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#and even start taking the harvest things down tonight after I get home from dinner
vulcanette · 5 months
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fought the battle of my lifetime today (getting the Christmas tree and decorations from my storage unit)
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scratchandplaster · 9 months
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Windfall
CW: supernatural Whumper, body control, blood, medieval setting
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Whumpee hurried down the farm track, his makeshift shoes had to hold on until he finally reached the doorstep. After a day of backbreaking work, his family surely had their dinner, always leaving a portion for the straggler.
Please let it be a beef stew today, another round of kale would kill him on the spot. 
He hated working on the village's market, day in and day out walking miles for less than poor reward; the oven flames at the back of his neck and flour pressed into every pore of his face, he tried to let the sunlight run out in peace.
Whumpee knew which turn to take, as the late evening bathed the orchards in an ink-blue smear of shapes, his cottage was just a few fields further south.
Although the sharecropper had already collected this year's harvest, a quick peek onto the field shouldn't do any harm, Whumpee decided. Each leftover fruit he could bring home to his family was worth more than the few pennies the master baker let him keep.
Marmalade would be the best option, he pondered, to keep any sweet troves fresh even as the quickly approaching winter left the trees barren, just as their pantry.
Climbing quickly over the fence, no spying eyes in sight yet, Whumpee started to search the ground for anything non-rotten and hopefully delicious, when his view got caught on a quivering shape only a few feet away.
In the twilight, the shadow came further towards him to reveal a raven: writhing helplessly through the wet grass and not seeming to mind him at all.
It really was a gorgeous animal, one that Whumpee only ever admired from afar, or rather had to scare away from the family's crops when he was younger. Now standing at the tip of his feet, it seemed more disoriented than anything.
Carefully, Whumpee kneeled down to catch a better look of the bird, as it again hopped on one leg with a curious expression on its face.
Was it a face? Maybe on its beak?
It was rare to see these creatures approach people without ear-numbing screeches or ominous fluttering, so this had to be a tame one. He remembered his mother talking about a hermit a few villages onward who kept a handful of docile pigeons, maybe this raven also had a flock to return to.
But certainly not in this condition.
"Are you lost?" he asked, knowing he wouldn't get much smarter through that. With a low rumble from the chest, the raven let its head fall to the side. Whumpee followed suit, copying the stance of the curious bird. The blue shimmer of its feathers had a mesmerizing glow to it, a beautiful thing, truly... 
The sun had set and as the realization hit him with a flash, he quickly got up again.
"I really have to go home. Good luck!"
His brothers would ridicule him if they ever caught him talking to animals, but that's what he got for being the youngest of them. Was he really that naive?
A nearly inaudible caw left the raven's bill, the sound of loneliness weighing down heavy on Whumpee's conscience. It was probably hurt too, so a night out here in the wilderness meant certain death. A pity, really, he wouldn't see such a special pet every day.
He thought of his family and supper, still warm and waiting for him over the hearth. What had gotten into him?
"Just for tonight," Whumpee said with a heavy sigh, "my mother will despise me for bringing you with, but it'll be alright for now."
The ball of feathers was gently lifted from the damp ground, now sitting safe and secure atop Whumpee's palms. As he turned it from side to side to catch a better look at any possible injuries, the raven's head snapped forward with a quick jerk, digging its beak deep into his left wrist.
Deafened by his own shouting and cursing, Whumpee didn't even seem to mind when it withdrew again to hop contently back down on its feet and rub his plumage.
The blood-slicked bird now glowed even more brightly under the moonlight, still watching the furious man intently.
Whumpee huffed deeply, pushing down his anger and frustration. 
"That's what I get for being so foolish!" he thought with a bitter grin. Maybe he should put the nasty beast in the stew for a change... God knows what kind of plague he already caught by touching this thing-
A soft coo ripped him from his thoughts and the steady pulsing of his arm, red already dripping everywhere: the bird ruffled its feathers more distinct this time, demanding attention as it skipped up and down.
Any idea to snatch leftover fruit had become obsolete.
With a quick twirl, the raven rolled on its back only to turn over again on its tiny claws... One-two-three hops it made to finish this bizarre performance.
"Is that your apology?" Whumpee's sceptical murmur was interrupted by another roll to the side, with a double spin at the end. It did look endearing like that... 
He had to get home, right? To clean out the bite that felt less and less painful the more he watched that silly dance.
Coming to a halt again, he noticed how it hopped further down the awry trail to his left, a road that would certainly lead him further away from his destination.
"But I really can't, I need to-" 
As the raven pecked twice on the dirty gravel, the sound made Whumpee's body jerk forward on its own accord.
When did his feet become so light?
Something was different from before, the erring security that spread through his body couldn't match his racing thoughts, as he followed the pleased bird through the thicket; gaze fixed onto it as it flew in circles, drawing ring after ring into the air.
Its owner sure would be relieved to have it back, but he also had to return at some point, a point that was already overstepped.
The idea of such a wonderful reunion pushed all the spinning worries from his mind; Whumpee had become too busy watching the raven's mesmerizing waltz to recognize the passing countryside that framed the odd pair.
"They are a bad omen," his mother always said, "what remains of damned souls in this world. They only bring-"
The bird let out a shrill cry, demanding Whumpee's regard once again. Through the pitch-black darkness around him, he could only feel himself heave through a stream of water. The current threatened to push him off balance more than once, but under the watchful eyes of his companion, Whumpee could feel the fast-approaching bliss of home. 
He had to hurry now... How curious, was there ever a river this close to their old cottage?
The moon behind the treetops decided to reveal a glade, where Whumpee's legs restlessly strode to a large stone building in its middle. Without thinking twice about it, the bird led him through the opened entrance gate, past the bare foyer, until their strange journey ended promptly in the castle's library.
Walls of bound paper and leather engulfed a crackling fireplace, which seemed to be already dying down, but nevertheless let the room shine in its warmth.
When Whumpee finally came to a rest, all the suppressed feeling of the last hour came over him in a flash of agony: burning exhaustion of his muscles joining itself with the confused thoughts screaming inside his head.
The false comfort of home throughout the room did all but calm his racing heart.
And there it was, the raven, standing tall before the flames.
Something had changed in its pitiable sight. Second by second its bony chest grew wider, its beak retracting inside and claws changing from the leathery black skin into larger appendages - into legs.
The horrifying creature, now a mixture of tinted plumage and formless extremities, only became larger and larger and forcing Whumpee to stare up in silent terror.
Too cold and tired to flee from this unholy beast, he had to hold out until it settled into a familiar shape.
A man, dressed in fine silk and wrapped in a cloak made of slick blue fabric that reminded Whumpee of the animal he had just seen moments ago, looked down on his guest.
Dried blood was smeared across the golden embroidery, shimmering just as vividly as the wound on Whumpee's forearm. The man seemed to wait for any kind of reaction, the bright gleam in his eyes and trusting smile inviting him to open up. But no friendliness could calm his rabbit-fast pulse, it felt like nothing ever could.
"I-" Whumpee croaked, at last ready to beg for an explanation, yet being directly interrupted by the man's quiet voice.
"You are lost, friend," he reasoned with a tone so loving Whumpee nearly believed him for a second, "and I seem to be in dire need of some assistance!"
With that, he draped his cloak around Whumpee's shoulders, warmth pressing heavy onto his already tired mind:
"What a relief that we found each other!"
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Thanks for reading 🤍 [Masterpost]
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unpopularbunny · 2 years
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Chubby!Reader X sanemi
Reader is AFAB and has female pronouns. 
MINORS DNI!!
Previous fic: X
Start here: X
Next fic: X
warnings: Long story again, mind break (ish), aphrodisiacs, exhibitionism (kinda), outside sex, cunnilingus, generally rough sex, Sanemi continues to be a giant asshole to your 'friend’, drama, a fist fight lol, angst, ambiguous spoilers at the end.
THIS GETS A LITTLE BIT SPOILERISH!!! MANGA SPOILERS!!! 
Notes: Okay! Here’s the last smut centered fic for these two! (until the last fic hehe.) I am sorry it took me a bit to write! I’m working on keeping consistent without pressuring myself! After this fic I will be writing a smaller fic for before the final battle, a smaller fic for after, and an ending fic that will include smut! I will maybe do a bonus fic after that. 
Thank you for reading and don’t be afraid to let me know what you think!
Beta read by @lets-get-kraken-boys
Tag list: @trishiepo0
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Things were becoming tense around the house lately, you being at the center of it. Not that anyone was really surprised. Since three months ago when your ‘friend’ walked in on a sight most sinful, he hadn’t said a single word to you. He stopped offering you lunch and tea. When he passed you in the hall he stared at the floor. Even when you tried to talk to him, he was short, direct, and gone before you could bring anything else up. It hurt your feelings at first, but over time you realized that maybe the reason he refused to interact with you was because he wanted something from you. Once  he found out he couldn’t have it. 
You pushed it to the back of your mind and continued on with work, counting the days until Sanemi returned. It was in the middle of fall, your favorite season really, warm in the sun and cool in the shade. You were bringing a decent harvest to the kitchen when you overheard the cooks squabbling. They needed someone to go with one of them to buy some things in the nearby town, but two of the three had to stay and do prep as for tonight’s dinner. 
When all three laid eyes on you, you agreed to go without hesitation, taking any chance given to get some space from the house. It was a brief walk before you both were in town. It wasn't too busy, but there were a few people wandering the streets like you. You both split the list and money accordingly and set to work. Your grandparents taught you the skills of ‘haggling’ with shop keeps to get the best deals. 
A few hours later you both met back up and took inventory of your shopping, celebrating the little bit of money that was left over. You split the change and decided to buy yourselves something before returning for the night. You were looking at seeds to plant, maybe start stocking up before spring so-
“Excuse me!” You stood up and  glanced around. Was someone talking to you? 
“Excuse me, miss!” A few booths down an older woman was waving you over to her booth, when you pointed at yourself, she nodded, “Yes yes! I have some very interesting things for sale~” She cooed, beckoning you over. 
You figured it wouldn’t hurt and approached her. Her table had an array of many different things you don’t think you’d ever seen before. 
“A young beautiful woman such as yourself must have men crawling to court you, yes~?” She was shoving something in your face before you could respond, “If there’s a man in your life that you want, just brew this like any other tea and it’s sure to make for a long pleasurable night!” She cackled. 
You felt your face flush and realized what she was trying to sell you. As much as you were embarrassed, you were curious as to what ‘components’ were in the little satchels of tea leaves. You quickly bought some of the tea and scurried off to meet back up with the cook. She asked what you bought and you told her just some seeds for next spring’s harvest. 
The walk home was filled with small talk to fill the time. Upon arrival you both stopped, Sanemi was leaning against the opening of the gates, staring you both down. Your friend whispered a small ‘I’ll see you later’ and sped past him. His eyes didn’t even acknowledge her, instead looking into yours. You couldn’t help smiling at him. He wasn’t even injured this time, no, he simply ‘requested’ some time off to ‘recover mentally’. 
By that he just wanted to be attached to you for a few days so he didn’t have to think about fighting. For once he didn’t want to constantly be on the offense, he wanted to exhale all the tension and inhale you. Your sly smile when you saw him was enough to make his adrenaline pump. You were both absolutely enamored with each other and the desire was palpable. As you walked through the gate, you stopped directly in front of him and bowed. 
“It’s good to see you again, Shinazugawa-sama.” You were being coy, looking up at him and fluttering your eyelashes. 
He shouldn’t have to wait; he shouldn’t have to dance around to have you to himself. So, he didn’t. 
As soon as you stood up straight, he grabbed you, throwing you over his shoulder. If this had been the first time, you’d be worried, but now when he did it, you felt all the more empowered and excited.
“I told you to call me by name” He tried to sound annoyed, but you knew he wasn’t. 
“When we’re in public I would like to be form-” You jolted as he stopped suddenly. 
“The fuck are you staring at.” Sanemi snapped, setting you down ever so gently.
Standing in front of you both appeared to be another demon slayer, but this one appeared to be very, very different. Flashy was an understatement to describe this man. He was covered in accessories. To be honest, he was quite the piece of eye candy. He was staring you and Sanemi down. You noticed that Sanemi clenched his fists. You were growing more and more confused. 
“Eh~ That’s no way to treat your elders, Sanemi~” He taunted sanemi. 
“I don’t have to respect a bitch like you!” He barked right back. 
“And just who might this be?” His eyes focused solely on you, “Ara ara~ This must be the reason you’ve been losing at sparring; she doesn’t seem like anything special to me.” Sanemi clicked his tongue at him. 
“Well, she’s not for you, so fuck off already!” He hissed and snatched you by the wrist and pulled you along as he stomped away. The other man gave a small wave and you waved back as you went. 
You didn’t ask too much about it, sensing that it would cause an argument if you asked about the obvious ‘pretty boy’. Instead, you both settled into your room. He was as coarse as ever. Sanemi complained about demons and nothing more, missions were annoying, he hated when the demons begged to live after they’d killed innocent people. You chatted about your plant’s growth and the many things ongoing in the house, omitting the part about your now ex-friend avoiding you. All while this went on, you were seated quite comfortably in his lap, working on the tea that you had bought earlier that afternoon on the table in front of you two. 
You had poured it onto a plate and were separating what you could decipher what was in it, but you couldn’t make heads or tails of the mixture. It was littered with bits of lavender, cloves, and what appeared to be green tea leaves. You figured that it was a scam anyway. When Sanemi asked about it, you said it was just a tea for relaxation and you’d make it for the both of you. When you finally pried yourself out of his lap, an exercise altogether because of he clingy boy, you left to brew the tea. 
You both enjoyed two cups, finding it pleasantly sweet and warming as night fell and it got colder. He grew drowsy and yawned, you took this as your chance to escape once again to check on your pond once more. As it grew colder, some of the fish would begin to slow and rest. As soon as spring came, they would start mating and breeding. You liked to keep a very close eye on this so the fish would not overpopulate the pond. 
You held your lantern close, shivering as you were greeted by chilly autumn air. You could see your breath as you carefully made your way to the pond side. The fish seemed well, some of them familiar with you, nudging your hand when you dipped it in the water. You giggled, knowing that they were only looking for food and feeling just a little bad when you didn’t bring it. 
Your skin started to tingle. 
You withdrew your hand, something felt wrong. The tingling started to get stronger, your skin started to heat up, your head started to feel cloudy. When did it get so hot outside? You set the lantern down and loosened the collar on your yukata, sighing in relief when the cold air met your shoulders. This couldn’t have been the tea, right? You leaned, one hand supporting yourself on the ground. It felt so nice and cold. Of course your crotch felt hot; everything felt hot, sticky, and feverish right now. 
The thought of if it had been affecting Sanemi too hadn’t even crossed your mind. 
He was laid out on your futon, eyes half lidded and fighting sleep. He was holding on and waiting for you to come back so he could trick you into talking to him in that voice you’d use to lure him to sleep. He had just about given in when his eyes shot back open. He sat upright. His fingertips were tingling. Not like the normal tingling when you’d beg for him, no, this was worse. It traveled up his arm and felt like he was burning from the inside out.  
Alarms fired off in his head. Could he have been poisoned? Was it you? There’s no way you’d- 
His crotch throbbed. 
He looked down and groaned in frustration, he looked back up the door, his vision just a little blurred and his thinking slurred. No, you couldn’t have poisoned him, but you did something else. Whether you knew it or not. He got up and made his way out of the room, using the wall to support himself. His anger was rising with every uneasy step he took. He loved you, of course, but this was going way too far. 
It was you who he sought first. It was you who he yearned for more than anything else. You had him wrapped around your finger, had him at your every beck and call. But was it not enough for you. He was gritting his teeth, praying to whatever sick god controlled this life that he wasn’t caught struggling down the hall with a massive erection. His thoughts were focusing on one goal. Get his hands on you. 
“What the fuck did you do to me.” Your head snapped over at the voice. 
When he made it to the pond you were fully sitting, leaning to the side and barely being supported with a shaky arm. You had pulled the lower half of your yukata open and had your hand buried between your legs, rubbing furiously. You seemed frantic and confused, panting and whining loudly. When you saw him, you felt bad at first, but then stared directly at the bulge in his pants. You crawled to him, hands grasping at his pants while you pressed your face against his crotch and nuzzled his erection through his pants. The desperate moment was short-lived when he yanked you back by the hair and made you look up at him. 
“What. Did. You. Do.” His tone was forced as he spoke through clenched teeth. It was so hard to talk, you couldn’t think but you needed to explain yourself. 
You opened your mouth; your words were slurred and you couldn’t stop stuttering. One of your hands was back between your legs and you felt like a shameless animal in heat. You told him about the tea and what the old woman said it was, you thought it was just a scam. Your voice was cracking and you were tearing up, but not because you were sad. You were crying because your hand wasn’t enough. You were rubbing and prodding, your thighs were wet with slick. You were crying because you were desperate to have something inside of you, to cure the ache that was getting stronger. 
He understood what you were saying and that you were sorry, but he wanted to make you feel sorry. His breathing was haggard. He let go of your hair and grabbed you by the chin, using his thumb to pry your mouth open. He loved the look of desperation on you, it scratched an itch deep within his brain. Finally, you looked as desperate as he felt when he first pursued you, and it was about damn time. Parted lips, skin glistening with sweat, and panting just to bend over and be his personal fuck toy. At this point he couldn’t hide his grin. 
“Stick your tongue out.” You complied, drooling as you complied.
He leaned down, shoving his tongue in your mouth. You thought that maybe he’d use your mouth differently, but you didn’t care. It was slippery, hot, and it made you feel dirty in the best way. Neither of you cared that you were outside. He wasn’t intending to take you inside just yet. You were pressed against one of the wisteria trees as he kneeled in front of you, forcing you to watch as he buried his face between your thighs and lapped at your throbbing core. 
Your hands were fisted in his hair and you were grinding against his face, while your legs shook uncontrollably. He hefted one of your legs over his shoulder so he had better access to you. He didn’t look away from you for even a moment, hazy eyes focusing as much as possible on every reaction you made. The first orgasm was fast and intense, sparks flying across your vision as you called out his name. Your whole body shook, Sanemi kept you steady until the tremors subsided. 
It wasn’t enough. 
Your core still felt tight, you still felt so hot. You were sure that he wasn’t faring any better than you were. While attempting to collect your thoughts and self-control you were spun around and bent over. His hand was on the back of your head, pushing your face into the wisteria tree. Sanemi couldn’t get his pants down fast enough for his liking,  acting on impulse and urges alone.
“H-Hey we can’t do this outside, wh-what if someone comes?”
You’re trying to push back and get away from him, knowing that once he started, he wasn’t going to stop. You feel the cold breeze on the bare skin of your ass followed by fingers rubbing and prodding at you.
“So what?” He laughs at you, his tone sounding as if he’s mocking you, “So what if they catch me fucking you, huh?” He shoves two fingers deep and you gasp, “I wouldn’t stop, I’d make them watch.” he curled them against your G-spot and laughed when your thighs shook.
“Don’t you want me to show everyone how pretty you look when I’m-“ He withdrew his fingers and replaced them with the head of his cock, “Fucking a baby into you?” He bottomed out with one thrust, your legs almost giving out. You choked on anymore words of protest, your head focusing on his words. You were trembling, not out of any negative feelings, but from the way your own body throbbed around him and just how full you felt.
You didn’t even notice the drool dripping from your parted mouth.
His hand settled on your lower back, rubbing gently, “See? Doesn’t that feel so much better?” His other hand was holding your hip, nails digging into the flesh with a grip that contradicted his softer tone. You nodded your head and stopped fighting it. There was only one way to beat the ‘heat’ that you put the both of you in.
After that, it was a blur of sweat, moaning, and desperation at its finest. You couldn’t say much, just trying to keep yourself quiet while Sanemi let his own mouth run (not surprising), saying and doing whatever he wanted. Slapping your ass just to get a reaction out of you and holding your hair in a tight fist. He fucked you through his first orgasm, not slowing down or stopping, but eventually pulling out of you.
Your legs gave out without his support and you were on your knees, panting and trying to gain some kind of clarity as he helped you to your feet. You were both still flushed and horny, but didn’t want to risk too much exposure.
“It’s still hard.” He mumbled, that wasn’t surprising in the slightest. Sanemi had crazy amounts of stamina, so sometimes three to four rounds was normal for you two, unless you grew tired and wanted to stop.
“Okay, let’s ju-just go to my room, okay?” You pulled on his sleeve and you both snuck back into your room with, thankfully, no one to catch you two.
All through the night, into the mid-afternoon of the next day, you two couldn’t leave each other alone longer than 10 minutes. Small breaks for the bathroom or food were scattered throughout, but other than that, he wouldn’t let you stray too far. Every time you stood up, cum would drip out of you and make you feel embarrassed, while it only made Sanemi scoff. He’d then complain, “How am I supposed to knock you up if you’re so careless” And he’d fill you right back up.
The concerns you had about being too loud were forgotten, even going so far as to abandon your chores for the day. Unfortunately, anyone who walked past your room knew exactly what was happening and the hallway leading past your door was avoided. Uzui would laugh when he’d overhear concerns and complaints from fellow nurses about you and Sanemi. He was genuinely amused and surprised that Sanemi had an obsession with you like this.
Your room was a mess and the air was damp. That night you were in his lap, legs locked around his waist and nails digging into his back while he gripped you tight and bounced you as if you were nothing more than a toy. You both were covered in bite marks, hickeys, and bruises. Your bodies were sore, and even though the aphrodisiac was at its end, your mind was lost a few hours ago, reduced to broken sobs and garbled words. Sanemi wasn’t doing much better, basically using your body to get himself off, not that it was an issue. You both acted like animals in heat and couldn’t focus on anything except chasing one last orgasm.
This time when you came, all you could do was whine and clench around him, pushing him over the edge one final time. It was a dry orgasm for the both of you and the last one as the aphrodisiacs had finally worn off. He laid down on the futon with you on his chest, already falling asleep from exhaustion while he rubbed your back gently. You both slept through the night to the following afternoon, you would have slept longer, but there was a fierce banging on your door. You struggled out of bed, your whole body sore and throbbing. You threw a blanket over Sanemi and wrapped yourself in a robe. Outside the door stood the building manager, alongside the man from the other day. The building manager had an annoyed look on her face.
“Y/N, usually I wouldn’t start issues with your ‘personal business’ like this. However…” She trailed off, trying to find the right words.
“We need to split you two up,” He cut off, “Just to ask questions. I promise.” He was all smiles and charm.
“I-I’m terribly sorry for my behavior. I’ll wake him up immediately and tell him you need to speak to him!” You bowed your head in shame and quietly shut the door. Waking up your partner wasn’t too hard but his usual morning grogginess turned into anger when you explained that you both were in trouble. He was frustrated because instead of spending a morning wrapped around you, he had to look at Uzui and that stupid fucking smug face of his.
After a brief shower to wash the dried fluids and shame off of you, you found yourself in the building manager's office. You were both avoiding each other’s gaze and didn’t want to approach this subject.
“Listen.” She began, pinching the bridge of her nose, “Relationships between employees are strictly prohibited in the house. You sleeping with Shinazugawa-sama is a loophole because you two aren’t in a ‘relationship’ and because he’s not technically my employee. However, the events of the last two days are completely unacceptable.” You shrunk under her words and she paused to sigh deeply, “I just have…..some questions.” You nodded, giving her the go ahead.
“Are you using proper contraceptives?” You nodded. “Are you being…..forced?” 
“A-Absolutely not! It’s all consensual.” 
“I see.” She pursed her lips and exhaled, leaning back in her chair, “What….happened exactly?” She was hesitating to ask this question.
You told her about acquiring the tea with the intent to decipher its ingredients, omitting the part where you and the cook pocketed the spare money. You apologized profusely, saying that you had no idea that it was going to actually work and were so deeply sorry about causing a ruckus like this.
“It’s…It’s okay Y/N really, just please be more careful next time, okay?” She sounded concerned more than angry at this point, “Just take today to rest and recover from this ordeal, we don’t know what else that ‘tea’ could have done to your body.” She smiled. You felt so relieved.
You got up and bowed before turning to leave, “Oh! Y/N!” You turned back around, “Please refrain from any extracurricular things for the next few days, aside from your chores.” You flushed and nodded before closing the door and hastily heading to your bedroom, both to clean and to keep your mind from thinking about that whole conversation.
Sanemi had yet to return as he was sitting in Uzui’s room being laughed at.
Upon the sight of Sanemi’s (Freshly showered but still a mess) disheveled look, complete with bite marks and hickeys; Uzui couldn’t keep it in. They were both sitting cross-legged at a tea table, Sanemi’s arms crossed and clenching his teeth to keep from leaping across the table and biting his colleague.
“Will you shut the fuck up already?!” He snapped and Uzui’s laughs started to dwindle down to chuckles.
“I just think it’s very funny-”
“Just ask your dumb ass questions already or I’m leaving. I have better shit to do than sit here and entertain you.” Sanemi was sick of this annoying asshole.
“Like what? Fuck that girl all day and night?” Uzui’s teasing was merciless, “Who couldn’t hear you both? Humping like animals in heat~” Sanemi scoffed and moved to get up and leave. “Are you making sure she’s not getting pregnant?”
“What?” He stopped.
“Y/N? You know, the girl who you pine for.” Uzui said it like it was obvious. It was, to everyone except you and Sanemi, “Contraceptives? Are you just having sex raw? Do you not remember any of your education regarding sex?” Sanemi’s eyebrows knit together in confusion and frustration.
“What the fuck are you even saying?” Uzui busted into loud laughter again, “What so damn funny?!”
“She could be pregnant! You are SO dense, did you ignore the sexual education class that Shinobu made us sit through?” The answer was yes, but Sanemi wouldn’t admit that.
“I guess I have to explain it to you, huh?” Uzui wasn’t going to let Sanemi live this down.
Meanwhile, you were busy cleaning. The room was just about done and the windows were open to let it air out. You had to take frequent breaks as your hips and back were more sore than usual and your lower stomach hadn’t stopped hurting all day. You figured it was after ‘affects’ of the tea and tried to ignore it. You were returning from the kitchen after taking some dishes and kindly asking one of the kitchen staff to take care of it for you, offering to do a favor for them at a later time.
Someone grabbed your wrist and yanked you back behind a wall. You yanked your hand back and looked up at the person who had been avoiding you for months. You purse your lips at the annoyed look on his face.
“He’s forcing you, isn’t he?” He blurts out.
“What?! No!” You huff and try to leave, but he grabs you again.
“You’re lying! If he’s hurting you, just say that! I can help you-“ You snatched your wrist back from him again.
“I don’t need your help!” You snap at him, fists clenched at your side. “I never asked you for anything! You do nice things for people on your own, which is nice in theory, but you always expect something in return!” You haven’t felt anger like this in years. “I am VERY grateful for all the nice things you do for me, I really am, but just because you do things for me doesn’t mean I’ll have sex with you and that you can be in my business!” Your voice cracks at the end and tears gather in your eyes, he scoffs like YOU’RE the one causing him grief!
“It’s not even like that Y/N-“
“Isn’t it? It’s happened to me so many times now” You hiss at him, “Men like you who come to me, bringing me gifts, food, and trinkets-“ Your anger wins over your tears, “Just so they can walk around the village and say that they fucked the fat girl, like I’m just some kind of milestone they can check off their list!” Your face is red and you’re heaving with rage. It’s not fair, you had spent so long with Sanemi reminding you that you’re worth more than a good fuck that you forget that, at the end of the day, you should always be thankful for any speck of attention someone shows you. You feel so sick you could throw up.
“Just stop freaking out! It’s because I love you-“
“Just what the fuck are you doing?”
You both freeze and turn to the end of the hallway, Sanemi is standing there with Uzui right behind him, who is thoroughly enjoying the drama and can’t wait to gossip about it to anyone who’d listen. Sanemi had heard what you said and that pissed him off more than your friend’s pathetic attempt at a confession. He told you how beautiful you were, how impressive your knowledge of plants was, and how nice you were to him. Surely, you understood, right? At this point, you both were the two most dense people Uzui had ever seen.
“Just forget it.” He huffed and tried to pass but Sanemi stood firmly in front of him, glaring right up at him.
“I don’t care how you feel about Y/N,” He tilted his head and cracked his neck. “I don’t care about whatever pathetic confession this might be, however…” His hand twitched, which didn’t go unnoticed by Uzui, who was on alert to keep Sanemi from doing something that he’d have no choice but to report to Kagaya.
“She’s mine. She can decide whenever the fuck she wants to stop this, but until then? She’s mine. Right?” He was addressing you, they both looked at you. You nodded without hesitation. “Right. So don’t assume shit about her or me. Again.” Sanemi almost stood on his tippy toes to assert himself, but that was unnecessary. Your friend made a face as if he was confused and bewildered. You sighed.
“Just…to you it looks bad, right?” He hesitantly nodded, “But I wanted this. If I was being hurt, the building owner wouldn’t let him come here anymore. That,  I just….I don’t like you in that way….” You tried to whisper the last part, staring at the floor. Sanemi laughed cruelly at this as your friend stomped off in frustration. Uzui called him childish and returned to his room, reminding Sanemi to ask you something.
When you both returned to your room, it was tense and quiet while you moved some things around and checked on the plants. He watched you flutter about, enjoying his favorite pastime. Every so often, you’d have to pause. Your stomach was still hurting and sometimes the cramping would be too much for you.
“If you’re in pain, you should sit down.” He mused watching you hold onto a table edge to steady yourself.
“That was mean.” You said.
“Huh?”
“You laughing at him was mean…and what you said about us.” You were focusing on the plant on the table in front of you.
“Yeah, well, he was making you cry.” He snorted. “And it wasn’t like I was lying. We can stop what we’re doing anytime you want.” He didn’t want to actually discuss the arrangement you two had, fearing it would lead to said arrangement ending.
“I don’t want to stop but-“
“Are you pregnant?” He said it without thinking. You turned around fast.
“What? No!” You rubbed at your eyes and forehead in exasperation, “I take medicine to keep that from happening….” You walked over and sat next to him, he slung his arm around you as a reflex.
You told him you just wanted to relax, as you felt nauseous and sick. He dropped the subject and you two relaxed until dinner, talking until you both fell asleep. For the next few days, you were still being affected by side effects of the tea, so Sanemi helped you with your chores until you could do it by yourself.
You did, however, find out who that man was. When you did, you bowed and apologized repeatedly for being so rude to a pillar. When Sanemi saw this, he told you ‘He’s not even worth a damn’. However, when Uzui caught you alone, he mused that it was simply too entertaining to see Sanemi follow you around like a little yapping puppy. He told you that he’d keep your little relationship with Sanemi a secret, just to respect your privacy. Uzui left not long after that, his minor injuries being healed and heading off to another mission. Before Uzui left, he told Sanemi he should hurry up and confess and marry you before someone else does, Sanemi promptly told him he can shove his sword up his ass blade first.
It was very odd though; you and Sanemi hadn’t had sex once since the tea incident. He didn’t want to bother you when you were sore, still having side effects, and you were busy as you were a day behind on chores. You two generally enjoyed each other's company for a few days, aside from the few times you’d pass your ‘friend’ in the hall and the air would be tense for a few moments. Sanemi opened up a little, telling you about a few of his interests and his favorite foods. You returned the enthusiasm by telling him a few stories about growing up on your grandparent’s farm.
When his little vacation ends, he reluctantly leaves. You bow at the entrance and wish him a safe journey and a small ‘Until next time’. It makes his chest tight when you treat him like this, like he has a home to return too. This is the first time he hugs you before he leaves and it’s very awkward. He’s stiff and you’re confused at first, but you hug him back. For a moment, you can both feel how fast each other's heart is beating. It’s hard for him to pull away and leave as he realizes that he’s truly deeply afraid to lose you.
You spend a week in a euphoric state, sighing wistfully and deep in thought. The weather is getting colder day by day and you wish that Sanemi was still here. Things have gone relatively back to normal, everyone seemed to respect your privacy and not ask questions. The side effects of the tea still hit you every so often, you’d awake with nausea and lightheadedness. The nurses would run tests and exams, but you were okay, so they would just tell you to take it easy.
As the days went by, you’d think back to the way Sanemi treated your ‘friend’, and you’d feel worse and worse with every reminder. So, you decided that you should apologize to him. You pulled a page from Sanemi’s book and watched him, waiting for him to go into the medical supply room before you slipped in behind him. He turned and looked at you before rolling his eyes and turning back around.
“What do you want?” He kept the conversation short and to the point, and judging from his tone of voice, he did not want to talk to you.
“I just wanted to apologize. What Sanemi said wasn’t right-“ You jumped when he slammed the tray he was using to collect medical tools.
“Just save it, okay? Your personality is wasted on him. He’s a rude asshole who thinks everything belongs to him. You let him treat you like shit.” He bends down and starts picking up the things that fell.
“You don’t know anything about him.” He stands up and tries to leave, tools and tray forgotten on the table, but you block the door, “Sure, he’s an asshole, but he’s never done anything to me that I didn’t ask of him. He'd stop if I say to.”
“So, you asked him to fuck you outside like that?” Your stomach drops into the floor.
“Wh-what?”
“I saw you two outside right under the wisteria tree. Real ‘Romantic’ if you ask me.” He sneered, suddenly standing closer and towering over you, making you aware of how much taller he was than you. “You were right, before, that I just wanted ‘something’ from you” He puts his hands on either side of your head, pinning you against the door. “But I don’t want it anymore. Not from someone as brainwashed or used like you are.” You can barely hear him as your heart beat was getting louder and louder, “Besides, he’s just going to leave you when he’s had enough, anywa-'' What happened after that is hazy for you. It was as if you were watching in third person.
You grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him down to head butt him right in the face. He stumbled back with his face in his hands as you were frantically trying to open the door. When you looked back at him, his nose was bleeding. Just as you got the door open and you went into the hall, he followed and snatched you by the arm. He turned you and struck you across the face. Your flight or fight instincts chose to fight, leading to you and him wrestling in a fist fight on the floor.
It took two of the cooks and a few nurses to split you both up. He felt remorseful when he saw your split lip and bleeding nose, even started trying to apologize, but you weren’t going to have any of that.
“You know WHY I don’t like you?” You yanked out of the cook’s hold. “Because I love Sanemi. He wants me for ME.” You couldn’t even stop yourself from crying, “I love the way he’s hard headed to the highest goddamn degree, that he has the communication of a fucking ROCK.” You inhale deeply, “Most of all, I love him because he makes me feel safe. Never ONCE have I ever doubted my self-worth when I’m with him.” Everyone was staring at you and you felt so exposed and vulnerable. He opened his mouth and said something, but you wouldn’t let him, “I never want to see you again.” You stomped off, two of the nurses going after you to clean you up.
After some light first aid, each of you separately telling your sides of the story to the building owner, he was dismissed from the house, while you were given verbal warning as well as probation for two months. The building owner had never yelled at you the way she had tonight. She called you irresponsible and impulsive. In a sense, she had ‘grounded you’ to your room for the night. One of the cooks snuck you some snacks and checked on you as the others were worried. You ended up with a black eye, some light bruising, and a busted lip. That night, you tossed and turned restlessly, your face and head were throbbing but not as bad as your stomach. You just kept chanting to yourself that it was just leftover effects of the tea, but you hardly got any sleep that night.
The house owner gave you the cold shoulder for two weeks before accepting your apology. Thankfully, things started to relatively calm down afterwards, but not for long. Soon after, there was word that the demon slayer corps had made a breakthrough in fighting against the demons and were preparing to go on the offense and attack Muzan directly. All of the pillars would be leading the charge and you knew what it meant. When the news first hit you, it was from an injured soldier telling all the nurses about it ecstatically, commenting that they were expecting casualties.
You didn’t expect it to last forever. You mused that maybe one day he would find someone more fitting for him, or maybe you’d find someone more fitting for you. You thought of a lot of different ideas and scenarios but there was always one you’d never let yourself dwell on. The idea of him dying. You knew that in his line of work that was part of the job, but he was always confident and he always came back. The mere idea that he may never return was enough to make you feel sick.
You couldn’t hide how it made you feel, you were out back on your hands and knees, dry heaving and throwing up. One of the nurses rubbed your back and asked you what you’d eaten lately. After answering a few more questions, telling her about the tea that made you sick, and how its side effects were still lingering, she gave you a knowing look. You knew what it meant, you shook your head and started denying what you knew she was going to say.
“Y/N….have you considered that you’re pregnant? When was your last period?” Her voice was so soft and you started to cry, sobbing out to her that you didn’t know anymore. 
You were scared.
Note: This took a very long time to do and WHEW!!! I wouldn’t have made it without my sweet and kind beta reader!! As well as all the people who have encouraged me with their likes and reblogs! Thank you all for your continued support! I’ve already started planning out what my next series will be and will hold a poll regarding that soon enough! 
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jayeray-twst · 3 years
Text
How He Shows You Affection: Jade Leech
Warnings: None all fluff!
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He Gifts You Things
The feel of a hand on your shoulder nearly made you jump out of your skin. You’d been so focused on what you were doing that you hadn’t even registered the arrival of a new person in your proximity. However the sound of a familiar chuckle instantly made you relax.
You leaned back against the person who was standing behind you, pressing your back to their front and tilting your head up so you could peer up at him. Jade had an amused half-smile curling his lips as he looked down at you.
“How was your trip?” you asked smiling brightly at him, your own hand coming to rest overtop his on your shoulder, tangling your fingers together, “Did you find what you were looking for?”
Jade had taken another hike up into the mountains searching for mushrooms, claiming there was a certain kind that it was perfect weather to harvest them. You’d taken his word for it, as you couldn’t hope to know nearly as much about the fungi as Jade did. You just wished you could’ve gone with him. Unfortunately, you’d had too much work to do, so had dutifully stayed home.
“It was quite a fruitful day,” Jade told you, evidently really pleased, one of his rare full smiles lighting his face and the odd clicking trill to the end of his sentence enough to let you know how utterly delighted he was. It was a bit of a strange sound, something beyond the ability of human vocal cords, but one you’d come to quite enjoy hearing from your eel mer boyfriend. He only made it when he was beyond thrilled, and it was one of the few true insights into his feelings that your enigmatic boyfriend tended to keep tightly under wraps.
“Oh? Anything interesting?” you asked. Mushrooms generally weren’t what most would consider a fascinating conversation topic, but Jade always had interesting things to say about them. Plus you liked hearing your boyfriend ramble, and mushrooms were one of the few things he would do it for.
“Indeed,” he agreed, producing his other hand from where he’d been keeping it behind his back and presenting you with a flower. It was utterly beautiful and in your favorite color, stunning and perfect you’d never seen anything quite like it.
“It’s beautiful,” you told him a little awed at the pretty thing.
“It reminded me of you,” Jade informed you, gentle hands reaching out to tuck it behind your ear.
It was almost ridiculous how smoothly he could say lines like that, ones that would’ve made anyone else sound cheesy, but from him sounded utterly suave. It made your heart flutter in your chest every single time.
However you did have one small concern, your hand lingering close to the flower by your ear as you carefully asked, “It’s not poisonous is it?”
“Only if you ingest it,” he told you with a casual smile that was all teeth and amusement, eyes shining in delight. It really shouldn’t have surprised you given his fascination with mushrooms but Jade had a bit of a fascination with poisonous things.
“Really to think I would gift you something dangerous,” Jade scolded lightly, and you almost would’ve felt bad, except you remembered the whole debacle with the ghost bride quite clearly. On top of that there had been a few things at the beginning of your relationship that you’d learned a little too late were perfectly safe for merfolk but not so much for humans. It had been an honest mistake, and Jade had clearly felt bad afterwards, but it had been a little traumatizing.
“I would never deliberately gift you something dangerous,” Jade corrected, clearly reading your mind, and while Jade wasn’t one to pout, leaving such antics up to his twin, the slight downturn of his lips let you know he wasn’t entirely happy either.
“I know,” you assured him, gently squeezing the fingers that were still interlaced with yours, “And it is sweet of you to bring me gifts. I do appreciate each and every one of them, even the dangerous ones.”
It was all true, Jade was very careful to put a lot of thought into the things he gave you, even the little things. It was part of mer courtship customs apparently, and one he quite enjoyed and so did you if you were being honest. His little gifts never failed to make your heart skip a beat.
Jade chuckled, clearly appeased by this, gently tracing his fingers over your cheek before giving you a quick kiss goodbye and wandering off to sort through the bounty of mushrooms he’d brought back. You watched him go with a fond smile on your face, quietly thinking of your own gift ideas. After all, if you were dating a mer, you might as well embrace their courtship traditions. You just hoped your own gifts could make him feel just as treasured as he did for you.
He Does Little Things to Make Your Life Easier
One of the things you’d noticed about Jade Leech early on that differentiated him from his twin brother, was that he was incredibly attentive to detail. He was always watching, taking everything in, and he remembered almost everything. It was both impressive and alarming considering his penchant for blackmail.
As his significant other there was no one he observed more closely than you. It was one of the reasons the two of you had started dating in the first place, because Jade considered you one of the most interesting creatures he’d ever stumbled upon on land or sea.
All that close observation meant Jade almost always knew what you needed, sometimes even before you did. If you ate the last of your favorite snack, it would mysteriously be restocked. If you were feeling down your favorite comfort items and Jade himself would appear to help cheer you up. If something broke, or was on the verge of breaking Jade would buy a replacement or find a way to fix it.
It was all incredibly flattering, and made you feel seen in a way you never had with anyone else. Jade knew you better than you knew yourself at times, and it was both a little alarming and incredibly reassuring. Alarming because allowing anyone as close as he was to you and having them capable of predicting your actions to the degree he could was startling on a good day, but also reassuring because you knew Jade could see all of you, both the bad and the good and he wanted you anyway.
It might’ve made the relationship feel unequal at times, especially at first, but as your determination to know him the way he knew you grew, so did Jade’s willingness to let you in. These days you knew a lot of his little tells, the way he made small pleased clicking chirping sounds low in his throat when he was happy, the way his eyes crinkled slightly at the corners when he was smiling his genuine smile rather than the bland customer service smile, and the way his lips turned down at the corners when he was truly upset with something. You knew it all and took pride in the hard-won knowledge.
Still despite everything Jade still knew you better, as proved by the warm drink resting near your hand when you glanced up from the book you were reading, while waiting for him to finish his shift at Mostro Lounge. Gently touching the mug, you found it was the perfect temperature to be consumed, and there was also a little snack along with it.
Right on time your stomach grumbled, letting you know you were in fact, rather hungry. Amused as ever at your boyfriend’s ability to predict things you cradled the mug in your hands, enjoying the warmth of it in the coolness of the lounge, your eyes darting around the crowded room until they locked on your boyfriend at the bar.
As if sensing your eyes on him, he glanced up from what he was doing and met your gaze. You smiled at him, feeling warm and happy as you saluted him with your drink, mouthing your thanks at him and blowing him a kiss. You couldn’t actually hear his amused chuckle from where you were across the room, but you saw the genuine amusement in his eyes as he dipped his head in acknowledgment of your thanks before turning back to what he was doing.
With a content sigh you dug into the treat he’d brought for you, sipping your drink, and reflecting that you really were lucky. Not many got a boyfriend quite as attentive as Jade Leech, who saw to all your needs without question and without being asked. Despite what others might say about his cold and ruthless attitude to you he’d always been sweet in his own understated way. It was a privilege you vowed never to take for granted as you smiled to yourself feeling thoroughly adored.
He Makes Time for You
It had been a long, hard day, and if you were perfectly honest with yourself, all you really wanted at this point was to curl up with boyfriend and be cuddled to help shake the stress of the day away. Unfortunately, it wasn’t going to be an option, not until late as Jade had a shift at Mostro lounge and wouldn’t be back until late.
Normally, you didn’t bother your boyfriend at work, but you desperately wanted to see him, and didn’t think he’d mind too much if you surprised him there, especially since you didn’t actually want to cook yourself dinner. Settled on your course of action, and feeling a bit optimistic that you might even get to steal him away for a little bit during his break you headed for the lounge.
It was relatively busy, the same as it always was with several waiters running back and forth fetching things from the kitchens for the students. Tonight Jade wasn’t actually one of them, instead he was stationed behind the bar, which made things easier for you, especially since there was a seat free. You didn’t worry too much about distracting him, Jade was a consummate professional after all, and meticulous in all things including the work he took quite a deal of pride in.
Sliding into the seat you smiled when your boyfriend spotted you and quickly made his way over, glad to see him, even if you were separated by the bar and unable to latch on to him like a limpet and not let go the way you wanted to.
“Hey you,” you greeted affectionately.
“Hello, fawn,” Jade answered lightly, his mismatched eyes scanning you carefully, taking you in. You hoped he couldn’t see how utterly done in you were, tucking back your exhaustion as far behind your emotional walls as you could manage and smiling at the nickname which never failed to life your spirits.
It hadn’t surprised you that Jade had decided to nickname you after a type of mushroom, you were just glad he only used the cute names, instead of something terrible like toadstool. Sometimes it honestly surprised you that he hadn’t given his sense of humor. You were just glad you’d managed to find out what amanita was ahead of time and put your foot down on it, as you had no desire to be named after a fly killing mushroom.
“What brings you to the lounge?” he asked, pulling you from your thoughts about mushrooms, his hands already going through the familiar motions of making your favorite drink.
“I didn’t want to cook and decided I’d kill two birds with one stone and come to the lounge and see you,” you answered, giving him a mostly honest answer.
“I’m always glad to see you,” he told you, passing your drink, “Excuse me for a second though sweet fawn, I have something to do and then I’ll be right back.”
“Of course,” you assured him, confident that you managed to keep your irrational disappointment locked behind your cheerful façade.
You idly sipped your drink as you waited for Jade to return, quietly watching the people moving around the lounge. Luckily, it didn’t take him long to reappear, though you were surprised when he did it on your side of the bar.
“Are you on break?” you asked, delighted at the prospect, practically beaming up at him, “Want to get something to eat with me?”
“I would love to get something to eat with you,” he assured you, cupping your cheek affectionately, the tender gesture taking you by surprise, though you couldn’t help but melt into it, so much so you nearly missed his next words, “But unless you’re very hungry it will have to wait until we get home.”
“Huh?” you asked, completely inarticulate in your bewilderment.
“You heard me,” Jade scolded lightly, “Let’s get home, precious little fawn.”
“But you’re working,” you sputtered in protest, “Your shift doesn’t end until eleven you said!”
“Ah but I decided to take the rest of the night off,” he informed you casually, “As if I could do anything else when my fawn needs me.”
“Jade, I’m fine,” you tried to assure him firmly, guilt broiling in your stomach, “You can finish out your shift, it’s not a problem!”
The knowing look he gave you, made you want to backtrack, but instead you held firm. The last thing you wanted was to inconvenience him, you loved him far too much for that.
“You’re never a problem,” he informed you his tone quiet but sincere, “let’s get you home.”
You were seriously contemplating refusing him, but the option was swiftly taken away as you found yourself lifted off your feet and swung up into a princess carry, making you yelp in surprise and indignation.
“Ooh someone’s in trouble!” a familiar sing-song voice called out from behind the bar, and you leveled a look at Floyd who was apparently taking his brother’s place for the rest of the night. You made a slightly rude gesture in Floyd’s direction, but the eel only laughed, completely unbothered by it as Jade began to carry you from the lounge your boyfriend also chuckling in amusement.
“You really don’t have to do this,” you tried, one last time, wriggling slightly in his hold trying to get him to set you down, “I’m really okay Jade, you don’t have to take time off for me.”
Jade paused in his steps, and for a second you thought you might’ve gotten through to him, only to have him tell you, “You’re worth all my time, sweet fawn, and I will always make more of it for you when you have need of me, even when you don’t want to admit it.”
The sincere, surprisingly gentle words took all the wind out of your sails, as you peered up into his eyes, his face solemn without any trace of his usual teasing. You slumped in his hold and stopped fighting, which he correctly interpreted as compliance and started walking again.
You looped your arms around his neck and buried your face into his chest, breathing him in the way you’d been dying to from the minute you’d finished your day. Jade let out a soft chuckle of amusement and simply adjusted his grip so you were more comfortable, making you sigh in contentment.
“Hey, Jade?” you asked quietly against his neck, earning a hum of acknowledgment that let you know he was listening, “I love you.”
The words always seemed to take your boyfriend off guard, and this time was no exception. Still to his credit his steps only faltered for a second before he admitted, “I love you too, precious silly fawn.”
You sighed in contentment at the words, letting him carry you off back home, feeling utterly content and truly lucky to have a boyfriend like Jade Leech.
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heyiwrotesomethings · 3 years
Text
Bedtime Stories
Penny (Stardew) x They/Them Reader
A/N: Woo! With this, I have completed a fic for all the Stardew Bachelorettes! Hope ya’ll are ready for Penny time! Word Count: 5,618
(Y/n) stretched their arms way above their head, reveling in the pulling of their back muscles and the dull crack of their spine. They had been out foraging all day and their pack was full of blackberries, mushrooms and nuts. A very good haul.
They shivered a bit as another breeze blew through. The skies had only gone dark about an hour ago, but (Y/n) was ready to call it a night and turn in to their warm and cozy farmhouse.
They walked up the dirt path past Marnie’s ranch to their farm, smiling when they saw the light of their house in the distance. The children must have been giving Penny a hard time tonight. Usually they’d be asleep before (Y/n) got home, but they could get restless on occasion.
As soon as (Y/n)’s boots thudded against the wooden stairs, they could hear excited cries from within, and soon a small head poked out from behind the front door before swinging it fully outward.
(Y/n) flung their arms out to catch the small body that flew into their legs, soon joined by a smaller, more clumsy one.
“You two are up rather late, you aren’t giving your mom a hard time, are you?” (Y/n) asked their children.
“Mommy said we could wait for you if we ate all our veggies at dinner so we did. We did good so we’ll grow up to be strong farmers like you!” The older of the two exclaimed.
“Oh yeah?” (Y/n) grinned.
“Yeah!” The younger child shrilled.
“Well, now that I’m here, it’s time for bed isn’t it?”
A duet of displeased noises met (Y/n)’s ears but they quickly devolved into giggles when the farmer attacked them with tickles. Once the children were disarmed, (Y/n) slung them over their shoulders and bounced them into the house, meeting the loving eyes their spouse gave them from the couch.
Penny sat in a pile of rumpled blankets no doubt put there by their rambunctious children. In her lap was a book of fairy tales that usually served her well when bedtime came around but tonight it seemed it was not enough.
“Hi, love. Welcome home.” Penny smiled sweetly, getting up to meet (Y/n) halfway. She hugged them around the middle before lightening their load by taking the smaller child off their hands.
“Hi sweetheart, how was your day?” The farmer asked, setting down their eldest child so they could remove their bag and boots.
“It went well. The children were so diligent with their studies. I was very impressed.” Penny said, making sure the kids were aware of how proud she was of their work.
“That’s great! I’m really proud of you two.” (Y/n) praised their children while they glowed with pride.
“So we can stay up late and watch tv?” The eldest asked hopefully, the parents merely laughed at the suggestion, making the children pout.
“Afraid not, sleep is very important and I think now would be a good time to hit the hay.” (Y/n) said, already trying to corral the kids into their bedroom.
“Not yet! We want a story at least!” The younger proclaimed, agreement was quickly voiced by their older sibling. Rarely it seemed they could come to a consensus so quickly.
“Oh? Well, I suppose one story wouldn’t hurt.” (Y/n) agreed. “Go brush your teeth first, please.”
The children toppled over each other, trying to get to the sink first so they could rush back to the living room.
“They have so much energy.” Penny remarked with a content sigh, leaning into (Y/n)’s side.
“No kidding,” (Y/n) chuckled, rubbing Penny’s arm, “I could have really used the extra help in my first year of living here. Now I’ve got auto-feeders and sprinklers. A little late for fall, but I suppose they could help with the spring planting, maybe that would slow them down a bit.”
“Shhh, it’ll be a long winter and I don’t need to hear, ‘is it spring yet?’, everyday before then.” Penny playfully warned.
“Your wish is my command.” (Y/n) nodded, pulling Penny down onto the couch to cuddle with her, making the teacher hum with delight and shyly steal a quick kiss.
A few minutes later, two bouncy young children crawled over their parents and wiggled into their sides and under the blankets with happy giggles.
“Alright kiddos, which one?” (Y/n) asked once they were all settled, patting the heavy book on their lap.
“We don’t want one of those stories tonight.” The eldest said.
“You don’t?” Penny blinked, confused by declaration.
“We want to know how you met each other and got married.” The eldest explained, the younger nodded along.
“It’s a long story kids.” (Y/n) said. They may have been trying to dissuade the children, but there really was a lot to cover. Seasons and seasons worth.
“What’s so long about it?” The younger child asked. “Didn’t you just know you liked each other so you got married?”
“People don’t get married right after they meet each other, honey.” Penny gently corrected.
(Y/n) definitely had a, ‘well, not usually anyway’, kind of look on their face but the warning look Penny gave them convinced (Y/n) to keep their mouth shut.
“Oh, I still wanna know though.”
“Me too!”
“(Y/n)...” Penny called upon her spouse.
“Okay, an abridged history, how ‘bout?” (Y/n) shrugged.
The children seemed content with that, once Penny explained to them what abridged meant, and looked to (Y/n) expectantly with shining eyes.
“Okay, it all started—“
“Once upon a time!” The youngest screeched, making everyone wince.
“Inside voices, dear.” Penny reminded.
“Sorry, but the story has to start with once upon a time.”
“It’s not a fairytale, you know.” The older said.
“It’s alright,” (Y/n) interjected with a grin, “it feels enough like one being married to such a sweet person.”
Penny turned away and blushed, a small bashful smile working the corners of her lips upward.
“Once upon a time...” (Y/n) began again, much to their youngest child’s delight.
***
“Oh my Yoba, this place is a mess.” (Y/n) groaned.
They had kept a brave face for Robin and Mayor Lewis, but now that they were gone, they voiced how overwhelmed they felt freely. They looked over the overgrown lot that was supposed to be the farm their grandfather had left for them.
“What if this was a mistake? Am I doing the right thing? I don’t want to crawl back to Joja but...” (Y/n) growled, thwacking the dirt hard with their hoe, “No! I just got here, I can’t quit yet.” They said, strengthening their resolve.
After a few hours of alternating between being proud with their progress and wanting to cry because there was so much left to do, (Y/n) decided they wanted to check out town. They just really needed to freshen up first.
To their dismay, but not surprisingly, the old farmhouse didn’t have indoor plumbing, but they didn’t worry because they knew there was a bathhouse in the mountains they could use.
“When I get paid, the first thing I’m gonna do is contract Robin to build a bathroom. I hope she’s as savvy with plumbing as she is with carpentry.” They mumbled to themself as they walked up the mountain path.
Entering the bathhouse, the space seemed void of life, the only sounds being the steady drip of water over the tiled floor. (Y/n) claimed a vacant locker and took a shower. After the day they had, it was the best shower they had ever had.
Once clean, (Y/n) decided they’d spoil themself and swim around in the heated pool for a bit before heading back to the farm. They put on their swimsuit and headed on in. Expecting to be alone, they hummed and sang as they made their way to the main room, enjoying the way their voice reverberated off of the walls and echoed back into their ears.
“Um, hello.”
“Wah!”
(Y/n) nearly slipped on the wet floor from the shock. A woman with vibrant, orange hair was sitting in one of the near corners of the pool. She seemed to shrink into herself under (Y/n)’s wide gaze.
“Oh wow,” (Y/n) laughed awkwardly, embarrassment flooding their tone, “I, uh, didn’t realize anyone else was here, sorry you had to hear that.”
“It’s alright,” the woman smiled albeit, a bit tightly it seemed. “I was thinking about getting out anyway.”
“You don’t have to leave!” (Y/n) fumbled with the towel in their hands, “I promise to be quiet and give you your space. It’ll be like I’m not even here.”
They skittered across the tiled floor and slid into the opposite side of the bath, giving the woman her space.
A few painfully awkward minutes passed. (Y/n) leaned over the pool edge and counted the nearby tiles, the bricks on the wall... anything to occupy them until the other occupant left or a non-suspicious amount of time passed and they could leave themself.
“Who... who are you?” The woman asked, finally breaking the silence.
(Y/n) craned their head to face her, eager to introduce themself and hopefully make a better impression.
“I’m (Y/n). I just moved in. I live at the old farmhouse just west of town so you’ll probably see me around from time to time.”
“Oh, I see,” the stiffness of the strangers shoulders seemed to lessen, “Well, I’m Penny. It’s nice to meet you.”
(Y/n) grinned brightly as they swam closer to Penny, all previous worries forgotten. “It’s nice to meet you too, Penny! I hope we will be great friends.” (Y/n) suddenly splashed the water beneath their hand as another thought popped into their mind. “Hey, do you have any favorite vegetables or fruits?”
“Um,” Penny shrunk back, a bit intimidated by the farmer’s sudden approach, “Oh, I don’t know...”
“Surely there’s something, don’t be shy.” (Y/n) encouraged.
“I, I like melon?” Penny more asked than told. Her back digging into the edge of the pool a bit uncomfortably.
“Melon,” (Y/n) nodded sagely, backing up a bit from Penny’s personal space. “Yeah, I could do that! You’ll have to wait for summer though, is that okay?”
“Wait?”
“Yeah, I can start planting melon in the summer. I’d do it sooner, but the seeds won’t take. I’ll be sure to give you the first one I harvest though!”
“You really don’t have to do that,” Penny waved her hands in front of her.
“I insist.” (Y/n) heaved themself out of the warm water, “Man, Penny, I have to thank you. You’ve inspired me to get back to work! I got to see if there’s anything else I can clean up around the farm before nightfall. I’ll see you around!”
“Okay, bye...” Penny watched them jog into the changing room, gasping when the farmer slipped on the tiles but continued on their merry way. She wasn’t sure what to make of the new addition to Pelican Town, but they seemed kind enough.
***
The next time Penny had seen (Y/n) was during one of her lessons with Vincent and Jas. She had been reading about the history of the valley when Vincent had waved excitedly at someone behind her back. Thinking it was just Sam or Jodi, Penny attempted to continue on with her lesson but she soon came to a stop when Vincent took to excitedly calling after the passerby.
“Hey, farmer! Good morning!” Vincent yelled.
“Really now Vincent,” Penny lightly scolded as she held her finger over the paragraph she had been reading, “you need to focus on the lesson.”
“Sorry Miss. Penny.” Vincent apologized. “But I see Farmer (Y/n). They’re so cool.”
“They’re probably busy—“
“Hi, Vincent! And a hello to you Jas and Penny.” A friendly voice cut in.
Penny looked up from her spot in the grass and watched (Y/n) approach, their arms full of daffodils.
“What’s going on here?” They asked once they were standing next to the group.
“School.” Vincent answered matter-of-factly. “Miss Penny is reading about history.”
“Oh, I didn’t know you were a teacher Penny. That’s really neat. I’m sorry for interrupting your lesson.” (Y/n) said, turning their attention to Penny.
“It’s alright, you didn’t know. I apologize if Vincent has distracted you from your own work.” Penny politely stated in kind.
“No worries, I’ve just been foraging around the valley. Leah posted a request for some dandelions but I couldn’t seem to find any today. I got a whole bunch of daffodils though. Would you three like to take some off my hands?”
“Wow, thanks!” Vincent quickly grabbed one before Penny could even think about declining.
Jas shyly took one for herself, still a little intimidated by the fresh face. She’d been growing a little more used to them though, thanks to Marnie’s encouragement.
“A flower, milady?” (Y/n) asked Penny again, sporting a warm smile that made the teacher feel like the heat of the day was starting to get to her.
“Thank you, this looks special.” She said, gently cupping the flower in her hands.
“You’re welcome. It’s no melon, but rest assured that summer will be upon us before you know it,” the farmer declared before spotting Willy in the distance. “Oh! Hey guys, I gotta go catch Willy to tell him about all the chubs I caught yesterday. It was good talking to you, see you all later!” They said before jogging off.
“Bye (Y/n)!” Vincent waved.
“Bye...” Penny and Jas said together, much more subdued than the young boy.
Penny watched (Y/n) until they disappeared into the saloon before turning back to her book. Her face tinged pink as she twirled her daffodil in one hand and picked up where she left off.
***
Summer rain pelted the metal of the trailer, thumping loudly with each drop, but Penny blocked it out easily as she read all cozy in her bed. Occasionally she would snap up a bit of freshly cut melon from the Tupperware resting on her nightstand and smile to herself.
(Y/n) had made good on their promise and had been pushing their fresh melons onto Penny since midsummer. Another sweet bite and Penny sighed pleasantly whilst marking her page with the daffodil (Y/n) had given her in the spring, now a dried and fragile makeshift bookmark.
The farmer was so warm, gentle. Better than anything her books could come up with and yet they somehow existed in her reality despite being too good to be true.
Since their somewhat uncomfortable origin, Penny could not have been more happy to have encountered them in the bathhouse that day. Even after getting to know each other better, even after (Y/n) had seen the messy state her mother kept the trailer in, they never treated her any differently.
“Penny,” the teacher jolted at the sudden knock and the rasp of her mother’s voice through the door, “I’m heading to the saloon. You want anything?”
“No thanks, mom.” Penny sighed. “I was thinking of making dinner myself tonight.”
“Alright honey. I’ll be back late.” Pam informed, her footsteps rocked the trailer slightly and the rickety front door closed loudly, signaling the older woman’s departure. At least now that the bus had been fixed (by who else but the resident hero farmer) her mother had less time to spend drinking.
Penny scooted out of bed and headed to the kitchenette and turned on the stove, putting a large pot on the flame. She had been trying to make something to give (Y/n) in thanks. Something for all the good they’ve been doing for the town and for treating her so kindly.
She began her experimental stew, pouring whatever she had on hand into the pot that she thought would taste good. She was so absorbed in her creation that she almost missed the knocking on the trailer door.
Penny turned off the heat and went to answer the door thinking it was probably just Vincent with another excuse why he couldn’t return his homework in time. She was surprised to see (Y/n) waiting outside.
“(Y/n), hello,” Penny greeted, beckoning the farmer out of the rain, “please come in, it’s pouring buckets out there. You must be soaked.”
“I’m okay, it’ll take more than a little rain to take me out.” (Y/n) smiled as they stepped into the trailer. “Hi Penny, hope I’m not interrupting anything.”
“Not at all. I was just cooking.” Penny bashfully admitted. So much for the surprise.
“Oh that’s cool. What’re you making?”
“Oh just some stew, I was actually hoping to give it to you,” Penny blushed, “for all the good you’ve done for the town.”
“Aw, that’s very sweet of you Penny. You didn’t have to do that.” (Y/n) said. They could feel their heart beat pick up in tempo at the gesture.
“I wanted to. Here, have a taste.” Penny presented a ladle full of soup to (Y/n), her blush grew warmer as the farmer leaned in close to take a taste before pulling themself to stand straight once more.
(Y/n)’s smile tightened the more they chewed, sweat dotted their forehead.
“Are you alright?” Penny asked, watching the farmer continue to chew.
“Mhmm.” (Y/n) squeaked, giving Penny a shaky thumbs up. Then they swallowed none too easily. “Wow,” they breathed, well, more like gasped, “that sure was something Penny. Thank you for sharing.”
“Is it really that bad?” Penny frowned, disappointed.
Immediately (Y/n) jumped into action, waving their arms, “It wasn’t bad at all! I was chewing so long because it tasted so good, I didn’t want it to end!”
Penny gave the farmer a doubtful look before looking down at the leftover stew in her ladle and raising it to her own lips.
“Wait, Penny—“
“Oh dear, that is vile...” Penny gagged. She hardly had so much as a sip before tossing the rest back into the pot. “I’m sorry, (Y/n). I should have tested it first...”
“Hey, it’s okay! You’re learning. It took me a lot of practice to learn how to cook too.” They assured. “If you want to come over sometime I could teach you a thing or two.”
“I wouldn’t want to interrupt. You’re always so busy...” Penny said, already contemplating how she was going to get rid of her hot, liquid garbage.
“You wouldn’t be interrupting anything. All I really need to do is water the crops and feed the chickens. I can take it easy every once in awhile. Besides, I’m always looking to spend time with you anyway so... yeah,” They rubbed the back of their neck.
“Really?”
“Yeah, so if you ever want to plan something... I’d really like that.”
“Okay.” Penny nodded, nervously fiddling with her hands. “I’d like that too. Very much.”
“Cool! Nice, yes.” (Y/n) practically sparkled at the affirmation. “When do you want to meet up?”
“Is Tuesday fine?”
“Tuesday is great! This is so exciting!” Just as the farmer pumped their fists over their head, a loud burst of thunder shook the trailer. “Wow, it’s a monster out there.”
“Yes, you should stay for awhile. At least until it calms down a bit... movie?” Penny suggested, gesturing to the little DVD player in the corner.
“That sounds like a great idea,” (Y/n) followed, their hand reaching into their bag, “I almost forgot I came to give you more melon!”
“You spoil me, really. How much melon do you think one girl can eat. I’m still working on the last one you gave me.” Penny giggled quietly.
“Fall will be here before long. Best to enjoy them while you still can.” They half-joked, sliding into the seat of the booth.
Penny slid into the seat beside them and popped open the DVD player. Maybe the melon season was coming to an end, but at least the farmer who planted them was here to stay.
***
By mid fall, Penny and (Y/n) were nearly inseparable. Any free time they had they usually spent together cooking in (Y/n)’s farmhouse, relaxing in the bathhouse or curling up with some books or other media.
The day was unusually warm for fall and Penny decided to treat Jas and Vincent to a picnic in the Cindersap Forest for all their hard work. While they ate and went through their lesson, Penny saw the farmer and waved them over without a second thought. She was simply thrilled to see them and thought their presence in the woods must have been fate.
“(Y/n), wonderful timing seeing you here. I was just teaching the children about natural resources. Could I trouble you to talk about how natural resources are involved in farming?” Penny asked once the farmer came up to them.
“Sure, I’d love to!” (Y/n) nodded.
Penny stared off dreamily at (Y/n)’s side as they explained what they knew about the valley’s resources while wondering how she could be so lucky as to know them. Once (Y/n) had explained a large amount of their process, Vincent raised his hand.
“Question, Vincent?” Penny asked, impressed that the boy seemed so invested in the lesson.
“Yeah, are you dating anyone Farmer (Y/n)?” Vincent asked.
“Uh, no. No I am not.” (Y/n) laughed, rubbing the back of their neck.
“Vincent!” Penny said, aghast.
“What?” The young boy questioned.
“You can’t just ask people stuff like that, Vincent.” Jas spoke up. “My auntie Marnie told me that when I asked her if Mayor Lewis was her boyfriend.”
(Y/n) and Penny gave each other an awkward side glance. After the incident with the bush, (Y/n) had to tell someone about it, and Penny had been the unfortunate mock therapist in that scenario.
“Ah, well, no harm done.” (Y/n) laughed. “Any questions related to the topic of natural resources?”
Penny observed how well (Y/n) got along with Jas and Vincent and thought they would make a wonderful parent. When the lesson had concluded and the children were playing by the river, Penny couldn’t help but ask (Y/n) if they had ever thought about having a family before.
“Every once in awhile I do. I think it would be nice. It would make the farm more lively at least.”
And with that admission, Penny couldn’t help but hope that one day, (Y/n) might see her as a suitable partner to share their life with.
***
Winter was, well, cold.
But Penny was glad for it because there were no crops (Y/n) needed to attend to and they were therefore, more available. They spent much more time together in winter than the previous seasons.
Today, Penny was heading to the farm for another cooking lesson from (Y/n). She was getting much better with the skill. She could even get her mother to spend more nights away from the saloon with the promise of a hot meal.
Penny stepped up onto the snowy porch and knocked her gloved hand against the wooden door. She could hear clattering from within the farmhouse and waited patiently for (Y/n) to usher her in.
“Penny, hi, glad you could make it!” (Y/n) grinned as they opened the door, guiding Penny in by the waist,
“Thank you for having me.” Penny flustered at the contact, despite her thick coat blocking the farmer’s touch. “What are we making today?”
“I thought some warm snickerdoodle cookies would be great on a cold day like this.” (Y/n) said.
“That does sound good.” Penny nodded as she hung up her coat and stepped out of her shoes. Then she followed (Y/n) to the kitchen and they got to baking.
Before long, the smell of cinnamon and sugary goodness permeated the space and the chill of the winter air outside was long forgotten. They were just getting ready to settle in with a movie when (Y/n) excused themself for a minute to go grab something from another room. It reminded Penny how small the farmhouse used to be before (Y/n) had commissioned Robin for a few projects.
Penny nervously eyed the bag she had left at the door. Was now a good time to bring out the bouquet? Penny had been silently agonizing over it all day. She had bought it from Pierre almost on impulse, she knew who she wanted to give it too, but what if (Y/n) saw her only as a friend and wasn’t looking for anything different? It was sure to make things weird between them.
“Sorry to keep you waiting.”
Penny jolted in her seat as (Y/n) reappeared, something held behind their back. She quickly assured (Y/n) that it was alright and motioned them over to the couch so they could start their movie.
“Wait, Penny, can I ask you something first?” The farmer asked, still standing in the stairway.
“Of course.” Penny nodded, concern seeping into her tone. “What is it? Is something wrong?”
“No! No, at least, I don’t think so. I just wanted to ask if you would want to... and you can always say no, you won’t hurt my feelings... okay, it might sting a little but I’ll get over it—“
“(Y/n), what is it?” Penny asked, standing up and walking over to the fumbling farmer. She had never seen them look so shaken.
The farmer seemed at a loss. Opening and closing their mouth until finally they just brought their hand out from behind their back and presented Penny with a bouquet of their own. The teacher gasped, her hands flying up to her mouth in elation and surprise.
Without saying anything Penny bounded over to the front door and opened her bag, producing her own bouquet and delighting (Y/n) to no end as she wrapped the farmer in a tight hug.
After hours of cuddling on the couch and half paying attention to their movie, Penny decided she had to get home, despite (Y/n)‘s offers to have her stay over. She needed to make sure her mom didn’t overdo it at the saloon.
A quick glance around the bar and she noted that Pam wasn’t there. She gave Gus a polite wave before heading home. Upon arriving, she found her mother already settling into the pullout for the night and their eyes met. Pam’s eyes drifted down to the bouquet secured in Penny’s arms and grunted.
“It’s about time.” Pam grumbled before turning over on the noisy mattress.
Penny could only smile at her mother’s gruffness before retiring to her room to quietly continue celebrating in her own space.
***
By the fall of the third year since (Y/n) had moved into town, the pair became a well established couple and it was just common knowledge to suspect if one was out and about, the other couldn’t be too far off since they were practically joined at the hip.
Some of the townies had expressed worry that the farmer was shrinking off too much of their duties but in reality, the farm was a well oiled machine now and required little maintenance. The farmer had worked themself to the point of passing out on their farmhouse floor on occasion to get to this point. Money was hardly an issue anymore for the farmer who, quite literally, built their legacy on five hundred gold and a handful of parsnip seeds.
“There you are,” Penny kissed (Y/n)’s cheek chastely as they plopped down next to her under her favorite tree, “where have you been?”
“Just needed to take care of something quick.” They said, leaning their head against Penny’s shoulder.
“And what would that be?”
“I was talking to Robin. She had a request up.”
“And what did she want?”
“You are full of questions today, sweetheart.” The farmer laughed.
“And you aren’t being as forthcoming with information as usual. Usually, I wouldn’t even have to ask before you tell me all about your adventures, big or small.” Penny pointed out, “I do believe you might be hiding something.”
“No way!” The farmer scoffed before slouching a bit more because of the look Penny gave them, “Okay, maybe I am hiding something, but it’s a surprise. Give it a few days.”
“Just what might you be up to, hm?” Penny smiled, cupping (Y/n)’s cheek.
“You’re a teacher,” (Y/n) laughed again, “you should know what surprise means.”
Penny sighed before laughing along with her partner. Then the couple went in about their day and before long, the thought of (Y/n)’s surprise left her mind and she had forgotten all about it by the time Jas and Vincent’s lessons were over for the day.
A couple days later, (Y/n) had invited Penny and Pam over for lunch. It wasn’t an unusual occurrence. One of the things Penny appreciated most about (Y/n) was their willingness to reach out to Pam and build a good relationship with her as well. However, what made this trip particularly extraordinary was what waited for them where their old, rundown trailer used to be.
“Oh, Yoba...” Pam breathed, a hand placed heavily over her heart as she stared up at the grand looking house.
“Robin, what is this?” Penny asked, nearly as breathless as her mother and just as overwhelmed.
“I got commissioned for a community upgrade,” the carpenter smiled, “I hope you guys like it!”
“This is too much... how can we— who commissioned this?” Penny asked, running her fingers through her bangs.
“Anonymous donor,” Robin winked before making her way back up to the mountains, “enjoy the new house ladies.”
Penny hugged her mother while she cried and together they entered their new home, unsure how they could ever thank the donor enough. It didn’t take long for the mother daughter duo to figure out the identity of the commissioner. After all, there were only so many people who could pull off such a project and have the funds necessary to complete it.
“I’m going back to (Y/n)’s!” Penny called out. It felt weird having to actually throw her voice enough for her mother to hear her across their new house.
Pam managed a wave, still a bit overwhelmed by the vast space surrounding her.
Penny practically ran to the farm, the seashell pendant her father had gifted to her mother so long ago grasped tightly in her hand. Breathing heavily, she knocked on the door and waited for the farmer to appear.
“Hey Penny, did you forget a book or something? It must be good for you to run all the way over here for it.” They laughed, “come in, do you need some water—“
“I love you,” Penny declared, leaping into (Y/n)’s arms, “I can’t believe you did that for us.”
“Did what?” (Y/n) asked, looking a bit coy.
“You built my mom a house you wonderful busy body.” Penny said, smacking their shoulder.
“What? Did Robin tell? I asked her to keep it a secret.” (Y/n) pouted.
“(Y/n), it wouldn’t take a genius to figure out that you were behind that project,” Penny sighed, “I don’t know how to thank you.”
“You don’t need to thank me for anything. I was happy to help get the ball rolling. I love you guys and you do so much for Jas and Vincent, you deserve it. Now,” (Y/n) shifted a bit uncomfortably, “what exactly is digging into my back right now?”
“Oh!” Penny pulled back a bit, but kept the pendant out of (Y/n)’s sight. “I’ve only dreamed of doing this until I met you, it’s never felt more real, tangible. Oh my, this is nerve wracking.” Penny blushed.
“Take your time dear, breathe.” (Y/n) regarded Penny with soft eyes, rubbing her back comfortingly.
“(Y/n),” Penny spoke after a moment of collecting herself, “will you marry me?”
Penny presented the pendant, her eyes struggling to look at the farmer directly, but when the farmer pulled her back into another tight embrace she melted into their arms like warm butter.
“Yes, I love you! Yes.” The farmer cheered, their voice muffled by Penny’s shoulder. The vibrations, and words that created them, made Penny giggle with delight.
They stumbled into the farmhouse to celebrate their engagement, basking in each other’s company.
“I almost feel bad.” Penny suddenly stated, curled up in (Y/n)’s arms.
“Hm? What for, sweetheart?” (Y/n) asked as they ran their fingers through Penny’s hair.
“Mom will be in that big house all by herself. I’ll still see her everyday though, it’s not like I’m moving to Zuzu City... the idea of not living with her after all this time just feels odd.”
“I can understand that. It’ll take some getting used to. Just think of how nice it’ll be though, when somewhere down the line, we send our kids to grandma’s house for visits.”
“That does sound really nice. I’m really looking forward to starting a family with you.”
“Me too.” (Y/n) said. Then they leaned in to kiss Penny’s nose with great care and affection.
***
“Then a couple days later, we were married in front of the whole town.” (Y/n) finished softly, looking fondly over at Penny.
“That’s a nice story,” the eldest child yawned, “I wanna stay at grandma’s house again soon.”
“Of course, sweetie. We’ll work something out soon.” Penny promised whilst adjusting the fast asleep younger sibling in her lap, “now, it’s time to go to bed.”
“Alright,” The older child sighed before yawning again. “Carry me.”
(Y/n) released an amused exhale before standing and hoisting their child into their arms. Penny followed suit with the other, tucking them into their beds and kissing them goodnight.
Together, (Y/n) and Penny retired to their own room, falling into bed with tired groans.
“Those kids can be handful sometimes.” (Y/n) said, smiling all the while.
“Yes, and I wouldn’t want it any other way,” Penny rolled over to peck the farmer on the lips, “love you, sleep well.”
“I love you too, sweet dreams. I can’t wait to do this all again tomorrow.”
“Neither can I.”
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doubledgesword-2 · 3 years
Text
Soulmate Au Part 3
Part 1 and Part 2 are here! Requests for the Adult trio are open!
WARNING DUB-CON AND EXPLICIT SMUT +18 Please do not te upload somewhere else!!
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You started to suspect something was wrong with you when you walked deep into the forest, looking to harvest the crops. Your mind screamed at you to keep walking. Walk away from this place and leave them behind. The minute your feet took one step forward, the most intense migraine struck you. You tried to walk forwards and work through the pain, but it became too debilitating to the point your legs gave under you, and your body crumbled to the ground.
Your eyes clenched close, and your body tucked in into a fetal position, your hands clutching your shirt in hopes it would lessen the pain. Suddenly, you heard a rustle behind you, but couldn't really be bothered to turn and look at the disturbance.
"Oh, here you are. I was worried something might have happened" Chrollo came from behind a tree, his coat gracefully moving as he came to stand before your crippled form.
He sat down beside you taking your body into his lap. His hands stroke your hair as tears came down from your eyes.
"(Y/N), this is such a nice and peaceful place you've built" his voice was so calm, and his hands went through your locks with such comfort that you were calming down for a second.
He took a deep breath, eyes close with a smile as if truly enjoying the quiet and the light breeze blowing through. Chrollo leaned down close to you, your body shaking in pain still. His hands petted away a couple of strands of your hair as his lips came close to your ear.
"You weren't thinking of leaving now, were you?"
The tone of his voice made the question feel like a gentle threat. But a threat nonetheless. He kissed your temple and kept running his hands through your hair, breathing in once more, smiling at the sunbeams coming through the leaves and shining down on the two of you.
"I am delighted you have decided to stay with us. It would have broken all our hearts to know you weren't happy here" he looked down at your form, no longer distressed but still slightly shaking and sniffling.
"You are happy here, are you not?"
You nodded weakly in response, and he beamed at you. He picked you up gently, bridal style, while his hand carried the woven basket underneath you.
"Let's go, I'll prepare dinner tonight. Just the two of us, little treasure. All is well".
Chrollo brought you all the way to the cottage, filling the air with casual banter along the way. His excitement grew whenever the prospect of a new book came into the conversation.
"It's very eloquent poetry. I am sure it'll sound melodic coming from your lips".
Chrollo walked into the cottage with you still in his arms. The other two were nowhere to be seen, and it confirmed what he had said: you two were truly alone. Chrollo settled you on the sofa, your fluffy cat meowing around his legs. He crouched to pet the cat's head.
"What are you craving today, love?" Your eyes were close, dried tear streaks under them, but you opened them to see him smiling warmly at you while still petting your cat.
"Chef's choice," you replied simply, trying a smile of your own, but it came out more like a grimace.
"Mmm, hard choice, I'll surprise you then" he gave your forehead a kiss and moved away from your vision line.
After leaving you on the sofa, Chrollo had draped his coat over the chair, washed his hands, and got everything ready for the food. Your eyes were droopy, body tired after your horrific headache, so you drifted off into a nice comfy nap.
A fantastic smell wafted around the house, waking you up to find you have drooled on the decorative pillow. Chrollo was in front of you, smiling at your cute and sleepy face.
You shot up, looking around as if you weren't in your house, and you didn't know who was in front of you. Then it all came back, the realization hit you, and you wiped the drool with the back of your hand. Chrollo chuckled at you and got up to kiss the top of your head, lingering for a second, hugging you to him.
“Dinner is ready, come on love."
A bit disoriented and groggy, you got up and went to the table. Everything was set up with candles surrounding the dinner table and the kitchen. A single rose in a vase was in the middle of the table, the same vase that you had changed the flowers that fateful day they had found you. Chrollo was waiting beside the chair he had pulled out for you. He had a proud smile as you went to sit at the chair, and he gently pushed you in. The whole thing was adorable, and it would have been romantic if you weren't wary of the man. He sat down as well and was looking at you with loving eyes. You pretended he wasn't fixed on you as you took the first bite out of your food.
"I hope it's to your liking. I had never made this one before" he had ended up making your favorite dish, and you were happy to have it; the food was truly delicious.
The fact that he knew your favorite dish shouldn't give you the feeling of dread, and yet it did. You knew the trio had most undoubtedly memorized everything about you, no matter how small the detail was. Still, you couldn't wrap your head around the idea.
"It's delicious, thank you" you forced a smile at him, and he chuckled under his breath, looking down at his own plate.
"You don't have to pretend with me (Y/N). I'm not Hisoka or Illumi; I'm a simple thief but a gentleman at heart. I know you're uncomfortable, and this situation is new to you. I don't blame you".
You looked down to your plate, feeling a bit embarrassed that he noticed your inner turmoil. His words should have offered comfort, but you couldn't feel it or find any. Instead, they further pushed down the heavy stone in your stomach.
"I-I don't know how to feel, still. I'm adjusting, trying to at least" you took another bite and gave him a close-lipped smile as you chewed the food.
Chrollo's dark eyes pierced yours; he wasn't buying it.
"Then perhaps we haven't fully helped you experience love in this relationship," he gave you a closed eye smile and took a mouthful of the food.
You felt shivers run up your spine, body tingling in fear and dread as if you were at the dropping point of a big coaster ride. Your heart beat faster to the point where you started hearing it in your ears.
The door seemed like an excellent option right now.
Your hands went under the table to grip the edge of the chair as you tried to ground yourself back into the moment. 'He didn't say anything. He just made a suggestion with a smile', you told yourself, looking for the logic in his words, and calming yourself. But it wasn't working, you had felt it. Felt the tiniest flare of his aura reach out to you in silent warning. Nothing big but just enough to put you back into place. There were so many meanings behind that little jesting phrase that it made you anxious.
"Are you alright? You seem a little pale" he placed his utensil down, getting out of the chair and crouching near you.
His cold hand reached to your cheek, caressing you and making you look down at him.
"Perhaps some air will do you good," he grabbed both your hands in his and pulled you up and out of the chair.
You were in a slight daze watching him as he placed a coat around you and dressed in his own. Chrollo exited the cottage with you around his arm. The two of you looked like a loving couple taking a stroll in the middle of winter.
As you walked into the forest, passing by trees and bushes taking in the sights under the moonlight, Chrollo pulled a book from inside his coat and handed it to you. You took it. Still, a bit shook but figured some reading might do you good.
"I borrowed it," the way he said borrow told you he meant stole "figured you might like it" he side-eyed you as your doe-like eyes looked up to him in question.
You looked down at the cover seeing it was a very elusive limited edition copy of one of your favorite authors. Your heart skipped a beat, and for once in a long while, you were pleasantly surprised and excited. Your lips pulled into an unconscious smile, and by the time you had noticed you were smiling and tried to hide it with a serious look, Chrollo had already smiled and locked the sight in his mind. You looked precious.
"Why don't you read it out loud. I'm sure it's a good night for some reading if you don't mind?" His suave and smooth voice questioned, but you knew better than to resist him.
So you nodded, muttering a thank you. He nodded back, closing his eyes briefly and then looking back at you with expectation. You opened the first page and started to read the prologue as the two of you walked. Your lips never stuttering a word as you got lost in the story, pulled into it to the point were you forgot his eyes on you.
Chrollo was looking around the trees, admiring the majestic scenery as your words filled the nightly air. He knew your tone was hesitant and scared. You hated reading out loud and especially to him. You'd told him it was something about the sound of your voice in your ears. But he loved it. The way you pronounced or mispronounced words made his heart flutter. How your tone changed when you got lost in the narrative and started muttering small comments for the characters under your breath. Your little mannerisms made you adorable in his eyes, and the more he looked at you, the more he wanted.
He wasn't satisfied.
At the beginning of his relationship with Hisoka, there were some bumps he had to overcome when it came to the clown. But once he did, he could say he came to love the jester. When Illumi came into the picture as his second soulmate, he was a bit surprised. He, at some point, even doubted the assassin could actually be capable of emoting or loving. But one night, when they were all together tucked away in a vacation home right in front of the beach, he realized something about themselves.
He was sitting on a comfy armchair sofa in the balcony, book in hand, a glass of wine resting on its wooden arm. The sun was setting as cliche as it may sound, but his eyes rested on the page's words. When suddenly, he felt a head fall on his lap.
Assuming it was Hisoka, he didn't even glance down in hopes of secretly riling him up. Though curiosity got the better of him, so his eyes did glance down, and he was surprised. On his lap, long black hair fanned across it, was Illumi with his eyes close and a peaceful expression on his face.
Chrollo's heart fluttered.
He felt his cheeks heat up as he stole glances of the assassin. He almost closed the book, but he was afraid the sound would shake the scene and make the Illumi leave. So he kept pretending to read, not being able to fully concentrate with the comforting weight of Illumi on his lap.
They bonded after that, growing closer together. Hisoka was proud of them. The troupe had always been his family but getting to feel this kind of love was different.
That's when he realized soulmates were meant to be together for a reason. So when your name appeared on their skin out of nowhere, he knew they had to find you. You were not being loved as you should. That's why he understands your apprehension and your wariness of them. They're not exactly good in lawful standards, and their moral compasses might be slightly broken. But if there's one thing they know for sure, loving you is one of their main goals.
You just need to see it.
"As soon-"your reading got interrupted by a pair of lips on yours.
Chrollo's hands grabbed both sides of your face and brought you close for a fevered kiss. The book fell out of your hands as they came to rest on his arms.
"I couldn't resist," he mumbled out of breath against your lips. You, on the other hand, were freaking out a bit.
The fact that you were in the middle of a clearing in the forest was making you anxious. Chrollo dived in again, looking for your lips, but you turned your face away bashfully. You looked down to the grass seeing the book and bending down to pick it up as if he hadn't just kissed away your breath.
He was a bit hurt, but he had to remember that you weren't like them. You needed a little more coaxing to come out of your shell. He would help.
You straightened, inspecting the book for any creases or tears in the pages. You dusted away some dirt, closing the book delicately and looking up at Chrollo.
You frowned at the sight. Not that it wasn't a pleasant one, he was handsome and pretty, but you weren't buying it. At some point, you were pretty sure you were in soulmate denial.
"What are you doing?" You asked meekly, seeing as he had shaken away his coat and was shirtless at the moment.
Your fight or flight sense was glaring up, and you hugged the book to your stomach. Chollo placed his coat in the grass, open as if it was a picnic blanket. He turned to eye you, his eyes no longer cold.
"I know you're afraid, but there's nothing to be afraid of. Let me show you just how much I love you," that was your cue.
He took a step, and you mirrored him taking one back. This made him slightly tilt his head to the side, the look playfully menacing. Chrollo took another step and your nen flared up in warning, this time stronger than the last time you had tried this. He looked proud instead of intimidated, and it angered you.
The loving way he looked at your nen didn't help your case, and so you attacked. Your nen moved fast, striking the spot where he was. But he was fast, as quick as Hisoka, and that was a disadvantage to you.
Chrollo had suddenly disappeared and left you in the middle of the clearing. You leaned down to quickly put the book out of harm's way and then stood in attention. The moon shone brightly on you, giving your dangerous look and angelic glow. He could've groaned and moaned out loud just like Hisoka would've done, but he bit his lip instead, looking at you through the foliage.
Your ears were strained, searching for any noise as little as it may be. But there was no noise when he came, fast and swift bringing you down. The two of you rolled around on the grass, he chuckled as you winded up, straddling him. Your face scrunched up in concentration. His hand lifted to your cheek, caressing it, which made you flinch for a second. Chrollo then flipped the two of you, causing you to shriek at the suddenness. He pinned down your wrists, bringing them beside your head. Your wide-eyed looked at him startled, yet something was growing in your stomach's pit.
"You're getting better. Illumi should be proud," he leaned down, bringing his lips close to your ear. "Your nen is worth stealing, I wouldn't mind, if it meant keeping you as well" he bit your earlobe, making you bite your lips.
You tried to wriggle your wrists out of his hold, but his hands tightened around them. Chrollo started kissing your neck, nibbling and sucking his way down your collarbone. Still, you kept muffling your noises, biting your lip, and holding your tongue.
He wouldn't have it. Chrollo bit down in between your neck and shoulder, making you moan loudly.
"That's more like it," he chuckled against the spot soothing it with a lick and kiss, "Do you think I could steal some more noises from your lips?" He asked, bringing his lips close to yours.
"Would you let me?" You could feel his breath on your lips as he talked.
Chrollo kissed you hard, tongue poking your entrance and biting your lower lip so you wouldn't deny him. He sucked on your tongue, relishing in your futile attempts to keep quiet. His hips started grinding slowly into yours, pressing down his hard-on on your clothed spot. He was only wearing his pants, back and chest bared under the moonlight and shining with a thin layer of sweat. He separated for some air, leaving you a bit dazed and fuzzy. His hands coming down to your clothes gripping your shirt and tugging at it. That jerked you up from your state, making you gasp, your hands coming to his own grabbing them. You tried to pull them away from you, but he took both of your wrists in one of his hands and pinned them hard on the ground.
You groaned at the slight pain, and he took the opportunity of your raised arms to slide the shirt up and jumble it around your hands in makeshift bounds. He smiled down at your bra and the way your brows scrunched up in struggle. Your fight was strong, but he was stronger.
Chrollo leaned down to your chest, kissing the curve of your breast pressed on the bra. He bit down on the mound, making you groan.
"You're so soft, so beautiful," he whispered to your chest as his hand slipped the breast out of the bra. He massages the nipple, head dipping, and licking the other to attention. You started squirming under him, bringing your tied hands to stop him but ended up hugging his head closer to your chest, a moaning mess.
A fire was rising in between your legs, and you felt the electricity go down your spine.
'What were they doing to you?!' You screamed in your mind trying to fight the feeling.
Chrollo's hand left your mound, his mouth kept sucking on the other, as he sneaked down to your waistline. You had been wearing a comfortable attire since it was a bit hot, and you were tending to the crops today before your accident. He easily slipped down and into your panties. His calloused and experienced hands didn't waste any time and felt your slit. He smirked when he found you wet, but not enough for him. Chrollo gathered some slick and gently rubbed on your hooded pearl. You jerked under him, muffling a moan by biting your lip. His lips left your peak, glistening and wet under the dim moonlight. He went to the crook of your neck, inhaling your scent, and planting open-mouthed kisses as his other hand maintained a steady rhythm on your nub. He didn't change the speed, going in gentle circles on your bundle of nerves.
You were getting desperate, feeling the pleasure rising in you, and pushing shame to the back of your mind. Your hips bucked unconsciously, and he tutted you like a child, smiling in victory against your neck with closed eyes.
"Tch, tch, tch, not yet, I think you deserve some punishment for being so stubborn with me" he bit your earlobe, making you whine in response.
Your body struggled against him, but he let his weight drop on you, making you stay still. Chrollo's hand then went quicker and quicker, driving you deep into pleasure but not all the way. You whined again, trying to move away from his hand, but he went faster. Suddenly you felt the ice-cold rush from the tip of your toes to your core, pleasure flooding your system like a wave. Your body shook under his, toes curling, and you let out a moan closing your eyes at all the sensations.
Chrollo groaned with you, his pants too tight for comfort. He grinned against you softly and sat up, still straddling you. In your high, you didn't felt as he pulled the rest of your clothes down and his arousal out, the tip an angry red as he stroke it, shuddering under the feeling. He then pushed into you, making you gasp and open your eyes wide to the see him. His eyes closed, and he bit his lip briefly. Then his dark eyes opened slowly, looking down at you in adoration. His mouth was slightly opened, breathing heavily at the feeling of your warmth engulfing him. Hair was falling sideways and forwards, almost covering the cross on his forehead. The light glowing behind him gave him a surreal look and feel.
It was euphoric.
You moaned, and he started moving slowly, leaning over you to capture your lips as he sped up. His hands were beside your head, supporting his body as he rocked with you. He rested on his forearms, bringing himself closer to you as he changed speed and slowly rolled his hips, making you feel everything.
"I love you so much," he whispered into your cheek, kissing it afterward.
Chrollo groaned lowly when he bumped into a special spot that made you clench hard around him. You moaned.
"Found it," he chuckled low, speeding up and hitting the same spot over and over.
Your hips buckled, meeting his as he sat up. He gave you a half-lidded look, smiling at you. His hands came to rest on your hips, pressing them down as he rammed inside you. He couldn't take how good you felt, your same walls gripping him and becoming him deeper. He complied, going faster and deeper, making you moan and whine. Chrollo's hand sneaked to your hooded pearl, rubbing it at matching speed with his thrusts.
Your body jerked, heat, and cold consuming you at equal measure. Your body glistened with sweat under the moonlight, making you glow and shine like a jewel worth stealing. Chrollo bit his lip at the picture, wishing he could just have it to look at it all the time. Instead, he committed it to memory, his hand rubbing your nub furiously.
Suddenly your body arched beautifully, your breasts offered to him as you came with a shriek. Pleasure flooded you, making you twitch and shake. He joined you with a groan, head thrown back as his body arched as well, driving his length deep inside you, releasing all of himself into you. Your walls massage him as he thrusts slowly.
The two of you panted heavily.
Chrollo's hands were beside your head, supporting his body as he caught his breath. He looked down at you, your skin looking perfect under the lighting, your lips puffy and slightly opened as your naked chest heaved, making your breasts move up and down. You looked gorgeous, and he couldn't ask for more. He was satisfied, and a sense of fullness filled him at the moment.
He pulled out, making your face scrunch up in pain at the slight discomfort of the tenderness. Tucking himself back in his pants, he zipped them up and laid down beside you. He undid the mess around your wrists, and you pulled them down beside your body, resting the aching muscles. His head was supported on his hand as he laid on his side, looking at you in love. Your eyes were closed, and you seemed to be calm, almost sleeping.
His fingers came to lay on your stomach. The ginger touch made you jump slightly at the suddenness, but otherwise, your eyes remained closed. They moved around your form, tracing your marks, your waves, the way your mounds curved into your chest, your collarbone, and finally, they came to rest on your neck. He caresses it with the back of his hand, coming up to your cheek and staying there.
You opened your eyes slightly, looking at him through a tired glaze. Chrollo smiles warmly, coming close to peck your lips. He pulled the coat around your form, covering you from the night's chill, and gathered you in his arms.
Chrollo stopped to pick up the book you had neatly placed away from the mess and chaos. Smirking at your thoughtfulness. He gave you the book or at least propped it on your stomach as your sleepy form was losing the fight. He carried you all the way back to the cottage, where he placed you on the bed. You turned to the side, and he petted your hair, kissing your head. He came back to put the leftover food away and the dishes in the sink, making sure to turn off the candles. Your cat was eagerly following him like he had treats in his pockets.
Chrollo went back to the room, taking off the rest of his clothes and stripping you of this coat. He draped it on your vanity, the rest of the clothes scattered in a corner of the room. Your fluffy black cat went to them, kneading the fabric and then laying on top.
Chrollo pulled the covers back and brought you close to him, pulling the two of you under the sheets. He snuggled closer to you, the two of you naked as the day you were born. He pressed a kiss to the back of your ear, nuzzling your neck afterward and then resting on top of your head.
"Sleep well, my love," mutters, and you reply with your own muffled and unintelligible goodnight. He smiled, closing his eyes in bliss.
He couldn't wait for the morning to do it all over again.
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graniairish · 3 years
Text
Walking on Eggshells – Part 2
Hello my dears. I just couldn't resist and had to write a second part. (maybe there will also be a part 3)
Pairing: Daryl x female! Reader
Words: 5159
Warnings: language, sexual content, NSFW, 18+ (my first attempt to write smut in English - hope it didn't get too bad)
Part one
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"Um ... what ..."
You stood in the door of your room, confused. Hershel had finally released you into "home care" after almost a week of continuous surveillance in the infirmary. In your opinion, the older man was exaggerating a little. You were fine, you had no dizziness, and the headache was gone. But that did not stop Hershel from telling you to take it easy anyway.
Your beloved work in the vegetable fields had to wait for the time being.
Somewhat reluctantly, you had agreed to everything, only to finally be able to go back to your own four walls. You wanted to sleep in your own bed again, even if it was just a simple Prison bed in the former director's office. But still, it was your home.
But you did not expect what you found there now.
As if rooted to the ground, you stood in the middle of the room and looked around with big eyes in disbelief.
Your room, your little private realm, should actually be here. But the room in front of you was no longer your room. Your things were still there, but they were not the only ones that filled the shelves on the walls.
The most noticeable change, however, was your bed. It was still in the far corner of the room, but it looked absolutely strange. Because right next to it there was now a second, and the way the sheet was stretched over it made it look like a double bed.
"I thought Hershel wouldn't release ya until tonight," you heard Daryl's deep voice behind you.
Still slightly confused, you turned to the archer. He stood uncertain in the doorway, Crossbow slung over his shoulder, hands clasped on the strap. His blue eyes were fixed on you as he chewed the inside of his cheek - his nervous tic.
And how this man was nervous right now, and it was not just his ears that betrayed him - which had just turned deep red.
Daryl did not expect to find you here now. He actually wanted to talk to you about it first and not just put you in front of a fait accompli. Though, somehow, he would have done it one way or another.
He was afraid he had done something wrong, crossed a line, or something like that.
"I couldn't take it there any longer."
Only now did you notice that his hair was wet and still dripping. Could it be that he had showered?
Daryl nudged his nose up in a nod.
“I know we didn't talk about it,” he began uncertainly, “but Hershel said it would be better if someone took care of ya. And since there is no chance that ya will move back into the cell block, I thought that would be a good solution."
“That's right,” you had to smile, “I'm not going back there so quickly anymore. I like my privacy."
"Well, if it bothers you ... that I ... then ..."
"No no, I don't mind" you might answer a little too quickly, "I ... I was just ... surprised."
The man across from you felt instantly relieved. You, the woman he loved, wanted to live with him. He could hardly believe his luck.
Daryl took off his Crossbow and leaned it against the wall by the door before walking slowly towards you, his eyes full of love.
“Y/N/N we wasted so much time. I don't want to waste another minute. We don't know how much time we have left."
Daryl lovingly cupped your chin with two fingers while he gently touched your lips with his.
You could not help but melt into his touch. That you could do this now was still a miracle to you, and you would enjoy every single second of it to the full.
"But I sleep on the right side," you finally said with mischief in your eyes when your lips had separated.
"Forget it", Daryl snorted and went to the bed, "I'm sleepin’ between the door and ya."
You rolled your eyes with a smile. Always the protector.
"Don't think I didn't see that."
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A few weeks had passed since the incident during your run. You are now working side by side with Rick in the vegetable fields again. The plants were blooming and developing fantastically - and they would be very good yielding.
After a long shower to wash dirt and sweat from your body, you made your way to the inner courtyard of the prison, which was used as a canteen during the warmer months of the year. Dinner had just started, and so all residents, regardless of whether they were old or new, huddled together to have their meal together.
When Daryl returned from his shift at the Guard Tower, he spotted you chatting with Carol who was just distributing the food. He liked how carefree you looked at that moment.
Without thinking about it, he walked over to you and greeted you with a kiss on the cheek before you had the chance to notice him.
"Yuck, don't do that," you giggled, "you're all sweaty."
"And hungry," he said with a grin.
Carol shook her head with a smile before filling two bowls and holding them out to you.
"Here take these, you lovebirds."
Taking the bowls Daryl nudged his nose up in a nod and went with you to the table where Glenn and Maggie were already sitting.
You had not noticed how your loving and familiar way of dealing with each other had been uncomfortable for some - or at least for one.
Michelle was sitting at a table with several other Woodbury residents and had been watching you with narrowed eyes. Green with envy, she got up at some point and went back to the cell block where she lived.
But Carol had noticed, and she would move heaven and earth to keep this woman from disrupting your relationship.
Little by little, Rick and the other members of your sworn family joined you to enjoy the meal together and to end the day.
"We should slowly start bringing our supplies up to date," Rick skillfully changed the subject.
That was his less than subtle way of reducing the conversation to necessities.
"Or in other words, time for a run," Daryl said in a nutshell.
“Tightly sealable preserving jars would be important. It will soon be harvest time and we have to preserve the fruit and vegetables. Thank God we have a lot more than we need right now."
That was the first thing that came to your mind. After all, it was important to have vitamins in winter too. Even if cooked fruit and vegetables were nowhere near as tasty as fresh ones. But in those times, you were grateful for everything. And in winter, fruit and vegetables were actually a luxury.
“We should also think about how to heat the buildings. The winter could last longer than we'd like”, Daryl expressed his concerns.
"If we had animals, pigs or goats, maybe even sheep, we would be better supplied with meat."
Hershel had always been a farmer, and you could only agree with the man with a smile.
"Or chickens," said Maggie with a dreamy look, "once again a real roast chicken, that would be something nice."
"Or turkey," you added.
"I just think you can't find something like that on the next street corner," said Glenn, who now leaned over the map that Rick had spread out in the middle of the table.
"Well, the weekly cattle market will probably be canceled."
Daryl's cynical response made you roll your eyes.
"If ya keep doin’ this, these things will eventually get stuck," he said in your direction with a raised index finger.
"That's what my grandmother always meant," you said with a shrug, "and nothing has happened so far."
“You both sound like an old married couple. Really disgusting”, Carl shook himself.
You and Daryl looked at each other questioningly for a moment before you slapped the boy lightly on the back of the head at the same time - he on the right and you on the left.
For about five seconds there was absolute silence at the table, until everyone started laughing uproariously as if on command - except for Carl, who was rubbing his head tightly.
“What that would prove,” Rick grinned as he wiped a tear from the corner of his eye, “but seriously now. Does anyone have any ideas?"
“I know there was a farm supply center in the south. From seeds to packaging material to combine harvesters, everything was there. The only question is whether that still stands."
Hershel leaned over the map and pointed to an area southeast of the Prison.
“That's a good hundred miles, and only if you drive on the main roads. It will be a run for several days on back roads."
Your stomach cramped painfully at Glenn's words. You knew that Daryl would go on the run. Unfortunately, since the incident, it had become very clear to you that there was no assurance that someone would come back from a run. And the thought that something might happen to Daryl made you uneasy.
“While we're there, we might as well stop by this huge warehouse complex 30 miles to the east. I think there are still some useful things there. "
Glenn glanced at the place on the map Maggie was pointing with her finger.
"Wasn't that an Amazon warehouse?"
"Yea, why are you asking?"
"Well, I think that this time it won’t work with overnight express."
At Glenn's stupid saying you had to smile, like everyone else. Though yours was more of a bitter smile. This run would certainly not be overnight.
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"Everythin’ okay? Ya are never that quiet."
It was getting late. The moon was shining through the windows of your shared room and you could hear the crickets outside. You were snuggled close to Daryl, your head on his shoulder, your legs intertwined. You stared in silence into the darkness of your room, which was only faintly illuminated by the moonlight.
Daryl gently stroked your back. Usually there was something incredibly calming about it, and it never took you long to fall asleep relaxed - but not today. The worries about what could go wrong with the run did not let you calm down that night.
In a few hours he would be gone with Maggie and Glenn, as well as a few others. The fear of losing him paralyzes your thoughts.
"Ya don’t sleep. I know that. I can hear ya thinkin’."
You did not answer, just took a deep breath - in and out again. What should you say?
> I'm afraid something will happen to you <
> I'm scared of losing you <
> Please don't go <
There was nothing to be said, just that nagging feeling was there. This fear that the man by your side could suddenly be snatched away from you.
Daryl put his arm around you and hugged you tight as he kissed the top of your head and let his lips linger there for a moment.
"We're a well-coordinated team," he finally began as he leaned his head against yours, "and it's not the first time we've done such a big tour."
It almost seemed as if Daryl had read your mind, yet all his confidence could not take away your worries.
"I promise I'll come back to ya."
"You can't promise that Daryl."
The archer released his hug and shifted his weight so that you were eventually half under him. Leaning on his left arm, he looked down at you, the contours of your face only faintly visible in the light of the darkness.
"I promise I will come back to ya Y/N. We both have our whole lives ahead of us, and I don't intend to miss a second of it."
"Nobody knows ..."
But you did not get any further, Daryl's lips were instantly on yours. At first the kiss was deep and full of longing, but after a while it became more and more hungry. Your fingers ran through his hair and played with them on the back of his neck while your tongues fought for dominance.
As Daryl's hands slowly moved down your ribs, your lips parted for a much-needed breath.
Right at the beginning of your relationship, you discussed that sex would not be an issue for you for the time being. After what had happened to Lori, Daryl simply could not and did not want to take the risk of pregnancy. Condoms were not to be found for a long time. And neither of you wanted to play Russian roulette - like Maggie and Glenn.
But there were other ways of showing how much you loved each other, how much you wanted each other - other ways of having fun together.
Daryl's right hand went down to your ass, which he gripped tightly as he pulled you close.
You moaned softly as you could feel him rubbing his growing erection on your most sensitive spot. Your arms wrapped around his neck as you pulled him closer to you. An approving growl left his mouth as he left hot kisses on your neck, making sure to suck the spot that caused your thighs to tighten around him.
You ran your trembling fingers through his hair, trying to hold onto the feeling of his lips against your skin.
The hand on your ass eventually moved down the back of your thigh - as he pulled it closer - which changed the angle of your pelvis significantly. The lustful moan that came out of your lips as you rubbed against him only made him harder against the layers of clothing.
God how good it felt for him when you took your pleasure into your own hands. But you did not get far, because Daryl's kisses slowly wandered further down. A pleasant shiver ran through you.
You knew exactly what he was up to and the anticipation made you almost impatient.
But he took his time, first freed you from your shirt and then devoted himself to your nipples with relish - first the right, then the left - until they were both hard and upright.
The longing feeling in your most private place became more and more unbearable and in an attempt to get some friction, you tried to rub yourself against his thigh.
Daryl only chuckled.
"Impatient, are we?"
Daryl's kissed down your stomach before leaning back. He was now kneeling between your legs. For a moment he soaked up the picture in front of him, burned it into his memory. How you laid in front of him, lower lip between your teeth, breathing heavily, your legs spread, the unmistakable traces of your arousal on your underwear.
A moan came from your lips as he finally ran his hands up the inside of your thighs. Without touching the place where you needed him most, he hooked his fingers into the waistband of your panties and freed you from this annoying piece of fabric with one flowing movement.
The sight the archer now saw made his cock twitch painfully.
It was almost like torture how slowly he ran his thumb through your folds and collected what already glistened there.
With faltering breath, you watched him as he slowly brought his hand to his mouth and licked his thumb clean with an animalistic growl.
You came almost instantly at the sight.
When he finally sank his middle finger into you, you threw your head back and closed your eyes in delight. He pumped his finger into you a few times before adding a second. He twisted and curled them in just the right way so that with each thrust he perfectly hit the spot inside you that made you squirm under him.
Your moaning grew louder as he closed his lips around your sensitive bundle of nerves and began to suck rhythmically. Your orgasm rolled closer and closer, and the knot in your stomach tightened until it was about to snap.
"Daryl - fuck - I ..."
"then let go - for me."
And that was exactly what you did. You came with his name on your lips, repeated like a prayer, and with each new wave Daryl took whatever you were willing to give him. You tasted like nothing else to him, and he could never get enough of you.
He slowly kissed his way back up to your neck while his fingers were still moving slowly inside you.
Your hands went into his hair and hungrily drawn his lips to yours. Just a moment later your tongues fought for dominance; you could taste yourself on his. Now your hands slowly made their way down to his crotch. He wanted to hold back. But he could not help himself, and grinded into your palm to find the relief he needed so damn bad.
Daryl's hips spasmed, thrusting forward a few times before he was groaning and shaking his head.
"No. Tonight is just about ya."
"But ..."
Before you could go on, his lips were back on yours in a demanding kiss.
" I wanna make ya feel so good today, that ya'll be happy to have a few days off."
And with that statement, his fingers left your hot core, only to re-enter with one more.
Your eyes rolled back when you felt him stretch you.
"Fuck," you hissed as you tried desperately to find hold while Daryl's fingers kept trusting into you.
As he felt the sweet pain of your nails scratching his back, his cock twitched painfully in his shorts.
The thought that you marked him, that you would let him run around with declarations of your love on his body for the next few days, almost drove him mad. He started rubbing his crotch against your thigh for some relief as he fluidly moved in and out of you, getting you closer and closer to your next release.
The knot inside you got tighter and tighter, and you tried desperately to keep it from snaping again. Your legs started to shake involuntarily, and you knew you would not be able to resist much longer. Your breath came in shorter intervals and your moans got higher and higher. It would not last long till you would be swept away by pure bliss.
When the wave finally hit you, it was an overwhelming feeling. Your inner walls clenching and unclenching around his fingers again and again as your orgasm swept you away like a tsunami.
It took you a few moments to come back from your high while Daryl's gentle movements of his fingers let your orgasm slowly fade out.
"Okay", you began with a trembling voice as he slowly left your inner core, "that was something else."
Daryl’s head rested on the crook of your neck as you slowly recovered your breath, but you could still feel him chuckled lightly.
Slowly you stroked his hair and patted his neck. When he shifted his position slightly so that he did not crush you any further, you noticed that his shorts were suspiciously stuck to you.
Apparently, he had enjoyed this whole interaction too.
"I love you," you whispered before leaving a kiss on his sweaty forehead.
"Love ya more."
------------------------------------
You patiently worked your way through the corn plants with the rake. The work was strenuous because the plants were close together - after all, you needed the greatest possible yield in a small area - and the relentless Georgian sun burned down on you.
Your hair stuck to you and the sweat kept dripping from the brim of your straw hat. Your arms ached, and despite the leather gloves you wore, you had blisters on your hands where they were tightly gripping the wooden handle of your gardening tool.
But despite everything, you kept working. You had to work through the soil so that the weeds had less chance to dispute the valuable nutrients from the crops.
This large field that you had laid out in the style of the "three sisters" was your whole pride. Corn, beans and pumpkins, the holy trinity of this bed, were perfectly coordinated. The Native Americans had already cultivated these three plants in this way.
And what worked for them could work for you too.
You have been toiling for hours. Your clothes were soaked in sweat and your back ached. Nevertheless, you continue to work, moving slowly but steadily through the beds.
"Here," you heard Rick say behind you at some point.
With great effort you straightened up and massaged your back. You felt every single vertebra as it slowly popped back into its original position. An exhausted moan could be heard as you finally turned to the man behind you.
Rick just stood there, bottle of water in hand, his eyes fixed on the fields.
You gratefully took the bottle from him and took a few sips of the refreshing liquid. Especially with such sweaty work in the blazing sun, it was incredibly important to drink enough if you did not want to suffer sunstroke.
And unfortunately, you were predestined to forget it sometimes. But Rick paid attention. You were family, and family looked after each other.
“Looks really good. If the plants continue to grow like this, we will be able to bring in quite a good yield. You are really a talented little farmer."
You looked at him in surprise with raised eyebrows.
"I'm not sure right now whether I should thank you or whether you insulted me."
“Believe me Y/N”, Rick laughed and put his hand on your shoulder, “that was meant as a compliment. An honest compliment. If we didn't have you, we almost certainly wouldn't even be able to harvest half as much. You really have a knack for it."
“Well, everyone does what they can. And I can do that."
You lowered your gaze. You felt uncomfortable when someone complimented you, so you tried to belittle it.
"No", Rick smiled at you friendly, "some do more than others."
After a long day of work and a long - but cold - shower, you sat down with Carol for dinner. You missed your family members. You missed Daryl.
The presence of the older woman had been a comfort to you in the last few days. This run had been going on for five days now, and it was impossible to tell when they would be back.
The feeling you felt in the pit of your stomach was almost the same as when Daryl had disappeared into the forest with Merle. Back then you thought you would never see him again.
But it was different now. Now you had hope that you would see him again.
Maybe.
“It's only been five days Y/N/N. It's too early to worry,” Carol tried to cheer you up.
"I'm not worried," you said stubbornly while you continued to stare at your now cold food.
"Yes of course. That's exactly why you've been poking around in your meal for ten minutes. You haven't even taken a bite."
You looked tiredly at the woman across from you.
“Eat, you worked hard. And tomorrow you will work as hard again as I know you. You need the calories. And believe me, you'd rather eat it voluntarily than have me cram it into you."
Carol had used her best mother voice. Even if Carol was not many years older than you, this woman had somehow become a mother's substitute for you.
After a few moments you finally began to empty your bowl slowly.
Getting around the days was easy. There was always enough work in the gardens and in the fields, you were busy and did not have much time to think.
In the nights it was different. They were bad.
The bed was way too big for you alone, and you lacked the warmth of Daryl's body.
Even on the hot nights of Georgia, you always fell asleep snuggled together. Ever since you had spent your first night like this, you knew that you could never do it again without it.
Now you were alone. Yet again. Daryl was still on this fucking run, and the solitude in those four walls that you had always enjoyed before, now seemed overwhelming to you.
What is he doing right now? Was he okay? Was he thinking of you, too?
With these wistful thoughts, you finally drifted into a dreamless sleep.
-----------------------------------------------
"If they are not back by tomorrow, we will send a search party out," announced Rick over breakfast.
You made no reply as you continued to choke down your small portion of porridge, bite by bite. You were not really hungry, but Carol's stern look had kept you from skipping breakfast.
“I'm sure they are fine. They will definitely be back here soon, "said Hershel soothingly," they are all experienced with such actions. They are sure to be fine."
Yes, they were all experienced, knew how to behave and how to protect themselves, but that nagging feeling persisted in you.
You had spent the whole morning working in the fields again, laboriously dragging buckets of water to provide the crops with enough moisture. If it did not rain soon, this would probably be your main occupation for the next few days and weeks.
You had two canisters tied to the outer end of a thick wooden stick. So, you could carry the heavy burden on your shoulders and not in your aching hands.
As you were trudging up the hill again with a full load of water, Rick was leaning against the base of the central guard tower, smiling, and staring into the distance.
"Looks as if we could save ourselves the search."
These words made your body tingly and you immediately turned to face the gates. You could not prevent an unspeakably bright smile from spreading on your face.
"Oh my god," you whispered when you saw the column of cars approaching the prison.
An unmistakable chopper at the head of the convoy.
An army of butterflies exploded in your stomach when you saw Daryl. He was back. He really came back to you.
When he finally brought his bike to a stop and casually dismounted it, you couldn't hold back any longer. Without further hesitation, you dropped the water canisters, which hit the floor with a thud, and immediately spread their moist contents over the floor.
You ran quickly towards Daryl. But even before you had covered half the distance, he was already coming towards you - a radiant smile on his lips.
When you finally met, you immediately put your arms around each other in a tight hug. Your head rested on his chest while he laid his head lovingly on top of yours.
Cuddled so tightly you could hear how fast his heart was beating, and an indescribable feeling of happiness flooded your body. Daryl was back - back by your side.
"Did you miss me," he finally began, and you could hear him grinning right away.
“No,” you answered, “not at all. Not one bit."
“Felt the same way."
With these words, his strong arms tightened around you even more, as if he were trying to melt into you.
So absorbed in your reunion, it took some time until you noticed that Rick and Carol were already discussing the successful run with the rest of the group.
"We got almost everything," you heard Glenn say when you had finally separated from each other and now went to the cars where everyone else was standing - your little fingers still hooked together.
"We found hundreds of canning jars and even seeds," added Sasha.
"Wheat, oat and a lot more." Maggie pointed to the back of the overcrowded pickup truck.
"And we also solved the problem with the heating," said Daryl mysteriously.
This run was really a complete success. But the biggest surprise was yet to come.
> C O C K A D O O D L E D O O <
Suddenly the gushing and loud greeting was silent. Inquiring eyes met knowing faces.
You and Rick looked at each other as to ask if you really had heard this now.
> C O C K A D O O D L E D O O <
"What the hell is that", Rick wanted to know.
"What did it sound like?"
Daryl grinned mischievously and leaned casually against his bike; arms crossed over his chest. His chin raised challengingly.
"No," was all you could say at that moment.
"Yea," Daryl nodded, still grinning.
"No way!"
"Yea, a rooster and six chickens."
"How? Where? How?"
You were completely surprised and had to grin broadly. That was one of the best that could have happened to your community.
"Believe it or not, they were just walking around on a street corner," Glenn explained, looking incredulous about his statement himself.
"So the cattle market wasn't closed after all," you replied sarcastically.
Immediately Daryl had to roll his eyes.
"Just don't start with that," you chuckled and gave him a playful clap on the upper arm.
“You really missed something Y/N,” said Maggie with a grin, “believe me it was really impressive to see how Daryl caught the poultry. Didn't know that he was doing so well as a farmer."
"Yea, ha-ha, very funny!"
Daryl's ears had turned deep red, but then he had to laugh himself at the thought of this chicken-catching operation.
"I really would have liked to see that," you said with a laugh.
"Well, maybe there will be a repetition," said Glenn, "we have to get the critters out of the car somehow without them getting lost again."
"Ya can forget that right away," Daryl announced in a stern voice.
"Don't worry, I'll help you", you smiled at your boyfriend.
After a few minutes of reunion, you started to get the supplies out of the cars and to distribute them in the storage rooms.
Building a chicken coop was definitely on your to-do list for tomorrow. And it has been a long time since you had been looking forward to a job as much as this.
"And I found something for you too," Maggie whispered to you when she put her arm around your shoulders in a friendly manner.
You two had just cleared away a load of canning jars and were about to trot back to the cars.
"And that would be?"
Surprised you stopped and looked at her questioningly. You did not ask her to get you anything.
“I won't tell you yet,” she smiled, “but you will definitely enjoy it - as well as Daryl."
With these words, your best friend left you in the yard as she made her way back to the cars with a mischievous grin.
Part one Part tree
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laurafett · 3 years
Text
Unfamiliar Fruit
PART ONE
Friends to lovers, sex pollen Boba Fett x f reader 
Words: 10k
- You and Boba are guests in a palace on a different planet. The King serves you some strange food, with the intetion of doing both of you a favour - 
No mentions of pronouns, hair or skin color, sexuality. Also, let’s pretend that there is underwear in space. Minors, do NOT interact!!
Warnings: smut, fluff, age gap (reader is 18+), mentions of food and eating, masturbation (m and f), comlink sex, pain due to sex pollen, slight voice kink 
______________________________________________________________
Why did you always let yourself get dragged into some bantha shit like this? You were dirty, sweaty and smelled like the inside of a Tauntaun. Boba told you this was going to be a short hunt for which he needed your help. Just one bounty he would have to hunt and collect. He said it would take about two or three days. Yeah, no shit. You were sitting on this Marker forsaken planet for almost two weeks now because Boba found some new connections for his business on Tatooine.
He didn't want you to get into trouble so you had to stay in Slave I almost every day. You had no clean clothes, the water tank for the shower was already empty and soon you would be out of food too.
You sat in this tiny, dirty ship while the bounty hunter probably was living in a  big, glamorous palace at the other side of the town. You crossed your arms in front of your chest, letting out a sight as you tried to find a comfortable position in the pilots seat. This was where you spent most of your days, sitting in the cockpit while looking out of the big window in front of you.
It was a green planet, with lots of trees and fields of grasses. It was a welcome sight after spending so much time on Tatooine. The air here was cool and fresh, but it was not exactly cold. The small forests shielded the ship from the sun, so that it always had a comfortable temperature in the ship. At least that was something nice about your current location.
Another nice thing was there was a river which’s stream led behind the big city walls. On some particular hot days, you used the water there to cool down your body. You watched how the water disappeared as soon as it reached the high built bricks that were put there to shield the town and the people there from any kind of intruders.  
You couldn't see much of the city because the ship was stationed some miles away from it. You guessed it was old, from the way the walls looked. In all your days here you never saw a person leaving or entering through the massive wooden doors. It made you wonder if the town was really so big to have everything they needed, so no one ever had to leave this place.
Tearing your eyes away from the mysterious town in front of you, you looked into the sky. Only a few more hours before the sun would start to set and you would have another silent night all by yourself.
If you were on Tatooine you would have spent time with Fennec during your sleepless nights, her never seeming to sleep much as well. But no, you were here. And you were bored to death. There wasn't even anything to read on Boba’s ship, so you had no other option other than to sit around and  keep staring holes into the air.
Right when you were about to get lost in some thoughts again, your datapad received a message from your absent partner. Your back straightened and you leaned forward to read it.
“We will leave soon, only one or two more days.
They invited you for dinner tonight as well,
you also get a proper quarter to sleep in.
Be here before the sun sets.
Take the ship with you, there is a place near the palace
where you can land it. Be careful.”
You almost started crying at the thought of a real bed and real food waiting for you. “Thank the Maker.”, you mumbled to yourself before you checked that everything on the ship was secured so nothing would break during your flight. It didn't take long for you to start the ship and fly directly in the direction of the big castle-like building.
Only five minutes later you landed the ship near the palace and some people were already coming out of the ancient building. You grabbed your blaster before leaving the ship and walked towards the other people. They greeted you by bowing in front of you. Eyebrows lifted in surprise, you looked back down at them.
There was an older man with brown skin and dark hair, some strands already whitening. His mouth was almost hidden by a big, long beard that went down to his throat, but you were able to make out a small smile on his lips. He wore a purple robe, so long that the end of it was covering the ground behind him. Some golden chains covered his chest and he wore rings on almost every finger.
He was in the company of four young women, covered in light yellow cloaks. You were able to see their faces, all of them smiling at you. Each one seemingly more beautiful than the others. Now you could understand why Boba spent so much time here.
“You must be the partner of the great Boba Fett.” The man in front of you began speaking, “We are glad to have you here. All our guests get only the best. We’ve prepared your quarters for the night and one of my maids will show you the way so you can refresh yourself before dinner.”
The old man pointed at a young woman with curly hair, who was smiling at you.
“Thank you, that's really nice.” was all you could say in your current state of surprise.
“Nothing to thank us for. We made a really good deal with your partner so it is a pleasure for us to have you here.” The man nodded slowly and you gave him a weak smile. These people were way too friendly to make a deal with Boba. You hoped he would explain this to you when you see him.
“Follow me, I will show you your room.” The young woman said and waved her hand for you to follow her.
The palace was gigantic. Many statues and old art were all over the place. The statues were made out of white stone, portraying people you didn't know, probably warriors. Strong bodies, perfectly chiseled into different kinds of material, telling a story you've never heard before. Paintings covered the high walls, showing many faces. Some of them looked like normal citizens like farmers, children, or the whole families portraits. Others picturing royals, queens and kings, princes and princesses.
The two of you walked through an uncountable amount of rooms and corridors. And after almost ten minutes of walking the woman turned around, looking at you. She opened the doors on your left and your eyes widened in shock. The room they prepared for you was bigger than any house you had ever lived in. It was filled with old furniture, a gigantic bed, a big balcony and a probably enormous bathroom behind a closed door. The maid walked into the room with you being directly behind her. She went over to a large closet and opened it to reveal that it was full of beautiful clothes made out of the best material in the galaxy. One of your hands rose to touch the silky fabric of one of the dresses.
“These are for you to wear. We asked your partner for your size and I hope there is something that fits in here. If not, feel free to tell me and we will get you something else.” You slowly nodded while looking through the amount of different clothes. “The King wants you to wear anything you feel comfortable in but would be happy if you would wear something more festive for dinner.” You looked over to her and she smiled at you again.
“Dinner will be ready in about two hours. Feel free to use the bathroom and clean yourself up.” She slowly made her way to the door, “And if you need anything, please let me know and we will be happy to help you.”
“Thank you.” was all you could say before she left the room.
Now being on your own, you slowly walked through the chambers, trying to take in every detail. The walls were a light rosé and sky blue curtains hung beside the windows. All the furniture was made out of dark wood. A small glass table stood in the corner of the room with some books on top. The bed was covered in white sheets and pillows and was large enough to allow 4 people, maybe even more, to sleep comfortably.
You walked out onto the balcony and gasped. You had a great view over the whole city. It wasn't the biggest you have ever seen, but definitely one of the most beautiful ones. Everything looked more like a big garden than a place where people lived. Old, small houses were blooming like mushrooms between a field of grass. Many fields covered the space underneath the palace.
People stood in front of their houses, talking to each other. Children were playing hide and seek, laughing so loud even you could hear it. The lights were turned on in almost every house and you could see some farmers bringing the harvest they collected over the day into the warmth of their homes. This place was really beautiful.
And now, as the sun slowly started to set, it looked even more aesthetically pleasing. You looked down into the court of the palace and saw Boba. He was taking a walk with the man you talked to when you arrived. Hopefully he would tell you what this was all about as soon as you had some alone time with him.
After standing and watching the city for some more moments, you went back inside and into the bathroom. Just as you thought it was just as big as everything else. Covered in white tiles, a marble bathtub, a shower beside and a big sink with a mirror and any kind of makeup you could think of. You never really used something like this, but maybe tonight was a good night to try it.
You stripped out of your dirty clothes and quickly got into the shower. The warm water ran down your body and you couldn't help yourself but moan at the relaxing feeling. After cleaning yourself completely, you just had to stay under the warm water for just a bit longer.When you finally had enough, you turned off the water and stepped out of the shower. With one hand you grabbed one of the soft towels, wrapping it around your body.
Entering the bedroom once more you walked over to the big closet and searched through it. You opened one of the drawers, instantly moving back in surprise. It was full of some of the most expensive and beautiful lingerie you have ever seen. Did Boba tell them to get those for you? Curiously you looked through them, soon realizing that all of them were exactly your size. How could he know what size you wore? But before you were able to think much further, your eyes caught a glimpse of a beautiful, dark green lace set.
You pulled it out of the drawer, taking the time to really look over it. It was gorgeous. Without thinking too much, you dried your body and tried on the underwear. You weren't insecure about your body or anything, but you were still afraid that it might not look as good as you imagined. With small steps you walked in front of the big mirror beside the closet and looked at your figure. Holy shit. You looked fucking hot. The bra fitted perfectly around your breasts and you were able to see through it a little bit. The panties wrapped themselves around your ass without covering too much. You were speechless. How could've Boba guessed your size so perfectly?
Before putting on more clothes you went back into the bathroom to do your hair and make up. And while doing that your thoughts started to wander.
You always had a thing for Boba. From the day you agreed to work with him to this current moment. The both of you met while searching for a bounty. He got attacked by several men at the same time and you hopped in to help him. He was impressed, to say at least. You joked about saving his life and how he would owe you something.
The bounty hunter was almost speechless at that moment. You weren't afraid of him. You knew who he was, but you weren't afraid, not in the slightest. He was almost sure he could like you until it turned out that both of you were going after the same bounty. Boba tried to tell you that you had no right to go after this man and that he would kill you if you still tried to, but the only thing you said was:”Are you afraid of losing, old man?”
And that is how it started. You were able to catch the first bounty. Boba was angry about it, but he would never tell that he was almost as much impressed by your fighting and hunting skills. Those games continued for weeks. Every time you met each other on a planet, searching for a bounty, you made a contest out of it.
He would never admit it, but he loved it. He loved to see you getting lost in your hunting instincts and trying to get whoever you were looking for. He loved seeing you fight, you were much stronger than you looked. But mostly he loved to see your euphoric smile when you showed him the bounty you just caught. Of course he would never admit that to you, but he loved spending this time with you.
But things got more stressful on Tatooine and he had to stay there for a certain amount of time, dealing with his business. You two didn't see each other anymore and it drove both of you crazy. You listened to every conversation about Boba to find out where he was right now, secretly hoping to see him again as soon as possible.
Until one day, you received a message from the King of the Underworld himself. He said that he would need more good bounty hunters in his palace and offered you a job at his side. Obviously, you couldn't say no, so the next day you made your way to the palace to start working with him and his right hand Fennec.
The three of you got along pretty well and work seemed to be as easy as never before. The only thing disturbing the good climate you had in the palace was the never ending tension between you and Boba. You didn't know what exactly the reason was for this undeniable tension, but it drove you mad. You were attracted to him, there was no point in denying that. But you also knew that he saw you as a coworker, maybe a friend. There were other things going through his head than what was going on between the two of you. You were also sure that you just imagined all the small hints which could possibly be a sign for him returning your feelings.
Until Fennec decided to confront you. She asked you why you didn't already tell him, that it was already really obvious. You didn't know what to say and tried to deny your feelings. The only reaction she showed to your very bad lie was a dramatic roll of her eyes. “I can't wait until you both realize that each of you returns the feelings for the other one.” was the last thing she said before she walked away and it still haunted you to this day.
Your eyes were glued to the mirror in front of you while you were trying to do your eyeliner. Finally finished, you looked at yourself. Even though you didn't use makeup on a regular basis, it looked really good. Happy with your hair and makeup, you went back to the closet.
Your eyes scanned every single piece of clothing in there. What would be something acceptable to wear while having dinner with a King? One of the dresses caught your eye, but before you were able to pull it out of the closet the door to your room got opened.
Eyes widened in shock, you looked at Boba who stood in the doorway. You couldn't see it but his eyes scanned your almost naked body. He didn't even realize it but his breathing stopped as soon as he saw you. You looked absolutely stunning. Only when his eyes met yours through his visor, he realized that he was staring at you. He snapped out of his thoughts and turned around, trying to get his breathing under control.
“I'm sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you. I just wanted to see if everything is alright and tell you that dinner is ready in about half an hour.” he spoke with a raspy voice.
“Okay, alright. I will be there.” You looked at his back while speaking.
Without another word Boba went out of the room and closed the door behind him. He walked down the corridor with large steps. The picture of you, just standing there in the probably hottest set of lingerie he ever saw, was burned into his mind. They asked him for your size, yes, but he never thought they would pick out something like this for you. Maker, he needed to cool down.
Entering his room, he sat down on the white sheets of his bed. Seeing you like this was completely new for him and he couldn't deny the fact that his trousers got tighter when he had scanned the length of your body. He knew you for a good amount of time now, but most of the time he had enough self-control to not imagine you in this certain kind of way. But this time, he couldn't help himself.
Pictures of your body laying underneath him flooded his mind. He wondered if the sounds you made were just as beautiful as you? Would your lips feel as soft as they look? Would you taste like- Kriff. His eyes snapped open and he let out a deep sigh. At this point, he was rock hard just by thinking of you. He needed to stop.
He knew that someone as beautiful as you and also younger than him would never share the same feelings as him. You were able to have any person you wanted, why would you choose him? He thought back when you first arrived at his palace.
The way the people eyed you. Hundreds of hungry eyes stared at you. He still remembered how glad he was that he wore his helmet, so no one could see his jealous expression. Only when you walked up to him and started talking to him, the people stopped staring at you. The only thing he wanted to do in that moment was to pull you onto his lap and show everyone that you belonged to him and if anyone dared to lay a hand on you, they would have to deal with Boba himself.
But you weren't his. You belonged to no one, you told him more than once. And he understood what you meant by saying this and he respected you, more than anyone else. But he still found himself alone at night, wishing you were by his side.
A knock on the door ripped him out of his daydreams.
“I just wanted to tell you that food is ready in five minutes.” A voice said through the door. After that it got silent again. Trying to get you out of his head he stood up and made his way into the dining hall. This is going to be a long night.
You stood in silence for a minute after Boba left your room. You noticed his staring, but you weren't sure if it was just because you were in your underwear or if he really thought you were attractive.
Thinking about it for a second, you decided to try your luck today. If it turned out that he wasn't interested, you could finally live in peace again. But if he was, then you were going to have a very good night.
The bounty hunter was  already sitting at the table when you entered the large dinner room. You saw how his helmet turned in your direction but you couldn't see any reaction from his side. And again, Boba was very happy to wear that stupid helmet. You looked stunning. Your body was covered by a silky black dress with thin straps. It went down to your legs and hugged all your curves perfectly. He swallowed hard, almost sure everyone could hear it.
With a nervous look, you settled down in the seat beside him. You looked at his black visor and he nodded slightly. Before you could say anything the King, as you learned for the maid, stood up and began to speak.
“Tonight we want to honor our guests, the great Boba Fett and his beautiful partner. Our kingdom was able to make a deal from which we all are going to profit from and which will keep us all safe.” He raised his glass in your direction. “We hope you enjoy your meal and now, let the festivities begin.”
He brought his glass to his lips and drank one sip, before everyone else joined in.
Two big doors swung open and the staff brought in the food. You almost couldn't believe your eyes. So many different kinds of food, mostly things you didn't even know. Your stomach started rumbling at the sight of all the different courses. With wide eyes, you looked at Boba once more. He didn't notice because he was in the middle of taking off his helmet. You were about to stop him, but it was already too late. He never let his enemies or business partners see his face, but by the reaction of the other people in this room it wasn't the first time they saw him. He turned his face to you and mustered you with a confused look.
“What's the matter?” His eyes fixed on yours while he was trying to figure out what was going on in your head.
“Nothing. Don’t worry.” You shook your head slightly.
Bringing your eyes back to the food in front of you, you couldn't stop yourself from starting to eat. So many different vegetables and fruits. All the different variations and sauces. You moaned when the first piece of food found its way into your mouth. This was the best feeling you've ever experienced.
Out of the corner of his eyes, Boba watched you and a small smile tugged at his lips as he saw your satisfied expression when you finally started eating.
Without even trying to hold back you ate as much food as you could. Each dish was better than the other and you were almost overwhelmed at all the different choices.
You were still eating even after all the others finished their meal, but you didn't care. You had no good food in weeks and to be completely honest, the food on Tatooine wasn't the best either.
Shoving the last piece of food into your mouth you fell back into your seat, holding your tummy. You were stuffed, to say the least.
“Finished already? Don't you want to lick the plates of all the others clean too?” Boba smirked at your exhausted figure, bringing his glass to his lips.
You gave him a playful annoyed look, but couldn't hold back your laugh. The corners of his mouth raised around the glass.
Before you were able to reply something the other man beside you started talking to you. You were so caught up in getting food inside your stomach that you didn't even talk to anyone in here. So you gladly interacted in the conversation the other man tried to build up.
Turns out this planet was one of the only ones which stayed completely out of the war that happened some years ago; which was impressive because almost no planet was able to stay out of those kinds of politics. But this was the reason why everything here was so old. They never had to rebuild anything because nothing ever got destroyed. Maybe by accident on occasion but never due to war. The people who lived here had one of the oldest environmental systems in the galaxy, which is the reason why you didn't recognize most of the food. It's local and you are not able to get it on any different planets. You wondered if Boba made a deal about some kind of spices, but he was more than a spice smuggler. That would make no sense.
Suddenly, in the middle of the conversation, someone came up behind you and sat a new plate in front of you. On it was a fruit, you also didn't recognize. It had thick skin and was bright yellow. You looked around and saw that Boba and you were the only one with this kind of food on their plates. With a confused look you turned your head to him but he just shrugged his shoulders, signaling you that he also had no idea what kind of fruit that was.
“We decided to give you some of our rarest food on the planet. It is hard to grow and actually is the only fruit we sometimes sell to other planets. But after everything you will be doing for us, I think you deserve to get a taste.”, the King spoke and looked at the two of you. You weren't sure if it was just your imagination but all the other people in the room looked at you with a smirk on their face. As if they knew something you didn't.
There was no room left in your stomach, you were full. But after everything the man said, you didn't want to be rude, so you took your fork and tried a small piece of the yellow food in front of you.
Before you even started chewing it, you tasted how sweet it was. Too sweet. You grimaced at the overwhelming taste. It was like nothing you ever tasted before. It gave your tongue a tingling sensation but also made it numb at the same time. The juice that squished out of it when you bit it, immediately ran down your throat. You desperately tried to hold back a cough. With one big gulp, you swallowed the piece of fruit and laid your fork back down.
Side-eyeing Boba, you saw that he wasn't impressed by the taste either. Just now you realized that all eyes in the room were laid on the two of you, waiting for your reaction.
“It-” You began, clearing your raspy voice before continuing, “It tastes delicious, really. Amazing, different taste.” It was a lie and anyone smart enough would have realized but it seemed like the people didn't notice. They started smiling, bringing their attention to their own desserts.
Boba looked at you in a way that said 'You are a terrible liar.', but you didn't care as long as everyone was happy.
“I'm very glad to hear that and now eat up. We wouldn't want to waste anything of this delicate fruit.” You sent a death look into the direction of the king, but your partner nudged your side with his elbow.
“Eat up. You don't want to be rude, do you?” Your death glare wandered directly to Boba and he smirked at you. Cocky bastard.
With a disgusted look on your face you took the fork again and started eating the fruit.
Soon it was much later in the evening but you didn't notice the passage of time because you were actually having some nice conversations with the people from the city. You talked about the wars, the way this planet stayed out of them, the story of how you became a bounty hunter and joined Boba.
Your eyes wandered into the direction of said bounty hunter more than once that night. Sure, he wasn't someone to talk much, especially about his feelings, but you couldn't deny the feeling of disappointment that he didn't even acknowledge the way you looked tonight. The small amount of hope in you wasn't strong, but it was surely gone by now. Forcing your eyes away from him, you started listening to the story one of the women in front of you was currently telling.
Boba didn't feel well. It wasn't the amount of strangers around him or the fact that he probably ate too much, no. It was the fact that you turned heads in this room. From more than just one or two people.
But well, he couldn't blame them. Your body looked like art in the dress you were wearing. He asked himself what the reason was, for your choice of looks tonight. Did you want to impress someone? Boba knew you had your fair amount of affairs. It had been revealed after you two along with Fennec drank too much spotchka one night and talked about your sex lives. He still didn't know how that happened.
Anyway, even though he knew you weren't his, he tried to keep everyone away from you that showed just the slightest bit of interest in you. He knew it wasn't fair, but he couldn't stand the thought of someone else touching you. Was this the reason you were dressed like this? Did you want to hook up with someone from the palace?
He shook his head. He had no reason to think about your intimate relationships with others; he had no right to judge or decide over your choices. But the more he let his mind wander, more thoughts of you popped up in his head. And one of the thoughts was the picture of you in your underwear. Again.
Suddenly, he felt hot. Not in the way he felt when he was angry or embarrassed, but actually hot. So hot that he started sweating. He looked around to find a reason why the temperature suddenly had changed in here but it seemed like no one else noticed. He tried to adjust himself in the chair. It felt like his armor got two sizes smaller and he wasn't able to breathe. Different parts of his body began to tingle and he was sure he would pass out. His body quickly raised from his seat, to get out of the room but the second he stood, he couldn’t move due to the feeling of dizziness that held him. Boba stood there for a second before he made his way out of the dinner hall.
Your eyes fell on his quickly moving body and the way the look on his face seemed alarmed. Something told you to follow him. Without excusing yourself, you left your seat and made your way up to him. Before he was able to leave the room, you reached for his arm and stopped him. He turned to you, his eyes wide in shock.
“Boba, are you alright? You look terrible.” The look on your face was concerned and you glanced at him through your lashes. He stared at you, not without noticing how his eyes started to wander over your body.
“I- umm...” He stopped his rambling when he felt a painful sting in his lower belly, his erection forming in his pants. What was wrong with him?
“Kriff.” was all he said, looking around to see if anyone was staring at the two of you. Luckily no one seemed to care about the fact that the two of you were standing away from the table.
Without thinking, Boba grabbed your waist and pulled you a little closer to him. You were so surprised. You couldn't think of anything to say. He lowered his head so his mouth was directly at your ear.
“We are leaving tomorrow morning, be ready. I'm going to bed now and you should too, Princess.” Not a second later, he released his grip on you and was gone.
Princess. The word rang through your ears. It was almost as if you could still feel his hands on you. A shiver ran down your shine when you thought about his breath hitting your sweaty neck. Lost in your thoughts you still looked at the door he left through.
A sharp pain in your stomach shook you out of your trance. You flinched at the feeling, wondering what that was. But a moment later, you felt a burning heat in your core and the feeling spread through your whole body. You grew even hotter than before. Maybe Boba was right. You should go to bed.
It was harder than you thought to find your way back to your quarters. The fact that your legs got weaker with every step and the slightly dizzy feeling in your head wasn't helping either. You stumbled through the corridors, hoping to soon find your stupid room. Who needs a palace that big anyway?
After some more minutes, you were sure you finally arrived. About to open the door to your room, you heard a strange sound coming from a chamber down the hall. You stayed still, to see if it wasn't just your head trying to trick you.
“Dank Farrik!”
Even though your whole body was aching at this point, you followed the sound. A loud groan came out of one room and you realized it was Boba. A little bit faster than before, or at least as fast as you were able to go, you went to the door the sound was coming from. Your mind clouded from the heat and pain taking over your body as you knocked.
“Boba?” Your voice was weak and raspy as if you had been screaming for hours straight. Nothing happened, so you tried again. “Are you alright? I heard some noise-”, a sore, deep voice cut you of.
“I'm... I'm alright.” A sore, deep voice cut you off. On the other side of the door, the man struggled to speak. His throat felt so dry as if he had wandered through the dunes of Tatooine for days without a single drop of water. Every part of his body arched and he panted, not being able to breath properly.
When he entered his room some moments ago, he got rid of his armor, tossing it carelessly onto the floor and falling down onto the bed. He didn't feel dizzy anymore but there was pain, almost as bad as in the sarlacc, flowing through his body and especially into his abandonment. He was hard, harder than ever before and it hurt. Scared of touching himself, of making the pain even worse, he just kept laying there, hoping that the pain would go away. No luck yet.
There was a white noise in your ears and you almost didn't hear what he said. His voice sounded so breathy; you were afraid he was hurt. You tried to steady yourself by holding on to the doorknob. You felt like you were about to pass out, but you still wanted to make sure that everything was alright.
“Are you s... sure? It doesn't sound like it.” It almost hurt to speak.
You heard a terrifying growl from the other side of the door.
“Fucking hell. I'm doing fine and now go to bed.” Boba shouted.
Too dizzy to be shocked or to show any reaction towards his tone you slowly made your way back to your quarters. Barely able to find the strength to push the door open, you almost fell into the room. The pain got even worse and couldn't hold your body up any longer. You felt your legs carry you across the room so you could collapse on the bed, groaning loudly as your body landed on the mattress. Your mind wasn’t able to form any kind of rational thought. The only thing you were aware of was the pain in your body and the growing wetness between your legs.
You had no idea what was going on, only realizing that you started to become incredibly needy. With all the force you could muster in the moment, you rubbed your thighs together to create even the smallest amount of friction. You almost started cringing when you felt how just wet you were. Maker, what was wrong with you?
The pressure from your thighs wasn't enough. Your panties were already soaked, even without anyone touching you. Slowly, you let one of your hands go between your legs. Your body jumped at the first light touch and an obscene moan left your mouth. Holding your other hand over your mouth, you carefully started to touch yourself.
You closed your eyes, trying to focus on giving yourself some kind of pressure pleasure, but it didn't work. The pain was still there and it seemed like it wasn't about to leave any time soon. Starting to move your hand faster, to find your way to the desperately needed climax, you heard the sound of your wet cunt.
You’ve never been this wet. Especially without anyone touching you. Your thoughts drifted to Boba. Him calling you princess surely couldn't be the reason for the mess between your legs. You wanted to fuck him, but you weren't that affection starved. Or were you?
Thinking about your partner brought you closer to your own orgasm. Two of your fingers circled around your clit and started to become sloppy as you grew closer to your release. Your eyes stayed shut, trying to imagine something that would help you. You thought of Boba, sitting on his throne, legs wide and taking every inch of space in the big seat. The way he looked so dangerous, just by doing nothing then looking around the room. How often you thought about riding him in that position. You on top of him, his large hands on your hips. You would be completely naked for him while he still wore his armor, feeling the cold beskar against your heated skin. His body would tense underneath yours while he pounded into you, calling you his good girl.
You were so close, you could feel the familiar heat rising. Just one or two more seconds.
“Hey. Are you here? Can you hear me?” Your hand moved from your core as fast as possible. Shooting your eyes into the direction of the door, but it was still closed. A groan left your mouth. You were so close and the pain was still so present in your body, you were probably imagining things.
Just as you were about to continue, the voice rang through the room again. You tried to sit up, looking around, searching for the reason you were able to hear him.
“Are you mad at me? Dank- I... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you.” Boba sounded like he was out of breath. Your eyes landed on the pile of clothes on the floor. Sure, your comlink. On shaky legs, you walked to your old clothes and took the small speaker from your belt.
You were afraid to say something. Did he hear you? You were embarrassed. He was your coworker and you just almost had an orgasm while thinking about him.
“Boba.” The only thing leaving your mouth, in a breathless voice, was his name. You weren't able to say more, afraid that he might sense what you just did.
The man in the other room was still laying on his bed. He didn't trust himself to stand up. His heavy breathing was the only sound around him. His fist clenched around the comlink, after he heard you speaking. Your voice sounded just as weak as his, you must feel the same reaction as he did.
Boba has been to a lot of planets and different cities, but this feeling was new to him. He knew what the cause for this was, probably. The fruit contained a certain type of pollen. He heard about them, about the stuff they do to the ones eating it. It was almost like an aphrodisiac, people would get desperate for any kind of sexual interaction, just to make the pain go away. And he also knew that the pain would fade much faster, if you would do something about it and even better, not by yourself.
The sound of you whispering his name through the speaker made his hips twitch. He would never act on the feelings he had right now, especially not with you. You were too important to him and he would never forgive himself if he lost you due to his needy brain and body. But he couldn't stop thinking about you. The fact that you felt the same exact pain he did in this moment, made it even worse.
“Are you... are you alright?” Your quiet voice cut through his thoughts. Maker, why did your voice have to sound so fucking desperate? He shuts his eyes close, trying to stay focused.
“Yes, I think so. What about you?”
“No. No, I think something is wrong with me.” Boba's eyes snapped open again when he heard you were crying. “I- I don't know why, but everything hurts. Kriff, it hurts so bad Boba. I don't know what to do.” By now your voice was almost unrecognizable, it was shaky and blurred from your crying.
The heart of the bounty hunter sank deep in his chest. He didn't want you to go through this. “Okay, try to calm down. You got this, try to ignore it.” He almost laughed at himself. There was no way to ignore it and he knew that.
“Are you kidding me? Try to ignore it? Boba, it feels like my whole body is on fire, I can't just pretend I don't feel that shit.” There was a hint of annoyance in your voice and he couldn't blame you. He was better at controlling his body in general and it was still hell for him. He couldn't even imagine how you felt. “You know what, I'm coming over, right now.”
“No!” He screamed the word into the communicator in his hand. With all his strength, he sat up and rubbed a hand over his face. There was no way he would spend this time with you. He knew he wouldn't be able to control himself if you were with him.
“Boba, what the he-”
“I know what might help you.” His tone was low and calm, trying not to cross a line with what he was about to say.  “You need to touch yourself.”
Your mouth fell open. Did... did he really just say that? You stayed silent, not knowing what to say. That was what you were already doing, touching yourself, but hearing him saying those words sent goosebumps all over your body.
“Before you start to protest, yes I know it sounds strange, but believe me, it will help you.” A moment of silence fell above you before he started to speak again. “Please. I don't want you to be in this terrible pain. Do... do it for me, please.”
You weren't able to stop the whine that left you after hearing his words. It was too much; this whole situation was too much for you. Your body was aching and you knew that your hands would never be able to sooth the pain and growing heat between your legs.
“Boba, I-” He cuts you off once again.
“S- stop saying my name like that, please. I will not be able to control myself if you keep doing that.” You felt even more heat rising in your body at his words. “Just... just try to do what I just told you.”
Without letting go of the comlink, you sneaked your hand under your dress once again and into your wet folds. You moaned at the feeling. There was a hiss, coming out of the speaker and you heard the man on the other end swearing.
“That's it. Just keep doing that.” Boba wasn't able to hold it back anymore, freeing his painful hard cock from his pants. It snapped up against his tummy and he threw his head back when the cold air hit his aching member.
“Boba.” This time you moaned his name on purpose and he really had to hold himself back from cumming right there and then, “I- I can't do this on my own, please.”
At this point you didn't care how desperate you sounded or if he could hear the sounds you were making. You needed something. You needed him.
The man heard you, very well, and it drove him crazy. He put his hand around his cock, slowly starting to pump it. It didn't feel good. He didn't like to masturbate in general, but with this burning need inside him and hearing you, touching yourself, it felt even worse. The urge to touch you has never been this strong, but he needed to keep it together. You only did that because you felt the pain this fruit caused, not because you were genuinely attracted to him.
Your fingers circled your clit, but it didn't feel like it was enough. Silent tears were still streaming down your face because you couldn't build up the friction you really needed. You whined in frustration.
Boba was sure he wouldn't last long if you kept making those sounds. Maker, what would he give to see you right now. Disheveled hair, your makeup probably all over your face, your hand between your legs and eyes closed. He was sure you looked like a goddess.
“Please, Boba. I need-” He had to stop you. He couldn't listen to you with that sweet, sweet voice of yours any longer.
“Alright, okay. Just do what I tell you.” The bounty hunter didn't believe what he was about to do. He has wanted you for so long and even though you weren't with him right now, he would savor every second of this.
“Just... umm...” He stopped himself and rasped his voice. He never had a problem with being talkative during sex. He actually really liked it but with you and especially in this situation, it felt different. “Bring your middle finger and your pointing finger to your clit and start rubbing it in circles. Not too fast, to build up some good pressure.” His grip around his cock tightened at the picture of you in his head.
You did as he told you and moaned, more at the words he spoke than to the actual feeling of pleasure. Never in your life have you been this turned on, not only because of the strange feeling in your body but also by the way Boba guided you through this. You could already feel the familiar heat growing in your lower stomach again. It wouldn't take long for you to finish.
He needed a moment to breath before he continued. Your moaning and whining made his dick twitch in his hand. His thumb collected the precum that already leaked and used it to start stroking himself again.
“Now use those two fingers, slide them inside of you and start fucking yourself.” His mind was clouded with pictures of you. The sounds you made rang in his ears and he wasn't able to hold his grunting back anymore.
The two of you listened to each other, touching yourselves. Both of you would lie if they said that this wasn't the hottest thing you’ve ever done. Feelings aside, the urge to feel one another and touch each other was so present and burning as never before, it was almost worse than the actual pain in your bodies.
Your back arched as you felt yourself getting close again, but you needed to hear his voice one more time. “Boba, I'm- I'm so close... I-” He was too and your words almost sent him over the edge, but he wanted to help you reach your climax first.
“It's alright, Princess. Just l- let go.” The hand around his cock sped up. His rapid pace was almost hurtful. “Imagine it’s someone else doing that to you. Imagine your fingers are someone else's, someone you wish was touching you right now.”
An incredibly loud sound left your mouth and you began to see stars. Your legs started to twitch and shake, while a loud white noise flooded your ears. Without thinking you started to scream. “You. Fuck, I wish it was you who was touching me right now, Boba.” You cummed hard. Your toes curled, your head pressing into the mattress underneath you. The hand inside of you stopped moving and started shaking, like every other part of your body.
As you laid there panting, you slowly came back to your senses. It was silent, but the pain in your body was still as present as before your orgasm. You groaned in frustration.
“It didn't help. Fuck, Boba. The pain is still there.” You whined but there was no reaction. The other side of the comlink was completely silent. Tears build themselves up and were about to escape your already burning eyes. You fucked up. You just told him you wished he would touch you.
“Shit!” You screamed and pressed your hands flat over your face. The tears started to stream down your face faster now as you started crying again. The pain and the embarrassment took over your brain, you never wanted to see him again. He would fire you, bring you back to the planet you came from and leave you there. You started sobbing and removed the hands from your face to place one of them over your mouth to muffle your pitiful cries.
You hated yourself right now. So much so that you would rather stay in this room forever than ever have to see his face again. The moment repeated itself in your head over and over again. You didn't notice when he broke the connection, but you knew that he probably did it after the last sentence you said.
New tears formed in the corner of your eyes, but before they were able to make their way down your face the door to your room got pushed open. Your head turned to the person standing in the doorway. It was Boba, wearing nothing but his black flight suit he always wore underneath his armor. You brought up your head and steadied yourself on your elbows.
“What are you-” The man was in front of you in a matter of seconds, looking down at your weak form. You slowly sat up and stared into his dark eyes.
“Was that what you said the truth?” His voice was even deeper in person. He looked exhausted, breathing unsteadily and sweating all over his face.
“Boba, I... I don't know-” One of his hands grabbed your chin roughly and tilted your head in his direction. Your heartbeat was going faster than before. It was hammering hard against your chest. You could feel it in every part of your body.
“Just tell me if you meant what you just said, or not. Because if you did, I will help you. I- I will touch you, just the way you need it, little one.” His eyes pierced into yours. His voice sounded calm but you could see that he was just as worked up as you. “And if not, I will leave you alone. I don't want you to feel pressured to do anything you don't want to do.”
It was almost as if you forgot how to breath. His words rang through your ears and for a second you believed you passed out and all of this was a dream. But the grip around your chin proved you wrong.
“I asked you a question.” He said in a more aggressive tone. The hand on your face tugged you slightly forward and only now you became aware of his hard erection, pressing against his pants. You swallowed loudly, looking back up into his eyes. A small smirk played around his lips.
“Like what you see?” The smirk on his face grew even wider when he saw your head nodding.
“Now tell me,” He brought his body down to yours to look directly into your face, “Do you want me to touch you? Do you want me to help you get rid of the pain?”
He paused for a second and brought his face closer to yours so both of your noses were touching.
“Do you want me to make you feel good?”
Your breathing hitched in your lungs and you felt a hot sting going through your body, going straight to your cunt. Boba drew his face away from you, just a little bit, but you already wanted to protest. Your hands rose up and grabbed his broad shoulders.
“Yes.” It was nothing more than a silent breath but the words rang in his ears as if you screamed them. “Yes, I want you to touch me and make me feel good, I- Fuck, Boba. I want you so bad.”
Without wasting another second he crushed his lips onto yours and started kissing you. The kiss was heated, fast and passionate. Teeth clenched against teeth and tongues tried their best to taste the other person. His lips were softer than you expected, they were warm and inviting. A tingling feeling made its way to your chest and you realized you never wanted this to stop.
You felt like you were in heaven and even forgot about the pain for a second, but not for long. Boba's hands were holding your face, brought it even closer to his while you did the same with your hands around his neck.
His mouth pulled away from yours as he began to wander and kiss his way down your throat. He let both of his hands slide down your body, over your breasts until he rested them at your waist. Your body arched into his touch and a whimper escaped you. The man's lips twitched into a smile, feeling proud about the reaction of your body against his touches.
With one hand on your back, he slowly started to lay you down on the bed. His body was now hovering over you and you could feel the strong heat radiating from him. Every kiss he left on your bare skin was like a small flame burning its way into your mind.
When his lips reached your cleavage he stopped and looked up to you. You looked so beautiful, a sweating, panting mess underneath him. That's everything he ever dreamed of, maybe even more.
Both of his hands ran patiently down your sides until he got to your thighs. He reached for the hem of your dress and pulled it up a little bit. His hot mouth went down your clothed body, not once breaking the eye contact.
You shivered at the sight in front of you. Every part of you felt like it was electrified and you were sure you would explode if he wouldn't start properly touching you soon.
Boba went onto his knees in front of the bed, now pulling up your dress so that the hem of it lay just above your panties. His eyes fell to the soaked green material that still covered your heat.
“Look at you. If it wasn't for the fucking fruit, I would say that you are pretty desperate for me, little one.” A wide smirk covered his face and even more heat rose into yours.
“What has the fruit to do with-” But you were cut off by the feeling of one of his thick fingers sliding in between your wet folds. Your mouth fell open in a breathless moan and your head pushed back into the white covers. Only when you heard the man in front of you humming your head came back up only to see that the finger, which was between your legs just seconds ago, was now in his mouth. His eyes found yours while he licked his finger clean, pulling it back out with a small popping sound.
“You taste fucking delicious. Better than any food anyone’s ever served me.” He smiled at you. “Even better than I've imagined.”
Your eyes widened at his words. He imagined the way you tasted? The man in front of you was about to pull down your panties, but you stopped him. He looked at you with a confused expression.
“What do you mean with 'you imagined'? Have you thought about this before? About us?” The pain was buzzing through your body, but you needed to know.
His expression softened and a small smile appeared on his face. He planted a soft kiss on your knee before talking.
“Princess, are you serious? I've dreamed about this for so long, to finally have you. To feel, taste and hear you, everything. But right now,” His lips made their way up on your inner thigh, “is not the time to talk about this. Let me soothe your pain and afterwards, we can talk about everything. I promise. Right now, I just want to taste you.”
He reached your clothed cunt and pressed a kiss on to it. His fingers reached up to the waistband of your panties. Your legs were already shaking from watching him move. You were about to tell him not to tease you when a knock on the door cut through the thick tension hanging between the both of you.
A sigh left your lungs and you fell back into the sheets underneath you. This couldn't be real. You whined, tears swelling up in your eyes again.
Boba noticed and started rubbing his hands up and down your legs. “Hey, hey. Calm down. We don't have to answer.”
It stayed silent for a while, a relieved feeling washed over your body. Boba started kissing your inner thighs again and just before he reached the spot where you needed him the most, the knock disturbed you once again.
“Kriffing hell.” The bounty hunter muttered to himself and got up. With large steps he went to the door and opened it just enough so the other person could see his face.
It was one of the maids. She looked at Boba with an apologizing look.
“I'm sorry to disturb you but our communication system received a call from your palace on Tatooine. There is a woman, called Fennec Shand and she wants to talk to you. She didn't say what it was about but she said it is urgent.”
He wanted to scream, wanted to tear down the whole palace. No, not now. His head turned into your direction. You looked at him with dove eyes, still shimmering from your previous tears. He couldn't do that now, both of you still in the middle of the reaction from this fruit. He was in pain too, but he knew it was worse for you. Turning his head he looked back at the maid.
“The woman is waiting for you.” Boba sighed. He knew it was wrong but he needed to know what Fennec thought was so urgent.
“Give me a second, I will be right there.”, he said before closing the door.
The man turned around and looked at you once more. He didn't want to go. His deepest desire, finally so close to him and his duty as the King of the Underworld keeping him away from reaching it.
“I have to go.”
“What?” Your body shot up from it's laying spot in the bed. A hand reached out to him and clutched at his sleeve. “No. No, please. You can't leave me now.”  
“I have to, but it won't take long, I promise.” Boba gabbed the back of your head and pressed a kiss to your forehead. He was about to turn around, but you still didn't let go of him.
“Boba, stop. Please I- it still hurts. I can't take this anymore.” He looked at you, bringing his hand to your cheek.
“You can do it and while I'm gone you’re going to touch yourself again, you hear me? Prepare your pretty, little cunt for me and when I come back, I will give you everything you need.” Not waiting for another response from you, he freed his arm from your grip and walked out of the room.
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kyloswarstars · 3 years
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ROOMMATES • Part 2
Divergent • College AU • Eric x Reader
ROOMMATES masterlist 💫 Divergent masterlist
You escaped your current living situation by moving in with your friend Christina – and five other college students. Little did you know that one of them was the guy who was your ultimate pain in the neck since your first semester. Now, you had to find a way to not strangle him in his sleep out of pure frustration. Also, you had to find a way to get rid of those weird butterfly feelings for him that slowly grew in your stomach.
Words • 2k
The enemies to lovers story no one needed.
/////
The donut shop had air conditioning. It was pure heaven. A donut shop was heaven to you 365 days a year anyways. The AC, though… yes.
Christina chewed on her third blue glazed donut and refused to answer your questions. First, she refused. Then, she tried to talk her way out of it. In the end, she mentioned the friendship code, which applied in this case to Eric, and therefore she couldn’t say anything.
The confusion was real. You didn’t understand anything when most of the time you always understood everything. Following things you knew:
A) Eric always entangled you in debates. Sometimes it was a civil exchange, most of the times he got your blood boiling until you were close to lose your temper. This happened in class and other college surroundings, where you talked about a study related topic.
B) Until last week you always thought it was because of his ego and pure strive to demonstrate his intellect why he went for, at some point, the silliest of statements you had ever heard.
C) You also thought he did it just to piss you off.
D) Then last week happened. Then this afternoon happened and left you entirely confused.
E) Christina must know another reason why Eric constantly sought for an academic dispute. His statement from a couple hours ago, that there was ‚no reason‘, was highly suspicious. But Chris also didn’t tell you the reason.
F) That only led you to one, logical guess on what that unsaid reason could be.
„Is this about him having a long planned strategy to become the number one student of our year?“ Him seeing you as a serious competition to that title was the only reason you could think of. It wasn’t too odd of an assumption since after all those debates, silly statements or not, he was one of the smartest guys you had met so far.
Chris swallowed a bit of her new donut. Donut number four. „He isn’t in our year.“
You had sipped on your milkshake and instantly looked up. „What do you mean?“ Having to ask that question again frustrated you.
„That he’s way past us. He just finished his third year of medical school.“
„Excuse me?“ You got up from your seat and started wandering around the empty donut shop. „I’m surprised my body hasn’t taken the form of a question mark yet,“ you slowly talked yourself into a frenzy. „Christina, you’re telling me that Eric, who keeps pissing me off in two of my classes, for the last two years, isn’t even in my year? That he’s studying to become a doctor?“ Please behold me from chopping off a finger or something and him helping me.
She looked a little guilty for not giving you more information. Also a little amused.
„I am studying to become a damn mathematician. Why on earth would a medical student attend those classes?“
Christina had the audacity to laugh out loud. „I’m sorry, Y/N.“ Karma came around instantly and made her choke on a piece of donut for a few seconds. You hurried over to harshly pat her back until she coughed it out. „All I know is,“ she was still gasping for air, „he sometimes takes random classes for fun. Or for one of his big assignments.“
That was all. You wouldn’t get any further information. She crossed her arms and ignored all of your remaining questions. At least she left the donut shop with a stomachache and you knowing that Eric wasn’t even a math student.
/////
Once a week all roommates had at least one dinner together. ‚To strengthen the community‘ Uriah mumbled to you while you helped him turn the groceries, he and Chris had bought today, into a prober dish. Rice with a lot of veggies was the meal for tonight.
You were the last one to sit down and were surprised, and a little nervous, to find Eric sitting in the spot across from yours. He must’ve come home while you were still concentrating on not letting the veggies burn to death.
Christina hardly ate anything after her five donuts. Being a reasonable adult, you only had one donut at the shop.
„Who chose to put mushrooms in there?“ Eric didn’t look too glad when his fork discovered a tiny mushroom.
„Me,“ you stated, not afraid to have another silly debate. This time probably about how mushrooms shouldn’t be harvested because it takes away a food supply for deers.
„Next time just roast it short. Don’t turn it into these rubber–“
„Shut up, Eric.“ Four intervened. „Be glad someone made dinner.“
Exactly. You smiled at Four for his backup and continued eating. Even though you highly concentrated on the bowl in front of you, your eyes occasionally moved to Eric, to see if he had found another thing he disliked about the meal. And every single time his eyes met with yours.
This dinner wasn’t like all the previous ones you had here since moving in. It was unusually quiet. Everyone headed pretty fast into their rooms after finishing up and collectively cleaning the dishes.
Eric lingered around and was actually the last one to help you with putting back the plates and cutlery to where they belonged. You leaned to the countertop and tried not to stare too obviously when he stretched to place some glasses on the top shelf. He wore a t-shirt where he must’ve cut off the sleeves and the way his arm muscles moved, with every glass he put on that shelf, should be forbidden.
What? Oh man. That you caught yourself thinking that way, even though Eric didn’t notice it because he was still occupied with the dishes, made you feel uncomfortable in your own skin. You hid your hands in your pockets to act casual. That’s when you noticed one of the many papers that were spread in nearly every clothing pocket and backpack of yours.
One of the many habits – coping mechanisms, actually – you had, was to write down unsolved problems in mathematics and brood over them whenever your brain was close to panic itself into a breakdown. To sit down and concentrate on a problem and search for a possibility to solve it, was what got you to study the most hated subject in the first place.
You pulled the paper out and checked what it referred to. The Riemann zeta function.
You tried to recall if any of the many debates with Eric ever had been about mathematics. They had never been about math at all you realised. The classes he had gone to were the social orientated ones. Those, where you discussed scenarios and ways on how to solve problems with a mathematical solution. Or at least help out along the way. And the debates were mostly about the logical or philosophic aspects. The reason why it had always been so easy for Eric to pull you into those discussions was because you didn’t study mathematics just for the sake of it. You didn’t want to become only a professor to teach others about it. You wanted to help people with all the abilities math provided. For example the study you worked on right now: a mathematical model to predict the success of immunotherapy for patients with cancer.
This is perfect.
There was no way Eric could enter a serious debate about the zeta function and not show that he studied something completely different. With a grin on your lips you cleared your throat to get his attention. Eric crossed his arms as he turned to you.
The game is on.
„Since you know everything better than me, and us living under the same roof now, I was wondering if you would take a look at some equations. I’m kinda stuck.“
Something in his face changed but he still said: „Sure.“
That’s a mistake, my friend. You handed him the paper, which he had to unfold his arms for again to take it. Those arms were bigger than the pile of books next to your mattress. Why did you never notice his muscles before? And why did you never notice that sharp jawline?
The concentration on his face didn’t give away that he had absolutely no clue what was on that paper. Time did. A minute or two went by without him looking up or saying a word. „That seems like a serious problem. I’m passing.“
„What are you studying again?“ Your voice as innocent as you could manage it to be.
„Why would you ask?“ He played it off. The crooked smile on his lips let you know he had a feeling for where this conversation would go, though.
„Because someone studying mathematics, like I do, would recognise the famous zeta function whose solution would earn you a reward of one million dollars.“
„I never said I study mathematics, Y/N.“ Eric grinned like you were the fool here. Like you had overseen something big. Like your little trap hadn’t worked.
„But you attend four full semesters of classes that aren’t necessary? Are you having such a big problem with me that you just can’t stay away?“ His stupid grin made it worse. That rage came rushing in because those ludicrous disputes sometimes had you thinking you were a complete idiot. „I mean no normal person would take those two extra classes for four solid semesters on top of damn medical classes. What’s wrong with you?“
„I like the extra knowledge.“ He simply stated, snapped a bottle of water from the countertop and slowly made his way down the hallway to his room. „And debating with you.“
/////
For your own wellbeing, and not to flip every time you thought about Eric being the biggest prick on this earth, you decided he was just a little sadist. Who had probably his only fun by infuriating you. You were glad to know about that hobby of his now and could focus on the more important things in life until next semester.
He just didn’t make it easy at all. Living under the same roof had diverted the debates from class to the dining table. Plus it had added a lot of other intentional disturbance on his part.
For a while you tried to just ignore it because he was a sadist, as you declared. On the other hand he exactly got what he had aimed at. Your anger.
„Eric,“ you shouted at the wall, knowing very well that he could hear you because you heard perfectly fine what kind of little movie he was watching. It paused for a few seconds and you breathed out in relief. Then it started again. So you raised your voice another time. „Use damn headphones!“
The only thing that happened was Uriah peeking his head in your room, with some incredibly high raised eyebrows. „Are you okay?“
„I am not.“ You buried your face in your hands. „Eric is watching porn and I can’t concentrate,“ you stated in despair.
„I’ll handle it,“ he smiled and was fast to knock at Eric’s door and enter his room after a ‚come in‘. They discussed for a while and Uriah gave you a thumbs up as he passed your room on his way back to the kitchen. Problem solved? Sounded like it. No noise from the other side of the room anymore.
The newest data had come in for the study this morning and you didn’t get anywhere yet. You just hadn’t been able to because of… picturing Eric watching porn. Ban it from your consciousness. With another deep breath, you started working in the newest data and focus only on your task. And it worked for a couple of minutes. Until Eric decided not to use headphones anymore and his porn noises echoed through the wall again.
I will strangle him in his sleep one night.
/////
A/N • I'm enjoying this way too much so there will soon be another update. probably next weekend. ok bye
Taglist • @longlostinanotherworld
Wanna get tagged too for future updates? Lemme know 🖤
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noctarcanum · 3 years
Text
army dreamers || levi ackerman x male!oc
Rowan, the young, but promising marleyan warrior candidate was never famous for his ability to keep out of other people's businesses. After getting caught up in his family's history of titan experiments and genetically modified clans, his supervisors decide to harvest said curiosity and lack of discipline. He wakes up on a ship, sailing north, with a piece of paper in his backpack that has only one sentence written on it, over and over again: "Kill the remaining Ackermans on Paradis Island and return home."
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chapter one: the remaining
‘So, is it true?’
Zeke pushed himself away from the concrete wall he was leaning against.
‘What?’
‘That you’re the one to inherit it.’
The streets of the inner district got filled with busy adults, hurrying home from work. The two blonde boys slowly made their way through the crows, leaving the training center behind them. The setting sun painted an orange glow on the old, shiny stones and bricks.
‘Oh,’ Zeke sighed. ‘Yeah. But keep quiet!’
‘Quiet?’ Rowan exclaimed with sparkling eyes. ‘But this is awesome, you can finally be an honorary marleyan! You’re gonna be rich or some shit! Who knows about it?’
‘Those who need to know about it.’
Rowan walked next to him in silence, as he examined the stores they were passing by. Women with thicker arms than some warriors were carrying wooden boxes back from the street, cleaned the blackboards. He didn’t really understand why they had to clean them, after all, the same thing was advertised on them every day: potatoes and flour. Maybe because the price got higher and higher.
He thought about what his sister and mother did while he was away at training and then the interrogation. He doubted if Ma even got dressed.
‘Do you want to come over for dinner?’ asked Rowan. ‘You could tell Cornelia the big news!’
‘I was there yesterday…’
‘And?’
They turned at the corner but didn’t stop at Zeke’s house.
‘Do you think I have a bigger chance now to get the armored? I mean, you could say some nice things about me every now and then!’
‘Yeah, I’ll tell them about you. What nice things could I say to them, though? You are already on thin ice, that would just end up me also being punished.’
Rowan rolled his eyes but didn’t respond.
‘You’re being punished, right?’ Zeke inquired.
‘Well, yes, technically, no. They kept talking about all the things they can thank my family, and how it won’t protect me forever, and…’
‘They’re right, you know.’
‘I know,’ Rowan sighed. ‘Also, interrupt me again and you’re not getting dinner. As I was saying… they sort of agreed with me. Or I was just hallucinating out of stress.’
‘I highly doubt that’s a thing’ Zeke shook his head. ‘What on Earth did you say to them that they agreed?’
‘Well, they first shouted at me that I need to stop acting up, they can’t deal with me anymore in these times. You know, they’re about to plan the mission to retrieve the Founding… but they don’t even have proper candidates yet, they’re just stupid fuckers who never learned how to deal with pressure…’
‘Rowan, quiet!’
‘Shit, okay, got it!’ the younger frowned. ‘It was quite the speech they gave, though. About the titan experiments my ancestors did, and those… families. That the shifters they will have to send to Paradis will not only have to deal with those devils, but entire clans of genetically manipulated guard dogs, and they really don’t have the time to discipline me every time I’m too nosy. So, it got me thinking, and I just blurted it out, that they should get rid of the families first, then comes the hunt for the founding titan…’
Zeke raised a brow, his eyes locked on Rowan. He knew him too much, that tall monkey was already thinking, planning, or just revising ideas. His train of thought was interrupted by the sight of two soldiers, patrolling the narrow street.
‘When were they placed here?’ asked Rowan, as Zeke didn’t comment on the phenomenon.
‘They weren’t here yesterday,’ he muttered.
‘That’s why I asked, dumbass.’
Zeke yet again stayed silent – he did that an awfully lot of times. Rowan sometimes wondered if it simply was his nature, or he became like this after… what happened with Aunt Dina and Uncle Grisha. What he did not like to wonder about, is that what would happen to Cornelia and Ma if he got sent to paradise, like Zeke’s parents. Would they break down? Miss him? Rent out his bedroom immediately? Starve to death?
‘So, I only said the… plan or whatthefuckever to get them off my tail, but I think I really did give them ideas… I hope this makes me more favorable when it will come to the inheriting the armored titan!’ He had to blabber about something before his mind went to a darker place.
Rowan locked the front door behind them as they entered the narrow townhouse. Thick dust sat everywhere, around and on the once elegant leather shoes his mother used to wear but wasn’t picked up in weeks. The filth that Ma didn’t take care of quickly distracted him from the bad feeling he got from the soldiers on the street, this far from the fence.
‘Ma! Cornelia! Zeke is staying here tonight! What’s for dinner?’ he shouted, but got no answer, as usual.
They found his sister at the kitchen table, sleeping on top of a pile of textbooks. Her silver hair spread out on the pages, but he knew she studied for her pilot exams. Which she won’t be able to take if they’re not honorary marleyans. Another thought Rowan needed a distraction from.
Rowan gave Zeke a more comfortable t-shirt and sweatpants, after they both changed they headed back to the kitchen. Their cupboards were almost completely empty.
‘Didn’t you get the aid this month?’ Zeke glanced at him, after unsuccessfully searching for fresh ingredients.
‘The military has some good methods to keep up one’s motivation’ he shrugged. ‘We still have some potatoes and dry pasta somewhere, I think.’
They started working together in silence, Zeke knowing the kitchen just as good as Rowan. They boiled the potatoes, then the pasta, and added the remaining spices from the packet.
The meal was only enough for two.
Zeke automatically picked up one bowl and put it in front of Cornelia, who didn’t wake up to any of the noises they made.
Rowan gave the other to Ma, who even though had her eyes open, could have easily been asleep. He placed the warm bowl in her lap, guiding her bony, scarred hands to grab onto it, but her reaction to any of these arrived long seconds later. She didn’t seem to register his presence, not even when she sat up a bit on the sofa, and started eating, her greasy hair falling in front of her face, functioning like an old, ugly curtain. He stayed next to her for a while to make sure she didn’t stop after a few bites. Meanwhile, his mind wandered in his memories, trying to think back to the times his Ma was still pretty and healthy. Were they even real memories, or just the creation of a young little girl?
Zeke and he headed upstairs to get away from the smell of pasta that made their stomachs growl even louder.
‘Is it always going to be like this?’ Rowan asked quietly, not even expecting an answer.
‘This is what we signed up for.’
Rowan sat down on the bed, soon followed by Zeke. Their shoulders touched, but they didn’t pull away.
The bed they sat on barely counted as one, as it was one old mattress laid on the ground. He was supposed to get a frame, a few years back, Uncle Grisha promised to assemble one. This was the smallest promise that was broken.
He glanced out the window the mattress was placed next to. The two soldiers were still patrolling on their street.
‘We should sleep,’ said Zeke. ‘Or at least you should, you had a long day.’
So Rowan did. It was the last time he closed his eyes with full trust in the presence of him, as he didn’t wake up in his own bed the next morning. He didn’t even have any kind of bed under him, only smelly, wooden slats, and the scent of the sea around him.
He got up, thinking he was dreaming some bullshit again, but the wind in his long hair was too real. Everything got too real in mere seconds, just as the dozens of people a few feet away from him, all in chains. All in chains, except form him.
A nearby officer flinched as he spotted Rowan moving, his hand moving closer to the grip of his gun. He was clearly still a detainee, but some other kind. The ship they were on… was it sailing to Paradise? That was his supervisor’s solution to harmless bullshit he pulled sometimes? Turning him into the same mindless titan as traitors and murderers?
‘Hey, you rat.’ Burped the old officer, not even bothering to look in his direction anymore. ‘You’re not here for sightseeing, you have instructions.’
Rowan opened his backpack with trembling hands. It was almost empty – it had a water bottle in it, his knife that he trained with, and a piece of paper that got smudged ink all over it.
It had the same sentence written on it over and over again, mimicking the punishment they used on first graders in school. He couldn’t tell if it was Zeke’s or Cornelia’s handwriting.
Kill the remaining Ackermans on Paradis Island and return home.
Kill the remaining Ackermans on Paradis Island and return home.
Kill the remaining Ackermans on Paradis Island and return home.
Kill the remaining Ackermans on Paradis Island and return home.
Kill the remaining Ackermans on Paradis Island and return home.
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missdawnandherdusk · 4 years
Text
A Silent Night
Hufflepuff!Reader X Draco
Am I allowed to look at her like that? Could it be wrong When she's just so nice to look at?
I'd never tell No, I'd never say a word And oh, it aches But it feels oddly good to hurt
Chapter One     Chapter Two    Chapter Three
Summary: Winter break promises soft moments in the snow and laughter... or does it? There’s a darkness looming ahead and it’s harder to escape now than ever before. It doesn’t help at all with how you two feel about another.
A/N: Alright! Y’all told me to follow my heart so here’s about 7k words of a winter holiday that has fluff and angst. Also She by Dodie was on repeat as I wrote this (the lyrics are above). If you’re like me and need music to read, give that song a shot. Also I 100% stan Narcissa in this chapter. There were a lot more cute moments I wanted to add, and rewrote a lot of this, so if you want a headcanon list of things that were going to happen let me know! (Welcome to Christmas in the middle of the summer)
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~
Miss Y/n,
It delights me that you have invited us to your home for the holiday. Draco speaks adamantly about you whenever his father is not around. I must apologize for having him keep you from his father’s knowledge. I know it pains him to have to keep you hidden, but I fear at the moment it is for the best.
I must thank you for your understanding and kindness. The burden that he bears is steep and I wish nothing more to see him through it and to keep him safe. You have taken years off of his eyes and heart and now I can begin see my young son shining through.
Draco and I will accompany you for the holiday. Lucius will be away all of the winter holiday and I feel as if it would do Draco some good to see you as it aided him over the summer holiday. I have written a letter to your mother as well, so she is aware. Draco will arrive in the morning of the 24th and I shall join him later in the evening for dinner.
You are a bright and wonderful young wizard with a heart so pure to see what I see in my son. The same thing that keeps us both fighting for him. Thank you for everything you have given. I am in your debt for bringing back my son even for a little while.
Narcissa Malfoy
~
I read the letter again as I sat in bed late at night. Tomorrow would be the day that Draco came for Christmas and butterflies had a permanent residence in my chest. I put the energy to good use and spent the few days scrubbing the entire house top to bottom and decorating every square inch. Mother taught me a few new cleaning spells to use and I was getting pretty good at them.
The morning came and I was up before the sun making sure that everything was perfect for when Draco would get here. Not that I thought he would judge me for anything out of place, but I had a sinking feeling that he hadn’t had a proper Christmas in a while, and I wanted things to be almost perfect if not completely.
Keeping myself busy with peeling and cutting apples for a pie, I heard the doorbell ring and almost tripped on my way to opening it.
Draco was there, an amused smile on his face as his eyes darted over my form.
“Hi,” I breathed out, grinning.
“Hello,” His expression was amused and his voice quiet. “Nice apron,”
I flushed, remembering I donned my grandmothers cooking apron that had tiny little snitches buzzing about the fabric.
It wasn’t fair that he looked so angelic on my front porch, almost at home among the snow. He was a bit more formal than I was used to seeing him: a blazer and turtleneck all in dark colors. It only enhanced the contrast of his pale features and the snow. I led him inside, closing the door. Shedding his jacket and setting down his bag, he followed me to the kitchen where I continued to chop apples. He took one, unpeeled from my pile and took a bite.
“Those are mine,” I baited. “Now you have to help,” As if it were the only option.
“Oh, I do? Do I?” He smirked, taking another bite and grabbing a knife.
He watched me for a moment, as if he wasn’t sure what to do before he began to slice the apples the way I did, narrowly missing his fingers a few times. I tried hard not to laugh as I finished chopping up two to his half of one.
It earned me a small pout from him. Laughing this time, I pecked his cheek and took our harvest and a large bowl filled with the rest of the filling ingredients and tossed them in, mixing them with my hands until they were all incorporated evenly. Draco studied me all the while.
“Can you hand me a pie crust from the fridge?” I asked, rinsing my hands. Frowning at the refrigerator he opened it and scanned the shelves.
“Middle shelf, blue ceramic,” I hinted.
He pulled the right dish out and set it on the counter. I lifted the bowl of filling and started to pan it into the doughy crust.
“Here,” I nudged him and nodded to the precut strips of dough on the counter. “We weave them to make a lattice.”
I showed him how to do the first few then left him to it, watching his slender fingers with such care create the woven pattern. Taking a fork, I pressed down the sides of the dough, sealing them then placing the pie in the fridge to be baked later.
“I think that was the most muggle thing I’ve ever done,” he muttered softly, pulling me into his arms properly for the first time since he arrived.
“Not too bad I hope?”
“Nothing unbearable,” he teased.
“Oh, Draco,” my mother greeted making us jump apart. “I didn’t hear you come in darling,”
“Mrs. Y/l/n,” Draco greeted politely.
“It’s so nice of you to join us. Y/n has hardly been able to keep quiet about your arrival,”
I flushed red and rolled my eyes nonchalantly and Draco chuckled, offering his hand for my mother to shake.
“Thank you for the invitation,” I recognized the tone he use: the same one that was present at the Ball from the summer, the one he used when he had someone to impress.
“None of that, really,” My mother scoffed pulling him into a hug that made me laugh. “You’re family here,” She insisted the turned to me. “Well cookies still need to be made before tonight, Y/n you know what to do. I’ll be out for a bit,” my mother gave me a hug before hurrying out the door.
“Cookies?” Draco mused sounding unsure.
I grinned and took out the ingredients to make sugar cookies from scratch and taught Draco how to make them. He padded around my small kitchen in cashmere socks. It warmed my heart to see him so domestic.
Rolling out the dough, I started to press the cookie cutters into the thin confectionary and Draco crowded next to me, taking another cutter and stamping the dough. Preheating the oven, I left him to cut out the little shapes as I began to work on peeling potatoes and sweet potatoes.
“Don’t you have house elves?” He asked, leaning against the counter, finishing his apple, watching me.
“No,” I spoke softly. “Father never liked the notion, and I guess mother kept it that way...” I took a breath in. “And these skills aren’t the worst things to know,” I smiled. “Will you start dicing these?” I gestured to the peeled potatoes with my peeler.
“I suppose,” He mused, picking up the same knife we had used for apples and began to cut the potatoes into small cubes.
When the oven went off, I got up and slipped as many trays of cookies as I could into the oven and set the timer. Throwing the cubed potatoes into a pot, I filled it with water about half-way and set it on the stove to boil.
Draco followed me around the kitchen all morning, helping where he could, confused about some things I did, but there was an explanation for everything. Around lunchtime my mother returned, arms filled with parcels and packages. Last minute shopping I supposed. She shooed us out of the kitchen and outside after lunch.
After a short argument—I didn’t see a need for things like gloves, a scarf or a beanie, but Draco put his foot down and bundled me up—Draco and I were both clad in winter gear and walking outside along the few acres that my mother and I shared together. Our hands intertwined; we didn’t speak much, just enjoyed the quiet moment together. The butterflies in my chest fluttered happily.
“Want to let Pinnae fly?” He asked, thoughtful.
“Maybe later,” I leaned against him. “Don’t wanna fly when you’re still on the ground,”
I caught his eyeroll in the corner of my vision and the redness on his cheeks darken slightly.
“My mother is quiet taken with you; you know.” Draco gave off-hand.
I hummed in acknowledgement thinking of the letter sitting on my bedside table. We meandered around the grounds, heading back to the front porch and inside to warm up.
“Reading anything riveting?” Draco teased as we curled up in the den by the fire.
I laughed softly and stood, taking his hand. I ignored his questioning and led him to the room adjacent from mine: my studio. The entire back wall was covered in floor to ceiling bookshelves holding all of the books, both muggle and wizarding, I had collected over the years.
_________________________________
Draco stared at the wall of books and trinkets. Some he recognized: old textbooks from prior years and items like a Sneakscope and Timeturner. Some things were clearly muggle: the pictures that didn’t move or the snow-globes that weren’t enchanted.
He had never seen so many muggle books resting so peacefully next to wizarding books. Some were new and the gold leaf still shined at him whereas others were dull and faded and he could barely make out the titles. Carefully he ran his fingers over the spine of the nearest book.
“Pride and Prejudice?” He muttered, frowning looking at the cluster of Jane Austen books.
“Sense and Sensibility is better,” You mumbled, and his eyes flickered to the well-worn book beside its sister. “And it’s too complicated for me to try and pay attention to right now. Get out of Jane Austen,” You advised, pulling him a bit further down.
“Of Mice and Men?” He mused, looking at the smaller book that was also well worn. 
“Ugh,” You scoffed. “Awful ending.”
“Then why are you keeping it?” He gave you a pointed look.
“Not all books have happy endings, it would be stupid to only keep the ones that did,” You whispered softly.
His eyes followed the names of the books not being able to distinguish one from another— Animal Farm, The Princess Bride, Catcher in the Rye, Lord of the Flies, The Great Gatsby, The Scarlett Letter, The Crucible, The Phantom of the Opera, Fahrenheit 451. His eyes passed over your Chronicles of Narnia collection, one book missing—the one that he had.
“Romeo and Juliet?” His eyebrows furrowed.
The name was familiar to him for some reason. The book nested between Taming of the Shrew and Macbeth.
A laugh bubbled through your lips, a quiet amused sound.
“That’s worse than Pride and Prejudice,” You giggled. “Have you ever read Shakespeare?”
His eyes flashed to yours. You knew that answer. No, of course he hadn’t. Rolling your eyes, you took the book of the shelf and flipped to a random page of the wellworn book.
“Tis but thy name that is my enemy;
Thou art thyself, though not a Montague. 
What's Montague? it is nor hand, nor foot, 
Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part 
Belonging to a man. O, be some other name! 
What's in a name? that which we call a rose 
By any other name would smell as sweet;”
You looked at him and he blinked, his mind unravelling the words. It was almost worse than Divination books.
“They’re plays,” You explained. “Takes a lot of studying and there are versions that have a bit more updated English, but well,” You shrugged and slipped the book back into its place.
“Are they all like that?” He asked, looking at the row of Shakespeare books.
“Pretty much,” You sighed. “Here,” You reached across him and next to your Austen books, pulled out a book. “This should be a good book to read.”
“A Christmas Carol?” He read the title off the faded cover.
“It’s a classic,” You took his hand again and he let you lead him downstairs and back to the small sitting room with the lit fire and curled up on the couch under an afghan.
You began to read A Christmas Carol, and again he was lost in your words and expressions:
“Marely was dead, to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that. The register of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the undertaker, and the chief mourner. Scrooge signed it. And Scrooge’s name was good upon ’Change, for anything he chose to put his hand to.
Old Marley was as dead as a doornail.
Mind! I don’t mean to say that I know, of my own knowledge, what there is particularly dead about a doornail. I might have been inclined, myself, to regard a coffin-nail as the deadest piece of ironmongery in the trade. But the wisdom of our ancestors is in the simile; and my unhallowed hands shall not disturb it, or the Country’s done for. You will therefore permit me to repeat, emphatically, that Marley was as dead as a doornail”
Just as you began to read of the first ghost that came to Scrooge on Christmas Eve, your mother came into the small den.
“Y/n, Draco’s mother will be here within the hour, you need to get ready,” She eyed your casual attire of jeans and an oversized sweater.
You huffed and handed Draco the book, he kept the page and watched you head upstairs, sulking only slightly. It was such a you thing to do—complaining about being taken away from your book and forced to prepare to socialize.
Your mother hovered in the den and took a seat at the armchair adjacent to the sofa he resided on. He tensed, ready for backlash against the something he must have done wrong, but an amused smile reached your mother’s lips—one that he had seen on you more than a fair share of times. You didn’t look much like your mother, the only thing Draco found was that you two shared the same smile.
“I have to thank you Draco,” She spoke softly. “She is my entire world since her father passed, and I always feared that she would never let herself open up. You have done her a lot of good, and I know that her father would approve of you,” There was your smile on her lips again.
“I must thank you as well,” Draco spoke in the same soft manor. “For allowing her to be with me and for Pinnae. I know she probably would have found a way to do it anyway, but it means the world to her to have your support, as it does to me,” His eyes met the same shade as your eyes as he looked up—another similarity. “And I must apologize for the last month of summer. I thought I was keeping her safe by keeping her away,”
“All is forgiven, darling,” The pet name on your mother’s lips reminded him of his own mother’s habit. “Merlin knows I’ve tried to keep her from things to keep her safe... but she has a way of finding herself there anyway,”
“She is stubborn like that,” Draco mused, thinking of the first night that he knew of your Animagus.
“Yes, she is,” Your mother sighed.
“Is she staying healthy?” He asked. “I know she has a habit of not keeping warm,” 
Your mother mulled over the question then spoke.
“The winter has been affecting her more than before, she’s up half the night and sleeps half the day.” There was a soft sigh in her voice as worry blossomed in Draco’s chest at the new information. “She’s getting enough sleep and enough to eat, but I do worry about her. Ever since the change, she’s a bit more spontaneous in her sleeping habits.” The latter information pacified some of his worry.
“It’ll probably take some time for her to figure out,” He said mostly for his benefit. “But she won’t be alone in doing so,” He vowed.
“I know,” Your mother rose, smiling at him once more. “She might not have many friends, but the ones she does have are the most loyal I’ve ever seen,”
He nodded, thinking of Abby and even Pansy.
There was a chime from in the house and your mother rose heading to the foyer. Draco knew that it would be his mother at the door and stood as well. Greetings were made and just as your mother was about to call up to you, you descended the stairs, in a deep green dress he had never seen before. The fabric hugged you to your waist where it then flowed loosely to you knees. The long sleeves and high collar gave him comfort that you would be warm. The sheer black stockings you had paired with the dress seconded that comfort.
Draco gaped at you, deciding that he loved you in green. The night of the summer ball flashed in his mind and the green dress you wore then. He knew that it was stupid to give into house colors with you but Merlin you looked great in Slytherin colors.
“Mrs. Malfoy,” You greeted with the same decorum as the Ball.
“Miss Y/n,” His mother smiled. “It has been too long my dear,”
You flushed and looked down, coming to stand beside him, your hand slipping into his as your mother led the lot of you all into the dining room. It was just as immaculately decorated as the rest of the house, though nothing was overdone or gaudy. It was simple, classy.
Your mother must have taken over cooking to allow you to spend the rest of the day with him, explaining the heavenly smells that emitted from the kitchen all day. There was something different about the food at your home. It was a bit messy and not all of the dishes matched and not everything was perfect, but Draco almost preferred it that way. He had spent too long in perfection; it was nice to have something new.
His mother spoke respectfully to you, asking you about your classes this year and how they had gone. A few times he had to nudge you before you slipped up about Pinnae accidently. Draco would never get over how much his mother absolutely adored you. You had stolen into her heart the same way you had his. If only you could do the same with his father.
As dinner ended, you rose to clear the table, and he joined you, having never done such a thing in his life. You set things carefully on the clean counters of the kitchen and it only took a few trips to rid the table of dinner and replace it with dessert.
__________________________________
I kept my eye on Draco all throughout dinner, worried that something might go wrong. Narcissa proved to be no trouble and his father was never in the topic of discussion. I still knew that Draco missed his father the same way that I missed mine on the holidays.
“Well, I must thank you for your hospitality, but I’m afraid I must be off now,” Narcissa rose gracefully with a kind smile. “Draco, be home before too long yes?”
Draco gave a curt nod as my mother saw Narcissa to the door. Draco slumped beside me, both of our facades falling.
“Well, that could have been worse,” I mused.
He chuckled and rubbed his face. I could see the weariness in his features.
“Dray?” I asked softly.
“When did everything get so complicated?” He mumbled.
I sighed and laid my head on his shoulder. He pressed a kiss to the top of my head and wrapped an arm around me.
“At least there’s presents? And Christmas? And us?” I offered. He hummed in acknowledgment.
Now that it was the Christmas season, I could officially watch The Sound of Music—a Christmas classic at home.
Draco studied me as I set up the DVR and hit play, curling up beside him on the couch. Since it was winter, the sun had set some time ago, leaving us in a soft darkness. The credits began to roll, and I laid my head on Draco’s shoulder, curling under an afghan.
“This is ridiculous,” He muttered halfway through.
I shushed him. I felt him sigh as his arm draped around my shoulders.
“Are you two ready?” My mother asked, coming in with three mugs.
“Ready?” Draco murmured in my ear as I sat up.
“Presents?” I grinned. “We do them on Christmas Eve, it’s our tradition. Then we undecorate on Christmas Day.”
“What?”
“Her father always insisted that as soon as Christmas is over all the decorations should come down. So, we take them down tomorrow.” My mother explained, handing us both mugs.
With the parcels covered in shiny paper distributed, I watched Draco marvel at the number of gifts in his lap. I nudged his shoulder letting him know that it was alright to start.
I started with my mother’s present to me—a new cloak that was a silvery white, matching Pinnae’s feathers. I thanked her and undid the recognizable paper from Abby’s gift. It was a leather-bound photo album. Frowning, I opened the cover and saw Abby and I as little kids dressed up as princesses. I smiled at the photo and ran my hand over the giggling girls. I looked over to Draco, wanting to show him and I paused; he was lost deep in the delicate pages of my gift to him: the entire Narnia collection in one leather bound book.
“It’s charmed,” I explained softly. “If it’s not me or you to open the book it reverts to an old book of spells,”
“Really?” He sounded surprised, not looking up from the carpet pages of finely detailed artwork. 
“Mom helped me with the magic,” I stole a glance her way and she was beaming at us.
She stood quietly and gave me a look, leaving us alone in the den to have a few last moments alone.
“You mean you didn’t read me the first book?” He muttered.
“Well, you walked in on me reading the second one,” I poked his side. “Here, this is from Abby,” I placed the photo album between us.
I opened the first page and he laughed at the picture of Abby and I. “You were such a dorky kid,” He chuckled.
“Yeah well,” I rolled my eyes.
The next page was our first day at Hogwarts, my hair was still impossibly long as Abby and I sat together on the Hogwarts Express. I laughed and pointed out Draco sulking in the background of the photo.
“Creep,” I teased.
The photos were a mix of muggle and magic, some moving, some static. Abby and I through the years: getting sorted into Hufflepuff, Christmases, summer vacations. Then there was a page that didn’t hold a photo, but a note:
From Ernie, Blaise, Hannah, Emme, Pansy and me~
The next page held a photo Draco and I at the third task, sitting in the stands. I felt secondhand awkwardness from the two of us in the photo. It was minutes before my entire world ended... or had just begun. The next photo was two of us in the hospital wing, fast asleep in each other’s arms. I ran my fingers over the photo.
Draco took the book from my hands and studied the photos, drawing the album closer to his face. I looked over his shoulder as he slowly flipped through the pages. Each of them was dated and titled:
Draco chasing off after Y/n, Yule Ball, June 21st
Draco and Y/n, Yule Ball, June 21st
Hogwarts Express, Draco and Y/n are prefects, Sept 1st
Draco staring at Y/n and smiling, Sept 13th
Draco and Y/n walking down the hall Sept 19th
Hogsmeade Trip, Oct 5th
Halloween, Hufflepuff Common Room, Oct 31st
Gryffindor v Slytherin Quidditch match, Nov 2nd
Draco fighting Harry, Nov 2nd
Y/n worrying over Draco after the fight, Nov 2nd
Draco and Y/n sleeping together again, Nov 3rd
Late night studying, Dec 12th
Draco and Pinnae, Dec 18th
There was another note at end along with the picture of the four of us the day Pansy found out about Pinnae in the snow:
Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times if one only remembers to turn on the light.
Tears well in my eyes as I rested my chin on Draco’s shoulder. He flipped a few pages back and untucked the photo of us sleeping together in the hospital wing. His slender fingers brushed over it before slipping it into the middle of his new book.
“That’s mine,” I whispered, pressing a kiss to his neck softly.
“Not anymore,” He smiled. “You have good friends,”
“We have good friends,” I corrected him softly, wrapping my arms around his neck.
“We do,” He shifted, closing the book and setting it with his before reaching into his coat and pulling out a small satin box. “This is from me,”
I stared at the box and with a shaking hand I took it, thumbing it open. Inside was a small locket with a shifting roaring lion engraved onto the front of it and familiar words onto the back:
“He isn’t safe, but he is good,” was written in a delicate script.
“Draco, I can’t take this,” I whispered, tears welling in my eyes at the emotions that rushed in my chest at the thought and love he put into the small gift.
“You can,” He pressed. “And will. Here,” He took it from my hands and released the locking mechanism.
A scene sprung to life before me, a halo of light. Balanced on top was a forest with dancing fawns and dwarves and centaurs around a bonfire. Lyre and flute music radiated from the scene. The sight shifted to a lion roaring atop a broken stone table. Then to a familiar ship on the high seas with a dragon circling it. A battle between a man and a snake in front of a silver chair. Then again, a lion, standing tall, proud.
“Draco,” I whimpered out, closing the locket and throwing my arms around his neck. “Thank you, thank you,” Tears fell down my cheeks as I buried my face in his shoulder.
His arms curled around me as he pulled me close.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen, or what the future holds,” He murmured. “But don’t give up on me.”
“Never,” I vowed. “Course he’s not safe,” I pulled away, running a hand through his hair. “But he is good. He is king,” My fingers softly stroked his cheek.
With the locket hung around my heck, Draco and I curled up together, watching the end the Sound of Music. My fingers toyed with the locket, rubbing over it again and again, afraid that it might just disappear.
I had to bid him a good night as the hour got later and we were together on the front porch alone. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I reached up and pressed a soft kiss to his lips. He responded immediately and pulled me close deepening the kiss, his hot breath mixing with mine. He tasted like tea and apple pie, a sweet intoxicating flavor.
Draco’s hand slipped down to the small of my back, pressing me against the warmth of his body. My fingers tangled and tugged at his hair earning a low throaty sound to emit from his chest. I responded with a soft mewl.
He pulled away, his hot breaths panting across my face. 
“Happy Christmas,” He breathed out.
“Mhmm,” I hummed out. “Christmas, yeah,”
He chuckled and pressed his lips back to mine fleetingly. 
“Goodnight, Feathers,”
“Night, Dray,”
 ___________________________________
Draco melted into his bed that night, watching the photo of you and him sleeping peacefully. There was an amity about the both of you, there was no worry or fear on his face and yours was smiling softly as you clung to him even in your sleep. It was almost as good as the book you had given to him.
Your mother’s present was lying beside him on the bed. He wasn’t supposed to show it to you, your mother had said: it was your father’s wand.
He sighed and looked at the note that came with it: 
~
Draco,
This was her father’s wand. She doesn’t know that I still have it. And she doesn’t know that it belongs to you as soon as you turn sixteen.
Lucius Malfoy killed Walter Y/l/n.
Lucius forfeited the wand, but it will respond to you. It has been a burden to me all of these years but perhaps it can find some peace with you. This is a secret that I share with you. This wand is unique: it knows to protect her, and it is loyal to you.
Keep her safe, I pass her and this wand to you, one Slytherin to another. You will always have a home in among this family.
~
He sighed and laid back in bed, twirling the wand in his hands. It was similar to his own in length. Birch with a unicorn hair. He wanted to be bitter towards your mother for keeping this secret from you, but the words she said earlier stopped him:
“Merlin knows I’ve tried to keep her from things to keep her safe...”
Was this keeping you safe? This secret that he now held? He knew that if nothing else, it had kept you a pure heart. He couldn’t imagine you’d ever give him a chance if you knew what his father did. He wondered what would have changed...
The morning came along with the small Christmas that he and his mother shared together. It was a quiet affair. He had gotten her a new bottle of ink and a golden quill for her drawings.
“This is from your father,” Her tone held disdain as she handed him a small velvet box. “It belonged to his father and now he passes it to you.”
Nested inside was nothing like the gift he had spent months making for you. Instead it was a weighty silver ring with the Malfoy crest on it. Slipping it onto his finger, the enchantment took place and resized to fit him perfectly.
“Any word of when he will return?” Draco asked, somber. 
“January 10th.” His mother sighed.
Draco nodded and drifted to the sitting room that held his piano and began to play familiar Christmas melodies before shifting into his mother’s favorites. She sat behind him on the sofa, working on her embroidery as he played. His melody shifted into something new. He frowned, knowing that it wasn’t anything that he had learned before.
“Composing?” His mother mused.
He didn’t comment. Instead he chased the melody that was fading from his mind, desperate to bring it back. Then he realized that his mind was chasing after you. You were his melody. With you at the forefront of his thoughts, he spent the next few days playing and writing the composition down. When he was certain that it was perfect and represented everything that you were to him, he smiled to himself.
Draco could still have you when his father was home. He would have no idea the melody was wrapped up in you.
“It’s beautiful,” His mother commended. “She’ll love it. You can play it for her tomorrow when she visits,”
And he did. With you sitting beside him on the piano bench, he played your song to you. You were absolutely mesmerized and asked him to play it again. Without knowing it, you had taken something else his father had forced him into and turned it into something beautiful.
Sitting in the rose garden as the stars came out, the year changed. A new beginning, and you were beside him. It was a muggle tradition, but he did kiss you when midnight came. Not that you’d complain.
When you pulled away from the gentle kiss, he about said something that he had forbidden himself from ever saying. No matter how sweet you were, how kind, how long you stayed, how loyal, no matter how much he cared for you, missed you when you were gone, and vowed to keep you safe, he couldn’t say what he wanted to.
He couldn’t tell you that he loved you.
He couldn’t trap you like that. He knew his future was dark and it loomed over him. He wasn’t going to tie you to him like that.
____________________________________
I held my tongue, a thousand confessions waiting to be unfurled. But I would wait. I would wait until Draco was ready to hear them. I didn’t let myself think that a few months would change everything that had him tied down and scared. I wouldn’t coerce him into anything. I would give him time to figure out his emotions and I would wait for him to heal.
Because I loved him.
And I would love him while I waited. I would love him while he healed. I would love him as he went through darkness and despair. I would love him as years of neglect and abuse untied him. I would love him until he was ready to love me.
So, I didn’t say a word.
I spent the next week over at Draco’s, like I had in the summer, but this time, we were working on spells. Everything that I had learned from D.A. I taught to him. His mother suggested to invite Pansy and Abby over as well during the afternoons to join our efforts.
It was a lot easier to cast Disarming and Stunning spells on Pansy and Abby than it had been on Draco. Narcissa joined us one afternoon, watching us, guiding and aiding where we were failing. Draco was losing focus too easily, Pansy needed to work on her wand movements, Abby needed to pronunciate more and I needed to put my heart behind wanting to perform the spells.
“You’re thinking about them incorrectly.” Narcissa stood behind me. “Think not about the intention to attack what’s in front of you, but to protect what’s behind you. Draco, come,”
Narcissa and Draco switched places, he was standing behind me and she was before me, her wand out and raised. I took a deep breath in, understanding what she meant. I had no ill will against her, but I would protect Draco.
We bowed, entering a proper duel. She cast a hex and I blocked it easily, before rebounding it with my own jinx. She deflected it effortlessly and almost knocked me down with a Stunning spell.
“Mean it Y/n!” She coached. “You want to protect him!? You want to save him!?”
“Mother!” Draco argued.
“No,” I panted softly. “I can do this. She’s right,”
I blocked her jinx that in my deflection almost hit Draco, who dropped out of the way thankfully. Enraged I turned back to her.
“Impedimenta!” I shouted. 
And it worked.
She was frozen in the snow. 
“Expelliarmus!”
Her wand flew from her hand. Beaming, I undid the Impediment Hex and picked up her wand which had landed in the frost by my feet.
“Very well, my dear,” Narcissa glowed. “There is a fighter in you yet,”
Draco picked me up in a twirling hug and Pansy and Abby were all cheering. We went back to dueling, now it was more for fun than work. Narcissa watched us still, encouraging and teaching us. Until she tensed, the color draining from her face.
“Bellatrix,” She hissed, vanishing from the backyard.
Draco cursed and grabbed my hand, pulling me behind the nearest shrub. With the cloak that my mother had given to me for Christmas, I almost blended in with the snow. Pansy and Abby were crouched down with us.
“Y/n, you need to get out of here,” Draco’s eyes were fixed on the house. “Now.”
“But what about Abby?” I squeaked.
“She’ll be fine,” Pansy nodded to me. “Bella likes me, she’ll be safe with me,” I met Pansy’s stark green eyes and an agreement passed between us.
Nodding, I tried to keep my breathing under control.
“Pinnae!” Abby whispered at me as if it were obvious. “Get out of here Y/n!”
I looked at my friends and closed my eyes, morphing into Pinnae and taking perch deep within the shrub.
“Don’t go until we’ve cleared the house.” Draco ordered.
I chirped and watched them all head towards the house, disappearing inside. Then I took off into the sky.
_____________________________
“Draco, darling,” Bellatrix cooed wickedly. “You remind me so much of your father,” 
“Aunt Bellatrix,” He greeted politely.
“Well, aren’t you going to introduce me to your little friends?” Her wild eyes flashed to Pansy and Abby.
“Bella,” His mother chided. “Draco was just seeing them off. And you know Parkinson. The other is a classmate.” Her voice left no room for more questions or argument.
His mother gave him a stern look and he quickly ushered Pansy and Abby through the front door. His eyes immediately scanned the skies for you. He thought he could make out your form perched on one of the barren trees, but he couldn’t be sure.
“Pansy,” He started.
“I’ve got it. Abby will talk to Pinnae. We’ll give word that she’s safe.”
Draco nodded and headed back inside, pacing the halls. He headed to his bedroom and slammed the door, casting a Silencing Charm on the room before letting out a roar of frustration. He didn’t know how much time passed as he paced the room but jumped when there was a chirp from his window.
He relaxed when he saw that the owl wasn’t you, but a screech owl, a letter tied to it’s ankle.
 ~ Malfoy,
Pinnae is home.
Parkinson
~
Draco sagged in relief and threw the letter into the fire lit in his hearth. Just once in his life he wanted a day where nothing would go wrong. He just wanted to be happy and safe with you. Was that too much to ask?
Apparently, it was for the last few days of the winter holiday. 
Epilogue:
“The Dark Lord is adamant about his recruitment,” Bellatrix purred. “A fine young mind to mold into the ways of the Dark Lord.”
“He is my son, Bellatrix.” Narcissa snarled. “He is not of age until the summer. When that time comes the choice belongs to him and him alone. Until then, you have no business here,” A cold glare passed between them.
“Do I sense disloyalty?” Bellatrix tilted her head, mocking a pout. “The Dark Lord does not tolerate disloyalty, sister mine,”
“I do not belong to the Dark Lord, sister mine,” Narcissa gritted out. “Or have you forgotten?”
“No,” She scoffed. “A foolish mistake. Who else deserves loyalty but him?” 
“My family,” Narcissa snapped. “And my son.”
“I am your family!” Bellatrix shouted. “Have you changed your mind about the war perhaps? Deciding to follow the footsteps of our dear sister? Or perhaps our outlawed cousin? You were admirable little sister, before you went off and married that foolish Malfoy.”
“I will not stand here and allow you to speak of my husband or my son in such a manner. You have no business here Bellatrix. Leave this place.” Narcissa’s tone was ice cold.
“His time will come Cissy, and he will belong to the Dark Lord,”
A loud crack and Narcissa was left alone in the cold house once more. 
“I wouldn’t be so certain,” She whispered to the empty room.
.
Chapter 5
End Note: Please let me know what you think! Your words and reblogs are so important to me always! Don’t be afraid to reblog and comment! I’m nice I swear!
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daebakinc · 3 years
Text
D-1: Brownie Points
Tumblr media
Pairing: Pixie Baekhyun x Brownie Reader
Au: Fairy AU
Genre: Fluff, Angst
Word Count: 1.8K
Empty! Empty, empty, empty!
You stomp your foot in frustration as you look at the two bowls in front of you. One should be filled with milk, the other honey with a bit of bread. Instead, there’s only a thin line of dried cream and a sheen of honey with crumbs of bread too small for a being as tiny as you.
Obviously it wasn’t that the family you live with forgot. Ever since you let the youngest child briefly glimpse you, the family has faithfully left the bowls out for you out of gratitude. After all, not every family is blessed with a brownie.
You know you’re an exceptional brownie too. You make sure the hay they harvest remains fresh and sweet, the sheep always have the softest wool to fetch the best price at market, and not a single animal or human falls ill on the farm. That’s just a little of what you do. But this family deserves it for their hard work and kind hearts.
It isn’t their fault there’s a thief about.
A rumbling growl comes from behind you. When you turn around, you see the family cat trotting towards you, something held in her mouth. That something has wings that glitter in the starlight.
As soon as you see what she has, you cross your arms and glare. “It was you, wasn’t it?”
The pixie grins cheekily despite the collar of his shirt being firmly gripped in a carnivore’s teeth. “Hello to you too, sweet pea. No idea what you’re talking about.”
“Wherever there’s mischief, there’s a pixie, and you, Baekhyun, are a frequent perpetrator on my farm.”
“Your farm?” Baekhyun cocks his head and examines you, squinting his eyes. “I didn’t know you turned human. Looks like you forgot some height.” 
Ignoring him, you walk over to the cat and put a hand on its leg. “Diana, thank you for catching him. Could you release him please?”
With a chirp, the cat drops him and trots back off to the barn. Regrettably, Baekhyun doesn’t crumble into an undignified heap like he deserves. He catches himself before his toes even hit the ground, his wings fluttering fast as a hummingbirds. Dumb pixies always showing off their wings and how graceful they are.
“Thanks,” Baekhyun says, smiling even wider than before. “Well, I’m off!”
You grab his ankle before he can fly off. “Not so fast! You ate my dinner! I earned that with honest work and you stole it.”
He rolls his eyes. “Why’re you making a big deal about it? It’s not like the humans are never going to feed you again.”
“It’s the principal of the thing. You pixies just fly around all night causing nothing but trouble. This isn’t the first time you’ve gone out of your way to cause problems I have to clean up!”
“Name one other time,” he huffs.
“When you tangled the plough horse’s mane and the harnesses so I had to spend a whole night just fixing those.”
“I-”
“When you unraveled all of the spinning from the day.”
“That-”
“When you made all the apples I picked turn sour.”
“Come on,” Baekhyun laughs. “You have to admit, the faces the humans made on that first bite were hilarious!”
They were, but Baekhyun is crazy if he thinks you’ll say it aloud. You know he doesn’t do all these things from a place of malice. He can’t help but cause little troubles because he’s a pixie; it’s what pixies do. But the way he seems to target you in particular just gets old sometimes.
Sighing, you let go of him. “Byun Baekhyun, just don’t mess with my farm, please. I have work to do.”
As you turn to go to the barn, Baekhyun flits in front of you. “Don’t you ever take a night off? To have fun? Do you even know that word?”
“I love my work,” you move around him, “so my work is fun. Unlike some people who’ve never worked a day in their life.”
Baekhyun flies alongside you over the damp grass. “Just take one night off. I know this really cool pond in the forest with these dragonflies big enough for us to ride! Sometimes unicorns even go there. I could take you.”
“No, Baekhyun. I have other things to do.”
“Fine. See ya later, brownie.”
The irritation in his voice surprises you. You’ve never heard him anything close to angry before. He’s always just happy Baekhyun. Turning to look at his face, you find he’s already gone.
“Oh well,” you think to yourself. He’ll get over it and be back to his tricks. Maybe you’ll get a few nights of peace if he really is miffed.
Your prediction seems correct. He doesn’t show up for the next three nights in a row. The quiet in the absence of his chatter at you makes your ears ring. Even if he never raised a finger to help, preferring to just fly around you and talk, you almost miss him. Then, you shake your head and think better of it.
The night of the new moon, while you’re refreshing the family’s store of dried herbs, you hear a sheep bleating. Lambing season is far off and your wards keep predators away... Still, you should check. When you slip out the front door, your feet freeze and your heart stops. 
The sheep pasture is completely empty.
“Daisy!” you cry as you run towards the pasture. “Rosy! Camellia! Lilly! Tulip!”
Silence.
As you reach the gate, you find it wide open. You know it wasn’t like that when you checked at dusk. Whirling around, you run around the farm, calling every ewe’s name. They’re nowhere to be found. Then, you reach where the farm ends and the forest begins. There, stuck on a briar bush is a strand of wool.
You collapse to the ground. Tears stream down your face as you clutch the wool to your chest. They’re gone. The forest is enormous; there’s too much ground for you to cover without wings.
Someone says your name.
Your eyesight blurred, you look up.
It’s Baekhyun, his eyes concerned and mouth twisted downward in a frown. Hovering above you, one of his hands is outstretched toward you. Then, you see what’s in his other hand.
The rope that locks the pasture’s gate.
“You!” you screech. “You let the herd out!”
“Look,” Baekhyun lurches out of reach when you lunge for the rope. He actually does sound apologetic as he says, “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean for all of them to get out. I was just going to let out one-.”
“You’re sorry?” you yell. “They’re all gone, Baekhyun! Without the herd, the family is ruined! I’m ruined!”
“I just wanted you to come play with me...”
“Play with you?” You laugh, the sound harsh. You throw up your hands. “Well, congratulations! Soon, I’ll get to play with you whenever because soon, I’m going to be homeless when the family has to leave! And what family is going to want a brownie like me now?”
Baekhyun’s wings falter and his eyes dart from the pasture to the woods, like he’s finally realizing what he did. “I’m... I’m sorry,” he says softly. His eyes shine with tears, but you can’t find sympathy to spare. 
“Go away, Baekhyun,” you whisper, brushing off your clothes and wiping at your face. Your chest feels heavy and hollow all at once.
“Wait!” Baekhyun flies in front of you, nearly hitting his head on yours. “I can fix it!”
“Whatever. Don’t you think you’ve ‘fixed’ enough tonight?” You take the rope from his hand, more tears choking your voice. “Just go.”
Not knowing what else to do, you trudge to the barn to do what you can. But even the simple magic of putting out hay and grooming the horse is exhausting. All you can think of is how after all this time of finding the perfect home and family, you’re going to lose it and have to start over again.
In the hay loft, you find Diana. She doesn’t crack an eye, but starts purring when you snuggle up to her. Just a short nap. Maybe this will all prove to be a bad dream when you wake up.
It feels like you just closed your eyes when a sound whispers its way into your ears.
You jolt up, listening. The pipe song is enticing and sweet, growing louder with each second. Pushing off the still sleeping cat, you run to the barn door.
At first, you see nothing. Then, movements of white in the forest. You hold your breath, unable to believe in miracles.
One sheep emerges from the woods. Another follows it, then another.
Joy and disbelief coursing through you, you sprint toward them, blind and deaf to everything else, calling, “Chamomile! Amaryllis! Peony!”
The lead ewe, Daisy, lowers her head and nudges you as you reach her, her breath hot as she snorts.
“You’re back,” you cry, clinging to her nose and breathing in her wooly smell.
“I got them all. I double checked.”
Baekhyun stands from his seat on Daisy’s shoulders. He glides down and lands in front of you, tucking his pipe into his belt. This is the first time you’ve actually see him touching earth. The sheep calmly continue walking past you to return to their pasture.
Baekhyun looks at his feet as he says, “I- I was wrong. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have messed with the animals. I know how much you care about them and the family.”
Who is this creature in front of you? It can’t be Baekhyun... He would never speak words like this.
“It’s my turn to guard the springs, so my brothers are all gone on their own adventures. I got lonely. I just wanted to have some fun with you since you’re the only other fairy around, but it was really selfish and stupid of me to try to get your attention this way.”
He’s not wrong, but you hadn’t known about his family. You’d thought he just liked bugging you for the heck of it.
“I really am sorry. I promise I’ll never do anything to you or the humans here again.” His wings droop and with a sigh, he turns his back to you. “I’ll leave you all alone for good.”
Baekhyun looks pathetic as he looks over his shoulder at you one more. Another sigh, and he starts walking away, wings dragging behind him. He looks so small and alone, you can’t help yourself.
“Baekhyun, wait!” you call.
He stops, but doesn’t look back.
“After I lock the gate... I haven’t eaten my honey, bread, and milk yet... If you want to join.”
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Dog of the Military- Chapter 31
Chapter 31- Shopping
"Can we go to the High Market?" Ed asked hopefully as he bounced into the passenger seat of Roy's car.
"Brother. That place is crawling with sketchy people." Al admonished from where he was settling into the entire backseat of the car.
"We aren't going anywhere until you two put on your seatbelts." Roy admonished, shooting a glance over at both boys witheringly.
There was clanking from the backseat as Alphonse hurried to comply.
Ed blew out a breath and rolled his eyes.
"I don't see why I gotta wear a seat belt. My automail can't be broken. And Al's a suit of armor- nothing can hurt him!"
"No, but Alphonse could hurt us. If there was a crash and Al were to get thrown forward, we could be hurt. And you might have automail, Ed, but you're not invincible."
Ed crossed his arms. "It's stupid. Don't tell me what to do."
"Oh, so you think I'm being bossy, huh?" Roy asked.
"Ed, just put it on." Al piped up from the backseat. There was a click. Al was too large to fit the middle seat seat belt, so he had taken 2 seat belts from either side of the backseat and fastened them both over himself in an x-like fashion.
"I'm tired of old people trying to tell us what to do, Al!" Ed protested.
"It's for your own good, you know." Roy supplied patiently. "Seatbelts reduce the risk of death by 45% and cut the risk of serious injury to 50%(1). They also hold you in place so you don't get ejected in a crash. 3 of 4 people who get ejected from a vehicle don't survive(1). You wouldn't want to do that to Al, would you?"
Ed was silent.
"Remember that car crash was saw in Bresh, brother?" Al added. "We couldn't do anything to help. Everyone was gone. All we could do was cover up the mess with blankets so that the teenager's families wouldn't see them. Maybe if they'd been wearing seat belts it'd have been different."
Ed clicked his seatbelt into place. "Fine, whatever. Let's get going we have shopping to do."
Roy turned the key in the ignition and started out.
"So- does anyone want anything specific from the store?" Roy asked.
"Waffles." Ed said happily. "And soft pretzels."
"Scented candles." Al added.
"You're gonna polish yourself with that flowery smelling wax again aren't you?" Ed spoke up.
"It's the closest thing I can get to deodorant, brother." Al sounded slightly hurt.
"I know. Get some of those cucumber melon candles-I like the smell of those." Ed said quietly.
"Okay." Al brightened significantly.
"I wanna go to the High Market too." Ed piped up, looking over at Roy.
"For what?" Roy was wary. The high market sold useful things, but it was also a backdoor apothecary that sold unregulated pharmaceuticals and other odd, possibly illegal substances in the alley under the guise of traditional medicine.
"They got those cookies that have your future written inside them!" Ed looked childish with excitement.
"You need a cookie to tell you that?" Roy scoffed. "I could tell you for free. 'you will be short and miserable'."
Al sniggered from the backseat and Ed frowned. "Normally I would yell at you for that, but I wanna go to the High Market. So can we go?"
"Yes. IF you two stay close to me and we don't take long."
"Score!" Ed pumped his fist in the air, looking excited.
"What do you want to get shopping, Colonel?" Al asked.
Mustang shrugged. "Trash bags, milk, butter, eggs, bread, jam."
"Boring stuff." Ed added.
Roy pulled into the shopping center. "You say that, but I don't see you complaining when we eat dinner."
"Can we get Mac n' cheese?"
"Yes, we can get a few boxes."
"Can we get frozen burritos and ramen?"
Roy wrinkled his nose. Ever since Ed moved in with them, he'd realized the kid seemed to live off microwaved food.
"Yes, a couple. But you need to eat a vegetable every once in awhile." he got out of the car, and Ed did the same.
"Well excuse me for being too busy to go harvest nature's bounty." Ed scoffed.
"Guys!" Al called from the back, muffled by the car doors.
"What's up, Al?" Roy turned around to see Al still strapped into the back seat, his large hands struggling with the seatbelts.
"Can you unbuckle me? I'm stuck!?"
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"Okay, this actually isn't so bad." Roy had his list nearly halfway completed. Ed insisted on standing on the bottom rack of the cart and holding onto the back to ride it, but Al was pushing, so Roy couldn't complain. And Al was tall enough to reach everything on the top shelf.
"Ed- name something that isn't microwaved that you'll eat."
"Peanut butter sandwhich."
"Done." Roy grabbed a jar of peanut butter off the shelf and tossed it into the cart.
"Fruits and vegetables you like?"
"Fruitsnacks!" Ed looked excited, pointing at a large box. "Those are the best, Mom used to get those for me!"
"Yeah I remember those." Al sounded excited as well.
It melted Roy's resolve. Just a little. He picked up the box. It said it was amde with real fruit juice. That was close enough to a fruit, wasn't it? If Trisha Elric had bought them for the boys, they couldn't be horrible.
"Okay. Fine. But REAL fruits, now."
"I don't have time for real fruits. I'm constantly running around to headquarters or the library." Ed complained.
Roy couldn’t argue with the kid. He was pretty busy. But still, that wasn't an excuse to live out of vending machines.
"Alright, so how about a grab and go snack. You like applesauce?"
"Yeah."
Roy snagged a box of applesauce pouches and threw it into the cart, then kept going. He just had to make sure Ed didn't realize they gave those applesauce pouches to toddlers commonly. Because he doubted Ed would care enough to grab a spoon or a more traditional applesauce cup.
"What about yogurt?" Roy asked.
Ed narrowed his eyes. "Milk." he groused from where he was holding onto the cart.
"Cheese sticks?" Roy held up the package enticingly.
"Okay." Ed acquiesced. "It doesn't taste like milk."
They were just about done shopping- the only thing left was to get coffee.
Roy started off towards the aisle but stopped when he realized Al wasn't following pushing the cart.
The boy was looking at a duster in the cleaning aisle. "Throw it in the cart, Al. I'll dust your armor off tonight if you want." he said. Al couldn't really eat, but it wasn't fair to exclude the boy from shopping.
"Thank you!"
"It's nothing. Let's get going. I want to hit the yellow market before it gets too late.".
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It got dark early in the fall. So even though it was only a little after 5, dusk was setting in on the city as he and the boys parked alongside the street in the nicer part of town and walked towards the yellow market.
Ed had an excited bounce in his step at the prospect of fortune cookies, and Al was hoping to find stray cats.
The warm glow of streetlights faded as they entered the rougher neighborhood of town- a block or so was dark, before the hanging string lights and colorful candle lanterns lit up the street.
The barren streets of central melted into a new landscape of men shouting about wares in a Xingese tongue. Men with cone-shaped hates and women in flowing garb, as well as children and stray dogs ran though the streets, adding to the commotion and the smells and sights of the market.
People were selling vibrant flowers, roast seafood on sticks, and a variety of meat and pastries.
One market stall had a variety of little animals made of colored paper, and Alphonse stopped to look.
The children stopped running and playing with their sticks and hoops when they saw Edward and stared, whispering among themselves.
Roy wondered if they recognized him as the Fullmetal Alchemist or not. Normally children were enthralled by Alphonse and his armor, not Edward...
A cold wind blew, rustling the paper lanterns and scattering the children. They took off down various alleyways and down the street.
It unnerved Roy, for some reason.
Ed had found the shop he was looking for- an old woman selling the cookies he wanted.
She shakily bagged them up for him and they chatted as he got out his money to pay her.
Alphonse squatted to set a stray cat near the mouth of an alley.
The quiet suddenly struck Roy as odd. The market callers had stopped shouting about their wares and people had stopped chattering. Mothers took their children and went to other stalls further away from them.
A woman ran into Roy and fell, scattering her things on the ground.
"Sorry!" she exclaimed, her angular Xingese eyes drawing him in.
"No, not a problem at all." Roy bent to help her pick up her scattered items, though he couldn't stop the hairs of unease form standing up on the back of his neck.
As they both picked up the fallen items from the ground, the woman leaned closer to him, eyes wide. "You must leave now. They will come for the boy. Men offer lot of money for him. Children go get men- they take boy."
Roy froze for a moment, before he nodded, handing her one of the items he'd been picked up and straightening.
"Edward! Al!"
Ed had paid for his cookies- the old woman at the shop had somehow given him a large stick of candy as well and was patting him on the head.
"What?" Ed asked, looking annoyed at the interruption.
"We're going. Now." his voice left no room for argument, and Ed fell into step beside him and Al as they headed back the way they came.
"But we just got here." Ed complained.
"You got your cookies. Now let's go."
He couldn't shake the feeling they were being watched, though they got home that night without incident.
Yes- I know that in cannon the year is like 1920. I just like to imagine Roy taking his boys to walmart. I don’t know why, but it’s a balm for my soul.
Obligatory ko-fi link here; https://ko-fi.com/fluffykitty12 .
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stormcallart-blog · 3 years
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|| A Sliver of Moonlight ||
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Life is pretty boring serving for the slowly decaying villa in the countryside in Toussaint. It's when a Witcher comes clamoring into your life that it all changes. Grabbing a few herbs from the city shouldn’t be that bad, right?
Geralt x Reader, Mature content: depictions of injury, gore, violence, animal death, unresolved sexual tension. 
This is based off of the Witcher 3 DLC, but no real spoilers! I just love the vibe of it so much. Tbh this is old, wrote it about a year ago but love it so much that I thought I’d post it. Not too sure if I’d do another chapter, but maybe if the mood strikes!
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The estate known as Corvo Bianco Vineyard had been your home since you could remember. Your parents had grown tired of the cold in Skellige when you were but a babe and had made the journey to the endless heat and beautiful landscapes of Toussant. Years had come and gone and with those years so did the owners of the Vineyard. You went from plucking grapes to planting olive trees to tending the grounds as the owners made one financial mistake after another. Where once was beautiful herb gardens there was now only crumbling leaves and rotting wood, the stables were now empty and the once beautiful main house began to peel and fall apart. The last owner had dumped all his coin into just keeping the Vineyard afloat and when he couldn’t anymore handed it off to the Duchess, who luckily saw it fit enough to still need the workers.
No longer needed for picking the Vineyard stock you were tasked to look for herbs for the cooking staff. Even with spending most of your days in the sweltering summer heat searching for various herbs you were thankful, especially since you had gained a new found interest in Alchemy. How a certain concoction could heal wounds or cure illnesses fascinated you to no end and you were desperate for more of that knowledge.
When the whispers of the Beast of Toussant emerged you were hesitant. Whispers of the beast deep in the cellars of Corvo Bianco spiked your interest a little too much. All the workers on the estate stayed far away, sometimes in the night you could hear it scrape its claws against the stone, sending shivers down your spine. Your novice knowledge of alchemical things made it impossible to even research any kind of repellent against the beast, not like it would help since not a soul knew what the beast actually was.
One warm night it came, hissing and slashing through the Duchesses guardsmen as it barreled back into its den as you watched shaking from your chamber. It was terrifying as it moved, slashing and gnawing at the duchesses men as if they were nothing more than paper. All hope seemed lost until a man clad in black with a sword so bright it seemed to hold the moon, silver no doubt, made his way after the monster. His hair as white as his blade and yes, you were sure of it, even from your bedroom there was no mistaking those golden eyes. A Witcher.
Never before had you seen one, your heart leapt at the thought. They were master swordsmen and even better alchemists , expert monster hunters in every way. You had no doubt he would be the one to slay the monster of Toussant .With bated breath you waited for the silver haired man to emerge victorious, tapping your fingers against the windowsill in nervous excitement. Just when you thought maybe the Witcher had fallen prey to the beast a flash of white hair stepped out into the moonlit night once again.
However before you could get a good look at him he was gone from sight, riding off on a dark horse into the warm night air. You sighed, noting the amount of bloodshed and work that awaited the villa in the morning.
That night you tossed and turned, dreams filled with the man they call the Witcher.
After the gorey cleanup you stomached with a handful of other workers the following day, all was quiet. No beast stirred from the depths of the vineyard and it seemed like life would continue just as boring as it had been before you set eyes on that White Wolf.
You heard it from one of the kitchen maids first. A new owner was on their way with the deed to Corvo Bianco! It was hard to remember the last time the estate had ever been governed, which made you both nervous and excited at the same time. Curious of the new owner you wanted to get a good look when they came striding down the street.
Busying yourself with some wild mint that grew from the picket by the road you waited, peering up every few minutes to keep an eye out. The sounds of hooves beating against the stone pulled you from your harvesting as you watched in awe as he neared. The Witcher. The Witcher was head of the estate at Corvo Bianco? Your jaw clenched to keep from hanging as he strode by, yellow cat-like eyes regarding you for merely a second before he continued towards the main house. So it was true!
Your fellow workers were… less enthused about the new owner. Most just scoffed and went about their work, while others tossed around names you’d never heard before but were sure they were not meant endearingly towards the Witcher.
You found him interesting. Knowing very little about them you were less inclined to see them as sub-humans as most others seemed to suggest. If anything he just seemed… exotic. And there was no denying that what you had seen of him so far was attractive.
The smell of fresh mint tickled your nose, peering down to see you’d driven your nails into its soft leaves, pushing the smell into the air. Surely the main quarters kitchen would need some for dinner tonight, a perfect excuse to learn more about the Witcher. The servant entrance was easy enough to slip into, silently greeting the cook who pushed her finger against her lips as you entered. Laughing softly you both listened in.
The Majordomo introduced himself but you weren't prepared for what came next. The deep timbre of the man who spoke nearly knocked you sideways from just a mere greeting. That was definitely … not what you had expected, but not that you were complaining.
The rest was fairly boring conversation which explained the updates needed for the estate to which the Witcher stood silently and listened.
“He’s called the White Wolf.” The cook whispered with a cheeky grin, “ Arrived in Toussaint only a few days ago on orders for the Duchess.”.
“Imelda, you are shameless!” You teased as she smiled, “How do you find this out so quickly?”.
“Advantages of working in the main house kitchen, my dear. ” she said with a wink. “Here child, take this bowl of fruit and set it in the dining room for me , would you?”
Squinting at her smile you took the small bowl of fruit from the table, taking a deep breath before opening the door and stepping into the center room. Walking around you saw the Majordomo first, dark circular glasses facing you. The Witcher had his back towards you, listening as the Majordomo spoke, shoulders square and standing much taller than you first would have thought. His silver hair was shoulder length and lay against the metal chain padding across his broad shoulders. You must’ve been staring because the Majordomo coughed, shocking you out of your daydreaming, prompting the Witcher to turn to see the disturbance.
His golden irises met your own, the slits of his pupils striking as they flared in the firelight. It was impossible to speak while caught in his gaze as he examined you silently. His light brows furrowed , proud nose flaring as he peered down at the fruit bowl you undoubtedly had in a death grip. His grizzled face split into a wry grin as his armored hand reached into the bowl and plucked out an apple. “Thanks.” He spoke flatly, holding the apple up with a slight nod of his head.
You didn’t speak, you couldn’t. You felt trapped, entranced even. Instead you nodded back before hastily placing the bowl down on the dining table.
“I’d like to work on revitalizing the herb garden first.” The deep thrum of the Witcher’s voice bounced off the barren walls. The very mention of the herb garden had you turned on your heels to meet the steely cat-like gaze once again.
The Majordomo nodded excitedly as the Witcher handed over the coin, “That is a good start, sir!” he added in cheerfully, “Y/N here is our closest thing to an herbalist, surely she wouldn’t mind picking up the necessary ingredients.”
The Witcher's creased eyebrows flicked slightly in a mute expression of surprise, “So you know herbs, hm?” his gritty voice almost seemed amused.
“Y-yes.” You spoke finally, a small smirk lined his features, peeking out over a white beard. He let out a chuckle that seemed almost cold, “So tell me then, how does one harvest Ribleaf?”.
The question almost made you laugh. You weren’t professionally trained but certainly not that much of a novice. It surprised even you how confidently the words left your mouth, “Cut from the bottom of the stock, try to pluck or remove from any other point and it’s practically useless.”.
If the Witcher was impressed he was damn good at not showing it. “Very good.” His deep voice bellowed in an even tone, eyes studying you even still. “I’ll leave it to you then.” Was all he managed before he turned for the exit.
Hastily you turned to exit through the kitchen, so caught up in thought you didn’t catch the Witcher’s eyes trail after you as he exited into the sunlight. Imelda was already smiling as you closed the door behind, trying hard not to laugh at your flustered expression, “So? How is the famous White Wolf?” she said lightly, stirring the soup she’d been working on.
“Almost as intimidating as staring down a Gryphon.” You breathed out, mind still reeling from that look. Whatever Imelda said next was lost on you, mind still lingering on the golden irises that seemed to read your mind. Could Witchers read minds? Gods, you hoped not. It was amazing how quickly the workers began tending the Herb Garden as soon as the White Wolf forked over the funds. The Majordomo followed suit and bid the Witcher farewell before the armor-clad warrior mounted his steed and took off into another great adventure no doubt. You heaved a heavy sigh, almost jealous that his life seemed so filled with adrenaline whilst you sat around most days picking ingredients or tending to the ground's needs. The Majordomo turned to you quickly, withdrawing a list from his little notebook, “Ah, there you are! Here is the list. Please go into town and gather these seeds and plants from an Alchemist.” he finished by dropping a good sum of gold into your open palm , eyes widening at the weight in your hand. You had never held so much gold in your life.
“Do you wish for me to go now?” You tried not to sound ungrateful, for any chance to go into town was a welcomed one, but half a day's walk nonetheless.
“Preferably while the day is still young.” He spoke with a high dialect.
“Of course.” You said without a pip of disobedience, you’d walked those roads before and with a knife strapped across your thigh you were confident you could make it there and back.
You grabbed a sizable satchel and placed a good amount of gold in several hidden pockets, just in case. Luckily it was much cooler this morning than it had been all week, the smell of grass and ripening fruit blowing through your tresses as you set off up the hill. The walk to Beauclair was long and uneventful. You stopped briefly here and there to take a break or spotting a herb that was marked on the list , finding it easier to pluck than spend the extra gold for it in town. The Quiet of rolling hills slowly gave away to idle chatter of the city, smells quickly turning sweet to sour, always was a stark contrast to the countryside life. You enjoyed the capitol but the rose-tint seemed to fade quickly while within its walls. Spotting the Alchemists shop sign you weaved in and out of beggars and Duchesses men alike, Rich and poor mingling into a sea of endless faces. There was only one word for the crowds of people, overwhelming.
The shop was a cozy hideaway, empty save for the shopkeeper and her wares. The smell of incense wafted into the air , its smoke crowding at the ceiling, mingling with the earthy smell of plants. Greeting her plainly you read off the list and examined the herbs thoroughly before making a sale, walking back into the late afternoon sun a few gold coins lighter but with quite a sizable workload to haul back. The thought crossed your mind to stop by one of the taverns and have a refresher before returning, with your own coin of course, but you knew if you waited much longer night would fall on your journey back and that’s the last thing you wanted.
All tension faded with the chatter as cobblestone streets gave way to dirt roads and open fields once again. It was nice to breathe without feeling boxed in. Your steps were slower this time, sweat rolling down your temples as the bag seemed to only gain weight with every passing minute. You stopped, pulling the small glass container of water you’d stored away and took a few refreshing gulps before totting the satchel over your shoulders and continued on. At this pace you may not make it back to Corvo Bianco before nightfall and the thought alone made your stomach sink.
It was an arduous journey back home, cursing yourself for picking up a few extra things as the leather strap bit into your shoulder. You guessed you maybe had another hour to go before you could finally unburden yourself, but dusk was nipping at your ankles. Trying to take your mind off the weight you looked out into luscious fields, grateful that the journey had been void of monsters when you saw it. The long stalks of red poking out in a lone field was like an oasis in the desert. Eyes lighting up you stared in disbelief, taking a few extra seconds to confirm what you’d seen. It was Winter Cherry. One of the rarest herbs to come across, something not even the Alchemist shop had in stock. Your heart swelled, remembering the many benefits you’d read not so long ago on your last trip to Beauclaire.
Hoisting the bag higher you set out towards the plant, long blades of grass tickling your ankles and knees, the patch of land long forgotten. You withdrew the blade from your stocking strap, thumbing the blade over the leaves of the rare plant, remembering that the Alchemy book had mentioned it had to be cut from the root or otherwise it would be completely useless.
The blood red petals swayed , knife cutting clean through its roots and you bubbled with pride. This certainly was a treat, a rare find to add to the new herb garden, the Witcher would be undoubtedly impressed. Your excitement was snuffed out in an instant when the blood-curdling howl echoed in the night.
“No.” You whispered, hands beginning to shake as you hastily stuffed the Winter Cherry into the already full satchel, nearly tripping over your own dress as another howl screamed into the now Twilight sky, blade still in hand. “No, no, no!” You continued as you made for the road, as if it was a safe haven from the gathering wolves. The sound of rustling dry grass began to double, triple, before you were keenly aware there was no getting out of this. Heart pounding in your ears you turned, oval eyes reflecting through yellowing foliage as the soft crunch of grass slowed, the animals circling in.
“Come on you bastard.” You growled in your own way back, knowing there was no way out but like hell if you wouldn’t try your best to fight them off. As if responding to your threat the first one lept, jaws snapping and snarling as it went. Dodging to your left it missed your arm by just a hair, the hot breath of the beast tickling the hairs of a limb that could have easily been its next meal.
The next time you weren’t so luckily, the second wolf snapping down hard on the skirt of your dress, yanking you almost completely over as it ripped and tore at the material. Swiping the small blade wildly the animal retreated, eyes still trained on your every movement. Heavy breaths left your dry mouth, adrenaline pumping through every vein as senses heightened. You were going to die.
The third wolf was too quick, coming toward you from the side as you focused on the others. Its Black fur barreled towards you, ferocious teeth biting through your thick dress and into your thigh, ripping a shriek from your throat as it sunk its razor-like teeth into the meat of your leg. You swiped at the wolf, jutting the knife into the scruff of his neck as it whimpered and recoiled, but the damage had been done and now you were merely a game to the hungry canines.
“FUCK OFF!” You howled, which startled them momentarily before the first one jumped you again, pushing you to the ground , shoving your fist into it’s open mouth just in time to keep it from getting a killing blow. Its fangs scrapped at your knuckles, sharp claws digging into your soft skin. A faint sound of a horse barely registered, knowing no matter how proficient the rider, there was no way of saving you. The only thing you could do was take one of the wolves down with you. The wolf atop you bit down, teeth sinking into the flesh of your arm as you let out a pained cry, its pack surprisingly absent. The cries you heard were not your own and soon the wolf that pinned you down with your fist in its mouth seemed dazed, drunk even, eyes glassy as the moon reflected off its dark eyes. It’s jaws relented, your blood now oozing from open wounds. Puzzled at first you seized your only chance, ramming the pathetic blade into the top of its skull, piercing thick pelt and bone. The wolf swayed, eyes rolling back as its blood soaked your hand, pushing it off just before it pooled over your already ruined garments.
Your head was swimming, jolting up as you frantically searched for the other two wolves only to find an empty field and a man.
A man with hair as silver as moonlight.
Adrenaline left your body quickly, eyesight dotting with bright white before fading to black completely.
It was all a blur, the hard motions of a horse galloping faded in and out for you, unconscious to the strong arms that encased you.
You awoke with a start, instead of dry grass beneath your touch there were soft sheets instead. A bed? "Oh, you're awake." The deep rustling voice spoke from the corner , nearly startling you out of the bed. Everything hurt and you peered down at the bandage around your thigh soaked in blood. "How'd i-" you barely managed before the White Wolf intervened, "lucky for you I was on my way back here and heard you off in the distance. Witcher sense does wonders. Have to say you put up quite the fight.". Was that… praise?
"Thank you." You managed, wincing as you sat up against the headboard, "how long was I out?"
He shrugged with heavy shoulders, "Long enough to haul you back here give a few hours or so. It's well past midnight by now. What the hell were you doing in the middle of nowhere at nightfall?" He seemed irritated by that.
You sighed, "getting herbs from the alchemist." You stated plainly, hoping he picked up your satchel, otherwise it would be all for naught. Warmth spreading across your cheeks realizing he had carried you unconsciously and rode all the way back to Corvo Bianco with those large hands around you.
"You won't find an herb shop in a field." He spoke plainly but with just enough sarcasm for your brow to quirk.
"Majordomo sent me into Beauclaire to get supplies for the herb garden you ordered. I found some Winter Cherry in the field and that's when I was attacked by wolves. Was that… a joke?" You should have been more formal, but seeing as you were laying in his bed with half your body bare, it seemed almost pointless to be.
He chuckled, "An attempt at one at least. Witchers have subdued emotions, call it a blessing and a curse." He sat back in the wooden chair he had propped in the corner, " Shame, Winter Cherry is useless unless-"
It was your turn to interrupt "Unless you cut it off at the roots." He looked to you with a hint of a smile.
You gaped, so that's why he seemed so calm and collected. That was definitely something you weren't expecting. "I should have been quicker on the walk back. But I'm glad you were there, otherwise I might've had to kill all those wolves on my own."
He let out a half laugh as did you, Geralt always appreciated a strong woman and you were fastly becoming more and more interesting to him with each passing moment.
"Geralt." He muttered as he stood, metal from his armor clinking and the wood of the house creaking under his shifting weight.
"Hm?" You asked inquisitively as he neared, drawing your legs closer , confused at what he was doing.
"My name." He sat on the edge of the bed, removing his gloves, "I need to check those wounds.".
You nodded, giving him permission to touch you, giving your name with a wince as his large warm hands unbound the bandage around your thigh. You watched Geralt transfixed, breath catching at just how high up his fingers traced since the bite had been dangerously close to your hip. He seemed to feel you tensing at sweeping touches , golden eyes looking up to yours with a muted smirk across such handsome features. "It tickles." You lied and he only let out a small puff of air that hinted at humored before continuing. It was amazing watching a Witcher work. He'd rooted through his belongings finding ingredients for the healing salve without needing any type of recipe. Casually mixing ingredients that, had you attempted, would have surely given you a headache.
"So" your name rolling of his tongue made it hard to concentrate, "you're a bit of an alchemist?" He spoke casually as he transferred the salve into a large bit of wax paper.
"Afraid not, I know but a few things from experiments and what little I've read while in Beauclaire."
Geralt hummed at that, " Well it looks like you'll survive. I've made some salve that'll help heal the bite , but it's only enough for one or two days. Put it on in the evenings and when you run out come back. Maybe then I'll even teach you a trick or two." The last part made your heart leap as he rebandaged your wound, blood now completely stopped. "Thank you for saving my life." You said as you stood, leg in agony but unwilling to show any more sign of weakness.
"I got you into this mess, only fair I should rescue you from it." Geralt replied coolly, eyes transfixed on your heart rate that had thumped harder as you stood. You were in pain but far too stubborn to show it. He liked that about you.
"Goodnight Geralt." "Goodnight. "
You turned to leave, hobbling across the main house stairs and towards your quarters which luckily weren't too far. The plants you'd brought back were already laid on in the garden and you thanked the gods that geralt had brought back the satchel so that your near death had not been for nothing.
Finally in your quarters you bathed and added the salve , teeth clenching at the sting of it sanitizing the wound. You were pretty much asleep as soon as your head hit the pillow.
Dreams emerged from the fog of your mind that night. Large scarred hands gently skating across your legs, pulling up your nightgown forcing a weak whimper from your throat. A deep rustling of a laugh accompanied with cat-like eyes as slightly chapped lips graced your skin. It was heaven , feeling the white beard scrape along your neck, sending you into a moaning fit. "Stop that, you're injured." His voice playfully mocked as you squirmed under him.
…"Geralt" you awoke with his name on your lips. Eyes wide and hand slapped over your mouth you scanned the room. It was bright, so bright. Almost midday by the way the shadows casted along the floor of the small room. The biggest mistake was moving, which nearly had you wailing in pain from the tender wound. Removing the covers it had bled through only a little in the night , of which you were thankful.
When finally dressed and on your way to the main house you waved off concerned workers as you hobbled by, far too tired to give them the entirety of the story of what happened the night before. Instead you stepped into the kitchen and shut the door with an exasperated sigh.
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plus-size-reader · 4 years
Text
Never Alone
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Michonne Hawthorne x Plus size!reader
Word Count: 1783 words
Warnings: none 
Summary: Michonne helping you raise your daughter, because she doesn't want you to have to do it on your own
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Your daughter had been a part of your life for as long as Michonne had known you.
You two lived in Alexandria long before Rick and the gang showed up there, and everyone knew that your daughter, Chloe, was the light of your life.
You would do anything for her, and you did. However, that was part of the problem as far as Michonne was concerned. She didn’t like the fact that you two were all alone.
It was always just the two of you, and while it seemed to work out just fine for you both, it just didn’t seem right for you to be all on your own. You had everything all on your shoulders, and she wanted to help.
She wanted to make it easier if she could.
After all, she knew what it was like to be a mother and it had only gotten more difficult since the world went to hell. No one should have to do it all by themselves, especially not surrounded by helping hands.
“‘Chonne” the little girl yelped, wobbling over to the woman, who was perched on the step, watching the people passing in the street. It was one of her favorite things about living in a fenced in community.
It was the one normal thing she had left.
If she could, she would spend all day there but she didn’t mind taking a break from it to spend it with you and that little ray of sunshine that you always had attached to your hip.
There was nothing better in this world.
...And she’d checked.
Of all the things that she’d ever had a chance to experience, in this world and the last one, there was nothing better than getting to spend time with you. There was just something about you.
She couldn’t help but be captivated in all the time that she’d gotten to experience by your side.
“Good morning little one, how are you?” she grinned, opening her arms wide for the sweet girl. It was the absolute highlight of her life, and she wasn’t ashamed of that.
All she got in return was a few happy giggles from the young one, who jumped into her arms happily. It had only been a night since she’d visited with her last, but for Chloe that was too long.
In fact, you were sure that the little girl would stay with her forever if she was given the choice.
When the two of you were together alone in your home, Chloe was constantly asking to see Michonne or quizzing you on what she must have been doing. You never had an answer for her, of course, but the thought was touching.
“I’m good, doing good” she chirped, fiddling with her fingers as she curled up in Michonne’s lap.
“Mama and I got apples this morning and mama says we can make a pie with them if I promise to go to bed on time” she ranted, adding more and more as she sat.
It was never a dull moment raising a four year old, after all.
However, at the mention of you, Michonne let her head snap up to where you were standing. Up until that point, you had just been watching the wholesome little scene unfold in front of you.
Having her attention on you made you admittedly more nervous than you would have been but you did your best to cover it up. “And how are you?” she hummed, her eyes sparkling as they met yours.
“Doing fine, making a pie tonight if you’re interested” you smirked, swinging the bag forward toward her to show them off. It was only four or five apples, but it would be enough.
You would make sure that it was enough.
Usually you wouldn’t have been so forward in your attempts to spend time with her, but it had been an extra hard week. No matter what you did, nothing seemed to be going right and maybe you just wanted some adult time.
You wanted to have a conversation with someone about something other than fireflies and homemade crayons. If you had to explain how the laces of Chloe’s shoes worked one more time, you would go insane.
That was the one thing you knew for sure.
If you had to risk looking like a fool to get something other than that, you just had to take that chance.
“Pie huh? I wouldn’t want to intrude” she started, but you stopped her before she could even try to come up with some excuse about interrupting your private time.
There was no such thing, especially not now.
“Don’t make me beg you” you teased, your voice just above a whisper as you pointed down at the child in her lap casually. You were desperate and upon realizing that, Michonne nodded.
It could be a good opportunity to spend some time together, even if neither of you was ready to admit that was what you wanted just yet. You had nothing but time right now.
“Come by after 6 and I’ll have something on the stove for dinner” you suggested, scooping up your toddler from her arms before going about your business for the day.
As much as you would have liked to spend all your time on her porch, you knew that wasn’t the most productive use of your time.
Relaxing would just have to wait.
~ You filled your day with harvesting veggies and carrying boxes of supplies up to the pantry from the barn but mostly, you were just chasing around your little girl, trying not to lose her.
Since she’s started walking, she had basically been running from the moment her eyes opened in the morning to when they closed at bedtime. It was what you’d signed up for when you had her, sure, but that didn’t make it any less tiring.
If there was one thing that was clear to everyone in Alexandria, it was that Chloe was a handful and you couldn’t argue.
That was part of the reason why dinner wasn’t done when Michonne knocked on your front door, opening it to find you curled up on the couch, your daughter playing dolls on the floor.
“Shhh ‘Chonne, mama sleeping” she hummed as soon as she placed the second woman in the entryway, watching the two of you with amusement shining in her eyes.
She could only imagine the kind of day you two had, and she wasn’t about to wake you up from your much needed rest. Instead, she picked your baby girl up off the floor and headed to the kitchen.
You had offered dinner, but nothing said you had to be the one to cook it.
“You wanna help me make mama something to eat?” she grinned, watching Chloe’s eyes light up immediately. She ‘helped’ you cook all the time but the idea of doing it with Michonne was much more enticing.
It was a fleeting opportunity, and even at her age, Chloe knew that it must have been a special offer.
...And with a wide smile, both she and Michonne got to work on dinner.
You woke to the sound of your little girl laughing and carrying on in the other room, instantly panicking. You hadn’t meant to fall asleep and you couldn’t keep your mind from wandering to the worst.
Anything could have happened in the time since you’d closed your eyes and you shuddered to think at what could be entertaining her. Luckily, when you rounded the corner, you relaxed.
There was no shambling corpse in your kitchen, or some dirty scavenger with a knife. Instead, by her side, was Michonne who had arrived on time, just as you’d instructed.
That was when it hit you.
You had overslept, and completely ruined any chance that you had to enjoy an evening with her.
“You’re here. I’m so sorry! I guess I dozed off and I didn’t hear you come in” you started, immediately rambling on as you tried to explain yourself to her. It was completely your fault but Michonne didn’t seem upset at all.
In fact, when you finally stopped to take a breath, you realized that she was smiling.
“It’s okay. I thought you needed the rest” she shrugged, knowing that you did, even if you didn’t want to admit it. Everyone on the block knew that Chloe was having trouble sleeping and that meant you were too.
Any extra chance you got to sleep was a miracle and she wasn’t going to rob you of that.
“Thank you” you hummed finally, taking one more deep breath to calm yourself before taking the time to actually assess what they were doing that amused Chloe in the first place.
They were baking.
There was a pot of stew on the stove, likely made from cans you had under the sink but you didn’t even care about that. More than anything, you were just glad that someone had made something.
If Chloe didn’t eat on time, she would throw one hell of a tantrum, but you didn’t have to worry about that now. Michonne had made sure she was taken care of, and now they were cleaning apples.
As you talked, your daughter was munching on clean apple skins that Michonne was removing with a kitchen knife, leaving in a pile for her to sort through.
“You want pie mama?” she giggled, holding out a chubby hand toward you, a few shreds of apple held in her grasp.
...You couldn’t even help but laugh along with her.
“You two did all this?” you asked, addressing your question to Michonne over your shoulder as you took the apple Chloe offered you. It was crazy that she would go through all this for you, but you weren’t even that surprised.
Michonne had always looked out for everyone before herself and it wasn’t a stretch to imagine that kindness would extend to you.
Chloe only nodded, focusing all her energy on the rest of the apple on the countertop. As she did though, you found yourself focusing more on Michonne as you smiled.
“Thank you” you whispered again, repeating yourself just to make a point. No one had to do anything to help you and this was much more than anything. This was something you couldn’t even believe and you were grateful to her for it.
You couldn’t help but be in awe of her.
“I told you before, you’re never alone” she winked, rounding the corner again to get started on the pie dough, which would inevitably end in all three of you covered in flour, giggling like lunatics.
...And you wouldn’t have it any other way.
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Text
A Witchy Kinda Love
Pairing: Witch!Bucky x Witch!Reader (Magic!AU)
Prompt: The world you lived in was known to be full of magic and strange, otherworldly things... But you knew true love was just an old witch's tale even if your familiar insisted otherwise...
Warnings: swearing, fluff, Bucky in cute outfits, way too much italicization, and also this thing is long as fuck. (10,410 words...oopsies)
A/N: Okay this got wayyyy outta hand but who the fuck cares? not me. I would love to give a HUGE SHOUTOUT to @buckybarney​ who helped a lot in giving me the confidence and drive to finish this fic as well as @smutsonian​ who created this dope as mood board and also helped me edit a lil bit. You guys make me so happy and I love and appreciate you both so much<3
✸ ✴ ✦ 
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✸ ✴ ✦ 
“Calcifer will you please come help me with this?” your exasperated voice could be heard from the balcony of your studio apartment as you struggled to balance the hoard of glass bottles in your arms. 
Not a moment later, a small fox came trotting onto the (very overgrown) terrace, “Ya know I have things to do too. I’m not your butler,” 
You scoffed at your familiar's grumbled complaint before handing him a couple bottles to hold in his mouth and wrap his tail around, “I know you’re not my butler Cal. But I got you that essence of toad the other day so the least you could do is help me organize my potion materials for a bit.” 
The fox let out a low growl and walked back into your small apartment while you followed behind him, “You know how hard it is for me to form opposable thumbs lady? It’s gonna take a lot more than essence of toad for me to comply,” 
You glared playfully at the fox before sighing and rolling your eyes, knowing exactly what the sly creature was trying to get you to do, “Calcifer if you want pheasant for dinner just ask,” 
There was no response, just the quiet clinking of bottles rolling to the floor as you and your partner began to sort through everything. You really need to start organizing your stuff better. Last week you mixed up your newt toes with skinks and almost blew up your home, so it’s safe to say that your clutter has hit a breaking point. You left Calcifer to sit on your frameless bed as he sorted your bottles to go back out onto your small terrace, breathing in the scent of all of your plants that had happily covered every inch they possibly could. You figured it was as good a time as any to harvest all the herbs you’d need for the month and bottle them up for safe keeping. Quietly humming to yourself, you went around plucking the healthiest looking leaves, sprigs, and sprouts you could find, setting each pile onto the antique writers desk you had put out there as a space for your potion making. 
“Hey Calcifer do you know where I put my Ever-Writing Quill?” You question, brows furrowing as you dig through the drawers of your desk. 
“You don’t remember? You sat on it last week and snapped it in half!” The fox’s response was followed by a string of cackles and snorts as he laughed to himself about your misfortune. 
You let out a loud groan of frustration, tilting your head to the sky and stomping your foot in a small childish fit. “Why didn’t you put it on my shopping list?” You ask, walking back inside to glare at the creature comfortably sitting on your bed. 
Calcifer smiled widely, his pointy teeth fully on show in a sly grin, “oopsies, my bad!” he raised what would be his paws but are now little hands due to his helpful transfiguration powers, and held them in an innocent shrug. 
You squint your eyes at the reynard but hold your tongue, shoving your feet into a pair of leather boots. “Come on, you’re coming with me to the market so I can get a new quill,” 
It didn’t take too long before you had gathered everything you needed, making sure to grab your sweater as the weather hadn’t gotten much warmer in the past months and you absolutely hated to be cold. It only took a stern glare and a threat to have salad for dinner to convince Calcifer to go with you. Though you didn’t miss the petty and painful nip to your calf as you walked out of your door and into the dank hallway of your apartment building. 
✸ ✴ ✦ 
The sky was colored a dark grey with intimidating clouds, blocking out any chance of sun or warmth as you walked down the streets of your small town. You passed by cute little shops and a restaurant or two as you made your way to the market. Your boots stomped loudly on the cobblestone walkway, echoed by the light clicking of Calcifier’s nails while he trotted beside you. 
Your town didn’t have many witches, but the non-magic residents were still fully supportive of you and all the other witches and warlocks that resided in the small rainy town of Adelaide. You had lived there for years and not once had you come in contact with what your community called “Salamers”, bigoted people who had hate filled vendettas against your kind. Many of your friends who had lived in bigger cities had told you about their horror stories involving bigoted people who had cursed (pun intended) and swore at them. Your friend Peter even told you about a man who had spit on him after finding out he was a witch. 
The thoughts of such hateful actions caused a crease in your brow to form and it didn’t leave until you were at the small stone entrance to Wanda’s Magickal Menagerie, the only entrance to the market for miles. It was one of your favourite things about the magical world. The outside looked like just another building with pretty stone walls and a worn wooden sign displaying the name, but to anyone with a high enough magical presence, it was an entrance to the biggest market in the wiccan world. Hundreds of vendors were beyond that door, hidden away to a different space and time by a carefully constructed spell performed by the most powerful witches in existence. 
You couldn’t help the excited pulse of your heart as you opened the door and stepped into what seemed like an entirely different universe. The hustle and bustle of busy shoppers instantly clouded your vision and ears. The air was warm and lighting low in the crowded alleyway that led to the entrance and exit of the marketplace. You took only a moment to get used to the different surroundings before setting off on your way to the real Wanda’s Magickal Menagerie. 
It only took a few steps before you heard the loud yip of pain from your familiar, instantly making you whip around to see what happened, “I hate it here, Y/n! Everyone steps on my tail, it smells weird, It’s dark, everything is all muted because apparently witches only like the color red and I’m colorblind-” 
“Alright ya baby c’mere,” you interrupted Cal’s whining, bending down and allowing him to jump up and wrap around your shoulders. 
“People have no respect for familiars, it’s so uncool,” he grumbled into your ear, resting his snout on the ridge of your shoulder. 
“I know, buddy. But you know how much I hate going out alone. I really appreciate you coming with me. When we’re done here we can go to the butcher and you can pick out what bird you want for tonight,” Your hand came up to softly scratch your friend behind his ear, soothing his nerves and continuing on your way to your final destination. 
It didn’t take long before you arrived at a small wooden hut, a modest sign with an address hanging out front for advertisement to passersby. You quickly approached the shop and pushed the door open, entering the cozy and familiar atmosphere of Wanda’s business. 
“Hey Y/n! Cally, hi baby!” Your entrance was met immediately with happy greetings from your long time friend. 
“Hey Wanda,” you and Calcifer greet in unison, smiles adorning both your faces. 
The red headed witch skipped towards you, wrapping you in a warm hug and lovingly petting the fox around your shoulders. “How’ve you guys been? I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever,” 
“We’ve been trying to declutter the apartment. Y/n’s become such a hoarder.” Calcifer blurts out, letting one of his signature cackles break free. 
“I am not! I’ve just been experimenting with my potions, so I have a lot more ingredients and supplies right now,” You hurriedly explain, not wanting to have your friend think of you as a crazy old witch with a hoarding problem. 
Wanda lets out a quiet giggle at the pair of friends in front of her, finding the relationship between you and your familiar adorable, “What brings you in today? Did you lose your monkey paw again?” 
You playfully roll your eyes at Wanda, “No, I uh... I broke my Ever-Writing Quill,” you admit, trying to fight the warmth that crept up your neck and cheeks. 
Wanda let out a quick burst of laughter before turning around and leading you through the many shelves and tables of her shop, “Come on, I just got a fresh shipment in,”
✸ ✴ ✦ 
“Thanks Wanda! I’ll see you and Vis for brunch on Sunday,” You smile and give your friend a kiss on the cheek goodbye before exiting her shop. 
“Alright Cal, is there anything else you need before we go? Do you want me to get you more fur oil? Are you good on that incense you like?” 
“Yeah I think I’m okay, at this point I just want food,” He grumbled, lifting his head up from your shoulder and sniffing the air. 
You nodded your head in understanding and began the trip back to where you first entered the marketplace. The walkways were absolutely packed; it was nearly impossible to keep from bumping into other shoppers. Calcifer could be heard grumbling profanities every time someone brushed or bumped against him. You couldn’t blame the poor creature, he was naturally anxious and didn’t like strangers, so making trips like these were never too fun for him. You were trying your best to avoid people, but luck was against you and as you were ducking out of the way of one man who looked exactly like Merlin, you ended up running right into someone else. 
You fell right to the floor, Calcifer tumbling from your shoulder and sliding a few feet away due to the force, “Ah! Calcifer? Cal are you okay?” 
“Shit! are you okay? I didn’t see you, I am so sorry,”
Ignoring the stranger above, you frantically look around for your lost friend and spot him a few feet away from you, curling up into a scared orange ball and shoving his snout under his hind leg to hide. You scramble over to him, scooping his small body into your arms and holding onto him tightly, “Oh Calcifer I’m so sorry! I should have never asked you to come with me, I know you hate it here and now look what happened,” 
You couldn’t help the stress induced tears that welled in your eyes as you pet the shaking fox in your arms, “I’m okay, Y/n. Just a little shaken,” His voice was quiet and you knew he wasn’t being completely honest but you knew getting out of the crowded place was more important at that point. 
A tall figure suddenly shadowed over you, making you cower out of instinct and scoot back a few paces, “Hey are you and your fox okay? Really, I didn’t see you. I should have been paying more attention, let me help you up,” A hand comes down offering to lift you from the dirty concrete. 
With one arm tightly holding onto Calcifer, you use your other hand to grab onto the strangers and lift yourself up. “Thanks,” You mumble out quickly, keeping your head down and immediately walking away, your mind completely focused on getting the hell out of these cursed alleyways. 
Once you had fallen out of the exit and back onto the cobblestone streets of Adelaide, you could finally take a deep breath. Leaning up against the cold stone wall near the entrance, you closed your eyes, sucking in the fresh air and gently petting the creature still firmly gripped in your arms. 
A choked cry escapes you suddenly, “I am so sorry Calcifer,” You absolutely hated that you had caused your friend such a terrible experience. He could’ve gotten hurt, someone could’ve stolen him away from you, the street was so crowded you would’ve never found him again! Calcifer would’ve never forgiven you! Might not even forgive you now! Just the thought of it- 
“Alright calm down kid... I’m perfectly fine. Paw hurts a little bit but, really, I’m okay,” the fox in your arms looked up at you, a small smile on his snout as he nuzzled into your hair. 
“Are you sure? I can take you to the vet-” Before you can continue to worry about the injured animal, a deep voice sounds from above you. 
“Uh hey...” 
You quickly wipe the tears from your cheeks and look up, eyes widening in surprise as you stare into steely iris’s that seemed to have a mission on copying the sky that day. “H-hello,” 
As you stared at the burly looking man in front of you, you couldn’t help but side eye his stature. Adorning all black with little glints of silver rings and buckles here and there, a few tiny scars marking his well-structured jaw and cheek bones, and good god those boots must be so heavy and-is that a metal hand peeking out from the long sleeve of his leather jacket?! This guy is too scary to be this attractive...
“I uh... I was the one to bump into you earlier. It’s totally my fault and I really didn’t mean for you to drop your fox like that-it’s just that my familiar took off and I just wasn’t paying attention and it seemed like a pretty bad fall and you were so focused on protecting your pet-” “He’s not a pet,” you spit out quickly, a stern glare etched into your features. 
“R-right, right sorry-I just-I was-I misspoke...” he trailed awkwardly, roughly dragging a hand through brunette hair and grimacing at his own failure to compose a sensible response. 
“Are you a witch?” you mumble out quietly, your glare softening into a more apprehensive, yet curious, stare. 
“Uh yeah, yeah I’m only entry level though. My friend Sam helped me get into the market so I could get a few things but then...ya know” 
You stood silently, not exactly sure of what this weirdo wanted from you. If he thought you were going to apologize he was very mistaken. What if he planned to rob you? To take Calcifer and run? The thought made your grip on the animal even more secure, if that were even possible. 
“Is your arm okay?” Worried eyes gazed down at your arm and the man took a small step forward. 
“What?” You try to flinch away from the soft grasp of his hand around your bicep, but only end up pushing yourself against the wall. 
The man inspected the inflamed scrape that burned a path along your forearm and up to your elbow, “That looks pretty bad doll, do you want some medicine? I think I might have a little with me. Hey Sibi!” 
“Holy shit!” A sharp intake of breath forced its way into your lungs as you saw a giant white wolf bound up to the man. Your breathing sped up, heartbeat following along with it as you gazed upon the giant beast. 
“Do you mind? I gotta get into my bag,” He asked gently, the wolf immediately turning to give him easy access to a large pack that was slung over her back, “Thanks Sibi, can you go find Sam? Tell him I’ll be a bit longer than expected,” The wolf let out a gruff noise of agreement and nodded it’s head before heading back through the magical entrance. 
The man turned back around and walked towards you once more. You didn’t flinch this time when he reached for your arm, careful to make sure you had a good grip on Cal before opening a bottle of light blue gel and tapping some out onto the palm of his hand, “My name is Bucky, by the way,” 
“Okay,” you mumble out awkwardly, your anxious nature getting the best of you and blocking any form of friendly communication to come across while Bucky covers your wound with the gel.
“Her name is Y/n, I’m Calcifer,” You stare down incredulously at the fox, not expecting him to introduce you to this stranger. 
Bucky smiled up at you and the fox, shiny white teeth on display, “Pretty name for a pretty girl,” 
The comment instantly made your face heat up in embarrassment. “Thank y-you...” 
Bucky straightened up after he was done dressing your wound, thankfully taking a step back to give you some space. Why wasn’t he leaving? Why did he care so much about some rando he ran into at the market? Maybe this was just a front to try and rob you...
“Well uh... I just wanted to make sure you were okay. You seemed real spooked back there and I could tell you hurt your arm so I just wanted to check up on ya,” Bucky’s eyes shined brightly as he explained himself. A pink tint colored his cheeks and neck as he sheepishly stared down at the ground. 
His shy nature made your lips tilt into a small smile of your own and you couldn’t help thinking about how cute he looked like that, “thank you, that’s very kind,” you mumbled out.
There was a beat of silence as you and Bucky avoided each other's eye contact before a familiar patronizing voice interrupted, “Hey kid if you’re done flirtin’ with this guy can we go home? I’m starvin’ right now,” 
“Calcifer!” you scold immediately, the familiar burn of pure embarrassment instantly appearing across your face. 
Bucky, however, didn’t seem to be bothered by the fox’s comment and burst out into a fit of deep chuckles, running his metal hand through the long tresses of rich brown hair. 
“Your fox is cute,” 
The comment made Calcifer let out a gruff murmur of disagreement, making you join Bucky in his laughter, “Yeah, I’m really happy he chose to stay with me. Um... I should probably go. Cal hasn’t eaten since breakfast and I still need to go to the butcher-” “There’s a butcher in this town?” The pure curiosity on Bucky’s face made your smile grow that much more as he finally took in his surroundings. 
“Yeah, it’s about two blocks down from here, it’s Calcifer's favorite place,” You say, backing up a few steps to signal your exit. 
“A-alright! well, uh it was nice meeting you! Maybe I’ll see you around sometime?” The male witch fumbles with his words as he realizes the conversation is ending. 
“Sure, maybe,” you nod in agreement, fully turning around and beginning the walk towards your destination. 
As you walked away you couldn’t help but let the small smile on your face grow. What a dork he was... Almost as awkward as you were, the way he kept messing with his hair- ”He’s still lookin’ at ya... And what was all that stuff you were thinking about getting robbed? Why were you so fixated on gettin’ robbed?” 
“Calcifer for christ’s sake!” Your voice was filled with exasperation, rolling your eyes at the familiar's comments and ignoring the fact that the cute witch was still watching you walk away.
“Are you seriously thinking about how him staring at you is cute? Humans are so weird...” 
“Stop reading my thoughts you creep!” 
✸ ✴ ✦ 
A groan echoed throughout your apartment as a streak of the bright morning sun landed on your eyes and woke you from your slumber. Clapping a hand down onto your eyes to block the light, you roughly slide it down in hopes of wiping the fatigue that plagued you. Slowly but surely, you untangled yourself from your sheets, stretching your waking limbs and yawning with an over dramatic sound. You blindly felt around for your phone that was lying on the floor directly by your mattress. Once you located the small device, you tapped it on and read the time. 10:47 am, Sunday...Fantastic. 
You laid on your mattress for a bit, unaware of anything but your tired bones. The only reason you didn’t fall back asleep right then and there was the light buzz that came from your phone. You lazily picked it back up and stared at the too bright screen, taking a moment to comprehend the text that popped up on your home screen. 
Wanda Maxi: Hey! Are you on your way?
What? On my way...
“OH FUCK” You bolt out of bed, slipping on part of your sheet that was draped onto your wooden flooring and almost face planting. 
“Calcifer wake up we gotta have brunch with Wanda and Vis!” you scream out to nothing specific, unaware of where your familiar was. 
As quickly as possible, you gathered an outfit, shoved a toothbrush into your mouth to brush it a little too harshly, got your hair ready, and threw your clothes on. It’s not until you’re almost done getting ready before you see the bright fox bolt in from the balcony, “How could you forget about brunch? This happens every week for fucks sake!” 
“This isn’t entirely my fault! You knew about it too!” you argue while lathering deodorant onto your underarms, already sweating from the stress of the situation. 
“I’m a fox! You think I keep alarms?” he yells back at you, not bothering to stop and look at you as he gathers your things while you hurriedly tried to shove your foot into a shoe. 
Once your shoes were on and Calcifer had given you everything you’d need, you ran to your door and swung it open, “You wanna run with me or do you want me to carry you?” 
“Oh please you can barely run by yourself. You couldn’t handle the weight,” Calcifer scoffs, running between your legs and out of the apartment. 
You immediately lock your door and run after him, “So rude...” you huff to yourself and catch up to the fox. 
✸ ✴ ✦
It only took you about five minutes to sprint across town and make it to the small clay cottage that your friends had lived in for years now. The mossy dark brown Terracotta roof and grey wooden door that had ivy vining in and out of it gave a lovely natural look to the house and you couldn’t help but admire the wonderful home the couple had built. 
Calcifer’s quiet pants mixed with your wheezing as you stumbled up to the door and knocked loudly to signal your arrival. The door swung open, revealing a smirking Wanda. 
“You woke up late again didn’t you?” 
Still catching your breath, you nodded and followed her into her home. Wanda looked gorgeous, as always, wearing a light and flowing yellow sundress with matching shoes and a pretty white ribbon that was tied into her hair. 
“I’m so sorry Wanda, neither of us set an alarm,” you breathed out, following her towards the kitchen. 
“It’s okay sweetie, we didn’t have to wait or anything, all of us were busy talking about the latest man who was admitted into the Grand Council,” she smiled back at you, warm eyes shining from the sunlight that was coming through the glass doors that led to their garden. 
You tilt your head in confusion when you realize her phrasing, “All of us?” 
Wanda gently put a fist to her temple, her face twisting into a slight grimace, “I’m sorry sweetie I completely forgot to mention I invited some friends today! Don’t worry, they’re both great and I’m sure you’ll get along just fine,” 
You nod your head hesitantly, not entirely believing your friend. You wondered who she had invited... Many times over Wanda and Vision have told stories about their old friends who they had met throughout their lives. From your understanding, they had built a wonderful family together and had helped and cared for each other for years so you had no doubt they would be friendly. 
Before you had time to voice whatever worries you had, you were interrupted by the fall of multiple pairs of footsteps. It didn’t take long for three men to walk into the room, all talking enthusiastically over each other. You automatically recognized the slim man walking over to Wanda as Vision, his bright eyes greeting you as he wrapped his arms around Wanda’s slim waist. 
You turn to the other two guests and are unable to hold in an audible gasp when you recognize one of them. Those chilling eyes copied yours as they widened to an almost comical size. 
“Y/n...” The sound of your name coming from his full, pink lips made your hands clam up. 
He was dressed much more formal today with a navy blue sweater over a button up shirt, dark jeans and the cutest wing-tipped shoes you’d ever seen. He looked like he had just gotten out of church with his grandmother. 
“H-hello..” you mutter back, a heavy cloud of confusion and stress surrounding itself around you. 
“Oh...Do you-do you guys know each other already?” Wanda tilts her head a curious finger flickering between the two of you as her squinting eyes try to find the connection. 
Bucky glances at you, then Wanda, then back at you, as if to ask the question of who would be telling the tale of your meeting. You however settled for staring up at the ceiling, handing that responsibility off to Bucky. 
“We um, bumped into each other at the market the other day,” his answer comes after a slight moment of hesitation. 
You held back a scoff at his choice of words... More like you ran over me and almost killed my familiar. 
“Oh great! So then you’ll only have to meet Sam,” Wanda smiles and gestures to the stranger who had refrained from speaking up until now. 
“Nice to meet you, I’m Sam Wilson,” he greets you with a bright smile, a charming gap between his two front teeth and a warm glow emanating from rich brown eyes that winked mischievously. 
He was quite handsome and his automatic charm caused the fog of awkward shyness to thicken in your mind, “Nice to meet you too,” you smile politely and shove your hand out for him to shake. 
A deep chuckle sounds from within his muscular chest as he grasps your hand and gives a firm shake. You quickly tell him your name before stepping back and allowing a new conversation to start. It was hard to focus on what everyone was saying as you felt the obvious gaze of Bucky peering at you from across the kitchen. You found the best way to keep yourself from staring back at him was to focus on the small amount of dirt that you could see hidden underneath your nails. You really needed to get them done again... Although it gets pretty difficult to achieve correct measurements with the long pointy acrylics that seem to be your go-to choice. 
“I dunno man, I just have really bad vibes about that Pierce guy... Steve agrees with me,” Sam’s comment brings you back to the conversation which you had apparently zoned out of. 
“Where is Steven? I thought he said he would be able to attend today?” Vision, always the formal talker, had a questioning glint to his eyes as he switched his focus from Sam to Bucky, then back. 
“Liberty wasn’t feeling too good so he had to take her to a vet,” Bucky was the one to answer.
“Liberty?” a questioning tilt to your head signals your confusion.
Bucky smiles at you before answering, “Yeah, she’s Steve’s pet. Super cute golden retriever that he picked up at the pound a couple years back,”
“Oh... Is he not a witch like you guys?” it surprised you that there was someone amongst their group that wasn’t practicing magic. 
Bucky subconsciously takes a step towards you, his body language changing to signal he was now solely focused on you, “Yeah he tried a few years ago but, it didn’t really go too well,” 
As Bucky answered he held up his metal prosthetic and wiggled his fingers, “Are you serious?! Your friend did that to you?” you gasp in shock, your eyes widening in amazement as you reach out to touch his arm without thinking. 
The metal was smooth and you were so enamored by the new information as well as the mechanical appendage that you failed to notice how tense Bucky got and how multiple pairs of eyes were staring at you. Your fingertips gently ran over the cool ridges of metal sections, “Wow... Did he turn your arm metal or did... did something else happen?” you glance between pretty blue eyes and steely metal. 
Bucky slowly reaches his arm out so you have a better view of what it’s like, “Actually that was kind of a joke,” he stutters, an awkward smile gracing his lips, “The real story is way more depressing,” he mumbles.
You halt your movements and stare up at him, the familiar yet heavy weight of embarrassment settling itself deep within your chest, “O-oh... I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to overstep-” You pull your hands away, folding them tightly against your chest. 
“No it’s okay! Really I’ve had a lot worse interactions,” he chuckles and reassures you once again that you didn’t overstep any boundaries. 
You nod in understanding but inevitably go back into your default of shy silence. Bucky stares down at you with a kind smile in hopes of making you feel a little less like an ass. It doesn’t work. 
After a few moments of deafening silence, Wanda makes a move over to the oven, “Alright everyone, quiche time!” 
“Aren’t you vegan?” Bucky mumbles, walking over to the table and preparing to sit down. As Wanda gives her response and mentions the fake eggs she found at the market, you walk over to the table as well. Bucky pulls out the seat closest to you and gives you a reassuring nod. You give a thankful smile and sit down, allowing him to help you push it back towards the table. 
“Thank you,” your quiet voice has Bucky grinning as he sits down next to you.
“Of course, doll” 
Brunch goes off without any more awkward spells and with the help of Wanda’s amazing skills in the kitchen, you begin to feel yourself relax with each bite you take. The afternoon goes on with the others telling you about how they met, silly stories about their friendly adventures, and at some point the conversation turned to you and what it had been like growing up a witch. It was a unique characteristic that none of your friends, new or old, had experienced. 
“Well, my dad is the one who originally got me into it... He was an aura reader like Wanda, and my mom focused more on spell casting and potions,” a warm grin on your lips signal the fondness your memories bring as you tell about your childhood, everyone was completely invested. 
“especially Bucky” Calcifer pointed out silently, giving you a knowing smirk from where he sat on the floor next to you. 
oh fuck off you stupid fox
✸ ✴ ✦ 
With full stomachs and a few full containers of leftovers, you, Sam, and Bucky stood gathered outside of Wanda’s front door as you all belted out a chorus of goodbye’s and excellent days. 
“It was really nice meeting you Y/n, make sure to keep in touch! I’ll be waiting for a carrier owl,” Sam winks at you as he begins to walk down the path towards the sidewalk, effectively leaving you and Bucky by yourselves. 
“He didn’t even let me say goodbye back...” you mumble out, staring at the confident figure that now waited at the property line by a pretty bush of hydrangeas. 
“Yeah... He’s weird like that,” Bucky agrees, glancing at his friend before fully turning his attention to you, “um so I’ve been meaning to maybe like... um maybe get your contact info? I just... I was maybe thinking we could grab like, tea or something sometime?”
As you take in Bucky’s words, you can’t help but notice the awkward and anxious movements he had started, reminding you of the first day you had met him. It made your lips twitch up just slightly. 
“Oh? like, my phone number?” the dumb answer almost had you on your knees with how hard you cringed. 
Bucky let out a breathy chuckle, “Uh yeah, yeah or like maybe an address? Or ugh that’s probably too personal-” “No! no it’s um it’s not,” you answer a little too quickly, discreetly pinching the skin on the back of your hand as punishment for your blatant lack of social skills. 
After a quick beat of neither of you knowing what to do, you finally speak back up, “You could come over tomorrow if you’d like,” 
Stupid, stupid, stupid! Why would he want to come over so- “Yeah I’d love to!” Bucky answers enthusiastically, pulling his phone out from his back pocket and holding it out to you, “Just give me your number and I'll text you, we can figure out the details later, K?” 
You gingerly take the smartphone in your hands and type in your number, forgetting to put a name in for yourself before handing it back to him. Bucky’s hand slightly brushes yours as he takes it back and you’re too busy focusing on the lingering feeling on your hand that you miss the cheeky grin on Bucky’s face as he types in a contact name. 
“Hey tin soldier! You ready yet?” Sam’s smooth voice has you turning around with a start at his unexpected call. 
Bucky nods towards his friend, waving him off and turning back to you, “So I’ll uh, see you tomorrow,” 
“Tomorrow,” You confirm with a nod of your own.
Bucky’s smile grows tenfold and he takes a small step towards you, hesitating for only a moment before he leans in and gives a chaste kiss to the apple of your cheek. He doesn’t wait around to see your reaction, jogging over to Sam and slapping him on the shoulder before walking off down the cobblestone streets. 
Standing with your eyes the size of the moon and your face as hot as the goddamn sun, you don’t fail to catch the string of comments that your sleazy little fox makes. 
“Oh Bucky please just take me away! I’m too shy and socially inept to even speak to you properly, please I just love you sooooo much!” Calcifer’s high pitched mocking made your blood boil as he wheezed with laughter. 
“Shut up you stupid fox!” you yell at him, hooking your foot underneath his belly and pushing up and forward to flip him on his side. 
The reynard continued to cackle hysterically as you walked away from him. You could hear the broken comments he made as Calcifer continued to berate you on the bumpy interactions you always seemed to have with the handsome witch. 
“You’re sleeping outside tonight!” you call back to him, a smug tilt to your lips.
The laughing stopped immediately and was replaced by the clicking of little nails on mossy stone. 
✸ ✴ ✦ 
Calcifer’s eyes were glued to your figure as you made a mad dash around your apartment to make sure everything was clean and properly put away. Your socks allowed you to slide across the wooden floors as you shoved the rest of your freshly cleaned towels into a closet and slam it shut. Quickly turning the other way to sprint then slide the rest of the way to your little kitchenette where an almost comically small oven bakes banana nut muffins. 
“You are a nervous wreck right now kid,” Cal points out, a hint of worry in his mostly humorous tone. 
You look over at him, cringing at the realization that, yeah, you probably do look like a nervous wreck...
“It’s just that... No one has been over in a while and the last person that did come over was Wanda and I know she doesn’t care all that much about my tidiness so it was okay but I have no clue as to how Bucky is going to react and it's not like I don’t want to impress him, I mean I don’t need to impress him like my life doesn’t depend on what he thinks but,” “Christ’s sake kid-” “I mean for gods sake my bed is on the floor! He’ll probably think I’m some broke slob who-” Knock Knock 
“Oh my gods,” you whisper scream, no doubt did your aura radiate pure panic...
You shuffle over to the door, shoving your face up against it to look through the peephole and make sure it was the only person you were expecting. Taking a deep breath, you try and center yourself, then open the door. 
“Good morning, Bucky!” you greet, a bright smile on your face as you take in your guest’s appearance. 
Bucky is looking extra handsome today as he wears a dark grey cardigan over a white shirt, dark fitted jeans and, to your extreme surprise, black Converse.
“Hey, Doll” he smiles back softly at you, quickly taking in your simple outfit of a cute yellow crop top and black shorts, “T-these are for you,”  he mutters quickly and pulls a pretty bouquet of wildflowers out from behind his back. 
You beam at the thoughtful gesture and Calcifer doesn’t miss the sense of pride that Bucky gives off at your excited reaction, “Wow, Bucky these are so cute! I love them, thank you very much,” gingerly taking the bundle of fragrant colors, you invite your guest inside and immediately go to your kitchenette to find a receptacle for them.  
Once you find a nice little vase to put them in you spin back around to find Bucky looking around your small apartment, “Um...It’s not much-but the rent is really good and since it’s just me and Cal it works out pretty nice. If you aren’t comfortable we can always-” “I love it, Y/n. It’s really... you,” he glances back towards you, the look in his eyes warming you from deep within your chest. 
“Hey, tin man” the both of you jump slightly as Calcifer interrupts the thoughtful interaction. 
Bucky crouches down and reaches his hand out to the fox, “Hey... Nice to see you again Calcifer” 
“Where’s your dog?” completely ignoring Bucky’s polite greeting, Calcifer passes by him. 
“Oh uh... Sibi is still in training so I didn’t think it’d be a good idea to bring her into someone else’s home just yet,” the man answers awkwardly, dropping his hand and standing back up to his full height. 
Calcifer be nice you little skeez.
I’m just tryin’ get to know the guy, alright? 
You roll your eyes at the red animal and tell him to go onto the balcony. He thankfully listens, giving you and Bucky some privacy. 
“Sorry about him... He can be a little difficult sometimes,” you apologize quickly, nervously rubbing your clammy hands on the front of your shorts. 
Bucky chuckles and shakes his head, “It’s alright, I understand,” 
You give a questioning look at his phrasing and he quickly moves to elaborate, “Well, uh I guess-Ya know- since you guys are really close... I can understand why he would be protective because um, well since I’m like I’m trying to-” “Trying to what?” 
Bucky’s face was beet red as he tried and failed to explain himself to you, who had absolutely no idea what he was going on about, “In any case, I’m sure he’ll warm up to you soon,” you smile warmly at him and turn towards your oven. 
The embarrassed man watches as you take out the piping hot tray of muffins and set them out on the counter to cool. His stomach growls low as the deliciously sweet smell hits his nostrils. 
“How about we go sit down while those cool off?” you suggest and lead Bucky over to the small sofa that sat against the only free wall. 
You tuck yourself into one corner, folding your legs so they were pressed against your chest as you tried to give Buck as much room as possible. It was quite adorable to see the tall, beefy guy try and squeeze himself onto your small couch. A quiet laugh escapes you and he glances towards you, his cheeks tinged pink, “Guess M’not really made for studio apartment sized things,” he chuckles. 
Glad to see he isn’t upset about the cramped seating arrangement, you relax a little bit and start asking Bucky about his life. The two of you fall into easy conversation, talking about your childhood, past and current friends, how Bucky got into magic, your familiars and anything else that came to your minds. 
By the time there was a slight lull in conversation, it was already mid afternoon and you couldn’t help the growls that sounded from your stomach. 
“Um, do you want me to make us some lunch? I have like, sandwich stuff or mac n cheese?” you ask, swinging your legs off the couch and standing up to stretch. 
“Yeah that sounds good, you want me to help?” Bucky follows your movements and you shake your head. 
“S’okay, if you want you can go onto the balcony and I’ll be right out,” You smile up at him, turning to your little kitchen and focusing on making lunch. 
Bucky makes his way out onto your balcony covered in vining plants and hanging bottles filled with god knows what. Calcifer was asleep on a slightly rusted chair in the corner, his tail and legs curled into his body, making him look like a furry ball of orange. Bucky had never seen a work space quite like it. Sam was more of a trader so there wasn’t much potion making in the home they shared together. As he stared in wonder at all of the bottles covering the antique desk and a good part of the floor, curiosity got the best of him and Bucky couldn’t help but to start picking them up and exploring what was inside. 
Most of the bottles were labelled so he didn’t need to worry about those ones, the curious man was more interested in the unmarked ones. Popping off the cork to a green glass bottle filled with a powder, he brought his nose up to sniff and immediately gagged at the overpowering scent. 
“What is that?” he grumbled quietly to himself, closing that one and picking up a new one. 
This bottle did in fact have a label, but it was chicken scratch and for the life of him, Bucky couldn’t tell what the hell it meant as he picked up the murky glass bottle filled with what seemed to be a bright purple fog and opened it, taking in a quick whiff. 
Almost immediately Bucky felt the effects of the mystery potion and he had to steady himself on the desk so he wouldn’t fall over. Blinking a few times, he gathered his wits and slowly stood straight up. 
“Whaaat are you doing?” Your curious voice from the sliding door made Bucky jump and spin around, hiding the bottle behind his back. 
Your eyes quickly shift from the chilling blue irises of your guest to the suspicious amount of movement happening behind his large frame. Bucky lets out a quick scoff before answering, “What? Nothing, just checkin stuff out ya know,” 
His poor attempt at a casual demeanor was lost on you and it was quite evident in the suspicious squint of your eyes as you continued to stare at the man in front of you. 
“Which bottle did you sniff?” you ask flatly, sticking your hand out expectantly, the other hand making its way onto your hip.
“I-I didn’t sniff any bottle,” Bucky mutters out, metal hand going up to scratch the back of his neck awkwardly.
You waited only a moment before he spoke again, seemingly unable to hold back his comment, “That’s a lie I sniffed this bottle,”
He immediately took a bottle out from behind his back and placed it in your still awaiting palm. You knew what it was as soon as you saw the color of the substance inside and began to laugh. It was the hardest you had laughed all day and the resounding noise of your joyous fit surely made its way down to the cobblestone streets below. Your right hand left its initial place on your hip and placed itself over the left side of your chest as you bent over to steady yourself. 
“Y-you just inhaled a shit ton of Truth-Be-Told Smoke” You cackled out loudly. 
Bucky, though entirely confused, couldn’t help the smile that painted itself onto his pink lips as he stared at your beautiful figure shaking from the prettiest laughing fit he had ever heard, “Your laugh is really pretty,” he blurted out, immediately slapping his hand over his mouth afterwards. 
The compliment startled you enough to calm your laughter and straighten your posture back out, “Thank you, Buck. So I’m just gonna assume you’re wondering what’s happening right now,” He answered you by quickly nodding his head.
You giggled and continued on, “Basically, this stuff is used mainly as a partial ingredient in other potions, but by itself, especially undiluted, it’s a high performing truth serum. You won’t be able to say anything except for what comes to your mind for quite some time,” 
“That makes me really nervous,” Bucky’s voice sounds strained as the hand that was covering his mouth moves to wipe down his face in stress.
“Well don’t go sniffin’ a girl’s potions next time!” you giggle out, walking over to return the potion to its proper place. 
“You smell really good,” before you have a chance to react bucky groans in frustration, “Fuck I am so sorry,” 
A light laugh escapes your lips and you look up at Bucky’s grimacing face, “It’s okay, I don’t mind. Plus it’s nice to know I made the right decision on what body wash to buy,” 
You motion Bucky to follow you back inside, ensuring there would be no more accidental roofying. Two sandwiches sit side by side on the small sofa, a little pile of chips next to each one. 
“This is really kind of you, Y/n” Bucky smiles, lifting up both plates of food and waiting for you to get comfy next to him before handing you one. 
“It’s no problem Bucky, you’re my friend now and-” “I don't want to be your friend,” he bursts out, making you frown.
Bucky quickly fixes his mistake, “No sorry- I uhm- I misspoke I-I don’t want to just be your friend.” another grimace makes its way onto his face, “That’s embarrassing for me to say, I’m embarrassed,” 
If you weren’t already sweating nervously, you were now. Clammy hands grip at the paper plate on your lap as you try and will your face to extinguish the fire that has engulfed it. “B-Bucky, I um…” 
“I’m sorry I said that… It probably makes you never want to see me again,” Bucky mutters out, anxiously playing with the small pile of potato chips.
“Actually…” you begin, taking a deep breath and continuing, “It doesn’t bother me at all,”
Bucky lets out a long breath of air, “Holy shit really? That’s fucking awesome because I wasn’t gonna tell ya that today but then I smelt that thing and I’m sweating real bad right now with how nervous I am-I should not have said that, but now that you said what you just said-” 
You put your hand up, signaling for the witch to stop his word vomit and laughed, “Bucky you don’t need to worry… Honestly, I am just as nervous as you,” 
Maybe it was because of the state Bucky was currently in, maybe it was because of something completely unrelated, but it made you feel brave enough to admit more than what you would’ve ever imagined. Bucky somehow willed himself into eating his sandwich, stopping every once in a while to blurt out a random compliment about you, the food, your apartment, anything. He even complimented how adorable it was that your mattress was on the floor, saying it just made everything feel so much comfier and he wished his apartment was like this. You took the comments in stride on the outside, though on the inside you were dying out of embarrassment. No one had ever said such nice things about you, and to the volume that Bucky was going, even if it was against his will, it still shocked you a bit.
By the time you were both done eating, the effects of the smoke seemed to slow down a bit, which allowed the nervous man beside you to withhold all of his thoughts, though it did keep him from lying still. As you stood to clean up the plates and napkins used during lunch, Bucky mimicked you, following you to the kitchen. 
“Today was really nice Bucky...Thank you for coming over,” you smile up at the tall man beside you and try not to swoon when he returns the warm smile.
There wasn’t a beat of hesitation before Bucky responded, “It was my pleasure, sweetheart,”
The term of endearment had your face aflame, something that has become a recurring struggle whenever you were around Bucky and his stupid compliments that always got to you. 
“Ya know, you’re quite the sweet talker when there’s nothing holding you back,” you tease playfully, making Bucky let out a quick bark of laughter. 
“Was I not a sweet talker before? I must have had some kinda skill since ya let me spend the whole day here,” a sly smirk is pulling at the corners of his lips as Bucky leans down closer to you in a mocking way.
You roll your eyes and put a hand to his shoulder, effectively pushing him away and giving yourself some much needed space. If you didn’t breathe properly soon, you were gonna pass out.
Bucky stayed at your place for a bit longer until he got a text from Sam saying that Sibi was getting anxious and that she missed him. You couldn’t help the grin that made its way onto your face when he explained why he had to leave, thinking it was absolutely adorable that Bucky was the only one who was able to calm that gigantic wolf. When it was time for him to go, it became a waiting game of who was going to initiate the final goodbye. 
Standing by your front door, leaning on the trim, you stared into the piercing blue eyes of the man opposite of you, completely unsure of what to say. In all honesty, you didn’t think it’d go this well. For Bucky to spend the entire day cramped up in your apartment with you, eating snacks and joking around as if you had known each other for years… It shocked you a bit when you truly thought about it. 
Bucky sighed, leaning against the opposite frame of the door as he stared back down at you, “So…” a nervous hand came up to subconsciously tangle into the hairs on the nape of his neck, the Truth Be Told must be wearing off, “I um… Today was really great,”
You nod your head in agreement, “Yeah it uh-it was,” your fingers begin to tangle and pull at each other. 
“Do you...Maybe wanna...Do it again? Soon?” he mumbles out, breaking eye contact as he begins to focus on his shoes. 
A little pinch to the back of your hand ensures that what you just heard was real and you nod, “yes, that’d be awesome! I um… Whenever you’re free of course,” 
Y/n and Tin Man sittin’ in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!
You quickly turn around to see Calcifer prancing in a circle in the middle of your apartment, a sly grin on his face. 
Gods what are you Five? Shut up you stupid fox! I’m gonna throw you off the balcony!
“Doll? You okay?” Bucky chuckles lightly as he sees your face scrunched up into a cute little scowl that makes him want to squish your face between his hands. 
Calcifer's annoying cackles were heard echoing in your apartment as you turned back around to face Bucky, “Yeah, yeah no I’m good… You were saying?” 
“Just that I was free on Thursday, if you maybe wanted to get coffee with me… But it’s really no big deal if you don’t want to, I would understa-” “No! Er-I mean yes! Yes. I would love to get coffee with you on Thursday,” You cringe at your awkward response and bite the inside of your lip to keep yourself from screaming in embarrassment. 
The bright smile on Bucky’s face grounds you a little bit and gives you the courage to meet his pretty blue irises, “So Doll, I uh was thinking-” Before he can finish his thought, Bucky’s phone pings loudly, making you jump a little, “Sorry” He murmurs.
Snatching it from the pocket of his jeans, Bucky takes a look then immediately lets out a quiet sigh, “That’s Sam, I really gotta go,” 
Trying not to let the disappointment show, you nod your head and straighten up, silently wishing he could stay longer, “Okay...Um I’ll see you on Thursday then…” 
Bucky’s head tilts to the left as he considers your shy demeanor and he can’t help but reach out with his right hand and lightly grasps yours, “I’ll see you on Thursday, pretty girl,” 
You suck in a breath, feeling Bucky lightly tug on your hand and willingly following his lead. Taking a tiny step forward, which was really all you could take with how close the two of you were all ready, the breath your holding tightens in your chest as Bucky leans down closer to you. You could feel the warmth of his breath on your cheek, the brush of his long eyelashes ghosting over your temples, and the light squeeze on your wrist from his large hand. Bucky’s lips were soft as they pressed against the corner of your mouth in a light kiss that made you feel like you were in the clouds.
It didn’t last as long as you’d like and once he pulled away, you were able to let out the painful breath that stayed in your lungs for way too long. Bucky gave a quick wave before backing up a few paces, turning around, and walked the rest of the way down the hall. Leaving you to stand there breathless with the lingering feeling of his soft touches. 
“You two are gross,” The floaty feeling that had fallen over you evaporated as you heard the familiar’s voice from behind you. 
“I’m gonna hit you so hard,” You yell over your shoulder, turning around and slamming the door behind you. You pick up a slipper by your door and make your way over to the cackling fox. 
“W-wait wait! OW” 
“Stupid fox”
✸ ✴ ✦ 
-3 Months Later-
“Steve c’mon, stop interrogating my girl and come help set the tent up!” Steve turns his attention from you to his best friend, a smile on his face as he gets up to help Bucky set up the large canvas tent. 
“We will continue this later,” the blonde says pointedly before leaving you by yourself at the wooden picnic table. 
It had only been a little over three months since you had met Bucky Barnes, exactly two since he had worked up the courage to officially ask you to be “his girl” as he put it, and two hours since you had properly met Steven Rogers. How you had gone so long without meeting Bucky’s platonic other half was beyond you, but apparently the guy was a busy bee, and since your little potion shop out of your apartment had taken off, you didn’t exactly have much free time on your hands either. Fortunately, with a little luck and a lot of asking around for favors and covers for work, You, Bucky, Steve, Sam, Wanda, Vis, and all of your respective animals were able to take a long weekend to go camping. 
“Are you guys ready to eat? These sandwiches won’t keep for much longer,” Wanda stands up from the green metal cooler, hands full of deli sandwiches that she had made for the trip. 
A chorus of agreeance sounded across the cozy little site you had booked as you all gathered around the redhead. Bucky came up beside you, wrapping his metal arm around your waist and placing a soft kiss to the crown of your hair. 
“You excited for the weekend, doll?” he murmurs into your hair sweetly before placing a few more kisses there. 
You laugh lightly at his endearing behavior and smile up at him, “Of course I am Buck. I may never get the chance to spend this much time outside of my apartment again,” you joke, leaning up on your tiptoes to kiss your boyfriend on the sharp line of his jaw. 
After everyone had gotten a sandwich, along with whatever they wanted to drink or eat with it, you all squeezed onto the benches of the picnic table and began to chow down. Everyone talked animatedly about what the plans were for the rest of the weekend. Swimming, fishing, “Building a bomb ass fire” as Sam gracefully put it, all of it sounded like a blast to you. If you were being honest, you were just excited to be out of your apartment for more than a few hours at a time. 
“So, you’re a potion maker huh?” Steve asks, mouth half full of potato chips. 
Bucky lets out a groan and rolls his eyes, “Stevie let the girl breathe for fucks sake,” 
The group laughs at Bucky’s annoyance, but then looks at you, “Well, uh yeah… I um was taught at a young age, so it’s something I’m really good at and I know it’s not the best job or anything-” ''It’s an awesome job, kid. I think you’re doing real good. Our own little entrepreneurial witch!” Sam interrupts your babbling, a bright smile on his face as he pats your back just a little too forcefully.
“I mean… I’m not a witch so I obviously don’t really get it like everyone else does, but you seem to be doing really well,” Steve assures you, sending a sense of pride into your chest. 
You had managed to impress Steve Rogers… Not bad, Y/n.
The guy is actin’ like he’s Tin Man's father… The hell is that about?
You turn your head over to where Calcifer is curled up on a dark blue camping chair, bright yellow eyes trained on the blonde man who was still stuffing his mouth with food. 
Calcifer they’ve been friends for ages, it’s normal.
The fox lets out a quiet snuff in response before getting up from the chair and trotting over to the table. 
“Cal do you want some of my turkey?” Bucky asks, taking a few pieces of turkey from his sandwich and setting it beside him on the table. 
Calcifer doesn’t answer, just hops up on the bench and silently eats the portion of meat. It’s taken a while for Calcifer to warm up to Bucky… And though progress if few and far between, the two have definitely gotten closer in the past couple of weeks. The biggest issue at first was how crazy Sibi acted around other familiars, but after a while and a good amount of training from you and Bucky, the hyperactive wolf finally settled and was on track to be a wonderful helper for her witch in training. 
“So… Do you guys have any plans of moving in together soon?” Wanda hesitates as she not so sneakily takes a chip from Vis’s plate. 
You and Bucky look to each other for only a moment before responding, “We’ve been looking at places to go. It’s hard cause we wanna stay in Adelaide but without buyin’ a whole house, there aren’t many options for apartments,” Bucky explains, a small shrug to his shoulders. 
“And there’s no way all four of us could fit in my apartment,” you add, copying Bucky’s shrug. 
Neither of you were in too much of a hurry to find a place of your own, as you were both content in the homes you were in now. The idea of living with Bucky was quite appealing but you knew the more realistic thing to do would be to wait, save, and research to make sure you both lived in a comfortable environment. 
“You guys are so cute it makes me wanna die! Who knew you’d be the ultimate witchy power couple?” Wanda’s swooning caused you to laugh a little as Vision looked at her with mock hurt in his eyes as if to say ‘what are we then?’
Before anyone had a chance to add on, an unexpected voice responded, “I did,” 
Your laughter immediately ceased and your attention snapped over to the other side of Bucky’s large frame. Calcifer sat proudly on his haunches as he gazed back at your shocked face. 
“W-what do you mean you knew?” Bucky stuttered, equally as shocked as you were. 
“I just knew. From the first day you guys met, it was obvious it was that true love bullshit you humans talk about,” the fox brushes off both yours and Bucky’s shock as if it was nothing. 
The rest of the group laughs as the pair of you stutter out broken objections to Calcifer’s claim, “A-are you kidding me Cal? That stuff is like… a myth or something,” 
“Yeah, I mean I’m in love with Y/n n’ all but-” “You’re in love with me?” 
All of the banter around the table halts as five pairs of eyes stare at a now tomato faced Bucky Barnes. “U-um, yes. Yeah-I um, yeah I’m in love with you…” Bucky’s voice is quiet and you’re not sure if he actually said what you heard, but that thought is soon wiped from your mind as an eruption of cheers sounds from your friends. 
A grin makes its way onto your face as you stare up at those pretty blue eyes that you really never got tired of looking at, and you can’t help but bring your hand up to run along the stubble of Bucky’s jaw, “I’m in love with you, Buck” 
Bucky lets out a sigh of relief and immediately leans down to press his lips against yours in a passionate kiss, both of his large hands framing each side of your face to pull you closer to him. 
“Told ya so” 
“Shut up you stupid fox!”
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