Had you been nothing but a pretty sight for men to stare at for the past five years?

You entered your hotel room to find Hoseok laying on the bed. You quickly wiped away your tears; you hadn’t expected him to be there. He appeared to be taking a nap. You watched his chest rise and fall slowly as you snuck into the bathroom. You freshened yourself up to the best of your abilities. Maybe a little power nap would help calm your nerves. Too bad Hoseok was taking up the bed. Fuck.

You left the bathroom to see if maybe you could curl up in one of the corners of the bed. Luckily, Hoseok was on his side of the bed. You set a timer for half an hour and slowly crawled under the covers. Your eyelids felt heavy as you closed them.

“If you wanted to cuddle you could’ve just let me know,” Hoseok’s voice surprised you.

“Well, I don’t. Leave me alone,” you responded.

“What if I want to cuddle?” he asked.

“There is an abundance of perfectly good pillows for you to use,” you sighed, then sniffled a little.

“Are you sick?” Hoseok asked with a worried tone.

“No, I’m fine,” you answered quickly, panicking.

“___, what’s wrong?” Hoseok was sitting up now.

“Nothing, leave me alone,” you turned away.

“If you insist, I won’t push it. Just know that you can talk to me if you need to,” he offered.

You heard him get off the bed. You pulled the sheets over your head to hide your face. You cried silently as Hoseok shuffled around the room, presumably getting ready to leave. Suddenly, he pounced on you.

“Hoseok! What the fu--” you cried out as he yanked the sheets off of you.

“Surprise attack!” he gleefully exclaimed.

His expression quickly changed when he saw your tear streaked face. You looked up at him with puffy eyes. You were too exhausted to hold your cold stare. Instead, you looked away in embarrassment.

“___, what happened?” he asked softly.

“It doesn’t matter. But congrats, you basically got the promotion,” you laughed in defeat.

“You spoke with the CEO?” Hoseok was shocked.

“No, with the VP. That stupid son of a bitch. He--nevermind. I blew my chance, so the job is all yours. I am almost positive that I am unemployed now as well,” the tears returned and you couldn’t stop them.

“Hey, ___, it’s okay,” Hoseok tried to comfort you, “If the CEO didn’t tell you himself, then you can’t be 100% certain.”

“I was literally only invited because the VP tried to get in my pants!” you blurted out.

“What?” Hoseok was dumbfounded.

“He just told me that I’d have the job if I had sex with him. Can you fucking believe that? How long have I not been taken seriously? This has been so demoralizing,” you let it all out.

“Aw, c’mere,” Hoseok pulled you up and gave you a warm embrace, “What did you say to him?”

“I told him to shove it,” you sniffled against his firm chest.

“There’s the you I know. You haven’t changed a bit,” he chuckled, “We can talk to the CEO together tomorrow about this.”

“Why would you help me? The promotion is basically yours because of this,” you sighed.

“I don’t really care for it, if I’m being honest. I’m satisfied with my job now. I don’t want any more responsibilities,” he answered while stroking your hair.

“Then why are you here?” you looked up at him.

“I only agreed to come after they told me that you’d be here,” he admitted.

You didn’t know what to say. Too many things have happened in the past hour alone.

“Don’t get it twisted, I was just curious to see how you’ve been after all these years. Plus a free trip is always enticing. Getting to share a bed with you has just been an added bonus,” he smiled.

Your timer rang, causing you to break away from Hoseok’s arms.

“Guess it’s time to go to more boring meetings. Yay,” Hoseok feigned enthusiasm.

“I’m gonna stay here. There’s no point in me attending anymore,” you stated.

“Nope, you’re going. I’m dragging you with me! You gotta show the VP that he didn’t frazzle you at all. Fuck that guy. Well, not literally,” Hoseok was pulling you out of bed.

Hoseok subtly made sure that you sat between him and the CEO the entire time. You caught him giving the VP dirty looks, which made you feel a little better.

You quickly excused yourself after the last meeting and tried to make a break for your room. Unfortunately, Hoseok prevented you from doing so.

“You got a date for the banquet tonight?” he asked.

“No. It shouldn’t be too much of a problem because I’m not going. Have fun with your date though,” you shook your head.

“Who said I had a date?”

“I’m sure women were basically throwing themselves at you.”

“You’re not wrong, but I turned them all down. I have my eyes set on one gal.”

“Lucky her, I guess,” you rolled your eyes.

“Indeed. Although I still gotta ask her,” he looked around the room as if he was searching for her.

“You better hurry. Isn’t it in a couple hours?”

“Yep. Alright, here goes nothing!” Hoseok rushed off, finally giving you the chance to disappear.

You let out a sigh of relief as the elevator doors start to close. However, someone’s hand shot through at the last second. Hoseok stumbled in as the elevator doors reopened. You groaned. Why can’t you escape him?

“Did she say yes?” you asked with an indifferent tone.

“Not sure yet. Will you go to the banquet with me?” Hoseok asked.

“Fuck off.”

“Alright, well she just said no. Ouch,” Hoseok clicked his tongue.

“Wait, are you being serious?” your eyes widened.

“If the word ‘date’ threw you off, then I’m happy with going as friends,” he proposed.

“I’m flattered, but I’m really not in the mood to party with random strangers.”

“You don’t have to. Just party with me. Why would I let you be sad and mopey all alone in a hotel room when you could be drinking free booze?”

“Is the alcohol is free?”

“Duh, it’s all being charged to the company. Plus dinner is served.”

“Ok fine, I’ll go. I guess I didn’t pack that stupid dress for nothing.”

“Let’s not allow a gorgeous dress to go to waste,” Hoseok agreed.

“You haven’t even seen it,” you suppressed a smile.

“Anything can be gorgeous if you’re the one wearing it,” he winked.

“Oh, shut up,” a small smile cracked on your face.

Hoseok was the first to get ready for the banquet. He wanted your look to be a surprise so he insisted on going first. You were beginning to find his weird yet endearing antics kind of cute.

You weren’t prepared when he came out of the bathroom. You were well aware that Hoseok was a handsome guy, maybe even handsome enough to model. However, you weren’t ready when Hoseok emerged in a grey suit with his hair styled to reveal his forehead. His radiance was comparable to that of the sun, and he only shone brighter when he smiled at you.

“You look good,” you tried to act cool.

“Thank you! I’ll admit I do enjoy dressing up from time to time. But who doesn’t, am I right?” he beamed.

You nodded as you hauled your things into the bathroom. After about an hour, you were ready: fully dressed, makeup done, confidence soaring. You had forgotten how therapeutic dressing up could be.

Your dress was a deep emerald green that was elegant yet seductive. It had a side slit that flirtatiously showed off one of your legs. The neckline gracefully outlined your cleavage while still remaining on the classy side.

“Holy shit. You look amazing!” Hoseok praised you as soon as you stepped out.

“I was only trying to match you,” you said shyly, trying to hide your flushed cheeks.

“I think it’s safe to say that we’ll be the most breathtaking duo there. Shall we depart?” he extended out an arm.

The dinner started out with boring speeches by people you didn’t care to remember the names of. Hoseok elected to sit at the table furthest away from the stage, which was an excellent choice. That allowed the two of you to chat the night away in hushed voices. You both had already gone through five glasses of wine by the time the speeches were finally over.

“The dance floor is now open! Enjoy the rest of the night, and don’t forget that there’s an open bar!” the MC shouted through the mic.

The lights dimmed and a disco ball lowered in the center of the room. People began to crowd the dance floor. You laughed with Hoseok as you both observed various awkward shuffles and sways.

“Wanna dance?” Hoseok yelled over the music.

“I can’t!” you yelled back.

“I’m sure you can! Let’s go!” Hoseok didn’t wait for a reply.

He dragged you to an empty space on the dance floor. The two of you began drawing attention to yourselves as soon as you stepped out. Two beauties were dancing in the open for everyone to see. You shyly swayed to the rhythm of the music and laughed at Hoseok’s silly moves. However, Hoseok began to move in a way that was absolutely bewitching. He looked like a professional dancer with the way he commanded his body to hit every beat. Hoseok had drawn a very large crowd as people began cheering him on.

You were amazed by his stage presence. You’ve always had a thing for dancers, and he looked downright sexy. The song ended and Hoseok gave his audience a dramatic bow, awarding him deafening applause.

“I didn’t know you could dance!” you shouted when he returned to your side.

“I like to dance in my free time! Did you like it?” he shouted back.

“I’ll admit it was sexy,” you laughed.

“You think I’m sexy?”

“Maybe I do,” you winked.

You had more fun than you expected while dancing with Hoseok. He made you feel secure, so you were able to let loose. You didn’t care what you looked like, as long as Hoseok was there with you.

The night progressed and you began to feel bold. A particularly raunchy song came on, as if it were asking you to grind on Hoseok. And that’s exactly what you did. You guided his hands to your hips as you grinded into his crotch

“You sure you wanna be doing that?” Hoseok spoke into your ear with a low voice.

“Absolutely,” you replied.

Hoseok spun you around and gazed at you intimately while he brought you closer into his body. Various body parts were rubbing against each other now. The sexual tension was palpable.

Hoseok’s hands were running up and down your body, and your mouth was dangerously close to his neck. The scent of his cologne was intoxicating. You couldn’t help yourself; you leaned forward to plant a soft kiss on his neck. His low growl was an indication that he liked it, so you kissed him again with more vigor.

“You’re going to have to stop,” he scolded.

“Shit, I’m sorry. Did I overstep your boundaries?” you were embarrassed.

“Absolutely not. But I can’t fuck you out here in public now can I?” he towed you off the dance floor and made a beeline for the elevators.

Thank god no one else was in the elevator, neither of you could keep your paws off of each other. Hoseok’s hands were unabashedly feeling you up and down while his crotch was slowly grinding into yours. Your arms were wrapped around his neck as you planted kisses along his sharp jawline.

Hoseok couldn’t stop whispering naughty things into your ear during the entire elevator trip up to your shared room. His lowered voice sent chills down your spine as he expressed just how eager he was to finally have you. You felt yourself getting wetter by the second.

“I wanted to strip off that dress the moment I saw you wearing it,” he cooed, “God, I can’t wait to see how beautiful you’ll look underneath me.”

“Hoseok, do you ever shut up?” you teased with a coy smile.

“I dunno, you might have to make me,” he played along.

“Maybe sitting on your handsome face will do the trick,” you said as you nipped his ear.

“Guess we’ll just have to wait and see.”

The elevator doors finally opened, and Hoseok quickly dragged you out. He immediately tore off your dress the moment the hotel room door was closed. You did him the same favor as you frantically unbuttoned his shirt to reveal his toned body.

“Why don’t you be a good boy and wait for me on the bed?” you suggested.

“Yes ma’am,” he complied, his eyes never leaving your body.

“Like what you see?” you asked, turning around slowly to fully show off the lingerie that perfectly complimented your body.

“You are so fucking sexy, ___,” Hoseok smiled in awe.

“I’m so glad you think so. You’re not too bad yourself,” you winked at him.

You finally joined Hoseok on the bed. You kiss his body from his abdomen all the way up his chest before stopping at his mouth. You took a second to relish the feeling of his plush lips against yours before he deepened the kiss with a ferocious intensity.

“Wanna try and shut me up now?” Hoseok lifted his eyebrows suggestively once the kiss broke.

“With pleasure,” you responded as you began to position yourself above him, “Wait, do you want me to take this off?” you gestured to your undergarments.

“No need,” he said before abruptly pulling aside your panties.

You slowly lowered yourself onto his face and stopped when you felt his breath on your pussy. Hoseok impatiently gripped your hips and pulled you directly onto his tongue. The sudden contact made you gasp. Hoseok didn’t waste any time getting down to business.

He flattened his tongue out to cover as much area as possible as he licked across your folds. He expertly flicked and lapped your pussy in the perfect places. Your legs began to tremble, and you had to grip onto the bed’s headboard for support.

You looked down to see the beautiful man’s face buried in your pussy; that sight alone was almost enough to bring you over the edge. Hoseok’s hands slithered their way up to your chest, where he began to twist and pull at your sensitive nipples through your bra.

“You taste--so good,” Hoseok panted out from underneath you.

“Should I get off--fuck!” you were interrupted by Hoseok sucking on your clit.

His mouth was heaven sent. Your body began to heat up and soon you lost the strength to hold yourself up even against the headboard.

You cried out as you came all over Hoseok’s face. His face was glistening with your juices as he smiled up at you. He seductively licked his lips to taste you again.

“Your turn?” you asked.

“As much as I wanna see your pretty lips wrapped around my cock, I think I need to be inside you more,” he replied as he repositioned himself.

He stripped off the rest of his clothing. You watched with admiration as more of his skin became exposed.

“You can take off the fancy underwear now,” he said once he caught you staring.

“You don’t want to see it anymore?” you fakeed a pout.

“___, you’re drop dead gorgeous in it. However, I advise you to take it off yourself because I won’t hold back. I don’t want to ruin your underwear, just you,” he replied.

Hoseok mixed in little nibbles while he kissed along your neck. Your voice dripped with bliss as you quietly moaned.

“I guess you do like being bitten, huh? What about this?” Hoseok licked your neck, causing you to squirm underneath him.

“I think I like that too,” you whispered, biting your lip.

You wriggled out of your undergarments, leaving yourself completely naked in front of Hoseok. You pull at the hem of Hoseok’s underwear, eager to see what he was packing.

You were not disappointed. Although he was well endowed, what he lacked in length was made up for in girth.

“Do you want me to use a condom?” he asked.

“I’m on the pill, and I’m pretty sure I’m clean. I haven’t been intimate in an embarrassingly long amount of time,” you admitted, blushing.

“I find that hard to believe,” Hoseok said while kissing around your face, “Since you’re so damn beautiful,” his lips found yours and led you into a passionate kiss.

His hips began to grind into yours, his dick rubbing against your bare pussy. You wrapped your legs around him, bringing him closer.

“Please don’t tease me,” you pleaded.

“What are the magic words?” Hoseok teased.

“Fuck me, Hobi,” you begged.

“Oh my fucking god,” he growled.

He slammed his hips into yours, not giving you enough time to adjust to him. The stretch was intense at first, but it soon turned into nothing but pleasure. Your euphoria grew as he rhythmically bucked his hips into you.

Hoseok spread your legs out as wide as you could go, giving him quite the erotic view that only aroused him more. You tried to stifle your moans, but were failing miserably.

“Don’t hold back baby, let me hear you. Show me how good I make you feel,” he leaned over to whisper into your ear.

You complied instantly, your moans resounding around the room. Hoseok’s position allowed him to hit you deeply with every stroke. Without a word, he pulled out of you and flipped you over onto your knees. He roughly forced your chest down, leaving your ass in the air for him.

“Your ass is so fucking fat,” he said as his hand connected with your bare skin, causing you to shriek.

He kissed it afterward while his fingers teased your clit. He realigned himself with your entrance. This new position was even better than the last. You could no longer hold in your moans even if you wanted to. Hoseok repeatedly hit your g-spot, and you could feel another orgasm welling up within you.

“Hobi, I’m gonna cum,” you cry out.

“Say that again,” he demanded.

“I-i’m gonna cum!”

“No, not that. That’s hot but call me Hobi again,” he chuckled.

“Hobi!” you said with an exasperated tone.

“Yes princess? Fuck, I’m close,” Hoseok’s movements were becoming more haphazard by the second.

“Hobi, right there oh my god keep going please,” you begged, “Hobi...ah shit!” you came undone.

It wasn’t long after until Hoseok followed suit, pulling out to cum all over your ass. He rolled off the bed to get something to clean you up with.

“How are you feeling?” Hoseok asked.

“Better. You?” you answered.

“Doing pretty well. I fucked the girl of my dreams,” he said gleefully.

“Shut up,” you playfully pushed him.

“I’m serious. I’ve adored you since college. I lived for your playful banter,” he began to explain.

“It wasn’t playful,” you interjected.

“Yeah, I know. But that’s what made it fun! All the other girls just wanted to be with me for my looks or whatever. None of them knew the real me.”

“And I did?”

“More so than most. You always pushed me to do my best. I really just wanted to be good enough for you. Kind of silly huh? I even dated that girl in an attempt to make you jealous. Which backfired since her dad was Professor whatshisface who took me on that trip,” Hoseok opened up.

“Hobi I...I’m so sorry. I was such a bitch to you back then. And now too I guess. My competitive side gets the better of me. I was always annoyed by how you were seemingly good at everything. It even irritated me that you’re the most handsome man I’ve ever seen in my life,” you began to apologize, “Oh, and his name is Namjoon. Professor Namjoon.”

“Thanks for reminding me. I hate to admit it but he made me a little jealous. I wanted you to praise me the way you praised him. Anyway, things can change now that everything's out in the open,” Hoseok smiled, “You’re even calling me Hobi! I’ve been dreaming about this moment.”

“Was it everything you ever hoped for?” you joked.

“You said it when you asked me to fuck you, then you said it multiple times while I was balls deep inside of you. So yeah, I would say it was everything I could’ve hoped for, if not more,” he pulled you into his chest.

The two of you continued talking for what felt like hours while cuddling. You hadn’t been this relaxed in ages. You were nearly asleep on his chest when he stroked a strand of hair from your face.

“Tomorrow will be interesting, huh?” he said softly.

“I guess I still have to pitch my idea to the CEO,” you sighed softly, “What a waste of time.”

“It’s not a waste of time if you’re gonna get the promotion,” Hoseok reprimanded.

“I already told you, I’m not. The VP will make sure that you get it. This is good for you. Don’t worry about me,” you kissed his cheek, “We should get some sleep now.”

“Alright. Goodnight, ___,” he kissed your forehead.

“Goodnight Hobi.”

“Fuck, I really love when you say that.”

It was time. Time to pitch your idea to the CEO for no damn reason. You were beyond nervous, and Hoseok could tell. He tried to ease your nerves by giving you a firm shoulder massage as you both waited to be called into a small conference room.

The VP emerged, ignoring your mean scowl, and called Hoseok in to present first. Of course he would go first, no need to waste time hearing your proposal.

It was an anxiety riddled wait. You recounted the previous day’s events, which was a mistake because that only infuriated you. The whole situation was an affront on your character, and you will not stand for it. You debated giving the VP another piece of your mind at the end of everything.

“___, you’re up,” the VP called you after Hobi finished.

“You’re gonna kill it,” Hobi encouraged you, coupled with a pat on the back.

“This is pointless and you know that,” you sighed.

Hobi shook his head in disagreement. It was heartwarming to see how supportive he was being. Maybe it was due to the fact that the job was practically his already. It doesn’t matter now.

“Good morning gentlemen,” you greet them.

“The floor is yours, Miss ___,” the CEO responded cordially.

“I’ll keep it short and simple. I propose that the best way to improve the company is to shorten work day hours and increase PTO days,” you said confidently.

“Is that it? Can you expound on that?” the VP cynically asked.

“Yes, I’m so glad you asked,” you smiled coldly, “Studies show that employees are exponentially more productive when they are happier. Not only will the company become more efficient, but the overall company atmosphere will become more positive. Interpersonal relationships between employees and bosses will improve in an appropriate professional manner,” you glared at the VP.

“That’s a very interesting take,” the CEO said thoughtfully, “Do you have any suggestions regarding the actual work that the company does?”

“No sir. The company has been thriving, so I believe that the way things are running now are proficient. However, as a company, we should always be willing to listen to our employees’ concerns,” you stated.

“You’ve brought up interesting points to the table. As an employee, do you have any concerns you’d like to express?” the CEO asked.

“There is one pressing matter that comes to mind,” you stole a glance at the VP to see him shift uncomfortably in his seat, “I firmly expect that employee/supervisor relationships should be strictly professional.”

“Are you just giving us your opinion on office romances?” the VP sneered.

“I believe that trying to use intimacy as leverage is highly immoral, if not a fireable offense,” you held your ground.

“Of course,” the CEO agreed.

“Then said employee would simply need to file a complaint with HR,” the VP dismissed you.

“What better way to get my complaint heard than speaking directly to the CEO?” you smiled sweetly, “Sir, yesterday the man sitting beside you crudely suggested that I sleep with him in order to gain the promotion. He also alluded that all of my accomplishments are for naught, and that I am purely ‘eye candy’.”

“Is this true?” the CEO asked his VP in dismay.

“Of course not. She’s grasping at straws. Look how desperate she is to get the job,” the VP quickly defended himself.

“I am not lying. I am fully prepared to be fired on the spot. I cannot continue to work at a company that allows this kind of sloppy behavior to go unpunished. Thank you for your time,” you bowed and quickly took your leave.

You released a huge sigh as soon as you were outside of the room. Hobi rushed over to your side. Suddenly, you began to laugh hysterically. Hobi looked at you nervously, obviously concerned about your mental state.

“Isn’t it so funny? All my hard work had just been flushed down the toilet by a stupid man drunk on power. I love that!” you wheezed.

“___, ___ calm down. What happened?” Hobi inquired.

You told him what just went down. A smile crept across his face as you got to the part where you put the VP on the spot.

“I wouldn’t count yourself out just yet dude,” Hoseok shrugged, “All we can do is wait.”

“Yeah, I’ll be the first one to congratulate you on your new job. Then I’ll begin my search for a new one,” you gave him a thumbs up.

The VP stumbled out of the room and angrily stomped towards the both of you.

“You fucking bitch! Who do you think you are? Do you even know what you’ve done? I know people. I’m gonna make sure your life is hell!” he yelled at you.

“That’s enough! You have been dismissed. I do not want to see your face around here again. Clean out your office on Monday,” the CEO ordered, “Would the both of you please follow me back into the room?”

You both timidly followed him, curious as to what he had to say.

“I apologize on behalf of the company for this incident. This isn’t the first time a complaint has been filed against him. Unfortunately, he always told me that they were just futile grasps for leverage and I foolishly believed him. However, his loss is your gain,” he smiled, “How would you like to be my new Vice President?”

You were agog. Hoseok’s eyes widened as he stood beside you.

“Surely there are more qualified people,” you stammered in disbelief.

“There definitely are. But none of them are what this company needs. It takes a special person to have their rival pitch all the reasons why you are a better candidate than they are,” the CEO happily nodded.

“I- he what?” you cast a surprised look at Hobi.

“Oh yes. He spent all his time highlighting your best qualities as an employee. It was quite a shock,” the CEO smiled.

“I will humbly accept your offer. Thank you so much sir, I will work even harder!” you bowed gratefully.

“That brings me to Mr. Jung. The position on the executive council is yours, if you want it,” the CEO offered.

“If the offer is unopposed, then I have no choice but to accept. I will do my best!” Hobi joined in your bowing.

“Wonderful! It’ll be refreshing to see some lively young faces at those atrocious meetings,” the CEO laughed, “Oh, and one more thing. The two of you will have to relocate to the main branch, I hope that’s okay. I look forward to working with both of you.”

You both nodded gleefully. After the CEO dismissed the pair of you, the trip back up to your hotel room was nothing but joyous. It was like you were in a dream that you never wanted to wake up from. You even pinched each other to make sure it was all real.

“I can’t believe you were advocating for me,” you hugged him.

“You deserve it. Your impressive diligence should not go unrewarded,” he squeezed you tighter, “Plus, this ended up being pretty sweet! Congratulations to both of us!”

“We need to go out to celebrate!” you wiggled.

“Yes! Let me take you out,” Hobi tackled you onto the bed.

“Where shall we go?” you playfully ask.

“Maybe we should go explore our new city together?” he suggested.

“Our?”

“Yes, our. And when I say I’m gonna take you out, I mean as a date. Because I want to date you. And have been wanting to for years,” Hoseok charismatically emphasized.

“I’m looking forward to starting this new chapter of my life with you then, Mr. Jung Hoseok,” you press your forehead against his.

“Imma be all up in your bidness girl,” he joked.

“Your business is my business now loser,” you teased back.

Looks like all that hard work had paid off, and there’s no better reward than finally being with Jung Hoseok.

#bts smut #bangtanarmynet #btswritingcafe #btscreatorscorner #ksmutclub #jung hoseok smut #bts angst #jung hoseok angst #bts fanfic #jhope smut #jhope angst #kpop fanfic #jhope fanfic #jung hoseok fanfic

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the-infamous-coat-of-baron-zemo · 3 years

Text

Fall Into You | Laszlo Kreizler x Reader

Alright my friends. Here is my latest piece of insanity.

It is completely raw and unedited. So, if there are a ton of mistakes, I apologize in advance.

What a whirlwind thing this was. I literally only planned to write the last little bit at the end, that was the entire premise and then 7000 more words came along with it.

-----

This is a partial crossover fic.

TFATWS | The Alienist | Dr. Strange | Loki | universe all mushed together in bits and pieces.

But mostly The Alienist.

Hopefully the characterizations feel okay. Dr. Kreizler and John Moore can be a bit tricky to write and I've never written them before. So, please bear with me on this.

Buckle up. It's going to be a doozy. Kinda.

-----

Word Count: 6,900 - ish

What happens when you wind up 124 years into the past and meet a relative of Baron Helmut Zemo's?

A lot.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

It was early evening and you were perched on one of Dr. Kreizler's fine couches, in front of the fireplace, reading a book.

You were waiting for Stevie to drop by and drag you to some musical street performance not terribly far from Dr. Kreizler's residence. Normally, you would have stayed hidden indoors, but you took a liking to the kid when you first met him, and decided you couldn't let him down.

Hopefully Stevie wouldn't drag you out too long, otherwise Dr. Kreizler would start to worry. Although, he would never outright admit to it, but it was the subtle things he did that indicated his concern. Or perhaps it was annoyance. That wouldn't surprise you either. You were loud and very talkative. He'd probably grateful to have to leave his house; so he can finally get some peace and quiet.

Dr. Kreizler always kept to himself and rarely made a display of his feelings to anyone, but you were a good friend of his in the short time you had come to know him. So, you got little peeks into what lay hidden away.

He was gracious enough to allow you stay in his home until you could figure out a way to get back to your own time. One minute you were talking to Wong inside Dr. Strange's sanctum in New York, and the next a portal opened up underneath you and you were falling.

After travelling through an empty void that seemed to go on forever, you finally exited through the other side, which landed you in front of a police precinct. You had looked around after picking yourself up and realized you were in quite the pickle. It didn't take a genius to figure out that this was not your New York.

People were starting to stare at as you took in your surroundings. You initially thought it was because you had randomly fallen out of the sky, but realization had dawned on you; it was because of your clothing.

Ah, yes. You suppose compared to what all the other women were wearing, you were a sight to behold. Jeans, a forest green blouse, and short brown leather jacket, would draw some attention, when all the other women were dressed so conservatively in dresses. You laughed nervously backing away from the small crowd on the sidewalk. You calmly but quickly darted over to a newsie holding up a paper for sale.

You paid the kid a dollar and snatched the paper out of his hand. Not paying attention in the least to his shouts of joy on making so much off of one measly paper, but you were too focused on finding out what time period you were in.

You caught the date at the top of the newspaper: April 1st, 1897.

April Fool's Day.

Typical, something like this would happen to you. Joke's on them, as someone is going to have a hell of time trying to figure out where you went. You're quite sure Wong was trying to sort through what happened and had already calling Strange.

Well, you hope he had.

You put down the paper and tried to think of what to do, but a small crowd of people were still stopped and whispering to each other, pointing in your general direction.

One man was gesturing in your direction and started shouting, but not at you.

"Hey Kreizler, this one looks like a crazy. Should probably haul her off to Bellevue!"

You raised your eyebrow at the man, but didn't say anything, instead choosing to turn and see who he was yelling at.

A very well dressed man wearing a bowler hat was walking down the steps of the police precinct in a rushed sort of manner. He had a cane with him, and it appeared his right arm was tucked against his body as if protecting it. A few steps behind him there was another man darting to catch up with him, also well dressed and carrying what seemed to be a sketchbook.

The guy on the street had yelled at the gentleman in the bowler hat again, which you had assumed at this point was Dr. Kreizler. As the two men reached the bottom of the steps and were about to step into their carriage, the incessant yelling had managed to grab Kreizler's attention. At least it seemed so, because the man with the cane had paused and turned his attention towards the direction of the yelling.

You could see from his body language he wasn't all that interested, but when his eye-line landed on you, he backed away from getting inside.

The other gentleman that was accompanying him, the one with the sketchbook, said something to him, but Dr. Kreizler just waved him off as he started to walk over to you.

Great.

You look over to the rude gentleman that had now drawn even more attention to you and gave him an unappreciative stare.

You steeled yourself, ready for whatever this stranger was going to say to you, but your guard had dropped slightly upon getting a better look at his face.

No way.

This was not possible.

The man that had come over to you was the spitting image of one genius, criminal mastermind and general pain in your ass, you knew all too well. One who's currently locked up in The Raft.

If it wasn't for the beard, you'd swear you were looking at Baron Helmut Zemo.

As Dr. Kreizler stopped a few feet from you, he tilted his head to the side and eyed you warily, but not unkindly.

That head tilt, a family trait for sure. Zemo had to be some distant relative of this man in some way, there's no chance they aren't with how closely the two resemble each other. She'd have to make a trip to The Raft and ask him about it sometime, if she ever got back home.

"My dear, you seem out of sorts. Are you alright?" the man inquired, gazing at the small gathering of people and then back to you.

"I kinda stick out like a sore thumb, yeah?" You laughed as you answer his question, peering down at your outfit.

"Quite," he replied.

You saw while he may be cautious around you, you've seem to grab his interest with the scrutiny and intensity of his gaze.

"If I may introduce myself, my name is Doctor Laszlo Kreizler," the gentleman stated.

Ah, so this was indeed the man who was being called out from the street. You noticed he didn't extend his hand in greeting, but then again perhaps it wasn't a pertinent gesture for the time period either. So, you didn't take offense to it.

Your eyeline moved behind Dr. Kreizler and could see his friend at the carriage watching with interest, but also growing impatience.

You gave a kind smile as you introduced yourself and added, "Thank you for humoring the nosy man over there, but I'm not in need of a doctor. I'm terribly sorry for interrupting your day."

"Not in the least. And I may be a doctor, but I am an alienist more specifically," Kreizler explained.

Your eyebrows shot into your forehead and then contemplated his title. An alienist? Where had you heard that before? If you remembered correctly, an alienist was someone who assessed individuals for competence?

Oh.

The shouty man had mentioned Bellevue. Okay, now you understood.

"An alienist! That term is...." you paused trying to think of a better way to phrase you response. "The term is outdated where I'm from. Instead we simply acknowledge your specific doctorate profession as psychologists, since the very definition of what you do is to study the mind and behavior of individuals," you answered, satisfied with your explanation.

"Outdated. How intriguing. Perhaps we could continue this conversation away from prying eyes and gossipy busy-bodies?" Kreizler asked.

You wouldn't be able to read it on his face, but you can tell you've piqued his interest even more so now with his body language. And his eyes had this sparkle in them as you spoke of his profession so specifically.

Though you felt you could trust this man, you couldn't take the chance that he might, in fact, lure you into his carriage and ship you off to the nearest mental institution, such as Bellevue Hospital.

You'd be lying if you weren't equally intrigued by this enigma of a man standing before you. The resemblance to Baron Zemo was uncanny, and that alone made you want to find out more about him; however, Zemo was not to be trusted as far as you could throw him. Though he did have his moments. You'd give him some credit. Doesn't mean distrustful behavior runs in the family, but it also could. It was a difficult decision.

Your eyes narrowed assessing Dr. Kreizler as you came to decision.

"Shouldn't you give me a mental health assessment test before asking a complete stranger to travel off to who knows where with you? Why shouldn't I be suspicious you aren't going to drop me off at the nearest institute? No offense," you replied warily.

"Thank you!" the man with the sketchbook at the carriage shouted at both you and Dr. Kreizler, clearly in agreement with your answer.

You snickered at his sarcastic reply, but attempted to cover your ever growing smile by coughing.

The corner of Dr. Kreizler's mouth ticked up in a smile as well.

"No my dear, if anything you've just proven you're at least slightly more sane than my counterpart, Mr. John Moore," Dr. Kreizler shook his head and jutted his thumb behind him.

"Heard that Laszlo!" Moore responded with indignation.

"That was the point John," Dr. Kreizler answered back with dry wit.

Yeah, she liked him already.

"Shall we?" Kreizler turned slightly to gesture to his carriage.

You sighed internally. Why the hell not? You had nothing better to do and no idea what your next move should be trying to get home. Dr. Kreizler would no doubt be curious about your attire and that alone with most likely bring up a slew of never ending questions. You'd have to be careful how to explain your situation and make sure what you revealed was limited, but truthful. You wanted to tell him the truth about where you were from, but you needed to word it in a way that doesn't make you out to be a crazy person, but present the information with facts and evidence that Dr. Kreizler could not refute. Luckily you had some tech with you that could prove your point rather efficiently should the need arise you convince him of what time period you come from in the future. 124 years it a length period of time. It would be difficult for anyone to accept your explanation, but Dr. Kreizler seemed to be different. Let's hope you aren't wrong about him.

"I accept your offer Dr. Kreizler, thank you," you spoke kindly.

You were formally introduced to Mr. Moore and to Stevie before getting in the carriage. Mr. Moore seemed uneasy, but went along with Dr. Kreizler's acceptance of you. He was a trusting friend of his, you could tell right away. And something told you, Dr. Kreizler was a tough nut to crack and didn't seem to be the type of person who might have very many. Only a close few.

"What made you decide to take Dr. Kreizler up on his offer so quickly," Moore asked standing outside the carriage as Stevie was getting the horses ready.

Dr. Kreizler had held the door open for you and waited patiently.

You looked at Dr. Kreizler before turning back to Mr. Moore, "You mean besides his sparkling personality?" you winked and got in the carriage.

John leaned into Kreizler before adjusting his hold on his sketchbook and climbing into the carriage himself.

"Oh, well I like her already Laszlo," he grinned incessantly and gave Kreizler a clap on the back.

You saw Dr. Kreizler bend his head down in amused exasperation as a small huff of laughter sounded with the movement. He sighed somewhat dramatically before getting in the carriage and closing the door.

"You know, I've never actually ridden in one of these before," you say slightly awed.

Both Moore and Kreizler gave you confusing looks before Dr. Kreizler used his cane to tap on the rear enclosure signaling Stevie to head home.

Home. Well, this should be interesting indeed.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

You closed your book with a snap and slumped into the couch you were perched on. It had been six months, since that day. Six months, you've been trapped in this pocket of 1897.

You had reflected back on how well John and Dr. Kreizler had taken the explanation you were from the future. As you told your story, your only requirement was that they wait until the very end before asking any questions. That gave you the chance to be very methodical about how you explained the future and how it was you ended up in 1897, which to be fair, you don't know exactly how that portal opened still, but magic was involved to say the very least.

It was oddly reminiscent of when Loki used the space stone, which gave her pause. All the infinity stones had been destroyed, and yet you knew that there was an errant 2012 Loki running around the universe with one. It is plausible, he could factor into this, but how or why you, you have no idea.

After you had explained your fanatical circumstance, to help prove you weren't absolutely off your rocker and have Dr. Kreizler change his mind about you, you showed them your phone.

Yes, there may not be any service available, but you could still access all your photos and videos and holographic imagery, etc. That was what allowed John and Dr. Kreizler to accept your story; paired with your unique clothes; they had a surprisingly open mind. John had gaped like a fish for a good 10 minutes before Dr. Kreizler told him to get over it already. John was somewhat outraged that he wasn't more shocked by your existence. But like all things, Dr. Kreizler took everything in stride, which was quite a relief to you. He was incredibly understanding and offered a room in his home to you until you were able to get back to your own time. You made a promise to Dr. Kreizler that you would never lie to him, about anything. It was the least you could do since he opened up his home and essentially part of his life to you.

You understood why he was an expert in his field. His patience and intellect allowed him to be open-minded and grasp concepts others word merely scoff at. However, there was another side to that coin; he was also closed off, and could at times, be calculating and manipulative. Though, none of these traits were used in any nefarious manners, they were there all the same.

He reminded you of Zemo to be sure in this regard. Some personality traits apparently do get passed down through the generations. In some ways, after meeting Dr. Kreizler, you felt you knew Helmut Zemo a bit better. And somehow, you missed him. Not that you were ever particularly close to him, but the time you spent with him in Latvia with Sam and Bucky forever altered your opinion of him.

So while you've been living at Dr. Kreizler's residence, in your spare time, you had been working different avenues of how to achieve ways to get home. You couldn't just solely rely on your friends to get you out of this mess. So, while Dr. Kreizler was at work, you enlisted the help of Stevie to run down leads of potential scientist and gathering of general information of the time period to help you put together some sort of road map. None had turned out to be very promising.

You had, over time, gotten more acclimated to living in 1897, though you mostly refused to wear the clothing of the time period. John Moore would always comment about how you would draw attention in the public eye, should you dare to go out. But you refused to give in most of the time, saying that 1897 would just have to catch up to your fashion sense, and you weren't about to apologize for it. If you were going to be stuck here, you were going to be stuck here, comfortably. You fondly remember Dr. Kreizler's reaction. He seemed pleased, possibly proud of you in that moment. Probably because you had refused to conform to the times, and set your own rules to live by. Not giving in to anyone.

The question lingered, how exactly did you get away with living in this time without having to dress in the clothing of the period? Well, a friend of yours, Scott Lang, had gifted you a device that allowed you to chose one object to shrink and return to it's normal size. So, of course, since you traveled so often with the Sam, Bucky and the other Avengers, you chose your wardrobe. You were just thankful you had it on you already when you got dumped into that portal. So, essentially you had all your clothes with you, making things a bit easier.

Life was not fast paced here, which made things a bit difficult for you. You were used to always being on the go, another crisis to fight through, another area of the world that needed help. But here, here everything was, for the most part, quiet.

It drove you nuts sometimes. Made you antsy. You managed to weasel your way into helping John, Sara and Dr. Kreizler on one of their serial killer cases recently to pass the time. Dr. Kreizler was unhappy at first. You were able to prove your usefulness though with advanced techniques and theories on how to potentially catch the killer in question. Be that as it may, Dr. Kreizler still seemed grumpy, if that were the correct word to use, about you working on the case. You confronted him about it one evening, but he glossed over the whole thing. He was holding back, but what that was, you weren't sure. Maybe he still didn't fully trust you yet. It was a fair assumption, but he was always so hard to read. Though you've managed to get a few good laughs out of him from time to time. Those were the days that really made you smile. Seeing him happy, as most of the time he was always so guarded. It made you feel like you and Dr. Kreizler shared this little secret when no one else was around.

Dr. Kreizler let himself relax ever so slightly around you, but it was far and fleeting. On rare occasions. You savored all those memories and tucked them away. Everyone was so refined and conservative in their mannerisms. You missed just wanting to hug someone. You craved some sort of physical affection, and it was hard, realizing just how different the times were from the future. They weren't terrible by any means, but the social norms of the times had been trying on you, to say the very least. Dr. Kreizler, ever astute, had picked up on this.

He had been gracious enough to offer himself if you ever needed to hug someone. This had been roughly 4 months into your stay at Dr. Kreizler's. You both had gotten more comfortable around the other, and even had a routine of sorts. You had thanked him for his offer, and told him you would not abuse the privilege he had bestowed on you.

Something told her there was more to it, but you hadn't dwelled on it, you were simply appreciative of his friendship.

However more recently, it was more than just friendship you felt. You kept squashing your feelings down, telling yourself this was the worst possible time to develop feelings for someone. Especially someone like Dr. Kreizler. There would never be a happy ending. At some point, you would return home, and that would be that. But there was that nagging sensation in the back of your mind, reminding you, you might not ever get back home. You tried to reason to yourself that you were possibly transferring some of your fondness of Zemo to Dr. Kreizler because of how he reminds you of him. But then you were just lying to yourself. Dr. Kreizler was a person all on his own and one of a kind. You knew better, you were just fighting yourself tooth and nail to live in denial a bit longer.

Footsteps from the kitchen were headed in your direction knocking you out of your musings.

You twisted on the couch to see Dr. Kreizler had returned home from his institute.

"Dr. Kreizler! Good evening," you voiced into the low lit parlor room.

"Good evening to you as well, I trust your day was fruitful?" Dr. Kreizler inquired, coming to rest on the opposite end of the couch.

"It was, thank you. I was somewhat restless earlier, so I took it upon myself to work on the cryptogram the killer left his last victim, with the hopes of figuring out his next location before he strikes," you sheepishly stated.

Dr. Kreizler ruefully smiled at you and shook his head. At one time, he might have gotten upset, but he had been taking your antics more in stride, and you managed to be helpful providing much needed information. So, he'd act unhappy, but silently was thrilled.

"And did you uncover anything useful?" Kreizler queried, he got up from his seat and walked over to the chalk board.

"Not completely, I believe I've broken the code word and the book that the killer has been using to write his cryptograms, but I have yet to comb through all the evidence to gather the page numbers, line and word number to crack the full message. I planned on working on it when I got back with Stevie later this evening," you happily expressed while fidgeting with the watch on your wrist.

"Impressive work. And what book has our killer been using?" Kreizler asked, eyes still going over the work on the board.

"Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. You'd think we could have figured that one out sooner given our killer's eclectic methods of murdering people," you answered sarcastically.

Dr. Kreizler bent his knees in utter annoyance, "Of course it is. Of course. How ridiculous to have missed such an obvious choice."

You smiled knowingly. He was irritated he hadn't figured it out sooner.

A companionable silence continued for a few minutes after his outburst.

Dr. Kreizler was still staring at the board with mild interest when he spoke next, "May I ask you a personal question?"

You had just reached over to place the book on the coffee table next to you when he asked his question and you froze mid motion.

Dr. Kreizler generally didn't push too much into your personal life, so this was somewhat out of left field for him. Never-the-less, you recovered after a beat and placed the book on the table.

"Of-of course Dr. Kreizler. I told you I would always be truthful with you regarding anything. Please, go ahead," you answered, motioning for him to continue.

"Why do you always regard me as Dr. Kreizler and not by my first name?" he questioned softly, almost hesitantly.

This was not the question you thought he would ask. There were a million questions he could have chose, but it was this one he went with.

This really was personal.

You glanced down at your hands sitting in your lap as you pondered how to answer his questions. You could lie about it, and he'd be none the wiser, but it's not who you are. And you promised.

Dr. Kreizler went on to further express his inquiry with a bit more confidence, "You call John Moore by his first name and the same with Ms. Howard, including our other friends we work with, but not me. Why?"

You opened your mouth to answer him when the front door slammed open and Stevie came barging in.

"You ready?" he exclaimed loudly. Stevie was clearly excited at the prospect of showing off his musical talent. "Oh, excuse me Dr. Kreizler, I didn't realize you'd gotten home yet. Thought you were working late," Stevie took off his hat and looked sheepish as he apologized for the disruption in his home.

You sighed. This was your saving grace. You could probably make an excuse and make a run for it with Stevie. You mulled over what to do, battling with the decision.

"Hey Stevie. Nice to see you too! Go on outside, I'll be right there. I just need to put my coat on," you laugh at his enthusiasm.

He nodded at you and dashed back down the hallway and out the door. You could hear one last shout as he exited, "Okay, but don't be too long, we're going to be late!"

Dr. Kreizler gave a look of displeasure at Stevie's unrefined outburst, but didn't say anything as he knows his antics all too well from over the years.

You stood up grabbing Dr. Kreizler's attention.

"Walk me to the door?" you ask, jutting your head in the direction of where your coat hangs.

"Do you plan on providing me with an answer?" he kindly jabbed as he nodded his agreement to follow you out.

You outwardly sighed, trying to figure out how to best answer his question. As you both walked to the front door, you start to answer him.

"Okay, so I address you as Dr. Kreizler 33% of the time, because you deserve the respect that comes with that title. You went to school for many years, and you earned it. So, it's only fair to address you as such," you tell him confidently.

A completely reasonable and partial explanation, you thought.

You both reached the front door, and you grabbed your jacket. Dr. Kreizler, the gentleman that he is, assisted you in putting your coat on. You gave yourself a once over in the mirror, making sure you looked okay before heading out.

You caught Dr. Kreizler staring at you in the mirror as you adjusted a stray hair that had fallen onto your face.

"You look lovely," he quietly voiced.

You turned to face him as he had opened the door for you and stepped outside.

"Thank you," you said, a bit bashful by his sudden compliment.

His expression had gotten softer and his eyes were glowing in the evening lit night.

Your resolve was crumbling even more so now.

"And the other 67%?" Kreizler softly spoke, head cocked to the side.

"Hey - Miss! We need to be going!" Stevie cried.

You turned to Stevie and hollered, "One mo, Stevie! Don't lose your head!"

"I'm sorry I have to go otherwise Stevie is going to have a coronary," you apologized to Dr. Kreizler.

You walked down a few steps, but stopped. You couldn't not answer him.

You go up a step but not completely back to where you where standing in front of Dr. Kreizler. You inhaled a deep breath and exhaled before continuing, looking up to see Dr. Kreizler eyeing you with slight confusion and anticipation with your hesitance to answer his question in full.

"And the other 67% of the time, I call you Dr. Kreizler because..because," you drifted off closing your eyes. You open them again with quiet resolve shining through, finding your confidence. You take another step up to now stand just a foot away from where Dr. Kreizler was.

"Because, I love you Laszlo. And I use your professional title as a barrier, to - to remind myself I have boundaries. It's just easier to separate you this way or well, to keep myself living in denial," you quietly and defeatedly said, laying it all out for him.

You wanted to open your mouth to say something else to him, to let him know it was okay he didn't feel the same way, but you could never quite form the words that needed to come out.

The shock was written clearly on his face. You had completely gob-smacked this man. His eyes had widened considerably and his jaw had gone slack from your answer.

But he never said anything back. You weren't expecting him to.

So instead, you did what you did best. Ran.

"You've got your answer. I-I really have to go now, I'll see you later," you stuttered out, suddenly drained from your revelation.

You took one last glance at Dr. Kreizler before making a mad dash for it with Stevie.

You were gone before Dr. Kreizler recovered from what just happened. And you never got to see the expression on his face after.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

#the alienist #laszlo kreizler #laszlo kreizler x reader #helmut zemo x reader #tfatws #helmut zemo #mcu fic #crossover #my writing

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evebestt · 3 years

Note

Hiya! Since I really adored what you did with my last request I was wondering if I could send through another prompt for a Farah dowling x female reader where Farah and Queen Luna have this sort of unspoken but very clear competition for readers heart and when Farah sees what she thinks to be queen Luna inching towards the finish line she gets envious/cold but really Farah had readers heart all along❤️

Thank you so much by the way. I really appreciate what you do. Sending peace and love and happiness your way xx.

Hi there! Sorry this took a bit, I rewrote it a couple of times. But I love the prompt! I hope you enjoy 🖤

Send me an ask or a message to request a fic. Search my blog for "prompts" to see lists of prompt ideas.

A/N: honestly unless explicitly stated, just assume that in all my fics, the season one ending that we don't talk about didn't happen. Farah's not even napping, she's still alive and awake and being her wonderful self.

To Find Your Truth

Since the Alfean battle with the Burned Ones, Solaria had indeed dispatched a troop of soldiers to be permanently stationed at the school. Between that and the continual growth of Alfea, it soon became clear that a new position would be needed to coordinate the Alfean and Royal schedules. You had been hired in that position, working as a liaison between Farah and Luna, meaning that you worked very closely with the both of them. You’d been a little overwhelmed by your work at first, working not just with the Headmistress of a powerful school and the Queen of the entire realm, but with two of the most powerful fairies – if not the two most powerful fairies in the realm – but Farah and Luna had both made you feel comfortable in your work.

The women were very different. Farah was quiet and calm, her power cool and still under her pristine surface – but undeniably there. Luna, however, was like a fire, sharp and calculating, her power exuding from her and filling every room she entered, even if it was superficially masked in sweet pastels and warm light. You liked them both, despite the differences, and whatever rumors you heard about them.

And they liked you too. Farah often offered you sweet smiles that she didn’t give to everyone, and your meetings with her would sometimes drift into personal conversation, especially if you had them over lunch together. Luna too made her affection for you known, soft touches on your arm that lingered just a moment longer than a friendly touch would, or heartfelt remarks on how she’d never be able to function without you, all of which never failed to make you blush.

You weren’t quite sure when it became a competition between the two of them. It might have happened the day when Luna astral projected into your office, interrupting a lunch meeting with Farah that had gone long with conversation. You’d both been laughing with Luna’s form had appeared, Farah’s eyes bright with affection as she gazed at you fondly, and although you’d both become entirely professional when Luna appeared, you knew she’d seen the way you looked at each other just as clearly as you’d seen the possessive gleam in her eye.

Though your meeting with Luna after that had gone smoothly, as well as all of your other meetings, you could sense that tension in both of the women, like they both had something to prove.

Or more likely, you realized, like they were both trying to win your heart.

Luna became even more bold with her gentle touches, even going so far as to lay a hand on your cheek one night, smiling softly before she retreated and wished you goodnight, offering you a room in the castle if you didn’t want to make the trip back to Alfea. Even Farah, as composed as she was, was more forward in her advances, eyes flicking to your lips when she paid you compliments, or when you rolled your neck to try and ease a headache, she would merely reach out and touch two fingers to your temple, the pain melting away in seconds.

You could admit that you liked the advances of both of them women, feeling as though you could preen under their attentions. Not only did you have Farah — a legendary fairy in her own right — showing you affection, but the Queen of Solaria as well, making you feel like the star of a period piece, your two handsome, wealthy suitors courting you in their attempts to win your hand. You were content with the flirting and the fantasies of both women, not thinking much about where relationships with either of them would go in fear of complicating things. But one afternoon in your office at Alfea, you realized you’d have to decide just where your heart lay.

Instead of her normal astral projecting, Luna had come to your office in person, needing to update her calendar for you and reconcile her schedule with Farah’s and find time for their combined meetings.

“My quarterly inspection of the troop’s preparations here at Alfea needs to happen in the next couple of weeks — hopefully those can drop to biannual next year — Farah will need to be present for that. It will take an afternoon, when can I make that happen?”

You flipped through the large planner on your desk, Farah’s meetings written in blue, Luna’s in red. “Both you and Ms. Dowling have a free afternoon in two weeks on a Friday — though you have an event that night, ma’am, that you’ll have to—”

“Please,” Luna interrupted with a smile, “how many times have I told you to call me Luna?”

You smiled back. “Too many to count… Luna.” It still felt odd to use the Queen’s given name, but her self satisfied smile as she sat back in her chair did make the odd feeling worth it.

“Good,” she praised. “Now, that’s the Benefactor’s Gala, correct? I’ll only need to make a short appearance and give a speech towards the end, so I’ll have plenty of time to dress. Though—” she came around your desk to study the planner herself, standing so close that you could smell her sweet perfume, “that lunch meeting may run long.” She dropped to her elbows on your desk, hips, clad in a dusky rose pencil skirt, cocked in a tantalizing fashion near your head, and you had to fix your eyes pointedly on your planner. “What about this Wednesday here?”

You went back and forth for a while, pencilling in various events. You couldn’t help but let out a sigh as you wrote the last one, feeling your back ache with the strain of both the work and of feigning nonchalance with Luna’s body so near to yours.

Luna seemed to feel the same, straightening to roll her shoulders, but then surprised you by perching on the arm of your chair, somehow looking effortlessly graceful as she crossed her legs, leaving her balanced on the toe of one of her stilettos. “A queen’s work is never done, hm?”

You laughed softly, not letting your eyes linger on the smooth expanse of her legs. “You wouldn’t be a very good Queen if it was.”

Luna laughed too, rich and smooth, and she looked down at you for a long moment before reaching out and tracing the line of your jaw with one finger. “Lucky I have you, then. To help keep me a good Queen.”

You felt yourself blush, jaw tingling where Luna had touched you. You felt your eyes drift to her lips unconsciously, tracing the smooth, sharp lines. Those lips curved into a smirk, and you blushed further, eyes snapping up to meet Luna’s again, who’s glinted with mirth. She traced the line of your jaw again, slower this time, her hand coming to cup your cheek as her eyes flicked over your features, staring as though she was memorizing you.

Lighting zipped in your stomach when you thought you saw Luna lean towards you, just an inch, but your breath caught, eyes flicking to her lips again as she stroked your cheekbone with her thumb.

A clearing of a throat came from the doorway making you spring back, back hitting the arm of your chair. You blushed even further, your cheeks on fire as you tried to get as far away from Luna as possible, who for her part kept her composure, still perched comfortably on the arm of your chair as she stared at Farah in challenge.

“Farah,” you said, trying to pretend Luna wasn’t there, which was difficult considering where she sat. “I’m sorry, I-I didn’t realize we had a meeting today.”

“We didn’t,” Farah said smoothly, still staring cooly at Luna. Her gaze shifted to you then, still cold, and you felt your stomach drop. “I thought I’d stop by to see if you were still here. But if you’re otherwise occupied…” she trailed off, looking at Luna again, and your blush which had started to recede came back in full force, feeling like a student she was disciplining.

“No worries, Farah,” Luna said brightly, looking smug as she stood from her perch. “I should be going anyway.” She turned to you then, giving you a radiant smile. “Thank you for all of your help, dear. You are truly a blessing.” She gave you a wink and then headed for the door, passing closer to Farah than was strictly necessary, and you thought Farah’s hackles would have raised if she had any.

A horribly awkward silence fell over the two of you, and you picked at the edge of your desk, unable to meet Farah’s eyes. She cleared her throat again and you then met her eyes, fighting what felt like the permanent blush in your cheeks.

“I’m sorry for interrupting,” Farah said softly.

“No, no, it wasn’t interrupting,” you insisted, still feeling like you’d done something wrong, but why? There wasn’t anything owed between you, but still you felt like you’d been caught. “Is there, ah, something I can help you with?”

Farah opened her mouth like she was going to speak, but then closed it, smiling at you. It was a warmer smile than before, but it still didn’t reach her eyes, and you felt your stomach drop again. “No, it was nothing. Have a good night.”

And she turned and left, leaving you alone and still blushing.

Why did you feel so horrible? It was a little embarrassing to be caught nearly kissing the Queen in your office with the door open, but the waves of shame and regret rolling through you seemed unwarranted. You and Luna were both adults, as was Farah, and each was entitled to their fun.

Deep down you knew why, and the longer you thought about it, the more sure you were. Flirting with Luna was fun, sure, but with Farah it was something more. With Farah, it was a beginning, the promise of something more, a calling from somewhere in your soul that told you there was something there, something that could be beautiful if you both just took a chance.

You were in love with Farah Dowling. You’d been a fool to not see it for so long, but now that you did it was undeniable, and you couldn’t bear not to tell her, for her to think a moment longer that you didn’t feel for her the way she must feel for you.

It was late now, and after finding her office empty you headed towards Farah’s cottage, not wanting to wait until the morning to find her. As you waited at her door, you thought about what you’d say, rehearsed several confessions, but when the door opened and Farah stood there, hair loosely braided and face bare of makeup, all words left your head.

“Can I come in?” you asked after a long moment, and Farah nodded, stepping aside.

You were both silent again, Farah obviously waiting for you to start as she moved around you into the living room.

“I, uh, wanted to apologize for… earlier,” you started hesitantly, unsure how receptive Farah would be.

“There’s nothing to apologize for. You and Luna are… close. You shouldn’t have to hide that.”

Her words were kind, but Farah held something back, something in her eyes that belied more hurt than she let on. Sorrow pulled at your chest, and you had to clench your fists to keep from going to her to comfort.

“No, that wouldn’t be something to hide, but I meant that… I just wanted to clarify— and what I wanted to apologize for—“ Hell with it, nothing sounded right but the truth. “I’m in love with you,” you blurted, and Farah’s head popped up, staring at you in surprise.

“I love you,” you continued, “and I need you to know that, because what I’m really trying to apologize for is that it took me nearly kissing Luna to realize it myself. I think my heart has always belonged to you, Farah, and I’m sorry that I played this game for so long when I could have been with you.”

You stopped, taking a deep breath and studying Farah. She looked at you cautiously but otherwise unreadable, and for a moment you thought you’d misread her attraction to you, utterly destroying whatever friendly relationship you had.

And then she smiled. Slowly, but it was a real one, and it lit up her eyes so that you couldn’t help but smile yourself.

“I—“ Farah started, and then trailed off, still smiling. And then, deciding better of words, she closed the gap between you in three steps, took you into her arms, and kissed you.

Luna’s touch had been thrilling, exciting, but Farah’s touch, oh, Farah’s touch felt like coming home. You leaned into her, gripping her waist to keep yourself upright as you melted into the kiss, feeling her warm and soft underneath you. Your head swam with dizzying happiness, feeling like a puzzle whose last piece had just clicked into place — full and complete and radiantly beautiful. You could nearly feel Farah pulsing with the same happiness as she kissed you, making a small noise against your mouth, to which you sighed and opened your mouth to her, tasting her sweet and tender on your tongue.

You stayed close when the kiss ended, Farah running her hands lightly up and down your back, sending pleasant shivers down your spine. “I can’t tell you how long I’ve wanted to do that.”

You smiled, feeling as though you might overflow with happiness, and bumped your nose with hers. “Me too. Even if it took me a while to realize how deeply I felt, I always knew I wanted to kiss you.”

Farah smiled again and then gripped your hips, pulling you closer to her. “I thought, when I saw you and Luna, that I’d waited too long to make the depth of my feelings known. I’m sorry for how brisk I was earlier.”

You shook your head, leaning your forehead against Farah’s. “Thank you. Though I can’t blame you. I don’t know how I would have reacted, in your position, though I know I wouldn’t have liked it.”

“It was certainly a shock,” Farah said, and then huffed out a laugh, pulling your hips closer to her. “I’d been coming to ask you to dinner tonight. Not just as colleagues, but as… friends. Maybe something more. Then seeing you together, I… jealous is too weak a word to describe what I felt.” She shook her head then like she tried to banish the thought, and squeezed your hips gently. “I’m glad you’re here.”

She said it simply enough, but the weight behind her words had you wrapping your arms around her neck. “There’s nowhere else I’d rather be, and no one else I’d rather be with. I mean that.”

Farah let out a soft, contented sigh, and gently cupped your cheeks before kissing you again, filling you with light and love, speaking just as clearly with her kiss as though she’d spoken it in your mind.

I love you, too.

#farah dowling x reader #farah x reader #farah dowling #eve best #ftws #fate the winx saga

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lexiwright · 4 years

Text

Building Jealousy

Benny watts x reader

A/N- so hey first benny sorry. This was requested by Anonymous with the second prompt. This is my first in a while so I'm a bit rust but I really hope it's well received and yeah.

Also a side note that isn't import but when writing this Ive been listening to ”You” by petit biscuit. I'm not sure why but any time I've been reading anything to do with benny or writing him this is my go to song. But yes thanks for reading and ya.

Word count - 1720

Warnings - none

Prompt 2 “your jealous aren't you.”

You weren’t amazing at chess. You knew that. Next to people like Beth Harmon and Benny watts you were well aware of the fact. But it was an interesting game which you did good enough when you put your mind to it that you had entered a few tournaments over the years just for the adrenaline rush. You’ve managed to build up to a good enough level that you were state champion for a while but it only lasted a little while.

You’ve known benny a while. And Beth too. You were closer with benny and for a time you thought maybe the pair of yous could become something more. But as soon as Beth came into the frame you lost his interest and you went back to just admiring him without him returning any ounce of feelings to you.

You met Beth in Mexico. Before the great loss against Borgov. You barely got past the second round and lost in the third but hey you weren’t to bothered. But you had noticed how often Beth appeared alone and you decided to see if she wanted company. She seemed to take to you fairly well and yous quickly became friends. After her mum died you comforted her for a little while before you both had to go home. You understood she needed a bit of time and you went to New York for a little. You’d called up benny in advance who wasn’t doing much that weekend so offered his living room.

Accepting the offer and hoping to get to spend some more time with the man you arrived outside his house at a quarter to midnight. Shattered out of your mind from travel. You came in and greeted him as an old friend before you sat down at his table that displayed his board and had a look to see what he was playing.

It took you a second before you realised he’d been playing Beths last game with borgov. It’s angered you a little bit you tried to not care.

“How was the trip Y/N? “ asked benny as he rounded the table to the kitchen for some glasses.

“Nothing special. How’ve you been keeping?” You yawned and watched as he poured you a glass of milk.

“Ah, you know. Not a lot to do around here. Just waiting for the next tournament as always. I hear you met with Beth Harmon. What do you think of her?” He asked. Placing the glasses in the microwave for you both.

“Of course. She seemed nice. We got along well enough. Shame about her mum though but her playing is beyond amazing.” You accepted the glass of warm milk as you spoke and failed to notice as he tensed at your praise of the redhead.

He pushed his hair back and sat down in front of you and watched for a second as you took a sip of your milk. Studying your face with admiration.

Leaning forward, elbows on the table, he leaned his face on hand, two fingers tapping his cheek. Something you noticed he did when he was in thought. You tossed him a quizzical look before questioning him.

“What?”

He took a breathe and held it for a second before speaking in a gentle tone. “You look tired. Are you okay? “

You chuckled at him. Thinking he was joking. “Well, Benny I have just got off a plane so of course, I’m tired.”

But he stopped you. “No. It’s more than that.” You didn’t know what to say and just stared at him confused. He cleared his throat and moved back and gestured at the board. Still set up with Beth's last match. And spoke, “care for a few speed games?”

You rolled your eyes. You rarely win against him at speed chess. You know he was only doing this to show off. But you indulged him and let him flex his bored muscles. Yous played about ten rounds, winning two and drawing one while the king in a loose black striped shirt won 7. And you were sure he was going easy on you but you didn’t mind. It’s still fun.

Once he was sure you knew who was the best player and had finished your warm milk he suggested time for bed. Which you gladly accepted. He left you with the blow-up but knew you were too stubborn to let him do it.

You said goodnight and melted into one of the comfy seats rather than taking the blow-up bed and found yourself involuntarily drifting to sleep where you sat.

You woke with a start as you were shaken awake. You were on the plane and the air hostess was shaking you awake. Clipping in before landing you looked out the window. You were landing in New York again. Only this time you weren’t going to stay at Benny's. Beth was there now.

It had been a few weeks or so since you last stayed. You smiled at the memory of being woken up by a laughing Benny cause you hadn’t made it into bed last time.

You were staying at a hotel a while from Bennys. There was a small tournament that you thought would be fun to go too.

After leaving New York last time you’d called up Beth to see how she was doing. She had Harry beltik with her so at least she wasn’t alone.

You ended up taking for hours. Going over matches verbally for the fun of it and discussing favourite theory’s. This turned into a habit every few days and yous both seemed to get along well.

She called when Harry decided to leave. You could tell she was upset but didn’t want to push it too much. She called before her match with Benny. After the losing rounds of speed chess and you told her not to worry. And she called when she beat him. And then the next day when she told you she was going to New York with him.

You were happy for then although a little sad you wouldn’t get to spend time with him but you understood why.

You had got there a few days earlier so when you heard cleo was in town you opted to spend some time with her.

It had been a week or so and you had been invited to benny's along with Cleo and some boys. You went and was happy to catch up with Beth and Cleo.

You didn’t notice a dismayed benny who was disappointed your attention wasn’t on him.

He thought he could win you over by playing Beth in speed chess but even then he lost spectacularly. You sat out for the games. Not feeling like losing today. But when you and Cleo applauded beths wins. You failed to see just how livid he was that she impressed you more.

He went to bed sourly that night. Tossing and turning. Unable to get the beaming pride for Beth he saw on your face as you clapped her and not him.

Your third match of the tournament had been the next day. Normally if you think your gonna struggle you call benny and get some advice while you listen to him speak. His voice soothing you from nerves even if you end up loosing. But he knew that the match was today and was subtly waiting for the phone to ring. However when it did this time Beth picked up and you felt that you’d annoyed benny enough over the years so you decided to talk to Beth instead.

She was fine with this. Beth is proud of being needed. However, she ( unlike you) noticed the way benny drummed his fingers on the counter and stared at her as she said the first few words “Oh, hello Y/N...”

she noticed as his pupils dilated and the drumming stopped.

He had expected her to hand him the phone after that but when she didn’t he couldn’t understand why. And when Beth started talking about the game you were about to play he could feel as something boiled in him. He was who you needed. Not Beth. Yes, Beth was better than him but you needed him. Benny like being able to give you that little bit of ease before a scary match.

He waited a little while longer in case Beth gave him the phone. Till he realised she wasn’t going too.

“Is that Y/N?” He questioned harshly.

Beth just nodded and continued the conversation.

Benny couldn’t take it. And marched over to stand in front of Beth. “What does she want?” He asked. Even though he knew.

“Well she’s got her match today and she said she was nervous,” Beth said deadpanning.

The look on Benny watts faces told Beth something was afoot. Then she realised and gave him a smug look as she said her next words slow and loud enough for Y/N to hear.

“Your jealous aren’t you?”

He froze for a moment. Realising what she said was right.

He barely registered as Beth spoke to you again apologizing “sorry Y/N. I’ve got a green ogre here that I’m going to pass you too. Good luck for the match. “

She preset to phone into his hand and moved for him to sit in her seat.

He held the phone to his ear to hear your voice and he frowned.

“Benny what’s wrong”

He paused thinking before speaking with an almost whiny tone.

“ you think you can drop me cause I was beaten by Beth Harmon at speed chess, no, uh uh. I'm here to stay Y/N L/N and I won’t sit back and let you go off to someone else. No. Your mine got it.”

You were speechless. You hadn’t realised benny felt like thins. He realised what he said.

“ well eh you know, your not my property that’s not what I mean. I just.”

He took a deep breath and spoke with confidence. “ I need you Y/N. You're like the queen to my king. I feel I’m nothing without you. So please don’t brush me off for someone better.”

You smiled over the phone and he could hear it in your voice. “ I’d never brush you off benny.”

He sighed in relief and smiled.

#benny watts x reader #benny watts #beth harmon #queens gambit #x reader #benny #thomas sangster #thomas brodie sangster

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ditzydawn11 · 3 years

Text

keep me safe

Neville Longbottom x reader

not requested

warnings: attempted sexual assault

2500 words

THIS STORY HAS MATURE THEMES. My heart goes out to all of the ladies who are a part of the 97%. You are strong, you are beautiful, and you are not alone.

When someone tries to hurt the reader, Neville steps in and protects her like the true Gryffindor he is.

Neville was your best friend in the whole world.

In third year you had asked Professor Sprout to use her greenhouse to cultivate a plant for your own needs. You had a knack for potions and although you couldn’t stand Snape’s constant droning in class, your passion for the subject was unmatched compared to any other of your studies.

You had been trying to create a potion that would allow your pet cat, Socks, to levitate. Ever since you first picked her out in Diagon Alley during your first year she had longingly stared out the window in your dorm admiring the owls flying outside.

Obtaining the magical ingredients was no trouble, Snape often let you come and take what you needed because you were his top student. However, to make it cat safe you needed muggle cat-nip, something Snape definitely did not have on hand.

That’s what led you to the greenhouse on a cold and rainy April morning with your small pot and bag of seeds in hand. You didn’t expect anyone else to occupy the small plant house at 7:00 am on a Tuesday so you didn’t bother to knock. You let yourself in and were startled to see another student with his back towards you tending to some plant.

“Oh, hi!” you squeaked out. Before you could react, the poor boy dropped the empty pot he was holding creating a large crash and shattering the clay everywhere. “Oh I-I-I am so-so sorry. I-I didn’t know anyone w-was here,” he said between frantic breaths as he was focused on trying to pick up the pieces. “Don’t apologize, I should have knocked. Let me help you.” you kindly offered. You bent down onto your knees to his level to help pick up the broken pieces. “Here,” you said handing him a rather large piece that was still intact. Neville looked up to grab the piece from your hand. He was so caught up by his own clumsiness that he didn’t get a proper look at you. He was taken back by your beauty, the way your hair perfectly framed your face, the subtle red tint to your nose and cheeks from the cold, and the way your eyes sparkled in the early morning light. Neville could barely get a sentence out when your hands met exchanging the Terra Cotta. “Uh..thanks,” he said quickly looking back down at the ground.

You stood up and dusted off the front of your skirt. “I’m y/n by the way. Sorry again for startling you,” “Don’t worry about it. Oh um I-I uh I’m Neville.” “It’s nice to meet you, Neville, Sprout is letting me use the greenhouse to grow a plant of mine for a potion. So it looks like we will be seeing more of each other,” you happily stated.

From that moment on you and Neville became the best of friends. Though if you were being completely honest, you longed for more. You had gone out with a couple of guys on small dates over the years and Neville even took Ginny to the Yule Ball but you never really clicked with someone like you did with Neville.

Now you were in your 5th year starting to think about life after Hogwarts. Laying with your head in Neville’s lap under a big tree near the black lake you two discussed your futures and what you think you would do after graduation. “Hey Nev?” you asked interrupting the comfortable silence between the two of you. “Yes y/n?” he responded setting down the book he had been reading. “What do you want to do after we’re done with school?” you asked him while staring up at his face from down below. “I dunno, maybe teaching. I’ve pretty much taught you everything you know about Herbology,” he responded with a chuckle. “Hey!” you gave him a playful smack “though I do suppose I wouldn’t have passed my last exam without you basically teaching me the last chapter.”

“What about you?” the brown-haired boy asked while playing with the ends of your hair. “I think I want to continue my study of potions. I mean imagine developing a potion to finally reverse horrible diseases and terrible curses,” you replied subtly referencing what happened to his parents.

You were the only person Neville had told the story of his parents to. Ever since then you always made an effort to remind him of how proud his parents would be of him. He often doubted his abilities but you how brave and capable he was. You would trust him with your life.

“If anyone can brew those potions it’ll be you,” he said in a quieter tone. “Aww thanks, Nev, I know exactly who I’ll be getting my ingredients from,” you said with a smile. Nightfall was approaching so the two of you made your way back to the castle for dinner. The two of you were an unconventional duo to everyone else but to you, you were best friends and wouldn’t want it any other way.

Later that night you closed your eyes to fall asleep but your mind began to drift. You began to think about Neville which isn’t uncommon seeing that you spend most of your time together but you were thinking about him in a different way.

You’d be lying if you said you hadn’t thought of him like this before but what’s even worse is that part of you wishes it was this way. You had noticed a bit of...tension between the two of you on occasion. Like the time you couldn’t reach the top shelf in the greenhouse so Neville came up directly behind you to get the watering can for you. Or when you grabbed Neville from the library to go and watch Fred and George’s newest prank unfold and you held his hand the whole way there. You so wished that something more could blossom between you two but the last thing you wanted to do was jeopardize your friendship. I mean having Neville as a friend is better than not having him at all. You knew you could spend hours thinking about this so you just decided to roll over and try to get some shut-eye.

A few days later you were supposed to meet Neville in your guy’s usual spot after lunch, in the greenhouse, but he didn’t show. You figured he probably forgot (something he does quite often but you secretly think is absolutely adorable) so you left to go and find him. After searching for a bit you went to check for him in his dorm. Before you knocked you could hear faint sniffling from the other side of the door. You gently knocked and called out “Neville? Is that you? Can I come in?” After a few seconds of quiet the door slowly opened to a teary Neville on the other side. You instantly dropped your bag and gave him the biggest bear hug you could. You broke the hug and asked “Neville what’s wrong? What happened?” “y/n why am I a Gryffindor? I’m so pathetic I can’t even stand up for myself,” he said through his sniffles. “Neville you are far from pathetic. You are the bravest, and most kindhearted, and loyal person I know. That’s why you’re a Gryffindor. Your parents would be so proud of you. I’m so proud of you.” you assured. It turns out that a few Slytherins sabotaged Neville’s potion in Snape’s class so it would explode everywhere. When Neville went to confront them he froze which caused everyone to laugh at him. You continued to hug him until he calmed down but you wished there was some way you could get Neville to believe in himself as you believe in him.

About a week later you found yourself sitting in the courtyard reading your transfiguration textbook for your test tomorrow. You were sitting on a small bench by yourself in a relatively secluded area of the outdoor space. You saw a figure approaching and looked up to see none other than McLaggen, someone who you often complained to Neville about on a regular basis. “So sweetheart, there’s a trip to Hogsmeade coming up and you look like you could use a date,” he said with a sickening smirk. “Bugger of Cormac,” you said as you began to collect your things. “Aww that’s no way to talk to me darling,” he said inching closer to you “you know I don’t like taking no for an answer.” Cormac McLaggen was just about the most disgusting guy at Hogwarts. He had asked out pretty much every girl in the school including yourself on multiple occasions. The answer was always a hard no but he couldn’t seem to get that through his thick skull. “I said I’m not interested now I have to get to class. Goodbye.” you hastily replied while trying to get as far away from the douchebag as you could. Before you could get very far he grabbed you and pinned you up against the stone hedge directly behind you. “What the fuck” you screamed as he began ripping open your uniform blouse and putting his hands on your chest and neck. You fought back as hard as you could but he was just too strong.

What you didn’t see was Neville watching you from afar. He had been sitting with Dean and Seamus when he saw McLaggen make his way over to you. He knew that you would never stoop to that level but it did spark a kind of jealousy in him seeing another boy talk to you that way. When he saw him push you against the wall Neville reacted before he could think and sprinted over to you as fast as he could.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing Cormac?” Neville yelled as he pulled the asshole off of his best friend. “Just showing her what a real Gryffindor is like since she seems to spend all her time with you, a pathetic excuse of a wizard,” said Cormac as he began to get closer to Neville who was standing directly in front of you as a shield. “Don’t you ever come near her again? You hear me?” Neville threatened without any hesitancy or fear in his voice. “Yeah right,” McLaggen scoffed as he advanced on Neville. However, before he could do any more damaged Neville punched him straight in the face causing Cormac to fall to the ground.

By this time a small crowd was beginning to form. McGonagall broke through the mess of students “What in the world is going on here?” She looked at the scene in front of her and quickly put together the pieces. “I see, students get to class, I’ll be taking Mr. McLaggen to Dumbledore. We do not tolerate this kind of behavior. Longbottom, I trust that you will make sure Miss y/l/n is alright. Please take her to Madam Pomfrey if she needs anything. Very well.” and she grabbed McLaggen by the arm and made her way back to the castle.

The crowd had dispersed leaving just you and Neville. Neville realized that he hadn’t even checked in on you yet because he was so disoriented from everything that just happened. He quickly spun around to face you. Your mascara was completely smeared, you were sobbing, and your blouse was ripped open leaving your bra and chest exposed. “Can I- can I touch you?” Neville softly asked not wanting to make you uncomfortable in any way. Instead of using your words you just collapsed into Neville letting his arms wrap around you in an effort to keep all the pain and ugly things as far away from you as he could.

You don’t know how long you two stayed like that but Neville pulled away eventually and used his thumb to wipe off some of your smeared black eye makeup and tears. “Here,” he said while pulling off his burgundy Gryffindor sweater and putting it over your head. He saw that you were still exposed and didn’t want anyone seeing you like that. “Do you want to go to Madam Pomfrey?” he softly asked while rubbing soothing circles on the back of your hand. You shook your head no “can we just go sit by the lake. I don’t want to go back and deal with everyone yet.” “Of course,” he replied.

Neville guided you over to the lake and you two rested under your favorite tree. There were no words exchanged between the two of you. Just comfortable silence and a telepathic-like connection that told you that everything was going to be alright. Neville rubbed soothing circles on your back as you lay your head on his lap. You don’t know how long you two stayed there but you soon realized that you must have fallen asleep because it was nearly dusk and you were in Neville’s arms walking back to the castle.

He carried you back to your common room and up to your dorm. Neville layed you down on your bed and tucked you into the covers. He made his way to the door but stopped when he heard you call out his name. “Hey, Nev? Could you maybe stay? I just don’t want to be alone right now.” “Oh, uh sure,” he said making his way back to you. He didn’t want to make you feel bad for seeming hesitant because honestly, he would love nothing more than to stay with you. However, the last thing he would want to do is to make you uncomfortable or seem like he was taking advantage of you in your time of distress. Plus with his massive crush on you, he gets incredibly nervous any time something remotely intimate or romantic occurs between you two. But he swallowed his nerves and kicked off his shoes to be there for you when you need him most. He would do anything for you. He crawled under the covers and kept a substantial amount of space between you two though honestly, the school-issued dorm beds weren’t that big.

You didn’t say a word but gently turned over so you were facing away from Neville. You scooted closer to him and in a moment of bravery grabbed his hand from the opposite side of the bed and pulled it over you so you two were cuddling. You let out a sigh of relief partly from Neville not pulling away and partly from finally finding some peace from the stress of the day.

“Neville?” you called out. “Yes y/n,” he called back. “Thank you for keeping me safe.” and soon after those few words left your mouth in the still silence of the room, you were asleep.

Neville let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding and bravely planted a kiss on the top of your head. Maybe he really was a Gryffindor after all.

#neville x y/n #neville longbottom #neville x reader #neville fluff #neville longbottom imagine #neville longbottom fic #neville appreciation #hogwarts #harry potter #harry potter fic

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genshin-impact-writings · 3 years

Note

Request for your special event-

Character: Albedo

prompt: 'I love you, my little prince"

Song: Once upon a dream: Lana Del Rey

If it is possible, Can the reader be the one to say the prompt and is a fatui harbinger [or someone that the knights are just wary off] ?? (I am a sucker for forbidden love but the reader is just "screw u, Imma date them anyways) I apologize if this is too specific.

Thank You in advance and Congrats on your milestone!! <3

First of all, thank you very much for your request. I love this song and Albedo, so it really was the perfect combination. Also, this turned out a lot longer than I originally planned, and I really hope you like what I came up with. Have a good day/night and take care! <3

Once upon a dream – Albedo x gn!Fatui!reader

I know you, I’ve walked with you once upon a dream

I know you, the look in your eyes is so familiar a gleam

And I know it’s true that visions are seldom all they seem

But if I know you, I know what you’ll do

You’ll love me at once, the way you did once upon a dream

Mondstadt was beautiful at night. Although most of the shops were already closed, the streets were still filled with people, sitting in front of the taverns where they enjoyed a few drinks and the balmy breeze that blew gently through the alleyways. Everything was peaceful and somehow quite idyllic, and you stopped in your track to take in all the impressions that rained down on you.

In your life, you had barely experienced moments like this. As a member of the Fatui, you were always on the road, traveling wherever your Archon sent you and fulfilling every mission she gave you. It was a restless life, dangerous too, but you had never been one to complain, especially since you had always dreamed about exploring Teyvat, seeing other cities and meeting new people along the way. Without the Fatui, you probably would still be stuck in Snezhnaya where you would be doing the same things every day, always wondering if this was all life had in store for you.

Needless to say that you still felt incredibly honored that the Tsaritsa had chosen you, alongside with a few other Fatui Diplomats, to accompany Signora, one of the Eleven Harbingers, on her trip to Mondstadt. So far, the trip had been everything but fun, every day filled with work and duties, including spying on the Knights of Favonius that were understandably weary of every Fatui who set foot in their city. Most of them kept their eyes on you twenty-four-seven.

Even now, during your rare free time, you could feel the guards watching you as you made your way back to the market district. A couple of people were standing outside of Cat’s Tail, laughing and joking around, just like they usually did. By now, you recognized most of them since you came by here every day. It was one of the few spots in Mondstadt where nobody payed attention to you because they were too busy with minding their own business to wonder about a Fatui Diplomat passing by, eyeing them curiously before walking on.

Your destination was the upper square, the one with the pretty fountain, right in front of Good Hunter. You had enjoyed a few meals there over the past few days (people where rightfully proud of the restaurant) but at this late hour, the shop was already closed, promotional signs neatly stored away.

You sat down on one of the benches near the fountain and crossed your legs as you let your eyes wander. During the day, this square was a popular meeting spot but now, there were only a few people here. The perfect opportunity to see him again.

During the few meetings with the Knights of Favonius you had attended, he had stayed in the background, only speaking when someone addressed him directly and even then, his answers had been quite brief. It hadn’t taken you long to figure out that he preferred to keep to himself, hence why he almost exclusively came here long after dark to inspect the Crafting Bench for any damages and to have a quick conversation with Timaeus, the alchemist who supervised the Crafting Bench throughout the day.

Usually, you kept your distance, admiring him from afar, but today, you had promised yourself to finally introduce yourself to him. Not only because it was rude to stare at someone you barely knew but also because a considerable part of you really wanted to find out who the Chief Alchemist truly was.

You didn’t have to wait long. Propping up your head on your hand, you watched him as he talked to Timaeus. His bright teal eyes almost seemed to glow in the warm light of the street lamps, and you couldn’t help but smile at the sight. It really should be illegal to be that pretty.

About twenty minutes later, Timaeus made his farewells to the Chief Alchemist, leaving him with a bunch of notes. It took you a brief moment to realize that this was the moment you had waited for but then, you jumped to your feet and took a deep breath before walking over to him.

“Excuse me,” you said, your heart starting to beat frantically as he looked at you, a slightly confused expression on his face. “Yes?”

“I’m sorry to bother you,” you continued and cleared your throat when you realized how squeaky your voice was sounding. “But I think you might have dropped this.”

You put out your hand, showing him the tiny gemstone you had bought at With wind comes glory a few hours ago. The stone’s color perfectly matched his eyes, the same bright teal that you saw in your dreams sometimes. You were absolutely sure that nobody else on this earth had eyes so pretty that you even thought about them in your sleep.

“No, I’m afraid you’re mistaken,” he replied softly, snapping you out of your thoughts. “It’s not mine.”

“Oh,” you mumbled. Well, that didn’t go as planned, you thought and let out a quiet sigh. So, what else could you say to him?

Usually, you had a quick tongue and always managed to figure out a topic to talk about but right now, you felt like every statement that came to your mind was either incredibly stupid or completely irrelevant. Think, you urged yourself, think!

But he had already lost interest in you. His attention was back on the clipboard Timaeus had handed him earlier, his brows slightly furrowed as he studied the notes from his assistant.

“So, um- can I perhaps ask you a few things about alchemy?” you asked when the silence between the two of you got uncomfortable. He didn’t look up from his notes but at least, he nodded which you took as a good sign.

“I mean, not now,” you added, painfully aware that you didn’t even know enough about alchemy to ask him a simple question. It definitely would have been better to prepare for this conversation but now it was too late to turn back. “I just – I wanted to make sure that you’re okay with helping me before I deluge you with my questions.”

Finally, he looked up, his gaze meeting yours for a brief second. “Ah, it’s you. I saw you at the meetings. You’re one of the Fatui Diplomats,” he said but unlike others, he didn’t seem to judge you. He simply stated a fact, nothing more. If anything, he sounded a bit curious.

“My name’s (Y/N),” you replied, in an almost desperate attempt to keep the conversation going because a part of you really didn’t want him to leave. When you saw the small smile that flashed over his face, you felt like your heart stopped for a second.

“I’m Albedo.”

But if I know you, I know what you’ll do

You’ll love me at once, the way you did

Once upon a dream.

That’s when it all had started. Whenever you weren’t busy with your mission or other tasks Signora assigned you to, you spent every minute with Albedo, listening to his musings about alchemy and the secrets of the world he desperately wanted to disclose. You didn’t understand half of the things he was talking about but you didn’t mind. It was enough for you to just listen to him, watching how his eyes lit up whenever he made progress in his research, and every time he sheepishly thanked you for keeping him company, you found yourself falling for him a bit more.

Of course, you knew right from the beginning that it was stupid to develop feelings for him, given the fact that you had to leave Mondstadt at some point to return back to Snezhnaya – but there was nothing you could do to stop it. Everything about Albedo was adorable. He was a gentle soul, curious and kind and so beautiful that it still took your breath away every time you look at him. And you wanted to be with him, against all reason. There was just something about him that seemed so familiar, so wonderfully familiar that you simply didn’t have the power to resist him.

And before you had even fully realized what was happening, you were already head over heels in love with him.

You didn’t tell him, at first. After all, he was still the Chief Alchemist of the Knights of Favionius and you were still a member of the Fatui, someone the knights didn’t trust at all, and you didn’t want to spoil the precious time you could spend together.

But eventually, you didn’t want to keep it a secret any longer. You wanted him to know how much he really meant to you. It had been an awkward confession, your face hot from embarrassment when he didn’t respond immediately but as soon as he softly asked if it would be alright to kiss you, you fell in love with him all over again.

I know you, I’ve walked with you once upon a dream

I know you, the look in your eyes is so familiar a gleam

And I know it’s true that visions are seldom all they seem

But, just as all good things, your relationship with Albedo came to an end about three months later when new orders from Snezhnaya arrived, recalling you and the other remaining Fatui Diplomats back to your home country immediately. Signora and the vast majority of her team had already left Mondstadt quite a while ago, and it would be a lie if you said that it hadn’t raised your hopes up that you were allowed to stay for a little longer.

Now, all your hopes were shattered to pieces. You could feel tears burning in your eyes as you stared down at the letter in your hand, reading the orders over and over again as you tried to understand that it was really over this time. There was no way you could convince your superior or even the Tsaritsa to prolong your deployment in Mondstadt.

How were you supposed to tell Albedo about this? How were you supposed to say Goodbye to him?

You should have stayed away from him right from the start. Then, you would have been the only one who got his heart broken by your new orders but no, you had decided to drag Albedo into this mess, and now you were forced to leave him.

You buried your face in your hands. This was slowly becoming just one big nightmare, one that threatened the wonderful, silly dream you had about your future. A future you wanted to share with Albedo. But of course, you couldn’t, not as long as you were a Fatui. And you couldn’t leave them either because you had sworn an oath to the Tsaritsa; you had sworn to be true to her and Snezhnaya, no matter what happened, and to break this oath had never been an option for you. Heck, you probably wouldn’t even survive betraying your Archon like that, let alone get the happy ending you wished for.

So, no matter how you put it, you had no other choice than to return to Snezhnaya.

You couldn’t sleep, contrary to Albedo who was sound asleep next to you, all snuggled up to you and completely unaware of the emotional rollercoaster you had been experiencing for the past few days. You had waited for the perfect moment to tell him that you had to leave but of course, it never came. There simply was no perfect moment to tell the person you loved that you couldn’t stay with them any longer, that you had no idea when you’d be able to see each other again. If you would ever see each other again.

And with that in mind, you had decided that it was for the best to just leave. Albedo would be heartbroken, yes, but he would be angry, too. And maybe that anger would be enough to make him move on from you. But for now, you wanted to enjoy the time the two of you had still left. The Fatui delegation would leave Mondstadt in the early morning, as agreed with the Acting Grandmaster, so you still had another two, maybe three hours you could spend by Albedo’s side.

You turned your head to press a soft kiss to Albedo’s cheek. He mumbled something in his sleep, and when you heard your name, your heart dropped. He was dreaming about you.

He was dreaming about you and you were about to leave him without even saying Goodbye.

Dawn came and with it the moment you had feared for the past few days. But you had made your decision, and it was too late to change your mind.

Carefully, you tried to pull away from Albedo who was still clinging to you, his arm wrapped tightly around your waist, almost as if he had sensed that this would be the last night you would spend together. You felt terrible as you pushed his arm aside, freeing yourself from his hug, although every part of you screamed to stay here with him.

But you had to leave. And until now, everything went just as you had planned.

Until you accidentally knocked the small lamp on the bedside table over when you gathered the few belongings you hadn’t packed up yet.

Albedo stirred awake, his eyes fluttering open, confusion clouding his eyes.

“(Y/N)?” he asked, his voice still heavy with sleep. “Where are you going?”

You bit your bottom lip, trying to fight back the urge to tell him the truth, and leaned back down to brush a strand of hair from his forehead. “Nowhere,” you reassured him softly. “You’re just dreaming, my love. Go back to sleep.”

Your fingertips caressed his skin, gently tracing the outlines of his face as you watched him slowly drifting off to sleep again.

“I love you, my little prince,” you whispered and pressed a soft kiss to his lips one last time before you turned away and quietly left the room. Please forgive me.

The walk to the town gate gave you enough time to regain your composure. By the time you joined the others, you had carefully locked away your emotions, putting on that blank expression that didn’t show how much it hurt you to leave this city.

Lyudmila, one of the other Diplomats, gave you a brief smile. “Looks like we’re all here,” she said. “Let’s go home. We’ve spent way too much time here already.”

You nodded, although you couldn’t help but flinch at the word home. Snezhnaya would never be your home again, not when Albedo couldn’t be there with you.

Maybe one day, you thought to yourself and granted yourself one more look at Mondstadt and the town walls that almost seemed to glow in the warm light of the rising sun, we will meet again.

But if I know you, I know what you'll do You'll love me at once, the way you did once upon a dream.

#albedo x reader #albedo genshin x reader #albedo genshin imagine #genshin impact x reader #genshin impact imagine #gn!reader #gender neutral reader #reader insert #15 days of songfics #genshin impact angst

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pearlplusau · 3 years

Text

Attack of the Multiverse!! (Pink Pearl edition)

“Presenting....a new writing series! Here’s the preview of the entire story! Enjoy and thanks for reading in advance!”

*que intense chase track

A pink pearl in her latest crystal gem form, was blindly running into the darkened beach, where everything was pitch black. She couldn’t see the water, she couldn't see the sand, heck, she couldn’t even see the giant temple that should be located somewhere in front of her without any light source!

She couldn’t remember how long she ran, but it was more than her physic could take. As she slowed down, she huffed and puffed, almost wheezing from all the running.

But her break was cut short when-

A sound of blast came from somewhere behind her, controlling whatever it touched as the torn objects such as floor boards, trash cans, and giant chunks of earth levitating around the enemy figure.

As Coral raced towards the temple, which was finally visible from the bright aura of the floating gem, another figure appeared, stretching out her ballerina leg and tripped the poor pink gem.

“Ooof-“ she exclaimed as she faceplanted into the sand.

As Coral lifted her head, she saw two figures, no wait…two identical figures!

The closest figure wore the outfit she had before the rebellion, her first ever pearl form, except it's all nastified, torned up and darkened, as if someone drenched her with the colour schemes of an arch villain. Instead of buns for her hair, two shaggy and messy side ponytails wildly danced under the blowing night wind. Under her eyes was a trail of dark ink, making her look more horrifying than she could ever imagine! (She’s abandoned pearl, but let’s go with Crazy)

The other figure looked like the first figure, except she was completely greyscaled. Her entire body radiated absolutely no colour, just the dreadful shades of black and white! Her hair, too, was in a complete mess, but in a mad scientist style, where her hair looked like it was electrocuted, but more neatly and less frizzy. Anger was radiated from her twitching eye and her frozen W pose, the twitching eye was glowing with power, as if it’s holding back the power with what’s happening next!

The two of them both bore a damaged right eye, but resembled no difference to each other, they even look like-

Coral gasped, “No way! You’re…me?” as she pointed to the two Pink pearls, getting more and more confused.

“That’s right!” Crazy Pearl spoke with a raspy voice and some crazy in her eyes. “And now that we finally got you, we’ll take our sweet time to DESTROY YOU!!”

The pearl brought out a wand from her gem, and it immediately extended and sprung into a deadly, pink, glowing rejuvenator. “Once you’re rejuvenated, you can join my little army, and we’ll destroy the worlds together! Mwahhahahhahahahaha!!”

Coral was only able to whimper out, “worlds?” as the crazy gem wasted no time and brought down her pink glowing scythe!

As Coral braced for rejuvenation, a pink ribbon lashed out and gripped on Crazy pearl’s arm. The scythe was frozen in place, but it was flung aside as Crazy was yanked out of her spot! As the ribbon retreated, another figure slowly came out of its hiding.

“You won’t be destroying anything once I’m done with you!” It’s the same voice as Coral herself, but more confident and sure. The figure had Coral’s face, her hair, her gift from Pink diamond. The more obvious significance was the green dress and the placement of the gem on her forehead. The gem in green shouted, “Earl! You take that freak while I take care of crazy here!”

As soon as she ordered, the sound of a gem retrieving their weapon echoed, “SHING!” with the sound of pistol fire not long after!

Bullets were shot, all flying towards freak pearl, but a metal trash can flew out of nowhere and acted as a shield against the attack.

Coral saw the shooter come out with angered expression, as if she was annoyed of the constant blockage of her attacks. The shooter looked almost exactly like freak pearl, the only difference was one of them is a bleached floating freak while the other wore a long sleeved silk shirt with a diamond shaped cut around her gem, bright pink shorts with huge pink splatters and spots all over her body. Her grey hair buns had little strays of hair at the end, with far less cracks on her face. Earl also had the same cracked eye, but she’s looking a lot less freaky than her counterpart.

As the two pearls fought as ballerinas, assassins and shooters simultaneously, the confident pearl grabbed on to Coral and ordered, “Come on! We need to get out of here! That ribbon wont hold her for long!!”

The said ribbon was wrapping up crazy pearl with a neat bow on top, however, she looked like she could break free any moment!

“Hurry!” Coral got up and they both went to help Earl. The confident pearl pointed to the levitating gem and ordered, “Use your lance and take her down!”

“What!?” Coral questioned in surprise, “isn’t that a bit too much?”

“Trust me, it's not!”

Coral summoned and gripped her lance, aimed at the freaky pearl and threw.

The weapon was barely slapped away with the metal trash can, but that little distraction was able to give Earl the chance to finally strike and take her down!

Earl leaped into the air and performed a 10/10 somersault, she gracefully kicked freak pearl as far as she could! “Smack!”

The knocked pearl made no sound, just the sound of her SPLASH landing into the dark ocean.

Coral immediately took the chance and demanded answers from the two, “Can someone explain what is going on!?”

She looked at Earl, who, instead of speaking, did hand gestures that were clearly sign language, but Coral didn’t get the chance to study them unfortunately…

Confident pink pearl translated, “She’s saying we don’t have much time! Come one, this way!” she pointed to the side of the crystal gem temple. “There's a portal there that should lead us straight to her!”

Coral demanded as they ran, “Her who?!?”

“Coral, do you believe in alternate universes?!” Confident pearl asked.

“I do now! Seeing all of you here! Being literally alternate versions of…ME!”

“Well actually, we’re all alternative versions of the OG Pink Pearl, The original! I’m from a diamond swap universe where White Diamond and Pink diamond swapped places, I’m one of original crystal gems, without White diamonds old pearl.” C!Pearl said as Earl nodded at the side.

Earl made more hand gestures to say something, pointing to herself along with more sign language. C!Pearl translated, “That’s Earl, she’s from another timeline where she… you know what, it’s a long story, all you need to know is that we can trust her!”

“But what about the two we just fought?” Coral demanded.

“Those two? I call them freaky and crazy! They’ve been after us ever since we started portal jumping! I’m not sure where they’re from, but I’m pretty sure Crazy is from an AU where SHE was abandoned in Pink diamond’s garden instead of Spinel! As for freak pearl, really not sure here. Maybe she’s an interpretation of how powerful she could get under a diamond’s complete influence and power?”

Coral gave another quick question, “How do we know who the original Pink pearl is if we’re all from different timelines?”

“Simple,” C!Pearl said, “she’s the pinkpearl that followed the Canon timeline, where she got controlled by White Diamond and spent 6000 years as her mindless servant! Us, however, were created to avoid that specific timeline, so she’s the root of all Pink Pearl. The most important thing to do right now is to look for the first Pink Pearl!! She’s the only one that can help us get deal with our...situation right now.”

“How are we gonna get there with these two on our tail!??” Coral said as she notices more rubble floating behind her as well as a maniacal laugh echoing louder and louder!

“All we need is to get through that portal! Those two wont be able to catch up! Come one!”

The portal, swirling in pink and white star dust, finally became visible behind one of the temple palms. Within the right distance, all three pearls leaped into the portal as it closed behind them!

Shooooofwop!

End of part ???

Multiverse Pink pearl series! Next chapter coming in-

The two rogue pink pearls stopped their tracks when they found...no portal, nor any of the pearls they were fighting.

The two antagonists turned to the camera, made little chuckles and pointed at you, the reader. Crazy teased, “Look what we got here freak pearl, someone that thinks this ISNT an April Fool’s special.”

Freak pearl rotated her floating junk around her until they got to a trash can. She set the trash can on the sand and tapped three times.

Knock

There was a moment of silence and snoring, sounds like someone fell asleep.

Crazy summoned a speaker phone from her gem, placed it at the side of the can, and screamed, “HEY PEARLPLUSAU WRITER! ITS YOUR QUE!”

The writer groggily woke up rubbing his eyes, “Yawnnnn….”

He fell off into the sand.

“Heyyy there fellow readers, yes this IS an April fool’s special, a friend of mine was curious if i would write one of these and sure enough, once the idea got developed, i got straight to the writing process.”

“What was surprising is using us AU characters into his little joke writing, where are the credits you punk?!” Crazy asked in a rather annoyed tone.

"Oh that? ” The writer continued," Credits of the characters are below! You can see the images, as well as the title of the AUs. Some of the characters are linked back to the creators tumblr account, while other creators who dont have tumblr accounts are linked to original posts, like from Instagram!! ”

Freak pearl snapped her fingers for the writer’s attention and pointed to herself, asking for her origin.

“Oh freak pearl? I just thought it would be cool if there’s more than one antagonist for this special, so i kinda created you myself. The idea was, how dangerous can pinkpearl be with a diamond’s ability, and there you are! Telekinesis and mega white laser beams! Pretty cool huh?”

Freak pearl did not respond...well.

“Anyways,” the writer proceeded, “writing this was a pretty fun 1.5 hours of the time i have, not including reviewing and editing tho. If theres anyone out there that wishes to continue the story in their own way, be my guest. Just let me know so i can read it myself lol, im very interested in your take of the situation! “

April fools! And thanks for reading!

Characters (even though they’re not drawn)

Coral/Pink pearl from Pearlplusau - Original design by Tripixle!!

Crystal gem Pink pearl from Diamond swap au - Credit to @dreambigstars

Earl from WD steven au - AU character from @ask-whitepearl-and-steven

Crazy pearl (Despair pink pearl), Design from Shrimp.face (Link to their post)

Freak Pearl, no specific au named, nor from any creator. So i guess she’s my AU character?

A/N: Hope you guys had fun reading as much as i had fun writing it!

Also the real new chapter coming in probs two weeks from now.

Slightly unrelated, there might not be as much visuals as there was last chapter. The drawing pen is a bit busted.

Till then! Bye!

#suau #pinkpearl #Coral #WD!steven #Spinelpinkpearlswap #diamondswap #stevenuniverse #ohwait #iforgotsmth #april fools #happyapril1st

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adam-banks2024 · 3 years

Text

Bliss

Word Count: 2.1k

Summary: Adam steals you during a long study session to go play some hockey like the good old days.

The scent of parchment paper filled the Great Hall, along with that of fresh ink. You could see it shine on the paper if you were seated directly in front of a tall window. The most light comes through during sunrise and sunset, but at the time I’m studying, I wasn’t there during those hours.

It was almost noon on a Saturday, but here I am, studying. These tables were a place I usually enjoyed, mostly because of the large quantities of food, but it soon had become the place that gave me migraines and a strong urge to doze off every now and then.

Ever since I started my sixth year, the advanced potions class had turned into a monstrosity that I wasn’t sure I could handle. At first, it started with a few trips to the hall every month. Then it turned into weeks...and now I’m studying during most of my free time.

I can’t understand why I’m struggling with this class in particular. In all of my other classes, I’m performing above average. Apparently, I just can’t get the hang of “the art that is potion-making.” God, if I hear one more uninspiring word from Snape I might jump from the Ravenclaw tower.

At this point I had been studying for at least four hours now, and I hadn’t even eaten anything that would resemble breakfast. Unless two stale crackers count. The best part about the whole situation is that I had only managed to memorize the ingredients of one potion in my whole time studying. One. So, still, I must persist. Because I do not want to spend a study hall with Snape. I let my grade fall once and suddenly I found out how awkward and unsettling an hour with the professor was. It’s not like he would even help me. He just told me to read from the book and stared at me the whole time. As much as I hate to admit it, having no time to relax was better than spending any extra time with Snape than I had to

As I reached across the table for more ink, a separate hand was already there.

“Hey.”

A long, dark robe hung from his shoulders, and a green and grey scarf was loosely wrapped around his neck. His cheeks and nose had a blush, while the rest of his face appeared icy. He carried a bag with him that had unorganized papers going every which way.

“Oh hey, Adam. How’ve you been?”

Adam passed the vial to me and I dipped my quill. He put his belongings on the table and sat on the bench.

“Pretty good. You?” He ran a hand through his hair, trying to calm the mess.

“Eh. I’ve been better.” My voice was laced with tiredness and a pang of hunger. Nothing that would have been noticed, though.

He paused for a moment and then spoke again. “What’s wrong, Snape got you down because he couldn’t meet for a study session?”

I snorted. Me missing Snape? Yeah, sure, in his dreams. It took me a few seconds to compose myself before I responded. “No. Quite the opposite actually.” Adam hummed in response and gave a small laugh.

Once the noise subsided there was an awkward pause. I was waiting for him to respond, and I honestly didn’t know what to say. I hadn’t had a decent conversation with the kid since the beginning of fifth year. Now we’re almost done with our sixth. I decided that maybe if I returned to my studies, he’d take that as an opportunity to drop the conversation.

I hadn’t even gotten the chance to open my book before he cleared his throat. “Gosh, I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever.” He leaned his arm against the table and rested his head in his palm, fingers twiddling with the feather of my quill.

I sighed, slouching in the process. “Yeah. Social interaction has been foreign to me.”

Adam moved his other arm to the table, resting his head in both hands now. “Well I’m glad that you were just studying and not being torn apart by the whomping willow.”

“Haha, yeah. I think I would prefer the willow.” We both laughed, knowing that potions class was hell. Well, I assumed that he thought it was hell.

“Ahh, don’t say that.” It looked as though he was trying to think of what words to say. Mouth opening and closing, eyes darting everywhere. He must have pieced together what he wanted to say. “You should join me and the guys for some skating.” I shrugged my shoulders, not answering. I knew that if I entertained the idea at all then I wouldn’t be productive the rest of the day, so I decided to read over my notes to get my mind off the subject. Still, Adam persisted. “Maybe take away some of your stress?” I paused. A break sounded really nice, but could I really afford one right now, or even have enough energy?

“I don’t know, Adam. I have an exam on Tuesday.”

Adam stood up and walked around the table with a childlike bounce in his step. “C’mon, y/n, it’ll be fun. Just like old times.” Now he was sitting right beside me, his lip now forming a pout.

“Well...I guess skating for an hour or two couldn’t hurt. What time were you thinking?” He pulled me up. “Right now!”

All of my belongings were still in the hall, but I don’t think Adam had any regard for that. He seemed extremely excited that I had agreed to go skating with him. Well, and other people. Obviously. It’s not like it was just an invitation with him. They probably just needed an extra player so the teams were even. Whatever the case, I was glad to leave my studies for a few hours.

We earned glares from the portraits as we ran through the west wing haphazardly, bumping each other as we went. Giggling filled the air and it was just like it was a year ago. There was no awkwardness, no distance. It was like we had stayed in touch the whole time we were apart. I’ll have to make a mental note to not let that distance between Adam and I grow again.

“So, this is where I leave you.” I smiled at him as I turned to enter the Hufflepuff common room. “Well, for a moment. I don’t really want to get yelled at for being in another house.” Adam shifted his feet.

“Oh. lighten up, cake eater.” He didn’t say anything, just stared at me. “Okay fine. If you’re that much of a stickler to the rules, you can stay out here.” He gave a sheepish grin.

As I walked up the stairs to my dorm, I wondered how that kid was even in Slytherin. He follows the rules, he’s super kind, and he brightens the room. Then again, you find tons of kids who break their house’s stereotypes.

I ended the thought as I reached to grab a coat, scarf, and my skates. It had been at least half a year since I used them, so there was no doubt that I would be a little rusty when I got back on the ice. Once I was all bundled up, I made my way back to the hall where I found an Adam Banks standing in the same position that I had left him.

He gave a small smirk as I exited. “Ready?”

“As I’ll ever be.”

He hooked his arm through my arm and started to tow me to the frozen lake that was above the Slytherin common room. A blush drew to my cheeks, but I wrote it off as the scarf I adorned. Thankfully he didn’t notice. He was so focused on getting to the makeshift rink that I don’t think anything could have phased him. Not even Dumbledore in a bright, pink dress.

The trek was long, but there wasn’t a lot of snow, so that made the trip more enjoyable. As we neared the lake, I could see the other guys in the distance. I could only make out Connie and Guy because they were holding hands, but there were four other people that I couldn’t see out on the rink.

“Who’s all gonna be there today?” I looked up at Adam. The blush on his nose was even darker now because of the cold.

“Umm, Charlie. He had the idea in the first place. Averman wanted to come too. I think Connie and Guy. And then we asked Julie and Goldberg so we had goalies.” He smiled as he spoke, his love for hockey apparent.

Adam and I had played together when we were first years, but we hadn’t really known each other then. That’s where I first learned how to even skate. While I was still getting the bearings, Adam was already an extremely skilled player. When we were closer he used to tease me about it all the time, but he eventually stopped, and then just stopped talking to me all together. Maybe that’s why I’m so excited to go skating with him. After all, there’s no better feeling than reconnecting with an old friend.

The lake was pretty bare aside from two makeshift goals on the ice, and a few benches on either side. There weren’t any blue or red lines that we would have for actual games. Just plain ice.

“And you’re sure the lake is frozen enough?” Images of me falling through into the chilly water invaded my mind.

Adam shrugged his bag from his shoulder, “I’m a hundred percent sure. And if I’m not, I personally allow you to punch me.”

I rolled my eyes as I started to sit on one of the benches, putting a skate on. “Wow. how convincing.” He didn’t respond, so I just laced up my skates. Looking at the other people skating around, I wasn’t so sure how good I was gonna be. It had been at least three years since I’d really played a game of hockey, and you could clearly tell that these people practiced consistently.

I stood up once I laced my other skate, and started to make my way to the ice. Much to my surprise, my balance wasn’t awful. I could successfully skate and stop without much effort. There were still times where I would wobble or need to regain my balance, but I should be able to hold my own.

Adam brought me a stick and nudged my shoulder. I almost tripped, but I caught myself before anything else could happen.

“You’re real funny, Banks.” I spoke through gritted teeth, still struggling to stay afoot. He offered both of his hands out to help me gain my bearings again. To my surprise, he started skating backwards, pulling me forward. I laughed, “where are we going?”

I could see Adam’s breath as he laughed with me. “To play, silly goose.” An amused expression was painted on his face while speaking, and he gave a big smile after. I started to skate with him instead of just letting him drag me along. After a moment, he just stopped. Because physics exists, I kept sliding and bumped into him. I almost fell but Adam grabbed me by the elbows before I could drop to the ice.

When he pulled me up, our faces were only an inch or two apart. The world around me seemed to fade until it was just Adam. Neither of us had said a word, we just stood there. Staring at each other. It was in that moment when I realized the blades of my skates were slipping on the ice. I didn’t really know why, because the lake was definitely frozen over, like Adam had said. It might have been because my knees had locked

Then I noticed the slight tug on my arms. I realised I was being pulled, not slipping. I was being moved at such a tiny rate that it was almost unnoticeable. Almost. As I neared Adam’s chest, I simply stopped breathing. My heartbeat sped, and I slowly started to lose my hearing. This feeling that I was only now feeling, had it been there the whole day? At the table, running through the hall, walking to the lake. Was it there the whole time? I was just to blind to have seen it. All of the time Adam and I had spent before we lost touch, was the feeling there too?

Once there was no more room between him and I, Adam started to part his lips. My stomach was instantly in knots, and my mind preparing myself for the moments that were to come. Nothing else was said, and Adam closed his eyes. With no hesitation, he closed the gap between us, and pressed his lips against mine.

There were no fireworks. No sparks, no pits in my stomach. Just pure bliss, as I kissed the boy that I met in fifth year.

#mighty ducks #the mighty ducks #adam banks #adam banks x reader #mighty ducks imagine #the mighty ducks imagine #adam banks imagine

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neutron-stars-collision · 3 years

Text

The Art of Inversion

Neil x Reader

Chapter 16 - An Absolution

Masterlist; Chapter 15

Summary: You and Neil go on your little night out in Oslo after the Freeport mission. As the night unfolds, you get closer than ever.

Warnings: 18+ (stuff happens you know); swearing.

Author’s Notes: Okay so I’m terrified but I had to give you this one already because I’m proud done before the schedule deadline. I loved writing some parts so hope you will enjoy! Feedback is a life-saver so please leave me some? Anyways, enjoy! (and I go hide or sth)

The moment you opened your eyes, you knew that it was going to be a tough day. That ever so helpful, sabotaging voice was back. And it was pissed off at you for being reckless, stupid, and naïve, among other things. In short, you had regrets about everything that happened. Once again, it all boiled down to your deeply ingrained fear of losing people important to you. Because now that Neil undoubtedly noticed how responsive you were to everything he did, there was no pretending that you were not interested. Another step was admitting the feelings you had. And the next one after that was him leaving you for someone better, right? Well, your brain was sure about that.

You groaned and contemplated staying in bed for the rest of the day, avoiding everyone and everything when your phone rang. Interesting. You sat up and picked it up, frowning at the name on the screen. The only person who you both did not want to speak to and also missed already. Sighing, you pressed the green button:

“Morning” Neil sounded like he just woke up as well.

“Hi” you mumbled, anxiously picking on the skin around your fingernails “We’ve never done this before… morning phone calls, I mean,” you noticed.

“I know, but I wanted to check if you’re alright… after everything” tense and nervous Neil was still new to you.

“Yeah, is all fine” you hated lying, but then maybe this time truth would not do you any good.

But, of course, he caught it.

“Pardon me, but I’m not convinced”

You fell back onto the pillows. Caught in the act.

“Okay, you got me” admitting felt like another lost battle.

“I know you a bit better than you’re giving me credit for” he got that right, for sure “So? You know I won’t let it go until you tell me”

Damn him and that selfless heart. You took a deep breath:

“I was thinking... maybe it’s best we don’t mention what happened ever again” you finished the sentence and desperately wished you had this conversation face to face.

He took a little longer to respond, only fueling those wishes.

“Why?” the confusion was almost as bad as the regrets spilling from your heart.

Almost.

“I don’t know,” you sighed heavily, feeling worse with every sentence “Suppose I’m worried it will fuck everything up, and I don’t want that. I want this… us… to work somehow”

That was not exactly what you wanted to say. Another failure.

“If that’s what you want, then sure” you could tell that he only agreed to placate you.

And maybe because he too was surprised by your unexpected admission.

“I just want you to know that for me, it wasn’t a mistake. I did what I wanted to do” he added, making your heart stumble wildly as it always did.

Brilliant.

“Okay... but for the sake of keeping tonight less awkward... let’s not mention it. Please?”

“Your wish is my command” despite yourself, you smiled at that comment, “I’ll pick you up around 6?”

“Sounds good” you glanced at the bedside clock; still ages left for you to panic “Thank you, Neil. You’re too good for me”

“Well, there’s reasons for that so…” it was that nervous half-smile, you could bet on it “Just don’t stand me up tonight”

The ridiculous idea made you laugh, feeling some tension ease.

“Could never”

*** You managed to get as far as getting up, dressing up, and having instant coffee from the little complimentary set in the hotel room, before you heard a knock on the door. Intrigued, you opened it to reveal Mahir stood on the doorstep, with two coffee cups in hands. A blessing.

“Thought we could have a little chat since I’m leaving later” he explained when you let him in.

“Sounds good. And thank you for that coffee, the shit here isn’t drinkable” to prove the point, you flushed the remains of the brown liquid down the bathroom sink.

“Cheers, my treat” jokingly, you raised a toast with the paper cups and settled onto the armchairs “So, what’s your plan?” he asked after a short comfortable silence.

“I’ll be going back to London tomorrow afternoon. And after that, we’ll see” you shrugged “Hopefully I’ll get some heads up about the upcoming events”

You mentioned the texts from TP to Mahir to explain how you were in the possession of the plans and blueprints in advance of the actual news. He took it without any further questions for which you were grateful.

“What you did last night at the airport…” he met your gaze seriously, and you frowned “That was incredibly brave but also hellishly stupid” his sheepish grin made you laugh.

“Oh, I know. I just thought it had to work out somehow… and if not…” you shrugged, hoping he will understand all that you are not saying.

It was enough that you thought about it. For a split second then, and for hours over the night. That same question: what if you jumped too late? For some reason, an image of those concerned blue eyes was tied to it.

“It’s good to be a little reckless in this business. Just try to stay alive though” Mahir reached out to tap you on the shoulder “I quite like you. And I know that there are people who would suffer if anything happened to you” you did not like the knowing look in his eyes.

“Thanks. I’ll do my best”

Then you steered onto more casual topics concerning your past and experience. He was especially curious about how you got to have such a good eye for guns. Later, you expected he was trying to distract you before he was about to drop the real question of the conversation. You were finishing the lukewarm coffee when he asked:

“So… you and Neil?” the casual tone made you choke on the last drop.

You coughed frantically for a whole minute, with Mahir watching, amused. When you could breathe again, you managed to choke out:

“Whatever do you mean?” you placed the cup back on the table and pretended to be perplexed.

It was not working.

“Oh, come on. You might be a spy, but you’re a shit liar. And all that I’ve seen these few days have been rather obvious” he was enjoying your startled expression “Don’t give me that deer stuck in the headlights stare, hun” at the nickname, you nearly choked on your own saliva.

Again.

“Hun?” everything was better than answering the question.

“You’re missing the point” Mahir leaned back, watching you coolly.

You have lost.

“What gave it away?”

“Let me think…” he tapped his temple “Those longing looks? The bloody dancing when you both looked like the happiest people alive? Or last night, when I’m pretty sure something happened in that bathroom” he narrowed his eyes, studying you intensely.

Without a single doubt, the crimson shade on your cheeks was the answer he was looking for.

“You’re perceptive,” you noticed, staring at the carpet.

“It pays to be in our profession,” Mahir noticed your increasing discomfort, and he added, „Don’t worry, I won’t snitch on you to TP”

“How gracious” you raised your head then and gave him a weary smile.

“Have fun tonight. And stay safe,” he winked, making you speechless again.

“Why do I feel like you’re insinuating something there…” you arched one eyebrow, feigning indifference.

“It’s quite easy to piece together. You’re both staying in Oslo for one more free night… and the rest is-”

“Silence. I know,” you cut him off sharply and glared.

Mahir only laughed in response.

*** It turned out that settling on an outfit for the ‘not-quite date’ was a difficult task. It took you embarrassingly long, and you only decided because it was already a little late. A simple buttoned shirt and skirt had to do. It was a question of an eternal internal battle between: ‘it’s just Neil; who cares’ and ‘it’s Neil; it matters a lot’. The final choice, therefore, was as close to balance between those two states as you could manage. You nearly tripped on the stairs down to the lobby when you spotted him. He was casually waiting, with his back against the wall, dressed in the usual suit trousers and a striped shirt. The new addition was a dark grey coat instead of a suit jacket. And that damned green scarf loosely wrapped around his neck. The whole outfit was so Neil that your heart stumbled upon the sight. When he looked up and met your wandering gaze, he smiled, somewhat nervously. So, it was not just you…

“Evening,” he tipped his head in a greeting when you joined him.

“Hey,” you eyed him again, “Shall we…?”

“After you, miss,” he extended his hand chivalrously, and you rolled your eyes.

He surprised you by offering his arm once you stepped outside. After a small moment of hesitation, you took it, letting yourself snuggle closer to him. You quite liked the coat already.

“How was your day?” he was the one to break the silence.

“Boring, to be honest,” you frowned “Just chatted with Mahir for a little bit and then explored the centre. You?” looking up at him, you took a moment to admire his profile.

Rather pathetic.

“Talked to TP for a while. He’s more open with me now, and I got to admit it makes everything easier” you appreciated the honesty “And then went out to get us a place for tonight” he added, smiling at your brightly.

“What did you tell TP?” you asked, curiosity not letting you let go.

“That I’m about to have some fun in town” Neil shrugged.

He was leading you with a purpose and yet matching the long strides to yours, so you did not have to rush. It was thoughtfulness like this that made it hard not to fall for him.

“Fun?” you raised one eyebrow, intrigued by his choice of words.

“You’re that no matter what we do” his grin widened, and he leaned in to kiss you on the temple quickly.

It took that additional brain cell not to walk into the next person on your path.

“So… you’re about to have me?” you were not sure where that thought came from.

But seeing the way his eyes widened for a split second was definitely worth it.

“I really did not think through that sentence, did I?” he shook his head slightly, making you laugh at the cute image “Though I won’t complain if I end up having you” he added and met your gaze purposefully.

Oh, right. You did expect that, without a doubt. And yet, his openness took you by surprise.

“Smooth save there”

Neil only smiled and inhaled a large haul of the chilly air. His cheeks and tips of the ears were slightly reddened, making for an incredibly adorable sight. You observed him for a second longer before turning to check where you were heading. It looked like he went for a place near the harbour where most places were bustling with activity. Somehow you knew that he would choose well and somewhere that would allow you to talk a little more. You would be lying if you did not admit that you went over some questions concerning his past that you wanted to ask. Because if not when you nearly gave him everything, then when?

Distracting the thoughts, you gave him a once-over and noticed:

“Look at you, all dressed up to the nines. You even smoothed your hair I’m shocked” you smiled when he looked at you.

The happy sparks in his eyes were good enough to excuse anything.

“Well, I decided that you can be the one to ruffle it however you want” to test his statement, you gently brushed one stray lock from his forehead “As for the rest... I had to somehow remind you what you can have” he adjusted the scarf, making you see the dark mark on the side of his neck.

There we go. You swallowed hard, blocking the flood of images and feelings. When you were undressing for a shower before going out, you noticed what he did to you. All those bruises marking the space between your neck and shoulder. Conveniently enough to be hidden by clothes, and yet there to haunt you whenever you looked in the mirror. You had a feeling that was intentional.

“Then it is this kind of a night...” you mused aloud.

In response, Neil made sure to slide down the arm he offered you and intertwine your fingers. It seemed like you could not be walking any closer to each other without putting on straight-up PDA.

“That will depend on us. However, after yesterday... I wouldn’t be surprised” he looked down at you with a smirk and playfulness in his eyes.

Even though you expected him to mention it, despite your pleas, it felt like a light punch in the gut. That is if a punch could make one slightly aroused.

“Thought we agreed not to talk about it” you ignored the feeling, chiding him.

That was about to bite you in the ass, so to speak.

“And we’re not. Unless we went onto the topic of our dreams from last night or something”

It was a mistake to meet his gaze then. With slightly darkened pupils, a self-satisfied smile, and clenched jaw, you knew that he was not joking. You blushed, suddenly relieved that you forgot any dreams you might have had.

“Neil...” you aimed for a warning, but it came out rather like a weak protest.

“Yes, darling?” the innocent expression was back to haunt you.

“Do you want that slap I promised earlier?”

He stopped, and you were forced to stare up at him with the sternest glare you could manage. Neil bit his lip, undoubtedly preparing to drop a bombshell like no other. You braced yourself, tightening the grip on his hand.

“Maybe save it for later. I quite like a little bit of spice like that when it comes to the real deal” the combination of the sly grin and predatory look in his eyes perfected the delivery.

And then he pointed at the building you stopped in front of as though nothing happened.

“This is it” he announced and turned to you.

From the way he looked at you, you knew that the expression on your face must have been quite a sight. You blinked once, shaking off the thoughts and ideas. Not the time.

“Brilliant” smiling dryly, you let him lead you through the door.

You stopped at the concierge desk and let Neil do the talking.

“How can I help you, sir?” the smiley clerk eyed you both quickly.

You did wonder what she saw.

“I’ve got a reservation under James Farrow” your eyes widened at the identity he used.

It was as though the New York mission was important to him if he was keen enough to reference it like that. Now that was an intriguing thought.

“Mr. Farrow and wife, yes?” the lady looked up, happily and expectantly.

It felt as though the ground has moved under your feet, and you were about to fall if it was not for the steady hand gripping yours. Wife?! He was surely getting slapped for that.

“Yes,” Neil completely ignored your wild gaze.

Only once you have been sat at the table in the corner of the cosy yet posh establishment you could give voice to the mess of thoughts in your head:

“Seriously?” that was all you could manage, but he understood.

And, in response, smiled as though it was nothing. Like you should have expected it. You wondered if he is ever going to stop surprising you.

“It was easier that way” he dragged a hand through his hair, shrugging “And, I mean... would it be so bad to be my wife?” the way his eyes sparkled hopefully was enough to give you heart palpitations.

“Allow me not to answer this yet” you gave him a stern look and softened it with a smirk.

It was too easy to be with him like this.

“I’ll wait patiently then. Now, what would my lovely wife want to drink?” he opened the wine menu with a flourish.

And then was forced to order something for the table as you were too busy dying of laughter for the next ten minutes. You calmed down enough to comment on his food choice for the evening – Norwegian mountain trout with fennel cream, petit pois, and hollandaise sauce.

“Are you always this… posh?” you scrunched up your nose, observing him intently.

He grinned at the sight and raised his hands in defence.

“I wouldn’t say I’m posh… More like a man of refined taste,” you watched as he undid another button on his shirt, “Which anyone can see once they look at you” the punchline came with the addition of a hand covering yours on the table.

You blushed and met his soft gaze, using the opportunity to show him how comments like that made you feel. You could tell that the sudden outpouring of affection he saw in your eyes was a shock because his hold on your hand tightened, and his cheeks turned crimson, just slightly. You would have missed it; have you not been staring at him shamelessly. Neil composed himself after a short moment and asked:

“So… what do you want to talk about?” he kept on gently running his thumb over your knuckles.

Might as well keep up the married couple act.

This is how you started the conversation regarding your childhoods, families, and what you were like growing up. You did not expect to learn that Neil grew up in a most normal middle-class house in Richmond Park, but then again, you did not know what else you would consider believable. Growing up, his main source of joy were books and Labrador Retriever named Charlie (“Charlie? That’s a bit too boring, even for you” “What would you prefer? Theodore or Archibald?”). You could both relate to the pains of a boring childhood, filled with dreams of doing something crucial for the world but then not knowing what that could be. Only, where Neil decided to study Physics (despite the wishes of his mundane parents who would rather he did something more palpable like architecture or law; you snickered at that), you went for a more abstract route of international relations and civil safety. Another revelation was the fact that despite your assumptions he was never the popular kid or a leader of any sort as he was much more comfortable in the background of things. Always thinking, listening, analysing but taking his time to voice any opinions and solutions he came to. You realized that this was perhaps the reason why he understood you so well. Overall, the conversation was both enlightening and reassuring, and, by the end of it, you felt like somehow you loved him even more. Or maybe that was due to the bottle of wine you had.

*** Once you were done with dinner, Neil suggested moving to a nearby bar for drinks. It was more than tempting, and so, not long after, you found yourself sat on the bar stools, each with a drink, deep in conversation. As the night progressed, you got more open, either drifting onto the flirty territory or breaching candid topics you would otherwise never consider.

You did not know when exactly you sat that close to each other without looking too cosy. Or when his hand landed on your knee, just under the hem of your knee socks, and why it somehow felt good. The more time passed, you only got more certain that this was, in fact, a date. And you were surprisingly fine with it. Using the natural break in your conversation, you took a longer sip of the drink and asked:

“So, is this how it usually goes?” you met his gaze with disinterest “Invite them for a drink, let your hands wander a little…” you glanced at his hand, just when he purposefully moved it upwards onto your bare thigh below the skirt’s edge.

Bloody hell. You were not sure that lightheaded feeling could be all blamed on the alcohol. Swallowing, you continued the assumption. If anything, the intense look in those blue eyes was encouraging.

“And then back to the hotel room for more?” you bit your lip and swirled the straw in vodka coke.

The warm touch felt rather nice. You glanced around, wondering if such behaviour would not be deemed ‘indecent’. But all you saw was a knowing smirk from the man sat at the nearby table. Right… Neil’s voice and his thumb running over your skin in a soothing motion brought you back to the present moment.

“It’s been a while since anything like that happened,” he noticed, looking at you thoughtfully.

You wanted to trust him on that, but…

“I don’t believe you,” you stared at him, using the opportunity to admire.

With the slightly dimmed lights, his features stood out more. All the sharp angles in his face made him resemble a classical sculpture. The hair almost looked golden. Nothing but beauty. You could tell that others noticed that too, curiously watching you both from time to time. You had no illusions that it was you they were drawn to. And yet, he was staring at you as though you were the most important person in his universe. It was one of those feelings that always took your breath away. Distractedly, you brushed your hand over his hair again, using the privileges he gave you. Tugging on one strand, you enjoyed the passing darkness in his eyes. That hair thing he clearly had going ought to be explored later, you mused.

“Why? Because I’m so irresistible?” he smirked smugly and straightened his back.

Despite the annoyance, you grinned. The charm was undoubtedly working. As always.

“Because I see the way almost everyone looks at you. Like they wanted to stake their claim right here and now” you looked around pointedly, drawing his attention to the small audience.

Catching the eye of one nosey woman, who was clearly eavesdropping on your conversation, you winked. You saw her ogle Neil earlier, and it was more than annoying. Surely, a little jealousy never hurt anyone.

“Are you speaking from experience there?” the grin got wider as he took in your irked expression „Think you’re forgetting the other important factor, which is my own desire for anything like that” he arched one eyebrow and picked up the drink.

“And there’s been none recently?”

That was a risky question, and yet one that you had to ask. Especially remembering the way he was looking at you the previous night. Was it what you hoped it was…?

“You were there last night, so you know best...” he dropped his voice to add, “But I’m still working on getting anywhere with that” to prove a point, he slid his hand higher up your thigh.

You shivered in response, earning a little raspy laugh from him. To put things simply, you were slowly feeling the effects of his actions and words. And it was rather bothering.

“Is it worth it?” shaking off the moment, you reached for more alcohol.

“Absolutely” with his free hand, Neil tucked the hair behind your ear, brushing your cheek gently.

Sometimes you marvelled at how he could be so gentle and yet so seductive at the same time. It was like that during your little bathroom incident, as you came to call it. And that made you wonder whether he would be like that with you if you went even further? Neil eyed you curiously as you realized you were staring. Again.

“Any good thoughts there?” he tapped your temple with a pointer finger.

You blushed a deep crimson. Ever so observant. The way his eyes lit up knowingly made you think he could even read your mind at this point.

“Ah, I see,” he grinned smugly “Well, if you ever want to share... I’m here”

You just stared, unable to express anything you felt. His hand rested on your midthigh with fingers absentmindedly stroking the skin. The look in his eyes made your mind wander. Feeling overwhelmed with Neil, you looked for help in the wood pores on the bar counter. But he wanted to lead that strange conversation to its end. One that he must have intended.

“Usually, I’d start with a date. Maybe some touching here and there to let them know I’m interested” you could feel his analytical gaze “I’m not a brute. First, I’d seduce you before I could have you” the invasive hand retraced back to your knee.

Later, you wondered whether it was the alcohol, his touch, or something else entirely that made you blurt out the truth that he was not supposed to know. Yet or ever.

“You already do”

Realising what you just said, you snapped your head up, meeting Neil’s perplexed gaze. He was not expecting that. Neither were you.

“What?” his jaw fell slack, making for a sight that would be adorable if not for your panic.

“What?” parroting him you hid your face in your hands.

He took a long pause, composing himself because the next time he spoke, the confusion was gone.

“Interesting”

“I can’t blame that on the drink, can I?” you took a deep breath and looked at him again.

The darkness and dawning realization in his blue eyes took you by surprise.

“I’d rather you didn’t” that was the serious Neil you did not know too well.

You watched as he finished the drink, his second one, in one go and faced you again. Your unexpected confession was hanging over you, threatening with awkwardness. But, perhaps most remarkably of all, you were saved by the music streaming from the overhead speaker. At first, you did not catch it, the gentle melody escaping your panicking mind. Neil, though, naturally recognized it. His eyes lit up, and he started humming, all the while looking at you pointedly. Before you knew, he began singing:

‘She's taken my heart

But she doesn't know what she's done’

The determined gaze and his beautiful voice made your heart stumble. Fucking hell. Who knew that of all things, Neil pretending to be Patrick Swayze was going to be the one to finally break you? He was, indeed, relentless.

‘Just a fool to believe I have anything she needs She's like the wind’

He got louder near the end of the chorus, causing many heads to turn in your direction. You watched in horror as he opened his mouth to pick up the next stanza. Using the only power you knew you had, you closed the gap and covered his lips with yours in a small kiss. The surprised sound he made assured you that was the right decision. You let him kiss you back gently and then leaned back, taking in his dazed expression.

“What was that for?” he licked his lips unconsciously, and you blushed despite yourself.

“Just wanted you to shut up and stop embarrassing me” you shrugged, ignoring the fact that even more people were looking at you now.

“Fair enough,” he grinned, taking one of your hands in his.

You wondered when did hand holding become such an essential thing between you. Suddenly you wanted nothing but to be with him alone somewhere. Without the intrigued audience, judging your every move and looking at Neil as though he was the most spectacular sight they ever saw.

“Anyways... should we get going? It’s late, and…” you gestured vaguely, hoping he will give in.

But it seemed like he was on top of his game.

“Is that your way of getting me to come back with you? Because, honestly, you just have to ask, and I’ll do anything” he raised your hand, kissing it in the gentlemanly fashion.

Only you were pretty sure gentlemen did not look at you like that normally. Slowly showing you with gaze alone what going back together meant. You shuddered.

“I’ll note that for future reference. Now come on” you stood up, taking a moment to get used to the effects of those two drinks.

“You’re quite eager,” he noticed but stood up anyway, straightening the long legs that always caught your attention.

“Have you seen yourself?” you retorted, eyes roaming over his body and stopping on his face.

“Blimey... never thought I’d see the day” Neil smirked, but you knew that he was surprised by the honesty “Last night I must’ve hit all the right spots for you” he tried to mask it by distracting you with the best weapon.

But even his hand suddenly wrapping around your waist was not enough to stop the response you prepared for this very moment.

“You definitely did...try” you shot back, taking pleasure in the affronted expression “Shall we? Maybe tonight you’ll do better” tugging on your joined hands, you took a step towards the exit.

The challenging grin was a good enough indicator of his thoughts on the matter.

*** You were not sure how he managed to convince you to come back to his hotel. Somehow, at that moment, with the maelstrom of feelings and emotions in your head, it did not matter that TP was right next door. Or that going back together was a clear signal concerning the ending of the date, something you did not know you were ready for. But once Neil opened his hotel room door and led you inside, nothing much mattered anymore. You had what you wanted: him yours alone without any spectators.

You laughed when he started taking off your coat as a doorman does in all those period dramas:

“Maybe it’s time to drop that gentlemanly act?” you suggested when he succeeded and went to hang both of your coats on the hooks.

“Why?” Neil came back still wearing that scarf that you could not get out of your head “Would you rather I jumped you the moment we came in?”

Following the instincts, you closed the gap to him and started unwrapping the green material from around his neck, all the while making sure you maintained eye contact. He swallowed hard at your proximity. Good sign.

“I don’t know… But I do hope you’ve got a plan” once you have taken off his scarf, you threw it to the side “Now that you’ve lured me in here” searching his eyes, you placed your hand on his shoulder, caressing the newly exposed neck.

Neil’s eyes darkened, and pupils dilated. He placed both of his hands on your waist and leaned in to whisper:

“I was hoping this will happen, so of course… I’ve got some ideas” his lips brushed over your throat.

You could not tell what was stronger, the alcohol intoxication or overwhelming infatuation that you felt.

“Feel free to show me what you’ve got in mind” getting to the end of that sentence was a challenge.

Especially with the fact that Neil started kissing your neck and throat, slowly guiding you with his hands on your hips. Before you knew, the backs of your legs hit the edge of the bed, and he pushed you onto the mattress. He took a moment to take in the image before slowly lowering himself down to hover over you, leaning on his forearms, pinning you down. His nose brushed against yours, breaths mingling as you inhaled, calming down your racing heart. Despite being this close to him many times before, this one felt different. Maybe because you knew where it is likely to lead you…

“For starters, I’d really like to kiss you right now” Neil broke the silence and leaned in.

As much as it was tempting, you didn’t want to give in just yet. The confidence you found during the course of the night was a welcomed help in moments like this. You turned your head sideways, making him kiss you on the cheek. The little offended sound he made woke up the butterflies in your stomach.

“Don’t you think that’s a bit forward? For a first date?” you grinned upon his slightly confused expression.

Letting out a long breath, you reached out to comb a hand through his hair. Bringing him closer again so that you could drag your tongue along his lower lip. It worked if his slurred speech was anything to go by.

“This really isn’t our first date,” he groaned when you tugged on the strands with more force.

Being in power was definitely exhilarating.

“It, kind of, is” you smirked, enjoying his unfocused eyes that roamed across your face.

“Then I, kind of, want to kiss you”

He leaned in, and this time you let him capture your lips in a hungry kiss. It was always too easy to get lost in Neil in those moments. Your hands alternated between tugging on his hair and touching the back of his neck just to feel his bare skin. You wanted to get him out of that shirt as soon as possible. It was a matter of urgency for reasons unknown.

When you broke the contact, both gasping for breath, you used the hand tangled in his hair to pull him down so that he was lying on top of you. Neil glanced up at you with a surprised smile.

“Pretty sure there are better ways of making me sleep with you,” he noticed, showing that offensive tongue poking from between the pink, slightly swollen lips.

Now that was torture.

“Who said anything about that” you crashed your lips against his just because he was there using a break in the sentence for that very purpose “I just wanted to have you at my mercy for once”

How about that. You enjoyed the slight surprise in his eyes, feeling a surge of inspiration. Quickly, you hooked one of your legs over his hip, using it as leverage to switch, making him become the one pinned underneath. The shock on his face was palpable. You took in the parted lips, frown visible on the forehead and perplexed gaze. It only took him approximately 30 seconds to shake it off. Grinning devilishly, he ran his hands alongside your sides, using the new freedom of movement. When he tugged your shirt from the waistband of your skirt and slipped his hand underneath the material, you wondered whether it was not a mistake on your side.

“Trust me I’m always at your mercy. Even if it doesn’t seem so” his eyes glimmered darkly, adding weight to the sentence and making breath hitch in your throat.

From this position, you could see every little detail on his face. The long eyelashes framing dark blue eyes. The adorable cleft underneath his lower lip. The nose that you always wanted to kiss the tip of. Your Neil. Leaning on one side, you traced your finger on the outline of the sharp jaw and cheekbones. His eyes were focused on your face, enthralled with how focused you were on him.

“You’re good at hiding it then,” you noticed, enjoying the way he exhaled when you brushed your thumb along his lips.

“So are you” he smiled knowingly, his hands exploring your upper body just like the previous night.

You shivered when he cupped one of your breasts through the material of the bra. One by one, the doubts were disappearing. Looking down at him, with hair ruffled beyond compare, cheeks flushed, and eyes darker than you have ever seen them before, you felt lightheaded with love. He really could be yours. Feeling like at any moment, you were likely to tell him something that could destroy the careless moment, you leaned in and began the meticulous exploration of his throat and neck. You peppered the skin with kisses and bites, sucking on the sharp edges of his jaw, making him gasp and curse. Every sound he made was like a confirmation of your inmost hopes and desires. And the way he was reacting to everything you did began to build up the heat in your lower belly again. This time the feeling was rather expected. You felt like the further you get, the harder it will be to be ignored.

As though Neil knew exactly what was going on in your mind, he spread his legs and lifted you so that you were straddling his lap before he sat up, facing you. Taking in the effects of your exploration, you blushed. You have more than likely ruined his neck with bruises and marks there were beginning to show up on the skin. You could only hope he would not mind.

“I don’t think anyone’s ever given me so much attention” Neil met your gaze with admiration “I can’t help but wonder if that’s just a promise of how other things would look like with you” his hands retracted from underneath your shirt and started toying with the buttons.

You knew that it was his way of checking if you wanted to progress further. Feeling the pulse between your legs grow stronger, you knew the answer. Everything was too easy with him. You undid the two buttons on his shirt and replied:

“Maybe you’ll be able to test this theory tonight...” trailing off, you met his gaze purposefully, giving him time to catch the implication.

It did not take long. His hands stopped any movement, and he just stared. Then his brow furrowed again, and he cupped your cheek gently.

“Are you... do you want to? Because you don’t need to force yourself with me” the genuine concern and fondness in his gaze made your heart stumble.

You did not deserve him.

“I know, but I think I might actually... be ready” you whispered, giving in to the sudden tender moment and smiled lightly.

“What changed?” Neil brushed the hair away from your eyes.

You could tell that he really wanted to know. And while it was hard to pinpoint an exact reason, you gave him a piece of your mind. He already had everything else.

“Last night you... the way you looked at me, the way we touched... it’s never been like this with anyone” you stumbled over the sentence “And I want to know if... maybe it’s how...” you gave up, but he nodded anyway.

He always understood.

“Kiss me again” it was the only response you really needed, gladly accepting the request.

Straddling his lap, kissing to the point of breathlessness, you already felt as though you were nearing that point when relief was necessary. But before you could think about seeking it out, you had to get rid of that disrespectful shirt of his. Hurriedly you undid the buttons one by one, ignoring the wanting in his eyes. You only stopped when Neil started kissing your neck, making you gasp with the perfectly chosen spots. He knew you too well, expertly using all the tricks that were bound to work. Alternating between kissing, biting, and licking your skin, you knew that it was his way of giving back the pleasure. Despite that distraction, you nearly succeeded when he spoke again:

“Nice of you to wear a button-up” his long fingers went back to toying with the material.

“Why?” you gave out a triumphant sound when that final button was dealt with.

“Because I like being able to return the favour”

The amusement in his eyes was another reason to slide down the article down his arms and then throw it to the side. You have seen him like this before, and yet your jaw fell slack. His arms and chest were as close to perfection as you could imagine. Suddenly, you were overcome with shyness as you ran your fingers over his chest and stomach, feeling the muscles and various scars. Including a very familiar one on his side. It was almost unreal to think that someone like him could be this interested in you. And yet… Feeling him watch your exploration, you met his gaze:

“Do you like what you see?” with how close you were, you felt like you were drowning in his eyes with every prolonged contact.

“You’re beautiful” admitting it felt like a relief.

He finished undoing the buttons on your shirt, and you let him take it off.

“No one’s ever called me that” Neil watched you curiously with a gentle smile.

“Then they all must be blind”

You embraced him tightly, relishing the feel of skin on skin contact you craved so badly. Your warm bodies fit perfectly as you rested your head in the crook of his neck, hands exploring the skin of his back. It was as close as you could get, but it was not enough. You needed him closer. Ideally becoming a part of you in every way possible. The thought made you remember about the need you tried to put aside for the moment. But it was still there. The pulse between your thighs and the ache deep within your core were the main reminders of its existence. Giving in to the feeling, you ground your hips down onto his thigh, but it was not enough. It could never be enough given how much you wanted him. Neil noticed what you were trying to do. He leaned back and met your gaze. You knew that he was likely to see the unmeasurable longing there. You were unable to hide it anymore. Tentatively, his hands unzipped the skirt, and you shifted so that it could be dropped onto the floor as well. You blushed when you realized what position you found yourself in, sat on Neil’s lap in only your underwear. More than likely soaking through your panties just because of how he was making you feel. But, as usual, Neil had an answer to those panicked thoughts…

“It’s okay” meeting your wild gaze, he tilted your chin “You’re perfect, don’t let your brain tell you otherwise” he kissed you gently.

His hands splayed over your back, brushing the skin carefully. His touching putting everything ablaze. You never felt fire like that burn through every cell in your body. For a moment, you wondered whether this was meant to happen. That maybe you were destined to be together. Because how else could it be this perfect?

“You’re being too generous, I think” you breathed.

In response, Neil only smirked. His hands traveled down your sides onto your parted thighs. Rubbing the skin and getting ever so close to where you needed him most. You could not stop the gasp that escaped your throat when he touched your panties. Instantly he knew exactly what to do. Meeting your gaze with determination, he traced the hem of the undergarment.

“Let me take care of this” it was not exactly a question, but you knew that he would wait for consent.

You wanted it more than you could express, and yet that voice in your head was rebelling. Because it meant letting the most important person in your life see you vulnerable. More than ever.

“Neil, I…” you huffed, frustrated with yourself.

“It’s okay, love. It’s the least I can do for you” his fingers scratched the skin just above the line of underwear as though to remind you of what you could get. It was probably both the undeniable need you felt combined with the way he was looking at you that made you nod then.

“Please”

He kissed you on the forehead and let his fingers slip underneath the material. The moment you felt him touch you, any thoughts you might have had disappeared. If he was surprised by how ready you were, he did not show it, instead focusing on making you feel better. Your hands searched for a steady grip and settled on his arms. He let you get used to the sensation before his thumb circled your clit, making your head fall against his shoulder. The fire in your veins only got worse. You moaned quietly, and Neil chuckled in response, clearly satisfied with the response. When you felt his fingers inside, building up a rhythm that was undoubtedly going to be the end of you, you bit down on his shoulder harshly. As a reaction, he only picked up the tempo. You knew that it was not going to take long. He hit the perfect spot then, and you were unable to hold off any longer. He was the centre of your attention, both the cause and the solution to everything you felt.

“Fuck… Neil…” gasping for breath, your fingernails dug into his biceps, bruising the skin.

He must have felt that you were close, for he raised your chin again, preventing your instinct to hide from him. Your walls clenched around his fingers. You shuddered, prepared for the release. When you came undone the next moment, you could not stop yourself from crying out:

“Neil…” it was a plea but also an act of devotion “I…” love you.

Later you realised how close you got to telling him. And he must have understood it too for he captured your lips in a kiss, letting you ride out the high he brought you to. You passed the confession from your lips to his. You felt faint and yet so full of things you could not begin to understand that his lips against yours were like an anchor. Pulling you in and keeping you grounded. He brought you to the edge, and what awaited beyond surpassed any expectations. The world exploded for you, and the only thing left was Neil, his lips on yours, taking everything you were willing to give him, and his body steady beneath your shaking hands. He only ended the kiss when he knew that you were done and withdrew his hand, wiping it on the bedsheets.

“Are you alright?” his voice was raspy, and yet the look in his eyes could not be softer.

You rested your forehead against his, recovering. It never felt so good before. And it was just him bringing you the necessary release after weeks and months of ignoring and denying it. Suddenly you wanted nothing but to know what it would be like to feel him inside you. It was as though once you allowed yourself this much, you only wanted more. Death surely could not be sweeter…

“Yeah, I…” you did not know what you actually wanted to tell him “I want…” frustrated at lack of coherence, you met his gaze hopelessly.

The depth of love, desire, and understanding you saw there took your breath away. He really was quite something.

“What do you want?”

For once, the answer could not be simpler.

“You. I want you”

The genuine smile you got for the confession was worth any future regrets.

“Then we’re even” Neil cupped your cheek while his other hand reached to the clasp on your back “Are you sure?”

But it was the way he bucked his hips into yours then that made you realise. Feeling his hardness, you swallowed. But at the same time, you knew you were ready for more.

“Yes. Shut up and just…” you brushed your crotch against his, unexpectedly not caring about the fact that he just took off your bra.

Impatiently, you undid the buckle on his belt. The want you saw in his eyes was enough to assure you that he understood.

“Got you” his husky voice sent a shiver through your body.

His hand cupped your breast, stimulating the nipples as though you needed more. You kissed him on the neck, making one of the marks even darker. It was almost too simple. Unzipping his trousers, you returned the earlier favour and ran your hand over his crotch. The gasp you got in response was enough to set the fire. You met his lips in a fervent kiss, getting ready to get past the point of no return for you both.

A knock on the door was like a slap to the face, piercing the silence and ripping apart the moment you both build up.

“Neil?” TP’s voice coming through the door only intensified the feeling.

You both stilted the movement, lips brushing, tongues intertwined.

“Are you there?” at the question, Neil broke the contact.

“Yes. Just give me a moment” he called out with that breathless voice that made you realise how close it really was.

“Okay,” the slightly suspicious tone in the boss’s voice was pushed you over the edge.

Fucking hell. You started laughing hysterically, collapsing against Neil, fighting for breath. He sighed heavily and embraced you, taking time to soak in the last few seconds of the moment.

“Holy fuck” the curse only made you laugh harder.

“Indeed” you choked out and met his gaze.

It took him 5 seconds to join in with your mad laugh.

#tenet #neil tenet #neil tenet x reader #neil x reader #neil tenet imagine #neil tenet fanfic #tenet fanfic #robert pattinson #the art of inversion

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fleckcmscott · 3 years

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Stepping Stones - Chapter 1

Summary: Y/N and Arthur share a delightful life, one that isn’t perfect but wholly theirs. When his struggles take a serious turn, she's surprised by the toll it exacts. Though the steps they'll have to take aren't easy, walking them together makes all the difference.

Warnings: Angst, Swearing, Referenced self-harm, Severe struggles with mental illness

Words: 3,589

A/N: This novella has been bouncing around in my head since last September. At first, I was hesitant to write it, unsure of how the subject matter would be received. But inspiration sparked last month, so I decided to take the leap. 🙂 Special thanks to @sweet-nothings04 for beta-ing and helping me get the summary right! Also thanks to my colleague Jane the Dame, who spent many years working at a state institution in the 1980s, for answering my questions. 💜

If you have any thoughts or questions, please comment, feel free to message me, or send me an ask! I'm still working on requests and Way Back Home!

The halcyon summer of 1988 was one of Y/N's favorites, filled with good news and great fun. Her oldest nephew, Jason, had been awarded a baseball scholarship to the University of Missouri, where he hoped to study business administration, following in his father's footsteps. In congratulations, she and Arthur had sent enough money to cover textbooks and one of those new graphing calculators. WXYZ ran a contest for The Main Ingredient tickets, and by being the ninth caller on a Wednesday afternoon, Arthur won two nosebleed seats. They'd taken a weekend trip to a bed & breakfast in the Catskills, and spent far more hours in bed than having breakfast.

There were professional achievements, too. Dube & Ellis merged with Flat & Flat Lawyers to become Dube, Ellis, & Flat. (It was fortunate they'd dropped the second "Flat;" her business cards wouldn't've fit in her billfold, otherwise.) The firm now specialized in labor and family cases, and luckily, she had extensive experience with each. After a quick interview process, her title was bumped to senior paralegal, an advancement that added the duties of interviewing witnesses and assisting less experienced staff.

Arthur's work seemed to be going well, too. The season was his favorite, what with the easy availability of gigs and breaks from rain and cold, and his mood since May had been boundless. Most mornings he'd head out to dance and do magic on a corner near Amusement Mile, even if he had an event to work later on. He'd filled notebook after notebook, periodically calling her up at the office to share a joke that couldn't wait. Walks overflowed with animated assertions that he'd get his name on Gotham's biggest marquees, that he'd fill the largest clubs, that it was only a matter of time before everyone recognized his talent.

While his self-confidence had increased, evidenced by knowing grins and occasional swagger, glimmers of arrogance were rare. It struck her as uncharacteristic, but she enjoyed the way it fit him, like the tailored seams of a brand-new suit. Though his ideas were a little grandiose, not quite realistic, the determination behind his assertions made her smile. Success in all aspects of his life, whether it be performing, happiness in his own skin, or managing his symptoms, were goals they shared. Vital elements she cherished, that made their partnership thrive.

As the last tendrils of August heat gave way to the cool breezes of late September, a shift pricked her perception. He'd had rough patches since they'd gotten together - a month when he hadn't felt up to intimacy, a week when he'd stayed in, a day when he'd lain morose in bed - and they'd always gotten through. The third night she went to bed alone, however, she began to sense this was different.

He still practiced his material, went through the motions of bathing his face in white, blue, and red to go spread joy to a kid. He functioned. But she'd find him on the sofa in the same position she'd left him the night before. The lights in the apartment blazed, whether it was 2:00 AM or 2:00 PM, like he was trying to chase back shadows visible only to him. Retreats to his writing nook increased, stretching on and on. She brought him coffee when she thought he was running low, gave his neck a quick massage, ensured he knew she was there for him. Moments of loneliness seeped into her soul, but she did her best to ignore them. Journaling had helped Arthur cope for as long as she'd known him. Though she ached for him to confide in her, she believed respecting his space was the right thing to do.

But she reported the changes to Dr. Ludlow, stated she suspected he was slipping.

"Continue to monitor him," Dr. Ludlow said, "and update me with any symptoms that are clearly excessive."

Frustration caused Y/N to stare at the receiver before hanging up. How was she supposed to judge what was "clearly excessive" versus what was "mildly excessive" when all of it troubled her? She tried to think back to the books she'd read after Arthur's appearance on Live! With Murray Franklin, and quickly concluded she was due for a re-read.

When the date night she'd crafted went awry, she finally resolved to investigate. Candles burned and his favorite LP played, yet his beloved dish of beef stroganoff and egg noodles lay untouched. He'd barely spoken, tossing her a spare nod every so often. Failing to fill the void of conversation by herself unnerved her. His thumb traced the edge of the table. She rested her chin on her knuckles. "You haven't been eating much," she said. "Do you want to try something new?"

"No."

"All right. But we could look through some of your cookbooks. Maybe we'll find an old favorite." She paused to ponder her words, not wanting to let on that it was getting more difficult to leave him alone for eight hours a day. "You're not yourself. Not lately."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I see you and talk to you, but it's like you're not there half the time. You're not sleeping, you're tenser than when we met." She covered his hand with hers and forced a slight grin. "I don't know where that gorgeous head of yours is. I'd like to."

On a curt huff, he shook his head. "No, you wouldn't." He picked up his fork to poke at a puddle of sauce and proceeded to lie to her for the first time she could remember. "I don't want you worrying about me. I'm fine. I'll be fine."

The obvious untruth in his answer and his stubborn refusal to admit he was struggling evoked an earlier period of her life. The one in which her father had forgotten his patients' appointments and begun to lose vocabulary, resorting to describing diagnoses instead of naming them. Even with her mother, sister, and herself pushing him to get checked out, the normally open man brushed off their concerns like they were a brood of anxious hens. Y/N's worry morphed into anger, a burning coal in her chest. She flinched and tossed her napkin on the table, buttoned her lip before she confronted him further and said something she'd regret. Grabbing her glass of wine, she excused herself and went out onto the fire escape. Breathed deeply and leaned on the railing until he followed to ask what she wanted to watch.

But less than four days later, she arrived home from work and her fears were validated.

She hung her purse at the door and scurried through the living room, having had to use the restroom since boarding the subway, thanks to an ill-timed cup of coffee. The wet footprints on the cream color carpet went unnoticed, superseded by a dull thumping emanating from behind the bathroom door. Bafflement halted her momentarily; misgivings compelled her to fling it open.

Clad in his briefs, soaked from head to toe, brown locks dripping, Arthur stood at the side of the tub, ramming his forehead against the shower door. Splinters shot through the reeded glass, a cracking sound Y/N would never be able to erase from her ears. Herky-jerky motions possessed his arms, disconnected, agitated. He kept at it. Hard. Harder.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Fear sparked her nerves. Of him, which made her feel awful, and for him, which induced an urge to fight off whatever his conditions were putting him through. The later won out. "Arthur, what the fuck?" she said. Then louder, taking a step towards him. "Arthur!"

Disregarding the possibility of unhinging him further, she grabbed him. Repeated his name until the slamming diminished to a resting of his temple on the door. His shoulders sagged, he panted. Blood formed on his forehead, a drop that expanded to a thin rivulet down his cheek, dribbling off his chin.

She sat him on the toilet, yanked the hand towel from the hanger beside the sink. "Arthur, what's wrong?" Hot water flowed from the faucet after thirteen agonizing seconds. She knelt before him, seized his chin as she wiped coppery flecks away, pressed the terrycloth to the fine cut below his hairline. "I don't know what to do." Shrugged, mumbling incoherently, he dropped his gaze to the floor and gave a smothered laugh. Her voice rose, louder than she intended, and she shook him by the shoulder. "Tell me what to do!"

As if seeing her for the first time, he blinked. The pain of realization crossed his face, tightened the lines at the corner of his eyes, the fine wrinkles around his mouth. With a shiver, he folded in on himself, pushing Y/N back and dropping his head between his knees. "Nothing seems to make a difference," he said.

Freaking out was in order. An honest-to-god, old fashioned case of hysteria. Instead, she willed herself to ignore the growing flames of panic, but she was powerless to stop her eyes from watering. She stood to retrieve his bath towel. Got him to stand, pulled off his underwear, draped it over the radiator. She patted his back, covered with goosebumps and cold, and wrapped the cloth about his waist. A million phrases went through her mind. Sentences full of comfort and solutions, sentences that felt ghastly in their emptiness. She chose the truth. "I'm going to call Dr. Ludlow and see what we can do. I'm not asking permission."

At first, he didn't react. No gestures of compliance, no scowl of defiance. But gradually he dared to meet her gaze, as if begging her not to give up on him, and began to dry himself with the clumsy coordination of a child. She managed a comforting smile, even as her heart split, and gave his bicep a tender squeeze.

~~~~~

Y/N waited in a small, corner room of Arkham State Hospital, which sat smack in the middle of McKean Island, set off from the rest of Gotham like a scapegoat expelled to the wilderness to pay for the city's sins.

Despite the asylum's measly fifteen floors, it dominated its space. Four separate beige buildings, each connected with a skybridge, loomed over the surrounding streets and train tracks. A watchtower sprung from the top of one wing, the one she assumed was for the criminally insane. Bars stretched across every window, even the one she currently peered out, and she lamented that most of what she'd seen so far of this medical facility felt equal parts institution and prison.

More study than workspace, Dr. Kellerman's office was far warmer than the facility's stately façade inferred. Between narrow bookshelves, poplar framed two bachelor's degrees from Gotham University, one in biology, one in psychiatry, alongside an MD degree from Hale, arranged in a circle on almond wallpaper. His license was up to date, renewed four months prior. A certificate for the Elizabeth Arkham Spirit of Medicine award hung in the middle, awarded for "thirty years of outstanding service to the citizens of Gotham." His apparent expertise quelled an ounce of Y/N's anxiousness; ruminating on Arthur preserved the rest.

The desk was wooden, like an old teacher's desk with drawers that no longer rolled smoothly, and pictures of what she assumed were a wife, children, and grandchildren cluttered one end. An Orator intercom speaker took up the other. A calendar pad covered the center, full of scribbles and appointments. And on the right, beside Dr. Kellerman's forearm, sat a doorstop he claimed was Arthur Fleck's file.

"Mrs. Fleck," Dr. Kellerman began. "Dr. Ludlow and I spoke briefly. She sent your husband's records over about an hour ago. Now, they haven't arrived yet, so I'm hoping you can give me a run down. He's been in therapy with her for...six years?" He flipped the folder open, pen poised between the first knuckles of his fingers.

"Seven next January." Y/N leaned forward, craned her neck to look at the top page. Reading upside down, she couldn't make out much more than the Department of Hospitals' twin-snake seal. "Before that, he was in treatment with the Department of Health."

"What was the reason for the change?"

"Budget cuts. The round before last," she said. Dr. Kellerman let out the sigh of one who'd heard that story too often. He indicated she should continue with a quick, but not unkind, wave. "He keeps a journal and takes three medications. Temazepam, fluoxetine, and an anti-psychotic." Frowning, she tried to picture the bottle of white tablets on the bureau in their bedroom, the blue typewriter ink on the label. "I'm sorry, I can't recall which one. It's been a long night."

That was an understatement. As soon as she'd gotten off the phone with Dr. Ludlow, Y/N dialed 911. Arthur and she had spent five hours waiting in Gotham General's emergency department, with him getting more agitated by the minute, only for the attending physician to state they weren't equipped to handle his case. A shot of sedative stuck Arthur's arm as they'd wheeled him into an ambulance for transport. Y/N caressed his cheek before they parted, pecked his slackened lips with the promise to see him soon.

"I'm sure it's all right here," said Dr. Kellerman. He tapped the stack of paperwork before him. "Any changes over the last few weeks? New or odd behaviors that set off your radar?"

She went through what she'd already reported to Dr. Ludlow, the ER staff, and the intake nurse she'd bribed to ensure Arthur got a private room. "Nothing I thought would end in this."

"How about stressors?"

"He had a bad night at the Smile Factory awhile back, a drunk heckler. Occupational hazard - Arthur's a stand-up, mostly works open-mic nights." She counted on her fingers, tried to catalogue everything in her mind. "An old client of mine passed away recently, but they'd only met once or twice."

"Have you been fighting?"

"Only about how worried I've been." Heat flushed up her shoulders and her neck, the scene of shattered glass and blood replaying over and over in her mind, an unwelcome horror film she should have foreseen. If she'd been more attentive, could she have stopped this? The suggestion tore her insides. She crossed her arms over her chest, a fractured shield against her burgeoning guilt. "Dr. Kellerman, he's goes through periods of depression and mania. But he's been doing so well. We had a wonderful summer together. I don't understand what's different now."

"Where the mind and spirit intersect is still a mystery. Medication can stop working. Incidents that would be minor to you or me can build and build until a relapse occurs. Even the changing of seasons, as you just described. Sometimes we can't pinpoint a cause." Dr. Kellerman's eyes narrowed, salt and pepper brows pulling together in concentration. "I'll be calling Dr. Ludlow tomorrow morning to discuss Mr. Fleck's case. Once we've determined an appropriate treatment plan and he signs a release form, I'll contact you. Let me share how a typical stay here wor-"

"Dr. Kellerman?" The intercom crackled to life. "You're needed in ward C."

He reached for the volume knob. "I'm in a meeting, Janet."

"I'm sorry, doctor, but it's a code grey."

"Be right down." He stood and straightened his corduroy suitcoat, then turned his attention back to Y/N. "The ward's charge nurse just had a baby and we were already short staffed." He stopped in the doorway and pointed to his right. "There's a coffee dispenser and vending machine down the hall. Avoid the tuna salad. I'll be back as soon as I can." Y/N listened to his footsteps hastening, fading, the squeak of far-off hinges echoing through the corridor, the slam of a metal door. Hunger and thirst eluded her. Swirling questions - how Arthur was doing, what clothing to bring him, how long he would have to stay - crowded out her needs.

Except for one: to know.

She'd sought to respect his privacy, be satisfied with what he was comfortable confiding. And he'd confided a lot: his history of being deemed a danger to himself, disassociation and hallucinations, his laminated card. But the file on Dr. Kellerman's desk taunted her, a temptation in coffee-stained manila. Maybe a glance would be all right. Just enough to get an idea of what had remedied him in the past so she could replicate it in the future. Just enough to understand him a little better. Just enough to soothe the all-too-familiar ache of helplessness. Scraping her chair forward, she reached to grab the expandable folder with both hands and situated it on her lap.

Its documents were sorted in order from newest to oldest, opposite from how she sorted files in her office. The Department of Hospitals form she'd spied earlier was a psychiatric report, blank besides Arthur's name and today's admission date: 9/27/1988. Experience with court ordered evaluations told her it would take at least two days for it to be completed. She'd have to keep digging.

After a quick peek over her shoulder, she flipped through a bundle of pages, bound by a large, black clamp. They appeared to be weekly reports from a Dr. Kane, notes stating Arthur had trouble spelling, maintaining eye contact, and didn't elaborate on his feelings other than to say he didn't want to feel bad. But he never missed his appointments, even if he didn't do much participating. "Major depressive disorder, suicidal ideation, uncontrollable laughing fits. Inconsistent with bringing journal." Those descriptions pained Y/N, but the rest constricted her throat with pride. "Consistently well-dressed, neat. Polite. Heavy smoker. Prefers butterscotch candies." She snorted lightly. Whoever this Dr. Kane was, she already liked her.

Beneath those notes, about a third of the way through the file, she came across Form-39274, which looked to be an application. The version name in the corner, "Rev. 01/1981," caught her attention; it must have been from his last hospitalization, a scant nine months before they'd become involved. Judging from the two empty hole punches at the top and lack of signature, pages were missing. She read on regardless, desperate to glean as much as she could. There were the usual demographic questions. Whether or not Arthur had ever been married (he hadn't), how many bedrooms were in the apartment (one), if he had a criminal record or unresolved federal or state tax liens - as if that would preclude his need for medical care. (He had neither.) He'd apparently worked up to sixty hours a week, a number of hours that rivalled hers, even when she'd worked for Shaw & Associates.

When she got to the section about his education, a weight dropped into her stomach, as heavy as the concrete bricks of this building. According to this, Arthur had quit school in the tenth grade. The same year his mother had been lobotomized. Y/N held her breath. This was why he'd never gotten invitations to class reunions, why he'd claimed to have forgotten his diploma at 8J and hadn't asked about a replacement, why he thought her "very smart" when, really, she considered herself happily average. The unfairness of the situation he'd been thrown into, the adult choices he'd had to make as an adolescent, tugged the thread tangling her ribs.

The man who'd completed the form had terrible handwriting, some of the worst she'd ever seen. All her practice deciphering affidavits and orders should've come in handy, but she could scarcely make out a sentence: "Laughing all the time." "I don't know - happy or what?" "I really don't understand it." Given this record, a record that denoted a mystery instead of a person, Arthur was lucky he'd escaped Penny's fate. She turned to the folder's final section, where pages yellowed and specks of mold bloomed.

An admissions photo stared back at her, perhaps twenty-years-old, black and white, the size of a recipe card. Happy to finally glimpse Arthur's earlier self, she brought it closer. His gaze was blank, averted from the camera, his full lips agape. Wisps of dark hair stuck out from behind his ears, his curls as unruly as when he'd try to slick them into submission for a special occasion. Her fingernail traced the round apple of his cheek, not yet sharpened by the chisel of age and hammer of life. He'd held such beauty in his youth, a beauty that had matured into the handsome man who held the power to steal her breath whenever he walked into the room.

Suddenly, a sob shuddered through her, down to her bones. This photograph wasn't a joyful memory. It existed because he'd struggled, isolated and weary, for nearly three decades. Longer than he, longer than anyone deserved. If her circumstances back in Boonville hadn't turned into a leaky hull, if she'd gotten to Gotham sooner, she would have made a difference. Sure, she might not have had much money, a newly divorced transplant finding her feet. But she could have done something.

She rolled her eyes at herself and put the photo back in its place. Closed the folder and dropped it on the desk. Shoulda, woulda, couldas wouldn't do either of them any good. She wasn't a savior and he didn't need saving. What he needed was for her to be here with her feet planted firmly in the present. In reality. She grabbed a tissue from her purse, determined to pull herself together before Dr. Kellerman returned.

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