#I got both of them ONCE and they never appeared in stores near me again after that year
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What do you MEAN there's a new monster cereal flavor!?
#my stuff#tw food mention#food#monster cereal#Btw it's caramel apple flavored#Saw it in the store earlier today#BRING BACK YUMMY MUMMY AND/OR FRUIT BRUTE YOU COWARDS#I got both of them ONCE and they never appeared in stores near me again after that year
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You've Got a Side You Can't Explain
Skinny Sisk x reader, brief Floyd Talbert x reader
A soulmate au in which whenever your soulmate is injured, flowers bloom in the same spot on your body
A/N: Today marks the one year anniversary of me creating this blog 🥳 I've greatly enjoyed my time in this fandom, and I wanted to write something to mark the occasion. I created a poll a while back asking what fic you guys would like, and a soulmate au with Skinny won the day - which I'm super pleased about, because he's underrated 🤭
(This is written for the fictional depictions from the show - no disrespect to the real life veterans!)
Title comes from Wildflower by 5SOS. Thanks to anyone who voted in the poll 💕🕊️ I hope you like this!
Warnings: war, injury, blood, alcohol
"They must be adventurous," your mother always says when she spots the flowers blooming on your knees and elbows. That is where the flowers always seem to appear, which must mean that your soulmate is always hurting them. From skinned knees and scratched elbows, presumably – maybe from climbing trees or running too fast.
"Or clumsy," your father will add with a sigh in later years, when the flowers still seem to appear just as often as they did in childhood. Most people get them less often as they get older, but not you.
Your mother always shoots him a tight-lipped glare before offering you a reassuring smile. "They must play sports, or something. Or be a hard worker."
Sometimes you wonder if your soulmate, whoever they are, is disappointed by the lack of injuries you get as you grow up. There's the occasional bruise on your leg from knocking into the coffee table that your father refuses to move, and the odd nick on your finger from helping out in the kitchen, but in comparison to the number of flowers that they give you, there is a definite imbalance.
The store near your house sells beautiful bouquets. You tell yourself that once you meet them – if you meet them, a worried voice always cautions in the back of your mind – that you will buy them flowers often, just to make up for the lack of them that litter their skin. Or you could pick the wild ones, that grow so pretty and untamed along the road.
But all of that depends on the both of you making it through the war first.
. . .
You tell yourself that you didn't sign up to be a nurse in the hopes that it will somehow bring you closer to your soulmate. After all, what are the odds of finding them in your hometown? The war is moving people all over the world, shifting them around, shuffling them up. Becoming a nurse will allow you to put some good into the world, covering up all the bad that the Germans have been spreading all over Europe, but you can’t deny the hopeful thrum that runs through your heart whenever you imagine meeting your soulmate in the midst of all that movement. Finding them would be like standing in the eye of a hurricane, finding some calm, even if just for a moment.
Flowers have been staining your skin since the US joined the war. There’s no doubt in your mind that somewhere out there, your soulmate is going through boot camp – and getting quite a few bruises in the process, if all the small flowers that litter your arms are anything to go on.
“Looks like he’s skinned his knees – again.” Lorieli, the spunky nurse who you met during your first week, nods down to your legs.
You tug the starchy white fabric of your skirt down, hoping to cover the small blooms of color that are revealed every time that you move too quickly. Flowers are nothing to be embarrassed about. Most people get them, yes, though you more than most. Which is also not something to be ashamed of. It has, however, become sort of a running joke among the other nurses that you’re never without flowers.
“Well,” you say with a bright smile. “he’s given me so many flowers that I can never be mad if he forgets them on my birthday.”
Several other nurses giggle.
“When you finally meet him, you’ll have to give him a bouquet,” one of them suggests. “that way you can call it even.”
“He’ll get the works,” you say, thinking of all the times throughout your life that you’ve had the same thought. “Carnations, sunflowers, chrysanthemums. But who knows? Maybe I should just start stubbing my toes all the time so that I can catch up with him, call it even.”
Another nearby nurse tilts her head, trying to catch a glimpse of your knees. “Gladiolus,” she notes. “Those represent determination. At least he’s got a strong will.”
“And poor balance!” Someone else teases.
You hardly hear her, though. Determination. The thought rings in your mind. What flowers does he get from you whenever you find yourself injured?
. . .
Standing amongst the scarred earth and remnants of battle, you can’t help but wonder if this is what the surface of lifeless planets feel like. Lonely, barren. Other planets, at least, have probably always been that way. Or they give the appearance of having always been. But here, a deep feeling of sadness pervades as your eyes take in the evidence of war. Something happened here, the scene says instead.
Slowly, you walk along, keeping your eyes peeled for any soldier who may need help. Death gazes up at you from every face you see, though. The Day of Days may have been an event that’s thrilling to know you took part in, but any exhilaration you may feel is immediately snuffed out by the knowledge that so many perished to make it happen.
“Hey,” a soft voice pulls you from your thoughts. A few feet away stands a combat medic, the stark red cross on his arm band immediately providing you with a sense of kinship despite the fact that, to your knowledge, you’ve never met before. His dark eyebrows are knit together as he watches you. “Are you okay?”
You nod. Then, so as not to come across as rude, you clear your throat to speak. “I’m fine. Just – “ You glance around at the scene before you. “ – thinking, is all.”
The medic watches you for a moment, the expression in his dark eyes inscrutable. “The other nurses are looking for you back at the Aid Station,” he finally says. “I think we’re all about to move out.”
Taking one last look at the world around you, you sigh before steeling yourself and turning back from the direction that you came. “We should be heading back, then.”
Trying to lessen the tension, you extend your hand to the medic as you walk. “(Y/N) (Y/L/N).”
“Eugene Roe.” He has a firm grip. A good, solid handshake.
“Where do you think we’re going from here?”
Roe shrugs. “I don’t know. But at least we’re finally getting away from Carentan. I don’t think too many of the men in my company have liked it too much.”
“Which company are you from?”
“Easy Company. With the 506 PIR.”
You hum in response. “Maybe I’ll see you around, then.” It’s a nice thought. He seems nice. At least from what you’ve seen of him, which is nothing but a minute or so of interaction. Still, first impressions are everything, and it’s surprisingly nice to talk to a man who’s not injured and bleeding all over you, and to interact with someone other than one of your fellow nurses. They’re nice, but something about being a running joke between them because of the inordinate number of flowers you receive from your soulmate compared to them is uncomfortable. And lately, the new look of pity on their faces has been unbearable.
Because you haven’t had any new flowers appear since the invasion began.
Eugene offers you a smile, none the wiser to your internal thoughts. “Hopefully. Hey, look at that.” He points to a small patch of wildflowers growing under a street sign as you near the Aid Station. “They survived.”
“Despite everything,” you realize aloud.
If these flowers can live through everything that this haunted ground has seen, then maybe your soulmate can, too.
. . .
Having a friend in Eugene is nice. He’s quiet, but he’s kind, and once you get him to open up a bit, he’s funny. Knowing him is a gateway to meeting other people, too – specifically, the rest of his company. Being around your fellow nurses is fun, but, you have to admit, sometimes it’s nice to be around a company of men. It’s even a little fun to have them throw flirty smiles your way, or to ask you to dance on the occasion that you all find yourselves occupying one of England’s many pubs.
Although it would be remiss if you didn’t admit to having issues with some of the Easy men.
Liebgott is always good for a dance and never misses the chance to throw a wink and a smile in your direction. Popeye never fails to buy you a drink. Talbert is probably the flirtiest of them all. Open in his affections, warm with his smile, and smooth with his words. How could anyone not like him?
Several of the other men don’t bother to hide their frowns whenever they spot the two of you together, though. Which really wouldn’t bother you so much, except that one of his own friends is strangely cagey whenever you’re around.
“Gonna go find Liebgott,” Skinny Sisk mutters into his beer as a way of excusing himself from the table the second that you sit down.
Everyone else watches him go, though they make no comment about it or any move to leave themselves. Talbert glances between the two of you as his friend retreats across the bar. When he catches you frowning, he automatically reaches for your hand and rubs his thumb across your knuckles.
“So what’s the deal with him?” You ask, the question addressed to no one but open to anyone sitting at the table. Even with the dim lighting in the pub, it’s impossible to miss the guilty look on the men’s faces or the way that they avert their eyes from you. Undeterred, you try to brush it off. “I mean, once or twice is a coincidence. Five times means that he obviously doesn’t like me.”
Across the table, Shifty Powers smirks in a way that’s probably his attempt at hiding a smile. He’s one of Skinny’s best friends. If anyone would know, it would be him.
“Well Ma’am, I think the trouble is that maybe Skinny likes you a little too much.”
“Ah, come on Shifty,” Tab sighs, although he’s doing just as bad of a job suppressing his own smile.
Heat rushes to your face at the honesty of the answer. “Skinny is jealous of us?”
“Who wouldn’t be?” Talbert asks. “I got the prettiest nurse of them all, all to myself. You’re enough to make anyone jealous.”
Who would be able to resist that sentiment? Smiling, you lean closer to your boyfriend and plant a soft kiss on his cheek. For all of Talbert’s swagger, it sends butterflies into your stomach to realize that you’ve made him blush.
Tab runs his thumb over your knuckles again, a favorite affection of his. You glance down at your joined hands – and freeze. There, on the back of Talbert’s left hand is a band-aid. Though you know better, you can’t help but look down at your own – tragically uninjured – left hand. Not even a small bloom adorns your skin.
In your silence, Talbert follows your gaze. His handsome brows furrow when he registers what he’s seeing: the two of you are not soulmates.
“Hey, it’s okay.” Talbert leans close, resting his forehead against yours both in a show of affection and so that his friends sitting so close by won’t overhear. “We’re just having fun, right?”
You knew it was too good to be true. Still, a small part of you had always hoped . . .
“Of course,” you whisper back. “We can keep having fun, right?”
This time, Talbert initiates the kiss between you. “Of course,” he echoes.
. . .
Pain flashes so suddenly in your leg that you stumble at the sudden rush of the white-hot hurt. It’s so unexpected that you drop the box you’ve been carrying – thankfully empty. Still, the wood tumbles onto the stone floor of the church with a loud cracking noise that causes Renée to stop and look back at you.
“(Y/N)?” She sets down her own box and takes a step back towards you. “Are you okay?”
With trembling hands, you lift your skirt to inspect the point in your leg where the pain radiates from. Tugging down your sock reveals sprigs of bright marigolds and bunches of thistle that are quickly blooming on your skin.
“It’s never hurt before.”
“They’re hurt,” Renée says, voicing your fear. “Badly.” She takes your hands and offers them a gentle squeeze. “I’m sorry, (Y/N).”
But there’s no time to feel sorry. There’s work to be done as men cry out in pain and as people call out to you and your fellow nurses for help, voices and groans echoing off the church walls in the way that voices singing hymns once did.
More wounded men flow into the church in a steady trickle all morning. Somewhere out there, the Germans are getting their licks in. It’s in this mad dash that you spot Eugene stepping into the church.
For once, he doesn’t smile when he sees you. His face is set in a serious expression that’s unlike any you’ve seen on him before. Through the crowd, he makes a beeline for you, an injured man being hauled in behind him. You immediately step back, making sure there’s a place to get the new man situated.
“Who -?”
Eugene answers before you can finish. “Sisk. Shrapnel in his leg. Didn’t give him morphine.”
You pull a flask from your pocket and hand it to the injured paratrooper without thinking. He starts drinking the contents immediately as Renée and Anna inspect the damage. This is the first time you’ve ever been this close to Skinny. Usually he turns tail the second that you show up. But now, looking at his face instead of his retreating back, you realize for the first time that he’s quite handsome. Even more so, now that you know what he looks like with an expression other than a jealous pout. No wonder so many girls chase after him!
“(Y/N) . . .”
Heat rushes to your face as Renée’s voice pulls you from your thoughts. She stands on the other side of Skinny, and she’s staring down at his wounded leg.
Oh.
Once again, you lift your skirt, revealing the blooms of wildflowers that grow in the same spot and in the same shape as Skinny’s injury. Through his pain, he pushes himself up on his elbows so that he can see what everyone else is looking at.
“It’s you,” you say.
“Come now.” Renée grabs Eugene’s hand and tugs him into one of the church’s other rooms. Finding your soulmate is a rare and extremely personal thing. And you’ve just done it in a hospital full of wounded and dying men, of all places.
Skinny leans back down, staring up at you. His eyes flick over you, but his expression doesn’t change; he looks neither shocked or particularly happy. Of course you’re not required to fall head-over-heels for someone just because they’re your soulmate, and there’s no rule that says you have to spend all of happily ever after together. Still, what are the odds that your soulmate ends up being someone who dislikes you so much?
Well, not dislike, necessarily. What was it Shifty had said? Jealous.
The thought hits you so fast that you voice it without meaning to. “Did you know?”
To your surprise, Skinny sighs, squeezes his eyes shut. “Yes.”
Your heart falls. “What?”
“The first time I saw you,” Skinny explains. “I noticed some bruises on your arm. I had some small flowers in the same place. And any time I got a scrape, you would have flowers in the same spot the next time that I saw you.”
“Why didn’t you say anything? You just . . . ignored me.”
He opens his eyes. “You seemed so happy with Talbert.”
“We were just having fun,” you echo Tab’s words from that night all the way back in England. “Besides, we haven’t seen each other that much since Holland.”
This seems to grab his attention. “Oh? I’m sorry.”
You shrug. It was just fun. And there’s a war going on, anyway. That always complicates things. Like this, for one.
“If it’s not too soon,” Skinny says. “And if I haven’t ruined things, do you maybe . . . Should we actually get to know each other?”
Imagine that: Skinny Sisk, who you once thought was disgusted by your very presence, actually wants to get to know you – his soulmate.
“Yes. I’d like that.” After all, you’ve been hoping to find him since you became a nurse. You gesture to his leg. “But we have to fix you up first.” You try to smile, more to see if you can draw one out of him than anything else. “We can’t exactly get to know each other if you’re dead.”
To your surprise, he chuckles. He drains a little more from the flask that he still holds. Now, with the mixture of the confession and the alcohol that’s entered his system, he gazes up at you with big eyes, a little starry. Boldly, you take his hand in yours and squeeze.
“How you holdin’ up, Skinny?” Eugene asks. He and Renée have emerged from the room they disappeared into, Eugene holding a box of what little supplies you can spare for the front lines.
Skinny smiles, looking at no one but you. It’s enough to create butterflies in your stomach and feels warm enough to grow a whole garden in your heart. “I’m in heaven, Doc.”
#band of brothers#band of brothers fanfic#skinny sisk x reader#skinny sisk#floyd talbert#floyd talbert x reader#eugene roe#shifty powers#joe liebgott#renee lemaire#band of brothers x reader#band of brothers imagine#hbo war fanfic#hbo war#my writing#soulmate au
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Dream ppost, possibly long, once again.
First dream: I visited a woman who had some kind of mental illness. She had 3 puppies and 1 of them was very scared, sitting still and trembling. I thought I need to report about that poor puppy but never didn't. At one point she and I went near to her balcony and there was 3 or 4 wild HUGE Great Horned Owls (huuhkaja) sleeping on the railing under a bedsheet. I LOVE those owls so seeing them made me super excited!
Next we stood on the balcony after those owls left. Before us was Chinese landscape with mountains and lake which was right beneath us. In the lake was HUGE cat fish! Like at least 5 meters long! But with it in the lake lived dragons. 2 of them were middle sized / normal (whatever you consider "normal size" to be for dragons) and one HUGE one. Those smaller ones were black and red-black in color while biggest was made of stone. They all laid at the bottom of the lake, relaxing and living peacefully. At the edge of the lake, near mountains, was wooden polls with ropes and something hang from those ropes. Rope went from poll to poll. I then thought: "Wait a minute. This was MY idea! MY way to earn money and help environment! She STOLE this from me!" Soon after this I woke up.
In last night's dream I, first, was in some mall and first I followed this guy who liked me, like I liked him, and he played hard to catch. I lost him at some point. Then something happened and people started to rush out of the mall in panic. I tried to keep up with my sister but lost her.
Next I sat in a high car, looking behind through back window. We were driving on a forest road, forest being on both sides of the road. Road itself was like a storming sea, covered with water which was coming towards us. Suddenly bright yellow flashing, like lightning, started to appear in the middle line of the water and it made me happy. I knew it was the guy, my crush, who I lost at the mall. He had returned and found me instead. I also need to mention this guy was more or less like a lizard people (if you know what I mean).
Then, in the same dream, I was in HUGE white truck. It had 2 big trailers but they were shared in 2 levels. Upper levels looked like a bus with seats but below area was empty, stored with food and weapons. I sat near the window, equipped with a hammer only. We were chased by enemy or police, I'm not sure. My sister was there with many other people. I saw one enemy coming with flying scooter or something so I asked could I break the window so I could shoot him. Sis started to say no, but I already hit a small hole in the glass, pushing my little gun through it, aiming at the enemy.
I pulled the trigger and out came a group of small white balls which turned into seagulls! They attacked the man, me yelling at them to poke his eyes out of his head! :'D More enemies came to his aid and one of them aimed at me directly with his gun. The glass shattered and I fell out of the truck. Luckily I, like evetyobe else, were tied on their seat with a long rope or chain so I hanged along.
I managed to land on near by police car which was still chafing us. On it's roof was a pile of weapons, mostly old long axes, knives and swords. I took few of them before falling off on the car. I got sucked under the police car before my chain yanked me back with such huge force that I landed on another white truck which was driving beside us. I heard my sis scream at me something while I watched another pile of weapons in front of me. Once more I took old swords, knives and axes. We had no good weapons in our truck so I took weapons to as many people as I could.
I remember how excited and pleased I was when picking up those weapons, haha! Oh, and another thing! For a some reason wearing shoes, and socks, was forbid in our truck. Apparently they made noises what enemies could hear.
And then I slowly started to wake up.
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[image description:
reply from @its-bread-bitch saying
I love murderdock and spider-Gwen! I don’t know if it’s possible for your fic since it kind of feels like a prompt itself but I absolutely adore fics where protagonist and antagonist meet somewhere casual on accident (like the grocery store or laundromat something) and just mutually agree not to start shit since their both “off duty” and just have a surreal oddly polite/casual conversation/interaction
/end image description]
so, uh, I wrote it
also on ao3
relationship: Matt Murdock & Gwen Stacy
tags: minor Matt Murdock/Foggy Nelson, earth-65, Matt Murderdock, vaguely canon compliant
human after all
Gwen had agreed to the movie night mostly so her dad would stop worrying after her as much. She didn't realize that it would be such a hassle.
"Dad," she said, trapping the phone between her shoulder and her cheek, "don't worry, okay? I'll be there in half an hour, max. I'm just getting some snacks because I know you - no, Dad, I do, and there's no way you have anything remotely sweet in the kitchen, and I'm not watching anything without my fix of popcorn and chocolate mix. Do you need milk? No, I won't ask you - yeah, I've got it covered, okay? Just - oh my God."
New York City is a lot smaller than people think. Sure, millions of people live here, and you're not going to get to know all of them. Often you'll never even learn the names of your downstairs neighbors. You share a living space and a school campus and a grocery store with dozens, hundreds, thousands of perfect strangers. But still, sometimes, coincidences happen. You run into a childhood friend at the bookstore. You rush to class and find out your second cousin just started going here too. You go to the closest supermarket to get some snacks for your father-daughter movie night and run into your deadly assassin nemesis.
Murderdock had the audacity to look calm and completely unsurprised. But then again, he could probably smell her from two blocks away.
Or he just heard her babbling on the phone from the other aisle.
"Hey, Dad, I'll call you back, okay? Love you," she said, easing the phone from its precarious position and hanging up. She had her symbiote at the ready, waiting for any provocation. Murderdock lived nowhere near her and the shitty apartment she shared with most of the rest of the Mary Janes; what's he doing here?
"Hello there, Gwen," Murderdock said calmly. "What a pleasant surprise."
"Murdock," Gwen said through gritted teeth.
Before anything could escalate, however, DA Nelson appeared from around a corner and said, "Hey, Matt, do you prefer black olives or - oh, hello."
"Hello," Gwen said. She wracked her brain, trying to remember if she'd ever met the DA out of costume. Maybe once, a couple of years ago? She never took an interest in Dad's Cop Things before she became Spider Woman, and afterwards she was very careful to avoid Dad's Cop Things out of the mask. Or at least she tried to be.
"Oh, Gwen!" Nelson said, smiling brightly, putting the olives in a cart that she hadn't noticed was placed just behind Murdock. "It's been a while. Is your dad doing okay?"
Apparently they had met before, then. When her dad was in the hospital, maybe?
"Um," she said, trying to look only at Nelson and failing. "Yeah. I'm actually heading to his place after this."
"It's important to spend time with family," Nelson said. "It's been a while since I saw Captain Stacy, so make sure to say hi for me."
"Okay," Gwen said slowly. "Sorry, I hope you don't mind me asking, do you live in the area?"
"Oh, no," Foggy said vaguely. "Just stopping by."
"Right." Gwen was so very weirded out by this. Why was DA Nelson acting so chummy with the literal Kingpin? What were the two of them doing in this particular store? She had gotten ready for a confrontation with Murdock, but it seems like they genuinely were just... Shopping here.
She didn't understand why they're here together, but she was suddenly confronted with the fact that Murdock truly was a person. Like, yes, he was a deadly assassin and probably a psychopath, but also he needed to eat to survive.
Gwen carefully walked past the two of them, then, and rounded the corner herself, stopping only when she thought she was a decent enough distance away that it seemed as though she was simply continuing her shopping, and definitely not eavesdropping, or peaking at them through a gap between cans of six different kinds of olives.
"Everything okay?" Nelson said in a worried tone. "You seem - "
"Everything's fine, Foggy," Murdock says curtly. "Let's just finish here and go home. I'm tired."
Home, Gwen mouthed. The word sounded so strange coming from Murdock, who she couldn't have imagined ever using a word like that in such a... warm tone. Foggy. So familiar. Like... She didn't know. Were they friends?
"Alright," Nelson said skeptically, but apparently deciding to drop it. "But we need some frozen pizza first."
"I'm not putting that in my body," Murdock said.
"You can pretend all you want," Nelson said, voice starting to fade as he pushed their cart further down the aisle and away from her, "but I know you're gonna steal a bite when I'm not looking."
"Lies," Murdock replied. "Lies and slander. I'm going to sue the district over this."
Was that... a joke?
Apparently yes, because Nelson's hearty laugh echoed through the store, so clearly genuine, so clearly affectionate.
They were out of eyesight now, although not out of earshot, especially not with her enhanced settings. Still, she'd heard enough.
She didn't understand. She didn't know how to feel about this.
But she also didn't think that this was the time to confront Murdock over this.
So she filed this information away, and took her groceries to the register.
*
"Sorry for hanging up earlier," she said, placing the groceries on the ground at the station. She didn't feel like swinging to her dad's right now, so she was going to use the subway for the first time in... A while. And yeah it was a little disgusting but she was tired and she needed to think about what she'd seen for a moment. "Yeah, just... Ran into someone unexpected. I'll be there as soon as possible. Love you too. Will update on ETA as soon as I'm on - yeah, exactly. Bye. Yep. Bye. Okay. Bye, Dad." She sighed as the call disconnected. Sometimes her Dad could be way too worried. She was Spider Woman, for God's sake. She'd be fine taking the damn subway.
"Funny running into you here," said a voice from behind her.
She didn't jump. She didn't. It was just... surprising, that her spidey-sense didn't warn her that Matt Murderdock had followed her into the subway.
"Same to you," she said, careful to keep calm. If her spidey-sense wasn't reacting, it probably meant that he wasn't looking for a fight.
"I didn't realize you shopped around Hell's Kitchen," Murdock said.
"Oh, um," Gwen said lamely. "I live only a couple of blocks over. And that supermarket carries a couple of my favorite brands, so - "
Why was she explaining herself to this man?
So she pivoted. "What were you doing there, anyway? And since when are you all chummy-chummy with the DA?"
"We were college roommates," Murdock said. What a... mundane explanation.
"Oh."
"That's actually." Murdock swallowed, as if uncomfortable with the topic. Then his expression hardened, and she knew that this was important, even if she didn't understand it. "He stays out of this. Do you understand?"
"I," Gwen stuttered.
His entire body radiated danger in that moment. This was important to him. She knew there was a sword in that cane of his. She knew he could slice her to pieces if she wasn't careful, if she wasn't quick. And yet, still, her spidey-sense was completely silent. Not a peep.
"Okay," she said. "I won't bother him. I swear. But..."
"But what?"
"Nothing," she replied. "Never mind."
He knew that she was lying, and she knew that right back. But this was a moment of understanding, too: Foggy Nelson was off limits. She wouldn't use him against Murdock. She didn't know exactly what their relationship was. Maybe he didn't either, from the way he said roommates, like it meant something else, like it was his lifeline. But she knew that even if Murdock was a terrible person, she wasn't. She'd respect this one line, for now.
"I guess I'll see you around," she said sarcastically.
He nodded once. "Until we meet again, Spider Woman."
The train roared as it pulled into the station, and Murdock was gone.
Next time they'd meet, they'll be on opposing sides. She'll do her best to defeat him, and he'll do his best to subdue her. But for now, she thought she might understand him just a little better.
Human after all.
#matt murderdock#spider gwen#gwen stacy#fanfic#prompt fic#this my fic#mattfoggy#foggy nelson#matt murdock#earth 65#marvel#marvel comics#mine#y'all I'm screaming if you see this this is my last post for the day cause I've hit post limit
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Gripes
Much as I’d like to refocus on the positive, I woke up on the wrong side of the bed again, and I will go ahead and dump a bunch of gripes here first.
1. I really need Google and major stores to get their fucking shit together regarding holiday hours, and hours in general, and stop fucking misleading me.
2. I hate my skin without argan oil and always overestimate how long the last bit in the bottle will last me, and I placed an order at Sephora days ago and it hasn’t even shipped yet, and I tried to obtain it at a physical store today and failed on account of early closing times combined with the internet’s lack of clarity about some of them and my own fuuuucked up schedule.
3. Fuuuuuck me for fucking myself up so much, so unnecessarily.
4. I got some new, overpriced icicle lights from Amazon and opened the other box of the ones I already had and tried to compare them both to the ones hanging on the balcony and had a weirdly hard time discerning the difference (or lack thereof) in brightness, maybe in part because these ones are still kind of bundled up and that distorts the appearance of the light. Next to each other, they somehow seem to look the same, even though I would think the Target ones would be dimmer just like the set on the balcony. Maybe I need the help of a camera.
5. How ridiculous that, almost three months after I was due to replace my driver’s license, I still haven’t done it. Get your shit together. I’m tired of vaguely worrying about getting stopped by police without a license again.
6. Really thought I would finally go to the dentist this month, but it was busy and disorganized and I didn’t. So, that awaits in the near future.
7. Also didn’t manage to go to Chicago. Did go to Oak Brook on the warmest day this week to return some stuff at the mall, so that was something, though again I was a little off.
8. I miss the maple pecan salad from Whole Foods so much. T_T I have tried various other salads and never loved (or craved) another like that. Every other packaged salad they have now has some shit in it I dislike. They do have some good ones in the salad bar, but I am almost always too late for those to be fresh.
9. I kind of miss the sense of community I felt a bit more of online last year. I’ve somewhat intentionally detached from the MBTI community I was more active in for a while because it was never something I was going to have such a sustained strong interest in, and Frank James in particular came to annoy and frustrate me far more than than he entertained me. I’m kind of feeling like engaging more online again, but I’m not sure in what context. Passive television watching and passivity on the internet have both become less satisfying than they used to be.
10. I also still miss the AV Club as it once was. I don’t know if there will ever be another site like it, complete with the strong commenting community it once had.
11. Still need to get an iPad keyboard, and I’ve been horrified to learn that there are no keyboards for current iPads as perfect as the one I have for my old one. I don’t know why. Is it something about how the sides of the iPad are shaped now that makes it impossible get a fit with that type of keyboard? I’m sure there is a way?! Not only are most of the current keyboards uglier and a texture I don’t like, but they don’t double as a nice silver cover that matches the back of the iPad. And to the extent that they do double as covers, they also cover the back of the iPad instead of just magnetically attaching on the side. WHY. Another fucking downgrade to fucking hate.
I’ll add more if I think of anything; I’ve had plenty I didn’t get around to complaining about this month.
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Platonic friendship thing but gender neutral reader helping out Trey in the kitchen just to be nice. Trey was probably sly enough to make them something on the sly as a thanks.
I am gonna use some context from Ruggies Kiss the Cook fic too (as in ur foraging for food)
Baking with Trey
Trey was always a sweet person, the dad of the dorm essentially. When you first arrived and explained to him that you simply weren't from this world and were summoned with nothing but the clothes on your back, Trey was the only one that seemed to be sympathetic.
As others mocked the fact that you don't seem to know much about the world around you, Trey helped to educate. When you couldn't get basic hygiene products, the vice-housewarden was there to offer you some toothpaste and brush. It was a small gesture but one you very much appreciated at the time.
He never mocked you. He never laughed at you. He joked with you. He treated you like an equal. It was nice to be treated as a person for once rather than the schools and headmage's punching bag. It was no wonder why you became fast friends
"Would you like to help me bake a few tarts for the next unbirthday party? I know you are quite good in the kitchen."
This was… unexpected… Though you have been friends for a good while you never expected Trey of all people to ask you to bake with him.
Then again you suppose it was only a matter of a time until he asked you, baking with others appears to be Trey's love language. It just felt so out of the blue.
The minute you got the text you started preparing. It would be rude not to bring something.
A small bag of flour you made yourself, sugarcane from the overgrown greenhouse deep in the woods, a few wild berries you picked from bushes. Just like that, you were on your way.
The Heartstabyul dorm welcomed you with bushes upon bushes of roses all freshly painted red. Your footsteps were silent, careful. Not a sound came out as you made your way into the kitchen.
You stood in the doorway of the kitchen watching Trey prepare for your arrival. He was so focused on the task at hand (and you were also quiet). A clearing of your throat gets the man to perk up.
"Ah, you're already here! Please give me a heads up next time you do that…"
As eyes closed and crinkled as he gave a nervous and boyish grin, eyebrows in their signature position as he let out a sigh. When Trey's eyes open again he notices your arms filled with ingredients.
"Oh, what's this? You didn't have to bring these, I had the ingredients already– Still, thank you…"
Kneading dough, rolling out crust, mashing wild berries, and small flour fights ensued in the kitchen. The conversation was nice. It has been a while since you've had such great company.
Light conversation flowed out of you both, from 'how was your days' to 'how are you feelings' were exchanged softly between playful flicks of flour and sneaking bites. On occasion, Trey would catch you and bonk you on the head with a wording spoon while softly scolding you.
Baking bread, pies, and desserts were one thing. Pastries were another kind of hell. Trey makes a good teacher though. Guiding your hands and explaining what you needed to do clearly, even demonstrating a few times.
Before you know it, all the baking is done. You couldn't help but feel just a little tired afterward from the heat of the kitchen to all the mixing you needed to do. As Trey slips all of the pastries into the oven you sit down on one of the asymmetrical chairs near the counter.
You close your eyes, leaning your head on your hand. Trey grabs a stool and sits next to you. The green-haired man was such a comfort to be around and a sweetheart. A few dad jokes and inquiries (and lectures) about your health both physical and mental later you hear a small ding.
With Trey, you unload and begin to store all the baked goods for tomorrow's unbirthday party and it is soon time to go, much to your disappointment. You hope you can do this again soon. Trey is one of the only ones that were nice off the bat unlike everyone else. It was nice being able to talk to someone or to talk to someone that wouldn't talk down at you.
The scent of strawberry under your nose snaps you out of your thoughts and you see Trey in front of you with a small box in his hand, the other pushing up his glasses.
"This is for you, you did help after all."
A quick peek showed a few tarts and a pie within.
"I know of your situation with food and Crowley. I imagine you don't get many sweets? If you ever need some more let me know, I'll make you something."
In that moment you knew that this was a man you were proud to call a friend. Finally, after so long of being mistreated and ignored, you had a friend of your own, and you will cherish it.
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blame it on the whiskey;
❥ 12k words | nsfw | eren x reader
❥ you and your closest friends get together for a sleepover, but there’s one issue— eren jaeger is there, but you have to stick it through for the rest of your friends.
❥ content: alcohol use, overstimulation, choking, slapping, biting, scratching, dirty talk, degradation, teasing, orgasm denial, barebacking, cum play (?), spitting
"i literally just don't understand why he's here." your complaining was filling the small kitchen, you body propped up on the island seated in the middle of the room. "i mean he's just so annoying.. i don't understand you guys, y'all-"
"listen, ___, babe, you just need to relax." hitch cut you off, strutting into the kitchen then placing her arms at your bare shoulders, fixing the straps on your tank top as she spoke. "eren is not even that bad, and he's cute! we're gonna get you drunk tonight so you don't even have to think twice about him." she runs her hand down your waist and fixed the hem of your shirt before walking towards jean, reaching around him for a bottle of whiskey, pouring herself a shot with her glass before waving her way out of the kitchen, back towards the living room.
"i don't even know why you let him bother you that much, ____." jean huffs, pouring the rest of the chips into the bowl, connie pulling sasha away before she could try to grab it. "wait until i bring it to the living room, sasha!" he hisses, passing the bowl to you to hold.
"i don't! he argues with me over everything. it's so annoying. i swear i mind my business, and then he just butts in with his smart ass mouth. connie's usually there, right connie?" connie turns towards you with a confused expression on his face, stopping his slight wrestle with sasha, irritation spread across her face at the way he was restricting her from eating the snacks for the sleepover.
it was your last year of high school before you were going off to college alongside your friends, well your friend group. you all planned to get together in celebration, hosting a sleepover party, choosing jean's house as the destination while his parents were away. you had no problem with this; however you had a problem with eren jaeger.
during your first couple years the two of you got along quite well. having been so close with connie, sasha and jean you were kind of forced to hang out with eren, mikasa and armin since eren and jean were close as well. the two friend groups along with a couple others spent time well together, all of you constantly hanging out and having fun. both you and eren's personality were too much, you were both temperate and were easy to irritate. your arguments, no matter how small also turned into something big (you always won them though). your mouth was too quick and witty for eren while his was too harsh and rough for you. after a while the arguing turned into shade and pettiness and the two of you let your pride get the best of you, refusing to turn a shoulder towards the other, a newfound "hate" forming between the two of you.
but even after all of this not one person in your friend group could deny the sexual tension between the two of you, prevalent even from the beginning.
it was funny, when you and eren's friendship first blossomed the two of you had the slightest crush on each other. although, neither of you denied it and would never act upon it. the closer you got the more handsy you got, the more flirty you became until you chose to act repulsed upon one another's mere presence in a room after realization hit, which carried on even until now.
"i mean, i don't know, i don't pay attention. everything you guys argue about is stupid anyways." connie's hand was slapped away by sasha and she jumped off the counter.
"jean, please i'll bring it over there, just let me have a couple of pieces." sasha pointed to the small bowl of sour candy, putting on her best puppy dog eyes. jean rolled his eyes and shoved the bowl in her direction. you had to admit, she looked adorable in her onesie. she was matching with connie as well. they both thought it'd be comedic to buy onesies when all of you went to the store for snacks earlier. you took in jean's appearance as well, noticing he was still in his jeans and a t-shirt, how atypical of him.
"connie carry the drinks, and ____,"
you narrowed your eyes at jean with a pout at his lack of understanding upon your situation as he came over with his arms crossed over his chest. "it's only one night, and y'all will be gone tomorrow. don't be stupid, we're all friends here so just stay out of each other's way."
"jean,"
"please? i want this night to go as planned, and perfect."
"what's your idea of perfect? getting to suck on mika-"
jean's hand clamped over your mouth anger spanning over his face, his body tilting over to the left to see if anyone was listening from the hallway. "shut the fuck up! no, i want this to be fun for all of us dumbass. if you and jaeger boy are gonna go back and forth like that it'll ruin it for all of us."
"guys hurry up, we're playing never have i ever shot edition!" hitch yelled from the living room.
you licked jean's hand and he quickly pulled it away, grimacing in disgust before wiping your saliva on your bare leg. "yeah, whatever."
you hopped off the counter, adjusting your top for the umpteenth time and pulling down your shorts, walking out the kitchen with jean to set down the bowl of chips on the coffee table in the living room. you scanned the room; on one couch lied historia, connie and sasha with jean beginning to walk over to that corner, to sit on the floor beside the couch, and on the couch parallel lied armin, mikasa and eren who was just now sitting back down, sprawling himself across her lap, taking up almost the full length of the couch causing you to sigh in irritation at the simple action. reiner sat on the floor near historia, and hitch sat on the floor with the bottle of jack daniels seated in front of her, refilling a shot glass and patting the seat next to her for you to sit.
"here, take this shot." she pushed it to your lips once you were seated beside her and you reluctantly downed it, a burn singing your throat.
"hitch, relax, i'm gonna take some shots during the game."
"it's a starting shot, girl." hitch's filled her own glass and took another shot before placing the bottle back down and smiling. "okay so is everyone playing?"
everyone nodded their head with a hesitant nod from armin.
"jaeger sit up, i need a clear view of who's going after who, and with your lazy ass sitting like that i can't tell." hitch snapped her fingers at eren from her spot below him, hitting his leg until he groaned and sat up, scooting backwards until he was upright. he ran a hand through his hair to try and tame the loose hairs in the front of his head but it was no use.
"so we all take turns asking questions, if you can't think of one then we'll just skip you. every single time you have done something you take half a shot." hitch leaned into your ear to speak specifically to you, "cause if it was a whole shot i'm blacking out by the end of this night." she burst out into laughter, jean rolling his eyes at her. "i'm going first!"
"hitch what haven't you done?" connie smirks, crossing his arm. "don't you have to mention something you haven't done?"
hitch waved connie off with a glare. "never have i ever cheated, connie." she emphasized connie's name, her comment mostly directed to him and he returned with a confused look, before he realized she was asking in regards to the game.
no ones fingers went down, hitch letting out a giggle. "so no one takes a half a shot, huh? ______ your turn."
you thought for a second about something you haven't done, before opening your mouth. "never have i ever had a threesome." no fingers went down.
"wow, not even your finger went down hitch." eren's voice spoke, a smirk danced across his face that you wanted to smack off just because. seriously you couldn't put your finger on it, it was something about him that just irritated you so much, and you couldn't pinpoint it either. you'd keep composure for tonight though, for jean.
"shut up eren. jean boy! it's you turn."
"never have i ever kissed a stranger." jean huffed at the pet name given by hitch.
hitch and eren's finger went down and they exchanged glances before starting to laugh. "eren! are you talking about that random girl at that party we went to a couple months ago?" hitch spoke through her laughter when eren nodded his head.
both you and mikasa rolled your eyes and you let out a huff of annoyance, for no particular reason. hitch pour and passed eren half a shot, both of them downing the liquid at the same time before shaking their heads.
"my turn!" connie exclaimed. "never have i ever kissed someone that's the same gender."
"connie you definitely have." eren laughed, clearly enjoying himself.
"why would i say it if i have? i haven't, you probably did! put your finger down!" the boys didn't even acknowledge historia and hitch's fingers going down until reiner spoke.
"it was definitely ymir." he chuckled to historia who put her hand over her face.
"stop!" she squealed out of embarrassment. before taking the shot hitch handed to her.
"my turn!" sasha repeated connie's words, stuffing a couple pieces of candy into her mouth before speaking again, "never have i ever had a one night stand."
a plethora of fingers went down, this included you, jean, eren, hitch, reiner, and historia. "shots, shots, shots, shots!" hitch chanted laughing before filling everyone's cup with half of a shot, sitting back down. "historia, i didn't know you had it in you, and you either _____." she smiled poking your sides causing you to squirm away. "anyways your go, historia."
"okay, um.... never have i ever... sent nudes?" her statement came out more like a question. your finger went down along with jean's, eren's, reiner's and hitch's, who proceeded to fill cups again.
"historia i'm surprised you haven't." hitch filled historia's cup wiggling her eyebrows at her. "i bet yours would be so bomb too, like your so cute and small and your boobs are like perfect-"
"hitch!" historia's hand slapped over her mouth in further embarrassment as she cut hitch off before she could go on any longer.
"reiner, your go."
"never have i ever... dated someone just to make someone else jealous."
jean, hitch, mikasa and eren's finger went down. eren seemingly uncomfortable. "wait, okay let's talk about this one—" hitch spoke. "jean who did you date and who were you trying to make jealous?"
jean let out a puff of slight annoyance. "you don't know her and i'm not saying who i was trying to make jealous."
"why? cause they're in this room?" hitch raised her eyebrow earning a hard glare from jean who didn't deny it, only flipping her off and muttering a "shut up".
"eren how about you?" eren stretched his arms out, the hem of his white shirt rising up to reveal a little bit of his stomach, before he let his hands back down. "uh, it was mina carolina, from school, but i'm not saying who i was trying to make jealous."
"you guys are some pussies," hitch drunk her half shot. "mikasa? im surprised."
"i'm not telling." mikasa simply stated.
"well then what about you, hitch?" you asked.
"two things, none of you guys know who the person i dated was, and anyways he was a bitch, second, i was trying to make marlo jealous, but he didn't fall for it, his sweet ass." she sighed. "i need another shot after that one." you grabbed the bottle before hitch could take another shot, clicking your tongue with a shake of your head.
"marlo? the one that sasha punched that one time we had a party at school last year?" armin asked with a small laugh, remembering the event.
"yup, that marlo. you guys were talking about what i haven't done, what about eren? what hasn't he done?" hitch mumbled.
"i'm sure eren isn't as bad as you, hitch." mikasa spoke in a monotone voice.
"maybe because he doesn't tell you half of the things that he does."
before mikasa could respond back to hitch's snarky comment, eren cut in, "well for starters, never have i ever slept with someone i wasn't attracted to."
"that barely counts, you're attracted to everyone, jaeger." jean said, putting his finger down.
"shut it, horse face."
"seriously? i thought you were gonna say something way more interesting than that." hitch face palmed, putting a finger down then grabbing jean's shot glass to pour him some.
"like you said, there's not much i haven't done." eren smirked looking at his four fingers down before putting up one and flipping hitch off who reciprocated, sticking her tongue out at eren as well.
"don't get cocky, honey. mikasa your turn."
mikasa sat in silence for a moment, thinking about what she could say although she didn't have to think much, she was basically a blushing virgin, her still having all ten fingers up but one. "never have i ever been rejected."
everyone's fingers went down but hitch, historia, armin, sasha, and of course mikasa's. "i'm too hot for that shit," hitch exclaimed before you shoved her finger down.
"stop lying, let's not talk about the countless times you've cried to me over men." you smirked, hitch pushing you away in a jokingly manner, she downed her shot and poured you one as well.
"armin, your turn baby."
"well," armin fiddled with his fingers deep in thought. "um... i've never you know..."
"had sex before?" eren butt in, putting his finger down immediately. armin nodded his head and everyone's fingers went down but armin and mikasa.
the rest of the game went well, jokes thrown around, more lewd questions being asked, and by the end of it eren, jean and hitch had all their fingers down, essentially losing the game. hitch was the first one out though, clearly drunk by her demeanor.
you got up to use the restroom unannounced, the alcohol filling your bladder, but no one seemed to notice you get up and leave, everyone talking about the game that was just played. you didn't feel particularly drunk, just a little lightheaded when you stood up. you used the bathroom, and began to wash your hands until the door opened outright scaring you, a small shriek coming from your throat until you realized it was eren.
that's when you got upset.
"maybe try knocking on the door first?!" you exclaimed, putting your damp hands on your waist. "what the hell, is wrong with you?"
eren rolled his eyes and looked you up and down. "my bad. you're done though, so excuse me."
you scoffed and crossed your arms in disbelief. "how are you gonna tell me if i'm done or not, i'm in the bathroom. stand out there and wait. you're so rude." you went to the towel rack to dry off your hands then turning around to see eren still standing there. "hello? did you hear me."
eren's eyes came back up to your face and he narrowed his eyes at you. "i'm rude? how? all because i accidentally walked into the bathroom when you were in here?" he raised an eyebrow at you, and you came over to stand in front of him. you didn't miss the way his eyes flickered up and down as he watched you tell him off.
"that's not what i said, i just asked you stand out in the hallway and you literally didn't leave. can i have my privacy? what the fuck?"
"you're literally just washing your hands, stop making it a big deal."
"a big deal? im sorry that i want to use the bathroom in peace. fuck off, eren. you're so annoying."
"how am i annoying? you get mad over the stupidest things.. you're overreacting." eren stepped forward, more into the bathroom.
"guys and girls, can you both shut the fuck up?" hitch stumbled towards the bathroom door, stepping in between you and eren. "both of you are being crybabies. all of us can you hear you guys from the fucking living room."
you rested your weight on your left leg, glaring at eren who just bore his eyes into yours. you noticed he was taking the situation lighter than you, not as mad as he usually gets when the two of you argue. maybe he was drunk? you let your eyes trail over his attire, simple sweatpants and a plain shirt of his, with his chain hanging out, resting on his chest. you averted your eyes and turned towards hitch.
"he apologized ____, and eren, knock next time, hun." hitch grabs both you and eren's arms. "let's all just be civil and friendly here, and... let's play body shots!" hitch slurred with a smile.
"i still have to use the bathroom." eren said. he placed his hand at your waist and moved you backwards towards the door until your feet were behind the line that separated the hardwood from the tile. "excuse me," eren said letting go. you wanted to pull away and tell him to get off of you but you were a tad bit embarrassed at the way you overreacted, not to mention you liked the feeling of his warm hands on your cold skin. "i'll come play in a second." he shut the door.
eren tended to himself, using the bathroom as well and then washing his hands, staring at himself in the mirror for a couple minutes. he retied his loosening ponytail, the same couple strands sticking out in the front and then adjusted his shirt and necklace. he shook his head, alcohol buzzing through his veins luckily he wasn't too drunk yet, and was still pretty stable but he knew hitch wouldn't die down on the alcohol, so he was bound to be fairly drunk by the end of the night, despite being a heavyweight. his hands still buzzed from the way they felt on your skin, but he quickly shook the thought away. clearly, it was just the alcohol talking for itself.
right?
you were leaning against jean on the kitchen counter as hitch explained the rules of the next game you guys would play for your entertainment. you were sure it was mostly for hitch's and to keep herself under the influence. you could only imagine the impounding headache she was going to have, and you could envision yours too. after all you did have a good amount of shots at this point.
hitch sliced the lime into four pieces. "since mikasa and armin aren't playing, we only have to use one lime." she held up the sliced lime. "so remember, salt, shot, and then lime. you have to put the lime in your mouth and hold it there for the other person, okay? so don't pussy out."
you were skeptical about the game. it was just a sexual way to take a shot; you pour salt on a body part, lick it off, take a shot and then suck on the lime. you guessed you were in it for the thrill. "you don't have to play if you don't want to." jean looked down at you from your spot next to him and rubbed your shoulder, watching your demeanor.
"don't encourage her not to play!" hitch shook her head at jean. "we need as many people as possible so we have more players, plus we're all only going once so it doesn't matter." she used the wheel app on her phone to pick a person at random, and pick a body part at random as well.
"it's fine jean, i'm good, i'll play, just a little drunk." you murmured with a small smile, standing up straight.
"historia and," hitch spun the wheel again, seeing what boy it would land on. "and jean! ooooh," she giggled. "let's see what body part." another spin of the wheel and it landed on shoulder.
historia began to tie her hair back and said a small "i'm scared," before giggling as well and propping herself up on the kitchen counter. hitch began to pour the salt on the crevice between her neck and shoulder, historia leaning back in the slightest so the salt wouldn't roll down.
"don't put too much." jean spoke, stepping forward to stand in-front of historia.
jean simply licked up the salt slowly and impassively, holding underneath her shoulders to keep her upright. historia's eyes widened in the slightest and hitch cheered her on until jean let up and grabbed the shot of whiskey next to him downing it in one go. he blinked a couple times letting the alcohol settle before connecting his lips to the lime sat in historia's mouth and sucking on it before making a sour face and pulling away, taking the lime with him before spitting it in the trash. a mantra of claps arose from hitch, sasha, connie and you, everyone chuckling at his last reaction.
"what did it feel like?" hitch asked but didn't let historia answer before going, "i can't wait until my turn, can i just go next?" she spun the wheel from the app and it landed on reiner, her proceeding with her turn, the same thing repeating with her chest, except reiner placing the glass between her breasts, tilting the cup up to drink it when it was time to take the shot. hitch spoke aimlessly, cheering reiner on and adjusting her top afterwards with a giggle. "i'm literally gonna be so drunk!" she exclaimed, although she had to have been the drunkest one in the room already.
"okay, next," with another spin of the wheel hitch's eyes widened as she stared down at her phone before bursting out into laughter and tugging connie by his onesie. "connie look at this shit!" connie glanced over her shoulder before a surprised look danced across his face. you tried watching to see who he would look at to give you a hint of who were the next contenders but he avoided all gazes and held in his laughter, unlike hitch.
"who is it?" you asked out of pure curiosity and slight annoyance, causing hitch's laughter to roar louder. you stood on your tippy toes from your position beside jean to see if you could catch a glimpse of her phone but it was not visible causing you to step down, rolling your eyes.
"____," hitch tried to subside her giggles but they kept up, her clamping her hand over eren's shoulder for support who looked down at her a just as confused expression as you. her phone was faced down to the ground so he couldn't see who's name it landed on either, although his curiosity got the best of him and he grabbed her wrist to see the phone for himself. hitch pulled away hastily but it wasn't fast enough. "chill!" she spoke through her fit.
"and me?" eren questioned. you raised your eyebrow and eyes began to land on you in question of your reaction to the pairing. you weren't sure how to feel. of course eren and you were two ends of a stick and bickered accordingly but you couldn't help but find him attractive. you knew your stubbornness probably wouldn't let him even touch you in the slightest, let alone take a shot off your body, especially with a public audience. you didn't want them to think twice about your dislike for eren.
"i'm not doing it." you huffed, crossing your arms and almost sneering at eren.
"i mean you guys don't have to do it if you don't want to." jean repeated himself like earlier, placing a hand on your shoulder in a brotherly manner. he was still watching for a reaction from you, the only thing giving him a hint was the way your eyebrow twitched, and the questioning glance you were giving eren. hitch rolled her eyes before she grabbed her phone back from him.
"they literally hate each other of course they're not going to do it." connie chimed in.
"yeah, eren you don't have to do this." mikasa added as well quite sternly, hinting to eren that it was best for him not to either way.
eren gave her a side glance before looking at you for any sign. "i mean i'm down. it's just a stupid shot." he avoided eye contact with anybody in the room, his eyes darting around instead while playing with the loose strands of hair in the front of his head. "i couldn't give a fuck." he added, then crossing his arms as well.
"jaeger boy getting bold, huh?" reiner laughed from his position leaning against the cabinets to the side of the kitchen. eren rolled his eyes in response.
"_____ please just do it! it's just a game and it's only one time— you're literally so boring." hitch's words came out muffled, her hand covering her mouth as she spoke. "remember what i told you earlier, you just need to let go tonight. okay, eren is hot too— so just,"
"okay, hitch." you cut her off abruptly not wanting to hear more of her mouth until you realized what you just agreed to. you watched erens eyes widen in the slightest and his upper lip upturn slightly. you hoped you didn't boost his ego, you still hated his guts, you just wanted hitch to stop her rambling.
"what? seriously? get on the island then!" hitch grabbed your hand and you pulled away so you could climb on top of the island counter yourself with a small pout while hitch spun the wheel on her phone until it landed on 'stomach'. she turned the phone towards you then turned it towards eren. "stomach." she said with a smile.
"you guys don't even like each other, how is this happening?" jean mutters, but hitch caught his words and gave him her own roll of her eyes.
"just let it happen, jean, they're both drunk, they'll probably forget about this tomorrow." she whispers back quite loud. you look at her before laying down on your back with a glare, you didn't think you were really that drunk.
eren climbed off of the counter he was sitting on and made his way over to the island. "hopefully you still hate me after this." he snickers before grabbing the hem of your tank top and sliding it up your stomach until it was bundled right under your breasts. you hated the way his touch sent sparks on your skin.
"shut the fuck up and get it over with." you hiss back as he pours the salt over your lower abdomen, using his free hand to pull your shorts down in the slightest so they wouldn't get in the way.
"open up." eren's hand lingered in front of your face with a quarter of a lime for you to hold in your mouth. you glared at him for the umpteenth time and grabbed it with your hand, placing the sour fruit in your mouth to hold with the rest of it jutting out. eren poured himself some of the brown liquid into his shot glass from earlier, setting it down beside him. he didn't even warn you before he dove down right above your pelvic area, his warm tongue singeing your stomach, and you couldn't help but let out the slightest gasp, looking down at eren. one of his hands was pressed against the table the other one placed on your upper stomach, a hold on your shirt to keep it up, but respectfully (or unconsciously) he avoided your boob, his eyes trained on the substance on your stomach. another lick, and another, and another, and you didn't even realize you were biting your lip to keep from embarrassing yourself in front of your comrades. eren let the salt dissolve on his tongue and once no more resided on your stomach he pulled back with a smack of his lips, an unreadable expression on his face before grabbing the shot and downing it in one go quickly, shaking his head back and forth so it could go down smoother. his hands moved down to either side of you before he bent over you and avoided your eyes again, not to mention you did too, while sucking on the lime that was still being held by your lips. your eyes fluttered and you looked at him for a second until he disconnected. the last thing you felt was his upper lip brush against yours, sending a tingly feeling up your spine.
you sat up abruptly, bumping eren's head in the process causing him to grimace at you and stand up straight. you hopped off the table and pulled your shirt down, hitch grabbing your arm and pulling you into her grip. "you did so good, o-m-g. yay for alcohol, it's bringing my friends together!" she laughed as you pulled away from her and rolled your eyes, crossing your arms and crossing the kitchen to grab a paper towel, wiping at your stomach.
"yay for alcohol!" sasha repeats with a giggle clapping her hands causing connie, hitch and the rest besides mikasa and jean to join along.
"i didn't think she'd actually do it." historia murmured with raised eyebrows at what just took place.
"me neither.." armin responded, his hand covering his mouth with large eyes as well while clapping his hands softly from his spot seated on the counter.
"eren, you didn't have to do it you know, it's just a game." eren turned to mikasa at the sound of her voice and narrowed his eyes slightly, before shrugging it off and murmuring an "i'm drunk." causing mikasa to scoff.
jean watched you cross back over to him with a cautious face. now you could feel the alcohol buzzing. "you okay?" he murmured, a wary look on his face. was it really that shocking to everyone that you could have some fun? or was it the fact that it was with eren jaeger?
you gave him a questioning glance and then look at jean, shuffling your feet. "i'm fine, stop making it a big deal." jean narrowed his eyes as the remaining two carried on with the game, sasha and connie going by default and having planned to do it together anyways. after connie wiped his stomach, as he had sasha do what eren did to you. afterwards everyone decided to pile back into the living room wanting to end the night off with a movie. hitch, of course insisted on bringing the leftover alcohol in its bottle even though armin didn't think it was a good idea, let alone anybody thinking it was a good idea.
"pour me a little more hitch." eren said, seated behind you on the couch while hitch sat in front of you on the floor, bottle of alcohol between the two of you while connie laid against the back of the couch beside him. everyone's seating seemed to change, the group collapsing wherever they deemed fit, but you of course stuck with hitch. jean minded his own trying to select a scary movie for the group, eyes trained on the tv in front of him.
"so you want to get drunk drunk?" hitch slurred using her hand to try and uncap the bottle of liquor. you mentally shook your head and fiddled with hitch's glass that was sitting beside the liquor bottle so she wouldn't fill her own glass again. you were drunk, but not drunk enough to not take care of your friends. plus you wouldn't want hitch passing out either way.
"mikasa, help me pick out a movie?" jean said, eyes looking to the side at the ebony haired girl who stared blankly at the screen, eyes flickering between the people in front of her and the blue light emitting from the tv. she wasn't oblivious to the reason jean was asking, her demeanor made her just choose to ignore it.
"i don't have any suggestions. try searching up some recommended movies or something." jean shrugged his shoulders then whipped out his phone to oblige, meanwhile, eren reached over your shoulder, hand around his glass he carried around all night for hitch to fill. her hands were shaky and she tried her best to concentrate while slowly filling up the cup until eren pulled the glass away, a couple drops of alcohol pouring onto the floor before you tilted the bottle back upright for her.
"hitch, you're making a mess." you grumbled, then taking the bottle and closing it for her before she did anything further.
"eren you should stop drinking so much, or like get some food in your system." sasha suggested eyeing the drink in his hand. he narrowed his eyes at her then roller his eyes sipping on some of the new drink unwary.
"i'm good, i'll eat later."
"no seriously jaeger; you and hitch are the main ones who finished that bottle," connie pulled out a chip as well eyeing it then shoving it in his mouth then leaning forward to nudge eren, gesturing to the bowl for him to eat too.
"connie, stop." eren's lips twitched as he tried not to smile drunkly, swatting connie away and pushing him slightly, connie getting shoved back a little by his small push and him retorting as well. "you haven't ate anything either."
connie laughed and shoved him back, raising a fist jokingly to make eren flinch who instinctively caught connie's wrist with his hand, connie fighting back with a laugh. connie gave eren a hard shove and you flinched when you felt the liquid of eren's drink splash onto your shoulder and shirt.
"eren— what the fuck!" you exclaimed, eyes turning towards you as you stared down at your shirt, hands open at your side, the feeling of the sweet liquid dripping down your back and down the cleavage of your breasts, the feeling steadily uncomfortable. the way the liquid seeped into your clothing wasted no time bubbling up your immediate anger. "dude," you were heated, standing up slowly. "y'all play too much!"
"eren look what you did!" hitch's eyes widened, her trying to refrain from laughing in the midst of her drunken state while eren and connie just stared at your rising figure in shock.
"yeah eren, look what you did." connie mocked earning a hard glare from eren who flipped him off.
"guys it's not funny." historia gave both of them a disapproving look before watching you walk off to the kitchen, an evident attitude in your step until you disappeared around the corner.
"and you wonder why she fucking hates you." jean scoffed with an agreeing nod from reiner, while jean finally clicked a random horror film that looked scary enough since his phone didn't give him good results, his irritation at the night going downhill not failing to grow.
"shut it kirchstein, that was connie's fault not mine."
"what? you're the one who had your drink above her like that. i was just playing with you, right sasha?" sasha shrugged her shoulders at connie until he pouted and she snorted, nodding her head. "see!" he exclaimed. "that wasn't my fault."
"it doesn't matter who's fault it is." historia let her hands out of armin's hair, crossing them. "she's clearly upset, and it doesn't help that eren has been messing with her all night."
"dude, what?" eren was baffled by historia's response.
"eren didn't do anything?" mikasa's voice came out in a more questioning manner, of course quick to defend eren in her monotone voice.
historia narrowed her eyes, not seeing how eren or mikasa couldn't see the fault in his actions. "me and hitch heard them arguing in the bathroom. i'm the one who told hitch to go get them to stop because jean was getting irritated."
"why was horseface getting mad?" eren rolled his eyes.
"because you guys are always arguing! that shit is annoying, she clearly doesn't like you eren so just stay out of her way." jean exasperated, resting his chin on his palm.
"do you have a crush on her or something, huh? we were just cool like last year, it's normal for us to argue at this point." eren's feeble attempt to defend himself clearly failed, both eren, jean and even armin looking upset with him.
"that doesn't mean anything, and no i don't. that's my best friend... so shut the fuck up." jean flipped eren off as well, trying his best to focus on the movie he aimlessly picked out.
"well she did the body shots with me? she was just fine seconds ago." and eren didn't mention how you didn't slap him silly for pushing you aside the door earlier, or how he delved in that memory a bit as well.
"because i told her to have fun and put up with your ass for the day. not everyone thinks you're the shit eren, and she definitely doesn't."
eren's irritation was rising, jean's likewise, and he huffed, laying back into the couch, putting as much space between him and connie as possible in clear anger that he was struggling to control, especially with being drunk. he became more reckless and obnoxious, and everyone knew so. yet he knew somewhere in the back of his head was that he was in somewhat of the wrong.
armin patted his head to flatten down any flyaways before speaking, "historia is right, eren. she's upset so go apologize— or at least help her out." sasha and connie nodded their heads in agreement.
another puff of breath from eren before he reluctantly got up, everyone's eyes on him making him uncomfortable. he rather be a around someone he didn't like (yet found attractive in the least) then be in an environment that wasn't fond of him at the moment.
eren rounded the corner until his eyes landed on your frame, sat on the edge of the counter desperately wiping at your top with vigor in efforts to dry it. you had at least got the sticky substance off your skin while your were working at it. you didn't even notice eren standing there, simply staring, not even knowing what to do now that his friends coerced him into the kitchen. he maneuvered over to the sink and that's when you noticed his tall figure, your face immediately twisting into an angered expression.
"what do you want now?"
eren turned around with a wet napkin and began coming over to you gingerly. he stumbled over, arm stretched out to begin patting at your top awkwardly with a grumble. "they told me to come and help you."
"eren get the hell off of me." you recoiled in panic and vexation, your hand flying up to shoo eren away.
"i'm trying to help you." he spit out, his breath beginning to get heavy, and you could smell the alcohol on it your nose twitching at the scent, but then again the smell of alcohol was still present on your shirt as well.
"i don't need your help." you rolled your eyes as he continued to try and wipe at your shirt stains. the gesture was... unlikely for him, maybe he was feeling guilt curdle inside him? although at the moment you didn't care, continuing to try to get him out of your vicinity and tend to the accident on you as well.
"can you just-" but you didn't give him a chance to finish, your frustration getting the best of you and your hand flying across his face. you didn't even register that you hit him until you saw the way his head flew to the side, tufts of his brown hair flying the opposite direction, the sound of the impact going in one ear and coming out the other just as fast.
he stood still for just a moment trying to process the stinging pain on his left cheek, his thoughts jumbled as the alcohol swam through his system. immediate regret began to dance its way up you as you watched the way anger twinkled in his eyes before he let out a small incredulous laugh. "oh... i'm sorry—" you gasped, and then flinched when eren's hand flew up to pin the hand that slapped him up against the cabinet door above the counter you were still perched on. "eren, what the fuck? let go of me," you struggled to get him to let his grip go, his eyes flickering from your face to the water like stains littered on your tank top, then to your legs; spread on either side of him as he stood in between them, his grip unconsciously tightening on your wrist. he went back up to be met with your timid expression that you tried to mask with the furrow of your brows although your lip still quivered, especially when met with the darkened look of eren's eyes.
"thought that shit was funny, yeah?" he mumbled lowly, shifting a little bit to get somewhat closer to your body as you watched him from above with bird eyes that darted from side to side to watch him cautiously.
you couldn't lie— you were a little scared, which frightened you that you were scared. you, the only one in your close circle that constantly picked at eren, constantly got into petty arguments with him, and weren't afraid to constantly call him out on the ridiculous things he would say... you were all of a sudden scared? maybe it was his demeanor, you thought to yourself, the way he didn't rise his voice up at you after you slapped him, much like earlier when you were yelling at him in the bathroom, the way he didn't shy away from a intimate game with you, the way he was looking you up and down like you were prey— it was all unusual, all frightening to you to see him move like that, not to mention the vice like grip he had on your poor wrists at the moment.
"eren," you whimpered, moving your hips in an effort to push him away, but your movements only amped him up. he moved your other wrist so that both of yours were gathered in his large hand, then placed his now free hand on the counter beside you. he didn't even realize the way he was leaning in closer and closer to your neck, until you cringed when you could feel his breath right on your shoulder, panic ensuing once more, especially regarding the fact that your shirt indeed had see through splotches on it, blame the liquid.
"you've been trying me all day..." he started, voice low and as if he was talking to your neck, not even looking up at you, his eyes trained to that same spot. "first you were running your mouth about me in the kitchen,"
he heard that?
"then you were getting all up in my face in that bathroom, and all those noises you were making when we were playing body shots..."
"eren, just let—"
"and then you've been walking around in those little ass shorts, and this top all night.."
you didn't think he was just talking about you upsetting him anymore.
eren's hand slid behind your body until his hand found your lower back, scooting you closer to his while maintaining his grip on your wrist, but pulling your hands away from the cabinets. he let his hips circle against yours so you could feel him. "you feel that?" he asked you, his lips now ghosting over the space between your shoulder and neck. "you did that."
what you can only describe as being some kind of shudder that made your body twitch had ran through you at the feeling of his lips connecting with your skin, the icky feeling of your shirt was barely prevalent with the emotions running through you, more specifically down to your core. his hips stopped meeting yours but his kisses continued upwards until he pressed one to your jaw, nibbling at the skin. "_____," he breathed out, his eyes still holding that dark haze when they met with yours as you looked down at him.
"let me fuck you good."
you were giving in.
you were giving in to the boy you supposedly hated, (in your head) you were giving in to all the arguments you ever had with him, you were giving in to the betrayal that your friends might feel when they find out about your endeavors but, god— if eren's dick straining his sweats didn't feel so good against you, or if his lips kissing up your neck and staying idle beside your lips didn't make you just want to turn your head and smash yours against his...
yup, you were giving in.
you turnt your head slightly so that eren's lips could collide with yours and he reciprocated immediately, finally letting go of your wrists and letting his other hand fall behind you to your ass so he could pull you flush against him, despite the still slight wetness of your shirt rubbing on his. your mouths tasted like all the alcohol from the night but it wasn't a big deal in your semi-drunken state.
eren tapped your ass to signal for you to wrap your arms around his neck and so you did, him sliding your body off of the counter and then all but throwing you over a little more so that your upper half was looking down at the floor behind while he held onto your legs, carrying you over his shoulder. "eren, put me down if you're gonna carry me like this i can walk normally!" you hissed loudly slapping his back making him chuckle.
"wouldn't you be embarrassed if everyone heard you about right now?" eren stopped in his tracks to give you a chance to quiet down before he left the kitchen, and you took that opportunity, mentally shrinking down in his grip out of somewhat chagrin.
eren's plan was to slip past the living room and go straight towards the stairs, as they were to the left of the living room, and unless the ones occupying it turned around they wouldn't be able to see the two of you, besides whoever was sat on the couch to the right. eren began walking out of the kitchen, and you prayed nobody was looking, your vision limited to only the floor below you.
you sighed when you felt your body rise a bit, meaning eren made it to the stairs, until
you jolted at the sound of mikasa voice from her position on the couch, "eren—" but he cut her off quickly with a mere,
"we'll be back in a minute."
the trek up the stairs somewhat felt like forever to you, your stomach beginning to flip at the thought of being fucked silly by someone you deemed you hated, the mere idea was pretty outlandish to you, but you knew it was quite real when eren opened the door to a particularly blank room.
of course sat the bed and a nightstand on either side, but the room was lackluster, except for a few generic paintings in a couple corners of the room and a rug detailing the carpet. eren must've knew where to go since he was generally close to jean, having been even closer to him and his family during his middle school years.
eren wasted no time throwing you on the bed, your body hitting the surprisingly soft bedspread, and you almost felt bad for the wash it would have to go through when eren was done with you; because you knew he wasn't gonna be gentle.
he also didn't waste anytime stripping away at his clothes his shirt already strewn onto the floor and his pants halfway down his legs already, while you on the other hand were already hesitant to take off the messed up garment you were still wearing, and of course eren had to comment on this; "come on, you still wanna sit there smelling like whiskey? take off your shirt." you rolled your eyes at him and you swore you saw a smirk over his face when you began to pull your tank top over your head, now only sitting there in your undergarments and shorts, criss cross on the bed.
eren strode over and grabbed your jaw harshly, pulling you in for another drunken kiss, his other hand coming up to palm at your breasts while you measly reciprocated his kiss, it being more clashing teeth and tongue then anything. once his lips were removed from yours he let the thumb on your jaw swipe over your bottom lip, pulling it down to reveal your teeth before leaning back in and letting his own teeth nibble the skin beside your ear. "i want you to suck my dick." he said blatantly, looking at you once he pulled away. you would have never thought; as many times as the two of you would banter back and forth telling each other to 'suck my dick', never did you think there would ever be a day where he said it literally. "on the floor." his voice came out more like a command making you side eye him, and cross your arms.
"why should—"
"on the floor." he repeated, making himself comfortable on the bed he was sat on while you reluctantly slid off the bed to the floor in front of him, your hands on your knees while he pulled down his boxers, his cock slapping against his lower abdomen, sitting pretty. your eyes widened, you weren't sure what you were expecting; of course eren like many others bragged about his size in a joking manner but you never took him seriously, nevertheless did you take any of your guy friends seriously. he let out a small laugh at your expression before you realized you were staring for a little longer than you should have been. luckily, he didn't make another snarky remark, instead tapping your cheek with fingers that weren't wrapped around him, signaling for you to open your mouth. "open up." he repeated for the second time that night.
"that's your favorite line, huh?" you huffed, taking him into your hands. he ignored your comment and instead placed his now free hand onto the back of your head ushering you down his length with no caution, causing you to choke slightly, your hand flying up to his knees to steady yourself and push off in the slightest. you made sure your nails were digging into his skin in response, but you weren't sure if the feeling was even pervasive, as the only sound he let out was a groan when he felt his cock be engulfed by the heat of your mouth. the hand holding your head began gripping your hair and you winced at the newfound pressure although it was soon forgotten when eren began bobbing your head up and down, the feeling of your throat being used running through your whole body.
"yeah," he moaned out as you began finding your own pace, now taking one of your hands and wrapping them around what you couldn't reach; mainly so he wouldn't try to push your limits. "you're surprisingly good at this," he choked out, and he looked down at you to catch you glaring right back up at him, a clear grimace on your face.
you pulled away from his dick with a pop and began using your fist to pump him lazily, staring up at him with a bored expression. "you should really watch your mouth when i'm sucking you off." you retorted making him let out another one of his small chuckles and letting go of his grip on your hair for a second to run his fingers across your cheek, his thumb smoothing over your swollen lips once again.
"you wouldn't try nothing."
"don't count on it."
and once again his hand returned to your hair ushering you to take him back in your mouth and you did, but this time he was in more control, bucking his hips up into your mouth ardently and throwing his head back as you treated him and pushed him towards his high.
you couldn't help yourself, the feeling of eren using your throat so carelessly sent a plethora of emotions right to your core, and you let one of your hands drift past your shorts, rubbing yourself through your underwear and feeling how aroused you were, making you let out a small whimper around eren. he looked down at the sound and noticed you touching yourself, biting his lip and slowing his assault on your throat. "you're enjoying this aren't you?" he lifted your head up and a line of saliva was connected from his member to your bottom lip, making him smirk. "you dirty slut..."
you were in no position to deny it when you had your hands halfway down your pants, so you just rolled your eyes and connected your mouth back to his tip, giving a particularly hard suck that made him hiss and his hips stutter. "you're lucky i'm even letting you touch yourself right now..." he groaned out. "now, make me cum."
and you followed through for the most part, going back down on him, letting your tongue work him up and through, while his head held you right where he wanted to until you felt his seed shoot into the back of your throat making you cough and pull away, swallowing it anyways.
eren panted out and let go of your hair, balancing himself on the bed while using his other hand to rub himself through his orgasm while you climbed onto the bed behind him, beginning to strip your shorts, eren's eyes following along to watch you pull the fabric over your legs and onto the floor and unclasp your bra, throwing it alongside your shorts. his gaze went down to the wet spot on your underwear and you didn't miss the way his tongue slipped overtop of his lips. "so you like it when i talk to you like that, hm?" he hummed, pulling up his boxers and shimmying his sweats the rest of the way off his own legs.
eren crawled between your legs, grabbing onto your ankles and pulling your forth so that your head hit the pillow and you were now under him, his hands making their way to your thighs, grabbing and palming at them harshly before making his way to the wet patch on your panties."i bet you can't wait until i fuck this little cunt of yours." he murmurs pressing his fingers against your clit making your legs squeeze around his sides, a small gasp eliciting from you.
you moved your hand down to try and help your relieve some of the ache inside of you but eren was quicker; grabbing your wrist once more and slamming into the bed, shaking his head at you while you lolled your head back and let your hips rise up in anticipation. "look how greedy..." he taunted.
"jesus, eren, do something if you're not gonna let me," you whined, jutting your hips into the air causing eren to snicker but begin to pull down your underwear anyways. you let out a breath of relief at the feeling of the cool air hitting your wet pussy, and that breath was brought right back, getting caught in your throat when you felt eren's fingers slide against your folds.
"you're so wet... if i knew i could get you like this i would've fucked you a long time ago." he finally slid a finger into you and you sighed deeply, but that one finger wasn't enough and eren's pace was tortuously slow.
"eren, please,"
"you're begging already?" he smirked down at you and continued to pump his one stupid finger in and out of you slowly and you whined, your hips moving up in down trying to make yourself feel more full. "beg me some more then, ask for another finger, and be nice."
you put an arm over your forehead and furrowed your eyebrows, looking angrily at eren. you knew you couldn't find for dominance with eren, especially with the way he was acting with you at the moment, but you didn't want to beg either; yet how else would you get your pleasure? you had to put your pride aside for a minute and beg. "eren, please."
eren scoffed and raised an eyebrow at you. "that's all? i could stop right—"
"fuck, eren, please add another finger, please?" you huffed, and eren rolled his eyes at you but added another finger making you groan and clench around the digits. "yes, yes..."
eren made himself comfortable, leaning down on the bed and positioning himself somewhat beside you, his palm supporting his head and your leg trapped underneath his armpit now, while he continued thrusting his fingers in and out of you until he curled them and made you buck your hips into the air. "uh huh, right there!" you yelled out when he hit your sweet spot.
eren moved his fingers away from the spot and continued his normal pace causing your hand to fly down grab his wrist. "eren, go back!" you cried out and he ignored your pleads.
"you can do better begging."
my god, what did he want from you?
"eren, oh my god, please just do that again."
"not good enough."
"eren—"
"you don't sound like you really want it."
this boy was gonna be the death of you.
"i want your fingers... please, hit that spot again," you twisted his wrist so his fingers would point upwards inside of you again. "right there, eren... please, for me?" you begged him, letting your hips grind down into his fingers and you almost choked out when you felt them hit that same spot. you were so close, you could feel that bubbly feeling in your stomach and your jaw dropped open, you were so close, you were so close you were—
he stopped.
he fucking stopped.
"eren!" you screamed your claws once again digging into his wrist with a sob. "why, why, i was almost there!"
"i know." he said blatantly, watching you squirm from beside him that same bored expression you had earlier detailing his face tauntingly.
"then go!" you sobbed and slapped at his upper arm repeatedly until you felt his hand back in your hair tugging harshly, your head jerking back and him now closer to your face. "please..." you felt like you were saying for the umpteenth time that night.
he leaned towards your ear, letting his hand loosen from your head. "talk to me nicely before i leave you here to get yourself off." he mumbled before letting his fingers continue to drive inside of you while your hips pushed down to meet them to build up that same feeling from earlier, this time eren not stopping until you let out a scream of his name, your eyes rolling to the back of your head and you creaming on his fingers, your juices coating them, causing a lewd sound to elicit as he pulled them out.
your chest heaved up and down as you tried to catch your breath, but you were quickly forced to breath through your nose when eren's wet fingers entered your mouth making you taste your own release. "suck," he told you, and you were too tired to try to do anything slick back, letting your tongue swirl around them and pulling off giving him the opportunity to come down and kiss you, slipping in his tongue quickly so he could taste you as well. "good job." he watched as your body still convulsed slightly from your orgasm but that didn't stop him from pulling you by your waist and flipping your body over effortlessly.
"'m gonna fuck you so stupid."
eren wastes no time pulling down his boxers for the second time and kicking them away while you raised your hips just wanting him buried inside of you as soon as possible. he came up behind you, using his palm to push down your back some more until it was arched completely, running his hand back up your spine and giving your ass a good slap. he rubs his dick against your folds teasingly, waiting until you let out a whimper to push his head in slowly, both of you groaning simultaneously. "fuck," eren sighs, continuing to push himself in until he bottomed out. "so tight,"
eren begins to pull in and out of you slowly, getting used to the feeling of your walls wrapped around him, his face scrunched up in pleasure much likes yours, your hands gripping the sheets so tightly and you couldn't help but moan out eren's name. he snaked his hand up to your neck, leaning forward so he was pressed against your back until he pulled you up so you were flush against him. he began to pound into you more fervently, your ass clapping against his lower abdomen, the two of you moaning out together.
"shit," eren kissed your shoulder and bit down slightly harder making you wince against him and his hands tighten around your neck tantalizingly. "you like when i fuck you like this? when i use you like this?" his lips returned to the spot he bit, sucking a hard mark and then coming back up, pulling you against him harder while he fucked into you harder. you tried to suck in a breath but his grip around your throat was strong, so your jaw hung open no air coming in until you tapped eren's thigh causing him to release his grip so you could suck in a breath. he resorted to give you a break, his hand going up until they had you opening your mouth up so he could place his fingers in your mouth, holding it open and spitting into it making you whimper and clench around him. he pulled the digits out and let his hand trail back up your hair for the umpteenth time and pulling your head to the side so your neck was bare to him, letting him suck dark marks into your soft skin while he drilled you.
"cause you're a whore for shit like this, right? letting me spit in your mouth like that..."and the words coming out of his mouth made his hips stutter and groan, him finally letting your body fall back into an arch while he moved his hands to your hips and pulled you back on him while he fucked into you more, nails digging into your skin, and you could already see the bruises you would have the day after. the pleasure quickly was becoming too much, the feeling of eren's saliva sitting on your tongue, the way each one of his strokes his so deep inside of you, the way he treated you so roughly all had tears collecting in the corners until you were screaming for the second time that night, your hand gripping impossibly tight at the sheets and one flying backwards trying to find eren's thigh to grab at as well while your orgasm crashed over you again abruptly.
"eren!" you sobbed out letting eren pull the hand that was searching for his leg back so your head was slightly lifted off the bed, your breasts bouncing with each of his thrusts.
"fuck, 'm gonna cum.." eren panted, feeling your walls pulse around him as you came, soaking him even further. his forehead was sweaty and causing the flyaways in the front of his bun to stick to his forehead as well as his abs to glisten in the slightest from behind you.
"cum inside me..." you blabbered out, jaw still strung open from the pleasure flooding your body.
eren hissed as he felt himself climax as well, cumming inside you and filling you up, his movements stopping and his chest resting against your back, one hand on the bed to hold him up over you. once he was a little calmed he slid out of you and spread one of your cheeks to watch his cum attempt to drip out of you, but he stopped it, using his fingers to push it back inside of you, his mouth in an 'o' shape as he watched it, feeling himself already feeling hard again, and he still wasn't satisfied yet. "'m not done yet," he heaved out and watched as your hips fell to the bed. "one more round."
"am i that good?" you said with your finger pulling down your bottom lip as he dragged your hips down to the edge of the bed and turned your body over harshly. seeing your fucked out face in front of him was such a turn on, tear streaks down the side of your face, your lips swollen and a crease between your brows from eren's constant onslaught.
"shut the fuck up." eren slipped right back into you, feeling his own cum around him that he forgot about for a brief moment. he thrusts into you harder, making your body jolt repeatedly, your tits bouncing and him grabbing onto one, twirling his fingers around your nipple before grabbing at you breast hard making you hiss and grab his upper arm, dragging your nails down it.
"make me." you snapped back with your nail still embedded in his skin.
eren gave you a surprised look at your retaliation and snaked his hand around your throat once more. "you got some nerve talking to me like that when i just fucked your lights out."
you twisted your face and took it upon yourself to spit at him, your saliva landing on his cheek and he gave you a look of shock making you smirk at him until his eyes glowered over, his hand around your throat coming up to slap your face like you did to him earlier, and in the same manner your head flew to the side. luckily, he didn't slap you too hard but you could still feel the stinging sensation filling up the side of your face. "fuck is wrong with you?"
"fuck you!" you retorted as he wiped your spit on your sternum and slapped away the hand that was clawing at his upper arm.
"aren't you already doing that dumbass?" and he gave you a brief reminder, his hips bucking up into you harshly making you let out a gasp. "i guess you forgot."
you let your hand fly over your mouth when eren's cock brushed over that same spot from earlier as he lifted your hips slightly to try to get a deeper position in efforts to cum, but you were steps ahead of him; your stomach turning as his dick hit your g-spot again and again, your vision hazing over as you climaxed for the third time, no noise even coming from your throat, eren only knowing from the way your body began twitching and the way you clamped around him.
although, that didn't stop his pace, him essentially overstimulating you.
he rode you through your high and beyond, the feeling of your wetness around him mixed with his own cum edging him forward trying to reach his own high. the feeling of his pelvis rubbing against your clit once he lowered his hips had you trying to crawl away from the overstimulation as he leaned over you feeling how close he was. "_____..." eren puffed, leaning into your neck as he continued to drill into you. "god, 'm gonna cum again..."
you couldn't even respond, trying to keep in your own cries as tears streamed down your face again while eren groaned against your neck, the vibrations being felt through your chest. his hips stuttered once more but this time he pulled out, rubbing himself a few times until his cum sputtered onto your chest and stomach, another moan being let out from him followed by another large huff of breath before he collapsed onto the bed beside you. "god... _____." you couldn't even respond, your body still shaking slightly and your eyes closed while you continued to let out small snivels and whines. his eyes trailed over to you, looking at the dried tear stains on your face, the hickeys splattered across your neck, his cum painting your chest and stomach, the bruises on your hips, your swollen clit and puffy pussy, and his cum slicked near your entrance. "i fucked you up."
eren got up and in record time came back with a wet rag that you could care less about where he got it from. he wiped you up, the feeling of the warm water comforting you, your body finally calmed down. you sat up once he left the room once more and looked around, quickly realizing you couldn't put back on your dirtied shirt. you sighed and realized you would have to go back downstairs to grab one where your bag filled with your belongings was. eren came back in the room and grabbed your underwear and shorts for you, handing you the ladder and stuffing your panties into his pocket.
"what are you doing?" you asked looking at the undergarment hanging out of his sweats that he had put on earlier before leaving the room.
"keeping these." he smirked at you while you sat there with a pout.
"eren, i need those, i can't go down there... my bra and shirt are dirty and i need to grab clo--,"
"i'll go grab all your stuff for you."
"i still need my underwear." eren ignored you, shuffling out the room and heading back downstairs. once again, pretty fast, he came back in the room handing you your bag. "i'm gonna take a quick shower..." you looked up at eren who was still eyeing you, his eyes flickering to various parts of your still bare body. "are they awake?"
"everyone's knocked but armin, mikasa and surprisingly hitch, i thought she would've passed out by now. i'm pretty sure they heard us judging by the way they looked at me."
"oh..." you looked down at your bag and felt a little better about the confrontation you would have to face tomorrow. "...can you wait for me?" you asked hesitantly, eren's eyes gleaming at your question.
"yeah, i'll wait."
❀ ❀ ❀
you were now changed out, eren having thrown the sheets and your clothes into jean's wash, which now gave you a good idea of how close he actually was to your friend, despite how much they argued much like you and eren. "you good?" eren asked, laying on the bed with a new pair of bedding on top, him laying on the duvet.
"yeah..."
"you sure? you're walking funny." you flipped him off and sat down on the edge of the bed beside him. "you ready to go back downstairs and pretend this never happened?" he asked you a slight edge to his voice even though you knew he meant it in a joking manner.
"wait, can we talk about all this first?" you turned your body to eren. "so are we still gonna pretend we hate each other or whatever? or are we cool now?"
eren pondered on your question for a minute. "depends, do you still want everyone to think we hate each other, or do you genuinely want to be cool? i mean i just fucked the sh--"
"eren, shut up." you cut him off quickly with a raise of your hand. "we can talk to the ones who are up right now because they're obviously gonna ask questions, especially hitch..."
"so what? everyone else is just gonna see us become buddy buddy?"
"we're obviously still gonna argue, eren, that isn't gonna change because of your ass... i just won't pretend i hate you so much."
"so you were pretending to hate me?"
"you're the one who wanted to fuck me."
"and you went along with it."
"this is why i hate you."
"i thought you were pretending?"
"i wasn't."
an awkward silence loomed over the two of you before you both burst out into laughter that died down quickly. "you're so stupid." you said before standing up. "c'mon, let's go."
as the two of you headed downstairs you first headed for the kitchen to drink some water before you were gonna knock out on the couch, hitch already in there bent over the sink.
"you okay?" you asked her as you headed for the fridge.
"no, my head hurts like crazy... i took a little nap and when i woke up my head was pounding."
"it was all that alcohol." you chuckled, plucking a cold water bottle from the fridge.
"yeah? and was it all that alcohol that made you go fuck jaeger? i mean i know i said he was cute... i think, but--"
"you heard that?" your eyes widened as you turned around towards her, a smile tugging at her lips.
"honey, i think we all did, half of us just tried to block it out with the movie."
you slapped your hand against your forehead, your initial plan to fall asleep on the couch then pretend nothing happened wasn't even available anymore.
"jean's gonna kill me." you muttered before opening your water bottle and taking a swig of the liquid that cooled your sore throat.
"yup, jean's gonna kill you." and you could only glare at hitch because, well... she was right.
"i'm blaming it on that stupid whiskey if he asks." you said before walking out the kitchen.
"you can't blame all your problems on alcohol!" hitch replied before you turned the corner with a shake of your head.
#eren yeager x reader#eren jaeger x reader#eren x reader#eren jaeger#eren yeager#eren jaeger smut#eren yeager smut#eren aot#attack on titan
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daisies | kim sunwoo
ミ★ synopsis: the best type of revenge is to hurt the person that means the most to them. aka, in which sunwoo is in charge of making you fall in love with him, just to break your heart.
ミ★ genre: angst, some fluff
ミ★ warnings: mentions of vomit, slightly suggestive
ミ★ word count: 10,155
ミ★ pairings: sunwoo x female reader
ミ★ notes: this is dedicated to my other half, @sunlightwoo happy birthday gina, i’m so grateful god decided that i shouldn’t be lonely and have you be born three days after me. i know you’ll probably hate me for this oneshot, but i know daises was one of your favorites from me. i love you, my sunshine. no amount of words will ever express just how much you mean to me.
The music is loud against Sunwoo’s ears as he dances with a girl he doesn’t even know the name of, not that he wants to know her name. She turns around and wraps her arms around the back of his neck, giving him a smirk. “Enjoying the view?”
Sunwoo grins, leaning in towards her ear to whisper, “Maybe.”
The unknown girl giggles at the ticklish feeling from Sunwoo’s lips, only making his smile wider as he moves closer to ask,
“Wanna get out of here?”
“Sunu! Sunu, we have to go.” Sunwoo curses at the familiar voice, turning around to see Chanhee with a frantic expression on his face, and that’s when he knows it’s serious. “Is it Minji?”
“It’s Minji.” Sunwoo removes himself from the stranger’s arms without another word and follows after Chanhee. They hurry out of the club, the cold spring night air hitting them as they walk. Sunwoo stops for a moment, looking up at the stars as he wonders what could’ve happened.
“Sunwoo! Come on!” The black haired beauty takes one last breath of the night air, before rushing over to Chanhee’s car.
“Minji, please calm down!” Sunwoo hears as soon as he and Chanhee enter Minji’s house. His eyes widen when he hears a loud crash from upstairs, and he sprints up the stairs fast as he can, bursting in through her bedroom door to see Minji crying while holding a flower vase in hand. Her mom turns to look at Sunwoo helplessly, and he nods his head at her.
“Minji, look at me.” Sunwoo says softly, and she keeps her eyes trained to the floor as she clutches the vase tightly. He takes a few steps closer as Chanhee walks in quietly behind him, choosing to stay back since he knows Sunwoo handles these situations better. “Minji.”
It’s when she’s about to throw the vase that Sunwoo grabs her wrist to stop her, pulling her into a hug with his other arm. She freezes for a moment, before letting out a small sob into Sunwoo’s shoulder, closing her eyes as she takes in her best friend’s comforting scent. “It’s okay Minji, we’re here. Chanhee and I are here.”
Chanhee finally walks over, resting his hand on Minji’s back as she cries. He takes a glance at Sunwoo to see him with a stoic expression on his face, eyebrows slightly furrowed as the sounds of Minji’s sobs get louder.
who the fuck did this to her?
“I always knew Mark was a piece of shit. Can’t believe he’s already showing interest in another girl when you guys just broke up.” Sunwoo grumbles to himself as he places his water back down. The three of them are sitting on Minji’s floor, talking about what caused her breakdown. She lets out a small sigh, running a hand through her hair, “I should’ve listened to your protests from the start. He was too charming though.”
“That’s how they get you. I mean, look at Sunwoo.” The person in question chokes on his drink, turning to look at his lavender haired best friend with a furrow to his brow.
“Why the fuck am I being brought into this?”
“He’s a charming ass guy,” Chanhee continues, choosing to ignore Sunwoo. “That’s how he’s able to pull in any person he shows the slightest bit of interest in. Then when he gets what he wants, poof. He’s gone.” Sunwoo chuckles, not finding it in himself to deny Chanhee’s explanation.
Cause he’s right.
Minji’s eyebrows furrow once an idea comes to mind, and she stands up along with the plan forming in her head. Sunwoo and Chanhee look at her with confused expressions on their faces, and she flashes them a small smile.
“The best type of revenge is to hurt the person that means the most to them. Correct?” The two guys nod at her, not sure where she’s going with this.
“And Chanhee says that Sunu is a bit of a fuckboy, right?” Sunwoo rolls his eyes at the term, opening his mouth to argue and Minji flashes him a look. He sighs, nodding his head and leaning back onto the bed frame.
“What if we have Sunwoo swoop in and take the girl Mark’s interested in, have her fall completely in love with our sweet, sweet Sunu. Then he breaks her heart when the task is completed, so not only will Mark feel sad for her, but he’ll feel guilty knowing this wouldn’t have happened if he didn’t move on so fast.” Minji says with a grin, looking at her two friends to see their reactions. Chanhee frowns immediately at the idea, while Sunwoo stares back at Minji with an open-mouthed smirk.
“We haven’t done anything fun like this in a while, I think it’d be cool.” Minji claps her hands in glee at his response, about to start planning the whole thing when Chanhee intervenes. “I don’t think this is a good idea. I understand revenge on Mark, but why do we have to bring the girl into it? She didn’t do anything wrong to Minji.”
“I don’t see why not. Don’t be a party pooper Chanhee, just help us plan it out mm?” Chanhee stares at his two best friends, obviously seeing that he won’t be able to get through to them. He lets out a sigh, raising up his hand as a way of saying well, get along with it.
“Well what I know about this girl is that her name is yln yn. She’s a year younger than us and goes to the same uni. Apparently her and Mark were close when they were in high school, but lost contact when he moved.”
“So his first love basically.” Sunwoo states, and Minji nods at him. “Ding, ding, ding! You’re correct. She works at the flower shop down by that cat café near your guys’ apartment complex.”
“Sounds like you know a lot about her for someone who just got their heartbroken.” Minji slaps the back of Chanhee’s head and he lets out a small whine. Sunwoo chuckles as he watches Chanhee rub the back of his neck, glaring up at Minji.
“Have to know the enemy, don’t I?” She asks with a smirk. Sunwoo takes a sip of his water before turning towards Minji and asking, “So what’s the plan?”
She bites her lip excitedly, walking over to grab her corkboard and sticky notes. Minji turns back around with a big smile.
“Here’s what I was thinking…”
“I hope your wife enjoys the bouquet Mr.Lee!” He gives you a big smile, waving bye as he steps out of the shop. You let out a breath, feeling satisfied by another happy customer. Leaning back onto the counter, you grab your water bottle and take a sip, only to immediately choke and spit it back out into the bottle when the door chimes.
“Hi! Welcome to-” The words die in your throat when you lay eyes on the man who walked in. His black hair is slightly curled over his forehead, plush lips in a small pout as he takes a look around the store. He’s wearing a white turtleneck with a beige overcoat, making it appear as if he just came out of a photoshoot.
The infamous Kim Sunwoo, a senior at Seoul National University. He’s notorious for sweeping people off their feet in a matter of minutes, being both charming and handsome really works in his favor. You can’t deny that he’s the most beautiful man you’ve ever seen, but you’ve heard the rumors.
don’t get pulled in.
He runs a hand through his hair, flashing you a smile as he steps over to the counter.
oh jesus.
“Hi, I heard you guys make really pretty bouquets?” You nod your head silently, and he cocks his head to the side.
oh BITCH! You’re supposed to speak!
“I mean, I guess so! I’d say bouquets and flower crowns are our specialty.” Sunwoo lets out a small smile, finding you to be a lot cuter than he originally expected. “What’s the occasion?”
Sunwoo takes a good look at you, analyzing your features as you look at him expectantly. He stares into your eyes, tilting his head when he sees how they sparkle back at him. He’s heard a lot about people holding stars in their eyes, but he never believed it.
Until now.
“Um, sir?” Sunwoo shakes his head, rubbing the back of his neck as he snaps himself out of his daze. You look down at your hands, feeling shy at the fact that you just caught Sunwoo basically checking you out. He grins at your shyness, “It’s my friend’s birthday soon, I wanted to get her something nice.”
“Okay, well here’s a photobook of our recent bouquets we’ve made, as well as the customer favorites. My favorite flowers are daisies, but I personally like bouquets with sunflowers because,”
Sunwoo listens attentively as you explain the different bouquets, and the meaning of the flowers added to them. He watches the way your eyes sparkle even more when you talk about something you’re passionate about, even letting out giggles when you look up at him with a bright smile on your face.
“Well, I suppose I’ll get the sunflower bouquet you recommended to me.” You nod your head, typing in the order into the computer. “Great decision.”
“What time will it be ready tomorrow?” Sunwoo asks, leaning forward onto the counter. You find yourself scooting backwards from the close proximity, choosing to look busy with the computer. “I can have it ready by 12 pm, if that works for you?” The pretty boy nods his head, grinning at your shyness.
this will be a piece of cake, Sunwoo thinks to himself.
“Yeah, that’s perfect. My name is Kim Sunwoo by the way.” You nod your head as you type in his name for the order. Glancing up from the computer screen you see him watching you with an amused expression on his face, and you raise an eyebrow. “Is there something on my face? Shit, it might be the sparkles from that ribbon...”
Sunwoo giggles at you, shaking his head. “No, there’s nothing on your face, yn.” You raise an eyebrow again, and he smiles. “How do you know my name?”
He points at your nametag, and you look down at your hands, letting out a small, ah.
i… am stupid.
“Both silly and beautiful, a great combo.” Your eyes widen at the compliment, realizing you’re about to be one of the people that Sunwoo breaks and that’s when you snap out of it. Sunwoo’s smile drops slightly when he sees you look at him with a serious expression on your face, stark contrast to the shy smile you were sporting previously.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, Sunwoo.” He nods his head slowly, giving you a smile before walking out of the shop. You let out a breath, leaning back onto the counter and closing your eyes.
not gonna fall for it.
“It’s been two weeks and you’re telling me she still hasn’t fallen for you yet?” Minji asks Sunwoo as they hangout by the bar. They watch Chanhee from across the club, seeing him giggling with a girl. Sunwoo takes a sip of soju, letting out a sigh as he remembers his failed attempts of asking you on a date.
“No one’s ever said no to me before, so that shit kinda hurt my ego.” Minji rolls her eyes, muttering about how you must either be blind or stupid, or both.
probably both.
“Maybe I should’ve made Chanhee do it.” Sunwoo flashes her a glare, turning away to look around the club. His thoughts keep going back to the first time you turned him down, and he chugs the rest of his soju.
“Here’s the bouquet! I hope your friend likes them.” You tell Sunwoo with a smile, handing him the delicate yellow bouquet. He grins at the bright assortment, finding them a lot prettier than expected. He glances up at you, finding himself staring into your eyes once again as he says,
“She’ll love them, thank you.” You nod your head, typing into the computer that you’ve given the client the flowers. Sunwoo stands idle for a moment, and you look back at him, wondering why he hasn’t left yet.
“Is there something else-”
“Would you like to go on a date with me?” Your eyes widen, clearly taken aback by his request, before you chuckle, “No thank you.”
“Great! I’ll pick you up at- wait.” You stare at him in amusement as he fumbles over his words. “Did you say no?”
“I did.”
“Why?”
“I know the type of guy you are, Sunwoo.” Sunwoo’s shocked expression turns into an amused smile, and you watch as he even lets out a small laugh, shaking his head. He leans onto his elbows on the counter, staring into your eyes, “And what may that be?”
You smile, and he waits for your response. You lean onto the counter as well, watching as Sunwoo swallows from the close distance between the two of you that you initiated.
“The one that makes any girl he wants melt into putty in his hands. Then when he gets what he wants, he leaves. I’m not going to fall for it, Kim Sunwoo.” He blinks at you in shock, and you give him a sweet smile, leaning back and taking a sip of water from your water bottle.
“Have a wonderful day.” Sunwoo snaps out of his state of surprise, and lets out a deep chuckle, looking at you with a challenge to his eye.
“I’ll prove you wrong, pretty. I’ll see you around.”
Sunwoo scowls at the memory, and Minji lets out a sigh when she turns her head to see the crease between his eyebrows. She reaches up and rubs the area with her thumb until the frown disappears, and she gives him a smile.
“Let’s dance, hm?” Not waiting for his answer, she grabs Sunwoo’s hand and brings him onto the dance floor. They sway with each other for a few minutes, with Sunwoo clearly still thinking of you as he blindly follows Minji’s lead. She squints at how unusual Sunwoo’s being, and pats the top of his head.
“She’ll come around Sunu, they always do. When she does, remember the plan.” Minji says in an attempt to reassure him, and he bites his lip, thoughts trailing back to your smile as he says,
“She’s not like them though.”
“Sunwoo, why are you here again?” You ask boredly as you spray the daisies at the front of the shop, not even sparing him a glance. He freezes, before holding out an unopened boba, and you finally turn your head to see him looking at anything but you. “I got you the classic pearl green milk tea, I wasn’t sure what your favorite flavor was so I decided to play it safe.”
You stare for a moment, finding it sort of endearing that he’s too shy to even glance at you right now. Deciding to be nice, you reach out and take it, feeling warmth flood your face when he finally locks eyes with you. Sunwoo wipes his original surprised expression off his face, now smiling at the fact that you took the drink.
It’s been three weeks since Sunwoo’s ordered those flowers, and he’s visited the shop every time you're on shift. He hasn’t even bought flowers since the day he ordered the bouquet, he just comes to talk to you and help out in the shop. He keeps trying to take you out on a date, but you never give him the time of day. Your own boss has fallen for him, nudging your hip and telling you to “say yes to the handsome man already!” You’ve never heard of Sunwoo trying so hard to get with someone, let alone drag it out for three weeks. So now you’re left wondering if he genuinely does like you?
“It’s my favorite flavor, thank you.” Sunwoo lets out a sigh of relief, and the corner of your lip quirks up. You cough into your shoulder, turning around to walk back into the shop after an awkward silence settles over the two of you. He reaches out and grasps your elbow softly to stop you, and you slowly turn your head to look back at him.
“Are you going to ask me if I can go out with you again?”
“…”
“You already know my answer, Sunwoo.”
“Give me one night.” You don’t pull away, and he takes it as a sign to continue. “Let me take you out on one date, and I’ll let you decide whether I’m the type of guy you think I am. You can leave whenever you want, I just want one chance with you.” You stare into his eyes, finding truth to his words, and you let out a sigh.
“Okay.” Sunwoo tries to fight the smile emerging onto his face, resulting in his pretty lips quivering a bit.
“Okay.”
“… Okay.”
“I’ll see you.” Sunwoo says, turning around and beginning to walk away. You immediately frown, “You’re not going to give me your number?!”
“Check the boba!” He yells back, and you glance at the cup to see his number written on it, along with a message.
have a good day at work, yn <3
Biting your lip to stop the warmth from rushing to your cheeks, you turn your head to look at Sunwoo’s retreating figure. A smile breaks out on your face when you see him raise his hands in the air in victory, and you feel your heart warm.
“I guess he’s serious.”
“Hey, I’m here.” Sunwoo says into his phone, and he chuckles at the numerous curses you mutter as you slip on your shoes in a hurry. “I’ll be out in a sec!”
Hanging up the phone, Sunwoo makes sure the passenger seat is clean. He grabs his water bottle, taking a sip as you step into the car. When he swallows the water, he opens his mouth to greet you, only to pause when he lays eyes on you.
Instead of the t-shirt, jeans, and apron he always sees you in at work, you’re wearing a pleated black skirt with a white dress shirt and an oversized argyle patterned vest over it. Feeling Sunwoo’s stare on your side-profile as you buckle in your seatbelt, you turn your head and lock eyes with him, and he snaps out of his daze.
“You, uh.” He coughs into his shoulder in an attempt to hide the blush rising up his cheeks, “You look pretty.” Sunwoo muttters, and you smile shyly.
“Thanks, you look nice too.” He chuckles, pulling out of your driveway. “Just nice?”
“Just nice Sunwoo, don’t push my kindness.” You joke and he rolls his eyes at you. He hands you his phone for you to aux, and you smile happily as you search up a Day6 song to play. Sunwoo sneaks glances at you, and you chuckle when you notice his eyes continuing to be trained on you through your peripheral vision.
“You’re gonna get us in an accident if you keep turning your head to look at me.” He sputters, and you laugh at his reaction. He takes one more look at you as you giggle, finding the sound of your laugh a lot cuter than he should.
“Where are we going for our date?” You ask, and he shrugs. He takes a right at the stoplight before grinning at your question. “You’ll see.”
“Oooh, so it’s a surprise?” Sunwoo doesn’t respond, instead letting out a small hum to the tune of Day6’s new song. You smile, looking out the window to take in the view of Seoul at night for the remainder of the car ride.
“So, how was the date? It’s been like three weeks since we all last hung out like this. I need updates, Sunwoo, updates.” Minji asks as she flips the brisket on the grill. Chanhee takes a cooked piece, turning to look at his friend for his response.
Sunwoo stares at the meat quietly, a small grin appearing on his lips as he remembers how your guys’ first date ended.
“Can’t believe you fell while we were ice skating.” You giggle, and Sunwoo lets out a whine, patting his rather sore butt. He shoots you a playful glare, to which you stick your tongue out at him as he walks you to your door.
“At least I know I was able to make you laugh that hard on our first date.” Sunwoo jokes, and you give him a small smile. You’re surprised that tonight was so fun, it truly exceeded your expectations. The surprise location was the ice skating rink, to which you were incredibly excited for.
Sunwoo brought you there in hopes that he could teach you how to skate, but little did he know, you already knew how to. It ended up becoming a competition between the two of who could do the most intricate tricks. You won though, because Sunwoo literally ate shit when he tried to do an axle.
“So yn, what’s your final opinion of me after tonight? Am I the type of guy you originally thought I was?” Sunwoo asks once the two of you make it to your doorstep. You stare at him for a moment, taking in his handsome features. Tonight’s date was fun, and you learned a lot more about him than you ever thought you would. He’s charming, funny, kind, and lastly, you find him to be genuine.
As you look at Sunwoo, you let out a small breath when you come up with your verdict, and he nervously awaits your response even though he hides it well.
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?” He repeats, and you give him a big smile as you open your front door. You slip off your shoes, and turn back to look at Sunwoo.
“Have to go on a second date to come up with my opinion.” You say, closing the door before he can ask more questions.
Sunwoo stands there for a moment, letting your words process in his brain. Once it finally hits him, he lets out a smile, clapping his hands in victory. Sunwoo pumps the air, stepping off your porch and heading towards his car with newfound confidence and excitement filling his veins.
It’s been three weeks since then, and you and Sunwoo have gone on three more “official dates.” The other times the two of you have hung out are for some reason, not considered dates, and more of you guys just bonding. Whether it be helping each other with homework, Sunwoo coming to help you at the shop, or the two of you doing late night convenience store runs to eat ramen, there’s something going on between the both of you.
Chanhee is able to sense something different as he stares at his friend, knowing that this was going to happen. Minji notices as well, considering that Sunwoo still hasn’t answered her question. She frowns at him, reaching out and slapping his arm. He jumps back, startled as he looks at his two best friends.
“You don’t like yn… right?” Minji asks, to which Sunwoo stares at her as memories of you flood his mind when he tries to come up with an answer.
He remembers the way your whole face lights up when food gets placed in front of you, and how you just let your glasses fog up when the two of you eat ramen. He’s tried to take your glasses off when you eat the hot noodle dish, but you would slap his hand away each time, giving him a smile.
“My glasses are just having a sauna, leave them be.”
Minji tilts her head to the side, and that’s when Sunwoo cracks a small smile, looking up at her. “No, I don’t like yn.”
You lay on your bed, scrolling through Twitter to try and find some cursed emoji pictures when you hear your front door unlock. Sunwoo steps in with a bucket of fried chicken, taking off his shoes and slipping into the pair of slippers you left by the door. He places the food on your kitchen counter, before walking over to your room and peeking his head inside to see you laying on your bed, not even giving him a glance.
“You know, if it wasn’t me who entered your house and instead it was some crazy serial killer, you absolutely would’ve died.” Sunwoo says, announcing his presence. You finally look away from your phone, giving him a sarcastic laugh before going back to Twitter. He scoffs, walking into your room and snatching your phone out of your hands.
“Hey!”
You open your mouth to argue, only for Sunwoo to interrupt by saying, “Come eat first, I brought chicken.” It promptly shuts you up, and you stand up off your bed, quickly following him into the kitchen.
You let out a squeal once you see the chicken, opening up the container and taking out a piece. You take a bite, and Sunwoo watches you with a knowing grin on his face. You squint your eyes at him, pointing at the chicken to get him to eat as well. He rolls his eyes, grabbing one and taking a bite.
The two of you spend the next half hour finishing up the chicken. With Sunwoo threatening to throw a bone at you, and you sneaking the crispy pieces of his chicken whenever he’s not looking. Once you’re both done though, you sit down on your couch, still a bit of space between the two of you.
You and Sunwoo have been hanging out for a month and a half now, him even having the spare key to your place while you have his. Sometimes he just randomly comes over to do homework on your floor which scares your roommate to death sometimes, while you sneak over to his at night to steal some of his soju when you run out. Other times you both just watch movies together or play video games. You don’t know what you guys are as neither of you have made a move to make it official.
In all honesty, all the two of you have done to progress your relationship is accidentally brush your hands together. Sunwoo’s just waiting to see if your opinion of him has officially changed, while you’re waiting for him to ask you to be his girlfriend as you are too shy to ask him.
“Yn.” You turn your head to look at Sunwoo, eyes glazing over his handsome features. His black hair that’s usually straight is resting in slight waves on his forehead, emphasizing the overall soft look that he has going on today. “Mm?”
“Have you come up with your final opinion?” Sunwoo asks, reaching out and tucking a stray piece of hair that fell over your nose behind your ear. When you look up into his eyes and he sees the sparkle in them, his hand freezes, staying rested on your cheek.
Your eyes slowly trail down at his pink lips, heart rate increasing when his tongue darts out to lick them. Sunwoo stares at you, feeling the tension in the room rise as he watches your eyes move back up from his mouth. His thumb brushes against your cheek, beginning to hear his heartbeat in his ears by how nervous he is.
“Yn.”
“Sunwoo.”
“Can I kiss you?” Sunwoo watches the way your eyes sparkle up at him, finding himself to be the luckiest man in the world to see you like this. You nod your head slowly, letting out a breath, “Yeah.”
Without wasting another second, Sunwoo leans in close and tentatively presses his lips to yours. Your hand reaches up, entangling your fingers into his hair. He pulls away, just to capture your lips again after a second of staring, slowly leaning you back until you’re laying on the couch.
i don’t like her. i don’t like yn. Sunwoo mutters in his brain like a mantra the more he kisses you. His hand lowers to your hip, squeezing it slightly when you tug on his hair again. He hears his heartbeat in his ears, tingles in his stomach when you slightly suck on his bottom lip.
i don’t like her. this is a game. this is for minji.
“Be my girlfriend?” Sunwoo whispers against your lips in between kisses, completely ignoring what the voices in his head are saying. You pull away, looking at him with wide eyes, but his gaze is focused on your pretty swollen lips.
“Did you just?” He glances up into your eyes, and he lets out a small smile. A giggle comes out of you, and you raise a hand to your warm face.
“Yeah, I’ll be your girlfriend, Sunu.” Sunwoo bites his lip as a grin breaks out onto his face, before leaning back down and kissing you breathless again.
if i didn’t like her, then why do i feel like this? why do i wanna kiss her more, why do i only want to kiss her, why do i not want her kissing anyone else like this?
why does it feel like this isn’t just some game anymore?
“You’re crazy.”
“Says the one who tried to duct tape their friend to the wall once.”
“Okay, in my defense,” You stare at Sunwoo from across the table, giving him an amused smile as you wait for him to continue. “Chanhee let me duct tape him to the wall. It was a joint effort, yn.”
You roll your eyes, reaching out and hitting his shoulder lightly, before taking a sip of your boba. Sunwoo smiles at the sparkle in your eyes, taking note that the sunlight hitting your skin is as beautiful as the cherry blossoms blooming in the spring.
It’s been two months since you and Sunwoo have called it official, three and a half months since the day you guys met, and the two of you have become the talk of your guys’ university. Everyone who knows Sunwoo as the guy who never settles, has finally settled. You’re in the limelight as well, girls either being envious or worried for you, and guys nodding their head in approval at Sunwoo’s decision.
“You’re really pretty like this.” Your eyes widen in surprise at the sudden compliment, beginning to feel shy by Sunwoo’s stare. You look down at your boba, small smile taking over your features. “Like what?”
“Happy. You look pretty when you’re happy.” Sunwoo mutters softly, eyes holding an emotion that is indecipherable to you.
But it’s easy to read for Chanhee as he stares at the two of you from across the cafe. He shakes his head in disappointment, knowing that Sunwoo’s going to have to tell you the truth one day. Chanhee watches as Sunwoo reaches out and rests his hand over yours, a happy smile forming on his face when you make a joke.
i haven’t seen him this happy with another girl in a long time, Chanhee thinks to himself, taking one last sip of his boba. He walks over to the front doors, throwing his cup in the trash. He takes one more glance at the two of you, now finding you excitedly telling Sunwoo a story of who knows what while the latter just stares at you with a fond smile on his face.
All Chanhee knows is that you’re happy, and Sunwoo’s happy, but it’s going to be taken away as soon as you find out the truth.
“Sunwoo, when are you going to end things with yn? It’s been over three months since you two became ‘official’, I’m pretty sure she’s already head over heels for you.” Minji asks from her couch. She blows on her newly painted nails, making sure they dry properly. Chanhee shoots the striped ball into the pocket, taking note of the way Sunwoo visibly stiffens after the question is asked.
“She’s not head over heels.” Sunwoo answers, nodding his head once Chanhee misses the next striped ball. He leans down, getting ready to hit a solid. “Are you sure that’s it? Or have you forgotten our fucking plan?”
Sunwoo pauses, turning his head to look at Minji, only to find her glaring at him. Chanhee lets out a small sigh, pulling out his phone to try and distract himself as the tension in the room rises. Sunwoo rolls his eyes, turning back towards the pool table.
“You’re supposed to make yn fall in love with you and then break her heart so that Mark feels horrible. Did you forget that because you think she’s some good fuck?” Sunwoo slams the pool stick down on the table, actively startling Minji and Chanhee.
“You know that yn hasn’t even mentioned Mark since I first started talking to her? He hasn’t tried to see her either, you know that? It makes me wonder why you even decided to target yn in the first place.” Sunwoo says, turning his head to see Minji’s reaction. He watches as her demeanor shifts slightly, suddenly appearing to look guilty, and he squints at her. Sunwoo pushes off the pool table and walks over to Minji so that he’s standing a few feet from her.
“And don’t you ever degrade yn to just being a good fuck again.” Minji blinks up at Sunwoo, not used to having his anger directed towards her. Her initial shock shortly turns into rage. Laughing, she stands up off the couch to stand her ground. “What a joke, you fucking fell for her didn’t you?”
Sunwoo turns away, clenching his fists as he stares out Minji’s window. Chanhee watches from the pool table, feeling wracked by nerves as he watches his two best friends argue for the first time ever.
“Kim Sunwoo, the man at Seoul National University who was unattainable. The one who was called cold hearted because he’d break the hearts of people left and right, has developed feelings for the pawn in our game.” Minji sneers, now staring at Sunwoo with an amused look on her face. He finally turns and stares directly down into Minji’s eyes, feeling anger flood through him.
“And what about it?” Minji’s mouth drops open slightly, having not expected him to confess. Chanhee stares between the two of them, afraid of the tension rising in the room. “W-What?”
“I’m in love with yn. She’s witty, intelligent, funny, kind, beautiful; if you made a list of all the good traits in the ideal person then that’s yn’s description. I’m not going to play her like that, she’s no longer just a game. And I’m not going to be a pawn in your revenge plot anymore either.” Sunwoo states, before turning around to go and grab his phone. Minji reaches out and grabs his arm, but he doesn’t look back.
“You think she’s going to forgive you when she finds out?”
The room stays silent for a moment, and Minji thinks she’s won from the way Sunwoo’s staring at the floor. Her heartbeat picks up when Sunwoo rips his arm from her grasp, turning to glance at her.
“No, and I hope she won’t ever forgive me when she finds out. Yn deserves someone better than me. Someone who won’t blindly follow their friend and purposefully hurt a girl who didn’t do anything to be involved in this.” Sunwoo states, and Chanhee bites the inside of his cheek, looking down at the floor.
“I’m a horrible, selfish person for what I have done to yn, but I’m going to do at least one thing right and tell yn the truth, myself.” Sunwoo explains, before turning and walking towards the door, raising his hand up to grab the door handle.
“If you walk out that door, we’re no longer friends Sunwoo.” Minji threatens in one last weak attempt to get Sunwoo to stay, feeling afraid that she’s about to lose him. That she no longer has the control she once had over her best friend.
Sunwoo stills for a moment, before grabbing the door handle and ripping the door open, shutting it directly behind him. The slam of the door echoes through the room, a sense of finality settling itself upon Minji and Chanhee.
“Fuck.”
You hum quietly as you tend to the orchids, finding the blue ones to be incredibly pretty on this sunny day. The sound of the door chime rings throughout the shop, and you turn your head to greet the incoming customer.
“Hi! Welcome to Bloom Bloo-”
“Yn?” Your eyes widen when you recognize your old friend, immediately breaking out into a smile as you stand up at your full height to wave at him.
“Mark! What are you doing here?” You ask as you walk over towards him, and he gives you a grin as he opens his arms and pulls you into his embrace. Your eyes widen slightly at the skinship, having briefly forgotten how Mark shows his love as you tentatively wrap your arms around him, patting his back.
“I came to order a burger and fries, actually.” Mark answers when he pulls away, and you squint at the man, pushing him with your hand as you walk over to the register, listening to him laugh that contagious laugh of his from behind you.
“Haha, so funny.” You say, trying to fight back the smile that’s threatening to break out onto your face. Mark catches it though, and giggles to himself. “Based on the smile you’re fighting, I can see that you hold some truth behind that statement.”
You shake your head, turning back towards your friend and getting a good look at him. His brown hair is parted to the side, showing off his forehead and nice eyebrows. He’s wearing a brown hoodie with a black puffer jacket over it, and you purse your lips, wondering why it seems like he put in a bit more effort into his appearance.
“Are you checking me out, yn?” Mark asks with a teasing grin, and you roll your eyes. You open your mouth to respond, only to pause when you hear a familiar voice ring through the shop.
“You better be talking about a bouquet of flowers.” You and Mark look towards the entrance to see Sunwoo standing there, frown on his face. He squints when he locks eyes with Mark, and the brunette raises an eyebrow when he recognizes the man.
“Sunwoo?”
“Sunu, with how much you come into the shop, you should just apply for a job here.” You joke, watching as Sunwoo’s features immediately soften slightly when he looks over at you. He lets out a small smile, shaking his head at you.
“I wouldn’t be able to bring in as many customers as you, anyways.” Sunwoo tells you, walking over and patting your head over the counter.
You grin, grabbing one of the daisy flower crowns you made in the morning and placing it over Sunwoo’s head. Mark glances between the two of you, and he finds himself squinting at Sunwoo when he remembers his reputation on campus.
“You two are dating?” Mark asks, and you nod your head.
“For a bit over four months now.” Sunwoo adds, feeling his heart thump against his chest as Mark stares at him with a hint of suspicion in his gaze. The brunette simply turns back towards you, and gives you a smile.
“I’m happy for you, yn. You’ve been single for as long as I can remem-” Mark sputters when you spray him with the spray bottle full of water, and Sunwoo bites back the laugh that almost escapes him. Mark wipes his eyes and shoots you a glare, making you giggle a bit.
“Yn! I have a date in an hour, don’t ruin my hair.” Mark whines, and you laugh, “Then don’t boast about how lonely I was!”
A frown forms on Sunwoo’s face as he watches you and Mark begin to discuss the numerous bouquet options he can choose from for his upcoming date. The memory of Minji saying that you were the one Mark was showing interest in plays in his mind, and he bites the inside of his cheek, wondering if that was ever even true.
“Take care of those, I made that bouquet this morning!” You say, breaking Sunwoo out of his thoughts as Mark carefully takes the arrangement of flowers from your grasp. He nods his head, “Careful is my middle name.”
“Yeah, yeah. Have fun on your date!” You tell Mark, and he smiles, nodding his head. It comes to Sunwoo’s surprise when Mark turns to him, gesturing towards the door.
“Can you get the door for me, man?” Sunwoo nods his head, walking over and pushing open the door for him. The brunette smiles, walking through the door, but stopping to quietly mutter,
“I know how your trio used to do things in high school, and I know that Minji was upset when I ended things. I only broke up with her because I learned of the type of people you guys are. This better not be one of your trio’s games, because yn doesn’t deserve that. And if it is, then end it now.”
Sunwoo stands frozen as Mark gives him one more smile and sends a wave towards you, before walking out the door. You tilt your head at your boyfriend, wondering why he looks so guilty as he stares down at the ground.
“Sunwoo? Are you okay?” You ask, seemingly breaking him out of his daze. Sunwoo looks back towards you, giving you a smile as he walks over. “Did Mark say something? He’s always been protective, even when we were younger.”
Sunwoo shakes his head at you, reaching out across the counter and taking ahold of your hand. You raise an eyebrow, watching as Sunwoo cups your hand within both of his.
“What’s on your mind, Sunu?”
“Are you free tomorrow?” Sunwoo asks instead, and you stare at him in silence for a moment. You let out a small giggle, shaking your head and reaching out with your free hand, patting the top of his head, the delicate petal of one of the daisies brushing against your wrist.
“Were you nervous about asking me on a date? That’s so cute, but yes. I should be free tomorrow.” Sunwoo gives you a smile, and you find that it doesn’t really reach his eyes as he stares at you.
“Great. I’ll meet you at the bus stop tomorrow, okay?” Sunwoo asks, and you nod your head, warmth flooding your face as you stare at your boyfriend. Sunwoo bites the inside of his cheek from the stars in your eyes, wondering how he’ll ever be able to tell you the truth. He lets go of your hand after pressing a soft kiss to the back of it, turning and walking towards the doors, but stopping to glance back at you.
“See you, pretty.” Sunwoo tells you, and you smile at the nickname.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, Sunwoo!” He grins, pushing open the glass doors and walking out of the shop.
The smile on his face falls once he’s far from the flower shop, and he takes a deep inhale of the Summer air, the daisy flower crown that’s resting over his head suddenly feeling heavy. He finds that it resembles the weight of his heart as he knows that everything’s about to be broken.
one day. i just want to spend one last day with yn.
You sit on the bench by the bus stop, waiting for Sunwoo to arrive so that the two of you can go to the aquarium. You unlock your phone to see if there’s a new message from him, only to see no new notifications.
“I know the feeling.” You jump up, turning towards the sudden voice to find a pretty girl standing beside you. Her brown hair falls in waves down her shoulders, and she’s wearing an off the shoulder floral top paired with a beige skirt. You tilt your head to the side, finding her rather familiar.
“Hi yn, I’m Minji. Sunwoo’s friend.” She introduces, and you have to stop yourself from letting out an ohhh because now you recognize her. “Oh, hi Minji.” You reach out and shake her hand, giving her a smile.
“Are you waiting for the bus?” You ask, and she shakes her head, letting out a small laugh. “I drove. In all honesty, I came to pick you up.”
You raise your eyebrows in surprise, having no clue as to where you’d even go since you haven’t met Minji before. She gives you a smile, “Sunwoo told me to come get you because he’s running a bit late due to Chanhee being silly, per usual. He said he’ll come pick you up at my house.”
“He did?”
“You don’t believe me?” You immediately raise your hands up to tell her you didn’t mean to imply that she’s a liar, but Minji stops you right away while giggling at your antics. “I was kidding yn, don’t worry. Now, do you want to come hangout at my house or do you want to wait here by the bus stop?”
You stare at her for a moment, before letting out a small smile. “I think there’s an obvious answer in that question.”
“Wow! Your house is so nice.” You state as you stare in awe at all the beautiful artworks put on display. Minji waves her hand at you, telling you not to flatter her so much. You follow her up to her room, still looking around with child-like fascination.
damn, this almost makes me feel bad. she’s kinda sweet. Minji thinks to herself as the two of you finally make it up to her room. She places her bag down by her bed, removing the earrings from her ears. You stand shyly by the door, unsure of where to sit, or if you’re even allowed to sit. Minji turns towards you with a grin on her face.
“You can sit over there, yn.” She tells you, pointing over towards the small couch in the corner by her desk. You nod, walking over to go and sit down, only to pause once you see a corkboard laying over the wooden surface.
“I’m going to use the restroom, be right back.” Minji announces, a smile on her face when she sees you staring at the board. She walks out of the room, pulling her phone out of her pocket to call Sunwoo.
“What?” Sunwoo answers as he heads towards the bus stop where you’re waiting. He lets out a soft smile down at the lavender daisies he bought on his way, planning to surprise you with them since they’re your favorite flower. He remembers the small box in his room, a gift he plans to give you after you guys get back from the aquarium. “Just wanted to let you know that you should probably turn around and head over to my house.”
Your hand slowly lifts up the board, tears filling your eyes.
“Why?” Sunwoo pauses when he doesn’t see you sitting at the bench the two of you agreed to meet at. He lowers the flowers once he realizes what Minji means, cursing to himself before turning around and beginning to sprint.
“Have a nice run.” Minji says cheerfully, hanging up the phone and placing it onto the bathroom counter. She smiles, walking into the bathroom to splash water onto her face in an attempt to wash away the small feeling of regret.
You stare at the photos of you taken from your social media, gaze following the red line that lands on different notes with the names of the places you work and hangout at. Your heart shatters as you read the instructions on what to do when Sunwoo meets each new step with you. Your eyes land on the very last note, and it takes everything in you to not crumple onto the floor.
break her heart.
The feeling of wanting to vomit builds up in your throat, the realization that you were just a pawn in their sick game slamming into you like a train. That you fucking fell for it, you fell for him. You drop the board, stepping away from it as if it’s cursed. You quickly leave the room, dashing down the steps and running out the door. Minji watches from upstairs, letting out a sigh once you slam the door shut.
The tears blur your vision as you run off her property, trying to get as far away as you can. You slam straight into a hard chest, stumbling backwards that their hands have to reach out and grasp your arms so that you don’t fall. You wipe away your tears with the back of your hands, opening your mouth to apologize, only to stop when you realize who helped you.
Sunwoo stares back at you, sweat dripping down his face from running, purple daisies on the ground beside him, now missing multiple petals. You rip your arms out of his grasp, feeling a sob bubble up in your chest as the two of you stare at each other in silence.
“Yn, I-”
“Don’t. Just. Stay away from me.” You state, attempting to walk around him, only for him to stop you.
“Yn, please. Let me explain. I can tell you everything, please just-”
“Explain what? That you used me for your revenge plot? That you strung me along for months when I had nothing to do with what happened between Mark and Minji? That you just think of me as some fucking joke?” Sunwoo shakes his head, grasping your arms to try and plead with you. The sob finally breaks out, and you reach up to cover your face. “God, no. Yn, you’re not a joke. You could never be a joke. I never meant for it to get this far. It was all a plan at first but then I got to know you and I fell in l-”
“S-Save it. I don’t want to hear anymore lies.” You mutter, and Sunwoo’s eyes begin to water when you remove his hands from your arms. You stare at him, tears continuing to fall from your eyes as you do so, wondering how you let this happen.
how you let yourself fall for him.
“I-I just wanted one more day. One more day with you, and I was going to tell you everything.” Sunwoo chokes out, hands shaking by his sides as he waits for a response. After a moment of silence, he tentatively reaches up to try and rest his hand on your cheek, “Please, yn. Let me explain-”
“How come I have to get punished just because I love you?”
Sunwoo pauses, staring into your pained eyes as his hand slowly lowers back down to his side. The sparkle that he was so used to, now replaced with the glassiness from your tears. You wipe away the wetness on your cheeks, realizing you confessed that you love him for the first time.
How unfortunate.
With that, you turn around and walk away from him, not looking back. Sunwoo watches your figure shrink until you’re out of sight, and he drops to his knees, tears finally streaming down his face. He rests his face onto his arm, crying loudly as his heart completely shatters from what he ruined. While Minji watches from her gate, gulping down the feeling of guilt as she stares at her best friend experiencing heartbreak for the first time.
“I hope you’re eating well and taking care of yourself. I-” Sunwoo says into the phone as he stares up at his ceiling. Chanhee stares at him from his doorway, feeling sad for his best friend. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.” Sunwoo mutters, ending the call before the voicemail can catch the sound of him crying. He places his phone beside him, covering his face with his hands to try and muffle his sobs.
It’s been three weeks since you found out the truth, and Sunwoo’s been calling you everyday since then. He’s refused to leave his room unless it’s to use the restroom or grab food. Other than that, he rots in his bed all day, the feeling of regret and resentment towards himself flooding his veins.
That and soju, lots of soju.
“Sunu, do you want me to bring in the dinner I made?” Chanhee asks, and Sunwoo doesn’t answer, turning over in bed and covering his face with a pillow instead. “You need to eat.”
Sunwoo just curls up even more, closing his eyes as more tears escape. Chanhee lets out a small sigh, walking out to go and grab the food anyways. He lifts up the tray, carefully stepping back into Sunwoo’s room and placing it on his desk.
“It’s there if you need it.” Chanhee says softly, before closing the door.
While you, you’ve also been laying in bed for the past three weeks. Currently you’re listening to the last voicemail Sunwoo left you, crying as you hear his voice shake towards the end when he apologizes. You turn over, clutching your pillow tightly against your chest as you sob. Your roommate looks at your closed door, concern written all over their features as they hear your loud cries.
You haven’t been to work as you called in sick. Your manager understands, having heard from your roommate that you’re not in the best mental state. All you’ve done is eat, sleep, and sit in the shower for hours at a time, just letting the water run over you.
While Sunwoo has hurt you deeply, you can’t help but miss him. You yearn to hear out his side, try and be understanding, try again, but then you remind yourself that you were just a game.
just a game.
“Hi, is yn home?” Your roommate points towards your room. “Be careful though, she hasn’t really left her room for the past month.”
Chanhee gives her an understanding nod, knowing that Sunwoo’s doing the same thing. He slips off his shoes, before walking over to your door and knocking softly on the surface. You turn your head, muttering for them to come in, expecting your roommate. Your eyes widen when the door opens and you recognize Chanhee, Sunwoo’s best friend. You sit up, clutching the pillow tightly.
“What are you doing here?” Chanhee tentatively reaches his hands out, handing you a bag. You raise an eyebrow, taking it from him and looking inside. You let out a breath when you see a jewelry box. You lift it out of the bag, slowly opening it and biting back another sob when you lay eyes on the necklace.
“He was going to give it to you the day you guys were supposed to go to the aquarium, as a way to tell you he loves you, and that he’s sorry.” Chanhee explains, and you stare at the way the light reflects against the daisy pendant of the necklace.
“I know you might not want to hear this at all, but I’ve never seen Sunwoo pine after someone, let alone fall in love with one. Yet, I saw both of those things happen with you.” You slowly look up at Chanhee, who’s giving you a small, hopeful smile. “I know what he did was shitty, I tried to stop them from including you in the plan in general. I just, I’ve seen how you’ve changed him for the better. I know Sunwoo, and I know that he really regrets what he did. He wouldn’t be calling and texting you everyday if he didn’t. He doesn’t even text me, honestly.”
You look at the necklace, feeling sad, but somehow a bit better, more reassured. You glance back up at Chanhee, giving him a nod. “Thank you Chanhee.”
He gives you a smile, “Of course. Anything for your guys’ happiness.”
It’s been a month and a half since everything happened, and you’re finally leaving your room. It’s not much in your eyes, but your roommate was ecstatic about it, even though it’s just a trip to the convenience store. It’s also quite literally two am, but they said, any outside air is good air! You trudge over in your grey sweats and oversized black sweater, lifting up your glasses to rub your eye with the back of your hand.
Once you’re at the convenience store, you head straight towards the ramyun, grabbing the eight pack and walking out of the aisle. You step over to the register, pulling out your card to pay for it. The chime of the door opening grabs your attention, and you tiredly look up, only to freeze when you lock eyes with Sunwoo.
He doesn’t look any better, bags prominent under his eyes, black t-shirt hanging loosely on his shoulders. However, you still see him as the most handsome guy you’ve ever seen. Shock is evident on his features as he stares at you, unsure of what to do. Sunwoo’s eyes trail down when something flickers at him, seeing the daisy pendant glimmer back at him from the light. He opens his mouth to say something, only for you to turn back towards the cashier once they hand you the bag of ramyun and your receipt.
Sunwoo clenches his fist, walking over towards the aisle where the soju is. You let out a shaky sigh, turning your head to look at his retreating figure, debating on following after him. After a moment, you shake your head, choosing to walk out of the store sadly.
Sunwoo stares at the box of soju for a moment after hearing the bells, signaling you left the store. He bites the inside of his cheek, having an internal battle with himself.
What if she doesn’t even wanna talk to me? She hasn’t answered my calls or texts for the last month and a half, that means she hates me.
I have no chance, she’ll never forgive me.
She shouldn’t forgive me for what I did.
I miss her.
Fuck.
Sunwoo immediately turns around and runs towards the door, forcefully shoving it open and feeling the cool night air hit him. He’s about to rush in the direction of your house, but immediately stops when he sees you waiting right there, sitting on the steps, your bag of ramyun placed beside you. You slowly turn your head, looking up at Sunwoo.
“Yn.”
“Sunwoo.”
The two of you stare in silence again, and you break it by patting the empty space beside you.
“I don’t think anyone will come to the shop in awhile, it’s literally two am.” You say, and Sunwoo lets out a breathless chuckle. He takes another step before sitting down beside you, and that’s when you both fall into another silence. Except this time it’s more comforting, being with each other after yearning for so long but knowing it was best to stay away.
“You look like shit.” You state, effectively breaking the silence, and Sunwoo glances at you, a grin gracing his features. He turns away, shaking his head and looking up towards the stars. “I know.”
You follow suit, staring up at the stars as well. A small smile appears on your face after a moment, and you turn your head to look at Sunwoo, only to realize he’s already staring at you. He lets out a content sigh, finding the stars slowly making their way back into your eyes. You turn away once you feel the warmth rush up to your cheeks, choosing to look at the parked car in front of the two of you. He looks back up towards the stars, trying to find which one shines the brightest.
Sunwoo comes to the conclusion that you shine brighter than the billions of stars in the sky as he does so.
“I’m sorry.” Sunwoo says after a moment, the sound of resentment present in his voice, and you let out a breath.
“I know.”
The two of you sit in silence, staring at your surroundings. A tear slips past your eye, and you wipe it away with your sweater paw. You wrap your arms around your knees, hugging them close to your chest as you stare at the empty road.
“I missed you, Sunwoo.” Sunwoo harshly bites the inside of his cheek, tears falling past his eyes as he continues to stare up at the night sky.
“I missed you too, yn.”
You let out a shaky breath after a moment, before leaning over and resting your head on Sunwoo’s shoulder. He freezes slightly at the contact, but relaxes. After a moment, he lays his head over yours, and that’s when you both know you’ll be okay.
we’ll be okay.
#ficscafe#kim sunwoo x reader#sunwoo x reader#kim sunwoo scenarios#sunwoo scenarios#kim sunwoo angst#kim sunwoo fluff#kim sunwoo#sunwoo fluff#sunwoo angst#the boyz scenarios#the boyz oneshots#the boyz x reader#the boyz angst#the boyz fluff
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Ember
Tony Stark X Daughter!Reader
Warning: Child neglect, swearing, angst, death
Summary: After being kidnapped by Hydra, Y/N does some reflecting on her home life. Especially her relationship with her father
italics = past pov
Bold= thoughts
Italic bold= ghosts
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You never thought your life would end like this. Alone, trapped in a Hydra cell, full of anger and resentment for the one man who was never supposed to break your heart. Of course, up until now you had been pretty optimistic your father would realize the error of his ways and miraculously spend years making up for years of missed recitals, ignored achievements, and multiple other offenses. You always forgave him because, hey the man was a member of the Avengers, what should you expect having Tony Stark as a father?
But right now, as you lay on the cold, damp floor, writhing in pain from whatever glowey nuclear shit those assholes injected you with, you can’t help but remember the mistreatment and neglect bestowed upon you by your father.
It was, it was September
Winds blow, dead leaves fall
You’ll always remember that September day. The day your entire life had changed
You were only eight when Loki tried to take over New York. You and your mom were coming home from the store when all of a sudden, people around you started to panic. Looking up, you saw a large portal in a once clear blue sky. Creatures appeared out of no where, destroying anything in their way. Your mother, terrified, took you by the hand and headed for a near by building. But, it seemed that others had that idea as well. Before you knew it, your vision was overwhelmed by the bodies of citizens trying to escape the chaos outside. After a few seconds, you found yourself in a crowed parking garage and no idea where your mother was.
You never saw her again after that.
After three days of searching, the police declared her dead and you were sent to live with your godmother, Pamela Isely.
She was good to you. She held you through nightmares, told you stories about how your mother and her met, and even taught you how to take care of plants. The only complaint you had was that she would usually leave you alone every once in a while and come back with a lot of money, and occasionally, a loud blonde woman in a clown costume would come through the window and pinch your cheeks too hard. Other than that, you got adjusted to your new life quickly.
Four months passed and your life changed again. It was a cold September day, and you had just got home from school. As you walked into the apartment, you immediately felt a tension in the air, and you saw a man at the table with your Aunty Pam, who looked extremely uneasy and pale. They stared at you until your Aunt spoke.
“Y/N...you’re going back to New York.”
Those words alone made the floor fall from underneath you. You had just settled down. You finally felt comfortable without your mother in the world and now this?? Then the man cleared his throat, causing you to snap back into reality.
“Y/n, my name is Tony Stark”
You knew that name, he was the man in the metal suit who helped save New York. You didn’t care at the moment though, you just wanted to know why you were leaving your aunt.
Ignoring Tony, you looked at your aunt and whispered,
“ Did...did I do something wrong?”
Immediately, Pams eyes filled with tears as she quickly gathered you in her arms and responded with a loud,
“Oh no, darling of course not”, She then proceeded to tell you the uncomfortable looking man at the table was in fact your father, who up till now you had never met. In fact, you never even fathomed the idea of having a father as your mom had always told you that you were a gift from some fairies she helped. You turned to the man who quietly sat at the table and looked over the man who was said to be your father.
He was definitely a handsome man. He wore a fancy looking suit and some tinted glasses even though he was inside. His hair was dark brown and messy, as if he was tugging or running his fingers through it. His skin looked to be am olive color but it was hard to tell as he looked kind of pale in the light of the small apartment you called home. You thought it was odd he hadn’t said anything other than introducing himself.
“ Is it true? Are you really my dad?” You asked in a quiet voice.
He finally spoke, “Yeah kid, I’m your dad”
To you, I did surrender
Two weeks, you didn’t call
It’s been two weeks since you were taken by Hydra. Two weeks since you were injected with that mystery substance. You didn’t die, at least you don’t think you did. But you didn’t exactly feel alive either. You were colder than usual, like your body temperature lowered. You slept longer than normal especially the first three days after you were injected. The guards had to wake you up just to get you to eat. But the most worrying symptom of all is that your eyes were the same shade of neon blue as the liquid that was injected into your body. And everytime your eyes turned blue, something weird would happen.
For example, the first time you noticed your eyes were blue, you woke up from the first long sleep.The second time, you thought you heard voices, screaming in agony and despair.This was odd because you were the only one in that cell block. As you came back to reality, you realized that you could see other ghostly figures in the once empty cells, and that you were floating three feet above your bed.
Within the two weeks you were in that cell, you learned that that day you were injected, your heart did stop for an hour until you miraculously sprung back to life with a loud gasp, scaring the absolute shit out of the Hydra guards that were tasked with disposing your body. That would go through physical changes as well. Your once brown skin would change to a pale ghostly blue. And your black kinky hair would change to a shocking neon blue to match the color of your eyes.
For two weeks, you learned the ins and outs of your newfound powers. Two weeks of being pushed to your absolute limits by power hungry scientists. Two weeks of learning the names of the dead around you in those cells.
It took two weeks, to realize that your father truly didn’t care about you.
And looking back on it, you should’ve known
Your life, goes on without me
My life, a losing game
It had been a year since you had moved into the Avengers Tower with your father. It had taken you a while to warm up to the team and for the team to get used to having a child around. But once you all got to know each other, it was like having multiple aunts and uncles. Especially because you were around them more than your own father.
Unfortunately, once you had settled in and gotten to know everyone, Tony had locked himself away in his lab. Tinkering on a new project for weeks on end, ignoring his responsibilities as a new father.
Now, this didn’t really affect you till you started school. Tony had forgotten to pick you up multiple times, causing you to wait for hours on end till either Steve or Pepper realized that you hadn’t come home and rushed to the school , only to see you waiting on the front steps talking the ear off of the unlucky teacher who had to stay behind to wait with you.
Of course word got around that Y/N Stark was being forgotten at school everyday, thus prompting the kids at school to taunt you everyday after school.
“Where's your daddy Y/N??”
“I bet he leaves you here so you can get kidnapped so he doesn’t have to look at you”
“Your own dad doesn’t even love you”
Once you got to middle school, you joined as many after school clubs to hide the fact that there was no one to pick you up. And a small part hoped that it would be enough to gain your fathers attention. But it didn’t happen.
“Daddy! I made the volleyball team!”
“hmm, oh that's great kid, can you pass me that wrench”
“Dad! I’m in the robotics club”
“Y/N I’m really busy right now”
“ Hey dad...can you help me with--”
“Not now, go ask Pepper”
No matter what you did, you could never get his attention long enough. Nothing you did was good enough. You never got so much as a “welcome home” or a “ have a good day at school kiddo”. And you were fine with that. You were, because you knew that even though he didn’t show it, Tony Stark really did love you.
But you should, you should not doubt me
You will remember my name.
After learning the extent of your powers, which included; flying,the ability to talk and see the dead, energy blasts, floating through walls, and the ability to shut off your powers at will. You decided it was time for you to make plans to escape.
You’d like to think that you were really good at pretending.
You did it on a daily basis, really. You pretended to be happy, not to notice Tony’s neglect, like you didn’t see the pity glances the rest of the team gave you. So convincing your captors that they finally broke you down wasn’t really a challenge.
“....fine..i’ll help you” You said in a tired weak voice.
The two guards were startled at first, not expecting you to speak so suddenly
“You..what?” The younger of the two asked in a suspicious tone.
“I said I want to help you” you repeated a little louder.
The first guard looked to the second, obviously confused at your sudden change of heart. They had a silent conversation with their eyes, as if debating on whether this was a trick or not. Finally, the older of the two turned to you and said,
“This better not be a trick, Stark.”
And with that, he started to unlock the door to your cell.
“Okay, now I can either fight them now and make a break for it, or I can wait till i get to the--”
Your thoughts were cut off by a loud wailing, piecing your ears and automatically giving you a headache. Wincing in pain you look around the empty cell blocks and try to locate the spirit that’s making all that noise. When you see it, your heart breaks. It’s a young boy, around your age. The first thing you notice about him is that he had white hair, kinda Danny Phantom. As you continued to stare at the boy, his head suddenly turned and you both made eye contact, the movement startling you enough to make you jerk in the hold of the guards
“ HEY, eyes forward!” shouted the older guard. “There's no way out, if that's what you're looking for’ He said in a smug tone.
“I said I wanted to join you, why would I want to escape?” You reply, irritation dripping from your words.
“Just don’t pull any tricks kid.”
God does he have any other lines, you think to yourself mentally rolling your eyes. Sounds familiar.
Oh Ember, you will remember
Oh Ember, one thing remains
“Y/N I’m busy, go as--” “I know, go ask Pepper”
“Oh kid, I’m sorry I forgot” “ yeah, I know”
“You’re on the volleyball team” “ yes dad. For four years now”
“Y/N! I’m gonna be in the lab with Peter so try not to bother us.”
“Y/N me and Peter--”
“Good job, Peter”
“Hey Peter--”
God were you tired of that name. You never ever felt the feeling of envy and anger as much as you did when Peter came into your life.
In fact, you were still healing from almost losing your family you found in the Avengers. Your dad didn’t want you around the “traitors” as he privately called them, so you were secluded. Watching them from afar and yearning for the comfort of hearing Steves pre-war stories, helping Clint pull off the most ridiculous pranks, helping Wanda teach Vision how to cook, and most of all you missed talking to Natasha. She reminded you of your aunt Pam, mainly because they both had red hair. You hoped that your father would understand this loss and step up now that you really needed a connection, but no. He decided that Peter Parker deserved all his attention. So you stopped trying as hard.
Oh Ember, So warm and tender
You will remember my name
You walk into a room with a singular table and no windows. Sat at the table was a bald man writing in a notebook. The two guards lead you to the table and make you sit opposite of the bald man. He looks up at you and smiles.
“So, Ms. Stark has finally decided to comply?” He asks in a smug tone. You roll your eyes and answer back in a sarcastic tone,
“Yeah yeah, just cut the crap and tell me what you want me to do.”
The bald man just smiles and looks at you, as if trying to read your mind to figure out your motives.
“Well”, he says, leaning back into his chair. “Lets get down to business.” He then proceeds to talk about the process of join his team and what you will be doing. But you don’t hear a word of it. Because you were going to escape this hell hole one way or another.
“Well then, lets get you changed.” said the bald man. “Yeager, Jennings, take our guest to to her new room.
“Huh so they do have names.” You think, as they pull you out of the chair and into the hallway. Walking back into the cell block, you make eye contact with that white haired boy again. He’s quiet as he watches you walk back to your room, then he disappears.
You finally get back to your cell and notice a pair of black spandex, black halter top, grey boots and some black gloves on the floor. Changing into them, you take your hair into a pineapple with a hair tie they had given you. Looking into the piece of metal you used as a mirror, you changed into your ghost form. Suddenly, you hear a male voice behind you.
“Don’t let them know you can do that.”
You startle and turn around, only to see none other than the white haired boy. He looked equally as startled as he realized you can see and hear him.
“Why not?” you asked, changing back to your normal self.
“Because, they won’t ever let you leave.You’re already the first one to survive the injection. If they realize you can go ghost, they’ll do everything in their power to control you.”
Your mind flashed to Bucky. How Steve told you that they kept him. Brainwashing him over and over till he just became a weapon. You were not going to let them do that to you. You looked back at the boy.
“Can you help me get out of here?” you asked hopefully. The boy looked at you and said,
“Well I’ve got nothing else to do.” You let go a sigh of relief. You were about to say something when you heard Yeager and Jennings walking down the hallway.
“They’re coming” You whisper, “ what do I do?”
“This base is small. All the people here are the only ones who know about it. They’re all going to be in the training room you’re being taken to. Wait till you get there, phase into the floor to the basement and blow up the heater. That should cause the whole building to cave in”
You again don’t get to respond, as the two men finally get to your cell and unlock it. You walk out of the cell, head held high and allow them to lead you to the training room. Despite the look of confidence, you were dreading the next few moments.
“So how come I’m the only one here?” you ask, even though you know the answer. The older guard looks at you and says
“You’re the only one who survived.” You fake a look of shock and look forward as if the news made you uneasy. And it did. It made you mad that these people didn’t care that they were murdering innocent people. They couldn’t hear the cries and the wails of agony these poor trapped souls emitted. In a way, it was ironic. Back at the tower, you were the poor soul nobody could see. And now you were surrounded by them.
Your heart, your heart is rendered
Your loss, now bear the shame
This was the last straw. There was only so much you an take before you broke and this was it.
Tony didn’t intend for you to hear it, but god did it hurt all the same. One phrase shattered your whole world.
“You know Spiderling, your kinda like the kid I always wanted to have.”
An tense silence filled the common room. The first time in months you were able to see th eteam and they had to bear witness to this. Of course they did, who else would give you that stare full of sorrow and pity. You barely even noticed though. You were too busy looking at the “heartwarming scene.”
“that's such bullshit” Oh, how you wish you had a camera if only to capture the look of pure “oh shit” painted on Steve's face.
“What..what was that kid?” Asks your father. You turn to him, a fury in your eyes that nobody has ever seen.
“THAT IS ABSOLUTE BULLSHIT.” You scream. “ FOR EIGHT YEARS I HAVE TRIED SO HARD FOR YOU TO LOVE ME. EIGHT YEARS I JOINED CLUBS, GOT THE HIGHEST GRADED IN CLASS AND FOR WHAT?”
Tony and Peter look at you in shock “Y/n..wha..what are you talking about?” Peter asks in a baffled voice.
“Oh eat shit Peter! You know exactly what I’m talking about! Do you not find it weird, that your new mentor spends every single second of free time he has on you and not with his daughter?? Or are you so needy for some sort of parental validation that you don’t even care??”
Deep down you know it’s not Peters fault. Hell, you two probably could have been good friends if your dad wasn’t such a tool.
“Hey kid, I don’t know what's gotten into you, but that was way over the line.” Said Tony in a stern voice. Your eyes harden.
“Oh, did I hurt your poor little spiders feelings?? I didn’t even know you cared about other peoples feelings Tony? Or is it just your daughters that you ignore ?”
“What are you talking about? I don’t ignore you, stop being so over dramatic.”
OVERDRAMATIC?? DO YOU REALIZE THE ONLY THING YOU KNOW ABOUT ME IS MY NAME??” You are now sobbing. “ Do you even know my favorite color? How old I am?”
Tony looks at you, eyes wide.”Y/N...” You cut him off
“Just forget it. I understand now. I will never be important to you. Not like Peter apparently is. I just wish it didn't take me eight years to figure that out.” And with that, you run out of the room, tears running down your cheeks and ignoring the calls of your father, the team, and Peter.
You run for a few blocks and cry in an alleyway. not the smartest idea but you were too upset to care. And as you cry, you don’t notice the dark shadow behind you before its too late and the world goes dark.
Like dead trees, in cold december
Nothing but ashes remain
The hydra base was now engulfed with flames. Your body was tired from phasing through the walls, and your head hurts from those energy blasts. But one thing brings some happiness in your heart as you watch all the souls that were trapped there realize they are free. All but one, the white haired kid. He walks up to you.
“So you did it.” He says with a smile. You smile back.
“Yeah I did. Thanks to you.”
“Blue suits you.” he says with a blush. You squint at him for a second and let out a chuckle.
“Thanks” ,You’re both silent for a few seconds, watching the souls leave. You speak up again.
“Why aren’t you leaving like them” You question him.
“I don’t know, I guess my time here isn’t up.” he says looking out at the horizon. You nod and look at around trying to figure out where you are.
“So, what are you going to do next” he asks. Your body stiffens as you are filled with resentment.
“I’m going to visit my father.” You say, eyes glowing a neon blue.
You will remember my name.
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A/N: HI!so this is my first ever fanfic! i hope anyone who reads this enjoys it!! Let me know what you think and what i can improve on!💕
#tony stark x daughter!reader#danny phantom#fanfic#marvel#marvel x reader#reader insert#tony stark#tony stark imagine#peter parker x stark!reader#the avengers#poc reader#avengers x teen!reader#x reader#danny phantom x reader#steve rogers x reader#crossover#poison#poison ivy
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Word Count: 5796
Pairing: Daryl Dixon x Reader
Reader Gender: Female
Era: The prison
Summary: After a close call on a run, the archer explodes at you.
Warnings: Language
Your name: submit What is this?
Another run, another disaster. You needed supplies. What you got was a pile of problems. Daryl, Maggie, Glenn and you ended up in a tight spot with far more walkers than you had expected. You were trapped inside a small flower shop with walkers banging on all the exits.
“How many you got, Glenn?” you whispered harshly to him over the banging fists and gnashing jaws.
“Uhh, too many out this way. Maybe twenty. Possibly more.”
“Fuck…” you muttered. You rushed back to Daryl and Maggie who were both leaning against the side door with all their weight to keep it closed. “Too many out Glenn’s way,” you relayed. You sighed and wiped a slightly shaky hand across your sweaty brow. “I—I’m gonna clear out the back.”
“What?!” Maggie snapped, readjusting her back against the door. “You said there were ten walkers out there.”
Daryl shook his head vehemently. “Nah! That’s too many. Ya can’t—”
“We don’t have a goddamn choice! Look, it’s the exit with the fewest geeks, so unless either of you can suddenly come up with a new and brilliant idea in the next five seconds, I’m doing it!” You waited, staring at both of them.
You shook your head. “You’ve gotta keep this door shut with Maggie until the back is clear. She and I won't be enough. I’m going.”
“Wait—Y/N!” Daryl yelled after you but you were already gone, disappearing into the back stockroom. “Son of a bitch!” Daryl was letting fly a lengthy string of expletives and there was panic in his eyes. Maggie noticed the overwhelming distress on his face as her own stomach flipped.
“She’s—she’s a good fighter,” Maggie stammered.
“And she’s too damn impulsive!” Daryl yelled, straining to keep his weight against the door behind them. “If we get outta this, and she makes it, I’mma kill her,” he growled. Maggie gulped.
In the back room you could hear the walkers still on the other side of the door and you steeled yourself, checking the magazine of your pistol and making sure there was a bullet chambered. You unsnapped the loop on top of your knife’s sheath and heaved in a forced breath. Here we fuckin’ go. You unlocked the door, barely opened it, putting your boot in the way to try and hold it open just enough for you to get your knife into the space. But the pressure of the walkers on the other side was too great for you to manage it for long. You stabbed your knife into the temple of the nearest walker pressing its face toward you in the opening and it was immediately replaced with another.
“Can ya hear anythin’?” Daryl asked desperately.
Maggie shook her head. “No! Just hold on,” she urged. Her back was sweaty from exertion and the stuffy air inside the store and she was starting to slide down the door behind her, constantly having to readjust her position to keep her bodyweight against it beside Daryl.
Just then there was a tremendous crash from the back room followed by gun shots. Daryl and Maggie exchanged a desperate look but the walkers outside the door just behind them had obviously heard the noise too and they attempted to surge forward. Daryl’s boots began to slide on the floor.
“We aren’t gonna be able to hold this much longer!” Maggie yelled, straining to press back into the door and hold the flood of walkers at bay. Over the groaning and mawing she and Daryl could hear more bangs in the back room.
Daryl leaned his head back against the door and shut his eyes for a moment. He felt sick, terrified. What if you were—? He couldn’t hear anything else from the stockroom. “Fuck this,” he growled, glancing at Maggie next to him. As if on cue, Glenn showed up and added his weight to the door behind them.
“I got the entrance jammed shut finally. Where’s Y/N?” he asked, incredulous.
“She went to clear the back way out,” Maggie said.
“What?!” Glenn’s eyes went wide.
“We ain’t waitin’ anymore! C’mon. On the count of three we make a run for the back,” Daryl said. “One. Two…”
Right then you emerged from the back room covered in walker blood, sweaty, your chest heaving, and looking completely exhausted. More concerning was a stream of blood pouring down the side of your face from a gash near your hairline. You absently wiped it out of your eye with your sleeve. “It’s clear! Let’s go!” you yelled at the trio, who were all staring at you in bewilderment.
“…Three!” Daryl said, and they threw themselves forward off the door. It immediately flung open and a flood of walkers began to pour in behind you all. “Go, go, go!” Daryl roared. He tossed anything he could get his hands on in their path behind him as he ran.
They leaped over the bodies of fallen walkers and debris as they rushed through the stockroom, but there it was—the back door standing open, sunlight streaming in, free of any biting jaws or clawing hands. Daryl slammed the door closed behind him as he exited the building but there was no telling how long it would hold.
You were all out of breath but had to keep going.
“Let’s get to the van. Now,” Daryl drawled, not even stopping to glance at any of you.
“My God,” Maggie said, looking over at you as you ran. “Your head—are you alright?” she asked you.
You pressed your sleeve to the gash again and nodded. “Yeah. I think so. You know, head wounds always bleed a lot. Looks worse than it is.”
“What happened?” Glenn asked, running beside his wife, one hand on the strap of his pack and the other entwined with Maggie’s.
“When they started coming in, I had to slow them down. They were coming too fast for me to kill. I pulled those shelves down but it was a bit of a domino effect.”
“Ain’t the place for story time,” Daryl snapped over his shoulder. “Let’s just get the hell outta here.”
You made it back to the van, exhausted, clutching a stitch in your side, your head pounding. You collapsed into the passenger seat as Daryl slid in behind the wheel. You shut your eyes for a brief moment, finally feeling the tightness in your lungs lessen, but you could feel Daryl’s eyes on you and you glanced over. They were narrowed but his expression was unreadable.
“What?” you asked in an undertone.
You thought you saw the muscle in his jaw tense but he simply looked away and started up the van. Soon you were behind the safe, high fences of the prison, climbing out and truly feeling the pain in your head now that the adrenaline had worn off.
Carol and Carl ran to greet you all when you came in. Her eyes clouded with concern as she saw your bloodstained face. “Are you alright?” she asked you urgently, taking your chin gently and turning your head to the side so she could inspect the gash.
“Fine,” you said. “I think. Hurts a bit…”
“I’ll get Hershel so he can take a look at you. I think he’s planting in the garden plot with Rick. I’ll send him up,” Carol said. She paused to give Daryl, who was hanging back, a friendly squeeze on the shoulder and a once over.
You glanced back and he had the same moody expression on his face. It had been a close call for all of you but you couldn’t help but feel like his irritation was directed specifically at you. You tried to shrug it off, but couldn’t suppress the twisting knot in your chest.
Maggie and Glenn broke off to grab some fresh water and Carol went over to talk to Hershel, Carl trailing behind her. That left just you and Daryl heading up to the cell block. The air was tense between you as you crossed the yard but as you stepped into the small common area just outside the cells, it was like it suddenly ignited white-hot.
Daryl threw his bag down angrily on one of the tables and your eyes snapped over to him.
You were a little worried your voice would shake when you spoke. “What’s the matter?” you asked him.
“Are ya shittin’ me?” he challenged you, his chest thrust forward, his eyes now locked on your face.
Your heart started to race and you gulped at the constriction that had suddenly appeared in your throat.
“That was real dumb what ya did back there today!” Daryl roared, pointing an accusatory finger directly at you. His eyes kept flickering up to the gash in your head and his stomach twisted every time. “You’re lucky all you got was that thing on your forehead!”
“What—I—” you stared at him, in shock from his rage. “I got us out of there… I had to.” “Nah. It wasn’t your call to make,” he spat back venomously.
You scoffed. “It was nobody’s call to make, Daryl! We were trapped and we had to get out. We were sitting ducks. Sooner or later they were going to come through the glass up front by Glenn or through that door right behind you and Maggie. I made a choice. And what I did, it didn’t thrust anybody but me right into danger. I can choose to gamble my own life if I want to! Hell, you do it all the time!”
This only seemed to infuriate him more. “Ya ain’t goin’ on runs anymore,” he roared, turning and stalking toward the door that led to the cells. His broad shoulders were squared and rigid.
You let out a noise of disbelief. “That isn’t your decision! And don’t walk away from me! I’ve had enough of this bullshit!”
“Yeah, well that makes two of us,” Daryl spat back over his shoulder.
You let out a frustrated groan. “Ugh! You are so infuriating! What is your problem with me? I haven’t done a damn thing to you and you treat me like I’m a complete waste of space! It’s like I can never do anything right for you, even when I save your ass!”
He spun around and took a few powerful steps back toward you, a scowl on his face, his blue eyes darker than usual. You refused to wilt under it. “This ain’t a shrink’s office, okay? And I sure as shit didn’t sign up for a little feel-good chat. So, why don’t ya leave me alone and go get your damn head stitched up.” He thrust a hand against the back of a nearby chair and it toppled over, echoing harshly in the high ceiling. You watched his broad shoulders shrinking away from you.
“No,” you said loudly, forcefully.
He froze mid-stride and you watched his fist clench and unclench at his side. He slowly turned to face you. “The hell did ya just say?”
You crossed your arms over your chest, resisting the urge to back down beneath his intense stair. “I said no. I’m not going anywhere until you tell me what the fuck your problem is with me.”
His jaw clenched hard and he started back toward you, that familiar stalk and swagger in his gait. “You are my problem. You’re always getting in my damn way!”
You were trying to stay cool, but your confusion and his unwillingness to explain his anger was infuriating. “In your way? What the hell do you mean?”
“I mean what I said.” He pointed a finger in your face, standing hardly a foot from you now. “On runs. On hunts. Scavenging. Hell, even around here!” Daryl wasn’t prepared for the flash of hurt that crossed your face. You were always so tough, admittedly one of the things he loved about you. He hadn’t considered that his words might actually impact you so heavily, but he saw it flash in your eyes as plain as day and it snapped him out of his rage and filled him suddenly with regret.
Your brow furrowed and you just stared back at him, unwavering, puzzled, like you were trying your hardest to understand just what he was talking about, scrutinizing every past interaction you’d ever had with the archer, running over the events of the day, trying to decode his harsh words. Daryl would have preferred it if you had yelled back again, even if you had stormed out. But this? This was tying him up in knots inside in a worse way. You just went on looking at him… with that blood all down the side of your face.
And when you did finally speak your tone was so soft, so controlled in contrast to his that it only made him feel worse. Your words were measured. “Well, uhh… Sorry. I guess I’ll just—try harder to stay out of your way.”
And that was it. You just breezed past him and headed toward your cell, the sun coming through the high windows glinting off the shine in your hair before you disappeared. Daryl rubbed a hand over the stubble on his face. You worthless piece of shit. Why the hell did ya do that? He cursed himself internally. You’re such an asshole.
_ _ _ _ _ _
That night the air was unseasonably cold but despite the chill you were spending the night on the outside balcony of the guard tower during your shift to keep watch. Every so often you shivered in the cold, but something about the bite of the air matched your mood after Daryl had exploded at you the way he had earlier. It was sharp, unexpected.
You still didn’t really understand what he had meant and you couldn’t stop puzzling over it. In his way? What the hell did he mean? Literally? Or did he mean something more… figurative?
The clank of the door behind you snapped you out of your swirling thoughts and you looked over your shoulder to see Rick emerging.
“Hey,” you greeted him, shrugging a little more deeply into your flannel.
“Hey,” he drawled back, coming to lean his forearms on the railing beside you and stare out across the yard. It was quiet tonight. He was grateful for that. “Cold tonight isn’t it?” he mused aloud, glancing over at you. When you didn’t respond and just continued staring into the night his brow contracted. “Are you alright?”
“Hmm?” your eyes finally snapped to his. “Oh. Yeah. I’m fine. I thought you were supposed to be resting tonight,” you said pointedly. “I can handle the next shift. I’m not tired anyway.”
“Mmm,” he nodded, turning back to let his eyes wander across the perimeter. “Not tired? Even after that run today? Maggie said you all had a close call.”
You nodded. “We did. But we all came back so… about as good a day as any. Can’t ask for more than that.”
“Mmm,” Rick hummed again in agreement. There was a long silence and you could feel some growing tension in it, sensed that Rick was searching for how to say just what he was mulling over. He did finally manage it. “This whole ‘not tired’ thing have anything to do with that fight you and Daryl had this afternoon?”
You gulped and looked down at your hands. “You heard that? I really thought everyone was outside…”
“They were. I just happened to be coming in to clean up a bit.”
You sighed heavily and felt your cheeks redden a little. You put one hand up to your face. “That’s… great…” you muttered.
Rick turned so he was facing you, just leaning on the railing with one elbow now. “I wouldn’t worry about what Daryl said or how he said it…” he drawled. You looked at him like he was insane.
“…you did say you heard him, right?”
Rick nodded. “Oh, yeah. I heard ‘im. But there’s a saying and it truly does apply to Daryl Dixon.”
“And what’s that?” you asked, cocking a skeptical eyebrow.
“The dog that barks the loudest? That’s the one that’s the most afraid.” Rick watched you puzzling over his words for a moment before you turned back to the night.
“Afraid?” you repeated. “Daryl? He’s like—the most fearless of all of us.”
Rick sighed and followed your lead, again looking out into the darkness. “He is. Until he isn’t. Listen, I’m not making excuses for how he yelled at you. All I’m saying is not to think on it too hard.” He straightened up and pulled off his jacket, holding it out for you. “Take this. It’s cold. I’m gonna take this opportunity while Judith is asleep to also sleep. Let’s hope I didn’t just jinx it. Ya sure you’re alright up here?”
You nodded and slipped Rick’s jacket on. “I’m fine. Thanks.”
“Alright.” He patted your shoulder kindly before again leaving you alone with your thoughts, possibly even more confused than you had been before.
_ _ _ _ _ _
You were exhausted by the time you climbed down from the guard tower the next morning as the sun was cresting over the trees. All you could think about was collapsing into your bed. The prison was still fairly silent as you came in, most people still sleeping. You yawned as you turned the corner into the room just outside the row of cells. When you looked up you saw Daryl sitting on one of the tables sharpening some bolts for his bow. You actually froze, before forcing yourself to move out of your falter.
You could feel his eyes on you as you crossed the room, purposefully giving him a wide berth, your head tilted down. When you turned into the cell block you let out an exhale you hadn’t meant to hold. You breezed into your cell and collapsed down onto your bed, hugging the pillow as you sank into it, too tired even to pull the sheet across the doorway. You were asleep the next minute.
Carol was up and found Daryl still in the same place you had seen him, but although he had a bolt in one hand and his knife in the other his hands were still. He seemed frozen there, just glaring into space across the room, obviously in some deep thought.
“Mornin’, Pookie,” she said, ruffling his hair just to annoy him.
He let out a growl and leaned away from her hand before glancing over at her, his lips pressed together in a thin line. She knew the look in his eyes. Something was eating him. “What’s wrong?” He let out a non-committal hum and shrugged his shoulders vaguely, his hands suddenly fidgeting endlessly with the bolt between his fingers. “Obviously something,” she prompted him again. Daryl glanced back over his shoulder toward the cell block. “What?” Carol pressed.
He only hummed again and shrugged. “What’re ya doin’?” he asked quietly.
“Just gonna go out and haul some water. Wanna come?” she asked.
He nodded and hopped to his feet, slinging his crossbow over his shoulder and sheathing his knife. He followed Carol out into the morning light and trailed behind her as she went to the waterline. As she waited for the bucket to fill she straightened up and wiped the dirt from her hands. “Are you going to talk to me or not? I can tell something is bothering you.”
Daryl pulled his bottom lip in between his teeth and thought hard for a moment. He’d hardly slept. He’d laid awake on his bed roll all night, staring up at the cracks in the ceiling and tracing them with his eyes over and over in a futile attempt to distract his mind. It didn’t work.
“I just—I screwed up yesterday. Big time. And I—” he shrugged. “I dunno how to fix it. Or if I even can,” he drawled.
Carol watched the turmoil in his eyes. She crossed her arms and studied him. “Is this about the run yesterday? Did something happen out there?”
“Kinda. Not exactly.”
She quirked an eyebrow at him. “You’re going to have to give me a little more than that to go on.”
“I just—I said some things yesterday and… they ain’t even really true.” He was staring down at his boots, and in that moment, it struck Carol how boyish he looked.
“We all say things we don’t mean from time to time. You just have to apologize,” she said thoughtfully. “We’re a family here. Family forgives.”
Daryl’s eyes shot up to hers again and he shrugged, chewing on the side of his thumbnail. “Just like that? I dunno. Don’t seem that simple.”
“Daryl, it happens to all of us. We say things out of anger, exhaustion… hunger. Fear.” She stooped to turn off the flow of the water.
“But—when ya’ve said somethin’ and—and, I mean, ya can’t unsay it. Even if ya apologize, whatever ya said is still out there,” he mused. There was a gruff rasp in his throat, the gravel in his deep voice heavier than usual.
Carol sighed and picked up the bucket. “Well, the first question you have to answer for yourself is why you said whatever it was you said in the first place. And just apologize and try to explain.” She watched his expression. He didn’t look any less uneasy. “Just try. See what happens. If it blows up in your face you can come back and let me have it,” she joked.
Daryl rolled his eyes and watched Carol head back up to the prison. He remained standing down by the fence, leaning against it, and wondering how he was going to explain away his outburst at you… wondering if you would, if you could, forgive him.
The truth was that he was terrified of something happening to you, and being helpless as he held the door while you so willingly threw yourself into danger was agonizing. And that fear had come out in a blast directed right at you, with all sorts of unsaid things behind it.
There was a shuffle near the entrance of your cell and you shot awake, sitting partially up on one elbow and barely catching a glimpse of the back of Daryl’s vest as he moved out of view. Had he been standing there looking in at you? Did he need something? You puzzled over it and rubbed the sleep from your eyes. You were probably just imagining that shuffle. He was most likely just walking by. Just then you saw Rick going past your cell in the opposite direction with Judith in his arms and you jumped up, realizing you were still wearing his jacket. You hastily pulled it off and jogged to catch up with him. “Rick!” He turned. “Hey. Thanks for this,” you said, holding it out to him.
He accepted it with a nod. “You can borrow it anytime you want to take over my shift,” he said, a twinkle in his eye.
You laughed lightly. “I guess the little one let you get some sleep then, huh?” you asked, fondly stroking Judith’s soft hair.
“She did. I think she’s getting better at this whole sleep thing. Soon she’ll go straight through the night,” Rick said.
“That’s great,” you said.
“Hey, I know you were up all night but… I think there’s a bit of a pile up on the fence. If you’re rested up enough would you mind—”
“No problem,” you said urgently, grateful for a task to distract you. “I’ll get out there right away.” In a few minutes you were down at the fence, a sharp metal rod in your hand. You plunged it into a walker’s skull through the fence and immediately moved to the next one… and the next… Despite the cooler temperatures in anticipation of autumn, you were drenched in sweat. You were grateful for the ability to focus on the heaviness of the metal rod in your hands and the snarls of the walkers separated from you by nothing more than a thin barrier of chain link. It was hard work and you’d been at it a long time.
Maggie was just thinking the same thing and she came to stand beside Daryl, who was also looking out across the yard and seemed to be watching you. “She’s been out there for hours. We should tell her to come in and take a rest. Get somethin’ to eat,” she thought aloud.
“Mhm,” Daryl agreed, not looking away from you.
Maggie glanced over at him. “Well, do you wanna go and try to convince her or should I?”
The archer chewed his bottom lip for a moment before straightening up. “I’ll do it.” He headed for the far end of the yard. As he approached, he could see your skin was glistening with sweat in the sun, the hair on the nape of your neck sticking in the heat. He tried to ignore the jump his heart gave and the warmth blooming in his chest as he approached. “Ya keep at it like this you’re gonna drop out here,” he said loudly, trying to make sure you would hear him over the snarls of the walkers.
You spun in surprise, the metal rod hanging along your side, a bit of walker blood and gore dripping off the end. Daryl’s voice was just about the last one you expected to hear. You turned back to the fence and stabbed another walker. “I’m fine,” you said over your shoulder.
“Nah. Ya been out here long enough. C’mon.” You only continued at your grim work, your shoulders tensing as you raised the rod. “Ya deaf or somethin’?” Daryl yelled.
You turned and looked at him again, your expression mostly blank, except for your furrowed brow. “I’m not deaf. I’m—” you sighed and crossed your hands over your chest. “What are you even doing down here?” you asked, genuinely confused.
Daryl’s blue eyes looked away for a moment. “What d’ya mean?” He was gripping the chain link in front of him, his fingers poking through.
“I mean, yesterday. Me down here working on the fence is about as out of your way as I could get, Daryl. And now you’re here.”
You watched as he pulled his bottom lip in between his teeth and bit it anxiously. “That why you’ve been out here so long?” he asked.
“No, I—Rick asked me to come down and—”
“Mmm. Mhm,” Daryl hummed, his nose inclining a little. “Ya, that makes sense. You’d do anything Rick asked of ya, right?”
You gave him a confused look. His tone was so… odd, almost hostile. “What are you—”
“Yeah, I saw ya earlier. Wearin’ his jacket. Givin’ it back to him…” He felt a swell of jealousy in his chest as he thought of you laughing, your eyes fixed on Rick’s face, light in your eyes.
Your jaw dropped open. “I was—it was cold last night. I was on watch. I was taking over Rick’s shift too and he came up to check on things and left me his jacket… What are—are you—?” You were bewildered. It sounded like Daryl was jealous. What the hell was happening? One day he’s screaming at you to stay out of his way and the next he’s acting like he’s under the spell of a particular green-eyed monster. Daryl scoffed and straightened up off the fence. “Yeah, I’m sure that’s it. Just you and Rick up in the guard tower. Alone,” he growled, flicking his hand in your direction.
“Are you kidding me? What the hell is going on with you?!” you asked, flabbergasted. “Not that this is even relevant or any of your damn business... and Rick’s a good man but I’m not interested in him like that. I don’t know what—”
Daryl interrupted you again. “Uh huh, ya. He is a good man. Only one here now, right?” Daryl spat back.
You were stunned. “Daryl! Daryl!” He had turned away again and started stalking back up toward the prison, but you were now infuriated and let out a frustrated growl before booking it for the gates that would let you get back into the yard.
By the time you made it, he was a good distance ahead of you, out in the middle of the grassy area and you had to run to catch up to him. “Hey!” you yelled, grabbing onto his shoulder lightly. He threw your hand off and spun around, but you were surprised to see that he didn’t look mad anymore. He looked… defeated. But now you were mad. “Are you gonna fucking explain to me what the hell is going on with you?!? I don’t know what to think! One minute you’re screaming at me to stay out of your goddamn way and the next you’re acting jealous because—what, you think I’m fucking Rick? Which, I’m not, by the way, not that it is any of your damn business.” You scoffed. “And just FYI, I don’t appreciate you trying to tell me what I can and can’t do! Now, what the hell is going on?” you demanded.
He stood there in front of you, his fists clenched at his sides, just looking back at you for a long moment, blue eyes narrowed in either a glare or a squint against the Georgia sun. He couldn’t stop looking at the neat row of stitches on your forehead and the dark bruising around them that had developed over night. His stomach twisted every time. He tore his eyes away and stared down at his boots, rubbing a hand over the back of his neck. “I—you’re right.”
“…what?”
He sighed heavily and looked back up, meeting your eyes again. “M’sorry. Ya just—I thought I was gonna lose ya out there yesterday.”
You just continued to stare at him, confusion muddying your expression.
He chewed his bottom lip for a moment trying to come up with the right words to explain, to apologize. “Ya scared the shit outta me, pullin’ what ya did. And every time ya go out there, I can’t stop thinkin’ about what if somethin’ happens to ya. And it almost—it’s like I can’t breathe.”
You just stared at the archer, your heart continuing to race in your chest, but not from anger anymore.
“And I know it isn’t fair that I yelled at ya like I did. I was bein’ a jackass. I guess it was just how all that fear… came out. And I didn’t mean how it sounded.” Now that he had started talking it was almost like he couldn’t stop.
“Then what did you mean?” You felt like you were imagining this.
“I meant that…” he licked his bottom lip nervously and his blue eyes met yours. “I couldn’t bear it if somethin’ happened to ya.” He studied your expression for a moment, his eyes landing on the soft pout of your lips. “And I was jealous of you and Rick.”
“Daryl, there’s nothing—”
“I know. I know…” he trailed off. “But I was an asshole and then ya were wearing his jacket and smilin’ at him, laughin’, and I just—” He gulped at the restriction in his throat. “I—I wanna be that for ya.”
Your brain still wasn’t entirely registering what he was saying, but the way he was looking down at you was certainly sending jolts of electricity through you. “Be what?”
His eyes flickered between your lips and eyes repeatedly and you felt like you were waiting in anticipation on the edge of something. He shrugged vaguely. “Everythin’. Anythin’ ya need,” he said simply.
“…so, when you said that I’m in your way—?”
“I meant I can’t hardly think of anythin’ but you all the time.” Daryl was quickly losing his courage, nerves starting to take over and he pulled his bottom lip in between his teeth and chewed on it anxiously. You were looking up at him but he couldn’t read your expression. It was seemingly blank, and finally he was so anxious he started to turn away, but your hand landed on his arm gently and he looked back at the contact of your skin on his before his eyes rose and met your gaze.
There was a small smile on your face and Daryl’s heart leapt even as he tried to prepare himself for disappointment. “Where do you think you’re going?” you asked quietly. He again squared his feet to yours, shifting his weight from one foot to the other nervously. Your hand was still on his forearm and it felt like it was sending out radiating waves of heat.
Your smile faded and your expression became more serious. “Everything you just said—is how I feel about you.”
Daryl gulped, feeling suddenly breathless in disbelief. Your hand dropped from his arm, leaving a tingling sensation behind.
“Listen, I’m on watch duty again tonight. First shift. I’ll probably be cold. Why don’t you come keep me company and maybe bring me a jacket,” you said, with a small smile.
Daryl’s heart leapt at the thought of spending so much time with you alone. He nudged his nose up in a nod and was about to leave when he felt your hand on his arm again. You arched up onto your toes and placed a kiss on his cheek, giving him a warm smile, he felt he didn’t deserve. He stood rooted in place in the middle of the grassy field, a hesitant excitement blooming in his chest, as he watched you disappear into the safety of the prison.
#my gifs#daryl dixon fanfiction#daryl dixon twd#the walking dead#twd fanfics#daryl dixon drabbles#daryl imagines#daryl dixon x reader#fanfics#writers of tumblr#twd drabbles
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Be Careful What You Wish For
(Spencer Reid x Reader)
The one where Spencer gets exactly what he wished for, but it isn’t necessarily for the best.
Length: 5k
A/N: this is based off of maybe one of the best requests i have ever received, thank you so much anon, your request really got my creative juices going! also i combined this request with another one, too <3 (angst, just straight up, with happy ending tho)
masterlist
The sun was shining against the glass windows of the car. The sunset was so beautiful with its melting and merging colors, Y/N wished it lasted longer so she could watch it. It’d been feeling like beautiful moments were few and far between lately.
No one ever said being in a relationship was easy, but she’d never expected to drift this far from Spencer. She couldn’t exactly place the moment at which the descent of their relationship began, if she was being honest. One day, they’d be happy, smiling, full of love and life. And then the next, waves of darkness and despair would appear. They weren’t even the kinds of waves that would disappear with the shining sun. No, they were there to stay and fuel the storm that continues to rage on.
Today was one of those days. To be fair, the whole team was struggling, but Spencer had taken Morgan’s departure a little harder than everyone else. It was understandable, of course. Derek was a staple in Spencer’s life for so long. However, for a man who’s seen and been through so many losses, he sure was terrible at dealing with them. Spencer’s tendency to keep things bottled up had definitely been affecting the overall health of their relationship. In fact, it has been the root of a lot of their arguments lately. Y/N just wanted him to let her in, let her help him and she was willing to wait however long it takes. Spencer on the other hand grew more and more snappy, irritable, and private with each passing day.
When they were at work, they tried their best to avoid each other so as to not get on each other’s nerves. Their fights usually didn’t turn into screaming matches, but they both had a track record of saying things they don’t mean. Hurtful things. Turns out profilers are fantastic at rubbing salt into open wounds.
Ever since they began dating, Spencer took the subway less, opting for car rides with Y/N. Sometimes she’d drop him off, other times they’d spend the rest of the day at each other’s houses. She enjoyed driving him around, at first he was never too picky with the music she played, but later on, his music began to overtake hers. It never bothered her, in fact, she took it as a sign of him being vulnerable and sharing parts of himself.
The days where car rides once filled with joyous singing and laughter were coming to a shocking halt. The silence nowadays was almost always louder than the music they used to play. Even small talk felt like too much of a burden sometimes.
“Should I just drop you off at your place? Or do you wanna come over to mine? I still have some of that lasagna you liked in the fridge.” She asked softly as they slowed down into traffic. Rush hour in DC was never fun.
“No, it’s fine. I’ll just have whatever’s at my place.” Spencer was being curt with his responses. Thus, the warning signs began flashing in her head.
“Are you sure? We can even pick something up from that one grocery store on our way home, something that goes well with the lasagna. I don’t mind cooking today.” She offered, hoping he wouldn’t shut her out like he usually did.
He shook his head, keeping his voice eerily level and his gaze was set on the road in front of him, “I just really wanna be home, Y/N.”
She nodded and whispered, “Okay.”
A short silence ensued as traffic began to thin out. Cars that were stuck bumper to bumper were beginning to move.
“Is this about Derek leaving?” She asked tentatively. He sighed and pursed his lips in response so she continued, “You know he said he was always a phone call away.”
“I don’t want to talk about that.” Spencer said shortly, gazing out the window.
“You never want to talk about anything.” She said defeatedly, the car beginning to move freely on the road.
“Yeah, well maybe that’s true. Or maybe I just don’t want to talk to you.” Spencer spat, clearly growing impatient.
“Fine, don’t talk to me then. But talk to someone, anyone! Hell, talk to Derek himself. Tell him you hate him for leaving or whatever you’re feeling, but don’t take out your anger and unresolved feelings out on me, okay? I don’t deserve that! Everyday I try to get you to talk to me, but it seems like with every little step I take forward, you take two steps back. And it’s exhausting. It is fucking exhausting, Spencer.” She frowned, tears welling up in her eyes but she refused to let them fall.
“I didn’t ask you for that! I didn’t ask for you to be my personal therapist. If I wanted to see a therapist, I would have gone to see one!” Spencer gestured wildly with his hands as he spoke.
“Spencer, in a relationship, we’re supposed to confide in one another. It’s supposed to be comforting. I don’t want to be your therapist, I just want you to talk to me!” She unconsciously began to press on the pedal, perhaps in an attempt to reach a destination quicker. He scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Relationship? You call this a relationship? We can barely stand to be in the same room together, Y/N.”
“And that’s why we talk it out. No relationship is ever perfect! You should know that, Spencer!” She shrieked, gripping the steering wheel in frustration.
“That’s not true. What I had with Maeve was perfect until it was ruined.” He uttered.
“Maeve?!” She squealed incredulously, “Really?! What you had with Maeve was perfect?! Spencer, what you had wasn’t real like us! You spoke to her over the phone once a week! You wrote to her in letters, where you have time to-to think and to respond! It isn’t like real life, it isn’t like you and me! What we have is real! I-I’ve lived with you, I’ve seen you torn to pieces, I’ve seen you laugh until you cry. That’s the you I fell in love with, not some fantasy I created of you over the phone!” She spoke but the words were garbled between incoming sobs that she was frantically wiping the remnants of off her cheeks. The same sobs she’d tried so hard to suppress. She was barely aware of the words that came out of her mouth.
“If what I had with Maeve wasn’t real, then why do I wish she were the one here with me instead of you?!” Spencer defended, unaware of how sharp his words were or how deeply they’d wounded her.
Her breath hitched in her throat, taking her already blurry vision off of the road in front of her to face him, “What?” She whispered brokenhearted, but the utterance was immediately swallowed by the unmistakable, earsplitting sound of metal clashing violently against metal. They had no choice but to succumb to the inundating darkness that rapidly overtook them both.
***
Spencer woke with a violent start and sat up in his own bed. He sighed in relief when he realized it was just a dream and it was morning again. Turning his head to look at the left side of the bed where she usually slept, he expected to find her there and was taken by surprise when she wasn’t. He rubbed at his face and eyes vigorously before hearing some clattering in the kitchen. With long strides he saw a blurry figure in the kitchen making coffee and walked towards it.
He sighed in relief, “Hey, there you are. I just had the worst dream.” He huffed as he wrapped his arms around her waist and buried his face in her neck in his half-asleep state.
“Hey, good morning, lovebug.” She smiled and turned around to hug him tightly.
Something felt off. Something wasn’t right.
He’d heard that voice before. He pulled back from the hug and was met by…
It wasn’t Y/N. It was Maeve.
Spencer could barely control his expression as complete bone-stilling shock washed over his entire being, “M-Maeve?”
“Yeah, what’s wrong, honey? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” She said, a kind smile resting upon her features. If Spencer wasn’t so shocked, he’d probably have laughed at the absurd truth of that statement. Maeve brought her hand up to his forehead, “Are you feeling okay?”
He didn’t even have time to be confused before he jerked back quickly at the touch of her hand, “I-uh, uh...I’m not feeling too g-good. Um...what’s happening?” He mumbled, rubbing at his eyes again, almost like they’d be polished and he’d see more clearly. But when he opened his eyes again, she was still there. Right in front of him. There was no light emitting from behind her, she was totally opaque. It was eerily real.
Her face was full of color and life and she was dressed in one of his cardigans over her own set of matching pajamas. She was moving and...alive. And speaking to him. What is happening right now?
“But y-you’re...how are you here right now? Am I still dreaming? Am I...Maeve, am I dead?” Spencer shook his head in an attempt to wake back up.
She began to laugh and pulled out a chair for him to sit on, and so he did, still staring up at her in disbelief, “No, baby, you’re very much alive. You’re probably just still confused from whatever nightmare you had. Here, have some water.”
“Y-yeah, yeah, confused. Um, what day is it?” Spencer began to pat on his chest to make sure he was solid and alive.
She looked at him curiously at his strange behavior, “It’s April 5th, 2016.”
April 5th? Derek left the BAU near the end of March. A light bulb went off in his head.
The BAU!
They’d have all the answers. He shot up from his seat immediately, “I uh, have to get to work.” Spencer rushed to his bedroom to get dressed.
As he’s dressing, he spots a picture frame on his bedside table. He knows the picture by heart, it was of him and Y/N in the pumpkin patch last year. He’d had his arms tightly wound around her shoulders and was kissing her cheek. The leaves were the most colorful they’d ever been. He picked it up and almost dropped it immediately like it had burned his skin. It was the same picture.
But Y/N was nowhere to be seen. In her place was Maeve.
No, no, no. This isn’t right.
Spencer began to panic as he buttoned up his shirt, he threw on his cardigan and practically flew out the door. In the distance, he could hear Maeve in the background calling out for him to drink his coffee before leaving.
The train ride to work was truly a test of his patience. He couldn’t keep his knee still and checked his watch religiously. After the train stopped, was the first one off and ran as fast as his poor feet could take him. He stopped running when he got to the FBI Headquarters as to not alarm anyone, but raced to the sixth floor anyway.
As he opened the glass doors he searched frantically for any familiar face, “Garcia!” He yelled as he spotted her bright yellow clad figure across the bullpen. He pushed through tired agents and messy desks to get to her. Everything else was the same, the office was just as he remembered it.
“Good morning, boy wonder! How are you today?” She smiled graciously, holding a few files in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other.
“Have you seen Y/N?” He asked impatiently. She pulled her brows together.
“Do you mean Y/N...Y/L/N?” She asked slowly, as if trying to recall her name.
“Yes, of course I mean Y/N Y/L/N. Who else would I be talking about?” Spencer asked, once again losing more of his patience.
“No, I haven’t seen her, to be honest. I don’t see much of the White-Collar Crime division up here unless Hotch asks for them. Why do you need Y/N? Is she okay?” Garcia casually answered, as if her answer hadn’t turned his world--this world--whatever the hell he was experiencing upside down.
“White-Collar crime? No, that can’t be right.” Spencer muttered to himself as his brain raced a million miles a second.
“Reid, is everything alright? Is there a possible case? Should I tell Hotch?” Garcia asked, but Spencer was barely listening.
He was on his way back to the elevators again, leaving an extremely confused Penelope in his wake. He raced down to the fourth floor, to the White-Collar crime division. As the elevator doors opened, his eyes scanned the crowded floor for her.
“Dr. Reid! It’s nice to see you down here. What can I do for you?” An agent, Agent Seymour, he’s met perhaps once before asked him.
“Hi, yes, I’m um..looking for one of your agents. Agent Y/L/N.” Spencer stuttered, it was weird saying her name so formally. But he had to see it with his own eyes.
“Yes, of course, right this way. I think she just came in.” The agent led him to a desk in the middle of the bullpen and left him, saying that she was probably getting coffee and should be back an second. Spencer looked over her desk and compared it with how her desk at the BAU looked like. Gone were the trinkets and books he’d given her. Gone was the candle she never lit, but kept anyway because she said it smelled like him. It was like staring at a stranger’s desk, so desolate, so...un-special.
“Jeremy, stop. I almost spilled my coffee!” She giggled from behind him. He’d recognize her voice anywhere. He turned to see her and his lungs filled with relief as he spotted her familiar face across the bullpen. There she was, in all her glory. Looking as beautiful as ever. His Y/N. But the relief was ripped away all too suddenly as he watched on. She had her coffee in one hand and the other was swatting a very sheepish looking Jeremy, he assumed.
“I’m sorry, baby. I just missed you.” He spoke, wrapping his arms around her waist and pressing a kiss to her lips.
She blushed immediately and shied away, “Jeremy, we’re in the office!” She giggled again and pulled away from him, glancing around the office as if to check if anyone saw the moment of affection. Spencer’s blood boiled before he realized.
She looked so happy.
So much happier than she ever looked when she was with him. His heart sank to his feet and he felt like he was incapable of lifting it back up to its rightful place in his chest. He wondered if this was the universe’s cruel, cruel way of letting him know just how shitty of a boyfriend he’s really been. Fire of envy festered in the place where his heart used to reside. He wasn’t sure if it was jealousy, resentment, or guilt.
It all felt so strange. It felt like there was suddenly way too much pressure in his head. Before he could begin to compute the events unfolding before him, he realized she had spotted him at her desk and was now making her way across the bullpen, separating from her Jeremy. Before he could freak out, she was speaking to him. And all he could focus on was the shape of her lips and the faint memory of how they felt pushing against his.
“Dr. Reid! To what do I owe the pleasure of seeing you here?” She asked politely, but Spencer could tell that she was immeasurably confused by his presence, “Does Agent Hotchner need something from the White Collar crimes archives?”
Spencer panicked, “Yes! Um, he does...and um he asked me to ask you s-specifically. That’s why I’m here, heh.” He stammered like the nervous wreck he was and wiped his sweaty palms on the inside of his pockets.
“Okay, that’s no problem. Just tell me the number of the file and I’ll get it for you.” She smiled slightly, setting her cup of coffee down on her desk. At least her coffee order was still the same as it was.
She disappeared for a few moments after he gave her a random sequence of numbers. Spencer wasn’t even sure how his legs were still capable of holding himself up. When she came back and he got a whiff of her perfume, his body completely stilled. He knows that scent like the back of his hand, he’d given it to her for their first anniversary. The fresh scent nearly sent him into anaphylactic shock. He’d accepted the file and scurried back to the sixth floor without another word, once again leaving a confused woman in his wake.
Spencer collapsed at his desk and rubbed his head like it would somehow fix this. Whatever this was. Everyone around him operated so normally and went about their day while he was seconds away from losing his mind.
Was he having a schizophrenic scare? Did his symptoms bleed into his 30’s even though they weren’t supposed to? What was this alternate universe where he’d lost the one good thing he’s ever known? How was he supposed to get back? Did he want to go back? What would happen if he did? Would it be fair for Y/N to stick with him when he knew she would be so much happier with someone else? Would he try harder for her? Would he stop shutting her out? Would the woman he loved so dearly ever love him back?
He must not have ever been deserving of her love and the universe was punishing him in the worst way possible. To have her be within arm’s reach but to never be able to hold her.
Once upon a time, he would have given up anything and everything to be with Maeve, but that was before Y/N. Before she gave him a new life, one he wanted to live. One where waking up wasn’t such a task. One where seeing her smile at him was enough to make him forget about all his worries. But now Y/N looked at him with barely a sliver of recognition. There was no affection or adoration behind those eyes and maybe he deserved that.
But how was this universe expecting him to go on like everything is fine? Like he hadn’t just lost the love of his life? No one else in this warped version of Spencer’s reality was feeling as dejected as Spencer was.
“Reid, are you feeling alright?” The voice of none other than Aaron Hotchner brought him out of his stupor. Spencer had unknowingly been sobbing into his hands for the past few minutes. Hotch was taken aback at the extent of Spencer’s disheveled state.
“H-Hotch, I need to go home. I can’t be here. I’m sorry.” Spencer packed his things and ran out the building before he realized he had nowhere to go. Home wasn’t his home anymore. He couldn’t exactly go back and see his dead girlfriend wandering around his apartment. He couldn’t be at work where Y/N was, so blissfully unaware of the crisis Spencer was in the middle of.
He wandered the streets of DC aimlessly as he tried to reorganize the events in his head and somehow make sense of them. Just a few days ago, he and Y/N had been holding one another on his couch. Sure, they’d been in a rut recently, but they still loved each other. At least that’s what he thought.
He walked and walked, miles on end, keeping his gaze on his feet as he tried to piece bits together. An IQ of 187 and he had absolutely no idea how whatever was happening to him happened. Even the multiple universes theory didn’t have his back. If he was ‘here’, where has ‘here’s’ Spencer gone?
His feet had taken him to the local park, where he and Y/N used to sit under the stars. He found himself reminiscing the times they were together. He saw himself and Y/N in every couple that passed him by. Exhausted, Spencer took a seat on a patch of grass. He buried his face into his hands and tried to relieve himself of the headache he’d developed.
“Hey, mister! Watch out!!” He heard a child yell way too loudly.
Groaning at the volume, he looked up to see the vague shape of a spinning baseball increasing in size as it moved closer….closer. Spencer had no time to react before he was knocked out cold by the baseball.
***
The first thing she’d heard was the incessant beeping of...something next to her. After that, she’d heard faint chatter. The voices sounded familiar but she just couldn’t put her finger on it. She whimpered in pain which caught the attention of everyone in the room. The chatter ceased.
“Y/N? Honey, it’s Pen, can you hear me?” A voice called. She fought to open her eyes.
Why was it so hard to open her eyes? It was like they were glued shut. Why did everything hurt? What is that smell?
She made a small noise of agreement to the voice that called, but could not coordinate herself enough to speak or open her eyes.
“Y/N, darling, you’re in the hospital, okay? You were in a car accident.” She spoke softly.
But the words weren’t soft at all. Her words had opened up a Pandora’s box of previously suppressed memories. Suddenly it was hard to breathe. It was hard to breathe as she tried to remember the last moments before the fog. She remembered seeing him so angry, eyes so wild. Who is he? So...so close. She whimpered in pain as she fought the fog away.
Blood.
So much blood.
Pain.
So much pain.
The others watched as she began to writhe against the hospital bed in discomfort. Her eyes snapped open the second she saw his face in her mind, frantically searching the room for him.
Spencer.
“Sp-Sp--” She began, but couldn’t formulate the rest of the word. Exhausted and defeated by the lack of his presence, she lay back on the bed.
“Hey, hey, calm down. Spencer’s...Spencer’s fine, alright? You can’t see him right now, but you will be able to.” Those words were the last thing she heard before she slipped off into a silent slumber.
Hours later, she awoke again. But this time with enough strength to open her eyes immediately. Her limbs felt like they weighed tons, she could barely lift a finger. The room was empty besides a single chair with a blurry figure seated in it.
“Spencer?” She uttered almost inaudibly and the figure moved.
“Hey there. Sorry, I’m not Spencer.” The figure moved closer and she recognized the blonde sheen.
“JJ.” Y/N croaked with relief, happy to see a friend. JJ promptly gave her some water in a cup and adjusted the bed so that she would be able to swallow it.
“How are you feeling?” She asked, taking the cup from Y/N’s trembling hands.
Y/N shook her head imperceptibly, “Is...Spence--is he?” Y/N barely got to finish her thought before the tears settled in.
“No, gosh, no. He’s alive. Thankfully, you both made it out alive.” JJ said with relief, leaning her elbows against the side of her bed. Y/N felt her breathing get easier as she learned of the news. She blinked hard, trying to control the tears, but they just flowed out.
“It’s my fault, JJ.” she paused to take a deep breath and JJ took one of her hands in hers, “I was the one driving. I should have been more careful. I-I was so mad.” She sobbed, the tears escaping.
“Hey, no, it’s alright now. Okay, you’ve both made it out alive, that’s what’s important.” JJ rubbed Y/N’s knuckles.
“W-where is he? I need to see him.” Y/N attempted to sit up but winced from the sharp pain in her side.
“Um..yeah, about that. You can’t really get up yet. You’ve got three broken ribs, a broken leg, and a severe concussion.” JJ delivered the news and Y/N’s tears seemed to flow even harder.
Before she could respond, Hotch, Penelope, and a nurse walked into the room, “Oh, sunshine! It’s so good to see you awake!” Penelope squealed and kissed her wet cheek gently before wiping away her tears. The nurse checked all her vitals and gave her some extra information before she left. Y/N forced a smile and sat back, but something in the room felt heavy.
“What’s going on? What aren’t you guys telling me?” Y/N frowned, staring at her friends. She saw them all exchange a look and Hotch being the most straightforward man she knows decided to deliver the news.
“It’s Spencer. Unfortunately, Spencer’s brain has swelled significantly and doctors don’t know when he’ll wake. It’s already been almost 42 hours since the accident.” Hotch frowned, watching Y/N’s expression turn from a hopeful one into one of the most unbearable expressions of grief.
“Wh--what, what does that mean? Does that mean he’s--is he ever going to wake up?” She began to panic, her heart rate audibly increasing. She squeezed JJ’s hand as hard as she could.
“We can’t be sure yet, the swelling has to go down before doctors can make any claims. It’s still too early to say he’s in a coma, which is a good sign. He’s also been showing steady signs of improvement.” Hotch said and Y/N covered her face to shield herself away from the embarrassment of openly sobbing.
JJ and Penelope both looked at the bruised and broken girl on the bed with tears brimming their eyes, unsure of what to do.
“I have to see him. Please. Please, JJ.” Y/N sobbed, pleading at the woman beside her. JJ looked towards Hotch for guidance.
“I’ll speak with the Doctor and see what I can do.” Hotch nodded once and left the room. Aaron Hotchner was simply a man you couldn’t say no to. Thankfully, this extended to doctors as well. The next time someone came in, they entered with a wheelchair. After many screams and with the help of three nurses and a doctor, they managed to get Y/N into the wheelchair. They rolled her off into Spencer’s room where he lay motionless on a bed just like hers. The sight of him so frail with so many tubes going in and out of his orifices should have overwhelmed her, but she was just so happy to see him breathing. Once again she could barely control her tears as she weakly gripped at the hand that was closest to her. She pressed sloppy, uncoordinated kisses to the back of his hand and pleaded for him to wake.
The sight was overwhelming, even for Hotch. It was difficult to see their two youngest agents fight for their lives.
And for the next two days, this is how it went. Y/N would wake from her slumber, request to see Spencer and would not leave his side unless her Doctor absolutely required her to. She didn’t care about what he’d said to her before the crash, she didn’t care. It didn’t matter. She just wanted him here. She wanted to hear his voice again. What a luxury that was.
Slowly, Spencer began improving. He’d begin to open his eyes but shut them immediately afterwards. He’d make noises, even though they were very garbled, they were very welcome. Y/N would read to him, she’d have any one of their friends bring over his favorite books and she’d pass the time reading to him. It was difficult at first, but she’d improved too.
On the fifth day, he was awake and fully conscious before she even got to his room.
He heard his teammates speaking around him again and what a relief it had been to wake in a hospital bed rather than his own bed. He let out a heavy sigh of relief as they updated him of what happened in the recent days.
It wasn’t real.
None of it was.
Maeve wasn’t there, Y/N was his, no one else’s.
He’d been sure of it when they’d rolled her into his room and near his bed, eyes lit with hope surrounded by healing scrapes and bruises.
“Spence? Spencer!” She exclaimed, “Oh thank God you’re awake.” She whispered trying her hardest to lean towards him on the bed.
Spencer fought to raise his arm to touch her arm, “Y/N? A-are you really here?” He whispered back.
“I’m here baby, I’m here. I’m never leaving you.” She sobbed, leaning her face into his awaiting palm. Spencer’s chest filled with immense relief as his thumbs caught her fallen tears.
“Y/N, wait--Y/N, I’m so sorry...I’m so sorry about what I said. I remember. I didn’t mean it. You’re the one for me. Life is perfect with you.” Spencer frowned as tears of his own raced down his cheeks.
Y/N shook her head, “It’s okay, I don’t care about that anymore. I could have lost you. I-if I had lost you, I would have lost myself Spencer. I love you so much. I love you so much.” She repeated as she kissed the palm of his hand.
“I love you so much, Y/N.”
How could he have ever wished to live without this? Without her?
The universe had taught him his lesson and boy was he glad he had learned it.
#spencer reid#dr spencer reid#spencer reid x reader#spencer reid fanfic#spencer reid fanfiction#Spencer Reid fic#Criminal Minds#criminal minds fanfic#criminal minds fic#criminal minds fanfiction#spencer reid oneshot#spencer reid masterlist#spencer reid angst#spencer reid fluff#spencer reid imagine#mgg#CM
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earned it [07]
Gojo Satoru is a firm believer that if you work hard for it then you shall earn it. But on the other side, he’s not unfamiliar with his own sins. He also believes that there is punishment due for his sins as he’s earned it.
cw. explicit smut, pool sex, slight angst, i miss naoya :(, mafia business, mentions of blood, lots of drama, mentions of death and murder
note. IDEK ANYMORE. lmao anyways do you guys want faster updates or do you guys want to wait? i can finish the series next week and then we can move on to white lies 😈
series masterlist
The three of you were seated back at your tables, where the whole dancing fiasco had thankfully ended. Satoru noticed nothing of your behavior – either he was really clueless, or you were a damn good actor – the guy was much too invested with the files Nanami was currently showing.
For a moment, you let yourself loosen as you took a deep breath. The account was much more important than whatever Nanami was scheming.
“I think I may have found where the real money is, or treasure, we should say, since none of us can really figure out what the Zen’ins might be hiding. And from the looks of it, considering Naoya had no idea about what his family kept prior to his death, this is something only his elders wanted to know about,” Nanami pinched the bridge of his nose, sliding a photo of an unsuspecting white manor that you hadn’t seen in a long time. “And it’s been right under our nose the whole time.”
“That’s one of our islands,” you replied with a furrowed brow, “Are you saying you traced the source back there? But that’s impossible, we haven’t used that island for years and even Naoya told me he was going to sell it because it was of no use to us. It’s not on commercial waters and there’s no local people around either. That island is in the middle of nowhere.”
“This is exactly why it’s the best place to hide things – because no one would ever suspect this seemingly harmless middle of nowhere could contain their assets.”
Satoru, who’d kept silent the whole time, inched closer to you. His cologne wafting off to you eased you for a moment – purely because it was familiar – and even though you despised saying it, you were thankful he was here. Currently, the blond man posed a bigger threat, the difference being that Nanami actually had leverage against you while you had more control over Satoru.
You sighed. If Naoya was here, things would’ve been so much better. He never lost his composure in figuring things out on his own. But now that he was gone, now that he’d never be coming back, you had be responsible for his sake, but mostly for yours.
“Take a look at this. The nearest land is a small, uncharted city from Brazil’s outskirts. I’ve been illegally transporting weaponry and firearms somewhere near there since our family started the business – it’s the easiest place to sneak in things without getting caught. All you need to do is pay a few fishermen and they’ll easily transport our load from one place to another, no questions asked,” Satoru announced, seemingly deep in thought as he rubbed his chin. “It would make sense if the Zen’in clan elders found this place useful too. It’s basically a hot site for criminals.”
“But we don’t operate this way. The Zen’in elders are too prideful to handle transactions like this. They would’ve chosen a more…discreet yet formal way of handling things.”
“How does an underwater passage sound?” Nanami pushed the other photo aside to reveal a blurry snap of what seemed like a tunnel under the sea. On the surface, it looked just like an abandoned rig, but it stretched too long, the exterior already covered in mold and seaweed. “About 80 years ago, the Zen’in Clan leader at that time was often heavily targeted by their enemies in business that they preferred to travel under the sea. If my theory is correct, right under that island would be another base of some sort that allows the clan leaders move from one country to another while remaining undetected.”
“So that’s how they easily sent their own shit overseas…”
“It would be a very sound conclusion to assume so,” Nanami crossed his arms at Satoru’s musings, “However, that’s all I know. All I can tell you is where I last got the signal for the source – which is about seven years ago, and a few months right after Toji Zen’in was disowned by his family when Naobito took over. It would also be near around the time he met his wife and had his child, which would increase the possibilities that he may have stored something in this island for his son’s future. Again, it could be money, gold – we don’t really know,” he nodded your way, a sense of finality behind those blue eyes that had now looked so menacing when once it brought you comfort – reassurance. “How you get there is all up to you.”
Something didn’t feel right.
“If the elders really wanted to hide this place, they wouldn’t have passed the rights of the island into my inheritance when Naoya died. They surely wouldn’t have wanted me to find out about this.”
“I could think of two things,” Satoru proposed, “It’s either they trust your potential enough as the clan leader to replace Naoya, or they didn’t think you’d care anyway.”
You let his words sink in. The clan elders have never bothered much with you. They were too prideful about “saving face” and “keeping up images” that they couldn’t even let a word of insult slip past their lips under the belief they were above that. But you weren’t stupid; they had never approved of your marriage to Naoya. An outsider like you, suddenly becoming a part of their family when they could’ve had your husband marry a family friend?
They may have kept silent about their dislike to you, but one way or another, they were going to take action for it.
Knowing the Zen’ins, being a Zen’in, you knew there was one thing they hated the most: not being in control.
“Neither,” you finally concluded while mumbling down at your lap. The theory was hazy, incomplete, based only on mere emotions but slowly, you were coming together to piece it. You felt Satoru turn your way, his large hand caressing your knee as if coaxing the words out of you. “It’s neither. Naoya’s elders…they never liked me. It’s been made pretty clear to me that I’m dispensable without my husband, and I will never be a Zen’in in their eyes. I wouldn’t be surprised if they asked me to give up all my inheritance from Naoya because I’m not related to them by blood.”
The silence in the table stretched.
No matter how grandiose the hotel restaurant may be, you felt suffocated in that seat. How didn’t you realize it sooner? You were in a land that stretched past your territory, with both men accompanying you people you couldn’t wholeheartedly trust, while your husband rotted away back at home – probably covered in dust and not even given a proper burial like he deserved.
There was only one way out of this, to put an end to everything. It would prove to be a daunting task, but you didn’t have a choice. No, in fact, this was your only choice if you wanted to survive.
Satoru’s voice softened upon seeing the grimness of how you turned mum. “I’ll follow you wherever you go. I promise to help you in finding out whatever is in there,” he met your eyes; yours filled with contempt, with fear, with desperation, and his filled with regret. “It’s the least I could do…after everything I’ve done to you.”
You took a deep breath.
You couldn’t lie to yourself. There was no way you could trust him with his empty promises. He’d shown enough times that he wasn’t a man of his word, and you’d be a fool to fall for it again. However, Nanami’s glance was curious and suspecting, hiding his true colors with an innocent gesture of sipping his wine. He may seem unbothered and only here to ‘help’, but this man was cunning, possibly more so than Naoya could ever be, and one wrong move would be similar to stepping on a land mine.
Satoru received no response from you, and soon the three of you were standing outside the hotel’s lobby to escort Nanami back where he came from. The dinner was tense, so much so that you’d unknowingly been clutching Satoru’s bicep the whole time.
He tapped your shoulder, bringing you back to life as he gestured to his phone. “Sorry, it’s Geto.”
“Oh,” you muttered and stepped away from him, feeling your heart sink in your chest as you watched him retreat behind the glass doors. Beside you, Nanami snickered.
“Made up your mind, agent?” he taunted, “This is your final chance to prove yourself. Gather enough intel for us to intrude whatever that mighty clan is hiding underneath that island, surrender Gojo to us, and we’ll give you everything as promised.”
You faced him with fiery eyes, prepared for whatever he’d throw your way when he showed you that cursed red coin again. Realizing its power, the true meaning it held, you immediately shut your lips. It must’ve satisfied to know he was the one in charge here, and how could he not be when your life was literally at the palm of his hands, your days growing more numbered if you didn’t follow everything he asked for?
If you had just…if you had just done everything the Organization had asked you for, you wouldn’t have been here. You wouldn’t have felt this torn.
Nanami flipped the coin before tucking it into his pocket, sending one last salute your way. He hailed a cab and disappeared afterwards, leaving you alone to ponder over the consequences of your actions, your emotions. For the first time in his life, Naoya had lied to you.
He wasn’t correct when he said you were strong.
Because after all this time, you still held onto something that you should’ve let go of a long time ago, and you had nothing but your weak, sensitive, hopeless heart to blame for. Said hurdle appeared not long afterwards, his touch warm on your shoulder as he gazed at the empty spot beside you.
“Oh, Nanami left,” he noted, turning your shoulders to him until you were completely exposed. There was no more hiding from him, or more like you didn’t have enough energy to. You felt dull, tiredness lining your eyes and lips pressed into a flat line. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. Yeah, I am.”
Ten days. That was how much you’ve wasted your time here in Milan, and you weren’t even remotely close to figuring things out. Your resources were much more limited the farther you were from the Zen’in Estate, and your lawyer was a family one, meaning they held more loyalty to the actual Zen’ins instead of law-affiliated people like you were.
Simply put, you were all alone to solve this by yourself.
Satoru promised to help, but he kept disappearing in the morning along with Geto. You never asked where they went or what they did; it simply didn’t matter anymore.
You would only spend hours locked in your room as you researched everything you could on your private island near Brazil. Just like Satoru said, it seemed like the perfect place to hide things for the spot seemed remote enough to offer privacy for the family’s getaway. You could somewhat recall Naoya proposing once to take you there for your honeymoon, but business got in the way, and it wasn’t like you truly trusted him then to spend such an intimate with him that you said no.
Sighing, you put all the papers away. Not even a single clue led you to what could be possibly be there, but there was an underwater passage. The fact the Zen’ins was capable of building that made you wonder just what the extent of their powers and influence stretched to, and you contemplated for a bit if you could hold that same ability now that you had his name.
Whatever was there, you would look for it.
Your mission was clear – the success of it would determine the fate of your life. Find out what they’re hiding, surrender Satoru Gojo to the Organization, and then everything would be over.
It sounded simple, yet your heart knew it wasn’t. Naoya died with the confidence of his trust over you, the trust you worked so hard to earn. But wasn’t that point? You needed him to trust you for you to be able to pull this mission off, but things happened, emotions and conscience got in the way, and you banged your knuckles on the table until your ring throbbed on your finger.
You just wanted it all to end. You never meant to hurt Naoya, never meant to betray anyone, but it fucking pissed you off that Naoya wasn’t the real problem. He wasn’t the one holding you back.
With not much thought to your next actions, you slipped past the guards and into the pool that had long been closed since 10PM. Being at your room’s tub reminded you of memories you’d rather forget, and you slowly undid your robe and stepped out of your underwear before dipping in the cold, freezing water.
It felt good. It may have been temporary, but the numbing bite of the water helped you feel more placated. Even for a little while, it was nice to not worry about anything. There were no titles, no mafia drama, no anything, just you and the water that you would’ve easily fooled yourself to be simply enjoying your little trip in Milan until –
“I’ve been looking for you everywhere. You had me worried sick,” You sighed. Of course. Opening your eyes, you raised a brow as Satoru towered over you, a standard hotel towel in his arms. He’d change out of his suit and into cotton shorts and a shirt this time around, possibly on his way to sleep when he realized the room was empty. With no energy to deal with him, you swam away from the man, earning a groan in response. “What the hell is your problem? You’ve been acting weird ever since Nanami came. Listen, if this is about that island, you don’t have to worry too much about anything. I have enough people and resources to help you in every step of the way.”
You ignored him. After everything that happened, what was there to talk about anymore? Even if you told him everything, he might not understand.
So you swam in the middle of the pool, thankful that it was dark enough from the maintenance shutting the lights off that Satoru struggled to find you. However, you’d underestimated him because soon you heard the splashing of the water, and you were harshly tugged by the wrist before Satoru cornered you at the edge of the pool.
He was breathing hard; both of you were, and tried to push past his chest, only to be met with a solid plane of muscle that wouldn’t budge. You sighed and turned away from him, covering your exposed chest with your arms.
“Whatever Naoya is looking for…you’ll find it, okay?”
“Yeah, sure.”
“I’m serious,” the scorn in his tone had been so biting you turned back to him, about to hit him with something, scold him for something, but your words died down in your throat before you even had the chance to.
Satoru hadn’t been demanding. His face, illuminated by the moonlight, made his azure eyes twinkle like stardust exploding. Once in your life, you found so much comfort into staring at such beauty, but that was when everything was still a perfect lie. Funny how the truth ruined everything for its darkness, and you could only look back at him weakly, throat running dry from all the emotions that threatened to pour out of you.
Regret and desperation was written all over his face.
“Please,” he rested his forehead on yours, eyes closed as he mumbled, “You’re not alone in this. I don’t want to ask for much because I know I don’t deserve it, but please at least understand you don’t have to solve everything on your own. You’re not…you’re not alone. I’m here now.”
“When you left me,” your voice cracked, “It’s because you thought I wouldn’t love you anymore if I found out your true nature,” Satoru opened his eyes, anxiety swimming in those eyes that had once been so sweet. Perhaps he still held that sweetness now, albeit it was less tender and more cautious as he waited for you to continue. “If I told you about every sin I’ve committed, the name of each person I killed and everything I’ve done, would you stay with me? Or would you leave me again, only this time it’s because you think I’m no longer someone you could love?”
“I don’t understand.”
“I didn’t expect you to,” was all you said before you felt a tear prick the back of your eyes. You didn’t want him to see, god, you wanted to disappear in that moment you couldn’t think of anything else. Crashing your lips to his, you brought him down by the back of his neck to hide the tears freely falling from your face.
He froze for a split second before he eagerly pushed back, clenching the pool edges with his hands so hard his knuckles turned white. You were panting, moaning in his mouth as he pressed you harder against the edge, skin to skin, breath to breath, soul to soul.
Threading your hands to his hair, you grinded down on his shorts where he was already beginning to grow hard. Satoru groaned inside your mouth from your teasing but made no move to stop to – after all, why would he want to stop? It had been years, seven fucking years, and even you wouldn’t want to stop. It was wrong, it was dirty, it was immoral – but you needed this. You needed this more than ever.
Satoru’s hands tickled your waist as he squeezed them harsher than he intended, his calloused fingers travelling until he was kneading your breasts. You pulled away from him, head thrown back to rest on the edge.
And it was romantic.
The moon had never been so big, sprinkles of star shining in the vast darkness, the scene just perfect for two lovers in a getaway from the harshness of life. You knew it wasn’t real and the spell would break sooner than later, but did it matter? He rolled your beaded nipples into his fingers before he ducked down, lips suctioned to suck heavy bruises on the sensitive patch of skin on your neck that had you twitching in his hold.
Along with your moans, you cried harder. From heartbreak, from regret, from guilt; there was no turning back from this.
“Satoru, please, please, please. Make me feel better, make me feel good, I just want to forget everything.”
He nodded eagerly against your neck, letting your eager hands help him push his shorts down before his cock sprang free. His length grazed your lower abdomen for a moment, though he didn’t waste any time in entering your hole. You gritted your teeth at the intrusion, nails dug so hard in his shoulders that he bled.
The both of you had your foreheads connected, noses brushing and breaths mixing as you moaned and he sighed, eyes shut tight from finally being engulfed in your warmth.
“Right there, ‘Toru, oh fuck.”
“F-fuck,” he hitched one of your legs to wrap around his waist, “You’re still so tight after all this time,” Satoru praised, molding his lips with yours once again. He picked up his pace and watched as you desperately clung from one surface to another – his shoulders, his hair, the edge of the pool, flailing your arms each time his deep thrusts knocked the wind out of you – breasts bouncing as he bounced you on his cock.
“You look so fucking beautiful – my sweet, sweet angel. I missed you, missed you so fucking much.”
You didn’t say anything. No words were needed to be exchanged; actions spoke louder than words. At least right now, you could promise you wouldn’t lie.
Pulling him down for another kiss, you bit down on his bottom lip to muffle your moans, too speechless at each movement of his dick grazing past your walls. Fuck, he still felt so good, still knew your body way too well and your pussy hugged him so tight like you didn’t ever want to let go.
But you knew you had to, even as he came inside you and brought you back to your room, uncaring of the dripping mess you’ve both made before he locked the door.
You forgot how many hours you spent underneath him writhing in his bed. He took you each way he wanted – knees folded beside your head, on your side where he whispered all the filthy things he’d been wanting to do to you while he took you from behind, or your head squished on the pillow as he repeatedly smacked your ass, pulling your ass cheeks apart to praise you on how you took him so well. Satoru didn’t stop; you knew what you were getting into the moment you pulled him into you, that his sex drive was insane and he’d take long to tire himself out.
By the time the first shy fingertips of the sunlight extending across the horizon arrived, you were emptily staring at the window, Satoru fast asleep beside you.
It was time.
Silently, you pulled his arm away from you and quickly got dressed. He seemed to still be deep in slumber, and you carried the only bag previously packed with everything you might need. You were on the process of wearing your stilettos when he stirred awake, sleepily eyeing you from the bed you both devoted yourselves to in pleasuring one another.
“Where are you going?”
“Away,” you answered, tight-lipped. “From you.”
“Why?”
“Because…I lied,” you inhaled sharply, gloved hands frozen on the golden knobs.
Just open it, you screamed at yourself, walk away before it’s too late.
But you couldn’t move, pathetic that even after everything Naoya had worked so hard for, you still remained a slave to your past.
“No matter how much I hate everything you’ve done to me, I can’t bring myself to forget I once loved you. Maybe I still do – I don’t know. But what I do know is that I’m not as strong as I thought I was,” you cried, losing grip on the bag before it fell. You watched emptily as all the contents poured out – your money, your clothes, your phone, your ring – it all served as a reminder of who you were, of who you’d forgotten to be, of who you were supposed to be.
Your shoulders slumped in defeat.
“I don’t have enough strength to kill you.”
“Hey, angel,” he cooed, reaching you in three long strides before he caged you in his arms. Satoru was so warm, so strong, and the safety he provided you with only made you cry harder. You wanted to hate him, wanted to keep lying yourself since you’d been doing a great job at doing that for the past seven years, but it wasn’t that easy. Deep down…you still harbored the most miniscule affection, and that enough was capable of destroying you.
“What’s wrong?”
“Everything,” you whispered brokenly as you banged a weak fist to his chest, “Everything is wrong.”
Finavice Pharmaceuticals didn’t disappoint.
You were beyond impressed the moment you stepped through the door, a horde of eager chemists guiding you through the upper floors. Finavice was one of the biggest – if not the biggest – companies that were known for harboring the rarest or hard to get elements that not even you and Naoya could get your hands on.
Not by yourselves, anyway, so you took it upon yourself to strike a sponsorship to their research program in developing a cure to cancer under the guise of being an advocate to the improvement of the medical field.
Truthfully, you just wanted to please Naoya, show him you were useful and that he didn’t need to kill you. Desperate times called for desperate measures, and there you were, your prettiest smile plastered on as you scanned the towering buildings with unmasked interest.
“Here is the laboratory for the Finavice Pharmaceuticals where we test…”
“Mrs. Zen’in?”
The entire team stopped as a tall man, cloaked in a beige suit instead of a lab coat appearhed out of nowhere. Judging by how everyone had ducked their heads down and turned silent, you could only guess he must be the boss. Flashing your most charming smile, you hitched your bag higher up your arm. “Yes?”
“May I have a word with you?”
You fought the urge to sigh. His question was spoken much more of a statement that you weren’t really given a room to decline, and the young chemists gazed at you curiously under their lashes.
Not wanting to create a commotion that would lead into unwanted attention, you nodded, following the man through a set of double doors, guarded by two heavily armed men from the outside.
The man, who was Kento Nanami, the founder of Finavice himself leaned back into his seat as he made himself comfortable. “So you signed a contract with us two weeks ago to partner on our latest medicine, am I right? I’ve read over your proposals and I must say, they are rather interesting and innovative. I didn’t expect that a businessman’s wife would be a chemist who is interested in expanding to the pharmaceuticals as well. The Zen’ins has never been much invested in that.”
Gladly accepting the tea he’d slid your way, you made sure to clink the teaspoon against the porcelain as you played along. “People change, Mr. Kento. My husband and I’s goals are rather different from their former, traditional ones. Surely, steel exchange couldn’t support us for the rest of our lives.”
“I can’t say no to that. Kudos to you and your husband for your rather…ambitious shared goals then.”
Your hand froze on the utensil, and you narrowed your eyes at him in warning. “Are you implying we should not have trusted you with this, Mr. Kento?”
“No, I am merely letting you know that your act won’t fool me,” he chuckled, leaning forwards to rest his chin on his clasped knuckles, his blue eyes growing dark and serious. “I know what you and your husband’s family does. The Organization knows a lot more about your actions than you think you know we do. Correct me if I’m wrong, but you’re only here because we’re the only company who has access to an element you need for your drug, isn’t that the case, Mrs. Zen’in?”
Well…this was certainly unexpected. You’ve been effortlessly deceiving countless businessmen, government leaders and officials even, that this took you by your surprise. Two could play at this game.
Even if he saw through you long ago, it wouldn’t take much to grab his letter opener that was right beside you and puncture it through a jugular vein. If his guards came, you could easily take them down too. Today was one of those few moments you were thankful for Naoya’s hellish training.
But you didn’t want him to feel satisfied, so you leaned back into your seat and crossed your leg over the other.
“If you knew this whole time, why didn’t you kill me already? A lot of people wouldn’t miss the chance to do so.”
Nanami chuckled. “It’s because like you, I’m not just a pioneer. I, too, have my goals and loyalty laid out for someone else. Most specifically, the Organization, an international collaborative effort of stopping and reducing mafia movement for the safety of our people. Obviously, I’ve been assigned in the Yakuza Division, and it’s no coincidence I read through your file. You are, after all, one of our precious targets.”
You stared at him boredly. Why couldn’t he just get straight to the point?
“Is this a threat? I’m not sure it’s working.”
“Oh, no, I’m not threatening you,” he snatched your tea and took a long sip from it, and it was the first time you learned of his habit of concealing his curious gaze through drinking; a perfect act to seem inconspicuous.
“I am offering you a path to redemption. You may fool everyone, but I know an unhappy woman when I see one, Mrs. Zen’in, and I can tell you find no pleasure in the life you live – running errands for your criminal husband, constantly fearing for your life, wishing you’d just been a regular person like everyone else…” At the lack of response, he took it a gesture for him to continue, and he set the cup down, pushing his glasses right back up his nose. “The Organization has labeled you a target, but I think you’re more of a victim caught in a series of unfortunate events. I merely wish to save you from it.”
You guffawed in laughter at his last statement.
“You men really are ridiculous!” you slapped your palm on his table, losing every bit of that elegant composure to be perfected by a Zen’in wife. “Always preaching about saving me and protecting me – what actually are you pathetic losers even capable of?”
Much to your dismay, Nanami didn’t seem the least bit affected by your mockery.
“Please, don’t group me in with your husband and your former lover. Unlike them, I harbor no interest in you as a woman, I only want to fulfill my duty as an Agent and save you not because you’re a damsel in distress, but rather because…I could kill two birds with one stone,” his eyes shone in mischief, and you swallowed in discomfort as he gazed you up and down.
You’ve had enough experience with being seen as a meal, but this was different. Nanami was viewing you like you were a secret weapon he intended on using as much as he could to achieve his goals.
“You are a very convenient woman, Mrs. Zen’in. Similar to how your husband adores your abilities, I would like to take advantage of your connections. The only difference between me and them is that I can actually give you something money can’t even buy.”
“Such as?”
“A second chance at a normal life.”
“What makes you think I’ll accept your offer? I’m the wife of a mafia leader – my loyalty resides in him.”
“Only because you fear for your life,” he flashed you a red coin, crescents of a Latin quote scripted inside. Mori quam foedari – death before dishonor.
“Join the Organization, Y/N. With your connections, we could easily take down these families and protect the country. Hand over Satoru Gojo and Naoya Zen’in to us, and I promise the Organization will do everything in its power to give you the life you always wanted. A safe, normal one. No more worrying about being killed as you ride your car, no more beating yourself up as you make drugs to promise your usefulness to your husband and no more pretending you are someone who you’re not,” he flipped the coin between his fingers, and tantalized, you couldn’t keep your eyes off it. “Don’t you want that? You’d be able to live freely if you cooperate with us.”
You could hear the gears in your head turning. Part of you would’ve assumed this was a trap had you not known better, but Naoya taught you that if something was a trap, it would sound too easy, too good.
None of this was easy. It would require facing a demon from your past and handling things differently than what Naoya had planned, but that wasn’t the worst.
It was the fact that if you accepted, you’d have to come home tonight and lie in the face of your husband who could easily read through you. He smelled lies and treachery before you could realize you were even thinking of doing something, and knowing Naoya, he wouldn’t hesitate to put a bullet between your eyes the instant he felt something was off.
But his offer… it was a risk you had to take. You wouldn’t ever get an opportunity like this again.
“Do you promise…that I’ll really go back to normal after this? That I won’t be involved in this mess anymore?”
“I can only promise that if you also promise to do your part. You see, I strongly believe you are the one that can put an end to this all. All you have to do is join us, and soon it’ll feel like this nightmare never happened at all. You’ll be free from Naoya Zen’in and Gojo Satoru before you realize it.”
You stared at his coin harder. Death before dishonor. This Organization he was a part of obviously didn’t fuck around, and it seemed scarier because they had their eyes on you for a while now. What were the odds they offered a deal instead of outright killing you, even going as far as to provide you a second chance at life, one that you genuinely wanted to enjoy? It would be a shame to say no, and even if the chances of this turning out well were low, you would damn well take it. A small chance was better than nothing.
“What do I have to do?”
Nanami grinned and pocketed his coin. “A very wise decision, Mrs. Zen’in,” he congratulated, “Please, meet me at my office tomorrow, eight on the dot. Oh, and remember, the Organization will now be watching you wherever you go. You’re one of us now.”
The next day, Nanami had cut your palm.
He spilled your blood into an empty metal casing with engraved letters, mori quam foedari, the phrase both comforting and ominous. Soon, you came home with your blood solidified into a coin to prove your membership and loyalty, that they quite owned you in more ways than one. Your blood meant your loyalty, and the coin felt heavy in your pocket with the implication it was also your blood they wouldn’t hesitate to spill should you betray them.
Mori quam foedari.
Death before dishonor.
Your life over Naoya’s, your future over Gojo’s.
The next few days had been tense. After telling Satoru everything down from the smallest detail, things had shifted between you. Quite frankly, you expected that maybe he’d kill you right then and there after explicitly stating that just because you couldn’t kill him, didn’t mean you wouldn’t turn him in.
“Angel,” he begged, “Will you never really give me the chance to do everything right this time around?”
However, you were too firm on your plans. You originally wanted to leave and go to the island yourself; it was easier to leave Satoru open and vulnerable for the Organization to attack him in your absence. He loved you, that was much clear, and if he looked for you, he’d make himself vulnerable to the Organization, but recent plans had to be altered now that he wasn’t willing to let go of you. Though no matter what he said, you valued your life and future more than you could ever love him.
It was an act of kindness to yourself.
“I don’t want this life anymore, Satoru. Either way, I don’t have a choice, not when I could die literally anytime before I could even say goodbye.”
It had been hours since ‘that’ talk and now you were on a plane back to Tokyo. You had to pull out some archives from Naoya’s files to know more about the island before you could visit it, and it was important for Satoru to know details such as security measures over there.
You’d long fallen asleep from exhaustion, bundled up in a fleece blanket while Geto glared at you.
“Are you sure about this, Sir? I think we should just keep her with us even if she doesn’t want to. The Gojo clan is powerful enough that no one would dare cross us. Not even this Organization she speaks of has ever done anything to us. Without her, they stand no chance against us,” he sat in front his boss and kept sending wary glances your way. “Letting her go like you did before wasn’t a good idea. She knows too much about everyone to live normally now. Do you really believe the Organization will protect her?”
“Knowing the strings the government could pull – and add on to the fact Nanami Kento, one of the richest men in this country works for them that it’s safe to assume each figure in them is a powerhouse – I don’t doubt their promise one bit.”
“But you’ll go to jail if you let her surrender you. Or worse, they’ll destroy the clan from the bottom up.”
“I know that, Geto.”
Geto groaned, brushing his hands through his hair from how indifferent his boss was being, drinking champagne as if he wasn’t willingly walking into his own death. “Then why aren’t you thinking more clearly about this? I understand you love her and you want to make it up to her, but we can’t let her do whatever she pleases! In order to keep herself safe, she’s going to sacrifice you! She’s dangerous, Sir, she’s been lying to her husband the whole time and who’s to say she isn’t capable of doing something worse to a stranger like you?”
“I told you already, Geto,” Satoru swirled the pink liquid in his flute, his face empty and unreadable. “I know.”
“With all due respect, Sir, I don’t agree with your decision. The clan would fall without you and you don’t have siblings or an heir. No one is powerful to hold the clan together aside from you so if you leave – there’s no more hope for us,” he sighed when Satoru didn’t budge. “I at least want you to reconsider your actions. She’s just a woman, Sir. It’s either we kill her or we imprison her. You let her go before because you believed she would be your downfall, and quite frankly, it’s happening all over again.”
Satoru gazed out the window, bringing the flute to his lips with a dark glint in his eye that Geto recognized meant trouble, or worse, an actual solution to this hellish situation.
“Which is why we’re going to pay an old friend a visit, Geto. There’s only one person who could turn the tables around.”
ADDITIONAL NOTE: TOJI IS COMING SOON!!! what are your theories on what might be on that island and *drum roll* WHO IS GOJO’S OLD FRIEND?!
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Summary: You try convince Walter to love your favorite snack throughout your years together. The best dates are shared over cereal, after all.
Pairing: Walter Marshall x Female Reader
Word Count: 4.5k
Warnings: sugary sweet fluff, implied smut — nothing graphic, snarkiness, grumpy Walter to fluffy Walter, cursing, cuteness overload.
Author's Note: I let myself get carried away with this one. I needed grumpy but sweet Walter in my life. I hope you enjoy!
Edited by myself, sorry not sorry for the errors.
Taglist: @justaboringadult @greensleeves888 @cavillsharman @beck07990 @summersong69 @myloveforhenrycavill @kebabgirl67
Taglist for this fic: @lumiousmoon
*No permission is given for reposting my work, copying it, or claiming any ideas or parts as your own.
Please comment and reblog if you enjoyed!
It started when you and Walter were early dating.
💋
“Mmmm, pause. I need a snack.” Uncurling yourself from Walter’s warm body on the couch, you made your way to the kitchen to find something to cure your hunger. You called behind you, “Want anything, Marsh?”
“Whatever you’re having... I’ll have the same.”
“Cereal it is!” You pulled the ceramic bowls from the cabinet and opened the fridge to grab the milk. Out of the corner of your eye, you saw Walter’s face scrunch in confusion. “What?”
“Cereal? Absolutely not,” Walter scoffed. “Would you grab me those spicy crisps?”
“Spicy chips, coming right up.” Vernacular was the subject of an ongoing heated debate with the Brit: the great ‘Names for Snacks Debate’ was especially hostile.
Once settled back under the blanket and snuggled into his side once more, you unpaused the movie. The energy in the room shifted, you could sense that you were being watched, but you refused to look up to look at Walter’s face. The judgment coming from the bear of a man who crunched his chips beside you was glaring.
"Stop it," you told him as you kept your eyes on the movie.
Walter didn’t say a word. His eyes traveled back to the TV but kept finding their way back to you.
“Walt, what is it? Is there something on my face?” You giggled at him lightly, unsure of what was bothering him.
“You really chose that for a snack?” His face was bewildered as if you were eating a bowl of Jeep parts.
“What? Don’t tell me you don’t eat cereal as a snack.” He shook his head curtly, wearing a look of disgust. Your eyebrows crinkled together as you followed by asking, “Not even as a quick dinner?”
“Cereal is meant for one time and one place, and that’s sometimes in the mornings for breakfast. That's why they call it breakfast cereal, love. Not dinner cereal, not snack cereal... Do you also eat cereal for lunch?” He was poking fun at you now.
“No, I’m not a heathen, Walter. Here, try a bite, just trust me. It’s amazing as a movie snack.”
His eyes were wide as a grimace was sent in your direction, “You’re crazy — no one does that.”
“Plenty of people do that,” you stated matter-of-factly.
“I’m really not the biggest fan…” Walter sighed and settled further into the couch, preparing for your exasperation that he knew was soon to follow.
“WHAT. Not the biggest fan of cereal? I’m sorry, you were sheltered as a child, weren’t you? There's cereal out there for everyone, Walt. Come on, try it.” You scooped a spoonful of your sugary Cinnamon Toast Crunch and held it to him. He reluctantly obliged your wishes, eating the bite but keeping a look of pain on his face for the entire time he chewed.
"See? Delicious. Ice-cold, crunchy, sweet, perfect." A sugary grin accompanied your playful tone, and Walter shook his head again, exaggerating his distaste for having to chew such an atrocity.
"Mhm. Definitely delicious." Your goofy bear was simmering under the surface of his scouring demeanor, though he stuck his tongue out in mock disgust.
"You're not the biggest fan," you muttered under your breath and rolled your eyes for dramatic effect. "I'll show you."
💋
Standing in the grocery store, you and Walter were having a battle of wits, arguing on the subject of your sweet tooth.
“I’m just trying to show concern for your dental health since you obviously won’t; all that sugar isn’t good for you.” Walter stood stern with his arms crossed, unmoving and solid like a brick wall.
“I appreciate your worry, Dad, but I’m going to keep eating it because I love it. One day, I bet I’ll convince you and you’ll be eating it with me. Plus, my dental health is immaculate, my dentist said so.”
The expression on Walter's face was unwavering as his eyebrows raised in a non-verbal challenge to your declaration.
“I don’t know how you can stand to eat that crap,” he muttered, thinking you couldn’t hear him.
“Oh no, don’t you dare, you grump! I don’t get on you about your snacks, back off mine. ” Despite his unnecessary grouchiness, you placed a hand on his crossed arms and raised up on your toes to give him a soft kiss on his bearded face. “Balance, babe. It’s all about balance.” You dug your way through his arms to find his hands and you drug him a little further down the cereal aisle.
“Come on, grumbly, pick out a cereal you think you might enjoy, for experiment’s sake.”
💋
“Fuck, babe. I’m going to be late, we just got called out on another accident. I am so sorry… I’m not sure when I’ll be home.” Walter had been working a ton lately, and his irritation with just how much he’d been working was starting to show. The two of you had been together for a few months now and had started to grow accustomed to having the other around consistently. You both became out of sorts when you hadn’t seen each other in a while.
“Don’t even worry about it, Walter. Just be careful, please... You should still come over when you’re finished tonight, but no pressure if you’re exhausted.”
“Of course, still need to kiss you goodnight. I can’t sleep if I haven’t.”
Walter Marshall might be a grump, but that grump could make your heart flutter in ways that you’d never felt before. Maybe it was that his sweetness and his charms were completely reserved for you and you alone. His teddy bear nature only appeared when he was near you. After putting back the ingredients for dinner to save for another night, you went to change into your sweats.
Walter appeared at your front door at 12:30 that night, nearly asleep but still standing strong. You’d dozed off on the couch after his call, but were immediately energized again when you saw his beautiful form standing in your doorway.
“Hello, I’m here to have a very late night date with an incredibly beautiful woman,” Walter said, the gravel in his voice making you shiver. Despite his exhaustion, Walter managed to smile at you with one of the biggest smiles you’d ever seen him manage.
You smirked, waving him inside. “Get in here, Bear.”
Walter reached his arms out to you, inviting you into his embrace. Your arms wrapped around his thick torso and you ran your hands up and down his sweater-clad back; he melted into you and burrowed his face into your neck. Walter released an exhaustive exhale. It was heavy and forceful, as though he’d been holding it back behind a stone barricade for the entirety of his day. Warmth flooded your body as his words vibrated from his chest, “Mmm... I missed you.”
“I missed you, too. Let’s get you fed. Preferences?”
Still snuggled in your neck, he gave his reply, “Nothing heavy, please. I don’t want to fall asleep at the table. That wouldn’t make for a good date.”
“Oh Walter, we can postpone date night, you need to eat something and get to bed. It’s nearly one,” you observed gently as you leaned your head back to get a better look at his face.
“No. I came here to have a date night. I’ve been looking forward to seeing you all day. I need you.” Walter’s warm lips caressed your forehead, placing soft kisses on you. “You think you’re still up for it?”
Nodding at him sweetly, you untangled from his embrace and went to tumble through the fridge, offering out suggestions for food, but he insisted, yet again, that you don’t go to any trouble.
“Okay… you’re going to hate it, but my last option is cereal. Other than that, it’s gonna be random leftovers.” You continued moving containers around in the fridge, taking stock of what you had left from the week before.
“Actually, I think I can handle some cereal.” You whipped your head around incredulously to look and heckle him, but he gruffly interrupted, pointing a finger at you from where he sat at your kitchen table. "Don't. Don't start. It's been a brutal day, and something cold doesn't sound half bad."
You smirked in silence as you turned back and poured your bowls, dancing your hips lightly side to side. Grabbing the candles you had left out for your dinner date, you lit them and placed them gently on the table between the two of you. It was date night, after all.
“Late night cereal date, it is.” Reaching down to caress his chin, you kissed one bearded cheek before sitting beside him. Walter’s lips held a slight curl, softly smiling at your glee.
💋
“Love, snack break?”
The two of you were engaged in an intense game of Scrabble, one of your favorite date-night-in traditions. Nodding your head in Walter’s direction, you continued to study your letters and the board with pure focus until you heard the twinkling sound of cereal hitting ceramic.
Not wanting to draw too much attention, you peeked up from your letter rack to make sure your ears weren’t deceiving you. Walter was not just making a bowl for you, but he was also making one for himself.
No way.
Walter made his way back to the table with the cereal, and you looked up at him in shock as though you hadn’t already noticed what he’d done.
“What is this? What is this I see? Walter Marshall choosing breakfast cereal as a snack? Why, I just cannot believe it.” Mock-surprise overtook your form as you motioned fake mind-blowing explosions from your head. Walter rolled his eyes.
“I figured If I can learn to like you, I can learn to like cereal.”
“HEY.”
Walter shrugged, retaking his seat at the table.
You squinted your eyes at him as you declared, “You’re going down for that. And I don’t just mean by losing this game.” A wicked grin crossed your face when you played your double score word:
“CHEERIO”
💋
Walter worked a lot of graveyard shifts while you were dating and during your early years of marriage while you worked a normal 8-5. Sometimes the only moments that you could see each other were when he came home from his shift early in the mornings before you started your day or in the evenings when you got home before he left to start his.
One early morning during your engagement, Walt showed up unannounced after a hard few nights at the PD. He was worn down but happy to see you, smiling through his exhaustion. This was the longest you’d been apart in a while; you hadn't seen each other in 4 days. You kissed him, lips attacking his while his arms snaked around you and pulled you tightly to his body. He hadn’t even come into the house yet.
Pulling him inside, your hands reached up to hold his scruffy face as you placed a more gentle kiss on his lips. “Babe, have you had dinner? Let’s get you something to eat… what would you like?”
He unfastened his holster, dropping it on the table by the door. Sinking into a chair, Walter bent over to untie his boots as he answered, “Honestly, anything is fine, just some kind of food.”
“I can cook you something! Why don’t you let me —“
“Sweet, don’t go to any trouble. I just want to see you before you go to work.”
He looked at the table where you had just sat down to a bowl of cereal for a quick breakfast before he arrived and pointed lazily to it. “That, I’ll take some,” he said, sleep trying to overtake his form.
Slowly grinning at his statement, you mentioned, "Isn't this technically your dinner time?" Walter wasn’t amused as he tilted his head to look at you as you gasped playfully, “You do realize you're about to eat cereal for dinner, right, Marsh?" Too sleepy to give his verbal rebuttal, he glared at you, the corners of his lips turning up slightly, which was your signal to accept your victory and move on.
Smiling softly back at him, you made your way to pour him a big bowl and made him a cup of piping hot tea to accompany it. Watching his face as he ate, you observed the little creases and purple-gray rings that had formed around his deep ocean-blue eyes. His beard was unkempt and had grown past its normal length just in the few days you’d been apart; you could see this was a new level of exhaustion.
“Tough night?” You asked him, moving your chair closer to him.
He nodded. “Very.” The nights were becoming more strenuous recently. Ever since he had switched to the detective unit, work had been holding him hostage and was taking a toll more than he’d like to admit.
His hand reached over to squeeze the free one lying on your lap. “I’m happy to see you, love.” The hard lines on his face softened as he traced lazy circles on the back of your hand with his calloused thumb. You could see in his eyes that he meant it, that you were his safe space. Walter always was in protection mode, always on alert, even though you tried to keep him at ease when he was with you. He was only really ever at ease once he was home and you were safe in his arms.
The food began to rouse him from sleepiness, and as he gained alertness, Walter’s brow furrowed as he took notice of the cereal box sitting on the dining table. “This is the one we’re eating? I expected you to be eating more of one of those tooth-rotting cereals that you love so much.” He looked over at the box of Honey Bunches of Oats with curiosity and then back at you, lifting what you called his ‘detective eyebrow.’
“This is… surprisingly somewhat better for you? Or at least it acts like it is.”
“Oh come on, I’m not that bad. I only let you believe that I am. It is my breakfast time after all,” you winked at him knowingly.
“Good to know my words are finally starting to sink in. I mean, it’s not that much better for you,” he was reading the box now, “but at least it isn’t borderline fluorescent, like those artificial fruity ones you’re always eating.”
“You know, it’s almost like I expect the hate and just enact my deflection shield every time you walk in the door.” You started giggling, unable to keep a straight face as you threw your arms in front of your face as a shield to his words. “Don’t worry, Walt, my guilty pleasure cereal collection is well-stocked. And quit hating on my Fruity Pebbles.”
💋
Slowly over time, these seemingly random cereal dates became a large foundation for quality time. These dates became like snapshots, each one memorable in its own way.
When you two hadn’t seen each other in days, you caught up over a cold bowl of sugary sweetness. You, telling all the details of your days; him, quietly listening and trying his best to leave his nights behind.
From then on, all it took was knowing you could have a cereal date mixed in the chaos of everyday life. Anytime things got hard or heavy, it was time to have a cereal date. Anytime you had a fight: you both would pause and make a bowl of cereal, sitting across the table from each other so that you could speak your feelings. There weren’t many of the world’s problems, or your own, that couldn’t be solved over sugary cereal and cold milk.
💋
You’d dragged Walter to your shared bed as soon as he’d arrived home, having not seen him for more than a few minutes at a time for the past month. This current case of his was intense and ongoing, but he was finally finished. You knew he was defeated in energy, but you were ovulating and your hormones were raging. Your body craved his touch and the feel of his skin gliding upon your own.
The plan was to go to dinner for a romantic evening since it had been a long while since that had been possible, but as soon as he walked through the door, your feral sexuality washed over you and you jumped into his arms. You clung to him with your face in his neck, taking in his scent and the warmth of his strong arms holding you up. He clung to you just as tightly. There was no complaint from the bear, for he was more than happy to spend the evening spoiling his lover.
Cuddling in the afterglow of your countless orgasms, a storm raged outside as tree limbs slapped at your windows incessantly.
“Wow, it sounds awful out there. I know we were going out, but I think that point is moot now.” You glanced up at Walter, kissing his jaw. “Let’s just cook something easy instead.”
“That sounds great, and we can stay naked.” Walt’s eyebrows danced flirtatiously as he grinned down at you, his hands caressing your warm skin. “I’ll go hunt around so I can keep my woman energized for the night ahead. We are nowhere near done.”
He’d only been gone a minute when a crack of thunder shook the house and the lights went dark. You heard his mumbling coming from the kitchen; he had called in to get a status update from the energy company.
Walking back into the bedroom, Walter, in his naked glory, walked over to where you laid, illuminated only by the candle he held in his hand. Wow, your husband was delicious.
"Power’s out for the whole city. It’ll take hours since this storm doesn’t have an end in sight. Looks like a hot dinner is off the table… and no one will deliver in this weather. I guess we know what’s for dinner." Setting the candle on the nightstand, he crawled back into bed.
Feeling seductive, despite being completely spent from your ravenous love-making mere minutes beforehand, you still hadn’t had your fill of your husband. You bit your lip as you ran your eyes up and down his exquisite body and cheekily replied, “Me, I hope.”
He chuckled lowly, the fangs in his pearly-white smile glinting at you in the candlelight. “You? Yes. I plan to feast on you all night long, kitten. But you’re going to need some sustenance first.” He was hovering over you. You couldn’t help yourself as you reached to run your fingers along his hairy chest and wrapped a leg around his hip, pulling him closer to you.
"Make it a cereal date?" You grinned at him.
“You read my mind.”
💋
“Our child is going to come out looking like the Lucky Charms Leprechaun if you don’t change it up some, love.”
Your cravings were intense. You’d heard several different views from your girlfriends and sisters: some craved random things they never even liked before, and some craved more of the things that they already loved and ate religiously before pregnancy. You fell into the latter. Cereal was your most sought-after snack: a big surprise to no one.
There weren’t many cliche late-night ice cream runs, but there were plenty of cereal and milk runs. Walter was a dutiful dad already, not lecturing you too often on what you wanted; he knew you were doing what you had to for the baby, and you ate healthily enough… aside from the copious amounts of junk cereal.
True to numerous other times in your life, date nights were hard to come by, even still. Sometimes the only dates you and Walter would get were in the wee hours of the morning when you’d wake up with a craving.
Walter was extremely doting, and even though he’d always been a caretaker, he really came into his own when you both learned you were to become parents. He’d crawl from the bed without a word, rummaging in the kitchen to bring you a bowl of your favorite and even bringing a small one for himself. You two would snuggle in the bed and talk. Talk about your baby, about future babies, about the future, about your dreams, all of it. You never knew when you met the grumpy bear that he would become this sweet of a man, always tender with you even when he was rough. Maybe it was the cereal sugar that had sweetened him up, at least you’d like to think so.
💋
Your daughter had been in the world for a little over three weeks, and neither you nor Walter had gotten much sleep since her arrival.
Walter finally got her down to sleep while you watched from the nursery doorway. You hadn’t had a meal together or slept at the same time for more than 10 minutes in weeks.
He was standing over her crib, resting his arms on the side as he watched her sleep. He was infatuated with this tiny human who had completely taken hold of his heart.
“Honey, join me for a date?” Your smile was tired, and as your bear’s exhausted eyes met yours, you wondered if you two shouldn’t just go to bed, but you missed him. You’d barely gotten the chance to praise him for how good of a daddy he was to your little girl.
“Mhm, gladly. Our usual?” He quietly followed you to the living room, where the coffee table had already been set up with the works. Craving the feel of his touch on your skin, you both sat on the couch and you laid your legs across his lap while you enjoyed the serenity of each other’s company.
💋
A chill glided across your skin as you awoke from a dream. You rolled over, reaching your arms out to find your sturdy man, searching for his warmth. Instead, you found cold bedsheets.
Unlike Walter to not be in bed with a furry arm draped over you, you pulled on your robe and went to find him, a slight worry filling your mind.
Surely he would have woken me if he’d had to go in?
As you stepped into the hallway, you heard hushed giggles and whispers coming from the kitchen. You stopped to poke your head into your kids’ rooms. Their beds were empty.
At least it’s Saturday.
Quietly pitter-pattering to your kitchen, you peered your head around the corner to find one of the sweetest sights your eyes had ever seen: your two babes, 8 and 5, were playing a princess board game at the table with your Bear. Cereal by their side, giggles ensued as the sugar hit their systems and they tried their best to keep quiet.
Walter’s deep whisper quietly filled the space. “Shh, girls. We can’t wake Mum, she needs her rest.”
“Can I have more Cap’n Crunch, Daddy?” Your youngest had an insatiable sweet tooth, just like her mama. She was quietly bouncing in her chair and smiling a toothy grin at her daddy.
“You’re just like your mum,” Walter beamed at her, obliging her wishes. “Just a little more, love, then we need to brush our teeth and get back to sleep.”
Not wanting the girls to know that you knew about their secret, you decided to make your way back to bed, but not before catching your husband’s eye as he winked at you and a grin radiated from his face.
Warm tingles filled your body as you silently thanked the universe for Walter and the life that the two of you had built together. Walter was the best dad and husband in the world. How had you gotten so lucky?
💋
“Cinnamon Toast Crunch or Golden Grahams, love?” Walter called to you from the kitchen.
The movie was selected, the kids were away for the evening sleeping at friend’s houses, and you and Walter were having a much-deserved night in.
You called back to him, “I’m thinking I’m going to skip the cereal? I’m not really feeling it tonight. I will, however, eat the spicy chips. Oh, and grab that dip out of the fridge, will ya?”
“For the last time, they are crisps.” Annoyance was evident by his tone.
“They’re chips, Walter. You’ve lived in the states for how long now? Just give it up already.”
“No fucking way. Wait… You don’t want cereal? Are you feeling alright?” Walter’s head popped into the doorway that connected the kitchen to the living room, his face stern with confusion and concern.
“Ehh, not right now. Yes, I’m fine, Marsh,” you giggled. “Just feeling like something different for once.”
“Well, that’s shocking. I’m just wondering if you’re really my wife.” Giggles continued to flow out of you as he wandered back to where you were seated. He handed you your snack, and plopped on the couch next to you, cuddling into you as you tossed a blanket over both of your bodies. Walter started the movie and began to chow down on the bowl of cereal he’d made for himself. You couldn’t control the smirk that spread across your lips as you watched him out of the corner of your eye.
“What?” he asked, his mouth full of the golden and cinnamon squares. His eyes met yours, questioning you.
“I would just like to point out that I knew I could convince you.”
His brow furrowed in confusion, not sure what you meant. “Convince me of what?”
“That cereal is the best movie snack.”
“I don’t know if I’d say it’s the best…”
“Walt, I’m sitting here with your previous favorite movie snack in my hands, and you totally skipped over it and went for cereal. I’m just saying, I told you so. It’s okay, I’ve known I was right all along, you don’t have to admit it.”
“Hmm.” He growled, mouth full again as he ignored your statement.
“Give me a bite!” You pressed closer to him, reaching for his spoon as he angled his body and cereal away from you.
“Oh no, nice try. You tease, you don’t get any.”
“Fine, grumpy, I’ll go make my own. Keep watching, I’ll be back.”
Shuffling to the kitchen, you proceeded to grab a bowl and make your own, but you found both cereal boxes empty on the counter. Quickly turning to check your special cereal cabinet for a backup box, you discovered you were completely out.
“WALTER! Are you fucking kidding me? We just bought those!” Standing with your arms crossed in the doorway, you glared at Walt as he stared back at you unfazed.
“I hate to break up your gloating, but you created this monster, love. And don’t forget about our two other little monsters who take after you.” His grin was cocky; he knew he’d bested you. Laser beams could have been shooting from your eyes for all you knew. You shook your head in disbelief at the audacity of your husband.
That bastard. That beautiful bastard.
Walter smiled softly at you and motioned for you to rejoin him on the couch. Much to your dismay, your anger at him diffused immediately. “Love, I’ll go buy more first thing in the morning. Here, come and share mine. I’ll be nice… it is date night, after all.”
* I do not own Walter Marshall, Nomis, Night Hunter, or anything related to it.
#Walter marshall#Walter marshall x you#nomis#night hunter#Henry cavill#henry cavill fanfic#cereal dates#scorpiobitch95#jill writes#fluff#Walter fluff
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Hayloft (p.1)
Pairing: Arvin Russell x F!Reader
Summary: Your dad brings home his new coworker, Arvin Russell, telling you that he’ll be living with the two of you for a while. While attempting to keep Arvin from seeing the disfunction of your relationship with your father, the two of you grow closer than you thought. (Inspired by “Hayloft” by Mother Mother, though that’ll really only be one chapter later on so I don’t know if it really counts...)
Warnings: Abuse, mentions of drinking, misogyny, reader’s mother is dead
Word Count: 3.2k
A/N: My first slow(er) burn fic! Let me know what you think!
__________________
When your car finally pulled up the old dirt driveway to your family's farm house, the sun was already setting, casting an orange hue over the acres of land that your father had inherited from his father. It was beautiful, really. The sun was behind your old two story home made of wood planks that were covered in chipping white paint. The door’s paint was also chipping, only this time it was old navy blue paint - at least that’s the color it was supposed to be when it was painted who knows how many decades ago - that peeled back to reveal the wood beneath.
Your father’s truck wasn’t in the driveway yet when you pulled up and you sighed in relief because it gave you the opportunity to get dinner started before he got home. You headed straight for the kitchen. The only moment taken for yourself was the moment of silence when you leaned against the counter top and stretched out your back from the long day's work at the diner. The refrigerator was mostly empty and you made a mental note to run to the store after work tomorrow before your father could notice the lack of food. Thankfully, there was still enough scraps to piece something together for tonight between the fridge and the cupboards.
The house was swimming with the delicious scent of herbs, onions, potatoes, and stock as you boiled a stew on the stove when you heard the front door open. “Hi, Daddy! How was work?” You asked over your shoulder before you even heard his steps enter the kitchen, not actually caring but knowing he’d be upset if you didn’t ask.
He came around the corner but you could hear from the moment the door opened that there were the footsteps of more than one person entering your home. With a frown, you turned from the stove and took a few steps so you could see around the wall that blocked your view of the front door but your father and new mystery person stepped around that corner and into the kitchen before you could get that far. You stopped in your tracks, startled by their sudden appearance, and your hand flew to your chest as your eyes widened in surprise. “Sorry!” You chuckled awkwardly, apologizing for your jumpiness, “Didn’t think you’d be comin’ in here.”
It was a man about your age that stood just behind your father, a navy baseball cap twisted in his hands and his footsteps light so as to not knock dirt off onto the floor from his work boots, both welcomed displays of manners that you appreciated, unlike your father who left a trail of chunks of dried mud and grease everywhere he walked. This new boy, though, he was cute. Short curly hair that was messy, either from work or wearing the hat, big expressive brown eyes that reminded you of a puppy in the best possible way, a tight lipped expression that showed he was a little nervous and uncomfortable to be here, they were all a welcome, albeit unexpected, surprise.
"Work was good. This here is Arvin Russel. He'll be staying with us, at least for the night." Your eyes flicked back to the boy you now knew as Arvin when your dad introduced him and your heart skipped a beat at the eye contact.
He nodded his head slightly, a small cordial smile flashing on his face for just a moment, "Pleasure to meet you,..."
"Y/N. It's nice to meet you as well. If you're staying the night, let me add some water to the soup and then I'll go make up the spare bed." You pointed your thumb over your shoulder towards the pot of stew that was nearly done.
"That's very kind of you. Thank you."
Before you could notice him moving, your dad was already beside the fridge and you reached out to try to stop him before he could open it. "Let me get you something! What about you, Arvin? You want a beer or some water?" You scurried to try and beat your dad to the fridge that you knew would earn you a reprimanding that you didn’t deserve.
You were too late though and your dad already swung the door open wide. You stepped back nervously, rubbing the sharp edge of your nails against your thumb. "It's damn near empty." He noted, voice stiff and dissatisfied. He stood, managing to produce the last two beers from the refrigerator before slamming it shut.
You flinched at the loud sound, hearing the few glass jars of preserves and jams clanging against each other inside from the force. Your eyes rolled beneath closed lids at his overdramatic reaction, even though it was one you expected. "I'm gonna hit the market after work tomorrow but I checked that we have enough for dinner tonight and breakfast tomorrow." Your voice was sweet and placating, careful to respond in a way that would keep his temper in check.
"It's that damn job of yours. I told you women shouldn't be working. They belong in the house where you should be. Now look. You went and let the kitchen run out." He passed Arvin a beer, which he reluctantly accepted, watching the way your father pointed his finger at you accusingly. “Ain’t no man gonna want a wife who can’t even keep the kitchen stocked up.”
Your tongue was raw inside from biting down on it so hard in order to keep yourself in line, as he called it. You didn't need a blow out tonight, not with Arvin here. "I manage to work and keep up with the house just fine, Daddy. We just got a little low on groceries but I'll be heading to the market tomorrow to fix it. Don’t you worry." Even you were surprised with how even and sweet your voice came out, that ever present fire of anger towards your father having been fanned into a decent blaze.
He popped the tab on his beer and sighed, dropping the topic for the time being, "Fine. But make sure to pick up some fixin's for that chicken roast you make. Patty is lookin' nice and fat in the coop so why don't you cook her up tomorrow."
You grimaced at the thought. Patty was one of the chickens in your coop out back that had been pretty slow when it came to laying eggs but you’d grown attached to her nonetheless. Ever since you were a young girl, your daddy warned you not to become attached to the animals out back but you never listened. Back then, you’d had your mother to step in and convince him not to kill the animals for whatever reason she could come with and opt for buying meat from the market instead. You hadn’t been able to convince him like that since she’d passed. Everything had been different since she passed.
“I don’t know, Daddy. Patty’s been layin’ a lot of eggs lately and we’ve been gettin’ extra money from sellin’ all those eggs. Why don’t I just pick up a chicken in town tomorrow at the store.” You insisted, walking back over to the stove to stir the stew.
“Don’t go wastin’ money on things we already got! We got some chickens out back. Just cook one of ‘em up tomorrow!” Your father’s voice was hard and stern now, enough to fill the air with tension in Arvin’s presence. You turned slowly, making eye contact with Arvin briefly before quickly avoiding it. You didn’t like the way he stood awkwardly, silently watching the interaction he clearly didn’t think highly of. Your father was already getting worked up and it would only get worse the longer the night went on.
Biting your cheek, you nodded, “Yes, sir. Now why don’t you boys go get cleaned up. Dinner will be ready in just a minute.”
**
Dinner went relatively well, despite your father’s occasional grumblings about there not being any beer. Once you finished, you stood up and picked up yours and your father’s bowls before noticing Arvin’s was empty as well. “Did you want some more? There’s just enough for one more if you’d like it.” You offered Arvin that last bit of stew but he just shook his head and stood up.
“Oh, no thank you miss. Dinner was delicious though. Let me help with that.” He grabbed his own bowl before your hand could reach it and then took the bowls from your hands as well before setting them down at the sink.
You chased after him, “Thank you but you don’t have to do that! Please, sit. I’ll make your bed up when I’m finished cleaning up dinner.”
“She’s right, son. Kitchen ain’t no place for a man. Why don’t you come with me and I’ll show you the room you’ll be stayin’ in.” You father’s chair screeched against the beat up wooden floor as he stood, beckoning Arvin to him.
Arvin was standing right beside you, his arm only a few inches from yours as he lowered the stack of bowls into the sink. He looked over at you with deep soulful eyes that seemed to look right through your calm facade in a way that made you feel seen like never before. It was highly uncomfortable, almost violating after all these years of hiding away what you felt for the sake of keeping the peace, and you forced a smile, “Please, you’re our guest. It wouldn’t be right to make you do the dishes. You go with him.”
He gave you a drawn out hesitant look but turned away nonetheless and walked towards your dad. “Thank you again for letting me stay here till I get things figured out. It’s mighty kind of you.” Arvin thanked you and your father for your hospitality, shooting you one last glance over his shoulder before following your father down up the stairs towards the spare room.
You made quick work of the dishes, having cleaned most of them as you were cooking earlier anyways and scurried to the closet that held your extra sheets. As you passed the bathroom, you heard the shower running and knew it was your father bathing after his long day of work, like he always did right after dinner. The man was a creature of habit.
With your arms full of neatly folded faded steel blue linens and the thicker burnt sienna colored wool blanket, you made your way towards the guest room Arvin was staying in to find the door wide open and the man looking through his bag that was set on the bed. “Knock knock,” you announced your presence, waiting at the entryway for Arvin to notice you before entering.
He spun around, dropping something that you didn’t see quickly into his bag and pressing it down while flashing you a small polite smile, “Hello, ma’am.”
You walked into the room, raising the linens in your hands, “I brought some sheets so I could make up your bed.” You walked over to the wooden chair and set the top sheet down before making your way back over to the bed, unfolding the bottom sheet as you did, waving it up and down in the air to straighten it out before laying it flat on the bed.
“Oh, you don’t have to do that, miss,” He moved his bag to the ground and jumped to lift the corner of the mattress and tuck the sheet beneath it.
You blushed at his kindness, not used to such help from your father, but shook your head, tucking the sheet beneath the mattress on the opposite side of the bed “If my daddy came in and saw you fixin’ the bed yourself, he’d kill me,” you chuckled to make it sound like a joke but you knew better than that. He wouldn’t actually kill you but you would certainly get some less than kind words thrown your way, maybe even a few beer cans thrown your way depending on how drunk he was.
Arvin shook his head, his hands falling on his hips, “Looks like you do most the housework ‘round here.” What he was insinuating was clear even though his tone didn’t change but you didn’t want to acknowledge it. He didn’t need to concern himself with the difficulties between you and your father.
“So how’d you and my dad meet?” You changed the topic, going to grab the top sheet and unfolding it. You laid it over the bed and tucked your side in, Arvin reaching down to tuck his side in as well in a silent act of defiance against your insistence that he didn’t need to help. It occurred to you suddenly after the question left your lips that you didn’t actually know anything about this boy but, for some reason, you still didn’t feel uneasy around him.
Arvin pulled the top corner of the sheet up to the head of the bed as he answered, “I just started workin’ at the garage with ‘im.”
“You like cars?” You questioned, spreading out the final layer on the bed, the wool blanket.
Arvin shrugged, “Never been really into ‘em but I can fix ‘em alright enough. Just needed the work and happened to see the wanted sign when I was passin’ through town.”
Your brow raised in curiosity, “You were just passin’ through and stopped in this old town cause of a help wanted sign?” The little town you lived in wasn’t terrible but it was far from a destination that people really moved to for work unless you a doctor desperate for a place to practice or something like that. “You must really be desperate,” you joked but immediately felt a slight pang of regret when a shred of truth could be seen in his eyes.
“Just tryna figure out where I’m goin’ ‘n what I wanna do. Figure I’ll find somewhere I like eventually.” Arvin picked up his bag and set it off to the side where it was a little more out of the way.
You stared at the man standing before you, taking every bit of him from the grease stains on his white t-shirt to his scuffed up brown work boots to his messy hair, dirty from dried sweat. It wasn’t until you locked eyes with him that you realized that you’d been staring in a settled yet weirdly comfortable silence. You stood up straight and smiled to diffuse the awkwardness you’d unintentionally fostered, “You’re more than welcome to take a shower. My daddy should be finished any second. I’ll set some extra towels in there for you.”
“That’s very kind of you. Thank you.” He nodded in appreciation but offered no further conversation. You could tell from the moment of silence that it was time for you to make your exit.
“Well, uh, I better head to bed. You need anything before I go?” You asked, backing towards the door and swinging slightly with it once your hand hit the old bronze knob.
Arvin shook his head, “No, thank you. ‘M all set.”
“Alrighty, then. You have a good night.” You chewed your lip as you opened the door to make your exit.
“G’night, miss Y/N.”
Butterflies flew wildly in your belly as you walked to your bedroom. It had been a long while since you’d seen somebody worth looking twice at in this old town but now a mysterious handsome man rolls into town and stays with you. In your house. It probably wasn’t the safest of situations but Arvin genuinely looked like a nice man. From your very brief interactions with him, you couldn’t really imagine him trying to hurt you or your father for no reason. Even if he did, you knew where your daddy kept his shotgun and you had no problem defending yourself. But like I said, you had an unearned sense of peace with Arvin that you hoped wasn’t a misjudgement.
“What’re you smilin’ ‘bout?” Your father’s gruff but thankfully not entirely drunk voice made you stop in your tracks and turn towards his room with a suppressed groan. He stood in the doorway of his bedroom in nothing but an undershirt and long johns with his suspenders hanging loosely at his sides.
You shook the smile off your face. “Just thought of somethin’ funny that happened at work,'' you lied. “You need somethin’?”
“I watched you come out o’ that boy’s room with a big ol’ grin on your face. Better not let me catch you ‘n him. Ain’t no daughter o’ mine gonna be whorin’ around with some boy blowin’ through town, y’hear?” He threatened, his hands reaching down to pull up his worn out long johns.
Your blood boiled at the accusation and despite your best efforts to keep peace while Arvin was here, you spat words with venom, “I wasn’t doin’ nothin’ with Arvin. God forbid I have a damn smile on my face.” Your voice was low enough so that you hoped your guest hadn’t heard your outburst but when your father’s face darkened and he began taking slow, heavy steps towards you, you weren’t sure if your charade of normalcy would last much longer.
Your father hovered over you, exaggerating the size difference between the two of you, “I put a roof over your head. I put food on the table. You play make believe with that little diner job but I'm the head of this house. I'm your father. You watch that fuckin’ tone with me girl."
Your jaw was clenched tightly, matching your fists, as you glared up at him with indignantly furious eyes. Father your ass. He once had been your father, an imperfect but loving man who used to try. Now he was merely a selfish broken sperm donor. He inherited this house from his father, didn’t pay a darn cent, and you couldn't remember the last time he pitched in a dime for anything but alcohol and the occasional dinner he made when he was in a good mood. He did do that- have these strange out of character nights where he pretended to be kind and loving. They were far and few between though and, while you enjoyed the change of pace, it felt like walking on eggshells in some fantasy world.
A heavy silence settled between the two of you that crackled with a tension that could snap at any moment and turn into a full blown fight. Your eyes were narrowed on his as you refused to let him think he intimidated you anymore. Nevertheless, you turned on your heel, nails digging into your palm, and walked down the hall towards your room, leaving him alone.
“He wouldn’t want you anyways, fuckin’ attitude like that.” Your father grumbled to your back, hoping for one last reaction out of you that you refused to give.
It took all the control in the world to not slam the door in his face but you knew there was no way it would escape Arvin’s attention. You’d have to resort to the therapy of muffling your furious tear-soaked screams into your pillow until you finally fell asleep, like you did many nights.
#arvin russel imagine#arvin russell x reader#Arvin Russell#arvin x reader#arvin russell x you#arvin russel x you#arvin russel x reader#tom holland#tom holland one shot#tom holland imagine#tom holland x reader#tom holland x y/n#tom holland x you#The Devil All The Time#tdatt#tdatt imagine#tdatt fics
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Ex BF - Part 2
Drew Starkey x Reader
Part 1
You guys, I changed my mind, this one just works so much better as a Drew Starkey fic ...so fuck it, I’m just gonna post what I had on my deactivated blog.
It had been months since you ran into Josh on set at Drew’s work. Luckily, Drew was only in a couple scenes for that project and he only worked on that show one more day without running into Josh. Now, you, Drew and a lot of the Outer Banks crew were all in LA again and going out to a bar.
Unfortunately for you, and everyone that night, Josh and his friends were at the same bar.
“Oh hey, it’s y/n and her movie star boyfriend, Andrew.” Josh said as he appeared next to you and drunkenly leaned an arm on your shoulder. If looks could kill, the look on Drew’s face would have for sure been the death of Josh. It was a mixture of shock and rage at the audacity of this guy. Drew was so taken aback, he didn’t know how to react.
You uncomfortably chuckled and squirmed out from under Josh’s arm to stand in front of Drew quickly, not knowing if Drew’s truly calm nature could be tested any further. “Mhmm, great to see you Josh.” You stated dismissively.
Your effort to separate them was lost as Drew instantly and easily maneuvered you behind him protectively. You turned for the bar as quickly as possible, hoping to end the situation there, so you grabbed Drew’s hand to pull him along with you.
“Aww, y/n/n, you’re not gonna stay and let me get to know your little boyfriend?”
You felt dead weight behind you as you tried to pull Drew away.
“Bro, I’m telling you right now, back the fuck off.” Drew stated. You whirled around to get in front of him, as Josh took a step forward and titled his chin up, “Or what?”
You put your hands on Drew’s chest. He easily looked over your head to continue glaring at Josh.
“Drew” you said sternly. He glanced down at you for a second, before looking back up at Josh. Josh smirked and waited to see what Drew was gonna do. “He’s not worth it. Trust me.” You said. Drew looked down at you and softened.
He wrapped an arm around your shoulder an you wrapped both arms around his waist to walk to the bar.
“You know, as hot as you are when you get all scary like that. I really really don’t want you getting in a fight because I have an absolutely horrible ex boyfriend.”
You emphasized the first part of this sentence, but Drew just gave you a deadpan stare. He knew you were trying to flirt with him to get him to relax. And you knew it was too late at this point. As evolved and emotionally intelligent as Drew was, he had now entered caveman mode. Josh challenging him because of you triggered instincts deep within him to meet that challenge aka defending your honor. ...1 point toxic masculinity, 0 points non-violent female empowerment.
At this point in your life, you were happy. You had everything you wanted in your career. You had a beautiful apartment. Your family was healthy. You had the best friends you could ask for. And of course, you had Drew. Drew was the one. He was your soulmate. Your best friend. And you knew it. You didn’t feel the need to put Josh in his place any more. You just wanted to keep enjoying your life. You had time to make peace with what Josh did to you and you felt like you moved past it and him. Yeah, you felt like you were past it, you tried to convince yourself. It had been years since the incident happened and you and Josh broke up...
Flashback
You and Josh were 20 and had been on and off for a couple years. One night, you had both been out, when you started fighting, something that wasn’t new to your relationship. Josh had been flirting with another girl a lot of the night and gaslighting you to make you feel like you were imagining it. As you brought up the flirting again, he was reaching for his car keys. You were pissed that he was using this tactic again. He would leave until you calmed down and started to worry about him so much that you would just finally give in and forget the fight, instead of holding him accountable. You were so mad at him for making you feel like you were crazy and for always manipulating you by leaving. You couldn’t stop the words from coming out of your mouth, “Sure, just leave again. Fucking typical, Josh. Like father, like son, I guess.”
And before you could even process what happened, the whole right side of your face was stinging, a cut near eye was bleeding from his ring and your ears were ringing. Josh had just backhanded you hard. Time stood still for a moment as your hand went to cradle your cheek. You were absolutely shocked.
“Oh fuck. You okay?”
You finally looked up at him with an unreadable expression on your face. “..don’t make this a big deal, okay? That was a really shitty thing to say and you just made me so mad, I couldn’t help i-” At that point, you stormed into the bedroom and locked the door. He now was faced with you being upset and maybe even losing you; he started knocking on the door and apologizing profusely after realizing your reaction. You were completely blocking out all the noise coming from the other side of the door as you tried to gather your thoughts.
Okay, that was a really low blow. Yeah, but he HIT you.
I definitely shouldn’t have said that. But he HIT you.
Maybe I deserved it. No, he HIT you. You continued to argue with yourself.
What would you tell your y/bff’s/n if this happened to her?
What would your mom or dad tell you right now?
If he did it once, he could do it again.
...this isn’t the first time you’ve been scared of him.
...but he seems genuinely really sorry.
You opened the door to find Josh sitting on the ground leaning against the wall. He looked at you scared and hopeful, tears rolling down his cheeks.
“I’m sorry for what I said. It was really unfair and hurtful of me.” You stated genuinely.
Relief washed over his face for a second, “I’m so sorry baby. I swear that will never happen again.” He said, as he got up and he started to make his way to hug you.
“Yeah, I know it will never happen again...” you held your hand out to stop him from touching you, confusion now evident in his expression, “because we’re done.”
His face dropped, expression now being somewhere between confused, angry and disappointed. Josh wasn’t used to you putting up boundaries and not letting him get away with all the shit he pulled. “Y/N-” he started.
“No.” You said adamantly, “Frankly, I don’t care how sorry you are. I don’t care how much I pissed you off. I don’t care how much you promise that will never happen again. Our relationship was toxic before what just happened. I know I’m not perfect and I have a lot of things to work on. But I 1000% know in my bones, that I WILL NEVER let you hit me again. I deserve better. We’re done. I’m going to my parents’ house. I’m coming back tomorrow between 10 and 2 to get my stuff. Don’t be here.”
A couple months later, you had a text from an unknown number. It was Josh borrowing a friend’s phone to text you, since you blocked any way he had to contact you. He apologized. He held himself accountable. There was no deflecting or manipulating in the message and he promised he would never contact you again. You replied: “Thank you for your apology. Yes, I’d appreciate it if you don’t contact me again.”
And that was it. You ran into him briefly at the grocery store once and you had been in a really good mood. Your interaction was light and almost flirty. You felt so ashamed about it later, but you hadn’t seen or heard from Josh again until years later, with Drew on set. And little did you know, seeing you with Drew set something off in Josh that he just couldn’t let go.
-
As you stood at the bar, waiting for the bartender’s attention, you turned to see the caveman version of your gorgeous boyfriend still glaring, his fists clenching and unclenching.
“Babe.” You said and he looked at you.
“He’s got fuckin nerve.” He said shaking his head and you took a deep breath ready for the rant, “First off, called me a movie star. I am a serious actor, Y/N.”
You couldn’t help but laugh at Drew being offended anything this asshole said and Drew’s eyes widened at you and you stifled a giggle while you laced your hands around his neck to appease him, “Mhmm” you encouraged.
“And then he called me ‘Andrew’“ Drew went on. And you nodded and gave him a sympathetic pout, “I know, I heard.”
“And THEN, he has the AUDACITY to put his fucking arm around you?! Bro, I’m heateddddd-” He continued, barely paying attention to you as you leaned your body against his. You ignored the fact that he just called you bro and tried a different tact.
“Drew, stop. You can’t get into a bar fight. Think about your job.”
“I don’t care about my job. I care about you.”
“That’s not true. You do care about your job. And I know you care about me. But if you get into a fight right now, it’s not gonna change what he did to me. It was a long time ago. We’re not together anymore. I’m over it. Punching him is not gonna do anything except jeopardize your future.”
Drew still had his fight face on, “Well, knocking that smirk off his fucking face would sure make me feel better.” He said and you scowled at him. “And for the record, I don’t think you’re over it. And you don’t have to be. You never have to be over it. And that doesn’t mean you aren’t fucking strong and badass.”
You were quiet as you contemplated what Drew said. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, before looking at you. “Okay” he said softly.
“Thank you” you said softly before you pulled him down to kiss him. After a minute of you successfully distracting him with a pretty passionate slow kiss, you felt Drew melt a little.
“Hey, I’m sorry. Do you want to leave? Like do you not feel like being out anymore?” He asked sweetly.
“No, I’m okay. He’s just being a drunk asshole.” You turned away to grab the drinks the bartender poured for you and Drew, “We probably won’t even see him for the rest of the night.”
You turned back and realized caveman Drew was now glaring at Josh again as you spoke, “..or not.” You rolled your eyes.
Despite the bad beginning, you and your friends ended up having fun as the night went on. And you and Drew proceeded to drink. Which was probably not the smartest decision. You were both feistier when you drank and you knew Drew’s natural state of calmness was only going to wear off as the night went on.
Eventually, you had to go to the bathroom. But you didn’t trust Josh to not instigate something with Drew while you were gone and you didn’t trust Drew to not try and avenge your honor while you were gone either. So you found Austin, Chase and JD. Chase and JD were only half-listening as they watched whatever game was on the tvs at the semi-crowded bar.
“Guys, I need you to watch Drew while I go pee.” You said. Drew rolled his eyes and hung his head back with a groan.
“What’s the rig?” Austin asked, ironically using his favorite word as he put one arm on your shoulder and the other on Drew’s.
“Drew is trying to fight my ex-boyfriend and you need to stop him from ruining his career and/or going to jail for assault.” You looked at Drew as you finished your sentence remind him that he could get in serious trouble for getting in a fight. Drew scoffed as Austin looked to him for confirmation of what you were saying.
“He called me a movie star dude” Drew said.
“Oooff” Austin agreed that this was a major dig.
“And then he called me ‘Andrew’“
“Ahhh man” Austin commiserated, “This kid deserves to get hit for sure.”
“Austin!” You scolded, “You are not helping!”
“Bro, that’s not even half of it. Like what he did to Y/N; he deserves to get the absolute shit beat out of him, I promise you-”
“Okay, stop! We’re not discussing this. Chase, JD, you are in charge of Drew. Keep him occupied while I go pee and don’t let him ruin his entire life by getting in a stupid bar fight. And Austin, stop encouraging him and keep your mouth shut til I get back please!” You commanded, as you pushed Drew and Austin toward Chase and JD. JD gave you a salute while he put his arm around Drew’s shoulders.
While you were gone, Drew was drunk and spilling all your business, trying to get all 3, also drunk, boys on his side. “Guys, you don’t even know. This guy is the biggest asshole.”
“Wait, is he really? Or do you just not like him because he’s y/n’s ex?” JD asked.
“No dude. First of all, he like cheated on her a bunch of times; he was super manipulative and .. he fucking hit her once dude.”
The all looked at each other, “What the fuck?!”
“Like hit her?”
“Yeahhhhhh, like physically hit her face.”
“Well you are completely justified, brother.”
“Yeah, we have your back man, whatever happens.” They all nodded and broke out of their little huddle.
“Look! No fighting!” Chase said proudly when you got back, opening up his arms.
“Good job Chase. Gold star” You said returning his quick side hug.
The group decided it was time to go to one more bar, so you all walked out the back ext into a big alley. Where, of course, Josh and his friends were smoking and noticed your crew before you noticed them.
“You think her movie star boyfriend knows what an uptight little prude she used to be?” Josh said to his friend loud enough for you to hear. You honestly didn’t even care about what Josh said, you knew he was trying to get Drew to react. And you knew even your sweet, soft Drew was not immune to anger getting the best of him. Drew stopped walking, still slightly turned away from Josh and just shook his head, not believing Josh’s audacity.
Even though the guys had been supportive when they were talking to Drew about fighting Josh, no one actually wanted that to happen. So Austin was quickly by Drew’s side, “Don’t do it bro. It’s not worth it.”
“Drew.” You said trying, to get him to focus on you. Unfortunately, you were with a group of boys full of testosterone and Chase was also feeling feisty and protective.
“Hey, why don’t you shut the fuck up bro” Chase said, taking a step toward Josh, but luckily a level-headed JD was immediately pushing Chase softly backward.
“Ooh maybe, she’s not such a prude anymore. Maybe she’s sleeping with the whole cast; they’re all so protective of her.” Josh laughed.
“Josh stop! What the fuck is wrong with you?” You yelled at him. And Drew was instantly moving in front of you, “You need to stop talking right now man.” Drew said in a tone that made the hair on your arms stand up. You could feel the tension rolling off Drew.
“Drew calm down. Please.” You pleaded as he looked down at you.
“Y/n, I can’t let him talk about you that way.”
“He’s trying to get under your skin. That’s what he wants.”
“Yeah, well it’s fucking working.”
“Drew, come on. Let’s just go home.” He began to give in as you pulled his arm.
Josh was obviously determined for a fight, because the next thing that came out of his mouth made it impossible for anyone to stop Drew.
“Hey good luck with y/n, man. I treated her like trash for years and she still came running back to me, bitch has got issu-” And before he could utter another word, Drew’s fist connected with his jaw.
“Fuck.” You cursed as your hands went through your hair and you backed up between Austin, Chase and JD.
Josh recovered and hit Drew in the eye.
You gasped. Turning into JD’s chest and he protectively wrapped his arms around you. Drew hit Josh again and he fell to the ground. Drew bent over him and punched him again. “Don’t you ever fucking talk about her again!” He yelled through gritted teeth, “Don’t look at her again. And if you EVER touch her again, I swear to God-” he spat in between a few more punches.
“Drew! Please!” You yelled and finally Austin pulled him back. “That’s enough, bro.”
“Come on” JD still had his arms around you, walking you away from everything.
Drew was breathing heavy and trying to overcome his adrenaline. You and JD were already around the corner with most of the group.
“Come on, let’s go” Chase ushered Drew away with Austin. And they followed in the same direction. Drew saw you walking ahead of him.
“Y/N” he called after you softly. You stopped and turned around. He was already right there enveloping you in his arms.
“Fuck y/n. I’m so sorry.” He muttered kissing the top of your head. You just kept holding each other while the group called Ubers.
You pulled away from him a little, “Are you okay?” You asked trying to get a look at the bruise forming on his face. “Yeah, baby. I’m fine. I’m so sorry I did that. I’m sorry I put you in this situation.” He said, hugging you again. After a long pause, you pulled up and looked up at him:
“Thank you.” You stated genuinely and Drew looked at you surprised. But while you continued to look at each other, you both understood without saying anything more. You both knew it wasn’t okay that Drew just got in a fight. And you both knew you didn’t need your boyfriend to defend you honor, but you were thankful someone finally had.
Taglist: @moniamaybank @abbyj1822 @october-cameron @hernameisnoell @railmerafe @stupidpendeja @lemur46 @phantompogues
#Drew Starkey#drew starkey x reader#Drew starkey x Y/n#drew starkey imagine#outer banks#outer banks fan fiction#obx imagine#obx
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Hollow Knight Telephone Round Two: Relic Coffee Shop
Prompt
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.
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Prompts:
1: Lemm finds an odd fellow at the Blue Lake. Normally he wouldn’t bother to approach a stranger out of nowhere, but something in his gut urges him to take action. Quirrel, feeling the effects of age on his body, stares incredulously at the bearded face of a stranger who apparently wants to have him over for coffee.
2: Lemm sets up shop in an abandoned cafe. It’s roomy and pleasant at first, but there are _stacks_ of these disgusting old bitter coffee beans clogging up the rooms. It doesn’t help that bugs keep coming in to order a drink even though he’s posted signs to _KEEP OUT!!_ However, once they start offering Geo be begrudgingly takes it as an opportunity to achieve funds to pay for relics.
3: At first, the coffee was just an excuse to get Geo to pay for relics, but Lemm’s begun to notice that bugs who wandered into his shop with the telltale early symptoms of infection no longer have them on their return visits. He tells himself he’s not an altruist. He’s _not._It’s just a waste to throw out old coffee when someone just needs a pick-me-up.
By @bluwails
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By @hydrochlorinate
“Just don’t. Tell. Anyone. Else.”
Those were the words that came out of the grumpy barista’s mouth that fateful day. One’s that you completely ignored, as you had already been drinking what could only be the drink of HIgher Beings, with just how heavenly it tasted.
Grinning like a lunatic, you give him 45 geo, not a small sum. If anything though, it was hilariously cheap for a drink that was this good. The bug doesn’t complain about the amount though, so he’s probably fine with it. Wings fluttering in excitement, you leave the shop, ready to tell any remaining survivors about the amazing drink shop you just found.
===============>(Coffee Shop AU)
The next time you come in, the store is absolutely packed. Denizens from all across the ruins of Hallownest are here, ranging from some uninfected moss knights to that one ladybug that you had a dance off with a while back. There's even a noble here, and- is that a mantis?
Anyway, it looks like your very subtle method of giving publicity to this cafe by talking about literally nothing else to whomever you talked to over the following week paid off. Good, this place deserves all the atte-
“You.”
Oh? You snap out of your thoughts, and look towards the counter, where the barista is levelling a glare at you that could instantly wither those delicate flowers that have been spreading around recently.
You stroll on up to the counter, a grin stretching across your face. The barista narrows his eyes.
“Didn’t I tell you to keep this a secret? Why is my establishment filled to the brim with bugs? Who are these people?!”
...huh. Did he tell you to keep it on the down low? It seems in character from your limited interactions, but you don’t remember exactly. Oh well, time to play it off. You tell him that, well, what can you say except you’re welcome.
You’ve never seen a bug go from “Irritated” to “Ballistic” as fast as this barista. Usually they make a stop at “Angry” or “Absolutely Livid”.
“YOU’RE WELCOME?!?!”
No, see, he’s supposed to say thank you.
“THANK YOU???”
You tell him he’s welcome, before laughing. No, really, you tell him, look around, the place is packed! Business is booming! The barista (you should really ask for his name) manages to bring his volume under control, taking in a deep breath.
“That’s part of the problem. I’m a relic seeker, not a-” He gestures around the cafe, as if looking for the right words to use. Barista, you suggest.
“Exactly. I’m not made to brew coffee-” Oh, that’s what it was called. “-or to be dealing with customers all day long.”
Sure. That’s why he decided to allow people to keep purchasing coffee, or why he decided to put on a cute green and white visor.
You didn’t just come to check in on your new favorite bug though, you have coffee to order! Taking out a sheet of paper from your bag, you begin to read out both your order, and those of your companions. Even with the end of the infection, the leftover damage to hallownest’s caves and architecture makes it dangerous to travel alone.
As you begin to read out your order, the barista shifts from crotchety old bug to attentive worker. You really wish you had come back earlier, instead of letting some of your other traveling buddies pick up the coffee for you. Something about the atmosphere here is… relaxing, despite the amount of people.
After your order is finished, you leave the cafe. Back to the real world bucko, as an old friend of yours would always say.
...Wait a minute you never got the barista’s name.
===============>(Coffee Shop AU)
It’s been 3 weeks. You think. Time gets a little funky down here, what with the sudden influx of void. Sure, most of it has cleared out by now, but every so often your exploration party comes across a tunnel that hasn’t quite been fully illuminated, the shadows just a bit too thick to be natural.
You enter the coffee shop again. It’s gotten a lot quieter as time went on and bugs started coming in on a schedule. There’s still plenty of other customers here, but it’s nowhere near as packed as the first couple of days. Lemm (yeah, you finally got his name) stands at the counter, still slightly disgruntled, but a lot less so than he was at the beginning. In fact, he’s actually talking to someone right now! An actual conversation too, not just an exchange of witty remarks. You can’t see their face, but they appear to be a pillbug wearing a blue hood.
As you step up to the counter, you can hear their conversation a bit better.
“...of course, I couldn’t just leave it sitting there right? So I move to pick it up, only to find out that the desk I dropped it on was magnetized! So here I am, trying and failing to pick up this one plant hanger for a solid 10 minutes.”
They both laugh at this, before noticing you. The unknown bug turns to face you, allowing you to see his mask.
“Oh, hello, I don’t believe we’ve met before!”
You greet him back, introducing yourself.
“It’s nice to meet you. My name’s Quirrell. I’m… well, I can’t really call myself an explorer, because I’ve already been everywhere! I’m more of a wanderer, really.”
Ahh, a free spirit, you see. You point out that just because he’s been everywhere doesn’t mean he’s seen everything. After all, who knows what could’ve gone down during Hallownest’s peak. Both Quirrell and Lemm get amused by this, for some reason. Seeing your confused look, Lemm decides to speak up.
"He probably knows more about Hallownest than everyone here, having lived here since before the infection and all."
Your eyes widen, and your wings begin to flutter. Truly? An original denizen, and not someone else trying to piece together its history? Quirrell waves off the words, though.
"I wouldn't go that far…" He begins, but Lemm cuts him off before he can go any further.
"Hah! Next you'll be telling me that you weren't the head assistant of the kingdom's best scientist!"
Giving off the equivalent of a blush, Quirrell rubs the back of his head. Lemm turns back to you.
"I'm sure you didn't come in just to chat, though. What can I get for you?"
It's nice to see him making friends.
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By @schyrsivochter
Lemm wasn’t a sociable person. That was a fact. He wasn’t good at talking, or at being friendly. (It wasn’t like he needed it, anyway. It had been a long time since he’d enjoyed conversing with another bug.)
No, Lemm was much more of a person for reading. Deciphering the journals of the long dead, the writing and languages, was something he thoroughly enjoyed. Other artefacts spoke differently: the materials from which they were made, the way they were worked, the artistic style. It was a different kind of reading; some might say a more figurative one. But it was just as interesting.
Of course, architecture was part of that. It had not been a coincidence that Lemm had set up camp in Hallownest’s abandoned capital. When he’d arrived, he hadn’t dared to think that he’d ever finish exploring and finding new things. And it was true; he’d only explored a little bit before he’d realised that collecting and gathering relics was no use if he never took a proper look at them, instead letting them gather dust on the shelves, the tables, and the floor of the long-abandoned shop he’d moved into. So he’d decided to stay there, poring over his collection. His picture of the world of Hallownest in times past grew ever more detailed, more complete.
He’d opened the shop because people did not seem to stop wanting to sell him relics, and it never hurt to appear a little professional. And it had been a reliable source of new artefacts; new knowledge. He’d never sold anything, of course. His collection was his, and his alone.
And then came the dark. The cleansing void. It had taken him by surprise; he’d been working, and only noticed that anything was amiss when the light dimmed and he was finally bathed in darkness. He must’ve fallen unconscious at that point, and there’d been no telling how long it had been until he’d awoken. It hadn’t been until later that he’d learned that this was what had obliterated the plague, leaving in its wake hundreds of confused survivors and thousands of dead. No, the next thing to happen that told him things were not as usual was that a bug had come in, asked if he was open, and, upon his affirmative answer, asked for a hot drink, holding out a piece of ten.
Taken by surprise, he’d offered to make tea. He’d immediately regretted it, since it meant the bug would be staying for a while, probably without selling him relics, but it was easy enough to do and would get him geo, his supply of which had been running low. So he put a kettle on and took the money. The bug had thanked him profusely, while he had elected to remain quiet.
Not long afterwards, the same bug and four others stood in the doorway. Whether they had relics for him, he’d asked. They’d looked amongst themselves, and one had asked, ‘Is this not a coffee shop?’
‘I suppose it might’ve once been,’ he’d said. ‘Now it’s mine.’
More confused looks and standing around, and then the bug he’d seen before asked if he’d make more tea. He’d said no, not unless they paid him twice as much as the last time and stayed quiet and didn’t disturb him in his work. To his horror, the five bugs had agreed, and so he’d dug out cups from the coffee shop’s former stock and afterwards found himself a little richer in geo but with a significantly worse mood.
He had his peace afterwards, though. At least for a while. Now a bug had arrived, taller than the others, wearing a headscarf. Lemm had mentally prepared for the bug to ask for coffee, but the bug had halted in front of one of the tables that Lemm had repurposed for his collection of relics.
‘Admiring my collection?’ Lemm asked.
’Yes, quite!’ the bug answered, chipper and friendly. ‘I’m curious how you managed to get a hold of so many texts in such diverse languages! These are journals, are they not?’
‘They are,’ Lemm acknowledged. ‘From all over Hallownest.’
‘But most of them aren’t any Hallownest language.’ The bug put a hand on his mask. ‘I suppose they’re from travellers that came to the ruins and perished?’
‘Quite right,’ Lemm said. He had to admit, begrudgingly, that the bug standing before him was sharp and knew his history. A trait not many others shared.
‘Can you read all of them?’ The mask turned towards Lemm, inclined in question.
‘No,’ he answered truthfully, making his way around the counter to stand next to the bug. ‘I haven’t had the time to decipher all of them yet. But I’ll get around to it eventually.’
‘Interesting,’ the bug said. ‘I can—huh?’
He turned towards the entrance, and Lemm followed his gaze. Lemm was about to ask what the problem was, when a bug appeared in the entrance. The one that he’d made tea twice for. Ah yes, he thought. A customer. Two of them, in fact; one of the others from before had joined the one who’d taken a fancy to paying Lemm to make tea.
‘I don’t suppose,’ Lemm said, ‘there is any way to convince you to find tea somewhere else?’
The bugs shook their head.
Lemm sighed, and muttered an apology to the tall visitor. Time to get it over with.
He went to the back room to prepare the tea, and overheard the two visitors conversing in the front.
‘What’s this, anyway?’
‘Historical documents. Journals of travellers.’
‘What’s it doing here?’
‘I think the shopkeep collects them.’
‘That’s correct!’ Lemm called. ‘I’m always buying, if you have anything of historical value.’
He grabbed the cups and walked back to the front. ‘That’s fifty geo. Unless you have relics.’
The bugs complained under their breath, but paid up, and Lemm could direct his attention back to the visitor.
‘So is this what you do?’ they asked. ‘Opened the coffee shop again and collecting relics in your free time?’
Lemm was dumbstruck for a moment. Then he remembered to be outraged. ‘No! I am not opening this place as a coffee shop! People just keep coming and demanding tea and I cannot let an opportunity to earn easy money go to waste!’
‘Relic business not exactly booming, then, I assume?’
‘I’m—’ he spluttered, ‘It’s not a business! I don’t sell my relics, they’re mine!’
‘So you wouldn’t have any income if you weren’t selling tea?’
Lemm had the distinct impression that the bug was making fun of him. He didn’t answer, but simply walked up to the table, grabbed a random journal, and took it to his desk to try and get some work done.
He had not yet prepared his quill and ink when he was interrupted yet again.
‘You know,’ the visitor called, ‘that one is from a traveller from Greynest. Came here looking for his brother, never found him. No doubt said brother also perished in the ruins.’
Lemm turned around to see the bug standing in the doorway, having followed him halfway. ‘And how do you know this?’ he asked.
The bug shrugged. ‘I read it.’
Lemm regarded the bug. They didn’t seem to be joking.
‘You mean to tell me,’ Lemm began, slowly, ‘you know this language?’
‘Yes,’ they said nonchalantly. ‘I think I’ve been to Greynest? Must have been a while ago.’
‘Are you a traveller, then?’ Lemm asked. ‘You don’t seem the type.’
As soon as he’d spoken the words, Lemm became aware how utterly ridiculous it was of him to make observations about people. He didn’t like people, he wasn’t interested in people—
The bug laughed. ‘I am, in fact. I have travelled far and wide.’
‘Hmph,’ said Lemm, unsure what else to say. He turned back to his work, looked at the angular shapes carved into the stone, but now it seemed senseless to try and make sense of it when he knew that it was no mystery to the bug standing behind him.
At some point, he looked up and found that he was hungry and the visitor was gone. Oh, well. Time for a meal, then, and afterwards he might be able to find something else to do.
* * *
The next time the tea-drinker returned, they asked for tea and then asked Lemm about the relics, and he was in a favourable enough mood to talk about them. They asked some fairly stupid questions, but it seemed to come out of a genuine interest in the topic, so he indulged them. Plus, he had to admit that he enjoyed having a reliable source of geo. Not that he needed it much for buying relics, these days, but he supposed that his supplies of food – and of tea – would not last indefinitely, and he didn’t particularly fancy having to go back to scavenging, now that there were actual people living in the vicinity again. No, he’d rather find some place where he could buy what he needed fair and square.
The traveller with the headscarf returned, and it was an odd sort of feeling Lemm had about them. Like he actually liked having them in his shop and talking to them. And the perplexing thing was that the bug also seemed to enjoy conversing with Lemm. Which one one hand was absolutely preposterous, on the other … it was a refreshing change.
The bug introduced himself as Quirrel, apprentice to Monomon the Teacher, and Lemm could hardly believe it. Monomon the Teacher, one of the most brilliant minds of Hallownest? It couldn’t be! And yet it was not all too difficult to imagine. He’d seen stranger things in these lands.
Quirrel also was the one who later suggested Lemm officially open the shop as a coffee shop again. Lemm had thrown him out at that and gone back to work.
Now, a short while later, he looked up and Quirrel was back, standing at the counter, watching Lemm silently.
Lemm rose and went to the front, choosing to stare back equally silently. Lemm was good at that. Probably.
‘So,’ Quirrel said at length, his voice still as annoyingly friendly as ever, ‘have you thought about it?’
Lemm kept staring.
Quirrel held up his hands. ‘You need money, you don’t have much else to do, and besides’ – Quirrel shrugged. – ‘people like your tea.’
‘I certainly have enough to do,’ Lemm started. ‘These texts don’t decipher themselves. What’s so funny?’
Quirrel stopped his giggling and said, ‘They sort of do. Have you forgotten who stands before you?’
‘You don’t read all of these languages.’ Really, Quirrel’s ego was getting on Lemm’s nerves.
‘But most of them,’ Quirrel said, shrugging, ‘and most of the Archive’s records are intact. And we do have a nice section on language and writing.’
Lemm was silent for a moment, mostly because he could not think of a good comeback. Quirrel had a point, and Lemm did not like that in the slightest.
‘Let’s make a deal,’ Quirrel said. ‘I help you translate your texts and catalogue your artefacts, and you’ – Quirrel jabbed a finger in Lemm’s direction – ‘you sell your tea officially.’
‘Out of the question.’
‘You’re already doing it.’
‘I am not!’
‘Yes, you are.’ Quirrel said this with absolute certainty and no anger, and there was a voice at the back of Lemm’s mind that said: You really sort of are. And you could use the help. You don’t like the busywork anyway.
‘All right,’ Lemm grumbled. ‘Deal.’
‘Thank you,’ said Quirrel, audibly grinning.
‘I’m going to regret this, aren’t I?’ Lemm asked under his breath.
‘I don’t think so,’ Quirrel said. ‘I’m curious – what else can you make? Tea alone is a bit boring, don’t you think?’
‘Shut up,’ Lemm said, ‘or I change my mind.’
* * *
Lemm did not change his mind, even though Quirrel didn’t shut up. It had been a while, and Lemm hated to admit it, but he enjoyed doing something different for a change. Customers were now plenty, and Lemm had a menu with more than one item, and his relic collection was no bigger, but more orderly and better understood than it had ever been, thanks to Quirrel’s – and the Archive’s – help.
Another thing that Lemm was not quite ready to admit was that people could be nice. The more he talked to customers, interacted with them, observed them, the more he began to appreciate them. He used to be content in reading historical texts and artefacts, preferring to learn about people that were dead and gone. Living bugs had never really interested him.
Nowadays, however, it seemed that people could be just as interesting to read as anything else. And, as Quirrel entered, greeting him, and he could not help his mood being lifted just by the prospect of learning something new and interesting that Quirrel learnt on his last trip to the Archive, Lemm supposed that sometimes, very rarely … people were something he could enjoy.
-------------------------------
By @gardening-clown
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By @buglife
Lemm was five seconds away from throwing someone through the window.
His shop was now occupied by five bugs of various species, talking, laughing, and sitting around when he could be in the back doing literally anything else. It took weeks of bugs thinking that his relic shop was a coffee one before he simply gave up and made peace with it. At least he got some geo from it to pay adventurers that did come by to sell legit relics. How they mistook his shop for a coffee one, he would have never guess.
All he had was a little brewer that was barely put back together that he scavenged from some random shop, but other bugs seemed to like it, for some strange reason. It wasn’t even good coffee he was making, but they seemed to accept it. After all, who else in this dead kingdom was even selling coffee? He had looted plenty of shops and took as many sacks of beans as he would when he first arrived, and there was no way he could drink them all, so he might as well do something with them.
But he was steadily losing his patience with the amount of bugs around him. They were talking and loitering. Loitering was probably the worst of it all as it made the loner bug feel his shell crawl with the forced social interaction. He just wanted them to leave. He couldn’t stand the feeling of a crowded space, which is why he went to a dead kingdom in the first place.
Hell, he had to take his beloved odds and ends down from the shelves to keep some curious bug from touching them all up with their dirty fingers and breaking something.
He found himself dreading the sound of the bell above his door, and when it rang he wondered if someone else was coming to ask him for some random drink or be an annoying thorn in his side.
To his hidden delight however, it was the little wanderer. They looked like a grub, to be honest, with a black body and a stark white horned shell for a head. The nail on their back seemed to be a little put together the last time he saw them, perhaps they visited the Nailsmith? He never asked for their name, he didn’t want to learn it to avoid attachments, but he found them oddly endearing. They liked to listen to him ramble about his theories on various relics they bring him, so they can’t be too bad. Plus they were quiet and polite, something he was immensely grateful for.
They bounced inside the door and came to a stop, looking at the five other bugs sitting around and chatting. They tilted their head to the side, watching the bugs for a moment before looking at Lemm. They stretched out a stubby arm from under their cloak and pointed at him.
Lemm sighed. Of course, the little Wanderer had been gone for a while, and obviously didn’t know what had become of his beloved shop. He gestured for them to come over, which they did and looked up at him expectantly.
“Bugs keep thinking that this is a coffee shop.” He explained. “So here they are, drinking coffee that I make on a terrible little brewer. I gave up trying to kick them all out all the time, it stopped being worth the effort.”
The little wanderer blinked a few times, looking somewhat confused. They pointed to the cup being held by the beetle on one of Lemm’s chairs and mimed the action of drinking it.
“Yes, that’s coffee they are drinking.” He raised a brow as he looked down at the grub. “Haven’t you ever seen coffee before?”
They shook their head.
“Really now? Hrm…” He wasn’t sure where the little wanderer had come from if they never saw coffee before. It was a fairly common drink besides tea. They must have grew up in a rather isolated place If they never saw it. He decided he might as well explain it, it would be better to do it now than later.
“Coffee is a drink that bugs like to drink to give them energy.” He saw them perk up a bit at the ‘energy’ part. “It’s rather bitter, so some like it with sugar. I like it plain. It keeps me awake when I am working.”
They somehow made a face when he said it was bitter, tilting their head and angling their eye holes to look affronted. Lemm squashed down a laugh at the expression and decided to get to business.
“Anyway, they trade me geo for it, which lets me compensate bugs that get me relics. Do you have any for me today?” He hoped they did, he needed something to brighten up his day.
The wanderer nodded, reaching under their cloak to pull out a black orb. Lemm recognized it immediately to be an arcane egg. He loved working with those. Peeling back each layer revealed new information and new discoveries. He was in fact, still working on the one he got weeks before. He needed to be careful with them, and he reveled in the intense focus and work it needed to discover it’s secrets. His day instantly got better.
“Very nice, I’ll be glad to take that off your hands for the usual price.” The old beetle held out his hand and the wanderer gently placed the egg it in. They held up a hand once it was free and shook their head, pointed to a cup sitting on the counter.
“Ah, you want to trade this for a cup of coffee?” He wasn’t going to say no to that. If the wanderer was okay with it, it was a perfectly reasonable business transaction. His suspicions were confirmed when they nodded and bounced in place, looking as excited as they were able to. “Well I can certainly do that.”
Thankfully, the two bugs occupying the chairs in front of the counter left, leaving behind their dirty cups and a few geo for the mess. They thanked him and he grumped out a ‘have a good day’ as they left, seemingly indifferent to his mood. Oh well, at least it brought down the occupancy to a more manageable level for his social batteries. He pushed the dirty cups out of the way and gestured to an open seat.
“Here, sit down and I’ll get you a cup.”
They bounced upwards to take a seat, swinging their legs back and forth as they waited. It didn’t take Lemm long to throw some ground up beans and water into the grinder, watching the brewed coffee pour into a clean cup. He carefully carried the hot cup down and set it in front of the wanderer. “Be careful, it’s very hot. I’ll bring you some sugar, you didn’t seem to like the ‘bitter’ description.”
They nodded and watched as he pushed over a bowl of honey sugar and a spoon. It was the least he could do after they got him another arcane egg. “There you are, help yourself.”
They bowed their head in thanks and took up the spoon, poking it into the bowl.
“Excuse me,” One of the bugs by the window got up, the one with a bent antenna and holding their empty cup. “Could I get a refill, please?”
Lemm held back a sigh and nodded, taking the cup and heading back to his brewer. He had to smack it a couple times for it to start working again, but in the end he got a passable cup of coffee out of it. He returned just in timed to hear said bug exclaim, “Woah there buddy, you must really like sugar!”
He looked to the wanderer, who had added so much sugar to their cup of coffee, that he could hear the sugar that couldn’t dissolve scrape against the ceramic as it was stirred. It looked like fresh cement, there was only a bit of brown to denote that once, it was indeed a cup of coffee.
He wordlessly handed the other bug their coffee, who took it and retreated back to sit by the window. He was about to say something to the wanderer, when to his horror, their head tilted backwards. A maw of sharp black teeth opened wide, and he watched, astonished, as the mix of sugar and coffee oozed into their mouth and to who knows where. A long black tongue lashed out to get every last bit of sugar out of the cup, before the mouth closed with a quiet click. They must have felt him staring, because they turned to look at him with their fathomless, dark eyes. He stared back, wondering what the hell was actually sitting in front of him.
They then bounced in place and gave him a thumbs up. They made a shape of a heart with their hands, a way that they say ‘thank you’. They seemed rather happy.
“Um…you’re welcome?” He managed, after he gathered his composure again.
They sat still for a moment, seeming to ponder on what they had just consumed. He figured that they were probably trying to figure out if they liked it or not. He doubt they even managed to taste the coffee from the sheer amount of sugar in that cup.
Then, to his horror, they began to vibrate. At first it was a few twitches, and then it steadily became more and more severe, until they were a literal blur. The chair rattled under the stress and the bugs that remained in the shop turned to look at the commotion.
It was then, Lemm realized he fucked up.
They suddenly dashed away, slamming into the shop door with such force that it caved outwards. There was only the short sound of shattering glass and the scream of metal before it flew off it’s hinges and rattled down the hallway. He could hear the hurried pitter-patter of the wanderer’s tiny feet, now fast enough to blur into one continuous sound, race down the hall and out of sight and hearing.
He just stood there, looking at the wreckage of his shop door, wondering where the hell is he going to get a replacement, if there even was a replacement. He looked at the three shocked bugs, standing and looking at the wreckage, and then he got himself an idea.
“Hey fellas,” He said, as he turned and looked at the bugs next to the window. “How would you all like some free coffee if you find me a door?”
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By @radical-mudkips
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By @unregisteredcookie
Lemm's 'shop' was empty.
Actually, no, that… that wasn't right. Lemm's shop wasn't a shop in the first place--it was a haven for relics and ancient knick-knacks, and the shelves were filled to overflowing with stone tablets and peculiar eggs that held unimaginable information. Not that Lemm was ever able to crack into the eggs' shells, but he knew--he knew there was more treasured information sleeping beneath. If only he were able to open it up without risking that information being damaged.
And that wasn't right, either. The shop being empty, that was. Right now, the shelves were empty, but that was less because of the absence of relics and more because they were all stowed away in the back room to be sorted. He had a notebook he was combing over, quill in hand as he scribbled out little bits of information that might relate to one another.
'Might', because Lemm wasn't really from Hallownest. So he didn't know for sure whether this smooth L-shaped contraption was a door handle or a piece to a lost work of art.
It was while Lemm was scribbling about in this journal bound in parchment (hand-made and flimsy, using the paper he found around the area that was clean and allowed to dry) that he heard it: The distant clattering of the elevator.
There were about seven options he could think of off of the top of his head, each more dreaded than the last. It could be that scarcely-seen Nailsmith who seemed to know more about the history of this ruin than he let on. It could be the peculiar little silent bug that stared up at him now and again, the one that sometimes passed by with a relic to sell. It could be that talkative windbag, droning on and on in his droning voice, so grating and persistent that Lemm struggled to ignore him. He was probably the worst.
Lemm stopped writing, tilted his head, and listened for the telltale sound. The rattling stopped, and all that he heard for a while was silence. And then.
Ding.
He sighed, getting to his feet. A customer it was, then. How delightful. Here's hoping that the customer wasn't 'Zote the Mighty'.
He had a small moment of dread when he saw the horn, a critical blow of dismay that tempted him to retreat back into the back room and pretend to be out for a walk, but then he saw the second horn and breathed a sigh of relief. Oh, it wasn't the Zote person after all. It was… them. The other little one.
They looked up at him as he approached the register and looked down at them. Their eyes were vacant as ever, face impossibly unreadable. Lemm doubted that he'd ever get used to it.
Lemm liked this little bug, if for no other reason than they were quiet, kept their hands to themself, and brought him relics to purchase. They were the only one willing to sell these relics, and they were the only reason Lemm often said what he said next.
"Cup of coffee, or looking to sell?"
He never had much company in this place until the Nailsmith (Lemm never caught his name, never bothered asking, really) first came in looking for materials for his smithing. Almost took one of Lemm's Pale Idols from under his beard while he was noting in his journal. After the initial yelling that followed and a cup of coffee, the Nailsmith apologized by paying for the cup. And he did it again. And again. Until the mapmaker came in, saw, and bought a cup himself. Until the hooded pillbug came in, hummed, and bought one for himself. And then--
Well. And then he had a coffee shop.
Lemm wished he could say that he hated it, and he did, at first. But over time, he found the company rather pleasant. Besides, the geo paid for this little bug's relic collection well enough, so he wasn't complaining.
So. Did they want a cup of coffee, or did they want to sell their relics?
Lemm didn't get an answer. Instead, they looked around at the empty shelves for a moment before turning their empty eyes back onto him, tilting their head to the side slightly.
It took Lemm a moment.
"Oh, I moved the relics into the back room," he said. "I've been needing to work on sorting them out and writing notes about them. Never would I have thought that I would have so many to study."
Satisfied, they reached into the confines of their cloak. Lemm leaned forward a little, watching as they rummaged about for a moment, heart skipping a beat as he pondered what sort of relic they were going to sell this time.
And then they withdrew their small hand, reached up, and dropped a fist full of geo onto the counter.
Lemm blinked and stared at the geo for a moment. Something wispy and thin clung to them, and when he picked it up and opened the register, it was sticky. Was this webbing? Lemm wasn't aware of there being any spiders in Hallownest, aside from maybe that red-cloaked bug he saw very rarely flitting about outside his window.
So. No relics today. Fine, at least he'd have more money to buy another one later.
"One coffee coming up," he murmured, rummaging around behind the counter. Underneath the register was where he kept the coffee pot, which he refrained from moving just so he could be prepared if a 'customer' came by. He busied himself with it for a few moments, filling the filter and checking the water, before clicking the button and letting it steep. Granted, he didn't know what kind of coffee they'd drink, but they didn't make it clear anyway, so he doubted that it mattered.
Besides. They seemed a little preoccupied by something else at the moment.
After a few minutes, the coffee was finished, and Lemm poured them a cup. He chose a caramel-like flavor, because they seemed about the size of a child and a little bit of sweetness never hurt anyone. Lemm reached over the counter and held it out to them, which they took in their hands and stared down at for a moment. Lemm was about ready to head back into the back when it happened.
A crack. It almost sounded like something breaking, but when he turned to look behind himself at the small knight, they still stood there. Another crack, one that made his fur stand on end and his body stiffen, and Lemm caught the glimpse of something sharp and white shifting beneath the bottom of their mask.
A mouth?
They tilted their head back. A jaw opened. Many layers of teeth glimmered in the dim light, cracking as they did so, the noise chilling him through his chitin and making his hemolymph freeze. Lemm stood there, stock still, as they lifted the cup up to their face, jaw extending outwards to drink it, and then--
--they set the scalding hot coffee in their mouth, cup and all, closed it, and crunched.
Lemm had never seen a bug eat a cup of coffee before. He could still hear the crunch, crunch, crunching, muffled and quiet and growing quieter, noise sounding like a particularly crunchy tiktik being eaten.
Lemm shuddered. When the knight looked back at him, he turned around quickly and went into the back room.
Okay. Suddenly they weren't the second most welcome sight for sore eyes. Suddenly Lemm wished that it was that talking, yapping Zote fellow who came in instead.
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By @doodle-chris
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By @payasita
There was no shortage of open real estate as far as the City of Tears was concerned. But that certainly didn't make every option an equally viable living space.
First, Lemm wanted something enclosed away from the rain, and insulated enough to stave off the humidity. That discounted anything open to the outside, as he wouldn't risk his relics to even the threat of exposure. A leaking roof dripping down onto crumbling tablets or fragile spider silk could devastate hundreds of years worth of history, so that also discounted any room without a few protective floors above it.
Next, it had to be out of the way of any and all shambling husks and infected critters. They weren't the brightest of creatures, so a room only accessible by elevator was ideal. He'd never seen anything plague-cursed have enough wherewithal to operate one, and the noise of it would give him plenty warning of visitors otherwise.
Lastly, he wanted someplace with plenty of shelf space. He needed little in the way of actual living space, so long as he had ample storage room set up in such a way that things could easily be organized.
All of these qualities described, in his opinion, the ideal relic storage and research dwelling. And in the end, he was lucky enough to find it.
Unearthing the previous tenant's belongings informed him that it also, apparently, described the ideal setup for a small café. On his first day in his new residence, he'd uncovered an antique coffee machine and a few other ancient tools, kept miraculously free of rust and wear. The room's conditions must be far better than he thought.
He'd dusted his findings off and set them back up on the counter, having quickly deduced where they'd once been put to use through old nicks and rings left on the shellwood by years of service. Lemm had felt a small swell of pride at finding this small bit of the city's history, and began a set of notes on his theories about this tower complex and its surrounding culture from everything he found around. Perhaps the whole place had been a shopping centre.
On the second day, he pried open the crates in the back room, and they had spilled forth bags upon bags of beans and teas. There were so many of them that he was able to rationalize cutting one open and examining its contents without much guilt. The beans were coffee, that much was obvious at a glance.
Biological samples weren't exactly his area of expertise, but smell and texture alone all but convinced him that they'd been perfectly preserved in their airtight prisons, well dried and perfectly edible.
Most likely.
For the sake of research, and because the bag was already open, he put them through the machine. He committed some time to studying the machine beforehand, as he was afraid mishandling it may destroy it. But an hour of trying to figure the damn thing out was frustrating enough that he finally reasoned that if he did break it, he could at least take it apart and examine its insides for anything interesting. Lemm was a relic keeper, not a tinker. So he winged it with a bit of rainwater and the beans, and got wet beans and hot murky water all over the counter to show for it. He figured out the grinder and filter after his second attempt, and by the third, he had a mug of fresh coffee to show for his efforts. The scent that filled his shop and the outside corridor must have been nothing Hallownest had experienced in centuries. Lemm had little taste for the stuff himself, but in his experimentation he'd gone and made a whole pot. So he supposed he needed to acquire a taste for it rather quickly.
Luckily for his health, that turned out to be unnecessary. The smell, perhaps amplified in the ever-present petrichor, quickly attracted guests of the still-living variety. There turned out to be far more travelers and treasure hunters bumping around this old city than he'd initially expected, prone to tucking himself away in solitude as he was. Introverted or no, he happily gave the coffee away rather than waste it or risk giving himself a coronary. There were even a great deal of disposable mugs stacked away that just made it all the more convenient.
Just over the course of an hour, Lemm was graced with a fair amount of odd characters intruding on his doorstep. There was a surly fellow wielding a metal shield of some foreign make, who announced his intentions towards finding and conquering Hallownest's old colosseum. He was convinced it was still in operation somewhere. Lemm decided that if it was, the place was more than likely not populated with the sorts of honorable warriors this poor bastard was looking to prove himself against, but he kept his thoughts to himself and sent the boy off with a steaming cup of acrid bean water. Next came another traveller who gave off a more scholarly air than the first had, and who carried a more conventional weapon at his hip. The pill bug certainly acted more like a student than a warrior, all bright-eyed and curious and talkative. But no doubt he must know how to use that nail of his to have survived this far down and still be so cheerful. His stay wasn't entirely unpleasant; the two actually talked a short while about Hallownest's history and their shared learnings. The bug even tried to insist on paying, but Lemm was adamant that his reliquary wasn't a damn breakfast nook, thank you, keep your geo. But if he really wanted to pay, Lemm would certainly take any interesting artifact or trinket the bug happened to pick up on his travels. They eventually came to an agreement: A journal pilfered from a shrine somewhere in Greenpath for an extra cup for the road.
Lemm's next visitor was, of all things, a cartographer. This one was far too involved in his work for much conversation, which was fine by Lemm. But he did manage to barter a cup for a map of the city. It was incomplete and bare of any landmarks, much to Lemm's disappointment. Finally, an odd little wanderer walked in almost soundlessly. They did not speak to Lemm, nor did they give any indication that they were here for any specific reason. But they had acquired an old city crest and a King's idol on their path, and Lemm had a more typical exchange of geo for relics with them. And then because it was the last of the coffee in the still warm pot, and because the little wanderer did not refuse, he sent them off with a cup on their way out. Thankful to be rid of all the blasted coffee and done with the uptick in social interaction, he then washed the pot and continued with his normal studies. It was nice and quiet, now.
But then the next morning, the pill bug returned. And he was surprised (and clearly disappointed) to see the coffee pot empty. It was a shame, he'd said. For he'd gone and found himself another journal, and considered a relic he couldn't use for a hot morning's drink to be a fine deal indeed. Lemm was inclined to agree, for how it saved him his geo in case of a more potentially significant find down the line. He turned the machine back on at once at the prospect. Unfortunately, he didn't know how to brew just one cup, and was still rightfully intimidated by the old, fussy contraption, and not inclined to mess with what worked. So he made another full pot, and talked shop.
The pill bug wasn't the only one to return that day. The would-be gladiator came back, still not having found his destination, and had the gall to just expect another drink. After the deal he'd just made, Lemm was feeling markedly less generous than he had been the day before, and informed his nasally guest that he'd have to barter something old and interesting for it.
The ant grumbled and left, but returned a few minutes later with a guardsman's crest. He'd apparently seen old treasures all over the place, but had found it beneath him to go and pick them up." A warrior has no need to weigh himself down with baubles," he'd sneered over his cup. Lemm privately thought that the plague-crazed beasts who were doubtlessly running the colosseum now would soon show this haughty kid what they cared for his warrior’s creed in due time, so he said nothing.
The silent wanderer came later. This time when they held up an ancient journal, they made no move to take the geo held out to them. They only stared at Lemm, with their little mask so perfectly unmoving he could easily think them a sudden corpse. Then his hand drifted towards the pot, and the creature set the journal down on the counter.
"...News of a relic keeper bartering goods for coffee has already spread among your lot, then? I suppose even wanderers must have a rumor mill," Lemm talked to himself while pouring their cup. Predictably, they padded away without an answer, drink in hand.
Lemm would soon learn how right he was.
-
The coming days were more lucrative than his business had ever been. All the travellers he'd met before all came back with various oddities found around Hallownest, as did anyone new. Though not everyone quite understood what constituted a relic, and Lemm had to turn down more than a few shiny rocks and petrified lake detritus. But they all got the routine down soon enough. And, well, Lemm did have an extraordinary amount of coffee that'd just go to waste for another thousand years otherwise, so, may as well.
The pill bug, Quirrel, came to be his best "customer", though Lemm would be twice damned before he ever said the word aloud. Either way, Quirrel often stayed long enough just chatting to warrant a second cup.
"I ought to have you bring double the treasure," Lemm griped once while handing that second cup over. Quirrel's response was a good natured laugh.
"Perhaps elsewhere, that'd be fair. Coffee was a luxury in some lands, and remains so to this day, but by my understanding it was quite in abundance here. Though I couldn't tell you where in the world they must have been growing it," he mused. Lemm raised a brow, wondering once again where in gods' names this bug was educated. But as asking would be an invitation to hear his life story, Lemm deferred.
"Is that right?" he asked instead, "I don't care for the stuff myself, luxury or no."
"Really? Not an uncommon opinion, I suppose. I picked it up as a habit at one point... Though, I couldn't tell you when, now that I think of it," Quirrel trailed off, adjusting the oversized mask over his head. Lemm found it an odd choice of protection from the rain, though he supposed it was better than nothing.
He only shrugged, "I hear many students do make a habit of caffeine. Your sorts can never get enough hours out of the day."
Quirrel stared at him for a brief moment, and then huffed a laugh again. "Student? You mistake me, sir. I've only ever been a traveller for as long as I can remember."
Lemm didn't bother to mask his surprise, and Quirrel's eyes crinkled.
"You're right on that second part, though. So much to see, and never enough time." He took a sip.
-
The mapmaker came back one day with an order for two drinks. He had no relics, but offered an extra inkwell and quill instead. Lemm found equipment for keeping good notes was lucky to come by, and reluctantly made the trade, much to the old bug's gratitude.
"Thank you, the second is for my wife running our shop surface-side. It was her suggestion you might want materials for your research."
Lemm cleared his throat, blustering slightly under his beard.
"Ahh. Hm. I can appreciate that, then."
"Oh, on that note, have you any sugar you can add in for her?" The bug peered over Lemm’s shoulder, which rankled him for some reason.
"...I did find a jar back here somewhere, I think." Though he couldn't promise it was good. Could sugar go bad? It still just looked like white sand.
"Thank you. ...Err, actually, is that a box of tea on the shelf, there?"
Lemm paused in his rummaging, and looked back at the open storeroom door. The room now made a good home for his relics, though he never bothered unpacking the open crates.
"...It is," he eyed the bug neutrally.
"Ah. Iselda enjoys her coffee, though I quite prefer a good cup of tea myself. ...Erm, if it isn't too much trouble, of course," the bug grinned politely over folded hands.
Lemm, to his credit, did not sigh. There was indeed a kettle back there, too. And at least he knew how to brew tea without making an entire day's worth of it.
He brought up the jar of sugar, and leveled the bug with a grumpy look.
"Fine. But next time, you bring relics."
The cartographer acquiesced immediately, and that was the point where Lemm realized he'd invited them both to expect a "next time".
-
The silent wanderer came back again, on the tail of a group of treasure hunters who came in and left up the elevator. Shortly after, there was the sound of struggle above them.
This had become commonplace. Anyone who showed up had to contend with the violent husks above and beyond the shop, and some were more prepared to deal with the dangers of Hallownest than others. Lemm only poured the wanderer's cup in bored silence, tuning out the thumping and shouts above.
"You know this stuff stunts your growth, right?" Lemm asked flatly. The wanderer only ever stared.
"Dehydrates you, too. You active types probably ought to stick to water. Imagine having to deal with the horrors of rotting sentries and whatnot with a diuretic sloshing about in you." Unbothered, they leaned forward and took their cup in both hands, still staring up while he spoke. Lemm honestly had no idea if they even understood him, and considered the possibility that their muteness was compounded by a language barrier. But they at least always made the effort to appear attentive.
There was a thundering crash above them that made Lemm flinch, and then a silence that kept him tense. The voices started up once again after a few seconds, and the sound of footsteps hurrying away as fast as they could. By his guess, his last customers had just had a very close encounter with a belfly. He'd likely not be seeing them again.
He turned his attention back down to the wanderer with a sigh.
"...Let me see what you have, then."
The tiny thing set their cup carefully down by their feet, and fished a genuine void egg from the depths of their grubby cloak. Lemm was struck with the brief impulse to give them the entire coffee machine for it.
-
There was a new visitor one morning, just as Lemm brewed the pot for his regulars. He rarely got anyone so very early, and was guiltily nursing his own cup of acrid sugary heart disease before anyone would be around to see.
Alright, so he'd acquired the taste for it. It was hardly unreasonable with how much time he spent around the smell, and it helped him make up for lost time studying his relics later in the night. Perfectly understandable, and so he definitely did not freeze mid sip like he was caught in a crime when the door opened unexpectedly. The red-clad stranger who walked in wore a wicked-sharp needle slung across her back, and fixed him with an even sharper gaze.
"...I hear you sell tea." Her voice was quiet enough, but cut clear without the normal hesitant lilt of a question.
Lemm slowly put down his mug, and the soft thunk it made against the countertop sounded awfully loud in the morning lull.
"...I don't sell anything. I buy," he insisted.
The altogether frightening lass glanced between him, the full coffee pot, and the kettle sat next to a stack of assorted loose leaf teas. Then back at him.
He grunted, hiding an inane flush of indignation behind another swig of his drink.
"...I seek artifacts. Relics of this place's past, and anything that may help me understand it, for geo. ...Or for a cuppa, for those who'd rather." He shifted behind the counter, nearly trailing off into a mumble. But at this point, there wasn’t much use in fighting his reputation.
The girl just scrutinized him until she seemed to come to a decision. She then turned and left without saying anything else, opting to hop down the elevator shaft rather than waste a moment calling the lift.
Lemm rolled his eyes and gulped down the dregs of his coffee, vaguely annoyed. By this point, he was used to the rude and half feral sorts of vagabonds that only came by out of curiosity. At least she was quick about leaving.
All the better for him, as far as he was concerned. He doubted such a young thing would have anything of note to share with Hallownest's foremost historian.
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