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jamespottersdaisy · 1 year

Text

It's nice to have a friend.

Remus Lupin x fem!reader

"No one loves a monster like me."

"I do."

warnings- cursing, the prank (with major changes), angst (?), my writing

13k

author's note:- i wrote this listening to taylor and lana. english is not my first language, so beware <3

"What time do you call this?"

You bit down your lips at Remus's flat tone. He looked up from his book with an expression you couldn't figure to be irritated or nonchalant.

"I'm so sorry, Remus. I got carried away with astrology," you said as you attempted to sit beside him. He quickly put his books on your seat with a loud thud. Fortunately for him, the library was empty.

"Then go and play with your stars."

"What?" you asked, a bit confused. "Aren't we supposed to study together?"

"We were. But you're late," he said, shaking his head.

"I'm only twenty minutes late," you furrowed your brows at his uncharacteristic rudeness.

He was staring at you as you glared back.

"You damaged your brain while studying Transfiguration without me, didn't you?"

You arched a brow uncomfortably, getting ready to talk again, but Remus's face softened and changed into amusement. The next thing you heard was his light laughter.

"Hilarious, prick."

"I'm a funny bloke," he chuckled as he lifted the books to grant you a seat, which you took.

"You're not really, James and Sirius are way funnier."

"Weren't you the one throwing a tantrum over their prank yesterday? You certainly weren't laughing."

"They died my hair to green! And don't act like you had no part in it."

"I only told them green is your favourite colour. Was I wrong?"

You blankly ogled his smirk.

"Green suits you."

"You know what suits you, Remus? Purple. Should I do something about it?"

To your irritation, his smirk widened. You turned your hand into a fist. "Which eye is your favourite?"

"I only have two."

"That's not an answer."

"Is there supposed to be an answer? The two are the same."

"Well then," you threw your fist at his eye, Remus raising his arm to protect himself.

"Did Sirius bribe you to hit me?"

"No, but he did offer me some galleons in exchange for your chocolate this morning."

"That was you?!"

This time it's your turn to smirk.

"Time is of the essence, Remus, we have to study." you opened a book before you, waving off Remus as he grumbled something under his breath.

You started to study together, helping each other occasionally.

It was a habit now; you two would study together every week for at least four evenings.

Remus was frustrated today; you could tell from his bouncing leg and twitching lips. But you didn't point it out; you knew he felt uncomfortable when someone coddled him. It was one of the perks of being best friends for five years.

From the first year of Hogwarts to the sixth year, you learned almost everything about Remus by heart. How he scratched the hairs on the back of his neck when deep in thought, or how he never looked up from his book while reading, even if his friends were trying to converse with him.

In return, he knew exactly what to tell you when you were overwhelmed by the studies or how to make you laugh when you were feeling like crying.

You two had always been there for each other, listening, understanding, and supporting one another through everything. You had stayed in the hospital wing all night for Remus when he broke his arm in the third year, and he had been there for you when you were burning with a fever two years ago.

There were too many incidents like these which you and Remus shared that proved the special bond between you. James, Sirius and Peter were also your friends, but with Remus, it was different; unique.

He had made you feel appreciated and loved, never let you down or never let anyone look down on you. Sometimes James and Sirius would mock you two for this affection, but that would always earn them a smack on the head from Remus.

You knew everything about him, and he knew everything about you.

Well, almost everything.

He didn't know that your affection for him was something more; It had been for quite some time now.

At first, you thought it was an innocent crush because of teenage hormones or something, and it would fade away with time.

But it didn't. You grew out of 'I fancy Remus Lupin' to 'I love Remus Lupin'. Of course, you never confided in anyone about your burning infatuation, keeping it secret, burying it deep inside your heart.

The same secret that was fighting to break free from your heart's walls every time Remus smiled at you.

The same secret that was clawing from its grave to get up and fly, bleeding your heart every time Remus embraced you and called you a friend.

The same secret that prickled your eyes with tears every time you remembered that you weren't the only one keeping secrets.

He was keeping something from you, too.

You had always felt it in his eyes, glancing away when you would ask about a scar on his arm or a cut on his thumb.

The first time you fought on it was when you saw the huge scar on his face in the second year. You had worried so much that you pushed Remus's patience, and he had yelled at you. For twelve years old, it was a big hit in their friendship. You hadn't talked to each other for two weeks. In the end, Remus approached you to apologize and explained how the Marauders' prank had backfired, resulting in his scar. You had cried that day because of how much you had missed your friend. Remus hugged you tight, but you could swear you heard a sniff or two from him as well.

Remus would always say the scars on his body were because of a prank, and you would pretend to believe it.

Until this year.

You may be a Gryffindor, but you weren't stupid. You had noticed how he would disappear every full moon and "get sick." You didn't push him before because you thought maybe he needed time, but his distrust was turning the understanding in you into resentment.

It hadn't been to hard make speculations about the situation, but you wanted him to confide in you.

"Are you asleep with your eyes open?" Remus startled you, pulling your focus back to the present.

"Are you calling me a dolphin?"

"You two have a lot in common," he patted your head with his quill.

"Freakingly cute?"

"Freakingly evil."

You elbowed him but regretted it the moment he grimaced with pain.

"What's wrong?" you asked, albeit you immediately guessed another injury under his brown jumper.

He forced a smile. "You just proved my point."

"I didn't even hit you that hard!"

"You tell yourself that," Remus stood up, nodding simultaneously. "That's enough for today."

"Already? You sure you okay?" you worried a bit, standing up. "It's only been forty minutes."

"For you, lazy lady. I've been here for an hour, remember?"

"Go on, rub it in, or I won't hear the end of it until tomorrow."

You two were walking to the exit now with relaxed paces.

"Yeah, about that. I won't be able to study with you tomorrow."

You inhale a deep breath and huff it out.

Here goes nothing.

"Again?"

"Yes," his voice is rusty now.

"Why?"

"Marauders thing."

Same excuse as the last month.

You didn't say anything, giving him one more chance again.

"That's bollocks, Remus."

Remus simply curved a side of his lips to a tiny smile, almost unnoticeable to anyone. Well, anyone but you.

However, you were too irritated to mellow at his smile.

Only for one day, you didn't see him, and he had a new scar, and what a coincidence that the same day was a full moon.

"You really shouldn't curse."

"What truly happened to your arm?"

"Sirius accidentally cut it," he said for the third time that day.

"Stop lying."

Maybe you were wrong to push him like this, but you didn't care at that moment.

"I'm not lying, Y/N," he said before grabbing both his and your books and pressing them between his left arm and torso. "Let's go, we have class in ten."

When you didn't budge, his smile grew, and he stretched his free hand towards you.

"Come on, move your arse. We'll be late."

"You shouldn't curse," you said firmly, trying to look as angry as you could. You were on your limit and had no intention of backing off this time. "And I'm not coming with you."

"Why is that?" he pulled his outstretched hand back to the pocket of his trousers, wearing a soft expression, which his mocking tone contrasted with.

"You know why."

"I'm afraid I don't know why you are not coming to class."

"I will go to class, just not with you," you scowled at his nonchalance.

He pressed his lips into a thin line.

"And why is that?"

"Because I've decided that I'm not talking to you."

"That's not fair."

"Yes, it is," you snapped, standing before him. You waited a few minutes for something, eyes narrowed. When Remus chuckled at your annoyed expression, you walked past him, hitting him with your shoulder.

Striding to the common room's exit, you ignored Remus's call. Only after leaving his sight, you fathomed that you had left your book with him but shrugged it off. You two always sat next to each other, and Remus was too nice of a friend not to bring it back.

"Hey, angry lady." his playfully soft tone danced in your ear, making your heart flutter in your ribcage.

"Go away."

"We're headed to the same class."

"Go away from me, then."

"I'm carrying your book."

"No one asked you to," you still hadn't spared him a glance but could feel the soft smile on his lips.

"No one needed to. I'm a gentleman."

"My arse."

"What about it?"

Your head snapped in his direction. Remus was smirking at you, acting like you weren't almost about to fight ten minutes ago.

You walked into the classroom from the door Remus held open for you straight to your seat.

"Give me my book back."

"You forgot the magic word, lady," he sat next to you. "You know, the one starting with 'P'."

"Petrificius Totalus?"

"That would also work, but I had something nicer in mind. Try again?"

"Periculum."

"What would you need the flames for?"

"To burn you."

"You're so violent this morning. Hadn't had your morning coffee?"

"Just give the bloody book back."

"Now that I think about it, you've been violent for the last three days."

You groaned when the professor started the lesson.

"Don't be bitter, Y/N," he pleaded, watching you snatch your book back. He hated when you were angry at him. "I already told you the truth."

"That's rubbish, and you know that," you whispered so the professor wouldn't hear you. "We're not twelve anymore."

"You were a lot nicer when you were twelve, though."

"And a lot stupider."

"Aye. You'll hear no argument from me."

You knew he was merely attempting to lighten the mood, but he didn't realise it only made you more furious.

"Why are you keeping a secret from me?" you finally blurted out the question gnawing on your insides.

Remus's smile ebbed. He exhaled sharply before turning away from you.

"I am not keeping anything from you."

"Then you must think I am gullible because that's the only explanation for you repeating the same 'prank injuries' lie over and over again."

"That's not a lie."

"Is there a problem?"

You clenched your jaw when you heard the professor's rough voice.

"No, Professor," Remus shook his head, ending the chatter.

You didn't talk for the rest of the lesson. However, to your frustration, you couldn't help but sneak glances in his direction only to find him doing the same.

The moment the class was dismissed, you immediately got up and left the room. The last half an hour in the boring potion class made you question some things. You were at odds with yourself.

And now, in the middle of the hallway, with your books to your chest, your mind was hosting a party for questions.

Was it really about you? Maybe no.

Did Remus deserve some secrecy? Maybe yes.

Did your infatuation with your best friend get in the way of your judgement? Breaking your heart not because he had a secret he didn't want to share but because he didn't love you back? No, of course not (It did).

But you deserved his trust. At least, that was how you were feeling based on the years of friendship.

Were you wrong? Probably.

"Y/N!"

You took a deep breath and blew it out as you turned to face Remus, who quickened his pace to catch up to you. He's smiling. Again.

"What?"

"You still pissed at me?"

"Yes? No? I don't know, Remus," you shrugged and carried on walking to the Great Hall. "I don't understand why you won't share it with me. Don't you trust me?"

"I do," he drawled, and you waited for him to continue. He hesitated at first but gave up after your determination not to make a sound.

"Listen, it's not something about you. I just don't like sharing it."

"Does James know? Sirius? Peter?" you arched a brow, desperately hoping for him to say no. You watched him he open his mouth and close it without a reply.

Well, that was it.

He didn't want to tell you, and you were supposed to be okay with it.

You nodded, hurt at something you didn't want to voice.

Remus stopped you from your arm, turning you so that you would face him. His hands made their way to your sulked shoulders and caressed them back to your hands to hold them tight, sending shivers through your body.

"When the time is right, I will tell you," he said. You looked up into his brown eyes, forcing yourself not to peek at his lips. You had always loved his eyes, and his lips.

"I promise. Just trust me."

You lowered your head, closing your eyes to the pleading in his words.

"I just don't understand why you don't trust me."

Remus stepped forward, letting your head lay on his chest.

"I told you, dove. This is not about you. Truly."

You knew it too.

You knew the reason you were so angry was not Remus but your love for him.

You knew you were not resenting Remus but your own inability to suppress your feelings.

So you nodded, hugging him back.

"What do you smell?" you asked Remus, trying not to sound too eager or excited. You were hoping he couldn't hear your racing heart and couldn't see your trembling hands.

Remus inclined his head to the potion, taking in the smell the Amortentia was radiating.

One, two, tree...

He frowned, looking lost. He clenched his jaw, blinking fast. Something must be wrong.

Six, seven, eight...

He cleared his throat, locking his eyes with yours.

Twelve, thirteen, fourteen...

Remus straightened his back, curling the side of his lips upwards awkwardly.

"What do you smell?"

You gulp, lips parting and then closing and then parting again. You weren't sure it was the right thing to tell him what you smelled from the love potion.

Parchment, coffee, melting chocolate.

Everything that reminded you of him.

"I asked you first."

You sounded taut, internally having a fight between your heart and your brain over the control of your body, mind, and soul.

You didn't know what you wanted to hear from him exactly, but what you did know was that you were praying for it to be something, anything that would remind him of you.

"It's- it's nice," he simply said.

"Mine, too."

"What is it?" he asked, his voice so low that if you weren't so close to him, you wouldn't hear him from all the chatters in the classroom.

You longed to tell him.

Tell him and get it over with. Put down the weighing affection in your shoulders, your lungs and your heart, even if it meant having it broken.

You looked up at him, biting your lower lip so hard it almost bled.

Remus waited and waited and waited for you.

"It's uhm, it's parchment... and uh,-"

"Mr Lupin, are you two done with your potions?

You quickly put a distance between you and Remus. Professor Slughorn stood by the pot, smelling the potion.

"Ah, you are. Well done, you two."

You refused to turn back to Remus, your eyes examining every student in the classroom as Remus cleaned the desk.

James Potter was grinning at Lily Evans, who, in turn, had an unreadable expression on her face. You hoped Lily had smelled James; it would make your friend foolishly happy.

It was a bit chaotic in the room; happy, angry, sad and confused faces were scattered around. A student had even managed to blow up his potion somehow.

You saw Sirius and wondered what he had smelled, but soon your thoughts took a turn when you noticed Sirius was not alone. He was muttering something to Severus Snape with a devilish grin on his face.

"You guys have another prank coming?" you asked Remus, your eyes not leaving Sirius.

You didn't see Remus flinch and almost drop the knife.

"No? Why?"

"Oh, nothing. Then Sirius must be messing with Snape for his own amusement."

Remus hummed softly.

"I love James and Sirius, but was this really necessary?"

It was cold, and you were freezing, not because you had clothed lightly but because it was seven in the morning and in the middle of winter. Remus, seated next to you, was in no better condition. All because your friends insisted you watch them fly around on a broom.

"Well, he had said we were a great support."

"Do I look like any kind of support at this moment?" your teeth were starting to chatter. You closed your eyes at Remus's chuckle, hoping, wishing and praying that you would never forget its sweet melody.

"You look anything but."

You laughed at his words, totally oblivious, his gaze lingering on your smile.

"When is even this game?"

"In two weeks, that's the only thing Pads and Prongs talk about. Where's your head at?"

"I usually tune them out. They're disturbingly loud."

James screamed loudly at Sirius; you threw an 'I told you so' glance at Remus, who rolled his eyes in return. You liked when he did that.

"Try living in the same dorm room with them."

"Must not be fun since you're carrying the scars of the battle in your body."

"And in my soul," he nodded swiftly several of times. You adored the way his brown locks messed into each other, still looking fluffy. "Are you cold?"

"No, I'm sweating," you snarked, peeking at Remus. Maybe you were wrong because he definitely appeared more decent than you were. He beamed at you, sneaking in closer, his leg brushing yours.

Without further ado, he pulled his arm over your shoulder, tugging you to his chest. Your breath hitched as his scent filled your mind.

You hated how your heart reacted every time you were this close to him; a hand away to hold his hand, a breath away to kiss his lips-

"Better now?"

You pushed the image deep into your mind, heat blossoming in your chest, colouring your cheeks.

"Cheers."

The next you-don't-know-how-many minutes later, the practice was over, and the players were now descending to the ground. Remus hadn't let go of you yet, not that you wanted him to.

You watched as James and Sirius joked around, Peter joining them later on.

"Hey, lovebirds! Come down!" James yelled, his hands around his mouth.

You raised your head to see Remus frowning at them before smiling at you, which you returned shortly as you stepped out of his warm embrace.

"Who's hungry?" James asked as you two also joined them and answered before anyone else could. "I am. Let's eat."

"Evans still won't tell me what she smelled in Amortentia."

"Drop it, mate. If she wanted to tell, she would've," Sirius slapped James's back before stepping into the Great Hall before everyone.

"If you push her, she might get irritated, you know," you reasoned with James, albeit you knew it was in vain.

"With me? Impossible, I'm lovely."

"Not to her, apparently."

"Not everyone has a Moony around to cuddle, Y/N."

Peter snorted and dodged the hit from Remus's hand.

"What? James, that's not even relevant!" you hid the crimson of your checks with feigned annoyance, refusing to glance at Remus.

"It doesn't have to be relevant," he shrugged, grinning ear to ear. You shook your head, grabbed a toast and didn't see Remus arch a brow at James.

"Where's Sirius?" Peter asked, making all of you turn around.

"He was there a minute ago, was he not?" you questioned, aimed mainly at James. If there was only one person you could ask about Sirius, and he would have an answer, he was James.

Obviously, not this time because James simply shrugged.

You were jealous. You had never been jealous over Remus until now.

You knew Lily Evans was his good friend, you liked her too, and you knew Remus would never even think about her in that way.

But still, you couldn't help but feel like you were on the edge of a cliff, waiting for someone to push you every time Lily would put her hand on Remus's hand, grazing the tiny cut lightly with her thumb. Your heart was a target to all sorts of knives when you heard Remus chuckle at Lily's words.

You couldn't help but wonder if she knew Remus's secret.

"Jealousy is not a good look on you, Y/N," Sirius cut your thoughts short.

"I don't know what you're talking about," you dismissed him with a shake of your head, pulling your gaze from Remus to the potion top. "Did you add the Powdered Root of Asphodel?"

Remus had always told you that you were the girl closest to him, and it would always stay like this. But you couldn't get rid of the doubts in your mind you were so certain that were emerging because of your feelings.

"Yes, stir twice clockwise," Sirius started working on Sopophorous bean juice. "I'm talking about Moony."

"What about him?" you bit down your lip and hoped your voice didn't shake when Remus's nickname startled your train of thought. How you loved that nickname...

"Others may be oblivious but don't be ridiculous, I see how you stare at him."

You didn't know how to reply to that claim, so you kept silent but turned your eyes to the long-haired boy. He smiled at you as if an encouragement, which almost crumbled your defences. You were on the verge of giving out.

Would it be bad if there was at last a person to share your feelings with?

"So, is it a monthly 'I fancy him' situation or..?"

"Something more," you finished for him, earning a croon. Here, you had said it with no guarantee that he would keep your secret but with the hope that he would help you carry the burden.

"Am I that transparent?"

"Only when you're jealous, love."

You nodded, smiling a little.

Sirius watched the way you were picking the skin around your nails.

"Hey, stop worrying. I'll tell no one."

Relief had hugged you at that moment, thankful that Sirius took your feelings lightly and didn't make a big deal out of it. Also, happy that you weren't alone anymore in this secret; you had someone capable of understanding.

"Sirius?"

"Mhm?"

"Do you think he'll ever...love me back?"

He sighed, drying his hands. You felt his hands on yours, returning the gesture.

"You know Moony, he doesn't talk about feelings," you laughed bitterly, placing your head on his shoulder. "But he is a plonker if he never returns your feelings, and I'll make sure he gets a new scar if he ever hurts them."

"Thank you, Pads," you melt into his hug as you feel his arms around your waist.

"You smell of strawberries," he took a strand of your hair into his hand, sniffing it. "What shampoo are you using?"

"Stop smelling me like a dog!" you pushed him away, giggling when he gasped in fake hurt. "Focus, we still have to finish that potion."

Sirius carried on with his Sopophorous bean, and you looked around for a sloth brain.

"Did you forget the sloth brain?"

"I thought you were going to get it," Sirius shrugged, looking up. "Moony and Evans have one more. Go and grab from them."

You glanced at the pair, noticing that Remus was already staring at you. He didn't budge when you smiled at him and changed his focus back to Lily.

Red hair, green eyes, dainty freckles and graceful stature. Why did she have to be this beautiful?

You sauntered to their seat, passing near a bunch of students that were requiring the Professor's attention. Remus refused to look up to you when Lily offered you a kind smile.

"Hey, Remus, do you mind sharing an ingredient with me and Sirius?"

"You don't have it?" his tone was not kind, and his eyes were cold.

"I thought he was supposed to take it, but it turns out he thought I would take it," you mumbled real quick, still not fathoming the reason behind his coldness. "So here we are."

"You guys were pretty out of it. How do you even manage to get the job done?"

"We are doing fine," you frown. What was wrong with him?

"Yeah, I saw."

"Are you going to let us borrow the ingredient, or should I ask James and Pete?"

His gaze finally changed into something you couldn't quite name. He turned to Lily, who was trying her best not to pry.

"We won't need the spare," she consented in an instant. Remus dashed to the other side of the desk, clutching the jar and dashing back to you.

"Thank you," you mumbled as you clasped it in your hand. He merely nodded one time before carrying on with whatever he was doing.

You could swear you heard Lily whisper to him, 'What the bloody hell is wrong with you?' before parting, but you ignored it.

You couldn't find Sirius when you were back, so you finished the last steps of the potion on your own. He didn't pop up when the Professor checked the work or when he dismissed the class.

"Why are you pissed at me?"

"Moony is pissed at you?" James hopped in as you made your seat next to Remus, who was busy with his meal.

"Yes–"

"I'm not."

You stared at him in disbelief and bemusement.

"You certainly are. Now tell me why."

When Remus looked at you, a smile inched his lips up though his eyes were still grumpy.

"Where's Sirius?" he asked.

"I-I don't know," your head sought him out, giving out in confusion. "How is he any relevant?"

You ignored James muttering, 'You really do like that word, huh?' as your eyes desperately tried to understand why Remus was being weird. But instead of an appropriate reason, all you got was a shrug.

You shook your head in dissatisfaction and stretched your arm for the pumpkin juice. Seeing your attempts, Remus's hand had already grabbed it and now was pouring the juice for you.

"Thank you," you whispered before clearing your throat. "So, we'll study together in the library again, right? Now that you're not 'angry'?"

Remus shook his head when you drew quotation marks with your fingers in the air.

"Today, yes. Not tomorrow, though."

You quelled the rising anger and heartbreak in your heart. In a trice, you twisted in your seat, facing James.

"What are your plans for tomorrow?"

He was taken aback by your sudden query. By the state of his full mouth and the bread crumbs around his lips, you figured out that he wasn't paying the slightest attention to you and Remus.

"Quidditch practice before breakfast?"

"In the evening, I mean."

"We're supposed to–"

"I wasn't talking to you, Remus."

Remus pursed his lips, cursing himself for not talking to James that morning. James's face crinkled in bafflement.

"I am supposed to finish my star chart with Sirius."

You nodded and glowered back at your best friend. James made a face at Remus behind your back as if asking what was going on.

"You don't take Astrology, Remus."

"I'll study with Lily tomorrow," he said, and you froze.

You were supposed to study together. You and Remus. Together. Like the way it had always been.

He wasn't supposed to study with the prettiest girl in the house. The graceful girl with a delicate smile and silky fire-kissed hair.

You didn't know when or how the familiar burn in your chest surged up, but you recognised what it was. You welcomed the acute sharpness of its thorns and the way it cut through your heart.

"Oi! Why didn't you tell me that? I could've finished the chart earlier and joined you!"

You tuned out James's protest. You wished you could tune out Remus mumbling to him, 'We decided in the potions.' too. But if there was one thing you could never turn a deaf ear to, it was Remus's voice; soft yet stern, melancholic yet hopeful. You wanted to tattoo the tune into your brain the way it was engraved into your heart.

You heard Remus call your name. You hated the way you loved your name from his lips. He had always chanted your name so gently, like an incantation, caressing your soul's most hidden-away parts.

"Yes?"

"I couldn't say no to Lily," he said apologetically.

"Yes, of course," you rose from your seat, offering Remus a smile you hoped covered the hurt behind your eyes. "I understand."

"Where you going?" he attempted to grab you by your wrist, but you were agile. You snatched your wrist away unobtrusively.

"I'm going to look for Sirius."

"Hiya, love," Sirius greeted you at the curtail step of the Grand Staircase. You had looked for him in the castle, but you stumbled on him when you finally gave up and decided to head to the Gryffindor Common Room.

"Where were you? I couldn't find you close to the end of the potions," you asked him, feeling a bit better now that you're out of Remus's company.

He shrugged, denying you the answer.

"You, too, Pads?" you stopped your steps, making Sirius do the same. He looked confused.

"I, too, what?"

"Somehow, I never get an answer to any of my questions these days, and it's bloody frustrating," you blurted out the grudge that had made home in you within a breath.

"Someone's getting ready to throw a strop," his mocking tone brought you to your senses. You pouted, sighing away the anger and resentment building up in your core.

"Don't sulk, love," he said as he dropped a hand on your shoulder, which impeded your movement on the stairs. "If it is any consolation, I have a problem with Snape."

"What problem?"

"You remember our last prank on him, right?" he smiled sheepishly. He continued when you nodded. "Right, so he may or may not have been trying to get back at me for it."

"So you two have been fighting like two little third-years for the last week?"

"Uh-huh," you rolled your eyes when he showed you his ridiculously white teeth. "I'm setting the ground for something big, but can't tell you, so don't ask."

"Fine."

"Your turn."

"It's silly," you cringed at the thought. Everything always made sense in your head until it was time to actually voice them.

"Good. Then we'll have a laugh. Come on, now," Sirius squeezed your arm as reassurance.

"Remus is a liar. Sometimes..." you purposely left out the once-in-a-month fact, "He stands me up, saying it's a Marauders thing-"

You held your hand up to interrupt Sirius, who was about to back up his friend.

"Don't. It is a lie. I know something is going on, and I have speculations, I'm not stupid, Sirius–"

"Never said you were."

"And it's okay, you know? We talked about it, and he told me he needed time, and I didn't argue. But now he tells me he isn't gonna study with me because he promised Lily, and I know it's an excuse because he couldn't use the 'Marauders thing' lie this time–"

"Don't forget to breathe."

"It's just...she's pretty and smart and–"

"In love with Prongs."

"You don't know that."

"No, but she will be, and you don't even need to worry about Evans. She's just a good friend of Moony."

You exhale heavily, begging for your endeavours to suppress the ache in your throat to work.

Yes, she was a good friend of Remus. But you're supposed to be his best friend.

Howbeit, more importantly, what was muddling you was the thought that Lily knew Remus's secret.

"I know, Pads. I just can't help it."

Sirius said the password to your common room and gave you the way first.

"You should talk to him, you know," he said as you threw yourself onto a sofa.

"And tell him that I'm ridiculously jealous because of his friendship with Evans, yeah?"

You smiled at Sirius's laugh. "I pity you, love."

You pitied yourself, too.

You grimaced when you felt the metallic taste of blood. Pulling your teeth from your lips, you pushed them together so the blood on them would dry.

You've been pacing around your dorm room, contemplating whether to get down to the library.

Part of you yearned for Remus's presence, while the other part wanted to avoid him forever, not ready to face and voice your thoughts to him. You knew he never left any quarrel unsolved, never letting you stay upset.

Ultimately, your love for him overwhelmed your resentment, and before you knew it, you grabbed your book and ambled down the stairs.

Your knuckles were white from clutching the book hard when you entered the empty library. The only thing you could think about was if Remus was going to be there.

And he was.

He raised his head from his book the moment you crossed his sight, brown eyes full of different emotions that you couldn't sort.

You chose to ignore how his leg was bouncing and how his hair was way messier than usual.

He softly smiled at you when you sat next to him. You smiled back.

You hoped maybe he would act like everything was alright and you wouldn't have to think about your feelings.

But you inhaled sharply when he didn't.

"We're fighting a lot these days," he said, looking at your fingers rather than your eyes. "I hate it when we fight."

"We didn't fight."

"It may not be a fight, but," he took your hands into his, "I know you're hurt."

When you kept silent, he took this as his cue to go on.

"I'm sorry, dove. I should've known it would hurt your feelings to stand up our evening studies."

"You know well that it is not the matter," you said, pulling your hands back. "Stop acting like you don't."

"I'm going to need you to be more specific."

Dozens of questions raced through your mind, but you only managed to ask the one tearing you apart with jealousy. You pushed to voice that screamed at you, saying 'you're being too blunt' back in its place.

"Does Lily know your secret?"

Remus sighed. He parted his lips and then pushed them back together. You fathomed that he was getting irritated from the twitch of his hand.

"I thought we agreed that you wouldn't bring this up again–"

"Does she?"

"She does."

"You told her."

"She figured it out herself," he arched his brow at you eloquently. You despised the meaning behind that expression. It mocked you, claiming that you were not as bright as another.

"Of course, she did," You turned your side to him and opened the cover of your book. Little did he know you had figured everything, too. Except, you waited for his confiding.

"Alright, that's it," Remus shut the cover back to regain your attention. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"What?"

"Y/N, you've been picking fights for the last bloody month. And I try, I really, really try to be patient but I don't understand what your problem is."

Your face wrinkled in confusion.

"Remus, what are you talking about? We were fine until this morning."

Remus held back for a moment, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Maybe. But we're having the exact bloody conversation every once a month, and it's getting on my nerves."

This was the last straw for you. Getting on his nerves?

You had been patient with him since the day you became friends.

You had been understanding towards him every time he pushed you away when he was upset and pulled you back for support.

You had been gentle with him every time he snapped at you before full moons and every time he broke your heart after full moons.

And you had been loving him for the last five years, first as your friend, then as a boy, despite his flaws, blemishes and imperfections.

And now he couldn't even handle your resentment?

Anger climbed its way to your chest, burning down every wall you've ever built to keep your heart's secrets hidden away.

Words were scattered across your mind, ready for you to use them as your weapon against the pain havocing in your soul.

You couldn't keep anything in anymore.

"You know what's getting on my nerves, Remus? You being a liar–"

"I am a liar?"

"Yes. Yes, you fucking are. You have been lying to me for the last five years, and I've been bloody patient.

You think you're being patient? Well, try being best friends with yourself. Someone who lies to you, keeps secrets from you, but tells you you're his best friend, and then fucking repeats everything again."

"I asked you to give me time!"

"And I did! I've been understanding towards you and acted dumb every time you gave me nonsense excuses like you did today."

Remus shook his head.

"You're being selfish."

"I am being selfish?" your eyes widened in disbelief. He truly had the gall to call you selfish after five years of his lies, excuses, and your espousing only for his sake.

"It's not always about you, you know. I just wanted to spend some time with Lily tomorrow, it's not an excuse."

You sniggered, awed by the way he could lie so easily.

"How come even Evans knows you better than me?!"

Remus clenched his jaw and rose up to his feet. You knew he was trying his best to keep himself collected, not to take out the anger on you, but you had had enough. You looked up to the veins popping up on his neck from your seat when he raised his voice.

"She figured everything out herself! It's not my fault that you can't do that!"

"So, now I have to try to solve you out by myself? That's not how friendships work, Remus! You're supposed to trust me-"

"No! I don't have to do anything! I've had fucking enough. I don't owe anyone anything, including you. Remus this, Remus that. Everyone has something they want from Remus. Everyone rubs their so-called favours and sacrifices into my face, always demanding something in return-"

"I've never even once harped on anything I did for you! I only wanted you to open up to me-"

"And the only thing I asked from you was patience! Fucking patience!" he dashed at you, grabbing you by the sides. "But here you are, bringing up the same bloody thing every month like a broken record! So yes, you are the most selfish girl I've ever met!"

His words cut through your heart like a sword, the same sword you had placed in his hand.

You looked at his dilated pupils and how they almost swallowed the gentleness of the brown you always loved.

You blinked the tears away that were threatening to invade your vision and swallowed the lump in your throat down.

Patience, he had said. Time, he had said. You were selfish, he had said.

An unfamiliar surge of acrimony washed you down, anger flaming in your chest. Its white flames swallowed your love for the boy whole, echoing his words from nothingness.

You pushed him away as hard as you could. He tottered a few steps back, eyes softening at your raged visage. In a blink, you were up from your seat and closed the distance between you two.

"You want patience? I have been patient when you let everyone in but me. I've been patient when you pushed me away in the second year after learning about your father. When you snapped at me for worrying about you. When you yelled at me because I wanted to touch the scar on your face."

Remus parted his lips, but you held your hand to stop him from talking. With every sentence, your tone was soaring, the tears were prickling your eyes, and you had let go.

"Don't interrupt me! I'm not done. I gave you time when you got 'sick' every month and didn't let me see you or when you cried in my lap but refused to talk to me later. I gave you time when you didn't speak to me for days because you were angry and when you lied to me every month because you didn't trust me enough!

You want time and patience?!

I have given you my time and patience for the last five years and have been loving you for the past three, Remus! So don't you ever dare to call me selfish!"

You snapped your mouth shut, letting the wave of fury and relief wash over you. Remus's eyes changed into something new, something you had never learned about him.

Only then did a stronger feeling hit you: dread.

You had confessed your love for him.

His eyes were heavy with emotion, the crease between the brows still reminding you of his anger, while the benign brown lit up the hope inside your soul.

"You what?" a whisper left his mouth, so low that you wouldn't be able to hear it if it wasn't dead silence in the library.

You didn't repeat yourself. You didn't even reply to him. You simply turned away and dashed out of the library.

xxxxx

When you woke up the next morning, all you could think about was that it was a full moon today.

You didn't think it would be a good idea to see Remus today, but you were worried about him. You wished to know how he was, where he was, and how he would endure this night. Would he have new scars the following day? Or a headache? Did he love you back?

So many questions and not enough answers.

James and Sirius were in the Quidditch practice, probably Remus and Peter as an audience. You had decided not to join them this time, trying to drown the chaos in your mind with homework instead. Or maybe you were too embarrassed to acknowledge Remus.

Anyhow, one can only tolerate writing an essay to one point.

You slapped your book shut, groaning to yourself when you relived your last memory with Remus. Yesterday was the reason why you hated being angry; you would either cry or lose control of your mouth. And since you had bone both of them in one evening, you were planning on rotting in your room. However, your short span of attention was not helping. With every sentence you managed to put together, Remus's brown eyes would pop up in your mind.

You glanced at the weather; grey clouds and chilly wind. Who would even want to be outside in this weather?

James (and maybe you).

You shook your head and decided that maybe rotting yourself until everyone would forget about your existence was not a good plan, as it was getting boring. Checking the time, you smiled because the Quidditch practice should be finished by now. Thus, you got up and left your dorm room. If only you could make it out of the common room without being seen by Remus.

Sauntering down the stairs, you slowed your steps. Before revealing yourself, you checked the common room and saw James and Peter laughing. No Remus or Sirius. You wondered if Remus told them about your love confession. You hoped not.

Stopping into the room, you made your way to them, putting on a genuine smile. You tried to suppress the anxiety rising in your throat and reminded yourself that these boys were your friends.

"Look who's here," James narrowed his eyes at you. "The traitor."

"I missed only one practice, James."

"He and Sirius are way more dramatic today. James almost asked Evans to marry him this morning."

"Seems like a normal morning, Pete," you said, even though you couldn't help but chuckle. "Where's Sirius, though?"

"He went to see his brother. Said he'll be back in ten minutes or something."

You hummed at James, pushing your lips together.

"And Remus?"

"With Evans, I wager."

The familiar burn in your chest resurfaced.

"I'll go find Sirius. See you guys later."

"You have a death wish, I see?"

You jumped at Sirius's voice. As opposed to what you said to James and Peter, you didn't go looking for Sirius. Instead, you were strolling around the castle yard. You liked how the frigid air sent shivers down your spine, it was refreshing. And you, without a doubt, needed refreshment.

"How'd you know?"

"You're walking around in nothing but your sweater?"

You smiled and shrugged, waiting for him to catch up to you. When he did, he removed his black leather and placed it on your shoulders. You caught the burn on his hand.

"What happened to your hand?"

Sirius glanced at his hand shortly and yanked it back into the pocket of his trousers.

"Ah. Nothing. Snape and I had a little duel just now."

"Sirius, this is getting out of hand. You need to stop."

"Yeah, don't worry. It's going to end tonight."

Your heart dropped.

"What do you mean?"

He burst into laughter, worrying you more.

"I'm going to scare the hell out of that prick, he'll never dare touch me again."

You attempted a smile, though you weren't sure it came out smooth.

"What do you mean?"

Sirius turned to you, patting your arm with his fist. "Don't worry about it. Tell me what made you take a walk in such weather."

Now you were both worried and uncomfortable. Embarrassment was burning your ears up, making you wish that the ground would split in two and swallow you whole. However, you decided to bury the worries and awkwardness. You deserved someone listening to you, after all, so you shared everything with him.

After a few gasps and woahs, you quietened while Sirius was contemplating what to say and how to say it.

"You haven't seen him since?"

You shook your head no.

"Well, he was grumpy this morning, but I don't think it's related to you."

Yet, you were certain that it was related to you.

He was grumpy because he was angry at you. He was grumpy because he didn't return your feelings, and you made him uncomfortable by confessing them. He was grumpy because you just shattered your friendship. Or maybe he was grumpy because it was a full moon.

"I think he hates me now."

Sirius snorted at your declaration. "You're one hell of an overthinker, aren't you?"

When you didn't reply, he pushed you with his side softly, "Hey, come on, it's Moony we're talking about. He can never hate you."

"You can't possibly know that."

"Yes, I can. Remember in the third grade how he literally hated all of us for burning his paper?"

"I mean, he wasn't exactly wrong. We did destroy two weeks' work."

"Exactly. He rained hell upon us for a month. Well, most of us. He didn't touch you, and whenever we would ask him why, he would hit us before saying, 'It would hurt her feelings'."

You smiled at the thought of thirteen years old Remus coddling you.

"I didn't know that."

"You don't know why James changed his wand last year in the middle of the semester, either."

"I thought he broke it."

"Nah, Moony broke it."

Your eyebrows shot up in bewilderment, amusing Sirius. He nodded before resuming to talk.

"James had a brilliant idea to cast a spell on you that would twist your tongue every time you talked. Remus wanted to waver him from it, but he was stubborn, that bastard. So before he could cast the spell, Remus broke his wand in our dorm and made it look like an accident to James."

Your smile grew wider, your eyes tearing up from intense emotions. Remus always knew about your anxiety, and he had always cared enough to help you through it. Whenever you would fidget with your fingers because you were about to give a big speech, he would put his hand on yours to calm them down. Whenever you would sweat because the professor was criticising you in front of the whole class, he would touch his knee to yours to let you know he was there. Whenever someone would make fun of you, he would be the first one to stand up for you.

"I didn't know he had it in him."

"Oh, he has a lot more in him when you are the matter," Sirius side-hugged you, letting you lean in. "You can ask him if you want."

You frowned, about to ask him what he meant but stopped in your tracks when your eyes sorted Remus from the other side of the yard. He was with Lily. Before you could ask Sirius to return to the castle, he yelled from the top of his lungs to make himself heard.

"Oi! Moony!"

"What are you doing?!" you whisper-shouted at Sirius, who was dragging you to Remus's side.

"You can't avoid him forever."

As you got closer and closer to his side, your heart picked up the pace. You didn't feel ready to talk to him today. You were sure you wouldn't be ready tomorrow either.

Lily waved at you two when you made it to their side. You noticed the bags under Remus's eyes and his bouncing leg. You refused to lock your gaze, focusing on Lily's glorious smile. Still, you could feel his burning gaze piercing your heart.

You had tuned out their talking, alerting your mind only to Remus's presence. You didn't hear Lily's giggle or Sirius's mocking tone; you didn't even care what they were talking about.

You only cared that Remus was bouncing his leg, snapping his fingers and rubbing his temple.

You longed to put your hand on his leg to calm it down, hold his hand so that he would stop hurting them, and kiss his temple so maybe it would tender the ache.

Your heart was burning up in your chest, clenching in agony. The agony of being so close and yet so far away from him.

Every tune around you was muffled, slave to even a whisper from Remus, but he wasn't making a single sound.

You had lost count of how many heartbeats were beating in your chest, wasting time by beating away from Remus's heart.

Suddenly, they stopped.

"I have to go," said Remus.

His hoarse tone shattered everything into nothing.

He got up from Lily's side and walked back into the castle. You didn't follow him.

You missed his voice.

The weather was dark and still cold. You clung to Sirius's jacket more tightly. He hadn't asked for it back and said he would take it from you tomorrow.

You should return to the common room; it was neither safe nor clever to wander around at night. And you did. You turned around and started striding to the castle, only to flinch when you saw a figure exiting it.

It was hard for you to distinguish the person, so you followed him. You waited for the light of the full moon to reveal the silhouette's identity to you. You bit down your lip when you saw Severus Snape sauntering towards the Whomping Willow.

He must've lost his mind.

Your heart fastened with Severus's every step, dread of what was about to come sending tremors down your body. Your fingers itched in anticipation.

You hid behind a bush and watched him with terror. It was dark at night. It was a full moon. You were near the Whomping Willow.

Why did you even follow Snape?

When he finally crossed the safe proximity, the tree started moving. Your hand covered your mouth, your eyes unable to blink.

You waited for the tree to frantically shake and sway its branches. You waited for it to injure Severus or maybe even kill him.

But it didn't.

The moment it started to move an inch, it stopped. You thought maybe Snape had cast a spell; you could only see his back.

He slowly approached the tree, disappearing into a hole under it.

You rose to your feet and took a few steps towards the tree. You felt uncomfortably vulnerable at that moment, standing out in the open where you could get attacked by every side and wouldn't even be able to prevent it.

What if the tree starts moving when you're near?

Where did Snape go?

Should you even be here?

If there was only one question you knew the answer to, it was the last one.

You wanted to return to the castle and forget about all this in the morning. You truly did. However, you figured that there was no turning back when you heard a howl and a scream coming from the hole.

You jumped back with fear, oblivious to the yelp that left you.

Your first instinct was to run. Run away as fast as you could, without looking back, but something deep in your conscience didn't let you flee.

What if Snape was alone out there, and he needed help?

What if he was injured?

You cursed under your breath and took one more step towards the tree.

Your heart was pounding in your ear, competing with the sound of the howl down on the ground. You convinced yourself that it was the fear that made the howling sound closer than before.

One, two, three.

You exhaled sharply and started running to the hole.

You prayed that the tree wouldn't move.

Your legs made a stop before you could fathom what was happening.

More than one figure emerged from the ground, but your eyes only saw the big, ugly beast. Moonlight was glistening through its thick grey fur, displaying a horrendous sight. The tawny glow in its eyes was impossible to miss, as well as its tall and scrawny bone structure. The snarls from the beast were threatening to change into something more dangerous.

Snape was screaming. You could swear you heard James, your name or maybe your own scream too.

However, your eyes never left the beast.

You had seen it in the pictures. You knew what it was.

A werewolf.

Remus.

And it was planning to attack Severus.

Your Remus.

You took out your wand, not even once looking away from the beast. Your mind was chasing every charm you've ever chanted, looking for the best one for the situation.

The beast pounced on Snape with a growl.

Snape slumped into the ground.

The beast towered over him, ready to attack.

You aimed your wand at it, screaming the first thing that came to mind.

"Petrificus Totalus!"

You had diverted the beast's attention, presenting an opportunity for James to save Snape.

"No, Y/N!"

When James's cry tore your mind from the shock, you understood that you had made a mistake.

Spells don't work on werewolves.

A gasp left your mouth when the werewolf directed its attention from Severus to you. You didn't see Snape fleeing or James carefully walking to you. All you could see was the icy light in its eyes glaring at you, sending sheer panic down your spine.

You hesitated to make any more sound, no matter how much you wanted to yell James's name for help.

You didn't know how to fight werewolves, no one had ever taught you that. You didn't want to die, either.

The growl from the beast intensified, sending you enough signals that the inevitable was close. With your every step back, it was taking a step forward.

No, no, no, no, no, no.

"Y/N RUN!

And you did.

You ran until your lungs gave out, your legs crippled, and your heart burst.

You ran until your eyes watered from the chilly air, your nose hurt from the sharp breaths, and your ears echoed the beast's growls.

A branch cut just above your cheek, but you didn't stop.

You ran until you lost control of your mind, giving it up to your body, performing purely under adrenalin.

But the beast ran with you, too. It followed you into the forest, howling and growling, letting you know death was close. Letting you know that the screams drowning in the night were in vain. Letting you know that the tears staining your face were in vain.

Your breaths mingled with your screams, your hair getting into your mouth. Sweat and tears melded into each other, burning up the cut on your face.

Before you could understand what had happened, your body hit the cold ground with a thud. Your eyes clenched shut, taking in pain vibrating through you. You felt the soil staining your face and body. Your weeping turned into a shriek when you felt yourself yanked into the dirt on your stomach.

Your eyes widened with fear when you finally fathomed the claw grabbing your ankle. It dragged you back, hoping to get the claws on your throat, too. Your fingers dug into the earth. You fought to free yourself from the beast. The jagged stones on the ground gashed your forearm. The dirt stung the gash. Your blood glistened under the moonlight. The beast howled. It turned you on your back.

Remus, Remus, Remus.

One last cry left you. The beast raised its claws, towering over you.

Remus.

You closed your eyes. The tears didn't stop.

Moony.

A high-pitched whine soared in the sky. You were sure it didn't come from you. Something hit your hip. You opened your eyes.

A stag.

A stag stroke the beast with its horns in the underbelly, tossing it away from you. The stag jumped over you, attacking the werewolf again. Animalistic voices ascended in the middle of the Forbidden Forest.

You crawled behind a large rock and took deep breaths. You knew you had to run. This was your opportunity to flee for your life, but you had exhausted your body. You needed time to recover.

The growls and whines never stopped. They got louder and quieter. Closer and farther. You didn't know.

You raised your head. The Moon was gleaming, casting light your way as if telling you to get going. You couldn't. Not now.

You lowered your head at your hands. They were filthy with dirt, the soil blackening the insides of your nails.Y̶o̶u̶r̶ ̶f̶i̶n̶g̶e̶r̶s̶ ̶d̶u̶g̶ ̶i̶n̶t̶o̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶e̶a̶r̶t̶h̶. You moved your left arm, checking the backside of your forearm. T̶h̶e̶ ̶j̶a̶g̶g̶e̶d̶ ̶s̶t̶o̶n̶e̶s̶ ̶o̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶g̶r̶o̶u̶n̶d̶ ̶g̶a̶s̶h̶e̶d̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶r̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶e̶a̶r̶m̶. You winced at the scar and the fresh blood around it. Y̶o̶u̶r̶ ̶b̶l̶o̶o̶d̶ ̶g̶l̶i̶s̶t̶e̶n̶e̶d̶ ̶u̶n̶d̶e̶r̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶m̶o̶o̶n̶l̶i̶g̶h̶t̶.̶

Without warning, a sob left put your mouth, startling you. You pressed your uninjured hand on your lips, listening around. The voices had stopped. Neither the stag nor the beast was there. You were safe.

Your hands didn't leave your mouth, so terrified that if they did, you would make a noise and lure in the beast again. You knew your body was reacting to the shock and exhaustion, but you despised the tears flooding from your eyes. You needed to get it together and leave the Dark Forest. Albeit the beast was gone, the forest was still dangerous.

You stood up with a groan, not lowering your wand for protection. Your clothes were spoiled, and you were hurting. You looked around to find a familiar way back to the castle.

"Y/N!"

You aimed your wand at the voice, your heart retaking the pace. The voice was familiar, but you were not in the right mind to identify it.

"It's me, hey. Lower your wand," James's gentle voice weakened your muscles, your hand shaking and breath hitching. Relief surged you from head to toe.

You didn't remember when you dropped your wand into the ground and threw yourself into James's warm embrace. You only remembered how he soothed you as you sobbed with exhaustion.

"You alright?" he put a hand on your shoulder and the other on your wrist to check you out after you pulled away from the hug. You nodded, feeling his gaze on your injured arm.

"Where were you?" You didn't recognise your own tone, rasp and brittle.

"Here. With you."

Something hit you in the gut. A realisation twinkled in your mind, finally comprehending the depth of 'Prongs'.

"You were the stag."

He smiled at you. "I knew you were a bright witch."

James Potter being an animagi wasn't the first priority for you tonight.

"What happened to..." you couldn't let out the rest of the sentence. The beast. R̶e̶m̶u̶s̶

"I led it back to the Whomping Willow."

The next moments passed with silence, you two walking together to the castle and James subtly keeping his hand behind your back to make sure you were fine. You relived everything from the beginning, this time making sense of the incidents. You had so many questions and even more feelings gushing in you.

"I don't understand, James."

"Hmh?"

"Why was Snape there? Where were Sirius and Peter?"

You heard James clear his throat. His tone changed from gentle to furious in a moment.

"Sirius told Snape how to get into the Whomping Willow. That bastard thought it would be a good prank. He told me later because he had started to second-guess himself," he retorded, "Peter was also there, you just didn't see him. I sent him to make sure Severus gets into the castle safely."

No.

You shook your head, not believing your ears. This couldn't be what Sirius meant by handling the Snape problem. You didn't want to believe it. Not because you were thinking too highly of Sirius but because you imagined how devastated Remus would be the next morning. You knew how much he trusted his friends.

"Remus..." you muttered under your breath, earning a hum from James that signalled him thinking the same thing.

"Sirius will be in big trouble. I'm sure Snape had already run to Dumbledore."

You turned to James with widened eyes, he talked before you could panic.

"Don't worry. He didn't see me as the stag or see Peter at all. That's why I was belated. I'm sorry I couldn't make it there sooner."

"Thank you for even making it there," you whispered, closing your eyes when the castle entered your sight. You avoided thinking about the possibility that James might not make it in time. What would happen then was something tragedic you never wanted to admit. "Will you see Remus tomorrow morning?"

James looked at you with such intense emotion that you thought he was pitying you.

"I will but–"

"I want to be there with you."

"No, Y/N, listen," he scratched his chin. You stared at him in question.

"I will have to explain everything to Remus tomorrow. And by that," he said, "I mean everything."

"James, I want to–"

"No. I don't want you to be there when I tell him how he almost killed you. I'm sure he wouldn't want you to be there either."

"But it's not his fault–"

"That's not what he's going to think in the morning. I'll talk to him alone. Don't insist."

This was the most serious you had ever seen James Potter. Thus, you knew he wasn't going to back down. So, you didn't insist.

By the time you were in the common room, your body had calmed down, now only exhibiting exhaustion symptoms. James hugged you one more time before sending you to your dorm room.

"Shower with warm water and go to bed. I'll be in the common room if you can't sleep."

You wanted to ask him why he didn't go to sleep, but you couldn't even part your lips. So you simply offered him a weak smile and headed straight to the bathroom. The girls in your room were already asleep, meaning you had to be extra careful not to wake them up.

You scoffed at your reflection in the bathroom mirror. Frantic hair, shrunk pupils, a cut on your cheek and dirt on your face. As if all these weren't enough, the gash on your arm was throbbing with pain, blood staining your sweater and maybe even Sirius's jacket too.

You stepped into the shower and let the warm water clean you thoroughly. You clenched your teeth to suppress the groan you wanted to let out of pain from your cuts. The black dirt left you as the water stroke down your body, helping you get this night out of your skin.

Your eyes were glued to the dirt getting washed away, harking back to how the beast hauled you onto the ground. Your skin still remembered the burn from the rough friction.

You couldn't close your eyes, you couldn't even blink. Every time you did, a pair of two glistening yellow eyes would stare at you, threatening to hunt you down if you kept your eyes closed a second more. If you thought about the beast a little bit more, you were sure you would have a panic attack.

So you let your mind wander around something else.

Brown locks, chocolate eyes and pink lips.

Your lips curved when you recalled his soft voice, the way he called you dove. You warmed up, and not because of the water but because of the memory of how Remus gently stroked your hair. How he wiped away your tears. How he braided your hair perfectly after begging Peter to teach him. How he had always given you something hand-made on your birthdays because he couldn't buy anything.

You missed him. You missed the gentle smile he was always offering you. You missed your tender bickering and his teasing innuendoes.

You had missed your best friend, and no matter what would happen tomorrow, you were going to talk to him.

You couldn't sleep well that night. You even had a nightmare about what happened.

James was late in the dream; you died in the end.

So you stayed up all night, only being able to dive into sleep when the air was lightening up, turning into sapphire blue. At the same time of the day, Remus was turning back to his human self. You would chuckle at the irony if you weren't sleep deprived.

When you woke up, your heart was hammering in your chest. Your roommate was beside you, a glass of water in her hand. You felt sweat drops in your neck and temple; you must be having another nightmare, then.

She offered you the glass, which you gladly accepted.

"Thank you," you said rather hoarsely.

"It's almost five in the afternoon, hun."

You sat up in your bed, brushing your hair back with your hands. You had a terrible headache.

"It is?"

"Aye. You sure you're alright?"

"Yes, Lizzie, thank you," you smiled at her before leaving the bad. You were both grateful and uneasy that you had missed the most part of the day. This meant that Remus had already learned about the prank.

You eyed yourself in the bathroom mirror. You looked way better than yesterday night, undoubtedly. Your face had gained its colour back, and your frenzied eyes were glistening with something other than horror. The only flaws were the small cut on your face and the new eyebags.

You got ready and went down to the common room. Because it was Sunday today, the common room was crowded with students.

Your eyes searched any of the Marauders but failed. They weren't here, and you were hungry. You made your way to the Great Hall, accompanied by nice growls from your stomach. Fortunately for you, it was dinner time.

You were too focused on the food before to find yourself a seat, so you didn't notice anyone approaching you. You flinched when a kind hand touched your arm.

"Y/N?"

"Oh, hiya Lily."

The red-haired girl smiled at you with emerald eyes. She pointed to a corner around the table with her finger. "Potter asked me to call you."

Your eyes found James, who looked as tired as you but still managed to put on a simpering smile. "Cheers," you said to Lily.

You sat next to him, stuffing your plate. Your stomach growled harder at sight.

"How are you feeling?" James asked, watching you nibble on a toast.

"Have been worse. You?"

"Have been worse."

You knew what you had to ask him, but you also knew you needed your appetite at the moment, or you would starve yourself. So you simply hummed and hastened to finish your meal.

You tried not to think about the two empty seats as you sipped your drink. James and Peter were having small talk, trying to lighten the mood. You didn't listen to that either.

You swallowed your last piece as slowly as possible, delaying the inevitable. James looked at you briefly, and you understood what it meant. He raised from his seat, having you follow him.

When you two found an abandoned corner, you turned to him, tuning out the racing of your heart.

"You didn't sleep, did you?" he pointed under your eyes with a nod of his head. You shook your head.

"Did you talk to him?"

Unfamiliar gloom darkened James's features. "I did. Told him everything."

He glanced at you before averting his eyes away again. "He just listened. Thanked me in the end and said he wanted to be left alone."

Your heart clenched in pain. You didn't want him to be left alone. "Where is he?"

"Dunno. Didn't look for him."

"Where's Sirius?"

James stayed silent for a few seconds. "Dunno, either. We had a fight, but my guess is somewhere in the forest in his animagi form."

You didn't dwell on it any further. You loved Sirius, but you loved Remus more than anyone. Albeit you weren't furious at him, you still didn't plan on seeing him any sooner.

"I need to talk to Remus, James."

"I truly don't know where he is."

You had to find him. You had to find him and tell him that it wasn't his fault.

You nodded at James, mumbling a quick bye before wandering around the castle, trying to figure out where he could be.

He wouldn't go to the library. It would be an easy guess for anyone trying to find him.

James said Sirius would be outside of the castle. You were sure Remus wouldn't risk encountering him.

That left you two or three places that you knew Remus would run whenever he wanted to avoid people. So you got going.

You didn't find him at Room of Requirement or Hospital Tower. You cursed the school for being this large in area. It took you almost an hour to get from one side of the castle to another. Fortunately, you were sure Remus was on the Astronomy Tower.

As you got closer and closer to the tower, anticipation chased your heartbeats high, your hands fidgeting with their fingers. You took a moment to regulate your breathing, which had no effect on your pacing heart.

Without wasting one more moment, you entered the tower.

There he was, sitting on the ground, his head low between his hands. Around him was cold and dark, gleaming with the light from the Moon and stars. Your heart ached at the sight of him. You stepped forward, letting the sound of your footsteps alert him. He didn't acknowledge you, but you were sure he had heard you. Heartbreak burned through you, maiming you because of the distance between you two.

Your steps stopped next to him. He still hadn't looked up to you but hadn't asked you to go away either. So you sat next to him, raising your head to gaze at the stars while his head was low between his hands.

"The stars are beautiful, Remus."

He didn't budge. He didn't even move. You peeked at his chocolate-brown hair, suppressing the urge to mess with them.

"Your hair looks nice today."

Silence. You didn't know if he was ignoring you or simply ignoring everyone, and it wasn't something about you.

"Doesn't your neck hurt?"

"No."

You gulped when his voice echoed in the air.

"It must hurt if you've been keeping it like that for a long time."

"It doesn't."

"Liar."

Silence again. You yearned for his voice once more.

"You can put your head on my shoulder, Remus."

"No."

"Why not?"

"Go away, dove."

His voice was fragile and pleading. It broke your heart, shattered it into million little pieces. A lump made its way to your throat.

"Why?" you asked, a voice as broken as your heart. "I don't want to go away."

"But I want you to," he loosened his fingers from his hair, dropping them to his lap.

You turned to him. "Don't push me away, Remus."

You reached for his hand, but he gently pulled them away. "Remus, please."

He shook his head, still not looking at you.

"I need to know why you don't want me here."

He left your side, ambling to the parapet of the tower and leaning to it. You stared at his back in disbelief.

"Remus-"

"Go away, Y/N."

"You won't even look at my face when you kick me out."

Finally, he snapped his head and locked eyes with you. His eyes looked tired, blazing into yours. He had a new scar under his lower lip, from James's horns, probably.

"Go away."

You stood up, frowning in annoyance. "No, I'm not going anywhere," you took stern steps in his direction and closed the disturbing distance. "We need to talk, Remus."

You adored his amber eyes despite your annoyance. You loved to dive into its depth and get lost, sorting out every colour one by one.

He stayed where he was, but you detected his eyes lowering from your eyes. He stared at the cut above your cheek, clenching his jaw.

You unconsciously turned away and hid it from Remus. Memories flooded in a blink and raised the panic inside you. You could still feel the wind hitting your face and the sting from the branch that cut your skin as you fled for your life from the beast.

"It's nothing," you uttered.

Remus scoffed at your face. You saw his eyes change into something harsh and his brows furrow.

"Yeah, sure. The cut in your arm is also nothing."

You didn't ask how he knew that. After all, James did tell you that he would let Remus know everything.

"It'll heal."

"And why is it there in the first place?"

Remus took a step forward when you didn't answer.

What were you supposed to say? Because his wolf form chased you down, and you got injured trying to flee?

"I'll tell you why," he said, voice raised. "Because I hunted you down, tossed you to the ground, and yanked you around. I only did it so I could kill you."

"No–"

"Is that what you wanted to talk about? How I'm a bloodthirsty monster whose first instinct is to kill?"

"You weren't yourself."

"What would happen if James wasn't there?"

You pushed your lips together and closed your eyes. This was the last thing you wanted to talk about.

"No, open your eyes," he raised your head by your chin, forcing you to look him in the eye. "Tell me what would've happened if James wasn't there."

You blinked away the tears that were threatening to invade your vision. Remus made you relive the same nightmare you had that night over and over again.

"Why are you doing this?"

"Because I need you to understand! I need you to understand that I'm not someone you can fucking love!"

You startled in your place, both by his anger and claim. Something had burst into flames inside you now that he had finally acknowledged your feelings.

You opened your mouth to quarrel, to tell him he's wrong, and that you loved him more than anyone or anything in the world. But he didn't let you interrupt him.

"You think I haven't thought about what you said in the last two days? You haven't left my mind for even a bloody second!" his tone was raised but broken.

"You were the one pushing me away!"

"Because I wanted to keep you away from all this shit! I wanted you to see me as something other than a cursed boy. Why do you think I never shared that secret with you?!"

"That secret is part of your story, Remus. If you thought that I wouldn't love you with it, you must've been out of your mind."

You didn't think he understood the depth of your love for him, and you needed him to understand. It didn't even matter if your feelings were not returned.

He shook his head no.

"No one, Y/N, no one loves a monster like me."

"I do," you pleaded.

Words weren't enough to convince him or express your love for him, but you were trying.

He took your arm in his hand and pulled the left sleeve of your sweater up, revealing the gash. You tried to pull your arm back, but he overpowered you, tightening the hold on your arm. You grimaced when his fingers pushed on the scar.

"This is what happens when you love someone like me."

You used your whole strength and tugged your arm back. You marvelled at your tone when you spoke.

"Stop it! You weren't yourself, Remus!"

"How does that even change anything?!" he screamed, his voice breaking and his eyes tearing up. "Don't you understand? I am a danger to you!

"Remus–"

"You think this is easy for me?! I have fucking lost my mind these last two days because you were the only one in it! My brain wouldn't think of any name other than yours! My heart wouldn't beat for any name other than yours! And when I am finally ready to tell you that I love you, too, James comes and tells me that I almost fucking killed you!"

His eyes were blood red, and the veins in his neck had popped up. Tears left his red eyes and paved the way down from his jawline to his neck.

Remus was crying.

It was a sight you had never got used in the last five years.

Your mind refused to work, denying to comprehend the words that left his mouth. It was all too much, and all in one moment.

"You love me, too?'

You didn't recognise your own voice, probably because all you could hear was Remus's confession. You expected your heart to race this time also, but instead, it was dead silent. Or maybe you were just too focused on Remus's eyes.

His tears never stopped, and he never tried to stop them.

He was breaking down at last.

You walked up to him and closed whatever distance was left. You looked up into his eyes as he lowered them to you.

"But you didn't kill me," you whispered, bringing your hand to his cheek. He closed his eyes, raining more tears on your hand. You gently wiped them away.

"I'm here, Remus. I'm here, and I'm telling you that I love you. I don't love you despite your curse, I love you with it."

Remus scrunched up his face, letting out a sob before sinking his head down your shoulder. You felt his tears on your neck.

At that moment, you knew no words would ever soothe the storm in his heart.

So you held him as he bawled like a child.

His crying sent daggers to your heart, ripping it open.

You begged for his pain to become yours so that he would never hurt the way he was hurting now.

You didn't know how many minutes past. All you knew was Remus's sobs and whimpers hurt you like nothing else ever did.

You didn't let go when the heavy sobs turned into heavy sighs or when the tear-fall in your neck turned into warm breaths.

You caressed his hair and kissed his neck when he calmed down. When he talked, it was gritty and low.

"I'm a monster, dove. A monster that will tear you to pieces if you get near."

"I love you," you whispered. You felt him let a short, breathy scoff to the crook of your neck.

"I attacked Snape last night like a beast."

"I love you."

"I almost killed you."

"I love you."

"I love you too."

You shut your eyes, breaking your face into a tiny smile. Four words, one sentence, and his lips close to your neck was all you needed for revival.

Remus inched away from your neck, lingering his lips next to your wound. The red in his eyes hadn't worn off, but the brown of his eyes was blazing with affection.

You drew a sharp breath when he kissed above your cheek.

He caressed the nick lengthwise with tender pecks. His hand grazed your other cheek while the other one made its way to your waist.

You held your breath when he lowered his lips, hovering them above your lips. His hot breath tingled your face, you fought the urge to close your eyes.

He whispered your name, and that's when you gave in. You closed your eyes and unknowingly parted your lips.

One second lasted one year.

Something flamed up down in your chest when you felt Remus's soft lips on yours. He kissed your lips gentle and soft, but short. Pulling back, he stared into your eyes, chestnut brown darkening with every second.

"I love you," he whispered.

Within a blink, his lips crashed into your lips again, this time more intense, more passionate, taking away the air in your lungs. You melted to his touch, letting his lips savour yours while his hand on your waist tugged you closer. Your breaths mingled together, leaving your heart fluttering in your ribcage.

If time had stopped and trapped you at this moment, you wouldn't complain.

You craved his scent on your soul, his touch on your body and his lips on your lips. But most importantly, you were more than glad to be buried in his love.

He pulled away and smiled at the way you filled your lung with air. You felt his thumb caress your face.

"There's no getting rid of me, now, dove."

His smile was tired, his eyes still carrying the heartbreak of yesterday. You knew he was still a broken boy inside, but you loved him anyway.

Thank you for reading. Let me know what you think!

if you enjoyed my writing and this fic, please, buy me a cofee <33

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siren-serenity · 11 months

Text

ingame voicelines 🌈

what would they say about you? would they murmur sweet compliments or chuckle at your silly mistakes? in which yuu asks these strange students of night raven college about you: and is surprised to find out that they have lovers?

characters: cater diamond, jamil viper, idia shroud, dire crowley, gn!reader warnings: - spoilers for chapter 4! - reader is not yuu! a/n: feedback is appreciated!

"hey hey hey! how are you, yuu? *smiles* have you seen y/n around? i need them for this super cute magicam trend! it's for couples exclusively so i totally need to get y/n and i into this one!...you said they were at the library? okay, thanks!"

"hello yuu *grins* i'm currently on my way to my date with y/n but you said you wanted to ask me something?....'what do our dates look like?' hahaha funny story! so y/n loves sweets, like- seriously loves them. we met through trey since y/n works part-time at his family's bakery. i was so charmed by her beauty that i asked to court them ASAP! they rejected me but gave me a challenge: make them fall in love with me within a month! luckily, with my charming looks and sweet mouth, they accepted!"

"omg look yuu! i need someone to rant to, lmao, so you don't mind if i grab you for a quick five secs? *pauses before getting a nod from yuu* great!! look at this beautiful gift that y/n bought for me the other day! when you press the pendant, it lights up and sends the other person a message! it means you miss them. *the bracelet blinks* OH MY SEVENS!! y/n is so sweet! they're in class but they're able to find time to reply!! *heart eyes* see yuu? y/n is the best s/o anyone could ask for!"

"hello yuu. do you mind tasting this dish? i need to know if i have used the correct ratio of flavoring to balance out the spices since y/n can't handle those...huh? you're asking who is y/n to me? *smiles* they are my lover of almost three years and tomorrow marks our anniversary."

"hmm? 'how did we meet' you ask? well, y/n was actually kalim's fashion designer when it came to the important events he and his parents had to attend sometimes. i met them when they were designing his outfit and i accidentally spilled hot curry on the garment. believe me *chuckle* i was beyond horrified but they were ever so sweet when they accepted my apology."

"oh! prefect yuu, how may i help you? *listening* so you're asking me for dating advice? got your eye on someone in nrc? *laughs* well, my advice is to always maintain communication and don't let things become misunderstood. i learnt that lesson the hard way after my...incident back in scarabia. y/n had to sit me down and i really just- let loose. they comforted me, gave my over-emotional self a quick reality check and by the time the sun was setting, i felt my heart get lighter. *gives yuu a gentle smile* i don't know what i'd do without y/n."

"hahaha! take the L, losers! i got a s/o and y'all dont' LMAOO...*jumps in surprise and shrieks* y-yuu! w-when did y-you arrive? *listening* o-oh? you h-heard everything that i-i said?....shit."

"lmao you're asking me how to get a s/o? newsflash, they came to me! not the other way around! i honestly don't know what part of me did they fall for, but after being together for so long, i don't regret saying 'yes' to their proposal."

"h-huh?! you're a-asking me about w-what do our d-d-dates look like? erm- well, most of the time, we game. like i swear to the sevens, y/n has a magic hand when it comes to the ten-pull summons! like i'm playing this game called we-can't-defeat-the-super-evil-boss-with-the-power-of-friendship-and-love and in just the FIRST SINGLE PULL, they brought home the rarest gacha card ever?! bro they are my personal cheat card!"

"why, good morning to my favorite magicless- I MEAN hello yuu! how can i help you? be quick because i have to get this drink to y/n before it gets cold! see? i'm so generous to my darling, they are so honored to have the one and only me as their lover!"

"where did i meet them? well, at night raven college of course! they were hired as the lecturer for developing 'unique magic' and i fell in love with their uniqueness of their own *laughs heartily* oh, i was such a fool in love."

"hmm...'what do i like most about y/n' you ask? *in deep thought* well, of course i love y/n completely...it's really hard to choose just one...*snaps his fingers and smile* oh! we have this cute ritual every weekend where on the days that our jobs feel like too much, y/n and i will make what you 'youngsters' call a pillow fort! i'll summon some romance books and y/n will make some quick snacks and we'll just read together. sometimes, we'll re-enact some of the book scenes *coughs shyly* BUT we'll not talk about that."

#twisted wonderland #disney twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland x reader #cater diamond #cater diamond x reader #jamil viper #jamil viper x reader #idia shroud #idia shroud x reader #dire crowley #dire crowley x reader

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lozchi · 1 month

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I saw your last one shot with Taehoon and it's really cool, i like it a lot. could you write something with seong taehoon x fem reader, something soft where he is in middle school and he is in love with reader but they are not dating maybe before he met Do Woon or during their friendship(

Nothing.

A/N: saw the word "soft", couldn't reject Pairing: Taehoon Seong x F!Reader Themes: A lot more dialogue than usual, a little less language as well. :)

Sunny skies, chirping birds, the fresh air, the indistinct chattering of the students fill the hallways - You happily skid your way past classrooms, feeling like everything is aligning perfectly.

That is until, Taehoon steps in front of you with a scowl. You might be wondering what’s exactly got him so riled up. Though you know he's unlikely to spill if you ask, it doesn't hurt to try, especially when it's you.

”What’s gotten you in such a pissy mood?” You inquire, noting the tension in his expression on his oh-so-handsome face.

Gosh, how long you could stare at his kissable lips, ruffle with his hair and—

”I’m not in a pissy mood.” He retorts, followed by a faint “hmph”.

Yup. He’s definitely pissed.

Without warning, he grabs your arm and drags you to the library.

”Ugh! What’s with you today?”

You try to shove him away, but Taehoon is immovable as ever.

”Nothing.”

It’s definitely not nothing, particularly when he's unusually clingy, like a child seeking protection from his mother. Sure, he’s probably got mommy issues, but it isn’t this bad to the point he’s looking for a substitute.

Anyway, you aren’t a mind reader. So you’re not gonna stop being an inquisitive bitch until you get an answer. But before you can even voice your thoughts, Taehoon starts muttering.

”Remember the guy you helped when some twerps were bothering him?” He asks, avoiding your gaze.

You take a moment to recall the incident he's referring to, realizing soon enough who he means.

”Uh-huh. That guy from class E, I think? What about him?”

A heavy silence fills the air. Taehoon struggles to find the right words to express what's bothering him. You raise a brow, awaiting an explanation while he still struggles to speak. For about 15 seconds, he keeps his grip on your arm, though it gradually loosens when he finally speaks up again.

”He wants to ask you out.”

He finally mutters, seeming to realize that his own feelings aren't really relevant to the situation.

You take a moment to absorb his words before playfully smacking him on the cheek, causing him to flinch at your unexpected action.

Are you… teasing him?

"Is that why you looked so pissed today?” You ask with a chuckle.

“Are you jeal-”

”No.”

He bluntly replies, but his flushed face says so otherwise.

”Ugh, then why are you so troubled with the fact that he wants to ask me out?”

”I’m just, well…”

It's not like Taehoon has any right to be angry. After all, he spends most of his time with you, whether it's training in the dojang, playing Tekken at the arcade, or even the occasional sleepovers you both have. There's hardly a moment when you're apart, which might just stem from his internalized fear of being separated from you.

He's worried.

So worried, in fact, that the thought of having to let go of you terrifies him, consuming his thoughts entirely, that it’s probably inevitable that detatching himself from you is his only option.

”Forget it, just let me know when you’re going.” He finally concedes, his tone resigned.

Knowing Taehoon, it's either A.) he'll "casually" follow you during your date to "ensure your safety," or B.) the date won't happen at all. He won't fucking allow it. He won’t let it. No, not ever.

He releases your arm with a weary sigh, about to turn and leave, when you burst into laughter uncontrollably.

”Pfffft!\~ You’re so pathetic sometimes, y’know? How hard is it to admit that you’re jealous?”

”I am not!”

”You are\~”

You tease, a grin spreading across your face.

”Tch, whatever.”

He grumbles, unable to hide the slight flush creeping up his neck.

——

When you return to your classroom, a note sits on your desk, undoubtedly from the guy Taehoon mentioned. It reads, "Please meet me at the school gym after break.” the penmanship even better than yours and Taehoon’s combined.

”You’re not planning on going out with him, are ya?”

Taehoon asks, slyly slinging his arm around your shoulder.

”What do you think my answer will be?”

You reply smugly, pulling him closer.

”Das for you to tell me. What will it be?”

”Hmm, I dunno—”

”Oh, come on.”

Taehoon rolls his eyes in half-disbelief.

Soon enough, you make your way to the gym with Taehoon by your side. There's a bit of bickering and some comments from him about how it's a waste of time to go out with a schoolmate you barely speak to, suggesting it would be better to train with him instead.

As you spot the guy, Taehoon follows closely behind. You turn to face him, silently mouthing a "what" as he stays glued to your side.

”Dude, we need a moment.”

You whisper-shout, but he only rolls his eyes.

”Okay, fine. But if he does something wrong, just signal me and I won’t hesitate to jump him, kick his ass, ruin his life, fuck him up so bad- no, I don’t mean fuck fuck, but like ruin his life to the—”

And with that, you leave Taehoon behind, sighing hopelessly as he wonders if he'll ever muster the same courage as the boy confessing to you now. But for now, it seems like an impossible feat.

He watches from a distance, his expression stoic as he observes the bashful interaction between you and the boy.

”Fuck, maybe I am jealous.”

Taehoon grumbles, his lips pressing together tightly as his thoughts consume him.

What if he isn’t enough for you? What if his personality is a bit too much to handle? What if you really went out with someone else who isn’t- Taehoon? What if deep down, you know his feelings for you but you only decide to ignore because you’re not exactly sure how to reject him?

”What if—?”

"Taehoon, let's go."

You interject with a smile, breaking his train of thought. He stares back blankly as you inquire;

"You alright?”

A part of him—no, every fiber of his being wishes you had rejected the boy. He doesn't want you with anyone else. It's selfish, he knows, but he's unwilling to let you slip away, unwilling to waste a moment he can't spend with you. Fucking cringy as it may sound, it's the truth.

”What did you tell him?” Taehoon asks nonchalantly, trying to mask his inner turmoil.

"I told him if you couldn't come, I wasn't interested. Then he mentioned it was supposed to be a date, and you could come as the third wheel.” ”And then?” "I couldn't picture you agreeing to just being a third wheel, so I said no.”

You reply with a shrug.

Taehoon cartwheels internally, trying his hardest not to smile with the information you just gave him. He silently celebrates the fact that you prioritized HIM over a potential date. Deep down, he wants to shout with joy, scream “FUCK YEAH, TAKE THAT, PUSSY!” But of course, he suppresses all his emotions.

”Then, are you free after school tomorrow?” ”Uh-huh.” ”What about the day after tomorrow?” ”Yup!” ”And the day after that?” ”I have cram school but I’ll make some time for you.” ”What about the day after…”

As the two of you stroll outside the campus, engaged in a lighthearted, nonsensical conversation, Taehoon discreetly pulls out pieces of paper out of his pockets.

"What are those?" You inquire, your curiosity piqued by his secretive actions.

"Nothing."

He replies casually, though there's a mischievous glint in his eye as he swiftly empties his pockets, throwing a collection of love letters from other students (that have been sent your way, perhaps out of protectiveness or simply to spare you the hassle of dealing with them yourself)into a nearby bin.

He clings onto your arm once more; ”Nothing important at all.”

#ptj universe #viral hit #how to fight taehoon #seong taehoon #taehoon bb #viral hit taehoon #doyouhave500won #taehoon x reader #how to fight imagines #i wish there was only one way to spell his name i'm struggling #seong taehoon x reader #taehoon seong x reader #nghhhhhh

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sparrowrye · 3 months

Text

Alastor x Fem! Reader {soulmates} Part 13

Synopsis: soulmate AU where you have the same mark on your body as your soulmate, and if your soulmate dies, you die too. Alastor needs to make sure that his soulmate is safe so he can continue his reign - whatever that takes. Though it looks like we have a couple secrets of our own.

Previous Part

Part 12: didn't ask for it

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

"How am I to blame for this?" Alastor demanded.

"You don't exactly have a relationship with the girl," Rosie responded. The two of them still stood in the library. "She's your soulmate. No one expected you to even have one."

"She's infuriating, that's what she is. And you know just as well how I feel about soulmates." He turned away.

Rosie wasn't having it. She put her hands on her hips with a sharp, "You could at least be nice to the poor thing. She looked terrified the first time you brought her to me. A lot has happened to that girl and now she's trying to learn magic while also dealing with your grumpy ass. No wonder it didn't work tonight."

"It didn't work because she is not mentally strong enough to handle it."

"I don't think you're giving her enough credit, my friend. She's come a long way. Not many people can unravel a curse like she is."

"She is slowing down my progress and is a risk to everything I've built."

"Well if ya put more effort into having a relationship with this girl, that might no longer be the case."

"I will do no such thing, Rosie," his voice grew heavy with static, "If it wasn't for this soulmate magic I'd have killed her already."

"Alastor," Rosie's voice softened, "she needs your guidance. If you train her to your level, you'd never have to worry about her again. She has a lot more magic stored away, I can feel it. And I know you can too." She straightened his bow tie.

"Last thing I need is for an out of control soulmate who I can't keep under wraps."

"Oh goodness Alastor," she put a hand to her head, "You're a real jerk sometimes, ya know that?"

"I'm aware." His voice turned chipper.

"Tell you what? We'll stop with the mind magic for a couple weeks to give you, and especially her, a break. But, in return, I want you to read a book on soulmate magic. And have tea with me to talk about it."

"Are you attempting to give me homework?" he asked.

"Of course not," she picked up her cloth bag, "I'm giving it to you."

****

I didn't leave my room for days.

I either slept, read, paced, or took a bath. I didn't bother going downstairs to eat, resulting in Niffty bringing plates of food up to me that I hardly touched. She was the only one who I permitted in my room. Any time Husker tried to walk in I immediately chased him out. I wanted nothing to do with anyone.

Not even a day after the incident I started having nightmares about it. No matter if I was going to sleep for the night or taking a short nap, the memory instantly came back. It left me drenched in sweat and struggling to breathe. So I stopped sleeping.

That created a whole different problem.

I filled my time with more reading or pacing. I held my Human appearance until I couldn't, burying the Demon side of me as far down as I could. I blocked all my senses off and kept everything out of my head. I wanted to be a Human with Slight magic again. I wanted none of this ridiculous magic nonsense. I wanted to go back to being a human trying to find her way in the hard world.

A knock came at the door. I permitted Niffty to come in but when I looked it wasn't her. I bristled at the sight of Husker.

"I'm just bringing you dinner," he said, walking in with a tray, "Niffty is at war with the bugs in the basement."

I backed myself into the corner of the room to keep distance between us. My Demon side had come out and my shadow grew in size around me.

"I also wanted to check on you. Make sure you were oka-"

"I'm fine now get out!" I snapped. He backed away to the door but didn't leave. "I said get out!"

"I'm worried," he admitted, "I'm worried that you're going to spiral and get lost in your head in this state."

"And who's fucking fault is that?" I yelled. "I couldn't even remember the incident until you all gave me the damn drug."

"I didn't know they were going to do that." He put his hands up in surrender.

"Please, you're just as bad as Alastor. Anything that happens you just go with it. You're nothing but a bystander."

His wings and ears dropped. I realized what I said a moment too late, covering my mouth with my clawed hand. It wasn't up to Husker how he played his part. Alastor had him on a leash with their deal.

"I'm sorry."

"Whatever," he said quietly, looking down at his paws, "I get it. I'm uh...I'll leave you alone. But...just be careful not to fall into the shadows. We might not get you back this time." He opened the door.

"Then leave me there." He didn't move. "I'm tired of this all. I'm tired of the training and training and training. I'm tired of being pushed to do anything and everything. I'm tired of being told to keep climbing the ladder I didn't even want to climb."

I fell quiet for a moment. Husker waited and watched.

"I was perfectly fine on my own, you know. I had survived ring fights for twenty-one years, escaped my old master, and hid away for five more years. Now all of a sudden I'm incapable of keeping myself safe?

"If anything, I'm safer than I ever was before. I'm a Demon. I've got Full magic and natural defenses now. Before, I had nothing more than myself and a hint of magic."

"I know Al has his own reasons for keeping you here and making you learn magic," he said, "but Rosie and I are doing it to help you. To give you a better chance for when you've reached Al's level and can go on your own."

"I'm not a child!" I took a daring step towards the door, wings extended. "And did you not hear what I just said? I survived for twenty-six years in a fighting ring with nothing more than Slight magic. I can now handle myself better than I ever thought possible. I'm done with this 'magic training'. I never asked for it. I never asked for any of this."

"But rather than having a better chance at surviving, you could train into someone impossible to kill. Word is bound to get out that you're Al's soulmate."

"Forget it. You're not listening." I turned my back to him. He tried to say more but nothing came out quite right. So, with ears down, he closed the door behind him.

Later that night, when the moon was out and as bright as the sun, I left. I quickly dressed and opened the window enough for me to slip out. I opened my wings and glided quietly down the cliff face. I flew as far as I could before my wings grew tired. I walked the rest of the way to the pier, forcing myself not to look over my shoulder. Fear had disappeared along with all my other senses.

Eventually, I made it to the pier. I stood at the poles and looked down the beach. Everything was quiet save for the crashing of the waves. I could do this. I could go back into hiding and keep myself safer than ever before.

"She's getting away!" someone yelled.

I spun in circles around the post but saw no red. Neither Alastor nor Husker were near. I jumped when feet clambered overhead. A girl was sprinting down the pier with three men chasing after her. I hurried up the stairs and followed after them.

The girl had a limp and I could tell the men were getting closer by the second. She clambered on the fence at the edge of the pier and jumped! The wind pulled her back right into one of the men's arms. He held her tight as one of them secured a magic strap to her head. She was from a fighting ring.

"Let her go." I didn't realize I had spoken until all three men turned to look at me. Not even five minutes out and I was already dealing with the ring fights again.

"The hell did you just say?" one of them asked.

"I said let her go." I took a few steps closer.

"And what if we don't? You want to be her replacement?"

"No. I want to be her savior." I casted a huge gust of wind against the one man, sending him straight into the fence and sprawling into the ocean. One man held onto the girl while the bigger man took a stance against me.

He casted a blaze at my face but I shoved it into the ocean. He did this several times as I took one step after the other towards him. I tried using wind to move him but that did very little.

I carried a wave over the fence and took his feet out from under him. He tried casting fire again but the water had dampened it. I used the remaining water and slid him across the deck. He slammed into the fence and fell into the ocean with his partner.

"Stay back!" The last man held a knife to the girl's throat. He had backed all the way into the corner. "Or I'll slice her throat."

I noticed the moon casting shadows on the deck. I looked back up at the man so he didn't suspect anything when the shadows started moving. They climbed up his leg and encased his head in darkness. I casted myself over to them and pulled his hand away from her neck.

I grabbed his throat and threw him up and over the fence, plunging down to the dark waters below. The shadows returned to their original spots. I then turned to the girl who was trying to unclip the headband.

"Let me help. Where did you come from?"

"A ring fight." The girl seemed to be in her teens. She had short hair clipped well above her shoulders.

"Well, you're not going back there again." I tossed the headband into the water.

"But I have to," she said.

"Why?"

"Because my friend is there. We made a promise to get help when the other one got out." She rubbed her hands over her arms in an effort to get warm. I put my arm around her as we walked back towards the town.

Many times I had seen the police try to take down a ring fight. There was always a guard force that kept them at bay while guests ran and masters grabbed their fighters. The magic-dampening drug was the easiest and quickest way to move us without a fight. The police never succeeded in saving us.

But that was because they used brute force. They didn't know how it worked on the inside. I did.

"Can you show me where it is?" I asked her, an idea suddenly springing to life in my head.

"I have to go to the police first—"

"I know. But if the police try to take it down now, they'll all scatter. I can get your friend out and all the others tonight."

"But...the police can send officers—"

"You're right." I stood in front of her with my hands on her shoulders. "You're right, they have the manpower. But sometimes that's not what is needed. They don't know how it works in there."

"Do you?"

I pushed my lips together. "Yes."

"You're...a master?" She stepped away from me.

"What? No. No! I'm...I was a ring fighter."

"Oh. Really? What's your name?"

"Python."

Her eyes widened. "Who was your master?" she asked slowly.

"Master Striker."

Her mouth dropped open. "You...you're...what are...you escaped?"

"A couple years ago, actually." I wasn't expecting her to know me. How many fighters knew my name? How many of them feared my name? Did some of my opponents dread hearing my name against theirs? I shook the horrible thought from my mind. "So now you know why I think it's best not to involve the police yet."

"But what are you going to do? You can't do anything against Full masters."

"I'm not. Everyone leaves before dawn. No one is there except for the guards and the fighters. Tell you what, if I don't succeed tonight, you can go to the police. Does that sound fair?"

She thought for a moment. "Okay."

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

Author's note:

It hurt so bad to write the scene where she yelled at Husker. But I promise I'll make up for it when I publish the next chapter. I'm so excited for it!

#alastor the radio demon #alastor x reader #hazbin alastor #hazbin hotel #hazbin husk #soulmate au #soulmates #hazbin hotel husk #reqs open

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imraespace · 3 months

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CHAPTER 09: YUJI'S BROTHER

JUST THE WAY THINGS GO || MEGUMI X READER

The sound of a door opening behind them scared the life out of them, heads turning towards the sound, hearts racing but..

"Y/N?" Inumaki asked, calming down.

You noticed that not only your friends but Nobara as well are all in the office.

"Did you all get in trouble? Why are you here?" You asked, walking up to them.

"Why are you here?" Maki asked, ignoring your question.

You walked towards a pile of paper then picked it up.

"My aunt wanted some student files and told me to get it.." You mumbled.

You decided to not question them anymore, leaving the room with a warning.

"The principal is returning soon, so maybe you should leave soon." You ended, leaving the room.

The others looked at each other then decided to run out the office, leaving the papers there.

The bell rang and everyone made it to their classes, but Nobara stopped Yuji before he could enter.

"We need to ask your brother some questions." She simply said.

"What? Why?"

"He may know something, let's just go to class."

──────────────

You stayed back in class, finishing up some notes while your friends all left in a hurry making up some excuse but you told them that it's okay.

You packed up your books and made your way into a certain classroom, your aunt told you she had to leave for a while and won't return until later in the afternoon, leaving you with the only choice to hide away with your homeroom teacher.

You made it to the history classroom, slightly opening the door and was greeted with the sight of your teacher writing work on the board and a certain white haired male.

Their heads turned in your direction, which caused you to look away.

"You can come in Y/N." Suguru told you and you did as he said.

You sat on one of the desks, pulled out your headphones and decided to listen to music.

Satoru looked at his friends for answers and Suguru explained.

They left you alone, wanting you to be comfortable in your own mini world.

──────────────

"Megs we have to leave for a bit." Nobara told the male as they all stood up from their desks.

Megumi looked up the duo with a slight bored look on his face.

"It's okay I was heading to the library anyways.." He mumbled, grabbing his bag and began to exit the classroom.

Both Nobara and Yuji looked at each then raced out the classroom.

They all joined the others, everyone in the cafeteria sitting where people rarely sits by, with Yuji in the middle with his phone out.

He scrolled through his contacts, looking for his brother's own.

When he finally did, he called him and everyone remained silent.

Suddenly a voice was heard.

"Hello? Yuji?"

They all looked at each other then back at the phone.

"Hey Cho, I have a question for you." Yuji asked him.

"Question? Okay ask away."

"Do you remember about that incident that happened when you were still in the school?"

"Yeah? What about it?"

"I want to ask you some questions about it."

The phone went silent for a while, everyone sharing glances and small whispers were heard among the group.

"Focus on school Yuji, later we can talk about it. I'm guessing your friends want to know as well so just make a group chat or something, just don't focus on that right now."

The group, who was now busted from being a secret thanks to the whispering, celebrated in silence.

"What a nice brother.." Nobara mumbled.

"Thank you." Was the last thing they heard before the phone went silent, signaling that he ended the call.

──────────────

The rest of the day flew by, everyone has left the building, besides you and a few other teachers including your aunt's friends.

"Must suck being stuck here huh?" Satoru joked, looking up from his phone.

You sighed in response, resting your face in your palm.

"You have friends right? Why don't you hang out with them during lunch?" He asked, trying to start up a conversation.

"They do their own thing and I don't mind, though it is a bit lonely sometimes." You mumbled.

"Why not make new ones?" Suguru entered the chat, finished erasing whatever work he had on the board.

You thought about what he said for a while, which caused you to remember a certain someone.

"Maybe I should.." You mumbled to yourself.

Satoru pulled out a deck of uno cards from who knows where.

"Let's play until Shoko comes back!" He said, placing the cards on your desk as Suguru joined you both.

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MASTERLIST | <-PREVIOUS // NEXT->

TAGLIST: @deezy12299 @polarbvnny @fxriixq @mentallyunstablemanlover @baku-boneless @evinvevin @zhochikennugget @saesofficialwife @k1y0yo @frumira @nylories @jayathelostdragon @ashfrommyfire @br66klynbaby @luvkvni @we-loveebony @ire-exe @pompompuriina @vivi-loves-penguins @starszns @iluv-ace @fuyuzemi @sleepytoges @rzcnlb (OPEN)

(if not tagged, your profile didn't show up. sadly☹️)

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note: more choso next chapter🤭

#imraeswork #imraespace -♡#jjk #jujutsu kaisen #crack #angst #fluff #jujutsu kaisen megumi #jjk megumi #megumi x reader #megumi fushiguro #jujutsu megumi #megumi x y/n #megumi x you #megumi #fushiguro #jjk fushiguro

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faeriekit · 2 months

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"It's so hard to teach kids consent 🥺" WRONG! Library books be upon ye!

Yes Means Yes, by Elaine Tai: "The various, "everyday" scenarios include the desire to touch someone's hair, play that can frustrate or hurt someone, and how someone might feel uncomfortable being touched or approached. Children will learn the importance of using their voice and listening when others use theirs, and parents can use the scenes as a foundation for further conversation."

Connor Kissed Me, by Zehava: "After Connor kisses Miriam on the playground, she tells a number of people who have differing reactions to the incident, until her mother encourages her to listen to and stand up for her own feelings."

Talking to kids about important topics goes way easier when you give them a basic expectation of what these experiences and situations might look like!

Additionally:

Emphasize to children that barring all necessary medical or safety interventions, their body belongs to them, and shouldn't be touched without permission. Yes, this does mean the conversation about vaccinations is going to take longer than usual. Consider it a trade-off.

Emphasize the affirmation, not the rejection! Sometimes people say no, and we respect that, and sometimes friends say YES to hugs and cheek kisses, and we get to share that with them!

There are plenty of alternatives to hugs and kisses! Don't want a hug? How about a high five? How about a pinky-promise? If you can't hold hands, why don't you hold onto my jacket, or I can hold onto your sleeve? Teaching kids how to ask for and offer alternatives when their peer says "No" goes a long way.

Encourage little kids not to keep "body secrets" at the request of others from their parents. If someone is asking them to hide something about their body from their parent, that's a huge concern.

Ask before hugging. Ask before kissing. Make other adults— yes, even nosy relatives—ask your child before a hug or a kiss. You can even model asking for physical affection with the co-parent if you have one. Modeling respect is worth it.

Lots of daycares are working harder to teach consent to younger children at younger ages. Some daycares are very proactive. Some are not. If you are in a position where you are interviewing multiple facilities about whether or not to place your child there, it's something that you can ask. "Do you have a stance on hugging between children, or between children and adults? What does it look like? Do you encourage boundary setting?"

And I like to think that we're beyond telling children that their bullies are secretly interested in them or want their attention but stop telling children that the other children who are harassing them are showing interest. 🔪 Stop it.

Children deserve safe, strong, respected boundaries! 🫂

youtube

#library posting #why are my references all like forty years old #Youtube #early childhood education #consent #childhood educator #youth services

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eviesaurusrex · 2 years

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“ɪ ᴛᴏʟᴅ ʏᴏᴜ ɪ ᴡᴏᴜʟᴅ ꜰɪɴᴅ ʏᴏᴜ.” | ʟᴏʀᴅ ᴍᴏʀᴘʜᴇᴜꜱ

Lord Morpheus x Deity!Reader (Goddess of Nature and Music)

summary: After being killed by Roderick Burgess during her attempts to free her husband, YN returns to Morpheus shortly after he himself reincarnated (kind of pt. 2 to »this one«)

word count: 5k oooops…?

warnings: mentions of death, mentions of the Afterlife, reincarnation, angst, but super fluff, like, seriously, this is a fluffy cloud of cotton candy, Death, Lucienne, Mervyn, and Matthew as trusty wing people

author’s note: This idea is presented to you by a comment written by @writing-fanics under my first ever Morpheus work: “we meet him again but when he’s reincarnated as Daniel Hall 👉👈 that’s my headcannon to make me happy after reading this the third time”. I could not not write this one out after I succeeded in breaking my own heart with the first fanfic for my baby 🥺 We imagine that Morpheus looks the same and has kept every memory after his reincarnation, but they have to be triggered, thank you, bye

Disclaimer: I have never read the comics (yet), and I’m still watching season one, so this is just my take on it. Please, don’t come for my head, would be much appreciated 👉🏻👈🏻 But I deliberately changed the happenings of episode 1 in order to let my baby have his vengeance. So, that’s on purpose!

;

“Okay, scenario time,” Matthew’s voice reverberated through the soothingly lit library in the Dreaming and called Lucienne and Mervyn to attention. The librarian peeked expectantly over her round glasses while Merv turned away from the stack of books to eye the flying raven cautiously. Recently, the bird had acted weirdly every time he had returned from the Waking World, and every time it had gotten more and more concerning. “What is it this time, Matthew? The beheaded ghost of Anne Boleyn?” Lucienne exchanged glances with the pumpkin head, suppressing a barely noticeable grin before cocking both eyebrows at the black bird.

Matthew groaned—he wished he hadn’t spoken a word about that incident—but flapped his wings to detangle the ends of his feathers. He still wasn’t used to those either. “Very funny,” he seethed and tickled a rumbling chuckle out of the pumpkin’s mouth. Sometimes he wished he would’ve landed in hell instead of the presence of these two buttheads who never faltered to tease him. “Anyway,” the raven continued with a warning glare out of his black eyes, “Back to my totally hypothetical scenario. Is rebirth a thing? I’m still new to this stuff. Hadn’t had the time to read through every book.” To be quite honest, Matthew hadn’t touched a single book in here, not even those which Lucienne had put on a stack on one of the tables, just for him. He hadn’t been a big reader back in his days; he should be damned if he would start with it now.

Lost in his thoughts, Matthew didn’t realize the awful silence settling over the duo in front of him. Confused, he looked from one to the other. “What have I said or done now?!” Lucienne was the first to speak up. “Why are you asking, Matthew?” Her voice was laced with earnestness, and the raven stepped from one talon to the other. “No reason?” He didn’t sound convincing, even he heard that. “Matthew,” the librarian spoke in one of her warning tones, and the bird knew he couldn’t joke around anymore. “Fine! There is this teeny-tiny portrait Morpheus is carrying around with him. Like, all the damn time. And over which he is so protective, I wasn’t allowed to take a look or even ask him who that is. But…” Again, he stepped from one toe to the other before jumping from the stack of books he had landed on. “But?” Now even Mervyn urged him with the same unnerving tone Lucienne owned. “But a few weeks ago, he forgot to put it back in his pocket, and it lay open on one of the steps. So, yeah, I took a glance. Don’t give me that look, you two would have done the same!” Lucienne stood from her chair and moved closer to him. “Stop weaseling around the point, Matthew!”

The librarian knew whose features were depicted in the locket the lord carried around ever since Lucienne had handed it over to him. The thought alone of Lord Morpheus’ still lingering pain—even though he couldn’t put it to the proper memories connected to this feeling—made her heart ache as well—especially because she had known her as closely as one could know the former Queen of the Dreaming. They had considered each other dear friends, sharing the same passion for the written word and wisdom.

“Good lord, let me take a breather! Why are you so eager all of a sudden? Sheesh.” Her patience with this creature was almost depleted, and she would have loved to just shake a bit of sense into him. Instead, the librarian was content with using threatening words. “If you are not willing to tell me right in this instance what this nonsense is about, I will shake some sense into your feathery body!” Matthew stared up at her and took a small step back, putting some distance between them, but maneuvered him closer to Mervyn, who definitely wouldn’t help him if Lucienne decided to strangle the life out of him. “Okay, Okay! I’m sure I saw her wandering around in the Waking World! Happy?”

The bomb blew up and silence once more settled over the library. Lucienne continued to stare down at the raven, face unmoving and lacking any expression, while Mervyn plopped down onto one of the chairs standing next to the long wooden table. Matthew glanced from one to the other. “Why? Who is she? Someone important? Like his queen?” A chuckle escaped him at the thought of Morpheus being married and having a loving wife somewhere hidden in this palace. But at the sight of hurt and grief on the pumpkin’s face, even the cheeky raven grew quiet.

“She was his queen, yes,” Mervyn mumbled, leaning back in the chair. “She is his queen,” Lucienne corrected him, not having accepted the cruel fate her friend had endured. Merv sighed long and deep. “Her name was YN, and she was the only being he had ever wanted.” Matthew perked up. “YN as in YN, the Goddess of Nature and Music and all that?” Both nodded simultaneously. “She was killed by the same man who had captured our lord. And you are sure you saw her? Not some mortal only resembling her?” The raven nodded without a second thought after digesting the new information and the even more depressing backstory of his boss. “I’m pretty sure. She looked… lost. And I’m sure she saw me. Not only the raven but me.” And that had unsettled him so much that he had fled every time she had found him again. Yet, Matthew always returned to keep an eye on her, unable to stay away from her because somewhere deep down, he knew she was somehow different.

Lucienne exchanged glances with Mervyn. “Is it possible then?” The pumpkin head asked the librarian without hesitation, and she nodded equally as fast. “Reincarnation? Yes. Resurrection? Possibly? Death is the expert on the latter.”

And as if she had only waited for the perfect moment, Death of the Endless appeared in the middle of the library, displeasure evident on her face.

“Who of you found it screamingly funny to mingle with a soul?”

Now it was Matthew and Mervyn who exchanged glances before turning their eyes to Lucienne. “Seems likely possible,” the raven announced before the trio moved to look to the Endless, still waiting for an answer, arms crossed in front of her chest.

;

“Why the sudden need to visit the Waking World?” Morpheus’ soft voice asked Death, an edge of curiosity to it nonetheless, blue eyes resting on the passing people who didn’t heed the Endless’ existence nor presence entirely. His sister hummed shortly, but no word left her mouth—for now. Minutes passed by just like humans passed by. They stood on this spot on the street silently, right opposite a flourishing park, facing the lush green grass, the flower bushes, the high, looming, almost ancient trees.

“Death,” he warned lowly, not feeling pleased by this game she seemed to play with him. Impatience spread in his body, letting him experience the usual unresting feeling crushing into his muscles and bones, urging him to do anything. He had learned to despise this feeling. “The locket you carry.” Her sudden turn to face him surprised even him, and a black brow arched over his eye. “What about it?” He felt rather protective over the little piece Lucienne had handed him over, and he remembered the memory rising at the gesture vividly. The agony connected to it was something he had never experienced before. But instead of fading over time, it had manifested as a brick in his soul and heart; unwavering and unstoppable as soon as it once had taken hold of him.

Death observed him closely, witnessing the change in his eyes and the emotions dancing over his face. She was sure the memories were somewhere buried in his soul, and they only had to trigger them. It surprised her he didn’t unlock any of them at the first sight of her face after Lucienne had given him the small portrait right after he was reincarnated.

“You do know who she is, do you, brother?” Morpheus furrowed his forehead in concentration, trying to understand the meaning behind this—but a conclusion was nowhere to be seen. Death seemingly caught up to his train of thought because she slowly pointed in the direction of the blooming park opposite of them without letting him out of her sight. “I hope this will answer everything,” she mumbled, watching Morpheus as he slowly turned his head to watch the greenery and people passing. It was nothing out of the ordinary to see.

Not until she stepped out of the shadow of a willow tree into the beaming sunlight.

She strolled through the grass seemingly without a care in the world, face held upwards in the direction of the warming sun, eyes closed. He somehow knew that they were of an ever-changing color, always capturing him, even after eons of being his companion as soon as he had stepped into a room she had occupied, following him with an expression he only could describe as never-ending and undying love.

Morpheus could feel how his heart ached bitterly and agonizingly at the sight of her.

He watched her fingertips dance over flowers in full bloom, tickling an even brighter color out of their petals which stretched desperately in the direction of her life-gifting touch, craving her attention, constantly repositioning to her, as if she was the compass they had searched for decades without success. As if she was the sun to the sunflower in them. But not only the flowers reacted to her; even the grass seemed more green and lush in its color.

Morpheus wasn’t able to take his eyes off her—neither physically nor mentally. Not with the deeply felt emotions crashing against the high walls around his mind like a strong and wild tide, resembling her being. She might look like the damsel in distress, but all of a sudden, the Lord of Dreams knew with shocking clarity that she was anything but the damsel in desperate need of an assisting hand. And not just that.

He knew her.

A change within him followed this realization.

He felt the moment in which every single memory returned to his soul unscathed. Morpheus could flick through them like the pages of a book, and every picture was as clear as the sky of the Waking World above his head. He could remember their wedding vividly—remembered her smile as radiant as the stars above them while they promised to protect, cherish, and love one another.

Forever.

Whatever might lay ahead of them on their path through the centuries and eons.

Both brows softly rose over the pair of eyes, always lacking something in their depths which they held once without any doubt. The spark was there again, though—Death could see it clearly, could even feel it. The stars inside the blue seas attempted to return, but the hesitation of the Endless still too powerful to let them have their way.

Morpheus watched the woman, the goddess, his wife, with growing desperation from afar, feeling agitated. His only desire was to cross the street, to put the humans in his line of sight and Death behind him, wanted to pull her into his arms after he had stopped right in front of her. He wanted to see her face, to hear her voice, to feel her soft touch which had always reminded him of water gliding over stone, of a breeze caressing through the tall-growing grass and wheat in the Dreaming, of raindrops stealing daringly kisses and touches of petals and leaves.

He wanted everything from her she once had given him without so much as a fleeting thought.

Unbeknownst to himself, the King of the Dreaming and Lord of Dreams had taken a step closer to his very own dream, not paying any attention to his sister in his back or the raven that had landed on a branch next to the goddess. His black eye observed his boss looking dumbfounded over at the woman who resembled the most beautiful blooming flower ever seen by mortals and otherworldly beings.

And though she was above the Waking World, once a ruler of the Dreaming itself, she slowly sank down in front of a little girl, a tender expression settling on her face. The girl held a dying flower in her open palms; the stem snapped off the remaining plant and looked equally as crushed as the petals. Matthew smiled—as good as possible as a bird—at the picture of her softly raising her hand and returning the flower to its once beautiful existence, making the girl giggle and smile widely. YN smiled back—Morpheus felt as if his heart missed several beats at once—before resting a finger against her lips, and the girl nodded in understanding before rushing over to her mother, showing her newest possession proudly.

She raised back to her feet, and without a glance over her shoulder, she spoke up. “You can come out, raven, whose name I still do not know.” Matthew felt exposed but followed her words and landed softly on her shoulder. “Goddess,” he mumbled, and YN chuckled gently. “Ah, I see. And there I was, wondering why you did not leave just yet. Someone told you, I suppose?” He was able to take a glimpse of her eyes, and the raven would have to lie if he told the world they weren’t as mesmerizing as Lucienne had described them to him. Nodding, the raven made himself a bit more comfortable on her shoulder—if he had to choose, he would take her shoulder over his boss’s every time. He hoped no one would ever find out about that. A heavy sigh left her parted lips. “Then you surely must know that I am of no use anymore.”

Ever since she had awoken in the Waking World, YN had tried to find a way back into the Dreaming, back home. Before her—obviously not definitively—death, she had had the powers to come and go as she had pleased, but now, all there was left was silence and coldness. She couldn’t even feel the Dreaming anymore, which only let appear one conclusion in the front of her mind, and she didn’t dare to think about it further. In the first hours and days of her awakening, she had cried enough tears to form an entirely new river—unpurposely, of course.

Matthew cocked his head and tried to stare into her eyes. “No use?! What are you talking about? I call bullshit.” YN now herself cocked her head, mirroring the raven on her shoulder what he didn’t like, but was humored nonetheless. “So, you are a funny one. That did not happen in a very long time. Usually, ravens tend to be so earnest.” The raven had to chuckle at that. “I’m unique. But stop honey-ing me, missy! Care to enlighten me why you think you are useless?”

Now, every lightness was gone from her face, eyes, and body language. He could feel her muscles tense under his talons. “I cannot return. I cannot return to the Dreaming, not even after offering my powers. I cannot feel it.” I cannot feel my home, she thought to herself before continuing. “And if I cannot feel the Dreaming, the only possible reason is…” YN couldn’t speak it out loud but had to, so she took a breath. “The only reason is that he is dead. And without him, I cannot return home.” I do not wish to return home. Because what was a never-ending existence without the one she loved more than every flower, leaf, and music tune?

Matthew raised his head slowly, looking from the profile of her breathtakingly face over to his boss, still standing there like a damn tree growing roots. He saw how Death softly nudged him in their direction, and if he had a saying in this, he would’ve shoved him like there would be no tomorrow. Instead, he himself gently nudged her jaw to make YN turn her head. “But what if he is still here?” Matthew asked at the exact moment her eyes had found the man of her dreams.

And suddenly, everything stopped. There was no movement, no breathing life, no growing life. Only stasis. Except for them. In a very long time, YN hadn’t felt this much alive, not even in the wake of her awakening a handful of months back.

Morpheus could see the movement of her lips, letting no sound escape them—the sight of it brought him back to the memory of her last breath he had been damned to only observe instead of trying to save her. But other than a century before, she didn’t lose the spark of life in her eyes, didn’t go limp, didn’t show any signs of injuries or blood consuming the fabric of her clothes before it dripped onto the grass beneath her feet.

No, she was the epitome of life, and her light fueled him with something he hadn’t felt in a very long time: Hope. Happiness. Love. And he should be damned if he didn’t get to her only because he feared that this was his very own nightmare which he had conjured himself to torture his already tortured soul. He couldn’t lose her a second time. He wouldn’t lose her a second time.

With slow steps, even though he ached to stride over to her as fast as possible, he put the grey world behind him and stepped into the green paradise he yearned to have back in his life, in the Dreaming. His realm wasn’t itself, not without its queen. The soothing calm wrapped itself around him and his mind, caressing him softly with every step he took. It resembled her touch, but he knew that her skin against his was something even more glorious and ethereal. Something divine beyond comprehension.

None of them broke the contact of their gazes; they revolved around one another like planets in the grand universe, interdependent, as if one was the source of gravity of the other. Morpheus wasn’t sure if he should reach for her, if he should let his fingertips glide up her bare arm. But she took the burden of said decision upon herself as YN reached out for him, desperation and fear written all over her beautiful face, crystal tears burning in her eyes which just changed their color from the light blue of a summer sky to the evergreen of a dark forest. He felt as if his heart stopped beating entirely the moment the tips of her fingers were able to reach the back of his hand.

Both sucked a deep breath into their lungs, and while YN’s lips softly parted in utter surprise, Morpheus’ steps faltered. Inches still separated the couple, but he slowly turned his hand under her fingertips, moving it to let his palm face upwards, to feel her touch there because he suddenly remembered particular scenes throughout their existence. He was faced with the feeling of tender touches and the feeling of home; her fingertips following and drawing the lines on his palm, always while they lay together in their shared bed during the early morning hours, before she would press a feathery kiss to it and laid his hand atop her cheek to close her eyes for only a few more minutes. He felt the adoration swirling through him, knew that he had craved those moments every morning—even after centuries, after eons of their loving routine.

And even now, after everything that had happened to both of them, Morpheus felt his heart jumping in his chest as YN let her fingers glide over the upwards-facing palm. He watched her as closely as she watched him, her touch moving over the tender skin of his wrist before they lost contact again due to the fabric parting her touches from him. The woman in front of him took a last step in the same heartbeat as he took his last step toward her, not holding back anymore.

His hands cupped her neck lovingly, his long, elegant fingers reaching to the back of her head, his thumbs tenderly brushing over the line of her jaw. In the same instance, YN had buried the fingers of her left hand into the fabric of his black coat while her right hand cupped his cheek, the pad of her thumb caressing the skin above his cheekbone. Their gazes were still connected, diving into the deep seas, yearning for every emotion swimming in those dark pools.

“Morpheus.”

Her unbelieving whisper of his name—as if it was a prayer—was his downfall. Without wasting another second, another breath, another heartbeat, the Lord of Dreams bent his head and eyes closed at the mere anticipation before their lips collided in softness and loving movements. The desperation and urgency needed to wait for a different moment in the confinements of their private rooms in the Dreaming. Their passion had never been secondary, they had always heavily indulged in it, even if the timing was anything except perfect, but now, neither of them could think about something more important as the realization that this wasn’t another dream—or nightmare—that this was reality instead.

The reassurance of this fact in the form of tender kisses they shared without stopping to take a deep breath was more than enough. But even they had to part at some point—foreheads softly pressed against one another, fingers tangled in silky strands, chests fitting perfectly together, eyes still closed, savoring this existence-altering moment.

“I thought…—” YN’s voice was quiet, breathless, filled with fear and agony. She didn’t need to complete the sentence because he figured what she was trying to say. So all he did first was move his head to press a lingering kiss to her forehead. “I am here,” he whispered against her skin, feeling her body relax under his hands. He would never leave her again or let her leave, even if he had to fight every single creature the world had to offer. “I… I am…” YN’s mumbling almost got lost between the shake of her voice and Morpheus wrapped his arms around her, pressed a hand to the small of her back while the other buried itself in her long curls, pulling her closer to his chest, enveloping his wife in the most protective hug. “Do not apologize. There is nothing to apologize for, love. I am just glad I have gotten you back, gotten another chance to spend eternity with you. I am beyond grateful to finally have you in my arms again where you belong, my dream.” His whispering was as tender as the leaves around them, and YN felt her heart flutter like an excited bird shortly before it rose into the sky at the sound of the endearment reserved explicitly for her.

YN let her eyes fall shut, savoring the long-missed and lost feeling of his incredibly soft lips, remembering the Afterlife filled with the same sensation but different all at once. It had been insipid; a weak, dull equivalent to his counterpart in reality, and she had missed him there even more fiercely as if it would have been the case if the Afterlife hadn’t been so cruel to her soul.

Her fingers tenderly caressed through his night black strands, hearing and feeling him sigh in utter contentment. “Morpheus,” she whispered his name again, this time with her lips almost at his—already touching them with every syllable of his name. “I told you I would find you.” The corner of her mouth slowly raised at his deep but quiet chuckle, feeling his arm wrapping tighter around her, pulling her even closer to him, if that was even possible. Their eyes met again after a short but equally as lovingly, and heartwarming kiss as the ones before, and the Lord of Dreams pushed a curl behind her ear, caressing her cheek with his knuckles. YN looked up to him almost pleadingly, even though they both knew that Morpheus could never refuse anything his wife asked of him.

“Bring me home.”

;

Morpheus had his eyes closed, breathing slowly, while every sensation was heightened, beginning with the familiar heavy feeling of her head lying on his shoulder and ending with the tickling touch of YN’s fingertips following slowly and reverently the lines in his right palm. They lay like this since they returned to the Dreaming, immediately strolling through the palace and into their rooms, ignoring everyone around them, only having eyes and a place in their minds for each other.

They had to wait if they wanted to see their queen again. It was his turn now.

“What happened?”

Her voice was as soft as it usually was but held an edge of curiosity and resentment. Her fingers didn’t stop even as YN turned her head to look up into his face, and the man opened his eyes to watch her, though he felt the memory rising behind his eyes and in the front of his mind, unable to unsee it. And she had a right to know.

His hand, which had rested on her bare shoulder where he had caressed her skin with tender strokes, moved up to her head and started to brush through her hair. It had always soothed him and his mind, and he felt relief flowing through him at the realization that it was still the case. “It took a century before I was able to escape, but… I could not leave without seeking vengeance for what he did. Not to me, but you.” YN was quiet, but her eyes told him she listened intently to his every word. So he continued. “My ruby brought him immortality for the time in his possession, and it was the first thing I took back from him. I watched him starting to wither in his sleep, knowing that his dream had changed with the sensation of something happening to him. I waited until he awoke, waited until he realized it was my doing, and watched with satisfaction the moment he realized his end was coming. I promised him eternal torture and started with it myself.”

Morpheus knew that he had been cruel to this human, but he also knew that he wasn’t as cruel as he should’ve been.

YN stopped caressing his palm, and the Endless watched her face, not moving his gaze, not even as he felt her hand move upwards to cup his jawline. He slowly let his eyes fall shut only at the feeling of her thumb brushing over the skin of his cheek, leaning his face into the touch he had longed for over a century. “I really thought I could save you, my love,” she whispered and leaned her forehead against the other side of his face, nuzzling her nose against the skin of his neck. Morpheus pressed a loving kiss to her hairline. “I know, my dream.” He fell silent for a moment before speaking up again—pain audible in his voice. “Do not dare and try it again. Will you promise me that? I cannot watch you die right in front of me again. I would not survive it.”

His queen softly pushed herself up with a hand resting on his chest, right above his strong beating heart. Her eyes—morphing from an emerald green to the shades of the morning sky after the night retreated—watched him with the softest expression while she nodded, barely visible. “Will you promise me not to find yourself in situations and positions which require my unintentional sacrifice again?” A smile started to tuck at the corner of his lips, and YN gently chuckled at the sight of it. “I will promise you that, my Queen,” Morpheus smiled nonetheless up at her, covering the hand still resting over his heart with his own.

He looked down at the missing feeling of something pressing against his palm. YN seemed to notice his changing expression and looked at her bare ring finger as well. “I woke up without it,” she whispered, sadness etched into her tone at the memory of the missing ring her husband had given her. It had been the most beautiful ring ever made, decorated with two beautiful gemstones—a dark blue sapphire, reminding her of his eyes, and the other the darkest emerald ever seen because it had been the color of her eyes at their first encounter. YN didn’t know where it vanished.

He got a hold of her bare hand and pressed her fingertips onto his lips to pepper gentle kisses on them. “I will make you a new one,” he vowed with the soft tone reserved entirely for her ears.

But he didn’t need to because only a moment after the words had left his mouth, a knock interrupted their peace and tranquillity. YN was quick on her feet and crossed the grand room to open the door, facing a wide-eyed Lucienne. “My Queen,” she bowed her head, but both women searched for their hands, and YN gently squeezed her friend’s fingers. “Lucienne,” she smiled, and the librarian couldn’t contain her smile as well. “I apologize for the intrusion, but Death found something I suspect you missed.” And with that, she opened her other hand in which laid, atop a velvet piece of fabric, her missing ring. “Where…?” Her friend only shrugged gently. “She didn’t tell us.” Nodding, YN took the ring and pressed it against her chest. “Thank you, Lucienne.” Her voice was laced with joy and longing, and the librarian bowed again. “I will leave you, but don’t hesitate to visit the library. The books miss you dearly.” With that, Lucienne turned and left, and the woman closed the door again and walked back to the bed with Morpheus still atop the covers.

She opened her hand after settling back on the mattress next to him, letting him see the ring resting on her palm, and the Lord of Dreams smiled down at it. He took the delicate jewelry between his fingers and slowly pushed it back into its place, back home on her finger, so everyone could see to whom she belonged—though nobody in the Dreaming needed a reminder of that.

“Welcome home,” Morpheus mumbled, lips against lips, and enveloped his wife once again in his loving embrace to hold her as close as possible, not thinking about letting her leave his arms anytime soon.

;

Okay, so, I hate the end, but I’m really bad at writing endings naturally, so we have to deal with this one. Hope y’all enjoyed it tho :3 As usual: Comments, reblogs, and likes are much appreciated! <3

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airas-story · 9 months

Text

Not So Lonely

“Are you lonely?”

Stephen blinked, glancing up from his book at the question. Peter was staring at him, the expression on his face genuinely curious.

“Why would you ask that?” Stephen asked. He didn’t quite mean for the words to come out defensively, but he also couldn’t quite help it. The question poked at old wounds; new wounds; festering, bleeding wounds.

Peter shrugged, gaze diverting as though he was suddenly fascinated by the bookshelves they were surrounded by, as though he hadn’t scoured the whole library dozens of times looking for who knew what.

“Just curious. I think Mr. Stark is sometimes, and I worry about him.”

Stephen wasn’t quite sure if that was meant as a subject change, an explanation, or a distraction. Either way, Stephen felt the need to answer the question. With a lie, of course, but answer it nonetheless. “I’m not lonely, Peter.” The gaping emptiness of the sanctum seemed a direct contrast to his words, but Peter wouldn’t know that. “I’m used to being alone, I prefer it that way.” A truth and a lie and a truth in a lie and a lie that was the truth and Stephen wasn’t sure what was what.

Peter frowned. “Okay,” he answered. Stephen got the sense that Peter didn’t quite believe him.

Stephen forced himself to smile. “Really, Peter, I’m not lonely. I’ve got Kamar-Taj.” And it was true. But the role of a Sanctum Master was one that created a distance. He was a part of a community, a community he loved, one he was grateful to have, but it was different.

“Okay,” Peter repeated. He sounded just as disbelieving as the first time and Stephen decided that another denial wouldn’t do either of them any good, so he just turned back to his book.

Peter had to leave not long later, saying something about patrol.

Stephen made an absent goodbye as Peter left, mostly distracted and used to Peter coming and going as he pleased.

But the moment Peter was gone, Stephen found himself distracted, Peter’s question coming back.

Was he lonely?

The answer was yes.

It was an annoying part of his personal growth, because Stephen had never been lonely as a neurosurgeon. Not necessarily because he’d had more people around him that cared, but because back then he hadn’t enough space in his life for more than just him.

It was one of the few ways in which his personal growth felt almost like a curse.

He sighed, leaning his head back against his chair, staring blankly up at the ceiling.

His phone ringing drew him out of his own head. It took him a minute to find his phone, he’d been using it earlier and had somehow buried it in books. He glanced at the screen. Tony.

“Hey,” Tony said the moment Stephen picked up the phone. “You okay?”

Stephen blinked, confused. “What?”

“Are you okay?” Tony repeated. “Peter sounded worried about you when he called me.”

Stephen felt an embarrassed flush cross his face at the words. “I’m fine. He just got it in his head that I was lonely or something like that. I corrected him, but you know Peter, as soon as he gets a thought in his head it’s hard for him to let it go.”

Tony hummed, sounding about as believing as Peter had. Which was to say not at all. “Look, Peter likes you, and he’s kind of an interfering busybody.”

That didn’t come as much of a surprise. Peter had the tendency to get over invested in things; it wasn’t a surprise that that extended into people. Stephen wasn’t sure how he felt about the fact that he was one of the people that Peter got over invested in.

“He has nothing to interfere with.”

Tony was quiet for a moment. “You okay with opening up a portal and letting me come over?”

Stephen’s first instinct was to say no, because he knew exactly why he would be coming over and he didn’t need the pity. But he also had a hard time refusing Tony things. “Sure. Where am I opening up a portal to.”

“My bedroom,” Tony said.

Stephen found a flush crossing his face. He’d opened up a portal into Tony’s bedroom before. There had been an incident with a feverish Tony and FRIDAY asking for Stephen’s help to get him to bed, but this felt very different given that Tony wasn’t currently sick.

Still, he opened the portal, trying not to react when he realized that Tony was dressed in sweats and a t-shirt looking like he’d been minutes away from crawling into bed. “You don’t have to—“

Tony ignored him, stepping through the portal and sprawling out in the nearest chair. Tony glanced over the books on the table with an absent sort of curiosity. He didn’t say anything though, moving one of them over and opening it.

“You don’t need to do this,” Stephen said quietly, knowing exactly what this was.

Tony glanced up at him, raising an eyebrow. “Have you considered that I want to?” Tony asked, and there was no denying that the words were genuine. “I like spending time with you, Stephen.” He hesitated a moment, biting his lip before he reached out across the table, resting his hand gently on Stephen’s hand where it sat on on the book. "I want to. If you want that."

Stephen stared at it for a long moment, heart pounding in his chest for no discernible reason. Slowly he turned his hand, gently catching Tony’s hand in his own.

“You mean that?” Stephen asked, voice quiet.

Tony smiled at him, soft and warm. Stephen found himself smiling back, unable to help himself. “Yeah, Stephen, I do.”

Maybe neither of them had to be lonely.

#ironstrange #stephen strange #tony stark #peter parker #fic #first thing I've written in two weeks #I'm exhausted #why do they keep getting long?

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kissmyspaceace · 1 year

Text

Papa's New Assistant (Papa Emeritus III)

Pairing: Papa Emeritus III/Reader

Warnings/contents: NSFW, a bit of angst, a bit of bully behaviour, flirty Terzo, emotionally unstable Terzo

Word count: 7.741

BASED ON THIS ASK

AO3 link

________________________________

"Oh, Sister (Y/N), thank you for coming!"

You gave a polite smile and a nod as you entered Sister Imperator's office. "How can I be of help, Sister Imperator?"

"I have good news for you. The position of Papa Emeritus III's clergy assistant is unoccupied as of recently. And I wanted to ask you to take the position, before anyone else", she explained.

"Oh! This position is usually very popular with the Sisters. I'm surprised you'd bother to ask me, when most Sisters would fist fight each other for this job", you admitted, giggling a little.

Sister Imperator laughed. "That is true. And that is also exactly why I thought I'd ask someone who is unlikely to get caught up in a physical fight over the position."

“Makes sense”, you replied.

“What do you say? Would you like to give it a try?”, she asked, smiling kindly.

You pondered for a little moment. The position was indeed very popular, however, no Sister kept the position for a long time. Sometimes there’d be a new assistant after a few days, or a few weeks. The longest time this position had been kept by the same Sister must have been about 4 or 5 weeks. Many siblings of sin were oblivious to this, or didn’t question it. It was just a thing you noticed. Normally this should’ve made the job unattractive to you, but you were actually pretty curious about the reason behind it.

“I will give it a try, Sister Imperator. Thank you for choosing me”, you said with a smile and bowed your head respectfully.

After a lengthy introduction of what your position as Papa’s clergy assistant would entail, Sister Imperator ordered you to take the rest of the day off, so you could start fresh the following morning. And so you did. With a notebook in hand, you headed for Papa Emeritus III’s study first thing after breakfast. You were excited for this new job. For one, you felt a little bit of pride when you thought about how Sister Imperator had chosen you, out of all, personally. And besides that, your curiosity about working with Papa Terzo was through the roof. Why did every Sister want to work with him so badly, only to be stripped of the position after a short amount of time?

You arrived in front of his office. The large wooden door was engraved with the words 'Papa Emeritus III - Study chambers'. Taking a deep breath, you knocked on the door three times.

"Yes, do enter", a deep voice somewhere behind the door said.

Gently, you opened the door and entered the room. Your eyes met his eyes, one white and the other one a mysterious green. When your gazes locked, the corners of his mouth moved upwards a bit. “Ah, Sister (Y/N). What a pleasant surprise. Did I forget my documents in the library again? Or is Sister Imperator sending a message?”, he chirped with a cheeky smirk on his face.

“Good morning, Papa. I see you remember my name”, you said gleefully, “But I’m afraid I’m here for neither of those.”

Papa Terzo raised his brows and leaned back in his office chair, lacing his fingers behind his head. “How could I forget your name, cara? Only last week you came running after me, handing me important documents I had accidentally left in the dining hall. But that’s beside the point - why is it you’re here? I’m curious now.”

Your eyebrow twitched, remembering last week’s incident very well. Sometimes you cursed your own kindness, considering how it had led you to be late to your library duty.

“Sister Imperator has assigned me the position of your personal clergy assistant, Papa”, you said with a polite smile.

He raised from his desk with his arms open, his face sporting a warm smile. "Now that's what I call good news, Sister. Come on in, now. Take a seat. I will fetch my calendar."

You did as you'd been told, taking a seat in one of the armchairs on the opposite side of his desk, facing his office chair. There was some shuffling in the next room, and after a moment Terzo reappeared.

"Mi scusi, sorella. I'm back", he huffed, dropping his planner on the desk and then himself on his chair. He opened the thick notebook and scanned the pages. "This week should be relatively tame, if we're lucky. Good opportunity for you to get into the swing of things", he said and gave you a suggestive wink.

While you were feeling the urge to roll your eyes at him, you just smiled. "Wonderful. Sister Imperator gave me a small insight into what my tasks would be, but you should know best, after all."

He nodded. "Yes. Let us get started, then."

The variety of Papa Emeritus III's duties were overall manageable. Preparations for sermons and black mass, clergy meetings, confession. The occasional organization of business trips and external meetings. Sometimes there would be a lot of paperwork, and other times not as much. It was a diverse field, and you enjoyed taking part in many different tasks.

Just as always, Papa Terzo was an absolute flirt. You didn’t mind his remarks and his cheeky attitude, but you didn’t indulge in it either. You mainly kept your focus on getting your work done, or rather, in assisting him getting his work done. Working with him had seemed easy-going and uncomplicated at first, but as it soon turned out, it wouldn’t always be that way. He wasn’t a very patient man. He liked to get things done as effortlessly as possible, and grew frustrated if things didn’t go as smoothly as anticipated. On some days, his older brother Secondo would hand him some scripture work for his sermons, some of it in Latin. Paperwork grinded his gears immensely, and even though he'd try to hide it, it was obvious. You'd offer help and support however you could, assisting in transcription and in sorting the scriptures.

His moodiness could be a bother sometimes, but you tried to pay it no mind. So far, you were about 4 weeks into working for him. On worse days, he’d snap at you for smaller things, which startled you in the beginning. But on other days, he’d be as sweet as honey, like his usual charming self. He was always up for a good laugh. And for these days, you thought, it was worth it. Papa Terzo had trouble focusing, he struggled to take care of these many different things at once sometimes, and you could see that. After all, it was part of your job to help him with his work, and you did so diligently. Organizing and structuring the work process, helping him put his thoughts and ideas into action. At the end of the day, he’d be able to let his work rest with a satisfied smile on his face, thanking you for your efforts.

“Fabulous work, Sister (Y/N). I think we make a great team, no?”, he’d say, sometimes even giving you a small peck on the cheek. Those always made you blush, earning a heartful laugh from him. “Oh, Sister. Shouldn't you be used to me by now?”

After a while, you truly enjoyed his company. Aside from the stress and his mood swings, the two of you got along great. His relentless flirts were countered by witty and sarcastic comebacks from your side, sometimes ending in both of you crying tears of laughter. Poking fun at each other would almost become a daily ritual at some point, bringing some lighthearted moments into the day to counter the stress.

In the break times and on the weekends, you’d sometimes overhear other sisters talking to each other, wondering about whether the position as Papa Terzo’s assistant was currently still taken or not. They’d giggle and playfully fight about who would apply for the position next, not seldomly expressing their desires to have some intimate alone time with him.

It was another hectic day in the ministry. At this point, you’d been working as Papa Emeritus III’s clergy assistant for a little more than 7 weeks.

You were on your way back to the office, after taking part in a 2-hour-meeting in which you documented the discussed topics. Papa Emeritus II had just handed you some more papers to take back to his younger brother. It had already been a busy day, and this wouldn’t make it much better.

"Papa, I’m back”, you panted, as you entered his study, “Papa Secondo just handed me some more paperwork, I’m afraid.”

Your eyes wandered over to his desk, which was an unorganized mess. Then, your gaze traveled up to Papa Terzo, who was leaning with his arms on his desk, blankly staring holes into the tabletop. His brows were furrowed.

Not good, you thought. Not good at all.

You set aside the papers, and carefully approached his desk. Trying to get a glimpse of the paper’s contents, you let your gaze scoot over them. And honestly, it was just an absolute mess. You couldn’t even tell what exactly he was working on, it just seemed all over the place.

A grunt escaped his throat. “More paperwork. Great. Just what I needed.”

His eyes were so cold. Even though they didn’t look at you, they sent shivers down your spine. You felt a lump form in your throat.

“What did you start working on while I was gone? How can I help?”, you asked gently. You hoped that trying to break the silence would help the situation somehow.

He snorted, pulling his lips up in an attempt at a sarcastic smirk. “As you can probably see yourself”, he scoffed, “I’ve been working on everything and nothing. Keeping track of all of this stuff at once is nearly impossible. How the fuck am I supposed to do this?!”

With every sentence he spoke, his voice grew louder and angrier.

You'd only been gone for about two hours, and he had managed to bring this much chaos upon himself.

"Papa, why didn’t you wait for me? We could have started together", you interjected.

His eyes went from side to side. He didn’t answer for a long moment, contemplating his response.

You jumped when he suddenly, in one swift move, cleared the tabletop of all its contents, sending them flying across the room. He slammed his hands back onto the table with a force that made the furniture tremble. Strands of his usually neatly combed back, black hair fell to his face, around his tightly knit together eyebrows.

You didn’t dare say another word. Thinking about what you could do to get him out of his troubled state of mind, you silently awaited his next move. His tense shoulders started to slump, and he dropped back into his office chair, clearly defeated. His papal paint always obstructed his facial expressions to a certain degree, so you’d never been able to fully and clearly read him. It was hard to see what he was thinking. He looked defeated, ashamed, angry, frustrated - all at once. But still, he didn't speak.

You decided to take a leap of faith, and walked around his desk and chair, gently laying your hands on his shoulders.

"Take a moment to relax, please. I will make us some tea", you spoke softly. He closed his eyes, seemingly relishing in your touch for a short while.

"I would like that very much, cara."

A few minutes later, you were back with a kettle full of tea, and a black porcelain tea set with golden ornaments.

Papa Terzo watched as you poured tea for both of you. "What kind of tea?"

"Chamomile", you answered, "It's said to be calming."

He nodded, and carefully grabbed the cup. His hands were a little shaky. You felt bad for him, seeing as he was apparently still very upset.

The two of you sat there and drank tea in silence for a while. With each sip, Papa seemed to calm down a little bit. You could tell by the look in his eyes that he started to ponder.

"You know, Sister", he began, "It's not your fault. This has nothing to do with you."

"I know, Papa. I know. It's alright."

You gave him a gentle smile.

He shook his head. "No, cara, it's not. It is not your fault and still, I get so upset and you have to live through it. It’s not right. But I can't help it."

Putting a hand on his forehead, he sighed. Another moment of silence followed.

"Sister (Y/N)?", he murmured.

"Yes?"

"Could you, perhaps… do that again? What you did before you went to get the tea, I mean."

You raised your brows in surprise, trying to remember what he might have been referring to. You had gone behind him to put your hands on his shoulders, but he couldn’t possibly mean that, could he?

He glanced at you through his fingers but quickly averted eye contact again.

It couldn’t have been anything else. Nothing apart from that made more sense in this exact moment, so you got up from your chair and walked behind him, gently placing your hands on his shoulders.

A satisfied hum left his throat as he leaned back and closed his eyes. You started massaging his shoulders gently, and his head rolled back over the chair's back. His eyes fluttered open after a moment, and he looked directly at you. There was something about his gaze that made your heart flutter, something you couldn’t quite decipher. You reciprocated his gaze, giving him another warm smile. The slight blush on your cheeks must have been clearly visible, but you didn’t mind him seeing.

He mumbled something unintelligible in Italian and hesitantly lifted his arm to reach for your cheek, where he placed his hand. Instinctively, you leaned into his touch. The leather of his glove was warmer than you'd expected, making your smile grow a little wider.

"Sister (Y/N)- I- … thank you", he whispered with a raspy voice.

Shaking your head, you chuckled. “Don’t thank me for that, Papa. I’m your personal assistant, after all.”

“And my personal assistant will do as I tell them?”, he asked.

“Of course. I’m here to support you.”

“Then sit with me, cara. Please”, he said.

You looked around for a chair you could pull up next to him, but he stopped you by taking a hold of your wrist.“No, no. Right here”, he said and gestured towards his lap.

Your face went beet red and you nodded. Carefully, you took a seat on his thighs, trying not to put too much on him.

“You’re too careful, sorella. Too shy”, Papa Terzo chuckled and pulled you closer by grabbing your legs with his arm.

“Sorry, Papa. I didn’t want to be rude”, you admitted, giggling a little.

He responded with a kind smile, his eyes radiating warmth as he looked at you. He merely looked at you like this for a long moment, before he started speaking again.

“That’s one of the things I like about you, cara. You’re so… loyal, polite and diligent. You have stayed with me, all this time. Even today, you didn’t run away, like the other Sisters did.”

“The Sisters ran from you? How come?”, you asked, furrowing your brows.

“Well, to begin with, they only had one thing on their mind for the most part. And that barely had anything to do with work, if you know what I mean”, he said and smirked, “And don’t get me wrong, it’s not like I didn’t enjoy the… special attention. But work had to get done one way or another, and you know how I get when things get stressful.”

You nodded knowingly.

“So, that’s why they all quit relatively soon. We had our fun at first, then they didn’t want to put up with the workload or my moods. It’s not too complicated, really”, he said, shrugging.

“I see. But… has that never affected you?”, you asked carefully.

He thought about it for a moment. “I don’t think so. Why?”

“Well, I think personally, I would feel a little strange about it. The person who I work closest with switching constantly, that is. I wouldn’t be able to focus properly, I think. I mean, you’d have to get used to a different assistant with a different work style all the time-”, you explained, blabbering about. Terzo watched you with curious eyes, listening to your every word, nodding every now and then.

“Cara, I think you have a point there”, he mumbled and scratched his chin. “That would explain why I’ve been starting to feel a little more at ease recently.”

"Oh, really? You do? Even after today's-"

He smirked and slapped his hand over your mouth. "Yes", he hissed through his teeth, "Even after that, I can tell."

You giggled, and he lifted his palm from your face. "Cheeky Sister, you. Luckily I know you don't mean any harm. It's not every day that I talk to someone like this, about this, you know?"

Nodding, you bit your lip and looked away bashfully. "I know, Papa. Sorry."

Terzo laughed and shook his head. "Don't be, Sister. It's all forgiven and forgotten."

By the end of the day, you’d even managed to get a little bit of work done. Papa Emeritus III and you had struggled to make sense of all the papers but still, you’d worked through them with a good laugh. You bid each other good night, and he thanked you again for your hard work.

You spent the rest of the evening in your quarters, thinking about the events of the day, and especially your talk with Papa. It gave you a warm feeling to know that Papa had been willing to open up to you, and it also confirmed to you that you had been handling things the right way.

Papa Terzo on the other hand had watched you leave his office for the night feeling a little empty. The previous warmth of your body still lingered on him, yet it faded away quickly. Talking to you was uncomplicated. It felt natural. He had never been one to have any issues with conversations. Striking up some casual talk with the Sisters of sin had been a daily ritual of his, and with anyone else it never posed any problem either. But there was something about his assistant that made talking feel easy. No charisma trumps, no power play, no control, no structure. Just plain talking. And it felt so relaxing. And now, after this day especially, it felt so wrong to see you go. You should have been coming with him, warming his bedside instead of any other Sister he'd so carefreely taken all those countless times before. Would you even have wanted him? A question he asked himself, so cruel and doubtful, but he couldn’t get around it. He cared, he really did. And he didn’t want things between you to get weird in case you didn’t. He wanted you close to him in whatever way would work. But he wouldn’t be able to suppress his growing desire, either.

Over the next few days, the two of you caught up on a lot of work and figured out a good workflow together. It wasn’t perfect, but it made things go a little smoother, and allowed for short breaks. The tension from before was gone soon before you knew it, and work had started being a lot of fun, rather than an inconvenience. Even to Papa Terzo.

As the weeks went by, your synchronized workflow only improved, parallel to your bond growing tighter. Life felt good.

You made your way through the halls back to Papa Emeritus III’s office, carrying a few folders clutched to your chest. A small group of Sisters crossed your path, and you greeted them with a friendly smile and a respectful nod. A few of them smiled, but it looked twisted and mocking. The others countered with an angry glare. One of them blocked your way by stopping in front of you. You looked at them curiously, waiting for them to speak.

“Sister (Y/N), you’re currently Papa Emeritus’ III assistant, am I right?”, she asked sternly.

You nodded. “Yes, that’s correct. Can I help with anything?”

The Sister in front of you scoffed, and looked at the other sisters for a brief second, who mimicked her expression. “You can ‘help’ by finally moving your ass off the throne. You’ve been hogging that position for how long now? Months?”

Confusion must have been written all over your face. “I- uhm, yes. I think it’s been a few months. But why- why should I?-”

“Ever considered that the others would like to take a turn as well? Now I don’t know what it is that’s taking you so long. Either you just want to keep Papa on a short leash to yourself, or you’re taking awfully long to fuck him.”

“I- I’m not- we haven’t done anything like that”, you stammered in shock. Their boldness caught you completely off guard.

The Sister threw her arms up, rolling her eyes. “They haven’t even fucked”, she snorted at the others, who broke out into pitiful giggles.

“I don’t think the position of clergy assistant has its sole purpose in sex, Sister”, you said. “I believe the job should be treated with respect.”

She rolled her eyes again. “Sure. Papa Terzo is the most diligent Papa, as we all know”, she exclaimed, sarcasm thick in her voice.

“Diligent in terms of bedding the Sisters!”, one of the others threw in. The group started laughing.

You were dumbfounded by their disrespectful behavior and tone and thus at a loss of words.

“Papa Emeritus III certainly has his talents, and it’s mostly restricted to… getting physical with the Sisters”, she smirked, “I’m afraid that apart from this, he is not doing a lot for the clergy.”

“Sister, how can you talk about Papa like this? Are you seriously implying-”, you countered, but quickly got interrupted.

“Yes, Sister (Y/N). I am saying that all he is good for, is pleasing the Dark Lord through the sin of lust. Now would you please do us a favor and move on from that job? Obviously you’re not even intending to use it for all that it’s worth, and we’re tired of waiting”, the Sister hissed, pushing against the folders you were holding from the bottom, making them spill out from under your arms and drop to the floor. “And don’t be such a disgustingly diligent goody-two-shoes, Sister (Y/N). It does not suit a Sister of sin well.”

With that, the Sisters walked off, arrogantly swaying their hips. Absolutely flabbergasted by their audacity, you shook your head. You were only hoping that Papa Terzo hadn’t heard anything, but it was unlikely, since his study was around the corner and down the hall. As you picked up your folders, you saw a figure from the corner of your eye. Your eyes followed them as they left, and the only thing you could see was the bits of a golden and purple ornamented papal robe turning the corner. Oh no.

You finished picking up your folders, and walked back to Papa’s office. Hesitantly, you opened the door and stepped in. “I’m back, Papa. I’m sorry for the delay, some Sisters stopped me in the hallway.”

As you turned around, you were met with an unsettling sight. Papa Terzo was sitting at his desk, his face resting against his folded hands, elbows propped up on the tabletop. His eyes were staring into nothingness, but there was something dark within them. His headwear was sitting on the tabletop next to him, and a few strands of his hair were falling over his face.

You swallowed harshly. “Papa, is everything alright?”

He continued to stare blankly. “Sister, why is it you’re still working as my personal assistant?”

The question made a shiver run down your spine. “I’m- I’m sorry?”

“I heard the Sisters speak. I wanted to come look for you since you’d been gone longer than anticipated. I heard what they said about me. Every single word”, he said, his eyes growing darker with every word. Rage coated his tongue, but he tried to contain himself.

“Papa…”, you started. He cut you off with a single move of his hand.

“If the Sisters of sin collectively think all the same of me, how come you’re still here?”, he asked, slowly rising from his sitting position and walking around the table. “How come you’re still working with me, so diligently, and talking to me so friendly?”

He slowly walked towards you with heavy steps, and you backed away until your back hit a wall.

“And how come”, he hissed, slamming his hand flat onto the wall next to your head, “You haven’t even tried to touch me yet?”

He spoke in a voice that was so heavy with emotion, it tore your heart to pieces. The anger and hurt was clear as day in his eyes, and his expression was bitter. It hurt you to see him like this and all you wanted to do was offer him words of comfort and hold him, but you stood frozen. He leaned in closer.

“That one day you put your hands on my shoulders felt like everything I’ve ever wanted, and having you sit on my lap made me realize that being close to someone has never felt like this before, to me. You showed me so much patience, respect and kindness. And it confused me, Sister (Y/N). Because no Sister ever bothered with that before. And now I know why”, he disclosed, his voice growing shaky with the last sentence. All you could do was watch as he internally crumbled in front of you.

“I need you to tell me, Sister”, he continued, bringing his gloved hand to the side of your throat, gently caressing your jawline with his thumb. “Do you think I am merely good for fucking, as well?”

Tears stung in the corners of your eyes, as you shook your head violently. “No! Why would you even come to think that?”

“I thought those Sister’s words might have made you think. And tainted your vision, perhaps. But maybe, they are just telling the truth and I am here making a fool out of myself”, he murmured, his head hanging low.

You gently put your palms on either side of his face, carefully lifting his head back up to look at you. “Papa, I promise you, what these Sisters think of you does not concern me in the slightest. I have come to know you without any of their insights. And I have come to know you as an interesting and charismatic person, who I genuinely enjoy working with. Whatever they say, I do not care. And I won’t listen any further, because I know it’s not true.”

He let out a deep sigh and leaned into your touch. “I know, cara. I know you wouldn’t lie to me like that.”

You had never seen him look so brittle and defeated before. He looked as if he��d collapse at any given moment. “Sister?”, he murmured.

“Yes?”

“Hold me”, he breathed and fell against your chest. You managed to lead the two of you to a small sofa nearby, and gently sat both of you down. He rested against your torso, his head on your chest. You had wrapped your arms around him protectively, holding him as close as you could. His arms had wrapped around your waist loosely. Tenderly, you stroked his silky, black hair, earning a pleased hum from him.

After remaining in this position for a while, Papa Emeritus III spoke up again lazily, with his eyes still closed. “But Sister, I just realized something. How could you say that the other Sisters lied? You can’t even judge upon all of it.”Your eyes widened in disbelief. “What are you talking about? They were the utmost disrespectful!”

“Yes, but they did say I was good at something”, he murmured, smirking.

You blushed, realizing what he was talking about. “They did say that this was all you are good for, which I highly doubt, Papa. In fact, I know that you are good at other things as well.”

He pouted playfully. “If you say so, Sister. I believe we have some more work to tend to, though. Let’s get through with that first. And maybe, you’d like to spend the evening with me too, for a change?”

You giggled. “Yes, that sounds nice.”

After all work for the day had been finished, you got ready to leave Terzo’s study. “Sister”, he called after you. You turned your head.

“Meet me in my quarters at 8:30pm, yes? No need for the habit. Just wear whatever you wear in your free time on any other given day”, he said with a smile.

You nodded and closed the door behind you.

Later that evening, at 8:30pm sharp, you found yourself standing in front of the large double wing door to Papa Emeritus’ III quarters and knocked. You’d slipped into a comfortable, figure-hugging midi dress made out of a stretchy fabric, sporting a slit on one side to about mid-thigh. As you were standing there, waiting, you wondered whether your choice in wardrobe had been the right one. You had genuinely picked something comfortable you’d wear in your free time, not at all considering the nature of the dress’ cut. It was too late now, anyways.

The door opened, and Papa Terzo quickly pulled you inside. “It’s good to see you, Sister. Thank you for accepting my invitation.”

“What was that about?”, you asked after he let go of your arm.

“I wouldn’t want anyone to see you standing around near my quarters. Would be a little difficult to explain”, he disclosed with a wink. You rolled your eyes playfully.

“I got us a good bottle of wine, sorella”, he sang as he pranced over to a small table, where a bottle of red wine stood alongside two wine glasses. He poured two glasses, and carried them back to you with ecstatic steps, only now actually looking at you as a whole. His steps got slower and he whistled as he looked you up and down. "Oh Sister, you shouldn't have. Dressed up just for your Papa?"

You forced an embarrassed grin. "I actually just dressed up in whatever I'd wear on an evening off. The dress is more comfortable than it looks, actually", you explained, patting some dust off the sides.

The grin on Papa Terzo's face was as mischievous as ever. "I don't mind it, cara mia. Not one bit. In fact, I think you should wear it more often!", he chirped as he handed you one of the wine glasses.

Your lips formed a straight line as you took the glass from his hand. "I would love to, honestly. But there’s the thing about the dress code."

He scoffed. "Ah, that's no issue. You're my personal assistant, which means that actually, I can decide your personal dress code."

"Oh, really?"you asked, raising your brows.

"Yes. I can. Now, a toast?", he said with a wink, raising his glass. "To us being a great team. But mostly, to my wonderful assistant, sent to me as a blessing by The Dark Lord himself."

You let the glasses collide, producing an echoing clinking sound. His toast made you smile bashfully. Taking a big sip of wine, you hoped that it would ease you up a little.

Papa joined you in taking a sip of wine, his eyes never leaving you as he did. When the glass had left his lips again, he casually put his arm around your waist and led you towards an antique sofa, accompanied by two matching armchairs. They sported purple velours. Of course. He invited you to take a seat, which you gladly accepted. Then, he sat down next to you, crossing his legs, extending his arms over the back of the sofa.

“Is purple your favourite colour, Papa?”, you asked, trying to strike up some casual conversation.

“Why yes, it is. I think it’s very alluring and luxurious. Why pick red or blue, if you can have both?”, he said with a chuckle.

You nodded in agreement. “It is a very nice colour.”

“So nice in fact, that I think it would look excellent on you, Sister”, he said in a low, rumbly voice, nearly causing you to choke on your wine.

“I’ve never gone for purple clothes, actually. Not because I dislike them, but because I never found items that I liked. I should go scouting then, no?”, you laughed.

He nodded firmly. “I’d even pick something out for you myself.”

“Don’t spoil me like that, Papa.”

Leaning closer, he smirked. “I would spoil you until you’re rotten, cara.”

You gave him a playful slap on the chest. “Now, now. Don’t get too cocky!”

With a playful pout, he started playing with your hair. “Won’t you just let me spoil you? Let me give you everything I have and more? Your resistance frustrates me, cara mia.”

“If you spoil me, you won’t have a diligent assistant anymore. I would probably turn into a bratty nightmare of a woman”, you countered.

“Fair point.”

You spent a little more time in playful banter, and when the wine in your glasses had run out, Papa Terzo poured you more.

With every sip, you felt a little lighter. You talked about everything you hadn’t previously been able to talk about, asking personal questions as well as telling stories out of your lives. It felt natural and easy-going. The glow in his eyes told you that he was enjoying himself a lot.

At some point, his gaze was drifting off into the crackling fire in the fireplace, and his expression grew worried.

“What’s wrong?”, you asked, slightly concerned by his sudden mood shift.

“I keep thinking, cara. I somehow cannot forget what these Sisters have said about me”, he mumbled, furrowing his brows.

“Papa…”, you said, putting your hand onto his shoulder.

“The sheer disrespect and insult is one thing. But the fact that apparently, they have been handing me around like a wandering trophy in such a calculated manner…it has me at a loss of words. You’d think that I’m the one in charge, since I’m Papa, obviously. But then…”, he groaned, “It is so revolting and disrespectful to the point that it hurts, Sister. It just hurts and I don’t want it to, but I can’t help it.”

You took his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “I’m so sorry you had to hear that, Papa. I truly wish you didn’t.”

He shook his head. “Don’t be. At least I can see more clearly now. Besides, I do believe my days of shagging one sister after another are over.”

His eyes looked at you with such warmth, it made your heart flutter.

“Oh, well, I don’t want to be a bother- I mean, just go ahead and do whoever- I mean, whatever. It’s not like you have to stop having fun, just because you have a clergy assistant now that’s actually keeping the job for longer than a few weeks”, you stammered, smiling awkwardly.

“Silly Sister”, he rumbled, “You don’t understand, do you?”

You looked at him with big eyes.

He grabbed your jaw, and brought you face to face with him. “I no longer desire any of those Sisters, cara. You have shown me what my true focus should be, through kindness and patience and love. There is no-one I desire as much as I desire you, tesoro.”

He sealed his confession by tenderly pressing his lips onto yours. You melted into the kiss, gently resting your hand on his cheek. With a satisfied groan, he deepened the kiss, causing it to get more and more heated by the second. A whimper from you is all it took for him to drag you onto his lap and his hands feverishly stroked up and down your sides, while yours rested upon his shoulders. Papa Terzo pulled away, breathing heavily and looked into your eyes. It seemed as if he was looking for something. His white iris was searing holes into your soul, while his green iris gently sparkled in the low light of the fire.

“What is it?”, you breathed, cracking a smile.

“I just want to know what you’re thinking. Your eyes speak a lot, you know”, he murmured.

“So, what do they tell you?”

“They tell me… you’re excited. Usually your eyes are very honest, cara. But now I struggle to see through them… maybe there’s just too much happening in that pretty little mind of yours right now”, he chuckled. “But that’s alright. Do you think we should wait?”

“Wait? With what?”, you asked bluntly.

A deep chuckle escaped his throat, as his hand traveled to your bottom and gave it a rough squeeze, as he grinded his hips against you. “This, cara. Do you want to find out whether the Sisters have been right about one thing, or not?”

Your face turned a deep shade of red, but you nodded eagerly nonetheless.

“I know this is not very professional. But I do believe that it’s the most professional I’ve ever been, considering my previous assistants…”, he disclosed with a cocky grin. You gently smacked his forehead in response. “Rude!”

“You started it”, you countered, playfully sticking out your tongue.

“Be careful, bella. Or else I will make you put that tongue to good use”, he purred, pulling you a bit closer.

“I’d love to see that.”

After another heated making out session, Papa Terzo had picked you up, with your legs around his hips, and carried you to the next room - which turned out to be his bedroom. He dropped you onto deep purple silk sheets, and straightened up as he towered over you, taking in every bit of the sight. “As much as it pains me to say it, cara, but that dress has to leave. I wouldn’t want to ruin it.”

You quickly got up, lifted the dress over your head and tossed it aside, leaving you standing in your underwear. Today’s choice in underwear had been a burgundy lace set, and judging by his dilating pupils, Papa Emeritus III seemed to enjoy it.

“Nice”, was all he managed to say, as he let his hands grace your newly exposed skin.”Very nice, sorella.”

You went for another kiss, as you let your hand slowly travel down his belly all the way to his crotch, where you gently palmed his hardened bulge. This earned a deep groan from him, moreso as you started to open the zipper of his pants and reached underneath the waistband of his underwear. He hissed as your hand came in contact with his bare flesh, relishing in the feeling of you gently stroking him. Yet again he proved that patience was not his strength, when he proceeded to push down his underwear and let his erection spring free, allowing you better access. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes, enjoying your touch. You used the opportunity to get onto your knees without him noticing, and proceeded to take him into your mouth fully all the way to the hilt, without a warning. You’d describe the noise he made as close to inhuman. His head whipped back and his eyes watched you curiously, moaning with every move of your tongue. “Molto bene, Sister”, he growled, carefully moving his hips in sync with your head. After a few more thrusts he grunted and pulled away from you, pulling you up by your neck and capturing you in another passionate kiss. He reached around and opened the clasp of your bra, letting it fall onto the ground. His mouth quickly found your chest, biting and sucking on your heated skin until he gently teased your nipple with his tongue, making you whimper. The heat between your legs had started to become unbearable and you longed for friction, which luckily, his hand started to give you. He rubbed you through your underwear, causing you to moan and whimper even more. You feared that your legs were close to giving in, and you held onto the bed post for support. Terzo’s lips formed a smile against your skin, before he raised his head to look at you, never ceasing to draw small circles between your legs. “Lay down for me, Sister. Get comfortable.”

You did as you’d been told, and crawled onto the purple silk sheets. Papa casually unbuttoned the first few buttons of his shirt, and followed you. He kneeled between your legs and grabbed them to pull you closer abruptly, making you gasp as his evident desire rubbed against your clothed core. He grinded his hips into you lazily, growling loudly as he watched your desperate face heat up in pleasure. With a swift move, he grabbed your panties and pulled them off, leaving you completely bare beneath him. He leaned down, propping himself up on his arm by placing his hand next to your head on the mattress, and started tenderly stroking your bare flesh with his fingers. He dipped into your core for a moment and hummed, satisfied to feel how ready you were for him. “Perfect, cara. Perfect.”

Lowering down, he settled between your legs, lining up with your entrance. He propped himself up on his arms and as he slowly pushed into you, he kept his gaze locked to your face. You moaned, feeling him stretch you out bit by bit and when he finally bottomed out, your whole body was shaking. Terzo leaned down and peppered your face with kisses, showering you in words of praise and adoration. He carefully began to roll his hips against you, starting off with very tender thrusts. They were so full of raw passion that you feared they might drive you mad, if he kept going like this.

Papa’s eyes were glued to your face, still. He relished in seeing you mewl and moan beneath him, in knowing that it was him giving you this much pleasure, and only him. Nothing he’d ever had with any other Sister even came remotely close to what he was having right at this moment. He lifted one of your legs up and hoisted it over his hip, allowing him to reach further into you. Simultaneously, his thrusts picked up speed. He groaned as he pounded you deeper into the purple silk sheets. He wanted more, he wanted you whole, he would have tried to consume you as a whole if he could. Your scent filled his nose and your moans filled his ears, and it drove him close to the edge sooner than he wanted.

He went back to a few slow thrusts and stopped, leaning down to kiss you. “You’re doing amazing so far, Sister. Let’s switch things up a little bit, no?”

Before you could react, he pulled out and laid down next to you on his side, pulling you close to him so that you were laying on your side as well, putting the two of you into a spooning position. He lifted your leg gently, and entered you again, this time from behind. You moaned as he stretched you yet again, only this time your body didn’t take as much time to adjust. His arm reached around from underneath you and took a hold of your throat, while his other hand traveled down between your legs as he resumed thrusting. Soon, he had you as a moaning mess in front of him, as he pounded into you at a relentless speed, and his fingers traced tight circles around your bundle of nerves. You felt your release approach at a rapid speed, barely giving you time to warn him.

“Papa, I think I’m close”, you huffed.

“Come for me, sorella. Come for your Papa”, he growled.

His words and his voice sent you over the edge. You nearly screamed from the intensity of your orgasm, small waves of pleasure pulsing through your body until the ecstatic feeling slowly began to subside.

Papa Emeritus III had been chasing his own release in the meantime, and feeling you clutch around him and squeeze him within the ruptures of your orgasm made him come undone as well. He buried his face in your hair as he half-groaned, half-yelled, and he drove himself to the hilt inside of you as he came. You could feel him throb inside you, causing you to whimper. Riding it off with a few last, lazy thrusts, he sighed deeply and mumbled some indistinct Italian under his breath.

Feeling him place a soft kiss on the side of your neck, you smiled.

“Ti amo, sorella”, he hummed into your ear. “And I will tell you so often that you will grow sick of it.”

“I feel the same, Papa”, you admitted in a soft tone. You could feel him smile against your skin, as his arms wrapped around you to embrace you tightly. His body wrapped around you possessively, and he kept pressing kisses onto your hair, forehead, cheeks and eyelids. “Ti amo, Sister. I love you. I love you so much, I could burst into a thousand pieces”, he mumbled in between his kisses, making you giggle. You spent a long moment laying together like this, in absolute bliss and without a care in the world.

“Papa, I think I should head back to my own room soon. The curfew is approaching, and you said nobody should see me here-”, you said, slowly rising up into a sitting position, looking for a clock.

“Don’t you dare, Sister”, he growled and pulled you back down, “Stay with me. I can bring to my quarters whoever I want. So please, cara. Stay the night.”

You smiled and snuggled up against him, deeply inhaling his scent.

“Please don’t quit your assistant job now, though. I heard it’s a custom amongst the sisters”, Papa Terzo said sleepily.

The last thing that sounded through the room was the sound of a slap, and a protesting groan from Papa. You giggled softly, and soon sleep took you over as well.

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coneyislandbabey · 1 year

Text

i only have eyes for you. -> g.dunne

WARNINGS: some profanities but nothing not expected in canon

SYNOPSIS: You bit Graham at preschool when you were three years old. The rest, they say, is history. word count: 3,471

TROPES: Friends to lovers, slowburn, hidden relationship

NOTES: Written for this request! Hope you guys enjoy :)

Y/N L/N: You know, I don’t remember the first time I ever met Graham. Sometimes it feels like he was always just a fact of life, that he’d always been there and he always would be.

Graham Dunne: She bit me the first time we ever met. First day of Pre-K 3, and I stole the plastic giraffe she was playing with, and she bit me. I don’t know what happened, but by the time both of our mothers arrived at the school, we’d gotten past the biting thing and were best friends.

1958

“Oh, Graham Cracker,” you sang, flying down the front steps of the elementary school, your hair, tied up in little red satin ribbons, streaming behind you. Graham was at the curb, pulling his red Schwinn bicycle carefully out of the bike rack. He had gotten it from his mother for his ninth birthday, and it quickly became his prized possession. It was shortly before Halloween, and you were sinking deeper into a Pennsylvania autumn, deep red leaves bigger than your hand falling in droves from the Maples in front of the building and twirling in the breeze around the figure of your best friend.

Graham turned at his nickname, grinning and raising a hand to wave when his pale eyes lit on you. His curls had grown a little too long, unruly, you noted, caressing the collar of his brown corduroy jacket.

“Walk home together?” he asked, once you came to a stop in front of him on the sidewalk. You adjusted the straps of your school bag on your shoulders, pulling the sleeves of your jacket down against the cold.

“But you biked,” you said, motioning to the Schwinn. He’d had it for a good few months now, but it still gleamed like it was brand new. This didn’t surprise you– you often saw him sitting on the front stoop, bike leaning against his knees and a polish rag in his hand.

“I’ll walk it home with you,” he shrugged, and before you could respond he started down the sidewalk, leaving you no choice but to fall in step beside him.

“I want to check out books on the Titanic tomorrow when we go, so you’ve got to help me find the good ones,” you informed him. The next day was Thursday, and the two of you had spent every Thursday afternoon since first grade at the library. Each week you had some new topic you wanted to read up on, and Graham, who was far less interested in even opening a book, seemed perfectly happy to follow you around the stacks, carrying your ever-growing pile of books for you as you scoured the shelves for the ones you wanted.

“Titanic is boring,” Graham said. “You should check out books about sharks. Or raptors. You know, other things that like to bite.”

“Don’t start with that,” you huffed, rolling your eyes. “You bite your best friend one time, and suddenly it’s the only thing he ever talks about.”

“I have a scar!” he shouted, waving his pale wrist in your direction. The scar in question was miniscule, barely a millimeter where one of your sharp baby teeth had managed to break the skin in the incident.

“That just means you always have a reminder of me!”

1961

“It’s not a big deal, goose,” Graham told you. Rolling your eyes at the nickname (“Geese like to bite, like someone else I know.”) you turned to where he was sprawled out on your bed, cheek squished against your blankets as he, in turn, watched you pace in front of your closet. At twelve, he had finally passed you in height, and considerably so. His hair was still a little too long and shaggy, but now it was a choice of style rather than his mother being too busy to take him for a haircut.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” you said patiently, turning back to the closet. “It’s middle school, Graham. I can’t walk in there looking like a lamb.”

Yours and Graham’s first day of middle school was looming a few days in the distance, and you’d been worrying yourself sick over making the right first impression. You didn’t want to look too young, still stuck in elementary school, but you didn’t want to look like you were trying too hard, either. You envied the ease at which Graham seemed to be making the transition; with his considerable growth spurt and the new, sharper edges of his cheekbones and jaw, he could still wear his usual corduroy pants and pullovers and still look older, new.

“You’ll be the best-dressed girl there, whatever you choose,” he responded, and the authority in his voice almost made you believe him.

“And what makes you say that,” you said instead, hand on your hip as you leveled him with a look.

“You’re the best everything girl in this town, you oughta know that by now,” he attempted to shrug in his horizontal position. You turned back to the closet without a word, hoping against god that Graham hadn’t seen the blush blazing in your cheeks. More and more often lately, Graham’s words invoked that reaction in you. You brushed the observation away, collecting yourself before nonchalantly turning back to him.

“If that’s the case, why don’t you pick out my outfit?” you asked.

“If it means we can go do something else after, then sure,” he said, picking himself up off the bed. He crossed the room to your closet in two large, easy strides, peering at the options over your shoulder.

“This one,” he said after a minute of deliberation, pulling a red pleated skirt and sweater set out, holding them in front of your face. “You always look best in red.”

You took the hangers from him, taking in the nonchalant but sincere look on his face. You didn’t quite know what to do with these compliments that Graham gave so freely, at random. You were getting to the age where some of the kids at school were going steady, or at least copying what they thought their older siblings were doing when they were going steady. You were sure you didn’t feel that way about Graham. Mostly. You had no idea what it meant to feel that way, anyhow.

“Well, red it is, then,” you said, hanging the chosen outfit up on your closet door. “Let’s bike downtown to get ice cream.”

1963

“You promised me, goose.”

“I thought you were joking! That’s so much time and effort, and it’s summer.”

You and Graham were walking a lazy, winding path through the neighborhood. It was an unusually sweltering June, and school just let out for the summer. You’d had absolutely no plans for how to spend the next few months, until Graham reminded you that, back in the winter, you had promised you would let him teach you how to play guitar.

“Why would I be joking?” Graham asked, looking at you strangely.

“I don’t know, because that kind of thing is going to take a lot of time,” you shrugged. It’s not that you thought that Graham didn’t want to spend time with you more. It’s just that things had changed. In some ways, you had always known it was bound to happen: you couldn’t be Graham’s only best friend forever. Over the last year, he had gotten a lot closer with Eddie Roundtree and Warren Rojas. You had no problems with them– you quite liked them, actually, both were funny and kind and always said hello to you in the hallway even though you yourself weren’t friends with them– but they took up so much of Graham’s time these days. You felt stupid about it, but the truth was you felt a little jilted. Jealous, maybe. You missed your Graham Cracker.

And now there was this: Graham insisting on teaching you guitar. A skill that would require practice every day. Hours and hours a week. Inadvertently, Graham was pledging hours and hours to you over the course of these languid, humid months. You put up a fuss, but you knew that you would have agreed to whatever Graham wanted to do, just to get the time with him.

“Okay, fine. If you want to so badly,” you relented, and Graham let out a little cheer.

“I’ll give you my old guitar until we can get you something better,” he said. “Come over my house tomorrow morning, we’ll start right away.”

1967

“So, we’re really doing this? Forming a band?”

You were sitting on the back steps of the Dunne house, peering up at the two Dunne brothers standing in front of you. Warren was sitting on the steps with you, Eddie standing on your other side and leaning against the railing. Over high school, Warren and Eddie had gone from being Graham’s best friends, to yours, too. They slammed into your life with a fun, somehow easygoing relentlessness, Eddie showing up to teach you how to play a song he loves on the guitar, Warren staying with you all night the first time you got high and it sent you into an awful panic attack. If you were going to form a band, you guessed that these four would be the best to do it with.

“Yeah, why not?” Graham asked.

“Hell, you’ve convinced me,” Warren said, dissolving into laughter. You shook your head fondly at him; he was higher than space.

“Alright, let’s do it,” you nodded, locking eyes with Graham as a grin spread across his face.

Graham Dunne: Oh, sure, I remember exactly when I realized I had a crush on her. We were eight. It was the dead of winter, last day of school before Christmas break. A huge snowstorm had swept through the night before, and I was waiting out in the cold by the bike rack so we could walk home together. She came out wearing this navy blue coat and matching hat, and she contrasted so much against all that snow. I mean, she was striking. I didn’t know what beautiful was, then, but I was thinking it of her. That never really left me, not the whole rest of the time we were growing up.

Y/N L/N: I don’t think I ever knew I liked Graham as more than a friend, not even all the way through high school. It just never occurred to me that I could like him like that. He was Graham, my Graham, the little boy I had bitten when we were three and who had been my best friend ever since. My brain couldn’t compute changing the way I felt about him, even if my heart had already made up its mind. All that changed, of course, after we got to Los Angeles.

“Hey, we’re going to the market, you wanna come?” Warren leaned against the doorframe to the living room, Eddie and Karen idling in the hall behind him. You and Graham were in the living room, him stretched out across the couch watching television, and you sprawled on the floor on your stomach, flipping through a copy of Rolling Stone Magazine.

“No, thanks guys,” you smiled up at them, before returning to your magazine.

“I’m good here,” Graham responded, too. Warren shrugged, and the three of them headed down the hall. You kept your eyes on the magazine, waiting to hear the front door close and the van start up.

As soon as you heard the van peeling out of the drive, you stood and practically tackled Graham on the couch. He laughed, large, calloused hands coming to grip your hips and steady you. Your knees went to either side of his waist, hands splayed across his chest as you looked down at him.

“Graham Cracker,” you grinned, and he rolled his eyes at the nickname. Beautiful eyes, you always thought. Like sea glass, or tide pools, or the Pittsburgh sky on a perfect August day. Mesmerizing even when he was rolling them at you in exasperation. Especially when.

“Goose,” he acknowledged, smirking at his own use of your annoying nickname. You didn’t give him the satisfaction of reacting to it, instead carrying on with what you were going to say.

“We’re alone,” you said, adopting the most innocent voice inflection you could manage.

“That we are,” he nodded his head against the arm of the couch.

“You gonna do something about it?”

“Hmm, maybe,” he said, pretending to think about it for a moment before tugging you forward by your belt loops. You laughed, head falling back even as the rest of you fell forward, and Graham began pressing kisses to the exposed ridge of your collarbone. You murmured his name, still laughing, and ducked your head down to capture his lips with yours, listening satisfactorily to the hum of contentment he let out.

You had all made it out to Los Angeles about a month ago, and things had changed between you and Graham almost immediately. You don’t know what did it– the thrill of change, the possibility of your future, the brand new city– but suddenly you saw Graham in all his glory, not just your life-long best friend, but a man who was sweet and caring, bashful, strong, beautiful. Everything. He had always been everything to you, you just hadn’t been able to see it. And as soon as you could see it, there was nothing to stop you from attaching to one another and never letting go.

You kept it all on the down-low, of course. Nobody else needed to know, and that’s how you both felt. The rest of the band catching wind of the change in your relationship would only lead to teasing, or them eternally poking their nose into stuff that really really was not their business. Keeping it just between you meant getting to revel in it alone, not to mention the inherent thrill of sneaking around.

“Let’s go up to your room, hmm?” you said breathlessly, detaching your mouth from his just long enough to get the words out.

“Sounds good,” Graham said immediately. In one swift motion, he stood from the couch, gripping your thighs and picking you up with him as he stood. You linked your arms around his neck, trying not to giggle like an idiot at the thought of how easy it was for him to lift you. Graham didn’t look it at first glance, but fuck was he strong.

He carried you up the stairs and down the hall to his bedroom, tossing you on the bed and kicking the door closed with his foot. You sat up, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt as soon as he was close enough and tugging him down onto the mattress with you. Just as Graham’s fingers went to the button of your shorts, you heard the front door swing open and the low murmur of voices.

“Honeys, we’re home!” Warren shouted and then laughed at himself. “Market’s closed, we’re going out to the diner instead.”

You sighed, closing your eyes and flopping back against the pillow. Graham dropped his head, curls tickling the skin over your breastbone.

“They really have great timing,” you muttered, unable to stop the laugh that escaped you.

“We could just tell them, you know,” Graham mused. “That way we could stay home and pick up where they interrupted.”

“Oh yeah, do you wanna be the one to say ‘we can’t come to the diner with you ‘cause we were about to bone’, or shall I?” you asked, raising an eyebrow and Graham laughed, rolling over to lay on his back next to you.

“Alright, you got me there. Let’s go,” he said finally, standing up from the bed. You followed him out the door, bounding down the steps ahead of him. A minute later Graham followed, joining the rest of you in the living room.

“Finally,” Eddie exclaimed, “I’m fuckin’ starving.”

* * *

Six months into living in Los Angeles, and you and Graham had gotten a little careless. Well, actually, you’d gotten way too confident. If the rest of your friends hadn’t caught you yet, you figured, there was little chance they ever would. And now with everyone working so hard all the time, it seemed that nobody had the time to stop and think about how the two of you sat practically on top of each other in the living room, or the way you were always standing flush against one another’s sides. The hints were all there, but no one was picking them up.

“I want to take you out,” Graham said. The two of you were sitting on the beach, watching the sun dip lower and lower past the horizon after a long afternoon of surfing. Or, rather, of Graham trying to teach you how to surf, and you only starting to catch on right at the end.

“What do you mean, Dunne?” you asked, turning to face him. His nose and cheeks were red with a little sunburn, the faintest spray of freckles cropping up in the area. His eyes were almost supernaturally light in the golden glow of sunset.

“I want to take you on a date,” Graham said. “And a real one, not one where we just happen to be hanging out alone. I want to take you to dinner, I want to offer you my jacket when it gets chilly as we leave, I want to bring you flowers, all of it.”

“Okay,” you said slowly, turning over the warm images it brought to mind. “Well, let’s do it. Let’s go someplace fancy to eat. I’ll wear a dress and those earring you got me– you remember, those gold hoops you gave me after graduation?– and I’ll steal your jacket and kiss you under a streetlamp and take you home with me. We can do all of it.”

Graham pulled you in close and you rested your head on his chest. He smelled like sea salt and coconut sunscreen and the briny breeze sweeping in from the dock down the beach.

“If we do that, the jig is up,” he said after a minute. “They’ll find out.”

“So let them find out,” you sighed. “Let them freak out, let them tease, because I know they will, but one day they’ll get bored of it and move on and all the while we can go on a hundred fancy dates. I want that for us.”

Graham angled his chin down as you looked up, catching his eyes and the surprised, apprehensive look on his face. “You do?”

“Yeah, what did you think? I know we’ve been sneaking around, but it’s not because I wasn’t sure of us. You’re it, Graham, you have been since we were three years old,” you told him earnestly.

“I’ve been waiting to hear you say that for, like, two decades,” Graham said, laughing in relief as he pulled your face in for a kiss.

* * *

The date had been everything you ever imagined it would be and more. You wore a slinky red dress and matching heels, the hoops Graham had given you years ago flashing amongst the strands of your hair whenever the light hit. Graham took you to a beautiful restaurant, the kind with little lamps on each of the tables, where patrons smoked cigarettes from golden cigarette cases through mother-of-pearl cigarette holders. He draped his jacket over your shoulders on the walk back to the car, and, as promised, you kissed him in the dim yellow glow of a streetlamp.

You came home, both a little drunk off of expensive champagne, Graham’s arm wrapped securely around your waist as you stumbled over the threshold and into the house. Everyone else was sitting in the living room when you got back, ogling you curiously as you walked in.

“And where have you been?” Karen asked, the first to break the silence.

“On a date,” you said simply.

“With who?” Warren asked.

The two of you pointed to each other.

“Wait, are you fucking serious?” This came from Billy, who had untangled himself from Camila in order to sit up and process the situation. “The two of you finally figured your shit out?”

“Oh, man, I never thought you’d have the balls to ask her out,” Warren laughed, tipping his head back against the back of the couch.

“Oh, shut up, Rojas,” Graham said, rolling his eyes.

“I figured you’d been dating when I met you in elementary school,” Camila said, smiling warmly at the two of you. “I’m glad that’s finally true.”

“Thanks, Cami,” you grinned. “Now, uh, we’ll see you guys later.”

You pulled Graham away from them and to the stairs, ignoring the teasing and jeers emanating loudly from the living room.

#daisy jones and the six #djats #graham dunne #graham dunne x reader #warren rhodes #warren rojas #eddie loving #eddie roundtree #billy dunne #camila dunne #karen sirko #karen karen

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twofrontteethstillcrooked · 7 months

Text

Flirt: 13 Oct. Suptober

deancas ust, s9 au, human Cas

"So what'd she say?" Kevin was helping Cas unload the pizza, breadsticks, little cups of cheese sauce, and an iced dessert the pizza joint called Pumpkin Spice Nugs that Cas had just brought down the staircase and into the bunker library.

Cas was wise to Kevin's sly expression. Beatrix, their usual waitress, was a reliable source of local gossip.

"Bea told me it turns out Nathan's not the father of his second child, the one born last year." Cas parceled out four paper plates and napkins and was happy to see Dean and Sam strolling into the room. "The actual father may be his ex-wife's brother in law."

"You been watching Jerry Springer again?" Dean accidentally bumped Cas in the hip as he slid into a chair and grabbed the largest slice of pepperoni. "Whoops, my bad."

"It's fine." Cas sat too. Having put a single plain breadstick on his plate, he took the time to brush off the greasy cheese dust coating the foodstuff. It tasted, he was sorry to say, the way dirty socks sometimes smelled.

When he looked up, the other three were staring at him, each with a variant of amusement on their faces.

Dean shook his head and was the first to start eating without comment.

"What I meant was," Kevin said around a mouthful of nug, "did Bea ask you out already?"

Cas would have answered if he hadn't been suddenly worried Dean was going to choke to death.

"You need the heimlich?" Sam asked his brother, who was coughing but able to drain a bottle of beer in one breath.

"I'm good," Dean rasped out, hitting himself in the chest with the flat of his fist.

As any danger seemed to have passed, Cas told Kevin, "She did not ask me out." He took a bite of the breadstick and chewed thoughtfully. "She wanted to know if I ever went bowling."

"That was an opening," Kevin groaned. He slapped a piece of supreme on his plate and huffed. "She wanted you to say yes, and then she could've said something like, 'If you ever want some friendly competition, let me know.'" He affected a higher-pitched voice for the part that was supposed to be like Bea talking; it made Sam shake his head and laugh silently.

"But I don't bowl," Cas said.

He eyed the cheese sauce with wariness. The last time he'd tried it, it had been cold and thick, like a lump of congealed banshee blood. He was about to reach for one of the small cups anyway when Kevin said, "That's not the point."

"Hey, maybe he's just not that into her," Dean said before taking another forceful bite of pizza.

"Bea seems like a lovely person." Cas was somewhat perplexed at Dean's grouchy tone of voice. "But I don't wish to go bowling with her."

Sam, eating his pizza slice without incident, said, "Euphemistically or otherwise, huh."

Cas considered this. "Yes?"

Kevin rolled his eyes and sighed. "Your loss." He ate another nug, as if to emphasize Cas's mistake.

Dean knocked his foot against Cas's under the table and left it there. He didn't apologize for bumping into Cas a second time. It didn't bother Cas. He knocked Dean's foot in return. Dean ducked his head with a little smile at his plate.

Sam snorted, for some reason, and exchanged a look with Kevin, who muttered, "Hopeless."

Cas wasn't bothered by either of them either.

#suptober23 #destiel #deancas #spn #snippetfic #fic #suptober

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shinsoup · 2 years

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Hi! I liked your work about Katsuki and I wanna make a request now). Imagine like fem reader has lava quirk, and in childhood, when she only got it, she wound herself and got big burn scar on her leg, like a little bit below the knee to just above the foot, I hope you understand me. She's really insecure about it and always wears pants or skirt with stockings. She's dating Katsuki about few months and still doesn't want to show it, but ofc he notices it. Reader in A class too btw. English is not my native language, sorry for mistakes. Thank you🥰

always

☆ summary ☆ bakugo helps his girlfriend realize how beautiful she actually is.

☆ warnings ☆ cursing, soft bakugo (run) , lava quirk ! fem reader

☆ word count ☆ 875

you started dating bakugo a couple months ago, the blonde actually asking you out after weeks of being close friends.

you loved bakugo.

how he would stay up late making you food because he didn’t want you “eating that junky shit from the vending machine.”

or how he would play with your hair—sometimes tugging teasingly to get on your nerves.

but with all the times you’ve slept over, or went to change—you always wore pants or hid in the bathroom.

sometimes the long shorts you were wearing would rise up, causing you to quickly yank them down and hope your boyfriend didn’t notice.

it’s not like you thought bakugo would judge you, but sometimes he came off harsher than he thought.

never towards you, but to others.

the names he would call izuku, or the punches he would give to eijiro whenever the red head made a remark.

“y/n?” bakugo’s voice called, waving his hand in front of your face making you snap out of it.

“hm?” you hummed, turning your head towards him and giving him a small smile.

your leg was itchy and on fire, not literally. but after the incident your scar would still throb and burn, causing you to lather it with lotion almost everyday.

“you aren’t paying attention,” he sighed, leaning back and running his hands over his face, an aggravated groan leaving his lips.

“i’m sorry,” you frowned, “these jeans are just…really itchy.”

katsuki got up abruptly and shoved his textbook into his bag, then going to take your hand and drag you away from the library table.

“kats wha-”

“we’re going back to my dorm.”

you let him drag you in silence, chewing on your bottom lip as your mind raced—your leg feeling like it was set on fire.

bakugo lead you into his room before sitting you on his bed, standing in front of you with his arms crossed over his chest.

“what’s going on?” he asked, eyes narrowed onto yours as your brows furrowed together.

“what’re you talking about, kats?” you mumbled, your hands going down to scratch at your leg, a bad habit you’ve picked up throughout the years.

“stop that.”

“stop what?”

“stop scratching your leg,” he spat, going to grab your wrist and pull it away, he was gentle though.

he was always gentle with you.

“i know why you do that,” he added, his fingers not leaving your wrist as his other hand went to hover over your leg.

“i’ve seen it before.”

your eyes widened as your mouth went agap, bakugo hesitating to lay his hand over your leg.

“why do you hide it from me?”

you knew one day he’d ask, bring back memories that were shoved deep inside you. but you never expected it to be so soon.

“i j-just…” you trailed off before letting out a sigh, “think it’s ugly.”

katsuki’s eyebrows perked up as his mouth went agap, his fingers soon coming up to flick you in the head—causing you to whine and glare at him.

“don’t ever call yourself ugly, you understand?”

“b-but,” you tried defending yourself but he was quick to cut you off.

“i don’t date ugly people. and my girlfriend is sure as hell far from ugly—you’re the most beautiful goddamn woman i’ve seen in my life.”

although he was scowling and trying to act tough, you could tell he meant every word he said, softness laced in his voice as he ran his finger soothingly up and down your leg.

“what about my scar?” you whispered after a moment of silence, bakugo letting his eyes wander down to your jeans that covered your legs.

he let his fingers come up to play with the button, his eyes looking into yours as he waited for your consent.

you gave him a small nod, bakugo then carefully undoing the button before pulling them down your legs, your arms moving back onto the bed to help lift your butt up.

although some would see this as a sexual gesture—it was far from it. katsuki made sure to make you feel safe and comfortable with him, not overstepping any boundaries.

he finally revealed the scar that laid large on your leg, a wince leaving your lips out of habit.

“this scar is a reminder of how strong you are,” he said, leaning down to kiss the tender skin before looking up at you, “you should wear it with pride.”

“…besides, you look fucking hot with it.”

you slapped him playfully as a giggle escaped your lips, bakugo smiling as he reached up to peck your forehead.

“you really mean that, kats?”

“which part? because yes you look hot as hell-”

you shoved him with a smile before running your fingers through his hair, his hand still resting on your bare leg as you scratched his scalp.

“all of it,” you whispered, playfully taking a piece of hair and tugging softly, making him crack a smile.

“always.”

#bakugo katuski #mha bakugou #my hero academia #bakugo fanfic #bakugo fic #bakugo imagine #bakugo x you #bakugo x reader

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vibratingskull · 5 months

Text

Mermaid!Thrawn x f!reader part 6

Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Well, let’s just say your mother didn’t appreciate you coming back drenched to the bones in her home. For that you earned 3 months without the right of going out except for college and work, with a tracking app on your phone as a bonus. Seriously?

But today is the day your punishment is lifted, so you pedal like a maniac in the street of your small town to the library, texting Eli on the way. You roll along the cliff, near the chasm to admire the ocean as you ride your bike, you inhale the scent of ocean spray as you hurtle down the hill. Today will be a good day!

“So what do you search for exactly?” Eli asks, putting the microfilm in his reader, “I’m searching for articles on the death of the priests.” you explain, he stops mid-movement to look you dead in the eyes “You mean about this story my great uncle told you about?”, you nod and he sighs “Why?”, “I’m taking interest in true crimes lately, I just want to see if it could make a good episode to tell.” you lie. He sighs again but helps you nonetheless.

You spent around 3 hours searching through the archived articles of the gazette but found nothing potent, you press your lips into a thin line, disappointed, “The Gazette is more right-leaning, surely they would have talked about an incident at church…” he whispers, “Maybe the church opposed to the idea?”, “And lose an opportunity to play martyrs? Surely not!” Eli counters “We must have missed something.” You go back to your microfilms with more focus and it pays off! One hour later you got something

“Look at that! It says a gang of rioters put the town upside down on the night of the 6th, they tried to penetrate into habitants homes several times and even abducted an infant following “the incident at church” of the day prior,” “You think this is it?” he wonders, “The dates could match!”, “What happened next?”, “The parents fought off the abductors and saved their child, but it suffered grave cuts on the chest and back. They had to go to the hospital. The gang disappeared in an unknown location towards the sea.”,“Huh… Funny.” Eli comments. He doesn’t understand, it only makes sense to you for now. You change microfilms on your machine “Help me find the one published at this date, it should confirm my suspicions.” but impossible to find it. “You’re sure we got all the microfilms?” Eli asks suspiciously, “Yeah… I helped the librarian, there wasn’t any other box of microfilms.” then why one edition was missing? “You think the archives are incomplete?”, “That would surprise me a lot! You know how old towns love their archives.” he laughs. You bite your lips pensively, why does it have to be especially this one? Especially the one that could confirm the date and the incident. Crap! Is it a coincidence?

You rummage through all the microfilms, to no avail. You have to come to your sense : this edition is definitely lost. “Don’t be like that” Eli tries to cheer you up “I know! The University got a club of journalism, no? We could try their archives!” You nod feebly as you walk out the library, disappointed. Eli circles your shoulders with his arm “I’m sorry, I didn’t know it was so close to your heart. It is a new hobby of yours?”, “Well you know how my mother hate when I paint. She threw all my art furniture in the bins after an argument one month ago…”, “Even the merman you were painting?” your heart pinch at that memory “Yeah, even this one… She knew I put a lot of my heart in this one…” Sometimes you can’t wait until you gather enough money to run away to the city and away from your family…

“Say… You know what could clear your spirit?” He proposes “Coming to church with me!” Eli smiles broadly. You gauge him up and down not amused “You know I would burn as soon as I step foot into the buildings? I’m an impious harlot, remember?” He winces and joins his hands together “Please… Don’t let me go alone… The new priest is terrifying!” he begs you with his eyes. You look at him with a light grin. Fearless Eli who would face up an ouragan on his fish boat is trembling before a man? You can’t miss that! “Alright, but only because it’s you.” you squeeze him back.

You sit down on the bench of the church, it feels more fresh inside! You tend to forget Eli’s family is pretty religious. Except his grand uncle. You always stayed together outside of church while Eli’s inside when you were young. He told you fairy tales and legends, your parents trusted him to take care of you during this one hour outside of Eli’s parent supervision.

When you rise your head to the altar you understand what Eli’s meaned by terrifying. Perched up, judging everyone and their sins is Priest Tarkin, as cold as ever. You lower your gaze as your eyes meet, you realize everyone do the same. Nobody dares looking him in the eyes. You wanna whisper something to Eli but he’s already praying next to you, eyes closed shut, hand clasped before him, so you remain silent, looking at your feet. You discretely let your gaze navigate the room as Tarkin starts the mass to pass time.

And you froze.

Here… On the other side of the room, a few rows before yours… The gang that hunts Thrawn!

Eli yawns deeply, clearly not pleased to be on a bark at this hour of the night. “Tell me again why I accepted to follow you?”, “Because it will be worth it” you simply respond by paddling further away. He begrudgingly follows.

When you’re far enough you stop and take out your ukulele and start singing under Eli’s wide, confused eyes. He remains silent for 20 minutes and then explodes. “You have talent, I’ll give you that! But if you wanted to give me a show, my room would have been as good! and less cold.” He almost sneezes. But you don’t listen to him, you lean overboard and tap water to create waves.

You hope he will come

Surely he will come…

You then feel a claw grazing your palm and two red orbs under water. “Hi, Thrawn! Would you please hop on the bark? I got someone I would like you to meet.”, “Who are you talking to?” Eli grumbles, hugging himself in the cold “Fishes?”.

You shout him a smile and take Thrawn's hand to help him on the bark. He jumps in easily and sits in like a king, slouching with his tail resting in water, floating lazily. You turn towards Eli with hope. He looks at Thrawn with round eyes and a mouth agape. Thrawn looks back to him with a thin smirk. Eli remains silent before finally speaking “What the fuck is that?”, “Not what: who! Eli I present you Thrawn. Thrawn, Eli.” Thrawn immediately leans towards him with his hand extended to him like you teached him. Eli jolt away. “Santa Maria, It moves!”, “Yes he moves, he’s a living being” you tempers, a bit annoyed “Isn’t he marvelous?” Eli gulps, eyes fixed on the claws of Thrawn’s hand “Seriously, who the fuck is this?”. “He’s my friend!” you exclaim joyfully, Eli cross himself “You’re friend with a monster?” he asks, utterly terrified. “He’s not a monster” you protest “he’s a person!”, “I’m sorry, I don’t know any person with claws, a tail and shark teeth!” he counters. Touché! You wince “He’s a sensible person with sentiments, you’ll see when you’ll know him better. Come closer! He won’t bite!” Eli remains still “Come on, shake his hand!” you encourage. Eli tentatively extends his hand, shake it with Thrawn and takes it back as quickly. “So? What do you think?” you shout, full of excitement. “I… I don’t know…”, “What? Aren’t you excited?! Isn’t it incredible? I mean, he’s a merman! A goddamn merman!”, “Incredible, that’s for sure…” He gulps “Listen… I think I will head home.” He takes his paddles, “You… You don’t stay?” you ask, your hopes getting crushed. “No… No, I’ve got a long day tomorrow, I … I’ll call you later, okay?” and he paddles away.

You look at him disappearing in the horizon, all of your excitement melting like ice under the sun. You turn to Thrawn who observed you both behind his folded hands with an embarrassed smile “I’m sorry it happened like that. I swear he’s a great guy!” You defend Eli, Thrawn tilts his head “He’s just… He’ll need a bit of time I think.” you murmur “I shouldn’t have thrown it to his face like that…” you sigh, saddened.

Thrawn remains silent, looking at you intently. You shake yourself up and offer him a smile “Let’s not talk about that!” you take out your little white board, some markers and your sign language book “I’ve find something for you to understand me better!” you laugh.

“It is quite useless. I understand you well.”

@blueninjablade3 @al-astakbar @thrawnspetgoose @readinglistfics @pencil-urchin @twilekchiss @ineedazeezee @mssbridgerton @dance-like-russia-isnt-watching @Cortisolcosplay

☆Tag list

#mermaid au #thrawn x f!reader #thrawn x reader #thrawn x you #thrawn #grand admiral thrawn #mitth'raw'nuruodo #fanfic #vibratingskull

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mydarllinglover · 10 months

Text

Alone || Six months later

After the war, the prison had been rebuilt and made into a home, into a proper community.

They had a small farm, full of fruits and vegetables and even some animals for food, Rick was in charge of this.

Walkers were cleared out and blocked from breaching, all blocks had been cleared and cleaned, and 3 of them were turned into homes for the growing community. The library was put to use by Carol and the children, for story time and schooling, and the walls were decorated with drawings.

C Block was still only occupied by the family,Tyreese and Sasha had moved in when they had been brought in from Woodbury, the past was put behind them.

Hershel had decided that it was time for Rick to step back as leader, that he should focus on himself and his son, after the whole Carl gunning down a surrendering kid incident. So he taught Rick all there was to know about the farmers life, so that he could teach Carl, and so on.

Hershel then formed the council, which was made up of; him, Daryl, Glenn, Carol, Sasha and even Natalia.

She was thrown off when he had asked her to join, but he was confused why, for she and Daryl had been the two heads that Rick looked to when making decisions, plans or when the hard tasks had to be done.

He was confident of her that she would make a brilliant member, she was hard headed and stubborn, she knew from right and wrong, whether that be people or decisions, and she was empathetic, to a certain degree. Natalia was talented in knowing what to tell people in difficult times, she was also an amazing poker player and liar, that worked in their fortune many times.

Glenn, Daryl and Natalia had built a supply team, and sometimes they would find other groups, or survivors on their own, taking them in, the community was growing larger, everyone had their part.

Natalia left Cell block C, walking down into the courtyard to get some food, where Carol and Daryl were stood talking, as she served it up.

"Morning, Natalie."

"Hey, Doctor S" She smiled at him.

"Morning, Nat."

"Nice to see you, Leon."

"Hey, Lia."

"Hello, Frank."

"How're you doing Talia?”

Natalia had adopted a few nicknames from members of the community.

"I'm doing great, Sean, thank you, how are you?"

"Great, as always" He grinned.

"Nat!" Two small voices cheered and waved.

"Molly, Luke! How are you both today?"

"Great."

"Hi, Miss Moore"

"Hey, Mika, what are you reading?"

"It's about volcano's" the young girl gushed excitedly, showing off the cover of the book.

"Cindy, hey, how's lil Tommy?"

"He's doing alright, but I lost his dummy, and he's been crying a lot without it, he can't sleep without it." Cindy sighed.

"I'll add it to my list, we're going on a supply run today, don't worry about it."

"I love you, you're an angel." Cindy squeezed Natalia's hand.

"It's no problem." Natalia laughed, walking away.

"Well, hello, Nat, Natalie, Talia, Lia, miss Natalia Moore." Carol greeted her, passing over a bowl of some food.

"Don't. Sometimes I wonder if they just don't know my name and hear it muttered around and say whatever they hear." Natalia sighed, taking the breakfast.

"Of course they know your name, it's called a nickname, cause they love and admire you so much, for saving their lives and giving them sanctuary."

"Blame Daryl, its mostly him who stops."

"He's dealing with it as well. You both make quite the pair, so you can accept that people look up to you here."

Daryl rolled his eyes as he ate.

"No one needs to look up to me, I just do my job, that's what we all are supposed to do."

"I need you to see something." Carol then told them. "Patrick, you want to take over?" She asked the tall kid with glasses.

"Yes, ma'am." He nodded, stepping up.

Carol handed him the things she was holding as Daryl and Natalia moved to join her side.

"Mr Dixon, Miss Moore?" Patrick asked, grabbing their attention. "I just wanted to thank you both for bringing that deer back yesterday. It was a real treat sir and ma'am."

"Hey, that was just Mr Dixon, I was only standing by." Natalia stepped back.

"Well then, I'd be honoured to shake your hand." Patrick put his hand out to the man.

Daryl sighed, licking his fingers clean and clapping the boys hand, shaking it.

"You shot it." Daryl grumbled to the woman as the three stepped away.

"But I couldn't carry it back, only you." She overly smiled at him.

"About today, I don't know if we're gonna be able to spare a lot of people for the run." Carol told the pair as they walked and ate.

"Should be alright." Natalia shrugged, looking at Daryl to see what he thought.

"That place is good to go. We're gonna move on it."

"Yeah, the thing is, we had a pretty big buildup overnight. Dozens more towards tower three. It's getting as bad as last month. They don't spread out anymore."

"With more of us sitting here, we're drawing more of them out. You get enough of those damn fence-clingers, they start to herd up." Daryl said.

"Pushing against the fences again." Natalia sighed.

"It's manageable, but unless we get ahead of it, not for long." Carol said.

Daryl and Natalia were loading up the car, with the help from Zach, Beth's boyfriend.

Beth walked up to the teen boy, greeting him with a kiss.

The two adults tuned out their conversation as they finished the task.

"Okay, are you gonna say goodbye?" Zach asked, once they finished their conversation, Beth walking away.

"Nope." She called back.

"It's like a damn romance novel." Daryl said with disgust.

"They're young and in love, obviously you wouldn't know what that's like." Natalia teased.

"By your track record, seems worth it."

Natalia clapped her hand over her heart, pretending to fall over.

"Oh, how you wound me, Mr Dixon." She fake cried.

"Stop." He nudged her.

"Before i forget. If I don't grab them, make sure someone does, we need chewable, rubber toys." Natalia told him, going back to serious.

"For Sully?"

"No, Judith's started teething, she's having a real tough time with it, told Rick I'd make sure we grab some."

"Alright." He nodded, walking towards his bike, slipping a comment to Sasha about Bob, a man her, Daryl and Glenn had found last week, coming along.

"I'm driving." Natalia said, hopping in the drivers side of the pickup truck, Zach getting in the passenger.

They got down to the gate, Daryl stopped so that he could speak to Michonne who just arrived, riding Flame, the horse.

"Move, kid." She told the teen boy, seeing that Michonne was making her way to their vehicle instead of the car. "Look who it is, you coming for the trip?"

"Thought I'd give you some company, Daryl says we're hitting up the big spot." Michonne said, getting into the passenger seat, that Zach had left unoccupied.

They had arrived at a superstore, fences boarded around the building.

"Army came in and put these fences up." Daryl explained to everyone when they got out the cars. "Made it a place for people to go. Last week, when we spotted this place, there was a bunch of walkers behind this chain-link, keeping people out like a bunch of guard dogs."

"So they all just left?" Bob asked.

"Give a listen." Sasha said.

The group was silent as they listened to the blaring music.

"You drew 'em out?" Michonne asked, sounding impressed.

"Put a boom box out there three days ago."

"Hooked it up to two car batteries." Glenn added.

"All right, lets make a sweep." Daryl instructed. "Make sure it's safe, grab what you can, we'll come back tomorrow with more people.”

They made it to the door, Daryl banged hard on the glass with his elbow.

"Just give it a second." He said, sitting on the small wall, Natalia was leaned against it next to him, whilst the others stood around.

"Okay, I think, I've got it." Zach said, catching theirs and the other attendees attention.

"Got what?" Michonne asked, walking over.

"I've been trying to guess what Daryl did before the turn." He explained, moving to sit next to Natalia.

"He's been trying to guess for, like, six weeks."

"Yeah, I'm pacing myself." The teenager argued with the man. "One shot a day."

"All right, shoot."

"Well, the way, you are at the prison, you being on the council, you're able to track, you're helping people, but you're still being kind of uh surly." The two women looked at him confused. "Big swing here. Homicide cop."

Natalia and Michonne both started laughing, not being able to hold it.

"What's so funny?" Daryl asked.

"Nothing. It makes perfect sense." Michonne answered.

"Actually, the mans right, undercover."

"Come on, really?" Zach asked him.

"Yep." Daryl nodded. "I don't like to talk about it 'cause it was a lot of heavy shit, you know?"

"Dude, come on, really?" Zach didn't believe him. "Alright, fine. Nat, what were you before all this?”

"Funnily enough, I was the same, we were actually partners, it's how we know each other so well." Natalia played on the bit. "Could say we're thick as non-thieves."

"Seriously?" Zach asked, Michonne turned around to hide her laughter.

"Yeah." Daryl continued.

"Hey, you remember that one case, the guy who wore green suits with the cane shaped like the question mark?"

"Yeah, liked riddles." Daryl joined in. " But shush, it's confidential."

"Oh right, work policy." Natalia nodded, looking at the floor.

"I'm just gonna keep guessing, I guess." Zach sighed.

"Yeah, you do that."

Walkers threw themselves at the glass, ending the conversation, making the three stand up from the wall.

"We're gonna do this, detectives?" Michonne asked.

"Let's do it." Daryl stepped towards the doors.

"Hey, you ready?" She asked Zach.

"As ever." He let out a sigh.

"You're gonna do great, okay? Just a real easy one, nothing to worry about." She smiled at the teenager.

"Alright, yeah." He nodded. She walked ahead to join her friends, weapon at the ready.

"The Riddler!" She could hear Zach whisper to himself as he walked forward.

Once the walkers were dealt with and dragged out, everyone waited outside the doors.

"All right, we go in, stay in formation for the sweep." Sasha told the group of people "After that, you all know what you're supposed to look for. Any questions?"

"Was there ever a time you weren't the boss of me?" Tyreese asked his sister.

"You had a few years before I was born."

"Whoever see's it first, any sort of rubber toy, but not small enough so she can swallow." Natalia reminded Daryl. "Cindy's boy lost his pacifier so he could do with a new one as well."

"Copy that." He nodded as they headed in.

Once the sweep was done, and they were all clear, Glenn, Michonne, Bob and Natalia walked with trollies, she also had her bag open around her front, throwing in the most important things, just in case.

"Hey." Daryl whispered, appearing behind her.

"Hm?" She hummed, preoccupied with shoving pharmaceuticals, first aid kits, shampoo, conditioner, body wash, tampons, pads and toothpaste in her bag, anything of health importance.

"Found the jackpot." He stood next to her, shoving the parent requests in her bag.

"You're a gem, no wonder you're so popular, Mr Dixon."

"Gotta thank my partner in crime, too." He smirked at her.

"Or you could say "not" crime." She winked.

His smile dropped as he stared at her.

"Yeah, I'll go look at other stuff." She nodded, walking away and chucking a few packs of wipes in her bag before zipping it up and putting it on the right way.

A thud somewhere around the store sounded, followed two seconds later by glass smashing.

Bob shouted that one of the shelves came toppling down.

Natalia made her way over there, shortly after Daryl, who was closer.

"You alright? You cut or something?" He asked the man who was under the shelf, bent down and flashing a light on him.

"No, man, but my foot is caught." Bob told him.

"Alright. He's just caught. Come on, help me up." He told Zach and Tyreese who also came over.

"What happened?" Glenn shouted out from somewhere.

"Nobodies hurt, we're in wine and beer." Natalia replied, storing the location to bring up another time.

"I was moving fast, man. I drove right into the drinks." Bob laughed off.

"Man, you lucked out. If this thing had come down on you the wrong way " Tyreese let the sentence die.

"Should be more careful about yourself and your surroundings, one wrong move could mean everyone's lives at risk." Natalia told him, she felt suspicious of what had happened, something didn't feel right to her.

The ceiling above collapsed just above them, chunks of it rained down.

A walker had fallen through, tangled up to the ceiling by his intestines, floating in the air.

Everyone jumped back, looking at what just happened.

"Holy fuck." Natalia hissed.

Michonne, Sasha and Glenn ran towards them, stopping when they saw the walker stuck above.

"Yeah, uh, we should probably go now." Glenn decided.

"Bobs still stuck. Get him out of there." Daryl said, walking back to the other cabinet.

"We'll get the others." Michonne told him, unsheathing her sword.

Another bit of the ceiling broke, a walker diving down with it, but landing to the floor.

More and more holes were made, more and more walkers reached the ground.

The group of people jumped out the way, in order to not get jumped on by the dead.

"Hey!" Bob screamed out.

Natalia pulled out her knife, a walker had just taken Glenn down, tackling him to the ground, she ran forward plunging her knife in it's skinless skull, letting Glenn push it off so he could get to his feet.

Gunshots surrounded the place as everyone ran in different directions.

Daryl climbed up a small tower of boxes, as they gathered around him.

Natalia was fighting one off, when she heard a thwack behind her, she dropped her opponent, spinning around to reach down and grab the arrow that was shot into the head of a walker that was gaining on her.

She ran towards the man, throwing him his arrow as Glenn helped take out the walkers surrounding him.

"Daryl, go!" Glenn shouted, as a helicopter was getting close to fall on them any second.

She pulled her gun out, helping shoot at walkers a distance away in order to not get shot herself.

"Let's get Bob!" Zach called out.

Natalia shot at a walker who was crawling towards Bob, Daryl then dragged it away.

Zach lifted the shelf as Natalia kept the lookout for them, shooting at walkers headed in their direction, whilst Daryl helped Bob out.

"Come on, time to go!" He shouted. "Let's get out of here!"

They headed for the doors as the helicopter was about to drop.

"Ah!" Zach screamed out.

Natalia turned her head, as a walker was chomping into the teen boys leg, dragging him down from under the shelf.

"Zach!" Glenn called out.

Natalia went to run to the boy as the Walker mauled on his neck.

"No! It's too late!" Daryl grabbed her arm, dragging her back, telling the others to run as the ceiling crumbled.

"We can't leave him!" She screamed. "He's just a kid!"

"We don't have a choice, come on!"

They ran for the exit through a thick cloud of dark dust, the helicopter falling onto where they were moments ago.

"I'll do it." Daryl mumbled to her when they got back to the prison, walking to C block.

"You sure?" She asked, chewing her lip.

"Yeah, you alright?" He asked, putting his hand on her shoulder, stopping them both from walking.

"I wish we could've helped him, at least so he didn't suffer." She looked down at her fingers, picking at her nails so that she didn't end up crying. "He had his whole life ahead of him, it just sucks so much worse when we lose someone young, especially like that. He was such a great kid, should've never brought him out."

"I know." He muttered, bringing her in for a hug, patting her hair as he looked ahead.

"I'm gonna go see Wi-Judith! Judith, see how she likes her stuff, I'll take the other stuff down to inventory tomorrow." Natalia said, wiping at her eyes as she pulled away from the hug, heading towards the building again.

"Alright." Daryl nodded, pretending to not notice the near slip up, he hadn't caught her do it before, but she was under a lot of stress and grief, he had noticed how she took a special interest in the babies at the prison, making sure they'd have everything they'd need, even the small things like toys to chew on and the exact colour pacifier they liked, all with out spending much time with them, like she was too scared to get close, that something bad could happen to the baby if she did.

He still hadn't given her the picture, he didn't know why, something about never finding a right time with her, even though they spent a majority of their time together, the running joke was that if one was near, the other wasn't too far away, they heard what people said and both shrugged it off, never wanting to acknowledge it with each other, they were good teammates and partners, that was all!

Deep down, another thing that had stopped him was how she would react, he knew she knew it was in that cupboard so long ago, that she hadn't grabbed it, he wondered if she'd be mad or upset that he had decided to snatch it up, he didn't like to think about it much.

"Rick, hey" Natalia greeted Rick Grimes, it looked like him and Hershel were talking about something when she walked in on them. "Hi, Hershel, Miss Judith."

"How'd it go?" Hershel asked her.

"Not good." She shook her head. "The roof had water damage, a helicopter and around two dozen walkers were on top. Zach, he didn't make it I'm sorry, Daryl's letting Beth know.”

"He was a good boy." Hershel said sadly looking down.

"He was." She sighed "But, I did manage to grab loads of things for Doctor S and the women and babies," She made wide eyes at Judith, reaching into her bag for the stuff Daryl put in there. "Daryl managed to grab these for her." She told Rick, grabbing a wipe from the bag and wiping down a pink chewable ring. "Should help with her teething." Once she was done cleaning it, she gave it to Rick.

"Thank you, I know you made it a priority when you didn't have to." Rick patted her shoulder.

"I didn't grab them, he did, also got some things that were needed by the other babies, I'll give them out tomorrow, for now, I need some sleep."

She bid the two men goodnight, walking into the cells and up the stairs.

She whistled lowly.

Sully came jogging out of Daryl's cell, that was next door to hers, still, Michonne's was on the other side.

"What's that in your mouth?" She asked the dog, who was holding a teddy rabbit in his jaws. "Where the hell did you get that?" She muttered, walking towards the Rednecks door.

She cleared her throat.

"What?"

"Why do you insist on spoiling my dog?"

"Thought he'd like it, snatched it on my mission for baby shit." He said, fixing his crossbow.

"Don't waste time and storage on him, he's perfectly fine with what he's got." She told him, moving to sit beside him on his bed.

"Was nothing." He shook his head. "Take it as a anniversary gift."

"An anniversary gift? For what, exactly?" Natalia laughed.

"A whole year since you joined the group."

"About 3 months too early, it's only been 9 months, but thanks" She smiled at him. "He seems to enjoy it."

Sully had joined them back in Daryl's room, laying down on the end of his bed as the dog chewed and played with the teddy.

"Course he does. S'Rabbit."

"And it's the last one he gets, you're building too much of a collection."

"Yes ma'am." He raised his brows, keeping his eyes on his weapon as he fiddled with it.

"How'd she take it?" Natalia asked, changing the air in the small atmosphere.

"Surprisingly alright, that's what scares me, changed the accident board, said she was glad to know him, hugged me then went back to writing in her diary."

"She's gone through a lot, lost a lot of people, some people just handle it differently, lets just pray she's not building up for a psychotic breakdown or anything." She mused, laying down on the bed and staring up at the ceiling, imagining it crashing down on her just like in the store.

The pair spent the rest of the night in silence, enjoying each others company and not being totally alone in the world, causing them both to end up falling asleep beside each other.

#daryl dixon #daryl dixon smut #the walking dead daryl #twd daryl #carl grimes #carol peletier #daryl fanfiction #glenn rhee #michonne #rick grimes #beth greene #maggie greene #hershel greene #michonne hawthorne #bobstewkey #sasha williams #tyreese williams #judith grimes

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