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#I wish to NEVER see their names in ANY general vicinity EVER
ataraxiaspainting · 3 months
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The End.
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Yan Kafka x F Reader.
Synopsis: Kafka always sits in the front row, despite being part of the show herself.
Warnings: Yandere themes, stalking, thoughts of violence, manipulation, and unhealthy relationships.
Word Count: 1k.
Ten Songs Like This Piece:
Breezeblocks by alt-J
Waltz No. 2 by Dmitri Shostakovich (feat. The Dixie String Quartet)
Swan Lake by HAUSER
Claus by Los Tres
Doin’ Time by Lana Del Ray
Lie by BTS
She’s My Collar by Gorillaz (feat. Kali Uchis)
Cha Cha by Freddie Dredd
Michelle by Sir Chloe
MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name) - SATAN’S EXTENDED VERSION by Lil Nas X
*~*~*~*
The roses are wilting.
It was destiny, fate. Such pretty things never last forever, after all, even if the entire universe wished otherwise. One way or another, they are meant to fall, like how the sun drops below where anyone can see it, being replaced with the moon, and vice versa. They fall deep, deeper than hell itself, and no one can pick them back up, unless one would be inclined to make a pact with the devil himself, doing horrendous things in his name. But Kafka has already committed such sins, so why deny doing so any longer? It is who she is. It is who you are, to be entangled in her lies and be forced to dance and to sing and to act.
With two gloved hands, she picks up the vase, spilling out the moldy water and the dying roses, the roses she got for you after you sang so well at the opera house, looking so beautiful, into the trash can underneath your makeup vanity, where little clumps of hair and emptied products always meet their end.
She’ll get you a new bouquet later. A new vase too. Perhaps instead of white roses you would like red ones instead? Kafka knows that this vase is cheap too, from one of your fellow divas, whose high notes are not as high as yours and her costumes not as elaborate or as elegant as yours.
“I honestly don’t see why you even try to befriend any of them, darling. They are all envious harpies. They can’t hold a candle to anything you do.”
You are not here, but Kafka’s mouth always has a mind of its own, so it spins lies even when your delicate, lovely ears are not in the general vicinity. Not that she minds it. But yours is what she is quite more so than trifles with, because yours is carefully controlled by her and her alone, and you, as always, don’t get a say. It’s a sort of hypocrisy, Kafka thinks, but she doesn't mind that either.
If she has to, she’ll even sew your mouth shut, your ears shut, your eyes shut, if that is what it takes for you to stay with her. She doubts it would ever come to that, though, because you are always too fragile and too trusting to tell the difference between an Iago and a Desdemona. But the latter role would much better suit you, her little flower, her princess.
You are so precious, but also a treasure prying eyes will always want to touch and see and hear. Kafka would, in all honesty, love to cut their hands and tongues off, if it did not ruin the carefully crafted image she made just for you. Maybe later, though, when all the stage lights are off.
“Lady Macbeth, hmm?” She murmurs.
She disagrees with the role you were given entirely. But, you were not one to stand up for yourself, so Kafka let it go. 
“You really ought to leave this business soon, dearest.” Kafka looks around, her arms crossed, not impressed with the room you were given in the slightest. “You can always just come with me.” She meant it. “Imagine all the sights you would see. All the food you would eat. All the gifts I would be so happy to give you. All the hugs and kisses you would receive from me. Everything… just think about it.”
She could imagine it herself. It is not hard, really, for the mind to reject all sense of logic and bow down to the whim of what is known as human emotions, mortal joys, woes, desires, wants, and needs. She could imagine sitting you on her lap as the ship jumps to the next world she will have to visit, telling you stories of the past, present, and future, as you look on with amazement. You don’t do that anymore, now. She would do anything to see it come back. She would steal a crown and place it on your head, though you having the genuine article does not make you any stronger. If anything, perhaps it would make you weaker to her whims.
“Imagine that…” She sighs, closing her eyes as she smiles. “We can go to Penacony. Your dreams would come true there if I cannot make them true myself. You can sleep on beds worth more than this entire opera house. If only you would let me. I know it would make you happy. I know it would make me happy. So why wouldn’t it make you?”
She would listen to your ultimate pains, and your ultimate wishes, and act accordingly. She loved you. You will too, again. It is only a matter of time, isn’t it? Yes, Kafka thinks, it is fate. 
Kafka always sits in the front row of the theater.
It does not matter whether or not she purchased the tickets for it, the seat, or the show soon to come to fruition. No one dares talk back to her, even security. She finds comfort in that. No one gets in the way of her having the chance to see you. Better yet, no one else sits in the front row when she is present.
So, she watches, one of her legs crossed over the other, her eyes never blinking. During interludes she likes to adjust her makeup accordingly, painting on another shade of crimson to her lips. Art comes in many forms, after all.
Kafka told you that once. As always, you listened dutifully as she taught you to be.
She taught you many things, not just that. She taught you how to read constellations. She helped you learn her vocabulary in the books she gave you, often long fairytales or poems. She preferred it that way when you used to be so eager to have someone be friendly to you and not want to simply use you for their own amusement, not wanting to throw you out of the opera house altogether.
The opera house may rot after it goes up in flames, in the future, if things go her way as it always does, but she’ll stay to watch it all, to take you in as you cry and as she shushes you. She’ll be happy. Maybe you will be too, for her. It matters how good your performance is, if you even want to act anymore, after all.
The lights dim, and she shows her pearl-white teeth as she grins.
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mocolococoffeesimp · 1 year
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Could I perhaps get some elphelt relationship headcanons?
Some Elphelt headcanons coming right up!
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-Let’s be real. The moment Elphelt realized her feelings, she isn’t pulling any punches when it comes to wooing you. Extravagant gifts, rose bouquets and cheesy one-liners. She is a hopeless romantic.
-So, one day when you leave your room Elphelt is there holding a bouquet of roses and a box of chocolate. She would be blushing, but smiling at you.
“(Y/N), please go out with me!” Her voice being the most sincere ever, she dressed up for this exact moment trying to look her best. Taking the rose bouquet from her, examining the roses on it. You noticed how her cheeks were almost as red as the roses. Her gentle smile was on her face the whole time, she was waiting for your reply.
“I would love to.” Was your reply, before she hugged you tightly, landing a kiss on your cheek. 
-Elphelt loves to kiss you. Doesn’t matter where, cheeks, lips, hands, stomach. She just wants to kiss you. Although her favorite area is your face. She loves seeing your reaction every time she kisses you.
-She does love it even more when you kiss. It makes her feel like a fairy tale princess. Just fills her with warmth and joy. 
-Lots of dates doing the stereotypical couple stuff. Long walks on the beach, calling each other pet-names, taking a lot of pictures of each other, and of your dates. She wishes to experience everything there is to relationship, including the most cheesy stuff. She just can’t explain the appeal of it, it just feels so dreamy to her.
-Speaking of pet names, she has a lot of them. Love, darling, honey, are the most common ones she uses. But, she has rarer ones, such as, the light of my life, Rose, the most magnificent being.
-She will absolutely love it, if you give her a pet name. She will hold onto it forever, asking for you to use the pet name again and again.
“(Y/N), can you say it again?”
“Sweetie?” 
“Aah, I love it, I love it!” 
-She would be a little disappointed if you called out for her using Elphelt. She doesn’t mind it, but she prefers the pet name you give her. It makes her feel like you two are a couple sharing things.
-Absolutely is going to ask to add her fingerprint for your phone. She knows she can trust you, but the added trust makes her feel like this is the relationship for her.
-She would adore going shopping with you. She would have you pose in different clothes for her, as she wants to see your adorable face in different outfits. She will repay this to you by posing herself for you in various outfits. 
-You do have to carry a lot of stuff, afterwards as she can never decide what to get. So, she just gets everything she wants. She does treat you to sweets afterwards, so it’s fine.
-Elphelt absolutely loves sweets. If you buy her sweets every now and then, she will fall in love with you even more. Milkshakes are her absolute favorite. She will absolutely get two straws for both of you, to drink from the same milkshake.
-She hates bugs. So, this means you have to get rid of any bugs that are in her general vicinity. She will hug you, so tight to you after you’ve gotten rid of it.
“My knight in shining armor! You’ve saved me!”
“Elphelt, it was just a spider.”
“You still saved me from it. It was terrifying.”
-She takes good care of her appearance. With skin moisturizer and such. She would love it, if you join her during those evenings. She would ask to do your nails. If you say yes, she will make them match hers in color.
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say-al0e · 2 years
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See You When I See You
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Rating: M | This is smut! No one under 18! Minors, DNI!
Summary: Your relationship with Ben was unconventional, at best. Stolen moments, scattered here and there, were all you could have. Still, that didn't stop either of you from wishing for more. Your next meeting wasn’t guaranteed so you made the most of what time you were given. | Ft. “Is that a gun in your pocket or are you happy to see me?” + “I’ve been thinking about you all day.”
Warnings: Unprotected p in v, yearning, pining, semi-forbidden love, mentions of war (set when the guys are active duty), inaccurate military/war references, unrealistic setting, sad Benny (yes that’s a warning). 
Pairing: Benny Miller x fem!Reader (described as shorter than Benny)
Word Count: 8.7k (it’s Benny, what do you expect?)
General Masterlist | General Taglist | Shameless Plug: Cowboy!Benny Masterlist
A/N: Listen to Jason Aldean’s ‘See You When I See You’ - that’s the vibe for this fic.
As many times as you’d been dropped in the middle of the desert, left to accomplish one task or another, the harsh sun never seemed any less jarring. It beat down onto your skin, seared the few bits of exposed flesh, and stung at the backs of your eyes as you glanced out at the base you’d grown far too familiar with.
The ache in your chest, the twist in your stomach, the tingling in the tips of your fingers - it all grew more intense, nauseating, the closer you drew to the set of soldiers stood ready to greet you. Despite that, however, you tried your best to school your features into a practiced look of neutrality as you climbed out of the jeep after a man who easily outranked everyone in the vicinity.
Though you’d been here before, spent more time here than you ever imagined you would, you never bothered to remember the names of the men in charge. It didn’t matter, they were redacted in your reports, anyway. Still, your companions - ever eager to busy themselves with pomp - puffed their chests and straightened their shoulders while you lingered behind them in the hope that you would remain unnoticed.
Immediately, they launched into an exchange of greetings - shook hands and dispensed surface-level pleasantries that you had no desire to return - while you found yourself scanning the area for any familiar faces. Even for a group of military men, it was early. Most of the men were either in the mess tent, scarfing down breakfast, or still preparing for the day but enough of them wandered around for you to remain hopeful.
Almost as if he’d been summoned by your thoughts, a familiar face adorned with salt and pepper stubble appeared in your field of vision. Warm brown eyes met yours, twinkling with an easy amusement you would readily admit you’d missed, and beckoned you away form your travel companions.
Some of the heaviness in your chest dissipated as you stepped closer to Santiago. The exhaustion you felt - a bone-deep weariness that came with traveling, with picking up the pieces and moving from one place to the next; again and again and again - was nearly forgotten as he whistled lowly and raised a brow at you.
“Well, I’ll be damned.” His expression shifted then, morphed in an exaggerated looking of straight-faced stoicism he’d been conditioned into wearing, as he took a moment to study you. You laughed, ice melting in your veins, and he broke. You warmed all over at the sight of his smile and tipped your head as he laughed. “Sunshine,” he greeted, lips curling into a shit-eating grin, “didn’t expect you back so soon. Thought they shipped your ass back stateside.”
The nickname - a misogynistic declaration hurled at you by Tom, one that stuck and you hated - made your nose wrinkle. Santiago snickered and you latched onto that amusement, eager to avoid the conversation of where you’d been. When you rolled your eyes, he grinned and opened his arms for an embrace. The flash of annoyance you felt disappeared as quickly as it warmed your heated skin and you easily sank into his embrace.
Santiago squeezed you tight, just once, and released you with a smile that made your chest ache. He knew why you were there - what your presence meant for him, for his brothers - but he still looked so glad to see you. Regardless, there was an expectant look in his eyes, buried beneath the fondness, and you glanced away.
Your backstop was Fort Bragg, stationed somewhere in North Carolina, and as far as Santiago was concerned, that was where you’d been since he last saw you three months ago. So, you nodded. “They did,” you confirmed. “But…” A brief pause, one you spent wondering how best to answer him without giving yourself up, before you gestured to the group of men you traveled with. “Here I am, I guess.”
If anyone knew what it was like to be in your position - given one assignment today, forced into another tomorrow; never certain what the future held, other than danger - it was the Delta men, Santiago included. He cut his eyes at the group himself and, though he was better than most at masking his feelings, you could see the shadow that crossed his face as he studied them.
That was to be expected - it was what you were trained to do, after all - and he seemed to realize that you caught his apprehension the moment he turned back to you. He raised a brow, all business, and let a soft frown curl his lips. “I take it this isn’t a social call.”
A scoff escaped before you could stop it and Santiago laughed wryly. He knew the answer, just as well as you did, but that didn’t help ease the guilt settling in the pit of your stomach.
“Is it ever?” You spared a glance at the general, a man whose presence seemed to make Santiago bristle each time they so much as occupied the same continent, and shook your head. “Delta will be debriefed in the morning,” you admitted quietly, unable to look him in the eye as you did. “That’s all I can tell you.” You paused them, took a moment to consider your position, before you added, “And even that’s probably too much.”
Santiago’s jaw clenched as he bit his tongue to keep himself in check. You were a friend, someone he trusted, but the people you worked for saw him as disposable - a problem to be solved, just in case he got too comfortable - and he was reminded of that fact as a man you both recognized brushed past. He nodded his greeting and Santiago followed suit, though you could see the uneasy set to his shoulders as he waited for the man to move out of earshot.
“Shit.” He laughed, though it rang hollow in your ears, and scrubbed a hand across his face. “Homeland’s here. Why didn’t you tell me it was a party?”
There was nothing you could say that would make the moment any easier - no reply you could give that would reassure him, not when he knew how this worked; likely better than you did. You sighed, lapsed into an uneasy silence as you bit your tongue, and would’ve wandered away were it not for the chatter of a group of men departing the mess tent distracting you. You spared them a glance - searching subconsciously, never on purpose, for a familiar head of dirty blonde hair.
Hope blossomed warm in your chest as you scanned the faces but was quickly replaced with a wave of cool reality, crushing you as you realized the soldier you were seeking wasn’t there. You would’ve never missed him, just as he would’ve never missed you, and Santiago, who was more observant than you liked, scoffed when you deflated. 
“Benny’s on patrol,” he informed you, gaze following the group as they set out to begin their day. You cut your eyes at him and this time, his laugh sounded far more genuine. “He’ll be back by the time you can slip away.”
A flash of embarrassment heated your skin as Santiago snickered. You hated how obvious you were, how easy it was for him to see right through you - to see how eager you were for just a glimpse of Ben Miller - but it did little to deter him as he rolled his eyes. “I wasn’t looking for Benny,” you declared, though it sounded half-hearted at best. A lie easily detected. Your eyes narrowed as you folded your arms over your chest. “Thanks for the update, though. Want to tell me where Fish and Will are, too?”
He made a noise, a hum of mock disappointment, and though it made your cheeks warm, you were glad to see the amusement twinkling in his eyes. “Not gonna ask about Tom, really try to sell it?” When you grimaced, unable to hide your disdain for the captain, Santiago laughed. “Yeah, alright. Keep lying to yourself, Sunshine. Maybe one day you’ll actually believe it.”
Santiago departed then, left without giving you a chance to respond, and shot you a wink and a grin over his shoulder. The look promised that news of your arrival would spread quickly and you heaved a heavy sigh as you took a moment to gather yourself.
A quick glance around reminded you of where you were, of what you were there to do. There was a job to be done, a fight to be won, and you couldn’t afford to be distracted - or be the distraction. Still, you could’t stop yourself from glancing over your shoulder, just to double check, as you trudged back to join the group.
Disappointment, bitter and crushing, filled your chest when there was no sight of Ben - despite the knowledge that he wouldn’t be there - so you tucked away your remaining hope, locked it tight in your chest just in case you never crossed paths.
That didn’t seem to matter much as the day passed in a blur of aching loneliness and yearning.
Most of your time was spent seated in an uncomfortable folding chair, arms crossed over your chest as you listened to men pick apart the same strategy you’d started seeing in your sleep. Your research was laid bare, files on each target held open on the table, and you tried your hardest to remain focused. Much of your job was done already - the hard part, anyway - but that mattered so little knowing you were that close to Ben. Knowing that he was only a few steps from where you sat, closer than he’d been in months, made it difficult to focus on anything else and the thought terrified you.
The power that he held over you made no sense - he managed to derail the meticulous planning you’d spent months on, distracted you from the mission you’d devoted countless sleepless nights to with little more than the promise of his presence - but you knew better than to give in to the flash of anger that warmed your chest.
You had so few moments with him, stolen away whenever you could get the chance, and you couldn’t bring yourself to spend even one of them angry.
By the time you were released, night had fallen and you’d cycled through the stages of denial a handful of times. You contributed little - though that was the norm for moments like this; too many of these men had a problem listening to you for you to waste your breath - and left first in search of Ben. You knew that you could find Santiago - or Frankie or Will - and one of them would tell you exactly where to find him. However, you’d gotten to know him well after the handful of visits you’d paid them and had an inkling of where he would be.
Just as you imagined you would, you found Ben in the small, makeshift gym with his hands taped and a song from a playlist you’d affectionately dubbed ‘trash rock’ masking the sound of his fists hitting the heavy bag. It had only been three months since the last time you saw him, far less time than usual, but you’d missed him - far more than you cared to admit.
There were a few more scars, a handful of bumps and bruises littering his skin, but little else had changed. You bit the inside of your cheek to keep from smiling as you watched him. He was beautiful, tall and solid and golden; he called you Sunshine - swore he meant it seriously, promised he saw you as bright and uplifting - but, if you were honest, he was the one who deserved the moniker.
Every opportunity you were given to observe him, to look at him without having to avert your eyes lest you draw too much attention, so many feelings hit you at once that you were left dizzy.
There was a softness, a fondness, a yearning for him that made your chest ache; you were close enough in age that you could’ve met organically, anywhere else in the world, and you knew without a shadow of a doubt that you would’ve been something. Friends, lovers, soulmates; Ben would’ve been part of your life in some way that meant more than this, more than a handful of stolen moments and hushed encounters. 
You wondered how he was when you were assigned elsewhere, when you made it back stateside for a handful of nights in your cold bed, and searched for updates even if you had little right - but a high enough security clearance - to do so. You missed him, missed his smile and face and playful passes of his hands across your skin.
Bitter regret, a stinging sadness that coated the back of your tongue and lingered heavy in your chest, made you wonder why you’d gotten yourself into this position in the first place. You weren’t supposed to be here - he should’ve never gotten close enough to know your name; sure as hell should never have gotten close enough to learn your taste - and there was no way for you to be anything more than your rushed, sporadic encounters.
Not here, not now.
Beneath that, though, a searing heat scorched all rational thought every time you saw him. He made your blood simmer with each sweep of his hungry eyes, set your skin alight with every press of his calloused fingers and brush of his usually otherwise occupied lips. He could make your knees weak without even trying and you found yourself chewing the inside of your cheek to keep from throwing yourself at him.
You sometimes wondered what it was about him that made you want to fall, barrel headfirst into the unknown with him and give a damn about the consequences later. Ben Miller made his way into your heart, buried himself deep, and seemed unwilling to move. But that was a dangerous line of thought.
Not here, not now; repeated until you believed it.
Ben knew you were there - you could tell the moment he stopped pulling his punches; started flexing his biceps, drawing attention to the corded muscle hidden beneath soft skin that always ran a few degrees too warm. Still, he gave you a few more moments of blissful observation.
He was generous in that way.
He wore a white t-shirt, soaked with sweat and easily showcasing the contours of his stomach. His shoulders shifted with every jab he threw, rolled beneath the fabric of his shirt and you had half a mind to whistle and jeer at him to take it off - he’d eat that up, grin as he stripped with an exaggerated wink - so you could see for yourself. His shorts, similar to your own, hung a little lower than they should have but you paid them little mind as you raked your eyes over his bare skin.
His presence never failed to set you on fire, dislodge your train of thought and send you barreling headfirst into a spiral of desire that could never be fully quenched, and he knew it, thrived off it.
“You just gonna stand there and stare like a creep or spar with me, Sunshine?”
It wouldn’t be the first time - and you always hoped it wouldn’t be the last - but, still, you scoffed at Ben’s playful taunt despite the smile tugging at the corners of your mouth. You’d changed into a pair of training shorts and a t-shirt before stepping out in search of him for this very reason; Ben was as predictable as he was impulsive and you were nothing if not indulgent.
You raised a brow at him as he turned, blue eyes blazing with a heat that threatened to blister you from the inside, and stepped further into the small space. “You really think you can take me, Miller? You’re bigger but I’m lighter on my feet.”
Ben stood a head taller than you, cut an imposing figure that made him a prime specimen in the eyes of his superiors, but he never intimidated you. If anything, his size - sheer strength, brute force you’d seen on more than one occasion - fanned the flames of attraction. He’d tossed you around, picked you up with startling ease despite your skepticism, and had no qualms about manhandling you - so long as you consented; something you freely gave every time. It never failed to make your blood sing, boil with unfettered want, and Ben knew it.
He smirked, eyes narrowing playfully as he stepped away from the bag, and held up his hands. “Bring it on.”
Every muscle in his body seemed to coil, tighten, as he waited for you to step closer. He was a trap, loaded and ready to snap the moment you struck, but that only made the game that much better. You both pulled your punches - he’d seen you really spar with another soldier, one who’d been more of a misogynistic dick than Tom, just as you’d seen him fight his way through a sea of men out for his blood; you knew what the other was capable of and neither of you aimed to injure - but the few taps gave you both an excuse for the time you spent hidden away from everyone else.
You were always left to make the first move, forced to strike first, but you didn’t mind. There was an aggression beneath your fondness, an anger that you’d fallen for him out of everyone you could’ve fallen for instead, and he accepted those strikes readily. It was his act of repentance, his confirmation that he understood - that he felt the same.
The fight never lasted long, both of you bounced on the balls of your feet as you studied the other. His eyes, bright blue darkening with something hungry, tracked each step you made. You could feel the weight of his gaze settling on your skin and it made you feel alive, filled your veins with a rush of adrenaline and pushed you forward.
As you expected, after the first few hits landed - how did we get here?; why did you let me fall?; please catch me - Ben managed to dodge each jab you threw at him easily. His expression brightened with every move you made, eyes lit up with a warm desire that settled in your chest and compressed your lungs. He struggled to keep a straight face as you circled one another while he waited for you to move, laughed when you faked a lunge, and moved with you so easily that it felt as if you’d been doing this your entire lives.
You both broke a sweat, your chest began to heave and your lungs began to burn with exertion, and that was when Ben made his move. You lunged, pressed forward, and he sidestepped your advance. He caught you with an arm around your waist and stopped you in your tracks.
He trapped you in the steel cage of his arms easily, one hand splayed across your abdomen while the other curled around your hip. The searing heat of him, overwhelming in the oppressive atmosphere of the desert and obvious even through the fabric of your shirt, pulled a quiet sigh from your lips as he held you close. Your fight fizzled then, dissolved as he made a victorious noise, and you reveled in the feeling of Ben’s body pressed to yours once again.
You could feel every heave of his chest pressed to your back, every sharp exhale fanning across your heated skin, every flex of his fingers as he fought to keep from pressing them into your skin with enough pressure to bruise - no marks, no bruises, no slips of the tongue; those were the rules and Ben was good at following them, if it meant he got to have you like this again. 
More obvious than his searing touch, however, was the press of his cock - hard and straining against the material of his pants - to your hip. 
You raised an eyebrow, feigned surprise - despite knowing exactly how this would turn out from the start - and rocked your hips back. When Ben groaned, the sound low in his throat, you grinned. “Is that a gun in your pocket or are you excited to see me?”
He laughed, the sound a low rumble you felt more than heard, and squeezed your hip. He pressed himself closer, allowed you to feel him more fully, and ducked his head to nose at the delicate skin just beneath your ear. “I’ve been thinking about you all day,” he admitted easily, voice pitching lower as his breath fanned across your skin - sticky and warm in the stifling heat but in no way unwelcome. “Pope told me you were here as soon as I got back from patrol. Just been waiting to get you alone.”
That was no surprise. You knew that someone would disclose your presence sooner rather than later - Santiago, Frankie, Will, maybe even Tom, if he wanted to get under Ben’s skin - but you were surprised that he waited for you to find him. He’d sought you out before, waited for you in the shadows until he could steal you away for a moment alone. 
After your last visit, however, you could understand why he wasn’t keen on throwing himself to the wolves when you had a touch more freedom to come and go. Still, you couldn’t stop yourself from asking, “You weren’t gonna come find me?”
Ben groaned at the pout in your voice, breath shuddered as he tilted his head to nip at your jaw. He took a moment to gather himself before he scoffed. “You’re fucking with me, right? I don’t have a death wish,” he teased, as he loosened his grip enough for you to turn in his arms. “I’m not gonna interrupt meetings with people who could - and would - make me disappear. My hand’s been just fine the last few months. Figured I could tough it out a little longer.”
“My brave soldier,” you cooed. Your grin brightened when he rolled his eyes, beamed as he hauled you closer. The heat of his chest settled into yours, warm and solid as you lifted your hand to press your palm to his heart. He inhaled sharply at the contact, playful facade chipping at the corners as he reveled in the delicate touch, and you bit the inside of your cheek to keep from kissing away the pinch between his brows. 
Deflection, your weapon of choice, and Ben knew it. Expected it, when you took a moment to search his eyes before raising a brow. “You’re afraid of a few little spec ops guys? Damn, Miller.” Try as you might, the jab was less convincing than you intended. It rang a touch hollow, though you knew Ben would be the only one who could tell. “You’re not as insane as I thought you were.”
The first time you met Ben, you hurled every insult under the sun at him - called him a reckless moron, a muscle-bound dickhead, an impulsive jackass - yelled until you couldn’t yell anymore, yelled until you collapsed with shaking knees and constricting lungs. He waited it out, sat with you in a dusty room as you sobbed, before he promised he’d get you back to base in one piece. When he did, got you back without so much as a scratch, he teased you relentlessly for your meltdown but, unlike the others, never seemed to mean it.
It was soft, the solid foundation of a relationship you no longer knew how to live without, and hoped you’d never have to.
Now, he took your teasing in stride - got as good as he gave - and rolled his eyes as he returned his hands to your hips. He ignored the quip, batted away your deflection with a raised brow of his own, and asked, “What’re you doin’ back here? Thought they were shippin’ you back stateside and sticking you on desk duty.”
The pair of you would always be at a disadvantage; you knew everything he did, had access to every mission report his unit filed (and the ones they didn’t), could figure out where in the world he was with a single call. But he could never know anything more than what your superiors shared.
Ben knew that, was reminded of it time and again when he tried to poke around - get an update on you from Santiago, from Will, from fucking Tom - and sighed as you diverted your gaze to glance over his shoulder at a set of weights. He nodded, tilted his head to glance up at the ceiling, before he laughed quietly. “Can’t tell me,” he answered, before you could. “I know. Just thought I’d ask. See if somethin’ changed.”
He paused then, tipped his head back down, and searched your face. You knew that he could read the apology you refused to utter aloud written clearly across your face, could see the way regret made you press your lips into a thin line - not regret at meeting him, never regret at meeting him, only regret that you met under these conditions; regret that you may never know one another elsewhere, as anything other than this - and as he studied you, you returned the gesture in kind.
There was an earnest look in his eyes - something sad glittering in the blue of his eyes that had no place cooling the warmth of him - and a set to his jaw that kept him from speaking as freely as he’d like. He knew that he could talk to you - could tell you things no one else got to hear - but this wasn’t the place, not the time.
Instead, he swallowed thickly, masked his disappointment with another soft laugh. A quick glance at the ground to gather himself before he lifted his eyes to yours. “Can you at least tell me how long you’re here?”
Despite the doubt - the bitter disappointment that this was all you could have, regret at having met someone like Ben when neither of you were in a position to do much about it - curling around your lungs like vines, forcing them to deflate, your mouth curved into a soft smirk. Ben could see right through it, could see you, but he said nothing. That was the deal; you didn’t dwell on what could be, if life was different, and you didn’t let the sadness linger.
You deflected, pushed past the soft ache blossoming in your chest, and he let you. Your eyes dipped to his mouth, traced his lips as you licked your own. “Long enough for you to fuck me.”
Ben followed where you led, trudged faithfully behind you with an eagerness that made your heart feel as if it would shatter in your chest, and moments like this were no exception. 
Like flipping a switch, the lingering melancholy disappeared and he smiled. Ben’s tongue darted out, dragged along his bottom lip, and took a moment you knew you didn’t have to appraise you. His gaze - heavy, starving after months of distance - raked your form. He lingered on your exposed legs, exhaled sharply - quietly, as if he hoped you wouldn’t notice - at the few new scars that littered your skin, before he shook his head.
Not here, not now.
“Was nice of you to get all dressed up for me.” It was meant to be teasing, a soft jab at the clothes you usually wore - civilian garb that he loved to pick apart, though his hands were always careful as he popped the buttons on your blouse - but there was a warmth in his eyes, shining through the burning desire, that hit you square in the chest.
It was soft, fond, and settled low in your belly as he dipped a calloused hand beneath the hem of your t-shirt. That fire, the one you felt that first night, burned brighter now; hotter, harder to control, and Ben seemed to realize that as he tugged you impossibly closer.
His hand caressed your heated skin, touch far too gentle for a moment like this - for a man like him, for a pair like you - but you couldn’t bring yourself to chide him. You could only lean into it and allow yourself this moment, however fleeting, as you returned the teasing smile Ben flashed.
“Figured we’d get in a good workout.” The reply was cloying, demure, and Ben scoffed playfully at the way you looked up at him from beneath your lashes. You were anything but demure - a force, he’d called you; a battering ram, others joked - but you liked to pretend for him, if only to see the pink dusting his cheeks as you teasingly raked your nails down the expanse of his chest.
He sucked in a shuddering breath at the sensation, blinked as if your touch ripped the reply from his mouth, derailed his train of thought and set him barreling down a new track. His mouth opened, shut, opened once more. “I-“ He cut himself off, declaration dying on the tip of his tongue before he could breathe it aloud, make it real.
But you knew what he was going to say.
I missed you.
It went unspoken, seen but never heard. You missed him, too, but there was no room for that; not here, not now. You both knew that. Still, you nodded. “I know.” Your assurance was soft, quiet, but Ben heard it. He took it for what it was worth and brightened just a little when you whispered, “Me, too.”
That was as close as you could get, as much as you could give. For now, it was enough.
Another flip of a switch and the fire in his eyes blazed again, burned so bright it threatened to consume you. The blunt press of his fingers to your skin made you sigh and he smiled - real, true, honest - at the noise. “C’mon,” he urged, thoughts back on track; focus back on the task at hand. “Gotta make you cum before someone notices you’re gone.”
“I saw Will and Pope heading for the staff,” you admitted, grinning as his hands bunched the fabric of your shirt. “Think they’re gonna try to buy us some time.”
You were a badly kept secret, one he wanted to share with the world, but settled for sharing with his brothers. He laughed quietly, made a face, but you could see the puff of his chest with the reminder that they knew - you were his, just as he was yours, even if neither of you could say it and he wanted them to know. 
“I’ll pay for it later,” he declared, wry smile twisting his mouth - undermined completely by the satisfied gleam in his eyes. “But, right now, I don’t care.”
Ben dipped his head then, sought your kiss to ground himself in the moment. His mouth slotted perfectly over yours, lips warm and slightly chapped from the desert air. Still, they felt familiar, comfortable, safe. It was a balm for the ache in your chest, a brief respite from the feelings that weighed so heavily on your shoulders, and you knew that this was as much for him as it was for you.
He kissed the way he lived, the way he fought; gave his all, pressed on without pause, and sank himself fully into you. You’d learned that he had an oral fixation, would be glad to spend hours exploring your body with eager swipes of his lips and teeth and tongue, but when there was no time, he settled for this instead. He broke kisses to speak, to ask questions and murmur praise, but his mouth almost always returned to yours. 
Fantasies were sometimes shared, giggled about between the press of his fingers to your heated skin and searing kisses, and if you gave him half a chance, he’d gladly allow you to sit on his face. There was no time, though, no real place to indulge in one another. Stolen moments were all you had so you tugged him closer and aimed to make the best of it.
His hands skated across your skin, warm and seeking as he busied himself with mapping each warm patch of stomach and hip he could reach. Yours drifted to his hair, fingers carding through sweat dampened strands, and he made a satisfied noise that shot straight to your core when you tugged.
Your time was limited, moments stolen, and you could never press for more, no matter how badly you wanted it. It was always a dangerous game, playing with fire, but neither of you could find it in yourselves to care as his hands dipped lower. He traced the band of your shorts with blistering fingers as his tongue licked at the seam of your mouth. He crowded you, towered over you in a way that reduced the rest of the world to a speck of dust, and grinned against your mouth when you canted your hips forward.
He took pity on you, knew that he was pushing his luck with every teasing scrape of his fingers across sensitive skin, and slipped his hand past the barrier of your thin panties. His fingers dragged through your folds and he groaned at the slick gathered between your thighs.
“Fuck, honey,” he hissed, words tumbling from his lips as he pressed his forehead to yours. “Sparring with me get you this wet?” 
There was a mischievous twinkle in his eye as he asked but you could see the need for validation beneath it. Every once in a while, when you knew he needed a touch more affection - a bit of an ego boost - you offered it to him on a silver platter. Your hands shifted from his hair to the back of his neck as you surged forward, tilted your head to nip at the hinge of his jaw, and admitted, “Looking at you got me this wet, Miller.” 
Ben stifled his moan with a bite to your shoulder, teeth pressed into the fabric of your t-shirt, and you would’ve laughed had he not shifted his hand then. “Sayin’ shit like that,” he began as two calloused fingers rolled over your clit with a practiced ease, “is a good way to get fucked, honey.”
A moan, quiet but desperate for more - always desperate for more - escaped your parted lips as his fingers worked you and Ben’s chest puffed in satisfaction. Still, you continued on. “’s why I said it,” you declared, though your voice shook as you pulled away enough to see his face. “One of us has to be the voice of reason, hurry this along.”
He rolled his eyes, feigning offense as he worked his fingers over your clit, continued moving them in circles and spreading slick. “Say that like we don’t have all the time in the world,” he teased, brow winging up as he tilted his head to watch your face. You tugged your bottom lip between your teeth, careful to keep your noise to a minimum, and Ben frowned. “You got somewhere else to be?”
“Fuck off.”
Ben laughed then but you knew he would do anything but. When the promise of spending a moment together was on the table - a moment together that involved this - Ben would never pass it up. You could see just how much he’d missed you, missed this, in his eyes as he studied you intently. Each pass of his fingers over your clit sent a shock down your spine, made you desperate for more, and he could see it.
His fingers dipped lower, then, smeared slick across your folds, and pressed insistently to your entrance. It was an awkward angle, made worse by the height difference, but neither of you really cared as you used the hand on the back of his neck to tug him back to your mouth.
He eagerly swallowed every noise you made, licked into your mouth and searched for bliss in the heat of your skin pressed to his. Still, it wasn’t enough.
It was never enough.
A whine echoed through the small space, escaped your mouth the moment Ben pulled away - ripped his mouth and hands from you, smeared slick across your lower belly when he tugged his hand free from your shorts - but it was short lived. He dragged you to the small folding chair in the corner, one that you could only pray would hold your combined weight, and sat heavily. His fingers wrapped around your wrists, tugged you onto his lap in one quick yank, and you laughed quietly as his hand cupped your cheek.
“Hi,” he breathed, eyes wide as he glanced up at your face. “Didn’t think this through,” he admitted as his gaze flicked to your shorts. “Wanna take those off?”
Sometimes, it was easy to forget that Ben - sweet, impulsive, strong, Ben - was a soldier. It was easy to forget where you were, what you were doing there, what you were doing to him, but that made remembering all the harder. But that did little to quell your aching desire as you shifted, removed yourself from his lap and shimmied out of your shorts.
He whistled lowly, eyes roving your exposed skin, and clicked his tongue. “As many times as we’ve done this,” he began as he reached out with searching fingers, desperate to tug you back to his lap, “I’ve never seen you totally naked. Always too dark or rushed.”
“Oh,” you hummed, faux surprising coloring your voice as his fingers snapped the band of your panties. “You mean you’ve never seen my tattoos?”
Ben groaned, low in his throat, and tipped his head back as his hands smoothed over the expanse of your thigh. “I know you’re fuckin’ with me, but shit,” he laughed, eyes searching yours for any hint of deceit. “You’re already hot. Tattoos would make you untouchable.”
A quiet laugh echoed around you before you leaned in to ghost your lips over his. “Focus, Benny,” you implored, “fuck me and maybe we’ll live to actually see each other totally naked.”
He didn’t need to be told again.
Ben shifted, jostled you on his lap and nudged the cotton of your panties to the side. He shifted, lifted his hips to tug his own shorts down just enough to free his cock, and grinned when you moaned quietly at the sight. He dragged the leaking head of his cock through your folds, smeared your slick across his aching shaft, and huffed a breathless laugh when you moaned at the feeling of his tip bumping your clit. “Wish I could take my time with you,” he admitted, voice tight as he notched the tip at your entrance. “Wanna see you fall apart for me, honey.”
You wished for the same, wished you could spend hours at a time with Ben between your thighs or lounging in your bed. Wished you could sink to your knees, spending long moments teasing him with kitten licks and cloying smiles. Wished you could explore one another’s skin, map his body with lips and tongue and fingers.
Not here, not now.
Ben’s eyes lifted to yours, searched for confirmation that you wanted this, and inhaled deeply when you nodded. A heavy push, a lift of your hips, and gravity worked you down steadily. When he bottomed out, he released a heavy exhale that fanned across your heated skin. 
“You feel better every time,” he praised, mouthing at your pulse point. “Fuck, your pussy’s magic, honey.”
Another laugh escaped you, breathless and punched out, but it still made you glad to know that Ben enjoyed this as much as you did. His touch set you alight, blistered your skin from the inside out, and you were grateful to feel it once more.
The press of him inside you was always perfectly filling, snug but comfortable, and the slight pinch you felt as you took a moment to adjust was a necessary reminder of where you were. As desperate as you both were for forever, you were forced to settle for that moment.
Though Ben fucked you as if you had no time, gradually built a pace that had you bouncing on his lap - neither of you paying the creaking of the chair any mind - there was a tenderness to his touch. He kept you close, chest pressed to yours and mouth constantly exploring your blistering skin, as he filled you so completely.
His sounds, punched out breaths and deep moans - little whispers of your name, murmurs of quiet praise, pussy-drunk babble that bypassed his brain in a stream of consciousness - echoed in your ear and played on a loop. Hearing him fall apart, so desperate to feel you, made your own end barrel forward like a train. 
When he started speaking, it seemed as if he couldn’t stop. His hands skated across your skin, never quite settling in one place, just as his mouth kept moving; never settling on one stream of consciousness. But nothing seemed to matter as he pressed into you, deeper and deeper and deeper, still. You were certain he could feel the beat of your heart, pulsing and racing and cracking in your chest, as you tipped your head back to look at him.
He kept his eyes on you, eager to watch you fall apart for him - desperate to commit the moment to memory - and it was hard to keep the tears at bay as his grip on your hips grew that much tighter. He never wanted to let go of you, wanted to sear his fingerprints into your skin as a reminder for anyone who dared to come after him - you were beginning to think that no one would, no one could measure up, but that was a dangerous line of thinking that you couldn’t afford to get caught up in.
Ben continued to push you higher, pressed into you with everything he had to give, and moaned desperately when you clenched around him. Your end triggered his own, pulled a keening sound straight from his chest that had you surging forward to seal your mouth over his. You swallowed his moans easily, readily, and continued rocking your hips as he seemed to spill endlessly inside you.
His hands on your hips pulled and pushed, kept you grinding against him - the brush of hair around his cock catching on your clit, the pinch of his fingers on your hips, the sting of his teeth at your lips - and you shivered with the overstimulation. But Ben was still half-hard and you wanted to laugh.
When he finally pulled away, felt as if he could be trusted not to broadcast your exploits to the entire camp, Ben glanced up at you with hazy eyes.
“Don’t wanna pull out.” He laughed quietly, the sound breathless as his head fell forward to press to your shoulder, and you lifted your hand to his hair. You raked your fingers through the sweat darkened strands and laughed softly as he continued, “Feel like fuckin’ heaven, honey.”
The first time you slept together, he blurted out every thought that crossed his mind and you joked that he’d gone too long without sex, that he’d gone pussy dumb. Now, you knew that it was just who he was. He spoke freely with you, even when he shouldn’t have, and hearing him utter enthusiastic praise constricted your lungs. Catching your breath grew harder, felt nearly impossible - even more so than it already was, with Ben still pressed so fucking deep inside - but you pressed on.
One, two, three, in; one, two, three, out.
“Can’t pretend we were just sparring if they catch us like this.” Your tone was teasing, light, but Ben knew how to read you. He took it for what it was - a reminder of where you were, who lingered just outside - and huffed as he prepared to pull out.
“One day,” he began, voice quieter than you’d ever heard it, “I’ll get to take my time with you. Stay in bed all day, make you cum as many times as you’ll let me. Then we could go to some dive; get shitty, greasy food and just…”
He trailed off, stopped himself before he could finish his thought - though you knew him well enough to know that he intended to declare that you could just be happy, well-fucked and well-fed and fucking happy - and you were grateful that he had the sense to stop before he could say something damning.
No reply you could offer would be enough. The future wasn’t guaranteed for either of you, neither was your chance of seeing one another again, but he didn’t need to be reminded of that fact any more than you did. Ben knew, understood, but chose to hope. He held onto it tight, wore it like a badge of honor, and there was no doubt in your mind that that was what drew you to him in the first place.
Ben was sunshine - bright and warm but more dangerous the closer you got. 
Silence fell as he pulled away from you, broken only by the soft noises of displeasure you both made. You righted your clothes as you spared sidelong glances at one another, both wishing for the strength to pretend. You almost wished you could go back to the beginning, set a boundary that you would try (and likely fail) to keep in place, but you could never bring yourself to regret any moment of your time with Ben.
It was difficult, messy and heartbreaking, but you were better for having had even a moment of his time, a touch of his affection. And no amount of teasing, no amount of banter, could change the fact that you’d both fallen so fucking hard, so fucking fast. The damage was done, irreparable, but you couldn’t bring yourself to do anything other than reach out and pull him into one last kiss.
“Something to remember me by,” you breathed, mouth hovering dangerously close to his as your fingers threaded in his hair. 
Still, that wasn’t enough. He pressed a heavy palm to the small of your back, tugged you in impossibly close, and captured your mouth in a bruising kiss. He poured everything he had to give into the act, shared every feeling he promised he wouldn’t speak aloud, and it stole the breath from your lungs as you gripped his biceps and held him close. 
I missed you, I don’t want you to leave, take me with you, come back to me.
Tears stung at the backs of your eyes, turned them glassy and soft, and Ben hadn’t fared much better. When you pulled away, he lifted a hand to your cheek, brushed a thumb over the slope, before he offered the ghost of a smile. “Stay out of trouble, Sunshine.”
You rolled your eyes at the soft tease and shook your head as best as you could. “I’m the one that should be telling you that, Miller.”
He raised a brow, feigned a playful offense that made you smile, and asked, “What kinda trouble can I get into over here? They tell me to jump, I ask how high.” His expression soured then, turned solemn, and you bit your tongue to keep from sighing. “How high am I gonna have to jump tomorrow?”
“Please don’t,” you whispered, voice breaking slightly as you tipped your head to avoid his knowing gaze. “Not right now. Not after…”
Ben swallowed thickly, you watched his throat bob as he reminded himself you weren’t the enemy - though, if you really thought about it, maybe you were; you came, fucked him, and left when it was time for him to fight. “I know,” he sighed, voice pitching lower as he nodded. “I know.” Another heavy pause, laden with the heaviness you both felt, passed before Ben nodded. “Guess this is it, then. Have a safe flight home, Sunshine.”
It was your turn to swallow as you watched him turn for the exit. You scrubbed your eyes, blinked back your tears, and spoke before you could really think about it. 
“Hey, Miller?” You weren’t sure what you wanted to say, just that you weren’t ready for him to leave. As expected, Ben’s steps faltered, stopped, as he turned to face you with lifted brows. There was a lingering sadness dimming his eyes and you took a moment to gather yourself, tried to right your train of thought even as you sank under the weight of his gaze. His jaw ticked as he swallowed, searched your face with a desperation that made you want to look away. Instead, you offered him a soft smile. “Don’t die, alright?”
A look you’d never seen before flashed in his eyes; a searing warmth, a desperate ache. He chuckled softly as he folded his arms over his chest. He swallowed once more - throat bobbed with the effort of it - and ducked his head, before his lips curled into a smile. “Gettin’ sweet on me, honey?”
Deflection, tried and true; your shared favorite weapon.
You shook your head, though you both knew it was an exercise in futility. “No.” Despite the teasing, the desperate attempts to keep him at arm’s length, you’d been sweet on him the entire time. You knew that he could see it - knew that everyone else around you could see it, even if they pretended not to - just as you knew it was reciprocated.
Not here, not now.
Instead of reminding him of that fact, you rolled your eyes and wrapped your arms around yourself - desperate to hold yourself together as he prepared to head off into the unknown. “Just don’t wanna deal with the paperwork,” you scoffed. “Burying your ass would be a bitch.”
He expected that, that much you could tell, and laughed easily as he nodded. “Yeah, I’ll keep that in mind.” He paused for a moment, eyed you once more - let himself commit you, this moment, to memory - before a sincere smile brightened his features. “You can’t get rid of me that easy,” he promised and your skin heated with the conviction in his voice - he planned on making it back in one piece, planned on seeing you again, and you were glad. “Millers never say die.”
There was never any guarantee and it was never that simple. Ben was good - so were his brothers - but you knew that wasn’t always enough. In that moment, however, you didn’t allow yourself to dwell. So, you nodded, a barely there tip of your head, and cast your eyes to the ground. “See you when I see you, Benny.”
It was difficult to know if you’d ever see one another again, despite how desperate you both were for the opportunity, but neither wanted your parting words to be goodbye. It felt too real, too permanent; speaking it aloud might make it true, might encourage the universe to keep you apart indefinitely.
Ben waited for you to look at him. When you did, his expression softened, shoulders sagged under the weight of your farewell, and he nodded. He took a deep breath, prayed you couldn’t hear it shake, and returned, “See you when I see you, honey.”
‘I hope it’s someday soon,’ lingered in the air, unspoken but deeply felt. You let it hang for a moment, blinked back traitorous tears that pricked at the backs of your eyes, before you lifted your head to meet his eyes once more. Another moment passed before he turned to leave.
He paused to steel himself - lifted his shoulders, tipped his head, exhaled heavily as he shook his hands by his sides - before he stepped back into the real world and left you in silence. You stared after him with unfocused eyes, unseeing as you tethered yourself back to the moment. There was a job to be done, a reason that you’d been dropped back into the desert, and the sooner you finished your assignment, the sooner you’d be assigned another. Then another, and then another; on and on the cycle went until one day, you’d get to see Ben again.
You just hoped it would be someday soon.
____________________________________________________________
Author’s Note: I started it, it got out of hand, now I present it to you. Enjoy.
Tag List: @peoniarose, @karie-me-home, @rachelwritestuff, @stardust-galaxies, @deliciouslydisturbed365, @a-louise-juliane, @ben-is-a-hoe, @weasleywinchester, @crowfootwrites​, @winchestershiresauce​, @kesskirata​​, @lyr1ssa, @viyasstuff, @negansnympho89​, @im-just-a-mississippi-girl​,  @kirsteng42​, @balekanemohafe​, @avengers-fixation​, @buckybarneshairpullingkink​, @nintendhoe8​, @luciferiorbxtch​, @jettia​, @xoxabs88xox​
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olderthannetfic · 2 years
Note
RE: The ongoing incest convo. I repeatedly got sexually and physically abused by an adult sibling when I was a minor. I lost a lot of family over this. I am generally regarded as a dramatic liar since everyone refuses to believe that it happened. I’m not going to harp too much on the personal angst or use this to deflect criticism of my opinions, but I think it’s relevant to introduce myself this way so that people get where I’m coming from. 
Franzeska, you made a post where you pointed out that the main issue with incest are the cases in which abusive situations are involved. Penrosesun added to this and referred to court cases they observed while working in criminal defense to support that point. I was happy to see this brought up and wish it was something that had more of an emphasis in peoples’ minds when they’re having pissing contests about the morality of incest on my dash. Who cares what consenting adults are doing? The gross factor is a red herring. The real problem is the ABUSE! 
I have a gut feeling that the frequent inability for people to have their priorities straight in these discussions is more complicated than just the cultural icky factor. I say this because the mental gymnastics that go on in these situations to maintain a state of denial are insane. Imagine getting molested in front of your parents, and then having every person in your vicinity telepathically decide to deny this and gaslight you about it, and then proceed to do so with zero self awareness of what they are doing. It sounds like some kind of surreal fiction but this is what it’s like. And that is the norm when stuff like this happens! It doesn’t matter how “good” a family is. 
This is going to sound pouty and cynical, but I think most people who haven’t experienced this type of assault don’t realize how likely it is that their own families would turn on them if this ever happened to them, too. When people don’t understand this, it’s often because they’ve had the luxury of going through life with the false security that love is unconditional; that families are unbreakable, and they will never be forced to re-examine that. I think this is partly why denial is the default response to these situations: it’s a defense mechanism that people use to protect themselves from any reality that challenges the sense of security they have with their own families. To acknowledge that sexual violence has occured within a “normal” family is to acknowledge that it can happen within your own. Or that it has happened within your own family, and now you have to face the difficult task of addressing it. That’s what I think, anyway. 
This insecurity is also what largely drives the “anti” side of these “morality-of-incest-in-fiction” debates. Those sentiments of “Gross!” and “How dare you talk about that!” is very much the same rhetoric that enables victim blaming in the first place. This doesn’t just apply to the incest argument, either. Over and over again, in so many different contexts, I keep seeing self-proclaimed moral activists attempting to silence the voices of others in the name of decency— except it’s hardly ever about decency so much as it is about protecting themselves from things that contradict their personalized version reality that they are projecting onto the world. 
I am not immune to perptuating this issue either. A lot incest/CSA content is triggering for me. I’d be lying if I said that I don’t feel the urge to attack and shame people when I run into this content in the wild. I feel that urge even when I don’t click on the thing, because I am sensitive. My emotional reaction is to interpret other peoples’ fantasies as genuine desire, even if my mind knows that this isn’t necessarily true. I don’t think there’s a way to fix this habit for good. I think the world-as-it-is is just a difficult thing to accept, and the way we react to things that make us uncomfortable is just something that we’ll always have to check ourselves on. Squicks in fiction aside, what really scares me is the fact that there are so many belief systems in power that covertly discourage people from engaging in this kind of self-reflection at all. 
On a somewhat related note, Moto Hagio’s “A Cruel God Reigns” played a big role in making me come around with tolerating incest content, because it addressed the denial issue so well. I didn’t even mind that Hagio eroticized some of the assaults. I enjoyed it, even, and that was kind of a relief. 
Anyway, I can't speak for everyone in similar shoes but that’s my two cents. I get the impression that the people who hang around this blog are older and more experienced in thinking through these topics. Hopefully I am not repeating ideas that only feel new to me but have occurred to most other people long ago. Lol.  
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Yeah, sadly, that kind of reaction is horrifyingly common. They just couldn't face what happened to you... so they went and made it worse with gaslighting.
I think you're right about a lot of anti mindsets. It's an attempt at protecting themselves... except it's an entirely false sense of security. Some of it is a trauma response too, but one they're not very self aware about or attempting to rein in at all.
I've only read a little bit of A Cruel God Reigns, but it struck me as a very cathartic piece of media. Moto Hagio's work always has a lot of depth.
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sukirichi · 3 years
Text
— hands to myself (nanami kento x reader)
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pov: you miss nanami too much that you can’t keep your hands to yourself
content/warnings: nsfw, voyeurism, masturbation, spanking, multiple orgasms, daddy kink, sugar daddy nanami, unedited fic
inspo: hands to myself by selena gomez
note: i can’t get sugar daddy nanami out of my head my brain goes brr brr PLEASE SEND ME THIRSTY ASKS ABOUT NANAMI 
@unabashednightmarepizza​ and @noritoshiikamo​ asdgjkl here we goooo i guess 
masterlist !
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the penthouse felt so lonely without nanami.
he’s been working so hard, staying overtime and coming home just as you’re already buried in the sheets. nanami would slither in as quietly as he could, not wanting to disturb the peaceful slumber of his baby girl, but what he doesn’t know is that you don’t mind waking up, just to see and feel him before he leaves for work again the next morning.
right before the sun rises, nanami’s already left. in your dazed state, you’re sure you felt him kissing your forehead before the doors close with a soft click, leaving you alone all over again.
you know he doesn’t mean it, you know he doesn’t want to leave you – but nanami is a hero and he has a duty to the people of this world to exorcise curses to bring a safer environment for everyone. truly, you admire him for this, sometimes a little too much that you might even fall in love with the rigid and stoic man who doesn’t smile.
still, you can’t help but to miss him.
ever since you became his baby girl, life has been easy. even though nanami wasn’t around all the time, he made it up by leaving his credit card to you, assuring you that you were free to get what you wanted. out of boredom, you’d go to the upstate and use his car to drive around the hills, arms heavy with shopping bags.
you’re not selfish, of course, you always make sure to bring him a little gift too. whether it came in the form of buying a new necktie for him – which he always wore to work proudly – or donning your body in lacy, white lingerie that has nanami losing control and worshipping your body until you’re screaming his name with a dried throat, you never forget to leave a little something for him.
sometimes you wish you could tell him you don’t really want the money. you’re thankful he’s more than generous to help you pay for college fees in return of you being his sweet baby girl, but you don’t need the Gucci or prada if he’s not going to be around.
you wanted nanami more than anything else, missed him more than anyone else.
your room feels so empty without him. his scent still lingers in your sheets because he’d rather sleep with you than stay in his own room, only using said room for showering and getting ready for work.
a lightbulb shines above your head. throwing your iphone to the side, you run to his room and open the cabinets one by one. nanami was as organized with his surroundings as he was with himself. his closet is an impressive collection of dark blue button-ups, nude slacks, and his iconic nude suit jacket. they’re all of the same brand and size, and you laugh because only nanami would buy the same thing over and over again.
at the end though, your gaze lands on a rare collection of white button ups, neckties neatly rolled and tucked at the glossy marbled drawers in front of the closet. already, you feel your heartbeat picking up as your hands touched the soft cotton material, nose slowly rubbing and burying into his shirt.
it even smells like him.
your movements are swift. previous shirt discarded on the floor, your arms loop inside the sleeves, tying up just until the undersides of your breasts before you pick out your favourite tie for him, a satin black one that always made him look delectable for dinner parties.
nanami rarely wore those, but when he did, he knew you wouldn’t be able to keep your hands to yourself. the last time he brought you with him for a birthday ball of his friend, nanami wore this exact black tie paired with the traditional fitted, three piece suit. you remember how needy you were for him that night, little fists clenched at his dress shirt and nanami lowly scolding you to behave.
but you were so desperate to touch him – how could you not when he was so damn irresistible – that he felt bad for his baby girl. long story short, you and nanami left early for the party, with your pussy bouncing up and down his thick pole while nanami glared at the limousine driver to keep his eyes on the road, large, calloused hands possessively gripping the flesh of your ass.
you missed him so much you might go crazy.
grabbing the nearest bottle of his perfume, you spritz it into the air, leaning forwards so that you’d get his scent all over you. it somehow felt as if you were coating yourself in his name, claiming and branding yourself as his even without him in the vicinity.
that’s how much you wanted him, and you don’t stop rubbing his perfume along the pads of your wrist until you can’t smell yourself anymore. your legs are accentuated by the black suede pumps you strutted around the penthouse with, lips tainted red from the wine he kept in his precious little cellar – which was also a spot in the house you both fucked at during that time nanami wanted to taste you on his lips.
he pushed you next to the glass borders then, spreading your legs open until you’re absolutely bare of him. the memory of nanami burying his warm tongue in you has you rubbing your thighs together, your black lace panties already damp with arousal.
you won’t touch yourself, though. that’s one of the rules nanami placed the moment he agreed to be your sugar daddy: you couldn’t, under any circumstance, touch yourself without his permission.
sighing, you trudged back to his bedroom again and sat your ass on his silver desk, legs swinging below you as you stared out into the night city.
nanami likes his room dark, that even though he’s got a crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling, he almost never opens it. only the bright light from the opened closet is what illuminates your silhouette as you watch the skyscrapers twinkle from afar, the people bustling on the streets looking like ants from this height. it was perfect – the night looked so beautiful and the ambience so romantic with soft, classical music playing from the AI speakers – but nanami isn’t here.
he wouldn’t come home early either. you could already tell how stressed he’d be because gojo satoru always makes him work overtime.
for now, you just had to enjoy your own presence, replacing nanami’s heat and love with his perfume and clothes. his shirt is absolutely baggy on you, the ends of it falling on top of your thighs. your breasts nearly swells out from the tight cups of your bra and the fat of your thighs clumped underneath the straps of your stockings.
you’ve sighed for what seems like the hundredth time that day. it sounds selfish, but you wished that nanami would come home early and pay attention to you. surely, gojo satoru would be more than fine handling the curses himself for just today.
unable to help it, your head fell back on the transparent glass windows of his room, fingers snaking under his shirt. instinctively, your legs opened, a breathy sigh falling from your glossy red lips as you slipped a finger in. it’s not as big or as thick as nanami’s, and your hands are way too soft compared to the scraping sensation his calloused fingers gave whenever he fingered your pretty little pussy.
it’s nothing compared to what nanami can make you feel, but it should be enough, for now.
your head falls back as your heel lands on his desk, nearly grazing the precious smooth top of his table. you have a feeling nanami is going to punish you once he sees the slight scrapes of your stiletto against it, but who cares? at this point, you’re willing to pull off the stupidest things just to get his attention, just to get him to fuck you.
“nanami,” you moan around the second finger, your other hand spreading your legs open. you’re so horny that you don’t bother taking your panties off anymore, the material flushed with the slick of your own arousal that it’s heavily damp. “daddy, i miss you,” eyes shut tight, you fondle with the sensitive nub of your clit, pumping yourself slowly as you imagine that it’s nanami making you feel good this time.
you know you’re being a bad girl, that you’re being an absolute brat. not only did you break the rule that you’re not allowed to touch yourself exactly after you convinced yourself you wouldn’t, but you’re leaking right at his desk, heels grazing into the smooth material.
if nanami were to see, he wouldn’t forgive you.
he would break you.
if it was a punishment, then why do you enjoy the idea of it? why are you so enticed, so excited, so eager to have your daddy use you like a fucktoy? your lashes flutter against your cheeks, hips bucking into your cupped palm as your belly begins to tighten. “b-break me, daddy, please, nanami-”
“what do you think you’re doing?”
you freeze.
tentatively, you crack an eye open, swallowing audibly when nanami stands at the edge of his door, his glasses already removed. now that his beautiful blue eyes aren’t obscured by anything, you’re met with the intense heat of his gaze, nearly burning like wild fire. you glance down at your fingers buried in your pussy and gulp, pulling them out with a loud shlick. you were so wet at just the thought of him, so stupid to even want to be punished, but now your spine freezes when nanami struts to your way.
his hand tilts your chin up, forcing you to look at him. “i asked you a question,” his low, baritone voice has you clenching around nothing, throat tight out of nervousness. “i said, what do you think you’re doing?”
“i-i’m sorry, daddy,” you duck your head down, lips red and trembling. “i just missed you so much and i got so horny-”
“so you thought it was okay to touch yourself? even after i’ve made it clear i don’t want you doing that?”
“i’m so sorry-”
nanami doesn’t give you a chance to speak before his lips crash into yours, his tongue effortlessly slipping inside to swipe over your teeth. you gasp in his mouth when his large hands cup your ass and haul your weight off the desk, legs wrapped around his waist. nanami slaps it, making the flesh bounce and gripping it tightly with a firm squeeze. you’re pretty sure you’d turn completely red and marked by the end of this, but you don’t care, fuck, you don’t fucking care – nanami’s here and that’s all you care about.
you kiss him back just as eagerly, arms around his neck as he carries you like you weigh nothing. nanami groans when your teeth nibble on his lips, eager and needy hands unbuttoning his shirt. his hard pecs and abs greet you like a present you couldn’t wait to unwrap, and you’re both breathing hard by the time you pull away.
“are those my clothes?” he snaps the strap of your bra under his shirt, eyes narrowed over the way you look terrifyingly small in his shirt. you nod, breasts rising up and down, tempting him to reach over and squeeze it. your back arches at his touch, his ministrations missed and needed. no, you craved it. he’s been gone too long you’re not sure you could take it anymore, and you hiss when nanami buries his sharp nose in the juncture of your neck, the front of his pants damp and coated with your exposed wet cunt. “and you’re wearing my perfume too.”
“y-yes.”
“tell me, baby,” nanami sets you down on your feet. your legs are a little wobbly from the heels and with desire burning in your stomach. he steadies you by placing a hand under your armpit, and you lean forward to kiss him one more time. nanami tsks and shoves you backwards, cheek sliding across the glass. “why did you go to my room without my permission? why did you touch yourself when i told you not to? do you want to be punished?”
your cheek stings from the impact of your skin hitting the glass, but your mind is too clouded with lust you can’t really focus on his words. wiggling your ass to press against his erection, you beg for him, hands looking for the comfort of his skin.
nanami slaps your ass and hand away to shut you up, and you fall forwards with a muffled cry. “answer me when i ask you a question, baby girl. i’m not always going to be this nice.”
“daddy, i-i just missed you so much, i couldn’t help it.”
“you missed me?” you hear his belt unbuckling behind you, your ass perking up in excitement. fuck, you just wanted him to pound into you already. but nanami’s always too patient, always controlled in everything he does, that you’re laying there shaking with your pussy dripping for him. finally, fucking finally, you feel his cock enter you inch by delicious inch, and you moan at the same time nanami groans at burying himself deep within you. “my stupid silly baby can never keep her hands to herself, huh?”
“no, daddy, i want you too much, i just miss you so bad.”
“you do?” he teases, rolling his hips languidly. his pace is so slow and teasing that you’re whining for him to go faster, but nanami only shakes his head. before you could fathom the way nanami’s eyes darken, he leans forward, hitting deeper than he did before. your moans are so breathy that you start fogging up the glass, and nanami rubs your swollen clit before using his hands to squish your cheeks. he forces you to follow his gaze, voice low and almost growling. “if you miss daddy so much, then show it to them. show them how good i’m making you feel. come on, baby girl, i know you can do it. you’ll do it for me won’t you?”
realization dawns you the moment nanami pushes your body further in the glass, your breasts squished and flattened against the cool surface. “d-daddy,” you gasp, tightening around him once you see that the overtime workers from the office parallel to his penthouse are now witnessing the way nanami rams his cock into you like a wild animal. “they’re, ah, watching.”
“i know, baby, i know,” nanami loosens his necktie around your neck, snatching it and tying it around your wrists instead. “let these people know you’re mine – that you’re my baby girl and no one else’s okay?”
hands bound behind your back and nanami’s thick cock thrusting roughly into you, you’re unable to move or even think straight. you just nod mindlessly as nanami keeps fucking into you, hands gently pressing down your throat. his dick keeps rubbing against your most sensitive spots and you’re shaking underneath him, your arousal heightened when you saw several of the office workers have already pulled out their cocks and stroked it at the sight of you dripping onto nanami’s black marble floors.
nanami doesn’t stop praising on how much you’re a good girl for him. now that his cock is buried within you, he’s already forgotten that you’ve broken his precious rule.
you don’t complain, though. how could you when he has you screaming his name, your makeup and sweat leaving a figure the shape of body plastered on his glass walls? you’re sure his housekeeper is going to be so angry at the both of you for leaving cum stains everywhere, but you and nanami have forgotten all about it.
it seems he misses you just as much because nanami doesn’t stop fucking you until you’re full of his cum, breasts swollen and aching from being pressed into the wall for so long.
an hour passed – maybe two – you’ve lost count from the amount of times nanami has made you cum. your legs are giving out beneath you and your latest lingerie set is broken, comforted only by the promise that he’s going to get you good one. you’re absolutely lost in the pleasure of nanami driving his cock impossible deep into you all the way until morning, body spent and shaking from all the orgasms.
fucked out and whining, nanami litters kisses all over your body to soothe you a little bit, but he doesn’t stop. and the truth is, you don’t want him to, either. legs wrapped around his waist and heels digging into his ass, nanami finally tangles his hands into yours as he pistons his cock in and out of your squelching pussy.
he’s giving you his all, and you can’t keep your hands to yourself no matter how hard you’re trying to, not when nanami is prowling into you as you’re spread underneath him before he goes gentle, almost as if making love to you.
well, you could, but why would you want to?
2K notes · View notes
wangshuus · 3 years
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love like you | xiao
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pairing: xiao/gn!reader
genre: angst+fluff
wc: 4.1k
summary: you and xiao are polar opposites according to him and because of that, he deems himself unworthy. 
note: this is my first time writing for genshin and i love xiao so much so this is essentially a bunch of word vomit i whipped together while listening to love like you from the su soundtrack :’) 
(i’ll have to go in for another proof read after but pls take this for now)
fic under the cut
In the land of Liyue, the Adepti were acknowledged for being the protectors of the sacred land, guarding both it and its people. As most of the adepti resided in their abodes, there was but one that stayed within the vicinity of the Wangshu Inn. Xiao; the Vigilant Yaksha, Conqueror of Demons, Alatus. He went by many titles, many names all of which carried the story of the adeptus himself. Upon the years of history carried through Liyue in its passing generations, it’s known to many that despite having the looks of a young man, the adeptus was not someone you would want to take lightly. The Yaksha carried thousands of years worth of burden, shackles of guilt and terror binding him to unpleasant memories. With every passing day, he is harshly reminded of the way he and his polearm skillfully worked through the bloodied dance of weapons on the battlefield, crimson liquid painting the ground and his very hands. It stains so intensely that it was like an unseen tattoo that reminded him of eons of slaughter he partook in, the lives and dreams he so greedily took from people. It was something only he could see and something he would continue to see for many more years to come according to him. 
He very rarely got close to anything or anyone, devoting his life to duty and the orders granted to him by Rex Lapis to protect the beloved land of Liyue. For this very reason, he never thought much about emotions or the overall concept of it, seeing it as a worthless matter, a weakness even, for it could not help in the slaying of those in battle. All he ever knew at that point was violence, having his purity harshly stolen from his grasp all those centuries ago and being left with not even a single grain of what it was like to feel anything pleasant. Whenever he did feel anything, pain, suffering and agony were the only things that filled his system therefore to him, it was better to feel nothing at all. Needless to say, he was somewhat unapproachable on several levels, but who could blame him? 
There then came a day in which all of this would away as an estranged guest made your way merry when into the Inn. You, (Y/n) were a mere mortal traveler with a dendro vision chained upon your hip, specializing in the field of healing. You stumbled upon the inn, looking to take on commissions and requests in exchange for a room for the time being. Your fates clashed with each other during your first encounter when you were tasked to deliver almond tofu to the adeptus that was specially made by yourself. You could still remember stuttering over your words in embarrassment during your first meeting as he revealed himself to you, commending you for your culinary skills but telling you to leave immediately, saying something along the lines of it being ‘too dangerous for mere mortals to stay in the presence of adepti for too long’. It was accurate to say that you two took an interest in the oddity of the situation. Why did Xiao decide to reveal himself to the simple human, knowing very well his mere presence was already a threat to you. Why did you not turn away in fear just from the adeptus’ profound deathly gaze? There were several unspoken questions between you two at the time but that one fateful encounter had caused a shift.
You had decided to extend your stay at the inn a little longer than you intended to. You went about the daily tasks set out by Verr in exchange for your stay every day that you were there. The completion of your tasks leads to a delivery that had become habitual to you during your stay at the inn. Every day you’d made your way up to the highest terrace in the inn to drop off a plate of almond tofu to the adeptus. On some days, he’d reveal himself and on some others, he chose to remain unseen-- and to you, this was okay. As the days passed, it began to be more apparent how odd this whole shift was for the both of them.
You are an adventurer, someone who sought out to travel the lands, and yet, you remained grounded at the Inn, your fascination and curiosity driving your patience to learn about the distant Yaksha and fuelling your willingness to stay settled at the inn instead of seeking for the thrill of adventure. Xiao was an adeptus, a being that has lived for many years on end, a being that has slaughtered countless, a being that carried an indescribable amount of karmic debt for all the treacherous and ungodly amount of terror he has bestowed upon thousands in the past. He could not explain to himself why he even decided to associate with a simple mortal, thinking that there was something wrong with him at the time because he knew that if he were in his right mind, he would have never even bothered taking a glance at the human. But then again, not all things could be explained. From the days that you had stayed at the Inn for that time, you would find yourself visiting the lone adeptus every evening, delivering a plate of what became familiar to him as your almond tofu, the one that deemed to be the closest to that of the dreams he so greedily devoured all those years ago. 
Months had passed since the first day you first set foot into the inn. You had managed other work and commissions throughout the time but often found herself coming back. you became well acquainted with everyone who worked there, practically making it her second home in fact. Even when you did have to part ways, you would pass by whenever you could, sparing your time and energy at least once a week to come reeling back like a moth drawn to a flame. The reason behind it was very evident to you, nothing that you would ever admit to hiding at this point. You did enjoy the company and atmosphere of the other humans at the inn but at the end of the day, everything came back down to the enigmatic adeptus that resided there. 
Sensing your presence had become second nature to the adeptus, him knowing the very moment you set foot into the Inn. He would never admit it to himself, but he found himself looking forward to the mortal’s visits. He still thought about the first day he decided to reveal himself to you, feeling a little more content about it with every passing day. But something about the whole ordeal scared him to no end. He wished it wasn’t the case but he was well aware of all the changes and feelings that had bloomed since you waltzed into his life. The feeling of bubbling excitement inside of him every time you came back to him, the feeling of embarrassment of when you’d blurt out compliments towards him, feeling more comfortable and daring as the visits continued. The feeling of protectiveness washing over him when you told him stories in which you got even the slightest bit injured. One may view this just as someone showing emotion; but that was the problem for him. He wasn’t supposed to show emotion-- he wasn’t supposed to feel-- according to himself at least. Rather, he didn’t deem himself worthy to feel pleasant emotions.
“Xiao” A familiar voice called out to him, turning to face the direction from where he stood, which happened to be the spot where he viewed the familiar landscape of Liyue.
You made your way towards him, holding out a plate of almond tofu which he had come to admire. He took the plate from your grasp and greeted her with a light hum of acknowledgment before beginning to munch down on the tofu. You let out a soft chuckle before standing next to him and leaning on the railing, staring off into the starry skies you had become accustomed to seeing, though every time, it never failed to amaze you. Your eyes gazed at the twinkling stars in the sky as you began your usual routine of speaking about how your life has been since you last saw each other. You had become accustomed to Xiao’s aloof demeanor at times like this because you knew that despite him seemingly looking uncaring, he was secretly listening to your rambling. You stared off into the distance as you spoke, your attention being stolen by the stars. While at work on the plate of almond tofu in his hands, Xiao took these moments to look at you as he silently listened to your long-winded sentences.
In serene moments like these, it was hard for Xiao to keep his composure. Though the stars in the sky glimmered so beautifully, they paled in comparison to your eyes when they sparkled so passionately when you spoke of your adventures. In moments like these, Xiao was reminded of your courteous nature. He was reminded of how good you are, going about your time adventuring the lands, specializing in the art of healing with the assistance of the beloved vision clipped at your side. You lived for adventure; you lived to help those in need. It was in moments like these when he became painfully aware of how different you were from each other.
It had been so long since Xiao ever considered himself to be good in any way. He was all too aware of the disgusting red that painted his hands permanently, the hands which have slain countless beings in the past. The hands that he did not see worthy to touch anything so fragile in fear that it would break, feeling as if anything would die at even the slightest touch of his fingertips. You see, when he met you, he was so sure that he was far from anything good and you proved himself to be right in his mind; because you were what he deemed to be good in his eyes. And he was nothing like you.
Before he knew it, he was left with an empty plate and a bustling mind full of thoughts as he looked out into the distance along with your words flowing freely with the wind. You turned back to see Xiao in all his glory, taking in his presence, eyes lingering upon him like the first time you met him. There was never a day that passed where he didn’t look stunning in your eyes. The reserved yaksha was nothing short of a challenge for you to get close to. Even to this day, there are times where he was standoffish towards you. In moments like these, you’re reminded of how you’ve barely scratched the surface of his character, being well aware that he’s lived far longer than you and will quite possibly continue to live way beyond your time. Though he hasn’t explained every single detail of his past to you, there have been significant points in time where he has opened up about snippets of his past, to which you grasped and held onto as much detail as you could when he went on. You’ve picked up that Xiao isn’t the most well-articulated when it comes to explaining his feelings but you paid no mind to it, taking pride over the fact that he has yet to slit your throat open with his spear. There have been countless occasions in which you’ve praised Xiao but none of them have truly projected your feelings towards the adeptus.
Xiao was not truly aware of how deeply you felt for him. Sure, he thought that you were interested enough to stick around and pester him for who knows whatever reason. However, it went way beyond that. You admired him so dearly, his presence being one in which you ironically found an indescribable amount of comfort in. You’ve listened intently to his wise words of wisdom, his tales of his bloodstained past that he was willing to share, as well as his little remarks about how peculiar humans are. You saw beyond the seemingly frigid, cold, and distant demeanor of Xiao and instead saw a boy with such a yearning to be tender, gentleness being beyond his reach according to him but to you, he was gentle. 
You noticed the way he would handle the little things involving you. You notice the way his tone has changed in the slightest when talking to you whenever he does, softer than the first time you had initially met. You notice the way he acts when it comes to physical touch, preferring to make little to no contact to you but his touches were soft and fleeting whenever touch was necessary. He’s told you several times in the past that he has a brute touch preferring a distance to keep himself from hurting you. From that alone, you knew he’s gentle, reluctant to admit it though due to the events of the past but nonetheless, his gentleness was hard to grasp but must be cherished greatly and that is something that you have done. 
“Xiao” You called out to him. He turned to face you, noticing how you were staring right back at him, your arms resting upon the railing as you gazed at him.
“Is something wrong? You seem a little more spaced out today.” You spoke out again.
He sighed before clicking his tongue. “It's nothing that should be of any concern to mo--” 
“--mortals like you, I know yada yada yada. You’ve said that far too many times in the past. Now tell me, what’s truly wrong Xiao. I did make you listen to my rambling so it’s only fair that you shoot something my way.” You cut him off. 
Annoyance laced his features as he let out his nth sigh of the day. He turned to look at you, giving you a serious, almost cold look.
“I am already greatly aware of how odd some human tendencies are, knowing you mortals do some strange actions that even I question to this day. But you, you are the most peculiar of ones that I have encountered. You wish to stay with someone as myself, someone who could take your life in a single heartbeat. So tell me, why does someone like you continue to linger?”
Lo and behold, a question that you were surprised to hear from him, though you knew the day would eventually come when he would ask. Why did you continue to come to him time and time around? You let out an exasperated sigh as you turned to him with a lighthearted smile in an attempt to lighten the tension that filled the air.
“I enjoy your company, that’s all. Is it so wrong to spend time with someone when you enjoy them being around?” You stated. His eyes narrowed at your response.
“I do not believe it is normal to risk your life simply for mere company, it is not worth it. I refuse to believe that your motives are as light-hearted as that. Is there something that you desire that is beyond that of human capabilities?” He stated.
Your eyebrows furrowed and your smile faltered at his aloof response. What was with the sudden cold demeanor he decided to put up front? You held eye contact with his warm amber orbs that held a stare ironically as cold as the mountains of Dragonspine.
“It’s because you’re you, Xiao. I come back and spend my time here because you are you. I enjoy the little things about you and the time we spend together, y’know? I enjoy the way your eyes light up at the sight of almond tofu, I enjoy your little declarations of how odd us mortals are, I enjoy hearing you open up about even the littlest of things. You’re special in my eyes, Xiao. You’re strong in so many different aspects, you’re wise in the words of advice you speak and last but not least, you’re gentle. Those are just a few of many aspects of yourself that make you so special to me.”
Xiao’s face contorted to one of bewilderment for a brief moment before morphing to one of disbelief, scoffing at the statement. ‘Gentle’ he thought. When you mentioned him being gentle, he thought to himself that it was a load of pure nonsense.
“Calling me gentle is simply blasphemous. I have told you countless times that I am far anything related to that of a tender nature. I leave nothing but a trail of anguish and regret. You’re foolish to see me in anything of a good kind of special, even more so if you see me as gentle.” He firmly stated as his arms crossed tightly across his torso.
Archon’s Xiao’s mind was a mess. He was in a stubborn state of denial as he refused to believe the words that slipped past your lips, writing them off as lies. He covered the creeping insecurity that arose in him with a stone cold demeanor like he always did. He couldn’t accept it, he couldn't even fathom to believe what makes you think he’s so special. 
“Listen Xiao, you’re being awfully stubborn right now.” You said dejectedly. Despite his current manner, you wouldn’t back down, seeing this as one of the only opportunities where you could truly and openly speak about how you felt towards him. You turned so that you were fully facing him, standing your ground as you spoke to him.
“You think so lowly of yourself sometimes y’know? It saddens me to know that you only ever see yourself like that.” You stated.
“I am stating nothing but the tru--” Xiao spoke.
“Listen to me, Xiao.” You cut him off, him being surprised by your snapback.
“You’re far more than your own past. I’m aware of everything you’ve gone through from what you’ve told me. Forgive me for I’m unable to fully sympathize with you but I can’t let you continue to do this to yourself. I’ve only known you for mere months out of the thousands of years you’ve lived but I’ve been around you long enough to know that you’re not as bad as you claim yourself to be.” You paused for a moment to gather yourself before you continued on, looking that Xiao was very much paying attention, an unreadable look on his face.
“You’ve told me yourself that you’ve been around long enough to capture the knowledge of the world to an extent. You’ve told me that you’re aware of how barbaric and lethal your own strength is but you’ve never told me that you hold tenderness inside you, even after all you’ve been through. You hold such valuable knowledge in the field of strength but you’ve failed to notice that the gentleness in you is not completely gone.” Your own hands stretched out and firmly held onto his gloved ones as you continued speaking. 
“You speak about yourself as if you’re not worthy of feeling anything but the anguish and pain as a price to pay for your actions. You’re allowed to feel vulnerable, you’re allowed to feel curious, you’re allowed to feel happiness. I want you to be more honest with yourself so that you can see that you’re worthy enough to feel good emotions. You can extend yourself out to others and the human world and allow yourself to be free. Still after all this time, I sense you feel that it’s necessary to keep me at an arm's length but that’s not true nor is it something that I want. Though this fact alone proves my statement. The fact you wish to keep me away is a sign that you hold that gentleness within but you can still learn to be gentle without having to lock everyone out. Your loneliness isn’t an inevitable conclusion, and I’ll prove to you that it isn't. I wish to stay with you not only because I enjoy your company but because I found something in you worth cherishing. I want to see you grow from whatever anguish you hold, even if it’s just a little bit. I know my life might be merely a second in yours but please, let me do what I can in my lifetime to make you feel worthy and feel loved, because I truly do love and care for you, Xiao.” Your grip tightened around his hands, fearing that he’d yank them away from you with every passing second. Although you firmly stand your ground, you were internally malfunctioning at the whole-hearted confession to the adeptus in front of you.
Xiao felt as if the wind was knocked out of his lungs, face contorted into that of even more disbelief as he found himself still trying to process this whole ordeal. He took the time in processing the words that came directly from your heart as it went straight into his, a warm feeling erupting inside of him, something that felt to foreign to him that it scared him a little. Though your words held a weight to them, it was much more pleasant compared to that of his past memories, but it wasn’t enough to distract him from the way you desperately held onto him.
He was well aware that he could pull away from you at any moment, knowing that your strength could in no way match his but he couldn’t do it. The moment your hands touched his, even through his gloves he felt the firm gentleness of your grasp. You were no hydro user but in that very moment, he felt as if you washed away the bloody sins that stained his hands for years on end. For once he felt clean; for once he felt pure, rid of all the unpleasantries of the world for these very moments that he spent with you.
You noticed how Xiao stood still. You feared that you might’ve severely angered him from the way you snapped at him, but the look on his face told you otherwise.
The usually serious and stern face of the adeptus held such a soft, perhaps vulnerable look. His eyes were wide and in the moonlight, you could tell that they were glossed over from the way they shone with emotion, mouth slightly ajar, possibly trying to find the right words to respond to you. He didn’t need to say anything though because from that look alone, you got all the answers that you needed.
You slowly let go of his hands as one arm moved to wrap around his waist and the other going towards the back of his head, reeling him in closely for a foreign yet mellow embrace. His hands awkwardly stayed at his sides before they slowly and hesitantly moved to hug you back, leaning in gently to your touch as your hand led his head to the crook of your neck, allowing him to bask in the warmth you so generously offered him. For the first time in archons knows how long, Xiao felt a warm liquid spill from his eyes, staining your shirt. Your hands ruffled through his hair in an attempt to soothe him in his time of vulnerability. His hold on you was still so light, almost as if he was afraid he’d break you if he held on even tighter. The hand that ghosted over his back made its way to one of his arms and tugged at it, encouraging him to hold on as much as he needed.
“It’s okay Xiao, you can hold on tighter. I’m not as fragile as you may think. You don’t have to be scared of breaking me.” You chuckled lightheartedly.
His grip did tighten, as he began to mumble words with his face still buried at your side. Something along the lines of apologizing for snapping at you earlier. Your smile widened as you held onto him even tighter if that was possible.
Xiao knew he wasn’t perfect, he was far from it in fact. He had so many flaws and rough edges but that was okay--that’s what made him Xiao. He never understood until now why you thought he was so special and to be quite frank, he still didn’t understand, but he was determined to understand it one day. He wasn’t good like you but he wanted to start believing that he was good in his own way, wishing to truly do something that he felt was right by you in the future. Though it wouldn’t be the easiest of journeys, he was determined to do something that feared him to no end--for you. He wanted to learn how to love, how to love you even more and openly express it to you but also, learn how to love himself, just as you loved him. 
“Thank you, (Y/n).”
492 notes · View notes
hockeywhy · 3 years
Text
lights out (1); t. konecny
PART 2 WARNINGS: language, smut. WORD COUNT: 5.7k
You [attachment: photo taken in what appears to be a dimly lit room. The image is taken from the nose down, mouth slightly open and evidently smiling, two fingers pushed down against your tongue. A white shirt hangs off your shoulders around your elbows, revealing a cage bra, the straps and lining black and the orange lace of the cup sheer.]
You bet you wish you were here now
You released a small sigh, sliding down the headboard of your bed until you felt the plush pillows behind your head again. For a while, you stared blankly upwards at your ceiling, your phone held loosely in one hand while the other rested against your stomach, fingers tapping idly against the exposed skin. 
It had only been around a month since you allowed your friendship with Troy to develop into something a little more than that, but less than a relationship should be. You have known him almost for as long as you could remember, going way back to the days when the two of you would be made to stand side-by-side for photographs while your families cooed over how adorable you looked. Had anyone told you that years down the line you and Troy would be exchanging messages meant for each other’s eyes only, you would’ve laughed at them, spun on your heel and walked away. He never once struck you as someone you would even consider dating, much less send semi-naked photos of yourself to for the simple fact that Troy was a friend and nothing else. Not once did you even bother sparing a thought to the possibility of liking him beyond that but, well, coming to think of it, you still didn’t. And you were pretty sure he thought the same but occasionally, desperate times called for desperate measures.
Measures which just simply happened to coincide with word floating about Travis possibly keeping a relationship away from public eyes. 
Your brother being traded to the Philadelphia Flyers coincided with your own college admission in the city roughly three years ago and you’d guess it was almost just as long since you started carrying a torch for Travis. If spectators got to see him as a dynamic, feisty, valuable for the team yet annoying for others sort of player, you got to know him as a laidback, funny, endearing and…well, occasionally annoying guy though apparently, only towards you. As if drawn to him by some invisible force, you found yourself in his vicinity often enough and it seemed that Travis welcomed it as an opportunity to tease you one way or another. You gave as good as you got though, and admittedly, that also helped you keep your feelings in check a little. Or at least, enough to never give even the smallest of hints to those around you that you might have a thing for Travis. Tolerate him, sure. Hold a genuine conversation by resisting the temptation to push each other’s buttons, no way. If, behind closed doors in the privacy of your own room, you wondered what it’d be like to have him next to you and occasionally, allowed that idea to take on an entirely different meaning while sliding a hand between your legs, then that was for you to know only. 
When you caught wind of the rumor that Travis may have finally, finally found someone at last, it was as if someone had dumped a bucket of ice-cold water, cubes and all, on you. Of course, there wasn’t anything more to whatever weird back-and-forth the two of you had going. After all, the two of you were fully grown adults not five-year olds who pushed each other around in the playground by way of saying hey dummy, I like you. Part of you expected that to come at some point. Travis was handsome, young and successful, and you were witness to numerous instances in which he was approached by girls who wouldn’t hesitate to press their numbers scribbled on napkins or small pieces of paper in his hand. It was only a matter of time until one of them caught his eye and it was painfully obvious that person wouldn’t be you. There wouldn’t be a chance, anyway. Too weird with your older brother on the team, probably. And besides, you couldn’t see yourself as being his type. Regardless of how often you tried making a conscious effort of not comparing yourself to others, nagging thoughts starting with I wish I had or I wish I was or Maybe I should too still crept up on you now and then. Sure, you were plenty confident in yourself: personality, looks, individuality, but you could see little of yourself in the girls who Travis let his eyes linger on a moment longer than maybe necessary before pocketing their number. 
Troy was, for the lack of better word, convenient and not that awful of a distraction from Travis. Initially, you wanted to feel bad for thinking of him as such, but it quickly became clear to you that what Troy wanted was nothing more than someone he could count on for some release every now and then. So, really, you carried your fair share of convenience also. 
You casually dated since starting college, but you couldn’t bring yourself to trust anyone as much as you trusted Troy to get to the level where you’d exchange nudes. Perhaps it had something to do with the two of you being friends for so long, but you also knew that if you ever wanted to call it quits with Troy, you’d be able to go back to how you were before. Simple as that. No way would he ever reveal anything you sent him to anyone. Troy proved his honesty and ability to keep to his word on several occasions, and that was more than enough for you.
Your phone vibrated and you blinked rapidly several times, pulling yourself away from your thoughts. Lifting the device above your face, you unlocked it and pressed the message notification, focus zeroing in on the response.
Travis is this your way of getting me to agree with you and say that this party really is boring?
A quiet giggle left your mouth but in the next second, you would swear you actually heard your breathing being cut short. You scrambled up on the bed and in your haste, almost dropped the device on the floor. As if someone had suddenly intruded, you pulled the shirt up on your shoulders and gripped the material tightly around you, bunching it up in your free hand to hide your torso. The seconds during which that happened, you could swear you read wrong or were imagining things. Surely…surely you just didn’t click into the wrong messaging thread, right? Right. That’d have to be it. You breathed in, then out. In, then out once more and looked at your phone again. As you did, it vibrated again, indicating a new message.
Travis if that’s the case, it’s working
It couldn’t be. You weren’t that careless. You always made an even greater effort of double checking the contact you clicked into whenever you messaged Troy, except… Except you were a little distracted this time around. Distracted and somewhat excited, truth be told. It’d been a while since the two of you have had the opportunity to get together and during this time, your conversations were of the ordinary sort: general comments about campus gossip, heated agreements about surely written exams were an outdated method of testing. 
Your hands visibly trembled and you tried to steady yourself by inhaling deeply before daring to scroll just a little further up on the screen. There wasn’t any real need for that though: your photo was in clear view, not in the message thread you had with Troy but the message thread you had with Travis. Because he was the last person you messaged. Because he was the one who asked if you’d also be joining them for a get-together your brother organised at a venue often frequented by the team. Because maybe all you saw were the first two letters of the name and decided that was about as far as your concentration could manage before sending the photo. In hopes of getting a different type of attention from Troy at the time, you messaged Travis back to say that unfortunately, they ‘won’t benefit from my wonderful presence tonight, much as I know that’ll make things boring but try to find a silver lining if you can’. 
“Fuck,” you whispered, squeezing your eyes shut momentarily as if that’d help erase what you’d done. 
What you saw behind your eyes, however, wasn’t stars but Travis’ own messages relayed back to you over and over like blinding Times Square ads. You had to blink several times to clear your vision when you opened your eyes again, looking down at your phone to re-read them. As if, again, in your haste you’d done something wrong like misread what he responded with. It was there, though, on your screen – clear as day. You frowned.
You could think of a hundred different ways in which Travis could have responded to that – or even, not bothered with a response and save all the awkwardness for the next time you’d both be under the same roof. You read that back to yourself and it sounded less like what the fuck are you doing and more like now you have my attention. But that couldn’t be it… Had he not paid attention to the display name, hooked in simply by the photo alone? You wouldn’t put it past him. Or anyone else who’d be on the receiving end of photos like that, really. The selfie was suggestive in a way that invited action to try and get a better sneak peek. Maybe Travis hadn’t even checked to see who it was coming from. And besides, what about the rumors of him seeing someone? There couldn’t be smoke without fire, and you lived by that. 
You shit, sorry! wrong person
You do me a favor and forget this happened
Not your smoothest moment, you had to admit but it’s as if your brain had short-circuited. You had to direct most of your attention and effort in trying to not read too deeply into Travis’ response. As if you reeled him in. As if he were willing to allow it to happen and wanted more. It couldn’t be because at no point did he leave anything to the imagination that he might have a thing for you. All the teasing, all the back-and-forth, there was never anything more to it than what was on the surface. Besides, something told you that if there was even the smallest chance of Travis having a thing for you, he would’ve made it fairly clear. He was anything but shy. Definitely not the sort of person to beat around the bush, regardless of whether you were the younger sibling of a teammate or not. Maybe he was just surprised. Yeah, that had to be it. 
When your phone vibrated again, it wasn’t just a short notification for a new message. It vibrated and vibrated until you registered that actually, it was a call.
“Hey,” you answered, voice a little raspy. Your mouth felt dry, throat scratchy.
“You’re asking a lot from me,” came Travis’ response. On his end, you could just barely make out the muffled sound of thudding bass-heavy music. “Who were you going to send that to if not me, doll?” 
The pet name sent a rush of heat all the way down to your belly. Much as you didn’t want to, you knew you’d end up playing that back to yourself for days to come. Regardless of how much you tried to direct your feelings elsewhere, Travis always found a way to weasel back to being at the center of your attention. Or better said, you found a way to put him back there, but it was easier to deal with the idea if you blamed it on him. It was equal parts pitiful and desperate to carry a torch for him for so long, knowing damn well nothing good would come out of it. 
“Just a friend,” you responded, fingers tightening around the material of your shirt. “Travis, please—”
“I’m just a friend, aren’t I?” he interrupted, emphasizing his words in such way that he sounded almost…spiteful. “You still wearing that?” he added, a little lighter this time around.
“Travis.” His name fell from your mouth the way a plea would: whispered, urgent, tight. 
“Only a simple question, Y/N, all you’ve gotta do is answer it.” You were ready to respond, but Travis added, “and then I’ll forget about it.”
You glared at the wall across from you. “Sounds a hell of a lot like blackmail to me,” you said without heat because suddenly, you couldn’t stop thinking about it. Saying yes, you were still wearing that. Yes, you still looked exactly as your photo indicated you did, all delicate lace and glossy lips. Minimal effort from your part that always seemed to do the trick for boys like Troy. For boys in general because most were easy to hook in like that. “Yes,” you finally admitted, and you were surprised by how confident your voice sounded. 
In your ear, Travis hummed thoughtfully. “Is it a matching set?”
You can’t help the small, breathless laugh that slipped from your mouth. It doesn’t take away from the fact that your hands were shaking, but it releases some tension from your shoulders. It was all it took for you to realize you wanted to cling to this, if even for just a few more minutes. “The second photo would’ve been the one to answer that.” 
A small pause followed during which you could hear the bounce of what sounded to be wood against wood and then, the unmistakable fiddling of a metal latch catching. “Tell me about it instead. If you want.” 
You wanted. You wanted so much that for a moment, his request made your breath hitch. Pressing your lips together into a tight line, you cast a glance towards your reflection caught in a tall mirror resting just opposite your bed. Unconsciously, you loosened your grip on the shirt and you shrugged the material off your shoulders again, tentatively as if you were being watched while doing so. The dim yellow lamp at the side cast a warm glow across the entire room which seemed to amplify the entire picture: you in the middle of your bed, legs bent at the knees and slightly spread to reveal a little of the thin lace material of your panties that left little to the imagination. You swallowed quietly, falling back against the pillows, eyes fluttering shut. There’d be no going back from this, you knew that, and you knew Travis was well aware of it also. But you could see his face behind your eyes, could easily recall the intensity of your feelings towards him and you heard the pet name he used just moments ago bouncing around in your mind incessantly. It didn’t just make heat crawl along the expanse of your skin. It made you actually throb for him.
“It’s not the usual red lace or black silk, but I could help myself when I saw it,” you admitted quietly, no lie in your words whatsoever. “It’s more memorable. More unique. Kind of reminded me of your alternative jersey, coming to think of it.” 
On the other end, Travis sighed a long, low sigh. “You thought about it when you saw it?” 
I thought of you, you think, but what you said instead was, “orange and black is a surprisingly good combination. That, and it was also one of the simpler sets. Made for taking off quickly, no hassle.” You could swear you could hear the pounding of your heart in your own ears. “Doesn’t need to all come off, though. I’m a panty pulled to the side sort of person if we’re short on time.” You swallow quietly, pulling in your lips a little to run your tongue across them. “Are we?” you asked quietly.
“A little,” Travis responded after a short moment of silence. His voice sounded a little weak; worn. “Panty pulled to the side sort of person, huh? Wouldn’t have pinned that on you.” 
“Desperate times call for desperate measures, Travis. Don’t tell me you didn’t at least think about that before,” you encouraged, thighs pressing together. “Wanting someone so much, so desperately that there’s no time to take all clothes off. Push them down on the bed, against a door…wherever it is you are just to get a little taste. I did. I do,” you admitted, turning a little to the side, eyes falling shut, all and any form of shame flying out the window. Might as well enjoy it. “I think about someone seeing me like this, wanting me so badly that that they can’t even bring themselves to take it all off. All it’d take with a little number like this is a pull to the side. It’s fucking sexy. Did you ever think about it?”
You heard him draw in a shaky breath and a moment later, the sound of metal and clothes being fumbled with joined as background noise. You closed your eyes and imagined him in a cubicle, tugging on the buckle of his belt, pulling on the zipper of his jeans, pressing a palm against his length to add that extra bit of much needed pressure. The idea of him growing hard for you, because of you, in a public place was nothing short of arousing. 
“Often,” came his response, voice gravelly in your ear. “That time you came along for the party at the end of our summer training camp, I thought about taking you away from all those people to a place where it’d be only us two. Thought about it again a couple of weeks ago when we went out to celebrate that win, remember? I thought, what would it look like if I took you in the nearest restroom, locked it and fucked you in front of one of these mirrors? What would you look like with my hand between your legs? How would you feel like?” he questioned and, when you didn’t respond to him immediately, too caught up in the fantasy he was helping build in your mind, demanded, “tell me”. 
Your hand was caught between your thighs, fingers brushing against your panties and there was no denying how wet you were becoming. “’m wet,” you whispered, turning your head slightly more into your pillow while pressing the heel of your hand against your clothed clit, circling it over your panties. “Travis, just… Just thinking about it makes me so wet.” 
Travis hummed a small, satisfied hum and you heard him release a low exhale. “Do me a favor, doll. Bring your hand up to your mouth and wet your fingers. Make them nice and slick, okay? It’s what you were doing in your photo, no? Do it properly this time,” he instructed. 
You withdrew your hand from between your legs with difficulty and once you did, you whined at the loss of contact. But you were weak for the guidance Travis was giving you and you did as you were told. You brought your hand up to your mouth, taking your index and middle fingers in the heat of your mouth and without hesitation, your tongue swirled around them, ensuring they were as wet as you were told they should be. 
All the while, Travis continued speaking in your ear. “Think of my mouth when you touch yourself with them, doll. Think about how willing I’d be to get on my knees for you to get a taste of you. Come on, touch yourself for me,” he encouraged gently. When you removed your fingers from your mouth, you released them with a ‘pop’ sound that had Travis groaning into the phone, the noise sending another rush of heat across your body, goosebumps forming over it. “Panties to the side, doll. Just like you like it, okay?” 
You hummed in agreement and did as you were told. You lifted your top leg just enough for you to be able to push the lace aside and when you dragged your wet fingers between your folds, you shuddered, moan muffled into the pillow. With your eyes closed, it was easy to picture Travis kneeling between your spread legs, tongue flat against your core, dragging upwards and downwards in slow languid strokes. You knew your fingers couldn’t compare but the sound of his heavy breathing into the phone meshing with your own breathless, almost restrained groans helped push your fantasy further. 
“Bet you’d taste so good on my tongue, doll,” Travis whispered just as the tips of your fingers pressed against your clit, causing you to curl forward a little as a small whimper slips from your mouth. He chuckled, although it sounded strained to your ears. “Right there. That’s the spot I’ll circle back to time and time again just to hear you cry out for it. Quietly though. Remember there’s a bunch of people just outside the room. Can’t let ‘em know what we’re doing behind closed doors, okay? Seeing you so worked up, so wet… We’ll need to keep that for my eyes only, yeah?” 
You nodded, belatedly remembering he couldn’t see it so you whispered a “yes” as you circled your clit, adding pressure and removing it the moment stars began dotting your vision. “God, Travis, I wish I could…just want to feel you inside.”
“And you will,” he promised. “I’d want to be inside you too, so of course you will. I’d want to use my tongue first though. Get as much of you in my mouth as possible so that I’ll remember how you taste. You know what to do, doll. Tell me how it feels.”  
You did. Slowly, you guided your hand down to the center of your heat, pushing a finger inside you. You did so with ease yet you still sighed in relief at the warmth surrounding you. “It feels so good, Travis,” you sighed, curling your finger upward tentatively and your breath caught in your throat. “Oh god, it feels so fucking good. All because of you.”
You pushed part of your face into the pillow as you added a second finger, slipping it in with ease as a result of how wet you’d become and with every upward push, you rubbed the heel of your hand against your clit. The sensation, coupled with Travis’ heavy breathing in your ear, was heady. Knowing he was on the other end touching himself to a fantasy the two of you shared, knowing you were in his mind as much as he was in yours while doing that pushed you just that much closer to the edge. 
“Travis, I’m gonna…ah, I’m gonna come,” you muttered, words leaving your mouth in a muffled slur. “Fuck, I’m so close…”
“You’re doing so well, doll. I want to hear you when you do, okay? Don’t hold back. I need to hear you,” he emphasized.
You were nothing if not obedient at the best of times and this, well this was one of the best times you’d ever gone through. All it took was just a few more thrusts of your hand, fingers finding that right spot and pressing against it continuously while your thighs closed around your wrist for extra tightness and finally, finally you called out Travis’ name followed promptly by an unrestrained cry. Your hips bucked unconsciously against your palm, trying to ride out your orgasm as much as you could and when you slowly withdrew from your core, you brought your glistening fingers up to your mouth. You didn’t lick them clean, opting instead to suck on them so that Travis knew exactly what you were doing. He did. You could tell by the way he let a curse slip from his mouth and when you took your hand away from your mouth, you did so with a satisfied hum. 
“Good girl,” he praised, evidently straining. 
Whether it was your heightened sensitivity, his words or a mix of both, the same dull white-hot heat crawled across your already warm skin. You allowed yourself an extra moment to compose yourself before the idea struck you as soon as your limbs ceased feeling like jelly. 
“I want to ride you, Travis,” you declared pushing yourself on your knees. You shrugged out of the shirt entirely, discarding it somewhere on the side of your bed and pulled one of your pillows lower down the mattress. “Imagine that. I’d be so warm for you, still so wet and loose. Bet I could take all of you at once,” you said, pitching your voice to a more playful though undoubtedly teasing tone. You pulled your panties to the side again before lowering yourself down on the side of the pillow, straddling it. “There’d really be no better time than now for you to be inside me properly, baby.”
“Fuck,” he bit out sharply and you heard the unmistakable sound of him spitting into his hand. And well, wasn’t that a thought? 
You chuckled in response. “You’d let me fuck myself on you however I want to, right? I’ll start off slow. You already made me come once, so gotta take it nice and easy,” you told him, rolling your hips gently against the pillow between your legs. Still pretty sensitive, the friction of the cotton made you tremble when you rolled your hips against it, almost losing your balance but you managed to support yourself just in time by pressing your free palm against the headboard. “Ha… I’d feel so good around you, Travis. You know I would. And it’s all thanks to you,” you praised softly, moving your hips back and forth against the pillow. “I swear, I’ll end up thinking of how good you made me feel for days to come. I’ll think of you for nights to come.”
On the other end of the line, Travis groaned. “Only me,” he demanded and there was so much clarity in his tone that for a moment, you thought that was something he meant even outside of the heat of the moment. 
“Only you,” you confirmed and knew there would be no lie in that whatsoever. “Who else do you think would get me to fuck against a fucking pillow, Travis?” A breathless, exhausted laugh left his mouth and you leaned forward, resting your forehead against the cushioned headboard. You could feel yourself approaching that very same edge again with every roll of your hip, every brush of the soft material against your sensitive clit and you had to bite down on your lip to hold back a shaky whimper. “Wish you were here though… I’d prefer you underneath me rather than a pillow. Doubt it appreciates the roll of my hips as much as you would, don’t you think?”
“Fuck, I’d be there in an instant if I could,” he agreed, voice tight. You’d bet anything his jaw was clenched, biting back on the back of his teeth. 
One thing was for certain: occasionally, Travis made his emotions clear so easily, you could even read him over the phone. A part of you was focused on the way you ground your hips down against the pillow though you paid as close attention to the noises Travis was making; he didn’t deprive you of them. It was only as he hissed into the phone that it dawned on you just how unfair it was you couldn’t also see him. Couldn’t even think of the sort of expressions he was making solely because you knew the reality would just be so much better than what your mind could conjure through the haze of the moment. Frustrated, you rocked your hips against the pillow quicker, eyebrows furrowing a little as you whimpered at the friction. It wasn’t enough. It simply wasn’t enough. If anything, it was only adding fuel to a fire you hadn’t even managed to come close to at least dimming, if even a little bit.
“Travis, I’m close—fuck, I’m so—”
“I know, doll. Fuck, I know,” he said shakily and your name fell from his mouth gruffly, accompanied by a rough, drawn out moan that you knew would haunt you for as long as possible. 
You fell forward against the headboard, blinking slowly as you stared down at the disheveled sheets. Vaguely, you could make out a small voice at the back of your head chastising you for needing to replace them even if you’d just changed them earlier in the day. And then, clearly, a louder, more rational voice suddenly snapped you to attention as the magnitude of your actions came at you like a bullet speed train with no breaks to hold it back. You swallowed quietly, heart hammering against the cage of your ribs. The feeling of frustration cleared the heavy post-orgasm fog fairly quickly and you wanted to yell. To scream and wish there was a way to turn back time. 
This wasn’t how your evening was supposed to go. You weren’t supposed to be straddling a pillow, half naked with Travis’ heavy breathing in your ear after he guided you through two orgasms. Whatever it was you felt for him should’ve remained locked off in a box at the back of your mind, guarded by the loudest warnings possible so you knew never to touch. And yet here you were, past the blaring sirens, flashing neon lights and spray painted ‘STAND BACK!’ warnings and into a corner of your mind that now had Travis’ moans and the way he spoke your name recorded second by second. 
“Fuck,” you whispered quietly, lips pressed against your forearm. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.”
“Y/N, listen to me—”
“No. What the fuck? Travis, what the fuck did we—did I do?” In a flash, you scrambled off the bed but found you didn’t even know what to get started on. Ripping off the bedsheets? Reaching for the discarded shirt to cover yourself with as if that’d undone what was said and done? “Travis, you promised,” you said suddenly, vaguely recalling his words from earlier. “You said you’ll forget about it.”
On the other end of the line, you could just barely make out the sound of a roll of tissues being spun and then, a few seconds later, water being flushed. “You’re freaking out on me and you need to take a deep breath, okay?” Travis instructed.
You shook your head, to hell with whether he could see that or not. “No, no, you don’t understand—Travis, this shouldn’t have—It shouldn’t have happened.”
“Listen. Listen, Y/N,” he insisted more loudly when you were about to interrupt him. “And I will, okay? If it makes you feel better I can just… I’ll forget about it, okay? It didn’t happen if that’s what you want from me.” 
“Okay,” you said, tone neutral. You ceased your pacing but didn’t stop from casting a glare towards your bed as if it was the very thing that pushed you to do what you’d done. “Okay. That’s—yeah. Yeah, let’s forget about it,” you concluded tightly, vehemently trying to deny to yourself that the head you felt behind your eyes wasn’t the telltale sign of approaching tears and rather it was…shame. “Thanks. Uh. Look, Travis, I have to go. I have to… I have something to do.” He didn’t respond for so long that you thought the call had ended. You had to take the phone away from your ear to check the seconds were still ticking upwards and when you noticed they were, you frowned. “Travis?”
“What are your plans?” he questioned, tone neutral. 
Nothing aside from stripping my bed bare again and then taking a long, cold shower in hopes of not thinking about how you sounded like moaning in my ear, you thought. What you said instead was, “just”.
More silence. Again, you had to double check the call didn’t cut. “You meeting that friend of yours?” 
“Which one?” you asked, genuinely confused and then it dawned on you: Troy. The guy who should’ve been in Travis’ position instead. “Oh. Uh. Maybe…maybe not. It’s pretty late, so…”
“Okay. Good. Yeah, good thinking. Hey, Y/N?”
“Yeah?”
“Maybe don’t send photos like that next time. To anyone. Just in case the wrong person gets them again,” he suggested and there was a certain sharpness to his tone you couldn’t quite put your finger on. It wasn’t a demand, but it sure sounded like it cocooned in a half-hearted excuse. “Can’t be too careful these days.” 
You swallowed, teeth clenching. Without thinking of it, you blinked rapidly several times and yeah, there they were. Those tears that’d threatened you only moments ago. You wished you could pour a bucket of ice over your feelings for Travis and wipe your hands clean of them instead of trying to distract yourself from them instead of searching for a convenient fuck and in turn, becoming a convenient fuck.
“I’ll pay closer attention next time, then,” you said by way of goodbye and ended the call before he could get another word in. 
Across from you, a framed photo of just you and Travis taken during the previous summer vacation was staring up at you. His arm was thrown around your shoulders, trying to reel you in just a little closer despite the look of disgust on your face while he held up a fish by its hook in his other hand, head thrown back with laughter at your reaction. In two short strides, you lowered it face down on the dresser before rushing into the adjoining bathroom. 
Regardless of how well you scrubbed your skin clean of all evidence to what you’d done, there was no soap and water that could wash away Travis’ praise and pet names. Certainly nothing that could remove the memory of how your name rolled off his tongue while at the height of his pleasure.
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When Fate Intervenes // Luke Patterson
IN WHICH: Fate intervenes with a trio of musicians on the night that was supposed to be legendary. Fate puts the reader with a special ability that may or may not be able to save them. Fate puts a clairvoyant, an accidentally upsized pizza and thirteen year old oddly obsessed with a rock band.
Warnings: Swearing, food poison, death, and fluff
Words: 2.8k
A/N: Time to get rid of some fic ideas from my TOO LONG of a list. It’s Julie fault, she keeps encouraging each fic idea I tell her.
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The Orpheum, 1995
The line up comprised of countless girls wearing homemade band shirts for the new band performing. Your little sister, at thirteen years old, had pleaded for weeks if not three months to go watch it. It was odd since she was more in the pop scene than the rock music. Your parents would never let her go to the rock show at night, so it was you or no show. It took a promise of doing your chores for an entire month and her dessert for two months. That was why you stood beside Harper among the fangirls while you clicked through the camera you’d saved up for years.
“I’m so excited.” Harper buzzed dancing on your feet as the time on her watch dwindled down more and more.
Your eyes flitted from the screen to the ball of energy you called your little sister, “I can tell. Which one do you have a crush on?”
“Reggie. He’s the bassist and so fucking-sorry freaking cool.” Harper gushed, “A good portion of the fans are obsessed with the lead singer Luke. Bobby is the rhythm guitarist, and he’s a ladies man, but he’s sweet about it.”
“And you’d know that how?” You questioned letting go of the camera around your neck. Your e/c eyes meeting her matching pair of irises; well yours were a bit more vibrant.
“I just know.” Harper retorted before beaming as she roughly poked the pin she’d made herself, “This represents all of them. Red for Reggie’s plaid shirt he always has, orange for Bobby’s love of oranges, yellow for Luke’s energy and pink for Alex because he loves the colour!”
The pin had their band design with Sunset Curve on it with the words outlined with a sunset made up of red, orange, yellow and pink just as Harper had pointed out. By far, it was her best work, but that was expected from an art student at Los Feliz High School. An art school for artists and performers. You attended for photography and creative writing just as Harper attended for art.
“That might be your best work Harps.” You complimented your little sister who shivered in the cool night breeze. You didn’t even think about tugging off your warm jacket to place on her shoulders.
You’d rather be cold than your little sister no matter how much you fought with each other, the Y/L/N siblings had each other’s backs no matter what.
“Thanks.” Harper murmured, leaning closer, “So do I meet Reggie?”
Your eyes widened slightly at her subtle goading to a part of your life was cinematic. It was a piece of you that very few people knew about, only your parents and Harper. Like most of the women in your paternal lineage, you carried the ability to foresee events in the future. A clairvoyant.
“Harper!” You scolded the young teenager who blatantly was just over-excited to see the band she’d been talking about constantly.
Harper’s cheeks turned a cherry blossom pink under the crappy lighting from the marquee sign. Even in the light, you noticed the changes in her face as she matured into a young woman, her cheeks while still full didn’t have that baby cheek look now. You saw a stubborn zit that you could see under the makeup that didn’t entirely match her skin tone. It caused an ache in your heart to know that soon she’d have the experience of heartbreak.
“Sorry!”
“You told me these guys are my age. Need I remind you that you are thirteen? If anyone older than thirteen makes an advance I’ll put my softball skills to the test.” You sternly informed the shorter girl with the pout that screamed rebellion, “Just be a kid Harps.”
“Like you said Y/N, I’m thirteen. I’m not a kid anymore.” Harper dropped the attitude to adopt a more mature soft tone. You could see the tinge of sadness in her eyes at losing the part of life where it was easy.
“I know. I can wish you’ll stay that annoying little kindergartener that stole my clothing.” You chuckled, “You’ll always be the Stephanie to my DJ.”
The two Y/L/N siblings momentarily glanced around before hugging as quickly as possible, they still had reputations to uphold. Had you been actually paying attention, you and Harper would have noticed the commotion from the people behind you.
As you and Harper had the sweet moment, the very band performing had raced out the alley into the street. What brought you back to the surroundings was the pizza boy delivering the pizza box to you. 
“Wait, we ordered a small!” You exclaimed finding the boy holding an extra-large pizza. You only received a shrug in response with the right change given back. 
Two things happened with this food mistake, you didn’t have to pay more than what you actually ordered, and you still got the larger pizza. However, the Orpheum didn’t allow outside food, meaning you’d have to force-feed yourself all the pizza or trash more than half. 
“We could shar-” Harper was cut off as a blinding white light became your focal point. Harper knew what was happening by the specific groan coming from your lips.
A nauseating scent of cheap meat, gas and chemicals flooded your sense of smell in the dingy alleyway. It was nighttime with a few people in the general vicinity with a dilapidated table and mismatched chairs on the walls’ edge. A poorly made sign with Sam & Ella’s and going by the vendor selling the hot dogs the name fit. Sam & Ella sounded like salmonella.
From a distance, you couldn’t quite hear the conversation between three male teens, but you had a bad feeling. They all migrated to a ratty couch that had been better days, a rat wouldn’t even crawl on it you swore.
The first boy had slicked back hair with rosy cheeks you dubbed innocent and cute that juxtapositioned his rocker attire. He had polished black leather shoes, pleather if his choice of food was an indication, a leather jacket and a red plaid shirt around his waist. His attention focused on the two guys beside him. In the middle, the boy had the blue hood of his sweater pulled over his messy brown hair as if hiding. Nothing stood out about him, and it seemed like that was intentional. On the other side, the last one was the tallest with his blonde hair hidden by the backwards black hat. A distressed dark grey jean jacket open to proudly display his pink hoodie. Each one wearing black pants and adorning rings.
“This is awesome, you guys. We’re playing the Orpheum!” The middle boy joyfully spoke head in the clouds instead of the questionable surroundings. He arguably had the loveliest smile you had ever seen, and his friends had nice smiles at that as well.
Yet even if this hadn’t taken place, however, it still felt like you were intruding on something incredibly private, “Why am I being shown this?”
Your question went unsurprisingly unanswered.
“I can’t even count how many bands have played here! And then ended up being huge!” He happily sunk into the back of the couch, thinking of all the bands he had CDs to in his room, “We’re gonna be legends!”
“Oh.” You breathed as you caught a whiff from the boys that quickly gave you the understanding of why you saw this. You could only smell what you had dubbed as death, the scent unchanging from the first time you’d encountered it.
The death stench accompanied a clairvoyant vision if the object of your vision was sick or about to die. The first time you encountered, it was a vision of two cars colliding, the sound of shattering glass and crunching metal, the scent of burning flesh overpowering the milder stench. The next morning school was cancelled after a teacher died in a car accident on the way to work.
“Eat up, boys. ’Cause after tonight, everything changes.” The only vocal one continued with his two friends silently listening. The trio toasted their food together.
“No!” You exclaimed as each boy took a bite. You held your breath, hoping that the inevitable in the vision wouldn’t occur.
Unfortunately, it was right away the warning appeared. The blonde one the most affected, “That’s a new flavour.”
“Chill, man. Street dogs haven’t killed us yet.” The leather jacket guy proudly spoke, the least one concerned. 
Even the guy in the middle was concerned but ultimately continued eating.
“Stop it!” You shouted, but it was no use. As with every vision, you had the potential to stop it from coming true, but while in the vision, you couldn’t interact with the people or surrounding. No matter how much you wanted to slam the food out of their hands.
But one thing sends shivers down your spine. The one in the middle made direct eye contact with you. Something that had never happened before nor to any previous clairvoyants. He kept eye contact as he slowly grew sicker and sicker.
The three boys had no chance as the ambulance rushed to the alleyway to save them. The paramedics weren’t as quick as the vendors who’d already packed and fled to protect their own hides.
You watched as the paramedics did everything in their power to save the young teenagers with everything possible. Just like Luke sang in their last song, the boys felt the darker version of an electric hammer to the heart. The clocks freezing in place as they each took their last breathe in the oddest of deaths. You saw the blonde guy die painfully first before followed by the formerly hooded one, the terrified cries of the last one haunting your phantom ears.
How did three healthy teenagers die on the same night of the exact nature within minutes of each other without one surviving? Maybe it had something to do with the hot dogs chilling in the liquid that was a cesspool of bacteria compounded with tained condiments from battery acid.
You roughly came out of the vision shaking and pale-faced frantically scanning the surroundings. Harper had a grip on the extra large pizza box while the other tightly held yours to ground you in the present.
“Are you okay?” Harper softly questioned with the panic hidden inside her body. Harper knew that this vision had been one of the bad ones. The haunted look in your eyes hinting towards death in the near future.
“We need to go.” You frantically replied, grabbing the pizza that would hopefully have a hand in saving three hopeful teens.
Your gym teacher would be proud of the distance diminished and speed you kept towards the area that would further shatter you. Foreseeing death and sometimes unable to stop it always had a nasty impact on you. 
“Where are we going?” Harper yelled, “We’ll miss the doors opening!”
“We’ll miss them if we don’t hurry up!” You shouted back at the disgruntled little sister but at the moment that didn’t matter. 
What mattered was three hungry teenagers about to gorge themselves on death dogs if you didn’t make it in time. It appeared for the first time you’d actually manage to stop the deaths, unlike the previous three times. 
“-tonight. Everything changes.” The chill-inducing rasp helped navigate you to the disgusting couch. Your cold hand slammed the hotdog from the blonde’s hand, the shocked reaction halting the other two.
“Don’t...eat...it.” You heaved bending over at the waist to catch your breath. Wheezing sounded from your little sister as the running and seeing her favourite band up close settled.
“Excuse me! I paid for that hotdog!”
“You’d be buying yourself death literally. Your dreams of playing the Orpheum would be extinct.” You sighed, chugging the water from the pocket of Harper’s backpack for a few seconds before the owner took it back.
“Okay, look I don’t know how you found us but-”
“You don’t have to believe me ’cause I sure as hell wouldn’t have but don’t jeopardize your dreams. Look my little sister wanted to see your show so I brought her and we ordered a pizza. They fucked up the order by giving us an extra-large pizza. We’ll barely eat a quarter of it, and the venue is strict on the rules.” You rambled using tour hands to elaborate the story before Harper roughly elbowed your ribs, “Ow!”
“Oops.” Harper faked a sugar-sweet smile for your benefit as the interaction with the three musicians slowly dove into embarrassment.
“-sorry. You’d be doing us a favour by not wasting our money and food. What do you say?” You hesitantly asked the trio who didn’t speak vocally; their eyes meeting in a silent conversation.
Reggie sighed as he begrudgingly dropped his hotdog in the bin near the couch, “Pizza outranks street dogs even if the dogs are heaven and to die for.”
“Literally.” You grumbled forcefully pushing the obscenely large pizza box into the middle one’s stomach, “I’m Y/N, this is my little sister Harper.”
“Hi.” Harper shyly waved with cheeks turning a dust pink concealed by the dark of the alleyway. The boys’ lips all quirked at the sudden contrast from the confident sister slamming her elbow in you to the bashful teen.
“I’m Luke. This is Reggie and Alex.” The hooded one, Luke, introduced his bandmates as best he could with his hands occupied by the pizza box.
Without the threat of death by the hot dog, you actually took the time to look at Luke with appraising eyes. His eyes were like oceans of blues, greens and even a brown that both exhilarated you; the desire of studying them not surprising. His smile outshone the sun on the hottest day in August.
“Nice to meet you.” You informed the trio with a beaming smile that matched your starstruck little sister. The interaction gave you the opportunity for immense and untiring future teasing on the teen that daydreamed of the bassist. 
You had to admit the trio were incredibly attractive.
“Come back to the dressing room. We can eat there out of the cold.” Alex courteously invited the two formerly strangers. His blues sharing his pure intentions to repay you for saving their lives and offering pizza. 
“Of course.” Harper nodded her head with her eyes barely meeting the ones of the boys. The shell was broken when Reggie piped up.
“That’s a really cool pin! Where’d you find it?”
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Gated Community, Los Angeles, 2002
An off-tune humming filled the modestly sized home in the suburbs of Los Angeles, California with the sound of water splashing. Doing the dishes was a mindless chore that typically didn’t bother you, but the pain in your lower back protested. You’d have used the dishwasher, but the thing was perpetually breaking down. Didn’t seen essential to replace when washing dishes by hand was just as productive.
Or it was when you didn’t have the extra weight in your midsection, a symbol of your love with your husband. In fact, you would have avoided doing dishes if you hadn’t just used the last clean plate and glass at breakfast plus Luke hadn’t been home in the previous week.
Sunset Curve had gone on a press tour for the upcoming album and tour planned for next year.
“Oof.” You moaned as the little rascal once more hit your bladder, “Are you breaking electric guitars in there?”
“Not a soccer player?”
“With you as their father? Not likely.” You snorted as the sudden appearance of Luke became clear. You hadn’t been expecting him, “I missed you. We missed you.”
As had it since you first told him Luke’s warm hand came to rest on the front of your swollen belly. In a short month, you’d be cradling the newest member of the Patterson family with Luke singing the lullaby he solely made for baby P.
“Still haven’t given in?” The lead guitarist teased you with a beaming smile splitting his face, “Go sit down. I’ll finish the dishes.”
You didn’t need to be asked twice. 
“I’m not abusing my clairvoyance to foresee our child’s gender, name and appearance.” You pointed one finger in his direction, “I refused Bobby’s pleading to see which models he would bed. The only time I did something like that was to reassure Alex that he would fall in love with a lovely guy.”
Luke’s heart burst with sheer adoration at how easily you had sunk into the friendship with the band after that one night. A night that had given birth to a friendship that slowly evolved into a romance and marriage. To this day, the group got together as much as possible.
“I love you.” Luke chuckled, “Even-”
“-if I came into your life like a completely crazy person?”
“We’re all a little crazy.”
Your house surely would be when a little tornado with Luke’s energy took over the home you’d made with Luke. The very home you would have more children and grow old together until soon you held your grandkids on your laps.
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You know how we have pet costumes? Give Jacob one, make him a cute space cowboy😈😈😈
WE'RE BACK BABY
Please enjoy this little ficlet (that was actually my 3rd attempt to write a fluffy ficlet for this universe because all the other ones kept becoming future chapters lmao)
--
“This is humiliating. I look like sheriff Woody or something.”
“Aw, I was thinking more like John Wayne Gacy, you know?”
“The...the clown serial killer…?”
Angie pursed her lips. “Wait, who was the cowboy guy in all the old movies? Like, before Clint Eastwood and whatever.”
“That’s John Wayne. Not John Wayne Gacy,” Jacob tugged at the sleeves of his costume and readjusted his cowhide vest. “And I don’t feel anywhere near as cool as him right now.”
She rolled her eyes and crinkled her nose. “That’s because you’re not cool. You’re a grown man playing dress up with a kindergartener.”
“So are you.”
Angie straightened her Native American headpiece and threw one of her braided pigtails behind her. “Yeah, but I know it’s stupid, so therefore I’m doing it ironically which makes me cool.”
Jacob sighed heavily but didn’t argue further, instead tugging his cowboy hat down further to shield his face that burned with embarrassment. Being forced into having playdates with his captor’s coworker was nothing new. He had spent plenty of time being Mibao’s sole playmate aboard the ship, doing the best he could to keep the six year girl entertained and not too psychologically damaged. Being the youngest in a sibling group of only boys, he was a bit rusty when it came to knowing anything about kids. Thankfully, Mibao was more than happy to take him by the hand and show up all the “fun” things she used to either do back home or what she would now do with her “kitty”.
Today’s game of choice was dress up. Every day felt like dress up when it came to the girl’s ever expanding wardrobe; she was always dressed in an obnoxiously puffy and sparkling princess dress fashioned with ribbons and bows galore and always with a matching crown. Fine, no big deal, he could slap a tiara on his head and call it a day, he’d worn worse at the few fraternity parties he attended during college. Nope, not good enough. Mibao had a very specific game she wanted to play which involved him wearing a cowboy costume of all things. A very realistic and detailed cowboy costume, assless chaps and spurs and all. Again, he could...handle it for the most part. The only thing that really bothered him about it was all the coos and giggles he received from both his and Mibao’s captors when he finally came out in his new outfit.
And he knew for a fact they took many, many pictures of him.
It didn’t end there, Mibao still had more requests. Angie needed to join in as well and she was required to be an “indian princess” to partake. Naturally, she was more than happy to agree if it meant getting a break from the absolute nightmare of a captor she had been saddled with. So, now Jacob had to deal with the fact that she would have to watch him play pretend in this ridiculous getup. He could never catch a break with her, it seemed, she always had to catch him when he was in the middle of doing something cringe worthy. She didn’t even look half as uncomfortable as him and she was literally wearing half as much clothing.
Or maybe that was exactly why she was so comfortable as she sauntered up to him, making a finger pistol to tip his hat away from his face. “Cheer up, partner,” she teased. “I think it makes you look cute.”
“I think it makes me look like Owen Wilson from the museum movie,” Jacob replied, hoping the shadow of the brim hid his reddening cheeks.
“Oh my God, you are a tiny little twink cowboy, huh?”
“I’d rather be the gladiator guy.”
“You wish you could pull off being the gladiator guy.”
A rebuttal was on the tip of his tongue when Mibao made her appearance from behind the monitor where she had been changing. This time instead of her usual princess attire, she was dressed...pretty much the same, only this time she had a tiny pair or iridescent fairy wings attached to the back. What a fairy had to do with cowboys and indians, he hadn’t the faintest idea. She stopped when she saw the two of them and stuck out her tongue in childish disgust.
“Eww, stop kissing!” She scolded. “You can kiss the princess later, Jake, it’s time to play!”
Jacob had never been more grateful in his life that the creatures idly watching them couldn’t understand English because he just might have died if they heard. He could feel the heat radiating from his nape to his cheeks, putting his hands up in defense like it could keep Angie away from him.
“Wh-no! We weren’t, we weren’t kissing, Reagan, w-we-!”
Angie only cackled, her amusement stemming more from Jacob’s panicked response than the actual accusation of giving him a kiss. “Yeah, cowboy, you can kiss me later.” She winked and nudged him with her elbow as she walked past to where Mibao was waiting.
He groaned, tugging the hat down as far as it would go even if that meant obscuring his vision somewhat. That was totally fine, he didn’t want to look at anyone right now and he did not want to be perceived either. The child was leading them back over to her designated play area scattered with art supplies and stuffed toys for where they’ll play their game of make believe. Angie was already sitting on her knees by the time he shuffled over and beckoned him with a sly smile to come take a seat on the ground next to her. Jacob obliged, but refused to give her the satisfaction of seeing his beet red face.
As soon as they were settled, Mibao immediately launched into the exposition of the scene they would be putting on, including their roles and superpowers (that only she had because she was a magical fairy queen). Jacob was only half listening; the kid usually forgot half of her own rules in the middle of playing anyways because she wanted to change the story and it wasn’t that hard to follow her game of make believe. Instead, he kept side-eying Angie, who was side-eying him back, and every time they made eye contact she would smile and bump his shoulder with hers.
This was going to be a long playdate.
--
The lab door slid open as Talan walked in, peeling off his bloodied gloves to dispose of them in Ylva’s waste bin. “I need my human back.”
“Aw, why? They’re all having a ball together!” Ylva frowned, gesturing to the miniature trio on her desk. Well, the smallest one and Talan’s pet seemed like they were having a good time, namely at the expense of the other human in a hat. They all seemed to stop at the interruption, his human fixing him with a sneer that he was tempted to match.
“What the fuck is it wearing?” He asked, ignoring all the little protests he got when he grabbed it and plucked the stupid looking feather thing of its head. “I thought you said it’s not nice to torment the humans.”
Edix scoffed at him, though his annoyance was more from Talan being in his general vicinity than anything. “It’s not torment. They were having fun.”
Talan did not look convinced in the slightest, his eyes sweeping over the pup who was pouting at him for taking away its playmate and the other who froze any time he breathed in its direction. Like owner, like pet, he assumed as it seemed to unconsciously inch closer to where Edix’s hand was resting for a better sense of security. Pathetic. At least his pet had a bit more self respect and wasn’t afraid to try and stab him in the hand with his own tools. Of course, it got a sharp flick to the stomach to knock it off, but he could appreciate the gumption.
Talan rolled his eyes. “Yeah, looks like a real party. So sad to have missed it.”
“Like you’ve ever been to a party to know what it looks like.”
“Says the one that only hangs out with plants.”
“Okay,” Ylva interjected, rising from her chair and scooping up her adorable little human. “You’re right, we should probably wrap this up, Mibao’s going to need a nap soon and she likes to fight her naps when she’s excited.”
That was all the excuse Talan needed to dip out without a formal goodbye, though it didn’t escape the corner of his eye how Edix’s human took a half step forward when he left, almost like it wanted to say something. Even if it did, he wouldn’t have cared. As quickly as he had intruded, Talan disappeared back down the main hall of the fauna department to return to his lab.
Edix stood up as well and tucked the data pad he had been keeping busy with under his arm to keep his hands free. He couldn’t help but smile at seeing how much closer his little pet was standing to him, even if it wasn’t by much, even though it was caused by Talan of all bastards. A win was a win in his book. The hand the human had been partly hiding behind curled easily around it to lift it up, immediately cradling it to his chest as usual. It squirmed for a moment but settled quick enough, a clear sign it was also ready to go back to the lab it was accustomed to. For a social species, the little one always seemed so drained after any playdate Ylva arranged for their pets. Fine by him, it usually meant his human was much more quiet and well behaved once it was back in the solitude of Edix’s company, making for an easier work day.
He used his finger to tilt back the wide brimmed hat it had been using to hide its sweet little face a majority of the playdate, earning him a surprised squeak. With the way its baby cheeks were turning an adorable shade of pink, Edix had a fairly good guess as to why it was trying to avoid everyone’s line of sight. Damn, he should have had Ylva take more pictures, this was way too cute for him. It reached up to quickly pull its shield back down and Edix let it with a laugh, cooing as he tugged at its little vest instead which only made it wriggle in distress. Overdramatic little thing.
“Can I keep this costume?” He asked as he followed behind Ylva who was preparing to put her own pup down for a nap. In reality, it meant she was going to have to play with it for at least another half an hour because, much like him, she was a sucker when it came to her human wanting to play. The difference being that Mibao wanted to do anything from coloring to singing to continuing its game of make believe while Edix’s pet always wanted to play chase.
Ylva smiled and shrugged. “Sure, I mean, it’s not like it’s going to fit the baby. It was printed for its measurements specifically, anyways.” Mibao was proving to be difficult in its refusal to relinquish the shiny wings Ylva had designed at its request, something that Ylva quickly made a game out of by setting her pup on the desk and letting it squeal and run while her hands chased after it. That would tire the kid out in no time. She looked back at his human and giggled. “I don’t think it likes it very much, though.”
Oh yeah, that was obvious from the get go, but it didn’t change the fact that it was way too precious for its own good in this type of outfit. Edix actually quite liked the contrast of the dark brown against its pale skin, even more given the fact that it matched the color of its doe eyes perfectly. It was much more appealing than that splotchy green jacket it was inexplicably attached to. He had a feeling it was going to try and strip out of this outfit as soon as it was back in Edix’s lab, provided he gave it its normal suit and jacket to change into. But...maybe he didn’t have to offer it its spare set of clothes right away. Maybe it would just have to hang around in its little boots and hat for a couple hours longer while he finished up his latest report that was just so important to get done. And maybe he would get constantly distracted by how cute it looked while it was definitely pouting at him for not taking off its costume that it took a little longer than usual to finish his work, which meant it spent even longer pouting under its hat.
Decisions, decisions.
Edix waved his hand dismissively. “It’ll learn to love it.”
“Oh, Eddie, don’t be mean to it,” Ylva laughed, not that seemed bothered by the idea of his pet keeping the outfit on for an extended period of time beyond the playdate. “But send pictures if you do.”
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7-wonders · 3 years
Text
In Which You're Worried That Michael Might Actually Eat You
To say it had been a long week would be an understatement. No, it had been the week to end all weeks, a long week packed with terrible, horrible, no good, very bad things. After Dumb and Dumber (or Jeff and Mutt, depending on who you asked) having left their lab a ticking time bomb for you to discover, your vampiric boss rescuing you after you were trapped under burning debris and, as you later learned from Michael creepily telling you, suffering from internal bleeding would have been enough to call the week a wash. But no, you just had to have some weird link with said vampire now that his blood was stuck in you after he just had to keep you from dying. And of course, you had nobody to talk to about this, since any sane person would have you locked up after hearing what you had gone through.
So when Friday night rolls around and your friends ask you if you want to hit up the bars downtown with them, you're certainly not going to turn them down like you usually do. Now, after a few shots, a couple of mixed drinks, two games of pool, some dancing, and lots of bad singing with your friends, it's last call and bars are emptying out for the night. You lean against one of your friends as the group tries to figure out the price of an Uber for everybody to share.
"I should be fine to walk home, actually, I'm only a couple of blocks away from my place," you realize.
"Are you sure? It's late, and you were drinking," your friend frowns.
"I'm only a little buzzed! And I have this." You grab your keys out of your bag, complete with pepper spray and a shank that honestly makes a really cute accessory (and it's in your favorite color!).
"Okay," he says, not convinced. "Text the group chat when you make it home, though."
"Of course I will." After hugs and goodbyes, you turn to walk.
"Hey!" You look back in confusion. "Let me see that you're prepared for anything." Wordlessly, you hold up the shank between your fingers, thumb on the pepper spray trigger. "That's a bad bitch if I've ever seen one."
The buzz from the alcohol still lingers as you begin your quick trip home, but the fresh air is already doing wonders to sober you up the rest of the way. The sky is clear tonight, and you wish you weren't in the city so you could see the stars. Maybe it's this desire that's keeping your head up and not ahead of you, or the buzz making your balance just a little bit off. Whatever the reason, you trip over nothing but the sidewalk.
You pout when you look down at your knee, seeing that the fall tore your jeans and skinned your knee. It always seems to be the smallest injuries that bleed the most, and this is no different. You use the ripped fabric to try and dab up enough blood that it won't look like you're an extra from a horror movie. Once you're satisfied enough, you haul yourself back to your feet and look to see your building just a few yards away.
Even without the added hindrances, it would have been impossible for you to hear the inaudible growl coming from above you. The point of a vampire having enhanced abilities is so that their prey isn't alerted. By the time you feel a gust of wind behind you and are yanked backwards, it's been maybe 30 seconds since you tripped.
Whatever force has you in their grasp makes you fall to the ground yet again, their grip around your ankle as they drag you backwards into the alley. Your hands scramble across the sidewalk, trying desperately to find purchase in anything that's acting as an edge, but nothing sticks. Your ankle is free for just a moment, long enough for you to shove yourself to your feet and fumble for the pepper spray on the keychain wrapped around your list. You point it towards the general outline of your attacker, spraying it around until you're sure you've hit their eyes.
Unfortunately, that doesn't work. The growls get louder, and you're slammed up against the stone wall. You thrust the shank forward, hoping to find skin, but a hand wraps around your wrist and pins it next to your head.
"Just when I thought my pursuit of a meal was futile tonight, you just happened to stumble into my path. I'd consider that fate."
Your blood runs cold when you realize that you know this voice. Fumbling for your phone, you manage to turn the flashlight on before it's knocked out of your hand. The light is enough to illuminate what's in front of you though, and to confirm your suspicions. Michael looks absolutely feral right now, panting as if he hasn't eaten in days. By the faraway look in his blood-red eyes, he probably hasn't. You can tell that he's not even looking at you, not even realizing that it's you who stands in front of him.
"Michael," you mutter, feeling actual fear now as he starts to get closer to your neck. "Michael, please, it's me."
"Mmm, I'm going to make you say my name with your dying breath."
"Michael! You said you couldn't kill me, remember? That you can feel my emotions now that your blood is in me? You have to feel how scared I am right now."
He can't even hear what you're saying right now, the sound of your blood pumping overpowering any other sound in his vicinity. He's completely lost in the scent and the sound of your blood, so captivating to him in a way that's never happened before. You yelp when his fangs pierce your neck, tears beginning to fall.
"No, no, no!" In one last, fleeting attempt before you're drained, you knee him right in the groin. If there's one thing that affects all men, regardless of their supernatural status, it's being hit in the dick.
Michael releases you from between his jaws, stumbling back as he groans in pain. You slap your hand over your neck, a sob ripping from your chest when he looks at you, his eyes a crystal blue once more.
"(Y/N)," Michael says in disbelief, "(Y/N), I didn't know it was you."
"I was saying your name and telling you to stop!" you cry out.
"I-I don't, I didn't hear...didn't see...I've never lost control like that."
You don't stick around to hear the rest of his explanation, barely waiting until you can grab all of your belongings before you're running to your apartment. Michael wants to run after you, but he knows that he's already scared you enough for one night. Plus, he'd be lying if he said that he wasn't also a little frightened by what transpired. Never has anything like that happened to him. Being consumed by anger or hate, that's familiar to him. But the scent of one human's blood causing him to lose himself? He's not sure how that happened, especially with his blood running through you.
He'll give you some time to calm down before he comes knocking on your door, if only to make sure that you don't die of fright tonight. For now, he'll wait. Even if he won't admit it, he truly doesn't want to see you scared. Even though that did make your blood gush deliciously into his mouth...Michael licks his lips, moaning as the taste of you hits his tongue.
//
bby tag list: @michaellangdon @hecohansen31 @xavierplympton @blakescoven @guiltyfiend @mrslandgonn
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blackbat05 · 3 years
Text
You don’t like me when I’m angry (part 2)
Shangqi x Reader
A/N: Part 2 of <You don’t like me when I’m angry> Characters that I came up with are fictional and are not related to real people! I hope the flow is good as well! Did get some ideas from this webtoon, <Unholy Blood> that I was reading and I thought, hey why not right? Again, please enjoy! Hope it did not disappoint🙇🏽‍♀️
Genre: PG 13
Warnings: Maybe just watch out for a bit of detailed descriptions of injuries and the fighting. I tried to insert some themes like coping methods because honestly a superhero life isn’t all unicorns and rainbows - especially when most of them have morals.
‘When all this is over, I’m going to kill you!’ I scream over the bullets that were flying over our heads as we ducked behind the walls for cover. 
‘Why me? It was Katy’s idea!’ Shangqi retorts back, clearly feeling the injustice from the death stare. ‘Ok fine! Kill me all you want after this but we have a big furry problem on hand?’ He takes another shot at the group of henchmen with the rings he had inherited from his father. I slowly loose my vision, as the iris in my eyes turned orange. 
Shangqi sees you transforming into your alter ego and if you weren’t feeling murderous towards the mob boss, it was probably the most beautiful thing he saw. Skin ablaze, he wonders if that was the reason for your high tolerance in general. Meanwhile, more henchmen poured into the tiny hallway like cockroaches. Clearly he and Katy did not think about this in their plan - just how many of them were they?
‘I’ll cover you! Get to Gor before he kills the ambassdor’s family!’ He takes a deep breath, focusing all his energy on the rings to give the strongest blast he could. That was the signal. Breaking out into a sprint, I flew across the bodies that were stacked against each other before coming to a stop at the staircase where Katy was with the ambassador’s wife and child who were both inconsolable 
‘Gor’s got the older kid!’ Katy yelled over the siren from outside. Shit. The police were here. ‘Get them out and help Shangqi, I’ll meet you guys as soon as I can!’ Heck with property damage, a kid’s life was at stake. Charging up as much energy as I could, I broke through the wooden celling, arriving at the rooftop in record time to see Gor dragging the poor kid by the collar. 
‘Stop where you are RIGHT NOW!’ I threw a fireball at his shoulder as a warning. The werewolf stops, turning around menacingly to face me. ‘Let the kid go, they have nothing to do with this.’ 
Minus the kid’s sobbing, the atmosphere was deadly quiet. I didn’t dare to move from my spot least it triggered him. ‘Look, whatever you want, I’m pretty sure the ambassador has it,’ I tried a last ditch attempt reasoning with him, voice strangled in fear. ‘So please, I can stay with you until he gets here. Let the kid go.’ Why I was reasoning with a bloodthirsty werewolf, I had no idea myself.
‘You Avengers…’ Blood was dripping from his fangs. ‘Always so noble. But you see, do you really think that money was all I wanted?’ He pushes the kid over the ledge, cutting their right arm in the process. 
‘NO!’ I ran towards the edge, thinking of the worst. I think of Katy’s words back in the sanctum. More like the Avengers causing an international incident. Instead I see Shangqi carrying the confused kid who was covered in foam - from one of Katy’s trick arrows. The ‘chains’ are no longer holding me back. Gor laughs behind me. Now he’s really done it. 
‘I don’t know why you think this is funny,’ both my fists turned into fire. ‘But that’s ok. I’ll wipe that smirk of your face myself.’ 
The werewolf crazed look tells me that Gor is long gone together with the concept of reality. ‘You should have seen them... ha! The screaming men, women and children... their young blood doesn’t fail to disappoint...’ 
My fist came into contact with his jaw, breaking a few bones along the way. The large figure flies back and slams into the entrance of the staircase. Not giving him a chance to react, my arm replicates a sword on fire. ‘You... you killed children... innocent lives and FOR WHAT!’ I felt my body temperature going past the normal range, heart about to beat out of my chest. ‘I’m going to make you feel what they felt.’ 
Plunging the sword into his chest, the werewolf thrashed around violently, howling in pain. Screams echoing around me, it only made me dig the sword in deeper. ‘You won’t die, you’ll just experience what you did to them but ten times worse. I told you. You won’t like me when I’m angry G-’
‘(Y/N)!’ 
I wanted to stop but this odd thrill told me to continue. Shangqi places a hand on what used to be my forearm, bringing me back to my senses. ‘He killed children.’ My voice came out in nothing more of a whisper. ‘HE KILLED CHILDREN FOR SPORT!’ My rage about to hit the roof.
‘I know and I’ll probably roast him alive if I could too,’ he makes an attempt to soothe my anger. ‘But we’re done here. Please don’t do anything you’ll regret. Please.’ My vision slowly returns to normal as I look into his brown ones, removing the sword from the half conscious Gor. I signaled for Shangqi to give me a few more seconds as I bent down to Gor’s eye level. 
‘Remember my face. Remember my name. Because you won’t like me when I’m angry.’ 
I allowed myself to be led away by Shangqi as the cops started to storm the building. ‘Remind me to never get on your bad side. Like ever.’ He gives me a small smile.
We made our way down to meet Katy at the back alley. ‘I can never get angry at you Shangqi in case if you haven’t noticed yet.’ I put my hood up, walking into the open. ‘Katy on the other hand...’ 
‘THE HELL IS THE MATTER WITH BOTH OF YOU?’ She jabs her finger into my arm. ‘I have to take care of one reckless idiot already I don’t need another one.’ As if forgetting that she was mad at me a few seconds earlier, she launches herself into me, giving me a bear hug. ‘Please don’t do that again,’ she mutters into my shoulder as I patted her head, looking at Shangqi quizzically. Just go along with it, he mouths.
On queue, the golden portal opens with Wong waiting on the other side. He takes a moment to register our disheveled appearances, including the bloodstains on my face.
‘Please just ask the spider kid to do it next time,’ Katy dumps her gear unceremoniously onto the sofa. ‘Nearly tore my ligament trying to fight Gor’s right hand man.’ Again, Wong doesn’t say anything, staring at me as I focused on my hands.
He’s going to tell me I shouldn’t have lost my cool. The gravity of the situation finally had set in. Great, I won’t be able to go on missions with Shangqi and Katy next time. Maybe I should tell- Shangqi’s hands quietly wraps around mine, somehow knowing the chaos that was happening in my brain.
‘Right,’ Wong coughs, breaking the silence. ‘Go home, get some rest, see you back here tomorrow morning.’ The two were about to retort back, but quickly clamped their mouths shut when they saw Wong’s expression. It wasn’t open for negotiation. He creates two separate portals, one for Katy and Shangqi each.
‘(Y/n), a word please.’ Shangqi grips my hand, as if asking if I wanted him to stay. ‘It’s ok, go back and get some rest. I won’t be long.’ He hesitates for a moment, before going back home. ‘Call me.’ And the portal closes.
‘I saw what happened today.’ My eyes widened in surprise. Crap, there was no escaping this one. I bowed my head in shame, ‘I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have lose my cool. It was completely unprofessional of me but please don’t take me off missions with Katy and Shangqi.’
‘Take you off?’ Wong starts to chuckle to my bewilderment. ‘No (y/n), no one is taking you off anything. Maybe you should have kept your anger in check, but no one under your circumstances could have kept their cool. Just take a look at Strange.’ I unknowingly let out a snort.
‘What I do want to tell you is that if you have anything… even if you don’t wish to tell me, you have Shangqi and Katy. Good communication is essential for good teamwork.’
Wong was right. Whatever demons that I had inside of me, I projected them onto Shangqi. Given my abilities, it’s downright dangerous. Who knows what would have happened if he didn’t manage to defuse the situation as quickly as he did. I could have killed him and maybe everyone around the vicinity too.
Wong starts to create a portal back to home. ‘I shall not hold you back any longer (y/n), get some rest and good luck.’ I stepped into the portal, taking a deep breath to prepare myself for what I’m about to do next.
‘(Y/n)! Are you alright?’ Shangqi gets up from his bed while Katy snaps out of her trance. ‘What did Wong ask you? Don’t tell me he chewed you out for what you did back there?’ The questions came in a flurry. I look at their anxious faces, confident that my decision was the right choice.
‘No he didn’t, it’s all good. But maybe I just want to tell you guys something that I’ve been waiting to tell for a while.’
No doubt, it was going to be a long night. But rather than running away from today’s situation, I knew that I had to face it head on. And if it was of any comfort, one thing that I was sure about -
Is that I would never be alone.
A/N: Hoho~ part 2 is done! I have no idea what is that ending but it was the first thing that came to my mind so…😅 I think the whole premise of this two part story is essentially a reminder not to keep things to myself and know that there are loved ones who are supporting and cheering me on. And I don’t know… I think it’s something we could all use in this day and age! Again, thanks for reading both parts and please like and comment if you wish!🥰 More content and possibly different characters will be coming your way soon!
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robininthelabyrinth · 4 years
Text
Complications (aka trans!Jiang Cheng with a kid) - ao3 or part 1, part 2, part 3
-
A-Lian was as good a name as any for the brat, Jiang Cheng supposed. 
He’d been spitefully thinking of additional names ever since Nie Huaisang, that busybody, had decided on the name he liked best, but unfortunately Jiang Lian had a better ring to it than any of the others he’d come up with so far and he wasn’t quite petty enough to condemn his son to a disharmonious name just out of spite.
Assuming A-Lian stayed a son, anyway. Jiang Cheng was still curious as to how the Nie sect had managed to get cursed with an entire generation of women – Nie Huaisang had let slip a few hints that it might’ve had to do with a very fat celestial bird that hadn’t appreciated a comment that had, truly, been meant as a compliment, and anyway they would have made for excellent drumsticks, and honestly the more Jiang Cheng heard about this story the more he wondered if marrying Nie Huaisang just to hear the full version might possibly be worth it – and obviously he wasn’t about to let the Lotus Pier continue to ignore the issue of misaligned reincarnations any longer.
Something he’d have to start enforcing once he was back on the war front, he supposed – which was going to be very soon, if he had his way about it; he was sick and tired of the (nearly completed!) post-pregnancy isolation period.
He couldn’t wait for the relative peace and quiet of an active battlefield.
Of course, the second he thought that, A-Lian started making ominous grumbling sounds, because babies were apparently psychic. Why had no one ever mentioned that?
“You can’t be hungry again, brat,” Jiang Cheng told A-Lian firmly. “I literally just fed you.”
He probably just wanted to burp again, so Jiang Cheng picked him up and started patting him with one hand, using the other to fish out Nie Mingjue’s most recent letter. The other sect leader was quite possibly the most relaxing person he’d ever corresponded with: his letters were practical and to the point, with no extraneous fluff that Jiang Cheng would feel obliged to respond to. 
More importantly, it gave him an update on how his sect was doing, which was all for the best – Nie Mingjue had kept recruitment open for him, which he hadn’t needed to do, and that meant that each letter now contained not only battle strategy and requests for final decisions but also lists of the talent (or lack thereof) of new recruits so that he could make a decision on their admittance as tentative nominal disciples. Final admittance would have to wait until he returned, of course…
He hadn’t gotten a letter from Nie Huaisang yet.
That was to be expected, he supposed. Nie Huaisang had insisted on sticking around for nearly two weeks following the birth to make sure Jiang Cheng didn’t mysteriously expire from complications – the doctors had rolled their eyes a little, but Nie Huaisang’s mother had died from an infection that hadn’t been spotted in time and Jiang Cheng understood his paranoia – and he’d only reluctantly agreed to go, which meant he was probably dragging his feet.
Anyway, just because Nie Huaisang had agreed to tell Wei Wuxian about A-Lian didn’t mean that he could necessarily find Wei Wuxian. His shixiong could be anywhere, after all; contributing to the campaign, of course, but not necessarily in the Jiang sect’s camp…
Ah, yes. Just what Jiang Cheng’s day was missing: the stabbing sense of inadequacy and failure, with a nice slice of the sinking suspicion that his leadership was so bad that he couldn’t even convince his own shixiong to follow him and therefore everyone who was following him was simply humoring him.
“At least you seem to like me well enough,” he muttered to A-Lian, who gurgled happily at him now that the unfortunate burping incident was behind them. “You keep that up, you hear me? You may be a brat, and little more than a blob with arms and legs, but you still have to like me best.”
Nie Huaisang insisted that A-Lian was a gorgeous baby, but Jiang Cheng was having some trouble seeing it. Obviously A-Lian was a baby superior to all other babies, undoubtedly through sheer dumb luck (maybe it skipped a generation?), but he kept worrying that he’d done something wrong, either during the pregnancy or the birth or the care he’d been giving him, and that he’d end up damaging A-Lian for life.
It was easier if he thought of A-Lian as a very resistant blob that would always resume its original shape.
…he really wished Nie Huaisang would write to him and tell him what’d happened when he told Wei Wuxian.
He knew that Wei Wuxian would take it personally, but he wasn’t exactly sure how. Would Wei Wuxian be angry with him? Disappointed, that Jiang Cheng hadn’t just lost his core to the Wens, but his chastity as well? Disdainful that Jiang Cheng had been so desperate for family that he’d decided to carry the child to term, even knowing that its father was their parents’ murderer - that he himself had helped murder the father in turn? Upset, because Wei Wuxian had done so much to rescue him and care for him and even help him get his golden core back, and in return Jiang Cheng did nothing but create another burden that would fall on his shoulders?
Or worse – would Wei Wuxian feel like a failure, too, the way Jiang Cheng always did, and all because he hadn’t been able to save Jiang Cheng from the obvious consequences of his own stupidity?
(It wasn’t that Jiang Cheng hadn’t known when he’d allowed himself to be captured that he’d be tortured and most probably killed, and yet somehow it had never occurred to him that they would do what they did to him – he’d been a man so long that he’d forgotten, just like everyone else in the Lotus Pier, that he’d ever been regarded as anything else. He still didn’t regret the choice he’d made; he’d known that Wei Wuxian would do a better job of avenging his parents than he would and he was right about it, too, wasn’t he?)
Jiang Cheng was so immersed in dark thoughts that he almost – almost – failed to notice when A-Lian started reaching for the ink. Well, flailing around in the general vicinity of the ink, anyway.
“Don’t you even dare think about it, brat. Do you remember bathtime? You don’t like bathtime, and if you get yourself covered in ink, there’s going to be even more bathtime…”
“Jiang-xiong! Jiang-xiong! Are you and A-Lian awake in there?”
It was Nie Huaisang.
He’d returned in person instead of writing a letter; was that a good sign or a bad sign?
“Even if we weren’t, we would be after your yelling,” he shouted back. “What are you, an elephant?”
“A bull!”
“You’re too prissy to be a bull, except for the bullshit you always keep spouting!”
Jiang Cheng waited for Nie Huaisang’s response, which would inevitably be dripping with innuendo, and blinked when there wasn’t anything. That was strange; it wasn’t as if there was anyone here that Nie Huaisang would be embarrassed to –
Oh no.
“Can we come in?” Nie Huaisang asked from outside his door.
Jiang Cheng’s suspicions were confirmed at once when he heard that dreadful ‘we’. Nie Huaisang had returned not with news but with company – company Jiang Cheng still wasn’t sure he was ready to see.
“…fine,” he still said, because there was no point in holding it off any further. He braced himself for Wei Wuxian to sweep into the room like a hurricane.
He was not expecting Jiang Yanli to walk in instead.
“Jiejie!” Jiang Cheng exclaimed, and – damn him – felt his eyes start filling up with tears at once. He’d wanted so badly to have her with him during this excruciating process, and she’d even offered, writing him a letter full of concern about the ‘complications’ he was apparently struggling with. But she’d been safe in the Jin sect and he wouldn’t have been able to bear the guilt if something had happened to her on the way to see him.
And that meant he couldn’t say anything, not even in letters that were safe, not even in code, because if he’d so much as breathed a word about what was actually happening, she would have insisted on coming no matter what.
“A-Cheng!” she exclaimed, and rushed over. “Oh, A-Cheng, why didn’t you tell me…”
“I wanted to you to stay safe,” he sniffed. “Travel is so dangerous, and if something happened because of me –”
“Oh, A-Cheng…” She wrapped her arms around him. “I just wish I’d been here for you. You must have been so scared!”
“I have nightmares that say he was mostly just really angry,” Nie Huaisang put in, unhelpful as always; Jiang Cheng didn’t even bother to spare him a glance.
“You were here,” he assured her. “You sent me soup every week; I ate that when I couldn’t keep anything else down –”
A particularly vicious surge of late-onset morning sickness. It’d been a bad ten days.
“You still should’ve told us,” and that was Wei Wuxian, standing in the door next to Nie Huaisang with his shoulders up by his ears defensively, but Jiang Cheng was curled up in his sister’s arms so even if Wei Wuxian was horribly disappointed in him he would be able to handle it.
With Jiang Yanli there, he could handle anything.
“Probably should have,” he agreed, because Wei Wuxian was right. Opting to carry A-Lian at all was a stupid risk to have taken in the first place, given the likelihood of dying in childbirth and leaving the Jiang sect without a leader during their time of need, but – well, that’d been a risk he’d accepted the first time around when he’d given himself up to save Wei Wuxian. It hadn’t seemed so bad the second time, even though he knew he risked wasting all of Wei Wuxian’s hard work in rescuing and getting his core back. “Didn’t, though. You want to hold the brat?”
“Of course I want to hold the brat!” And when Jiang Cheng looked over, Wei Wuxian was smiling. Smiling. “I have to hold him! He’s my shizi!”
“What are you naming him?” Jiang Yanli asked as Wei Wuxian reached over to pick A-Lian up.
“…Jiang Lian,” Jiang Cheng finally admitted, and any embarrassing comments Nie Huaisang might have had to say about it – Jiang Cheng expected whooping in triumph, to be perfectly honest – were drowned out by A-Lian abruptly howling in indignation that this strange person had dared pick him up.
“Jiang Cheng! Jiang Cheng! The baby’s crying!” Wei Wuxian wailed. He sounded like a baby himself.
“Oh for the – give him here!” The second A-Lian returned to Jiang Cheng’s arms, the crying stop and the baby settled back down. He looked a little smug, even.
“It seems A-Lian likes A-Cheng the best,” Jiang Yanli said, covering her mouth with a smile. “Can I try?”
There were still tears, though not quite as many.
“He’ll get used to you eventually,” Jiang Cheng said, as if he wasn’t preening at his son’s excellent taste. “If you stick around, that is.”
“As if you’ll be able to get rid of us,” Wei Wuxian huffed, and that made something warm and happy and glowing appear in Jiang Cheng’s chest. “You know, it’s really unfair, Jiang Cheng! I put in all this work and effort into developing demonic cultivation and inventing all sorts of new things, and in a mere ten months you managed to make something even better.”
Jiang Cheng couldn’t help the laugh that broke free, his heart singing happily – Wei Wuxian didn’t hate him, wasn’t disappointed in him, was happy for him. “It wasn’t really something I was actively working on.”
“Rude. No need to rub it in.”
And just because Jiang Cheng was Jiang Cheng, he had to affirmatively check: “You’re not upset, are you?”
“Only that you robbed us of the opportunity to spoil you rotten,” Wei Wuxian said. “Oh, and for having Nie Huaisang tell me about it – I only found out because he and his brother were betting on the gender.”
Jiang Cheng twisted around in Jiang Yanli’s arms to glare at Nie Huaisang.
“I lost,” Nie Huaisang said, as if that would make things better, and weirdly enough it sort of did. “Never bet against da-ge.”
Jiang Cheng thought about it and nodded. That seemed like a good rule, no matter the circumstances – and anyway, if that meant that Nie Mingjue was there when Wei Wuxian was told, that was all the better. As far as Jiang Cheng was concerned, there was nothing in the world that Nie Mingjue couldn’t handle.
He wished he could one day be even half of what Nie Mingjue was. Confident and self-assured, an excellent sect leader beloved by all, a war leader and a filial son, righteous and terrifying…
“I hope he won something good off of you,” he told Nie Huaisang, who grimaced at him in a way that suggested Nie Mingjue really had won something good. “You deserve it.”
“You have no sympathy for me,” Nie Huaisang whined.
“Forget sympathy for you, what about sympathy for me?” Wei Wuxian put in. “‘Oh, hi, Wei Wuxian, nice to see you, been a long time, guess what, your shizi’s a boy!’”
Okay, that sounded really funny actually. Jiang Cheng kind of regrets missing it.
He smirked at Wei Wuxian, who saw it and made a rude gesture in return.
“It was traumatizing,” Wei Wuxian said with a sniff. “Really, truly. Shijie, you need to make me some soup to help me get over it.”
“No way,” Jiang Cheng said at once. “If she’s making soup, she’s making it for me.”
“You’ve apparently been getting her soup every week for the past few months; I deserve it more!”
“I’m the one getting my chest gnawed off by a wild animal three times a day –”
“I can make enough for both of you,” Jiang Yanli said patiently. “Nie-gongzi, is there a kitchen..?”
“I’ll show you the way,” Nie Huaisang said with a grin. “I’m eager to see how this famous soup gets made. I had to beg Jiang-xiong for three weeks to get a single spoonful, and it was worth every minute of it.”
“You flatter me…”
They left together, and Jiang Cheng used the opportunity to scrub the tear tracks off his face as best as he could.
“It really was pretty traumatizing,” Wei Wuxian said, pointedly only looking at an increasingly sleepy A-Lian instead of seeing what Jiang Cheng was doing. “Not as traumatizing as the lecture Chifeng-zun gave me afterwards about how badly I’ve been behaving.”
“Badly?” Jiang Cheng said, frowning. “What do you mean, you’ve been fine; the effect your demonic cultivation has been having against the Wens alone –”
“No, I haven’t been,” Wei Wuxian said, and his tone was uncharacteristically serious. “Not because of the demonic cultivation, but because I haven’t been standing by your side the way I promised I would.”
“You’re doing your best,” Jiang Cheng said firmly. “You have demonic cultivation now, and that means you can do a lot more things – it makes sense for your to be at the front line.”
“I’m not saying that I shouldn’t be at the front line. I’m saying that I promised you that you’d be my sect leader, that I’d follow you, and instead I keep treating you like you’re still my shidi. Making decisions on your behalf, insisting on doing things my way because I think I’m right…” Wei Wuxian shook his head. “I got used to doing things that way, all these years. But things are different now. You’re my sect leader. Decisions like how to best deploy me are your decision, not mine – if you want me by your side instead of on the front, I should do that; if you want me to lead the Jiang sect cultivators, I should be doing that. I can try to persuade you that my plan is better, but in the end, if I’m going to be part of the Jiang sect, I need to accept that it’s your word that’s final, because anything else would be disrespectful – and I don’t want to disrespect you, Jiang Cheng. Sect Leader Jiang.”
“Don’t call me that,” Jiang Cheng said, words sharp but only because otherwise he’d have to acknowledge that he was crying again. He hadn’t even known he’d wanted to hear that from Wei Wuxian until he had – he hadn’t realized how important it was that Wei Wuxian finally acknowledged him, that Wei Wuxian thought he was capable of being sect leader; he hadn’t realized how much his feelings had been tangled up by the fact that Wei Wuxian still treated him as if he was just a foolish child that didn’t know better. “Everyone else can call me that, but you call me Jiang Cheng, okay? Always.”
He reached over and grabbed Wei Wuxian around the shoulders, drawing him into a tight one-armed embrace.
“Watch the baby,” Wei Wuxian said, as if he wasn’t hugging back just as hard. “Don’t drop my shizi because you’re not paying attention.”
“I’m not going to drop him,” Jiang Cheng said, grateful for the mostly-a-joke. “Does that – does that mean you’re coming back to the Jiang sect? For real this time?”
“Yes,” Wei Wuxian said. “I am. No more running around outside, I promise.”
Jiang Cheng’s hands were busy, holding his shidi in one and his son in the other, so he had to bury his face into Wei Wuxian’s shoulder to help stop the flow of tears. “Wei Wuxian,” he said. “You really don’t – you’re not angry at me?”
“Why would I be angry at you?” Wei Wuxian said, pulling back and frowning at him and then frowning even more when Jiang Cheng made a flailing sort of gesture with his head towards A-Lian. “For - for that?! Jiang Cheng, it wasn’t your fault you got captured!”
It sort of was, actually, and Jiang Cheng has always been a terrible liar; he shouldn’t have let his insecurities get away from him enough to even ask, because now Wei Wuxian’s eyes were the ones filling up with tears. He’d never been an idiot.
“You didn’t,” he insisted, and his hands were white-knuckled where he grabbed onto Jiang Cheng’s arms. He was probably leaving bruises, and neither of them cared. “Jiang Cheng, tell me you didn’t! Don’t – in the marketplace, when the Wens were about to find me – Jiang Cheng…!”
“Someone needed to avenge our parents, and you were the better choice!” Jiang Cheng blurted out. “And I was right, wasn’t I? You did it! You even invented demonic cultivation –”
“I didn’t have a choice!” Wei Wuxian exclaimed. “There wasn’t any other way out of the Burial Mounds, and now I’m stuck, Jiang Cheng – you don’t understand, it’s not just, I don’t – I can’t – it’s demonic cultivation or nothing for me, and when the war ends, when it stops being useful and starts being horrifying, the entire cultivation world is going to turn against me, and I can’t bring you down with me –”
“Why are you talking like it’s the only type of cultivation you can do anymore?” Jiang Cheng demanded. “How can one type of cultivation block you from doing another? That doesn’t make any sense – even if it did block you, you could just stop, it’s not like you don’t have a golden core –”
Wei Wuxian didn’t say anything.
“You have a golden core,” Jiang Cheng said again, more urgently this time. “Wei Wuxian, you have a golden core, right? You didn’t –” He was starting to panic. “It was Wen Chao that threw you into the Burial Mounds, wasn’t it? He said it himself that that was what he did, and where there’s Wen Chao, there’s Wen Zhuliu – did he melt your core? And I took your name when we went to Baosan Sanren’s mountain, I took your birthright away from you –”
“Jiang Cheng, no! That’s not what happened!”
“You told me to tell her I was you!” Jiang Cheng exclaimed, because what else could it be? Baosan Sanren was a true immortal, powerful enough to fix a golden core, but everyone knew that her disciples weren’t allowed back onto the mountain once they’d left – the gift she’d given him, reviving his core, that must have been a once-in-a-lifetime offer. “I told her I was you so she’d heal me and now she won’t heal you; I did to you what Mother was always afraid you’d do to me –”
“I lied!” Wei Wuxian cried out, and he sounded as if his heart was being torn out of his chest. “I lied, Jiang Cheng, stop trusting me so much! There’s no Baosan Sanren, no mountain; just me, making stupid decisions on your behalf again, because I’m arrogant, because I think I know better, because I –”
“What did you do?” Jiang Cheng said. His lips felt numb. His whole body felt numb. “Wei Wuxian, what did you do –”
A-Lian burst into tears.
That knocked them both out of their self-absorption, turning at once to see what was wrong with the baby.
“Did we jostle him?” Wei Wuxian asked anxiously once they’d gotten A-Lian a little calmer. “We didn’t hurt him, did we?”
“I think we were just being too loud,” Jiang Cheng said after concluding his inspection. “And anyway, he’s kind of a blob right now – you pinch or pull at him and he goes back the way he used to be. The doctors all say that babies are very flexible.”
“A little bun,” Wei Wuxiand agreed. “With just a little dusting of sesame on top.”
Jiang Cheng looked at the very few scraps of black hair A-Lian had managed to grow. “…he does kind of look like that, doesn’t he? Come on, A-Lian, calm down, it’s okay, we’ll stop yelling, we promise –”
“Really?” Wei Wuxian said. He sounded skeptical. “You’re going to stop yelling?”
“Shut up, you sound like Nie Huaisang. Don’t think you’re getting away without telling me what you did…you gave me yours, didn’t you?”
No wonder his core had felt different, stronger, when he’d woken up – he’d assumed it was Baosan Sanren giving him a gift, but in reality it was only that Wei Wuxian was a better cultivator than he was, that he’d strengthened himself more.
No wonder, too, that his core had felt familiar – he’d pressed his ear against Wei Wuxian’s belly a thousand times, feeling the warmth of it, and he’d mistaken that familiarity for it being his.
Wei Wuxian nodded, and Jiang Cheng scowled. “Can it be reversed?”
“Absolutely not,” Wei Wuxian said at once. “For one thing, I wouldn’t agree; for another, it was only a fifty-fifty chance of it working successfully the first time, I’m not taking that risk again. Anyway, I have demonic cultivation now, and if we traded back, you’d need to be the demonic cultivator, and what would that do to the Jiang sect’s reputation?”
Jiang Cheng hated it when Wei Wuxian had a point.
“Especially now that we have an heir,” Wei Wuxian added, reaching out to rub A-Lian’s head. “You’ve got to make sure the Jiang sect is thriving so that you’ll have something good to hand down to him.”
Jiang Cheng really hated it when Wei Wuxian had a point.
“I can’t believe you did that for me,” he said.
“I can’t believe you got captured for me,” Wei Wuxian rebutted. But that wasn’t the same at all, it was –
Okay, maybe there were a few superficial similarities.
“At least that explains why you’ve been so distant,” he said, shaking his head and smoothing A-Lian’s minimal hair down as the baby started to fall asleep again. “I thought you just didn’t trust me to be a good sect leader…”
“What? No! Jiang Cheng, you’re a great sect leader. I just didn’t want to risk dragging you down.”
“How can you drag us down? I’m literally using your golden core to lead the sect!”
“It’s yours now,” Wei Wuxian said. “I built it up, but I can’t decide on how you use it – everything you’ve done since then, that’s still yours. You know that, right? It’s all still you. Your achievements, not mine. Saying it’s mine would be like saying that every person that Chifeng-zun has ever defeated was actually the triumph of whoever forged Baxia for him.”
Jiang Cheng would murder anyone who dared to say something like that, except he’d never get the chance to because Nie Huaisang would have ruined their life before he’d even gotten started.
“Fine,” he said. “But you’re still not dragging us down. We’ll just have to be careful, that’s all – we can even use it to our advantage: whenever we need something to happen that we can’t really admit to, we have you do it, excuse it as being because of the influence of your demonic cultivation, and tell everyone we’ll get right on fixing it right away. Just the way Father used to do with Mother’s temper tantrums.”
“…wait, those were staged?”
“Well, some of them were, anyway,” Jiang Cheng said. He was mostly sure. “But you have to run anything really crazy by me first, okay?”
“Right,” Wei Wuxian said, nodding. “Uh – does that count past actions?”
Jiang Cheng wasn’t even surprised. “What’d you do?”
“Promised a safe harbor to one of the branch families of the Wen sect?”
Jiang Cheng might be gullible where his shixiong was concerned, but he wasn’t dumb. “Wen Qing and Wen Ning? They’re the ones that helped you do – what you did.”
Wei Wuxian nodded guiltily.
“Well, in that case, I can hardly turn them down, can I?” Jiang Cheng said, pretending to grumble. “That’d make me ungrateful. Fine; I retroactively authorize your offer, they can come be guest disciples at the Jiang sect –”
Wei Wuxian hugged him again.
“If you wake the baby up again I will kill you,” Jiang Cheng said, but he hugged him back.
“I think they’re done,” Nie Huaisang’s voice drifted in from the door, and they both turned to look.
Jiang Yanli’s eyes were red, suggesting that she’d been listening – and Jiang Cheng hated that, hated that he’d ever caused her pain or sadness; his jiejie deserved the best things in life, always, not more pain and disappointment and everything he brought with him. But true to form she didn’t say anything, only smiled and said, “I knew A-Xian and A-Cheng would talk it out eventually.”
“Bet you didn’t predict the baby,” Nie Huaisang chirped, and then cowered when all three of them glared at him. “Sorry, sorry. Please ignore me.”
“In the future, there will be no such secrets, understood?” Jiang Yanli said to them, with more steel than usual in her soft voice. “A-Xian will tell us before he does something crazy, and A-Cheng won’t not tell us when something important happens –”
“Well, it’s hardly likely to happen a second time,” Jiang Cheng protested, but not very strongly.
“Hey, don’t be so hasty,” Nie Huaisang said. “We could want more kids after we get married.”
“Wait,” Wei Wuxian said. “When did –”
“We are not getting married!” Jiang Cheng bellowed. It was a good thing that A-Lian apparently found Jiang Cheng’s yelling soothing, or else he would’ve woken up again. “Nie Huaisang, stop telling people we’re getting married!”
“I don’t tell people we’re getting married, I only tell you!”
“That’s not better!”
“Wow,” Wei Wuxian said to Jiang Yanli, voice deliberately pitched obnoxiously loud. “It’s almost like they’re married already –”
“Wei Wuxian! I will throw something at your head, just watch me!”
“Just don’t throw the baby!”
269 notes · View notes
sly-merlin · 4 years
Text
Killing Me - 3 | n.y
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pairing : law student!reader + yuta
genre :    angst , mafia au/ arranged marriage au , smut
warnings : curse words, mention of murder, guns, knives. smut and drinking.
new entries : yugyeom, jungkook , wonwoo
words : 4.2k 
summary : “life’s never fair y/n. realise it as soon as you can . it is the only secret for living a regretless life.”
                                              or
                  curiosity got the cat hitched!
K.M masterlist
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 taglist ::t :: (not tagging the old ones because they have read it already bt if u want , lemme know! )  @yiyi4657​​ @sorrywonwoo​​ @sillywinnergladiator​​  @suhweo​​ @exfolitae​ @minejungwoo​
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{ 11:15 }
Look before you leap. Had you remembered the saying, you’d not be sitting in front of a mafia boss, regretting your former imprudent actions. Taeyong was sitting on a high back executive chair, aura screaming authority, his high and mighty self, making you feel inferior. His eyes bore into yours as if he could read your soul with his intense gaze.
Your stare equally harmonized with his fierce one.
A loud fake cough from someone interrupted you from ogling at the boss. He indeed looked like a feast, anyone would falter! Getting your much needed attention at this point, taeyong dismissed others from his office with a flick of his hand. The only ones to stay behind in the vicinity of the four walls were you, taeyong and a blue haired man. Out of all, he looked most annoyed with your presence.
“Jaehyun, sit down, it’s going to take a while.” taeyong directed him and the man occupied the empty seat beside you. You could already feel him eyeing you down.
“Miss y/n. I’m not going to beat around the bush. So, listen sensibly.”
Your blood ran cold at his cold and blank declaration. The fierceness of his eyes was seeping through his words making you cower in your position. Your firm resolve to fight for your life was already breaking down and this was just a start.
“I know this is too sudden and It’s normal being apprehensive of this situation but you are not on a very strong front here. Marry yuta or - you know the consequences. And I don’t want you to choose on impulse. This is going to be your last opportunity, so be wise! Nobody wants to die y/n and you certainly don’t! I have a proposal for you. It’s for your own good but if you still decides against me, I promise I’ll grant your last wish without any hesitance and believe me, I always keep my word” he finished, placing his gun on the table to prove his point. You nodded briefly after taking in everything. He continued-
“You will marry yuta, say by the end of this week. But as you sign the registration papers, I’ll provide you the ownership of 3 exclusive properties in gangnam with only one small, harmless condition. You’ll hold title not as miss y/l/n but as Mrs Nakamoto. Moreover, you won’t have to do any job. Your living expenses, all will be managed from our side. Yuta alone is capable of providing you a black card. You can live hassle free. A house, security, what else could anyone want! You won’t have to change a thing in your life. Think of it as an up-gradation.”
You felt like being kicked in the teeth. This man was trying to bargain your whole future with his riches.
“Sounds promising?” He enquired. You pondered over what he said to find any single error to turn the tables but that was out of question until you knew his demands fully. And it wasn’t very promising. when did choosing between life and death became so difficult!
“You can’t assure me my freedom! connecting me with neos is more like booking a room for me to rotten in jail. The security you are talking about is for you I guess. And yuta is more like a noose for me. I’ll be dead one way or another” you uttered, releasing the air you were holding while speaking.
You heard jaehyun snort beside you.
“Your safety will be my top priority and yes, you will be associating with neos, but that is something you don’t need to be worry about. For the outer world, you will be the wife of yuta”.
“What difference would it make?” his explanations going beyond your head.
“Let me explain like this. Have you ever seen a neo member’s face prior to this or heard anyone getting caught?”
“I guess no.”you answered without hesitation.
“Neos doesn’t have faces .…but these faces do have names for commoners like you.”
“You mean double-life?”
“Have you ever heard of moon industries?”
“Who doesn’t have? Moon industries are the 3rd biggest sponsors and investers for almost everything in Korea.”
“Yeah, yuta works there. Anything clicks for you?
You refuse with motion of your head.
“You’ll not be marrying yuta from neos but nakamoto yuta who works in moon industries. Like that, you won’t be getting in any trouble . A legitimate life. You can do anything you want except open your pretty mouth”. 
you didn’t like being called that!
“I don’t understand, you said nobody knows you people then what am I even doing here. How that officer did even recognise yuta. I shouldn’t even be here, if your identities are so hidden.”
“See jaehyun, I told you she’s more than just book smart. Listen y/n, mafia doesn’t work like the way you might be thinking. We can’t spill everything to you even if you decide to die the very next moment.
It was hard to believe that he planned all of this while you were held captive, within 9 hours. Taeyong was extremely meticulous and expeditious as well. But there was one more question left and you knew he couldn’t answer it. Nothing came without flaws afterall!
“Why are you being so ‘generous’ to me? My bio data of few pages can’t make you trust me so definitely. You are practically giving me an offer to rant you all to police. I’m sure you don’t grease the palms of all officers and if I-
“Me and you both know that you won’t do it unless you are fed up with your life and that would leave to start de novo!” his words indicated conclusiveness, his raised brows challenging you to refuse him. For now his surety signalled safety, but you still had one defence left or as everyone called it – a plea. It was better to beg than to be between Scylla and Charybdis.
“Is there no other way. I promise you with my life I won’t ever say anything. You can put spies over me or do whatever you want to keep a check on me.” your desperation to fight for your life was evident in your appeal.
“Yes! There is one more solution!” jaehyun chimed, facing you from his seat. He was grinning eye to eye. “We can sell you to an underground escort ring where you’ll happily live until you die and there’d be no neo or yuta or police or career. I’m sure you are shrewd enough to survive there”. nobody mentioned this before!
“If you can’t shut your mouth, then leave jaehyun.” taeyong scolded and he went back to his original position. Jaehyun seemed to be enjoying your state. He hit you with harsh reality you were still unaware of. Maybe,you were really on their mercy now,
“He is joking right?”
“No, he is telling the truth but I want you to make a choice. That hell-hole is not for someone like you. You can do better. Take this as a shortcut to a nice life.”
“How can I believe that you won’t be putting me in the some escort ring as he said to shut my mouth?”
“If I wanted, you won’t be sitting here anymore.”he deadpanned
You were silent. Your mind went blank. No words came to grace your lips. You were trapped and though there were plenty of options, there was none for you. Either you live and marry yuta or die. There was no other way to live.
“And what if my life doesn’t turn out all good?” you asked timidly.
“Then I’ll let you leave. And without any condition”
Finally some hope. You could leave. You would definitely leave.
“Is yuta okay with it?”
“His position is not better than yours.”
“I’m not going to leave university then.”
“Suit yourself! Just don’t convert yourself into a nuisance for us.”
You nodded with head hanging low. You had been beating the air till now, which resulted in nothing but defeat. Taeyong got what he wanted in the end.
“Call jaemin and haechan. Before she goes home, we need to give her a gift. And you made a good choice, you won’t regret it, take my word for it.”
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[1 p.m]
Twelve hours has passed. As you were walking towards your dorm, you pinched yourself several times but your reality was now a nightmare from which you’d never wake up. Defeated, you entered your dorm only to lie down in the bed, to regret your life decisions. Graciously, chelin was out till midnight with her boyfriend, so you had all the time in the world. The last 12 hours kept playing in your head like a broken record. You were happy in the club drinking yesterday. if maybe you’d not left them behind, you’d still be incharge of your life game. then that police officer, living off of some mafia group, doyoung , johnny,jaehyun , taeyong and him, the source of your plight. You were suddenly feeling like a kite which till now was flying freely in the air but its thread was now in the grasp of someone who wanted to tie you down by the same, if you think of it, the scales were never balanced! You were always at the losing end. Beggars are never the choosers after all. Sleep unknowingly took over your tired limb while you were wallowing in self-pity.
A ping.
The notification of a text woke you up from your peaceful sleep. You were out for about 4 hours but it felt good as your head was no more pounding. The text was from Jungkook about a party his friend group was organising to celebrate the upcoming finals. they were just partying yesterday with you and now this.
Another ping.
Same text from yugyeom. You sighed in frustration.
Both of your best friends lived in the same place and were always joined by the hip and you were sure they were together at the moment as well but where there’s a question to annoy you, they won’t let the opportunity pass.
You deliberated about telling them everything but you refrained as taeyong’s threat was not a gun without bullet. He warned you before coming and you were supposed to keep your mouth shut. It was better to keep them away from trouble. You were extremely alone.
Another ping.
They were asking about your whereabouts. You never informed them you reached home yesterday. Their worry was visible through their multiple scolding motherly texts. You would have laughed at their antics but your own humorous state rendered you incompetent to feel any joy.
It was not difficult to make them believe that you overslept as everyone knew your shitty professors treated you more like a slave and less like their researcher. But refusing to meet them and declining free alcohol was making them sceptical. You had no option other than going but you’d be anywhere than at a party right now. But maybe some commotion of drunk university students and blasting music could take your thoughts away for some time.
However, first there was another task to be taken care of! You searched ‘Moon Industries’ on naver. There were numerous articles praising their new successful new ventures. You opened their official website, the list of board of directors and associates was not too long. The photo of head director looked too familiar. Maybe it was that short man. And then him. There was no photo but his name was written just few places below moon tail.  Taeyong was not bluffing. Nakamoto was an important name and maybe everyone there was, however, it was beyond your intellect as how they managed to do it. There was no way out now. One thing that wasn’t adding up was the properties .your brainwaves couldn’t find a conclusion to those. There was no reason for him to do that when you weren’t left with any choice ultimately. Maybe you’ll find out tomorrow.
You got out of clothes that adorned your body since yesterday. Their smell was enough to make you gag. How could someone fell asleep in these! The cold water of the shower eased your mind fairly. Your eyes were drooping again but sleeping would do you no good. You could run away from your problem like everybody else. Just this once. After showering, you took a brief look at your wardrobe. It was just a college party, with same people so dressing up to impress them was out of tone for you. Not that you were dolling up anyways. You could just wear your pyjama and still outshine any flashy titties out there. At least that’s what kookie and gyeom had been feeding you till now. You took out a black full sleeve v- neck blouse with white shorts. It hugged your upper body tightly leaving just enough space for some air. You looked good and felt good too. Being in no mood to do makeup, you opted for a nude lip to complete your look. You wore the bracelet that you were not supposed to part with but out of habit, you had removed it earlier to shower. Now it adorned your wrist again. It was a band. A gift by taeyong. The bracelet was a tracking device, not that jaemin wasn’t hacking your phone already but they needed to be double sure, just in case. Not like you were going to rant them out. you felt like Taeyong’s threatening voice would never leave your ears.
Yugyeom’s call replaced the voice. They were already waiting for you. You decided to drown yourself in alcohol for one day and enjoy with your friends. The party was at nearby club situated at 10 min distance. Your dorm was nearer to the gates so it was always easy to go out. Slipping into your shoes, you made your way out.
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“You will regret this, taeyong” though yuta didn’t show in front of you in basement, he was furious at taeyong for making his life decisions. “First her and now this! the mistake I made was not that big. Slip ups happen with everyone here, including you. So why it’s only me, who’s getting –
“Not a slip up but a blunder yuta” taeyong fumed at him. “Last time, mark almost died because of you. It was my mistake I let it slide. You aren’t getting any more chances. My decision is final” his voice went deeper as he spoke.
“I regret it tae, you know it” his voice filled with guilt. “But don’t feed me the lies. This is not the only reason you’re doing this for. There is something you aren’t telling us”
“There might be. But you already know what you need to! So celebrate your month long vacation. Go to work with taeil hyung. She’s coming tomorrow again and we’ll discuss other matters with her. Be present here. Don’t disappear like you did in the morning.”
Yuta huffed and decided to leave instead of wasting his time on his leader.
“And leave your gun here”
“WHAT NOW?”
“Don’t shout and leave your gun. Corporates don’t carry guns in this country.” taeyong replied calmly, almost in a mocking tone. Yuta removed the gun from holster and handed it to taeyong before turning towards the door.
“Other one as well” taeyong demanded with a smirk.
“Huh, now you’ll ask for my dagger as well!” yuta sneered at him while removing the other pistol from back of the pants.
“I’m not that cruel, yu. Keep your sweetheart with you. It’ll remind you of the absence of your other toys.”. “And don’t forget. Tomorrow at 4. sharp.”
Instead of responding, yuta showed him a middle finger before actually going out.
Mark was standing at the end of the hallway, waiting for yuta already.
“What happened hyung?” he asked curiously.
“Nothing. You are going to be the best man in my wedding” yuta replied nonchalantly. But mark knew there was more to it. Yuta won’t settle down just because he was told to!
“To her?”
“Yeah, who else. Taeyong is getting short on his brain. We might need to replace him soon” he joked but mark could see right past him.
“Hyung. What are you thinking?” he asked cautiously in a scared tone.
“Ruin her life. I’ll make her regret being alive.”
And yuta walked away, leaving worried mark behind him. He didn’t go after him. He knew better not to.
The party was at full blast when you reached. It was always a nice change watching studious snu students washing away their worries. Your soulmates were nowhere to be found but you spotted chelin sitting with her friends on the stairs. It seemed like everyone who knew was there. Your classmates, juniors. Club was filled with students of all ages. Being multi-storey with a parking lot and near the uni., these factors were enough for making it a perfect party spot. After talking to a few fellow classmates, you went upstairs, brushing past chain’s group, who seemed to be too drunk to notice you. There were Jungkook and yugyeom with few others sports physiotherapy students. Being master’s students, you all just went to parties for alcohol and hook-ups and nothing else. And that’s what you were planning to do from the start.
“y/l/n” as yugyeom noticed you, he and Jungkook ran to give you a bear hug.
“I don’t want to smell your armpits, losers. Get away” you huffed while struggling in their tight grip.
“sowwyyyy, we forgot you are under average” jungkook teased you, gyeom giving him a hifi in return.
“You both are so damn irritating.”
“We adore you too, darling” Jungkook knew how much you hated being called that. But alcohol in his system was making him daring. After giving a fist hit to his gut, which did nothing to his sculptured abs, you made your way to the drinks. One, two, three, and within 5 minutes you had enough alcohol in your system to provide much needed numbness to your brain.
“Whoa shortie, what’s with you today? At least wait for us to join you.” kook chimed in with another nickname you hated with your guts.
“You both are already drunk, meaning kook your boyfriend is here and gyeom, your girlfriend. You both are going to forget me in few minutes anyway.”
As if on cue, yugyeom’s girl yeong came into view, giving you a proper hug.
“I’m so sorry y/n, but we have to go. Our department has to work for the fundraiser tomorrow and I’m a designated driver here.” she explained sheepishly. Not like you were dying to talk to them today. The loner, the better.
“Plz take them away. I’ll send you a thank you card tomorrow for your act of kindness.” you said sarcastically, resulting in both of them making faces at you.
“Bye y/n we’ll mwisss uuu” Jungkook lunged at you with a back breaking hug. Then came gyeom and in a minute they were both out of your sight.
Those being out of your way meant no one was there to stop you. Once your body was flooding in alcohol, You made your way to the dance floor. You loved music and dancing came mechanically with that. You were swaying your body, mingling with the music when you felt a pair of hands controlling your movements. You accepted his well-known touch. You both moved side to side for a few minutes before he impatiently lead you towards the back of the club. He was always an eager one, not that you ever denied him. Noticing few people already in each others faces, he moved to the other side, heading towards the car parking. Sprinting towards his car, he hurriedly opened the back car door to lead you in.
“Not here, wonwoo.” he viewed you with his raised brow. “Back!”
“Who am I to refuse you, baby” he said, directing you towards the trunk. He opened it with one swift motion. His legs were swinging outside as he sat on the edge. Pulling you towards him, he kissed you hungrily like hadn’t feasted on you a few days ago. Wonwoo loved your touch, and same was the case with you. That was it, nothing more to description.
“Looks like someone missed me” you whispered in between the kisses.
“You are at a perfect height for me here. God, why didn’t I think of this earlier” and kept attacking your lips until they were plump enough to satisfy him. His tongue asked for entrance, which your lips provided without any hesitation. Your hands were mingled in his hair tugging at the hair roots, earning few groans from him. Somewhere while kissing, you ended up on his right thigh which you were roughly grinding by now.
“As much as I would love you to cum on my thigh, I want to take you raw. So please be patient” he requested while stopping your movements with one hand. His other hand was caressing your back and waist, making you bite him on his lips.
“Shit, you can’t wait huh” he jested at you. he dropped you on your feet, one hand resting against your wet core from behind, other angling your neck to place wet kisses on your collarbones. You whimpered and squirmed against his touch. He had that effect on you. You weren’t sure what drew you both back towards each other after each week but the pull was compelling to you.
After gratified with his artwork he stood up to replace your positions. You were now sitting on edge while he towered over you. Hastily your hand went to remove his belt but seeing you struggling, he took up the task for himself. You removed your own shorts in meantime and placed them where his pants were now. Fortunately for others, the party inside was still lively to engage them and there was no fear of getting caught, not that wonwoo cared. He could take you anytime, anywhere.
He had to lower himself to hold you but he was so used to it by now. Without a warning, he slided you towards his standing body to kiss you ravenously. Your hands did their work on his boxers and started pumping his already hard length. No words were spoken as your silky underwear was removed from your hips. He backed you against the surface to the point you were lying down, his hand on back of your head to support you. His length slipped into you making you whimper loudly. He was big, from everywhere. Skin slapping was the only sound that could be heard in the quite parking lot at this hour of night. His hand on your hip was holding you tight, your legs wrapped around his waist while he fucked and kissed you in his brute mode. If it was not for his arms, you’d have collapsed then and there.
“Fuck y/n. how can you be so tight” he hissed against your lips.
“Shut u-up.” your voice got stuck in your throat. The only thing in your control were your hands on wonwoo’s nape, holding him towards you. The muscles in your abdomen, which could be felt by him, went stiff, your back arching at familiar sensation. His own kisses went sloppier indicating he was also closer. You both released at the same time, warm liquid spilling out of your conjoined bodies. He placed a sweet kiss on your forehead before removing himself from you.
Before you could touch your panties stuck between your legs, he stopped you.
“Wait lemme find something to clean you up” he quickly got dressed, while you sat there with your intertwined legs. He came back from front with a handkerchief. He cleaned you before helping you with your shorts. You were glad for wearing loose shorts as they were easy to transfer with your shoes. With his arm on upper side of trunk, his hunched figure stared you down suspiciously.
“What’s up with you today?”
Not him as well.
“Nothing, I overslept and I’m still tired. So I’ll be going now.” you declared implying that you won’t tell him.
“Okay, as you say. Are you free next Friday though” he asked taking his chances. Again.
“Don’t start again woo? At least you can leave me in peace. I’m going .bye bye. See you after finals. maybe.” you slipped away from under his arm towards the gate of parking lot, only looking behind to wave him goodbye. His followed suit.
You were gone but he’d never stopped trying.
You mentally thanked your friends for giving you an invite as many things were clear in your head now. It was definitely the alcohol and wonwoo but you were much calmer now.
A ping.
Jaemin: don’t forget about tomorrow, noona. Taeyong hyung told me to remind you.
You scoffed at his text. Noona. Some overhyped kid he was!
But his message made you understand that all this was permanent. Sober you or drunken,Your life was changing forever. The tomorrow you were waiting till now was altered.
You went home with same dejection. Taeyong’s last words echoing in your head.
“Life’s never fair y/n. realise it as soon as you can. It is the only secret for living a regretless life.”
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feedback is appreciated. it serves as motivation for writers! so please leave some honest feedback to help me improve! thanks for reading!!
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that-sw-writer · 3 years
Note
Omg plz write a part 2 of Hux’s sister
Ask and ye shall receive!
PART ONE
Word count: 2272
Warnings: none, but again just a bit of a crack fic
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Sibling Rivalry II
"What's that?" Armitage asked, in a judgemental tone.
"What's what?" You innocently replied.
"That." He pointed towards your neck, where you knew there was an inconcealable hickey sitting just below your jawline.
"You know exactly what that is Armitage, or would you rather I announce to the entire bridge that Supreme Leader Ren-"
"No. That's quite enough." He hastily interrupted you, the bitterness evident in his tone.
It had been almost a year since you transferred to The Supremacy, and a lot had changed in that time. Namely, Supreme Leader Snoke had died in... mysterious circumstances, and Kylo Ren had taken his place - much to your brother's dismay. You were the only person who Ren had trusted with the truth: that he had been the one to kill his ex-master. But you weren't complaining, dating the Supreme Leader certainly had its perks.
He allowed you to take his place as Commander, a job which required a lot less admin than being a Lieutenant. Plus, admittedly, you did tend to get away with missing deadlines more than the average First Order officer.
Whilst things had only gotten better for you, they had gone the opposite way for your brother. He spent his days expressing his hatred of Kylo to you, hoping that it would perhaps spur you to break up with him. But he was well aware that so long as the two of you were together, his life and job weren't at risk.
"Speak of the devil," Armitage grumbled under his breath as Ren walked onto the bridge, every officer in the vicinity immediately standing to attention. All except you and your brother who merely watched him as he approached.
"Be nice." You hissed, your attention immediately turning to Kylo as he approached you both.
"I need to talk to you." He addressed you, immediately giving your brother a pointed look which read 'leave us alone.'
With a reluctant sigh, Armitage said: "very well, I'm spending this evening with Millicent anyway."
After you had watched him depart, your gaze trailed back to Kylo, who forced himself to tear his own eyes away from the mark he had left on your neck.
"Who's Millicent?" He suddenly asked.
"His cat." You slowly replied, wondering why he cared.
Kylo let out a sharp, deep, laugh, "he has a cat? I thought it was a woman."
This time you let out a cackle, "a woman? All the times he said he was going to play with Millicent what the fuck did you think he meant?" You kept your voice down, away from prying ears.
"I just imagine that's how he speaks about women." He shrugged, but at that very moment, an idea hit you.
"Millicent... a woman." You muttered as the cogs turned in your brain, "his wife." You laughed as the idea formed.
"What?" Kylo looked at you, utterly confused.
"Nothing, just thinking of new ways to make Armitage's life difficult." You smirked, "anyway, what did you need to talk to me about?"
"I'll be off base for a while, I shouldn't be gone longer than two rotations." He told you, very matter-of-factly.
You nodded, quite used to watching him come and go on various missions. You knew that you would be the one coordinating things from aboard The Supremacy. "Okay, just stay safe." You told him, knowing that he absolutely wouldn't heed that warning - he never did.
"I will." He replied, just to keep your mind at ease. Leaning in, he captured your lips in a brief kiss, being Supreme Leader meant that he had grown tired of caring who knew about your relationship. Nobody had any power to stop him.
In Kylo's absence, you would simply have to distract yourself by spreading some completely untrue rumours about your brother around the base.
><><><><><><><><><
"Y/N..." You could hear the snarl in Armitage's voice as he pulled you aside on your way to the bridge.
"What can I do for you, Armitage?" You gave him an innocent grin, knowing exactly what had him so worked up.
"Tell me why when I speak about Millicent, people seem to think I'm referring to my wife."  He snapped, and you stifled a laugh.
"I'm not sure, maybe you need to work on your communication skills. After all, constantly referring to her as Millicent rather than 'my cat' can be very misleading."
"The AS division are all calling me a 'toxic husband,' because I keep my wife locked up all day and night!" He exclaimed, the frustration evident in his tone at becoming a laughing stock. You cracked at that, a loud cackle escaping your lips. This gossip spreading truly couldn't have gone better.
"Amazing," you said as your laughter died down, "absolutely amazing."
Spreading that rumour had been easy, you had made a simple suggestion to Captain Phasma along the lines of 'isn't it so weird how General Hux always talks about this Millicent woman but nobody's ever seen her?' And from there, it had spread like wildfire.
With no contact from Kylo since he had left, investing yourself in spreading gossip at your brother's expense had been the perfect way to stop yourself from worrying. Besides, he was due back that very day, so the timing couldn't have been better.
After Armitage finished scolding you to no end, you both went to the bridge to receive an update from Kylo's team. Usually, he would contact you over the comms with the number of injured and deceased troopers so you could have the med-bay prepare accordingly. This mission had just been recon, so you weren't expecting any issues.
"Commander Hux, come in." A different voice spoke to you over the comms today, and you immediately wondered why it wasn't the Supreme Leader speaking to you.
"I'm here-" you responded, "go ahead." You didn't want to make a big fuss about Kylo not being the one to contact you, especially not with Armitage at your side - he would never let you hear the end of it.
"Despite complications, the mission was a success." The voice crackled over the comm.
"What complications?" Your heart involuntarily started racing as your mind thought of every worst-case scenario.
"They knew we were coming ma'am and we were met with heavy fire, but we managed to escape. Plenty of minor injuries, two will need medical attention, and one deceased." He formally spoke, but you were barely listening anymore. Kylo not having been in touch was worrying enough, but this was the icing on the cake. You simply turned to Armitage, and he could read your expression, so he took over.
"This is General Hux. We will prepare the med-bay." He curtly said, cutting the comm off before you could ask the question plaguing your mind.
"It won't be him." Your brother said, "as much as I wish it would be." He then grumbled, which was met by a hard elbow from you.
"But what if it is?" You stressed, "he usually contacts me, but this time I've heard nothing!"
"Just... sit down." He suggested, unsure of what else to say. Part of Armitage was praying that Ren was the one casualty on the mission, but he also didn't want his little sister to have her heart broken. Truly a catch-22 for him.
"No, I'm not 'sitting down,' Armitage!" You exclaimed, beginning to pace. "I'll tell you what, if he walks off that transport as if nothing has happened then I'm going to make him the second casualty of the mission for stressing me out like this."
"I think you're being a bit dramatic." He tried to console you.
"You're only saying that because you're praying that he's not coming back." You grumbled.
"That's a fair accusation." He admitted, "but as much as it pains me to say, I know Ren means a lot to you, even if I can't begin to fathom what you see in him." At this point he was practically speaking through gritted teeth - Maker out of everyone in the First Order his sister could have fallen for, it had to be his arch-nemesis.
"I'm going to go and tell the med-bay to prepare." You huffed before leaving the bridge. You needed to distract yourself from this pit of worry that was opening up in your stomach. Surely you were just overthinking things, but considering the circumstances, you couldn't help yourself. Part of you hated how much you cared about Kylo because you didn't like feeling this dependent on him.
Just to try and help lift your mood you were sure to perpetuate the rumour about your brother and Millicent on your way down to the med-bay. A group of troopers had been quietly discussing whether there was any truth behind it or not, and as the General's sister it was your solemn duty to confirm the rumour
"Yeah it's crazy, Millicent is my sister in law and I don't think I've seen her since the wedding." You whispered to them as you went by, trying your best not to break out into laughter on the spot. If anything was going to take your mind off worrying about Kylo, it was definitely going to be making Armitage's life just that bit more miserable.
Whilst you were on your way to tell the med-bay to prepare, Armitage was left on the bridge, which meant that when the ship returned from the mission he begrudgingly had to go to the hanger to greet them instead of you.
As the boarding ramp lowered he found himself genuinely wondering if Ren was going to be the singular casualty. He knew he was being ridiculous thinking it, but your panicking had clouded his judgement a bit.
To Armitage's dismay, but likely your relief, Kylo was the first person to leave the craft. He looked filthy, a few cuts littering his face and his robes dirtied from battle. The Supreme Leader was used to seeing you when he returned from a mission, and being greeted by your brother left him with a scowl on his face.
"What are you doing here?" He grumbled.
"Lovely to see you alive Supreme Leader." Armitage sneered in response, "although if you don't talk to my sister soon I doubt you'll be alive much longer."
"Spare me the empty threats General, we both know you couldn't kill me if you tried." He waved his hand in dismissal as he walked past Armitage.
"Perhaps. But this time it's not me you need to be worried about." He called after Kylo, who turned around with his brow furrowed.
"Y/N?" He knew that perhaps not contacting you for the entire duration of the mission wasn't his best idea, and now he was already regretting it.
"She's not happy." Your brother plainly responded as he walked back towards Ren.
"Has she got those brow lines she gets when she's angry?"
"She'll most definitely have them when she finds out you're alive." Armitage grimaced, "I'd tread carefully if I was you."
"Fuck." Kylo swore under his breath when he saw you approaching.
Now stood next to Ren, Armitage whispered up to him, "whatever you do, just don't make her any angrier for both of our sakes."
"You-" your finger was immediately pointing directly in Kylo's face as you stormed over, "you're going to be the death of me, you know that? I hear nothing from you, then suddenly there's a casualty on the mission! But here you are as if nothing happened."
"I'm sorry." He said. Openly apologising was such a rarity for Kylo that it made you stop dead in your tracks.
"Come again?" You couldn't quite believe your ears.
"I said I'm sorry. I should have contacted you." He was so calm that you found your rage dissipating. Any kind of apology from Kylo was a victory.
"Then I guess you're off the hook." Your expression now changing to a more teasing one.
"What?" Armitage exclaimed, "you can't let him off that easily!"
"Why not?" You raised an eyebrow at him, knowing that he was just hoping to keep you angry at Kylo for as long as possible.
"I don't know, you just can't!" He grumbled.
"Go and feed your wife Armitage, she's been alone all day." You said, purposely loudly so people would overhear you, and he immediately went red in the face.
"She's my cat!" He practically yelled the word but nevertheless went storming off. "One day you'll break up with him, mark my words!" He called as he departed, giving up on caring who was around to hear.
"At this rate Armitage, he's more likely to become your brother in law!" You knew there were absolutely no plans of marriage, but you couldn't miss the opportunity for humour.
Kylo snorted from beside you, "I doubt we'd do much family bonding."
"He'd probably try and kill you in your sleep." You laughed.
"'Try' being the key word." Kylo paused for a moment before he pulled you into his arms, but before he kissed you he paused, "his cat being his wife?"
"I got bored, spread a rumour, the usual." You shrugged, before leaning in to close the gap between your lips. You didn't care that he was dirtied from his mission, you were just relieved to have him back.
"And another thing-" Armitage interrupted you both as he stormed back over, no doubt with a witty insult to hurl at Ren. Your lips parted so you could both stare it him with deadpan expressions, whereas he just looked disgusted. "Why do you insist on these displays in public? I don't want to see it."
"All the more reason to do it." Kylo smirked and pulled you back in for a kiss.
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baoshan-sanren · 4 years
Text
Chapter 30
of the wwx emperor au I’m thinking of calling Lan QiRen’s Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Week oh god it’s only gonna get worse
Prologue | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 Part 1 | Chapter 8 Part 2 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Chapter 13 | Chapter 14 | Chapter 15 Part 1 | Chapter 15 Part 2 | Chapter 16 | Chapter 17 | Chapter 18 | Chapter 19 | Chapter 20 | Chapter 21 | Chapter 22 Part 1 | Chapter 22 Part 2 | Chapter 23 | Chapter 24 | Chapter 25 | Chapter 26 | Chapter 27 | Chapter 28 | Chapter 29
They watch the lanterns from a rooftop terrace.
The inn itself is large and lovely. The front faces the main road, which crosses YiLing east to west, leading directly to the Immortal Mountain. The back opens into an enclosed garden, the tallow trees awash in autumn colors, hiding whatever unsightly neighbors may exist beyond their red-gold canopy of branches. It is difficult to fully conceal the haphazardness of YiLing, but the designer of the inn had cleverly used the landscape to obscure as much of the town as possible. One could easily imagine, if occupying the rooms and balconies facing the garden, that no such thing as overcrowded winehouses or street markets could exist in its vicinity.
In short, it is not a type of place where the Lan Sect would ever attempt to secure lodgings, nor would XiChen ever walk into its front halls of his own volition.
Nie MingJue has no such reservations. The innkeeper’s insistence that the terrace can only be accessed by the guests of the inn falls on deaf ears, and is soon completely silenced by Nie MingJue’s contemptuous glare. A simple glint of gold is enough to make XiChen’s Lan Sect uniform invisible. In moments, they are both personally escorted to the roof of the building.
The terrace is not large, and they are not alone. XiChen tucks himself into a corner overlooking the street, MingJue’s bulk easily blocking him from the sight of other patrons, preventing any unwanted attention. The towering mass of the Immortal Mountain is a black, indistinct shape to the west, a silent guardian watching over YiLing. The first lanterns are always released from the Emperor’s palace, and they seem to have arrived just in time to see them rising from a pitch black void between the earth and heavens, resembling handfuls of fading stars hanging low in the sky.
XiChen had assumed that YiLing may prove itself less disordered when seen from above, the way one can only see a large pattern from a distance. He is wrong. There truly is no sense or structure to be seen in its layout. Not a single street is free of someone shouting their wares, intricate roof ridge decorations arch next to weathered tiles that had long needed replacing, stubborn maples grow wherever they can find a spot of dirt and a flood of rain water.
He has not yet decided if he is pleased or disappointed by the discovery, when lanterns from YiLing follow those released from the Immortal Mountain, painting the town in light and color, chasing the darkness away. XiChen has seen the Lantern Festival many times in Gusu, twice during an unplanned stay in MoLing, and once during a particularly long Sect Leader conference in LanLing. The LanLing Jin grandiosity is difficult to match anywhere in the Empire, but XiChen has never seen so many lanterns at once, transforming night into day, hardly a slice of sky visible between them.
The parade traveling the street below them swells, loud and cheerful, the sheer profusion of chaos and noise impossible to ignore, even with such an impressive light show directly above them.
XiChen turns to MingJue, intending to ask if YiLing truly holds a different procession each night of the festival. The idea still seems extravagant to him, even if it is the Emperor’s birthday. But MingJue is looking at neither the lanterns, nor the parade below, his attentive gaze and half-formed smile focused entirely on XiChen.
XiChen forgets what he had meant to ask, and looks away again, his face heating.
They are standing close, to keep their distance from the other spectators gathered on the terrace. It is only a handful of guests, their voices indistinct murmurs, easily drowned out by the clamor from the street.
XiChen does not like feeling flustered, especially in the presence of strangers.
“Sect Leader--“
“You have asked me to call you by your name,” Nie MingJue says, his voice low, “and I have obeyed. But no matter how many times I ask, you will not do the same.”
XiChen folds his hands in his sleeves, to keep them steady and out of sight. The only sources of light on the terrace are the small, paper lamps decorating the inn roof, and even they only cast a reddish, muted glow. XiChen fervently hopes that their glow is faint enough to conceal the color in his cheeks.
“It would be improper,” he says.
Even as he speaks, he inwardly cringes at the absurdity of the words.
How hypocritical of him, to call such familiarity improper. Did he not allow the man to hold his hand whenever he wished? Had he not welcomed each advance with a smile? Can he not still feel the press of Nie MingJue’s palm on the small of his back?
And yet, regardless of how imprudent all his earlier behavior may be, he must draw a line somewhere. If not for the sake of propriety, then for the sake of his own sanity.  
"Would it be less improper if I were to speak plainly of my admiration?”
Oh, XiChen thinks, breath leaving him in a rush.
Although this is something he had long suspected, to have it spoken out loud, to have it confirmed in such direct fashion, seems to be more than he had been prepared to handle. How can something be so thrilling, and yet cause so much confusion and misery?
“Even if you were to speak plainly,” XiChen says, struggling to keep his voice firm, “You would still be the General of the Emperor’s army, with duties to perform and a Sect to lead. And I-- I would still be the future leader of the Lan Sect. We should not speak of impossible things.”
“This is your only objection? Not my temper or disposition, but the circumstances of our individual positions?”
Mortified, XiChen imagines that his face must be as red as the lamps decorating the roof.
“You are being rather bold,” he says, “but I have found no other cause for disapproval.”
Nie MinJue falls silent. XiChen returns to watching the parade without truly seeing it, the trembling agitation in his chest refusing to settle.
Unexpectedly, he feels guilty, as if the circumstances which prevent him from speaking just as directly are somehow of his own making. The General of the Emperor’s army may bestow his admiration liberally, and he may do so as boldly as he pleases. Ultimately, Nie MingJue has nothing to lose. A small bit of lost pride in having to face rejection can be nothing to someone so highly esteemed. But XiChen, destined to lead a disgraced Sect, can never be so bold. The small bit of dignity he possesses might be pitiful and tattered, but he cannot put it aside, regardless of his heart’s desires.
A flash of white in the crowd is a welcome distraction, but even so, it takes him some time to recognize the Lan Sect robes, and even longer to realize why the sight of them is so jarring.
It is only one set of robes. One single disciple moving through the crowds, when uncle had been more than explicit in his instructions. They are always to travel in pairs, regardless of circumstances. There are a few places in the Empire where a lone Lan disciple may pass unscathed, but YiLing has never been one of them.
“XiChen?”
“I think something is wrong,” XiChen says, “that is Lan YunLi, and he should not be here. Not this late in the evening, and not alone.”
“Come,” Nie MingJue does not hesitate, “let us catch him before he disappears.”
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nakunakunomi · 4 years
Text
A break - Mihawk x Reader
One Piece of summer challenge - week 4
part of the challenge hosted by @doctorgerth​ & @laws-yellow-submarine​ I’m attempting all 11 weeks, 11 different prompts and 11 different characters! Enjoy!  I’m gonna insert a cut since this thing is SO LONG. But I kind of loved writing it, I hope you all enjoy some romance with our favorite mystery goth pirate! 
Prompt: Flowers - Character: Mihawk - Word count: 2.3k 
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It was summer. And yet.There was not a glimmer of sun to be seen. You looked out of the window: dead trees, some not so dead trees, a dark grey sky filled with thick clouds in the middle of the day... it was quite a depressive sight. Kuraigana island wasn’t really the most beautiful island. It was calm, surely, it was quiet, and you and your husband were never interrupted by other people, which was amazing, you had all the privacy and quality time you could ever ask for. But sometimes, you just really wanted something else than grey to look over whenever you were having a bad day. 
“Something wrong love?” a strong arm wrapped around your waist from behind, and you inhaled the familiar and comforting scent of your other half. You must’ve been staring out of the window for a longer period than you thought you did.  “No”, you sighed, “it’s just...”  He didn’t reply, waiting for you to continue what you wanted to say.  “It’s just...summer outside, but there is never summer on this island? Don’t get me wrong love, I love this place and all the opportunities it’s given us, but... sometimes I miss the sun, the green grass... flowers... all the bright things from... home.” 
At the end of your sentence you had gone a little more quiet, not wanting Mihawk to think that you did not consider Kuraigana home. After all, home to you now was wherever he was, and wherever you could be with him. But that didn’t take away from your statement that you missed the feeling of warm sun on your skin, of the grass tickling at your ankles and the smell of flowers when they started to bloom in spring, all the way into summer. 
He hummed in response, not really engaging in the conversation about his gloomy island. He was well aware of the atmosphere that came with it, but was never really bothered by it. He had seen plenty of the world in his younger years, and could still go wherever he wanted, if he wanted to do so, he just hadn’t really thought about the possible effects of his living space on you, his wife. 
You decided to change topic before he could even add onto the conversation, turning around in his arms and giving him a quick kiss on the lips.  “My turn to make dinner right? Give me a few moments”.  You started making your way to the kitchen hearing familiar footsteps follow you.  “I will help”. 
Taking turns to cook dinner, occasionally cooking together, and always eating together was part of your routine, and it was one of the things that helped you settle in so easily with Mihawk. He was a man of routine and predictability. Something not everyone would appreciate that much, but for you it brought peace of mind and way less stress. No surprises to anticipate, nothing to worry about. So as you started to chop some vegetables and Mihawk started to cook some meat, the worries from before started slipping from your mind, too focused on how happy you actually were right here, as long as he was by your side. 
After dinner you continued your usual routine, drinking some wine and enjoying a good book in each other’s company, before you retreated to your shared bedroom. Mihawk stayed up a little longer but promised to join you a little later. 
You had fallen asleep before he joined you, and when you woke up, much to your dismay, you found yourself alone in the bed. You were a little surprised, it was not unusual for Mihawk to be up earlier, but he’d normally bring a book and read some until you woke up so you could cuddle up a little. The very rare occasion he’d be up earlier, he usually let you know beforehand. 
You got up and got dressed, looking for your husband in the kitchen, the dining room, the library, his study... he was nowhere to be seen. You were almost getting worried when you suddenly heard the familiar heavy noise of the front doors opening and closing. There he was, all decked out in his outside clothes, and you could only look at him in confusion. 
“Oh I am sorry”, he said, as he greeted you with a good morning kiss, “did I wake you?” “No... I just woke up all by myself and I was looking for you... I didn’t know you were going outside.” “I’m sorry, I had to prepare for something.” He took off his coat, draping it over his arm and taking it with him as he started walking towards the kitchen. “Breakfast?”
You nodded. “Preparing for something?” A small smile appeared on his lips. “Yes”.   He didn’t elaborate further, not even after you nudged his arm, encouraging him to speak more, and just started preparing breakfast.  “Mihawk?” “Yes dear?”  His tone was so normal and nonchalant that you were almost ready to break an egg on his hat, seeing a mischievous glint in his eyes that he almost never had. 
“What are you hiding?”  “Nothing much” “So something”  “Patience. After breakfast.”  You could only groan in response, and continued making breakfast as fast as possible, afterwards nearly inhaling the result, much to Mihawk’s amusement who was taking his sweet time eating.  “No use in rushing, we’ll be too early like that.”  Now you were really confused. Just what was he planning? 
Your questions were finally answered when he told you to take your coat after breakfast. You were going on a little trip. The destination still a secret, and you figured that there was no use in guessing. You were already kind of excited. You got to go off the island for a bit, and it had been a good amount of time since you went on any kind of trip with Mihawk. He said it was only a day trip, so you figured that you’d know soon enough where you were going. 
The trip itself was rather uneventful. Mihawk’s coffin-shaped boat was really not built for two people, but ever since the two of you had started dating seriously, Mihawk had it modified so you could have a comfortable seat as well, although you generally preferred to just sit close to him. The sea was dark and a little rough in the immediate vicinity of the island, but after a while you noticed you were entering calmer waters, the grey clouds and sky slowly transforming into white puffy clouds in a bright blue sky, with a sun that made your skin tingle a little bit and was reflected by the water, as if someone had sprinkled the smallest diamonds all over the sea. 
At that point, it didn’t really matter anymore where you were going, you were already so happy to experience the sun and the blue sky as a true part of summer, looking around you and seeing some fish swim in the incredibly clear water around the boat, not even noticing how Mihawk was watching your almost childlike enthusiasm and amazement with a small smile on his face. 
“We’re almost there” You looked up, surprised at the sudden sound of your husband’s voice interrupting the soothing sounds of the waves and the seagulls high above you.  In the distance you could see a small island, and for a little while you weren’t sure if you were still so far away that it seemed extremely small and inhabited, or if it was just really that small. 
The answer was the latter. The beach was only a few feet far before the sand already transformed into the darker ground of a forest floor. The trees were completely different from the ones you saw daily on Kuraigana, all shades of green on top of all shades of brown, flashes of colorful birds singing various songs on the branches. Your mouth was wide open in amazement. You hadn’t even properly walked around and this island was already more beautiful than any other place you had visited before. 
After securing the boat, Mihawk wrapped an arm around your waist, gently guiding you through the forest. Neither of you said a word. You were too busy admiring the sights and taking in the fresh air, the sounds of the animals and enjoying the feeling of the sun on your skin wherever it managed to find it’s way through the tree foliage, and Mihawk was just relaxing, enjoying your little sounds of surprise and enthusiastic gasps. 
After a little while of walking, you started to wonder whether you were just exploring the island or if Mihawk had an actual goal in mind, he seemed just a little too determined to go in certain directions, and you had no problem just following him wherever he guided you, after all you assumed he knew this place, and the forest seemed so undisturbed there was no clear path anyway. Your suspicions of a goal were confirmed as you suddenly felt the sun hit your eyes as you reached an open space, you assumed somewhere in the middle of the forest. 
You closed your eyes for a bit, and opened them slowly, letting them adjust to the harsh summer light after walking in the cool shade of the threes. Then you had to slowly blink, at least five times, to really believe what you were seeing: a small field of flowers of all kinds of colors and shapes. Familiar flowers that you recognized from home, but also colorful exotic species that you had never seen before. High grass, a sea of green, with spots of yellow, red, blue, purple, pink, orange, you name it. Butterflies and bees as well as tiny birds flying around.. the sight was just breathtaking, you actually slapped your own face gently to snap yourself out of your almost trance like state. You heard your husband chuckle next to you. 
“Was this what you had in mind when you wished for a more summery sight?”  You couldn’t even form the words in your brain for what you wanted to say, nodding frantically in response, forgetting all gentle manners and flying around his neck, causing him to almost stumble and wrap his arms around you tightly to make sure the two of you fell onto the ground. He could make out a muffled ‘thank you’ with your face pressed against his shoulder and lovingly pat your back in response.  
After you let go, you gave him a quick kiss on the lips before returning your focus on the wonderful flower field behind you. He found a nice spot in the shade, and sat down with a book he had brought along, while you walked around the field, picking some of the flowers and making a flower crown out of them, some of your fondest childhood memories coming back as your hands skillfully braided the flower stems. You watched the butterflies, giggling as one landed on your hand for a bit, and determined which flower smelled the sweetest. You picked some more and formed a nice bouquet to take home, it would look lovely on the dinner table. 
It was almost getting dark when you heard Mihawk closing his book, calling your name to return home. You felt sad you had to leave, but you were also getting a little hungry, and going back home in complete darkness wasn’t ideal either. Flower crown on your head and bouquet in hand, you walked back to your husband and placed a kiss on his cheek as he wrapped his arm around your waist again.  “Thank you so much... It was nice to experience some summer.”  “If you ever have something like that bothering you again, you just have to tell me y/n...”  “Don’t worry... I will” 
The trip back was just as uneventful as the way to the island, and you felt your heart sink a little bit at seeing Kuraigana again. Looking at the bouquet in your hands made you feel better though, and you promised yourself that even if after those flowers withered, you’d keep the memories of today in your heart for forever. 
The moment you actually arrived home, you immediately grabbed a nice vase to place the flowers in and set them on the dinner table, smiling at how well they fitted in and yet made the room just a little bit more summer-y. You noticed Mihawk grabbing some very thick books and setting them on a separate table as you grabbed ingredients to start making dinner.  “What are you doing dear?” you set the ingredients down and walked over to him. He lifted one of the books so you could see. One of the exotic flowers from the island was being flattened by the weight of the books, perfectly laid down to not be smushed, so it could dry beautifully.  You couldn’t help but smile widely. “You picked flowers?”  “A few, to remember the trip by. We can go back more often, but the flowers only bloom for a short amount of time. That’s what I had to look up yesterday.”  You hummed in response as he continued to explain.  “So I figured we could bring a little summer to this grey island for you, and make sure it doesn’t die,” he continued, gesturing at the flowers you had set on the table. You looked over at the piles of books.  “Just how many did you bring?”  “Eight, one for each year...”  “... we’ve been married” you added with a smile. With his usual cold demeanor you’d nearly forget how romantic this man could be. You leaned in to kiss him slowly, and turned back to your ingredients after. 
“I’ll make us a special dinner, in celebration of an actual summer together.” 
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