#also I don’t know how doors and perspective work anymore | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

blairrwaldorfs · 2 months

Text

Champagne Problems

Joseph Quinn x Fem!Reader

Summary: When one door closes, one door opens.

Author's Note: Champagne Problems by Taylor Swift with an extended perspective.

Wordcount: 3.2K

The train was quiet and still. People were in their own little worlds, their headphones in their ears, their nose stuck in a book, or some were asleep. The city blurred in front of Joe’s eyes as he sat at the window seat of the train. Coat wrapped around his body as if it was something that could protect him from the events of today. As if it could help drown the emotions that were washing over him at the moment. His leg shook anxiously as he held up his fingers and the edges of his teeth found his nails.

He felt numb.

He didn’t really know what to think or feel. He didn’t really expect it at all because this wasn’t the answer he wanted to hear at all, but he did. He watched her stand there in front of his entire family and friends, a small embarrassed smile tugged on her lips as he waited for her answer.

Joe let out a sigh, letting his eyes wander around the train. Just a few more minutes until he was back in the city. Back home where he felt safe. Though, he wasn’t sure if he would feel that way, knowing that she wouldn’t be there waiting for him anymore. His left hand found the inside of his coat pocket and there it was:

The box.

The velvety small red box that he had been playing in his hand all month long, trying to figure out what to say or do once he opened it. Looking at the red velvet box, he knew that everything would change the moment he opened it. He just didn’t expect that it would change in the worst way possible. Joe had planned this for a year now. He was ready. He even was able to gather his whole family and joined in with the plan.

“Oh, darling.” Joe’s mother gave him those big wet brown eyes of hers. “I have something better for you to give to her.”

Joe had traveled back to his parents’ home that weekend to tell them the news. To tell them the decision he had made. To tell them that he was ready to start his own life with her.

Joe’s mum got up from the sofa and speed walked towards her bedroom before coming back with that red velvet box. Inside was his grandmother’s engagement ring when Joe’s grandfather proposed to her. It was beautiful. Not too big nor too small. It was just right. Joe thought it would fit her perfectly, and he didn’t hesitate to thank his mum for it.

“It’s perfect.” Joe smiled.

“I know she’s going to love it.” His mum replied.

For months, Joe had kept that red velvet box inside his desk drawer where he knew she wouldn’t be able to find it. Joe thought the relationship was going well. He thought even through the rough times, they would always find a way back to each other. They would always find a way to solve the problem, so what happened? How come all of a sudden, everything had fallen into pieces?

“I’m sorry.” She had told him.

Joe was on his one knee still, a smile tugging on his lips, and the box in his hand. His cousin had already popped the champagne before she could even answer him because they thought there was no other answer, right? They were perfect together, right?

“Joe…” She sighed, her eyes scanning the room as she felt her cheeks burned from embarrassment.

“What is it?” Joe’s smile slowly faded as he got up from his position. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t think this is the right time.” She whispered, turning their backs from his family. “I’m not ready for this.”

Joe felt his heart shattered into a million pieces. His family also knew what was going on without an explanation. They saw it all. They saw her expression. They heard her answer and somehow, Joe suddenly felt embarrassed by what just happened. Walking out the backdoor of the house, he followed behind her as he waited for more explanation.

“We knew this wasn’t working out.” She shook her head.

“I…” Joe knitted his brows. “I don’t understand.”

“I know, but I’m sorry. This should have ended a long time ago.”

That was it.

She didn’t say anything else before grabbing her coat, whispered apologies to Joe’s family and friends and out the door. Joe stood there frozen by the kitchen doorway, the box still in his hand, and he felt defeated as he watched her walk away. She dropped him like a champagne glass and left his shattered pieces on the floor like he was nothing. He felt his mum comforted him as he saw everyone’s faces had that expression where they really didn’t know what to say to him.

Because what could they really say after all this?

“What a shame.” Joe’s aunt’s voice echoed in his head. “She would have made a lovely bride.”

More like a runaway bride.

He wrapped his hand around the velvet box in his pocket and gripped it tightly. He wasn’t sure why he still had it. He wasn’t sure what to do with it anymore because what was the point now? As the train finally stopped, Joe quietly followed the crowd out the doors. He wasn’t sure if the silence inside the train was worse than the bustling crowd that was in the station. Either way, it was making him feel frustrated and angry.

He just wanted to scream.

Joe didn’t want to go home so instead, he opted to go to the pub right by his flat. Maybe a couple pints of beer could get him to sleep tonight if he had enough of it. Entering the crowded pub, he headed towards the bar. He immediately ordered himself a pint and settled into one of the stools. He let his mind wander again towards the memories of them together. All the happy ones and all the times that they fought. Maybe it was just the matter of time that she was going to get tired of him.

Joe wasn’t surprised anymore. He was a fucking mess.

An actor, who traveled all the time for work. No one could understand that. No one was able to handle that, and he couldn’t blame her for it because he knew his job wasn’t easy. It wasn’t a normal 9-5, Mondays to Fridays. It was hectic, always in the spotlight and full of different strangers trying to dip their opinions on every move he made.

“Deep thoughts?”

Joe’s thoughts were interrupted as he gazed up and saw you.

A playful smile tugging on your lips and a pint of beer in your hand. You were in a wool coat, nice trousers and a button up shirt. You just left the office and decided that a little drink wouldn’t hurt after a long week. It was a Friday after all, right?

Silence.

Joe didn’t reply to your question as he sipped his drink, but you seemed to be interested in this curly haired, sad man in front of you.

“You know sometimes…” You added, leaning a bit forward. “They said it’s better to vent to strangers because then, you don’t have to see them after that.”

“Is that so?” Joe finally answered.

You let out a fake gasp, a smile plastered on your face. “Oh, he speaks.”

“He doesn’t speak.” Joe argued. “He also apparently doesn’t know how to propose.”

Joe couldn’t help but think that maybe you were right. It was better to rant to a stranger because London was a big enough city for you two to not run into each other again. Plus, if he kept everything in, he might just finally explode.

“Oh.” You pout your lips. “She said no?”

“Not ready, she said.” Joe replied.

You nodded your head and took a sip of your drink before saying, “How long?”

“Five years.”

That answer got Joe gulping on the rest of his beer until the glass was empty because five years. Five years, and she wasn’t ready? Maybe he was the problem, and she just couldn’t say it to his face.

“I’m sorry.” You tutted softly and ordered Joe another drink. “Here… looks like you need more of it.”

You slid the pint of beer towards him. For a moment, Joe stared at the glass in front of him and then his big wet brown eyes gazed up at you. Why were you being so nice to him? Why did you even care about what was happening to him? You were nothing but a stranger, but he couldn’t help but feel comfort in your caring. After all, he had a long day.

An embarrassing one.

“So…” You leaned your chin against the palm of your hand, your eyes sparkling with interest. “Tell me every detail.”

It wasn’t that Joe minded that a stranger was so interested in his personal life because being an actor, everyone seems to be so interested in that anyway. It was just that you seem different. You seem to genuinely want to know and be there for him. He wasn’t sure if it was your brown eyes staring into his or the aura that you were giving out, but he didn’t hesitate to start explaining everything that happened. The whole time, you never interrupted. You never tried to cut him off nor looked bored from all the venting that he started to do. You sat there and actually listened.

It was in the middle of Joe’s venting where he paused for a moment and realized something. Maybe she was right. Maybe the relationship wasn’t working out because he just now realized that not once has she ever listened to him like this. Just let him vent about his day and be there for him. She never did that. Joe was always the one who tried to be there for her and did the effort in the relationship. She never did.

“What is it?” You asked the moment Joe paused.

“I—” He shook his head, taking a sip of his drink.

“C’mon, you already told me everything. You can’t stop now.” You chuckled softly.

“I just realized something…”

You raised your brow, waiting for him to continue.

“I just realized she never listened to me.” He murmured. “It was always about her. It was always about her never getting what she wanted and how she was never happy with anything.”

You hummed softly. “Sounds like a brat.” You teased.

Joe couldn’t help but smile and laugh softly at your little comment, but he saw how your eyes widened after those words slipped out of your lips.

“I…I’m sorry…” You stuttered. “I didn’t mean it that way.”

“No.” Joe laughed. “She was a brat. I agree.”

You bit your lower lip as you laughed with him. It was the first time you saw him smile the whole night. The sound of his laughter was like music to your ears, and you couldn’t help but feel proud of yourself that you were able to atleast make him smile and laugh.

“She was spoiled.” Joe added. “She would throw tantrums whenever she didn’t get what she wanted.”

You furrowed your brows, tilting your head. “And you wanted to marry this child?”

Another joke, another laughter slipped out of Joe. He continued to rant about this woman, and you listened. Another drink was ordered and another laughter slipped out of him as you told him another joke. You didn’t even know this man’s name in front of you, but you liked listening to him.

Be there for him.

It was like you two just clicked right away.

Later that night, Joe had asked you if you wanted to join him outside for a smoke break. You didn’t really smoke, but you went out there with him anyway. You leaned your back against the brick wall, your eyes scanning the empty streets of London as Joe did his thing. You didn’t say one word. You just pulled your coat closer to your chest and gazed up at the starry night sky.

“I’m Joe, by the way.” He finally introduced himself as he put out his cigarette.

You introduced yourself to him, and you realized you weren’t strangers anymore. You knew his name. You kept remembering the comment you made to him earlier this evening. How it was better to vent to a stranger because you might never see them again but now, you knew each other’s name. You knew half of his story.

“What’s your story?” Joe asked, leaning against the brick wall next to you.

“My story?” You laughed softly. “It’s boring.”

You turned to see Joe staring at you, waiting for you to answer his question. You let out a sigh and turned your body so that you were facing him. Your left shoulder leaning against the brick wall now.

“Got a big sister, but she lives outside the city. Parents are divorced, I live down the street in a small flat, and I work in a bio lab office.”

“So, you’re a scientist?” Joe smiled.

You couldn’t help but laugh and shake your head. “I’m far from that. I just do the paperwork.”

Joe hummed softly. “It definitely sounds boring.”

You chuckled softly, nudging him with your shoulder softly as you both started walking down the street. Your eyes went back to where Joe’s hand was. Inside his coat pocket again. You have noticed it all night, but you never asked or said anything about how his hand would sometimes slip inside that right pocket, but you knew what it was. You knew what was in there.

“Can I see it?” You finally asked.

Joe paused in his tracks, another surprise that he noticed about you tonight. You tend to read his mind so well. He didn’t have to ask what you were talking about. Instead, he slipped that red velvet box out of his pocket and handed it to you. Grabbing the box from the palm of his hand, you opened it and gasped softly.

It was stunning.

“Wow.” You whispered, staring at the shiny ring.

“It was my grandmother’s.” Joe muttered, his eyes found his feet on the ground.

“It’s beautiful.” You handed the box back to him. “It deserves to be in the hand of someone that truly loves you.”

Joe nodded his head and played with the box in his hand again.

“It does.” You smiled, setting your hand over his. “I know it hurts right now, but you will find someone deserving of your love. Someone who would understand every corner of your mind. Someone who would appreciate your efforts and understand that you also have your own career and life. Someone who understands that you are able to balance that.”

Joe’s chocolate button eyes stared into your brown ones for a moment. How were you this wise over these kinds of situations? How were you able to find the right words all the time? How were you able to understand him this much? Joe was with her for five years, and she never was able to understand him.

“How do you know how to say the right words all the time?” Joe laughed softly.

“Imagine having to work with the person that left you after four years. After you promised each other that there was no one else.” You said. “Seeing him everyday is like a reminder of what happened. A reminder of the things you two had built together, and it was shattered into a million pieces in just a second. Seeing him be happy with someone else, while you sat there frozen.”

Joe shook his head. “And you can’t just move into a different job?”

You shrugged and laughed. “I’m petty.” You joked. “But moving out of the job that I love just because of him? That wasn’t going to be enough reason, especially after all the hard work I have put into that career.”

Joe nodded his head in understanding as you shrugged and smiled at him. “You get wiser though.”

“Well, after our talk tonight, I definitely realized a few things.” Joe gave you a warm smile.

You smiled and stopped in front of your front steps. “Well, this is me.”

Joe gazed up to your flat building and back down at you. “Thank you for tonight. Really.”

“You know sometimes, when one door closes, one door opens. They’re never all closed. Sometimes we just don’t see that.” You stated.

Joe’s eyes scanned you, and he couldn’t help but admire you so much. How smart and confident you were after everything. After having to still even see your ex everyday, you were still very positive about everything. He didn’t even know what he was going to do next after everything. How was he able to go home tonight and get used to the fact that she wasn’t going to be there anymore?

But you standing there in front of him, another feeling had washed over him.

Hope.

Hope that he will be able to get up and move on from this. Seeing you stand in front of him and realizing that you were the one who was able to go through every corner of his dark mind tonight and was still able to stand here in front of him and look at him the same was giving him a different feeling. How could a person that he just met in just a night knew him better than the person he was with for five years?

Maybe she was right. Joe thought again.

“You’ll find something real.” He heard her voice echoed through his mind again.

Maybe she was right. Maybe this was meant to happen.

You watched as Joe stepped closer to you, your breath stopping for a moment. His eyes never left yours and both of your faces only were a few inches far from each other. Your fingers had found the collar of his shirt, gently rubbing the fabric of it.

“Joe…” You whispered, breath hitching. “I don’t think this is a wise idea after everything.”

Joe bit his lower lip and nodded his head. “Thank you.” He whispered before stepping away from you.

You gave him a small smile and said, “How about coffee tomorrow?”

“I’d like that.” Joe replied. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.” You smiled, taking your keys out of your purse.

You watched Joe walk down your steps and before he could get any further, you exhaled sharply.

“Joe!” You called out.

He immediately stopped and turned to you as you ran down the steps with a big smile on your face. You gently leaned in towards him, giving him a soft kiss on the cheek.

“Goodnight.” You whispered before running back to your front door and finally unlocking the door.

“Goodnight.” Joe smiled, murmuring under his breath.

He watched you close the door behind you, a small smile tugging on his face. For a moment, he thought about how shitty his day was but then, he also thought about tonight. He may have to come home to an empty flat tonight and feel every emotion wash over him all over again, but he also found that hope in your sparkling eyes tonight.

As he slid his hands inside his coat pocket, he felt that velvet box again. He gripped it with his hand for a moment and exhaled sharply.

One day, he knew that this would belong to someone who truly deserved it. Looking over his shoulder, he looked back at your front door and smiled as your voice echoed in his head.

When one door closes, one door opens.

The End.

Taglist:

@palomahasenteredthechat @sunvick @eddies-acousticguitar @demonsanddemogorgons @joesquinns @mmunson86 @ghostinthebackofyourhead @corrodedcoffincumslut @figmentofquinn @tlclick73 @browneyes8288 @bylermaxmayfield @ali-r3n @ficsbypix @capricornrisingsstuff @missonlypost @ali-in-w0nderland @amberolivia666 @lalalala-melmosworld @niallersfreckles @nanas-lasagna @emma77645 @indulgence-be-thy-name @readergf @ladamari68 @1paire2vans @d4rk4ng3l86 @paleidiot

#Joseph Quinn #Joe Quinn #Joseph Quinn x Reader #Joe Quinn x Reader #Joseph Quinn x You #Joe Quinn x You #Joseph Quinn x Fem!Reader #Joe Quinn x Fem!Reader #Joseph Quinn rpf #Joe Quinn rpf #Joseph Quinn Fanfics #Joe Quinn Fanfics #champagne problems #one shot #blairrwaldorfs

98 notes · View notes

snowyaika · 3 months

Text

to start off strong, and to give me more motivation to write, i’m opening my asks for requests!!! please feel free to request certain characters or prompts, whatever you’d like!!

here’s a list of some dialogue i’m up for putting into my work!! but you can always request more than whats put here!!!🫀

[angst]

1: “i wish you never had trusted me.”

2: “i guess this is a lesson in not trusting people, right?”

3: “none of it was real, but i wish it was.”

4: “from the day we met, i knew i’d hurt you eventually.”

5: “i told you not to get too close to me.”

6: “i never loved you.”

7: “what was going through your head when i told you i loved you?”

8: “say you never loved me, say it.”

9: “what are you going to do, shoot me? do it.”

10: “don’t make me kill you.”

[hurt/comfort]

11: “you are what’s important right now.”

12: “i don’t have anyone anymore.” “ you have me.”

13: “it’s okay, you know. if you need to vent.”

14: “please don’t go.”

15: “why didn’t you tell me the nightmares were back? you know i never minded helping with them.”

16: “you know my door is always open to you.”

17: “you shouldn’t smoke, you know.”

18: “you shouldn’t be out here by yourself.”

19: “you’re not as bad as everyone says you are.”

20: “i just thought you’d like some company.”

[fluff/humor]

21: “are you jealous? want me all to yourself, do you?”

22: “i don’t think i’ve ever seen you smile.”

23: “i knew you had a heart.”

24: “would it be too cliche if we matched armor?”

25: “quit smiling at me, you’re making me mess up.”

26: “i’m trying my absolute hardest to see things from your perspective, but i just can’t get my head that far up my ass.”

27: “i don’t have enough middle fingers to let you know how i feel.”

28: “i turned out liking you a lot more than i originally planned.”

29: “don’t look in her eyes, she might steal your soul.”

30: “i just lied to a guard, am i badass or what?”

aanddd there we go!! as of right now i’m open to all characters, but i cannot promise they will all be romantic! if i don’t feel confident enough writing for them, i’ll just make it platonic!

also i see other writers do this, where people have their own anons! if you’d like to be one, do your thing!

ask away! 🫀

#rvb blue team #rvb red team #rvb x reader #red vs blue #rvb locus #rvb felix #rvb wash #x reader #writing prompt #prompt list #dialogue prompt

26 notes · View notes

sequinsmile-x · 10 months

Note

hi hello! you and your fics are seriously the best. I appreciate all that you do for us hotchniss fans!

I know you’ve done a few fics about aaron comforting emily when she feels insecure about how she looks but I thought maybe you could write something the other way round with emily comforting arron? maybe he’s retired from the bau and so he hasn’t been exercising or staying as active as he used to and he thinks emily doesn’t find him or his body attractive anymore. but of course emily finds out and tells him it’s not true (with smut maybe?👀) obviously if you don’t want to or don’t have the time I totally understand!! ❤️

also: maybe some jealous hotch with him comparing himself to derek or someone???

hiiii bestie.

this got away from me pretty massively...and (I know I say this every time) is the smuttiest smut I have ever written.

I hope you enjoy it.

This ones for the Hotch girls.

-x-

New Perspective

Aaron feels insecure. Emily shows him he has nothing to be insecure about.

Words: 3.7k

Warnings: 18+, Smut, Oral Sex

Read over on Ao3, or below the cut

There was nothing quite like coming home. She’d feel whatever tension she’d been carrying in her chest ease the moment she turned onto their street and saw their house, the one she and Aaron had bought together to raise their family in.

She knows it's because she never had a home before this, before him and their children. She’d spent her whole life without roots, without anywhere or anyone to call her own. Then she fell in love with Aaron and Jack. A family she’d never expected to find right in front of her the whole time. Shortly after they got married they decided to try for a baby of their own. Then Alice came along, the six-year-old already fiercely independent, followed by Hazel, the baby of the family even though she was about to start preschool.

Emily was now part of a family of five - her life as full of chaos as it was of love, something she could never have imagined when she was alone in Paris wondering if she’d ever see anyone she loved ever again. There were still moments, even now all of these years later, when she worried it would be torn away from her. She’d lay there in the middle of the night listening to Aaron breathe, or she’d stand in the doorway of one of the kid's rooms to do the same with them, just to remind herself that this was real. This was her life.

Emily sighs in relief as she walks into the house, the smell of home washing over her as she closes the door behind her. She has mere seconds to put her go-bag down by the door before she hears a familiar yell throughout the house, her youngest daughter’s feet loud against the hardwood floor as she launches herself at her.

“Mommy!”

She bends down and catches the four-year-old in her arms before she heaves her onto her hip, holding her daughter close for the first time in a couple of days. Hazel is already in her pjyamas, her hair braided in the way she could always convince Aaron to do for her, and Emily knows her husband would have kept their daughter up a little longer than usual so she could say good night to her.

“Hi Hazel,” she says, pressing a kiss to the little girl's head, “Mommy missed you.”

Hazel leans her head against her chest and plays with Emily’s necklace, her tiny fingers wrapping around the metal chain, “Missed Mommy.”

Emily smiles and readjusts her hold on Hazel as she walks further into the house, “Let’s go see what Daddy and your brother and sister are up to.”

“Daddy missed you too,” Hazel says, rubbing her face against Emily’s collarbone, a sure sign that she was getting sleepy having found solace in her mother’s arms.

When she was pregnant with Alice, Emily and Aaron had decided that one of them needed to leave the BAU. Their work was not only dangerous, but it took them away from home and leaving an infant with Jessica didn’t seem like the right thing to do. Ultimately, Aaron decided to retire once Alce was born. Emily had worried if it was the right thing to do if people would judge her for continuing to work even though she financially didn’t need to, but Aaron assured her it was the right decision for their family. He was older than her, he’d achieved everything he’d wanted to with their career, and he was still haunted by the time he’d missed out on with Jack when he was in hiding with Haley.

“He did huh?” Emily asks, rubbing her daughter's back, feeling her getting heavier against her.

“Daddy’s been sad,” Hazel says, yawning as she settles even further into Emily’s grasp.

It sets off alarm bells in her head, and she’s suddenly repeating every conversation they’d had in the couple of days it had been since she had left for the case. He’d seemed himself as he updated her on what the kids had said and done throughout the day before he let them speak to her, their excitement at talking to her warming her from the inside out even when she was on the other side of the country.

The morning she’d left had been normal too. She’d been woken up early by her phone ringing and had done her best to be quiet as she got ready to leave. It was rare that she was up before him, even though it had been years since he’d retired, but Aaron had been out the night before with Derek, Dave and Spencer, a ‘guys' night’ that Dave had organised for them all. She’d dropped a kiss on his forehead before she’d left, chuckling as he grumbled at her.

The thought of him keeping something from her makes her uneasy. She adjusts her hold on Hazel as she walks into the kitchen, and her uneasiness only increases when she sees the tight smile that flashes across her husband's face before he can cover it.

“Hi sweetheart,” he says, walking over to greet her. He presses a kiss to her cheek and when he pulls back she sees the same smile on his face again, not the usual one that makes her stomach swoop, “We missed you.”

Before she can reply in kind, or ask him if he’s ok, Jack and Alice rush into the room to see her and the moment is lost.

___

The next time they were alone together was when it was time for bed.

The kids were all in bed, and as Emily took a long and well-needed bath, Aaron made lunch for Alice and Jack to take to school the next day. She’s changed into her pjyamas, a large t-shirt of Aaron’s and a pair of sleep shorts, and walking back into their bedroom when she pauses in the doorway of the ensuite, frozen in place as she watches her husband look at himself in the mirror.

She can see the critical way he’s looking at herself. How he looks himself up and down, his hand on his stomach as he turns sideways as he furrows his brow.

“You ok?” She asks, and he flinches, unaware that she’d been standing behind him at all. He turns to look at her and he clears his throat.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” he replies, smiling at her like he had in the kitchen again before he nods and tries to walk past her. She sighs and she stops him, her arm around his middle.

“Yeah, that’s how someone who is fine would say that,” she says, smiling softly at him. Her eyes searching his for something, anything, that would give away what was wrong. She reaches up and cups his cheeks, holding him in place. “Hazel said you seemed sad.”

He sighs and closes his eyes, guilt for the fact his four-year-old had been able to pick up on his mood making his chest ache, “I didn’t think she’d pick up on it.”

She leans in to kiss his cheek and she smiles at him, their eyes meeting as he opens his, “Well she’s very good at picking up on how other people feel,” she says, brushing her fingers through his hair, “Just like her Daddy.”

He chuckles softly, “And her Mommy.”

She kisses him and wraps her hand around his to lead him to the bed. They sit on the edge of it, their thighs pressing together, and she lifts their joint hands to kiss his knuckles, her lips catching the cool metal of his wedding ring. “So, what’s wrong?”

It feels absurd even as he thinks about it, the comments that he knows were a joke the other night rolling around in his head as they had for days.

He hated that he felt a little out of place with the team these days, that he was on the outside with jokes and comments that he would have once been at the centre of. He knew he’d made the right call, that not one part of him regretted retiring to stay home with their children, but it had been an adjustment over the years. He appreciated that Dave still insisted he went out on ‘guys night’, but he had different priorities than his friends now. The others would speak about cases, that he’d already heard about from his wife so could give his advice on, and he’d tell them about the kids, shaking his head as Dave pointed out the sparkly nail polish on the fingernail on his pinkie.

The other night had been fun, he’d drunk a little bit too much beer, enough to make him a little handsy with Emily when he got home, but he kept thinking about something Derek had said. He’d just come from the gym, his upper body aching, and he’d commented that Aaron could do with joining him if he wanted to, a teasing smile on his face as he patted his belly, before saying something about Emily and how he wondered how Aaron kept up with her.

Aaron was aware that he wasn’t quite as fit as he used to be, that his body had changed as he got older and less active now he was no longer in the field, but someone else mentioning it had thrown him. It made him self-conscious in a way he hadn’t been since the scars Foyet had given him were fresh, and he hated it.

He’d been grateful that Emily was away for a few days so he could attempt to get over it. So he could reconfigure his thinking and get over what Derek had said, but apparently, he hadn’t been able to.

He should have known better than to try to hide something from his wife.

“It’s stupid,” he says, and she raises her eyebrow at him, love for him shining in her eyes.

“Nothing you say is stupid,” she says, shifting so she can look at him properly. She squeezes his hand, “Just tell me.”

Aaron nods and huffs out a breath, “When I was out the other night, Derek made a comment about the fact I’m not as…fit as I used to be, and he asked how I keep up with you,” he says, feeling embarrassed he was even admitting to it, watching as her mouth falls open “And I know I’m not, and I know he was mostly joking, but I can’t stop thinking about it,” he smiles tightly, “I…I even signed up to a gym yesterday.”

She scoffs, her hand tight around his, “I’ll kill him.”

Her fury is stoked by the way Aaron chuckles and leans down to kiss her cheek, “It’s ok, sweetheart, I promise,” he says, “I shouldn’t have let it get to me,” he shrugs nonchalantly, “I don’t care what Derek thinks, I only really care…” he drifts off, clearing his throat before he can say it outloud, but she catches it, and she chuckles humourlessly, not quite sure she can believe what he was about to say.

“You think it bothers me?” She asks incredulously, staring at him as he avoids eye contact. It's her turn to scoff and she shakes her head at him, “How could you think that?” She can see the tension in his shoulders, how tightly he is holding himself, and she sighs, her teeth sinking into her lower lip as an idea comes to her. She leans in and presses a kiss to his neck and then his jaw, her lips catching his cheekbone before she speaks again, “I love you,” she says, her hand sliding his down his chest as she reaches for the hem of his t-shirt, smiling as she hears his breath catch in his chest, “Every part of you.”

He isn’t sure how she manages to pull her shirt off of him, his arms moving almost of their own accord as she throws his t-shirt onto the bed behind them. She shifts so she’s straddling his lap, a knee on either side of his hips, a glint in her eyes that makes him groan, familiar desire pulling in his belly. He puts his hands on her waist holding her securely in place, moaning as she rolls her hips against his, smiling as she presses a kiss to his lips. He can taste the toothpaste on her tongue, and smell the lavender essential oils lingering on her skin from her bath.

She kisses down his neck and to his chest, pressing her lips to the scar at the top of his chest, “I love these scars,” she mumbles, running her hands down his sides, smiling when he shivers, grinding down on him as she feels him harden underneath her, “They’re made of you,” she says, kissing the next one as she works her way down, her fingertips now at the waistband of his sweatpants, “And they show you survived,” she murmurs, repeating words he’d told her over the years when it was her turn to feel insecure, “That you made it to me.”

She stands up and encourages him to lift his hips just enough to pull his sweatpants down, both of them working to remove them completely. She kneels on the floor in front of him, pressing her legs together to get some friction as she looks at him, half hard and laying against his soft stomach.

He was different to how he used to be, but she loved it. She loved that it made his hugs feel all the more encompassing, that she loved to lay in his arms or half underneath him, the weight of him against her the greatest comfort of her life. That she loved watching him hold their kids, how he’d comfort them and encourage them and somehow make them look tiny, even now when they weren’t babies anymore.

He was huge, in every way, and she loved it. And she hated that he’d ever think otherwise.

She knows he wouldn’t believe her if she said that, so she carries on proving it to him. He’d always been an action kind of guy anyway.

She shifts forwards on her knees so she’s between his thighs, and she feels nothing short of powerful at the way he’s looking down at her, his pupils blown wide as she sees a different type of tension take over, his hips thrusting towards her before she even touches him. It had always been like this. He’d been desperate for her from the start, as she had been for him, and that desperation hadn’t faded over the years. If anything, it had got worse. Anticipation and knowledge of how well they knew each other, how well they took each other apart, enough to make them crazy for each other.

She grabs him, unable to stop herself from moaning as he does too, the sound that leaves him as she pumps him up and down is punched out as she spreads precum over his skin. She leans in and wraps her mouth around him, one of her hands at his base, still slowly pumping him, and the other on his thigh to keep her balance. Aaron groans, one of his hands wrapping itself into her hair, holding her in place as he once again thrusts involuntarily.

“Fuck, Em,” he grits out, any previous insecurities starting to melt away, all of his focus on her. How she bobs up and down, choking slightly as he hits the back of her throat, “Sweetheart, you’re so good at that.”

She pulls back to look at him, gasping for breath as she does so, spit connecting her to the tip of him, “You’re so fucking hot,” she says, never stopping pumping him up and down. She tilts her head back towards the mirror behind them, knowing that from where he was sitting he’d be able to see himself, to see her kneeling in front of him, “Just look at you.”

She leans back in, and he watches himself in the mirror as she goes down on him again. The mixture of the sensation of it, of her mouth hot and slick around him, and the sight of it reflected back at him kicks his pleasure up several notches. He doesn’t see his softer skin or his less defined chest. He sees himself as she does. He sees them together. And they were magnificent.

He thrusts firmly into her throat, groaning as she moans around him, the vibration almost pushing him to the edge. And he tugs on her hair, pulling her back, smiling at the sight of her. Her hair messed up and her eyes wide, her skin flushed with desire as spit dripped onto her chin. His stomach rolling at the knowledge that she was like this because of him. And he hadn’t even touched her yet.

“What?” She asks, wiping her hand over her mouth as he pulls her up, turning them so she’s laying on the bed. “I was trying to-”

“Oh, I know what you were trying to do, baby,” he says, already pulling her shorts down her legs, smirking against her neck as she whines as he purposely runs his thumb against her as he does so. “But you know what makes me feel better every time?” He asks, as she shakes her head chasing his touch as he skins his fingers over her thighs. He pushes up her shirt and allows her to sit up just enough to pull it off her, throwing it to join his somewhere higher up on the bed. He places his lips next to her ear and breathes over her skin, making her shiver, “Making you fall apart.”

She moans as he pushes two fingers into her, stealing the air from her lungs as he curls them inside of her, “Jesus Christ.”

“Nope,” he smirks, pulling his fingers from inside of her and lifting them to his mouth, groaning as he tastes her on his skin, “Just me.”

She wants to be annoyed at him, but she can’t bring herself to be. Not when he’s pressing her into the mattress, his lips against her throat as he pushes her thighs apart even wider, a pull in her legs that she thinks would make her wince in any other circumstances

“Please,” she breathes out, throwing her head back as he pushes into her, the familiar stretch of him making her moan loudly. He captures it by kissing him, just about aware enough of everything beyond the two of them that if they woke up the kids this would be over. She buries her hands in his hair and kisses him fiercely as she matches him thrust for thrust, the two of them naturally falling into a rhythm they’d found years ago.

“Fuck, Em,” he says as he pulls away from the kiss to bury his face into her collarbone, “You’re incredible.”

“So…so are you,” she grunts out, her breath stolen from her as it feels like he pushes in deeper every time, and she knows she’ll still feel him in the morning, “You feel so fucking good.”

He puts his hand in between them and draws circles on her clit, groaning as she clenches impossibly tighter around him, “Come for me, baby,” he says, biting into her shoulder, “Show me how good I make you feel.”

She comes, hard. And she pulls him into a kiss to muffle her scream, and he comes too, his hips stuttering against hers as his orgasm chases hers.

She lays there for a moment, to catch her breath content to stay there under him, and she groans in disappointment as he tries to roll off of her. She wraps her arms and still shaking legs around him as she buries her face in his neck.

“Stay there.”

“Sweetheart,” he says, his voice thick, “I’ll crush you.”

“Don’t care,” she mumbles, stamping her kiss against his, “I love it,” she kisses him again, “It makes me feel safe.”

He feels pride swell in his chest, the last tendrils of his insecurity finally letting go, and he nods, purposely shifting so only half of his weight is on her, “We’ll need to get dressed soon,” he says, resting his head on her chest, “Hazel will sneak in soon.”

She hums, the thought of spending a night sandwiched between her husband and her youngest after spending a few days sleeping alone filling her with joy.

“In a minute,” she says, clenching around him on purpose, laughing when he moans, “Then we’ll shower together.”

“Sounds good sweetheart.”

___

She yawns the next morning as she pours herself a cup of coffee in the bullpen kitchen, and she hears a familiar chuckle from behind her.

“Late night, Princess?”

She turns to look at Derek and smiles as she takes a sip of her coffee, making a point of winking at him as she thinks of her very late night with her husband. The shower hadn’t been the end of it last night, and by the time Hazel did sneak into their room in the early hours of the morning they’d only just changed the sheets.

“Something like that.”

He shivers and makes himself a drink, “Gross.”

“You asked,” she watches him carefully, her tongue pressing into her cheek as she questions whether she should say something, but her desire to protect her husband wins out over everything else. She steps closer to him, “Derek?”

He hums in response and looks a little shocked as he looks up and sees she’s closer now, “Yes?”

“If you ever say anything to my husband again about his appearance, or imply he is anything less than perfect for me, I will kill you,” she says, her face stern, “And we both know I’d get away with it.” She says, and she suppresses her smile as his face falls and he swallows thickly. “Are we clear?”

He nods, “Crystal clear.”

She smiles at him, “Perfect,” she walks away and heads towards her desk when she hears Derek call after her.

“Are you limping?”

She turns back to look at him, a wide smirk on her face that makes him immediately regret his attempt to get the upper hand again.

“Oh Derek, when will you learn not to ask questions you don’t want the answer to.”

-x-

Tag List:

@ssa-sparks, @lukeclvez, @lyds102, @glockleveledatyourcrotch, @hotchnissenthusiast, @danadeservesadrink, @ssamorganhotchner, @emilyprentissisgod, @notagentprentiss, @freesiasandfics, @emilyshotchniss, @thecharmingart, @paulitalblond, @hancydrewfan, @camille093, @whitecrossgirl, @moonlight-2-6, @rawr-jess, @florenceremingtonthethird, @jareauswife, @ms-black-a, @beebeelank, @aubreyprc, @zipzapboingg, @psychopath-at-heart, @criminalmindsgonewrong, @fionaloover, @kinqslcys, @prentissinred, @ccmattis-22, @cmfouatslota77, @alexblakegf, @aliensaurusrex, @prentissxhotch, @emobabeyy, @victoiregranger, @stormyweatherth, @wanderingdreamer009, @ssablackbird, @luhwithah, @lex13cm, @prentiss-theorem, @dont-emily-me, @mrs-ssa-hotch, @jocyycreation, @itsmytimetoodream, @hotchnissgroupie, @controversialpooh, @capsshinyshield, @ssahotchnerthe2nd

Join my tag list here!

#aaron hotchner #emily prentiss #aaron hotchner fanfiction #emily prentiss fanfiction #hotchniss fan fic #aaron x emily #hotchniss fanfic #hotchniss fanfiction #aaron hotchner x emily prentiss #hotchniss #hotchniss smut #aaron hotchner smutt #emily prentiss smut

83 notes · View notes

herdelreydear · 10 months

Text

I was all over her

pt 1

warnings: college!au, mean!ellie, owenxabby, elliexreader, (a bit abbyxreader bc of readers past, smoking, drugs, alcohol, some angst, nsfw in this or the next parts

summary: Dina drags Ellie to a camp where they can work at for three weeks, the money is good and they get a little vecation from their college life. It’s annoying but it gets more interesting when Ellie gets to know the other girl that is joining as a camp leader.

notes: i’m really excited for this series, it’s gonna be inspired by the 80s slasher summer camp vibe! They’re not in the 80s anymore but their town is so stubborn, that they still got all the old equipments so it kind of feels like it anyways. I’m also going to switch from different perspectives to get a better view from everyone’s thoughts when things get spicy :P

reposting, liking or even commenting would be so so appreciated <3

{ not proofread }

‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿ ‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿ ‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿

„Ugh“ Ellie grunted shoving her stuff in her backpack that was already falling apart and had some holes here and there. It didn’t bother her as long as she didn’t loose anything of her supplies.

„If the money isn’t worth it i’m going.“ Dina, laying on her bed watching her- „Of course Ells as if you’re not living off of instant noodles and my stuff the last few weeks“ she grinned and rolled onto her stomach.

„The kids are gonna be annoying but remember how we were that age?“ she let out a quite laugh. „Were the ones making the rules now, so how bad can it be?“

„Oh fuck you“ Ellie sighed and finally got her backpack to zip up. „Kids that age are little shitheads“ she stood up and let herself fall on the bed next to Dina. „Well yeah, but at least they’re not that bad, I mean they wont be older than 16 y‘know?“

„Well with 16 I started selling“ Ellie grinned. „But if I catch one of them doing anything like that imma beat their ass“ she looked at her phone to check the time. „Well, or their mom will“

Dina flipped a finger against Ellies forehead „Ouch“- „You’re the one that has to behave“ Dina glanced a provocative smile at her. „No girls your age except for me and Abby, and a bunch of kids- I think you can handle that“

„I don’t like that Abby and Owen are the ones giving the orders to us, she‘s okay but Owen is annoying as fuck“ Dina nodded to agree with her. Abby and Owen were a bit older then them, and already did the camp counseling the year before.

„Well anyways we gotta go“ Dina pushed Ellie of the bed otherwise to leave would’ve took forever. They got outside and walked to Ellies Pick-Up truck. The others would drive in a school bus Owen got the permission to drive with. They would all meet at the camp.

This year it was so full, Owen and Abby decided to let all the kids sleep in the little cabins and the leaders would have to sleep outside. Because of Ellie having the Pick-Up they already loaded all their tents on it, wondering why there were two from Abby and Owen, thinking they’d sleep together anyways.

The Trip was nice though, Ellie liked driving and Dina liked being Ellies Dj even though Ellie didn’t approve to all the songs Dina was blasting on full volume.

After arriving Ellie looked unmotivated again. „First and last day are always the most stressful ones, so don’t give up today okay Ells?“ Closing the car door Dina tried to get Ellies confirmation. „Yeah sure“ she muffled and helped Dina with the tents and their backpacks.

Already settled in, they could hear the voices of kids and teens laughing in their little cabins. Searching for Abby and Owen they ran into you.

You just had moved to the place you were now also going to college to. Only about three months ago, but you didn’t recognize the two women approaching you. They don’t look 16 anymore that’s for sure, so they must be from college too, also taking the opportunity to get that money.

Of course you needed that money desperately, normal for a college student. Also, extra money didn’t hurt, and you needed to get away from.. well actually you wanted to get away from Abby, but you already applied to the job before knowing it was organized by Abby- and Owen, her boyfriend.. At least the two other girls are joining too, so you’re not alone with them.

„hey! you’re from college too?“ Dina came up to greet you with a welcoming quick hug, surprised you smiled lightly and nodded. „Uh, yeah I am“ you looked over to the other girl, hands in her pockets and not looking like she was going to great you like the other one. „I’m y/n“ you introduced yourself to the two. „Dina“ -she seemed like a person you’ll get along with, but the other one- „Ellie“ she said shortly, seemed not that pleased by the whole situation. Well, maybe she was just here for the money, and you’d understand that. For you, being outside was calming, and working or more like watching the kids a bit was totally fine with you. Growing up with siblings you knew how to handle annoying teens.

„Hey hey“ Owen stepped out of one of the cabins, Abby on his hand, she looked a bit annoyed but smiled when she saw the small group of yours. „Finally, all the kids are already unpacking their stuff and ready for some food“ she smiled and they stepped closer to greet everyone. „So for the basics: we have plans hung out in the kitchen on wich we are divded into wash off and cooking shifts.“ Abby walked to one of the cabins, the only one that was a bit bigger, everyone followed.

Stepping in she pointed to a list that was hung up against a board. „I think it’s okay that we do the dishes, the kids are here to relax. Owen and I are going to do most of the activities with them, but most of the kids are already to old for that and just want to be outside on the lake or on the fields. You guys just watch out that no ones going missing and when we need you, you’ll help us out.“

Her voice was calm and you couldn’t avoid feeling a big clump in your throat.

Just weeks ago she ended it with you, or kind of did. You apparently just were a little flink she had while being broken up with Owen. It still hurted though. She was the first woman you slept with, but even more- she was the one that gave you the security you were a lesbian. At the beginning she was there for you while being the new student, helping you out a lot with how everything worked you both couldn’t deny the tension that got in between you from the first day you’d met. At that point you didn’t knew about the breakup with Owen, you were fully convinced she was a lesbian anyways. You asked her out on sweet little coffee dates and she took you to her basketball practice ones in a while. It felt like you two had known each other for much longer than just a few months. You started to crush on her besides being sexually attracted to her. But it stayed at being fuck buddies, till you mentioned your feelings and she seemed to be on the same side. All fine, till one night- that stupid fucking frat party. You were waiting for her all night, after not showing up you asked around if anybody saw her. Some did, but they also lost sight of her. Already a bit drunk you made your way through the rooms till you accidentally walked in on two people, needing a sec to realize who was having sex right there.

That night didn’t end well. You were heartbroken (you knew it seemed a bit too fast but it still hurted- and it was the way she did not tell you about him- and didn’t tell you she was actually just getting her sexual frustration eased by sleeping with you) You felt used and had cut her off.

Now, you two had to get along somehow. And it was fine, it wasn’t that deep you tried to tell yourself. Move on, gosh you’re embarrassing yourself . You’d tell yourself.

Everyone seemed fine with the list, and you turned to Dina and Ellie. „So, let’s build up our tents?“ you wanted to get away from her. They agreed. You looked up to Abby while walking past her, she gave you a little smile. You noticed her apologizing look, it made you sick.

„Oh I forgot to tell you, Jesse‘s coming too“ Dina turned her head to Ellie while putting together the tent. „How did you forget that“ Ellie scrunched her eyebrows together. Sweet. You held on to the other side of the tent, not doing much because you didn’t knew anything ok how to put up those. „Well, Ells he’s not here so obviously I forgot him. He’s always late!“ she rolled her eyes. „Jesse‘s my Ex“ she turned around to tell you without being asked, but you were to shy to ask anyways, so you appreciated her leading the conversation. „So now we’re two“ you tried to smile. „Wait what? You were dating Jesse??“ You shaked your head hardly. „Noo I don’t even know him don’t worry“ before she could ask about Abby, you quickly finished building up the tent and changed the subject. When all tents were up, Jesse arrived. Extroverted like Dina he started blabbering all kinds of stuff on to you, knowing he just tried to made you feel less left out, you tried to stay as focused as possible and answered to all his questions.

„So now, who’s gonna sleep where?“

All of you stood infront of the three little tents. Abby and Owen were already in the kitchen, making some dough for bread on sticks, but it was obvious they’d sleep together. „I don’t care, you guys can decide“ You smiled and you noticed Ellie glancing over to you. She was really quite since they arrived but it was kind of.. pleasant.

„You wanna sleep with me?“ She said, and you shrugged. „Sure“ giving her a smile that she gave you back. Dina raised a brow, knowing Ellie, she took every opportunity to get girls actually in bed with her. Poor you Dina thought. But Dina was also more than fine with sharing a tent with Jesse. Yes, they broke up, but they still were like besties.

Following Ellie you climbed into your tent, finding yourself unexpectedly really close to her. Ellie noticed the rosy color on your cheeks. „So.. on wich side do you want to sleep?“ you asked, a bit uncomfortable. Before saying anything Ellie just stretched herself and layed down on her side. „is that fine?“ she reassured and you nodded. While humming you started to unpack your stuff. Ellie watched you while rolling herself another one up. You didn’t mind, and didn’t tell her to stop when she lightened it in your little tent, you just opened the entrance and layed down next to her.

„So how come I’ve never seen you at college?“ She looked to the side and held the joint infront of you, as you took it you thought about how you could answer it as short as possible.

„I just came here a few months ago, wasn’t really with anybody that’s probably why“ you shrugged „I like to be on my own“ you exhaled and gave it back to her. She grinned. „Well that’s definitely understandable, but what about frat parties? They can be fun too, never been to one?“ she layed her head on her arm that was behind her and watched the smoke fill the air.

„Well I was“ you caughed, you weren’t used to smoking weed, and the tent was full of smoke. Ellie laughed and opened the outer layer of the tent a bit wider. „Let’s go“ she tilted her head to the exit, noticing you’re not taking the full air that well and you climbed out of it. It already got dark and you decided to collect some wood for the campfire. You didn’t notice how a constant smile was on your lips, and how the stiffness from before started to loosen up. But Ellie noticed and enjoyed your quite being.

After being done collecting some sticks and branches, Ellie lit up the campfire and Jesse and Dina gathered the kids around it. Abby and Owen brought the food and the atmosphere started to get more calm and chatty. You enjoyed it more than you thought and then and there your eyes met with Ellies.

‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿ ‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿ ‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿

I know that’s the second series I started, I think I’ll just write them both at the same time. I hope you like it, I already have the next parts planned x3

I’m also making a playlist inspired by the 80s but also the vibe for this series~

#ellie x reader #abby x reader #abby anderson #ellie williams #dina the last of us #jesse the last of us #ellie tlou #ellie x fem reader #ellie x y/n #owen tlou #slasher summer #camping #Spotify

104 notes · View notes

athena-the-writer · 2 years

Note

reader and kratos get into a big argument? but with a fluffy ending❤️‍🩹

Warnings: argument but fluff

Genre: the slightest angst but fluffy end

"Kratos....." there was silence "...come on are yous still angry?" you ask him

"Yes," he says as blankly as ever. What else did you expect from the stoic warrior?

You were out hunting and had a minor run-in with a typical monster. Like he is with Atreus, he wants you to fight along with him and not on your own. However this time you really were helping him. One had jumped on his back to get him into a headlock, so you jump into action.

You had gotten the enemy off but, had also gotten yourself pinned underneath. You flinch and wait for the blow to come but it never came. Kratos did save you but it ended with a very cold stare in your direction. He simply gave you the cold shoulder and started his way back home. Only speaking when necessary but other than that, not a word came from him.

"Kratos, be reasonable. I saved you, you saved me, that is how it has always been and that is how a team works-"

"You were not supposed to put yourself in danger when I could handle it," he said coming inside the hut to Mimir on the table

"Right because being in a headlock is how you keep control. If it's supposed to be that may maybe I just won't come anymore and I'll be your little housewife, hm? Does that sound better for you?" you sarcastically suggest

"Perhaps that will be better." right, he also gives you sarcasm, only digging the hole deeper than it was

"Oh gods please, I'm not a helpless and frail thing you know-"

“But you are! In fact you should be here at home where you belong!” He says quickly turning around to face you. Now your blood was boiling

“Where I belong?! Excuse me? Who the hell do you think you are?! Telling me where I belong and where I don’t!” You yell back at him

“I am your husband and the man of this home. You are under my rules as long as I am breathing. You shall remain in the house if I say, you are to fight when I say.” he claimed, taking a step forward towards you. One thing he really loved about you was your unshakable character, but it was also something that pinched a nerve.

"...if that's how you want it....you can find someone else then," you say in a hushed tone staring into his grey eyes. Turning on your heel you take your cloak and head out the door again.

"Woman.....stop....Y/N come back inside," he said expecting you to turn around but you never did. Instead, you shut the door and walk into the forest. Not only were you upset, but you were pissed at how low he thought of you. You knew he was very masculine both physically, mentally, and emotionally..but he still had no right to speak of you this way. You train with him and you were more than capable of fighting for yourself and for him as well.

You walked about the forest for a couple of hours and allowed yourself to cool down. Maybe you were wrong for not seeing it from his perspective and that he was only worried. You walk back to the familiar path that leads to the hut you shared. You walk inside to see the fire was lit and the house was warm. SHedding off the cloak from your shoulders you go to sit in front of the fire. You watched as the orange flames danced in the darkness of the room, the warmth embracing you within the coolness.

A presence entered the room but you didn't turn around. A heavy sigh was heard, and footsteps come toward you. A large fur surrounds your figure and Kratos kneels beside you. You say nothing, being too stubborn to say anything

"You are more than what I told you. Sometimes...you frighten me with how far you have come, and I do not want you to injure yourself or come into harm's way," he says gently brushing a finger against your cheek.

"So....am I more than just a woman?" you asked

"Yes," he gives you the slightest of smirks

"and do I have to stay home while you go out with Atreus?" you ask testing the waters as to how much he would answer

"I would rather you come with us, just be careful. Come now, let us rest," he says holding his arm open for you to insert yourself into. You walk into your shared room to put yourselves and the petty argument to rest

#gow kratos #god of war ragnarok #kratos #kratos x reader #gow #god of war #gow x reader #kratos gow #video games #video games x reader #god of war x reader #kratos fanfic

777 notes · View notes

dp-marvel94 · 1 year

Text

Reveal via Clones

Summary: Maddie and Jack walk in on fives clones waiting for Danny in his room.

Word Count: 2,164

Also on AO3

For @lovelyunknown, @brokeitwiththepowerofmathamatics.

Note: Losely set in my "Life and Death is All Perspective" (ie all the clones come back as full ghosts) Series. My last story for phic phight! Prompts Below: Maddie finds damning evidence in Danny's room. by LovelyUnknown Good Dad Jack identity reveal by Hazama_d20 I saw that first prompt and thought "What more damning evidence than a bunch of clones?" 😂 My original idea was a lot more cracky than what I actually ended up writing. But I'm a serious angst writer so that figures. Enjoy!

Maddie had made up her mind. Tonight was the night. She and Jack were going to talk to Danny about everything. His failing grades, skipping school, missing curfew, getting into fights.

Ignoring the problem hadn’t worked. Punishing Danny, hoping he would change his behavior, hadn’t work. Talking to Danny, reassuring him that he could tell them anything, even that hadn’t worked. Instead, Danny took to avoiding them.

But the mother had had enough. She was getting answers out of her son tonight. Even if they had to wait in his bedroom all night for him to come home. Her son wouldn’t suffer alone in silence anymore.

As the couple approached Danny’s room, voices rang out through the door.

“Oh! What’s this?” A curious voice with a bit of a lisp asked.

“Ezekial, be careful with that.” A different voice, smoothly sophisticated, gently rebuked.

A crash. “Oops.”

The adults froze at the noise, exchanging worried looks. Jack reached for the door knob.

“That was Danny’s favorite model rocket.” A third spoke, words with a disappointed note.

Maddie’s hand rested on the other adult’s arm, stopping him with a nod of her head.

“Let’s pick it up.” A deeper male voice. “Maybe we can fix it?”

“There’s some glue in the desk.” The third speaker.

Who were these people in Danny’s room? Friends from school?

“Maybe we should wait until Danny gets back.” A pre-teen girl’s voice spoke up, sounding a bit unsure. “I don’t know how this is supposed to go together.”

The woman’s eyes widened. There was something odd about the other voices, compared to the girl who just spoke….

“I think I remember.” The third said. “This one wasn’t really that hard to put together. It was one of his first.”

The eye-roll was almost audible. “Not all of us received memories from our progenitor, Damian.”

Progenitor? What was he talking about?

“That wasn’t my fault, Neil.” A teasing point, presumably from this Damian.

“I’m pretty sure it was.” The girl quipped.

“None of us knew overshadowing could do that.” Another audible eye-roll.

Overshadowing…. Something only a ghost could do and… A hint of dread settled in Maddie’s stomach. That is what she had been picking up on; every voice but the girl’s had a strange echo….

“Memory stealer.” The lisping voice teased.

“It’s just copying!” Damian, the object of teasing, argued. “Pro, come on. You’ve gotta defend me. You know I’m your favorite sibling.”

“Nah, Ellie’s my favorite.” The deeper voice joked, the smile audible.

“Yes!” The girl cheered.

Maddie didn’t understand. The echoes… these were a bunch of ghosts? Of sibling ghosts? How could ghosts even have siblings?

Then again, it wouldn’t be the first time ghosts surprised them. Phantom did, again and again showing that he genuinely wanted to help, hence their truce. Phantom wasn’t a bad ghost but, this group, joking with each other in…

“I’m your favorite brother, at least.”

“Nah, that’s Danny.” The deeper voiced speaker again teased. “Speaking of, when is he getting back?”

In their boy’s room. Ghost might not have been as bad as she and Jack previously thought. But these were five strangers! Ghosts they’d never even heard before, waiting for their baby in his bedroom.

With that thought, the mother pulled her ectogun out of her belt. She and Jack met eyes, the man doing the same. A silent count to three and…

The knob was turned, door kicked open. “Eat Fenton Bazzoa, ghosts!”

Maddie’s eyes quickly took in the scene. Four ghosts. One wearing a white cloak, red eyes and green skin. Phantom or… no, somehow she knew (maybe it was the way he held himself or maybe something else) this was a look-alike. Another Phantom look-alike, though all of four feet tall. And a towering ghost, covered in scars.

The woman set her sights on the big one, finger hovering over the trigger. She didn’t want to shot but she was prepared if-

“Mads!” Jack gasped in surprise beside her, his weapon lowering. “Look.”

“Jack!” Her eyes darted to the object of his interest. “What-” She cut herself off, eyes widening.

The fifth occupant of the room, the pre-teen girl…. She was human, staring at them with wide, frightened eyes. That wasn’t the surprise. But…

The jet black hair and…. those eyes, crystal blue, exactly identical to…

“Danny?” Maddie asked.

Her head shook. No, she wasn’t Danny, obviously, but…

“Who are you?” Jack asked, voice as numbly shocked as the woman felt.

“Clones of your son.” The Phantom look-alike’s eyes widened, mouth snapping shut as soon as the words left his mouth.

Maddie blinked, her own gun dropping at the surprise. “Excuse me.”

The ghost’s eyes panickedly flickered among the others. “We are all…. Clones of your son, Danny Fenton?” His chests turned green, in a blush(?). “We were created by your college friend, Vlad Masters. He wishes to kill Jack Fenton, blaming you for the accident which killed him and for stealing Madeline from him. He has planned to marry you, Maddie, and claim your son as his heir and apprentice.”

Neither parent reacted, numb with shock. The other ghosts and the girl also stared, jaws dropped and eyes wide with disbelief.

The lack of response seemed to just encourage the ramble. “Danny proved quite, understandably, hostile to this plan, refusing to betray his father. Despite his efforts, Vlad could not achieve his goal of acquiring Danny as a son. Therefore he decided to create his own version of the boy, one who would be amenable to his plans, hence…” He motioned awkwardly. “All of us.”

Maddie… hadn’t registered half of that. Yet her spinning minds caught on one thought. “But…. you’re all ghosts?” The words came out surprisingly quiet.

“We all died before becoming stabilized.” The Phantom (Danny?!) look-alike raised one brow, before motioning to the girl. “Except for Danielle, of course. Besides, Danny himself is half-”

Something in the statement roused the other Phantom look-alike, an elbow to the side cutting off the word. “Dude! You can’t tell them everything!”

The taller’s mouth snapped shut, visibility embarrassed. “I may have committed an error….”

“I’ll say!” The shorter raised his arms. “I thought you were the smart one, Daniel.”

The other look-alike, apparently named Daniel (?!), blinked skeptically. “Why would you think that?”

“You always use long words and…. It’s like you don’t even know what an apostrophe is.”

“Damian, I know what an apostrophe is.”

The shorter, Damian, placed his hands on his hips, an eyebrow raised challengingly. “Then use one.”

“I don’t think I will.” Daniel’s nose turned up. “You are not the boss of me.”

Maddie watched the argument like it was a tennis match. They were… arguing. Like normal siblings. Like… normal kids.

“Mads…” Jack’s uncertain voice beside her. The woman half-tuned out the ensuing argument, turning a tentative eye to him. “Mads. I think he… Daniel’s… telling the truth.” The next words came out more confident. “And if he is, then…”

The man put down the bazooka, uncertainty still in his eyes but no doubt, the action completely deliberate. He stood, shoulders back as if steeling himself. Then, he calmly stepped forward.

The kids froze, chatter cutting off. All eyes widened with fear.

Jack put his arms out, hand up disarmingly. His gaze fixed on the largest ghost “You’re a big one. Regular chip off the ole block.” A step forward, his expression strangely soft compared to his normal boisterousness. “What’s your name, son?”

The ghost shifted nervously, frantic eyes flickering from each of the other clones to Maddie and finally to Jack. He swallowed. “Um. It’s Prometheus, sir.”

“Prometheus.” The adult tested out the name. “That sounds greek. Isn’t it?”

“It’s uhh…. A long story.” The ghost, Prometheus, rubbed the back of his neck. (And didn’t the gesture look achingly familiar). “And everyone calls me Pro.”

“It��s a good name.” Jack chuckled. “And look at you! Swimmin’ in my end of the gene pool. Those spare hazmats we made for Danny and Jazz definitely won’t go to waste now!”

Pro did not respond, trading a vaguely panicked look with the girl. But the tension didn’t deter the man from continuing. He turned to the Phantom look-alike. “And you’re Daniel. Sharing a name with our Danno, I see.”

“Well. Yes, that is true…” A nervous swallow.

“Mads picked out the name. I wasn’t the biggest fan but she let me pick out Jazzy’s name.” He shrugged. Then, taking in the embarrassed face. (Maddie’s heart ached… it reminded her of a four year old Danny, caught stealing from the cookie jar). “You’re as green as an unripe tomato.” A kind chuckle. “Don’t feel embarrassed, kiddo. You’re not the first Fenton man to panic and say something he shouldn’t. And you probably won’t be the last.”

Daniel traded a look with his shorter look-alike, a silent conversation passing through. (Jazz and Danny had done the same, even this morning. These two… they all really were siblings, weren’t they?). Both relaxed ever so slightly.

“You’re taking this well.” The shortest said cautiously.

“I’m sure it’ll hit me later.” Jack laughed. “And your name was Damain, right?”

The ghost boy, Damian, nodded, puffing out his chest slightly. “I picked that out myself.”

“It’s a good one too. And…” His eyes flickered up, over Damian’s shoulder. “And who’s the quiet one over there?”

The short ghost floated to the side, the cloaked one drifting forward. “He’s Ezekial.” Damian answered.

“Zeke.” The thin figure lisped, spelling out the name with his fingers.

“Zeke.” Jack smiled. “It’s nice to meet you.”

Cautiously, Zeke floated forward, just two feet in front of the man. A tentative hand reached forward. Jack offered, letting the thin fingers brush his for a hand shake. “You are… kinder than I thought.”

Something in the man’s expression cracked. “Oh kiddo…” With gentle squeeze off the fingers, he removed his hand, the motion deliberate, unlike the falling of his shoulders.

Jack turned, finally smiling at the girl. “And you’re Danielle.”

“Ellie.” She shifted nervously. “Sorry for barging into your house.”

“Non-sense, princess.” He waved her off. “You, all of you are….” Maddie saw it, in the moment their eyes met. He was seconds from pulling this kid, all of these kids into his arms. “You're all….” That word, on the tip of his tongue….

“Family.” Maddie could hardly believe the word coming from her mouth. But… “You’re family.”

She knew it was true, like the way her heart ached and her hand shook, the ectogun…. Ectogun…. She should holster that. The weapon returned to her belt, eyes fixed back on the children.

The faces looking back at her… she saw Danny in them, herself and Jack’s features, despite the ghostly glow and…. The woman felt seconds from crying. That ghostly glow… meaning they, most of them, had died. Her own flesh and blood passed away, gone before she even knew about them, much less held them.

No. Not gone.

Maddie stepped forward. “How many clones…” She swallowed. “How many of you are there?”

Ellie’s brow furrowed, eyes on each sibling. “Well, there’s the five of us. And… how many does Percy count as?”

Suddenly a green swirling portal opened. Just when Maddie thought her world couldn’t be turned anymore on its head….

A ghost with four arms floated through. “I heard someone say my name.” The opening closed, leaving a sixth similar-looking figure floating in the room.

“Percy!” The quiet, cloaked ghost exclaimed. “How many do you count as?” The words, again slow and lisping.

One of his hands tapped the new ghost, Percy’s chin. “One or…” The three eyes (he had three eyes?!) blinked, brow furrowed in thought. “Twenty-six. Depending on how I feel.”

Maddie just blinked at the sight, a hand going to her forehead. “We have so much to talk about when Danny gets home….”

Still…. The woman looked over the group of kids, five(?) ghosts and one human. The girl, human and seemingly healthy was a relief. But the others… even if they were ghosts, they were her children. That was as clear as the siblinghood in-between them, an undeniable truth her heart spoke.

Though, something niggled in her mind. Their apparent relationships with Danny. Their origin, created by Vlad. That sounded insane but… her stomach turned. With his obvious obsession with her, his strange interest in Danny, and questionable behavior, it made a sick kind of sense.

But that comment, about Vlad having… died? And Danny…. Daniel had been about to say something about him.

Her mind was flailing for connections, that familiar ache welling in her chest. That familiar spectral appearance. Phantom look-alikes, she’d thought when she’d first seen Daniel and Damian. There was a resemblance to Danny too. Almost… almost as if….

Just then, Phantom phased through the window. “Sorry that took so long.” A bright white ring of light flared from his middle as soon as he landed, passing over him. “What did I… miss?”

The light disappeared, revealing….

“Danny?!?!!?”

Note: So that's the story. :) I'm uncertain if this will remain canon to the "Life and Death is All Perspective" Series. I'd always pictured Danny choosing to tell his parent about all his clones but this is fun too. So we'll see.

Also, I can't believe that I finally wrote the "Jack and Maddie meet Ellie" story, despite hinting at it a bunch of times in other phics. And this is freaking it. 🤣🤣🤣

#danny phantom #my fic #phic phight 2023 #phic phight #DP Clones #Danny Phantom Clones #Life and Death is All Perspective

91 notes · View notes

timothee-mybeloved · 2 years

Text

Meet me in the afterglow

In which an argument with Timothée makes you realize that you can’t live without each other

Warnings: angst, fighting, reader being hated by fans, hurt/comfort, totally inspired by Afterglow by miss Taylor Swift, happy ending, I’m in love with timothee chalamet. There is a fic i read once that was the primary inspiration for this but i have no idea what it was called or who it was by… (bold italics are flashbacks)

Paring: Timothée Chalamet x reader

You had blown things out of proportion and now you had no idea where your relationship laid. Were you broken up? Did you lose the man you loved with your entire being?

Your heart couldn’t accept it. He wasn’t around for you to have a conversation with him about it.

You were a mess.

Truth be told…so was he.

He couldn’t stay but it wasn’t because he didn’t want you anymore, quite the opposite actually. He left because he loved you. It scared him too much to think about.

He couldn’t handle seeing how much it all consumed you. The paparazzi, the fans, the hate.

All of it had gotten in your head, millions of thoughts rushing around

“Am I not good enough?” “What if he leaves me for someone better?” “How do I keep going?”

He sympathized with you, felt pity for you and a little bit of him felt what you were going through but he knew he could never fully comprehend how you felt everyday simply for loving him.

“You know I wouldn’t mind it if you came with me.” He said “I love coming back from work to find you waiting for me.”

“They’ll probably think I’m too clingy.” God knows what happened the last time you had gone with him while shooting a movie. You had dealt with an excessive amount of hate.

People calling you names, saying that you couldn’t leave him alone for one second. It all hurt but you couldn’t talk about it so you wouldn’t burden him. He’s already had to deal with so much.

“Who cares what they think?” He raised his voice “Are you seriously going to let some stupid comments get in the way of our relationship?” He asked rhetorically.

He was right but you couldn’t help feeling this way and you had bottled up so much, you were starting to feel angry.

“Why can’t you just fucking look at it the same way I do?! I have had to go through so much shit so i can be with you, the least you could fucking do is actually be there for me when I need you!” You finally snapped.

“What the hell do you think I’ve been doing all this time? I’ve done everything I can to make you happy and it still doesn’t work.”

“Maybe you’re not trying hard enough.” You say it under your breath but the sigh he lets out lets you know that he heard you.

“For fuck’s sake…” it’s his turn to be angry. “What do you want me to do then? You want me to go on every form of media and tell them to stop saying shit on the internet because my girlfriend can’t stop letting stuff get into her head?”

“I never said that.”

“Well what the hell do you want me to do?!” You had never seen him this angry before and if you didn’t know him, you would think this anger was directed towards you.

“Just go, Tim. I really can’t talk about this right now.” You sigh.

“No, I’m not gonna leave without you, I’m not letting a bunch of mindless idiots on the internet ruin what we have!”

“Tim-“

“You don’t have a say in this so get up and come with me.”

“Timmy-“

“Just stop! you already have your bags packed so let’s go.”

Silence.

“Please…” He begged you.

“I’m sorry…” He was starting to get impatient.

“Fine. Have it your way.” Was the last thing he said before picking up his bag and slamming your shared apartment’s door.

And that’s when you truly lost it, finally bursting into tears after feeling all these emotions bubbling up throughout the past week.

You didn’t mean to make him sad but he also had to look at things from your perspective.

Now here you were, a few days after the argument, picking up the bags that you hadn’t unpacked ever since.

You grabbed your passport and headed out the door, making sure to lock it before making your way to the elevator.

It was going to be a long flight and you knew it but you would do anything to be with him again.

Finally arriving to your destination, a driver had been waiting for you to take you to the hotel he was staying at.

Your heart was racing and your palms were starting to sweat. You knew he wouldn’t be back until a few hours but you still couldn’t calm your nerves.

What if he didn’t want to see you? That’s ridiculous, he would be happy to fix things and start over…right? The only thing you could do was hold onto what little hope you had left and pray for the best.

—

You sat on the bed and awaited his arrival, having slightly calmed down after walking into the room and catching his scent in the air.

Minutes felt like centuries passing by and you almost got up and tried to leave like you had never been here until you heard shuffling from behind the door.

It was dark and he wouldn’t be able to notice you were there at first glance and so you waited patiently until he had turned on the lights.

He was shocked, dropping the coffee cup he was holding.

“Shit!” He flinched as the liquid spilled on the carpet and his shoes.

“Oh fuck! I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you I-“ You got up quickly, making your way over to him and he just stared at you as if trying to figure out if he was too tired and imagining all of this or if you were actually in front of him right now.

He probably sensed your confusion because he cupped your cheeks, a part of him expecting you to fade away in the process.

But you didn’t, he was holding you.

You were real.

“Fuck it feels like forever ago when i last saw you.” He lets out a breath he wasn’t aware he was holding in.

He pulls you in for a kiss and it’s the first time in what felt like an excruciatingly long week that you genuinely feel true relief.

You feel complete.

“God I missed you so much.” He sighs into your lips “I missed you too.” Your hands moved to wrap around the back of his neck.

“I’m so sorry, Tim.”

“Hey, you don’t have to apologize.” He says while caressing your cheek.

“No no i have to, I was so in my head that I didn’t even think about what this was doing to you.”

“I should’ve been there for you, I should’ve talked to you more, it’s my fault.” Timothée tells you.

“None of this is your fault, okay? Just please don’t ever leave me again. Those past few days have been hell without you.”

“I’m never going to leave you, wherever you go, I go.” He whispers, pulling you close so that your foreheads touch.

“I’ll follow you wherever you go, sweet girl.”

#timothee chalamet #timothee chalamet x reader #timothee fanfic #timothee imagine #timothee x you #timothee chalamet x you #timothee chalamet x yn #timothee fluff #timothee angst #dune #dune part one #call me by your name #elio perlman #lady bird #little woman #laurie laurence #paul atreides

548 notes · View notes

havin-fun-imagining-twd · 1 year

Text

souls stripped bare

Happy New Year’s Eve, y’all!

When - starts maybe a half hour after ‘A measure of reverence, Part 2′ which takes place in Season 2, the morning of “Chupacabra.” This story is a bridge to the afternoon of the episode where Daryl gets badly injured and hallucinates Merle.

What - after all that goes on, you and him cannot shake the feeling that you’ve seen each other stripped bare, right down to the soul.

Relationships - Daryl x reader. You help him through a freak out, he physically carries you.

Perspective - it’s Dixon’s POV this time. We see your thoughts once, but he’s got the wheel for this one

Genre - heavier. Souls are getting bared here

Pronouns - she/her

How much time will I need to read it? - depends, but there are ~5,680 words

Should I read all the other stuff in The Slowpoke Series? - oh heck, yeah!

Which ones if I can’t binge all the chapters rn? - the ones directly referenced but not too necessary to reread are Quarter!, There’s also a bar., and Ain’t nothing..., and the stories that will help a lot with context are It was a pragmatic cigarette, and What were your nightmares about? and of course, the chapter directly before this A measure of reverence, Part 2.

(Trigger warnings are below for space)

TWs - Daryl has something of a panic attack, there’s discussion of break-in and subsequent fatalities including that of minors, discussion of killing in self-defense and of guns, foul language, fighting, mention of ‘putting down’ walkers including that of minors, reference to child abuse (Daryl’s scars), and there’s a part where Daryl recognizes the pattern that sometimes occurs in those who have been abused where they may in turn also develop abusive tendencies.

..............................

Him

The other two people got a shallow grave out back with a rock as a place marker and a simple “I don’t know how it all works, but I hope you had some kind of repentance,” out of her. He would’ve left them out to rot or maybe tossed some lighter fluid and a match on them to send them to hell faster.

“They don’t deserve even a damn hole in the ground, Y/N,” he’d said to her when he saw what she was doing.

“It ain’t about ‘deserve,’ man.” And sure enough, she’d dug their damn hole in the ground until her shoulder gave out and her side started bleeding again, so he grit his teeth and finished it for her. Why, he wasn’t sure of.

As for the family, Y/N had carried the baby out first, wrapped in a blanket, then the toddler. He’d carried out the old woman first. They kept them together. How they got the others out was a blur, but he knew that at some point he busted the side-door open and soon he was digging.

The garden had been tilled real good, so there weren’t any roots or rocks to deal with, just the overgrown vegetable plants.

When her arm gave out again and she couldn’t use it anymore, Y/N trudged off to the well to refill their water bottles.

It was right after that when he’d started fucking bawling, and by the time Y/N had gotten back, he still hadn’t stopped.

Slowly, she used her good arm to rub her hand across his upper back and rested her head against his arm.

At some point, he was sitting on his ass in the dirt smoking a cigarette. She’d given him some space for that and, apparently, was gathering up what dead chickens there were and giving them a teeny little grave, too, if her dragging each one with the shovel to that spot by the birdbath and scraping a hole with her foot wasn’t his imagination.

When he was done blubbering like a kid who scraped his knee, that’s when he finished digging the grave for the family.

She brought out a cross that had been hanging on the wall inside, a handful of those prayer bead necklace things, and a blanket that had the Mexican Mary lady on it.

She laid the blanket over bodies after putting a string of prayer bead ropes with each family member. He noticed she pocketed some extras.

Then, together, they covered the family with dirt.

Her hand curled around his and she offered some words that sounded like she was familiar with their type of praying.

Their fingers ended up laced together. Why, he wasn’t sure of.

After the people walkers were given that ‘measure of reverence’ and ‘put out of their misery,’ or ‘laid to rest,’ whatever you wanna call it, Daryl shoved the cross into the ground and secured it with some rocks before storming back into the house.

There was some kind of alcohol in there and he was gonna find that shit.

He checked all the upper cabinets to start, and the first bottle of something useful he came across said ‘p-u-l-q-u-e.’ He didn’t know what that was or why it looked like curdled milk, but it was there, so he uncapped it and chugged some down while pacing back and forth.

This thick, syrupy, sour milk and beer flavor assaulted his mouth and cleared his nostrils.

He kept pacing. Y/N leaned against the counter opposite him and gagged after having a swig of her own.

Another cigarette, that’s what he needed, fuck.

He pulled out his pack and meant to light up, but when he saw his…

His fingers.

His fingers were so…oh my God, they were covered. Shit—his hands, his forearms, his everyth—fuck, fuck, he was filthy, he was—he was covered in dirt!

Her voice sounded far away. “Daryl, what’s wrong?”

Oh God, oh God, his whole body, everything was filthy, fuck, fuck, he needed to get it off! It was all over him, he needed to get it all off—

“—Whoa now, it’s all good,” her voice cut in again. “Honey, come with me, I got ya. Sweetheart, come with me, we’ll wash it off.”

When exactly he’d made his way to the sink and started trying to scrub with a dry sponge, he couldn’t remember.

“Daryl, no, no, with me. With me, baby, this way,” that gentle voice cut in again. “There’s a rain barrel outside, it’ll be nice and clean, c’mon. You got this, man, it’ll be okay, we’re gonna get all off.”

She was cooing like he was a three-year-old and he didn’t even care, he just needed to get clean!

..............................

You

You didn’t think you’d see Daryl Dixon ever panic about dirt. To be fair, you didn’t think you’d see him panic about anything. When he stumbled to the sink and started rubbing his skin raw with the dry sponge, you pried it away, grabbed a dish towel and soap, and lead him through the side-door to where the rain barrel was.

That at first he’d flinched and swatted and drew back from your hand guiding him clued you in further that he’d been treated very badly once.

After he wrenched off the rain barrel’s lid and began to frantically wash up, you gave him his space and stood guard.

You avoided looking at him because when you did, you had the oddest sensation as if his soul was being bared to you against his will.

The most fitting way you can best describe it was as if you’d accidentally walked in on him naked.

On that topic, he yanked off his button-down (one of his only shirts he hasn’t cut the sleeves off). You picked it up and shook the dirt from it.

Now, he was still wearing that worn, yellowed, stained tank that had been his brother’s, but because the straps were so thin and the tank he was in fell lower than Daryl’s do, you thought you briefly saw more tattoos and what looked like…it looked like either bruises or scarring on his upper back.

You checked yourself and avoided looking but wished you could avoid thinking about what you saw. It was just another piece of evidence to how bad things once were for him.

It truly felt like you were seeing pieces of his soul that he wanted to keep hidden, that were meant to be protected. You felt so unbearably close to him, it was insane.

Not two minutes passed before your poor Daryl bent to the side and threw up in the pachysandra.

You rinsed the dish towel in the barrel, delicately pressed it to his neck, then gave him space again.

Besides, you needed a bandage on your stitches and maybe a clean shirt and some painkillers. Going back to camp bloodstained would worry people.

And, those were some Coronas you saw hiding on the top of the fridge, right? Those would help your friend calm down and get the sick taste out of his mouth.

..............................

Him

When he stopped bugging the hell out, he saw that his shirt was folded and set on a lawn chair. He pulled it back on only to discover a bunch of buttons were missing. He stared at his hands, now clean. Scrubbed red.

That morning at the CDC when Y/N kept wiping her hand because she felt like her friend’s blood was still on it popped into his head. The sweet one, Andrea’s little sister, what was her na—Amy. Amy’s blood.

He ran his fingers along his palm to prove there was no grit on there, it was just him bugging out. He looked at his fingernails where he’d scoured every bit of grime from underneath to prove they weren’t still jammed with dirt, it was just him bugging out.

One final splash to his face and he headed back into that house.

Y/N was inside the kitchen, holding an unopened a beer (where the hell she find that, I need one) and looking at all the pictures. There were a lot of family photos. Old ones, new ones, vintage ones. A bunch of what was probably saint stuff.

She turned and sat at the table table. “My eldest sister said pulque was really good fresh, in its defense.” A nod at the beers and the ‘pool-kay’ bottle. “Sit?”

No argument there. He chugged down the can she handed him in one fell swoop before throwing it when that sumbitch decided to screw with him and suddenly be empty.

He felt like Y/N just walked in on him with his boxers down or his back exposed or something, fuck.

Ugh, then his stomach started to churn again.

That was half the reason why when, after tossing a glance at Y/N, only to see her looking at him all pitiful like he was some crying child, got him barking “How are you so—calm? You just had to put down f-fuckin’—” he wouldn’t say the word ‘kids’ and couldn’t say ‘and a baby.’

Her jaw tightened and she took deep breath.

Then another.

The ticking from Dale’s watch and the sounds of the breeze and birds outside filled the silence. Tick, tick, tick, tick.

That broken, soft answer of “I thought you knew I’ve had to do it before, man,” made him forget to breathe for a sec.

The tick, tick, tick, tick got louder.

His brain told him to crack open another beer and slide it to her.

One corner of her mouth lifted but she looked drained. “Very pragmatic.”

Tick, tick, tick, tick.

He heard his pulse thudding in his ears.

His friend took a few gulps from the can and stayed quiet.

“Was that what made you want that cigarette and a drink?” he asked carefully, trying to sound as nonabrasive as he could swing it.

His friend shook her head. “Mama had done it for a ch…for a child, out of necessity twice before I ever had to.” She squeezed her eyes shut as if the memory physically hurt. “Remember how unreal it was findin’ out how other than a blow to the brain, injuries and conditions what no one could ever survive meant nothing to a walker? S-so even if a cure came along, they’d all be dead just the s-same?”

“Can’t forget it.”

Tick, tick, tick, tick.

“We—she—laid them to rest after that, once they’d died. One of our foster kids caught it early on. We kept her in a room after she’d died and turned. Then a neighbor’s kid we’d taken in ’cause his family turned, he’d been bit. When he turned, we put him in there, too, until we found out that it was just the virus usin’ their bodies, that their souls had moved on because they’d died.”

Through her shut eyes, tears made their way out. “But it was when my-my middle sister and,” she swallowed and squeezed her eyes shut. Her lip wobbled. “Um, all them, my brother-in-law, the kids, they all caught it and died and turned, so Shane and Mama and I had to…” her gaze darted up to meet his for a second and she didn’t finish the statement, she just shrugged.

“But that’s not why you were tryin’ to get out of your head the other day?”

“No. That was—” Like she did when she was nervous, she started babbling and stuttering a little. “I-I had gotten reminded of a…bad thing I had to do. An, an objectively bad thing I had the moral obligation to do, you feel me?”

‘An objectively bad thing’ she had ‘the moral obligation to do.’ Sounds like something the old man would say.

“It was two, or, maybe three weeks after what we had to do for my sister. Right before we were gonna go with the Grimes to Atlanta. Tried to go to Atlanta.” She licked her teeth and huffed, a sure sign she was mad. “Can you believe they fuckin’ firebombed them? Wh-what did they achieve with that? All those lives…”

“Less of a crowd to evacuate,” he muttered back. “Fuck the fed.”

“Fuck the fed.” Y/N had another sip of beer, then slid the can back to him. “It was two days before that when, um, Shane and me had g-gone back to the house, we’d been—it doesn’t matter, but, um…”

Tick, tick, tick, tick.

Did she realize she was tapping the table over and over and bouncing her legs? A heavy exhale came before she mumbled, “I did promise I’d tell you, didn’t I?”

All the agitation or whatever the hell was going on with him before fell away and in its place was this urge that his friend not be hurting anymore. “You don’t have to, it ain’t like that.”

“A deal’s a deal, a promise a promise,” she tried to joke.

“M’serious, Y/N.”

“Me, too. You trusted me with your story about bein’ lost in the woods for over a week when you were a little kid, I can trust you with this. Ain’t like it’s a big secret, it’s just…what it is. We all got at least one story like it nowadays.” She gestured around the room, not really looking at anything. Her eyes looked glazed over. “When Shane and I got back to the house, it had been broken into, just like here. Mama and the dog were dead.”

His initial reaction was to push the beer back to her and avoid looking at her.

Tick, tick, tick, tick.

Now it made sense why she kept wanting to knock and call and wait yesterday and today before they went into houses.

The weirdest thing started to happen.

He felt as if it would be doing something wrong if he looked at her. It was as if she were, like—he didn’t know how to word it, but it was as if she were naked, so he shouldn’t look.

Like that expression he’d heard about somebody’s soul being “beared” or “bared.”

After another sip, Y/N placed the beer can to the side. “She must’ve been in the early stages of being sick when she was killed, just like some of the people here. We found her walkin’,” Y/N explained simply, avoiding all eye contact. “Had a big old wound this side of her chest.”

Tick, tick, tick, tick.

“The guy whodunnit had shut himself in the bathroom, turns out. Mama had got him with her shotgun, but she—not even with buckshot, she fuckin’ had it loaded with birdshot ’cause she didn’t want to kill, just fend off.”

His friend’s eyes suddenly grew wide and she covered her face. “Oh fuck, I’m insulting my dead mother for bein’ a good person, what the hell, dude?”

“Hey, nah, no way.” He sat up straight, put his hands on the table, and didn’t have to think before telling her: “You ain’t insulting your ma, you’re just mad she got offed like that.”

She didn’t move a muscle, but she did sniffle out, “Yeah, I love you, too, man.”

Tick, tick, tick, tick.

Daryl knew she said those words to the others (and seemed to actually mean it), but that was the first time she’d said it to him. His heartbeat started to pound in his ears loud enough to drown out the tick, tick, tick of the watch.

He took another gulp from the can and pushed it back to her. That she wanted her gun out before going inside made sense now, too. “What happened to the bastard?”

She took another sip and pushed it back to him. “He jumped my brother.” Y/N was starting to sound out of breath. “It was right after Shane took care of our mom, we’d seen the mess, then saw her snarlin’ for us. We, w-we didn’t realize the perp was still in there, rookie mistake, and boom the guy was on him and, I, um—it was all over in a few seconds, and—”

Tick, tick, tick, tick.

The hand she had covering her eyes flopped to her lap.

Tick, tick, tick, tick.

She finally looked at him. He couldn’t tell if she was still angry at herself or just sad, but she did try to crack a joke. “Sorry, it ain’t my intention to be all dramatic. At the rate I’m baring my soul down to its skivvies, one of us will have to buy the other dinner.”

“You already owe me dinner,” he reminded her with what may have passed as a one-sided smile. Y/N probably didn’t even remember how she’d awkwardly cracked that joke back at the CDC after she, um, didn’t realize she had her damn boob pressed against his hand while getting his blood sample. “Guess I’ll cover the next one.”

The corners of her mouth did raise a little bit, to his relief.

“To finish up what happened,” she slowly said. “I reacted quick and took care of it before he offed my brother, too.”

Reacted quick and took care of it…‘Took care of it’…

Y/N killed him. Y/N had to kill somebody.

His memories shuffled back to the quarry when she was giving the kids that lesson about throwing punches and all that. “You don’t look like you should be teachin’ no fight club,” were his exact (joking) words to her when she’d asked him to help because she hadn’t actually punched someone before.

Never punched someone, yet she’d had to…damn. He took another sip and drained the last of the beer.

Tick, tick, tick, tick.

He hadn’t had to kill a living person yet. He wasn’t exactly looking forward to it, but it was prolly gonna happen sooner rather than later.

Shit, he didn’t know what to say and now the beer can was empty so he couldn’t push it back.

Tick, tick, tick, tick.

When he managed to look up at her, her hand was back over her eyes.

Quietly, she drove home that “It was done to protect somebody, Daryl,” as if she were defending herself. “And we buried him, we still gave him that.”

“You did what needed doin’, Y/N.”

Tick, tick, tick, tick.

She stared at the table and tried to nod. Looking at Dale’s watch, she sighed, mumbled “We should oughta go,” and stood up from the table, tossing the empty cans into the recycling bin in the corner (nah, really, she dead-ass sought out the bin with the little hand-drawn recycling sign).

Then, always trying to lighten the damn mood, she added, “If I unpack anymore baggage in here, I’ll have to spend the night.”

Joke’s on him, that comment made him remember what he’d found. “Wait, the shed—come with me, lemme show ya.”

Backpack on, she followed him out the door and into the yard. “What was in there?”

“Little sleeping area between some bins and the wall, had a tarp coverin’ it, too.”

“Dude, are you serious?” Y/N squealed, jogging ahead of him and throwing the shed door open with her good arm.

“Right over here, see back behind those containers?”

A swallowed groan when she moved the wrong way came before what sounded like a happy sob when she saw the little sleeping area. “Are there any more signs? A trail, a, a—”

“—Depends on if she was here before or after the damned storm yesterday. Let’s look around the fruit trees first, she woulda eaten from those and the garden.”

“Daryl, we dug up the garden.” That terrified look came back to her eyes and her voice rose and the babbling took over. “D-did we ruin our chances of findin’ her? It’s my fault, it’s my fault, I insisted on bury—”

“No, we’d still find a trail leading away from it,” he cut in, hoping to stop that shit in its tracks. “Nothin’s ruined, Y/N, and you sure as hell didn’t do nothing wrong. Trust me.” He pointed in the direction of the grave. “The family was owed at least that. One little measure of reverence. Now let’s go look for more signs of our girl.”

Before exiting the shed, she paused and got distracted at the tool display on the wall. “Guess that’s where the perps got the bolt cutters.” There was an outline around a hook that showed the same size and shape as that big pair she’d found by the hatchway. “I’m bringing ’em them back for Teddy, he said he wanted a pair. Back when he was still in the city, he almost got caught by walkers when he was cornered by a fence.”

And the two of them began the search once more.

She followed him for a while, but branched off when nothing was showing up on the property.

They scoured every damn inch of it and the surrounding wooded areas, but there was nothing concrete. The vegetables or fruits could have been eaten by animals or fallen off naturally. The long grasses and the muddy area by the well that should’ve shown something definitive didn’t show shit. Sophia wouldn’t have left heavy footprints, she took up less space, moved lighter than most.

As more time tick, tick, ticked by, it felt as if the air was turning more and more thick. Felt like it was walling him in or smothering him.

He kept looking back at the gravesite and got more and more jumpy, kept looking around the trees and expected to see another chupacabra or a herd of geeks.

Y/N’s scared look didn’t go away, either, it got worse, and she started to seem more and more out of breath, got more and more sweaty, kept bending more and more toward her injured side.

It was when they happened across another dead chicken in the wooded area by the house that she spun around and leaned with her good arm against a tree as she dry heaved.

“Daryl,” she panted, clutching her side again, “Let’s go to the ridge, she wouldn’t have stayed here .”

His thoughts exactly. “This place would’ve scared the shit out of her.”

“I just need me a sec.”

While she caught her breath, doubts and all that stuff he didn’t want to think of started to smack and hit and whip their belts and switches against his back.

You ain’t gonna find her, alive or dead.

You failed at the one useful thing you’re supposed to do.

She’s dead because of you.

You as good as killed that little girl.

The little cot in the cupboard of that farmhouse could’ve been from anybody.

The little sleep area in that shed was probably from the kids who lived there, playing.

You ain’t found shit.

Merle’s gone and you’re all alone again because you couldn’t find him, neither.

By the time they got back to his bike, he began to question if Y/N would even be physically able to climb up the ridge.

She looked awful, plain and simple. She couldn’t seem to use her injured side to hold onto his shoulders while they rode, neither, so was holding on with just one hand as he drove.

But he was getting too desperate and set on making it up there as soon as possible that he didn’t say nothing about it. Those fists and belts and switches hurt, and they kept beating at him over and over.

When they got as far as they could go on the motorcycle and needed to continue on foot, he was feeling almost postal. Getting angry was a hell of an easier emotion to let through rather than crying again.

As for passing on the blame? Saying shit he knew was cruel? That started happening whether he consciously wanted it or not.

And so, that his friend was visibly in pain started to not bother him as much as it probably should’ve.

Soon, it didn’t phase him at all.

Time was running out, so Y/N had to suck it up. She chose to come out today, she chose to dig and carry and do all that stuff she shouldn’t have, she made her bed and was lying in it.

So when she cried out in pain when trying to use her bad shoulder not two minutes into the climb, it was like a fuse blew.

“Just get on the bike!” he exploded, ignoring her trying to pass it off like nothing just happened, and rushing himself down the embankment to the point that it was basically controlled falling.

“Whoa, Daryl, what’s going on?”

“I’m gonna find that little girl on my damn own. I said I needed a horse to get up there, and a horse will be a hell of a lot less annoying and a hell of a lot more useful.”

“Why would you s—why would you say that to me? Where’s this comin’ from?”

He heard himself and how he sounded and he hated it, but didn’t seem able to control it from coming out. Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, sto—“You’re slowing me down and I need you gone. You already wasted enough of my time and Sophia’s time back at that house with all that bullshit.”

Why was that annoying bitch still climbing? He almost climbed back up so he could yank her back down—and all at once, the very truth that he just considered that action scared him.

Why would that have crossed his mind?

“Daryl, just help me up there, we’re here,” she pleaded.

Why did she sound scared, too?

Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop his brain again tried to tell him.

Yet, after Y/N swore, yelped, and slid onto her knees down a particularly steep bank, he twisted the knife instead. “See? I can’t babysit a fuckin’ liability, get on the bike!”

If an actual bucket of cold water was thrown in his face, he wouldn’t have known the difference when she grit back at him, “Go on, keep runnin’ your bitch mouth, Ed.”

She just compared him to—him?

Nah.

No fucking way. He w-wasn’t like...shit. Please, no. Not him, he wasn’t like him, he wasn’t like Ed, he wasn’t like his dad, fuck, no, no, no.

Daryl knew plenty about beaters but he himself wasn’t one of them, he wasn’t. Right? He wasn’t gonna turn into that.

No, no, no, no, no, he was not like him.

But as angrily as he wanted to cuss her out, his ability to respond drained. “That supposed to make me feel bad, scare me or somethin’?”

“If I wanted to do that, I’d just throw some dirt on you,” she had the audacity to spit out, but it still wasn’t as cruel as he’d just been.

That’s when he finally registered that he was watching a dark stain spread wider and wider where she’d gotten stitched up. It’s also when he realized she was wearing a different shirt than before because that one had gotten bloodstained, just like yesterday.

His mind shut off for a second.

It turned back on, he blinked, and saw that she was trying to get up, but couldn’t, not without shaking from how bad it must’ve hurt.

He had to look away after that weird feeling came back that he was seeing her without clothes on.

Y/N started trying a new tactic, inching down the incline while seated on her butt. She was being ridiculous. She was bleeding, she needed help.

“You got a bandage?” he called quietly. His anger was gone.

Hers was not. “The fuck do you care?”

It felt like a slice to his chest, but he accepted it and said nothing back at first. He let his eyes venture up to see if she was making any headway. What he found was her shaking, sweaty—it was too much, way too fucking much. He needed to make her pain stop.

Asking if she ‘wanted’ help would lead nowhere, she hated feeling like a ‘liability,’ he knew that. Asking if she ‘needed’ it wasn’t much better, but his friend liked honesty and that wording would be more likely to keep her honest. “Y/N, d’you need help?”

He heard her swallow a whimper. When he looked, he saw that she slumped where she sat on the ground.

It took her a few moments, but she admitted, “A little.”

So, he walked to the incline, feeling weirdly like he’d just blinked out of the kind of nap you take when you have a fever. He avoided looking at her for too long when reached her and crouched to help her stand. Hopefully, the angle he lifted her from wouldn’t hurt her more, the way he’d done his best to do last night and on that day at the CDC.

As soon as she was upright, she pulled away from him, he pulled away from her.

But when she tried to step down by herself, her knees buckled—and he caught her without really thinking about it. Then, he lifted her up and started to carry her without really thinking about it.

It was an almost immediate reaction for her to stiffen, wriggle, and squeal “Put me down!”

Immediately, he set her on her feet and backed off.

“I didn’t mean to fuckin’…” His anger tried to perk back up, but fell flat. “I didn’t mean to scare ya, Y/N.”

“If you throw out your back, then neither of us is any use.” There it was again, he recognized. She had this thing where she’d push herself too damned hard because she needed to feel useful or whatever it was.

“I won’t throw out my back,” he said to her.

What was the name for the emotion that was kicking his ass? It was like this really, just, unbearable…closeness. He wanted to help her. She was hurting, so he wanted to make it stop. He needed to make it stop.

“I wanna help you,” he told her quietly.

And her responses were getting weaker, which was a good thing. She needed help and she knew it. “Y-you’ll get sweat and blood all over yourself, man.”

He almost smiled when he asked her point-blank, “Think that’ll bother me?”

To that, she made half-hearted giggle, if you can believe it. And she nearly looked at him with that tiny smile on her face, but then she looked down and closed her eyes instead. Her posture slumped again.

“Y/N,” he murmured. “Please. Lemme help you.”

Her head turned to the side and she covered her eyes when she had no other option but to whisper, “Okay.”

Carefully, he walked close again and lifted her in his arms, her bad side against his chest. Using her good arm, he guided her hand to grip the back of his neck for more support.

He felt the thud, thud, thud of her heartbeat against his chest. Felt weird. Not a bad weird, but…he didn’t fucking know, man.

Carefully, he maneuvered down the steep incline.

He kept on carrying her after they reached more level ground, until she lightly tapped him and gestured to be put down.

Carefully, he placed her on her feet. Quietly, she thanked him.

They walked apart from each other. That awful closeness made it feel like there was a string tied in between them. Weird shit.

Once they got to the bike, he asked her to wrap her good arm around his waist so she wouldn’t fall off. She grabbed the sissy bar instead.

He isn’t sure why but he spat before starting the ignition and speeding off, but he knew that he wanted to both get and stay angry at her but simply wasn’t able to. That awful closeness wouldn’t let it.

In its place, the helpless feeling of desperation came back with an extra portion of guilt, plus a new feeling that was a whole lot like confusion.

Y/N had just seen him full-on crumble and need someone to help him out of it. He’d just seen her completely vulnerable and need someone to help her get up from it.

It really felt as if they’d seen each other naked. As if they were stripped bare right down to their souls, if he still believed in those.

These past few days, it’s like the two of them had somehow gotten fused or welded or maybe branded together? Jerry-rigged together with old planks and nails and zip ties was probably closer to it, but that’s what it looked like when he thought about it. It was so fucking weird.

At a sharper turn in the road, Y/N held in a groan and finally hugged his waist with her good arm and adjusted her thigh on her good side so it acted like a hook on his leg. Her forehead pressed to his back and he felt her breathing. He made a point after that to drive slower so the ride wouldn’t hurt, hopefully, at least.

They reached the farm and he slowed down to a crawl once they hit the gravel. Still, it was too much motion and she hobbled off the bike and began to walk. He tried to help her, but only ended up with his hand brushing along her forearm.

He turned off the engine and walked the bike the rest of the way alongside her in silence.

Once they were close enough, Sophia’s ma Carol waved at them from the campsite and stood there, seeing yet again that her daughter still hadn’t been found.

The air started to close in on him again.

Tick, tick, tick, tick.

He slammed down the kickstand and left his bike where it was. All of this was too much and he needed to get that horse and get back to the ridge, ASAP.

“Daryl, wait.”

“What?” He spun around and would’ve glared if he was able. The invisible string tugged.

She shrugged her bookbag off her good shoulder and slung it on the ground, then knelt down to unzip it.

“Take it,” she muttered, and held out one of those kid walkies. Her green one. “Glenn’s got the yellow one, she’s got the pink one,” she let him know, gesturing to Carol.

Without a word, he took it and slid it into his pocket.

“Sweetie, you’re bleeding, a lot,” came that woman’s scared, quiet voice.

Y/N visibly shrunk down in what looked like defeat. “It looks worse than it is. There’s another bandage over it, now, it’s okay.”

“It’s not from a…?”

“No, this ain’t a bite, it’s just my stitches.”

“You probably popped them.” Carol shook her head and helped her stand. “Let’s go see Hershel. Daryl, are you hurt, too?”

“He found something at one of the places we checked,” Y/N changed the subject while letting herself be escorted to the farmhouse. “It looked very plain that somebody little had been in there.”

Which seemed to do the trick because Carol gasped and clasped her hands together and pressed them to her mouth.

Daryl only grew more desperate when he saw the look on her face. He couldn’t fail that woman, he couldn’t fail her little girl. No way, no fucking way.

“I’m headin’ to the ridge now,” he told her, standing taller. “If she’s in our grid, she’s comin’ back home this afternoon.”

Tears flowed up and out of her eyes, but he wasn’t sure if they were happy tears or something else.

At that moment, he hated himself. If again he didn’t find Sophia or at least another sign…

“Please be safe!” Carol whimpered. “I’ll be praying for you.”

Y/N’s exhausted “Honey, don’t die, don’t get bit,” was the last thing he heard, and it made him feel as if the damn string was tugging around his middle and drawing him backward.

So, he booked it for the stables. It was time to steal a goddamned horse.

..............................

Read the next chronological one here

> Masterlist link here <

and our teeny tiny taglist :D

@spenciepoo338 @its-freaking-bats @whistlesalot @buffy-the-assbutt-slayer @dreamingaboutthewonderland @kwazii-kat

(inbox is open if you would like on or off the taglist, slowpokes. Please don’t feel bad or nervous if you don’t want to be tagged anymore, just let me know, we’re all friends here!)

108 notes · View notes

lesbianwriter · 1 year

Note

Is there any chance you could continue the hero and villain tease civilian story? I really liked that one- also, the link to the 7th (i think) part doesn’t lead to anything so idk if you could fix that please I really liked that story, thanks

Idk what the issue with the link was but I think it’s fixed now — thanks for pointing it out :)

All parts on my master list.

Hero and Villain Tease Civilian Part 10

Civilian sat in the room. Alone.

From the looks of the place, it didn’t seem like she’d be tortured—there was a noticeable lack of torture tools—but Hero had a way to turn anything into torture, so all Civilian had to do was wait. Wait for the tripwire to snap; wait for the trigger to be pulled; wait for her inevitable doom.

There was nothing to fight against anymore. There was no point in trying to squirm out of her ropes and escape. It was a futile battle, the tug of war between a predator and prey, and the odds were stacked against her from every angle.

Hero was stronger, braver, and she was able to revel in her darker, more sadistic qualities without shame. Villain had to ability to conceal her faults, covering the cracks in her facade with masterful deceit, and though Civilian didn’t know what her power was, Villain didn’t seem to need on—she was still dangerous in ways that Civilian couldn’t dream to be, with or without powers. Supervillain was Supervillain. Though her ability to manipulate glass didn’t seem strong on paper, actually experiencing her turning every inch of glass in the room into a pristine, pointed edge was terrifying.

Civilian wasn’t escaping.

All their was to do was wait.

A clock in the background ticked, distracting her from her thoughts ever once in awhile to wonder how long she’d been sitting and waiting.

By the third hour, the bedroom door opened, and Villain and Hero stood in the doorway.

Hero was on Villain’s shoulder like a devil, smiling with glee as she looked at Civilian, but Villain on the other hand was far from smiling. Her lips were set in a grimace and there were faint but still noticeable dark circles beginning to form under her eyes.

“Someones in trouble.” Hero mused, sitting down on the edge of the bed and watching with amusement.

“You’re next.” Villain muttered, side-eyeing Hero with a gaze that could slice straight through obsidian. That damning gaze turned to Civilian next. “And just what did you think you were doing? Running off when my mother is hunting you down! Already that’s pretty bad, but now of all times?! You’re not stupid, so why?!”

“I’m—I’m sorry.” Was all Civilian could think of. Her tongue turned to stone when she was faced with Villain’s Medusa-like gaze.

Villain pulled a switchblade from her pocket, the sharp silver tip shining in the light. “Civilian, I don’t think you’ve actually been listening to me,” she began cutting the ropes around her captive, “and I’m not going to sit here and explain it to you—I want you to tell me your perspective, because to me, it feels like you refuse to listen to me.”

Civilian looked up at Villain with wide eyes, shocked that the blade wasn’t tearing gashes down her skin.

“I’m waiting.”

“I had a life, I had things to go back to—and you took that from me! It’s not fair!” Civilian leaned away from Villain, her heart beating rapidly. “How am I supposed to believe anything you say when you’re you?”

Hero made a hissing sound, as if burned by a hot piece of metal. “Are you sure that’s the syntax you wanna use, Civilian?”

Civilian didn’t have much, but she had a home. She had a favorite show that she recorded to watch when she got home from work, and she had friends she occasionally met up with—not often enough for them to notice her disappearance, however…

Breathing shakily, she tried to press as far away as she could from Villain—she just needed to get away. Villain was suffocating her with her dangerous, smoky aura.

“The other option was death.” Villain took a deep breath. “I didn’t want you to die.”

“That didn’t stop you with the others!”

…

It was deathly silent—Civilian could’ve heard a pin drop from a mile away, from how completely and utterly silent it was in that room.

Even Hero didn’t have anything to say.

That was how she knew she truly messed up, because if Hero of all people wasn’t saying anything, then it was worse than bad.

Civilian didn’t even know where it had come from. She hadn’t planned on saying it, but then Villain was acting like she was a saint for not killing her, and something in her finally snapped. The floodgates burst open, and the words she’d been containing for so long had just…spilled out. She regretted it now that she stewed in the silent anticipation of what Villain would say, but also…what would it matter if she was killed?

She was doomed no matter what—she might as well get a few words in so that she wouldn’t die a complete doormat.

Something in Villain’s eyes hardened. “I have fought tooth and nail to keep you alive, do you want to die? Is that what you want?”

“I don’t want to, but you’re gonna do it eventually!” Civilian argued; her eyes burned with tears and she fought the urge to faint and pretend this was all a nightmare when she woke up.

She didn’t wanna die!

She didn’t want to die, she wanted to go home again and be alone and see her friends, but her death has been sealed the moment she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. The least she could do to die with a scrap of dignity was to go down kicking and screaming instead of compliantly, as if she were Villain’s lapdog.

“Why won’t you listen?! I don’t want to kill you—everything I’ve done since you found out has been for protecting you!” Villain’s eyes were wide. Desperate. Her entire body was shaking, and there was a terrifying feeling of raw power radiating from her.

Quickly, Hero stood up and wrapped her arms around Villain, putting a blockade between the criminal and the civilian. “Hey, hey. Calm down, darling—I promise it’s okay, but we don’t want an accident, right? Why don’t you go to sleep here?”

Villain was shaking harder. “No, I can’t! Mother will—“

“Shh.” Hero carded a hand in Villain’s hair. “Everything’s under control, okay? Your power, the situation. It’s perfectly fine.”

Hero led Villain out of the room, and all Civilian could do was stare after the two of them.

———

“What was that?” Civilian asked, when Hero brought her a plate of food.

“You chose a wise time to start piping up.” Hero remarked, raising a brow. She wasn’t smiling anymore. There was no single fleck of amusement in her expression. “Her power was about to burst out of control—we’d both be dead if it escalated.”

Her hands shaking, Civilian took the plate of food. The door hadn’t ever been locked, she hadn’t been tied back down, but she was too guilty, tired, and miserable to do much more than move to the bed and silently cry with her face smushed into the pillow.

The food smelled good, but she didn’t eat it. Her stomach growled but the idea of stomaching food made her nauseous.

“What’s her power?”

“She can explode a persons heart from inside their chest.”

“What?!”

“See why she doesn’t use it? It requires a lot of control—it’s partly why she’s such a perfectionist—and when she feels too much emotion, is too overwhelmed…you get the point.” Hero sat down on the bed by Civilian.

Civilian looked at Hero with wide eyes. Sure, she was terrified of Villain and her hidden claws, but this…she felt bad about having snapped at Villain, even if her kidnapper had it coming. “Is she…is she okay now?”

“She’s calming down. Look, I’m going to be dead serious with you—no teasing at all.” Hero looked at Civilian sternly, her eyes cold and flat. “This situation is unfair. I’ve had my fun teasing you because I think it’s funny, but Villain has done everything she can to make this as comfortable as possible for you. If anybody deserves to be snapped at, it’s me. Not her. Not that she’s innocent either, and you can hate her and me all you’d like, but I’m not going to let you hurt her. Are we clear? If you have anything you’d like to say, you take it up with me.”

So many words rushed up her throat, but fizzled out before she summoned enough courage to utter them aloud.

Ashamed, she looked down at the floor.

“I was overwhelmed. I didn’t mean to say those things…it’s just…I know I’m going to die—“

“Civilian, I’m not letting you die. I tease you, but I’m not going to hurt you.”

“Then why?”

Nothing about this made sense. Nothing. Everyday, Civilian was battered around, little more than a piece of driftwood in a storm, and Hero took great pleasure in clapping in like lightning, always ready to make the experience as fearful as possible…and now…now it didn’t make sense that Hero was suddenly flipping personalities.

Civilian couldn’t wrap her brain around it, and then she realized…maybe Villain was right. She wasn’t listening.

She’d been bracing for Villain’s claws to come out, for her to reveal that she’d masterminded this whole chain of events to trap Civilian under her power, but the more she considered it—other than the initial kidnapping and occasional light teasing, what had Villain done to even hint at harboring any evil intents?

It was like prodding at the tender flesh of a bruise when she thought about Villain. It hurt, but there was a strange sensation that made her keep poking and prodding at it when she knew she shouldn’t.

“You don’t even know how hard Villain has fought for you. She’s committed to you.”

“…you’re jealous?”

Hero spoke softly, in a way Civilian had never imagined her cruel tormentor could speak. “I don’t mind our relationship as it is now…I like the flexibility…but I would like to stay with her. If I could, I’d marry her, but I know she’s scared of commitment…so I haven’t asked.”

“I…but she’s kept you around. Hasn’t she argued with her mom for you?”

“Yes, but that was when we were feeding off of each others information…and hooking up a little…but it was before we became more than leeches to each other. She’s tried so hard to keep you close, even though you don’t have much to offer besides your entertaining dramatics. I love her, but if I suddenly didn’t have anything to offer her, would she want to keep me around too? Like she does for you?”

“I think she would.”

“If her bitchy mother had a say, I don’t think so.”

Then, before Civilian could open her mouth to speak, there was a loud crashing sound.

Speak of the devil—

#hero x villain #villain x civilian #hero x civilian #angst #sapphic #my writing #its been a hot minute since I wrote for this series #I was having bad writers block for this part for AGES

24 notes · View notes