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nakachuchu · 3 years

Text

Cherry Lollipop | Fushiguro Toji

SYNOPSIS: Neighbors AU - Someone new moves into the neighborhood.

READER: gender neutral

WORDS: 1051

WRITTEN: 04/07/2021

NOTES: Thank you for requesting from my event! This was so fun to write. "Careful of wandering hands. I bite."

THE FIRST DAY

A new person moved into your neighborhood and they so happened to be your new neighbor.

You liked to eavesdrop, so you peered out your window to watch the moving van and the new owners.

You saw a man holding a child so you assumed he was the new neighbor since no one in their right mind would bring a child with them on the job.

He was lifting furniture with one hand while the other held onto the child. As if he noticed your staring, he turned toward you and grinned.

You immediately closed the blinds and breathed heavily to stop the hammering in your chest. It was absolutely embarrassing to be caught watching someone.

You headed to your kitchen after deciding last minute to bake something for your new neighbors.

Because of the child, you decided to make cupcakes with cherry frosting. You never had a child before but you knew most of them enjoyed sweets.

After dancing and singing around in your kitchen while baking, the cupcakes were finally done.

It took a while and the sun had already set, but it wasn't too late to gift the cupcakes to the new neighbors.

When you first moved to the neighborhood, you baked all night and gifted the various sweets to your neighbors the next day.

Your family always taught you to be kind and welcoming to everyone because you never knew what doors they could open for you.

As you grew up, you simply enjoyed giving people sweets because of the smiles on their faces.

You picked up the tray of cupcakes and headed out the door, crossing your lawn to make way to their doorway.

You rang the doorbell and waited patiently. When the door opened, you had to step back and tilt your head back to look at your neighbor.

"I baked cupcakes as a welcome to the neighborhood," you said. "I noticed you had a kid."

"You're the one who was peeping on us," he said with a smirk.

"I—I wasn't peeping," you defended. "I was glancing."

He laughed. "Sure, sure. What flavor are those?"

"Chocolate with cherry frosting."

"Well, my kid does like chocolate. Megumi, this peeping Tom brought you cupcakes," he said as the child wedged himself between his father's legs.

"I'm not a peeping Tom, you old man," you snapped.

You considered yourself a kind person, but you did have a mouth that ran wild at certain times, courtesy of your mother.

He raised an eyebrow. "Name's Toji. I'd prefer that over 'old man.' "

You huffed. "I'm Y/N."

"Old man, can I have a cupcake?" Megumi asked.

"Oi, don't call me that," Toji retorted. "And introduce yourself."

You snickered before extending your hands out. Toji took the tray of cupcakes from you and Megumi's eyes followed them.

"I'm Megumi," he said as he forced his eyes away from the tray of cupcakes.

"Well, it was nice meeting the two of you. I'll see you around, old man," you said as you bowed and walked away.

Toji hummed. "I'm not that old."

Megumi shrugged.

THE SECOND DAY

The next afternoon, you decided to go out to your patio to read a book in the sun.

Your eyes widened a bit when you saw Toji shirtless, working on his garden while Megumi read a book on the steps.

You quickly looked down at your book to distract yourself. You rolled the cherry lollipop around in your mouth, focusing on your romance novel.

"Up to no good?"

You jolted and the book fell out of your hands and onto your lap. Toji was standing outside the railing of your porch, resting his arms on it.

You took the cherry lollipop out of your mouth and licked it to get rid of the saliva.

"Up to reading," you corrected. "What are you up to, old man? Exercising to lengthen your old joints?"

"I'm still young."

"Sure, buddy. Did you need something?"

"Just came to check up on my neighbor like the kind person I am," he said.

"Somehow, I don't believe that."

THE THIRD DAY

You closed the door to your car, then opened the trunk to grab your groceries. A cherry lollipop was in your mouth, rolling around your tongue.

Cherry-flavored candy was your favorite. It helped you focus and if you were angry, you'd bite it instead of taking your anger out of something else.

Grocery bag in your arms, you walked up the steps to your house and stood there, trying to find your house keys in your back pocket.

"Hey, neighbor."

"GAH—" You slipped and would have fallen if Toji hadn't caught you. "God, don't do that!" you exclaimed. "You scared the life out of me, old man. Hey, Megumi."

Megumi hummed.

Your hand moved to wrangle yourself away, accidentally roaming Toji's chest and abdomen. Despite teasing and ridiculing him, you did not regret what you felt.

"Careful of wandering hands. I bite,” he said with a grin.

You turned to glare at him, but then he took the cherry lollipop out of your mouth and placed it into his. Your eyes widened and you smacked him on the chest.

Maybe you smacked him a bit too hard because your hand was stinging from how hard his chest was.

"Get your own!" you exclaimed.

"What did I just say?" he questioned. "I may bite you the next time you touch me. Don't tell me you're into that."

"I'll sew your mouth shut," you retorted.

"Feisty."

You rolled your eyes. "That was my last cherry lollipop too, ya know? You owe me a new bag."

"When most people say that, they're referring to high-end bags."

"Well, I want a bag of cherry lollipops. Think you can do that, old man?" you questioned.

"Careful there," he warned.

You huffed and turned around to put your house key into the slot. "You're not invited to dinner tonight, but Megumi is."

“I wanna go,” said Megumi.

“See? The kid has taste. What do you like? Steak? Have you ever had steak before?”

He shook his head.

“He’s getting steak,” you informed.

“What do I get?” Toji asked.

“I said you weren't invited.”

“That's not very neighborly of you,” he retorted.

“Fine, you can have steak but you're sitting at the kiddie table.”

#jujutsu kaisen x reader #Fushiguro Toji x reader

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hanii-rose · 3 years

Note

hiii...ok so your headcanons are amazing and ily. could i request headcanons on garou with a s/o with thick thighs. i'm super insecure of my thighs because i don't have a thigh gap and it's super embarrassing

My headcanons are amazing? You love me? I-

Here you go baby( ˘ ³˘)♥

Also, no need to be embarrassed. I also don't have thigh gaps which really helps when I feel like crushing the heads of my enemies between my thighs...

We strong ᕙ(⇀‸↼‶)ᕗ

And so is the sexual tension in dis fic lol

____________________________________

Garou With An S/O Who Has Thick Thighs

If you think having thick thighs in this relationship is a drawback then you are absolutely correct.

When I say it's a drawback, I don't mean it's ugly or unwanted, no no no.

I mean Garou will drive you mad for a chance to put his head on your lap, all day, everyday!

And when I say he wants to put his head on your lap, I mean he wants to bury his face in the soft, supple flesh of your thighs.

Just let him live there, c'mon!

You can bet your non-existant thigh gaps that he's kissing and biting you there, very harshly might I add.

He's always telling you, "Gah, it's so soft!" or "Fuck, I want this here!"

If you're just sitting on the couch and he's stealing meat from your fridge, he'll notice what you're wearing and if it's even slightly exposed above the knee, he's there. Like, HE. IS. THERE.

Meat long forgotten, your thighs are his new meal lol.

Let's say you're just coming out of the shower, towel wrapped securely around your gorgeous frame. He's pouncing on you, specifically getting handsy with your thighs and calves.

He likes natural looks so cellulite doesn't bother him. In fact, he's poking and caressing them fairly often.

If you're talking bad about yourself then he's slamming that shit down and showing you how much he loves you. Like really showing you...

If you wear something like thigh-highs, gurl- He'll be taking them off with his teeth, thank you.

★★★

You sit curled up on your window seat, the soft light of the sun shimmering in through the transparent glass of your window. Your hair fell daintily around your shoulders, arms resting on folded knees, novel in hand, dressed in nothing but a loose shirt and a pair of sheer white, lace-wrapped thigh high socks. Oh, the serenity that's surrounding you right now, indescribable.

Your boyfriend concentrated on doing push-ups outside in your backyard. You could see him from the corner of your eye behind you, pushing himself up and down, an extraordinary array of large rocks or maybe...boulders on his back....?

You tore your eyes away from the worn, coffee stained pages of your vintage fantasy novel, intrigued in the way he worked on himself. Taut muscles contracting and loosening, glistening beads of sweat slowly gliding down his bare, shaped biceps. Hair tussled and messier than usual, a few rebel strands falling onto his forehead from his otherwise proud-spiky style. His face, dark, focused and handsome... oh my

Whenever Garou worked out, he really worked out.

Nothing could distract him from his daily routine of exercising, flexing and unintentional teasing. He was hell bent on being fit and able. He used to be the infamous Hero Hunter ya'know! He has to be sharp and ready at all times.

Can't be caught off guard like that one time while delivering boxes. That dude had no chill, throwing darts at him like that...

You bit your lip in admiration of his movements, your thighs coming together, unable to contain your excitement for a touch from him. He noticed you shyly peeking from the other side of your bay window and he silently beckoned you over, tilting his head to gesture for you to come around.

You gave a little nod to his beckoning, placing your book neatly on the tall bookshelf next to you and dusting yourself off, readying yourself to see him.

When Garou had come to visit you this morning you had been wearing one of his trousers, knowing him, if he saw even a tiny section of your thighs, the man would go absolutely feral. But since he had went outside for a 3 hour work out earlier, you decided pants were too overrated for you and you easily discarded them, got comfortable and started reading.

Garou was very serious about his workouts. He would never stop, not for anything...

Except maybe you. And thats when you had a stroke of genius. He was teasing you all this time, flexing and sweating. Time for a little payback.

You peeked around the doorframe that led to your backyard where Garou stayed, exercising.

"Well, aren't you working hard?"

You slyly spoke, smile coy.

Garou grunted in response and you sighed, slowly walking around to him, hips deliciously swaying, shirt hiked up above your thighs and socks visibly tight around your ample flesh.

You stood bold in front of his head as he pushed himself up. His eyes widening at your apparel. What are you doing?

You licked your lips teasingly, and lowered yourself down onto the grass, knees folded, sitting upright.

Garou stopped momentarily, craning his neck for a kiss and you gladly obliged, leaning in and leaving a chaste kiss on his lips.

"Finally took...my advice, huh...?"

He said in between breaths.

"Who... needs pants...right? Heh..."

He lowered down slowly and you copied, your head resting on your arms on the ground, fingers playing with the little blades of grass, butt in the air

"Mmm, it just feels so good outside."

He grunted, agreeing.

Your eyes trailed up to his face and you cast him an innocent smile.

You slowly raised yourself up in front of him, pushing up your hair and sitting straight, knees folded in a 'W' position.

"What...are you...tryna' do?'

He breathed out.

"Hm? Nothing, I just wanted to come outside and spend time with you..."

You responded in the sweetest tone.

Oh please. He knows what game you're playin'.

Comin' out in nothin' but a shirt and socks? Sweetie, ya' can't take him for a fool...

He ain't stoppin' for you.

"Funny... you've never been... into fitness that...much..."

He slowly spoke.

"Oh, well I just wanted to be closer to you. Is that such a crime?"

He snorted. You wanted to be closer to him? Why not just lay down under him and wrap your gorgeous legs around him then? Let him feel the plumpness.

"Don't you want to be with me too? Why don't you stop what you're doing and come here."

Your innocent voice matched with your sultry expression did a number on him. He bit his lip, trying to resist the temptation.

You outstretched your arms, fingers opening and closing, waiting for a hug.

"Nice try, I ain't stoppin' love."

You chuckled and got into position.

"Not even for this?"

You unfolded your knees, sitting so close in front of his face, that every time he'd go down for a push, his cheek or chin would brush against your thigh.

Tantalising,tempting...

You leaned back on your elbows, your hair now spilling onto the grassy mat under you.

Garou licked his lips, golden eyes flicking up to look into your innocently coy ones.

He lowered himself down once, his chin lightly coming into contact with the lace of your frilly socks.

Raising himself up, he looked at you with irritation, behind that expression lingered want.

Going back down again, your knee bent slightly inwards and gently touched his cheek. He took a whiff.

C I T R U S

Delicious.

Coming back up, he balanced his whole body weight on one arm, an impressive feat with all of those massive rocks on his back.

"𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕜𝕟𝕠𝕨 𝕀 𝕔𝕒𝕟'𝕥 𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕕𝕝𝕖 𝕞𝕪𝕤𝕖𝕝𝕗 𝕨𝕙𝕖𝕟 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕤𝕠𝕗𝕥 𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕥𝕝𝕖 𝕝𝕖𝕘𝕤 𝕠𝕦𝕥 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕞𝕖."

You slyly laughed, his statement so shamelessly flattering.

"Yes, I do know that, Garou..."

His movements stopped momentarily as his free hand softly caressed the exposed part of your thigh, between the hem of your shirt and the frills of your socks.

"𝕊𝕠 𝕤𝕠𝕗𝕥..."

"Hmm, do you like it like this?"

He chuckled, raspy and short of breath.

"𝕀 𝕒𝕕𝕠𝕣𝕖 𝕚𝕥."

He was struggling, it was obvious. He wasn't trying to hide it anyway. He couldn't if he wanted to.

Dammit, yer' too good!

And in 3 2 1...

The rocks start slipping off of his back, landing on the ground with hard, muffled thuds. Oh, you've really done it now...

Garou sits up, stretching. He grips both of your calves hard and pulls, bringing you onto his thighs, holding you in place.

No squirmin', just sit still...

"Do you have any idea what you've done...?"

You wrap your arms around his neck, holding his face close to yours.

"What if I do?"

His lips came mere centimetres from yours and he whispered roguishly.

"You've made me drop my rocks..."

Silence overtook you until you burst out laughing. What does that even mean?!?!

"Wha... Garou haha, what are you even saying?"

He growled menacingly. How dare you? First you tease him into being distracted and now you make fun of him?

Ohhh, yer' in for a good one...

"Listen here sweetie, we're gonna head on inside, and I'm goin' to finish you, do ya' hear me?"

You nodded, obligingly.

"Yes, sweetie ♡"

He stood up tall, carrying you by the strong grip he had on your plump thighs.

"So beautiful. I'm gonna bite em'..."

You giggled softly, and held onto him tightly.

You knew what was coming next, craving it. And you'll give it to him too.

Ah, there we go...

Garou's setting you down onto your window seat again and looking softly into your eyes.

"Are ya' ready? We're gonna go for a long time today."

You shyly nodded, confirming.

He sat himself down on the ground near your legs, getting into the correct position. His head coming down to rest upon your thighs, your frilly socks tickling his face, breathing calm.

And then, he's baring his teeth, biting and sucking on your ample skin. He's pulling your thigh-highs down inch by inch, kissing.

"Oh, Garou!"

He's smirking victoriously.

"Let's begin, shall we?"

It's safe to assume he got a different kind of workout that day. The one where he's goin' up and down on you nonstop, if you know what I mean (ಠ ͜ʖ ಠ)

#garou #garouonepunchman #garou the hero hunter #opm garou #garou x reader #garou headcanons #garou the monster #garou opm #garou the human monster #female pronouns #fem reader #garou x fem reader #please let me know if i need to tag anything else

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doublekrecs · 4 years

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More Than Physics

Spencer Reid x reader

Synopsis: you notice your ta in the library and ask him for a lesson in physics to which you pay him back with pizza and a lesson in sex

Warnings: smut (no p in v action), oral (male receiving), mutual masturbation

a/n: sorry this took so long, it’s been quite a week. but i'm thinking of making this a series depending on if you like it. anyways, i hope enjoy my angels! -🧞‍♀️

also thank you guys for 400 followers!! the love means everything to us:)

part 2

They always say life just blows right past you. Which you used to think was a load of bullshit, but now on your last year of college you’re sitting in the library on the verge of tears over your physics class, reminiscing on a time long ago when freshman year you was most likely at some frat party grinding up on some beefy blond named Steve.

You let out a loud sigh, looking around to make sure you weren’t disrupting anyone. You weren’t. The library was almost completely empty, besides just you there was a small group of people actively note taking with highlighters scattered around the table and the biggest cups of what you assumed to be coffee. Looking over to your left you saw an oddly familiar mop of curly brown hair nose deep in a thick book. Wait it was Spencer.

He was the TA for your physics class, always enthusiastic and ready to help anyone. You honestly thought he was just happy anyone was willing to listen to his rambles. From what you’ve seen he was humble for being such a genius and seemed like a really sweet guy. Always flashing you a kind smile and opening doors for anyone around him.

Which is why you felt a sense of relief wash over you when you saw him. You had been struggling with this unit in class and no method of studying had been helping you retain knowledge. So what better way to get help than from the resident genius himself.

You packed your stuff and made your way over to the table he set camp at. Loads of novels you couldn’t imagine yourself reading sat in stacks next to him. You tapped him on the shoulder to which he flinched after being taken out of the fantasy world he was immersed in. Looking up he offered you the same kind smile as always before whispering, “Oh hi y/n.”

“Hey Spencer” you smiled back.

He moved a stack of books off of the chair next to his offering you a place to sit. You set your stuff down and his eyes went to the physics book in front of you.

“How's the studying going?” he asked, putting his full attention on you. One thing about him you always admired was the way he really listened to people. No matter who it was he always made people feel heard.

“Not so good” he frowned at the sad tone in your voice, “But I was hoping that a certain TA would be able to spare a fellow peer some help” you looked at him with pleading eyes.

“Of course, what do you need?”

You guys had spent the better part of two hours with him helping you set up notes and explaining certain topics to the best of his ability. You noticed him yawn and check his watch. “What time is it,” you asked, trying to suppress a yawn of your own.

“Just hit 11, the library closes in 30 minutes if you wanna stay and finish up,” he said, stretching his back out from sitting for so long.

“No, I think we’ve done enough work for today.” You both started to pack your stuff up, making small talk as you walked out of the building.

“Hey Spence,” he stopped walking and turned to look at you, “I really wanna thank you for all your help today. Is there any way I can repay you for this? OH! I can take you to dinner, we can go to the little pizza place around the corner. It's on me,” you offered nodding with a wide smile.

He smiled back at your enthusiasm, “You really don’t have to thank me, I'm glad I was able to help. But I won’t say no to a slice of pizza.”

You led him to the little spot off campus, which he of course opened the door for you. The waiter took you to a little booth where you both ordered a soda before skimming the menu. The place was cute, very homey with warm lights and oldies playing softly in the back. There was a comfortable silence before the waiter came back and took your orders.

Spencer was very easy to talk to as he had knowledge on all topics. However you wanted to know more about him personally. So you suggested a game. Never have I ever. Yes it was childish but hey, all good friendships have to start somewhere.

“Ok I’ll start with an example and you put a finger down if you’ve done it.” he nodded taking a bite of his pizza. You took a second to think of where to begin, “Alright never have I ever gone skinny dipping,” you stated and his eyes widened a little bit.

He shook his head no as you encouraged him to ask a question. “Um never have I ever failed a class.”

“Spence no,” he frowned. “This is supposed to be fun, ask risky questions c’mon don’t be shy,” you looked at him encouragingly, “what happens at the booth stays in the booth,” you said tapping on the table for emphasis.

He took your words to heart as he waited a while trying to come up with a question. “Alright, never have I ever had more than 4 partners.” you put a finger down and looked at him confused. “How many people have you dated?” he took a sip of his coke before replying, “just one.”

“Huh,” “What?”

“C’mon Spence you’re telling me a genius like you doesn’t have girls lined up around the corner” you said raising a suggestive eyebrow. He giggled and shook his head no looking down.

The game continued but keeping track of fingers was forgotten. Pizza was long gone and the bill was paid, now it was just you guys enjoying each others company. It was obvious Spencer was breaking out of his comfort zone as the questions kept on getting riskier. Which is how you got into the topic of sex. You had found out that apparently he had almost no experience in any of it.

“Y/n I just don’t see what the big deal is. I mean I do ya know.. get off, so what's the point,” he said playing with his napkin. You could tell he was a little embarrassed at the admission by the tinge of pink on his cheeks.

“The point is that sex is normal and fun and something you should be experiencing.”

“I don’t know. I just don’t wanna have one night with a stranger then be laughed at for being inexperienced.”

Suddenly a lightbulb appeared above your head.

“Spencer I have an idea. And please just hear me out,” he looked at you wearily before you continued, “let me tutor you in sex stuff.”

You swear he was gonna explode at how red he was, mouth gaping like a fish out of water trying to find words to respond.

“Listen, you spent the night helping me with something I struggle in. Let me help you with something you’re struggling in. And it could be fun, ya know just some stress relief and you get to learn some new skills.”

Spencer was taken back by your offer. He really wanted to accept, I mean come on it's not everyday a pretty girl just offers you to have sex with her. Let alone buy you pizza beforehand.

You might have looked collected on the outside, sipping on your dr.pepper, giving Spencer time to answer but on the inside you were a mess. What if you had pushed him too far. Why did you think it was a good idea to just offer up something like that. Your thoughts were cut off by a voice in front of you speaking up.

“Yeah.. Let's do it.” Now you were the one gaping like s fish. But you quickly recomposed yourself.

You looked at him with a devilish smile, reaching over the table to grab his hand. “Well then Spence, let’s go shall we?” He laced your fingers together as you got up, matching your smile.

In no time you were in your dorm after the brisk walk. Little conversation was made and you were starting to think maybe he was starting to regret agreeing. Unlocking the door you looked over at him nervously biting his pink lip, something you’d like to do. “You can just come in and we can watch a movie if you want. I don’t wanna pressure you into anything.”

He looked over at you, big brown eyes gazing softly into yours, “I really wanna do this. Please.”

“Alright pretty boy make yourself comfortable we’ll start off easy.”

You guided him to sit on your couch as you sat next to him. There was a moment of silence where you both just looked from each other's eyes to lips longingly. Neither were sure who leaned in first but your lips met in the middle, calm at first before the storm. His hands went to grasp the sides of your face, pulling you further into him. You took the time to adjust and settle on his lap, one hand on his shoulder while the other nested in his hair, causing him to let a groan in your mouth when you tugged it slightly. You’d save that for another time.

The time came for you both to pull away for air. His forehead resting on yours as you caught your breath.

“As great as that was,” you said punctuating with a kiss. He tried to chase your lips as you pulled away to continue talking. “You can move your hands, I won’t break. Nowhere is out of bounds,” you said nodding encouragingly.

His hands were warm, moving down slowly to your hips. You leaned back in, this time the kisses were slower but held the same desire. Again his hands stayed in the same place so you put yours over his and guided them up and down. He gained some confidence after you let go, his hands now straying to your ass giving it a squeeze. You could feel the smile on his lips at the gasp you let out.

Making out soon led to desperate whimpers and a steady grind of trying to gain more friction. The feel of him hardening beneath you made you moan as the thin fabric of the leggings you were wearing did little to nothing to conceal it. You pulled away to start pressing wet kisses to his neck. You knew you had found his sweet spot under his ear when he shuddered. Your hand went down to palm him over his pants. Spencer jolted at the touch.

“Fuck y/n,” he let out as a soft sigh. You took the opportunity to unzip his pants. Looking into his auburn eyes for confirmation to keep going he gave a silent nod, prompting you to take him out of his pants. It was pretty and pink, already weeping with precum you couldn’t wait to get your mouth on. Wasting no time you used your thumb to swipe some off to use as lubricant to start pumping his shaft.

You went down to a spot between his knees, taking his hand in yours to set in your hair. He seemed to catch on quick as he pushed some out of your face to see your pretty eyes looking up at him while you sucked him off. Under his soft exterior, shockingly Spencer swore like a sailor. Letting out constant “shit you’re so good” or a long “fuck” under his breath.

You could tell he was getting close by the way you felt his cock throbbing. You stopped sucking, instead using your hand to keep stimulating him as you said, “It’s alright Spence you’re doing so good for me. Where do you wanna cum?” His eyes shifting down to your low cut v-neck said it all. You motioned for him to replace your hand with his own, quickly discarding the shirt leaving you in a pretty lacy bra. He was confused as to what you were doing when you started to pull off your leggings, but as your hand slipped down into your matching panties things started clicking.

You were already worked up from the heavy touching and listening to his groans that it was easy for you to slip a finger into your wet heat, letting out a moan at the feeling. His eyes kept on roaming all over your body. The sight of your chest heaving and the glistening between your thighs was enough to set him off.

You added another finger and matched the pace he was pumping himself at. Not taking your eyes off his hands, so big and veiny.

“Ah Spencer, I'm so close baby. Please cum with me,” you let out along with little whimpers. Hearing his name on your lips was his end as his orgasm washed over him. Ropes of his cum spilling over his palm. Your release came soon after, rubbing your clit, gasping at the tightness in your tummy bursting.

You both calmed down and met each other's gaze with a soft smile. Picking up your t-shirt you told him to stay put as you went to grab a towel for him to clean up. “So, not bad for our first ‘lesson’, you said walking back and sitting next to him.

His cheeks were tinted pink from seeing how exposed you were in front of him but he had the courage to respond, “Not bad at all. I can’t wait for what else you can show me.”

#spencer reid x reader #spencer reid smut #spencer reid fanfiction #spencer reid fic #criminal minds #criminal minds smut #mgg x reader #mgg smut #mgg fanfiction #🧞‍♀️writes

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darkhymns-fic · 3 years

Text

Blossoms in Flight

Estelle is having trouble working on her next book, so a visit from Rita was more than welcome - and possibly give her a solution to her writer's block.

Fandom: Tales of Vesperia Characters/Pairing: Estelle/Rita Mordio Rating: G Mirror Link: AO3 Notes: So here’s a 3 month late bday gift for @taco-night-frenzy ! Please forgive. :) Enjoy some lesbians trying to fly together and it (mostly) turns out okay!

Inspiration just wasn’t striking.

Estelle put her pen down, heaving a sigh that traveled from the very pit of her lungs until it left her mouth. She had been at this for a solid twenty minutes, having cleared her schedule to give her some well-needed writing time. And yet, as the blank piece of parchment before her told her…the words wouldn’t come.

She just couldn’t understand it! She had all the essentials down for a productive writing session; a recently cleaned-up desk where a simmering teacup was set next to her right, flowers placed on the windowsill to give her room a pleasant fragrance, a locked door so that no well-meaning knight (Flynn) could come in and ask if she needed anything, and she had even put up some nice pictures on her wall, a few paintings depicting landscapes and wildlife. Many of them were so pretty that she found herself staring at them for quite a while… or was she just finding an excuse to not do the task at hand?

Estelle shook her head, even tapping her temples with her fingers. “Focus now! You can do this!” She had the habit now of talking to herself when she tried to get into a creative mood, though always making sure her door was locked before she did. “You’ve written one book, now it’s time to write another! So…let’s get started!”

Another breath, taking back the quill pen in her hand. She could hear the children from town playing outside, but she had made sure to lock the window to minimize outside distractions. It was the best way for her to concentrate! Although even just thinking about the outside got her curious to maybe leave her room for a break… Wait, no! This was the problem!

“Focus…” Estelle whispered, taking another deep breath, staring daggers at the page as if to will her words into existence. “Focus…”

The children outside were being quite loud though – sounding as if they were just at her room, knocking their hands against the wall! But she was on the second floor, so that was clearly impossible. It must have been just wishful thinking anyway… She liked to ta her walks outside and read her latest book to the group of children. In some ways, that had been her own source of inspiration as well-

“ -elle! Estelle!”

Oh, sometimes they’d shout her name like that too, especially when she was lost in thought, looking over the great tree of Halure, with its pink petals that floated over them all. She had only moved to this town a few months earlier, along with a few trusted knights, including Flynn, for protection. But she had never felt safer. Never, except when with-

“Estelle!! Open the window already!!”

A sharp gasp left her throat, prompting her to stand up. Her chair was knocked on its side from the motion. “What? Who’s- who’s there?” Was it that ghost that the children sometimes spoke of again…?

“I’m right here!!! Hello?!”

Oh, wait, someone was actually at her window. And going by that voice…

A smile lifted her face as she turned. “Rita? Is that you?”

Her home in Halure wasn’t too tall, but with her room on the second floor, only birds and the like would make it to her window. Often she would open it to the see the town outside, along with the pink petals that floated on the warm breeze, sometimes catching onto her hair. (And with her hair the same pink shade, she would rarely notice the petals until someone such as Flynn helpfully pointed them out). But instead of the town, she saw a sight that was even more heartwarming and exciting.

Rushing to the window that she nearly stumbled, her hands pressed against the glass to push it open – and nearly Rita along with it.

“Agh! Careful!” Rita flailed a bit but latched her fingers onto the windowsill, her brown hair a bit frazzled. She struggled with the action, especially as she seemed to be carrying a sort of mechanical contraption on her back.

Estelle stared for a moment before she realized to grab onto Rita’s hands to keep her steady. “I had no idea you were here! Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, don’t have to worry that much.” Rita sighed, gripping back Estelle’s hands. But she didn’t move to go through the window, at least not completely. The window was tall, enough to take in Rita’s entire height, so she deftly placed her feet on the windowsill, looking down at Estelle. “I was just out here knocking on your window for the past ten minutes…”

Estelle gasped. “Oh no, I’m so sorry. I was just so busy trying to… well, focus for a while.” She shook her head, pushing away such worries. “But, I didn’t know you’d visit me!”

“Why wouldn’t I?” Rita frowned at that. “I told you I’d see ya again, just after I finished my latest project.” With that announcement, she jutted a thumb to the machine strapped to her back. “In fact, I used this to go and visit you!”

Estelle’s eyes widened with awe. “Wow… is that a new backpack?”

“It- It’s more than just a backpack! See the fan blades here?” She gestured to the things, currently very still, numbering about four blades altogether, seeming to stick out from Rita’s back like metal wings. “It’s my new flying machine. I told you that I’d show it to you.”

A memory jogged within Estelle. “Ah, that’s right! You did tell me that. I apologize. It seemed to have slipped my mind…” Still, she looked at the flying machine, how compact it was, fashioned from metal. “And all without any blastia?” Always she was impressed by the girl’s genius.

“Of course! It’s utilizing the law of physics anyway. Aerodynamics and such, so you just need to determine the lift, the weight, the drag and the thrust. Though mine works a little differently because of the shape of this, but I still have to calculate how the force of gravity affects it, and if enough thrust from the propellers can lift me up…”

Estelle nodded very slowly. She was impressed! Even with all the information making little sense to her.

Rita noticed. She blinked, cleared her throat, then crossed her arms. “Anyway… I was just in town… wondering if we could get tea together, you know…”

“Oh, that would be wonderful! I know how busy you are with research.” Estelle clasped her hands. “And I have plenty of honey this time!”

“Well, good! Tea is only good with honey, so you should always have plenty!” Rita was really quite adamant about this, which Estelle well-remembered. And if honey made Rita came by for tea more often, she would always make sure to have enough on hand.

The girl remained standing up on the windowsill though, occasionally adjusting the straps wrapped around her torso (perhaps trying to get it off?). Sometimes a rotor blade hit the sides, but Estelle didn’t mind the noise of it. In fact, she found herself a little in awe of the sight, Rita’s silhouette against the backdrop of the sky, where the stray petals of cherry blossoms floated in the breeze. They fluttered all around Rita, who didn’t seem to notice them in the slightest, too preoccupied with her machine.

Estelle must have been staring for far, far too long. “Uh, what is it?” Rita asked with a raised eyebrow. “I-I almost have this done so just get the tea ready!”

Estelle flushed just then. “Oh, Rita it’s not that! It’s just, um…” Recently, the words always seemed to escape her, not just from her pen, but just through speaking. It was as if anything significant thoughts she had just seemed to flitter away from her mind, like frightened birds. But Rita was right in front of her, so at the very least, she could keep track of what she wanted to say… “It’s just, you look really heroic standing up there right now!”

It was clear right away that Rita had no idea what she meant. “Huh?” Although her face also seemed a bit red. Flying must have taken a lot of energy and exertion, which made sense as to why she wanted tea so much. “I don’t…well… I mean if you think so…”

But the longer Estelle looked at Rita, the more she believed the image before her to be true. “Yes! Especially with the cherry blossoms falling around you. Like something out of a novel…” At that, she paused, blinked, then clapped her hands. “Oh, that’s it! The new protagonist should be someone like you!”

Rita seemed to get even redder, and Estelle wondered if maybe the heat of the day was getting to her. “W-what? Estelle, can you make sense please?”

Ah, that’s right. She hadn’t explained it at all to Rita. That was rude of her.

“Sorry. Actually… you caught me at a weird time.” She finally decided to move, going over to a side table in her room where a teapot and some cups were placed. Luckily, the water inside was still hot, and she carefully arranged a chosen tea bag for Rita’s own cup. “You see, I’ve been trying to start my new book for the past hour, but nothing’s coming to mind. It feels like I’ve hit a roadblock, so to speak.” She sighed, pouring the water into the cup. Oh, and of course added in some honey from a small dispenser nearby. “My first one came to me so easily, I just don’t understand what the problem is…”

“…Huh. Can’t say I relate much to that.” But once she turned to Rita with filled teacup in hand, she saw the girl scratch her head, looking at the floor. “Sorry. That was thoughtless to say.”

“Oh no! That’s alright.” Estelle shrugged, once again looking up at Rita against the window. She still looked so heroic, and also just so very cool. She wondered if it was possible to have a painting like this… It was just too bad Estelle couldn’t draw very well. “Maybe I just need to do something a bit differently… I’ve already tried so many different tea brews already.”

“…You really think the kind of tea you’ve been drinking is the issue here?”

“Well, this one time I accidentally switched out my chamomile tea with the ginger one, and it had me up all night!”

“Hmm…”

For a while, Rita seemed to have not heard her, preoccupied with thinking, which happened sometimes. Estelle would usually just let her go through it before interrupting her with anything else. But whatever her musing was, it didn’t last long.

Rita turned her head just over her right shoulder, looking out into the sky. The sun was just beginning to set, casting hues of orange light against Rita’s hair. The petals continued to float around, doing so in such intricate patterns, it seemed that they danced about her. Even the wind picked up, gently rustling Rita’s clothes, including the yellow ribbon wrapped around her arm.

Once again, Estelle could do nothing but stare.

“Well, if you need more inspiration for your book…” Rita said, before fully turning back to her with a smile, one that was full of confidence. “I think I know a way to help with just that.”

Estelle still held onto her teacup, blinking occasionally. “Really?”

“Yeah! The thing is, you’re going about this all wrong.” Rita then finally jumped from the windowsill onto the hardwood floors of Estelle’s room. She did so without any thought to what she still wore on her back, which must have been lighter than it looked. “Just sitting around waiting for inspiration isn’t gonna cut it. You have to go out and look for it! If I waited for inspiration to go and continue my research, I’d just get nothing done. And if something still isn’t working out, I move onto something else. It’s as simple as that.”

Estelle nodded along, fascinated as Rita paced about her room, spilling out advice that was truly so inspiring. “But then… where can I find my inspiration?” she asked with a bit of reservation. “I’ve tried taking walks around Halure, speaking with the children… but I keep having trouble just writing down a few words at most.”

“That’s routine, Estelle. And while routine is nice, it gets boring and expected.” Rita stopped her pacing, facing Estelle with crossed arms. “I only write for academic research instead of any creative writing, but it sounds like you need a new perspective.”

Maybe here was where Estelle got a little confused. She tilted her head. “A new perspective?” How could she do that?

Rita apparently read her mind then. She asked her question so matter-of-factly. “Ever saw Halure from above?”

This was the only time Estelle ever felt just a bit unsure around the genius researcher that was so dear to her.

“Are you sure this is the best way?”

“I told you that it’s fine! You don’t think I’m strong enough, is that it?”

“Oh no! I just worry I’ll hurt you if we’re not careful…”

But as Estelle looked up at Rita from above, she saw the determination in her eyes, the way she pouted cutely like so when she was being, perhaps, just a little bit stubborn.

The reason she was above was because Rita had instructed her to lay down, so that way it would be ‘easier.’ Estelle didn’t question it, and so she complied, using the bed in her room as the best place for her to lay down straight. Rita stood by her bedside, eyes hard, arms crossed.

“…Am I laying down wrong?” Estelle questioned. Sometimes she didn’t always understand directions very well…

“No no, it’s alright! Just… thinking how to do this right.” Rita took a deep breath, then uncrossed her arms to stretch them out. Her face was still a bit red, and Estelle wished she had served her the tea a bit earlier. But Rita had declined, determined to help her find her inspiration, as she had said.

With the flying machine still strapped onto her back, Rita stretched out her arms, then nodded. “Okay! Just be sure to hang onto me once I got you up.”

Estelle, slightly nervous, nodded. “Got it!” Still, she worried. Rita was a bit shorter than she was…

Could she really carry her that easily?

Rita had sounded excited at the idea she herself proposed, and Estelle couldn’t help but be caught up in that same excitement. But, now that the prospect was happening, a few doubts popped in her head – mostly concerning herself. For one thing, her dress was probably not the easiest thing to deal with for the person who would carry her…

But before she could voice any more concerns, Rita brought down the goggles she always wore on her head, placing them over her eyes, effectively hiding them away. Then she was bending down, arms slipping underneath the other girl’s back and legs. “And… okay, just, gotta use my knees…” Rita paused, her face a bit near Estelle’s, the heat from her cheeks a bit apparent. “Uh…”

“Are you alright?” Estelle asked, feeling ashamed. “We don’t have to do this if you changed your mind-”

“I didn’t! Don’t assume that!” And with a pout, Rita slipped her hands further so that she got a better grip on Estelle. “I’m just preparing! Okay… one, two…three!”

She lifted Estelle up so quickly that she almost tripped.

“AAAH I-I mean! I have this, don’t worry!” Rita re-balanced herself, holding up Estelle much more securely. She stood up straight, legs trembling slightly, taking deep breaths every so often. “Hurry and…hold onto me…”

“Oh, right!” Estelle wrapped her arms around Rita’s neck, head leaning into her shoulder. “This good?”

“Y-yeah…” Rita turned to look at her, mouth half-open as if to say something. It was hard to see her expression with those goggles on… But then she turned away again. “Anyway, let’s get going.”

Estelle nodded. “Okay!” Still, she hoped she wasn’t too heavy for her…

But she knew better now to make any mention of it. So, she stayed cradled in Rita’s arms as the girl marched over to the open window, careful to keep her back straight, all while muttering, “All in the knees… Just like Karol said, all in the knees…”

Estelle’s lower half of the dress practically engulfed Rita’s arms, at least from what she could tell from her angle. Maybe I should say something… But the thing was, she liked being carried this way.

Rita then hopped back onto the windowsill. The suddenness of the motion made Estelle squeak. Rita’s arms shook, but only for a bit. And then it seemed as if she ran straight off the edge out into the sky. “Keep your eyes open!”

Because Rita told her so, that was exactly what she did.

It wasn’t the first time she had been up in the sky – far from it in fact. Back when she traveled with everyone, they would ride on Ba’ul and the ship he carried, over towns and cities, over the sprawling grasslands, the oceans that seemed to lead forever into the horizon. She’d feel the wind in her hair, raise her head up to the stars, drawn to the brightest one.

But it was different now.

Held close to Rita’s chest, and hearing the whirr of the rotor blades of her flying machine above them both, Estelle felt something much more different now. Her legs dangled in the air, the petals flying close to her face, bringing with her the scent of the cherry blossoms… and she couldn’t help but keep her gaze on Rita’s face, the goggles covering her eyes to protect her from the wind.

Rita seemed to notice, and though she couldn’t see her eyes, she had a feeling the girl had been caught off-guard. “I-I didn’t mean keep your eyes open on me!”

“Oh?” Estelle half-shouted, the wind carrying away both of their voices.

“At Halure! Look at Halure! Y-you can look at me later!”

Estelle did worry excessively that she had done something wrong then, but with Rita’s insistence, she finally did so, following the petals that drifted around them, to the houses that lined the pathways of the roads, to the trees themselves that extended so high above the town and into the sky. Rita flew around the branches, moved along with the wind currents, all as children shouted excitedly from below.

“Told you I could carry you easy,” Rita announced, eyes straight ahead, the rotor blades continually whirring behind her. “Now you got a new view! Is it helping?”

And though Estelle did look all around her, in awe at the height they were at, at how even with Rita’s arms, there was always that faint sense of precariousness, one that sparked something wonderful in her heart. It was exciting and wonderful, and with the setting sun, the town had never looked so beautiful just now.

But even with all of that, her eyes kept going back to Rita, who had always been so, so inspiring to her.

She had to let her know. “Rita!”

A little shake, Rita turning to Estelle in surprise. “Huh?! Don’t just scream in my ear!”

Estelle was too happy, wrapping her arms around Rita’s neck even tighter, hugging her close. “You just look so very cool right now!”

“Estelle, wait! I’m gonna lose control of my flying-!”

Too late. A brief tilt in the air, messing up the already uneasy momentum that they had, and soon enough, were flying right for that same tree, pink petals flooding both of their sights.

When the great tree had been dying, its leaves wilted and its branches drooping low to the ground, so many had lost hope for it. Estelle had felt a desperate wish in her then, one that she could barely bury down, and didn’t want to. Even as monstrous blood infused with the roots, she had begged, she had pleaded, and that alone had been enough to bring it back.

If only she could do such a thing for her very own self so easily, with just a wish. I want to feel like I can do something again. But sometimes, she realized, one had to look outside of one’s own self to find that inspiration.

As Rita and Estelle flew haphazardly, they landed against one of the branches, with a blanket of blossoms cushioning their fall. Rita flailed, Estelle now effectively on top of it. “Agh! I got cherry blossoms in my throat!”

Still, Estelle couldn’t let go of her. She nuzzled her head against the others, feeling so giddy. “You’re just… so great, Rita…”

“You could have hugged me at any other time!”

Her smile hadn’t left, even as the rotor blades now whirred a little less effectively, their mechanisms a bit clogged from all the petals that went into its crevices. If this solved her creator’s block, she wasn’t sure just yet – but she wouldn’t trade this experience for anything else.

#tales of vesperia #rita mordio #estellise sidos heurassein #ristelle #fanfiction #oneshot

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imaginethebeautifulworld · 4 years

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Imagine this: You are at a small party and you get bored with all the mindless chattering and gossip. You say you need some fresh air and head outside. Sighing, you place your wine glass down on a table and take off your heels. "Good evening.", a voice calls out from behind you. Your eyes meet mesmerizing scarlet. You know this man. But does he know you? "May I have this dance, my fellow outcast?" Smiling as you cringe at his words, you take his hand. (1/2)

Holy shit, Anon!

Before I start, I need to tell you that I am obsessed with this ask, and literally started mentally writing this the MINUTE I read through. Please pardon a little creative license; I couldn't resist. Hope you enjoy!

Edit 22 Oct. 2021- As a special request, there is another part to this fic, told from Gil’s perspective this time. Thank you for reading!

It isn't as hard to slip away from the festivities as it should be; everyone is already so deep into their drinks that they wouldn't really notice even if you did made an effort to announce your departure.

You take the miracle at face value however, weaving through various groups and couples to the kitchen, topping up your single glass of wine and stealing a few pieces of food.

For a few minutes, all is quiet in your little haven, only the soft lighting from the stove and a jack-o-lantern keeping you company. You finish off a few bites, and just as you're about to grab some more food, a couple stumbles through the doorway, oblivious to everyone and everything.

Deciding you would rather leave than interrupt them, you slip out the back door, closing it softly behind you.

Sunset is painting the sky in vibrant lilac and rose, birdsong still carrying across the yard. The day is still fairly warm, and you slip your shoes off with a sigh, wiggling your toes through the grass as you make your way to a white bistro set.

There are two empty chairs, and you happily take the nearest one, setting your glass on the table, happy to melt into the iron.There is nothing except the beautiful sky and a newfound inner peace. Blessed silence after all the hullabaloo and gossipmongering from the past hour.

"G'evenin'."

Dammit.

You hadn't noticed anyone else slipping outside, or hanging out in the yard. And now you'll have to make small talk again and feign interest in whatever pointless topics come up. Terrific.

Not bothering to even glance at your companion, who is already making himself comfortable in the other chair, you offer a frustrated sigh. "Hi."

"Oof. Little bitterness there."

Whoever he is, he sounds concerned, if not bemused.

Despite your irritation at having your privacy interrupted, you don your manners once more, turning to him with a smile you don't really feel. "Long night, sorry."

He hums. "That I get. More like a long week I think."

The admission and his tone have you breathing out the ghost of a laugh. "You got me there."

He's surprisingly quiet for a few minutes, seemingly just as content as you are to watch the skyscape. You find you're not nearly as uncomfortable with the company as you would have expected.

Subtly, you try to figure out exactly who he is, though the design of his mask makes it absolutely impossible. Really, the only thing you can make out are his eyes, a vibrant red you're sure are contacts.

You can't help but ogle his costume; he's dressed as if he stepped right out of a portrait, and if you didn't know better you would swear that was a genuine sapphire resting against his chest. And then there's his mask-

Scarlet eyes flicker your way, his lips turning up in a grin when he realizes you've been staring. "See something you like?"

You're far too embarrassed, yet somehow- "Jury's still out."

The grin grows even bigger, showing off the fangs that complete his ensemble.

With how pale he is, you mentally decide, it's the perfect outfit for him.

You had thrown yours together on a whim, using a thrifted evening dress, hand-me-down jewelry, and a fake tiara you had worn a few times during your childhood. Ironically, the only part of your ensemble that was expensive is the mask itself, a custom piece that cost more than the rest of your outfit put together.

Now, sitting next to someone who looks like he stepped out of the 1800s, obnoxiously blue jacket and all, you feel a little underdressed, the feeling passing by as you realize he's discarded his own shoes and socks sometime ago.

There's something familiar about him, his slight slouch teasing at a memory from long ago.

You would think, considering how few people are actually here, you would recognize him, would be able to figure out who he is.

But his eyes are strangers to you, his voice is... unique.

The not-knowing is more aggitating than his company, enough that it is the sole reason for your next words to him.

"As lovely as this has been, do you mind?"

There's no real expression on his face as he turns to you. "Nope. Do you?"

That was a challenge. You can see it in his eyes, heard the playful hitch in his voice. God help you, he's annoying.

"Yes, actually." Deciding to press further, because why-the-hell not, you offer your own challenge. "You're interrupting my alone time."

"Pardon the intrusion, milady, but I'm pretty sure this is neutral territory."

"I was here first," you retort, a bit childishly.

He snorts, folding his arms across his chest, falling further into his chair, posture absolutely intended to mock you. "Were you, though?"

Dammit, he had you.

You shoot him a scathing look, one that was frankly just a little on the playful side, before folding your own arms and pretending to scowl at the setting sun.

A few more minutes pass, before you hear his voice again. "So..." he says, dragging out the sound in a pointed attempt at getting you to talk to him.

You ignore him, or you attempt to at least. It's kind of hard to do that when he's standing now, just inside your peripheral, head turned towards the heavens.

Finally realizing that you have no plans of responding, he takes another step, now more-or-less directly in your line of sight. "Why're you alone out here? Party's inside, ya know."

You level an unamused stare at his pointed question, a hint of bemusement coating your reply. "I could ask you the same thing."

He smirks, some quick, passing thing, before he hides it behind a small sip of his beer. "Touché."

Somehow, that brief exchange has revitalized you, and you take another drink from your wine, watching some birds make their final rounds for the evening.

The sky is shifting, darkening with each passing moment. And inside, the party is getting louder, laughter carrying out to you from the still partially open door.

He glances back towards the house, an odd expression on his face. You follow his gaze, almost instinctively, turning back to him curiously when you can't determine the cause of his- Discomfort? Irritation?

"You ever just want to run away?"

His question takes you by surprise, and you feel your heart constrict when his focus once more turns to you, achingly familiar eyes seemingly- haunted.

Whatever annoyance you had held previously is gone, replaced with something you don’t really recognize.

Trying to ignore it, you nearly default to the normal lie that comes with small talk, especially with strangers, but there's something so familiar about him-

You give yourself a minute to actually weigh his question, tasting different answers on your tongue. It teases you, the temporary daydream of just hitting the road, abandoning everything and everyone you know to start a new life elsewhere.

After a few moments- really, it could have been an Infinity or merely seconds- you have your answer.

"I'd be lying if the thought didn't appeal to me sometimes."

He hums, sounding somewhat detached, turning once more to study the treeline. There's a heaviness around him now, an aura that almost hurts to see.

"Something tells me it's been on your mind lately?"

He studies you for some time, and maybe it's the lighting or just the contacts, but you could swear his eyes are almost glowing. Finally he offers a small shrug, all that negativity seeming to disappear into thin air.

"Eh. Comes and goes. Let's just say my cousin's really pissing me off."

You huff a laugh at the statement, thinking of your own loved ones inside, and how tipsy they were already when you first slipped outside. "Family, am I right?"

He hisses slightly, apparently his own form of laughter, that smile once more teasing the left corner of his mouth.

Silence reclaims the pair of you for a few more moments, and as awkward as it could have been- He's good company. After spending so long having to mindlessly chatter about the weather and ambitions, it was nice to simply breathe.

Your companion- it’s still bothering you that you don’t know his name- seems as at ease as you are, content to lean against the table as if he owns the place.

The sunlight is almost completely gone now, the waxing moon taunting you from behind a few scattered clouds painted in amethyst. The stars are not so shy, several distinct constellations already twinkling above you.

With the coming night, there's a chill creeping closer, a crispness to the air that has you sighing in contentment.

He seems to mistake the sound, eyes flashing with concern as he turns back to you. "Cold?"

Your denial is barely even formed before his jacket is over your shoulders, his lingering warmth already starting to seep into your bones.Your mouth opens in a small protest- Seriously, how dare he just assume!- but seeing how instinctively he had done it, how it almost seemed his second-nature-

Rather than offer up any protests, you sigh out a small thank you, and soon slide your arms into the sleeves, marveling at how warm the damn thing is despite how thin it is.

There is another round of laughter inside, and someone decides to raise the volume of the speakers.

Some orchestral piece is playing, a haunting melody that you felt befit a Gothic novel, a spellbinding spectrum of emotions carrying past the still opened door.

You see your companion shift, straightening his posture as he turns his attention back to you. Curious, brow raising slightly, you glance over at him, wondering at his next move.

Shockingly, he's bowing, a right, proper bow, before standing upright once more, a soft smile just noticeable. "May I have this dance, my fellow outcast?"

Oh God-

"You are ridiculous," you're laughing out, even as you take his offered hand.

He's grinning again, a playful look that fits him far better than some of the ones he's had on before. "It's all part of my charm!"

You're rolling your eyes, still smiling despite yourself.

It's only when he's guiding your hands to a ballroom position that you feel the first flickers of panic. You had been expecting maybe some swaying or just kind of shuffling, not-

"Relax, would ya?"

You meet his eyes, immediately reassured by the soft expression there, eased from that inexplicable familiarity. He isn't going to pressure you, and somehow you know he will always have your back.

"Just follow my lead; I've got ya."

You believe him.

Despite not even knowing his name, what a majority of his face looks like, or even what accent that is-

You believe him, and you decide to trust him.

Letting go is a strange sensation, one you're not entirely sure you dislike. He seems to know you're a novice, goes at a tempo that he can easily guide you through. Despite never having danced like this before, a few moments in you feel as if a part of you has been reawakened, the next steps coming to you before he begins to move into them.

He seems almost proud of your progress, your dance becoming more a partnership with each passing moment.

The song had shifted a long while ago- now some creepy lofi piece with samplings from a children's cartoon- yet your pace remained the same.

"So..." He puts out into the air, a pensive prompt that has you smiling.

"So," you repeat curiously.

There's another weird expression, fading away before you can analyze it.

"What's your name?"

Maybe it's the thrill of anonymity, or maybe you're too caught up in the giddiness of your newly discovered talent. Instead of giving him a straight answer, you playfully offer: "Someone smarter than Cinderella's Prince Charming."

Pensive, you offer an extra thought. "I know the power of a name; who knows what you'd do with it."

The comment seems to amuse him, that achingly familiar smile returning as he guides you into a dip. He hovers there for a moment, slightly pensive. "You know, Prince Charming is a lot smarter than you give him credit for."

He's guiding you back up, his eyes glowing once you're upright again. "He could do more with his beloved's name than she could even begin to imagine."

That last line, a whisper meant just for the two of you, is digging at you, tugging at some memory buried deep, deep in your subconscious.

There's something there, a name starting to shape on your lips-

But then he's doing that half-shrug again, dismissing the exchange entirely. "No matter. Keep your secrets, princess."

The last word was spoken with such fondness that your heart actually skipped a beat.

He barely gives you a moment to process, pulling you into a different routine that soon has the rest of the world fading away again. You let yourself forget everything else for a while; you exist only in this moment, dancing on the grass with a stranger.

Except, he's not a stranger, is he?

God help you, you know this is the first time you've met him, know that you've never interacted with this man before in your life, but you know him.

With every minute you spend with him, you imagine all kinds of moments with him-

Laughter as he wipes chocolate cake off his cheek from an impromptu food fight, annoyance at his cousin's lecturing, the soft smile of pride as he listens to his brother's speech.

And dammit, he never even mentioned having a brother.

But the daydreams keep coming.

Holding his hand in some cobblestoned square, racing through the woods, collapsing into a freshly constructed snow fort, lazing in bed running your fingers through his hair while he reads aloud-

They're so vivid that you're starting to wonder if you lived an entire life with him already.

And God, doesn't that make you sound so ridiculous.

You've only just met this guy, literally know maybe five things about him, and yet you're already imagining a future with him.

Life isn't some fairietale, and despite the tiara you're wearing for the night, you are not a princess. Shit like this isn't real.

But the way he's looking at you, watching you with such vulnerability and longing-

He's pulling you closer, your eyes drifting shut reflexively.

You feel his breath teasing your neck, his hand pulling you closer to him.

You-

A familiar voice is calling your name.

You barely hear it over the sound of your racing heart beat, over his. Your eyes flash open in irritation, though not at him. Never at him.

"It's not midnight yet."

Given the circumstances, the weight of his hand on your back, how tantalizingly close he is, and the inexplicable gravity you've long since stopped denying, his growl actually elicits a laugh, pained as it is.

"Sadly even the most rebellious of us princesses still have curfews."

He groans in frustration, arms wrapping around you in a hug, his forehead dropping against your own. "Don't. I-" His eyes are meeting yours again, darkened by expanded irises and still nearly sparkling for how vibrant the red is.

"Run away with me."

It's a whisper, a plea. It echoes through your entire heart and soul, that aching a crescendo of longing and adoration.You would give anything to stay with him, would follow him in a heartbeat.

But you have a family, a job, responsibilities. You can't abandon them, even at the risk of never seeing him again.

"I'm sorry," you force out, the agony resounding from every last inch of your soul.

You never meant the words as much as you mean them now, your own heart breaking in your decision.

You step away from him, shedding his jacket and turning away.You know if you look at him, if you see his face, if you glance at his eyes once more time-

You manage five steps before he's choking out your name. You close your eyes at the pain in his voice, but it's not enough.

He's used your name, and the sound of it from his lips, the weight of it on your spirit, it's too much for you to resist.

You're turning again, once again struck by how devastatingly handsome he is right now, how much sway he already has over you.

Every one of his approaching steps, each more confident than the last, is increasing the tempo of your heartbeat, filling you to the brim with anticipation.

It's ridiculous, impossible.

Yet you can't lie to yourself. Not about this.

"Please."

He's barely an arm's distance away from you now, hair haloed and features shadowed from the nearby sconces. And those damned eyes-

"N-"

He's murmuring your name again, slowly, hypnotically, shaping it as if he's savoring the flavor, enjoying how it feels.

You really want to ignore the effect it has on you, but he's whispering it again, not giving you a moment's mercy.

"Come with me."

You're powerless to resist.

"Yes."

97 notes · View notes

seokiloquy · 4 years

Text

Lost In- What Word? Pt 1 - Akaashi Keiji

AU: Single Parent

Requested

Word Count: 4.5k+

Disclaimer: Fem! Reader, Time skip spoilers, Udai being a meta Furudate insert, just fluff

Pt 1 | Pt 2 | Pt 3

Akaashi wasn’t sure if Udai was naturally forgetful, or just held so much anticipation in his smaller form that he glossed over details and didn't realize it. Udai was an excellent author despite not having reached the major public yet. His first published work was short and eerie which most of the shonen reading population didn’t greedily rip off the shelves. Although, those that did read it gave him overwhelming support, maybe the rest of the world wasn’t ready for that kind of psychological horror just yet.

When Akaashi originally applied for a position at the publishing company he intended to work in the literature department, editing lengthy novels and picking out grammatical errors, not reading conversations via text bubbles and looking for continuity errors between images. He never did pick out the exact moment he went from editor to fact-checker and archivist. Akaashi also never knew how many different ways there were to translate a single word until he met you. And once he did, he realized that his eyes would follow you across the office as you ran around and spoke to other editors, helping them furnish their translations so that they flowed properly.

“Tenma, isn’t he meant to be out of the rotation for this panel?” Akaashi couldn’t help but grimace when faced with the utter despair that had pulled on Udai’s typically eased expression. The panel itself was masterfully drawn, taking up two pages and showing off Udai’s immense talent in drawing expressions and anatomy.

“I spent 8 hours on that, only to find out that it needs to be scrapped. What has my life come to?”

The yellow office lights made both of the men’s hair give off a green tinge and made their faces look sickly. Udai frowned as he pushed his chair back and let his chin sit on the table of the small meeting room. His hair curled around his fingers as they gently tugged on the ends of the wavy black stands, straightening them only to let them go and have them bounce back into place.

Akaashi flipped through the printed out pages of the chapter, letting the loose papers lay flat on the table. He pointed to the next pages. “These are fine though. They’re in the right rotation here, so not all is lost at least.”

Udai sighed, as he threw his weight back into the chair, making it spin with his momentum. “That’s all well and good, but I was really proud of that panel. It was going to be the attention grabber.”

Akaashi pursed his lips gently, flipping through the pages once more before tucking them into the pale yellow folder and closing it. Udai’s new story was in its beginning stages, only having a sample chapter that would be published in the following week’s magazine, that is if they got it done in time.

“It needs to be perfect. I can’t have this not work and starve for the rest of my life.”

Akaashi opened his mouth slightly, taking in a deep breath, ready to spout out his words of encouragement for his colleague when there was a knock on the door followed by the soft creaking of the hinges as it opened.

“Sorry to interrupt, but I just wanted to ask Udai about some of the uh… what’s the word? Dang, I’m supposed to know Japanese, it’s my job. The— I give up. Help?”

Udai chuckled and waved you over to take the seat opposite him, you shook your head and bowed slightly as your hand raised, saying you were alright, not needing the chair. Leaning down slightly you pointed at the ruff sketch copy in your hand where your current author’s handwriting seemed to over the edges of the text bubble slightly.

“I’m sorry to interrupt, but how in the hell am I supposed to translate ‘paisen’?”

The innocent question seemed to brighten Udai’s mood much more than Akaashi’s monotone words of support would have. The older man launched backwards, nearly flinging himself off the chair, in a fit of laughter. His hands gripped the shirt he wore above his stomach and chest as they tried to ease the laughing pains.

Akaashi chuckled at the sight before looking at your somewhat regretful expression, you were probably too used to your co-workers laughing at your in-fluency at Japanese. “You can probably substitute a familiar nickname or a joking reference of respect.”

You sighed and brushed your hand over the back of your neck, “I swear, Himari had the intent to torture me with this last chapter. Thank you, Akaashi.”

Finally calmed from his fit of giggles, Udai sat straight in his chair and sent you a gracious smile. “Well, at least when you join our team I won’t torture you as much.”

You gave Udai and Akaashi a teasing smirk as you reached for the door handle. “I’m not so sure about that,” you said. “Besides, you need to get the attention of the readers before I join your team. No point in translating a comic that doesn’t even get off the ground right?”

You sent them a wink and the door closed behind you with a quiet click.

“Was that a challenge?”

“I believe so,” Akaashi said, handing Udai a blank sheet of paper. “Looks like we have some work to do.”

The office was, as it was the day before, and the day before that, calm. Udai sat in a small isolated office on his own with a naturally coloured lamp hanging over his hunched figure. The rest of his team, including Akaashi and now you as well, sat outside his door in a row of cubicles that led up to a large window that took up the entirety of the wall. In the corner cubicle, pressed against the window and directly across from him, you sat, typing away on your computer as you translated the Japanese text into Wild Words fonted English.

“Akaashi, is the end of chapter ready to translate?” Your head peeked over the frosted cubicle wall, a small smile pulling at the corner of your lips and the corner of your eyes pinching together. Akaashi’s gaze fluttered around.

“Ah, Ya the edits are done so you can finish translating it now.”

The smile you wore only seemed to grow, making Akaashi want to turn away and stare at the same time. The sun’s light contrasted with the dull rectangular lights in the office, making your skin glow. Your fingers tightened on the top of the glass and your shoulders rose to your ears, you narrowly missed knocking over an owl keychain that hung on his side of the wall.

“Perfect,” you said. “I’ll get them done now.”

The day continued like this, everyone working and occasionally calling out to each other through their cubed walls, possibly getting a twirling pen in the forehead followed by a meek apology (coming from you). Every time you spoke to someone you would rise out of your seat to make eye contact with them, refusing to continue speaking otherwise, and even though he wasn’t the person you always spoke to, each time your head began to poke out of your squared corner Akaashi couldn’t help but turn his attention your way, watching as the sun's light danced around you. It didn’t come to a surprise when, like every instance before, Akaashi looked up when you shot up from your seat. Only this time there was a frantic look plastered unevenly on your face, one that the warm light didn’t compliment.

“Please tell me my clock is wrong and that it’s not 4 pm.”

Chiyo leaned back in her chair, setting down her Cintiq’s pen and flipped the watch on her wrist so that the face faced her. “Yup, it’s actually 4:15.”

Akaashi was surprised to hear a not so work friendly English curse leave your lips as you rushed to save files on your computer while simultaneously packing your purse. You continued to swear as you ran out of your cubicle and toward the elevators with a quick “goodbye” being thrown over your shoulder. The office was quiet.

“Does that happen often?” Ena asked as he pulled off his glasses.

The group of artists and their editor sat in stunned silence for a few moments, minds racing over where the young translator had scurried off to. In their collaborative confusion, the team slowly went back to their respective jobs.

Himari came around the corner of the office, coffee in hand, as she chatted with her editor, who was nursing his own mug. The writer looked up for her conversation to see Udai’s team and gave them a polite nod. They were going to meekly return to their work when Himari paused her steps and looked at the empty plush chair that sat rotated and untucked in your cubicle.

“Oh, did (Y/N) leave?” to Akaashi’s surprise, Himari was not.

“Does she do that often?” he asked, setting down his pen on the counter of his desk.

Himari nodded, smiling, “Oh ya, sometimes she gets lucky and her friend can handle it but a lot of the time she has to run out of here by 3.” Akaashi’s brow furrowed slightly as Himari took a sip of her coffee before continuing waving her hand by her head, “Don’t worry too much about it though, she always comes in early to get her work done.”

Before they could question further, Himari was off with her editor sending them a knowing smile.

When the end of the workday rolled around, only 45 minutes after your quick departure, Akaashi found his eyes trailing back to his phone that sat at the corner of his desk on top of a stack of papers. Keeping watch on his phone, he swung his bag over his shoulder and shut off his computer. The device remained silent as the team began to pile out of their seats, toward the elevators and in a fit of contemplation, he reached for the phone.

Your response was quick and vague; Family thing, happens often. I’ll tell you later. See you tomorrow!

After the sample comic was released, Udai was thrown when he received an immense amount of interest for his characters and story, and he was even more excited when he received word from the magazine’s publishers that they wanted him to continue with the path he was on. The months building up to this moment were filled with constant plot revisions, reference excursions, and interviews until they came to a conclusive framework of the story, and continued introductions as new members were added to their original duo to make the workload less hefty.

Today though was the day that the story’s first chapter would finally be released to the public.

Akaashi tracked into the office, heading to the lounge to grab a coffee before coming up to his cubicle against the window and setting his bag down, immediately heading to the lounge. 8:40 in the morning, 20 minutes before the expected time of arrival, Akaashi, back at his desk, was just about to take a sip of coffee when a small snore overlapped the sound of the air conditioners, creating a dishonest harmony.

On the other side of the frosted glass wall of the cubicle was you, head resting on the black mouse pad that had a small plush cushion for your wrist. Akaashi quickly rounded the desks, coming to our side to gently rouse you from your slumber before your co-workers arrived. He was to wake you up gently with a hand on your shoulder, that was the plan. The plan changed when he noticed the small picture frame on your desk, surrounded by various action figures and Funko pops.

With one hand on your shoulder and the other holding the fame, he studied the photo with a kind gaze. He was so enthralled with the image that he forgot that below his other hand, was you.

“He’s cute ain’t he?” you asked, startling the editor back to his current reality as you stretched, arching your back like a cat. Akaashi’s attention was brought back to the current situation as you reached out for another frame in the opposite corner of your desk. “His name is Naoko. Here, this photo is newer.”

The young boy in the new photo looked like you a lot, more so than the previous one where he was just an infant that carried more resemblance to a potato than a human. Akaashi, without taking his eyes off the pictures, pulled the chair out from under Ena’s desk and sat next to you. He didn’t say anything, deciding just to admire the photos he held and letting you decide whether or not he should have the pleasure of hearing a story.

You sighed and yawned, leaning over the armrest of your chair so you would see them too. “He’s six, really quiet. I moved here when I found out. Hardly even out of university, and I was already pregnant with some strangers kid,” you laughed, making Akaashi stare at your features for a moment, wanting to point out which ones could be found on the boy.

“Is he the reason you moved to Japan?” Akaashi was a little taken aback by your willingness to talk, but in hindsight, you didn’t seem like the person to keep secrets, often rattling with your co-workers about your interests. Thinking back, maybe he should have expected something like this, Himari seemed to have known after working with you for several years, happily dancing around the topic of your personal life with your new coworkers when your sudden departure was questioned.

You shrugged, “not entirely, but he sure was a good excuse. I had plans to move to Japan for years before I even got into university. When I found out, I was sort of… uh. English…. Fuck, I need a job. So I applied to be an intern here, moved in with a friend I met online and prepared to have a baby.” Your arms flew about as you talked.

“You act as though it was easy,” Akaashi laughed, placing the frames back onto the table.

You let out a happy chuckle and spun your chair to face Akaashi head-on, eyes not leaving his, “I wouldn’t say it was easy, per se, but I’m happy with how things turned out.” you yawned a bit, “I should also apologize for running out of the office early sometimes, I have to pick Naoko up from school so —”

“You don’t have to apologize for that.” The gentle smile he wore was contagious.

It was 8:50 when the rest of the team came in. Immediately catching sight of Ena, Akaashi pulled away from your side, rolling the chair back to its respective location. He heard a breathy laugh escape you as he scurried around the desks to return to his designated spot across from you, cardigan flailing about.

The rest of your team piled into their seats sending the two of you waves and morning greetings. Ena nearly dropped his ‘don’t talk to me till I’ve had my coffee’ mug as he tripped over his rubber slides just before reaching his desk next to yours.

Sending your friends a smile you quickly slid back into your cubicle to re-adjust the frames on your desk with a yawn. Akaashi gave you a nod when you looked up to his stiff, still standing, form. You made his heart feel much weaker than he’d like to admit and without saying another word, he picked up the forgotten mug filled with brown liquid and handed it over the glass, into your hands.

Naoko was much more reserved than Akaashi expected, definitely a contrast to your more hyper personality. He spent most of the day sitting in the corner behind your cubicle where a table was set up next to a row of cabinets. What the boy was doing, Akaashi wasn’t entirely sure, but there was a small tickle at that back of his brain that made him want to find out.

When you had come in that morning, the group was surprised to see the small boy trailing behind you, holding onto your hand tightly with the both of his. “PD day,” you said. Udai spent the first few minutes of the day gushing over the boy’s cheeks instead of working, only to end up being backtracked and having to cram into his lunch break. Akaashi would be lying if he said he wasn’t thankful for that though.

“What do you have there?” he asked, taking a seat next to the boy and setting down his lunch next to the younger’s bento box.

Naoko curled in on himself, bringing the phone (that was most definitely yours) to his chest. The boy’s knees had pulled up to his shoulders as his feet pushed on the edge of the chair. Akaashi sent the young boy a kind smile and waited. From the corner of his eye, he could see your chair turn around as you took in the sight of your son and co-worker. He watched as you began making large swinging motions with your arms. Akaashi tried not to laugh.

Whatever had been playing on the phone hadn’t been paused in the short time given to do so, making the familiar sound ring quietly around the two of them.

Akaashi looked back your way for a moment, only to see you tilt your head up in a supporting nudge and turn back around.

“Are you watching a volleyball game?” he asked, rousing a more positive reaction from the boy.

Naoko’s shoulders lowered and he slowly placed the phone down between them. As Akaashi had concluded, a volleyball game played on the small screen. He put forward another question.

“Do you like to play?”

The six-year-old shrugged but nodded before scooting his chair in closer and reaching for his food. Akaashi mirrored him, slipping off his collared cardigan and pulling his lunch closer, still watching the game.

“I used to play volleyball.” This caught the boy’s attention, who turned his head to look at Akaashi, brows raised and lips pursed. “I was a setter.”

Naoko swallowed his food and for the first time, Akaashi got to hear him speak.

“I like playing setter too.”

His voice was rather meek and had a sort of authority to it, but the biggest thing he noticed made him stifle a laugh.

“Hey, (Y/N),” he called gently, making you spin your chair around in question. “Why is Naoko better at Japanese then you?”

“Hey! That’s mean!”

Naoko began to wiggle in his seat, desperately trying not to laugh at his mother’s, your, irritation. You shot a look at your son and gasped.

“Don’t you start laughing at me. I speak English better than you do.”

“You don’t need to speak English in Japan, mom.”

Kaashi continued to choke on his laugher as you pushed the palm of your hand into your forehead. “I’m being teased by my own son,” you cried quietly, turning your chair back around to face the unedited pages.

Naoko giggled and looked back Akaashi’s way. “Can you teach me?”

Akaashi didn’t see you still in your chair, listening.

“Of course I can.”

“Udai, seriously? You promised that you weren’t going to use weird industry term slang stuff on me.”

With a wide-eyed look and hair messily tied back, the man in question rotated his chair around childishly. “I never promised. I just said I'd go easier on you.” It was infuriating really.

With a pitiful whine, you shook the rough script in your hand making an angry fluttering sound. “You’re so mean Tenma. You know that I have trouble with slang.”

Udai only laughed and waved you off, “It’s a good way to learn is it not?”

You rolled your eyes but relented, giving a wave and closing the door. Once at your seat Akaashi poked his head out, eyes visible over the top of his square-framed glasses.

“He did it again?”

“Ya,” you huffed. “I can’t blame him though. It’s just frustrating that I can’t remember what a lot of the words mean. I should buy a dictionary.” Akaashi watched as you turned your monitor on. “Oh, um, Naoko was asking about you the other day.”

“Really?”

Your hands came together behind your neck, pulling your head down bashfully. “Ya, he’s been wanting to show you how he’s doing and maybe get the chance to learn a bit from you.”

Akaashi gave you a kind smile, so small that it didn’t even crease his cheeks, and nodded. “Sounds like a plan.”

Your cheeks warmed as you beamed up at him before turning your head down towards your computer screen. Akaashi took a second to appreciate how the cool light from the overcast sky made you look. It was silent in the office for a moment. Just a moment.

“Udai! Another one?!”

In theory, so long as you have space above your head, you can play volleyball anywhere. Your apartment wasn’t ‘anywhere’.

The three-bedroom living space was built as housing and not an Olympic arena, and after breaking one too many of your glasses playing around, it was made clear to you, Naoko, and your sport junky roommate, that volleyball shouldn’t be allowed in the house.

“You guys can go play volleyball with Akaashi at the park, no?” Yukie asked, grabbing an onigiri of the large plate on your kitchen counter and stuffing it in her face. You made a large dinner that day, only to have your friend eat most of it, instead of leaving leftovers for Naoko’s lunch. Not that he complained about it, you sure did though.

Taking Yukie’s words to heart, when the weekend rolled around and Naoko was becoming more anxious, you invited Akaashi to your neighbourhood park to play volleyball.

“Open your elbows a bit more, make a triangle with your hand, and when the ball comes just cushion it with your fingertips before sending it out, okay?”

Naoko nodded, staring at his hands that were being moved around by the older player. Akaashi’s form was kneeled by the boy’s side, his head nearly resting on the younger's shoulder as he tried to make sure he was in the right position.

“Alright,” he said, grabbing the smaller than average volleyball off of the grass. “I’m gonna toss this to you, do you think you can get it to hit my hand right up here?”

Naoko nodded again, eagerly waiting for the blue and yellow ball to come flying his way. You watched silently from the park bench as Naoko tried (and often failed) to get the ball to touch Akaashi’s hand accurately.

“Almost there, you got this Naoko!” Akaashi encouraged.

Earnestly waiting to see the next move, you sat forward in your seat, watching as that ball made a tall arch towards Naoko’s waiting palms. As the ball made contact with his fingertips, he bent his elbows and wrists before shooting them out into a straight line, sending into the palm of Akaashi’s hand before dropping back onto the grassy field.

Your son, as most six-year-olds do when accomplishing something, shrieked. He shrieked very loudly before sprinting directly into Akaashi’s stomach to give him a (breath-stealing) hug. Akaashi coughed as he tried to get air back into his depleted lungs. From the side you giggled, watching as Naoko’s smile grew, head buried into Akaashi’s stomach.

It became standard, going out to the park during your off days. And this day, like the weekends that have come before, the routine of going to the park, ball in hand, continued. But after spending an hour or so watching the familiar movement of the yellow and blue ball fly through the air, Naoko interrupted the serene setting with a loud request.

“Mama! Mom! Can we go get onigiri?”

Looking up from resting your neck on the back of the bench to turn your gaze onto the energetic boy that was hopping around on the grass. “I’m okay with that, but you should probably ask Akaashi along. We don't want to leave him at the park do we?” you teased, picking up your bag and walking toward the two.

Naoko spun again to look at Akaashi, whose hands were now tucked into his jeans pockets. “Please!” he wailed. “Come with us! Please, please, please, please, please!”

Akaashi let out a hearty laugh. “Calm down, I’ll join you.” without saying another word, Akaashi offered his hand out, letting Naoko clutch it eagerly.

“Udai are you sure it’s okay to bring Naoko along? This is meant to be a work trip and I’d hate for him to dis… dic… get in the way,” you gave up at the end, sighing over your tripping words.

Udai gave Naoko, who had been clinging to Akaashi’s arm since all of you had met outside the city gymnasium, a pat on the head. “It’s alright. Besides, he’ll probably be a great resource.”

You nodded and watched as Naoko rattled to Akaashi about his school team and new things they had been practicing. You pouted. Upon their arrival, Ena, Chiyo and the others immediately began teasing you for effectively losing your son’s favour, which didn’t make your whining any less audible. On top of that, the group of artists found your sullen look to be a perfect reference, taking their cameras out.

“Keiji,” you cried, following behind the rest of the group as they waltzed through the gym entrance along with the crowd. “You’ve stolen my son.”

Akaashi paused for a moment, taking in a calm breath before looking over his shoulder. “He’s your son, I can’t steal that from you.”

Naoko threw a large smile over his shoulder, making your dragging steps falter.

When did it change? The expression on his face. When did it become so happy? Did he not smile before?

You picked up your pace, brows furrowed as you watched your son chatter happily.

When did he start speaking so much? Since when did he have so much to say? Was it something new in his diet? Or maybe the new friends on his volleyball team?

You found your gaze shifting to the hand that held his. Without thinking about it too hard, you quickened your steps to come up to Naoko’s other side. Your heart pounded as you held your closest hand out for him to grab hold of. When he finally did, immediately looking forward to dragging the two adults with him, the smile you gave Akaashi was the largest he’s ever seen coming from you.

You looked back at all of your interconnecting hands fondly.

When did he become another person’s son?

I tried going a bit of a different direction with this one in comparison to most Single Parent aus. I’ll admit it could have more meat to it, but oh well, things to improve on.

Question:

Do you prefer weekly one-shots that are shorter in length (like we’re doing) or longer ones with bigger plots and inconsistent updates (Sort of like “Catch Me If You Can” and “Ready Aim FIre” but longer)?

- Bacon

Posted: 31/07/2020

#haikyuu x reader #akaashi keiji #akaashi x reader #Haikyuu #x reader #oneshot #oneshots #haikyuu oneshots #haikyuu reader insert #reader insert #aus #haikyuu aus #fluff #haikyu #anime x reader #anime #manga x reader #manga

78 notes · View notes

tearsofthemis · 4 years

Text

Tears of Themis : Chapter 1 “Social Snobbery” Part 1

[Masterlist] | [Next Part]

youtube

Location- Industrial Warehouse

(Early in the morning, a bustle of movement disturbed the quiet night at a raw chemical warehouse situated in Stellis City’s Industrial Zone. A group of warehouse clerks that should have been on break opened the warehouse doors as they manned robots that lugged barrel after barrel of raw materials which were loaded on carts.)

Man on Comms: “Raven, please report on the investigation progress.”

(The man called Raven moved to hide himself behind storage containers, and adjusted his night-vision goggles, turning on thermal imaging.)

Man on Comms: “Raven, do you copy? Did something happen to you?”

(Raven tapped on his earpiece three times and silenced it. The voice in the comms was effectively cut with it.)

Warehouse Clerk A: “These late night shifts are awful, what sorta business couldn’t we have left for tomorrow morning?”

Warehouse Clerk B: “Shut your trap; the sooner you stop complaining, the faster we can finish our job.”

Warehouse Clerk A: “Speaking of, where did Minister Xu go? He was…”

Warehouse Clerk B: “I told you to shut it! Are you daft?”

(The reprimanded clerk scratched their neck and went quiet. Soon after, the raw materials were loaded into the truck, and they drove away. The opening and closing of the warehouse doors, and even the workers’ small dispute, was semi-audible through Raven’s earpiece. His brows furrowed. He must have picked up something in their conversation… either that, or he was simply dissatisfied with the quality of his gear.)

Raven: “An abnormal delivery…”

(His fingers were like a blur as he typed away on his smart watch, pulling up information on the warehouse owners. Raven pressed his earpiece, and sent his last transmission of the night.)

Raven: “He Yin, Ya Ning, no anomalies detected. Mark Hai O’Sen.”

Without waiting for a confirmation on the other end, Raven turned and stalked away with the stealth of a black leopard, fading into the pitch black tar of the night…

~~~~~~

Location- Outside the Law Firm

(It’s Saturday morning, and the CBD building is quiet. Compared to the usual hub hub from workers rushing about on a business day, the silent streets were quite unsettling.)

MC: “Should I go pick up something sweet? It’s been tough working overtime to prepare for the exam, I ought to treat myself! I guess that’s decided!”

(Just as I walked through the office doors, I nearly crashed into a deliveryman as he halted me on the way to the dessert shop.)

Delivery Man: “Excuse me, is uh… mis Law Firm in this building?”

MC: “This is Themis Law Firm, who are you looking for?”

MC: (Themis, the goddess of good council’s, name is difficult to pronounce… Even if Zhai Xing came up with the name with good implications, she seems to have failed to consider whether or not the name would even stick with others.)

Delivery Man: “Does Zuo Ran work here? I have a package under his name.”

MC: “Lawyer Zuo? He’s off today, so he won’t be in. Can I accept the parcel on his behalf? I’m also a lawyer at Themis, I can show you my work badge.”

[Game Instructions: Enter your name]

Delivery Man: “By our policy, it does have to be the intended recipient… but a lawyer is worthy of being trusted; I’ll have to ask you to forward it then.”

MC: “I-it’s heavy! I should put this down before heading to the dessert shop.”

~~~~~~

Location- Zuo Ran’s Office

MC: “Huu… what a heavy package. It must be case files again, why can’t they just send it over electronically…”

MC: “Eh? Lawyer Zuo?!”

(I-is this the Zuo Ran I’ve come to know? The chief of Themis, the youngest elite lawyer in the industry, Zuo Ran? He sat, slouched in the leather chair, as the first rays of the morning sun shone through the windows and onto his face, but it did little to erase the fatigue that had settled between his brows. At this moment, he appeared almost as if he were a traveler who had just returned from a perilous and long journey, and had finally put down his heavy bags and had a moment to breathe. But not before the weariness settled in.)

MC: “Lawyer Zuo, you....” Zuo Ran: “MC, it’s you?”

MC: “I- I’m sorry, I didn’t know you were in here, so I entered without knocking…”

(Zuo Ran loosened his tie and sighed. Compared to his usual immaculately pressed suit, seeing him like this was like unlocking something that wasn’t meant to be seen by others.)

Zuo Ran: “It’s alright…”

~~~

[Investigate Zuo Ran’s tie]

MC: (Lawyer Zuo changes his tie everyday… This is the same tie that he wore yesterday, it seems like he stayed overnight at the Law Firm.)

~~~

[Investigate books]

MC: (What’s this? I’ve never seen these books in Lawyer Zuo’s office before. “Undecided Event Book”... the name is so strange. Is this Lawyer Zuo’s new case? Unless… it’s some kind of weird novel he’s been reading?

~~~

[Investigate papers]

MC: (Isn’t this in regards to the trans-national trade dispute? The client has been quite unreasonable; perhaps that’s the reason for Lawyer Zuo’s troubles. Zhai Xing has urged Lawyer Zuo to find someone to help him with his workload many times. Although I don’t know how Lawyer Zuo feels about her suggestion.)

~~~

MC: “Lawyer Zuo, you look really pale, are you sick? “

(Zuo Ran pressed his temples as his brows knit together.)

Zuo Ran: “I’m alright, nothing’s wrong.”

MC: (Are you really alright?)

(Zuo Ran’s voice sounded raspy. It seems like he is mustering up strength just to respond to my questions.)

MC: “I’ll go make you some coffee, I’ll leave your package on the ottoman.”

Zuo Ran: “Alright, I’ll have to trouble you for that much.”

~~~

Location- Break Room

MC: “Lawyer Zuo must’ve worked overtime the entire night, right? Those strange books and files on his desk… did he take up a new case? If that’s how hard elite lawyers work, I have to ramp up my efforts! I must pass the intermediate exams!”

(An enticing aroma wafted from the coffee maker. Just as I was preparing Zuo Ran’s mug, someone’s device started vibrating.)

MC: “Hm?” (The notifications were coming from a tablet beside the coffee maker. I pressed the power button, and the screen lit up to life.)

~~~

[Investigate notification]

MC: “‘Sky-high copyright lawsuit verdict: XueYu Jewelry won the case!’... The push notification is from a news outlet. XueYu Jewelry’s case was handled by Lawyer Zuo; of course he would come out on top! I’ve never heard of Lawyer Zuo losing a case, but everyone else claims he wins 99% of the cases he handles… perhaps he lost a case before he came to Themis?”

~~~

[Investigate passcode]

MC: “Unrecognized fingerprint, I can’t unlock it…”

[Investigate back of tablet]

MC: “A YingYuan sticker? Isn’t this the idol that ChengCheng has been obsessing over? This must be ChengCheng’s tablet. She’s so scatterbrained, always misplacing things. I bet she’s probably at home searching for her tablet...”

~~~~~~

(Just as I was about to set the tablet down, the screen lit up with yet another notification.)

MC: “A Genetic drug for cancer treatment released, YanNing Biology Company writes a new chapter in medical advancement! A new medicine, again? There’s been a lot of funding being invested in the development of medicine. Aside from YanNing Biology, the HeYin Pharmaceuticals development isn’t trivial, either. That market’s competition must be fierce! Though, that’s just good news for patients.”

~~~~~~

Location- Zuo Ran’s Office

MC: “Lawyer Zuo, coffee’s ready.”

Zuo Ran: “I appreciate it, thanks.”

(By the time I came back, Zuo Ran had begun to organize the case files. He was focused as he poured over the information, and the fountain pen between his fingers did not rest as it took notes and circled important details. Judging by the parcel wrapping in his trash bin, I’m guessing he has already begun looking into the new case. I carefully brush aside some of the documents and place the coffee mug by his hand.) MC: “Is this an urgent case? I think you should rest for a bit.”

Zuo Ran: “No need. It’s Saturday, why are you here?”

MC: “I’m preparing for the intermediate lawyer exam. I thought if I studied at Thermis, it would be easier to reference information.”

Zuo Ran: “I see. If you need help, you can come find me, I’ll be here the whole day.”

MC: “That’s great! Thank you, Lawyer Zuo! Lawyer Zuo, you probably haven’t had anything to eat all day, have you? I’m about to go…”

(The office doorbell suddenly rang.)

Zuo Ran: “We have guests?”

MC: “I’ll go take a look.”

Zuo Ran: “If it’s anything you can’t handle, send them to my office.”

MC: “Will do.” ~~~~~~

Location- Themis Law Firm’s Reception Area

(By the front door, a man and a woman are arguing.)

Man: “Xue XinRan, the old man has already accepted his fate. Why do you need to go to such lengths? Filing a case is just a waste of money. If you really wanna go through the hassle, why not employ our MeiWeiKa PR agency? We can guarantee your ‘QingPing Restaurant Scandal’ be served without any dirt.”

Xue XinRan: “What nonsense! Lu HaiYang, you’re lying through your teeth! MeiWeiKa only looks to squeeze money from us merchants; you’ve never cared about anyone’s well-being!”

(Suddenly, the man named Lu HaiYang stepped toward Xue XinRan and grabbed her wrist.)

Lu HaiYang: “Watch what you say, Xue XinRan. Our company has prestige, and it isn’t something that can be uprooted by the words of a country bumpkin.

MC: “Sir, this is a Law Firm, I ask that you remain respectful!”

(I separated the two, and pushed XinRan behind me.)

-------

[Masterlist] | [Next Part]

-------

《CREDIT》 Translator: @humi-and-co Editor: @hallowsivy 《未定事件簿》Tears of Themis is a 2020 Chinese otome game by 米哈游Mihoyo. All original credits go to 米哈游Mihoyo.

《VOICE ACTORS》 Xia Yan | Jin Xian: https://weibo.com/riceranger Zuo Ran | Zhao Lu: https://weibo.com/mzhaolu Lu HaiYang | Zhang Pei: https://weibo.com/u/1937059462 Xue XinRan | V17-Su Wan: https://weibo.com/u/2925530143

《OFFICIAL ACCOUNTS》 Official website: https://bbs.mihoyo.com/wd/ Official WeChat account: 未定事件簿 Mihoyo official website: https://wd.mihoyo.com/

#tears of themis #tears of themis translations #otome #otome game #otome game translations #otome game trans #zuo ran #未定事件簿 #左然

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potatocrab · 4 years

Text

steady

Butch takes Rosie out on their first date in Megaton, more than month after he initially asked her. Better late than never.

Butch DeLoria x Rosie Sheridan (Lone Wanderer)

2616 words | [read on Ao3]

Butch must’ve checked his reflection in the cracked mirror a dozen times, restyling his hair until every stray, black strand was perfectly in place. He’d inspected his teeth, breathing into his palm and wincing when he smelled nicotine and that morning’s breakfast. Good thing he’d swiped all those hygiene products when he left Vault 101—better for his breath to smell like artificial mint than stale cigarettes and cram. A little bit of toothpaste and a quick rinse and he was good to go—well, not before a generous spritz from his trusty bottle of cologne.

Then came his appearance, wondering if his clothes were presentable enough. He’d found the cleanest shirt from his duffle bag of clothes, tucked it into a pair of jeans that were relatively free of wasteland grime, and swapped his combat boots for a pair of sneakers instead. With his Tunnel Snakes jacket, he looked and felt like his usual self—he wasn’t entirely sure if that was a good or bad thing, given the occasion. Butch didn’t know why he was so nervous, in his head about that evening—it was just a date. He’d been on plenty before in the vault, where else would he have gotten his reputation as a ladies’ man? Okay—that was definitely not a good thing, not anymore, not when he was trying to go steady with one lady in particular. Tonight wasn’t just a date—it was the date—his first date with Rosie.

Butch would’ve taken her on one earlier but hadn’t found the nerve to ask until after they’d kissed. Well, after she dared him to kiss her, which he eagerly obliged to. Kissing was one thing but asking Rosie on a date was another—lucky for him, she agreed. Unlucky for him, they were constantly sidetracked, the Lone Wanderer needed on important missions for the Brotherhood and other wasteland factions. As long as he was at her side, Butch didn’t mind, and if Rosie was happy, so was he. It wasn’t until they put a label on it that she shyly reminded him he owed her a date. That’s when he started his planning—anything for his best gal.

The sun was just setting when he arrived at Craterside Supply, pausing outside the door to adjust his jacket and hair one last time before entering the shop. Inside, Moira and her mercenary were in the middle of a one-sided conversation, the red-head excitedly talking about robots and how to reprogram them. As soon as she noticed Butch, she widened her eyes, clapping her hands together.

“Oh, Butchie, you’re here!” she exclaimed with a grin.

He didn’t mind that Moira called her by the same nickname his ma used to use, though he was sure that if any other woman tried, he’d have more of a visceral reaction. There was something endearing about the shopkeeper, even if her voice grated his ears sometimes, she was Rosie’s closest friend. He tried to mimic her enthusiasm, though he was preoccupied with scanning the room. Moira noticed.

“She’s upstairs getting ready,” she explained before leaning over the counter. “Rosie, my sweet potato! Your lil’ cutie-pie date is here!”

Whatever awkwardness he felt was brief as Butch smiled, listening to the scrambling along the upstairs rafters—was that a hushed curse? —before Rosie appeared along the railing, bright-eyed and breathtaking. She was wearing a baby-blue dress he hadn’t seen before with the same saddle-shoes she always had—mole-rats would fly before she’d ever wear heels. She’d pinned back her long dark hair on both sides with bobby pins, and—were those new glasses? Butch was so fixated on her face that he didn’t realize she’d moved downstairs until she was standing in front of him, wringing her hands together, looking just as anxious as he felt.

He smiled at her, pushing back his nerves as he stepped closer to her. “Hey girlfriend.”

As expected, the term only made her cheeks flush with color even as she kept her eyes focused on his face. “Hey…boyfriend.”

Rosie was too damn cute without even trying and it drove Butch crazy—in all the best ways. He leaned forward, thinking he could steal a quick kiss when two arms came flying between them, one hand landing firm against his chest to push him back several inches.

“Oh no you don’t!” Moira voiced, sternly. Despite the fact she couldn’t be more than a few years older than the two, she preferred to act like some kind of zany mother figure, always wanting to look out for their best interests. Even if that also meant sending them out into the Capital Wasteland on ‘scientific endeavors.’ For science!

“That’s reserved for the end of the night!” she instructed, waving her finger at him. Moira’s expression quickly shifted, eyebrows knitting together. “On second thought, no kissing on the first date!”

Butch stifled back a snicker, thinking about all the fooling around the two had been up to in the last month. Nothing serious, nothing too heated or nefarious, but there’d been more than enough heavy petting and make-out sessions that a finger wag didn’t scare him. “You know that we’ve—”

Rosie reached her hand out to snatch his, giving it a proper pinch that had him yelping into a laugh. She eyed the door. “Should we go?”

“Yeah,” he nodded, moving to wrap his arm around her shoulder. “Let’s go, Rosie baby.”

When Butch and Rosie first got back to Megaton, he’d started working on an extravagant date fitting for his best gal. After all, he had a lot of lost time to make up for—all the weeks, or months he’d been skirting around how he truly felt about her before finally making a move…or maybe it went years beyond that. Maybe if he hadn’t been so blind or stupid in his youth to notice the girl of his dreams was right there in front of him all along. Took her father’s death and a vault uprising to bring them together in an uncertain world. But that’s what they were now—together. Of course Rosie deserved the best, even if Butch was limited with resources in the Wasteland. Not a lot a young couple could do in one small town, and he wasn’t about to risk taking her outside the gates. Well, they could leave, but then it would just end up like any other evening, with the two on some kind of shooting spree with raiders or ghouls. Not exactly romantic.

All that anxiety from before was returning, making him second-guess the planned itinerary. What if Rosie thought he was trying too hard, thought he was a square? He pegged her for a gushy romance type, with all those novels she read (yeah, he’d snuck a peek) and he wanted to impress her, even if it wasn’t his usual shtick. The nerves tightened into a ball in the pit of his stomach when he thought about other, lingering fears. He glanced over his shoulder, half expecting the ghostly specter of Rosie’s dad to jump out and voice his disapproval.

“Butch?”

He turned his head back to find her looking at him with a mix of concern and confusion, brows furrowed together. Not wanting to worry her, he pressed a quick peck to her cheek—not like Moira could see them now. Rosie instantly brightened, smiling as he tightened his grip around her shoulders.

“Come on,” he nodded his chin, gesturing towards the town’s crater. “Leo saved a table for us at the Lantern.”

Rosie continued to smile in her little way, letting him lead the way down the ramps to Megaton’s only restaurant. Well, the only place to get a reputable meal—Butch wouldn’t dare to take her to Moriarty’s and risk food or radiation poisoning. He upped the gentleman factor, opening the door for her with a cheeky grin before rushing ahead to pull out her chair at their reserved table.

“And they say chivalry is dead,” she remarked.

He sat down across from her and chuckled. “Not with the Butch-man it ain’t.”

As soon as Leo Stahl noticed the two sitting in the private corner of the Brass Lantern, he was quick to bring them two bowls of freshly prepared noodles with a couple bottles of ice-cold Nuka-Cola. She flashed a polite smile, and while Butch hungrily dug in, she took slow, careful bites. Though, after a few moments, they both shared similar squeamish expressions, Rosie raising a hand to cover her mouth as she hid her nausea.

Butch poked at the mush of food they’d been prepared. Maybe they’d would’ve been better off at the dive bar after all. “The hell is in this?”

“Even you could’ve made something better,” she laughed behind her hand—at least she wasn’t completely disgusted, or disappointed.

“Yeah, yeah,” he agreed, washing away the taste with a swig of cola. “Whole point was getting’ out,” he frowned, struggling to meet her curious gaze. “Sucks those pre-war drive-ins aren’t around, ya’ know I swiped some holoreels from the vault just in case.”

“What didn’t you take?” she asked in a teasing manner. Though, he could tell she was delighted by that last tidbit of information. He always knew she was a movie buff, even if she tried to hide it with her love of the written word. Now, if only he could get his hands on a projector, the possibilities for movie-dates were endless.

Butch sighed, thinking about his stash of Vault-Tech goods. “The good food rations,” he lamented.

“Well…” Rosie paused to drink some of her own Nuka-Cola. “Next time, maybe we should avoid the noodles.”

Next time. At least there was the hopeful promise of a future date. Butch grinned, and relaxed in his chair, comfortable to sit in the amicable silence, just looking across the table at her bright expression. His pride swelled, knowing he was the cause—good—if he had it his way, she’d never stop smiling. When their drinks were empty, he placed a handful of caps on the tabletop to cover the cost of their barely eaten meal before jutting his thumb over his shoulder.

“Let’s blow this joint.”

Outside, Rosie lingered near the neon string of lights, hugging herself as a chill passed through the air. Butch didn’t hesitate to shrug off his Tunnel Snakes jacket, surprising her as he draped it across her shoulders. She initially resisted, raising her arms to push the fabric away, but he continued to wrap it around her slim body until she was practically drowning in black leather. No wonder she never wore the first one he gave her.

Rosie adjusted it around herself, clutching the front lapels in one hand before realizing he was staring at her with a sideways smirk. A blush creeped up her neck and her eyes darted away from his. “W—what?”

Butch reached out to grab her free hand, yanking her close. Still, he looked her over, eyes dancing across her face and body. “Ya’ look cute in that.”

He didn’t think her cheeks could get any brighter. She tilted her head a little so she could get a better look at him, the blue of her eyes sparkling under the lantern lights of the restaurant. She seemed equal parts nervous and excited. “Where to next?”

Fingers laced, Butch walked them back through the city ramps, up to the highest point in Megaton where you could see the landscape of the Capital Wasteland and a perfect view of the stars above. Rosie quickly steadied herself against the railing as she looked up at the nighttime sky, smile instantly widening.

“I found all these books on space, stars and the moon the last time we were in DC, at one of the Museums,” she started, raising one hand to point up at a grouping of sparkles in the sky. “I’ve been learning about constellations and ancient civilizations beliefs on something called astrology.”

He positioned himself behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist as she talked, more than she ever had in recent months about anything. At least in a positive, excited manner. Butch couldn’t help but listen, drawn in by the radiant and rare woman he was seeing, as if for the first time. He rested his chin on her shoulder, closing his eyes as she continued to sweetly chatter about the great unknown.

“That line of stars makes up something called the great dipper and those lines make up the cancer constellation, which apparently, correlates to by birthday, and—” she suddenly cut off. Butch peeked open his eyes to find her cheeks were dusted pink. “Oh—I’m rambling.”

He nuzzled his nose against her ear, very much tempted to kiss the exposed patch of skin along her neck. Instead, he hugged her close, mumbling sweet nothings into hair. “Yer adorable, talkin’ about this stuff.”

“R—really?”

Like she needed to be surprised. That time, he pressed a kiss to her temple. Two-for-two. Moira wasn’t going to be happy. “Yeah, Rosie baby,” Butch reassured. “Don’t you know by now I like it when yer all nerdy? You and your big, sexy brain.”

Rosie leaned back into his embrace, head tilted back as she dissolved into a fit of giggles. It was music to his ears, and he couldn’t help but match her laughter, warm with her wrapped up in his arms.

“I don’t think,” she paused to compose herself, turning around to face him. “Nobody’s called me—my brain that before.”

“Yeah well,” Butch shrugged, tightening his grip around her so she couldn’t slip away. He was entranced by the brightness of the blue in her eyes, the shimmer of the stars in the reflection of her glasses. “It’s true.”

She didn’t say anything in return for a long moment, just staring back in a certain kind of wonderment. Finally, she shifted, shivering even as she smiled. “Walk me home?” she asked, quietly.

Butch nodded, adjusting his jacket around her shoulders before lacing their hands again. It was a short walk back to her Megaton home—even if he had a room in the residence, he struggled to call the place theirs. Rosie glanced over to him as their steps slowed outside the structure.

“Unconventional for a first date, considering we live together,” she nervously laughed.

He shrugged. “I can stay somewhere else, if we wanna play into it.”

Rosie shook her head, and a new silence settled over them as they stood there outside the front door just staring at each other expectantly, still holding hands. Butch’s mind blanked, and all the cool confidence he’d gathered throughout the evening fled his body as he forgot all the planning and perfect ways to end the evening.

She flashed him a nervous smile. “You—You aren’t going to give me a kiss goodnight?”

“What?” he blinked himself back into the moment and immediately stepped forward, simultaneously pulling her towards him. He raised his free hand to cup her cheek and grinned. “Course I’m gonna kiss ya’”

Rosie was already beaming. “Oh, good—”

He cut her off with a sweet kiss—nothing overly passionate despite the itching desire to completely ravage her right there against the door. Butch broke away with a sigh and gave her hand an affectionate squeeze.

She looked at him skeptically. “You aren’t really going to stay somewhere else tonight, right?”

“Not if you don’t want me to,” he answered, resisting the urge to laugh.

Rosie was quick to pull him back so he was close, lips hovering over hers. She reached back with her other hand for the front door. “Good—I’m not done kissing you yet.”

#fallout 3 #butch deloria #butch deloria x f!lone wanderer #rosie sheridan #otp: it's just a flesh wound #fanfic #babies' first date #'big sexy brain' is the best flirt line #hey look I finally wrote something

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thoughtfulfangirling · 4 years

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I keep seeing these posts going around about queer books, but my problem is that nowadays, I struggle to sit down with books and primarily consume them via audibooks. A lot of the recs are ones I haven’t found in audiobook format using my usual routes. For this reason, let me start a post that I hope y’all will add onto that has LGBTQ+ folks in them that I know exist in audiobook format. For reference, I’ve used for my audiobook consumption Audible, Libro, Overdrive, and Scribd, so each of these will have been found by myself in one of those places.

Nemesis Series by April Daniels trans wlw MC | Superhero | coming of age | YA The First book is Dreadnought followed by Sovereign and follows Danny, a trans girl whose body is transformed to the one that matches her vision of herself after a superhero falls and passes his powers on to her. All at once, she has to face the coming out this forces on her and new powers all at once. The books are intense and doesn’t pull its punches on the things Danny goes through, but her journey is beautiful and I love her so much.

Beauty Queens by Libba Bray Various MCs | Drama | Humor | YA This is an ensemble cast and includes a wlw couple and a trans girl, all of whom are pretty damn cool. On their flight to their next competition, the plane these beauty queens are on crashes, and those who survive get stranded on a totally-supposedly-deserted island. This is a fun novel that had, to me, a very Hitchhiker’s Guide sort of humor to it. It was a really fun read, and the author narrates herself and is really fun.

Annie on my Mind by Nancy Garden wlw mc | contemporary | coming of age | YA The good kid becomes good friends with a girl she met outside of school, but she begins to realize she has more than just friendly feelings for the girl. Being in the 90s, she finds it’s not so easy to be the good kid and pursue this interest.

Her Royal Highness by Rachel Hawkins bi MC | Contemporary | Romance | Class Romance | YA MC leaves Texas, USA to finish her last year of high school in a prestigious Scottish school where she ends up being roommates with an actual princess with whom she doesn’t start the year out on good terms with.

Ash by Malinda Lo wlw MC | Fantasy | Coming of Age | YA Cinderella retelling where the fairies aren’t guaranteed to help and the prince just might not be who Cinderella wants after all. A very internal journey, quite enchanting. I really need to go back and revisit this soon.

Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera Lesbian MC | Coming of Age | YA Juliet leaves home for the summer to spend in Oregon with a writer who inspired Juliet’s journey into feminism and helped her embrace her lesbianism. She learns along the way though that adults are not infallible, and that this writer has a large blind spot when it comes to Juliet’s culture and the intersection of race and feminism. All this after having come out to her family and dealing with the fallout of that far from home.

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell mlm MC | Fantasy | Romance | YA This story feels like a sort of ‘What if the Harry Potter books were more inclusive and also had some parody in its magical world’ story. But it jumps right to the last book and the good stuff. This felt like fanfiction in the best way (and is appropriate given that it was written after the book Fangirl wherein the MC is writing fanfiction of this universe kinda. It’s complicated but good!)

Kushiel Phedre Series by Jacqueline Carey bi MC | Fantasy | Epic Fantasy | Kink | Political Intrique A woman born with a flaw that set her on the path of being indentured as a child to a man who sees love and sex as another means to gather political intel. Down this road lies intrigue, betrayal, and love.

Nevernight Chronicles by Jay Kristoff bi MC | Fantasy | Revenge Worth mentioning is that the author does not ID as any kind of LGBTQIA+ and in my opinion, that especially shows in the last installment of the series. I would suggest trigger warnings for the entire series if you have any as there is sex and violence. In a world with three suns and almost never night, a girl with a kinship for shadows seeks out the skills to kill those who destroyed her family.

Her Body and Other Parties by Maria Carmen Machado Various | Short Stories | Surreal | Contemporary Don’t know how to summarize well given they are a series of short stories, but they are haunting and telling and beautiful, and even though I rarely do short stories, I absolutely fell in love with these.

The Night’s Watch by Sarah Waters Various | Ensemble Cast | Period Drama English WWII Unfortunately, I read this in 2017 and it follows the stories of four different characters, two of whom are lesbians. I don’t remember their archs well enough to provide a proper summary. This story tends to be a more internal character study of each of the characters and what it might have been like living at the time they did. It was really good though if you like that sort of thing!

Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters Lesbian MC | Period Drama | Romance | Coming of Age Taking place in the Victorian era, Nan leaves her coastal, oyster fishing home after becoming infatuated with Kitty, performer who sings dressed as a man. She discovers herself in the big city as she works as Kitty’s attendant, but nothing ever stays the same, and when she finds her and Kitty’s desires on how to handle their feelings differ errevocably, Nan is suddenly left adrift.

The above are all focused in one way or another on the LGBTQ+ character in a prominent way where the character’s queerness is made explicit in the text. Below is going to be the audiobooks I’ve read/listened to where I have felt there is strong evidence that a character is portrayed as LGBT+. Some will have been made canon by the author after the fact, others have been widely regarded as portrayed that way, and a couple are just how I interpreted them.

Trouble with Kings by Sherwood Smith Fantasy | Romance | Slow Burn | YA A princess of fortune who has been courted for her wealth all her life, Flian is quite done with dalliance. But that doesn’t mean others are done with her. Caught in the middle of a political intrigue between two... maybe three... possibly four??? rivaling kingdoms, she finds her wealth pursued in less than ethical manners and ends up a player herself on the field of political import. Is it even possible in the chaos of all this to find love along the way? Flian herself repeatedly shows no interest in romance and while able to remark upon attraction, never seems to have any herself until she realizes she has fallen for someone, someone she realizes a bit late she’s had a coming together of the minds for. For this reason, my personal interpretation of this character is demi-sexual.

The Protector of the Small Series by Tamora Pierce Fantasy | Coming of Age | YA Keladry of Mindelan wants to become the second lady knight in history. The trainer at the castle doesn’t believe girls are cut out for it, and the boys don’t seem the most ready for a lady knight in training either. But Kel is determined to make her place in the world. Throughout the course of the series, while she engages in some light dalliances, she finds herself disinterested in relationships and has been confirmed by the author since the series was published to be asexual.

The Deed of Paksenarrion by Elizabeth Moon Fantasy | D&D-esque | Epic Fantasy | Coming of Age Paksennarrion, a sheep farmer��s daughter, rebels against her father upon hearing of the engagement he made for her and runs away to a local contract militia company to start her career as a warrior. Strength and strategy aren’t the only things she’ll need on this life’s path, but also a faith she didn’t know she was capable of. I don’t know that the author has ever said anything on the matter, but in most circles you will find that Paks is generally regarded as aro/ace and is pretty explicitly stated several times throughout the series that she simply has never had the compulsion.

A Beautiful Poison by Lydia Kang Period Drama/Mystery (early 1900s) | Coming of Age | Mystery Three people on the cusp of adulthood, with a complicated history of friendship from different stations in life, come together to try to unravel the mystery of strange deaths happening around them while trying to navigate what shapes the rest of their lives will take. Of the two man lady characters, one repeatedly struck me as bisexual, and the other as asexual. This is one where I’m brining my own lens to the story, and I don’t know that the author did this with intent.

There’s a fair chance that I am forgetting some audiobooks and haven’t included all I’ve read. I would also say that anything not marked with a YA may have want of some trigger warnings. If someone wants to know, just let me know which warnings you have need of and I’ll try to do my best to remember if that content is included in the book. I of course cannot remember everything and don’t know everyone’s limits, but I can try. But for certain the non young adult stories have content that can be heavy or dark or twisted.

#And if any mutuals want more of a summary lemme know #tf reads #books #audiobooks #I love the lists that have been going around #But I've been struggling to find them on any of my audiobook services #and ofc not all books have been turned into audiobooks #So maybe this will help someone else who felt similar?#tfgoc #long post #sorry for the length

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unnursvanablog · 3 years

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All the books I read in 2020 / part 2.

The Golem and the Jinni - Helene Wecker: ☆☆☆☆☆

Loved how these myths and legends were used within this story. It is a beautiful tale of immigration and friendship and how Wecker conveyed that was just beautiful. The text did drag its feet in some places, but this story is also so character driven; their experience with the world, and their longings, so I understand that slow pace. Everything about it felt really sincere and it truly is a book that leaves you with something. I have never read anything like this before and I felt like it bridges the gap between historical history and fantasy well.

Naturally Tan - Tan France: ☆☆☆

I listened to this book in one sitting as I drove from the capital area and all the way home to the countryside. And I really enjoyed it because I really like Tan France and he narrated the audiobook himself. The text, the chapters and therefor the book itself goes a bit all over the place and it feels a bit vapid at times. It was about everything and nothing, really.

The Silence of Bones - June Hur: ☆☆☆

I am not so much for these types of mystery novels, so it was not something that drew me forward, but I did find the atmosphere that Hur created within the story and the historical elements really great and made the story quite enjoyable. I felt like learning a little more about certain parts of Korean history that I did not know before, and I really enjoyed that.

In the Labyrinth of Drakes - Marie Brennan: ☆☆☆

The world that Brennan has created continues to wow me. It is complex and it’s so much fun to travel around it. I love getting to know these characters at different stages of their lives and it just makes you like them even more. The story often runs into the same problem for me and that is that I find the first parts of the story so exciting, it is an adventure, but then it loses me a little towards the end.

The Will to Battle - Ada Palmer: ☆☆

After the amazing storyline of the second book, this book really lacked any excitement within the plot to propel you further and instead we got a lot of philosophical lessons and musings. In the previous books I felt like Palmer managed to strike a balance between those things, but not here. So little was going on. This story is deep, beautifully written, and complex and all that, but the text is often so long and dense, and my dyslexia just wants to skip these walls of texts that often just feel like statements about something philosophical but not real conversations or reflections from the characters.

The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep - H.G. Parry: ☆☆☆☆

I was hoping for a 'grown up version' of Cornelia Funke's Inkheart, and although that was not quite what I got, I really enjoyed this. I thought the world was well thought out, and the idea of the readers interpretation of the characters and even literary criticism can affect how they would appear in our world was a cool concept. In some places I felt that the story was a bit stunted or towards the end I was starting to predict where it was going, and there was a lot of misunderstanding between the characters so the story could continue, which got on my nerves. But for the majority of the time, it was a really fun read.

Midnight Sun - Stephenie Meyer: ☆

You can judge me for this. I judge myself too. It was strange to fall back into the Twilight world after completely falling out of it after reading the last Twilight book. But out of sheer curiosity, I decided to give this one a try. But wow… this was not fun and added almost nothing to the original story and Edward is just so damn boring and having to spend time in his mind was just kind of a torment.

The Absolute Sandman, vol 1 & 2 - Neil Gaiman: ☆☆, ☆

I was going to listen to the whole thing via the new and shiny audible version of the Sandman comics, but I could sit through more than the first two volumes. I could not tolerate the violence against the female and queer characters. Oh my god! You do not have to go that far to make your story edgy, or create a complex, dark world. Nothing that happened seemed to move me or make me want to keep listening to this story. It does not really seem to revolve around anything. Or maybe I am just too annoyed to pay attention to the story. Fortunately, Gaiman seems to have improved as a writer since.

Radio Silence - Alice Oseman: ☆☆☆☆

Listened to this and although contemporary YA is is usually not something that hooks me or interest me in any way, Oseman manages to make the story so genuine and down to earth despite all the teenage drama, and the character felt so real that it just draws you in. The daily problems of teenagers often seem too dramatic or unreal to me in books like this, but that was not here. The text is not to flowery, but not too simple either. The story just as a really good pace going on. Everything just flowed together.

Wicked Fox - Kat Cho: ☆☆☆

The story did sound like a kdrama to me and I was hoping it would be that. Just fun and cute and fluffy with some loveable characters and sprinkle of myths and legends. It was fun, it didn't go into too much depth with most things within the story. It kinda brushes over a lot of things. For me the book started of well, but then towards the middle of the book things start to happen to fast and there was not enough time spent on bulding things up, so in the end the story kinda went nowhere for me. The little bits of the Gumiho legend, at least how the legend was presented in this book, inbetween the chapters was my favorite bit.

The Silmarillion - J.R.R. Tolkien: ☆☆☆☆

You can tell that worldbuilding and just spending time making things up for this magical world that he crated was one of the things Tolkien enjoyed the most when it came to writing. The stories about Middle Earth, even the backstories, are so rich and lushus. I do struggle with the writing style, it does feel a bit dry to me at times, and it does feel like short stories set in the world of Middle Earth and not at tightly knit story which isn't always my cup of tea so it did take me a while to get into it.

The Left-Handed Booksellers of London - Garth Nix: ☆☆☆

The story really throws you straight into the action and you just have to find your bearings as best as you can while the story goes on. It was really fast paced and the story never really stops for too long to give you a breather. It was light and funny, a little weird and the character were whimsical, which I enjoyed. Sometimes I felt like I was in a Doctor Who episode, except with magic and not aliens. I just wish it would have let the story breath a little more for me to really enjoy the world that Nix had crafted and such things.

A Deadly Education - Naomi Novik: ☆☆

I do not know what happened here, but wow, this was so not Novik at her best. Neither the characters or the worldbuilding that I am used to getting from Novik was in this book and for the most part there wasn't a whole lot going on in this books. I can deal with a slow burning book and really just enjoy a good fantasy world but there was very little interesting things here to explore. I can deal with a unlikeable main character, but this one didn't grow at all during the book, she just kept on reminding us why she was cranky all the time and how much she delighted in it. There was a whole lot of telling about this magical school and the diverse world outside of it, but very little showing so it all seems rather empty and after a while I just started to skim over the text. And there was really no story there that kept me going and I could not see the purpose for anything that happened.

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue - V.E. Schwab: ☆☆☆☆☆

Oh, wow. The feeling that this book created inside me and the sincerity within the text just grabbed me and would not let me go. I made me feel a lot of things, and I love when a books do that. There are so many emotions behind it and you can really feel them. The atmosphere that Schwab creates in the story is great and it hooks you in, but it is the character and their stories that make you stay. I don't usually enjoy timejumps, but Schwab did them so well and they do explain the story and the motivations for each of the characters really well, although it get's a bit repetitive at times, especially towards the end.

The Moomins: The Exploits of Moominpappa, Moominsummer Madness, Moominland Midwinter - Tove Jansson: ☆☆☆☆

I love the Moomins, but there's just something so cozy about these stories and characters. They are part of my childhood, they are so light, whimiscal and funny, yet have depth to them, which is a balance that is difficult to achieve in my opinion. My journey through this book took me almost a year, as I only occasionally picked it up to enjoy the text and my stay in this small, strange world that Jansson created. I was savoring it.

Shine - Jessica Jung: ☆☆☆

SNSD, the band that Jesscia Jung was in, is my favorite kpop band since I started listening to kpop more than 10 years ago and their music is one of the main reasons why I got into kpop to begin with. So of course I was intrigued! The story here is something that I think could be inspired Jessica experiences within the kpop industry, or that thought never left me as I read it even if there were lot of unbelievable things going on within these pages. But it's definitely overdramatized at times. But how she talks about gender discrimination between female singers and male singer, from other people in the business and from the fans and the expectations that people have towards these singers and such. That felt really authentic to me. For all the glamor and the dazzle of the kpop world within this book the plot and the characters are a bit dull, and some of the more unbelievable events (like all of those trips and secret cafes) often pulled me out of the story. And I did not find the clichéd YA romance fun to read at all.

#book reviews #book review

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cryptidkieren · 5 years

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come around (1/6)

ayy waddup its ya boy back at it again with good omens fic

i wrote literally the entire outline and the first couple chapters before my power randomly went out????? so i had to start from scratch rip

heres the ao3 link if you want it :)

edit: so i adjusted the tags a bit and it completely erased the body of the post???? i love being on tungle.com :)

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It first began, as these things were wont to do, on a quiet winter morning. This one happened to be in Aziraphale’s bookshop.

The angel had been enjoying his morning, flipping the sign on the door to ‘Open!’ somewhere around 10. The warm light of his gas lamps combined with the smell of old books still put him at ease, even after all these years. Snow was falling softly outside, muffling the chaotic noise of London a bit and bringing with it that impatient sense of the incoming holidays that December promised. He still hadn’t heard anything from the Head Office, not since Adam Young ordered both Heaven and Hell to leave them alone over 6 months before.

Aziraphale blinked in surprise, tea cup resting against his bottom lip.

There stood Crowley, wrapped in too many layers to be comfortable, snow and malice swirling around his feet as he clomped- yes, clomped into the shop. The heavy black boots he wore were packed with already melting snow, making small puddles on the hardwood under him.

“Do shut the door, Crowley, or are you trying to heat all of London?” Aziraphale set his cup back down on the tray beside him, lips twitching as he tried to fight off a grin.

“Anything to end this bloody weather, angel!” The demon waved a gloved hand carelessly at the heavy door, forcing it to close if it knew what was good for it. “I am sick to death of the cold! I might actually be sick! Can demons even get sick? If not, then I am definitely one of a kind!”

Aziraphale chuckled as he got up from his comfortable spot, allowing Crowley to rant and shuck his numerous layers onto the floor. “I swear, you get more prickly every winter, my dear.” The angel snapped his fingers and the scattered outerwear was miraculous hung up on the coat peg by the door.

Crowley glared at him, his dark shades slightly fogged and fiery hair a right state from his designer beanie. “I swear this is my punishment from the bust Armageddon. God is torturing me with this cold front, knowing I’m going to freeze my bollocks off and die!”

The angel snorted, cheeks heating slightly, and covered his mouth. How dramatic. He stepped up to unwind the crimson knit scarf hanging around the demon’s neck. “It’s only the first snowfall of the year, dear. I have no idea why you don’t retire to the south during winter at this point, to be honest. Greece is wonderful this time of year, and I know how you love to make fun of tourists at the Parthenon.” Aziraphale smiled at him, turning to hook the scarf on the coat peg with the demon’s jacket.

It was quiet for a moment. Aziraphale turned back to the other, an eyebrow raised in question. He willed it back down to a normal elevation; he had been spending too much time with Crowley.

The demon in question just stared at him, lips pursed and brows drawn behind his glasses. “You haven’t left your bookshop for that long since you opened it.”

“Um,” Aziraphale blinked, quite confused with the sudden topic change. “I-I suppose that’s true. How is it relevant, though?”

The angel could only as Crowley opened his mouth, paused, and let out a rush of air as he raked a hand through his already messy hair, turning to look out the frosted window. “I guess it isn’t.” He seemed… Dejected?

Oh!

“Crowley-”

Something in Aziraphale’s voice must have caught his attention, for he whipped back around to stare at the other, back ramrod straight and shoulders tight. He looked like he was ready for a fight.

It broke the angel’s heart.

“Crowley, darling,” he said, catching the way the occult being twitched at the endearment. He frowned, not wanting to make his friend uncomfortable. “I-I mean, my boy, this isn’t like Alpha Centauri. If you wanted to go on holiday during the winter, you can always ask. I could never imagine having a problem following you across the world.”

Aziraphale caught up with his own words only moments after they escaped, causing his face to flame and panic to set his heart racing. After 6,000 years, he finally let the cat out of the bag and now Crowley was going to hate him or be disgusted by him or quietly pretend it hadn’t happened and he didn’t know which one would be worse-

Time seemed to slow to a standstill as he watched Crowley open his mouth, obviously about to deliver Aziraphale’s death sentence, when the bell above the door rang out and broke the moment.

They both turned to watch as an elderly woman hobbled in from the cold, snow melting in her silver curly hair. Her lilac colored coat was promptly hung up next to one of Crowley’s, standing out against the all the black. She looked around for a moment, leaning a bit on her wooden cane, before spotting them and smiling politely.

“Good morning, gentlemen! Are one of you the proprietor of this shop?”

“Ah,” Aziraphale choked, clearing his throat slightly as he took a step away from the demon. He valiantly swallowed his terror and slapped on his customer service smile. “That would be me, madam. How may I help you?”

“Oh, I was looking for a book,” she said, hobbling over to him on her cane. Crowley politely moved away from them, towards the counter with the old fashioned register that was barely used.

“Obviously,” the demon muttered, though not very quietly.

The customer narrowed her eyes in his direction, as if she were thinking of hitting him with her cane.

“What kind of book?” Aziraphale jumped in. After all, he didn’t want violence to break out in his shop. He had a feeling Crowley wouldn’t come away unscathed.

The woman turned to him again, making the demon let out a breath audible from across the room. She smirked. “It’s an old book, of course. My great grandmother used to read it to me when I was little, and I wanted to start that tradition up with my newborn grandson.”

The angel smiled warmly, feeling the love pouring out of the elderly woman. One of the perks to being an angel was the ability to feel good things everywhere, like love, which this woman seemed to have an abundance of. “Of course, madam. Would you happen to have the title or the author?”

Here, the woman sighed mournfully. “‘Fraid not, dearie. My memory isn’t what it used to be. I can remember bits and pieces, though, would that help?”

Even a demon couldn’t say no to her hopeful, pleading face. Good thing he wasn’t, as the angel jumped at the chance to help.

“Worth a shot, right?” Aziraphale smiled widely, ushering her over to his chair with the untouched tea service. A little twitch of his fingers and the pot was steaming once more. He sat on the small floor pouf decorated with little bow ties tucked under the chair, something Crowley once got him as a gag gift. “Please, make yourself comfortable and tell me what you remember.”

He listened as the elderly woman described her book and sipped her tea, smiling as he made notes on a little notepad from his pocket. He admired the woman’s dedication to details, such as the texture of the pages and the style of the front cover.

Of course, he also noticed how Crowley leaned against the counter behind her, watching them with his chin in his hand. His eyes were unreadable behind his spectacles, but the small smile on his lips was easier to define.

Aziraphale ducked his head again, hiding his own smile.

When the woman finished her description, the angel straightened up and checked his notes. It sounded familiar enough…

“Oh!” he grinned, swiftly rising from his own seat before helping the old woman to her feet. “I think I know where that is!”

His enthusiasm was contagious, apparently, as even Crowley grinned and moved out of the way when the angel came bustling around the counter. He headed towards a case in the North wing, already picturing where the novel would be housed.

Aziraphale grinned as he looked up at the top shelf of the case. There it was, sitting amongst its brethren, just as he thought it would be! As he reached up, he immediately encountered a problem: it was inches out of reach.

The angel frowned, straining and stretching his arm, trying to make up the distance. He contemplated performing a miracle to get it down, but the woman was watching him with barely contained amusement.

He dropped back to his heels, toes and side aching a bit, as he stared up at the offending novel. The angel heard a huff of laughter behind him before a darkly clad arm suddenly invaded his eyesight. “Honestly, angel, I’m going to buy you a step ladder one of these days.”

The heavy book was dropped into Aziraphale’s hands. He blinked at it for a moment before his felt his entire face grow warm. Wrinkling his nose at the smirking demon, he thanked him primly before turning back to his customer.

Before he could even start, the woman chuckled, deepening her wrinkles. “My wife used to do things like that for me too, bless her soul.” Her bittersweet expression only touched on the sudden feeling of melancholic love she pushed out from her soul, causing Aziraphale’s breath to stutter in his lungs.

It also didn’t help that her insinuation made his cooling face reignite with embarrassment.

“Oh! He’s not- We’re not- I mean-”

Crowley fled then, heading towards the back room with bright red ears . Aziraphale caught a glimpse of his hand over his mouth before he disappeared and the angel felt his stomach drop out.

Oh. Alright. Disgust was the answer to that question, then.

“Don’t worry, love,” Aziraphale’s quiet breakdown was interrupted by the elderly woman, whom he had quite forgotten about as his heart was breaking. “Nothing to be embarrassed about. Your young man seems to love you very much.”

The angel smiled tightly at the woman, feeling his face flush further against his will. He quickly brought the book to the register, intent on getting her out as soon as possible. As he was writing out the necessary information for his records, the older woman placed a hand on his own, effectively capturing his attention.

“Listen, my dear, if you two really aren't together, then you're both blind.” The woman raised an eyebrow at the angel, a kind smile on her lips. “It’s obvious to just about anyone with eyes that you love each other, and time isn't forever. If I could go back and be with my wife sooner, I would, because there was already so much wasted time before we both had to buck up and have a little faith.”

She patted his hand, then, grinning mischievously. Hers was dark and soft against his own, heavily lined though he had lived so much longer than her. “Have courage, my dear. As the kids say, you only live once.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Aziraphale bit his lip, ducking his head as the customer withdrew her hand. He finished cashing her out (at an extraordinarily discounted price, to boot) and helped her back into her coat. As she left the shop, the bell ringing happily above her, the angel sighed deeply as his earlier panic reared its ugly head again. He would rather face all of Heaven alone than go find Crowley at that moment.

Aziraphale steeled himself and determinedly made his way to the back room. It was cramped, the space not really made for what he used it for, but it was comfortable. The small kitchenette shoved in the corner was rarely used, while the tattered sofa and threadbare armchair dominated most of the space.

Crowley himself was lounging on the sofa, a glass of something amber in his hands despite the early hour.

“What a lovely woman,” Aziraphale said with a smile and a shake of his head. He moved to the kitchenette, determined to make himself a cup of tea the human way to soothe his simmering anxiety.

“Sure, lovely, right,” he muttered, draining his glass in one go. The angel tutted reproachfully.

“Isn’t it a bit early for that, Crowley?” He sat in the armchair with a contented sigh, sipping delicately on his too hot tea.

He didn’t have to see the demon’s eyes to know he was rolling them. “It’s five o’clock somewhere, etcetera etcetera.” He then reached for the crystal bottle on the table between them to refill his glass.

It grew quiet then, Aziraphale occasionally sipping from his cup while Crowley stared into his as if it held answers he was searching for. The old clock on the wall ticked away, the only noise in the room.

The angel took the time to ponder on what the old woman said. ‘Have courage.’ He felt his heart ache something fierce, a well of yearning opening up in him. He wished he had courage.

But courage couldn’t make Crowley love him. His expression as he made a break for it earlier was proof enough of that.

His mounting inner turmoil was then interrupted by the being who caused it.

“Tempt you to a spot of lunch, angel?”

Aziraphale smiled at him, feeling brittle, as he set down his cup. “It’s barely gone half past ten, Crowley. They’re not serving lunch anywhere at the moment.”

The demon huffed, sitting forward to set his own glass down next to the angel’s. He looked at Aziraphale over his sunglasses, golden eyes sparkling in the lamp light, as a mischievous smirk settled on his face. “Brunch, then. I know how you adore those little pie things in that café in Athens.”

“Oh, their spinach and feta pites are to die for,” Aziraphale moaned, already craving the dish. A sudden choking noise made him turn back to the demon.

Crowley’s glasses had slid down his pointy nose, allowing him to stare openly at the angel. Two spots of color sat high on his cheeks. He didn’t appear to be breathing.

“Crowley? Are you alright, my dear?”

He seemed to snap out of whatever trance held him then, jerking back as he roughly pushed his dark glasses back up. The color on his cheeks seemed to be spreading.

“I’m fine, I’m good,” Crowley said roughly. He jumped up from the sofa then, giving the angel a start. “Race you to Greece!”

And he was gone, the bell at the front tinkling behind him.

Aziraphale shook his head with a small chuckle. He rose from his own seat at a more leisurely pace, snapping his fingers to clean the glasses and send them back to their cupboard.

“What a cheat.”

Then he chased after his demon, feeling content enough.

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[next chapter]

#good omens #good omens fic #good omens fanfiction #ineffable husbands #ineffable boyfriends #aziraphale #crowley #a.z. fell #anthony j crowley #aj crowley #aziraphale/crowley #fic #fanfiction #im writin #in progress #aziracrow #a x c #fic: come around

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jerkbitchidjitassbutt · 5 years

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What If I Told You (5)

Characters: Jensen x Reader; Jared Padalecki; SPN Cast members at times.

Summary: You and Jensen have been the closest of friends for years after meeting on the set of SPN, but what will happen when you and Jensen have a kissing scene?

Warnings: Cursing; divorce; break up; angst-ish at times, but mostly fluff.

I consider this an AU, as Jensen is divorced from an unnamed ex in this fic. This is completely a work of fiction, and I wouldn’t want his reality to be any different, this is purely for entertainment.

A/n: Yo. This is a huge fluff storm. Like a blink of angst if you squint, but its very short lived.

The air was thick inlaid with tension and unspoken words when you and Jensen finally, and regrettably, released yourselves from each other’s hold. It was a tantalizingly slow process, fingertips tracing sluggishly across bodies until they met before parting.

You stood an arms length away from one another as you searched his features, a faintly shocked expression on your faces.

What would happen if you said you loved him? What would he think? What would you do?

In the blink of an eye, a million scenarios flashed through your mind as you wondered if he’d hear what you had to say. It wasn’t until you opened your mouth to speak that you chose against it, breaking eye contact and the haze that surrounded you.

Jensen’s body moved of its own accord to take your hand, but his mind caught it quickly, playing it off as he shoved it into his pocket nervously. It wasn’t until his phone rang that his internal battle was resolved to pull away from you, his trepidation getting the best of him.

The ringing of Jensen’s cell sent a jolt through your body, whisking you away from your thoughts and desire to have him pull you back into his arms.

It was Jared, of course, with his ever-impeccable timing, wondering when he was going to come over to rehearse.

“Yeah, I’ll see you in about 30 minutes… Okay, bye.” Jensen said, his voiced still laced with a shred of roughness.

“Well, um… I better get going. You know how he is when I’m not on time.” He chuckled. “Do you—do you want to come with me? Hang out and give us some tips on the scenes?” he said, a slightly hopeful glint in his eye.

You smiled, ready to accept the invitation, hoping that the two of you could at least act normal around one another and you could ignore the shake in your heartbeat, but it wasn’t until your phone dinged, reminding you of your 12:30 appointment, that you realized that you would have to find a way to leave each other.

The smile fell from your lips when he frowned slightly.

“I’m sorry, Jense. I’ve been trying to schedule this massage forever. I’d love to come, otherwise… really, I would.” You said assuredly, unconsciously rubbing the shoulder that had been bothering you since your last stunt. “Maybe I can meet up with you guys later? Depending on your schedules.”

“Its okay, Y/n. I know how that is… I mean, I’ll never understand getting a massage, but yeah.” You giggled. He consistently teased you about your love for ‘having some stranger poke you’. “I’ve got to have dinner with the execs later, but maybe we can see each other soon.” He proposed with a small smile.

“I’d like that.” you breathed.

Your hands twisted with one another awkwardly as you stood near your door, following him as he lead himself to leave.

“Well,” he paused in your entryway, “text me later?” The corners of his eyes crinkled delightfully as he gave you a reassuring smile.

“I will, I promise.”

He moved slowly, opening his arms to pull you flush against him in a hug. You stood on your toes to reach around his neck as his strong arms encircled your waist, both of you gripping each other tight.

You didn’t know why, but you felt the need to cling to him, almost as if he walked through your door the spell would be broken. You buried your face into the crook of his neck, inhaling the scent of his body wash and cologne.

Jensen felt you tense in his arms and increased his hold, seemingly crushing you without actually doing so. He reached up to cradle the back of your head, holding you to him and nuzzling you further into his embrace.

When he loosened his grip, you disappointingly released yourself once again from the safety and bliss of his arms. You stepped away from him, but not before he planted a sensuous kiss to the swell of your cheek.

The two of you had exchanged cheek kisses many times, but this was purposefully different. It was no longer the chaste peck you were used to, but his plump lips remained connected to your skin for a few seconds.

Something had shifted in the air, and it was like you both knew it. The question was now, where do you go from here?

He gave your cheek a quick graze with the pad of his thumb and reached for the handle on your front door, “Bye, sweetheart.”

With a fuzzy mind and buzzing skin, you simply waved as he exited your apartment, the smile present on your lips as you flopped yourself onto your fluffy couch, the swell in your heart existent for the remainder of the afternoon.

At around 8:30 that evening, a knock sounded through the quietness of your home. Confused, and a little scared, you lifted yourself from your bed where you had been reading your most recent favorite novel, only half paying attention and half staring at your phone waiting for Jensen to text you back. It had been a simple message, wishing him luck with the higher ups at the studio. You ignored that little pang of hope that it could be him waiting there for you outside your door.

Your bare feet padded against the carpet of your living room until you reached the peephole, lifting yourself on your toes to peer through it.

Opening the door swiftly and quickly, you glanced up at the man in front of you, “Jared?”

“Hiya!” he waved while rocking on his heels, looking like an overgrown, excited puppy.

Confused, you asked the obvious question, “What’re you doing here? Is everything ok?”

He playfully glared at you, “If it wasn’t, don’t you think I would’ve called first?”

You chuckled, “I’d like to think you’d call first anyways. You comin’ in?” you spoke over your shoulder as you retreated into your house.

He closed the door and followed, stopping in your kitchen for water as you wandered into the living room. You were clad in shorts and the same hoodie from earlier that day. Despite the essential oils they had used during your massage, it still smelt like Jensen.

“What’s up, Moose?” you said teasingly.

He smiled at the affectionate nickname as he sat in your recliner, “Jensen’s still at dinner.”

“Aww, are you lonely?” you replied dramatically, holding your hand over your chest with a pouted lip.

“Noooo.” He drawled. “Okay, a little.”

You grinned. “Well, I’m glad you settled for a visit with your second best friend.”

Grabbing a pillow, you sat cross-legged and placed it against your chest, hugging it to you and fiddling with the zipper in your lap.

“I’m going to ignore that purposefully.” He smirked. “Actually, I wanted to come see how rehearsal went this morning.”

“Didn’t you just see Jensen a few hours ago?” you questioned, knowing the answer but probing to figure out his real intentions.

“Yeah, so? I wanted to see how it went for you.” His dimples riveted in his cheeks when he wiggled his eyebrows.

“Jared! Gah, you’re nosy!”

He took a sip of his water and ‘ahhed’ dramatically. “Well?”

Exasperated, you replied, “Well, what, man? What do you want to know? Did we kiss? Yeah. We did.”

“Annnnd?”

“You want details?!”

“Of course I do!” he yelled with a wave of his arms.

“It was…” you paused, eyeing the zipper as you moved it up and down, wondering if you should full on explode with emotion and detail as to how amazing and life altering it actually was or how you’d been crushing on your other friend and co-star for years.

He stopped you, quickly interjecting his own voice, “Was it everything you’d hoped it would be?” he said with a knowing look.

Your eyes widened, “Wait a minute… you knew?”

“Of course I did, silly. You’re my best friend.”

“You’ve known I had a crush on him and you didn’t say a damn word until now?”

He leaned forward, setting his water on your coffee table as you ran a hand through your hair, huffing nervously.

“Come on, Y/n. I think it's a little more than a crush. I see the way you two are together. That look in your eye in unmistakable.”

You peered at him sheepishly, partially afraid to see the look on his face. He was staring at you with a look of understanding, waiting for you to confess your deepest secrets.

“Yes, it was. Everything I’d hoped for and a stupid, ridiculous amount more. But that just makes this more complicated.” you sighed. “I don’t know what to do, Jar. I don’t know if I can tell him. He’s my best friend. What if he just walks away from me?”

“He wouldn’t do that. You should talk to him. Trust me.”

“If he doesn’t feel the same way… I could loose him.”

He stood from his chair and knelt in front of you, taking your fidgeting hands into his, “Or…” he paused until you looked into his hazel eyes, “Or you could get everything you’ve always wanted. You could find a love that would never end.”

The bouncy, 6’4 goofball in front of you was gazing at you so earnestly, you couldn’t help but take his words to heart. A single tear escaped and ran down your cheek, his words hammering deep into your chest as you sighed and smiled.

With a slight nod, he rose.

You two sat in silence for a few moments, until he decided to head home for his early call to set.

As you walked to your kitchen, you stopped him, “You really did just come here to snoop, didn't you?” you baited.

“Partially,” he admitted. “But I also wanted to see how my best friend was doing. You are important to me, ya know.”

“Thanks, honey. I appreciate it. I kind of like you too.” You patted his arm. “Please tell Gen and the kids I said hi and I miss their faces.”

He pulled you in for a quick squeeze.

With your door opened, he turned in the same spot Jensen had been in earlier that day. “Hey, Y/n?” he called.

“Mmm-hmm?”

“If you really want to know if Jensen feels the same way, really think about the lines he delivered this morning, ok?”

You stood in confusion for a moment after he disappeared from view, practically slamming your door, before locking it and retreating to your bedroom, chalking Jared’s comment up to the fact that it was… well, Jared.

You brushed your teeth, checked your phone for the millionth time, and sunk beneath your fluffy comforter, groaning with relaxation, but sleep wasn’t coming easily.

Lying awake, Jared’s parting encouragement hung over you, so you raked over your rehearsal—and kiss—with Jensen earlier that day.

“But listen, Y/c/n…There’s something I need to tell you though; something I could never tell you before, in my other life, because—well, because I’m not brave enough…”

Normal.

“I need to tell you how much you mean to me. I—“ he choked.

Normal.

“I love you. I always have, from the day that we met. I don’t dare cross this line in my real life, but I don’t know that I’ll get another chance to tell you.”

Normal.

“I love you, Y/n. I’ve always loved you.”

Wait.

“I love you, Y/n. I’ve always loved you.”

You bolted upright, eyes widened in shock.

“He… he said my name.” you said aloud into the darkened night air. “He… he loves… me?”

A/n 2: I received an anon ask when I was looking for fic ideas(see below) for a Jensen x actress!reader fic a while ago, but recently got hit with a spark of inspiration. This is based off of the song “What if I Said” by Anita Cochran and Steve Wariner and will be a short mini-series. Also there is a wife mentioned in some parts, but I purposefully left this person nameless as to not insinuate anything for Jensen’s real life.

Anonymous said: Hi! Just saw your post about looking for fic ideas. I’ve had this idea that I really like where reader is an actor on Supernatural and is friends with Jensen. They have a scene where they have to kiss or even just have to be right up in each other’s space and it makes them realize they like each other. It’s probably a common thing to write about, but I thought I’d ask anyway. Thanks!

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k-renne · 5 years

Text

CLYDE LOGAN GETS LUCKY

SUMMARY: You, the prettiest sweetest girl of his dreams, are a virgin. That meant...if you did, he’d be your first.

WORD COUNT: 4.5K

WARNINGS: Sm*t, loss of v*irginity, Clyde softness

tags: @oh-adam, @thecurlycaptain

Clyde fiddled with the collar of his shirt, feeling too tight around his neck. He didn’t know why he let Mellie set him up on a blind date like this, or why he let Jimmy talk him into it. He’d been on a few blind dates before after getting back to the states, and he hated the pity they’d give him. But this time Mellie assured him that his date was actually interested, which that alone baffled him. He was meeting you at a diner, for lunch on a Sunday afternoon and he was really, very nervous.

Clyde fanned himself with the menu, already feeling flustered and too hot. He didn’t even know what you looked like, and that made him the most nervous of all. What if he didn’t find you attractive? Or worse, that you were so beautiful that he’d feel embarrassed at his scruffy appearance. His thoughts spiraling into scary territory, Clyde went to the bathroom to try and cool off.

You arrived at the humble little diner, shifting from side to side as you scanned the room for a man that Mellie described to you. At this point, you had only lived in West Virginia for a few weeks and everything was so different than what you’ve ever known. You were so grateful to have met someone like Mellie, the first friend you made outside of work in this state. And with a little encouragement, she was helping you find a man. Something you didn’t have very much luck with where you came from.

When Clyde came out of the bathroom, he spotted you almost right away, walking right into a table as he stared at you with wide eyes. “Shit,” He cursed under his breath. He already was a fucking mess in front of you. He could tell you weren’t from around here by the way you dressed, it seemed too fancy for this small little town. Taking in a deep breath, Clyde made his way over to you to introduce himself.

“Hi uh I’m Clyde, and you must be Y/N?” Clyde asked you, his voice shaky with nerves.

“Oh yes! Hi, it’s nice to meet you.” You smiled up at the tall man. He was a lot more handsome than you thought he’d be based on what Mellie said, he seemed charming and sweet in a way that already had your heart racing.

Clyde’s cheeks grew pink as you smiled at him, “Yeah ah you too sweetheart.” He managed to reply.

For a moment, the two of you just stood taking each other in before Clyde spoke again. “I already got us a table, if ya’d follow me.” He holds out his hand for you to take, trying to be gentlemen like. He didn’t know what men did back where you were from, but he wanted to treat you in the best way he could, even if his hand was a little clammy.

You take his hand, yours fitting in the palm of his and Clyde finds relief feeling that your hand is clammy too. It makes him smile to himself, finding it sweet that you’d be nervous to go on a date with someone like him. And you hadn’t said anything about his prosthetic yet, which was a relief.

Your first date with Clyde Logan, despite a few awkward moments, went over quite smoothly. So smooth that you very much hoped that he’d want to go on a second date. When you shyly mentioned it, Clyde choked on his drink. “Oh my gawd, sweetheart-uh yeah. Yes! I would love to take ya out sometime, maybe dinner or somethin’.” Clyde nods eagerly.

While the first date Clyde tried not to set himself up for disappointment, the second date he stepped up his game. Maybe he wanted to impress you just a little bit, you had really blown him away by just the kindness of your heart and the wittiness of your words. He felt like you were one of the girls he read about in one of his romance novels, and if you were on that level he needed at least to try a little more to match it. So, Clyde Logan bought you some flowers. The look on your face was more than worth it.

“I told ya so,” Jimmy laughed, shaking his head as he heard Clyde go on about his latest date with you. “I told ya it’d do ya some good.” He clasped his hand on Clyde’s back.

“Damn right, she’s like some sorta angel.” Clyde took a swig of his beer.

Jimmy grinned, “She’s already got ya fallin’ doesn’t she.”

Clyde pouted, “Hey-I just like her a lot alright?”

Jimmy’s expression turned sly, “Well, have ya done it yet? Have ya put your moves on ‘er.”

“Jimmy! I don’t like what you’re gettin’ on about with that question.” Clyde raised his brow at his brother.

“Oh c’mon we’re brothers, you can tell me Clyde.” Jimmy elbowed him. Clyde just gave him a look, taking another sip of his drink. “Oh, so you haven’t done it yet? I know you, you’d be red right now if ya had just thinking about lovin’ on your girl.” Jimmy snickered, and Clyde’s face started to turn red as he thought about it.

“No-no we have not done anything of the sorts, I only just kissed her on the last date and even that was nothin’ serious. Besides it ain’t none of your business even if ya are my brother.” Clyde frowned.

“What! Ya only kissed her one time, I can’t believe that. Clyde ya talk about her like a man in love but ya only just kissed her last night? What is she shy or somethin’?” Jimmy seemed flabbergasted especially with how passionate Clyde seemed.

Clyde punched his brothers shoulder, angry and flustered. “I don’t like ya talkin’ about her like that.” Clyde defended. And that was pretty much the end of that conversation. But it did put thoughts in Clyde’s mind, made him wonder if he was taking it too slow or if maybe you just didn’t feel that attracted to him and were just a nice girl taking pity on a veteran.

He was getting more frustrated thinking about it, and in his frustration and drunk state of mind he decided to call you.

“Sweetheart, hey-”

“Oh, hi Clyde. I wasn’t expecting a call from you, but I’m happy you did call.” You smile to yourself as you hear his warm voice over the phone. Clyde rarely called or used a phone, and his conversations were brief. But you did appreciate when he did, just to hear the sound of his voice.

Clyde sighs, and you ask him what’s wrong. “It’s just, I don’t know. You’re such a nice and pretty girl, I don’t understand why ya are datin’ me still.” Clyde got straight to his fears.

“Oh Clyde-” His words made your heart ache, how did he not understand?

“Now I don’t want your pity.” Clyde interrupted you.

“That’s not-” You sighed. “Clyde I don’t pity you, I never have. I just like you a lot, you’re a good man and it doesn’t help that I find you very...attractive.”

“What!” Clyde yells into the phone. No that couldn’t be true.

“I’m already a mess don’t make me say it again!” You say with a slight whine in your voice.

“Fuck you’re so cute,” Clyde breathes out. “I’m sorry for botherin’ ya sweetheart, don’t know how ya put up with me but I’m gonna make it up to ya. The county fair is comin’ around this weekend, and I think it’d be fun if we went together.”

“That sounds really nice, I’d love to.” You say softly. You’ve never heard Clyde swear before now, and something about it makes you feel heated.

“It’s a date then darlin’.” Clyde grins to himself. Fuck what Jimmy said, he was gonna let this go at its own pace. He didn’t wanna pressure you or nothin’. That just wouldn’t be right of him.

The date at the fair had you swooning over Clyde, he just kept smiling at you thinking of how you called him attractive, and that smile made your heart feel all warm and fuzzy. You held his prosthetic hand because he was holding a big stuffed teddy bear he had won for you trying to show off at one of the fair games, and when he realized you were holding that hand it made his eyes water.

“Sweetheart ya don’t have to do that,” He looks at your tiny hand wrapped around the plastic, the gentle weight of it tugging on his arm.

“But I want to!” You defended. And Clyde was so taken aback by it, he couldn’t even find the words to argue with you on it.

“Okay,” He said weakly, giving in. His heart was pounding so hard in his chest he thought it would burst, because in this moment Clyde realized he was completely head over heels in love with you, and nothing was gonna change that fact.

The sun was setting as you sat with him on the ferris wheel, this time holding his real hand as you enjoyed the view around you. Clyde of course was just focused on you, still reeling over his realization and the intensity of his feelings. You felt his heated gaze and looked over at him, “Clyde-” He was looking at you in such a way you didn’t even know how to react.

He tilted his head, opening and closing his mouth like he wanted to say something, his grip on your hand tightening. There was so much longing and just this warmth in his eyes, it made you feel breathless. What was weighing on his mind had been bothering him so much, he just needed to spit it out. Even if it was too soon. “I love you sweetheart.” He confessed.

Out of all of the things to come out of his mouth, you were not expecting those words. Words that made emotions swell in your chest and tears come to your eyes. You sucked in a breath and sputtered out his name, “Clyde Logan…” You brought your hand up to cup his face.

You didn’t say it back just yet, but the way you were looking back at him was more than enough for Clyde. He leaned in to kiss you and you met his soft lips, pliant to him as you leaned up against his chest. But as soft as it started the kiss grew more passionate as Clyde deepened it, his tongue gliding between your lips and tasting your sweet mouth.

And he kept kissing you up there as the sun set, his lips insistently pressing against yours, his hand wrapping around you and soothing over a spot on your back. He let out a moan when you tugged on his hair, your kisses and your touch lighting him on fire. He broke away from you panting, “Don’t want half the town to see me makin’ out with ya.” He pressed a quick kiss against your cheek, nuzzling it after with his nose.

With one arm wrapped around Clyde’s neck you stay close to him, cuddling against his chest and resting a hand over his heart. “I don’t know if I’d really care, I’m proud that you’re my man.” You looked up at him.

Clyde’s chest swelled with pride and he grinned back at you. “And I’m proud to be yours darlin’, I just don’t want folks gettin’ the wrong idea s’all.”

“I don’t think I want this night to end,” You sigh dreamily.

His breath hitched as he thought of something, “Maybe it doesn’t have to. Maybe...I could take ya home with me.”

“Oh I..I’ve never done anything like that before.” You admit.

Clyde’s eyes go wide, his mind coming to life with all the possibilities of that. “Well it’s okay ya don’t have to sweetheart, I’d never want ya to do anythin’ ya wouldn’t be ready for.” He looks at you as he talks, his hand continuing to caress you.

“No, I’m just nervous Clyde um the most I’ve ever done is kissing and even that, not very much.” You look away shyly, face feeling hot.

Clyde freezes, looking at you in wonder. You, the prettiest sweetest girl of his dreams, are a virgin. That meant...if you did, he’d be your first. Oh god, that made his heart race. He hums as he thinks for a moment. “W-would that even be somethin’ ya would wanna do with me? Are ya even interested in me bein’ your first?” He asked.

That, you were certain of. “Yes-I want to, I’m just scared.” You told him.

“Oh darlin’, please don’t be afraid. I’ll take it real slow with ya, learn what ya like. I just wanna take care of ya and...and make ya feel good.” His voice grew husky as he spoke.

You nodded in agreement, because if it were to happen with anyone you’d want it to be with him. You had started feeling such an intense desire around him lately, craving more than just kissing. But you needed guidance, and he was offering exactly what you needed. So, you said yes.

The drive over to Clyde’s trailer was quiet, the radio softly playing as you looked out the window. Clyde was feeling just as nervous as you were, his hand tensing around the steering wheel as his imagination ran wild. He was already fantasizing, of how shy and beautiful you’d be for him, how innocent and sweet about the whole thing, and his-he’d be your first. That made him feel like you really trusted him, it made him feel loved. He almost wondered if you had ever fallen in love before, how many other firsts he may take from you. All of it weighed heavy on his heart.

He needed to do right by you, he needed it to be perfect. He hoped he had some candles somewhere...thank god he just washed his sheets. Maybe he should take another shower first, no that would be awkward. Shit he hoped he didn’t smell or nothing. He’d just have to freshen up in the bathroom real quick, that’s all. Clyde let out a huff, trying to settle his nerves.

At the trailer, he had you sit on the couch. “Here sweetheart, I wanna kiss ya some more that’s all. If that’s alright by ya of course.” He was hoping just maybe a little more kissing would warm you up to him.

You silently nodded and Clyde sat on the couch by you, gently guiding you into a kiss with his hand. You kissed him back with need this time, and Clyde met it with equal hunger, making you let out a little moan. Clyde grinned into the kiss, “Now don’t hold back that pretty little sound on account of me sweetheart.”

As the making out got more heated, Clyde became frustrated, “Fuck sweetheart-I gotta, I gotta take this off. I hope my arm won’t bother ya. I can keep it on but, I’d like to try and old ya with both of my arms. Even if I only got part of one.”

“Clyde, of course I don’t mind.” You shook your head.

Clyde let out a breath of relief, quickly undoing the prosthetic that was really more for show than function. Putting it to the side he got much closer to you, his left arm now holding you as he used his right hand to touch you.

“Mmmph Clyde,” You moaned as he grabbed your ass. He huffed and squeezed it harder, loving the sound of the squeak you let out. He was so in love with you and so eager to feel every bit of you that you’d let him, over the moon that you were getting some pleasure out of his touch. He knew you couldn’t be forcing such a pretty sound like that.

“Darlin’ ya feel so nice in my hand, s’been so hard to keep my hands off ya.” Clyde rasps out. He hums as you press your lips back against his, kissing you eagerly in return. Boldly you brought your hand to his thigh, sliding to rub his inner thigh and earning an appreciative groan from Clyde.

“Ah listen-” Clyde started to speak, but you were too needy to kiss him to let him finish. He gently pushes you back, “Sweetheart, I think it’s time we move this to the bedroom. Do ya feel ready for that?” Clyde asks you softly, placing his hand over yours on his thigh.

“Yes, please,” You said breathlessly.

Clyde smirked at you, “Gettin’ needy now are we?” He teased.

Hand in hand he walked you to his bedroom, turning on the lamp to cast a warm light over the room. “It might be easier, if we take off some of our clothes first. I’d like to see you darlin’ if that’s alright.”

You nod, and begin to lift your dress over your head, Clyde surprised you were doing it so quickly. Though you just wanted to get it over with. “Shit,” He cursed seeing you just in your bra and underwear. You covered yourself with your arms, feeling shy and flustered under this gaze.

“Now don’t do that, you’re coverin’ up somethin’ beautiful right there.” He frowned, softly trying to encourage you. “Ain’t nothing wrong with this, all of ya is perfect to me,” He placed the palm of his hand over your stomach, looking down at you lovingly.

“Can you take off your shirt too?” You ask him.

Clyde swallows thickly, nodding as he begins to undo buttons deftly with one hand. He shrugs off his good shirt, not caring that he leaves it on the floor. Once his undershirt comes off his chest is bare to you, keeping eye contact as he begins to unbuckle his jeans. As he does that you begin to unclasp your bra, Clyde staring at you in awe once he steps out of his pants.

He brings you into his arms, his face nuzzling along the side of your neck and his hand reaching down to squeeze your ass again. Your nipples harden against his chest and Clyde growls, “I don’t understand how I’m the lucky bastard that’s the first one to see all of...this. Fuck I bet your pussy’ll be real tight.” His filthy words make you whimper, and he tightens his hold.

“You just lay down on the bed sweetheart, let me do all the work,” He instructs you.

You walk over to his bed, trying to rub your thighs together for some relief. You let out a shaky breath as you lay down for him, cheeks on fire at the increasing intimacy of it all. You trusted Clyde, but nothing could shake your nerves just yet. He settled in between your legs, softly kissing your inner thigh before moving his attention to nudge his nose over your panties.

“Fuck I can smell your pussy, I bet you’re drippin’ for me baby. So sweet and so good.” He murmurs against the fabric of your panties, making you arch your hips. He kisses over a patch of wetness, swirling his tongue over and moaning at the heady taste. “Would ya, would ya let me eat this sweet pussy? It’ll feel real good, promise.” Clyde looks up at you with his big brown eyes, hopeful that you’ll say yes.

“Only if you want to.” You lift yourself on your elbows to look down at him, feeling yourself gush at the sight of Clyde’s broad shoulders between your thighs.

He just grins, “Course I want to, s’like enjoyin’ a nice juicy peach. My peach,” He hummed. He’s still smiling as he pushes your panties to the side, coating his tongue in your slick and cursing at the taste. He pulls your panties off so they’re out of his way, before diving in.

He lathes over your cunt with his tongue, lavishing it with kisses from his plump lips and the pleasure of his hot mouth. He sucks and licks in just the right ways, it’s all so overwhelming and you’re so turned on as it you know it won’t be long before you cum. “Ah Clyde! I won’t last.” You try to get him to stop.

All you get back is his muffled words, “Sorry sweetheart I ain’t stoppin’.” But you can’t really make it out, the vibration of his words is too distracting. As his tongue swirls inside you his mustache rubs against your clit and it feels divine, Clyde uncaring that your mess gets in his beard.

He kisses your clit like he’s making out with it, his mouth sucking and lips pressing open mouthed to let his tongue flick against it. Your shameless noises go deaf to your ears, and Clyde eats them up and lets it feed his own arousal, now determined to make you cum this way. And he does make you cum, so suddenly that it catches you off guard and you don’t even get the chance to warn him.

He continues to eat you out till you’re whimpering, oversensitive. He comes up with this big dopey grin on his face, watching you recover from your orgasm as you lay on his bed. He licks the remaining slick off his lips and mustache, “Can I get one more of those outta ya sweetheart? You’ve been so good ya know, it’d be a shame not to see you make that pretty face again.”

“I wanted-I wanted to do more, I’m sorry I came so fast.” You pant.

Clyde pouted, “Do not apologize to me missy, I wasn’t plan on lettin’ ya cum just once. I’d hoped ya would let me make ya cum again, if that’s alright.” He soothingly rubs your thigh, asking for your permission.

“O-okay.” You let him, because truthfully you feel like you need more than that. You need all of him.

Clyde smiles again, and leans in to give you a kiss. “Maybe it’s greedy of me, but I’m just dyin’ to feel ya sweetheart. And I gotta get ya nice and ready beforehand.”

He lowers his eyes to your tits, “Hmm seems like these two pretty babies have been missin’ out on the fun, I gotta fix that.” He presses a kiss between your breasts, massaging one in his hand with his thumb rubbing over your nipple. His eyes glimmer with excitement as he plays with your breasts, dipping down to nuzzle and kiss your soft tits.

You can feel his hard cock through his boxers against your thigh, and wanting to return the favor you reach down to rub his hard on. Clyde groans, eyes squeezing shut as he bucks his hips against your hand. “No-can’t handle ya doin’ that just yet, and tonight is about you sweetheart. I’ll teach ya about that some other time.” He gently guides your hand away from his own need.

He kisses you some more while his hands reach between your legs, rubbing your wetness around your clit before sliding a thick finger inside your entrance. You let out a soft “oh” for him and he eats it up, his lips back on yours.

“Ah can tell already you’re gonna be real fuckin’ tight for me sweetheart, but Imma try and get ya nice and relaxed as I can.”

And with some soft encouragement, more sweet kisses, Clyde manages to get you up to three fingers. So much bigger than what you could do on your own each one is an adjustment, but with his patience you do adjust. “Mmm I think you’re ready for my cock sweetheart, think you’ve been real good and I wanna reward ya.” He praises you.

“Oh please Clyde,” You whine.

His cock springs free from his boxers as he pulls them off, hard and leaking desire for you, making Clyde shudder as it hits the cool air. You moan as he rubs his cock against your folds, smearing himself in your juices along with some lube from his drawer to keep it nice and smooth. You’re ready when he enters, but it’s still a stretch for you. Clyde coaches you through it all, his voice tight with pleasure. “That’s it, just a little more sweetheart, You’re doin’ so good, mmph feelin’ so good.” His head drops in pleasure, hair falling over his eyes.

To be comfortable he has to lean some of his weight on you, close as can be when he begins to slowly rock his hips. He can’t believe he’s taking your first, and how beautiful and sweet you are with him, letting him guide you along the way. It’s pulling at his heartstrings, and he feels full of all sorts of emotions as he fucks your tight cunt.

As soon as you start really moaning, Clyde speeds up. His thrusts slow and steady now hard and fast, and your noises matching the speed. He’s moaning a lot too now, cursing and grunting with effort and pleasure. All while he sings out praise, “Ah yes, yes! You’re so pretty and ah! Tight. Feels so good and warm, fuckin’ can’t believe this pretty little pussy.”

Clyde rests his his head on the space of the pillow next to where your head lies, pressing his nose to your shoulder and kissing up along to your neck. His mouth sucks enough to bruise, his hot breath fanning against your skin as he works up a sweat.

“I love ya, so so much. My pretty girl, so good to me.” Clyde pants out, the bed starting to creak as he rut his hips. “Gonna cum in this pretty pussy, ah fuck!” Clyde curses as he stills, his orgasm coming outta nowhere and making him spurt hot cum inside you.

“Sweetheart mmm, can still make ya cum. Sorry ah didn’t last that long.” Clyde says dejectedly.

“No Clyde, oh!” You moan as he begins to rub your oversensitive clit. “You’re perfect, mmm I love you too!” You cry out, cumming quickly on his fingers.

Clyde laughs, overjoyed, “You love me too now? That’s not just the sex talkin’ to ya?”

You nod, blissed out and with a dopey grin on your face to match Clyde. “It’s not just that, I do. I love you.” You reach up to push back a stray lock of hair and he leans into your touch.

“I’m so lucky ya shared this with me, I’ll never forget it sweetheart. You’re so beautiful to me.” Clyde looks down at you, warmth in his brown eyes. He curls up next to you in bed, his chest still flushed red along with his face. He pulls you back in his arms and begins to pepper soft, tired kisses over your face, making you smile. “And I love you too, don’t ya forget it.” He reminded you, poking your cheek.

And he really would never forget this moment, that made him feel so lucky he forgot about any curse. It was hard to even justify one existing if he had the most perfect woman naked as ever in his arms, and he was gonna love on ya as long as you’d let him.

#filth #clyde logan x reader

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daryls-dixon-antoni · 4 years

Text

Chapter 2.) 30 Days without Incident

I run up to where I see Daryl, a long haired gruff looking man, with blue eyes, and a scruff covered face, speaking with an older, smaller looking woman with short grey hair and a kind smile. She's giving him some sort of lecture; during the last few weeks we've been here, I've learned Carol's lecture face.

I come in just as a dorky looking brown haired boy just a little older than my Mason walks up to Daryl and asks him to shake his hand.

I can admit; even as a happily married person, I do find myself getting a bit distracted as Daryl licks each individual finger before shaking Patrick's hand.

"Hey, uh. Can I speak with you?" I ask hurrying after Daryl and Carol.

"Can you walk and talk; I've got to show him something," Carol asks, sounding a little short with me.

I nod; following after.

"Where're your kids?" Daryl asks as we follow Carol.

"With Tyler, Aaron wanted to help Rick and Carl in the fields but..." I trail off, looking in the direction of the fence full of the Dead being killed by our people.

"You don't want them 'round that?"

I shrug, "Its not that.... it's just that, we'll we've been trying to avoid killing anything around the kids if we could help it."

"What'ya want to say?"

I look at him, "Right, can I go on the run with you lot? With Tyler still down, and the boys not really much help; I'd really like to do my part and be an asset. I know how to handle myself out there, You wouldn't regret bringing me, I'll make sure of it."

Daryl nods; "A'right, I'll meet up with you by the gates with the group."

I nod and rush off to go get ready. I meet the kids in the cell block where Tyler is laying. Tyler has blond hair, and the kindest crystal blue eyes you'd ever see.

A chorus of my boys saying, "Mom!" can be heard and I smile; pulling them both into a hug.

"Hey boys, how you doing?" I ask; before kissing Aaron on the top of the head while ruffling Mason's hair.

"Good; Patrick and Carl came by and Patrick asked if we could go read with the kids in the library today." Aaron says, excitedly.

"And Carl asked if we'd want to hang out with him in his room, can we, ma?" Mason rushes out.

"Yeah, can we please? He has comic books that the Horse Lady with the cool swords brings him," adds Aaron.

"Michonne; the woman who brings Carl the comics is named Michonne. Not the Horse Lady." I gently correct.

"Right, her." agrees Mason.

I look at Tyler who is quietly watching the exchange with a small smile on his face. I roll my eyes playfully at him before turning back to the kids.

"It'll have to be up to your father; I'm heading out on the run with Daryl and the rest to help get supplies."

I see Tyler try to sit up at this; but he fails to do so. "You're leaving? Why?"

"I want to help out, you aren't in any shape to do so; and the boys certainly aren't old enough to. And I have been trained for this kind of thing basically since birth."

"You're father's schizophrenic episodes where he'd turn your home into a boot camp to prepare for the up and coming Zombie Apocalypse is very different than this actual Zombie Apocalypse," says Tyler.

I straighten my stance; "I've kept us alive for the most part; and that's mostly because of my fathers Bootcamps. I can help them. So I'm going to."

"They won't need the help for much longer; Hershel said they are almost able to grow enough here that they won't have to go out on runs anymore. I get why you have to go, I do. It's who you are, but please be safe; I don't know what we'd do without you."

I glance from my husband to my sons; and then back again. There's affection and fear shining inside of my husbands eyes.

He's a good man; from a very well off family. His father was a famous singer who'd even appeared in a few movies and television shows back in his time; his mother was an actress, and even his sister grew up singing as a solo artist who became rather popular as well. As for my Tyler; he can sing; but he was always more interested in writing and acting. He published a few novels and was just starting to act in his first real movie after the television series he was in ended. But all that was before the world ended; and now we're just here.

"I'll be careful; I promise;" I lean down to give Tyler a kiss before I hug each of my boys; individually this time. After all; even whilst being careful, there is always the chance I won't be able to back.

I begin approaching where everyone is meeting up before the run; when I here from behind me, "Momma! Wait! Ma!"

I turn around and see Mason running after me; "What are you doing?"

He looks at me; I see a maturity about my young son that I wish was never there, "Aaron asked me to tell you we love you. Please come back; won't ya?"

I nod, "I'll be trying my very best. This will be safer than when I used to have to leave camp, there's others coming too. And they'll have my back."

"Promise?"

A new voice joins in, "We'll get your ma back, Kid."

I glance at Daryl before raising my eyebrows playfully at my boy, "See, I've even got Daryl's protection."

"Okay," Mason looks away briefly before looking back at me, "I love you."

I ruffle his hair, "I love you, too! Now get, we're leaving soon." I push him gently back towards the prison.

I turn around as a darker skinned man, with a kind demeanor walks up to a very thin and beautiful darker skinned woman, "Hey. I'd like to start pulling my weight around here."

"Bob, it's only been a week." She responds.

"That's a week worth of meals, a roof over my head. Let me earn my keep."

Sasha sighs, an arm over the door of the car she was loading up, "You were out on your own when Daryl found you."

"That's right."

"I just want to make sure you know how to play on a team."

Daryl walks past them as I join in on finishing loading the car up. "We ain't gonna do it unless it's easy."

"You know he was a medic in the Army." Glenn; a lovely Korean American man poins out to Sasha as he leans against the other side of the vehicle.

Sasha glances at Glenn, before turning back to Bob, obviously debating on her decision.

Bob grins, "You a hell of a tough sell, Y'know that?"

I chuckle under my breath and turn away to see Daryl getting on his bike.

"Okay," I hear Sasha give in as I hop in the back of the car.

We begin driving to the gates; seeing that a gorgeous darker skinned woman with dreadlocks and a katana on her back; Michonne is back and talking to a middle aged man with brown hair and blue eyes; Rick and his son Carl, a boy who's about a year older than Mason with the same brown hair and blue eyes as Rick. Daryl stops in front of them and I watch as they talk. The conversation seems to end as Michonne gets into the car next to me.

I stand behind Daryl as he explains why we're outside of a cut open fence surrounding a Big Mart, "Army came in and put these fences up. Made it a place for the people to go. Last week when we spotted this place, there was a bunch of walkers behind this chain-link keeping people out like a bunch of guard dogs."

"So they all just left?" Bob asks.

"Give a listen," Sasha instructs.

Music can be heard, just barely.

"You drew 'em out," Michonne sounds impressed.

Sasha responds with pride, "Put a boom box out there three days ago."

"Hooked it up to two car batteries," Glenn adds.

"All right, let's make a sweep," Daryl instructs as he begins to walk through the hole in the fence. "Make sure it's safe. Grab what you can. We'll come back tomorrow with more people."

We walk through, I have an arrow ready in my bow; as we look around, witnessing the horror of what's around us. Dead bodies scatter around what looks like a campsite, these people thought they were safe here, probably had their families set up here. I turn away, following Daryl.

We reach the entrance of the Big Mart just as Daryl says, "Come on." He knocks on the window, trying to entice any of the dead that could be lurking inside. "Just give it a second." He sits down at the window sill.

"Okay, I think I got it." A young boy with floppy dark blond practically brown hair; Zack says, with an easy going grin on his face.

"Got what?" Michonne asks, and I listen in out of curiosity as well whilst leaning against the side of the Big Mart.

"Oh, I've been trying to guess what Daryl did before the turn."

"He's been trying to guess for, like, six weeks."

"Yeah, I'm pacing myself. One shot a day," he sits down next to Daryl on the window sill.

"What have you guessed so far?" I ask, intrigued.

"Fireman, store clerk, mechanic, car salesman, hit man, spy, and some others, but those were my best guesses."

"And they were all wrong." Daryl responds, but he seems a little less on guard, as though he enjoys these moments.

"Well this one's got to be it."

"All right, shoot."

"Well, the way you are at the prison; you being on the council, you're able to track, you're helping people, but you're still being kind of... surly. Big swing here. Homicide cop."

Michonne and I both start laughing.

"What's so funny?" Daryl asks, sounding almost defensive.

"You, a Cop?" I ask, before laughing again.

"Yeah, it makes perfect sense," Michonne says, attempting to hold back her own laughter.

"Actually, the man's right. Undercover." Daryl says, surprising me for a moment before I notice the glint in his eye.

"Come on, really?" Zack asks, sounding surprised.

"Yep. I mean, I don't like to talk about it 'cause it was a lot of heavy shit, you know?"

"Dude, come on, really?"

Daryl gives him an 'are you kidding me' look before he clears his throat.

"Okay. I'll just keep guessing, I guess."

"Yeah, you keep doing that."

"Mm-hmm."

A couple of the dead slam themselves to the window at that, so we all stand up; any former signs of joking around gone in an instant.

"We gonna do this, Detective?" Michonne asks Daryl.

"Let's do it."

We all approach the entrance and Tyreese; Sasha's big brawny older brother, Glenn and I all go in to take out the Dead first, before everyone comes in to collect all of what we can.

Sasha takes charge after we drag the last body out. "All right, we go in, stay in formation for the sweep. After that, you all know what you're supposed to look for. Any questions?"

"Was there ever a time that you weren't the boss of me?" Tyreese teases her.

"You had a few years before I was born." They both grin as we all walk in, going to scavenge for what the Prison needs.

I take a grocery cart because why the hell not and go straight for the baby section; Rick has a daughter, a very young one; Judith. I would never want what happened to my Tonia to happen to her. So I go to find formula and diapers; things the others may not think to get. I just barely start throwing stuff in my cart when I hear a loud crash. I abandon my cart and rush to help; yelling, "Everyone okay!"

As I hear Glenn's voice yell, "What happened?"

"Everyone's all right. We're over in wine and beer!" I hear someone call back.

It's not long after that that the Dead start to basically fall from the sky. It's absolutely terrifying. The scene around me looks like something I used to watch in horror movies.

I get out my pocket knife and kill one after the other; and all I can hear is gunfire. I see Michonne kill one of the dead with her sword. And then I hear Bob yelling, "Hey! Hey!"

I look over; and see Daryl on top of one of one of the displays, I can also see that the ceiling above him is about to cave down, which will allow about six or seven more of the dead to fall directly on his head.

"Daryl, look out!"

He jumps down, and then immediately gestures to Zack and I; "Let's get Bob."

I nod and rush to help move the fallen display of wine off of Bob, aided by Zack as Bob yells, "More, more!"

We finally pull the display far enough up that Daryl is able to pull him free. "Come on, time to go."

We all start moving, "Let's go, now!"

"Come on!"

"Go!"

The situation is getting worst right before our very eyes.

"Let's get out of here!"

We all hear Zack scream in pain and turn to see him being bit; I hear Glenn yell his name.

We watch as he is being eaten alive before our very eyes.

"Go, go!" Daryl pulls my jacket, "We have to go!"

"We have to save him!" I yell back, the vision of Zack mixing with my own baby girl, and then his face being replaced with my boys'. "We can't leave him."

"Dammit, Woman!" Daryl gives a huge tug, and manages to pull me out if the store, Zack's screams echoing loudly in my ears.

"Anne." I'm alone in a bunk, my boys are reading with the kids and Carol and I have yet to go visit my husband.

I don't look up from my knees, but I do respond to Daryl. "What?"

"What was that?" He asks, gruffly.

I look up, and see that he doesn't seem angry, just... resigned almost?

"I'm sorry, I'll do better next time."

He nods before asking, "You lose a kid?"

I nod, "Yeah. You ever lose one?"

"Never had one, won't ever. Not in this mess."

"I wouldn't trade anything for my boys."

"Don't."

I then ask, "Are you alright?"

"Just tired of losing people is all."

"A drifter?" I ask.

"Huh?" He seems confused.

"Before all of this, you were a drifter. I think you drifted from place to place, probably unable to stay too long anywhere. I'd bet you had to fight for everything you got."

He nods once, before walking away.

I go to find my family only to discover Aaron coughing harshly. I check his forehead and its warm.

"You feeling alright, Little Man?"

"I don't feel good, Momma."

I nod, "Okay, its okay. Lay down," I tuck him in.

"Can you sing to me?"

I nod and start singing softly, "Its not where you come from, its where you belong, nothing I would trade, I wouldn't have you any other way," I feel Mason move to sit on the end of Aaron's bed and start softly singing as well, "Your surrounded, by love and your wanted, your home with me, right where you belong." Aaron closes his eyes and falls asleep while I stoke his hair.

#daryl dixon #daryl dixon fanfiction #the walking dead #the walking dead fanfiction #season 4 #chapter 2

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wetalkinboutbooks · 5 years

Text

The Bird King by G. Willow Wilson

Summary

The Bird King is a 2019 fantasy novel set in 1491, the novel takes place in the Emirate of Granada during the territory’s final days. The story concerns the flight of Fatima and Hassan, a concubine and mapmaker, respectively, from service to the Emirate’s last sultan. (Taken from Wikipedia)

We follow Fatima and Hassan on their search for the Bird King as they avoid soldiers of the Spanish inquisition, and meet a variety of characters along the way.

Our Ratings:

→ Geena: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

→ Kae: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Overall: The Bird King is an amazing book that manages to be complex yet light-hearted. It touches on subjects like faith, love, and friendship. The characters are engaging (and absolute drama queens) and the plot is fast-paced so there’s never a dull moment. The dynamic between the characters leads to the funniest situations that will have you dying. In summary, reasons to read this book if you haven’t already:

A- ONE SUPER FUNNY BOOK PLZ READ IT

B - THE DRAMAAA OF FATIMA AND HASAAN

C - Vikram

D - Stupid

~ Spoiler-full discussion below ~

The Good:

→ Hassan and Fatima’s Relationship

Geena: The best thing about the bird king (aside from the horse named Stupid) was Hassan and Fatima’s friendship. IMO it was so wholesome and they were so in love (PLATONICALLY!!!!). When Hassan said seeing Fatima walking around was like seeing his heart outside his body…… a BITCH DIED!!! Also, the fact they would take shots at each other constantly? Loved it. HOW COULD I FORGET… HASSAN CONSTANTLY BEING HORNY AND FATIMA BEING LIKE “CAN U CHILL!”

Kae: OKAY MOOD LMAOOO. So boom. Geena covered it. We love this book! Hassan and Fatima are the definition of the 💯 emoji. But these bestie-bitches are DRAMATIC af. I’ve never seen two best friends who love each other as much as they do. They’re hugging and crying one moment, then the next they’re jealous that one of them is talking to someone else. DRAMATIC. I love it. Have we talked about Gwenny and Stupid yet?

Geena: WE HAVEN’T TALKED ABOUT THEM, the perfect accessories to the Hassan-Fatima duo. Gwen is the token white boi, there for Hassan to thirst over and Fatima to learn how to sail a ship. Stupid on the other hand…. God bless that horse all it did was drown and then LIVE!!!! The absolute legend. BUT Kae HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE GWEN AND STUPID? HMMM

Gwen: I only love God

Also Gwen: *sleeps with Fatima on the deck of the ship while Hassan is 3 feet away*

Kae: Well... Gwennec. Ol’ Gwenny Gwen Gwen. Gwen, the Monk who FUCKS. PAHAAHA. Gwen was a new Monk who was at first, totally against helping our favorite bestie-bitches. But Fatima was all “Don’t test me white boi I will kick ya ass.” And Gwen lowkey thought it was hot so he let them slide. He taught Fatima and Hassan how to sail while Hassan made googly eyes at him and definitely wanted to tap that. But, as previously stated, Fatima and Gwen got it ooonnn. Hassan found out and as like “Fa, I can’t believe you slept with my husband who doesn’t know we’re married yet!”, and that was basically that.. Then we have Stupid. The horse who was just as damn stupid as his name. The horse lived to spite the Grim Reaper just to prove it would breathe another day. We also haven’t mentioned our Jinn friend and their literal lifesaver/guardian angel, Vikram.

Geena: VIKRAM, aka another dude/djinn/dog man that Hassan wanted to fuck but couldn’t :( Vikram was essentially the only one in the group that had a substantial amount of brain cells, and spent most of the time trying to make sure Fatima didn’t accidentally kill herself. The fact that he saw his death and it was in the arms of a “beautiful woman” should sum up his character really well.

Kae: Geena is sooo right. Vikram was the only one with brain cells because Fatima and Hassan both shared two. Our loveable, dramatic, but also a little dimwitted faves wouldn’t have survived any of their adventure without Vikram. He lead them through a Jinn filled tunnel that Hassan made. Escorted them across the land with the Inquisition right on their asses, and fought off whoever tried to hurt them. Initially, he agreed to save them because of a debt he owed to Fatima’s Sultana. But in the end, Vikram helped them because he wanted to. He was a weirddog/man/Jinn who just wanted Fatima and Hassan to stop being dumbasses for five seconds. But they couldn’t so he was constantly annoyed and probs wanted to eat them to shut them up. BUT WE STAN THAT FURRY LEGEND BECAUSE WITHOUT HIM, OUR ESCAPEES WOULD BE DEAD-EEE. Also he was one suave, smooth talking mofo and I feel like if he walked up to you and said “You’re lovely, but you’re an idiot. It’s okay, because you’re pretty tho.” that compliment sandwich would go right over your head and you’d thank him.

Geena: ok FIRST OFF I would be like “why do you have a tail” but god Kae you hit all the points.

The Bad AND The Ugly

→ The Sultan and His Mom Being Pedos

Geena: Ok so, Fatima is 17 and I’m assuming the Sultan was in his mid-thirties, because he has kids Fatima’s age 👀. So I am sure it was historically accurate, the fact that the old ass man had a 17 year old concubine, but that doesn’t make it any less gross!!!! What’s worse is that Fatima’s mom was originally a slave for the sultan, so when she was born the sultan’s mom raised her and had her instated as a concubine when she was 15!!!!!! Scuse me while I 🤮.

Kae: Yea, Geena said it all. The Sultan was ewww. Fatima was his favorite and I guess he talked to her like she wasn’t a concubine? She was treated very well. For a concubine. Probably better than any concubine I’ve read about Like, she had rights and could talk shit without punishment. But still, DISGUSTEEENNNG. Our girl was groomed so we do NOT stan the Sultan.

→ Luz

Kae: we also have our main villain, Luz. She arrived at their palace to play peaceful, but she had ulterior motives that involved her spreading the word of the LORDT and taking Hassan in to be tried for Witchcraft and all that magic shit. Because if we didn’t say it before, Hassan can draw anything on a map and make that place a reality. Luz has this little worm in her eye that basically makes her super weirdly strong and badass. But fuck Luz. When Fatima finds out that Hassan is to be tried for witchcraft, she goes to him so they can both escape. Fatima wants to be free and she doesn’t want to see her bestie die. So what do they do? They dip. And now our friends are on the run.

Geena: UGH Yes, can I just say the moment that Fatima realized that Hassan would get canned she was like “fuck all these people” and peaced out with Hassan? Friendship goals… But yes LUZ!! I enjoyed reading her as a villain because she genuinely thinks she’s a good person and that her life’s mission is to “Save” people like Fatima from people like Hassan. You really end up liking her in the beginning, and then she turns around and murders a few people and you’re like…. Ah…… i see….. aND THEN it turns out she was being controlled by some brainworm that was also trying to get to the Bird King and you kind of wonder…. How much of what Luz did was her being a violent inquisitor and how much was the worm controlling her… you kno? She redeems herself by dying, so I guess she gets…. Like one (1) right.

Kae: Damn girl! Well said!!! LITCHERALY that is a perfect summary of Luz’s character. I can’t say anything else because it’s been SAID. Villains are always interesting when they don’t see themselves as the bad guy. They’re righteous and unforgiving because they believe they are doing the right thing. That’s what scary about them.

Conclusion

Kae: Okay, so in conclusion. This is an amazing book and in all honesty, I enjoyed the hell out of it. I was never bored reading it. Hassan, Fatima, and Vikram had quite the adventure and all the dramatics of made it that much more enjoyable. They left the palace in hopes of freedom. Hassan and Fatima got the idea of The Bird King from a story they liked to read, but never knew the ending. So they continued the story on their own, making it up along the way. In hopes of escaping their new fate to Luz and the Inquisition, Hassan drew up a map to the Bird King in hopes to find it. Their journey took them to meet Gwennec who sailed them to said island, where they discovered used to be inhabited long, long ago. Soon, others began to show up on the island. Hassan even got him a MANS. A DOCTOR. Whew. He’s got taste. The island is also forever changing and some of the remaining inhabitants are Jinn.

Geena: Kae summarized the story really well!!! The journey to the end was an absolute trip, but G. Willow Wilson tied up the story neatly. We get to see Fatima become less dependent on Hassan (thanks to his doctor bf who told her to chill out) and Hassan finally find the happiness he deserves. Gwen, unfortunately, doesn’t make it to the end (press F to pay respect). Luz essentially sacrifices herself by taking the map Hassan drew, getting off the island, and ripping it up. Why does she do this? Because to make a place or passage Hassan drew disappear the map has to be ripped. And leaving the map to the island wasn’t an option because the Spanish inquisition never stops!!

Kae: And if they ripped the map on the island, the island would cease to exist! Upon arrival to the island, everyone had their ships wrecked. Luz got fucked up on the shipwreck and that worm thing got ripped out of her eyes and then it became a monster on the island that was NOT to be trifled with. Since Luz got all jacked up, she was gonna die anyway and no one wanted her to stay--

Geena: Everyone said “u cant sit with us” to luz. OKAY DISCUSSING THIS BOOK MADE ME REMEMBER HOW MUCH IT MADE ME LAUGH, GENUINELY ONE OF THE FUNNIEST BOOKS I’VE READ. 10/10 FOR ME!!

Kae: LMAOOO HONESTLY. XPECIALLY FATIMA NEVER HAVING WALKED SO FAR BEFORE AND BEING A BIG OL BABY. but she DIIIID have messed up shoes that blistered so I’ll give her that BUT YES HASSAN WAS A DRAMA QUEEN “waaah, I have red hair and im pale BUT I'M STILL HOT AND I LIKE TO F U C K” But yeah, Luz got voted off the island and voted herself off the island, ripped up the map, and then they were safe and lived happily ever after. Vikram even made his final appearance to say his goodbyes to Fatima, even though he hates goodbyes. I give this book a 10/10. It was funny, the characters were likeable and relatable, and it was just a good adventure read.

#the bird king #G. Willow Wilson #diverse books #book review #the bird king review #book blogging #booklr

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