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wlw-imagines · 4 months

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Behind The Curtain - Amelia Shepherd/Reader (Grey’s Anatomy)

request: Could you do a oneshot with Amelia Shepard where they both work at the hospital and are secretly dating. One day Arizona or Meredith or somebody catches them making out and then teases them about it the rest of the day. You're writing is fantastic! Thanks for reading this :) - anon

a/n: these are from my old tumblr thefandomwritings from back in 2018 ! re-vamped and re-purposed!! hope u enjoy and forgive the 2018 me style writing

Keeping your relationship with Amelia secret had been pretty easy for the two of you.

Whilst you were rarely seen venturing further than paediatrics ward, Amelia was similarly tied down to Neuro, being a neurosurgeon, and to whatever various tasks kept her occupied elsewhere in the hospital. Therefore there was never any need to cover anything up about your long-term relationship.

It had begun as a late night fling, early on in your careers at Seattle Grace - you had both finished a shift at the same time and walked into each other as you were buying a coffee.

She smiled sleepily, her eyes bleary as she gripped the coffee cup, “Y/L/N, right?”

You nodded at the correct name, and also in recognition of the woman in front of you, “Amelia.”

“Coffee? At this late hour?” She smirked, a twinkle growing in her eyes.

You couldn’t help but let out a laugh, “I could say the same for you.”

Amelia shrugged and started walking at your side, “I won’t get any sleep any time soon anway, what’s your excuse?” She raised an eyebrow as the two of your left the cafeteria.

“Same.” You shrugged, before turning back to face her and fully reigstering the look in her eyes. You took a slight risk, hoping it was the correct one, “Want to come back to mine? We can talk about how shit life is and commiserate together?”

“I’m less of a talker, more of a do-er.” She caught your expression of a raised eyebrow and shook her head, “Not like that!”

“Hey, we can do whatever you want to do.” You laughed, “I can make us more coffee at home? Stronger coffee.”

“Okay. I’d like that.”

You were fortunate really because whenever you were around one another your love was probably too obvious and your relationship was something that you felt didn't need to be known by everyone yet. So, the longer it could be kept a secret, the better. There would be no complaints of favouritism in surgery and no teasing during late night shifts, it was just straight up easier.

And while normally the distance between your areas of expertise was in your favour, sometimes, on the rare occasion, the paediatrics and brain surgery teams would collaborate. It was at time like these that it was much more difficult to keep your hands off each other.

The day had started with Arizona rushing towards you, a stressed look on her face reserved for only the worst cases. "We have a nine year old girl coming in with serious unspecified head injuries. I've paged Lady Shepherd so she is on her way up, you'll be following the case with me." She rushed out, no time to pause.

"Wait, I... Lady Sheph- Amelia is being given the case?" You asked, your heart hammering slightly once you heard the name.

"She is our in-house neurosurgeon so, yes. She is. Do you have a problem with that Y/L/N?" The woman quirked an eyebrow up at you, giving you one of her looks that you could hardly ever interpret so you just stuttered away.

"N-no, not at all. That's fine, it's great. Good for her." You stumbled through some random words that didn't even really make sense in the situation before you were interrupted by your girlfriend walking through the doors.

There was just something about her in authority and her scrubs that turned you on and that was why you were better off separated. So you found yourself relatively lucky to not be included in the team that went into surgery.

You avoided the viewing platform. But even when you were stuck outside doing paperwork you still found yourself too distracted, your mind wandering off too many times, thinking of what you would do to the woman once you were in the safety of your own apartment.

It was going to be a long day.

You had waited until the surgery was finished until you snuck into a call room. Amelia had been walking past when you attempted to (subtly) pull her into the room with you. You immediately closed the door and pinned her up against it, making an attempt to lock the door before Amelia flipped the tables and pushed you against the wall. The look in her eyes immediately brought back memories of how your relationship had initially begun.

"What are you smiling about?" She asked, pulling back with a confused look on her face.

Leaning forward, you kissed her nose and hummed slightly, "I love you, is all."

The smile remained on your face as you leant slowly in. Your lips connected and the kiss only became more passionate as the pent up frustration of long, hard days and not seeing each other as much as you needed to built up. You weren't even in there to hook up like you always used to, you just need to be close and be together.(Although, shirts were beginning to be unbuttoned...)

You were vaguely aware of footsteps approaching but you were too caught up with Amelia and had just assumed they had passed. That was until you heard a small gasp coming from the doorway.

Amelia and you pulled away from each other as quickly as you could, your girlfriend stumbling back and almost falling over had it not been for you grabbing her waist and wrapping your arms around her to prevent the fall.

Once she was secure you turned your head back to whoever had interrupted with a smile that was as innocent as you could make it before clearing your throat, "Arizona... Hey."

"Well, I was not expecting this...” A small grin spread across her lips and she let out a gleeful laugh, “Actually, you know what I kind of was. Y/N's been acting strange." Arizona smiled with an evil twinkle in her eye, "I can't believe you guys haven't told me!" You quickly shushed her before pulling her into the call room and closing the door behind her. "I love you guys but at least buy me dinner first..." She joked, earning a light slap on the arm from you.

"What are you doing?" You asked, running your hand through your hair and starting to fidget.

Arizona paused, "I was going to take a nap... in the call room. Because that's what-"

Your girlfriend looked at her watch and shrugged at you, "Look at the time, I've got to go." Amelia, spoke up from the corner, sliding out the door without another word.

You went to walk after her but turned to Arizona who was still standing there with a smile on her face, "You scared my girlfriend away." You pouted.

Arizona just wrapped her arms around you and rocked you side to side, "I'm so proud of you!"

"Shut up."

"But you're both so cute."

"Shut up!" You pushed her slightly, laughing.

"And you've finally found someo-"

You gave her one last look before opening the door, "Okay, I'm leaving now!" You said, walking out.

"Love you." She yelled after your disappearing body.

"Love you too." You yelled back before adding on, "And don't you dare tell anyone!”

--------------------------------

"Y/N," You jokingly rolled your eyes when confronted with Arizona leaning on the nurse desk with a big smile on her face. You prepared yourself for the teasing that was inevitably about to come and pretended to be more interested in the paperwork in front of you. The teasing over the past week had been neverending, "Listen, I know I've been making fun of you and your girlfriend all day and I just wanted to let you know that I support you 100%. I promise that I won't let anyone know of your little secret, okay?" You visibly relaxed and looked back up at her.

You smiled, putting your hand over hers, "You know, you didn't need to tell me that. I trusted you from the beginning but thank you all the same."

She nodded and went to leave before turning back to you, "By the way, I've given your girlfriend a little gift - you may want to go up and say hi. She's in the nursery."

Confused, you frowned slightly but didn't question it as you nodded and made your way to the other side of the ward, where all the newborns are kept.

You stepped in front of the window looking into the nursery and felt your heart skip a beat to see Amelia cradling one of the babies. She caught your eye and her eyes twinkled slightly as she looked down at the baby in her arms. You sighed blissfully and stepped into the room.

"Are you terrorizing the children?" You asked, looking around at the other 3 cribs, each holding a tiny, delicate baby. You stepped closer to Amelia, putting an arm around her lower back and looking down at the baby.

"They're our kids without any home, or parents." Amelia whispered, rocking the baby slightly before shifting the pink blanket to cover her head and little waving hand that had fallen out when she was trying to reach up to your girlfriend. "I kind of thought you were just going to end the sentence at, 'they're our kids' and then you would have a lot of explaining to do."

"Surprise!" She sarcastically cheered before one last rock of the baby. Between the two of you, you managed to safely get her back into her cot and tucked up in her blanket before sneaking out the door.

You both stood in each other's embrace for a while, just soaking in each other's love and company.

"Y'know, maybe it's good that people know about us - especially Arizona." You mumble, longingly staring at the bundles left in the nursery, "if it gets us perks like getting to cuddle cute babies during work then I'm so up for coming out to everyone." You joked.

Amelia just nodded, "Me too." You looked up, slightly surprised as it hadn't really been something you had discussed yet. "Hey, you want to stay at mine and get chinese tonight?"

"Do you have the house to yourself?" You asked with surprise, since these are the only times you get to stay round and even then it is like a military mission. "No, it's a full house tonight. I'm introducing you to them."

"Babe, you realise I know your friends and they know me. We're part of the same friendship group."

"I know, but I get to introduce you as my girlfriend." She grinned and began walking back down the corridor, back to work before yelling over her shoulder, "Plus I get to show them pictures of our children!"

#greys anatomy #greys anatomy imagine #greys anatomy x reader #greys anatomy x y/n #amelia shepherd #amelia shepherd imagine #women loving women #amelia shepherd x reader #amelia shepherd x #lesbian #lesbian imagine #WLW #wlw imagines #wlw imagine #wlw x reader #wlw-imagines

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astarion-approves · 8 months

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Astarion resting in the evening with a reader with chronic pain/disability pain??

Literally your writing makes me so giddy ❤️✨✨ kudos to you OP for being fantastic as descriptions and dialogue!!!!

Astarion x GN! Tav with chronic pain

Safe for work, chronic pain, gender natural reader, 3rd person, 900+ words, SPOILERS ACT ONE, short and sweet, slightly OOC Astarion, no beta, (I DON'T have chronic pain so my apologies if this is way off the mark, I hope you enjoy it.)

Read below or on AO3

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Another fireball hits your shoulder, nearly knocking you to the ground from the force of it. The other party members glance in your direction, just making sure you haven’t fallen from the attack. The Hag’s wicked laugh rings in your ears as she continues her fight, gusts of wind and more flames flying towards you.

Your body aches, the meat of your muscles shaking, each movement like a million blades being stabbed into your skin. It takes all of your effort to keep standing, each attack from Auntie Ethel bringing you closer to your knees.

Shadowheart defends against her, casting a quick healing spell in your direction – just enough to keep you on your feet.

For now.

As Gale and Shadowheart chase after the Hag you will your body to move, to follow along with them and take her down. Your breath is unsteady, pain shooting up your limbs and to every joint in your body.

“No,” you mumble, stumbling forward but managing to keep yourself standing. “Not now. Please, not now!” A flare up, the never ending pain that curses you each and every day. Something that even the tadpole can’t remove from you. Fire licks up your spin, the pain spreading and moving to control you. You fall to your knees, reaching out towards Gale and Shadowheart as they land blow after blow onto the powerful Hag.

And you can do nothing but watch.

You clench your jaw to keep yourself from screaming out in agony, to keep yourself from cursing the God’s that gave you this cruel fate. For what kind of God would ever deliver upon you the work of a Devil? You’ve made no sinful deals, no murder of the innocent, earned no curse from the evil that wanders in this world.

No–

You are simply doomed with pain that you can never evade. Pain that will chase you and consume you for the rest of your days.

“Tav,” Astarion is next to you, his hand on your back, sweeping up and down your spine with as much gentleness as he can muster. “Are you alright?”

You shake your head, the battle carrying on just in front of you. Shadowheart cries out as she’s hit in the stomach, Gale jumping to help her off the ground just as another ball of fire is cast in their direction.

“Astarion–” you gasp as the pain takes over, finally pulling you into the ground.

Astarion shushes you, his hand leaving your back and instead carefully lifting you from the ground and into his arms. He rushes from the battlefield, placing you down behind a thick tree truck, a soft smile across his lips. “Now, you just stay right here. I will be right back after we’ve taken down this nasty little Hag. Rest.”

And then he’s gone, the twang of his bow being shot over and over lulling you into a deep sleep.

—-----------------------

You wake with a groan, blinking your eyes as you stare up into a deep red fabric that hangs above you. Slowly, you sit up, hissing at your body stings all over. You look around you, books thrown about and a large assortment of pillows all over the ground.

Astarion’s tent. Then that means–

“Ah, no, stay right where you are,” Astarion said as he waltzed into the tent, carrying a bundle of fabric in his arms. “Lie back down, darling; before I make you.”

“The battle–”

“Is over, and we all survived. Goodie.”

“Mayrina-”

“Alive and well. Now, hush,” Astarion said and gently pushed on your shoulder, forcing you to lie back down. He sat down beside you, opening the fabric he held before and revealing a large pile of ice. Astarion hummed as he laid a blanket over you and then began placing piece after piece of ice on top of you.

“Ice?” you asked.

“Hm, yes. What is the point of having a Wizard in our camp if he can’t conjure some ice for us?”

“Why are you doing this?”

Astarion raised a single brow at you, as if the answer were obvious. “You’re in pain, are you not?”

“Well, yes–”

“And while that Hag was a powerful creature, I know a fireball like that wouldn’t be enough to put you on your ass. Not normally, that is.”

“But–”

“But, nothing.” Astarion sighed and poured the rest of the ice over your legs. “Honestly, Tav. Why didn’t you tell me you were in pain sooner? I could tell that morning, you know. The way you hardly spoke as we made our way into the swamp, how you grunted just going up the steps of that gross little house, and you sighed when we walked through the mud.”

You looked away from him, ashamed. This pain, it was a weakness, one that you didn’t want the others to see… And now they all know. The fear of them leaving you behind was festering in the back of your mind.

“I care for you,” Astarion began, grabbing your attention and forcing you to stare at him with wide eyes. “Probably… more than I should… since you’re keeping secrets from me.” He sighed and reached over, flicking you in the forehead. “So, the next time you’re in pain, just tell me. Please? I’ll carry you on my back if I have to.”

You snorted. “I can’t ask you to do that.”

“Nonsense,” he replied and waved you off. “Besides, it would just be another excuse to have you close.”

“... So, you care about me?”

Astarion laughed. “Of course I do, but don’t make me confess to you while you’re here lying in agony.”

You pouted. “Astarion–”

“Another time,” he whispered and leaned down, giving you a little kiss on your forehead. “I promise.”

“Fine.”

“Now that that’s settled,” Astarion held his hands up, wiggling his fingers. “Which foot should I begin my massage on?”

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mur4sak1 · 1 month

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How would elves behave during an argument?

A/N: Remember that English is not my first language so I hope I wrote in the best way <3

Characters: Rog, Galdor, Glorfindel, Maedhros, Legolas (bonus)

Rog: guys, this elf would be really scary. Contrary to what you might think, he would lose his temper very easily; he works all day in the darkness of the forges and when he leaves he just wants to have a good rest, so further stress from an argument would drive him out of his mind. He's the typical person who screams without thinking twice and says things he doesn't mean in anger. His way would destroy you every time, making you burst into tears from how bad he made you feel... but as soon as he saw a small tear running down your face he fell silent, forgetting everything that was happening; Was it him who made you like this? He was making the only person who loved him and who had always supported him in his darkest moments cry. He would stay still for some time, with a thousand thoughts in his head when a louder sob from you would bring him back to reality. He would apologize to you but he would do it without meeting your gaze, he is suffering too much for what he did and he wouldn't have the courage to see your destroyed expression. But you knew that he loves you more than anything after all. With difficulty you would get up and hug him as tight as possible, telling him that everything was fine, that you knew he didn't think those things and that you loved him... You couldn't see his face, but a tear fell from his eyes.

Galdor: NOW LET'S ALL GIVE A HUG TO THIS WONDERFUL ELF TOGETHER. He would always try to find a solution peacefully, without discussions and the need to argue, but if this happens you should not fear anything from him. He would NEVER scream, he would NEVER raise his voice, he would NEVER say anything mean to you just to hurt you or win the argument. I mean, it would be fantastic. Maybe due to particular circumstances you would have become so upset that you felt angry against the elf, but in any case he would have spoken to you in a calm and reasonable tone, making you understand that you didn't need to react that way. If the pain brought you to tears, he would hug you and console you like a defenseless child, helping you and trying to get you to vent so that he could fully understand what was troubling you so as to avoid misunderstandings. Galdor would have been able to understand and love you more than anyone else, always.

Glorfindel: It was rare to argue with the blond elf, but sometimes it happened and the situation became quite lively. Glorfindel always tried to keep his problems to himself and not involve others because he was convinced that difficult moments should only be faced with those you love. Furthermore, he certainly wanted to avoid all that useless gossip that many elves had on any topic that might attract their curiosity. Although his character was often extroverted and playful even in the saddest situations for this reason, when he argued with you it wasn't uncommon to hear shouts and snorts coming from your rooms. They would not be screams that expressed malice, but screams that asked to be listened to; it was natural for him to raise his voice when he wasn't listened to and in that way he expressed all his frustration and the pain that the discussion with you was bringing him. He always acted for your good and feeling attacked made him suffer, he wondered what he was doing wrong, what more did you want from him. But the intense mix of emotions inside him prevented him from acting rationally, forgetting how to express them and focusing only on everything you said. After a long time arguing like this you would have reached the point of being exhausted and progressively raising your voice would have left you breathless. You would stop to breathe for a fraction of seconds, with the certainty that everything would soon start again. But after rubbing your eyes, you looked at your elf's face and saw in him all the pain that he was trying to say to you through his tone of voice; his fists were clodes, his head was bowed, his forehead shiny with sweat and a few blond hairs stuck to it. In an instant you understood everything... You breathed a heavy sigh and quickly approached him to hug him, starting to beg him to forgive you and sobbing heavily between one apology and another... Caught off guard, after a few seconds he relaxed his arms and reciprocated the hug. Finally he let himself go to his feelings; he rested his head on your head and the wet of sweat combined with the wetness of a few tears. So he was able to express everything he felt and only at that point would you be able to clarify and return to being happy and in love as always "I just want to always be perfect for you".

Maedhros: I'm sure fights with the red-head would be very peaceful. Having grown up in a large family and in the role of an older brother, he had developed a lot of patience thanks to which he could easily handle any type of conflict with you. Contrary to what many might think, after Angbad Mae would not have vented the pain on you with shouts and insults, but quite the opposite. After the terrible torture he suffered, the only thing he wanted was to feel accepted and in you he found his salvation; in all the darkest moments where his mind couldn't differentiate reality from dreams you were there by his side to help him, without ever making him feel wrong and making him understand how strong he was to have overcome such a trauma. For this reason, he would feel like a terrible elf during arguments. He only wanted to offer you the support that you represented to him every day but instead he felt more like a burden to you. This would make him cry a lot, but in silence and alone, because he feared that with every little clash you would abandon him. He just needed time, time to understand that you would never, ever abandon him; you always told him that you loved him more than anyone else and that he needed your support to be able to return to the sweet, confident elf he once was, and you would do anything to help him. Needless to say, every time the arguments were resolved without even face them... there was too much love that bound your hearts to ruin it for superficial reasons.

BONUS. Legolas: So, I honestly see Legolas as the kind of elf who would be capable of walking away during an argument. Perhaps due to stress, lack of patience or lack of desire for confrontation, he could stop the conversation, pick up and leave the place where you were. But in reality his behavior would be the solution to the problem. In fact, the much anger that you had accumulated would have faded with distance and the passage of time and would have made both of you understand how much you cared for each other. Solitude would have helped Legolas to think clearly about the problem and find a possible solution to make them both happy. When you met again you would have made peace, both apologizing for your abrupt ways and organizing something to spend the evening together.

#silmarillion #silmarillion headcanon #silmarillion x reader #tolkien #maedhros #maedhros x reader #glorfindel x reader #glorfindel #galdor x reader #galdor #rog #rog x reader #legolas #legolas x reader #lord of the rings #the hobbit #the hobbit x reader #lotr x reader

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laurenairay · 2 months

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every breath, every hour has come to this - S. Jarvis

Summary: Seth Jarvis was your best friend, your rock, your protector…but could he ever be anything more?

This is my entry for @callsign-denmark’s Luck of the Puck fic exchange! I’ve written a Seth Jarvis story for @mp0625, and I really hope you like this – it’s my first time writing for him and I had a lot of fun with it! Thanks for providing some really great prompts for me to work with.

Words: 2.5k

Warnings: some bad language, hurt/comfort, alcohol, terrible date, I fudged the Canes’ game schedule.

Title from: A thousand years, Christina Perri

For as long as you could remember, Seth had always been in your life. Two peas in a pod, two goofy little kids, always attached at the hip. Even as hockey became more and more of a fixture in his life, you were right there in the stands, cheering him on at the top of your lungs as his biggest fan. You were his staunchest supporter, always giving him reassurance when his self-confidence cracked or faltered. He was your loyal protector, pushing away anyone that was ever mean to you, including shitty boyfriends. Everyone knew in your small suburb in Winnipeg that where one of you went, the other was sure to follow.

So it was exactly no surprise to your parents (and his) when you followed him down to Raleigh the moment his entry level contract was signed.

You didn’t know what you would do without his energetic personality lighting up your day, the ultimate hype-man even before dates that both of you knew weren’t going to end well, or his sweet smiles in a terrible morning after a fantastic night out with his team. You didn’t know what you would do without his built arms wrapped around you on the sofa while you watched awful reality tv or cheesy movies, broad shoulders perfectly places to rest your head on, and especially waking up after a shared nap together, cementing his self-proclaimed King of Naps title.

Or seeing him wake up from a nap by himself, and his whole face lighting up when he saw you there too.

For as long as you could remember, you’d been in love with Seth, and there was nothing you could do about it. You’d seen the girls Seth went on dates with, and they were nothing like you. Even when the two of you were going on your first dates when you were barely teenagers, his ‘type’ seemed to be the complete opposite of you – so you’d always endeavoured to make sure the guys you dated were the opposite of him. It was the only way to preserve your heart, to keep your incredible friendship with Seth as wholesome and solid as you needed it to be, and not once had you ever messed that up.

Seth Jarvis was the best person in your life and you never wanted that to change. Not for anything. That didn’t mean that you didn’t know how hard your life was going to be when he eventually found his soulmate – but that was a problem for future you, and you refused to do anything but live in the moment.

Speaking of living in the moment…

“Hey Seth, do these shoes go with this dress?”

Living with your best friend really did have its perks – you could always guarantee an honest opinion on your outfit from him.

“Hmm, you can’t go wrong with a little black dress and nice black heels, but where is he taking you?”

“Does that matter?”

“Well yeah, you like those shoes and I know you don’t want them to get ruined by a sticky floor,” Seth pointed out.

He really did know you so well.

“He said he’s taking me out to dinner, but he didn’t tell me where or what the venue was like,” you admitted.

You ignored Seth rolling his eyes.

“The dress is gorgeous but I would change your shoes if you aren’t sure. Maybe those black ankle boots? Not too casual but not too fancy,” Seth suggested.

Incredible.

“You are amazing,” you grinned, jogging back to your room to kick your shoes off.

“And don’t you forget it!”

You just laughed at his shout across the apartment, pulling on the ankle boots he suggested. Just as you thought, he was right. With a swipe of lipgloss, you were ready, so you grabbed your leather jacket and headed back out of your room.

“Hey, sweetheart?”

“Yeah Seth?” you asked, spinning on your heel.

“Have fun tonight. You look amazing – don’t let him forget that,” Seth said seriously, making you laugh, “And if you need anything, anything at all, call me.”

“You’re going to be my knight in shining armour?” you teased.

“With a guy you don’t know taking you out for a first date on St Patrick’s Day? Absolutely,” Seth mused.

Well you couldn’t fault him there.

“Wish me luck!”

“Luck.”

If only you’d know just how right Seth would be.

“Seth?” you whimpered, hiccupping into your phone.

“Woah, hey, what’s wrong?”

“I know it’s only been three hours, but can you pick me up?” you pleaded.

“Of course, I’ll leave right now. Three hours or three minutes, it doesn’t matter. Send me your location pin, but stay on the line?”

You just sniffed, nodding even though you knew he couldn’t see you, doing as he asked.

“Okay, I have it. That’s a real shitty bar, sweetheart.”

You choked out a sob. He had no idea. “Real shitty date too.”

“What did he do?”

You could hear him running out of your shared apartment, down the stairs rather than waiting for the elevator, and your heart ached with how willingly he dropped his peaceful evening just to help you.

“He lied about taking me out to dinner. Instead he took me to a bar where a bunch of his friends were, and when I asked him why he lied he told me he wanted to celebrate St Patrick’s Day with his buddies and thought I could come along. Which, fine, okay, he thought I would get on with his friends, so I went along with it. Most of his friends were fine, welcoming even, but they were getting drunker and rowdier and I don’t mind that if I’m with people I know and trust like you or your friends, but with strangers? No way. And then he…”

You trailed off, groaning at the memory, Seth just cursing under his breath. You could hear him driving, not even caring for once that he was probably breaking the speed limit. You just wanted him here.

“What did he do?”

“He started getting handsy. Slapping my ass, pulling me into his body with an arm around my waist, all of that shit, making his friends laugh even though it was obvious I was uncomfortable. But then he grabbed at my boobs and-”

“He fucking what?”

Over all the years of Seth protecting you from nasty dates and boyfriends, you’d never heard him so angry. Never.

“He groped me, in front of everyone. But I shoved him away immediately, I swear!” you insisted.

“Hey, I believe you sweetheart. I know that stuff makes you uncomfortable. I swear I’m going to kill him, I’ll-”

“No, no, I don’t want you to get in trouble, okay? I left the bar already,” you said firmly.

“You left the bar? But your location says…”

“I’m outside the bar, still in eyesight of the bouncer just in case, but I’m outside. I walked out the bar because I couldn’t stand to be near him after him threw the remainder of his beer at me for rejecting him.”

“He fucking what?!”

Okay, that was the angriest you’d ever heard him.

“Told you he was a shitty date,” you mumbled, sniffing again as your eyes stung with tears once more.

“This is not your fault. He was an absolute asshole and none of this is on you.”

“Just my luck, right?” you said, huffing out a bitter laugh.

Seth just cursed under his breath again, continuing to mutter about how men were shit and you deserved better and all the things that usually would put such a smile on your face…but right now it just made you want to be home, safe with him, curled up in his arms. Nothing felt better than being with Seth and it was only because of the few drinks that you had that you allowed yourself to think like this. Thankfully, it couldn’t have been more than 10 minutes before you saw a familiar car screeching into the parking lot, and you finally felt like you could breathe.

He pulled to a stop only metres away from you, and you wasted no time in walking over to him, even as he got out of the car and slammed his door shut, jogging over to meet you halfway.

“Shit, sweetheart, look at you,” Seth scowled.

You groaned softly as he took in your blurred mascara and beer-soaked top, and grabbed his hand to break his attention.

“Can we just go? I want to get as far away from here as possible.”

You rested a hand on his chest, gently guiding him backwards towards his car, out of earshot of the bouncer and anyone else who deigned to leave, Seth’s fuming expression never leaving the dive bar you were walking away from.

“Is he still inside? Is that asshole still in there?” Seth demanded.

“Hey, no, come on, leave it. He’s not worth it,” you pleaded.

“He doesn’t get to treat you like that and get away with it. No-one gets to treat you like that, you hear me? No-one.”

Your breath hitched in your throat and your body thrummed with heat at his furious words, his eyes wild in a way you’d only ever seen on the ice. His fists were clenched, his nostrils were flared, and his shoulders were squared, all the while his cheeks flushing with anger as well. It was only the brief flash of desperation across his face that let you know he wasn’t mad at you – no, this was Seth’s protective side coming out in full force, dialled up to 1000.

“Seth, I…”

You trailed off, running a hand through your hair as you struggled to find words to defend yourself, relying in his car to lean against and keep you upright. He might not have been mad at you, but it still didn’t feel good to know that your situation was making him react like this.

“It’s not like I go out of my way to date assholes,” you eventually managed, “they just seem to find me.”

“Shit, sweetheart, I’m not accusing you of anything. I just…”

He cut himself off, seeming to need a moment to think, and you waited silently for him to give you something. Anything. Eventually he cleared his throat, the wildness in his eyes replaced by an anguish that made your heart ache.

“I can’t take it anymore. I just wish you’d see what you could have, right in front of you.”

What?

What was he talking about?

Right in front of you?

The more seconds the silence stretched on, the more your confused thoughts swirled and the more frustrated Seth looked, until he groaned in frustration.

“I’m talking about me,” he said through gritted teeth, looking like he wanted to be literally anywhere else.

Oh.

Oh shit.

“You?” you repeated, your voice cracking.

“Yeah and now I wish I’d never said a damn thing so can we please pretend that you’re really drunk instead of tipsy, and never talk about it again?” Seth muttered, avoiding your eyes.

As all of his words started to sink in, you found yourself shaking your head as decades-buried hope dared to surface.

“You’ve never said anything at all! You like me?” you said, needing him to say it again.

Seth huffed out a laugh, still not looking particularly comfortable.

“How could I say anything? I’m nothing like any of the guys you’ve ever dated,” he muttered.

“Because I purposely date guys that are nothing like you!” you shot back.

“What?”

You groaned as embarrassed heat filled your cheeks, turning your head away to give you a chance to save a scrap of dignity, but then Seth’s hand was cupping your face, gently turning you back to look at him properly. Never had he touched you like this, so delicately and with such purpose. His eyes were a storm, barely giving you anything to go on outside of the intensity, and it was all you could do to let out a shaky breath as he dropped his hand but stepped a little closer.

“I’m going to need you to give me a bit more than that, sweetheart,” Seth said, barely more than a murmur, edge of his voice a little rough, “What do you mean?”

“I purposely date guys that are nothing like you…because you’ve had my heart for longer than I care to remember. I never thought you could ever be interested in me because of the girls you date, and the thought of dating someone even a little bit similar to you was heartbreaking, so I just…went for the complete opposite. Clearly it’s been working out really well,” you said, choking off a bitter laugh as you finished.

Seth’s lips parted in surprise, and for once he was stunned into silence. It was only the fact that he hadn’t moved to step away that saved you from wanting to curl into a ball on the cold ground. Still, that didn’t stop the anguish from building inside of you like a volcano ready to erupt at the slightest provocation.

Eventually he let out a shaky breath, smiling weakly.

“We’ve wasted so much time,” he said softly, shaking his head.

What?

“We…have?” you asked, still in disbelief.

“We have.” Seth nodded, smiling at you in a way that encouraged you to finally smile back at him, giddy without being able to stop yourself, “You’re my goddamned soulmate, how could I ever want anyone but you? And knowing now that you’ve felt the same way all this time? It’s everything. I wish I could say I’ve been playing the long game but honestly I never thought you’d ever want me back. But we need to put a pin in this conversation until tomorrow.”

What? Why?

You didn’t know what was showing on your face but it made Seth laugh – a little deliriously, maybe, but a bright laugh that you were so used to all the same.

“You’ve been drinking, sweetheart. You’ve literally just ended a bad date covered in beer, as well as had quite an emotional night,” Seth explained.

“That still won’t change how I feel about you in the morning,” you pointed out.

His smile turned a little bashful, but definitely pleased, making the butterflies in your stomach riot.

“Then I look forward to hearing you say it again tomorrow. Just…let me take you home? Away from this gritty old bar parking lot?”

You nodded without hesitation, making him huff out a laugh again but take your hands.

“Take me home, Seth,” you murmured, squeezing his hands, barely able to believe the words coming out of your mouth.

With Seth’s wide grin, it looked like he could barely believe it either.

“We’re going to be amazing, you just wait.”

#my writing #seth jarvis fic #luck of the puck exchange #seth jarvis fanfic #seth jarvis imagine #carolina hurricanes fic #hockey fic #hockey imagine #hockey fanfic

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hard-core-super-star · 6 months

Note

Hi rubix, love your writing btw!! so would I be able to request a wandanat x reader fic where it’s readers birthday and they don’t usually have time or people to celebrate with so Wanda and Nat decide to change that for this year and whisk her away to somewhere like Paris to celebrate and have a great time with some smut at the end 🫣

It’s my birthday in a few days and I’m in dire need of this 🤧

romance is not dead, if you keep it just yours [W.Maximoff; N.Romanoff]

pairing: top!natasha romanoff x bottom!reader x switch!wanda maximoff

summary: your girlfriends set out to make your birthday as memorable as possible.

warnings: smut -> minors, you know the drill, bye [threesome; smut so soft it borders on spicy fluff; like...one inch of plot; grinding; fingering [R receiving]; the daddy and mommy kink is implied but not explicit lmao; wanda's low-key a brat because...yeah :) ; clothed sex AGAIN because i think it's neat, okay?; cheesy ending...again]

wordcount: 2.2k

a/n: hi, lovely anon, thank you for the kind words! i hope i'm not too late with this but either way, i hope you had a fantastic birthday! also, you get the honor of having requested my first ever wandanat fic so that's cool. this was my first time properly sitting down and writing for them so let me know what you think! i really hope you enjoy <3

* * * * * * *

“Guess what.”

You look up from the book in your hands to find two pairs of expectant eyes on you. You’ve seen your girlfriends wear many faces since you met them and yet it never fails to surprise you when you catch a glimpse of the genuine joy they wear around you.

The one that makes your heart skip several beats and earns them both teasing comments from the rest of the team.

“What?” You ask as your eyes flicker back and forth between them and the proud grins on their faces.

Wanda playfully rolls her eyes at you. “That’s not how the game works, detka.”

“Come on, go easy on her,” Natasha comes to your aid for once, a subtle hint that even she must be excited about whatever news they’re hiding.

“Yeah, what Nat said.”

You and the redhead share a look that draws a soft chuckle out of your girlfriend. “Remind me how I’m the one who spoils y/n again?”

“Can you stop stalling and tell me what you’re hiding already?”

Your question earns both a glare and a laugh before you’re finally given the answer you’ve been searching for. Your girlfriends may love you more than anything else in the world but that will never stop them from teasing you like their life depends on it.

“So impatient…yes, fine, we convinced Tony to let us borrow one of his stupidly fast jets for tomorrow.”

Two pairs of green eyes watch your reaction expectantly only to find your face twisting into confusion. “Why?”

There’s a beat of silence where they both stare at each other, silently trying to figure out how to proceed. Clearly, they weren’t expecting you to question the exciting news they had brought to you.

It happens in a flash.

One second you’re sitting alone in bed and the next, your girlfriends are on either side of you, contradicting touches landing on your arms. It’s strange how easy it is to tell them apart. How cautious Natasha’s fingers still are when they trace random patterns onto your skin compared to Wanda’s gentle pressure as trails down to grab onto your hand, unmistakable tendrils of red magic moving to put your forgotten book back onto the shelf.

Natatsha’s the first to break the silence, all her earlier playfulness gone and replaced by subtle concern. “y/n, it’s your birthday tomorrow.”

“So?” You shrug. “It’s just another day.”

Wanda tightens her grip on your hand and successfully steals back your attention. “Nonsense, malyshka. You deserve to be celebrated.”

“Guys, it’s not a big deal,” you assure them. “I really don’t need anything. Plus, I have too many things to do.”

“Not anymore.” A sweet kiss is placed on your lips before you can voice your complaints. “We’re stealing you away tomorrow.”

“But what about-”

“Already talked to Steve.”

“And-”

“Kate will understand.”

“How-”

“Stop looking for excuses, detka.” Natasha rolls her eyes as she pulls you closer to her. “You’re coming with us.”

You want to argue, you truly do, but then Wanda’s gluing herself to your side, eager hands slipping under your shirt, and you quickly come to the conclusion that spending all day with them is the best way to spend any day.

Including a birthday.

Especially since you’re more than used to treating it like every other day of the year. It’s not that you don’t like celebrating it, you’re just always too busy to make real plans and no one’s ever thought to surprise you before.

But of course, your girlfriends aren’t like anyone else.

Which is how they manage to get you onto one of Tony’s jets, reminding you of the existence of time zones and how you have to leave right now if you want to make it to your surprise destination on time. You don’t really mind either way but you’re pretty sure you haven’t seen them this excited about something in a while so you go along with them anyway.

The jet ride seems never-ending despite how fast the aircraft is supposed to be. It doesn’t help that you’ve been having trouble sleeping peacefully the past few nights and Wanda’s running a hand through your hair in the way that makes you melt.

“You’re allowed to go to sleep, you know?” Natasha whispers with a teasing smirk. “We still have a long while to go.”

“Whose idea was this again?” You grumble as you drop your head down onto the redhead’s shoulder.

“Don’t be a brat, love. You’ll thank us when we get there.”

You bite back the rest of your complaints and sink into the sweet arms of a dreamless sleep. You miss the way your girlfriends watch over you the entire time as well as the long list of things they each want to see and the various ridiculous ways in which they propose to get everything done.

They ultimately agree to let you choose once you’re awake again…something that backfires when the jet finally lands and you’re still far off in dreamland. They go back and forth on whether they should wake you or not, especially since it’s morning where you've landed and the jetlag will definitely destroy you.

You look far too cute to rouse though so Natasha gathers you up into her arms with ease and carries you in her strong embrace the rest of the way.

When you finally do wake up, a few hours have passed and you're safe inside the lavish hotel room Wanda reserved using one of Tony’s endless credit cards. The change in scenery startles your drowsy mind before you feel familiar arms pulling you close.

“Look who finally decided to join us,” Wanda says softly as she easily pulls you onto her lap.

“Hi,” you mumble, tucking your head into the crook of her neck.

“Hi, darling. How's the birthday girl feeling? Still sleepy?”

“A little.” You let out a soft sigh as your girlfriend’s hands travel inside your loose shirt, slender fingers tracing random shapes onto your warm skin. “I’m sorry I ruined the trip.”

She scoffs and the sound instantly reminds you of Natasha which pulls a small smile onto your face. “You didn't ruin anything, detka. It's your birthday.”

You don't say anything in response and your girlfriend is quick to pull your thoughts away from their current trajectory. She keeps exploring your waist with one hand while the other one comes up to playfully tug on your hair.

“How about you stop hiding and look at your surprise, hm?”

It’s unclear whether it’s her words or her grip on your hair that makes you obey but neither of you mind. You reluctantly lift your face from its hiding place and let the green-eyed woman guide your gaze toward the large window of the room.

You gasp the second you realize where you are. “You guys brought me to Paris!”

Your excitement manages to break through your exhaustion which earns you a laugh from your loving witch. “Only the best for our girl.”

“You’re crazy.”

“Maybe a little.”

You turn your head at the sound of Natasha’s voice, eager hands reaching out for her instantly. Your silent request is instantly fulfilled and the redhead easily slips into bed next to Wanda.

“I can't believe you would do this for me.”

“Believe it, malyshka.” She leans forward and easily captures your lips with her own.

Wanda huffs as she’s left out of the moment, her hands wandering under your shirt once again. You're too lost in the kiss to notice where her fingers are going until they brush against your nipples.

The sensation makes you jump which makes you grind against the witch’s thigh in a way that leaves you gasping for air.

“That’s cheating,” Natasha warns after she pulls away from you.

“What happened to spoiling the birthday girl?”

This time, you're the one who gets left out of the moment as they fight for the control that always rests in the Russian’s hands. They get caught up in their knowing stares and bruising kisses, leaving you aching and panting for their attention.

It’s a game they love playing with you but you’re far too desperate already to last much longer without their hands on you.

Thankfully, Wanda decides to take pity on you. She gives your hardened nipples a soft tug, smirking against Natasha’s lips when she feels your hips buck once more. “I think someone’s feeling a little needy.”

The redhead turns to look at you, a perfectly raised eyebrow painting her face with the stern humor you've come to know so well. “Is that right, kotenok? Are you feeling needy?”

You nod, all the heat in your body rushing down from your face to between your thighs. “Please don’t tease.”

“Aw, look at that, Nat. You're not going to deny her when she looks like that, are you?” You're not sure if Wanda’s actually being genuine or not but you don't really care as long as she’ll help you get what you want.

“Who’s the brat now?” She chuckles before reaching out for you, pulling you onto her lap, and leaving behind a pouty Wanda. “Come here, let me give you what you want.”

The Russian is true to her words and wastes no time in sliding a hand past the waistband of both your pants and your underwear. Your complaints about the lack of sink-on-skin contact between you are forgotten as Wanda situates herself behind you, plump lips trailing feather-light kisses up your neck.

A gasp tumbles out of your lips once Natasha’s fingers finally find your drenched cunt. She moves slowly, almost too slowly, but you already know she’ll be quick to remind you to be patient if you dare whine.

“You don’t have to be so cautious, detka,” Wanda whispers against your flushed skin. “It’s your birthday, remember?”

“Don’t listen to her, it’s always so much better for you when you’re a good girl.” She easily slips two fingers into your waiting hole, barely holding back a laugh as your pussy swallows her digits.

Your hands grip her shoulders for stability while they both work in tandem to make you lose the last bits of control you still have over yourself.

The witch’s hands find their way under your shirt yet again except this time she’s gripping your hips and helping you move in time with the redhead’s movements. It’s the slowest, most agonizing, of dances and yet the pleasure has you arching your back in seconds.

“Look at you,” Natasha coos, taking a mental picture of how delicious you look writhing in Wanda’s arms. “You’re so pretty when you’re like this, malyshka.”

Your walls clench the second you hear the affectionate petname and the Russian can’t resist the urge to lean forward and attach herself to your neck. Her thrusts are still slow and steady but then finally, her thumb begins to circle your puffy clit.

Your head falls back against Wanda’s shoulder and she laughs as you practically go limp from the pleasure. “You’re gonna break her, ‘Tasha.”

“She likes it.” She punctuates her point by curling her fingers just right and pulling out a string of moans from deep within you. “Don’t you, darling?”

“Mhmm, please don’t stop.”

They share a look you don’t see but you do feel the evidence of yet another standoff. It’s like Wanda just can’t stop herself from pressing all of Natasha’s buttons when they’re like this. Which means it’s your job as their devoted girlfriend to let them turn your pleasure into a competition.

And they do just that.

Wanda’s grip on your hips tightens until her nails are digging into your skin and she’s practically forcing you to ride Natasha’s fingers. Natasha, for her part, increases the speed of her thrusts, launching you closer and closer toward your orgasm. She’s still drawing it out of you, though, still balancing speed with soft kisses and murmured praises.

It’s a strange combination but it works perfectly. Just like your relationship with them. It’s something that transcends words, something that can’t be explained, merely felt…and it’s also exactly what brings you to the edge.

“Nat…please…”

“Please, what, detka?” Wanda responds for your girlfriend.

“Can I cum? Please?”

You half-expect them to make you beg for a little longer but it seems your special day has left them more merciful than usual. Natasha’s lips make their way up your neck and onto your jawline until she reaches your lips and gives you the permission you’re searching for.

“Go ahead, cum for us.”

You’ve heard the words thousands of times and yet they make you fall apart like nothing else. The slow build-up finally reaches its peak with one more swirl of Natasha’s thumb against your clit and you literally fall face-first into your orgasm.

“Such a good girl, love. Always so good for us.”

Your response comes in the shape of a muffled whine as you bury your face into the redhead’s neck.

The sound makes both of your girlfriends smile and Wanda moves to sit on Natasha’s other side while they wait for you to recover. “I guess we’re not leaving the hotel any time soon.”

“Are you complaining, Maximoff?”

“Shut up.”

Their bickering makes you giggle. “Wanda’s being a brat again, Nat.”

“I know.” The green-eyed woman turns her head to press a barrage of kisses against the side of your face. “I think that means she can’t join us in the shower.”

The comment draws another complaint out of the young witch and you happily rest in your girlfriend’s arms while they start up another playful argument you’ll eventually have to get in the middle of.

You don't mind though, there's no other way you'd rather spend your birthday than with them.

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ghcstao3 · 5 months

Note

Hello! 👋 Hope you're having a fantastic day 💖 Could we maybe get a part two of that sweet Soap's mum's house story? Perhaps with some there is only one bed on the side when 141 retire for the night and Soap and Ghost have to share his tiny childhood bed?

i hope you’re well & ty for the ask!! writing this out i realize i’ve never actually written the only one bed trope before so! something new:)

(part 1)

Of course, as all rest and recuperation must go, there comes a point in their stay with Mrs. MacTavish where they all need to get some sleep.

Gaz is smart to take the couch, Ghost thinks. Price and Nik attempt to be discrete about sharing the one guest room available, and Ghost gets no choice in being dragged into Soap's childhood bedroom with the claim that there'll be an air mattress to blow up.

There is not.

Soap at least has the decency to look sheepish when he returns to the room after going to inquire with his mother.

"Ma said one of my sister's bairns made a hole in it last time they were up here," Soap explains. "So..."

They both slowly turn to face the twin bed shoved up against the wall, a mattress of which would certainly not fit two men of their size all that comfortably.

"No," is all Ghost says.

"C'mon, LT." Soap punches Ghost's shoulder. "We've managed with worse."

"I'll take my chances on the floor," Ghost grumbles. At least it's carpeted, he thinks.

Soap shakes his head. "And grouch about your back for the rest of the week? Not happening. Here."

The sergeant seizes Ghost's wrist and drags him toward the foot of the bed. He points to the mattress. "Sit."

Ghost reluctantly does as asked, watching silently as Soap digs through his drawers for pyjamas, presumably, but finds nothing that still fits. So instead he figures just to strip off his clothes, save for his boxers, as if his lieutenant isn't just sitting there.

Granted, they've seen each other naked before—they're soldiers, for crying out loud—but there's something... different about this. More intimate.

Soap climbs onto the bed, crowding himself as close to the wall as possible before patting the comforter.

"Your turn," he says.

"I'm not getting undressed."

Soap rolls his eyes. "Not that part, you dafty. Lay down."

Ghost huffs before awkwardly moving into place beside Soap. He lays stiff as a board, keeping as much to the edge of the mattress as he can manage without falling off—but even then, he's still inevitably pressed up against Soap in some capacity.

"Can you turn off the lamp?" Soap mumbles. Cleary he has no issue with this arrangement.

Ghost complies.

It isn't much of a surprise to him when Soap's soft breathing turns into snores in a short few minutes, all the while Ghost doesn't know if he's even so much as closed his eyes once, let alone taken a full breath. Being out in the middle of nowhere, it's hard to not be conscious of Soap beside him, when there's nothing else to turn his mind to.

Eventually, though, exhaustion does reach him. At some point Ghost feels the need to pull off his mask and at least attempt to fall asleep, because Soap was right—they have managed with worse.

He doesn't know when, but Ghost does end up sleeping.

And if Mrs. MacTavish finds the two of them curled up together the next morning, then she'll keep that to herself.

(And, of course, to the photo she takes to send to Soap's sister of her younger brother's face smushed into the back of the lieutenant he talks so much about. It's about time something happened, even if it's only this.)

#ask #plot twist the air mattress was fine the whole time #simon ghost riley #john soap mactavish #soapghost #ghostsoap #ghost x soap #ghoap #writing

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loving-barnes · 3 months

Text

LOGAN HOWLETT - BETTER

A/N: Chapter six is here! And it took me quite some time. This one is shorter. Hope you like this one.

Pairing: Logan Howlett x mutant female reader

Warning: none

Summary: Things are slowly turning around. Or are they?

Please, do not read if you are under 18. This story is suitable for mature audience.

Words: 3100+

Important note: Again, Logan is a tall MF, because they fucked up in the movies. Also, Hugh Jackman!Wolverine. This is set in AU.

A TOUCH OF HOPE MASTERLIST | Chapter Five

LOGAN HOWLETT - BETTER

Logan woke her up at six in the morning. They came to an agreement to start the training early before classes. He laughed at her when she opened the door and had dark circles under her eyes and messy hair. Fortunately, she was dressed in sports clothes and ready to train.

Y/N was surprised to see him in black gym shorts and that damn white tank top. At least he didn’t wear jeans. Fuck, his ass looked fantastic in them. Still, his big, veiny arms were on full display. At least something to look at, she thought. She needed to practise self-control. Otherwise, she’d drool all over him.

It took her a few minutes to wake up and get into training mode. First, Logan made her run through the footpaths around the compound. He stayed close, setting the pace for them. That was just the warm-up. Afterwards, he took them to the Danger room.

Y/N was drinking water while her eyes travelled around Logan, who walked around like a lion in a cage. He was thinking about the next part of the training. She used the opportunity to eye him. Damn, that man was hot. Even with that hairstyle, it made him charming.

“We should focus on your mutation,” he announced. “You need to be able to control it as you wish. The more control you have, the more you can do as you please.”

She put down the water bottle. “I’ve noticed a thing,” she approached the man. Her hands rested on her hiplines. “I’ve been thinking about it the whole night.”

Logan crossed his big, muscular arms across his chest. Then he raised a brow. “Shoot.”

“I think it behaves differently every time I use it. It all depends on the situation,” Y/N explained. “When we were in Salem, and they shot at me, the bullets were absorbed into the shield. Then, I ran towards them, and it threw them away once they made contact with the forcefield. It would absorb or hurt them more if it behaved the same. Instead, it served as a barrier.”

He tilted his head and scratched his beard. “Interesting,” he said. “Someone else would be able to explain why this keeps happening. As the Professor said, your mutation is primarily defensive, and-”

“I can use it as an offence if needed,” she added. “I know, I heard.”

“Exactly like it happened a few days ago. Your emotions got the best of you, and the forcefield flew right out of ya,” Logan continued. “I think you need to experiment with it. You know, try a bunch of shit to figure it all out.”

Y/N laughed at that. “Aw, you are a great teacher,” she teased. “I have never received such specific instructions. Try a bunch of shit and figure it all out.”

While she kept chuckling at that, Logan’s claws emerged from his skin, and he threw a punch. He would have gotten her face, but Y/N dodged it by a few centimetres. Her heart skipped a beat, and her soul escaped her body. “What the fuck?” she yelled. “Why the fuck did you do that?”

“What? You dodged it,” he smirked. He threw another punch, and she quickly blocked it. “Better,” he commented.

“You could’ve killed me, you ass,” she spat.

“Stop crying, princess,” said Logan with a smirk plastered over his face. “You need to expect the unexpected. Plus, I’d never hurt ya.”

Princess? That was new, she thought. “What if I hurt you? Have you thought about that?”

“I wouldn’t stress over it. I can heal, remember?”

Y/N didn’t wait and kicked him in the gut hard. He stumbled back and gasped from pain. He managed to stay on his feet. “Expect the unexpected,” she said to him with a big smile.

“Will I correctly ask if I ask that you’ve learnt to fight when you were with that Mars guy?” he rubbed his belly.

She stretched while he kept his distance. “Yes. I’m not saying he made me the best fighter or anything. We had to know how to fight and escape. I know what I’m doing, but compared to you, I am a novice,” she said.

“You are far from that,” Logan said. “Now, come on. Less talking, more fighting. You wanted me to train you and not chit-chat.”

“Aw, come on, you like chatting with me,” she teased again.

“Shut up and fight.”

Left hook, right hook and then Y/N was down on the floor. She cursed and frowned at the man above her. She was panting, mad that he managed to get her down that quickly. Y/N rolled over her shoulder and went for his legs. She tried to trip him but wasn’t successful. She attempted to kick him in the knee and failed. Damn, Logan was agile. He predicted her moves.

“Come on, Y/N, hit me finally!”

As he hauled off at her, Y/N’s hand shot forward, and she made a forcefield. Logan collided with it and flew through the air until he hit the ground farther away. Y/N’s eyes almost fell out of her sockets. She covered her mouth and nose with both hands, gasping. “Oh my god!”

She didn’t expect him to fly through the seven seas and more. Hell, she didn’t want to use the forcefield in the first place. He attacked, and she protected herself. It was instinct. Y/N ran to him and fell to her knees. Her eyes filled with horror.

Logan was grunting on the floor. His white tank top was burnt in many places. The smell of burning flesh caught her nose. She found a few burns on his skin that healed before her eyes. “I’m so sorry! Logan, I’m sorry. I didn’t…” She was panicking.

Slowly, he sat up and looked down at his destroyed piece of clothing. “Shit,” he mumbled. “That hurt.”

“I didn’t mean to hurt you,” her mouth ran miles. “I wanted to use the shield to make you fly, yes. However, not to burn you alive. What the fuck was that? I am so sorry, Logan.”

His hand pressed against her mouth to shut her up. “Breathe, princess. I’m fine.” He wrinkled his eyebrows when he smelled the burnt clothing. He grabbed the fabric with his other hand and ripped it off him.

Holy shit, she thought. She would have said it out loud if it wasn’t for Logan’s hand over her mouth. For the first time ever, she got the perfect and close view of his toned, muscular chest. It was covered in hair that travelled down to his stomach and even further. It was hot. She couldn’t believe how much she liked it. He was a definition of a man. The way his chest rose and fell from breathing, she had to clench her thighs.

The door to the Danger room opened. Storm ran inside. “Have you seen-” she stopped talking when she found Logan and Y/N on the floor. He kept holding her mouth while being shirtless. They turned their heads to the woman. “Y/N,” she added. “I was looking for you this whole morning. As I can see, you are preoccupied.”

Logan let go of her mouth. “We’ve been training since six,” she said.

“I need to talk to you,” said Storm when she approached them. “Since when do you train without a shirt?” she teased the man.

“Since someone burnt it with her mutation,” he glared at Y/N, who gave him a big, embarrassing smile. “Y/N, at least buy me a drink before you want to see me shirtless.”

Her mouth opened wide as if she was offended by that. She couldn’t give a reply. Logan put two fingers under her chin and helped her close it. “You’re a douche,” said Y/N. “It was an accident,” she turned to Storm.

“If you are done, can I talk to you?” Storm asked. Her voice was soft and friendly.

Logan stood up. He helped Y/N on her feet. “We’re done. I have a class in half an hour, and I need to shower.” He noticed how the woman by his side kept ogling him. He smirked. “I’ll see ya later, Y/N.”

Both women watched him leave the Danger room. Storm raised a brow and smirked. “You have a thing for him, don’t you?”

Y/N’s eyes goggled. “It’s nice to look at him,” she commented. “Anyway, what do you need?”

“I need to talk to you about everything that happened a few days ago.”

Y/N inhaled through her nose. “Can I quickly shower? We can meet in fifteen minutes at the basketball court. Then, we can talk.”

“That sounds okay,” Storm nodded. “I’ll see you there in fifteen.”

. . .

Storm and Y/N walked over the school grounds, enjoying the autumn breeze. The weather was warm, even though it was October and Halloween was knocking on the door. Storm wanted to know Y/N’s story. She needed to understand what had happened before she would jump to any conclusions. That’s why they spent the last hour walking around, talking about Y/N’s life.

“I don’t get why Scott needed to paint you as the bad guy when all of us struggled when we were teens,” Storm shook her head in disbelief. “All stories are different. You happened to have a tragic one. It wasn’t your fault.”

“But I still did it,” Y/N sighed. “I managed to kill my sister with the ability to protect. How ironic is that?” she shook her head. “I can’t change the past. My little sister is dead. My parents hate me. If they knew I was alive, they would want me dead.”

“So, what happened after?”

“I ended up in an insane asylum where I stayed for a few years before I escaped,” said Y/N. “Those years are a blur. With the heavy medication and shit, I don’t remember much.” They slowly moved back to the school. “You know, I wanted to leave yesterday,” she admitted.

“Why?”

Y/N shrugged. “I thought you’d hate me for what I did. I hurt you all. I thought you wouldn’t want that kind of a person here, with the kids,” she explained.

“What made you stay then?” Storm was curious. She had an idea in her mind. That idea was inside the school, teaching history.

“A chance of being a better person,” Y/N said. “I have the opportunity to do something good. I can learn more about mutation and be there for those who require help. I want to prove to you and myself that I am not a monster.”

“Is that all?” Storm had to ask with a teasing smile.

“Let’s not go there,” Y/N chuckled.

“Logan is a nice guy. Grumpy but with a good heart,” said Storm. “You two clicked, you know? When I think about it, it would be a great love story. He’s literally your knight in shining armour.”

“Y/N!” they heard a voice shouting. Both women turned to see JJ running towards them. Saved by the kid, she thought. Y/N’s eyes sparkled with excitement. She spread her arms, and the boy ran into them. They hugged tightly. “I haven’t seen you in days,” said the boy.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

“They told me you were hurt,” he said. “Are you okay?”

She gave him a smile and patted his head. “Of course I am. I needed some time to rest. How do you like it here?”

“This place is awesome,” he said excitedly. “I share a room with two other boys. They seem nice. Oh, hey Storm,” the boy acknowledged the other woman standing by them. “They teach us how to work with our mutation. It’s so much fun!”

“Oh, it makes me so happy that you like this place,” Y/N looked into the boy’s face.

“I have to go, but I’ll see you later. Bye Y/N, bye Storm!” the boy waved to them and ran inside the building. He probably had another class to attend.

“He’s a unique young man and a good student,” Storm said when the boy was gone. “Was your past also a reason you wanted to save the boy?”

“Yes,” she whispered.

Together, they went back inside the mansion. When they stepped into the main hallway, Y/N turned around on her heel. “Hey, didn’t I make Scott fly out of that window?” she pointed at the undamaged window. “How is it fixed already?”

“With all the mutations around, things can get fixed fast here,” said Storm with a gentle laugh. “Listen, I have a wild idea,” her eyes brightened. “Half an hour from here, there’s a bar. It’s owned by a mutant. We should all grab a drink tonight.”

“There is a bar?” Y/N was surprised to hear that. “I’d love a beer. It’s been years since I had one.”

The school bell rang. Silent halls turned into noisy ones. Another class was over. The students left the classrooms.

“Great. All we need is to find a babysitter and-”

Office, now.

Y/N frowned and looked around. She heard the Professor in her head. “Did you hear that?”

Storm nodded. “Come, something’s going on.”

They moved fast into Charles’s office. Rogue, Bobby and Kitty were quickly behind them. After entering the office, Jean, Scott, and Kurt were already there, with another man Y/N never met before. He had mid-long silver hair and a smug smile on his face. The last ones to enter were Logan and Colossus.

“You must be the new girl,” the man pointed at Y/N, his eyes travelling over her body. After a blink, he stood in front of her. “I’m Peter,” he shook her hand.

“Y/N,” she said, startled. “Wow, you are fast.”

Logan approached Y/N, standing right behind her. She smelled like a coconut shampoo. It was nice. What he didn’t like were Peter’s eyes on her. Logan glared at him. “Hey, Speedy,” he greeted his friend. “Long time no see.”

Peter moved back to the chair he was sitting on. It was faster than a snap of the fingers. “Had some business to do. Same old, same old.”

Scott turned his head to look at Y/N. Because no one could see his eyes, they didn’t know what emotion was behind them. He wrapped an arm around Jean’s waist and faced the Professor again.

“Why are we here, Professor?” Kitty asked softly. “Did something happen?”

“I’m afraid I don’t have good news,” Charles started to talk. “Hank and Remy went to Washington to attend a conference. It was about Human and Mutant affairs. I’m afraid some new threads want to stop the cooperation between humans and mutants.”

“Here we go again,” Bobby mumbled, shaking his head.

“And with Trask Industries trying to come up with a way to suppress us, I’m afraid we are on thin ice,” Charles continued. “I’ll send Scott and Jean to join Hank and Remy. We need more reasonable voices to help with the cause.”

“Professor, this will never stop,” Rogue commented. “They tried before. Here we are again, facing the same issue over again.”

“We can only hope for the best, for now,” said the Professor. “We need to act now before Magneto and his Brotherhood will step in. And we all know what happens when they get into it.”

“We need to be prepared for anything,” Jean said. “If the politics decide to break the treaty pact, we will be endangered again, and there will be war. No one wants that.”

Y/N shook her head. Even though there was a treaty, humans would experiment on mutants. They would capture them and abuse them like they did her. They needed lab rats to figure out how the X gene worked.

How am I still alive?

When the meeting had ended, everyone, except for Jean and Scott, gathered outside the office. “How about Stan’s tonight?” Storm suggested. “I need a drink more than ever after hearing that,” she pointed at the office door behind her.

“I’m out,” Colossus said. “I don’t think I am welcomed there for a while. Last time, I accidentally destroyed two tables.”

“Because you wanted to arm-wrestle after drinking the whole bottle of vodka,” Logan glared at his friend. “I warned you. You didn’t listen, Piotr.”

Y/N bit her lower lip to keep her from laughing. Obviously, they were notoriously well-known at the bar. Her eyes met Logan’s for a brief moment.

“So, you’ll be the babysitter then?” Storm gave him pleading eyes.

“Sure,” he agreed. “You all have a good time. If anything happens, I’ll give someone a call.”

“Great,” Strom clapped excitedly. “How about we meet at the entrance gate at seven in the evening?” she suggested.

As they all started to disperse, Y/N turned around and looked at the Professor’s door. She had an idea inside her head. It was stupid, but she wanted to ask about it.

“Are you coming?” she heard Logan’s voice.

“Uh,” she turned her head to look at him. “I need to talk to the Professor. I’ll see you later.”

With a single nod, Logan left her alone. Y/N knew Jean and Scott were still inside, but she wanted to speak to Charles alone. Y/N approached the door and knocked on it. Once she was allowed to enter, she did.

Scott and Jean were already on their way out. Jean gave her a polite smile while Scott ignored her. Y/N had to roll her eyes. His behaviour was childish.

“How can I help you, Y/N?” Charles asked. He moved behind his table. “Your mind is closed, so I wonder what you want.”

“I was thinking,” she approached the table and then seated in an armchair. “Do you need an extra teacher?”

“What do you have in mind exactly?”

“Uh,” she fiddled with her fingers. “English and literature, perhaps? You took me in, and I would like to repay you somehow. I was the best in class. Before my life turned upside down, I used to apply to writing competitions. I know a lot about literature. I love it.”

Charles smiled. “Anything else?”

“Uh,” she thought back, thinking about the hobbies she had as a child. “I attended guitar lessons, so I guess music? I might remember something.”

The man chuckled. “You can teach English and literature. It would help me with some of the classes, to be honest. I teach physics, mutant ethics and even literature. Another teacher for this would be great.”

“And it’s okay that I don’t have a proper school?”

“No one does. Hank, Jean and I are the only educated here,” he said gently. “Any help would be appreciated. I will look at the schedules with Storm, and I believe you can start from Monday.”

“Really?” Y/N’s eyes sparkled. She was getting excited.

“I have no reason to lie to you.”

“Thank you, Professor,” she smiled at him. “This means a lot. I’m glad I’ll be able to help you. I’ll let you be. You must have a ton of work to do.”

When she left his office, she felt more relief in her chest. At least she would be able to repay them somehow. A smile appeared on her face. Things slowly started to turn for the better.

#Logan Howlett x reader #Logan Howlett x female reader #Logan Howlett #Wolverine #Wolverine x reader #Wolverine x female reader #Logan Howlett fanfiction #Marvel fanfiction #X-Men #A touch of hope #X-men fanfiction

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lace-coffin · 4 months

Note

Hello! Could you please write something about The Collector (Asa Emory) who falls madly in love with fem!reader who lives a very lonely life? At first the man begins to stalk the reader, but one day he still decides to kidnap her and brings her to his den in order to give her a happy life that she truly deserves. Thank you so much!🦋🌺💖

Asa Emory x lonely!fem!reader

Requests are open!

I really hope you like this! Thank you a bunch for the request I love writing for this silly little guy !

You could try convince yourself that your life wasn’t mundane but…let’s be honest. It’s the same in and out, wake up, drag yourself to uni running on a cup of shitty instant coffee, try keep your eyes open and focus on said lecture, grab something quick to eat on the way home and then rot in bed until it’s time to sleep and start the cycle all over again.

It wasn’t like you didn’t have any friends, well not many but that’s beyond the point. You just don’t see each other much, always busy with university or work, god knows you don’t have the energy to meet up on your free days anyway. Keeping up relationships was always a struggle for you and it felt easier to just quietly drift.

Despite this you still get lonely, it can be an isolating existence when the only people you interact with daily are your lecturer and maybe the shop staff. Unfortunately narrating to yourself at home doesn’t count as company.

Little did you know that your lecturer had taken interest in you, he didn’t really have reason to in your mind, but to Asa you were different, reclusive and usually quiet, didn’t answer many questions but usually knew the answers when asked.

You stood out to him despite your best efforts to blend into the background noise of the class. Asa loves to dissect people like you, he finds there’s often more under the surface than you expect, maybe a reason for their timidness, or an unexpected shady social life. This is why Asa is currently keeping a good distance between you as you go about your day, lurking just far enough as not to raise suspicion but close enough to study you like a bug under a lens.

This was not the case for you. Asa couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed, instead of some shady back alley business or home drama he just witnessed a depressingly mundane day. Maybe you would meet a friend after uni? Maybe you would come home to a lover? Maybe you would have a fun hobby? None of those things.

Asa watched through the blinds as you sling a microwave meal in and slouch at the table, resting your head on the cheap wooden surface and groaning in defeat. To be honest Asa was bored out of his mind, having been trailing you for the entire evening and witnessing nothing of interest. After you lay in bed and start having some kind of breakdown, Asa thinks he’s seen enough, deciding to leave.

Later in the evening Asa can’t stop wondering about you, surely you can’t be content living like that, a young women like you should be in your prime years, eating at cute cafe’s with your friends and partying on the weekends, right? At least that’s what Asa thinks the 20 somethings are doing these days, he’s to old for this.

This won’t do, it’s not like you’re an unpleasant person, always an angel in his lectures but keeping to yourself, the way you move to put your hand up to answer questions but pull it back in shyness is endearing to Asa. Sometimes he asks you anyway because he feels you deserve to be heard.

After a few weeks and a couple more days of watching you, you wake up contorted into a box. Fantastic. You go through the motions as all captives do, the hysterics, crying, pleading, fighting and bolting. Usually this part is the most inconvenient for Asa. He’s never threatened by it, knowing well that he’s the one in control. With you he can’t help but want to coo and tell you everything will be ok if you’re good for him. Maybe he’s getting soft. Or maybe you just have that effect on him.

Time passes, a few months maybe, and things are better. Your body has softened out a little from your masters insistence on you eating good balanced food, a healthy glow in your cheeks and a little extra fat on your curves. You still attend lectures at the uni only now you’re arriving with Asa and parting ways until class starts, not wanting to raise any suspicion. It turns out it’s a lot more helpful to just have your tutor at home if you get stuck with work, Asa loves teaching you anyway, getting to talk about his special interest to his favourite pet? Beautiful.

On your free days you visit restaurants and events together, the way your face lights up when you try a new yummy food or find a cute trinket tugs at your owner’s heart. Sometimes you think about how you could just run now and not look back, easily lost in the sea of people at the market, however the idea no longer appeals like it did months ago. Given the choice you wouldn’t want to leave anyway, tied to your master so deeply by now. Call it love or Stockholm syndrome, you don’t care anymore, your days finally feel more like a new opportunity and not a burden. You look forward to weekends again, Asa jokes an old man like him isn’t the best company but you wouldn’t want to spend the time with anyone else.

This is how it should be, how it should’ve always been. Asa thinks, as he unclasps your collar for the night. enjoying the pleasant hum you let out as he massages your neckline, rubbing his coarse hands over it gently, tracing the faint red lines the display of his ownership left behind. “Let’s get you to bed cricket” Asa says softly, scooping you up and depositing you onto your shared king bed. You waste no time in snuggling into his soft fuzzy tummy once he’s stripped off his day clothes and settled into bed. With one last chaste kiss to the forehead Asa leans over and turns off the lamp, draping his arms over you. “Goodnight cricket, I love you” “night sir, love u” you mumble back, already half asleep.

#slashers #slasher x reader #slasher headcanons #asa emory #asa emory x reader #the collection #writing #my writing #slasher fucker #slasher horror #slasher hcs

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vaspider · 2 years

Text

Pete Buttigieg is not the fucking point.

Truly amazed at the people whose big takeaway from that thread is "you hate Pete Buttigieg" like buddy did you not... read... all of it?

I genuinely don't give a shit about Pete himself. If you think this is about Democratic self-devouring or whatever the fuck, please mentally substitute Ellen or George Takei or Rachel Maddow or your favorite Other Respectable Gay. I hear some dude named Rubin is even a conservative who is getting turned on for adopting a baby? I don't know who he is and I don't care (do not tell me, I do not care) but if it makes you feel better, substitute any of those names.

I think the ones that actually make me sad are the people who keep insisting that 70% of people support gay marriage, and that I'm just 'acting out my trauma', and we won't see things turn against us, we're perfectly safe now, how dare I say that cishets won't put themselves out for us when it counts, it's different now.

Honey, 99% of people want tomorrow to go on pretty much like today, and what they'll support when it doesn't cost them anything has nothing to do with what they'll support when it does. Those of us telling you 'we were abandoned before, and we were the ones who took care of us then' aren't telling you because we're incorrigibly bitter misanthropes. I am annoyingly hopeful, actually, and in love with humanity and the beauty of life. Seriously, I have to write poems about it because I love the universe and all of humanity so fucking much. One of the things I love about humanity is its fragility and its uncertainty. I love the ways in which we fail.

And humans, over and over again, turn our eyes away from tragedy.

If you are lucky enough to have cishet friends and family who will put themselves out for you when it really matters, that is fucking fantastic. That's not nearly universal, and I'm afraid that you're going to find out sooner rather than later that it's far less universal for you than you'd like to believe.

At the end of the day, you can believe me or not about all of this. You can say that I'm just a bitter old transfag, an angry old dyke, a traumatized old queer if it lets you sleep better at night, if it allows you to just close your eyes and say 'this is all going to be fine, because 70% of people support marriage equality!' and get some rest. I can't make you pay attention.

And the thing is? I'd love to be wrong. I would absolutely love for every cishet who has ever said "one of them" or said "well, I mean, I just don't want to see it, they can do whatever they want in private" or whatever to turn out to be the raddest fucking ally the world has ever seen. I know it can happen! My in-laws went from being Baptist homophobes to getting weekly chatty update phone calls from the two trans women refugees from Latin America who they housed and helped get their papers sorted and who are now living in New York and call them Mom and Dad. Like, truly, it can fucking happen!

But you can't count on that from the vast majority of people, because when it comes down to it, most people want tomorrow to go on pretty much like today. You're much more likely to be able to count on someone with a dog in the hunt.

More than that, though, the point of that essay -- which, when people miss it, they miss it so hard that it feels deliberate, honestly -- is that all of our bullshit infighting doesn't mean dick. I've been saying that for years, begging people to think inclusively about our community, begging people to stop all the bullshit infighting because I could see this shit fucking coming, you didn't need to be Cassandra to see it coming but sometimes I felt like I was screaming until my throat was horse, the fucking tsunami is coming, it's coming, motherfuckers, can't you see the way the water is pulling back?

And here we are, and all the arguing about whether bi lesbians are "valid" doesn't matter, and everyone's attempt to gatekeep butch and femme doesn't matter, and everyone's arguments about whether neopronouns are bad doesn't fucking matter because we are all just fags, dykes and trannies to them, they do not care for one fucking second about any of this. None of them care for one second about our infighting. No one is going to stop and ask you what your orientation is so they can call you the right slur when they're gaybashing you, kids. They. Don't. Care.

So now here we are, and people are acting like the point of the essay is that I wanted to call one particular dude a fag, rather than that it doesn't matter how perfectly primed you are to fit into Respectable WASP Society, it is your queerness which is objectionable. It is your gayness. It is your transness. It is your bisexuality, your asexuality, your lesbianism. You will never be granted rights and respectability. You have to defend your rights, and stop giving a shit about respectability as a metric of whether or not someone deserves them.

I mean, for fuck's sake, some Iowa voters tried to withdraw their caucus support once they realized that Pete was gay. It literally fucking happened. There's video. Someone they supported above all the other candidates in the Iowa primary was immediately disqualified for them to the point where they tried to retract their support the minute they found out he was gay.

That's the fucking point. I don't care who you use as your Proxy Respectable Gay.

Pete Buttigieg is not the fucking point.

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chronicbeans · 1 year

Text

Wally and a Puppeteer Reader (part 4)

No thoughts. Only silly.

TW: Derealization, Idol Worship, Obsessive Behavior, Mentions of Stalking

🍎 The last few days have been a blur of the bright colors in the neighborhood mixed with the dull, more muted tones of your world for Wally. It seems like every "night" in his world, he is now ripped out of his false reality and into your true one. No sleep him, because whenever he enters Home with even the slightest intention to rest after a long day of playing, he's suddenly being picked up by you and brought to the box.

🍎 His friends have noticed, of course. Especially Julie and Frank. His movements are much more sluggish and lethargic. His eyes seem more empty than before. They hear his off-putting mutterings about a world beyond their own, a benevolent being controlling all, the lights above being so bright - harshly so! - and missing the warm, comforting arms of some savior.

🍎 Wally's tried to explain what he has seen, saying otherwise would be a huge lie! Nobody believes him, though. Frank says that he is simply trying to scare them all. Frank says that, back in his home town, they spoke of these puppeteers as a way to keep bad children to behave. They are just little myths and nothing more, which is why he doesn't have any books about them. Why worry about these fake beings when he can learn more about his precious butterflies?

🍎 The only one who cares to listen is Julie. She's concerned for her friend as she looks up to him from her place sitting on a rock. She watches as he moves his arms in extravagant flourishes, emphasizing just how passionate he is about the subject of this benevolent being.

🍎"And then," he begins, spreading his arms out wide before pretending to scoop something up and cradle it, "the being scooped me into their arms! Their arms were warm and smooth! Their skin didn't feel like mine or yours! It was smooth and felt a bit like... I don't know how to explain! It was the warmest thing I ever felt in my entire life!"

🍎 Julie simply chuckles, a strained, forced sound that didn't hold any amusement. Wally knows that she only listens to him because she is concerned for him. She must think he is crazy! That he lost his wits! It doesn't matter, though, because he needs somebody, anybody to talk to about the puppeteer. About the one behind everything he says and does. The one behind everything everybody says and does! If he can't talk about it, he would truly go insane from keeping it all in.

🍎 Wally's words are cut off by Julie's voice saying "Wally, you're scaring me." He could only grow silent, his eyes wide and a desperation building up to just... continue talking about the puppeteer. He holds back, though, watching as she stands up from her seat. The puffy skirt of her dress bounces as she steps over to him, slowly but surely, speaking in a hesitant tone.

🍎"Wally... I love you, and you're scaring me. Poppy loves you and you're scaring her. Barnaby loves you and you're scaring him! EVERYONE here loves you, and you're scaring us! You keep talking about strange, fantastical things. You keep saying that we aren't real... That this puppeteer controls all. That we have no free will? Why are you doing this? Is this a joke? A prank? Please, tell me it's a prank! It wouldn't be a funny one, but it would be better than if you are serious..."

🍎 With a simple shake of the head, Wally seemingly crushed Julie's hopeful spirit. He then continues, explaining "It's because it IS true! Can't you see it? The walls look fake! The flowers don't smell like flowers should! Can't you see that this isn't real? There is more out there!"

🍎 Julie shakes her head, taking a shaking step back as she quietly mutters "I don't know what's really anymore, Wally. You make me think of awful things... That's why you're scaring me. I don't want to think of all this." With that, she leaves in a hurry, almost like she's seen a ghost in the place of her friend.

🍎 Wally, however, is satisfied. She's thinking about what he is saying! Even if she doesn't want to, she is thinking about it. She'll understand one day, hopefully! Even if it is just one other puppet, it is better than being the only one who knows of those bright lights.

🍎 Now, though, it is time for Wally to return to Home. He needs to write more notes to his beloved puppeteer! He can't wait to tell them how one of his friends is thinking about his words! He can't wait to tell them more about how much he loves them! They're the as above to his so below. He... might not know what an "as above" or "so below" is... but he heard one of the other creatures in your world say it, so it must be something cool! Plus, you do stand above all in his little world.

#welcome home #wally darling x reader #wally darling #welcome home arg

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spacexseven · 1 year

Note

tuna I'm about to go to bed but consider. demon au fyodor. hangs around you for no discernable reason. gives you terrible nightmares for fun (and later pleasant dreams as he starts to like you more, so he can see you smile when he watches you sleep). keeps wanting to play with your computer. ooo maybe he could possess your phone or something, so you can go out like normal but he'll Always Be There! Watching!

do u think gogol and sigma would be fellow demons or fyodor cultists

- 🩹

demon fyodor is a tech genius you heard it from us first! also also i like the idea of gogol and sigma being demons but like fyodor's little helpers mayb...ill think about it

cw: yandere character, stalking, invasion of privacy, hacking?, sleep deprivation, paranoia,

unlike dazai and chuuya, who came to stay with you because they have no choice, fyodor's just there because...he wants to. he hates humans but loves tormenting them, loves watching them lose their mind from weeks of sleepless nights and constant paranoia, loves watching them stare at him when he finally comes to claim his prize (their tortured souls), and loves the many fantastic emotions they show him. he's definitely a lot more...evil as compared to the other demons you may have met.

so you start off as his latest prey. maybe he saw you strolling past, maybe he just happened to land at your doorstep, but whatever cruel twist of fate brought him there, it sealed your life forever. you're just as entertaining as he'd hoped; he watches you 'patrol' your room with your phone flashlight and a useless object in hand, delights in the way you jump and knock over your water when he blows into your ear randomly, and most of all, he adores the fearful expressions you show when he's consuming you in your nightmares (literally).

while you're suffering from a lack of sleep and spending more time outside your home, fyodor puts his knowledge to good use and looks around your devices. he's become used to how they work after studying them for so long, and is able to easily infiltrate your computer and later your phone. (it's terribly funny to see you search up all sorts of outlandish things as a way to explain the horrors happening to you)

but you're persevering, to his surprise. and perhaps, that's what ultimately saves you.

though you're thoroughly sleep-deprived and trembling, you still go on with your life. you go to work, continue with your hobbies (even if the shaking hands and jumpiness doesn't help much), and try to keep up the image of a stable life. sure, you don't talk to people much anymore, and you need to try out new things every night that promise you a well-needed rest, but for the most part, you're trying.

this would be his favorite part, usually. completely destroying whatever will was left in you, watching you become a shell of who you were, but things were different this time. he's not sure what brought upon the sudden change, but he stops interrupting your sleep for just one night; and the soft smile that stays on your face the whole time mesmerizes him.

fyodor has seen his share of beautiful sights, but you stood out amongst them all. when he saw you whistling while making breakfast, the lost sparkle in your eye returning, when you look happy to return home after a hectic day for the first time in weeks, and when you're singing while cleaning up, the radiant joy almost blinding—that's when he knows what he really wants to see from you.

and when he takes a liking to you, no matter how twisted it was, he takes it to an extreme. he wants to be the sole decider on whether you'd be having a good day or not, so eliminating any influences in your life comes first. it wouldn't be fair if all his hard work was ruined because a friend buys you a cup of coffee or you're let out early by a superior who thinks you look too tired, right?

fyodor doesn't stop his torment; not immediately. he lets you bask in the joy of going about a day unbothered and feeling free, and then immediately snaps his jaws down on you to visit you in your dreams and frighten you. he loves watching all of you; scared, happy, carefree, stressed—but now, he can't help but be curious. what face would you show when he reveals himself to you? he's hoping it would be anger; a deep, violent, rage. something he hadn't quite had the honor of seeing from you yet.

there was only one way to find out...

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writingsbychlo · 1 year

Text

UNDER THE MISTLETOE (day eight)

summary; on your final day, you and az spend some time with kallias, while vivianne plans a party and a few surprises.

word count; 8848

notes; the last part!! I hope you guys love it 🤍

The hustle and bustle of the palace had been apparent from the very moment that you’d opened your eyes this morning. Azriel had been curled around you when you woke up, soft whispers of good mornings until the two of you had been ready to get out of bed. Now, as you stood at the bottom of the main stairway, staring in shock at the flurry of motion and hustle of workers, you felt like that peaceful morning had been years ago.

“What…”

“Viv.” You both jumped as Kallias appeared beside you, slipping out from the corridor beside the stairs and clutching a mug of tea in his hands, still steaming. He looked even more shocked and frazzled than the both of you, eyes wide as you stared out at the crowds. “Viv is throwing you a party.”

“Why?” The words tumbled from Azriel faster than you could process the statement, a giggle leaving you as you nudged him with your elbow for his brashness. As though sensing herself about to be teased, Vivianne wove through the crowds, steely gaze fixed on her husband, whose eyes only widened when he saw her.

“Shit, I—”

“Kallias!” She did not seem pleased, and his spluttering came to a halt as she stopped before the three of you, one hand coming to rest on her hip as the other clutched a clipboard. “You said you were going to get more berries!”

“I think we have enough berries.”

She only scowled, a look flashing across her face that told all three of you the berry debate wasn’t over. When her attention moved to the both of you, her expression became far sunnier. “It was brought to my attention last night that we didn’t have a Christmas party! You can’t not have a Christmas party at your first Christmas.”

“It was a joke,” Kallias grumbled the words into his tea, sipping from him and wincing.

“A joke I’m taking seriously.” She pinched his cheek, and he only scowled deeper. “Plus, it was a challenge, and I never turn down a challenge. You told me there was no way I could get a whole Christmas party together in less than a day. Well, not only can I do it, it’s going to be a fantastic party, at that.”

“Viv, you really don’t have to do that for us.”

“Oh, this party isn’t for you two, anymore,” Kal sighed, turning to face you both and shrugging. “This party is purely for my wife, at this point.”

“You won't have a wife if you keep up all this attitude.” She sniped, and he finally smiled at that.

“Uh-huh, sure.” He looped an arm around her, pulling her into him until her clipboard was pressed to his chest, and he left a wet kiss on her cheek. “You’re not going anywhere, so I’m going to keep complaining.”

Wiping at her cheeks, she was doing nothing to hide her blush or her smile, as she softened against him and kissed his cheek in response. “You’re lucky I love you.”

“I love you too, snowflake.” With a final kiss to her lips, Kallias let her go, leaving a less than discrete tap on her ass as she walked away again, and you chuckled, turning to hide your expression in Azriel’s shoulder. When you emerged again, his attention was on the two of you. “While Viv takes care of everything else, it’s my job to distract the two of you today. You can’t be here in the ‘prepping area’.”

“So, we’re going out?” Excitement raced through you at the chance to get a little more sightseeing done before you left, your only regret is not having gotten enough in before it all to see everything. You would have to come back for sure.

“We are.” Scanning his gaze over you both, Kal smirked. “You two might want to change, we’re going to do some manual labour today. You’re gonna’ be busy and cold.”

You idled for a second longer, before he was ushering you back up the stairs, telling you to be back in ten minutes. The pair of you stumbled over your own feet, giggling as Azriel compared him to Cassian on a training day, and falling back in fits of laughter against the door of your room.

“So, can I at least get away with wearing my leathers for this?”

“No!” Your giggles were renewed, standing up to point at him as you wandered over to the packed cases sitting at the base of the bed, knowing you were going to have to gently unpack them to find some warmer clothes again. “Not the leathers!”

“What’s wrong with them? You’re going to have to get used to them, baby. I mean— I really don’t know how you haven’t already, it’s been—” You spun to him, throwing your jumper at him as you stripped it over your head in order to add some more layers underneath first. “Hey!”

“There’s nothing wrong with the leathers, that’s the whole point!”

“That’s the whole point?” He echoed, balling up the fabric and throwing it back at you with force. “Oh, I get it. Do my leathers distract you, baby? I did tell you they made my ass look good.”

“Go and get changed!” Your cheeks warmed, shaking your head at him and shooing him out of your bedroom, into his own, the door slamming on his laughter.

He had his own cases, and you rifled through your own, sorting for jeans and layers and thicker socks, until you had a pile to change into, and had to refold everything back up, including the outfit you’d already chosen. You’d barely finished getting dressed again when the door reopened, and you nudged your re-packed bag back under your bed with your foot.

When Azriel reemerged, your mouth went a little dry at the sight of him. Adjusting his collar, his head was tucked down, and you were given a chance to observe him. He had donned the leather pants of his training gear, tucked snug around his thighs and into his boots, one of his siphons now clipped onto his belt. Two sat over the backs of his hands in their straps, half covered by the sleeves of his thick flannel coat. With a dark grey long-sleeve underneath, the shades of pale blue threaded through the fur-lined jacket were a startling contrast to his usual moody outfit choice, and your mouth dried out.

He looked like he was glowing in the Winter scenery.

“What?”

His head snapped up, and you wondered how he’d known you were staring, preparing to look away, before the flustered haze cleared for just a second. You’d likely been sending him all of those astonished feelings down the bond, and it was that bond that meant you were absolutely allowed to check him out, whenever you damn well pleased.

“Seriously, what is it?”

“I’ve never seen you in that jacket before.” Your throat felt dry, and you swallowed a couple of times, taking a few steps closer to him. He raised his hands, waiting for you to walk into them so he could settle them on your hips.

“I bought it for this trip. There’s a lot of outfits I didn’t get to wear, we’ve spent considerably more time out of our clothes than in them.” You grinned, running your hands up his forearms, and scanning your gaze over him once more. He tensed a little, flexing the longer you stared, and you bit your lip. “You’re checking me out.”

“Yeah, and what of it? You’re hot, and you’re mine.” Reaching one hand behind him, he jumped as you grasped at a handful of his ass, his cheeks going red. “Turn around so I can check out the rest of you.”

“Only if you’ll do the same for me.” His sultry whisper lost all effect as his blush remained, and you pat the same cheek you’d grabbed, before pulling your hand back to his hip. He’d managed to do up the buttons under his wings himself this time, likely to avoid becoming the same wobbly-kneed mess you’d reduced him to last time as he fought all these new instincts that same way you were. “Kiss me?”

“You don’t even have to ask.” You mumbled, leaning up enough to meet him halfway, clashing together in the middle.

It was messy, and lazy, and so sweet that your heart skipped a beat. His lips were in languid drags over your own, noses bumping with the occasional breaths taken. Sliding his hand under your thick jumper, you shivered at the brush of the cold metal of his clasp on your skin, pulling back with a gasp and pressing into his hand more.

“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to this.”

“I hope you do. I hope you start to see my kisses as a part of your everyday life, I hope you grow to expect them, I hope—” You cut him off with another kiss, grinning against his lips as he returned it more than eagerly, chasing you again when you pulled away.

“I get it. You’ll be there every time I need a kiss.”

“Every time.” He promised, stealing one final one, before stepping back. “I believe we still have two minutes to spare.”

“There’s no way we’ve been less than ten minutes.”

“I thought he said twenty… we’re definitely late.” He tipped you up under your chin, pecking the tip of your nose, before running his sights over you. Snatching up the scarf he’d gifted to you, he looped it around your neck, before plopping a bobble hat haphazardly and half-over your eyes, and deeming it a job well done.

Taking your hand in his as he grabbed both of your sets of gloves, you grinned, digging your heels in and failing to slow him down at all. “Wait, what about your other siphons, you’ve only got three on!”

“I’m not gonna’ need the other ones. I think we’ve expelled enough energy over the last few days that I’m still drained.” At your shock, he managed to tug you along further, out of the room and into the halls. He glanced at you over his shoulder, “I don’t know how you’re even walking, I clearly haven’t been fucking you good enough.”

“Az!” Your head whipped around, looking for any other people in the halls, grateful to find them empty.

“What? It’s true! I’ll have to do something about that later.”

You weren’t sure your cheeks could get any hotter without you catching fire, and you squeezed his hand in your own, only earning a head-tipping laugh in response. “You’re unbelievable.”

“I want you to remember those words, and scream them later tonight.”

“Oh, for—”

Kallias was standing at the bottom of the stairs, leaning on the railing with his arms crossed. He had also changed, swapping out for a thick coat and some sturdy jeans and boots, his white brows furrowed as he watched you both come down the stairs. “You’re late! Luckily for you both, I happen to be quite fond of you, so I’ll let it slide.”

At his words, you grinned, but Azriel’s shoulders locked a little and his wings ruffled pridefully, his eyes widening as Kallias turned his back, motioning for the two of you to follow. He glanced at you, seeming shocked at such an open affirmation of friendship, and you could only smile. One day, Azriel would see just how loveable he was to everyone else, when he let those guarded walls down.

Connecting bit!!

There was a carriage waiting for you outside, and you slid into it, Azriel sliding in beside you, and you leaned forwards, making space for his wings to stretch out, before sitting back and nestling into his side instead.

“So, I thought we might start with some charity work.” As the carriage kicked into gear, Kallias decided to finally tell you both what you’d be doing with the day, and your interest was piqued. “There’s a shelter in the city for children on the other side of the events of the Mountain and the War, I volunteer there every year. Viv did it during the time I was away, for all the children whose parents were trapped with me.”

His attention was fixed out of the window, throat bobbing as he spoke, and your eyes were wide at such a confession. “Kal… We don’t want to intrude. If you want to go alone, we can find something else to do with our day.”

Reaching out, he caught your hand, squeezing it as he turned back to face you, eyes a little glassier than they had been. “No, I’d like it if you’d come. I want to share this with friends.”

“Then we’re happy to be a part of it,” Azriel promised, the two men sharing a smile, before Kallias cleared his throat and looked back to the passing scenery.

“I thoughts afterwards we could go and get some lunch. You’re likely just to get nibbles at the party, Viv loves that whole finger-food party thing, she never misses a chance for it.” He smiled at the thought of his wife, “Then we can see how much time we have left, maybe see a carol service.”

When you finally pulled up to a stop, it was in front of a large cathedral-like building, with stained glass windows and tall spires, but it looked far more modern, like it had been recently converted. Only when you stepped out of the carriage were you able to truly appreciate its grandeur, letting out a low whistle at the sight.

“It used to be a part of the priestess’ worship, but it fell into a lot of disrepair during those fifty years. Services weren’t so popular, people struggled to find their faith when everything seemed so bad. The priestesses moved back to the temples. Viv fixed it up, and made it into a shelter instead for anybody who needed it.” The doors were pinned open, lots of people spilling in and out as you passed them by carrying boxes of donations, offerings of food, or coming for help.

You made an extra mental note to show your memories of it to Rhysand and Feyre when you got home, to perhaps install something similar in Velaris. Guiding you up several sets of stairs inside to reach the main floor, you were surrounded by tables filled with things to be out sorted, even more laying on the floor underneath, with runners taking things out as more came in. It was a truly impressive service.

“This is the donations centre. Everything that comes in needs sorting through, everyone here is volunteers.” Patting an empty table, Kallias lifted two heavy boxes onto the space. “I’ll leave you two here, I’m going to go and help out at the food station downstairs. I’ll be back in a little while. If you run out of boxes… well… you won't.”

Looking around, a chuckle spilt from Azriel’s lips as he did the same, noting the piles of things from floor to ceiling, wobbling precariously.

“Who are they?” Azriel pointed over toward the fireplace, a collection of what looked o be about ten children sitting around it, games and books and snacks spilt out around them.

“Uh, might be volunteers children, could be kids of the shelter.” He shrugged, a saddened look taking over his face, and Azriel glanced at them again, his frown matching. “Alright, I’ll come back to check on you guys in a little bit.”

He waved as he went, disappearing out into the halls again, and you took up a place behind the table, Azriel falling into step beside you, leaving a kiss on your cheek as he did.

“I love you.”

Your lips flicked up at the edges, tearing open the first sealed-up box, and turning to face him as he did the same. “Yeah? What’s brought that on?”

“Just, y’know, it’s our vacation, and you’re happy here working at the volunteer shelter, instead of sightseeing and all that. I wish the kids at the camps had something like this, I wish I’d had something like this when I was young, before I met Cass and Rhys.” Your heart clenched, and Azriel’s jaw rolled a little as he swallowed back emotions. “It feels fitting that the love of my life would be everything I wished I had since I knew what wishing was.”

“I love you, Az. I’m glad we’re here, and I’m glad we’re here together.”

“Me too.” With a simple peck to finish the conversation, the two of you moved on with your work, beginning to clear space for piles, and falling into a good harmony of sorting things into joint piles, making your way through the boxes gathered around your bodies.

You worked in simple silence, mumbled conversation about anything that came to mind taking place between the two of you, the time flying by as you put your vacation time into something that might just change someone's life, and would certainly make you feel better for taking some time off.

You waited, your latest dumb questing hanging in the air between you both, and you looked up to see what was taking Azriel so long with his answer, only to find his attention frozen once again, a shirt hanging in his hands to be folded.

This was the fourth time you’d watched Azriel’s eyes flicker towards the group of children gathered around the large fireplace, roasting hazelnuts and marshmallows in the flames. Trepidation and anxiety were strumming at that bond, feelings he didn’t bother to hide from reverberating to you, maybe he didn’t even know he was feeling it.

When he glanced again, you sighed. Nudging him with your hip, you stole his attention back to you, temporarily.

“Az?”

“Yeah, baby?” He didn’t look away, he kept working on the box before himself, folding the shirt he’d gotten stuck on and pulling out another item. He continued sorting it into the correct piles, only turning his gaze to you when you stayed quiet this time. “What is it?”

“Maybe you should go check on the kids, they’re all alone over there. Go make sure they’re all okay.”

He twisted, glanced over his shoulder at them, and when he turned back, there was a look in his eyes so full of love it nearly drowned you. With a meaningful nod and a kiss on your forehead, you watched him wander away, wings jerking at the pop of a log and pulling in tightly to his back, before crouching down beside the group of children.

You couldn't hear him now, but his lips flickered up into a smile at the edges as one of the children offered him a fresh stick with a marshmallow on the end. He settled to kneel properly with them, poking it into the fire. As he watched over them, he helped adjust their grips, subtly pulling all of their little hands further away from the flames, relief beginning to trickle to you instead as he worked, chatting gently with them all as they heeded his advice.

You continued to sort through the boxes, trying to control the racing of your heart and get the work you and Azriel had been set done, all while trying not to miss a single second of his interactions. You watched as he taught them to make smores, sticky marshmallows pressing between chocolatey crackers, and he seemed to be telling them all some kind of story as they giggled and ate.

When they were finished, he wiped all of their hands and cheeks, chubby-cheeked little ones settling in front of older ones before him, and one pointed at his wings. Flaring one out to the side and away from the fire, and the shouts of awe and wonder reached you on the other side of the room.

He gave it a flap, strong enough that the hair of those kids in the front row flew out of their faces, dragging laughter from them all, and the look on Azriel’s face only brightened. You didn’t realise you’d stopped working entirely until someone bumped their hip against your own, and you found Kallias at your side, pulling a blanket from the box and folding it neatly.

“Where’s your other half gone?”

Lifting a hand, you pointed him out by the fire, all the children crowded around him now, one little girl sat across his lap as a young boy clung to his shoulders, barely visibly in the crowd of little ones.

Sniffling back the emotions welling up at the sight of him, you refocused on the task at hand, only having made it through one of your two boxes. Lifting the empty one to the floor, you and Kal worked silently for a couple of minutes as you gathered yourself, distributing donations to the correct piles.

When you’d made it through that box together, he disappeared for only a moment, before returning with two more, practically overflowing, for the two of you to work through.

“He’s a good man.”

“He’s the best,” You whispered, plucking a bagful of children-sized clothes that someone had clearly grown out of, and beginning to sort them into various items. “I wish he’d see it in himself.”

“He sees in you that you see it in him, and that’s enough.” Your motions paused as you wrapped your head around his words, glancing up at your friend, who offered a vulnerable smile. You knew how much Rhysand had suffered on the other side of the reign of Amarantha, and how long it had taken your friend to truly recover. Perhaps this one was one of Kallias’ scars, and how he soothed it when the pain flared up.

Turning to him, you couldn't stop yourself from wrapping your arms around his middle, face in his shoulder as you squeezed him tightly. It was unprofessional, especially in front of his court, but Kallias had offered so many painful parts of himself to you today, and you didn’t know what else to do. A hug was the only thing that felt right.

It broke your heart to hear him let out a hurt sound, before wrapping his arms around you just as tightly, breaking those pieces further when he whispered a series of shaky ‘thank you’s into your ear. Your hands stroked up and down his back, his body shuddering a little as you held him.

“You’re a good man too, Kal. I’m so lucky, for getting to be your friend.”

“It’s me who is the lucky one.” He whispered, giving you one final squeeze before pulling back, his bottom lip trembling a little as he smiled. He busied himself with a stack of jumpers, claiming he needed to take this pile to the clothing tables immediately, and wandering away with a conspicuous sniffle.

You rubbed at your nose, letting out a watery laugh at yourself, before glancing back at your love. He was already looking at you, brows furrowed, a concerned stroke along the string connection you both to follow. Are you okay? He mouthed the words to you, and you offered a smile, tugging on that string in affirmation, and drawing a smile from him too.

Another moment longer with the children, and he was standing, brushing off his knees and waving them goodbye, before making his way through the bustling shelter and back towards you. When he was only a few steps away, he lifted his hand, closing it quickly over your cheek and swiping his thumb under your eye, worrying his bottom lip as you leaned further into his palm.

“What happened, love?”

“Nothing, I swear. I was just having a moment with Kallias, he told me some things about that time, and it made me a little emotional.” He stared, and you twisted your head, kissing over the strap across the centre of his palm. The furrow between his brows loosened, and his shoulders relaxed down, his thumb swiping again. “You looked like you were having fun over there. Make some new friends?”

“They’re just like what I know Nyx will be like soon. So curious about the world, so positive despite everything that's happened. They had so many questions, and they weren’t afraid of me.” He spared a look at them all, watching where they’d gathered once again around the fire, a huddle as one of the older children took the stage to tell tales in Azriel’s place. “It was nice.”

“I bet. You looked so happy.”

“Thank you.” He dipped down, brushing his nose with yours in a ghost of a kiss, and smiling. A throat cleared gently behind you both, and Kallias looked far more composed when you took him in now.

“You two ready to go for some lunch? I think we’ve done enough here for today.”

Kallias led the two of you out, the next stop on your tour being a small-town pub, somehow even smaller than the one you’d visited on your walk. It had a total of six tables, and you were sure Azriel’s wings took up half of the room you were in no matter how tightly he tucked them in to weave through the crowded tables.

He’d settled eventually, the three of you crowded around a small table, and you were sure you looked like one of the paintings that were hung lopsidedly on the walls. Cheerful people, happy smiles, and for once, a sense of complete normalcy. As the three of you had crowded around a table, cramped in and laughing, you hadn't wanted it to ever end.

Except, it had only gotten better, you’d gathered in a huddle outside under the snowfall to watch the carol singers in the town square. Azriel’s arms had been wrapped tightly around you from behind, keeping you warm and secure against his chest as Kallias had stood to the side, mouthing words along to beautiful songs you’d never heard before.

The priestesses who were singing had offered one final blessing to you all, a Christmas prayer that made your eyes water a little.

In the carriage back, you’d listened to Kallias and Azriel, listened to Az extend his offers for them to come and visit on behalf of Rhysand, and Kallias had only grinned. If it hadn't been for the party you knew you were going back to, it would have been the perfect final day all on its own.

The moment that you step back through the palace doors, Vivianne is already waiting. The doors to the ballroom had been shut, but you can hear the music loudly on the other side, a band playing upbeat music and the roar of conversation from what must be hundreds of guests, some already spilling out into the hallways.

“Oh, Gods, Viv!” She only beamed at you, practically bouncing with excitement as she cornered your trio in the doorway. “You went all out, huh?”

She had changed, the leggings and bun from this morning had been traded from an elegant silk dress and a braid crown, and before she even said the words, you knew what she was going to say. “You have to go and change! Kal, I laid something out for you.”

“Whatever would I do without you, dear?” He pressed a kiss to her cheek as he passed by, waving to you both and disappearing into the mansion, doing well to avoid any guests before he was ready to start mingling.

“You two have to wear your Christmas jumpers!”

“What? Why?” You dreaded having to wear that itchy thing again, especially to a party, but she wasn’t taking no for an answer, already beginning to shake her head to silence your protests.

“Ah! It’s a Christmas party for you! You have to wear them, no excuses!” You sighed, and Azriel let out a heavy groan beside you, earning himself a wicked glare from Viv that came with a smirk. “Chop, chop! Go and get ready, and hurry back down. There are people here waiting to see the guests of honour, you know!”

Glancing up at the stairs, you groaned, knowing just how many you’d have to take to get back to your room.

Dropping your forehead to your lover’s chest as Viv took off after her husband, you burrowed a little closer to him when his arms came up on either side of your body to hold your hips.

“I don’t think I can take any more stairs, Azzy.”

“S’okay, baby. We can travel my way.” The earth seemed like it melted out from underneath your feet, only to rematerialise a moment later, in the softer hues of your room as the faelights began to warm into life. “How’s that?”

“That’s the exact reason you were made to be my mate.”

“Good to know we’ve solved that mystery.” His drawl made you smile, face still resting in the soft shirt covering the hard muscles underneath, and you didn’t want to ever leave. Azriel seemed to decide for you, pulling back enough to tip your head up, and leave a brief kiss on your lips. “Chin up, baby. You love seeing me in smart clothes.”

“Says who?”

“Says the way I watch you blush every time Rhys makes us dress up for events.” His smirk was far too much for you to take, and you scoffed, pushing him backwards and spinning out of his arms, which only made him laugh. “Don’t be so embarrassed, it was a great ego boost while I was waiting for you. Tell me, what is it about my suits that get you going so much, huh?”

Pushing him back towards his room, he let you do so, but not without giving you the kind of look that made everything in your body ignite. You had to play dirty to win this. “I’ll tell you all about it, when you tell me what it is about sundresses that make you stutter?”

His jaw dropped, eyes widened, and a matching blush spread on his cheeks.

“Oh, yeah. I know. Now that I think back on all those summers in my summer dresses where you’d be tripping over your own tongue. When I’d catch you staring at you’d tell me you were just checking I was safe, or you thought you saw a bee land on me.” His blush only deepened. “I can’t believe I was so oblivious.”

“Neither can I.” He muttered, eyes scanning down your body to your thighs, where all your little sundresses would usually sit. “Touché, baby, you win.”

“Get used to it.”

He bit his lip, turning away to get changed himself, and the air between you crackled and pulled the further he got, until the mood snapped and you could breathe again.

With him gone, you were finally able to focus on your preparations, going first to the bathroom to top up your makeup and fix your hair. When you were satisfied with that, you dug out both of your Christmas jumpers from the bags, laying them on the bed neatly.

Turning your head at the zap along your spine, you found Azriel leaning on the doorframe, smart pants on, shirtless and arms crossed, a soft smile on his face as he watched you. “Stop trying to seduce me.”

“I’m not!”

“That’s a shame, it was working. We should totally ditch the party and stay here so you can fuck me.” His eyes widened, a hopeful look crossing his face, until he watched a smirk form on your lips, and a growl left his.

“You’re so cruel to me.”

“It almost worked. Next time flex a little, and you’ll have me.” You winked at him as he lifted himself off of the doorway, your attention turning away back to the bed as you got down onto your knees before it.

“This is the third time we’ve had to get dressed today.” You sighed dragging your suitcase out from under the bed once again, and beginning to sort through the clothes that Azriel had already neatly folded back up twice. So many of the clothes you hadn't gotten a chance to wear, your cases full of new and original items, things you’d bought along the way, the gifts you’d given. Yet, none of them had what you were looking for.

“I promise that the next time we’re up here, I’ll be undressing you.” He leaned over, kissing your shoulder as you stood, hands on your hips. “You won’t need any clothes for what I have planned.”

A chuckle left your lips as you turned to face him. “Have you seen my—”

He held up a soft purple dress with two fingers, brows raising as the soft fabric swayed in the wind. “Your dress?”

“How’d you know that’s what I was looking for?” He only grinned, and you took it from him.

“You only brought one fancy dress, and I know how much you love it. You wouldn't miss a chance to wear it.” Placing the bed down on the bed, you turned back to him, noting the leather pants had been swapped out for smart dress pants, but the boots remained. He had no shirt on, his themed jumper laying out beside your own, and you ran your hands up his chest. “Are you gonna’ get dressed?”

“Yes.” You whispered, curling a little closer to him, wrapping your arms around his waist. He offered a breathy laugh, tucking his arms around your shoulders and dipping his head down to rest his cheek on the top of your head. “I’m just taking a second to be with you first.”

“I know, my love. But we only have tonight with our friends before we go home, we have the rest of our lives together.” Smoothing his hands down your arms, he cupped your elbows, squeezing lightly and leaving a kiss on your head, before easing you backwards. “Come on, let me see you in this pretty dress, so I can get an eyeful before stripping it off you, later.”

“Well, the effect will be entirely ruined by this jumper.” Slipping out of your clothes as you walked, you were painfully aware of the lingering gaze on you, all the way as you stepped into the dress and adjust it across your body. His fingers did the zip up the back, sweeping your hair back over your shoulders, and turning you around. “See? This dress was not made to be covered up with a jumper.”

Azriel’s eyes dipped, a smirk pulling on his lips as she took in the plunging neckline and the tight bodice, his bottom lip pulled tight between his teeth. “No, it most certainly was not. Perhaps you should wear it for our first date.”

“Our first date?”

“Of course.” He reached beyond you, picking up your jumper and lifting it up slowly to hang over your head. “I have to take you on a proper date when we get home, court you properly.”

“Courting is old-fashioned, and to test a connection. I think we both know we have a connection, a pretty damn good one at that.”

“Let me treat you right, stop making it a challenge.” Easing your arm through each sleeve, you grinned up at him when the collar was around your neck, the jumper settling over your torso. You gave in, a giggle on your lips as he reached for his jumper, tugging it on with much less care than he’d taken with you. He disappeared, for only a second before returning with the only pair of heels you’d brought, one fancy dress and one set of fancy shoes, just in case.

Dropping to one knee, you balanced yourself on his shoulders, slipping one foot after another into the shoes and letting him fasten them up securely. When he stood back up, you were a few inches closer to his height now, no longer letting him tower over you completely, and you were able to press a kiss to his chin without having to lean too far.

“Let’s go.”

Your hands wove together, shadows crawling around your bodies, and when the light cleared again, you were back at the entrance to the party, the doors wide open and the noise at full blast once again.

Viv really had gone all out, faelights twinkled from the ceiling, a full band was playing loudly in the corner as the room was packed with dancing and mingling, a crowded bar taking up almost half of one wall, the queues filling the other half. You spotted more than a few familiar faces with just a single glance; Helion was lounging on a couch in the back, a usual crowd gathered around his charming self as he spun tales and stories, laughter following every word.

Several more Christmas trees had been set up, and in the back corner, you spotted Thesan lingering near one, his lover close to his side, murmuring into his ear. Tarquin was admiring the snow, Cresseida by his side, and you had to be impressed at how she’d managed to pull all this together.

“I think half of Prythian is in this room.”

“I can’t even see our actual hosts, can you?” You had to lean closer to one another just to be heard over the music, and you scanned the crowds again, searching for those pale flashes of hair.

You didn’t find them.

You found bright red and deep black, blonde and blue and everything in between, even a set of purple eyes, but—

“Az.”

“Yeah?” His head was tipped up, attempting to scan over the people filling the room, and you tugged at his sleeve.

“Az, that’s Rhys.”

“What?” His head snapped back down, following where you pointed, and the crowds seemed to part a little more for you to be able to see through. As you got a better look, a red dress shone with golden hair, a tall pair of Illyrian wings that were dangerously close to getting tangled in the tinsel of the tree he was half stood behind, and lots of smiling faces. “That’s everyone.”

Your hand squeezed his a little tighter before letting go, a squeal slipping past your lips as you took off through the crowds ahead of him.

Darting through the busy crowds, all formality and regality were temporarily abandoned. Your friends had already spotted the two of you, had been looking your way since the moment you’d turned your head in their direction, and were beaming as you neared. This was far from the longest you’d been away for work from any of them, but you were ashamed to admit just how little you’d thought of them in the week you’d been gone, it felt more like you hadn't seen them for months with everything that had taken place.

The first to meet you was Cassian, using his broadness to shove his way to the front, arms opening wide and sweeping you up into a hug, deep laughter rumbling from him and into your ear as your feet slipped from the floor.

The moment you were put back down, it was to the feeling of shadows swirling at your ankles, crawling happily up your claves to your knees and signalling that their owner had managed to catch up. He barely made it to your side, before Cassian was barrelling forward to sweep him into a hug too, and Feyre was tucking you into her embrace.

“Fey! Where’s Nyx? Your gaze flickered across the members of the group in search of the boy, to Rhys who was now standing by Azriel, to Nesta and Cassian, Mor and Amren, Elain and even Lucien. None of them were holding him. The woman in your arms chuckled as she pulled away, only to be immediately replaced by Mor.

“He’s at home, being looked after by Gwyn and Emerie.” There was a tremor to her voice, but she offered a reassuring smile to Nesta, a promise of trust that extended through her to her friends. You know how hard they had worked to reconnect and mend that bond, make it so much stronger than it had ever been before, and this faith was a part of that. You wondered why they hadn't brought him, Nyx had winnowed many times before and would likely have loved the Winter Court, but the question died on your tongue as a warm hand settled on your lower back.

Leaning a little closer to Azriel, you let go a sigh of relief, the bond still chafing a little at being so surrounded by people and having felt so far from him.

By the time all the greetings had been achieved, it felt like hours had passed by, and your shoulders slumped, cheeks aching with the smile on your face as they all gathered around. Cassian was busy retelling stories of his week alone training the Valkyries while Nesta smirked into her drink, and you leaned back into the warm touch of Azriel’s hand on your lower back.

You felt him move, like a magnetic pull the closer he got the stronger it felt, until you could picture him clearly leaning down to whisper into your ear, without ever having to turn your focus to him. “I’m going to go and get us a drink. It’s only a matter of time before Cassian starts into the old stories, and I need to be at least halfway drunk to endure those again.”

You bit down on the inside of your lip to keep your laughter inside, that large palm on your back smoothing up along your spine as you let it flood down the bond between your hearts instead. His hand drifted higher still, to tangle into your hair softly and pull you closer, until he could capture your lips in a sweet kiss.

You swayed into him a little, twisting to place a hand on his chest, a smile forming as you kissed him back at the simplicity of it all, an ‘I’ll see you in a minute kiss’, and it was certainly something you could get used to.

“Uh, what?”

You snapped back, Azriel’s lips still pouted a little as you pulled away enough to catch his gaze. Rolling them together as he straightened up, your cheeks flushed with heat, and you turned to face your friends. Cassian’s jaw was dropped, matching that of Mor and Feyre, while Lucien and Nesta smirked to themselves, and Rhys sipped his drink, a cheeky look on his face. Elain was merely smiling, a look on her face like she already knew, which she possibly did, if she’d seen it before you’d ever known it would happen.

“Since when?” Cassian demanded, a frown taking over his lips as he planted one hand on his hip, the other clutching his drink, and Nesta hid her laugh in his bicep as her face pressed into his arm.

“I’m gonna’ leave this one to you, baby.” With another quick peck, Azriel spun away and disappeared into the crowds before you could even splutter out a response to stop him.

“Baby?” Feyre squeaked, only seeming to get more and more excited as Rhys wrapped an arm around her waist, tugging her closer to his side. “Explain! Now! That’s an order.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, High Lady.” You scoffed, and she giggled, but the anticipation and eagerness of them all were hanging over your head like rain clouds. “Azriel and I are… together.”

“It’s a solstice, sorry, Christmas miracle.” Rhysand teased, his smirk only growing fuller.

“‘Bout damn time!” Cassian’s yell drew the attention of those around you, various heads turning in your direction, and his mat pinched at his ribs roughly, smile now a scowl as she flushed with embarrassment at all the odd looks cast her way. He swatted at her hand, but never stopped smiling. “So you’re just together?”

“Yes, we’re together. In the same way… you all are.” You cringed a little, unsure why it felt so hard to say the words to them all, why your throat felt like it was closing up.

The uproar started once again, an amused tug echoing in your chest as you glanced around the room, locking eyes on him stood at the bar, waiting patiently for your drinks. He leaned on one elbow, not even bothering to hide his grin, and you shook your head at him. A feeling that you hoped was flipping him off was sent back, and you swore you could hear his laugh from here. Perhaps it was the question of whether it had always been so obvious, to everyone except for you, whether they’d known all along.

Without turning back to them, holding Azriel’s gaze across the room, your own smile formed. “Azriel and I are mates.”

“I fucking told you!” At that proclamation, you laughed, turning back to the group as Mor held her hand out, a victorious look on her face at Cassian, who scowled. Pulling out his wallet, he pressed a handful of notes into her hand, and Mor tucked the collection into the bodice of her dress.

“I can’t believe he didn’t tell me!” Cassian sounded genuinely hurt, and if it wasn’t for the love shining on his face, you might’ve believed he was.

“How do you know it was him that knew, huh?” Your hands fell to your hips, brows raising at him.

“Because I watched him pine after you for years and never tell you how he felt, no matter how many times I told him to! He knew.” A pang of that same guilty pain shot through you, quickly comforted on the other side of your heart by your mate, like a hand reaching out to hold your own. You clung to that feeling.

“He didn’t tell any of us, Cassian. You know how private he is.” Amren was like the voice of reason, and your sights snapped to Rhys, only a twitch of his brow acknowledging what you both knew, and that you wouldn't tell any of them, less Cassian actually lose his mind. Once again, that feeling took you over, like a compass finding North, feeling Azriel weave his way back through the crowd until his bicep was brushing your shoulder.

Rhysand beamed at his brother as he pressed a drink into your hands, leaving a kiss on your cheek. You took a deep gulp of it, grateful for the relief and taking the attention off yourself, all turning to look at Azriel. Congratulations spilled out of everyone, except the other winged warrior, who continued to frown and stare off into the crowd.

Azriel frowned at that too, and you curled a little closer to his side, pressing a kiss to his shoulder as his arm looped your body, wing following protectively. “Cass?”

“You didn’t tell me!”

“I didn’t tell anyone.” At that, Cassian looked back, rolling his jaw a little.

“You told Rhys.” Your heart thudded over a skipped beat, Azriel’s lips parting in shock, and Rhysand looked even more surprised than you both. “I knew that… I knew you told him something. This big secret, you were in and out of it that night and I was getting fresh rags and I heard you ask Rhys to tell you the truth. I figured it was just about your feelings, it never made sense why it seemed like such a big deal to Rhys after you passed out, but now I get it.”

“Shit, Cass,” Dragging a hand over his face, Azriel looked positively destroyed. “I didn’t mean to tell Rhys. I didn’t want anyone to know until… but I couldn't risk dying and her not knowing. I would’ve asked you if you’d been there, Rhys just happened to be the one in the room at the time.”

“Ouch, way to make a guy feel special.” Rhys grouched, but there was no hurt in his tone, and you chuckled.

“We okay?”

“Yeah, of course, we are. I get it.” With a heavy sigh, Cassian let that frown turn into smile, striding forward to embrace his brother. The two collided so solidly that they stumbled backwards, and you almost fell with them as Azriel struggled to retract his arm in time to wrap it tightly around his brother’s back. Heavy pats and whispers not meant for anyone else, and you all pretended you didn’t hear the gentle sniffles as the two embraced.

Finally, they parted, and you were free to wrap yourself back up in your mate's embrace as his shadows wrapped possessively around your waist, tugging you urgently back to his side.

“So, what’s the story?” Feyre finally burst, and you chuckled.

“Not quite as exciting as yours, nobody was on the verge of death.” Your gaze flickered over all of them, realising just how dramatic and heartbreaking each pair’s story had been, and you swallowed thickly. “We kissed under the mistletoe.”

“That’s so… interesting.” The High Lady’s brows furrowed as she thought it through, looking up to her husband for clarification only to find him just as amused, and Azriel’s chuckled washed against your temple as he left a soft smattering of kisses there.

“It’s a tradition here. You should ask Vivianne to tell you all about it.”

“If you get caught under the mistletoe with someone, you kiss them.” Azriel shrugged, sipping some more of his drink, and Rhysand raised a hand. Summoning a small branch out of thin air to hover before you all on a fraction of power, all attention fell to the white-berried sprig.

“This?”

“That's the one.” You smiled fondly at it, leaning up to kiss Azriel softly at the image of it, and he returned the gentle affection with a smile.

“Oh, boo,” Rhysand snapped his fingers, the night-touched magic that was his signature wrapping around you until the sprig was hovering over your heads instead, and you chuckled at it. “Give her a real kiss, Az. That was pathetic.”

“Rhys!” Placing his drink down and taking yours from your hands, Azriel turned you to face him, lifting both of your arms to loop around his neck. “Az—”

His mouth descended onto your own, a crush of his lips to yours that knocked your breath from you, and left you dizzy. Your eyes fluttered closed, his arms circling your body and pulling you flush to him, before bending you backwards over them. A squeak left your lips as you went, his wings flaring around you until they draped to the floor, and you clung to him as you returned his enthusiastic kiss.

When his tongue swept along your lower lip cheekily, you scolded him through the bond, but parted your lips long enough for a single sweep of his tongue over your own, before you were pushing him back up, straightening until you were stable on your feet again. When you pulled back your heart stopped pounding quite so loudly in your ears. The fragile pants between you both, as your foreheads pressed together, were almost drowned out by the hollers and cheers of your friends.

“Now that was a kiss,” The general whooped.

“You’re telling me.” You mumbled, and Azriel dipped down, nipping your lower lip with a smirk. Your hands smoothed down over his shoulders, still gripping the fabric of his cheesy Christmas jumper for support, and you focused on the feel of the soft knit under your fingers, to soothe the swell of hormones trying to overflow within you. “By the way, Rhys, these Christmas jumpers…”

As though reminded himself, Azriel freed one hand from where they’d connected at the bottom of your back, to travel up your spine, and trace over the letters spanning your shoulder-blades that spelt out your name. His nose stayed nuzzled in your hairline as you turned to glare at the High Lord.

“There will be revenge for these, just so you know.” You already had the revenge you spoke of upstairs in your room, tucked away neatly in your suitcase for the prime opportunity. At your smirk, his face fell, glancing between both you and Azriel, paling a little further as he realised you’d teamed up against him. “Just you wait.”

Just like this, surrounded by your family as your cheek rested against Azriel’s chest, feeling the heart that beat for you steadily underneath, you realised once again just how much you loathed all the years that had passed, that you could’ve had this. That large hand was now sitting on the back of your neck, thumb stroking over your pulse slowly, holding you to him.

“I love you, Az.”

“I love you.” His whisper was low enough for only you, lips by your ear as his head bowed, and your eyes screwed shut, swaying to the music from the band and sinking into the feeling. This was exactly where you wanted to be, for the rest of your life.

The mistletoe continued to bob over your heads, and you gave another kiss to Azriel, pecking his lips sweetly, before dragging him out from underneath it.

“Alright, who’s next under the mistletoe?”

#UTMi #under the mistletoe #azriel x reader #azriel/reader #azriel x you #azriel/you #acotar x reader #acotar/reader #acotar x you #acotar/you #azriel shadowsinger #azriel #a court of thorns and roses #acotar

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vinvantae · 1 year

Text

Unmasked

Part 2/16

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Word count - 2.8k

The nerves were washing over you like a tidal wave as you walked up the steps to the boardroom. You hadn’t felt this anxious since your debut and with no sleep under your belt, you were running purely on caffeine. All night had been filled with staring at the ceiling, running through all the plans the team had discussed with you and which one plan B was or if it was something else entirely. You were aware they had had meetings without you present, and it was these meetings that concerned you, there was no way to know what they had concocted behind closed doors without you to interject.

You were pleasantly surprised to see you weren’t the first one there, Charles was sitting on his phone - Ferrari cap discarded onto the table. The blinds had all been drawn and the overhead lights made it feel like a doctor’s office waiting room. He looked tired, you knew he went out for a few drinks with the other drivers last night so it didn’t phase you.

“Morning.” You said, the driver’s head lifting, a soft smile spreading across his face. “Wasn’t expecting to see you this morning.”

The smile shifted to an apologetic one. “Mattia just texted me ‘urgent meeting with thirty at 8:30’, so if you’re going to ask… I have no idea either.”

As you circled the table to sit beside him, he rose from his chair and pulled you into a hug. “Are you feeling any better today?”

You sunk into his arms, enjoying what would probably be one of your last moments of peace before the meeting. In the 3 seasons you’d been together now, the bond you shared with Charles was something you truly cherished. Despite your identity being a secret, he always tried to make sure to spend time with you whenever he could - bringing coffees to your driver room or hiding with you for a little while. He made you feel safe, so you were glad he was here.

“Not fantastic but I kind of apologised to Lewis but he just thought I was some random staff so didn’t quite have the impact I’d been hoping for.” You chuckled sadly, earning a gentle squeeze from your friend. “I just… the winter break is very much needed.”

“Perfect. You’re both already here.”

You watched as Mattia stepped into the room, followed closely by the rest of Team Thirty. This group had remained practically unchanged since you’d joined, only gaining Charles and a few others after you’d won your first championship- becoming the youngest WDC made keeping your identity a secret a whole extra task for them. Everyone held tablets and laptops as they sat around the table, you and Charles remaining alone on your side of the table.

“Can we just get right into it?” You said, picking at the skin around your fingers. “Which one is it? Are you gonna sub me out for a couple races to throw them off?”

They all exchanged glances before Mattia cleared his throat. “Well, plan B is actually something new we came up with… when Charles joined the team.”

Both of you frowned simultaneously, sparing a moment to glance at each other before Charles decided to speak up. “When… I joined?”

“Yes.” Mattia sat forward a little in his seat. “It wasn’t much of a possibility with Sebastian due to the age gap but you two… this could definitely work.”

“What could work? What are you talking about?”

Instead of saying anything else, Mattia pulled two stacks of paper out of his bag and slid them in front of you both. “We would like the two of you to pretend to be in a relationship because there’s no way that Charles’ girlfriend would be our mystery driver.”

You stared wide-eyes at the contract in front of you, detailing what the upcoming season would entail for you both. You would remain as a staff member for Ferrari but instead of being restricted where you could travel and with who - they had planned a full itinerary for the winter break. When and where you’d be with Charles, every day of every month. They had even crafted up mock instagram posts and stories for the two of you to post.

“The winter break provides us with the perfect opportunity to orchestrate a soft launch.” The social media manager weighed in. “You’ll both be posting from the same locations, glimpses of each other and then at the start of the reason you can announce the relationship by coming into the paddock together.”

“I’m… I’m not sure how I feel about this.” You admitted. “Charles shouldn’t be forced to date me - he’s a young, handsome guy. He shouldn’t be tied down by this fake commitment if-”

He cleared his throat, bringing your attention from Mattia and the team to him. “If it’ll help you, y/n. I’d do it… hey, could be fun right?”

Usually his smile would put you at ease but you couldn’t help but feel guilty. Charles’ knew he had ulterior motives but getting to spend time with you, in public? That wasn’t something he was just going to pass up on. He gave your shoulder a gentle squeeze and you returned his smile cautiously.

“Okay, but if Charles wants out at any point-”

“We’ll end the contract, but it will be under an NDA so you cannot say it was fake. We can just script it as a mutual, friendly breakup.” The social media manager spoke up again, clearly very proud of himself for crafting this plan. “And you and Charles are friends, right? So hopefully physical affection like hand holding in public or a kiss on the cheek will be easy to pass off as something more than platonic.”

It was then when the team left you and Charles to read the contract and details of the relationship. Whilst you weren't a Monaco native, you had come from money - it was one of the reasons, alongside your talent, you were able to land your seat whilst not only being a woman but being so young. You had competitively raced in GP3 and F2 respectively before ‘dropping off the face of the paddock’ to become a member of the Ferrari staff - it was an excuse far too many people bought too easily.

So, it wasn’t much of a surprise you’d be spending a large chunk of the break in Monaco, both of you had a place there so they wouldn’t have to splash on the accommodation but there was also a trip to Bali pencilled in towards the end before you’d have to return to Maranello for pre-season training.

“They’re really going all out with this.” The Monegasque driver spoke first. “...Are you sure you're okay doing this? Because, I agreed to it because I want to help you out but I don’t want you to be uncomfortable with it either y/n.”

“I mean, it’s definitely better than some of the other plans they come up with. And hey, it means I get to spend more time with you and I might actually get to know some of the people I’m racing against, even if it is as your girlfriend.” You smiled softly. “I can’t thank you enough for having my back through all of this. I was really scared when Seb told me he was leaving but I’m glad it was you who came next.”

His cheeks flushed a little and he rubbed the back of his neck. “I couldn’t ever imagine how difficult it was to be Thirty but when I found out you were my age and a girl? I never wanted you to feel like I didn’t support you.”

You lent into his side and he draped his arm across his shoulder. When you’d first met, he hadn’t been as protective - because as Thirty, you were fearless, but with the constant fear of exposure you were a lot shyer beneath the helmet so overtime Charles found himself wanting to watch over you.

“If we’re going to spend time with the others, I should probably give you some warnings.” He chuckled a little, as you sat back up to read yours and Charles’ ‘backstory’.

“Oh yeah?” You raised a curious brow. “They that bad?”

“No it’s not that. Pierre is a massive gossip, lives for it. So anything that’s a little juicy he’s all over it… so we’ve got to be extra careful around him.” He explained. “Like, have you ever seen those gossip accounts? He’s all over them. He also loves Thirty speculation.”

You lent back in your chair and tilted your head. “Has he ever been close?”

“Not even slightly.” He smirked. “He’s a big fan of the theory that you’re Barrichello. Or like, just a bunch of different drivers.”

“That would be impossible to keep secret, one of them would spill for sure.” You reached across the table to grab a pen. “I do enjoy reading twitter theories, I won’t lie. But, now that there’s a larger female audience, there’s been a lot more Thirty is a Woman theories being thrown around.”

Charles flicked through his papers to find the dotted lines that had been marked for him. “Your name ever cropped up?”

“Once or twice. But I was never an F2 champion or anything so it gets brushed off pretty quickly.” You shrugged. “Someone did a full twitter thread on it being me and I cannot wait for the day that I get to show them that they were right.”

“That’s crazy.”

Before the two of you could share any more words, the rest of the team rejoined - the scraping of chairs against the floor and all eyes landing back on the pair of you really made it sink in what you were about to agree to.

“Do we have any questions?” Mattia asked, passing Charles a pen as the team lawyers came and stood either side of you both to make sure you signed where you needed to.

“…Just one, for how long?”

The team principal forced a smile. “As long as needed. I know you think you’re ready to be unmasked, y/n, but that’s not what is best for the team right now. We’re focusing on getting our groove back and we don’t need the uproar of having a female driver detract from that. Understood?”

Charles frowned, watching the way your shoulders slumped a little. That didn’t seem fair.

“Yes sir.”

“Okay, good. Now, please sign.”

Both of you scribbled your signatures on the contracts, and after crossing the t’s and dotting the i’s, Mattia stood up and shook each of your hands. “Congrats. You make a very sweet couple.”

Charles dared to risk a glance at you and saw your cheeks had flushed a pretty pink, a colour he’d paint murals with if he could. It was beautiful. You threw him a shy smile as you grabbed your jacket and bag from the chair beside you. As everyone filtered out of the room, you noticed the Monegasque hanging back.

“Everything okay, Charl?”

He nodded. “Yeah. I am, it’s just properly sinking in now…”

“It’s not too late to back out.” You said, giving his bicep a gentle squeeze. “I meant what I said.”

“No it’s not that. I just feel a little guilty about my part in keeping you hidden away, y/n. I think they should be proud to not only have a woman on the team but the world’s youngest champion.” He sighed softly, his blue eyes intense as he studied you. “I hope that they realise that soon.”

“Thank you. Just so you know, I’m going to tell Sebastian… he’s signed an NDA previously so I trust him.”

Charles smiled. “I definitely think you should. You deserve at least that.”

You opened your arms and he immediately wrapped his around you. “See you later?”

“My car is at the lot by the heliport. Let me drive you home when we get back to Monaco?” He hummed, pulling back just enough to look at you. “Seen as you are my girlfriend now and all.”

Your heart skipped a beat, girlfriend. “Yeah, that would be nice, thank you.”

It was always protocol for you to hang around the weekend HQ a little longer than anyone else just in case someone had leaked the timings of a Team Thirty meeting and they didn’t want you being seen with the rest of them. Instead, you said goodbye to Charles and slipped into a small corner office to ring Sebastian. Charles’ voice continued to ring in your ear.

Girlfriend.

You were Charles Leclerc’s girlfriend. You knew it was fake but it still seemed crazy to you - you had known of him for years, and you had seen the girls he had dated before. You had to admit that you were nervous, you were built like an F1 driver - not a stereotypical influencer.

After dialling Seb’s number, you lent back against the wall of the office - going back to nibble on the skin around your fingers that you had started to pick at while in the meeting.

“Hey kid, how did it go?” His voice instantly put you at ease. Anything that was wrong, Seb could always give you the right advice. You were never sure when he got so wise but you were glad he did.

“So, uhm, plan B was something else entirely.”

“Oh?”

You let out a nervous chuckle. “Yeah…”

“Y/n, what’s going on? You’re making me worried.” You could practically see the concerned Dad look on his face when you told him about the things that they did with Thirty.

“Charles and I are fake dating.”

The pause felt like a lifetime, it was almost as if you could hear Sebastian processing the words you had just said. It wasn’t like any of the plans they had come up with while he was still with the team and it was definitely in the top 3 of the most outlandish ideas that he had heard - and one of those ideas was to get you to start wearing stilts.

“I’m… wow, and Charles is okay with this?” He finally spoke.

“Yeah, he’s on board and as soon as he decides he’s had enough - it’s over.”

He paused again. “And are you on board? Because I know you, y/n, I know how long you’ve wanted to stop with the whole faceless thing…”

He was right, but you weren’t ready to fully admit it. “It’s not the right time yet. I want to focus on getting my third title and I can’t do that if they’re all cracking down on me.”

“Okay. Well, promise you’ll keep me in the loop? This isn’t just any old media routine, I don’t want you to get hurt if Charles or anyone else does something stupid… you’re about to be a WAG, y/n… that isn’t easy.”

“Oh because you’re an expert?” You teased.

“I’m not joking, y/n. People online can be really nasty, especially to WAGs.” He scolded lightly. “Just protect yourself okay?”

You sighed softly. “I’ll do my best. I’m going to Monaco tomorrow, let me know if you’ve got any time free for us to catch up properly? I’m sure I can convince them to let me add it to the itinerary they’ve made for us.”

“Of course.”

You both said your goodbyes and it was finally time for you to leave the motorhome and get back to the hotel to pack. Aside from Charles and yourself, you weren’t really expecting to see many drivers here the morning after the final race of the season - most opting to head straight home. The paddock was mostly full of staff packing up, ready to head back to their HQs but you couldn’t help but notice that Pierre was lurking around, a little too close to the headquarters with Charles, clearly hoping to get a glimpse of Thirty when they came out of the meeting. You could see him pointing to almost every man who came out of the building but when his eyes landed on you, his gaze simply flickered over you before asking about someone else.

Charles gave you a knowing look, Pierre proving just how clueless he really was. You fought back a smile and made your way back to the car park - walking passed them both without a word. The Monegasque didn’t miss the way Pierre looked at you once again, not as a potential Thirty but the same way he looked at any pretty girl in the paddock. Clueless.

“You guys have some attractive staff, you should introduce me.” He hummed.

The younger driver rolled his eyes. “I don’t think she’d be interested.”

“And you know that, how?” Pierre scoffed.

Charles simply shrugged. “Just have a feeling.”

He watched as you scanned your pass to leave the paddock, glancing back over your shoulder one final time and risking a smile at him. The recognisable flutters in his stomach reminded him of just how screwed he was - he needed to be professional, this was a contracted relationship.

But it was just a matter of time before his true feelings came to the surface, Charles just hoped that when that happened, maybe… just maybe… you’d feel the same too.

*********************************************

Next part >>>

Oooh drama. Hope you all enjoyed ❤️

Thank u to @carsgonyoom and @danielfuckingricciardo for letting me bounce ideas off of you and proof-reading! Love you both x

#Unmasked fic #f1 fic #f1 x reader #f1 x you #f1 #formula one #charles leclerc #charles leclerc x reader #leclerc x reader #x reader #charles leclerc x you

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