#is that i need to start using a 'no beta we die like....' tag
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Never Shall We Die (2)
«« Nothing is too outlandish when it’s a life of liberty on the line. »»
PAIRING: kwon soonyoung x reader
PLAYLIST: right here!
pirate lingo glossary (pls refer!)
SYNOPSIS: Deadliest pirate on the high seas or a damn fool?
The stupid King and his men have snatched Hoshi's precious pirate ship with their too clean, too soft hands; grounds to question his own vices. Except, when he and his crew land in the quarters of a navy ship, revenge on their roster, they stumble across a princess in its gallows.
Hoshi wonders if he's just struck gold, or if you'd become the final tread to his downfall.
GENRES: pirate!au, enemies to lovers, slowburn, angst, fluff, smut [minor dni], some pirates of the carribean vibes but ? idk
WORD COUNT [full fic]: 48.1k
Part 1: 17.07k | Part 2: 15.2k | Part 3 [final] : 15.8k
@highvern's out of context comment box: new fear unlocked: hoshi with explosives, victorian ankle moment, HATE HIM (need him carnally), hoshi covered in soapy water would distract me enough, strip for me pirate mingyu [hes litrally taking off his jacket], your honor hes a bitch, freaks!, mingyu crushes hoshi's head like a grape, WONWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, massive dick, the way i literally gasped like an old scandalized woman
masterlist
WARNINGS: slowburn, plot heavy, happy ending bc no angsty endings in this household, being taken hostage, knives, bombs, and guns, mentions of blood, mentions of SA (does not happen and it is not explicitly mentioned), alcohol, mentions of death (patricide), hoshi is ✨selectively moral✨but kind of moral nonetheless, side character death, [pls lmk if im missing something its alot] smut tags in following parts
[AN]: part 2 !!!! ty for reading pt1, hope you guys will enjoy this too <3 as always, ty to @highvern for beta-ing and sitting through this entire thing lmao <3 happy reading, and remember to tell me what you think !!
THE FOREVER EMPTY DECK, for whatever reason, was occupied when you trudge up the stairs in an attempt to free yourself from the stuffiness of your quarters.
You make out Seungkwan sitting cross legged on the floors, very carefully pouring himself a bottle of something unmarked into a bowl. Chan is there as well, very meticulously explaining a happening to…Hoshi, who sits by with an interested expression, mouth turned into a frown with his brows furrowed. Chan is using his hands as he continues, unaware of your presence.
“Oh!” Seungkwan calls you out by name, causing the rest of the clique to turn their heads to you. “Come have a drink!”
“What’s this?” Hoshi starts. He’s smiling, but his reddened cheeks give away his very obviously intoxicated state. “Has miss princess decided to grace us with her presence?”
You ignore him, acknowledging Chan when he asks why you were up at this hour as you sit between him and Seungkwan.
“Just needed some air,” you mumble.
“Well,” Hoshi is loud when he spills half the drink out of the cup he was pouring it into. “Air pairs well with rum.”
He holds out a cup of the liquid for you, swaying slightly from the effort of holding it far out towards you.
“I am a lady.” You resist the effort to turn your nose up.
“Okay lady, bottoms up!” he slurs.
When you continue to keep your hands folded, he retracts his hand with what you think is a prominent scowl, but it looks more like a disappointed pout if anything. He takes a dejected sip from the cup.
“Come on, just one!” Seungkwan tries to convince you.
“Leave her alone, Kwan, miss princess is too good to be drinking with pirates,” Hoshi chides.
You aren’t sure if it was meant to be a jab at all, considering the strange switch in behaviour he seems to have adopted as his drunk persona. You watch in silence as he reaches over to plant a big kiss on Seungkwan’s cheek in affection, grabbing his head strongly. He yelps, pushing his captain off with a face.
But regardless of what he meant, the defiance sparked within you anyway, and you find yourself gripping the neck of the poorly dusted bottle that sat in the middle amidst even more bottles, cups and twine. The motion has all eyes on you, even as you bring the bottle to your lips, preparing yourself for one of the dumber things you’ve done.
Locking eyes with Hoshi’s sharp ones over the bottle, you chug it of its remnants, ignoring the fiery burn and the trickles of liquid that trail down the corners of your mouth.
You hear Seungkwan and Chan cheering, Hoshi remaining stoic as he refuses to be the one to look away from above the bottle.
By the time you’ve slammed the bottle back onto the hardwood, you’re struggling to maintain your vision and you’re forced to tear your eyes away from the man that sits across from you, unwavering.
Resisting the urge to vomit, you can only smile weakly at Seungkwan and Chan who are overly excited over your endeavour, clinking their own cups as they down another one in your honour.
It kickstarted your spree in any case as the night commenced, continuing to accept refills as you sip slower than before, savouring the taste that you couldn’t really say you enjoyed. The feeling, however.
Seungkwan and Chan took longer than you’d expected to pass out, noting the way they continued to clink and drink with no regard.
Hoshi seemed to need little to be washed away, something you found yourself silently snorting at, even as both boys continued to snore quietly behind you.
“What’s so funny?” Hoshi asks, taking a sip from his cup.
You snap your head up, drunk and hot. You consider shaking your head to indicate a null, but you can’t say you have much control over yourself at the moment.
“You take so little to get tipsy,” you comment with a little giggle.
“What makes you think I’m drunk?” he asks.
His red face? The uncharacteristic warmth he’d been treating you with all night? Who knows? But right now you ignore his question, zeroed in on something. He’s wearing one of his stupid linen shirts that are always buttoned too low, the ones that make it impossible to keep your eyes on his face.
Your eyes find the distorted slash of tissue that resides on his chest, right over his left peck, right over his heart. You’ve noticed the scar on multiple occasions. Not that he seems to ever try to hide it. You decide to mention it.
“How’d you get that?” you whisper. It feels right to talk like that; the deck is silent, the sea is calm in her regard to pushing the ship where it needs to go. Your legs are pulled up to your chest, cheek on your knees.
He follows your gaze to his scar, coming round to answer you with a drunk, dopey smile on his face. “Got hungry.”
Possible, but you also get the feeling he wasn’t about to give you a straight answer if you pushed anyway. But your gaze remains on his chest, ingraining the ridges of the scar to memory.
And with every moment that passes, it looks less and less like a scary altercation of someone trying to carve his heart out, and more like he may have fallen off his horse while riding. Accidentally cut himself with a steak knife at the supper table. Took a bad blow during a practice sword fight.
And with every moment that passes, the backgrounds of your mind’s pictures turn from the rugged sea to the grassy training grounds of the palace, the hay and brown of the stables, the silver glints of the dining hall. The thuds of rusting cups and cheap sailors rum turn into clinks of wine glasses, Hoshi’s hand wrapped around the stems, skin free of every scar and darkened slash.
And with every moment that passes, you imagine what this deadly, ferocious pirate would look like if his life was a little different. If his life was a little like yours. Would he be able to be a better match against your father, would he have taken every missed opportunity to become a ruler that you only wish you could be? Could he lead a kingdom as well as he leads his beloved band of pirates?
There’s not a thought of what you’re doing in your mind as you find yourself reaching over, not to the bottles that lie empty, but to the pirate captain’s hands, taking his rough calloused palms in your soft, unscarred ones.
He does little to resist, letting his hand fall limp in yours.
“What’s this one?” you ask, tracing over the biggest scar that slashed across his knuckles.
“Piece of wood sticking out of the mast.”
It’s an older scar, clear with the way his skin has settled into the healed wound like it’s always been that way.
“This one?” you ask, tracing over another nick.
“Fell on glass.”
“This one?”
“Punched Mingyu.”
You frown at that, looking up at him and in accusation.
“I apologised,” he defends.
Was it strange that a pirate captain would apologise for assaulting his crew? Slightly, yes. But you liked to think you understood Hoshi a little better than you’d first met him, and that he considered his crew more like his family than anything else.
Never in a million years, in your pirate hating household, would you have thought that the deadliest band of pirates would soon be the ones you’d be sharing drinks with, tracing scars with, feeling somewhat secure being alone with.
Entrusting to save your future with.
You turn his hand over to his palms, now staring at a fresher looking gash that seems to still be healing. It looks painful, the redness yet to fade into its darker hues.
“What about this one?” you ask, being extra careful to not touch the wound.
Hearing him let out a small laughing exhale, you look up.
“Thought you’d recognize your own work.”
And then you remember.
The spray of blood in the air as your dagger made its first ever maim at your hands.
“Oh,” you breathe out.
When you look up from your hunched position, you’re closer to Hoshi than you’d initially thought. He went from an arms length away to brushing shoulders with you, his palm remaining cradled in both of yours.
“Do you regret it?” he asks as he looks at you like he’s gotten lost somewhere in your face.
His breath hits your face in a delicate fan, the smell of alcohol mixing from your own mouth.
Glancing down at his scarring wound, you look back up at him with your lips in a tight line.
“No.”
He smiles, less of disbelief and more of contentment, a pleasant look on his face as he reads your expression.
You felt like you’d passed some kind of test.
“Good.”
And then you’re so close you can barely make out the tip of his nose, his warmth infiltrating your own. You can smell him past the rum, a faint woody scent that makes your head spin. You push up to the alcohol.
Your stomach is on fire as you expect the final push to come, the eager build in your chest becoming near unbearable.
Just as you’re about to flutter your eyes closed, ready to take whatever he might give you, you find his face disappeared.
Hoshi turned his face away, your face infiltrated by the cool breeze once more. Your palms are cooling as his warmth retracts from them as well, leaving you cold and confused.
Blinking, pushing your chin closer to your chest, you attempt to catch your bearings, catch the notes in the air as you feel him move to his feet quickly.
“Get some sleep, it’s late,” he announces in a low, gravelly voice before trudging towards the staircase. He seems to have sobered up.
All that’s left on the deck is your empty palms, the stinging sea spray, and two snoring pirates.
HOSHI SPENT THE REST of the morning trying to sleep off the imminent feeling of spontaneous combustion.
The tingle in his right hand refuses to go away, even when he plunges the darn thing into a freezing bucket of water next to his cot, assuming his wound was acting up.
He sleeps fitfully, the frustration that simmers refuses to let him have a staggering moment of peace. His head is as dense as a whale, throbbing in the seeping light. The sounds of the sea, ones that once brought him calm, were now triggering an irrational reaction from his entire being.
Swinging to his feet is easy, it’s the aftermath of such a reckless action that has him stumbling like a fawn. Slipping into his boots, he thuds to the lower decks, to the storage area where all of the rations are.
And where all of the alcohol is.
He bumps into Minghao on the way down, who’s filling his canteen as he keeps morning watch on deck.
“Go sleep, I’ve got it,” he says to him, and Minghao does little to refute as he makes a beeline for his beloved hammock.
It’s too early for anyone to be awake, despite the afternoon sun that lingers. He takes full advantage of it as he hauls the first crate of rum up to the deck.
There isn’t an inch of hesitation as he lifts the death juice and sends it splashing into the ocean. He stares for a moment as heavy bottles disappear under the water, still full of the very thing he’d shoot his crew for wasting a single drop of.
Even more determined than before, he goes back down into the brig, this time lugging two more crates of rum, all to be met with the same fate, going down to touch the bottom of the ocean.
With every echoing slam of the wood hitting the water, he feels himself freeing.
But you plague him anyway.
Lifting a particularly heavy box, he thinks of how close you had gotten to him on this very deck. How he could breathe in your exhales. How he could feel the tactile of your fingertips tracing over every mauled slash on his hand. How you consumed his mind in ways he couldn’t fathom.
It was the rum. The rum was doing this to him.
At least, that’s what he’d chosen to blame.
Who was he to deny the effect you seemed to have on him?
The answer was that he was a pirate, especially with the way he chalked his muddled brain to not having had a woman around for so, so long.
He’d considered indulging once they reached Port Ash, slipping away for an hour into one of the beaded doors of women ready to give him what he wanted. The thought seemed like an unwanted remedy.
Every solution felt fruitless, a balm that only seemed to make the itch worse. Even as he commits a sin as heinous as feeding perfectly good rum to sea foam, he only does it in the hopes that the sea will take it as a sacrifice, to give him the kind of peace his being has begun to crave.
Hoshi has been moved to insanity.
Even as he feels the cool cylinder of Jun’s revolver on his temple, he pushes the last crate overboard as his final answer.
“What do you think you’re doing?” he hears Jun ask.
When he turns around, the revolver remains stationary as it now points into the smack middle of his forehead. He has an audience, Mingyu’s face has leftover sleep on it, a mildly horrified look on his face. Chan looks like he could slice his own Captain’s throat open.
“Where’s the rum?” Mingyu asks in an airy voice, disbelief prominent.
“The rum’s gone.”
“Why is the rum gone?”
Hoshi doesn’t answer as he moves Jun’s loaded gun out of his face and makes his way back to his cot downstairs, in no mood to squabble with his too sober crew.
There’s calls of his name that follow him all the way to below the deck, even as he snatches a stray hat on the floor, placing it above his face in the hopes that he was relieved enough to sleep.
It’s snatched away as Mingyu stands above him like an angel of death, his hat in his equally deathly grip.
“Did the spirits possess you?”
“No,” he replies begrudgingly. “But good sense has.”
“Captain,” he hears Chan begin, looking about five seconds away from committing a murder on the seas. “You know I can’t fight sober.”
“Learn.”
“What is this about? Where was the rum at fault?” Jun grits.
Hoshi swings up once again. If Mingyu was an angel of death then he was the king of hell.
But he has no threats left to give, his menacing soul left with the rum. There is only a snarl that turns into him dropping his head, sighing a loud, loud sigh.
He tells his crew a sad affair as he expresses his sorrows like a eulogy. Blaming the rum was stupid, but it was what he had done. And now the fruit of his decisions sit forgotten in the reefs so far below.
His crew is not happy when they find out, in any case.
“But what did the rum do?”
“Kissing beautiful women is part of life’s pleasures!”
“I have half a mind to make you fish it all back up.”
Mingyu has simply crumpled onto the floor in his heartbreak, Chan has his face in his hands. Hoshi doesn’t look up to witness Jun’s reaction.
The crew would get over the lack of alcohol on board, perhaps a morbid brawl or two to help them get by, but what was more concerning was whether it did anything for Hoshi at all.
At the very least, he knows he won’t go around kissing people sober, but when it comes to the matter of the war inside his chest…
A phantom ache throbs across the scar on his chest.
Perhaps his heart would finally be the next to go.
PORT ASH WAS A depraved man’s heaven.
One that could easily become his downfall if he doesn’t play his cards right.
Too covered was suspicious, too much of the opposite was an open invitation to all the drunk and debauched population of Ash; pirates, criminals and councilmen alike. You were comfortable enough in what you were given to put on, to become the perfect blend in the rowdy, barely lit streets of the brothels and bars.
Despite everything, Seungkwan assured you that no one would bother a woman flanked by obvious pirates, for whatever reason that may be. If it were up to you, you would’ve remained on the ship, safe and buried in your quarters, but the threat of an ambush on the docks plagued the crew enough to risk bringing you directly into the dragon’s den.
Jun disappeared quickly, ducking behind an unmarked curtain with a nod to his captain. You could only assume this was where he’d obtain his remaining supplies for the explosives he seemed to be so good at creating. You’ve awoken to multiple median bangs during the night, so you can only assume he knows what he’s doing to a certain extent.
“Jun said it might take a while, so we might have to wait on him a little bit.” Hoshi stands at the front of the group, addressing his crew.
“Spread out, do whatever. Don’t linger, don’t drink yourselves to death—” he sends a pointed look at a shifty Chan and Mingyu, “—and meet back at the ship at six bells or we’ll leave without you.”
The announcement doesn’t seem to apply to you. You’re sandwiched between Hoshi and Seungkwan as they lead you into the throng, to wherever it was they were to pass the time till it was time to return.
If Ash was anything, it was alive. Men and women scatter in all states of drunk and sober, arms latched with their partners for the night as they let the oil lamps carry them to their abode for the night. It’s a wilder Hasry, a scarier Hasry.
The nighttime does nothing to help your nerves, every single face shrouded in the half shadows, seemingly resembling every person you’ve ever met in the Kingdom.
It makes you feel better that both men are pressed against your sides, as strange as the thought sounds in your head. Safe between two pirates.
“Nobody’s tried to kill you yet, I’d call that a record,” Seungkwan comments, but it’s not directed towards you.
Hoshi scowls as you shift your gaze from Seungkwan to him. The usually nonchalant pirate captain looks…cautious. His eyes dart around the crowded streets, like he was looking for familiar faces all the same as you.
Your eyes land on his curled lips and force down a shiver. This was the first time you’d been around him since that drunken night, since you’d promised to never drink again.
He doesn’t mention it, so neither do you.
“Captain Hoshi Kwon? How wonderful of you to show your face again!”
A woman’s voice rings shrill amidst the loud buzz and hollers of the streets, emerging like a white ghost from the throng. Dressed to the nines, face painted intricately, fan clenched in her hand that perches on her hip. She’s joined by another gaggle of women that crown behind her, displaying a rainbow of coloured gown and fans, but holding the same disdained look.
The pirate captain freezes beside you, and you feel Seungkwan’s hand on your back burn.
He seems shaken at the sight of the new woman initially, but puts on a smile you’ve only seen a few times. One that dazzles with his teeth on display, eyes squinted.
“Delilah!” he exclaims, almost too happy to see this mystery woman. “How’ve you been?”
“Who did that? I’d like to send them flowers,” she refers to the scar above Hoshi’s heart.
“Jellyfish don’t really like me, learned that the hard way.”
His answer seems to only annoy her. Delilah has a wicked snarl on her face, threat in her stance. “When was the last time I saw you?”
“Uh,” Hoshi stumbles.
“The Crowded Inn, was it? When I fell asleep to a promise and woke up to an empty bed?”
“Our dear captain seems to have thrown memory at sea,” one of the girls behind her calls out, followed by a collective giggle.
Hoshi looks cornered, at a loss for words as he attempts to save face. Regaining his prior easygoing expression, he continues.
“There’s no promises after I’ve had a drink or two, you know that, Delilah.” It scares you a little how easily he can inject all the sugar and honey in the world directly into his words, flirting his way out of the predicament.
Except, she doesn’t seem to be buying it, because as soon as the words leave Hoshi’s lips, you hear a loud thwack and a blur of colour. You gasp before you can help it, covering your mouth in shock.
There’s a reddenning mark on his cheek in the shape of a hand. Hoshi remains face scrunched, coming round, hand slowly coming up to touch his no doubt stinging cheek.
Your reaction seems to have roused this woman, because she sends you nothing but a look laced with pure venom, completely ignoring Seungkwan who stands aside doing nothing to help his captain.
“Where’d you pick this one up?” She asks, her fan now shucked open, fanning herself even in the pleasant weather. Her pale face, red lips, dark eyes all remain on your shabby form, a hint of a smirk on her face. “Is she as disappointing of a performer as she looks?”
That seems to do it, as you watch Hoshi’s facade of a cheeky bed trotter image drop to something with more depth.
“Delilah,” he says, warning in his voice.
“Ah! Looks like I’ve struck a nerve.”
You watch Hoshi take a step forward and you’re suddenly hyper aware of the crowd of people that continue to pass and linger, reminding yourself of the repercussions of causing a scene in a place like this. Turning slightly, you attempt to push Seungkwan to do something.
“Captain,” Seungkwan says, a casual but careful voice. A starting attempt at calming things down.
“That’s enough,” Hoshi says, ignoring Seungkwan’s warning. “Quit pretending you weren’t warming that privateer’s bed right after I left.”
There was no reason for you to say anything, do anything. But when you find yourself pushing forward, leaving Seungkwan’s hold, you can’t stop. Perhaps he’d have punched Seungkwan, his own crew, if he’d done the same as you were right now, but you’d like to think you know the pirate captain enough to assume he’d react less so with you.
There’s a shift in the woman’s jaw as she watches you wrap your arm around one of Hoshi’s, trying your absolute best to mimic a bright smile.
“We should go,” you announce, the stretch of your cheeks unfamiliar even to you. You turn to catch Hoshi’s stare, he’s looking at you like you’ve grown an extra head. “Right, Hosh?”
“Go on then, Captain. Your little princess awaits.”
You flinch without meaning to. Princess.
This woman doesn’t know what she’s talking about, at least, that’s what you recite in your head as your trio goes back to pushing walking through the streets. She doesn’t know who you are.
“She doesn’t know,” you hear Hoshi say under his breath, but you hear it loud as day.
You exhale, “I know.”
“Sorry about her. And him, “ Seungkwan says, before turning to Hoshi. “I told you not to get involved with that one, she’s a menace.”
You’ve let go of Hoshi’s arm at this point, now simply watching him attempt to calm himself down as you walk. He doesn’t reply to Seungkwan’s jab.
You feel strange, a feeling you can’t exactly pinpoint. You’re too aware of yourself, in a way that’s different than just the fear of being recognized. Shifting your eyes to your attire, your usual linen skirts and corset, an added grey shawl for your own anxious sanity.
The woman’s voice rings in your head. Shabby.
“You didn’t let her get to you, did you? She’s always been vile, she can’t live without being a bitch about something every five minutes.”
Seungkwan’s grumbling goes in one ear and out the other as you don’t answer. He seems to read you better than you thought he could. He sighs.
“Congratulations Delilah, you’ve made a princess feel shabby,” he says in a sarcastically chipper voice, one that earns a hiss from his captain for being too loud.
Before you know it, you’re being led down a flight of stone stairs and you’re informed that it was an underground pub of sorts. Something about his undertone told you it was probably more, but you ignore it as the darkness is let alight beyond the musty curtains of the basement entrance.
It’s a sizable expanse, a bar on one of the long ends of the hall, busy and overflowing with mugs, jugs and plates. Wooden tables and chairs, almost all of them occupied by patrons of all kinds that do nothing to regulate their volumes. It smells like a rancid mixture of alcohol and people, but you push past as you find yourself seated on one of the wooden seatings in the corner.
“I’ll go get us drinks,” Seungkwan announces as he walks up to the bar. You watch as he’s greeted by nearly every passing customer, all smiles.
Hoshi sits beside you like a begrudged toddler, arms crossed and glaring at nothing.
“Didn’t realise how popular you were around these parts,” you comment, scanning the crowd in excruciating detail, blaming force of habit as you do.
He clicks his tongue, and you can’t see him, but you can almost visualise his grimace.
A too clean councilman that has his hands on the upper thighs of an outlandishly dressed woman. A man so grimy and dusty who has nothing but an array of empty jugs for company. Another flock of fan yielding, hair towering, gown exploding women that swarm a man you cannot see past the bodies.
It’s organised chaos, immoral yet is the only thing that seems to work on this island.
Another entrance is being made from the curtains that block the pub from the outside, you steer your eyes automatically.
Looks like he could be a pirate, beyond just the dark hair and chiselled face. He has a girl under his arm, a pretty brunette that giggles at his side as he whispers something in her ear. She’s wearing something similar to you, a corset and a linen skirt, and a pirate's hat that’s too big for her that’s perched on her head.
Subconsciously, you feel better about being so severely underdressed.
Hoshi sits up next to you and you glance over your shoulder to assess his shift. He’s also staring at the couple that’s just walked in. You briefly wonder if this was going to be another showdown.
The man catches Hoshi’s eye from across the room, and you notice how his smile falls a little.
“Who’s that?” you ask quietly.
Your question is answered when the man himself begins to walk towards your table, leaving the girl at his table, a confident strut as he makes his path.
Hoshi rises next to you before you realise what’s happening, and you have the sudden urge to call out for Seungkwan.
“Why are you getting up?” you hiss. He doesn’t answer, yet again.
“Captain,” the man greets.
“Captain,” Hoshi replies.
Captain. So he was a pirate.
“Hm. That’s not gonna go away, is it?” The man comments with a smirk, eyes trained on the scar on Hoshi’s chest.
“Wonder who’s fault that is.” Hoshi’s voice is levelled.
Oh. Was that scar his doing?
“I hope you won’t mind if I don’t apologise?” The smirk on his face remains as he continues, motioning towards his own cheek, eyes trailed on the side of Hoshi’s face. “Looks like you’ve got enough enemies without me trying to carve your heart out.”
Hoshi doesn’t answer as he grimaces, a frustrated blink and a hand that runs over his sore cheek.
“Delilah was quite adamant on having your head on a pike after that,” the stranger adds with a chuckle of his own, before trailing his eyes behind Hoshi. Right where you sat watching the two men interact. “Perhaps she does have some consideration left.”
“Delilah cared more about looking like a fool than she ever did me leaving. You’d know all about that wouldn’t you, Wonwoo?”
There’s a flash of irritation on Wonwoo’s face at the jog of a memory. “Handled it better than you did. At least I wasn’t walking around with a handprint on my face.”
“No, no you weren’t. Just a leash around your neck,” Hoshi’s own eyes darted towards the girl seated at Wonwoo’s table, a silent jab.
Wonwoo’s face morphs into something a little more dangerous than just irritation, his jaw tightening as he takes a step forward. They’re nearly nose to nose.
To your surprise, Wonwoo smiles. “I guess brothels don’t teach many manners after all. My mistake.”
For the second time that day, you spring from your position in the shadowed table, giving up on praying for Seungkwan’s arrival. The man seems to have disappeared somewhere along the barline, and you curse both the men that stand before you for their horrid temper management skills.
You don’t have to do much, however, as you find Wonwoo pulling away by himself. At least, you thought so, finding a hand wrapped around his upper arm. The brunette spares neither of you a glance as she simply murmurs furiously under her breath, hand now on her lover's chest as she pushes him to move back from the brewing altercation.
Hoshi doesn’t seem to be breaking, remaining standing with his eyes shooting daggers at the man that’s reluctant to walk away from a budding fight.
Being gentle wasn’t going to work right now, and you weren’t feeling so soft anyway. Instead, you reach over to grab his wrist tight, positively yanking him back as hard as you could.
“Wh—ow!”
He slams into the seat next to you, deadly eye contact with the other captain broken as he winces at the impact. When you glance up, Wonwoo is gone.
“You said to blend in, how is this blending in?!”
“I didn’t do anything!”
“You were two seconds away from drawing knives,” you hiss. “We’re in a pub, for goodness’ sake!”
Despite your irritation, and with the newfound information that rests in the back of your head, it’s difficult to keep your eyes off the scar that stands against the lamplight of the pub.
Someone did try to carve his heart out.
Context for an altercation that could lead to something like that remains unknown, and you doubt you’d ever get a straight answer from him if you asked—as always. Besides, you forget they’re pirates.
Hoshi goes back to simply ignoring you as he festers in his grumbled silence. Choosing to keep his arms folded and staring straight ahead. You make no moves to entertain him.
“I guess brothels don’t teach many manners after all.”
This mystery captain’s left you with enough ammo to keep you wondering for days. What on earth was that?
As if Hoshi’s (and yours) mood wasn’t sour enough, your attention is brought to the front of the room where another entrance is being made, quite loudly so. You very quickly recognise the gowns and fans and shrieking giggles of women as Delilah and her posse.
You note the woman herself is nowhere near.
“Fucking hell,” you hear Hoshi swear under his breath. He’s sitting up, eyes darting around the room, almost like he was trying to find a hiding spot. You doubt he's too excited over another conversation of similar nature, let alone a matching mark on the other side of his face.
The women hadn't seen him yet, and were approaching far too quickly for him to get up and leave anywhere to hide. A quick scan of the room yourself and you realise there’s only one remaining option.
They didn’t seem to recognise you for your title before, and you assume the current extent stays within simply being another seductress in the pirate captain’s company. You push the sickening feeling away as you realise you might have to play the part.
So you do the sensible thing and push Hoshi’s head under the wooden table, forcing him to leave his seat and crouch beside your legs. In a split second, you’ve lifted your linen skirt and draped it over his hunched body.
This would have to do.
And it seems to have been the right move because as soon as the man is out of sight, you find the opposite end of the table more occupied than you ever would have been comfortable with.
“Oh! You’re that Hoshi’s girl aren’t you?” one of the women who's made themselves comfortable asks, fan in front of her mouth and nose as you note her sharp eyes.
“Uh,” you laugh nervously.
“Oh, nothing to be embarrassed about,” she assures, a snap in her voice.
Another woman decked out in a green ensemble speaks in a teasing voice, “We’re all quite accustomed to his…mannerisms.”
The table erupts in a fit of giggles and cackles and you’re forced to laugh weakly along, hyper aware of the man that sits under your skirt right below. You try not to flinch as you feel his clothes brush against the side of your calf.
“So, tell us,” she says, taking your hands in hers, a contact you really wish you could break free of. If only you weren't quite as terrified of the women seated at your table. “How far along in heaven has this man taken you?”
She spares you an answer as you gape with square shoulders. She fans herself in a whimsy as she looks like she’s reminiscing. “He’s almost as good of a pirate as he is a beast in bed, I don’t think I’ll ever forget that night.”
“Quite generous with the tongue too, if you know what I mean.”
The pirate captain’s breath hits your bare knees in its own fan, goosebumps almost immediately erupting across the expanse of your skin. You fail to suppress a shudder.
Goodness, this man stays busy.
“Oh look at her, she’s gotten all flustered!” one of them laughs. You take it as an opportunity to slip your hands out of the tight grasps of the bold ladies. “It seems he’s taken to a newer liking. How innocent.”
These women seem to like talking more than they wish to hear a word from you, of course, you couldn’t tell them anything they already didn’t know. Of which, according to their interests, you knew nothing of it anyway.
“Don’t get too attached now, we’re all mere expendables in this busy pirate’s—”
Slam!
Rum. You smell rum.
It’s like you’ve been transported back onto the main deck, the smell of rum mixed with….with—
“Ladies!” Seungkwan announces, slamming bottles of alcohol on the table with a force unnecessary. “Funny seeing you again.”
For a moment you may have even thought Hoshi had clambered up to the table to announce himself, and you feel a hand fly down to your skirts.
He’s still there, head now actively leaning against your knee. You pray the man hasn’t fallen asleep as you attempt to greet Seungkwan.
“Took you long enough,” you grit through a sickly sweet smile.
With your hand somewhere on Hoshi’s upper back, you guide him with you as you make space for Seungkwan next to you.
“The—oh!” Seungkwan is quick to notice the breathing lump under your skirt as he sits himself next to you, but manages to compose himself with a cough. “Long line. What were you ladies talking about?”
One of them smiles big as ever, slowly lifting themselves from their seats, “We were just…leaving. Wonderful speaking with you!”
And with that, you can finally feel your breath coming back to you, the table significantly lighter with the lack of colours, perfume and humans.
Releasing a long exhale, you let your shoulders drop and lean backwards.
“Are you going to explain why the captain is hidden under your skirts?”
With a jolt, you're forced to consider his presence under the table, scanning the room to find the women gone from the pub altogether.
Hoshi emerges from under the fabric, and shuffles over to the other side of the table to sit down, bringing an instinctive hand towards the fresh bottles on the table. Halting, he instead reaches for the jug of water on the edge and pours himself a helping.
You refuse to look at him. Refuse to acknowledge the red in his face. Refuse to acknowledge the sudden cold under your skirt.
Seungkwan’s stare is burning holes into the side of your head, even as he uncorks one of the bottles as an offer. You also refuse; both to look him in the eye and the drink itself.
Bottle to his lips, he moves his glare to his captain, who sits nursing his water like it was something stronger.
“I haven’t gotten an answer yet,” he finally breaks.
Instinct has your eyes lifting to meet Seungkwan’s inquisitive one’s, answers frozen in your throat.
“Why are you asking like you don’t know who they were?” Hoshi snaps.
“I can understand not wanting a matching handprint on your other cheek!” he refutes. “But how do you decide the solution is to dive into yet another woman’s skirts?”
Your only solace to the heat that prickles your body is the way Hoshi himself flushes.
Seungkwan sighs as he takes another sip of his drink, eyeing Hoshi’s still red cheek. “I’m starting to think you deserved it.”
Hoshi makes a motion like he’s about to send his half full cup flying into Seungkwan’s face but stops short. Perhaps he’s realising he’s become the problem child for today.
You contemplate telling Seungkwan about Wonwoo and the near pub brawl you would’ve had to deal with, but decide it to be a story for another time. Besides, you weren’t about to risk mentioning his name while it was still fresh.
You realise just how unstable this island can turn a person; not just the pirate captain.
Because as you look at Hoshi on the other side of the table, you find how difficult it is to look away.
“YOU NEED TROUSERS.”
“What?”
“Oh don’t look so scandalised, you’ve been prancing around with pirates for goodness’ sake.”
Seungkwan haggles with the stall owner over the price of padded coats, blankets and an array of other things the crew would need. The journey was only going to take the ship further North, and it was only going to get colder as you neared the icy water of the Green Islands.
Seungkwan’s suggestion to buy you trousers came out of the blue, but it seems you couldn’t refuse when you find both Hoshi and Chan (who joined you after he was tired of the others) agreeing.
“You can’t possibly stay warm in linen,” Chan argues. “Trousers are the only way you won’t freeze your limbs off.”
“Too much airflow in a skirt,” Seungkwan agrees, eyes closed, head shaking solemnly. “Captain would know.”
“Hm?” Chan looks at him confused.
“Fine!” You snatch the folded brown lump in Seungkwan’s hands. You keep talking in a louder than necessary voice in the hopes that Chan won’t ask any more questions. “I’ll wear them.”
“Perfect! Now we need to get you boots.”
“I have boots!”
“Warm boots!”
“But—”
It was difficult to argue with Seungkwan once he’s got his mind set on something. But that paired with the loud noises of the Ash port market was sending pulsing throbs across the sides of your head. You simply surrender as Seungkwan leaves Hoshi to pay the vendor before pushing you across the street to where a stall held boots and slippers for sale.
In the midst of his bargaining, Chan had disappeared into the throng, returning with a steaming plate of something that smelled doughy and delicious.
“What is that?” you ask as Chan shoves the tray in front of you.
“Whatever they are, they’re delicious. Try one.”
He was right, one bite of the warm, soft goodness covered in syrup had you taking a moment to ponder. It melts in your mouth, barely registering the rest of the group scarfing down the tray like it was their last.
“God, you can never get them this good on the mainland,” Seungkwan cries. “We’ll get another tray before we leave.”
Speaking of leaving, you turn to ask about the time.
“How many bells has it been?” you ask Seungkwan whose cheeks bulge with the amount of dough balls he’s stuffed in. He looks like a child caught stealing when you ask.
“Oh—”
“Five,” Hoshi answers instead, eyes remaining on the pile of goods that he’s gathered to remain in his line of sight. You suppose there was no delivery system here like in Hasry, and you doubt how secure it is to be walking around with a pile of supplies on this island in particular.
“You need to hurry, I told the rest of them to meet at six bells.”
Seungkwan’s quick to wrap up, but not before shooing Chan away for another tray of those sweet dough balls for the journey. You manage to whisper to him to bring extra.
By the time Seungkwan’s done with the last vendor, dropping the giant coil of rope onto the already large pile of supplies, you begin to wonder how you were supposed to get all of this to the ship.
“Shove those in a bag and carry some of this,” Hoshi says to Chan who has returned, brandishing another steaming tray of the sweet treat. He grumbles as he complies, complaining about how the sticky sweet syrup was going to ruin the inside of the pack.
You look a little lost as you attempt to help, all three men grabbing their share of the load.
“Let me hold something,” you attempt, reaching for a wrapped pile.
You watch as Hoshi snatches it before you can grab it for yourself. “Keep an eye out instead.”
“But—”
“Here.” Chan drops the pack with the now rolling dough balls inside. “Snacks for the walk too, how lucky.”
There’s a light push from behind you as Seungkwan urges you to move forward, face slightly obstructed with the tower he’s holding in his arms. “Go on, straight and then left. We’re close to the port anyway.”
You’re left feeling slightly useless as you remain caged with Chan in front while Seungkwan and Hoshi follow you from behind. The walk is short, but crowded nonetheless.
It’s only later in the night, which means the crowds in the bustling streets and alleys of Ash only multiply, clear with the case you’re pushed into right now. You pause in front of a particularly busy patch, needing to take a breath before following Chan’s fearless footsteps.
It’s immediate suffocation, bodies on all sides as you try your best to not lose Chan in the midst of the crowds. Perhaps they were right to keep your hands mostly unoccupied—it would’ve been impossible for you to not completely lose yourself here.
Gaining a rhythm of walking with the crowd before moving slightly against to near your exit, you’ve almost made your way out.
Just as you find the bend leading to the open air of the port, you hear a distinct rip sound from behind you.
If your skirt was airy before, it was a windstorm now.
Craning your neck at an impossible angle, you find the bottom of your skirt ripped so high up the back of your knees are out for the population of Ash to see.
Gasping loudly, you halt in your tracks. A horrible mistake, because you’re only being bumped and shoved by the evermoving bodies.
“Why are you stopping?” Seungkwan hisses, before realising what’s just happened. “Uh oh.”
“I…”
Both Seungkwan and Hoshi push past the throng making their way out of the crowd, leaving you there frazzled and practically naked
You barely consider that they’ve just left you there as you scramble to cover your calves with what overlapping fabric you had left, registering the threats and curses being sent your way for being the idiot that stops in what is essentially a fast paced parade.
The rational part of your brain checks out, refusing to consider that perhaps the back of your knees were the least scandalous thing this island has seen, especially after the conversations you’ve had in your short time here. But alas, a few months of the pirate life wasn’t enough to push the princess out of you, and you stand like a paralysed fool about to get stampeded.
Just as you’re convinced you’d die here, embarrassed and utterly panicked, you feel a body press up from behind you.
It was too close to be a bystander pushing past, which was saying something since most of these patrons were practically climbing over your form.
You whip your head back to look at the person who’s invading your space more than usual, hands tight around your upper arms in an effort to push you forward.
Hoshi stands behind you as his body covers the ripped damage of your skirt, eyes trained in front to survey the crowd.
“Come on, I’ve got you,” he grunts, pushing to get you to move your legs. You stumble in the beginning, still not registering anything.
He was helping, but with the way you can feel every dip and shallow of his chest and abdomen pressing into you, you can’t help but think he’s only made matters for your already speeding heart worse.
Your legs move automatically, letting him steer you wherever. Trying not to think about how his entire front is pressed onto your back like a mould. He’s so close you can even smell him despite the crowd.
Like your head isn’t spinning enough.
By the time you’ve exited the main rush of people, you’ve begun counting your minutes.
Emerging to the bend that leads straight to the docks, you find the rest of the crew already there, running sprints to get all the new supplies to the ship that remained a few yards away.
Despite having left the crowd behind, your exposure remained, which meant you’d have to be tailed all the way to the ship. You curse your luck as you watch Jun quirk an inquisitive brow at the both of you stuck like you’ve been glued.
You pray you never have to show your face here again, because the looks don’t seem to stop until you’ve reached the ship. Perhaps the crowd where nobody was paying attention was better.
In any case, you respond to Minghao’s questioning noise with half shut eyes and a joint sprint towards the stairs leading to the lower decks.
Hoshi keeps behind until you’ve gotten to the heavenly doors of your quarters, springing inside before Hoshi could register looking lower.
It’s silent for a few sparing moments as you breathe tightly, convincing yourself that you were alone and uncompromised. You're pressed up against the door, almost like you’re afraid the entirety of Ash would barge through to witness your calves.
“I’ll handle the boys, don’t worry about that,” you hear Hoshi speak from the other side of the door.
There’s nothing you could do other than slide down the door in a beyond dramatic fashion, head in your hands as you grip the strands like you were moments away from ripping them off. Every instance of your upbringing flashes before your eyes, every crack of your mentor’s canes on your thighs and calves, every waking pain in your back from the impossible postures, every bruise and nick on your feet from being stepped on and trodden over.
Despite the ridiculous nature of the situation, you feel your eyes grow heavy with tears.
Was this panic?
Taking in the circumference of your cramped quarters; the unmade bed, the strewn clothes, the thrown covers.
It was nothing. Yet, at the same time, it was everything.
Amidst the pile, there’s a glint of metal where your knife lies on your nightstand, the tiniest smear of uncleaned blood on the blade. From your position on the floor, you find the half broken lamp discarded under your bed, shunned from your sight. The desk in the corner is empty, save for the staggering mountain of letters from your father.
The only suggestion of normalcy, yet the one you itch to be rid of the most.
The letter opener necklace that was exchanged for the ring on your finger sits warm against the valley of your breasts, a reminder of the first weapon you plucked from this very room. The weapon that began it all.
The smell of gunpowder fills your nose, the forever echoing bang of Jun’s revolver as you took that child sailor’s life with your own two hands.
You lay like that, on the cold floors of your quarters. Refusing to touch the court appointed comfort of your bed, for fear of reigniting the guilt with a fire stoked.
You aren’t sure if you sleep, but you do dream.
LIDS OPEN, EYES WIDE, but nothing to perceive.
It’s a pit of obsidian, unrelenting and unproposing in its press against your lungs.
The familiar ball of prickling embers makes itself known in the pit of your stomach, rising and penetrating your senses in ways worse than even the darkness. It's alarm, dread and swivet; the concoction sticking to the walls of your lungs, throat and mouth.
And then there’s pressure.
Something envelopes you from behind, an unidentified lump that pulls you into something warm and sturdy. There’s another pressure at your stomach, another pull keeps you grounded between a wall built just for you.
The air is perfumed, something beyond a flower or an incense. You know what it is.
And then you're falling, slipping into nothingness and landing between sheets warm enough to suggest you never left.
The scent remains, and this time, Hoshi towers over your frame in something that might have been domineering. But with the distinct feeling of a wet mouth over your collarbone, a small whisper of words unintelligible, you melt like frost in front of a fireplace.
“What?” you question his muttering, hands hovering just above the expanse of his covered back, barely touching.
He rears his head like a gentle beast, wet lipped and zeroed in on your face. His response comes in the form of his lips enclosing your own.
He tastes like rum.
OPENING THE DOOR TO an expectant Seungkwan, you only wave off his reference to you looking like you have one foot in death’s mouth, grabbing the stack of clothes and boots he delivers.
He leaves you alone, something you cannot decide is a blessing or a curse as you take in the unchanged state of your quarters.
Sleep gives you nothing but more troubling images to keep your mind utterly occupied, so you take what you can control in consciousness.
You drop the clothes on a cleaner corner, yanking one of the thinner pairs of dark brown trousers to change into from your still torn and tattered skirt.
Moving inside the room, you pick the littered papers, ropes and rags on the floor, swerving and crouching with more vigour than necessary.
Hoshi’s scent sticks to you.
Grabbing the pile of letters on your desk, you shove them in a sack and throw them under the bed.
Hoshi holds you like he might die if he doesn’t.
Ripping the covers off the bed, you fold them into a giant ball of fabric, hoisting it into your arms as you strut to the door.
Hoshi’s lips have left a bruise on your chest.
The late morning sun combats the chill in the air, the salt sticking to your hair.
Hoshi’s mouth is hot and wet on yours.
Hoshi stands before you, manning the wheel on the deck.
You halt in your tracks.
He turns to register you with your arms full and shielding most of your body.
Clearing his throat, he states, “You’re up.”
Eyes darting, you respond. “I’m up.”
Somehow, his presence makes you forget the audacity of your own brain to stew the play it did. Depositing the sheets on the floor of the deck, you attempt to look for a reasonably long coil of rope.
In your pointed distraction, you miss how distracted the pirate captain has also become.
His elbows, initially perched on the wheel, slip in a comical manner, unintentionally pushing the wheel to the right.
You don’t expect the minor lurch of the ship, landing on your bum with a yelp when you lose your footing all of a sudden. Your elbows take a worse hit, spiking pain across your upper limbs at the hard contact.
His hands are pulling you to your feet before you can register what’s happened, coming round as you open your eyes to an open mouthed captain.
“Are you alright?”
“I’m fine,” you grunt, dusting off your brand new pants as you move past him, refusing to make eye contact.
Picking up a coil of rope, you bring one of the ends to a mast on the end of the ship, stepping on a crate to tie it around the pole. By the time you’re stepping off the crate to tie the other end to the opposite mast, you find it already done, the pirate captain tightening the knot from across the ship.
He meets your eyes for a moment, before you step in the direction of your piled sheets, breathing in a heavy inhale.
Untangling the mess, you pull them over to the suspended rope, throwing the sheets over with a grunt. You’d only ever seen the palace maids do this when they’d beat the carpets to oblivion, dusting the ages of dirt.
“I just…”
When you turn around, the pirate captain is closer than you anticipated, hands encased around a smaller slab of wood. He trails off when you turn to face him, like he hoped he could speak to the back of your head instead.
You take an instinctive step back, putting space between the both of you. You bring your expectant eyes up to him.
“I just wanted to tell you to ignore what happened at Ash.”
You flush, stuttering, embarrassed at your previous predicament all over again. “Oh, um—”
“Wait no!” he drops the wood onto the floor, hands flying as he waves them all over, seemingly as flushed as you are. “I meant—what Delilah and the others said. I just– they’re horrendous gossips—”
“What are you trying to say Hoshi?”
He falters.
“I’m trying….” he exhales. “There’s nothing on my roster. Nobody. You aren’t expendable or disposable or whatever it was she said, you aren’t a used rag—”
“What am I then?”
The question is tumbling out of your mouth before you can help it, stoned jaw and tight fist.
“What?”
“What am I then? If I’m not expendable or disposable, what am I then?”
“You’re…”
Taking a step forward, you move back to your initial spot, closer to him, chests almost touching.
“I’m?”
“You’re a princess and I’m a pirate!” he blurts, his previously apprehensive face morphing into something intense.
You huff a short breath, an incredulous stretch to your lips. Of course.
“What is that supposed to mean?” you ask in a low voice.
“Like what it is,” he heaves, chest inflating and deflating like he’d run the course of the deck about thrice. “Nothing more, nothing less.”
If your ears weren’t deceiving you, it sounded more like he was trying to convince no one but himself.
You take a step closer as he takes a step back.
His face is scrunched ever so slightly, eyes blinking quicker than normal. The sunlight blurs the edges of his features; his usually sharp, stinging stare is hazy, the slant of his nose curvier, the ridges of his lips blending into your muddled perception of his face.
The only thing dividing you is the silence, the bore of your stare and the war in your mind. You cannot speak for him, but you also aren’t a fool.
“Everything they say about you is wrong.”
“What?” he asks again.
“You don’t have a deadly bone in your body. You’re a coward that hides behind his knife and his big bad pirate ship that you can’t even defend.”
For once, he remains speechless while you persist.
“To think we spent all these years trying to subdue you, push you to the edge,” you can feel the anger seep into the hottest centre of your bones. “All for you to be some scared sailor all along.”
“Your father ruined my life,” he says. It’s a strange voice he uses, one that’s somewhere between disbelief and a warning.
“And mine with it.”
He laughs, blinking rapidly, backing away even further, running a hand through his hair. Coming around, he looks over his shoulder. He looks like the man you met the day your life fell apart, a strut in his step that runs your blood cold.
“Are you sure this has nothing to do with you simply wishing to spite the man?” He walks back over. “Prance around with the filthy pirate he hates just for the fun of it?”
“Oh and you haven’t just been itching to ruin the kingdom’s beloved princess.”
Your mouth seemed to have a mind of its own, spewing the accusation with a vigour you never realised you possessed. Lies. Lies. Lies.
This was your own deteriorating mind’s doing. You were the debauched princess painting lewd pictures of a pirate in your mind. It was your heart that couldn’t stand being near the man for longer than necessary. It was you that had the scripture somewhere in your chest, the tiniest speck of a daydream, that perhaps this inner turmoil didn’t end with just you.
Did you want to be another woman he doesn’t have to remember?
You don’t know. All your mind registers is the unbearable twist in your chest, and how it feels like you can’t do nothing about it.
You’re used to getting your way, and you hate that your mind seems to have drifted away from you.
Hoshi’s expression is nowhere in your mind, too preoccupied with sucking in inhales and trying not to begin spiralling right on the main deck.
“You’re projecting.”
Eyes snapping up like he’s proposed to sink the ship itself, you feel yourself hit a mental wall. And a physical one as you feel the brush of the suspended sheets against your hair, having taken an unconscious step back.
He’s cornered you. Yet again.
“Everything about you screams vulnerable,” he says, moving closer. “Not very sharp to show in front of a pirate.”
“Hoshi.” A warning. A sharp, hurtling sting of fear.
“What? Big bad pirate too emotionally removed? Beloved princess trapped and defenceless on unfamiliar lands?”
He’s moving closer, too close.
“I take it back,” he says. “Perhaps drunken Ash does speak the truth—”
Not a familiar plane on his face, like the pirate king had absolved a long held mask. His eyes mortified you, his stance was a walking threat.
Despite the morning sun, the cave of the hung sheets, the shadows of the high masts and the towering gloom of the pirate captain creates enough darkness to throw a shadow in your mind.
It’s like the day his crew dropped on the deck for the very first time. The emotions you wished you’d never have to feel again.
“Stop.” A whisper.
“Itching to ruin the kingdom’s beloved princess—”
“Do not move any closer!” you shout, eyes squeezed shut, hands fisting the suspended sheets so hard you can feel your fingernails dig into your palms. Scarring.
The world halts, and you feel the darkness beyond your eyelids, lighten. The air is forgiving, cool and blowing.
When you open your eyes, you’re alone.
THE WAR ROOM LOOKS the same, but everything has changed.
For one thing, you were significantly more bundled up with coats and lined boots. The cold of the green islands wasn’t the creeping frost you’d anticipated. You simply woke up one day without feeling in your fingers and toes, fog in the air as you breathed.
The coat wasn’t nearly as thick as it needed to be, but you doubt you would’ve found anything better even at the ports. The green islands weren’t meant for life.
“You need to get into the hold unnoticed, and as quickly as possible,” Minghao says. “We don’t know what’s gonna happen after the exchange is made but we know we can’t help you once you’re on that ship.”
Clenching your jaw, you nod tersely. It was high stakes, you couldn’t hurt any of the soldiers to keep it clean; planting a bomb where a King resides was difficult—princess or not.
“Getting you out of the wreckage is our job,” Hoshi says, and you pointedly refuse to look at him. You weren’t quite convinced. “We’ll be on Tigress by the time the bomb goes off. Leave nothing of importance on this thing, we’ll be blowing it up too.”
“You need to get in the water as soon as that bomb goes off,” Jun says. “Their priority is gonna be you and your father. You need to make sure they can’t find you when they realise the ship’s sinking.”
The ship the King should be transported in was the same as the very naval vessel you sat in right now.
“They might be on one of the smaller ships,” you say.
“Why?”
“You know what the ships that hold royals look like, they aren’t risking you having that advantage.”
If your father was bringing out all the guns of deception to take down these pirates once and for all—which you don’t doubt he was—every move you were about to make was based on assumptions. Assumptions that might as well cost this entire crew’s heads.
“Do you know what those ships look like?” Minghao asks.
“I’ve only been on them a few times, but never in the hold,” you say. “I think I’ll figure it out well enough, they’re all the same more or less.”
There’s a blanket of silence, a quiet regard to how utterly unprepared all of you were. Limited information and the most important man’s head at the butt of the target; your bow pulled too taut, too wobbly, your arrow too blunt.
“Are you sure we can’t risk shooting a couple of ‘em in the head?” Chan asks from across the room, running a tired hand across his face.
Sighing, you ignore the burst of fog erupting from your mouth, answering, “I can convince an entire Kingdom their King drowned, but I don’t know if I stop them from trying to find his body. Imagine their surprise if they find a supposedly drowned man with a bullet in his head.”
“It’s fine,” Hoshi interrupts, eyes downcast and arms folded. He leans against the wall of the war room and you can’t help it when your mind flashes to that stormy night. Your hands finding refuge on his chest, the heat of the moment.
Nose flaring, you look away, the rage hurtling up your throat like vomit.
“We’ll just have to figure it out. Stay vigilant, we all know what’s at stake. We all know what we have to do,” he continues, a glance around the inhabitants of the room.
Something about it almost insinuates an underlying question of trust, a confirmation to sweep an unanswering room.
“The bomb’s done,” Jun says, and heat crawls up your entire being. “I made a couple extras, I’m gonna chuck ‘em out into the water for a test and that’ll be it.”
Somewhere on this ship lies the bomb that would kill your father, and if you didn’t do your job like you were supposed to, it might as well kill you all.
YOU LEFT YOUR SOUL on your bedside table the moment Seungkwan entered your quarters with a rapt knock, informing you that the ship was nearing the rendezvous point.
It had only been a few hours since that meeting in the war room, and it felt like only a week since this had all begun.
Seungkwan invites himself in as he continues to talk. You aren’t sure if he’s doing it to calm you down or not, but you appreciate it regardless.
“Keep those trousers on and make sure you look good. You have to look like we cared while we kept you prisoner,” he says, and you can’t help but smile just a little. “Take anything important—pocket it, give it to us. We’re not gonna see this ship after we’re done.”
The idea is strange, that your home for so many months would soon be forgotten, resting on the frozen ocean bed for eternity. You think of what you wish to keep, eyeing the stack of letters on the desk. You won’t be able to keep them on you if you were going to be jumping into the ocean at some point.
Collecting the smaller pile, you hand them to Seungkwan. “You might have to take a dip in the ocean too, but at least you may have a chance to skip that bit if luck’s on your side. Keep these for me?”
Seungkwan smiles as he takes the stack of letters, pressing them to fit inside his coat. “Aren’t these all from your father?”
“Yes, but…” you trail off. “I’d like to remember them in case I forget why I did what I’m about to do.”
Seungkwan stands in front of you, an unreadable expression on his face. “You know this can’t work unless we trust one another. All of us. The entire crew.”
“I trust you,” you say. “Pirates are impatient. If you wanted me gone I wouldn’t be here.”
He sighs, almost like he was dissatisfied with your answer. With a laugh you ask, “Did you want me to say no?”
“No, it’s just,” he starts. “I wasn’t going to bring it up but, since we don’t have time…I don’t know what’s going on with you and Hoshi but…”
You stiffen at the mention of his name.
“I need to make sure you aren’t about to do something rash because of him.”
Your corset lies on the sheets, and you snatch it off, a bite to your movements.Your coat is already off, your linen shirt is the only thing that covers your upper body
“It was my mistake. I misunderstood. I won’t be letting it affect anything tonight.” You push the loosened corset over your head, too frustrated to unlace it and lace it back up. Your fingers are freezing cold, even too much for your palms to bear as they come in inevitable contact.
Beyond yourself, you continue to grit through your chattering teeth, the pulses of irritation in your brain only encouraging you to spill. Turning around, back now facing Seungkwan, you fiddle with the strings on your corset as you rant.
“I can’t say the same for him, but you can ask.” Your arms are bent at a strange angle, but you attempt to make the loops and knots anyway. Having never had to do this by yourself ever, you’d found a practice after your peculiar situation. You were alright, but the cold was making it near impossible to simply loop the string through the existing holes.
“He seems to have a lack of emotional control, of course, you’d know, but I can’t say I find it too charming,” your grunting front he effort as you speak.
Seungkwan seems to have noticed your struggle because you feel a pair of warmer hands replace yours, unlacing the loop you’d just made only to loop it again, tighter this time. He takes the liberty to tie the final knot, tighter than you’d usually have it but you’re too busy to correct him.
“I don’t think I need to explain what happened, your captain seems to be content with the way he is,” you scoff slightly before continuing. “I’m not quite sure what else I was expecting. Actually, I do know what I was expecting, but again, that’s just seems to be my fault—”
“I’m sorry.”
It’s like an entire ocean’s worth of ice water has been poured down your back. Perhaps being buried under the glaciers of the Green Islands would be more forgiving.
Turning around, you find the hands on your waist do not move, Hoshi’s face coming into view instead of Seungkwan’s.
The room is bare besides the both of you, the door to quarters closed. You don’t know when he came in nor when Seungkwan left, but he stands before you now, hands touching you where you shouldn’t let him. But you do.
“I’m sorry,” he repeats, his eyes locked in on yours.
“W-what?” you breathe.
“I’ve been quite stupid.”
“Have you?”
It sounds like he breathes out a laugh, but composes himself. “I didn’t realise I was cornering you on the deck the other day. I’m sorry for making you feel unsafe. I’m sorry for everything I said.”
Every fibre of your being wants him to suffer, to withhold your forgiveness. But then you realise where you are, in the middle of an ocean that’s been designed by the heavens to kill.
“Thank you for saying that.” You don’t have the courage to look him in the eye. “I’m sorry too. You aren’t…you aren’t what I implied you were. You’re right. I was projecting.”
“I don’t want us to go out there walking on eggshells around each other,” he says as his breath fans your face. Warm. “We have to come out the other side. All of us.”
You nod slowly.
“You have it the hardest out of all of us, I just…” he trails off and you feel his fingers tightening on your waist, even through the material of your corset. “I don’t want you to feel like you’re alone. No matter what you lose, I think it’s safe to say you’ve gained me. All of us.”
The thought of not making it out alive has you flexing your numb fingers in front of you slightly. You might die. This crew might die. Your crew might die.
The man that’s begun to mean more than just a saviour might die.
Not considering your frozen fingertips, or the absurdity, your body moves on its own.
In a split second, your iced lips are in contact with the pirate captain’s warmer ones.
You don’t doubt they’re cold as well, but they differ from yours enough for them to feel like the only warmers you need.
Your hands have grabbed his face, light brushes against his skin as you tiptoe to reach his lips. They’re soft. Softer than you could’ve ever imagined on a pirate, and you find yourself forgetting where you are for a moment as you feel the plush of his mouth against your own.
Pulling away first, your noses still brushing, you whisper to him through the creaks and groans of the drifting ship. “I had to do that. Just in case.”
“In case?” he whispers back.
“In case… we don’t make it.”
It only takes him a moment to remove his hands from your waist. For a heartbreaking second, you think this is him pulling away from you. Again.
And then both of his arms are looping around your waist, pulling you into his chest hard, your lips slamming into each other even harder.
He takes the liberty to move his mouth against your own, hot even in the cold air. Moving with a restrained pace, yet appropriately desperate nonetheless. The cold tip of your nose brushes against his cheek and he pulls away to hiss.
“God, you’re freezing.”
The discovery only seems to urge him to pull you impossibly closer. If your lungs weren’t already occupied, you wouldn’t have been able to breathe. Despite it all, you find your arms coming up around his neck and shoulders, one hand finding refuge in his light hair.
You might never need a drink of anything ever again, not with the way his mouth alone seems to have you drunk and deranged, begging for time to stop so he’d never stop kissing you, never stop moving his beautiful, glorious mouth against your own.
There isn’t a thought in your mind as you pull away for wretched air, eyes closed and breathing heavily.
Hoshi places his forehead flush against your own, both of you exhaling into each other’s faces, still holding you so tight it hurts. It’s warm, his breath seemingly defrosting the formed icicles on your face.
“Hoshi,” you slip from your mouth instinctively.
“Soonyoung,” he breathes, and it takes you a moment to realise he’s talking. “My name. Soonyoung is the name my mother gave me. I want you to have it.”
Opening your eyes, you register his face so close to yours. His eyes are screwed shut, he’s still breathing heavily.
“Soonyoung,” you repeat, hands finding his face again, stroking his cheek with your thumb. “Soonyoung.”
He opens his eyes.
“I like it. It’s very you.”
He smiles and you can’t help but think how beautiful he looks when he does, and when he leans forward to give you another elongated peck, one that has you chasing his lips again. He relents for one more.
“Well, Soonyoung, can I give you something too?”
He looks at you expectantly.
Reaching up to the back of your neck, you find the knotted bind of the leather cord that hangs from your neck. Undoing it, you bring the charm out from under your shirt, leaning forward to tie it around his neck this time.
He stares at the charm that dangles down his front as you give it a light tug, “A letter opener. So that’s what you were getting from that lady at Hasry.”
“You knew when I left?” you ask, brows furrowed.
“I was more worried about you wandering off than I was about anything else, what made you think I didn’t know exactly where you were?” He has a cheeky smile on his face, one that you’ve never seen without an underlying threat or the usual glint of unhinged in his eyes.
You can’t help but grin, of course he knew.
“If you wanted a letter opener as a weapon, you should’ve just asked.”
“Aren’t knives just bigger letter openers?” you ask with a soft chuckle.
He responds with a chaste kiss on the tip of your nose before saying, “Since we’re exchanging gifts—”
“You started it.”
“And I’m ending it.”
He emerges from one of his many pockets with what looks like a bracelet in his hands.
“That’s—”
“From Hasry,” he confirms. “I bought it for no real reason, never even wore it.”
He rolls one of the pink and blue beads between his thumb and forefinger, and you remember it sitting at the stall in Hasry like it was yesterday.
“Didn’t realise I only bought it because I saw you looking at it.”
The twist in your heart is the worst it’s ever been, even while he holds you closer than anyone ever has, you feel the need to squeeze him beyond measure hoping it’ll fix the turmoil in your chest.
He attempts to take one of your hands, in an obvious attempt to slip the bracelet on your wrist.
“Wait.”
Hoshi stops.
“Keep it,” you say as you grab his wrist, pushing the beads down his hand so it sits on his wrist instead.
“But—”
You cut him off with a kiss. “A reason for you to come out of this alive.”
There’s a silent understanding between the two of you as you stand in each other's arms.
“We still have much to talk about. But I think this is alright for now,” you say.
“We will,” he confirms. “But when we go out there and put everything on the line, remember you aren’t just a princess anymore. You’re a pirate, too. So fight like one.”
THE COLD HAS COATED the deck in a fine layer of ice, one that makes it a hazard to simply walk on. Your boots feel unstable and it takes a conscious effort to plant your feet firmly on the wood to ensure you don’t fall like Chan almost has the last four times and the one time he did.
It’s less foggy than you’d anticipated, and you can see Mingyu and Minghao working overtime to ensure the giant ship doesn’t hit one of the absurdly large icebergs that float in the freezing water, the crow’s nest occupied by Hoshi himself as he peers through his telescope. It was strange seeing him use it, you’d begun to think he only kept it like an accessory.
He yells something from his place high up; it’s unclear, but you know.
And then you see it, the naval ship with the unmistakable flag that ripples proud in the cold air. Your family crest is barely decipherable, but knowing what lay ahead was enough to have you taking significantly deeper breaths.
Your father’s—the King’s— ship bobs in the water with a near empty main deck, not a soul on board.
You hold your breath, and as one of the blocks of ice are swerved, you find a second ship. The indicative jolly roger is nowhere to be seen, but it's obvious what ship that was.
The Tigress stands proud with her years of darkened wood, the unmistakable figurehead at the prow in the distinct shape of a fanged siren.
And only a smaller sailboat away, lay a flat of ice.
Another white flag with the royal crest, lines of uniformed soldiers that stand at attention like protectors of the ice, a pattern of dotted blues. The admiral stands next to your father, who’s donned his own Naval uniform complete with a purple cape pinned at his shoulder.
The purple cape of a victor that returns home from battle. The purple cape he’s donned before the battle has even ensued.
The King has noticed your arrival, his face becoming clearer the nearer the ship gets to the block of ice that would act as common ground.
And then the ship stops, you turn around and realise the rest of the crew has their eyes on you, expectant.
“We have a message,” Mingyu says, looking at you but handing the thing in his hand to his captain.
In your fixation, you did not notice the small boat that had floated near the ship, bearing a scroll with the royal seal.
Hoshi reads it, lips tight shut and jaw clenched.
In the next few minutes, all seven of you are cramped into a single, tiny wherry to be rowed onto the iced land. None of you speak, none of you acknowledge the other. The canister that Jun had given you presses against the side of your bare hip, your knife strapped inside your boot.
That was it. That was all you had.
But there was some confidence in it, the way the entire crew was asked to present themselves at the exchange was enough to tell you there was truth in what you presumed of your father’s plans.
He had knives of his own up his sleeve, and he intended to provoke his worst enemy while looking him in the eye.
As the boat reached what was a hardened shore, the crew stepped off the boat one by one. Very carefully, you stepped on the block of ice as the group moved forward, reaching a point where you stood parallel to the other rigid party.
In a purposeful attempt, you were kept in the middle of a herded circle, shielded by the crew as Hoshi stood front and centre, the crew’s mouthpiece. You can’t help but swallow, the ringing in your head growing louder than ever.
There’s a loud voice that plagues the sheets of ice, and your stomach flips so violently you lose both your vision and your hearing. You take an unconscious step back before you feel a hand on your back.
It was Chan, who whispered, “Keep it together. Calm down, it’s okay.”
It was the obvious response from him but you find yourself calming in any case.
“The crown commands you, Hoshi Kwon, to bring forth Her Royal Highness, the princess, at once.” Your father’s right hand man, the royal advisor, and his more trusted friend speaks for the throne, his voice recognizable as it rings on behalf of his king.
From standing behind him, you watch as Hoshi simply raises his fist to place at his hips.
“Captain. Captain Hoshi Kwon,” he corrects, before continuing. “And my hostage will not be brought anywhere till I have my money ship.”
“As proposed by Hoshi Kwon, His Majesty, The King will cooperate in the exchange of Her Royal Highness, the princess for said ship.”
“Give me my ship first.”
“Hoshi Kwon—”
Hoshi groans loudly, loud enough for the other party that stands multiple feet away to hear, before continuing, “This is why I despise dealing with you insufferable lot, why must everything be so formal?”
But you knew what game he was playing at, the deadliest pirate on the seas does not comply with government officials so easily, and he wasn’t about to drop his masquerade now.
“You know what,” Hoshi starts, and you see him eye the wooden boat you had just reached the island on. “We do it this way.”
There’s a pause.
“Me and my harmless little crew will sidestep back over, zip our way to our ship and leave you with your precious princess. Is your royal highness majesty in agreement?”
“Hoshi Kwon is commanded once again to bring the princess forward.” There’s less formality in his tone now, and you realise very quickly that there was no other way to separate yourself from the crew.
“Hoshi,” you whisper under your breath, hoping he would understand. Taking the risk, you move forward in the little space you had, hand very gently placed on his back.
There’s a pause before he speaks, “Fine. Have your princess.”
Turning around, back facing the crowd, he makes eye contact with you before moving to discreetly meet the eyes of his crew. “Let them take you.”
That’s the last thing you hear him say to his crew as you find a larger shadow approach from behind Hoshi.
“Ho—”
Hoshi grabs your arm harsher than he usually would, dragging you forward in his attempt to present you, but you find that Hoshi’s turned back was taken as an opportunity, the dozens of soldiers having already made their way across.
If you hadn’t heard what he had whispered to the crew, his shocked face would’ve fooled you too. He looks like he wasn’t expecting the way the crew was immediately surrounded by swarms of armed soldiers, guns perched directly at each member of the crew. He looked like he wasn’t expecting to be cornered.
But you liked to think you knew this man, and he had once told you to never turn your back to an enemy. Too much to be a rookie mistake of his, so you trust him.
And then you’re being tugged by someone who’s not from the crew, the distinct feeling of softer, more respectful hands that wrap around your elbow, urging you forward.
You find it within yourself to not look back, sending a prayer to every entity in the world to keep them safe, to keep the trust in your heart that they knew what they were doing.
Eyes downcast, you know immediately who you’re being led towards, and when you stop, bracing yourself to meet your father’s eye, you find yourself feeling nothing.
“Are you hurt?” he asks in his strange form of greeting. No embrace, no sign of relief that his daughter and only heir was alive and well.
“No, sir,” you reply, shifting your eyes back down to your shoes.
“Go back to the ship with the guards. We leave as soon as I’m done with this lot.”
Your stomach jolts, but you bite your tongue and let yourself be led to one of the smaller boats. The canister burns against your skin.
Seated in the smaller boat, flanked by guards, you can’t stop your neck from craning to look at the scene behind you.
Far away, on the other side of the glacier, the pirates are being ordered to strip themselves of their weapons.
Hoshi’s dagger glints against the sunlight and you spot Jun’s revolvers in the pile.
Hoshi looks up and catches your eye, face unchanged.
“You’re safe now, your Highness,” one of your guards assured you, taking your gaze as a fearful look back instead of one laced with something else.
Please be okay.
As soon as you're led up to the main deck, your eyes dart. It doesn’t take long for you to figure out that your father had not chosen to take one of the smaller ships as you’d expected of him. Instead, you stand in an exact replica of the ship you had just disembarked, except for the flag that fluttered with your family crest.
You’re pushed into one of the quarters in the lower decks, hearing the distinct click of something outside as you find yourself in the mostly barren indoors.
It looks like a colder version of your quarters on the other ship, the same dimensions, the same window that displays the clear waters of the Green Islands. Except it’s only occupied by a single bed that’s pushed into a corner, stripped of its sheets.
It looks like a prison cell.
When you turn around to try for the door, you try to wrench it open but it refuses to budge. You can’t help but question how many times you’ve landed yourself in this exact situation.
Why on Earth would they lock you in? Did they suspect you of something? But whatever for?
You give up, turning to untuck your shirt from your trousers, feeling for the bomb against your hip to make sure it hadn’t slipped. After that, you crouch down to check the inside of your boot, despite feeling the dagger this entire time, you couldn’t help but need to check.
There was nothing you could do, not when you knew nothing of what was happening on the other side of the door. The window gleams, and you find yourself bolting towards it, peering through the glass to check for any bodies that may land in the water, praying your father would keep them alive.
Hang them publicly. Guillotine them and suspend their heads at the gates of the palace. Just keep them alive for tonight.
The sun is proving a sorry resource of time, especially when you can’t tell how long it’s been since you were shoved in here. The sun seems closer to the seas when you hear the jingle of the lock.
Nearing the risk of whiplash, you turn to the door to find your father walking into the room. He walks in, his cape gone, immediately turning to lock the door from the inside once again.
Once he comes around, he stands with his hands clasped in front of him, eyes boring into your soul.
“It seems the pirates have changed you,” he comments, eyeing your new trousers that you sport. It was strange, a woman in trousers, let alone a princess.
“Not at all, sir,” you respond.
“Your newfound friends are strapped into the brigs, finally subdued and ready to stand trial for their crimes.” His voice is rough, and he looks older than when you last saw him months ago.
He acts in less alarm than you would’ve thought, assuming his definition of ‘friends’ was simply a sick way to prod at you than any indication that he suspected an alliance. But you fight the effort to let out a sigh of relief; they were in the brig, they were fine, they’d stay alive in time for you to get to them.
“I thought David less than for a fool,” he refers to the Admiral as he talks. “He proved me quite incorrect when he showed up on some shoddy fishing boat with a message from a pirate. Like some messenger boy.”
You don’t answer as you simply stare at the toes of your boots. It was foolish to dare make eye contact with him.
“A stupid proposal from a stupid pirate,” he chortled in a genuine laugh. “That pirate ship was easy bait. If only you hadn’t gotten yourself roped in like a simpleton.”
His sentence ends with a harsher undertone as he blames you for something you couldn’t possibly have controlled.
“In any case,” he continues, the gruff in his voice clearing out. “What’s a pirate to a King?”
Everything in you screams at you to halt your already moving tongue, yelling about how horrible the idea was.
“He’s more of a man than you ever could be.”
The ringing in your ears becomes a sounding blare, your vision going white at the sides. Your hands shake and you don’t know why you keep staring your father in the eye.
There’s a furrow in his brow, eyes unyielding and face stoic.
It’s silent for goodness knows how long as you wish you could sink in that very moment.
“That load of filth’s done more than just put you in trousers, is it?” he grits through his teeth. He’s seething. “Henley had said you were acting strange when he saw you at that port market, it seems he was right.”
“No matter,” he continues, exhaling loudly. “It only makes my job easier.”
He unclasps his hands, pulling his white gloves at the fingertips.
“Perhaps we may live in a world where princesses prance around with pirates, but that won’t be the reason I fulfil my duty as King today.”
He slips them off his hands entirely.
“I tried shaping you into something worthy of the throne for so many years, and I’d begun to realise that perhaps, not everyone is fit to be ruler after all.”
Was he about to strip of your inheritance? The crown was why you were born. Despite everything your father had put you through, the throne was your god given right.
“Unfortunately, I cannot simply renounce your title. Not without reason,” he continues as he takes a step closer to you, dropping the gloves to the floor soundlessly. “And while perhaps the court may not consider inadequacy as enough reason, I’m quite sure an exchange gone wrong would be enough, even for them.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying, dear daughter, that our time together has come to an end.”
And then his hands were around your throat.
[AN]: HEHEHEHEHEHEHE rb or send an ask telling me your thots as always, one part left to go!!!!!
#svthub#hoshi fluff#hoshi smut#hoshi angst#hoshi fic#hoshi imagines#hoshi x reader#hoshi#soonyoung smut#soonyoung fluff#soonyoung scenarios#soonyoung imagines#soonyoung x reader#seventeen#soonyoung#seventeen flluff#seventeen smut#seventeen angst#seventeen fic recs#svt#svt smut#svt fluff#svt imagines#svt scenarios#svt x reader#em.writes
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rereading my own fics in the backseat of the car with gf napping on my shoulder is the best way to do it ngl 🥺❤️
#personal#katie rambles#one good thing about my home being so fucking far from LHR is lots of naptime in the car lmao#unfortunately i'm always jittery after a flight so i can't sleep :((#but i'm also too tired to give proper attention to someone else's fics#so my own it is!#and it's mostly great (i keep having these 'huh that's actually a good line; good going brain' moments)#but then there are also the moments where i can Very Clearly see i was writing at 2am ajdgzjgzjdgdjdhd#i'm talking about 'we should tlwk about it' or 'are you joinimg me' sjgdjdvdkshs#GOOD TIMES#i think for 2023 the one thing i definitely need to change about my writing & posting#is that i need to start using a 'no beta we die like....' tag#currently i'm liking 'no beta we die like my grammar at 2am' lmfao#but i'm sure i'll come up with increasingly more incentive ones once the 2023 season kicks off#heh#heh heh heh#xD
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Maple Syrup
Pairing: Simon 'Ghost' Riley x Reader
Word Count: 2.2k
Summary: All you needed was to contain the aphrodisiac, make an antidote just in case, and go home. But working with the 141 was never that simple, and now you and Ghost would find out how it worked. Up close and personal.
Content Tags: Vague kidnapping near the beginning, Sex Pollen, Smut, PiV Sex, Fingering, Fuck or Die, Mild Dubious Consent (consent is gained after pollen gets inhaled), No use of Y/N, Alpha/Beta/Omega dynamics, Alpha! Ghost
A/N: Honest to god, I've been trying to write a story based on this thought alone. I can't even get it started but maybe this will get me. There also needs to be more Omegaverse written for COD, there can be some interesting stuff from it. Lmk if you want more of this, i'm exhausted <3 (p.s. I've changed the summary like, 10 times and idk how to feel about it)
Next, Headcannons, Masterlist
"Gaz, are we clear to enter?" Ghost asked into the comms. Gaz had gone into the building first, alongside Soap, to clear out the path you and Ghost would take. It was almost a straight shot, it felt too easy to get to the weapon you were there for. Maple Syrup, they had called it, even though it was an airborne weapon. You could hear a few shouts of a language, it sounded Russian but you weren't entirely sure, but you didn't have long to dwell on it as they stopped with a few gunshots.
Another few grunts came through before Gaz finally responded. "We're all clear in here, we still need to sweep a few rooms closer to Docs target, but you should be good to enter," he answered. Ghost nodded at you and led the way in, gun resting on his shoulder as he looked every which way. You knew it was a safety precaution, but you trusted Gaz.
You always trusted easily, it was in your nature. You were an Omega, and having trust in the people meant to protect you felt natural. You trusted your pack, even if you hadn't been a part of it for too long.
Maybe you shouldn't trust as easily.
Ghost shoved you into the wall next to you and started firing, bullets whistling past your ears as you ducked low. It reeked of sex, of Alphas and Omegas in heat or rut. Even through the military grade suppressant you could smell it, and it hurt. Ghost ducked around the corner, more gunshots echoing before a grunt came from him, and you heard the sound of a body dropping.
You didn't think before rounding that corner, seeing Ghost on the ground unmoving shook you. You ran your hands over him to feel for blood, but you couldn't see or feel anything. By the time you got to his shoulders, you found a needle trapped between his vest and arm, right in the meaty part of his inner-most shoulder. You plucked it off of him without thinking, tossing it to the side before pressing to feel for anything left inside.
You hadn't noticed the people advancing behind you, had ignored the calling from the comms or footsteps coming from the same direction Gaz and Soap were supposed to be in, but you felt the prick of the needle on your back. With a shout, you fell forwards, catching yourself from falling face first into the ground. You attempted to crawl forwards, get away from the men approaching from the back, but the medication they pumped into you caught up quicker than you could move.
It was with a groan that you sat up, swallowing thickly at the sickly sweet taste in your mouth. You tried wiping your face, but your hands moved slower than they felt, missing twice before wiping the area around your mouth. Pulling your hand back, a thin, dark red coating came back on them. You blinked hard, trying to remember what you had come here for.
The Maple Syrup mist. You couldn't remember much else about it, your mind moving at about the same speed as the namesake for the pollen-like substance. It was airborne. You knew that. There was something especially dangerous about it that a lot of the countries who knew about it wanted it gone. You were hired to make sure that no matter what happened, there was an anti-dote for it.
Something like that.
You blinked back into it when the door to wherever you were creaked open. You glanced up slowly, blinking at the men who entered and grabbed you, speaking loudly at you. What were they talking about? It wasn't Russian, you hadn't been in Russia or near any of their allies when you'd been grabbed.
You wouldn't understand it, your mind was moving at half the speed they were dragging you at. A few twists and turns, some scattered conversation floating around, and being dropped twice was what it took for you to be tossed into a similar room as your first. You laid face first on the ground, the cold helping to clear your head slightly.
Small cramps started in your back, twinging you every few seconds. A voice came over a loudspeaker, whatever they were saying it was something they were very pleased with. You turned, slowly, onto your back before crawling backwards to lean onto the wall behind you.
Maple Syrup. What the hell about it was so important they sent the 141 after it? Something something, military grade suppressants. The suppressants. Maple Syrup could break through military grade suppressants. You groaned, the cramps moving through your back and into your stomach. You could feel the heat, all-encompassing, starting to wash over you.
A loud, long creak echoed from the area to your left, and your head dropped to your shoulder as you turned it to look at the wall. A scent came wafting from the slowly opening crack in the wall, growing headier as the walls fully opened up. It was musky, with leather and tobacco, hints of the gunpowder you often smelled back on base. It made your mouth water.
The groan from the corner directly next to you startled you back into the present. As your eyes adjusted to the new lighting between the two rooms, a dark shape became clearer in the corner. A skull mask was lying tossed a few meters from it, and as your vision cleared up more, you could tell it was Ghost.
His head hardly moved as his eyes found yours, staring through you from beneath the balaclava.
"What's the verdict, Doc?" He grumbled, deep in his throat.
"Dosed with Maple Syrup," you whispered back, and his head fell back down between his legs.
A short, harsh sound came from him, it had to be a laugh, "then what's gonna happen to us?"
"When was your last natural rut?" You looked at him, licking your dried lips. You could see his head move sharply from your peripheral, his eyes flittering up and down. He shook his head, another dry laugh coming from him.
"It's that bad?" You nodded. "Probably since I took my last, longer leave. I think it was four or five years ago, but I don't remember," you blinked slowly. The levels of androstenone in him would be high, especially without a rut to keep him leveled, and the Maple Syrup would only force him to produce more. Too much, and he'd die of something. Whether it would be heat stroke, or dehydration you had no idea.
"If you don't pop a knot or two, you'll die. Heat stroke, maybe dehydration, but you'll die. I don't know the exact amount of androstenone inside of you, but if it gets too high you could be forced into a feral rut," you glanced over at him, his eyes scrunched shut, a low groan coming from his throat. He glanced back up to you, his eyes softened and fear started to lace his scent.
Ghost shook his head. "If I go feral, I'll kill you. I can't, Doc, I don't wanna kill you," his voice grew more strained as his sentence wore on.
"I'll be fine," you gave him a soft smile. "I'm going to go into heat, and if I don't get a knot, I'll die. I don't know if the weapon shit is able to counteract the birth control part of the suppressants, but I don't feel good. I need you to fuck me, Ghost," you whispered the last part. He shook his head. "You have my permission, so it's up to you to act," you swallowed again, eyes shutting as sweat beaded down your neck.
It was getting hot. Too hot, and you could feel your slick pooling and soaking through your pants. You could smell it, and you knew he could smell it. You could hear the panting breaths he took, the grunts he let out. A long, low growl came from him and his heavy steps inched closer to you.
Ghost grabbed you by the back of your neck, shoving you forward into the ground and scenting your throat deeply. He tore at the neck of your shirt, ripping it to let him get more of your scent. He licked a long line, sucking into the base of your neck softly as his teeth grazed along it.
He stuffed his fingers under your pants and panties, leaving you whining as two of his fingers brushed past your clit and buried into you. Even feral, the Alpha was trying to take care of you. They curled and pressed against you, leaving you writhing under him as you whined for more.
Pleasure blossomed in your abdomen, the heel of his hand grazing against your clit with each pump his fingers made, leaving you throbbing around his fingers. Ghost was able to get one more finger in you, nosing up your neck before sucking a dark hickey into your neck, teeth grazing along your neck and nipping you here and there, soothing it with a lick.
He tugged his fingers out of you, dragging your pants and panties down before shoving his down as well. He rutted his cock against your folds, soaking himself in your slick before sliding inside of you. A long, loud moan tore out of your throat as he kept sliding further and further into you, bottoming out with a growl from him.
Writhing against him with your mouth hanging open, he dragged himself out of you before rutting back in. Your nails scratched against the floor beneath you, you could feel your heartbeat in your clit and Ghost against your back.
Licking and sucking at your scent gland, Ghost dragged his face against it and growling. You could feel him throb inside of you, heat flooding you with his cum. A long whine came from your throat, hips pushing back and out against him as his fingers found your clit, rubbing in soft but quick strokes. Heat shredded through your abdomen, sliding through the rest of your body as your orgasm tore through your body.
You could feel your clit pulse with each heartbeat, his fingers not waning from stroking it, shocks flowing through you with each stroke. You thought you could feel tears pouring down your face, mouth wide open as you groaned. Ghost pulled out, letting you drop to the ground on your stomach before he flipped you over, pulling your legs to his shoulders and rocking his cock back inside of you.
Dropping your head back, your mouth still gaped open as he filled you once more. You could feel his knot catching onto you each time he thrust, leaving you whining. Ghost dropped back down, mouthing at your scent gland once more, leaving his open for your own mouth.
Pushing his balaclava away from his gland, you took licks of his for yourself. He tasted good, so good, his scent flooding into your mouth, you had to pull back just enough so that you could breathe. He grunted with each thrust, his abdomen brushing against your clit with every other thrust, your legs pushed into your chest.
Each thrust left you whining for more, faster, harder even if he couldn't hear or understand you through the feral rut. You felt tears pooling in your eyes again, dripping down your face as you gasped with each thrust, cunt throbbing around him as his knot caught more and more with every thrust until he couldn't pull out anymore. Your eyes rolled into the back of your head as you felt a sharp, stinging pain radiate from your neck before it heated into what almost felt like agonizing pleasure.
It burned white hot and you clawed at his arms, hips bucking against his, which were just barely thrusting against you, trying to pump you full and pump deep.
When he finally released your neck, he let out a long groan as his own orgasm seemed to finally wash over him. Ghost let his head drop to your shoulder, his hips trying to thrust harder and you couldn't stop yourself from biting down on his own gland in turn.
It was hard to see the way his mouth dropped open under the balaclava and his eyes roll back, but from what you could see it left you moaning against his neck.
It took you a few minutes to come back to when you released his neck. All you could taste those few minutes was Ghost, nothing more. You had to gasp for actual oxygen as his taste nearly embedded itself in your mouth.
From the moment you released his neck, to the moment you became more aware of what was happening, he had adjusted you to sitting in his lap with his back against the wall. You could hear him talking, but your mind was gone. There wasn't pain, but you weren't entirely comfortable. Your neck was sore, and your cunt was still throbbing around him.
He nuzzled your neck, lapping at your now marked gland.
Ghost wasn't entirely sure what would happen, neither of you would be able to hide the marks and even so, he would have to report this. He figured it wouldn't matter, for now, he could wait to figure everything out until you got medevacked and taken care of. Price would know what to do, he always did.
Next
#smut#simon riley x reader#simon ghost riley#ghost x reader smut#simon riley x you#ghost smut#simon riley#cod mw2#call of duty#ghost mw2#sex pollen#fuck or die#no use of y/n#aphrodisiacs#dubious consent#task force 141#simon ghost riley x reader smut#call of duty x reader#call of duty mw2#modern warfare ii#reader insert#Kidnapping ngl#alpha/beta/omega dynamics#i literally watched 6 episodes of Batman while writing this#I think its been two and a half hours#I don't know what's happening anymore#Mentions of Gaz#Mentions of Soap#Mentions of Price#Maple Syrup
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Bite Night
Gif by @astarionposting
18+ MDNI - M/F - Astarion x Tav (Baldur's Gate 3) - Words: 3.6K
Tags: smut, somnophilia (if you squint), non-consensual vampire bites, blood drinking, enthusiastic consent (sex), vaginal fingering, P in v, creampie, mating press, outdoor sex, soft Astarion, sorcerer Tav, nondescript Tav, Aftercare, idealized version of events, no beta we die like cazador
Summary: It has been 3 days since the nautiloid crash. Tav may be the sweetest person that Astarion has ever met. Night falls, and he is overcome with intense feelings of hunger. Tav sleeps alone, peacefully by the fire. He can hear her pulse from the treeline, and it invites him in. Or... could it be more than her pulse inviting him in?
Sorry, Idk how to write summaries. :,)
Read on AO3
Astarion had never met someone like Tav. She was so kind to him, despite their first meeting beginning with him holding a dagger to her throat after having tricked her into thinking he needed help. It was interesting to note that in retrospect, Tav being a sorcerer, could have easily used Shocking Grasp on him while he held her, pinned beneath his blade. She, instead, was oddly compliant.
__________
“I saw you on the ship, didn't I? Nod.” Astarion cooed
Tav looked up at him with eyes half-closed and eyebrows knitted together, nodding. A look he could only assume was partially caused by the sun beating down on her face. It was as if she completely surrendered to him, going practically limp in his arms, which made him soften his grip slightly.
“Splendid, and now you're going to tell me what you and those tentacle freaks did to me.” he peered down at her, eyes briefly flicking to her neck and then up to her eyes again. Despite her relaxed form, her pulse was quickened and it was distracting. Astarion's mouth started to water slightly.
“I- I didn't do anything… I was abducted, same as you!” She pleaded.
“Don't lie to me. I- AUGH” Astarion yelped, as a purple aura surrounded both him and Tav. Their minds were suddenly connected, he was able to peer into her thoughts and feel what she was feeling.
To his surprise, her mind had been focused on compassion towards him, the man holding a blade to her throat. “He and I have the same problem. These tadpoles. And he is likely reeling after all this. He could be a good ally to have.”
Astarion's mind had then shared broken pieces of his past with Tav. Pieces that he would have rather kept to himself, but nothing incriminating yet. “What was that!? What's going on!?” He raised his voice.
Tav's was panting as if their minds connecting had worn her out. “You saw into my mind, it was the parasites! They connected us.” She said, with her eyebrows still knitted. Her mouth was agape and she took one last big breath before calming her expression.
Her breath smelled of mint, and her hair smelled like lavender. ‘Gods, her scent, her pulse, her expression. Everything is distracting about her.’ he thought to himself.
Although he would have loved to hold her for longer, grab her hair and sink his teeth into her flesh, he decided against it. Feeling confident that she was not a threat, he released her. They maintained eye contact with one another as they both slowly stood up.
‘She wants to be my ally’ he thought to himself.
__________
They had picked up a couple more allies on their misadventure so far. A cleric with an odd name and an annoying wizard who talks too much. Tav seemed naive. She was picking up strays left and right. Were these others to be trusted?
Tav had a way of making everyone feel accepted and comfortable. “If you need anything, please let me know. I don't care if I'm sleeping, reading, or otherwise busy, you can wake me up. I want to help.” she exclaimed to the whole group with an earnest look in her eye. She made sure to look at everyone in their eyes when she said this.
‘Gods, she couldn't be more sweet. So tempting.’ He thought to himself. He wondered if she would taste as sweet as she acted, but no, he had to stop thinking things like that. Even Tav would surely end him if he were to slightly hint at the fact that he was a monster.
Besides, Cazador would most definitely flay him for drinking the blood of a thinking creature. Although, the parasite had granted him immunity from the sun. Maybe Cazador can't control him at all anymore.
__________
It was time to settle in for the night. They had an exhausting day looking for a healer, which they had to fight through a hoard of goblins to get to. It had been 3 nights since the nautiloid crash, and Astarion had already snuck off the previous night to find a boar, which he stupidly left in the middle of the road. Tav and the cleric had fixated on it. The cleric had pointed out that the boar had been left fully intact but without blood. To Astarion's dismay, these stangers were smarter than he initially had thought.
Tav was so exhausted that she had fallen asleep beside the fire, while everyone else left to their tents. She was a powerful ally indeed. Tav and Astarion carried the team, while the wizard was frequently coming within an inch of death and you would have thought the cleric was blind because she missed almost every shot. 'Leave it to Gale to cover the ground in grease and then slip in it and fall prone, himself', Astarion thought.
While everyone was sleeping, Astarion slipped away into a clearing in the woods to have some privacy and decompress after all that's happened, for the first time since the nautiloid crash. Finally able to be alone with his thoughts, Astarion's memories of his master plagued him. It was as if he were there, reciting his rules.
First, thou shalt not drink of the blood of thinking creatures.
Second, thou shalt obey me in all things.
Third, thou shalt not leave my side unless directed.
Four, thou shalt know that thou art mine.
'Terrifying. So much for being alone with one's thoughts' Astarion thought. He left the clearing in distress, feeling like he was being stalked by Cazador. 'He can't control me anymore, I can walk in the sun...' Astarion told himself, in an effort to calm himself down. A burning feeling climbed up his throat. He was starving. Exerting himself more than usual was likely to blame. He had to find something to eat, soon.
__________
Astarion made his way back to camp, stopping at the tree line to assess the state of the camp. Sweet Tav was still sleeping soundly by the fire. Sweet Tav's words replayed in his head. "If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask. I don't care if I am sleeping". Sweet Tav who had shown him compassion almost immediately after he had pulled a dagger to her throat. Sweet Tav whose breath was minty, whose hair smelled of lavender, and whose pulse sounded so beautiful; hypnotic.
Astarion snuck close enough to Tav to see her throat, so beautifully exposed. An easy target. Tav was wearing nothing but a thin silky nightgown with small flimsy straps. Her supple legs were exposed and glistened in the firelight. The wind blew and her scent wafted into Astarion's face.
This was too much for Astarion to bear any longer. He slowly and stealthily climbed atop Tav, making sure not to wake her. He held his breath, he didn't need to breathe anyway. She was lying on her back, so Astarion slotted his leg between her thighs and placed his left elbow on the ground beside her head. He used his right hand to tilt her chin to the side slowly and gently brush her hair away from her pulse point. 'Formalities' he thought. Astarion slowly lowered his open maw onto Tav's throat. Finally puncturing the skin, blood started flowing into his mouth as he latched on almost like a feral animal. Tav's blood was ambrosia, it tasted like nothing he had ever tasted before. It was sweet, but complex like a fine-aged wine.
He could no longer control himself, he was sure to wake her. He tightly grabbed onto Tav's hair with his right fist and pushed her neck into his lips. It was then that he heard a sweet mewl coming from Tav. 'Of course, she would be moaning when a monster is consuming her.' Astarion groaned into her neck and brought his knee flush up to Tav's core. Tav began to writhe beneath him, arching her back and slowly bucking her hips on his knee. She was enjoying this. A desire started building in Astarion's lower abdomen, causing his cock to strain against his pants.
Astarion continued to take generous gulps of Tav's blood, running his tongue across her pulse point to try and force more blood out, faster. He let loose a primal groan into Tav's throat and then repositioned himself so that his clothed cock was pressing into Tav's exposed cunt. She accommodated Astarion and wrapped her legs around his pelvis with tact and enthusiasm. Tav reached her right hand up to Astarion's curls, but Astarion grabbed her wrist and pinned it beside her head. Tav moaned, but her rutting became slower, as did her pulse.
"Astarion - I" Tav whispered. Astarion finally came to and unlatched his teeth. His brows knitted together as he licked, and pressed his tongue firmly against her wound to soothe Tav and congeal the blood. He placed a chaste kiss on her neck, and then slowly started releasing her wrist, but Tav let out a breathy whine into his ear and grabbed his left hand, lacing her fingers with his. Perplexed, he looked up at Tav with round eyes. She was gazing at their laced hands. Astarion eyed her fresh puncture marks to make sure the bleeding had seized, and then gently tilted her head to face him.
Her eyes were wet and filled with lust. Her chest was heaving, her cheeks were flushed, and her pupils were blown out. "Why did you stop?" Her voice came out breathy, almost a whisper.
Astarion smirked, "Oh, you sweet, generous thing."
Tav's left hand came up to touch Astarion's face in a gentle caress while her right hand was still affectionately connected with his left. She eyed his lips, taking in the blood on his chin and swiping it softly with her thumb. Her eyes fluttered back up to meet his gaze, but he was eyeing her lips as she had his.
Tav's lips were the same colour as her blushing cheeks. They were seductively parted. Astarion's gaze shifted back to Tav's eyes again, as she caressed his face with her thumb. Such a gentle little thing, and after what he had just done to her. He ought to feel shame for taking from her. 'She is so beautiful' he thought. The firelight flickered in her wet, sleepy eyes. Her hair was gorgeously spread amongst her bedroll. She was like an angel, no, a goddess. It was hard to believe she was real, or that someone could even forgive him for what he had done to her, let alone want him to continue. He looked at her with concern in his eyes which were becoming wet themselves.
Tav's hand slithered shakily to the nape of Astarion's neck. "I want you if you'll have me." She smiled earnestly, her eyes curled with her smile like tiny rainbows. She caressed his nape as she did his chin. "Please, Astarion." She sang
His name sounded like a melody on her lips. She was a siren, pulling him in with her song. Pulling him in, to drown in her. Their lips crashed like the waves in the Sea of Fallen Stars. They moaned into each other as their tongues danced around one another's teeth, exploring, and tasting. Astarion didn't want to stop until he had tasted every corner of her maw. Their kiss was bruising and sloppy. Tav made advances with her tongue as well, and she opened her mouth wide enough to let Astarion explore deeply. Her mouth tasted as minty as it smelled, and his mouth tasted like her blood. He paid extra mind to not hurt her with his fangs.
One of her hands tangled in his hair and the other hand rested on his back. He pressed his pelvis closer to her's and he groped her soft flesh with one of his hands, hastily exploring her body and reaching under her nightgown to grab her breast. He pinched her nipple and rubbed it between his fingers. Tav let out a higher-pitched moan in his mouth. He snaked his hands down to her exposed and throbbing core. She was unbelievably soaked. Finally lifting his mouth from hers, he looks at her with a smirk and says "You are positively dripping for me, darling." He started rubbing slow circles on her clit and her back arched, seeking more from Astarion.
She groaned. "I want you inside me, please." Her eyes pleading and her words drifted out in a soft sigh. She was squirming slowly and weakly. The poor thing was so weak from the blood loss.
He peered down at her face which seemed to be blushing more and more, and her skin was now glistening with a thin layer of sweat. "Only because you ask so sweetly." He exclaimed before plunging two digits inside of her, working her open. She hummed in a whiney tone, which only egged him on further. His fingers curled up as he patiently started getting her hole ready for his cock. Her mouth opened and her eyes nearly rolled back into her head. She was the most enchanting creature in all of Faerün. He wanted to do anything for her, and he wanted to bury his cock entirely between her legs.
His free hand pushed her nightgown above her breasts, exposing her naked and writing body to the night air. It hadn't occurred to him until then that they were in the middle of camp. The cleric and the wizard could catch them, but Tav seemed unbothered. Astarion had noticed that his senses were much sharper after drinking Tav's blood. He realized he was confident enough that he would hear anyone coming long before they could see anything.
His fingers started to pump into her faster, and he palmed her clit. Her breathing became heavy and jagged. "I'm so close! Astarion!" She moaned his name as her pussy fluttered around his digits. He fingered her through her orgasm, only pulling away when she started to twitch at the touch of her clit. She inhaled deeply and let out a groan. Her head fell back and her breasts rose and fell with each exasperated breath. "Hmm, you are wonderful, Astarion." She hummed with a bright smile on her face.
Astarion crept up to meet her eyes with his, "You're unbelievably beautiful." He said sincerely. She looked up at him with her pleading eyes again. He brushed her hair with his fingers and admired her features. He brought her into a molten kiss that both burned and bruised their lips. His hand caressed her naked torso, gripping her in every place he could before landing his strong grasp on her ass. Their kiss flew apart and she let out an exceptionally whiney moan and looked down to where his clothed cock was.
His cock was beginning to strain unbearably against his pants. He expertly unlaced his trousers and his large member sprang free, glistening with precum. He glanced down at her soaking core, her thighs were covered in her cum. He hooked her knees over his biceps and he teased her entrance with his cock. He groaned and exhaled, and looked at her face so he could read her expressions. Her brows scrunched in anticipation.
"Hmmm please fuck me. I want you to fill me up so bad." she sobbed and clenched her jaw.
Astarion groaned "I love it when you plead for me, little love. Your voice sounds so sweet. Please tell me if you want me to stop, can you do that for me?"
She bit her lip and looked him in the eye, again with that sweet look on her face. "Mmhm" she nodded.
He didn't need any more confirmation from her as he slowly sunk his cock into her hole. Her mouth opened slightly and she started breathing heavier. He pulled out all the way and stroked her wetness onto his shaft. He sunk back down into her languidly until he finally was fully inside. He grunted at the feeling, and she was breathing heavier than ever. Her jaw was clenched and her eyes were wet.
"Are you okay, sweet love?" He said with concern as he stilled inside her.
"Mmm yeah. You're just - so big, I've never had someone -reach into me so deeply. It doesn't - hurt, I promise" she spoke softly. Panting throughout her sentence. "It feels, so good" she whined.
His cock twitched at her enthusiasm and she moaned quietly. "Oh darling, I am going to fill you right up," he said as he pulled back and then snapped his hips into her. He leaned down to her and stroked her cheek as he kissed her jaw. "Precious." He whispered in her ear.
He began rutting into her at a consistent pace. She pulled his shirt up to feel more of his skin against hers. She was so warm compared to him, her aura engulfed him like the fire they lay next to, consuming the carbon in a flickering rage. She was so tight, and warm, and wet. He wasn't sure how long he was going to be able to last, but he knew he wanted to make her cum one more time before he finished.
He reached down to her clit, and started rubbing tight quick circles. She moaned between her teeth and the muscles in her legs tensed. Her mouth fell agape and she started panting beautifully. "That's it, good girl. Cum on my cock."
His words were enough to send her over the edge, and her cunt clenched and fluttered around his cock. He fucked her through her orgasm, only stopping his attention on her nub when she was pulling away. He readjusted her legs atop his shoulders, and her knees were practically beside her head. He was able to reach deeper in her than before, and his cock was hitting her sweet spot at a perfect angle.
"Do you want me to fill you with my cum, darling? Is that what you want?" He teased as he fucked her mercilessly.
"Yes!" She begged, "Please, I need you to fuck your cum into me!"
Her lewd suggestion sent him toppling over into his own climax, and he pressed himself deeply into her folded form. Groaning as his head fell to her side, he placed chaste kisses on her neck where he had bitten earlier. She could feel his cock twitching deep inside her, his spend spurting on her walls and dripping down her ass. He pulled out a few inches and then slammed back into her again, stuffing his cock into her deepest depths, making sure that her desires are met and that his seed has thoroughly coated every corner of her tight, quivering hole.
They stayed connected for many long moments and then eventually they both rolled over to lie on their sides, facing one another. They stared deeply into each other's eyes. Astarion pulled his pants back up, and Tav lay sleepily with her flesh still exposed. "This won't do." He said as he scooped her up with his arms.
"Oh!" She squeaked, as Astarion carried her bridal style to his tent.
He lay Tav down on his bedroll. "One moment, love, I will be right back!" He said with newfound energy.
Astarion searched for one of the most soft fabrics that he had kept for future sewing projects. He found the silky red cloth and he soaked it with water from the river. It was cold, but it will have to do. He made long strides back to his tent to find Tav, who was almost sleeping.
"This is going to be a bit cold, little bird." He cooed. He then ran the damp cloth along her most vulnerable parts. She hummed sleepily and smiled as he slowly cleaned her up with seemingly the highest degree of care. He then took the same cloth and cleaned himself up briefly.
The night was warm, but Tav, being alive, was more susceptible to the temperature. He only had his brown boyish blanket in his tent, so he quickly went to Tav's tent and snagged all of her pillows and blankets to bring them back to her in his tent. She was like a sleepy doll. He propped her head up on the softest pillow and covered her body in the warmest blankets. She sleepily hummed with glee, and Astarion looked at her snuggled up in the blankets, admiring his handiwork.
He changed into a fresh set of night clothes and then joined her under the blankets. He faced her and affectionately brushed his fingers across her cheek and under her ear. His palm rested on her cheek and his thumb stroked her cheekbone. He would speak to her about all this in the morning, and apologize for feasting upon her like a ravenous beast; but for now, she was in his arms and he felt an unyielding desire to take care of her. She nuzzled into him and kissed his hand. He leaned in and placed a kiss on her forehead. She turned around so her backside was facing him. She scooted back to connect with him. His touch was soothing and cool against her under the warm blanket. He froze for a moment at the overwhelming affection, and then he fell into her and held her tight.
He didn't know exactly what these feelings were, but he knew that this was nice.
They both closed their eyes, and Tav fell into a deep sleep. Astarion began to trance. He didn't know it yet, but this would be the best trance he would have in 200 years.
Author notes:
HEY. Thanks for reading if you made it this far. I actually haven't really ever written anything before, and I don't plan on writing anymore. It took a really long time, and it was way harder for me than I thought. The number of times I had to look at synonyms. Ffs... lol. But YEAH. I actually don't have much of an interest in writing anyways so it's all good. Srsly kudos to any of you who are writing fics, especially the lengthy ones. I have no idea how you do it. Every paragraph is a brain fart for me. Please don't mind any mistakes. I used grammarly, and I TRIED MY BEST LOL. ANYWAYS, LOVE YOU, SMOOCHIES.
#astarion ancunin#astarion#bg3#astarion smut#astarion x tav#astarion x reader#astarion pov#astarion fluff
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Could you do one for Finnick where no one knows they are together except close friends, we know katniss doesn’t like him much at first and the reader knows the rebellion plan and obviously Finnick so she doesn’t stop him from flirting with her and maybe(?) thinks it’s amusing because she knows why he’s doing it but it’s revealed in the arena they’re together and katniss is shocked
I hope you like it! I was excited to write it but I fear I made it far more angsty and less flirty than you would like!
TITLE: A Lover's Cry
WORD COUNT: 1.8k
PAIRING: Finnick Odair x Reader
WARNINGS: General hunger games violence, secret relationships, angst and multiple POV! (Katniss, Reader)
TAGS: Let me know if I need to tag anything else!
A/N: I actually really loved writing this one, and i hope you enjoy it despite only loosely basing it off your prompt! Thank you so much for the request and as always I take constructive critisicsm!
Not beta read as usual!
-
“So what’s with those two?” Katniss questioned, pointing towards the screen.
She had watched Haymitch flick through the tributes, giving her and Peeta the basics on everyone who was going into the arena. Two had caught her eyes immediately, Finnick Odair from District 4, and Y/N L/N from District 8. She knew their names, their faces but she didn’t know anything about their skills or who they were. But both seemed far too polished, posh and pretty standing in front of their respective crowds. It seemed like they were ready to head back in there, almost like they wanted too.
Haymitch turned towards the television.
“Finnick Odair and Y/N L/N.” He stated, watching the scenes of people he knew, waving towards the crowd of people. Picture perfect smiles adorning their faces.“The Capitol Darlings, everyone loves them … and people to watch out for. Finnick Odair, the youngest Victor in history at only fourteen and Y/N L/N took the top spot for kills from Beetee during her games. Took out nine people in one go. Extremely humble” He shook his head, remembering the brutality.
Katniss made a face. “You’re kidding right?” She snorted.
“Yes, I’m kidding.” Haymitch rolled his eyes. “They’re both peacocks, preeners … The Capitol loves their charm and friendship. They have a lot of support. They would make good allies … but deadly competition.” Haymitch explained.
“Weaknesses?” Peeta questioned, leaning towards his mentor.
“Finnick will have Mags in there, she basically raised him. He’ll want to protect her in whatever ways he can” Haymitch told them, taking a seat. “Y/N … far too trusting at heart and will do anything to protect them both. She’d rather see herself die than her friends.” He stated.
Katniss simply nodded.
-
Katniss walked into the training room, and scanned her surroundings … She didn’t know these Victors well enough to decide who she wanted to align herself with. According to Haymitch … to make it through the Quarter Quell, she and Peeta needed strong allies. Though she knew deep down the only one she could truly depend on was Peeta.
Katniss walked towards the bow and arrows laying on the table when she heard the sound of a faint giggle, something she thought she would never hear. She looked up, and her eyes moved around the room … finally they landed on the culprit. She frowned at the sight as she watched a blush rise on Y/N’s face. It wasn’t from endurance training, but from Finnick Odair.
Katniss had not taken Finnick, refused to, even … he was far too cocky for her taste and she didn’t want him anywhere near her. But Y/N seemed almost enamoured by him … like she liked … whatever the hell was going on.
Katniss made a mental note of the two, as she headed towards Mags … she would keep that to herself for now. She needed to make some friends here, and Katniss thought that Mags would be a good start.
-
“You’re going to get us caught, Finnick.” You blushed, pushing him away as you headed in the opposite direction. “Play it cool, Odair … can’t have everyone knowing about us.” You whispered.
“Sorry.” Finnick put his hands up in defence, a small smile lacing his features. “I’ll try to tone it down but looking at you … that’s going to be hard to do.”
“Zip it.” You made the motion of your lips. “We’ve got training to do.” You told him, gesturing towards the room.
Everyone else was laser focused on honing their skills, making it known that they were not to be messed with in the Games. But you two were simply goofing off, and giggling like two schoolgirls who had gossip that no one else knew. You were certain that Snow wasn’t pleased, nor was the new Game Maker but you were in your world. Finnick had always made it hard to concentrate on the task at hand.
You and Finnick had been together for three years. During the 71st Hunger Games you had both been mentors for your respective Districts, and he had confessed to you. It was strange … so confusing to find love in the hardship of the Games but you wouldn’t trade that for the world. You loved him more than anything and he loved you right back. Long distance had been hard at first but you made it work, you would always make it work for him.
“Find me later?” He asked.
“I know your room number.” You said, smiling towards him.
-
“I don’t know if I’m ready to go back in there.” You whispered, snuggling closer to Finnick.
You knew the plan, and you knew you had to get Katniss and Peeta out of that arena. Plutarch and Haymitch had made that abundantly clear. There was a Rebellion and Plutarch was on your side, he was hiding in plain sight, ready to take down The Capitol. You jumped at the chance to join, even if that meant sacrificing your own life. Finnick had agreed immediately once he knew you were joining. He had always shared your sentiments about having a better future for everyone.
You wanted a better life, a quiet life with him and you would fight for that every single day. You finally had your chance, and you had no idea if it was going to work but you had to try, you had to fight.
“I know.” He whispered, his thumb gliding across your hip. “I’m not either.”
“When we’re in there …” You muttered, kissing his jaw. “You have to remember that Katniss and Peeta are the most important ones there. Okay? You have to protect them first and everything else comes later.”
He smelt like vanilla, probably from the soap supplied from The Capitol, but it was so soothing to you.
“I … I don’t know if I can do that.” Finnick said, plainly. “I know this Rebellion is important … I know that they are important but they’re not the most important things to me, Y/N. You and Mags will always be far more important than some Rebellion.”
“Finnick.” You felt the lump rise in your throat.
This could be the last time that you two were together, and you weren’t handling it well. You knew you would never be safe again after winning The Games. You were well aware that you would never have peace again, but you didn’t think you would be in this position ever again. You certainly didn’t want to be here with Finnick.
“Let’s just be together right now.” He said, kissing the top of your head. “Let’s pretend that nothing is going to happen tomorrow and we're just laying under the stars and nothing is going to go wrong.” His breathing started to even out, and his heartbeat steadied your own.
“Okay.” You whispered, desperately swallowing. “Okay.”
-
“Finnick! Katniss!” You cried, chasing them into the woods, Johanna and Peeta on your tail.
The Games hadn’t been going as planned.
First you had been separated from Finnick, which had caused you great distress. You ended up pairing with Johanna, Beetee and Wiress, fighting your way through blood rain and wild beasts.
Then you had lost both Wiress and Mags. You had lost so many who joined The Rebellion, you watched the announcements every night and flinched whenever a cannon fired, wondering if you were losing a friend or foe. But you didn’t have time to grieve either of them, so much was at stake. You had to make it through another night to ensure that you would be saved. Giving up when you were so close wasn’t an option
But God you were so tired.
Then … the jabberjays started.
You hated jabberjays.
They hadn't been used during your games, but you knew they tortured anyone who listened.
You had stepped out to find something food for everyone, and Beetee volunteered to come with you. You were all hungry, and getting weaker, especially after the fight at the cornucopia. You needed some sort of energy, and you weren’t going to see anyone die of starvation.
You had been gone for maybe twenty minutes when you heard Katniss scream, shortly followed by Finnick. Fear had seized your heart, as you wasted no time chasing the sounds, Beetee desperately calling for you.
You weren’t afraid to fight whatever threat was out there … especially when Finnick’s life was on the line. You would gladly die if it meant he lived.
You had met up with everyone, chasing down the other two and when you had found them, screaming, Jabberjays fluttering above them … your voice crying for help … you had cried, desperately trying to reach Finnick but to no avail.
He and Katniss were trapped, writhing on the ground … sobbing and there was nothing you could do but wait.
It had been horrible to watch, you could only imagine what they were experiencing.
You didn’t care who knew anymore, you would scream from the rooftops that you were in love with Finnick, if that meant he would be okay. You needed him to be okay.
It seemed like hours before the Jabberjays had flown away, and you had run to his side in an instant. Holding him close to you, assuring him that you were okay.
“Y/N?” His voice sounded so goddamn small.
“I’m here baby.” You whispered, into his ear, gently rocking the man. “I am here, and I am okay. You’re okay.” You leaned in and kissed his forehead.
You were well aware of the shocked eyes on you, no one but Johanna knew anything about the two of you, and you met the brown eyes of Katniss. She seemed the most shocked out of anyone here. You knew she didn’t particularly like Finnick, she had only really met the persona he portrayed to the world. She didn’t know him like you did, you knew his heart.
“Everything is going to be okay.” You told him. “It’s going to be all okay.”
-
“He loves them.” Katniss said after a moment of silence, watching the two figures in the water.
She wondered how she could have missed it, all the signs were there yet she had been shocked. She didn’t understand the two, probably never would but that wasn’t really any of her concern.
“Yeah.” Johanna nodded. “They do. They’ve been through a lot together, I’ve known for a long time that those two were together. It’s disgusting really how much they love each other, they would quite literally kill for one another. Can’t blame them though, when you find someone like that you keep them close to your heart.” She shrugged.
“I never thought …” Katniss trailed off.
“That anyone could ever love someone that much?” Johanna questioned, crossing her arms. “Well believe it, Katniss, because it’s right there.”
Katniss moved her gaze away from Johanna and back towards the water, the kiss was short and sweet but in that moment she knew that nothing could break those two apart. Nothing would, and they had something worth fighting for.
#moeswriting#writing#hunger games#the hunger games#finnick odair#finnick odair x reader#angst#fluff#katniss everdeen#johanna mason
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decode (pt. 3) - toji f. x reader
masterlist
part two | part four
previously titled: leave us
you and toji fushiguro have been in an on-again-off-again relationship all throughout high school. over the summer break after graduation, you find out you're pregnant. too bad toji has already skipped town after your last breakup.
tags: fem!reader, cheating, underage (mentions they have sex, but nothing explict, toji and reader are high school freshmen), mentioned eating disorder (not really a disorder, reader just forgets to eat, tag is just in case), mention of domestic abuse (not between toji & reader), americanized setting, non sorcerer universe, 00's setting, reader is megumi's mom, exes to lovers (eventually), their relationship is toxic rn, not beta read we die like toji :(
wc: 3.4k
You had met Toji in your first year of high school at some house party. Some sophomore that Utahime knew was throwing it, giving the two of you an in.
You and Utahime had been dancing on the dude’s couch, bottles in hand. You had never really drank before, but you made sure to keep yourself aware enough to get the two of you home by the end of the night. Your house was a fifteen minute walk from here, and your plan was to sneak the two of you through your window before three.
That’s when you saw him. He was leaning against the wall talking to some girl. Just by his looks, you thought he might have been a couple years above you. He was tall, taller than most guys in the house, and definitely more muscular. You were immediately attracted, Utahime giggled at you once she saw where you were looking. “You should go talk to him!” She slurred, still moving to the sound of the music with you.
“Seems like he’s got his hands busy.” You whisper-yelled over the music. He had them all over that girl.
“Utahime!” You heard from below the two of you. Hakari, the guy whose house this was (and your future coworker), held on to her hand as she almost stumbled over to look down at him. “We’re gonna play seven minutes in heaven! Y’all wanna come?”
“That’s fucking corny!” Utahime giggled, “Let’s go, Y/N!” The two of you followed in a straight line behind Hakari to a relatively empty, but still extremely loud hallway. You all sat down in a circle with a group of students you didn’t recognize.
“Hey, you guys weren’t gonna start the fun without us, right?” You hear from behind you. It’s the guy from earlier. He pushes his hair (you think it's black, but can’t tell from the lighting) back and takes a swig of a beer bottle. The girl from earlier is with him, along with another guy you didn’t recognize.
“Toji, let us use that bottle. Hakari broke the other one!” One guy yells over the music. “Thought this was seven minutes in heaven,” A girl with stark white hair begins, “You don’t need a bottle for that game.”
“Too much work to write everyone’s names down, there’s a bunch of freshmen here. I don’t know them.” Hakari responds.
“Scoot over!” The tall guy, Toji, yells at you over the music, and you do. Allowing his group of three to squeeze in next to you. Utahime giggles and leans over your lap to address him. “Hey!” She yells, almost falling over your lap. “What’s your name? My friend Y/N-”
“I’ll go first!” you yell, hoping to silence her before she can say anything embarrassing.
“Wheeeew look at the brave young freshman!” Hakari yells. “Hey, what’s your name again?” You ignore him and spin the bottle. 'Damn,' you think, 'I’m actually going to have to go into a closet with someone after this.' You just wanted to interrupt Utahime.
It lands on some guy you don't recognize.
“Wee woo wee woo!” Hakari yells, mocking a police siren. “New rule, freshman and senior pairings will not be allowed! Go again!” he yells at you. The group bursts out laughing as you grab the bottle to spin again.
The bottle spins and spins until it lands on… the girl that Toji was making out with earlier. She makes a face and looks at you. “I’m not into girls, sorry!” She yells.
“I am!” Utahime announces to the group.
“What the hell, Takako, you have such a dirty mind!” Hakari says. You can feel Toji eyeing you. It’s slightly unsettling. “Seven minutes in heaven does not imply romantic or sexual advances!”
She scoffs, “Then why didn’t you let her go in there with Kenjaku?” You’re doing everything you can to avoid Toji’s gaze. Seriously, what was this dude’s problem? Was there something on your face? Did your makeup come off to reveal the big ass pimple on your cheek? Shit, you knew you should’ve used more setting spray.
“Because it’s my duty to protect the young women attending my party, Takako! Better safe than sorry.”
Suddenly, you see a hand go down to the bottle and tilt it slightly. It’s Toji, and he’s pointed the bottle directly at himself. “Well, would you look at that! Seems like the bottle has mysteriously landed on me and not Takako!” He yells over the music.
You take this time to finally look him in the face. From this close, you notice the scar on the side of his lip, his piercing green eyes.
“But…” you say, confused, “they said no seniors and freshmen.”
The group bursts into laughter. “Don’t know if I should be offended or not.” He says.
“He’s in our year, Y/N!” Utahime exclaims, “He’s in my algebra class, I couldn’t remember his name though…”
“Wait, this isn’t how it works!” Takako says, panicked. Now that you’ve already looked at Toji, you can see her arm locked into his, she’s yelling into the group’s circle.
“The bottle lands where it lands!” Toji says, throwing his arms up. “Come on, mama,” he starts, untangling from Takako. “We got seven minutes.”
He grabs your arm and leads you to the hall closet. You can hear whoops and whistles from behind you, but you don’t know if it’s from your small group or from the rest of the party goers.
He turns the light on, and the two of you push back winter coats to make room in the closet. He closes the door behind the two of you. For a moment he’s quiet. He just looks at you. “You’re really pretty.” He says, leaning against the door, a little too cockily for a high school freshman.
“Thanks.” You say quietly. It’s a little less loud in the closet, music muffled by the bundle of winter coats. “Is um.. Is Takako your girlfriend or something?”
He laughs, “Why do you ask?”
“Because it’s pretty fucked up if you took me in here with her sitting right out there.”
He smiles. “Nah.” He says, leaning closer to you. “She’s not.”
You can feel his breath on your face, and smell his cologne from here. It’s a little strong, you can smell the beer in his breath too. “She’s into you though,” you say. He leans closer and you put your hand gently on his chest. Your lips are millimeters apart. “That was kinda mean,” He laughs again. “To be really, really honest, I don’t give a fuck about her.”
“That's really mean.” You respond, and suddenly your lips are on each other. This isn’t your first kiss, but Toji makes it feel like it is. You two grasp onto each other desperately, hold onto each other like you’ve known each other for years, like he’s a long lost love.
It doesn’t escalate from there, you two just kiss and kiss and kiss.
You don’t notice how long it’s been until you hear a knock on the door. Toji pulls away from your face and rests his forehead on yours. “Damn.” He says, licking his lips.
That night, Toji had offered to drive you and Utahime home. You had spent the last couple hours at the party together, you continued drinking while Toji refrained, wanting to drive you home.
He had helped you sneak Utahime into your bedroom. In your time spent with Toji, you hadn’t noticed her drinking more and more, so by the time you got her into Toji’s car, she was passed out cold.
You had held Utahime in your arms as Toji climbed into your window and pulled her through. You climbed in after.
“Thank you so much.” You said to him as the two of you lay her in your bed. “You’re seriously a life saver.”
“It’s no problem, anything for a pretty lady like you.” You rolled your eyes.
He climbed back out your window, turning around to face you one more time before you left. You lent onto your window sill and smiled at him. “I’ll see you on Monday?” you asked. He smiled back. “I’ll see you then.” He lent up and kissed you on the lips once more before turning back around and walking to his truck.
You did see him on Monday. And almost every Monday after.
You and Toji became incredibly close incredibly fast. Toji clung to you for affection, you clung to him for attention. You sat together at lunch everyday. He’d buy you Cokes from the overpriced vending machine and you’d invite him into your bedroom everytime it got to be too much at home. You guys never officially started dating, it just seemed like it happened overnight.
He never came over during the day. You were too nervous to tell your mother and he was too nervous to meet her.
She didn’t know you even had a boyfriend until Toji cheated on you. Not the best introduction. You were working late at the diner, you often did on weekends to speed up the process of your college fund. It was Shoko who had told you.
She, Geto, and Gojo had come to the diner after leaving a party. They were all clearly a little tipsy, so one of the older servers had passed them off onto you. “I’m not dealing with definitely-not-drunk teenagers at this time of night. I’m ready to go home.”
“Oh my god! I know you! You’re Y/N! We’re in the same government class!” Geto slurred. You smiled at him. “How are you guys doing? You go to Hakari’s party?” You asked.
“Yeah! It was really fun, but Gojo’s curfew is at one so we gotta get him sobered up.” Geto supplied.
“Hey, Y/N, are you still with Toji? I see you too together alllllll the time at school.” Gojo slurred. You laughed. “Kind of.” You and Toji had gotten into an argument that afternoon. Toji was going to that same party, and you, having to work, couldn’t go with. Somehow, it turned into an argument about who does more for who. You weren’t broken up, and you weren’t on a break, but you were both certainly angry with each other.
“Ohhhh what the fuck?” Gojo said, looking wide-eyed at his friends. They all looked between each other, clearly confused and talking to each other through their facial expressions.
“Uhh, Y/N, can you just get us some waters, and can you get Gojo like an omelet or some shit?” Shoko says. “Uhh yeah! Of course!”
“No mushrooms!” Gojo shouts as you walk away. You turn and give him a thumbs up.
That whole night, you could feel the tension from the table. Like they all felt bad for you. Like they pitied you. After they paid the bill and Geto and Gojo walked out, Shoko called you over. “Hey, Y/N, you almost done working?” She asked.
“Yeah, you guys were my last table for tonight. What’s up?”
“Look,” she says, “I don’t know what’s up with you and Toji, it’s not my business, but I think you should probably know he and Takako were all over each other at Hakari’s tonight.” She looked into your eyes to gauge a reaction.
Your heart had dropped. You could feel your fingertips tingling like you had lost all the blood in them. They felt lighter than the rest of your body. “Oh, uh, yeah it's not a big deal.” You say. You start to wring your hands on your waist apron. “Thanks for letting me know, though.” You attempt a smile at her. She looks at you with pity and concern, until you can almost visibly see her say ‘fuck it’ in her head. She leans in and gives you a hug.
You vowed it not to be true, but Shoko had no reason to lie to you. Gojo and Geto had no reason to act so strange when you mentioned you’re still with Toji. Shoko bringing up Takako was not a coincidence.
You squeeze her back and you can feel your breathing picking up. “T-Thank, um, Thank you.” you say.
You didn’t call him when your shift was over for him to pick you up as usual, instead opting to take the bus route. You got home that night, thankful to see that your mother had already gone to sleep. You ignored the food she left for you in the fridge and went straight to the shower.
You didn’t cry until you got into bed, when you could smell his cologne on your pillow. You stayed like that for hours. Curled up, silently sobbing, until you heard a light knocking on your window. You knew who it was. The only person it could be,
“Y/N?” He whispered through the window. He sounded panicked. You could hear the pane slide up and him climb in.
“Oh, shit, thank god.” He whispered, climbing into your bed. His voice was shaking. “Hey, you awake, mama?”
You turned around to face him. “You had me scared, baby.” He said, moving your hair out of your face. “You never called after your shift. Just ‘cause you’re mad at me doesn’t mean I won’t come get you.”
“You fucked her, didn’t you?” You asked, your voice cracking.
“Huh?”
“You. Fucked. Her. Didn’t. You?”
His hand froze on your cheek.
You sat up in your bed. “You fucked her, and then you wanted to come and see me after?” You asked, voice rising with each word.
“Hey-”
“What?” You ask. You’re fully yelling now. “What the fuck are you doing here?”
“Y/N, stop yelling.” He warns. He stands up from the bed. You stand up and get in his face.
“Don’t tell me what to do, Toji!” You pushed his chest. He didn’t move an inch. “You don’t get to come in here, acting like you’re all worried about me! Acting like you give a fuck!” You were full on sobbing by now.
“Y/N-”
“What the hell is going on in here?” You hear your door swing open and whip around to see your mother standing at the door with a baseball bat in hand.
Shit.
“What the fuck are you doing in my house? Get the hell out of here!”
Toji books it out the window, looking at you one last time before leaving.
“What the hell are you thinking, Y/N? You have a boy in here?” She yells at you. “You’re too young for this! Doing this under my roof, are you insane?”
You just stand there staring at the floor. “Mom?” You ask, voice cracking. She sets the bat down by your door and rushes to your side. “Did he hurt you? Y/N? What did he do?” You cling onto the back of her shirt and cry into her neck. “Mom-” Is all you can get out before you’re violently shaking and you can feel your knees give out.
It’s a week later when you see Toji again. Your mother had let you stay home from school for a day, and when you got back, Toji was nowhere to be found.
Word got around school quickly. If it hadn’t been Shoko who told you, It could’ve been ten other people. Utahime and Saori, another girl you befriended, became your lunch buddies, taking Toji’s place.
You didn’t want to seem as hurt as you felt, not with Takako grinning at you in the halls every time she saw you.
He was at your window that night. You didn’t have work, and had taken the free time to catch up on some assignment you had missed. You heard a knock on your window and immediately tensed. “Fuck.” You whispered to yourself when you heard the pane slide up.
You hadn’t even thought about locking your window. Didn’t expect Toji to want anything to do with you.
“I saw the light on." He explained, like it gave him the right to come in, "Can we talk?” He whispered, “and can you not yell?” You didn’t look up at him. He towered over you from where you sat at your desk. “Can’t promise you anything.” You said. You pretended to work on an algebra problem, but you couldn’t focus with him in the room.
“Come with me to my truck then.” He pleads. You tap your pencil on the wooden desk and turn your head to look up at him. He looks a mess. Hair mussed like he hadn’t brushed it in days, clothes rumpled and stained. His right eye sports a fading black ring around it.
You bite your lip. You refuse to show any concern, but you're too curious. You point your pencil at his eye, “What happened there?” He stares at you for a second.
“Can you come or not?” He asks. This would be a common occurrence throughout the rest of your relationship. Toji showing up with a new bruise and brushing you off when you question it.
“Can you answer my question?” You taunt back.
“Please, Y/N.”
You sigh and throw your pencil down on the desk. “I’m doing homework, Toji.” You respond.
“Please.” He begs.
You know you shouldn’t. You and your mother had had a lengthy conversation just this morning. “You need to stay away from boys like him.” she said as she moved around the kitchen to prepare you breakfast. This hadn’t been a common occurrence until she noticed you had stopped eating. It wasn’t intentional, you just didn’t have the energy for it anymore. “They don’t do anything but lead you down a path you don’t want to go down, Y/N.” She says, placing a plate of eggs and toast in front of you. “He’s showing you who he is right now. Believe him.”
You contemplated it. You knew, deep down, that you shouldn’t. Knew you should’ve called for your mom the second he tapped on your window. But you didn’t.
“Okay.”
The two of you crawled out of your window and walked a few houses down to Toji’s truck, parked in an abandoned parking lot. The two of you hop in at the same time. You had suddenly wished you grabbed your coat. It wasn’t necessarily cold, you just wanted something to comfort you.
“I fucked up.” There it is. His voice, even if he’s saying something incredibly delusional and ridiculous, that is your comfort. He turns in his seat to face you. You do the same, your foot coming up to rest in the seat.
“I really, really fucked up.”
“So what’s your excuse?” You ask. You know it’s a bit hurtful. That was a little intentional.
“I just.. I don’t have one.”
You think about that for a second. “Sooo…” you begin with a laugh, suddenly ten times more bitter than before. “You had sex with another girl… just because?” You ask.
He has nothing to say to that.
“What am I to you, Toji?”
He looks at you for a second like he’s pondering. Trying to put it into words, or maybe trying to come up with something. You didn’t know.
“Everything.” He says, finally.
You smile. It’s a nasty, bitter smile. “That so?” You ask. “I’d hate to see how you treat someone you hate. Gotta be pretty bad.”
“Baby..”
“I’m sorry if I’m misunderstanding you here.” You say, you put your foot back onto the floor of his truck. “You brought me out here, interrupted me, mind you, to what? Tell me that you cheated on me because you felt like it?”
You don’t think you’ve ever been this angry in your life. You get out of the car. Not waiting for a response. You slam the door, briskly walking back home.
“Y/N! Come the fuck on!” You can hear him slamming the door and following you. “Don’t walk out here by yourself.” He’s being dramatic. Your house is literally within your field of vision. You can hear his feet rushing to catch up to you. You turn around and point your finger at his chest. “Leave me the fuck alone.” You say with as much conviction as you can muster.
He does.
When you get back home, you realize you had left your phone on your desk next to your abandoned algebra homework. You have a message from Utahime waiting for you. When you open your flip phone up, you read
hime <3: wanna go 2 hakari’s w me this fri?
Suddenly you have an idea. Make him hurt like you did. Maybe a little worse, if he cared about you at all, that is. Deep down you knew he did. Even if only a little.
you: ofc :)
longer chapter for tonight! i'm having fun writing this! thank you for the support!
i changed the name to decode because i was listening to it while writing this chapter and it was a little bit too perfect. everybody say thank you hayley williams.
other songs i listened to while writing include
breaking benjamin - diary of jane
foo fighters - everlong
bts (suga) - trivia: seesaw
paramore - all i wanted
i feel like im on drugs rn
tag list, comment to be added
@mechalily @nialiuwanderlust @xo-evangeline @ilovebattinson @cherrypieyourface @amaiyasha @erensslut
#toji fushiguro x reader#toji fushiguro#toji x reader#toji x y/n#toji x you#jjk x reader#jujutsu kaisen x reader
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𝑮𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝑴𝒚 𝑳𝒂𝒅𝒚 | 𝑷𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝟐
(𝑺𝒆𝒃𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝑴𝒊𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒔 𝒙 𝑹𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓)
⚠️MDNI. 18+ ADULTS ONLY⚠️
🎀Age in bio or blocked🎀
Rating: Mature
Category: F/M
Fandom: Kuroshitsuji | Black Butler
Relationship: Sebastian Michaelis/CielsCousin!Reader
Characters: Sebastian Michaelis; Reader; Ciel Phantomhive; Elizabeth Midford
Summary: After spending the day with your cousin and his fiance, the night air makes for pleasant company, as does the butler who reveals a dark secret...
Additional Tags: Fluff and Smut; Eventual Smut; Neck Kissing; Kissing; Gentle Kissing; Surprise Kissing; Making Out; Implied Sexual Content; Phantomhive manor; Reader-Insert; Victorian
A/N: not beta read. We die like men. Again.
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3
𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 2: 𝕿𝖍𝖆𝖙 𝕭𝖚𝖙𝖑𝖊𝖗; 𝕴𝖓 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝕹𝖎𝖌𝖍𝖙
The day passed without much incident. A wall seemed to have broken down, between you and the butler after your morning rendezvous. Throughout the day, he looked after both your needs and his young master’s as well. You had spent some time with your cousin today as he hadn’t had too much on his schedule like he usually did. Breakfast, luncheon and supper were all had with the boy who kept your mind occupied with discussions on business and society. And Sebastian served you while also making sure to linger longer than necessary by your side, whether it was him pouring wine into your glass, or brushing against you while bringing you your plate. Surreptitious movements that luckily went unnoticed by your young cousin.
Lady Elizabeth joined the two of you for supper. Though she was from your side of the family you had never met the child personally. The girl had a lot of energy. She loved dressing up as was evident from her clothing. You had heard of her mother being a fearsome lady, one who could fight a tiger barehanded and win, but the daughter carried no such resemblance.
“ –And then, Mother let me make two more dresses to match with the jewellery she bought me!” You had missed the initial conversation but gleaned from the few lines that she had an affinity for fashion and clothing. It was not unlike a lady of her stature.
“Oh when I was your age, I loved getting new dresses made!” You smiled at her. “After I fell sick the first time, however, I started to dislike it a bit.” It was true. You used to have dresses made by the dozen. The seamstress saw your home more than her own shop! But your repeated illnesses have changed this. Every measurement taken anew showed how your body had changed. Warped into the form of the disease. And standing for the tape was exhausting. You found comfort in the clothing you already owned and preferred to have less made.
Elizabeth frowned. “Perhaps, Lady Phantomhive, you can come with me and we can have the tailor take your measurements too for a gown. I’m sure your mama and papa wouldn’t mind!” You blushed and shook your head. Perhaps your parents wouldn’t and even if you did have the energy to stand tomorrow, you would have to cover up the innumerable marks Sebastian left on you from your morning's tryst.
You laughed a nervous chuckle and replied, “Perhaps for the next season, I seem to have plenty of splendid dresses in my armada for the moment…”
Ciel retired to bed, soon after Elizabeth left to go back home. You sometimes forgot he was only 12 – his mannerisms far beyond his age. You walked out to the balcony. The garden was painted silver in the moonlight. Despite being quite clumsy, Finnian did a good job of maintaining it you thought to yourself.
“After all I did today to make sure you didn’t catch a cold, my lady, here you are inviting it yourself.” Sebastian’s voice came from behind, startling you. You turned your head to look as he emerged from the shadows draping a warm cloak over your shoulders. “Would you like to go for a walk my lady?” he asked. Once again, you thought you saw a flash of red in his eyes, but it was gone as soon as you took another glance. You nodded at him.
Sebastian took your hand and in one swift cat-like movement you found yourself in his arms flying through the air. You clung to his shoulders the night air whipping through your hair and biting at your cheeks. “Sebastian! Where are we going!” But the whistling of the wind drowned out your words.
When he finally landed, you looked around you, the garden was far, This was a denser shrubbery, almost like the maze Finnian so religiously took care to grow. “Should you be so far from the manor?” You asked him breathless, even though all you had done was be carried from one place to another. “Ciel might call for you or something.”
He shook his head. “You needn’t worry about that, my lady. The young master doesn’t wake till morning – when I wake him and I’m sure the manor will be fine without me for a bit.”
He smiles, reassuring you, and takes your hand, clasping it in his gloved ones. You begin to walk alongside him, his stride is shorter, making sure you can keep up, even in your bedroom slippers. Soon you come across a gazebo. The butler then invites you to sit and takes a seat beside you. “I do hope this isn’t too forward of me, my lady but I wish to continue where we had left off this morning.” You blush and avoid his gaze. You know that society would never approve of the relationship the two of you had. If anyone ever found out, it would bring shame to you and your family. You would be looked down upon for the longest time. “My lady?” Sebastian inquires after not hearing anything from you.
“Sebastian…” you start. But you don’t know how to form what you are feeling. “I- I-” you stutter. Then sigh. He puts his hand on your cheek and makes you look at him.
“My lady, if you want this to stop—” he begins but is cut off when you place your hand over his mouth.
“Believe me that is not what I want.” You say to him. “You are different Sebastian. I don’t get what you want. Your feelings are not of love. They aren’t for my money. And I feel you lust after me but that doesn’t come out too clearly either. I suppose, in a way, I am confused.” You get up, take a few steps forward and turn to look at him. “I have had men who have come to me for all the things I mentioned before. I have had those who might have actually loved me, those who merely wanted me as another trophy to claim, and even those who have come only to try and gain my hand in marriage but in reality who want to marry my father’s wealth. But you Sebastian, something about you is so different. I suppose it may be because you are the first man I have felt attracted to.” Your following chuckle is hesitant. “I am—afraid of you.”
Sebastian smirks. “Your way of seeing things is so intriguing my lady.” He says. “I can assure you my lady that I am not here for your money. I have no need for the material things that humans treasure so much.” He spits. “As for lusting after you; you have deduced almost correctly, but what I feel for you is more...” You don’t know when he got up, but turning to look you find Sebastian flush against your back. His eyes are red, the same red you tried to convince yourself you hadn't seen, but it was unmistakable. Your eyes widen and you try to take a step back, away from his imposing figure, only to find yourself trapped between him and the gazebo.
“You see my lady,” he continues, nose nuzzling against your neck, “Demons and humans have very little in common, but there is one thing we do share; the feeling of lust is very strong in us both. Humans can feel love. All demons can feel though; is lust. But you, you make me feel something different from just lust. Something more—burning. Is it love? I don’t know... I’ve never known that feeling.”
You don’t know what to say anymore. You should be frozen in fear, What did Sebastian mean, saying he was a demon? A murderer? Or a biblical fantasy? His lips were now on your skin, inhaling your scent, and you felt a pool of warmth in your lower belly. “D- demon? What does that even mean?” you falter.
“What I mean, my lady, is that the only reason I am here is because of a contract I have made with your dear young cousin. You should thank him for our very meeting.” He tells you.
“You mean you’re a demon. Like – from legends and stories?”
“I can assure you. I am no story” he says, planting a searing kiss on your neck. That was all it took to set you on fire. It made sense. The inhuman capabilities. The absolute perfection of his being. He was a demon! “You aren’t running from me my lady?” he asked as you melted under his touch.
“Surely, you jest Sebastian!” You say. Your voice quavers but you stand your ground.
“About what my lady?”
“About this demon nonsense!”
“I never lie to my lady.” He says. “You said yourself, there is something you find different about me.” He kisses you. “I am simply a demon, and a butler.”
***
Since you were tired from being out for so long, Sebastian swiftly carried you back to the mansion and took you to your room where there was a cup of hot chamomile tea waiting for you. He really took everything into account. There is no doubt about it in your mind now. Sebastian had to be a demon. His speed is inhuman. His eyes are reptilian, gleaming in the darkness. And then those teeth that scraped against your neck. Whatever he is, he definitely isn’t human.
As he helps you get ready for bed you realised that you didn’t mind. Sebastian may not have been a human, and he may have been a butler, but the way he made you feel surpassed all of that. “Sebastian…” You turn to him as he undresses you. You take off his coat. “I don’t care what you are.” You take off his vest. His eyes widen, and he stares at you. He can smell your arousal. Here you are half naked before him, taking off his clothes. Telling him you don’t care what he is. You want him. You feel things for him. Your scent drives him wild and he doesn’t even register you undoing his necktie and then his shirt buttons. When you try to take his shirt off and he doesn’t move to allow you to slip it off him, you suddenly think that perhaps he doesn’t want this. “I’m so sorry!” You say. “I thought you wanted this.” Sebastian finally wakes from his stupor and looks at you.
“I do want this. I just can’t believe that someone as beautiful and lovely as you truly wants something as vile and cruel as me.” He says and softly kisses your head. Then without warning he pushes you onto the bed and says, “But, my lady, who gave you the permission to take my clothes off?” He growls. The change in demeanour startles you.
“Sebas—” you start, but he does not let you finish. In a moment, his lips are upon yours. He swiftly and rips off your underclothes, while still kissing your mouth. His hands glide along the curves of your body and he holds you closer while plunging his tongue into your mouth.
He has never tasted anything like you before. He cannot fathom how in all the years he has lived he has never tasted anything like you. “I guess it’s something Phantomhives have in common eh? A taste like no other. I could feast on you all day.” He mutters half to himself.
“What–?” you ask breathlessly.
“You taste, sinful.”
He winks at you and pulls his glove off his left hand with his sharp teeth. His nails are black and on the back of his hand is a pentagram inside two circles. The outer, made of pointy diamond shapes. “My contract seal— nothing for you to worry your pretty little head about, my lady.” he says, seeing you looking at it.
Sebastian trails his hand down your stomach. His black tipped fingers enter your folds which are already moist with your arousal. Lowering his head, he nibbles on your neck. You breathe in deeply and wish he would take off his clothes to allow you to see him but he had made it pretty clear who was in charge of the taking off of the clothing. His hand playing around with you down under barely ghosted over your skin. You involuntarily bucked your hips trying to get him to touch you. The move immediately made the demon smirk and say, “Look at you, so eager to be fucked.”
You feel your cheeks heat much like your core. His words are so unexpectedly crude. “Please,” you moan, “please touch me…”
To be continued…
A/N: hahah don't hurt me. Likes and reblogs are appreciated. Comments get you kissies.
Masterlist
#anonimusunnoan#anonimuswritings#kuroshitsuji#fanfic#sebastian x reader#sebastianmichaelis#sebastian michaelis#sebastian michaelis x reader#Ciels cousin!reader#anti sebaciel#don't you bring that shit here.#ciel phantomhive#black butler#black butler smut#black butler season 4#kuro2024#kuroshitsuji sebastian#black butler imagines#kuroshitsuji imagines#sebastian michaelis imagines#smut#lemon
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❝ Following the disappearance of your paternal figures in 1995, you- the offspring- receive a letter in the mail detailing of their possible whereabouts. The prospect of them being alive after going missing for ten years grasps at you. Waisting no time, you take hold on the letter and rush out the door with keys in hand. Your destination is as clear as day: Playtime Co. ❞ (x)
//
Word count: 27,051
Tags: Reader’s pronouns are YOU/YOUR & THEY/THEM, Reader is gender neutral, Reader is an adult aged 25, Platonic Relationships, Platonic Love, Strong friendships, strong feelings, Reader IS DogDay’s angel (not literally), DogDay would die for Reader, DogDay is NOT a child, DogDay is an ADULT, occasional flirting (?), Dark Humor, Blood and Gore, Swearing, Hurt/Comfort, Trauma, Angst, Fluff, DogDay lives, This is my Roman Empire and I will die for it, Cannon Typical Violence, Freeform writing, No beta we die like Mommy Long Legs, Possible romance between DogDay and Reader, Friends to Lovers, I kissed canon in the mouth and abandoned it on the side of the highway, Cannon Divergent, CATNAP DIES, (Updated tags)Reader and DogDay are MOST DEFINITELY in love, All characters are written as ADULTS, there are no children in this fic, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence
Chapters: 17/?
Status: Temporary Hiatus
You were shaking from head to toe in a mixture of excitement, anticipation and worry. It was all far too much for your brain to comprehend at once; ten years- it has been ten WHOLE YEARS since your parents disappeared in 1995, and only now you get a letter basically telling you to come find them? That there’s hope that they could maybe still be alive?
“It’s... it’s insane, really, it truly is... but-“ you sigh, steeling yourself, hands tightening on the steering wheel of the car. “-It’s all I have to go off of...”
And just like that, you stick your key in the ignition and turn it, listening as the engine roars to life.
As you drive to the destination with the help of your phone’s GPS, you can’t help but wonder what you’ll say when you see them- your parents- after so long.
You half wonder if they’ll even remember you... Surely they will?
They have to.
By the time you arrive at the destination of Playtime Co.’s now seemingly abandoned building, the sun has slowly begun to set, dusting the sky a beautiful iridescent orange-pink, you wager that there’s likely only two hours left of sunlight before the whole world goes dark.
With one last glance at your car, you turn your attention to the large ominous building and feel a strange feeling wash over you and though you can’t find the right words to explain it, you can tell that a certain thickness hangs in the air.
Somethings not right with this place and you’re starting to doubt yourself and that letter. What if the sender has less than pure intentions?
What if your parents really are gone for good?
Would coming here have been nothing but a waste?
Will you find the answers to your questions?
You shake your head and sigh through your nose, clenching your fists together you brace yourself for the arduous journey ahead.
You’re here now and there’s no going back.
You need answers.
As you wandered around the halls of the deserted building, you found VHS tapes that when played back on the VCR gave you small tidbits of information about the people employed there and the place itself. It’s all very interesting information that helps you slowly understand what occurred here...
But, there is ONE glaring issue that you would’ve never thought about when first walking through those doors; being chased by an oversized toy!
You could feel as your heart pumped at an alarming pace in your chest, it was beginning to feel like at any moment it would jump out of your throat just like in those Sunday morning cartoons you used to watch as a kid.
And the cramp ness of the conveyer belt’s segments didn’t make things easier for you as you weaved from one corner to the next, desperately trying to escape your pursuer who was hot on your heels.
By the time you finally manage your escape out of the conveyer belt, you find yourself on a metal walkway with a colorful box hanging precariously nearby. Quickly, you use the mechanical hands from your grabpack suit to hold onto the box and just as you bring it slamming down, the walkway snaps in two beneath your feet.
The gigantic blue toy that had been chasing you falls through the void of darkness below, making contact with the pipes on its way down and in doing so you see... blood...?
You can’t help but blink, bewildered at the sight of blood, especially from a...toy.
But, no matter, you now that it’s too dangerous now to continue to linger, you need to trudge on.
“FIND THE FLOWER” you remember the words on the note, the mental image of the poppy flower etched into your mind, you have to find it, for it’ll lead you to the answers you seek.
The sight that greets you is a concerning one, in front of you is the door that you’ve been looking for, it is surrounded by an enormous painting of the same flower that was drawn in the note mailed to you and near it are various toys strung up with word of warning written around the door;
NO RUN
GO BACK
STOP
TURN AROUND
You don’t know what to make of it and it worries you, you’ve come so far and evaded death only to be met with...this? With... warnings? Warnings to turn back and stop?
You hesitate for a moment, but reach for the door job regardless. Opening it leads you down an impossibly long hallway decorated with yellow floral wallpaper and wall lamps, yet you relentlessly follow it.
The answer to what you seek lies at the end of... Surely...?
When you finally make it, you enter a small room where red light floods the room, the soft distinct sounds of a music box playing in the distance. And in the center of the room lies a glass display case that in it holds a... doll?
She sports blood red hair that is held up by two blue hair ties and a blue and white dress. Her eyes are closed.
You swallow hard and open the case....
ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈
Chapter 2: You meet Mommy Long Legs and find yourself in quite the predicament; play her games or face death. What choice do you have, but to obey?
You venture out of the small room that you were just in alongside with a now missing doll and out into the adjacent hallway that leads you out and back into the rest of the facility.
“Man...” you say, eyeing the place from ceiling to floor tile, “...this place is larger than I thought...” you can’t help but mumble to yourself. Sure the building looked absolutely massive on the outside but, being inside of it now? Man, this place felt like it didn’t have an end to it.
“...This way...” you hear a voice whisper to you, breaking you from your silence, snapping back into reality you decide to follow it. Surely the owner of the voice could tell you what happened here?
Eventually you find yourself entering an office of what could only be the owner of the company, Eliot Ludwig, reads a piece of paper resting atop his desk. Allowing curiosity to take ahold of you, you decide to pick it up and read it and find that it contains information about an experiment... ‘814’.
Huh...
You don’t know what to make of the information but decide to pocket the paper nevertheless, It seems like it could be important.
Following outside of this area, you walk into a more mechanical looking room that seems to need power.
Suddenly the loud sound of one of vents latch coming lose frightens you, causing your attention to shift. Your body tensing up, awaiting for the horrors of this place to attack you.
But, you’re greeted by the same doll from before;
“Oh! Uh...” she seemingly stumbles over her words, a clear air of awkwardness hanging from her, “...I didn’t mean to scare you! I was just- trying to get the power back on!” She explains.
You watch her, astonished that the doll is talking and moving, could... you be seeing things? No, you doubt it, especially after your encounter with that massive blue toy- Huggy Wuggy, was it?
You silently stare at her, curious to see what’ll happen next;
“Here-!” She says, and awkwardly motions for you to do the honors.
With no other option available, you use the electric hands on your grabpack, you help solve the issue by re-routing the power supply from one pilon to the next and then onto the glowing red interface that sits just beside the red headed doll.
Upon your accomplishment, you watch as she applauds you, to which you can’t help but smile slightly and nod.
“I wanted to thank you for freeing me-“ she begins, “-I was stuck in there for so long! Thank you, I’ll have to pay you back!” She adds, to which you nod, seeing as it’s only fair.
“There’s a train station near by-“ she adds and you quirk up an eyebrow, a... train station?! In this place?! Jesus! Just how big really was this building that they needed to install a whole train system!
“-It needs a code! And I have it.”
Ah, well that makes things easier, it seems that all you’ll have to do is find it and move on to the next area.
“We’re going to get out of here...!” She explains and you nod, “As soon as you get on up here!” She exclaims, chuckling awkwardly.
Unable to find a way up to where the doll is, you decide to head back the way you came and are more than surprised when you hear her speak to you again;
“I’m over here!” She exclaims, your head turns to see her, she’s in the vents! “I can follow you from here!” You watch as she scampers off before shouting for you on the other side, “This way!”
You follow the sound of her voice, you judge that she has to be on the other side and so you walk into the hallway and into a small corner where two flashing red sensors display the red and blue grabpack hands. You place them on the sensor and watch as the system green lights your entry, allowing you further access to traverse yet another hallway.
Eventually you find yourself in a rather large room that is surrounded by five closed off gates, each one has a large title overhead indicating to which area it leads to. In the center if this room lies a massive crater whose end you cannot see as it is shrouded in darkness. The doll from earlier sits just in front of the mouth of the crater, as soon as she sees you she turns around;
“Listen, I’m going to need you to trust me-“ but before she can even finish whatever she was saying, a hand from down below reaches out and pulls her in screaming.
You’re left standing there, alone, and unsure of what to do next.
“...Fuck...” you curse, “What the hell do I do now...?” You bite your lower lip in irritation and look around, there’s no way for you to proceed aside from going down the same way that your temporary companion had been abducted.
You sigh and look down at the hole before bracing yourself, “Here goes nothing!” You shout as you descend.
Coming down you find yourself to have had- thankfully- safely landed in one of the lower sections of the facility. Next to you are three locked archways that indicate the following areas that you can go into, one of which seems to spark an innate interest within you, GAME STATION.
You deduce that the door needs power to operate and are quick to find the area that needs re-routing.
By the time you finish that task, you hear the metallic door open and you waltz on over to the connecting hallway.
Right as you use the red metallic grabpack hand on the sensor that rests above the door that impedes your journey, a voice echoes from somewhere above you;
“A new playmate!!” Squeals a feminine voice, and you watch as the hand is snatched from you, leaving you with only the blue one intact.
“It’s been... SO LONG...” the female voice explains and you watch as from above the dark ceiling a long and spindly pink figure descends. She looks no different from just another toy!
“Right, Poppy?” She asks the ‘doll’ that she holds on her hand.
“Poppy!” You can’t help but belt out in response, so that’s your companions name!
The figure ignores you and using Poppy like the doll she is, mocks her voice in response, “Very exciting, Mommy!”
“LET HER GO!” You shout, demanding the... thing, this creature called “Mommy” listen to you.
Alas, your cries fall upon deaf ears as the smile on Mommy’s face stretches farther than humanly possible. Stretching her neck, you watch as her face descends further down onto yours until she is no more than a few inches away from you.
You can’t help but cringe away in disgust, yet she isn’t deterred by your actions and only follows you closely.
“Mommy heard that miss Poppy was going to just give you the train code to escape! Now how is THAT fun?” She grins, “Instead- let’s say we make a game out of it! The game station is still working! It’ll be just like old times~” she explains.
“And-“ she uses Poppy mockingly, “-If you you win all three games, I’ll give you the train code!”
Mommy gasps a sound of mock delight, “That sounds like a wonderful idea, Poppy!”
Just before she slinks away, her head beginning to follow in the motions of the rest of her body, she says one final word to you, “Oh~! You’re going to have SO much fun~! Head to Musical Memory and Mommy will get things started!”
Before you have time to react, her head shoots down towards you at an alarming rate and she stops just in front of you;
“OBEY THE RULES OR ILL TARE YOU APART AND EAT YOUR INSIDES WHILE YOURE STILL ALIVE!”
A shiver runs down your back as finally the monstrous beast known as Mommy finally slinks away into the dark recesses of the facility.
-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈
Chapter 3: You play Mommy’s games...
Arriving at the Game Station you find yourself in a colorful large open space, with- as the name entails- a large variety of games to play. Remembering the information that you’ve gathered so far of the place from the stray files, notes and fliers littered about, you piece together that this had to have been one of the major areas that the orphans of Playtime Co. would spend a large amount of their time in.
Still though, none of it makes that much sense to you- why would they even have such a place erected inside of the facility?
“I mean-“ you cut yourself off, “-I guess it makes sense..? After all, how’re you going to keep possibly hundreds of orphans entertained?” You asked no one in particular.
“You can’t just keep them locked away in their rooms...” you muttered under your breath, your eyes wandered to and fro. There was so much to look at, from the decoration that littered around, to the cardboard cutouts of what is likely to be the toys and mascots of Playtime, but what catches your eye the most were the drawings left by the orphans.
You looked at the colorful drawings, all made with crayons and markers, it depicted the kids playing alongside three key figures that you’ve now seen and gotten to know thus far;
Kissy Missy, Huggy Wuggy and ‘Mommy’.
You get a sense of... happiness from them? It seems that the children had fun with them...
Fun... huh... that’s, arguably hard to imagine when you’ve had your life threatened by two out of three of these creatures.
Sighing, you hope that at least Kissy Missy won’t slaughter you the moment you meet her.
Shaking your head, you remember what you’re here for; the train code. “Best not to keep Mommy waiting...” you mumble to yourself.
Exploring the area some more, you eventually find the room where the hands for the grab packs are made!
“Oh! Sweet!” Excitement fills you as you realize that you can get a replacement for the one that you lost.
Fiddling here and there with the strange machinery, at long last you’re given your replacement green hand!
Sometime later, you finally make you way into Musical Memory, you’re greeted by a rather strange set up; the room is roughly circular in shape, with a large open space around you that is obviously inaccessible to you. But the center of this room has a circular platform that is surrounded on both sides by round buttons
roughly the size of beach balls.
Atop the circular platform is a cylindrical protrusion that extends far beyond from the ceiling and sits just above the center arena.
You can’t help but whistle in amazement at the sight;
“And to think that kids actually played in here? Geez, you’ve got to be kidding me-“ you mumbled, “- this place would’ve terrified me as a kid...” you add.
Upon stepping inside of the centerpiece, you watch as massive screens all around you suddenly burst to life, surprising you as a result.
The sounds of odd music begins to play and the logo of Playtime Co. appears on screen;
“WELCOME TO MUSICAL MEMORY!” Voices an automated mechanical male voice.
“THIS ADVANCED MEMORY AND RECOGNITION TEST IS DESIGNED TO STIMULATE SEVERAL SEGMENTS OF THE BRAIN! ALLOWING US TO SEE HOW QUICKLY AND EFFICIENTLY YOUR BRAIN WORKS! A SEQUENCE OF COLORS WILL BE SHOWN, AND YOU MUST RECREATE THE EXACT SEQUENCE USING THE BUTTONS AROUND YOU. BUNZO WILL SLOWLY LOWER TOWARDS YOU-“
“Bunzo?” You croak, “Who the hell’s Bu-?” A nagging sensation in the background of your mind urges you to look up, and as you do you are greeted by the sight of a yellow rabbit with bright green overalls, holding two large cymbals in each hand.
It’s eerie dead smile focused on you.
“Ah!” You say, looking away, “Right...!”
“-WHEN YOU COMPLETE A COLOR PATTERN CORRECTLY, BUNZO WILL SLOWLY RISE BACK UP! WHEN YOU IMPUT A PATTERN INCORRECTLY, BUNZO WILL LOWER TOWARDS YOU FASTER. IF BUNZO REACHES YOU, YOUR TEST IS OVER. YOUR TEST WILL BECOME MORE DIFFICULT AS IT CONTINUES WITH LONGER PATTERNS AND QUICKER SUCCESSIONS. THATS IS ALL, GOOD LUCK!”
You swallow hard and sigh through your nose, shrugging your shoulders in a rolling motion you ready yourself for what’s to come.
However, before the game itself can start, suddenly the light die out, except for one, drawing your attention.
You are greeted by the sight of ‘Mommy’ who sits inside of what looks to be an observation room that sits way above the room, out of sight from those made unaware of its existence.
“Oh~! Isn’t it amazing~?! Mommy hasn’t seen the place up and running in YEARS!! Mommy can only imagine how excited Bunzo must be! It’s been such a long time since he’s been able to play, to cheer, to eat...”
At her last words, the rabbit above you seemingly ‘comes to life’ and clangs its cymbals together producing a rather loud sound. You snap you attention to glare at it, the creature seems unperturbed by your expression.
You hear Mommy sigh, “Ah well, that’s the dinner bell~! Good luck~!” And just like that the room floods back with light and the game begins...!
As you play the game, you suddenly watch as the machine begins to freak out, the mechanical male voice calling out an array of unintelligible colors. The buttons move around in an odd manner; twitching, spinning and even flipping!
You don’t know what to do, so you stand there dumbfounded for a moment until your eye catches sight of a hidden white button. Pressing it causes the machine to momentarily flutter, its mechanical parts visibly stuttering as they move in ways that they should not until it finally ceases all movements.
The lights shut off once again;
“Ah... it broke...”, you can hear the clear disappointment in Mommy’s voice, “...that’s no fun! For doing such a splendid job, Mommy has decided to give you PART- of the code for the train...!”
Above you, in the same place where Bunzo had previously been, comes Mommy’s hand, and in it a piece of paper. You take it with no hesitation.
“Mommy was hoping the game could last a little longer~! It’s okay though... Mommy knows OTHER ways to play with you~”
You bite your bottom lip out of nervousness and choose not to linger any longer, quickly making your leave, lest you overstay your welcome.
Arriving at the following game, you enter yet another odd location; it’s an open concept room with LOTS of space in the center for you to seemingly run or walk around as you please. Around you however is a wall that is painted in a rather whimsical manner, akin to that of Sunday morning cartoons, and inside of said
walls are an assortment of... tunnels? At least you think that they’re tunnels, since looking in them yields no more than expansive darkness.
The same sound as before of TV static catches you attention and you turn to face a lone TV screen;
“WELCOME TO WACK-A-WUGGY! THIS ADVANCED TEST IS DESIGNED TO ASSESS THE EXTENT OF YOUR REACTIONARY ABILITIES. A DUAL PALM GRABPACK WILL BE PROVIDED TO YOU FOR THIS TEST. AROUND YOU ARE 18 SIZABLE HOLES, AN ADORABLE HUGGY WUGGY TOY COULD APPEAR OUT OF ANY OF THESE HOLES! IF ONE COMES OUT, HIT IT WITH YOUR GRABPACK! THATS ALL, GOOD LUCK!”
To say that you’re surprised when the lights don’t die out is an understatement, you almost reflectively call out to Mommy, half wondering if she’d left you.
“The toys in this game, used to have strings attached to them, so they could be pulled back when they got too close to the children...” she explains.
You watch her with a cocked brow, not understanding where she’s going with this, and it’s not until you finally note what she’s holding that it finally hits you.
“Have fun~”
As you finish the game, hitting the last Huggy Wuggy on the head, you hear Mommy chime in once more;
“Oh...” she sounds incredibly disappointed at the results, “...you did it...” there’s a beat of silence before she speaks again, “HORRAY!! Mommy is SO proud of you! Here, mommy has another hint for you-“
A vent in the room opens, Mommy’s hand sticks through it, and on her hand is yet another piece of paper.
You gingerly take it.
“Only one last game left to play...” Mommy reminisces, “Hmm... sad! Mommy was hoping you’d stay here forever! Though~ it’s never TOO LATE to change your mind~” she chuckles eerily.
You can’t help but cringe away in disgust as you quickly make your way out.
As you leave the area, you find yourself in what looks to be long winding hallways that are powered by what looks to be some sort of... train tracks? You wonder if maybe the train passed through here or perhaps- some other sort of mode of transportation.
Given with how long this portion of the facility is, you’d wager that some sort of transportation did in fact pass through here.
As you make your away about you eventually come across a door that is also locked and conveniently, behind it is the lever needed to unlock it.
Sighing and thinking that you’ve struck a dead end, you make your leave, but just as you do so, you’re stopped by the sounds of a door in the distance of the locked metal frame open up. As it rises you feel dread settle deep inside of you, the sight of what greets you causing you to freeze in place.
A toy, much the same size and design as the blue one from faaar earlier in your journey appears before you and it’s making its way TO you.
Kissy Missy.
You watch as she calmly approaches, she stands there for a moment and eyes you curiously, then eyes the lever next to her, then back at you and back at the lever once more.
As if a lightbulb lit up atop your head you nod at her, “Y-Yes-!” Your voice finally finds its courage, “-I-I need to open that! Pl-Please! Please Kissy Missy!” You plead.
Though she doesn’t reply to you, you watch as she fumbles with the lever, her soft plush and somewhat weightless hands struggling to pull it down, until eventually succeeding.
As the gate slowly rises in-front of you, you watch as Kissy Missy gives you one last lingering look before turning around, as she does so, she stops again and seems to give you another once-over.
Seemingly satisfied, she makes her leave, the door at the far end of the hallway shutting behind her.
You enter what seems to be the final game area, the room appears to be dimly lit, with just enough light to see what’s around you. This room is quite unlike all the others, it seems more colorful and as you try to jump over the block-styled plush blocks, you can roughly make out other designs of the area. It seems that this one has more activities than the one before it...
The all too familiar TV static sound behind you catches you attention and you turn to face the only TV present;
“WELCOME TO ‘STATUES’! THIS ADVANCED OBSTACLE COURSE IS DESIGNED TO TEST YOUR PHYSICAL ENDURANCE AND STRENGTH! THE RULES ARE SIMPLE: THE LIGHTS WILL TURN OFF, YOU CAN MOVE THROUGH THE OBSTACLE COURSE DURING THIS TIME. HOWEVER, WHEN THE LIGHT TURNS ON; YOU CAN LOOK AROUND BUT CANNOT MOVE. YOU MAY MOVE AGAIN, ONCE THE LIGHTS TURN BACK OFF. THE LOVABLE PJ PUGGAPILLAR WILL FOLLOW YOU, IF HE REACHES YOU, YOUR TEST IS OVER. THAT IS ALL, GOOD LUCK!”
That’s when you notice the face of the odd looking dog just beside the TV screen! Compared to the other toys, his presence is not all that unnerving- well, only partly- and is more... endearing, to a fault.
“Right, okay-“ you nod, “Sounds easy enough...”
You take notice of Mommy in the distance;
“It was always SO sad to see the kids go, they called me ‘Mommy’ because I was the closest thing they ever had to one... They came for the games and then never came back...! They LEFT Mommy to DIE alone! Mommy didn’t deserve THAT~... But you...” she pauses briefly, “...you’re here, so if anyone deserves to DIE ALONE... it’s YOU.”
And just as she finishes speaking, the music begins and PJ Puggapilar makes his way towards you, slowly and lumber some, you waste no time playing the game as you’re told to.
Playing this game was the hardest one by far, but you somehow managed it anyways! As you escaped up into the same room where Mommy was mere moments ago, you find a hole in that little room and descend into it. As you walk out, the sounds of walking are heard above you;
“Where did you go?!”
It’s Mommy
“Shit, shit, shit, shit-!!” You hiss at yourself, you HAVE to get going.
“The game is over~! Come back and Mommy will give you the code! Pinkie Promise!” Mommy exclaims, but her words fall in deaf ears, you know BETTER than to trust these toys.
“Playing those games must’ve been hard! But Mommy decided you won~!” An eerie laugh fills the halls as you make your escape.
“Come baaack~!”
“Mommy doesn’t like cheaters!! The rules were so simple!”
“COME BACK HERE!”
“HOW DARE YOU DISOBEY ME!! IM GOUNG TO FIND YOU-! IM GOING TO FIND YOU-!! AND WHEN I DO-“ she cuts herself off only to laugh maniacally.
“WHERE ARE YOU?!”
Eventually as you meander and maneuver the expansive facility you come at a dead end, there’s a closed fence door that you cannot open and you don’t know where to go. Mommy’s hot on your heels and the only where else to go is back the way you came...
“Fuck no...” you shake your head, “I’ll die if I do-“
As if answering to some unholy prayer, Mommy decends from where you’d come from, screaming as she does so. She lands right in front of you with a look of bewildered rage;
“I ASKED YOU TO PLAY FAIR!! AND YOU CHEATED!! I HATE CHEATERS!!” She shouts at you, “Now~ we’re going to play ONE LAST GAME, it’s called... HIDE...AND S E E K!!”
Suddenly!! As if by done divine or unholy magic the one locked gate opens and just as it does, Mommy begins to count down from 10.
RUN RABBIT, RUN!
-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈
Chapter 4: You escape, or do you?
With your heart pounding inside your chest like never before, you scamper through the facilities seemingly never ending passage ways. The pitter-patter of your feet being echoed and overshadowed by the massive ones just down the hall.
Mommy’s coming to get you and you’d better NOT stop running.
You hear the facility’s weaker points crumble around you under the pressure of your much larger pursuer, causing a cave in behind you at just the right moment. Giving you much opportune time to swing above the maw of yet another bottom less cavern beneath your feet.
As you escape, you enter the same familiar hallway from before, this was the same place where you had
lost one of the grabpack’s hands!
Freedom was just within your fingertips!!
You rush down the hall and place the blue hand against the scanner and watch as slowly the machine ID’s you in.
When a chime rings, indicating a roaring success you rush into the room and barely notice the machinery next to you, your eyes are only fixated on a lever that’s next to it.
On impulse you grab for the lever and pull it down JUST in time for Mommy to rush into the room, her hand lodging itself inside of the machine’s mechanical teeth.
She tries desperately to free herself as she eyes you with wild animalistic eyes, there’s a hunger to them unlike any living creature you’ve ever seen, rivaling that of a starved tiger.
Fearing for your safety, you throw yourself backwards just as she tries to reach for you with her other hand.
Just then, the machine roars to life and begins to grind Mommy’s hand down to a pulp, she screams in agony as she tries hopelessly to free herself from the clutches of death.
“WHAT’VE YOU DONE?!” She screams, “HE’LL MAKE ME PART OF HIM!!”
You watch as Mommy’s arm is taken by the machine, followed by her leg as she tries to wriggle away in vain from its grasps.
“YOU CANT DO THIS TO ME!!”
It’s not until Mommy’s torso gets crushed by the machine that she finally gives one final wail of despair that she dies.
Silence befalls the room as you stare in silent shock, your hands are shaking, your heart and head are pounding.
You’ve just managed to escape death, TWICE now.
What remains of Mommy’s body falls limply to the ground, a lifeless smile still decorating her features.
As you stand there, you watch as slowly, from underneath a blocked off door, a long spindly arm reaches out with elongated mechanical fingers.
The creature behind the limb says nothing to you, only reaching forth for Mommy’s remnants and dragging it away into the abyss.
When it finally leaves, do you find yourself sliding down the wall that your back was pressed up against.
You let out a whimper as a cry finally croaks out from your throat.
You cry pathetically, perhaps out of stress, and you allow yourself this grace.
Eventually, when you find your courage to continue, you wipe away your tears and stand back up on shaky legs and make your way back to where your original goal was; the location of the train.
And it doesn’t take long for you to reach it, when you finally find it, you discover that Poppy and the final piece of the code alongside her.
You feel her from the... web she seemed to have been entangled in, no doubt the works of Mommy.
“Let’s go...” is all Poppy offers you, and you can’t help but agree, you want to leave this hell hole and NEVER come back.
As you board the train, you input the code and watch as the buttons light up green.
You can’t help but sigh in relief as you feel that you’re one step closer to finding your freedom.
“I was so scared she’d put me back in that case...” you heard Poppy speaking to you from the train’s overhead announcer.
Wait.... Why hadn’t she gone inside with you?
“What the hell? Poppy?” You called out, but you knew you wouldn’t get a response back.
“But you saved me! You’re PERFECT! You’re too perfect to loose! I’m sorry, but I can’t let you leave-“
You watch as the train is re-routed in front of you, the escape passes you by and the vehicle turns to the right, sending you deeper within the bowls of the facility.
“I’ve never met anyone like you!” She chuckles, “Do you know how LONG I’ve been stuck in that case?! Well~ too long~! I had so much time to think and reflect- to figure out what I’d do when I was freed...” there’s a pause as she speaks, “We have to set things right, terrible things have happened, but I know that whatever I need you to do, you’re capable. We will- what’re-?!”
You watch with great alarm as the train picks up speed, far too much speed for what you think is appropriate.
“Shit! We’re going to crash!!” You exclaim, and you grab onto the red lever with your grabpack hands, pulling it down with all your might.
But it’s hopeless as the train derails, crashing down against the confines of the tunnel, debris and broken rubble surround you and as your consciousness fades, you can just barely make out the words of your new location;
PLAYCARE.
-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈
Chapter 5: You arrive at PLAYCARE and as fate would have it, a new horror awaits to make its acquaintance with you.
As consciousness slowly returns to you, you find that your body aches all over, a stinging sensation fills you throughout. When you finally do crack your eyes open, you find that your vision is unsteady, your head lolling from side to side.
That’s when you finally realize that you’re being carried... by... something?
Large purple paws adorned with equally sharp claws come into view on a casino as your would-be rescuer walks.
But before you’re given the opportunity to thank them, you’re thrown down a hatch by the same thing that ‘rescued’ you.
The last thing you see is an impossibly large smile and two white beady eyes staring back.
A pathetic yelp leaves your lips, as a malicious laugh echoes throughout the pipe.
You free fall for a short while before falling limply on metal flooring, a red flood lamp circles around
you in this new area along with an alarm that blares loudly indicating something is about to happen.
You rise to your feet and hold your side, you cringe in pain as you stand stupidly eyeing where in god’s
green earth you’ve landed now.
It’s not until the walls begin to close in that it finally dawns on you where you are; a trash compactor!! You must get out.
You scramble towards a pile of precariously placed trash and scamper through a small opening behind
the walls of the compactor.
You find that you’re free- for now- and must find a way out of where you are and go... somewhere that
isn’t here.
It’s too dangerous to stay where you are, and thus begins yet another long and arduous journey.
As you meander about, traveling to and fro inside of the guts of the facility, you find yourself using the
pistons that likely control the trash compactor as leverage to reach newer areas that would otherwise remain out of bounds for you.
You traverse a broken down metal catwalk and use the pistons near it as means for transportation, timing your jumps just right to get over to the other side.
Doing so, you catch glimpse of the same purple figure from before, although this time you now have a slightly better look at their lower half before it slinks away.
A long emaciated body with large paws to boot and a lengthy purple tail to match. A cat.
You shudder as you come to the realization that a game of cat and mouse has most likely begun, and you- my friend- are being stalked from within the shadows.
As you continue on, you eventually find yourself crawling through a ventilation shaft until eventually entering in the same room as just a few moments before. To your far and immediate right is the same hatch you were thrown into, and to your immediate left is an office door locked behind yet another grabpack scanner.
Scanning in the hands, you walk into the new area, the sounds of ringing fills the still air.
It’s a phone...! A phone is ringing!
But, who could be calling? Your pursuer? Or... someone else?
To say that you want to ignore the phone and pursue on is an understatement but, something inside you
wills you to comply otherwise and so you do, rushing off in the direction of the noise.
You find yourself inside of a small office, the distinct ringing of a phone ring much louder now, you’re
close to the source. It doesn’t take long for you to search around the room and find it, you take it with shakey hands and answer it.
“H...Hello?” Your weary voice calls out.
“Hey... Hey! Can you hear me?” A childish voice responds.
A child?
“O-Oh! Um! Y-Yes! Yes! I can!”
“You look kinda lost!” They reply
You pause, dumbfounded, “Wh-...what did you just say?”
“I can see you through the camera’s dummy!”
Cameras? When did-?
As you turn around, you spot one and sigh, oh... right. What better way to make sure that you’re
employees are working than to monitor their every move?
You smile and wave hello at the camera and listen as the voice on the other end laughs in response. “I’m Ollie by the way! What’s your name?”
“I’m Y/N, Y/N L/N...” you correct
“Oh! Well it’s nice to meet you Y/N! Look-“ they pause momentarily, “I don’t want you to die, so I’m
going to help you! Check this out! Look at the tube thing in the back wall!”
You follow Ollie’s words and turn to face the back of the room, spotting a large oddly shaped metallic
tube that slides open following some noise. And out from within it pops a large battery!
“You can use that battery to open the door!”
You grab it and place it inside of a battery socked that’s embedded within the wall. The door beside you
opens as a result. “Thank you Ollie”
“Don’t mention it!”
As you go to leave, you’re greeted by the sight of the now broken train, your eyes go wide as you stare at the carnage left behind from the crash.
“Woah!! Did you do that?!” Ollie asks
You nod, “Yeah...” there’s a distinct sadness within your voice, just when you thought you were free you were once again seemingly betrayed by the only toy you thought you could trust.
“I know you’re probably mad at Poppy for not letting you escape, but she needs you! WE need you! You are our mission! Together we can save a lot of people, including YOU!”
You walk along the path, quietly listening to Ollie speak to you from the phone as you traverse the confines of the facility.
“PLAYCARE is straight ahead, it’s the home of CatNap! One of the ‘Smiling Critters’... there used to be...” a pause, “eight of them? I think? Now it’s just him...”
“PLAYCARE is his church- his hunting ground. Whatever he wants it to be! You’d better get moving
quickly. We’ll keep in touch!”
The line goes dead and you’re plunged into silence, an eerie ness settles inside of you as you realize just
how dead and desolate this whole place is. What with the only last remnants of life being the few murderous toys and... seemingly a, child?
You don’t know what’s to make of it, nothing makes sense to you, and the more you explore the place, the more you come across fragmented pieces of information you begin to wonder just what the hell did your parents get themselves into when they came to work at such an establishment.
“Did they even know about the toys?” You ask the empty air, eyeing a poster of ‘Mommy’ who you now knew as Mommy Long Legs advertising a sweet cold drink for children.
You shake your head, you have to find PLAYCARE, it’s likely where your next goal awaits you.
You traverse the rather small area in-front of you fairly easily, having spotted what looked like a tram up ahead you deduced that it needed power and sought out to find a power source. Once founded, its power was re-routed and a chime rang throughout some speakers in the walls, the small child sized gates opened up, allowing you further passage up ahead.
You climbed the short staircase and opened the door to the tram, stepping inside you found a small seating area.
Sighing heavily, you thought that some much needed rest would do your sore body some good.
And just as the doors shut behind you, the lone TV screen inside of the tram came to life;
“Hello! My name is Elliot Ludwig, when you look around at the world today, what’s one thing it needs
more of? I asked around once; ‘Money! I can never have enough!’, ‘Understanding, I can never get any!’, the common man has lost it, each answer was different and I could perhaps see some little truth in each. But I think each was missing something, something simple! You see, not one of them could muster a smile! A smile, is hope! A smile, is love! A smile is understanding! And there is nothing more gratifying to my soul than being the reason for a child’s smile! To be the spark that ignites their hopes and dreams! For it is only through hopes and dreams that we may create a better world! One where our children need not be afraid! One where they are protected! After all, this company and its toys are nothing without them. These children deserve to smile, they deserve to love! And they deserve a safe home...-“
As you listen to the founder’s speech, you can’t help but gawk in awe at what the hell you’re looking at;
A gargantuan dome suspended on equally large metallic cables that hold it seemingly afloat in the middle of an enormous cavern, situated DEEP within the bowels of the facility.
“...that is why, it is with enormous pleasure that as the founder of Playtime Co., I announce P L A Y C A R E !! Our very own on site orphanage, but it’s not only that!! It’s a school! A playhouse! A place to belong! Our very own ecosystem beneath the surface! Dedicated in every inch and detail to ensuring a child’s smile! It’s teachers and counselors, mother and fathers until such a time they have all of that in youth! May PLAYCARE bring; joy! Inspiration! And smiles to all who enter these doors! For what gives live its meaning if not a SMILE! ”
-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈
Chapter 6: The game of cat and mouse truly begins.
As you step out of the tram, your phone rings once more;
“Cool place, huh? Kids used to live here... now look at it...”
You look around and notice just how lifeless the place looks despite being one of the nicer looking areas
in the whole of Playtime Co.
“Anyways, do you see that statue in the middle of the room? Take the stairs that go under it! There’s a really cool room that can power all of PLAYCARE! I can give you a key when you get down there!”
Sparing no time to enjoy the sights around you, you make your way towards the large statue in the middle and find the door that sits at its base, opening it reveals a short staircase that leads downwards.
When you descend the stairs you find yourself in a medium sized room filled with electronic machines, a small desk and a few other nicknacks thrown about. However, the biggest point of interest is a funny looking colorful machine that- to the side of it- displays all of the areas within PLAYCARE that have power.
To the side of this machine you note that there’s a cylindrical vessel much like the one you saw in that first office room when you first encountered Ollie, although this time it was far smaller.
A small sound emits and before you know it, a key has appeared inside of it. It’s miniscule latch opens itself up automatically.
You reach in and fetch the key, only for your phone to ring in response, you take the call;
“Great!! You have the key! Now the question you’re probably asking yourself is, ‘where does it go?’ Well, head back out and you should find a door just to the left of the cable car you took down here.”
You had noticed that door earlier upon your arrival, you jog on over to said destination and use the key to open the door. You’re greeted with a rather dark and somber looking area, perhaps that’s due to the poor lighting and metal framework of the facility coming into view once more as opposed to the faux sky and grass from earlier.
As you turn the corner you’re greeted by a massive room and in its center is a large machine with three cylindrical barrels, the one on the far right is currently filled with a gaseous red cloud. The display on the center console for the machine reads;
‘NO POWER - GENERATOR STATUS: {OFFLINE}’
“Welcome to the Gas Production Zone, the beating heart of the whole evil PLAYCARE system! All that has you see coming from the machine is made right here in the factory. It’s called ‘The Red Smoke’. Right now, it’s all headed off to the right. We need to make that Red Smoke go to the left instead. That’s how we can get to him- to CatNap. The machine will probably have a few dumb safeguards for you to work around, but I think you can do it! I’ll call you once it’s done!”
You fiddle about with the machine, trying to see if there’s anything you can do from this end to power it. You’re no engineer, but you wager you can get it going!
After a while, you find a way into the area next door, powering on the locked door with the help of a battery and its wall socket.
This new area is just as massive as the one with the machine, though this time it has an odd looking protrusion in its center. You’re unsure of what it could possibly be, so you decide to ignore it for now and focus on following the wires from the ceiling. They’ll lead you to another power source that needs re-routing.
And it doesn’t take long to spot it and fix the issue, you hear the distant sounds of machinery whirring to life and go back the way you came. When you arrive back at the same room with the gargantuan machine, you press a few buttons to get the process going of re-routing the gas’ location from one onto another when the power abruptly cuts off.
Your phone rings once more and you answer it;
“Oh no! Someone killed the power! Okay, I’ve sent you another key. It’s under the statue, use it to get into ‘Home Sweet Home’. Then once you’re inside, find the building’s back up generator. Good luck!”
You sigh, rolling your eyes, “Of course nothing’s going to be easy, not with that goddamn cat hiding around...” you groan in frustration. You pinch at the bridge of your nose and pursue onwards.
“Fine, a vendetta it is.” You state, fists clenched in annoyance.
With key in hand, you open the doors of Home Sweet Home and walk forth into by far one of the most beautiful and equally terrifying places you’ll ever be in.
Matching green wallpaper and curtains depict both Huggy Wuggy and Poppy in such a way that you wouldn’t have even noticed at first place.
The whole style of the area is reminiscent of vintage mixed with Victorian home decor. You feel like you’ve stepped into a time capsule.
You open the only door leading you further down and it’s ‘blocked off’ by a thick wall of red mist. The same one you saw earlier in the vat of that machine.
“That... can’t be good...” you mutter
You’re hesitant to proceed but there’s no other way forward, so you have no choice but to proceed. Attempting to hold your breath and using your shirt to hopefully mask your nose and mouth you descend
down a large and winding staircase case that seems to go on for a while. Your attempts at holding your breath fail as you hack and cough for air, breathing in lungfuls of the red mist alongside it.
When you finally reach the end, you’re met with an impossibly long hallway. You stand quietly for a moment to stare in awe;
“I’m starting to think that the gas had a negative effect on me...” you speak, keeping your voice low, “... that or they hired the worst contractor in this state...” you can’t help but chuckle at your own joke.
You explore the odd layout of ‘Home Sweet Home’ and find yourself in a never ending loop of hallways, each one just as identical to the last.
Suddenly, the crackle of radio static come on and you hear the radio begin to speak;
“{TRAGIC NEWS THIS MORNING. AS OF 9:45AM, LOCAL AUTHORIES CONFIRM THAT THE BODY OF A YOUNG BOY HAS BEEN FOUND ON THE ESTATE OF THE LATE ELLIOT LUDWIG, AN ESTEEMED TOY MAKER AND ORIGINATOR OF THE PLAYTIME COMPANY. AT THIS TIME, AN IDENTITY FOR THE CHILD AWAITS OFFICIAL CONFIRMATION. FOUND UPSTAIRS IN A LARGE DUFFLE BAG, OFFICERS ON-SCENE REPORT THAT THE REMAINS APPEARED TO HAVE BEEN DISTURBED. ORGANS AS WELL AS KEY BINES FROM THE SKELETAL STRUCTURE WERE REPORTED MISSING FROM THE BODY. IT IS UNKNOWN AT THIS TIME WHETHER THIS EXTRACTION WAS, IN FACT, THE CAUSE OF DEATH}”
The radio announcement fades into static and you feel a spine tingling chill rush down your back.
“I’m hearing things, I’m hearing things, I’m hearing things-“ you try to assure yourself, you hold your head with one hand and bolt down a random direction down one of the winding halls.
“-all those notes I collected are getting to me, n-nothing’s happening here, I’m just imagining things-“ you slap your cheeks, trying to get yourself to think.
“-Y-Yeah! That’s right! It’s just auditory hallucinations due to that red mist, that HAS to be it!”
As you round yet another hallway, another radio speaks;
“{FOLLOWING RECENT EVENTS, PLAYTIME CO. WAS ASKED FOR ANY COMMENT REGARDING THE DISCOVERY. THIS IS WHAT THEY HAD TO SAY, QUOTE: ‘ITS SICKENING. ELLIOT LUDWIG WAS A GREAT MAN, AND THOSE WHO KNEW HIM UNDERSTOOD THAT HE
WAS NOT CAPABLE OF VIOLENCE, LET ALONE WHAT OTHERS NOW CLAIM. HE HAD A DEEP LOVE IN HIS HEART FOR CHILDREN LIKE THIS ONE, MAKING THE ACTIONS IF WHOEVER PLANTED THIS BODY ALL THE MORE SICKENING. WE LOOK FORWARD TO CLEANING HIS GOOD NAME, BOTH IN THE PUBLIC EYE AND IN THE EYES OF THE LAW.’ STAY TUNED FOR MORE.}”
The voice at the end of the broadcast sent a vile chill down your spine that only urged you to run away in fear.
As you continued to run, the sound of a distant phone caught your ear, and so, you decided to cautiously follow its source.
When you reach it, as you go to pick it up, on the other end you’re met with... Ollie? “YOU NEED TO RUN!!” He urges you.
You feel yourself freeze in place as a sense of dread washes over you, slowly you turn to face what could possibly be behind you, only to be met with the face of CatNap, poking his head out from the corner of the door frame leading into the room.
As soon as you see him, you watch him slink away and a frightened yelp leaves your lips, your hands fly to your mouth in an attempt at further silencing you.
Cautiously you step into the same spot where you saw CatNap but thankfully are met with nothing. You trudge onwards, now on high alert for the feline’s whereabouts...
As you descend down further into the never ending hallway you feel yourself seep further into madness. As you hear the wails of children crying in your ears, the sound only progressively getting louder as you approach a room lit by a dim red light.
And all at once, the wails silence themselves, as though they were never there.
You feel tears pricking at the corners of your eyes when you finally step foot inside of the area. You’re terrified and you don’t know what to do anymore...
You eye the large VCR TV and it’s VHS player, just next to it is a red VHS. Confused you decide to grab it and slide it in, standing in front of the TV and watching whatever it is that appears next;
You’re greeted by the sight of no less than Huggy Wuggy who stares at you with enlarged pupils, an eerie dead smile decorating his features.
The sight makes you gasp softly and recoil in shock.
A recorded male voice chimes in;
“Greetings, Employees, and welcome to your first day here in Playtime! We’re certain that in the days to
come you’ll find your new family here every but as loving and supportive as your own. Feel free to wander the halls! Sit in the mess for lunch! Or watch our children play and learn to their little heart’s content. Join the Innovationists, where the bounds of science are continuously pushed. Or join the Counselors of Playcare, whose diligence and care for our children will help shape a brighter future, just you see. Now, every one of you has your part in that future, so should you come back tomorrow feeling unhappy for where you are... worry not! For your supervisor is here and happy to listen! And...”
Just as the man gives a brief pause to what he’s saying, you watch as the image of Huggy changes to one of pure unadulterated horror. Huggy’s mouth has stretched to an unfathomable degree, sharp rows of teeth make their appearance, and his eyes are now black empty voids.
You feel sick to your stomach at the sight, your insides threaten to spill as you continue to watch in terror.
“...Should you come back... may you descend into the dark and the dust, finding all that awaits you are
incomprehensible horrors... each hungry for you, each eager that they might find you. Perhaps they’d smile at you from a shadow, their smiling mouths full of teeth and meat and plastic, watching and waiting for their turn...”
Just as those final words are uttered you watch as the image of Huggy Wuggy gets closer and closer to the screen until finally and seemingly out of nowhere, coming OUT of the screen, a giant yellow hand reaches out for you and before you’re able to yelp out pathetically, you’re engulfed in the maw of the beast.
The world fades to black as you feel your body finally give up on you...
The sounds of soft thuds encroaching on your unconscious form close in.
A curious paw nudges you, seeing no sign of resistance nor movement, a low chuckle is heard.
“A HERETIC CAN BE TOLERATED. BUT HERESY CANNOT.” They whisper in your ear.
-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈
Chapter 7: Remember kids! You can spell “School” without ‘cool’!
By the time you wake up, you find yourself in a completely different room and area than before. You’re no longer in the same maze of hallways as before, this time it looks like you’re deeper inside of Home Sweet Home. And though you KNOW you have no recollection of getting here, you know just who placed you here;
“CatNap”
You can’t help but cringe when you hear yourself say that name, that... creature, that THING, it’s toying with you. Trying to break you down until you’re nothing so it can devour you just like the others.
You know better than to let that beast win and let it get the best of you. You HAVE to keep going, and you WILL.
As you walk through the rest of Home Sweet Home, you solve an endless array of puzzles here and there and with the help of the newly acquired gas mask you can ensure yourself of further harm from the red mist.
All these puzzles serve only to help further you in your journey, granting you access to previously locked and blocked off areas. The grabpack continues to serve its purpose in aiding you to reach objects that are too far out of your grasp.
As you traverse the rooms, exploring the once abandoned bedrooms of the children you open a door that takes you to one of the hallways.
You watch in fear as CatNap himself walks right beside you, the only thing separating the two of you is some haphazardly placed furniture that blocks the path.
You swallow the scream that builds in your throat and quickly rush back into the room you were just in. In the distance you hear a mocking laugh alongside fading footsteps.
“Motherfucker...” you curse under your breath.
Continuing alongside the puzzles for a while longer, you ultimately find yourself at a dead end. As you go to turn around from the hallway, something tells you to look into the barricaded room behind you.
And so you do, cautiously peering in only to see none other than Kissy Missy! She’s sitting atop a bed, quiet as can be with what appears to be a picture frame in hand. Her eyes are glued to it... perhaps she’s... reminiscing memories of a friend? A past life full of peace?
It’s a sad sight and you say nothing, quietly turning around you bid farewell, it seems it’s be better to give them space.
You continue in Home Sweet Home, solving the last remaining puzzles until the main gate finally opens, granting you the ability to leave.
You sigh happily and as you open the door, stepping outside and away from that nightmare a large ‘hand’ grabs you from behind. You let out a frightened scream as you’re thrown down to the ground, you’re met face to face with Kissy Missy who eyes you with silent rage.
A low growl begins to emanate from her mouth and you brace yourself for death. “NO, NO! LET GO!”
Poppy! It’s Poppy! She’s alive!
“THEY DIDNT DO ANYTHING WRONG!!”
You turn your head over to look at her with a bewildered look, “Poppy! You’re... alive. Where... where have you been?”
Poppy shakes her head, “It’s... it’s a long story” is all she offers you, “We’re actually here to help-“ she says, gesturing towards Kissy Missy.
You watch as Kissy Missy finally lets you go and you sit up, “This place makes her tense...” Poppy comments, “I’m glad that Ollie could help you get this far. He’s the reason we found you at all! And it looks like the train crash hurt us both...”
You nod, finally standing to your feet.
“You’ve been through so much... you deserve an explanation. Come on.”
You follow the duo to a control panel nearby that Kissy Missy helps Poppy pry open and flip a red switch. Which in turn, turns on a nearby lift.
You three get on the lift.
“Look, I’m not your enemy but I can’t just let you leave. What’s happening down here is bigger than all of us. And I NEED you... so we can get REVENGE on those monsters whose tortured you... who’ve tortured US. They didn’t act alone, they’re disciples of the original, ‘The Prototype’.”
Suddenly you’re reminded of various pieces of information and hidden tapes you saw mentioning the thing, you shudder at the thought.
When you reach the top, the little elevator gives pause, Poppy motions for you to press a button nearby and you do, hopping back on, the elevator descends.
“The Prototype knows were coming by now, you try to escape, he’ll kill you before you ever reach that front door. He’s the reason I was trapped in that...” Poppy stops speaking for a moment, you watch as she visibly shudders.
It seems that you’re not the only one traumatized here.
“... god awful case for so long! You have... no idea the things he’s done! Let me help you kill him. Let
me help you save everyone. We’ve ALL seen how capable you are. You killed Huggy, you killed Mommy, you saved me. You are PERFECT for this. CatNap is coming, he’s a final obstacle that The Prototype has placed against us. We can’t stay here. Keep yourself safe... Ollie will call you.”
As you step off the elevator and watch it ascend one last time, you nod at Poppy and watch as she smiles back.
“Be safe...!” You call out. Poppy chuckles, “You too!”
And just as Poppy told you, your phone rings, with Ollie on the other end;
“Hey, hey! It's me! It seems like Poppy explained everything now. And she turned on the dome’s back up power! Now the plan from here is pretty simple- we need to restore power to the gas production zone. First, go back to the home Sweet Home building you were just in. You should be able to find a big power cord somewhere around the porch. Grab it and plug it in underneath the statue.”
You do as you're told and descend the statue’s staircase to connect the power to the machine below.
“Awesome! Look at that! Remember that generator you turned on inside of Home Sweet Home? Well, that was the backup generator for just that building. And every building should have one. Now you’ve just taken home. Sweet home backup power and routed it here. We’re already halfway done! Hmmmm, but where to go next... everywhere is pretty dangerous around here. That Playhouse especially! So... your best bet is probably the school. CatNap usually leaves that area alone. I’ll send you the key now!”
With the key in hand, you make your way over to the building labeled “School”. Upon walking in you take note of the dank and rank odor filling the air, which makes you wretch.
“Okay! Let’s make this quick! Turn on the generator, leave, and plug the school’s power cord into the center. Be careful in there, I don’t think I can connect to you on that side of the dome. And you won’t be alone. There’s someone else in there too. They’re not your-“
The rest of Ollie’s warning fades into static, it seems that the connection has been lost. Now, you truly are alone.
What new horrors await you in this hell?
-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈
Chapter 8: Red light, Green light.
You hear static come from the speakers located inside of the room you’re currently in and turn to face them;
“This is Miss Delight speaking. Please excuse the interruption! Students- remain in your seats until the bell has rung. And no going in the halls without a hall pass!!
You speculate that what you just heard is most likely nothing more than an automated system that must’ve broken down some time above and has likely been playing the same message.
When the static cuts off, you give a soft sigh and continue meandering about the school, going from classroom to classroom, exploring the abandoned areas.
A part of you hopes that you’ll find something of value hidden within but so far, you’ve come up empty handed. Save for one class rol. That catches your attention, it seems that one corner was seemingly sectioned off with the use of furniture.
“...Odd...” you comment, “who the hell would possibly want to camp out here...?”
Approaching the area you notice a bed covered in dried blood and viscera, and all around you are broken and bloodied toys, all very clearly deceased, it’s quite a sight for sore eyes.
You honestly don’t want to keep looking at it for any longer as you feel more nauseous the longer you do.
Moving on, you hope that you’ll find something else to look at.
You unlock an electric door using the green grabpack hand and continue in the new unlocked direction.
Exploring the rooms a bit, you discover that one of them contains a power source, it currently requires two batteries- one of which is out of reach.
With some minor searching you find one battery which you plug in and leaves you to search in the opposite side of the School.
Crawling under the debris of a blocked off area you witness the sight of something- toy? Human? You can’t quite tell- passing by just down the hallway.
You clasp a hand over your mouth in an attempt to stifle a gasp from escaping.
You stay still for a moment, waiting to see if you hear any more movement but when none greet your ears, you decide that it must be safe to continue.
As you open the next door, the same PA system comes back on with feedback static;
“Wait...” it’s that voice again, “I don’t recognize you...”
You swallow and stop in your tracks, your eyes are fixated on the camera hidden just barely out of sight
in the corner of the room.
“You don’t work here. How are you-... alive?” She asks
And honestly? You don’t have the slightest clue.
“Dumb luck, probably...” you mumble, eyeing the room, it looks to be no different from a computer lab
that you’d see back in highschool.
“Hm? Barb? Oh... Barb says you’re probably just trespassing...! CatNap wouldn’t like that you’re
here... you should consider leaving... for your own safety.”
The PA cuts off into static and you nod, “Yeah, that’s uh, that’s exactly what I’ve been TRYING to
do...!” You complain to no one but yourself.
As you look around the room, you take note of a ventilation shaft, it seems that this one connects to that previous room where the battery had been lodged. You use the grabpack to hold onto a bar that’s’ situated above you with one hand as leverage to go down.
As soon as you get down, you use the other hand of the grabpack to hold onto the battery and make your way back up and through the vent system. Only to end up on the other side, in the same room where the power system was in and place the final batter.
Doing so, allows you to electrically charge the green grabpack hand and make your way into the next area.
In one of the new rooms you entered, there appears to be a note left on the floor, you take it and read it;
{“Just a few weeks ago now was THE HOUR OF JOY. today, there’s only silence in the school. I don’t think any of us here know what to do with it. The hallways without the children carry even the smallest sounds as if they were shouts. The other teachers and I started each other constantly we have to get used to it. Something locked the front door this morning and we haven’t been able to open it.”
You hum softly to yourself as you finish reading the note;
“Seems like something big went down- ‘The Hour of Joy’- whatever that means, I’ve been seeing it everywhere...” you squint and re-read the last part over again.
“CatNap?” You snort, rolling your eyes, “Who else? Knowing him and how much he likes to play with his food, I don’t doubt it.”
As you go to pocket the note, you notice another one nearby that you likely missed when first walking in.
{“The put in me howls for FOOD. I CAN’’T THINK About anything other than how HUNGRY I AM. HARDLY HAVE THE STRENGTH TO PICK MYSELF OFF THE FLOOR. Barb speaks to me though. SHE GIVES ME STRENGTH. i’ve found that if I stand still, COMPLETELY STILL, Everyone thinks I’m DEAD. BARB Says I need to EAT, AND THAT THE OTHER TEACHERS would never see me coming. ANYTHING TO STOP THE HOWLING.”}
The bloody note gives you reason for concern and you can’t help but stop and look up, turning around slowly to see if anyone’s watching you.
You shouldn’t be here.
You should leave.
You pocket the note and move on.
You walk into another room and traverse another ventilation shaft as the area ahead of you is blocked off.
As you move through the small cramped space, you notice- through a hole below you- that THING walking by again and catch a glimpse of red and white polka dot dress and blonde hair.
You drop down into the following room, past that thing you just saw.
The PA turns on once again;
“You’re not a good listener, are you? You’re a lot like the other humans in that way. I wonder your
screams will sound like theirs too...!” There’s a chuckle, “Mmmmm... I look forward to finding out~!”
You feel a chill run down your back but shake it off, trudging on forwards regardless of the threat made against your life.
You enter an adjacent room and explore some more, only to find yet another note and this one- at first glance- looks two be much shorter than the first two you found;
{“I’M SO SORRY, I HAD TO EAT. I HAD TO SURVIVE. I ATE THEM. I HAD TO I HAD TO I HAD TO I HAD TO”}
You don’t say anything after reading that, I mean... how can you? WHAT can you? You simply pocket the note and move on.
“This place has made monsters out of all of you, hasn’t it...?”
The following area in nothing more than another class room, you walk past the cardboard cut out of what looks to be the figure you’ve been seeing walking about the place.
“Miss Delight... huh...”
You don’t give it any more attention and open the final door, and there it is! The backup generator! Completing one final puzzle causes what little light was left inside the school to die out momentarily and
in doing so, emerges Miss Delight.
A wicked toothful grin sports her face, with half her ‘skin’ peeled off you can see the flesh and sinew that holds her together. And in one hand is what appears to be a makeshift mace, under the orange emergency lights it’s hard to tell just WHAT they’re made out of but you swear you can just barely make out what appears to be pencils.
White beady eyes stare back at you.
She is unmoving, simply staring, frozen like a statue before your gaze.
What follows next is nothing short of a game of “Red light, Green Light”. Look at her and she stops dead in her tracks, look away? And she’s free to move.
You can’t let her out of your sight, even for a moment as you retrace your steps back the way you came.
Her ragged breaths and mocking laughter fill the air, always telling you of where she is at all times, and due to her innate lack of ‘lips’ you’re thankful for that fact.
Every twist and turn, every time you’re forced to look away at her to face a battery wall socket or obstacle to maneuver around, sends you blood pressure skyrocketing.
That is until you’re given a brief moment of respite, but you don’t DARE to dilly dally, you KNOW death lingers just beyond the corner. And so you pursue onwards, despite the drumming in your chest.
You fiddle with this odd battery puzzle in front of you, it’s infuriating and confusing at times, but you manage.
Finally unlocking the main gate you sprint at full speed down the hallway, not caring to watch Miss Delight anymore. And something tells you that she’s not going to give you up and allow you to escape that easily.
With her footsteps quickly approaching you from behind, you rush into the small room and yank the lever down as hard as you can and watch as Miss Delight tries to slide down to catch up to you but the door was faster, crushing her skull in the process.
You stand there in quiet shock, catching your breath as you stare at her corpse, WAITING for her to move again.
You stare.
And you stare.
But she doesn’t move, breathing a sigh of relief you turn to leave but stop yourself midway.
A sudden and curious thought crosses your mind, ‘when was the last time that you were clean and not covered in blood and viscera?’
You stop and look down at yourself, you examine your shirt, and just as you go to grab it, you stop, noting the fresh coat of blood that now permeates and has soaked itself through the fabric of your one’s favorite shirt.
You click your tongue in and sigh through your nose, “It’s all right-“ you groan, “-when I get out of here, I’ll-“
Wait a moment.
WHEN you get out of here?
You turned to look back down at Miss Delight, for all you know, a month could’ve passed by since you
first got in here. That much time has already passed, it’s going to be a while until you finally get to leave, let alone find a clean pair of clothing.
You bend down to the corpse of Miss Delight and begin to pull off her red and white polkadot skirt. “ I’m so sorry” is all you whisper.
As a respect to her, you advert your eyes, and turn away. The skirt of Miss Delight is luckily, not soaked in blood that you find yourself that it may be useful to use to perhaps fashion a shirt for yourself.
“I guess you teaching me sewing all those years back, finally did come in handy, huh mom?” You mumbled to no one but yourself.
You leave the school, triumphant, and with a smile on your lips.
-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈
Chapter 9: Tired of the senseless slaughter, you save his life. And in return, HE saves YOURS.
—
IMPORTANT: For the best experience during the chase scene, please listen to the following song: “Ride to Glory by Epic Score”
As you leave the school, humming a tune to yourself, you notice something fall out from the red- and-white polka dot skirt. You give pause pause and bend down to reach for it with one hand, it’s a piece of paper.
“Another note?”
You read it;
{“The door opened today, and I heard something enter my hall. Together, Barb and I found CatNap
waiting. AL THIS TIME, ALL THIS AGONY. It was he WHO LOCKED THE DOOR, and I know it. I wanted to KILL HIM, but I knew better than to believe I could. he seemed oddly glad to see I was all that remained. We made a deal to take care of each other from now on what we see to the other, and to HIM.”}
You folded the piece of paper and pocketed it in your back pocket, “I guess I was right” you paused briefly, “I’m so sorry this happened to you...” you spoke solemnly, your gaze was cast downwards onto the fabric, you thumbed it gently before ultimately sighing and moving forward.
You can mourn later, not now.
As you left the hall and entered what looked to be a dead end, you took notice of the new apparatus that sat behind the Hoppy Hopscotch cardboard cut out. A red grabpack hand! How odd..
You attached the new hand and looked at it curiously; the hand had taken the pose of a ‘gun’ with the ring and pinkie finger curled inwards towards the palm and the middle and pointer finger serving as the ‘barrel’.
You took notice of the hole that lay in the middle finger and thought to yourself for a moment, there’s no way that they actually gave ‘guns’ to kids... right?
Cautiously you take a step back and turn back around to the dark hallway you just back back from and fired a shot down range.
What came out from the red hand was a bright shimmering light that you swore was hot for a brief moment as it whizzed beyond you and down the hall.
As it made contact with the ground, it lit up the surrounding area in a blood red light.
“Ah! A flare gun!” You smiled, excited at the new discovery. “This’ll come in handy.” Nodding and feeling satisfied with your new discovery, you made the rest of the way out of the
immediate area only to pause after you cross the threshold of the doorframe behind you.
You’re stunned into silence as you realize that you’re inside of a cavern. The area is MASSIVE and as you bend slightly, looking over the daunting edge of the cliff side you stand on, you can see a that there’s a lot of jumping platforms that require you to use the purple hand.
It’s... not your favorite mode of transportation, given that you’re situated over the maw of an endless cavern but, beggars can't be choosers.
You steel your nerves and cross the entire area, swinging up in the air and feeling the cool damp air of the cavern against your skin as you breeze by.
Eventually you reach an area that requires you to solve a large puzzle using a combination of the purple and blue hand to unlock an elevator that allows you to traverse to the next area. Of which, by the time you’re done solving it, you now have to traverse a very precarious catwalk, where parts of it have fallen into disarray and broken down.
As you walk in by, something in the darkness catches your eye and so you turn to face and look at it, due to the darkness, it’s quite hard to see and make out. Just as you attempt to fire a flare in the direction of the mass obscured by shadows, you’re stopped from doing so when you hear the catwalk beneath your feet creak and begin to give way.
In a panic you print the rest if the way and make a leap of faith, just barely avoiding death as the catwalk collapses behind you.
You’re much farther away now than before and whatever it was that you were looking at, would be near impossible to see from this angle so you pursue onwards.
As you cross the rest of the catwalk, in front of you is a metallic door with the logo ‘PLAYHOUSE’ above it. As soon as you enter, you find that the entire place has been shrouded in darkness with only some light sources working- barely- and giving you some brightness to work with.
It looks like the flare gun will be your safest bet to traverse this expanse.
As you move around, you find that you’re being stalked by toys that look just like that of the ‘smiling critters’, the same ones that you’ve been seeing on posters around Playtime Co.
Their weird little laughs and cries cause goosebumps to rise all over your arms, they're incredibly off putting and relentless in their chase.
You maneuver and meander around, going through tubes and a plush maze, firing flares as you go to frighten away the little beasts from you. It’s incredibly claustrophobic and you find that you want to leave this area as soon as you can, so you move quickly.
Keeping an eye out for their glowing beady eyes and an ear for their little sounds that key you in on their locations.
You thank your stars when you finally leave that room, sighing in relief as you go down a winding staircase and into a... pool room!
“Weird place to have pool parties...” you comment, before moving on.
As you open the door following the pool area, you’re met with what looks to be a room filled with cellars, each one adorned with hanging chains. Most likely used on the toys that would’ve inhabited this area.
Just as you’re about to ask yourself just WHAT toy could possibly warrant being chained up in a cellar,
your ears are greeted by the sound of a ragged cough nearby.
The sound nearly makes you jump out of your skin, but you steel yourself, preparing for the worst as you
follow the source.
And as you wind the corner, you find your answer to your questions.
A large canine, colored in orange and yellow ochre fur is hanged in his cellar by chains that are connected to the wall, they’re restricting both of his arms. He’s missing his lower half, the bottom of his cell is coated in dried blood, and on his waist is a belt buckle that is secured tightly so as to prevent him from dying of blood loss.
With the pose that he’s in, he looks akin to that of Jesus Christ when he was being crucified by the Romans on the cross.
You gasp in shock at the sight, reeling away slightly in horror at the sight.
“What... what happened to you?” You ask it, half wondering if you’ll get a response.
You watch as the dog lifts its head and as it does so, on its neck you notice its collar and on it is a plastic
tag of a large bright sun.
it finally clicks to you who this is.
“DogDay?” You tentatively call out.
You watch as he silently stares at you for a moment, and though you don’t see any pupils beneath that
darkness, you still feel the weight on his gaze on you.
“You... you’re Poppy’s angel...” he croaks out, voice tired and hoarse. “Come to save us-!” He pauses,
his head hanging low for a moment as he turns to look away from you. He shakes his head solemnly, “Nothing left to save, not here...”
He turns to look at you once more, “You’re in CatNap’s home, angel. THEIR home. A million pairs of eyes are on you now. Watching, waiting, hungry. They want nothing more than to crawl beneath your skin and eat away you bit by little bit-“
You watch him groan in pain as he attempts to shift, the shackles holding him in place are likely digging into his wrists.
“-fill what feels empty inside themselves. That... thing...CatNap. The Prototype is his God, and this is what he does to heretics. These little toys follow CatNap to avoid that very fate- and in return, they are fed.” Another painted groan escapes his lips, but that doesn’t stop him from explaining to you what has been
going in in the facility.
“ we tried to fight it, The Prototype’s control. I’m... the last of the Smiling Critters.”
There’s a brief moment of silence where the sadness within his voice becomes palpable to you, it makes
your heart ache that he’s suffered so much at the hands of that wretched beast- CatNap.
“Listen to me-“ he pleads, lifting his head up all the way now, trying to make as best eye contact as he
can with you, “-you NEED to get out of this place. You NEED to LIVE! You and Poppy can fix this, end this madness, the torment, the- Oh no... OH NO!”
You take a step back, shocked at the sudden change and turn to look just where his head is facing, from the bottom of his cell block, you watch as little beady white eyes begin to emerge from the large holes within the walls.
Instinctively, you fire a shot at it and manage to frighten the miniature critters.
You watch as DogDay turns to face you, “Leave me, please! Just go!... RUN!!” He urges you.
“You have to survive, Angel, you HAVE to. GO! GET OUT OF HERE!!”
You shake your head, “No, not again, I’m done with this-“ you tell him, firing yet another shot at the
little holes, frighting more of the critters away. “-I’ve had enough of seeing such senseless slaughter-“ You use the grabpack hands and grab simultaneously at both his chains and PULL!!
The chains SNAP with a loud crack, metal breaks and clangs, falling onto the floor loudly.
Just as DogDay is about to fall and hit the ground, you catch him as best you can with your arms.
“-HOLD ON!!”
You spare no second glance behind you as you run with DogDay, the poor canine clings onto you with what little strength remains within him.
The two of you fall through broken floor boards and rush through a large system of tunnels, with every twist and turn you hear the beasts behind you gaining ground.
The critters climb atop one another, moving together like a wave of water, a mass of cloth and fabric ready to pry and tare away at flesh.
But you won't let them win. Not this time.
As you traverse the tunnels, running with all your strength, behind you, DogDay turns his head to see if your pursuers have made any ground and feel his grip tighten.
“ITS OKAY-“ you try to comfort him, “-JUST HOLD ON!” “THEYRE GAINING ON US, ANGEL. WE WONT MAKE IT-“ “-YES WE WILL!!”
“SLIDE!!” You announce, “DUCK!!”
DogDay ducks with you, avoiding the lip of the ceiling.
You two slide down with such speed that it nearly launches you in such a way that you almost trip over
your own two feet but manage you catch yourself just in time.
You run down a small hall and towards a room that has a purple hand platform at its end.
“ANGEL, THE HAND!! SWAP HANDS!!”
“GOT IT!!”
You press a button and watch as the grabpack switches it’s green hand with the purple hand, and just in
time too.
As the wave of mini critters closes in.
You take the leap of faith.
And for a moment, time slows down to a crawl.
You’re both airborne for what seems forever, until you finally make contact with the ground.
And when you do, frantically get on the elevator and mash the button for it to lift you up. “COME ON, COME ON, COME ON, COME ON-!!”
You’re desperate, your hands are trembling.
As the machine slowly takes you to the platform above, from bellow you you watch as the critters
desperately climb atop one another to get at the two of you.
Once at the top, you feel DogDay tap your shoulder, “LEFT SIDE, SLIDE!! NOW!!”
You run, making a mad dash and duck, throwing your body into the slide, DogDay ducks with your
movements and holds on for dear life as you two slide down the enormous slide.
As you descend, you hear the slide creak, bend and shake under the weight of both of you. “Of fuck-!!” You shout as the slide gives way under your combined weight.
And so, the two of you fall..
And fall...
And fall...
Eventually you two land somewhere entirely new, but you’re not able to make out just where you are just yet, because when you finally descend, you two are flung with such great force that you both make contact with the wall. Leaving a small crater in its wake to the sheer force of the impact.
Thankfully though, your blow is cushioned by DogDay who, by some holy miracle, manages to place himself between you and the wall when you two were free falling.
You’re cradled by his arms as the two you fall harshly to the ground.
Groans are heard from both of you as you watch the tunnel that was created from the collapsed slide, come crumbling down on itself and create a massive cave in. Rubble descends down the hole following the two of you, eventually covering the entire tunnel itself.
Silence fills the air as the two of you lay there, you feel your consciousness slip from you, your vision going dark. Perhaps you had hit yourself a bit harder than anticipated on your way down.
“Angel? ANGEL!” DogDay shouts, desperation clings to his every word, “Stay with me, angel, stay with me!!”
Your vision goes black as darkness embraces you with open arms...
Chapter 10 (http://archiveofourown.org/works/53562580/chapters/135645178) : Respite Summary:
You and DogDay find some much needed respite after all the chaos you two had to endure.
{You find yourself sitting comfortably on the porch of your cottage home, a cool strawberry drink sits snugly in the palm of your hands. A cool summer breeze blows by, caressing your face, and with it brings promises of a better and brighter future...
Or so you thought...
“Mom?” You looked over to the beautiful female figure sat next to you, her face was crystal clear in your mind, even now. After all this time, you could still picture her, she looked the same as she did all those years ago.
“Do you really have to go? Can’t you call in sick?” You asked her, leaning into her touch as her hand caressed your cheek gently, “Please, mom-“ you whined, begging her to stay.
The woman looked down upon you with a gentle and loving smile that only a mother could bestow upon her child.
You felt tears prick at the corners of your eyes.
“-don’t go...” you whined pitifully.
you watched as she leaned down close to you, gently she pressed her lips to your forehead before smiling
at you once more. “My sweet little Angel, don’t worry, I promise your father and I won’t be gone long. It’s only a work trip!”
You felt tears fall down your cheeks. Every night, it was always the same. The same dream.
Each.
And every.
Night.
No matter how much you begged and cried, she always left you.
“I’ll be back before you know it~!” She spoke, gently booping your nose with her finger.}
“M-...Mo..m...n-..no...” you groaned quietly.
As you slowly came to your senses you could hear a familiar male voice.
“Angel?! Oh-!” A gasp left his lips, “-Angel,darling- wake up... please, wake up...”
You felt yourself slowly being stirred back into reality, gentle hands shaking you and rubbing at your back in an attempt at rousing you awake.
Slowly, you blinked away the fog in your eyes and watched as the world around you slowly came into focus.
Your eyes finally focused onto the figure in front of you, DogDay.
The poor canine had been worried sick, he was curled up as close as he could- given the state of his body- to be next to you. Gentle hands wiped at your cheeks that were damp with tears.
“You were crying, Angel...” he explained, he kept his voice low so as to not startle you after you’d awaken.
“Are you alright? You were crying out for your mother...”
You stare at him dumbfounded and open your mouth to reply but bite back your response, only offering a look of concern in return to his own.
DogDay nods, seemingly understanding what you’re conveying, “Apologies, Angel. I... may have been too forward, I shouldn’t have asked. It’s not my right to know something so intimate.”
You shake your head, “I-It’s alright, you were only curious... it’s natural...”
As you two continue to lay there, you share a moment of silence between the two of you, where one of his lands lies comfortably atop your own.
“Angel?”
Suddenly, he breaks the silence.
“May I-“ there’s a pause, “Am I allowed a question?”
You nod, “of course.”
“Why did you save me?”
You pause and allow silence to fill the void for a moment, your eyes wandering as you think, until you
meet his gaze once more.
“I think EVERYONE deserves to live-“ you answer him, “- I’m tired of seeing all this death around
me...” you pause briefly, taking in a deep breathe. “Wouldn’t you agree?”
He can’t help but chuckle at your response. “What?” You ask, “what’s so funny?”
He sighs, “You really are an angel sent from above to save us, huh...?”
You smile, cracking the first genuine laugh you’ve had in a long while, “Yeah, I guess so...”
You watch as DogDay slowly pulls away from you for a minute and aids you as best he can from his current position on the ground with one hand to help you get up from the floor.
You take his hand and slowly bring yourself up from the floor and stand up, you examine the grabpack and notice some minor damages to the equipment. Thankfully it appears to be nothing serious, just a few loose parts that need to be screwed on tighter.
“I think we should probably get some rest...” you add, examining your new surroundings. You’re in what appears to be the offices of Playtime Co.
“This place looks safe enough...” you watch as DogDay tries to do the same and examine his
surroundings, he too notes that the offices look relatively safe compared to the rest of PLAYCARE. Suddenly, a ringing catches you both by surprise and makes you jump nearly out of your skin. “What was that?!” DogDay asks, confused at the new noise.
“Ollie!”
“Who-?”
Before you could answer DogDay’s question, you reach for your phone which somehow managed to
survive the fall.
“Hey, are you alright?! No ouchies or lost body parts?”
On the other side of the Playtime Co. cellphone is what sounds to be a young boy’s voice, aged roughly
that of a child’s. It catches DogDay by surprise when he hears it.
At Ollie’s last comment, you look towards DogDay and frown slightly, “I’m alright-“ you speak into the
receiver, “-But... I can’t say the same for my friend.”
“Friend? Who's your new friend?”
“It’s DogDay” you reply, “here-“ you hand the phone to DogDay.
“Hello? Whose this?”
“Hey DogDay! My names Ollie! I’ve been helping Poppy, Y/N and Kissy Missy escape PLAYCARE.
I’m glad you’re getting along well with Y/N!” You hear Ollie speak to DogDay, seemingly getting him up to speed on the situation.
You watch as DogDay hums in response, “Thank you Ollie, for guiding angel along, you’ve done well in helping them...”
“Angel? Whose angel?”
You watch as DogDay seemingly stumbles over himself and his words for a moment, you can’t help but smile. If he could, you’d suspect he’d be blushing right about now from embarrassment.
“Y/N-! I-I’m referring to Y/N...!”
You hear Ollie laugh on the other end, “Oh! That makes sense!”
“Anyways-“ Ollie continues, “I’m really glad you’re both okay... I don’t wanna lose any more friends to
this place. We’re really close to the end! By the way, where are you two now?”
“In what appears to be a room full of offices...” DogDay adds, with some of your help, he finds himself
resting in your arms. Your surprised by how much he weighs and how you’re able to carry him with just enough effort, despite his size.
You’ve helped him see further into the halls of the area you’re in, down the hall, as far as the eye can see are nothing more than offices.
“Ah! I see. You two must be in the Counselor’s Office. Hmmm... it’s not ideal, but, If you two can manage to find that generator and get it going, it should have enough juice to power the Gas Production Zone and finally re-route that red smoke! Good luck you two, stay safe out there!”
And with that, the line goes dead.
You sigh and look to DogDay, he nods at you and the two of you move forward.
“Angel?” He asks
“Yes?”
“I’ll take you up on that offer to rest...” he comments, “That fall... it did a number on me and likely on
yourself as well. It’s paramount we get some much needed respite, gather your energy for what’s yet to come.”
You nod, he does have a point.
And so, you walk a little bit longer until you spot an office room that looks relatively clean in comparison to the others, save for all the scattered papers, it’s better than nothing.
You set DogDay down on the office chair and turn to step out of the room momentarily. “Wait, where are you going?” He asks you.
“I spotted a blanket on one of the offices, don’t worry, I’ll be right back!”
You didn’t go too far to find the blanket and when you did, true to your word, you returned.
You placed the oversized blanket down on the ground and picked up DogDay once more, before setting him down on the blanket.
“There... that should be better than being on the cold floor...” you paused, “Well... not really but-“ DogDay can’t help but laugh, “It’s alright, Angel, it’s the sentiment that counts...”
You smile and nod, joining your companion’s side as you sit next to him. You take off the grabpack and
begin trying to fix it as DogDay watches on.
“Angel? Do you mind me asking you something?”
You shake your head, “No, I don’t mind, what is it?”
“I... don’t think I recall seeing you work here... were you an employee?”
You shake your head, “No, not me, but my mom and dad were...” you explain, “They went missing in
08/08/1998... roughly ten years ago.”
“The hour of Joy...” you hear him mutter softly to himself.
There it is again, that phrase again.
What could it mean...?
“So, I take it you’re here searching for them, no?” He asks
You nod, “I am... why? Does that make me crazy?”
He shakes his head, “No... I don’t think it does... but-“ he pauses.
“But?” You egg on.
“But you ARE crazy for making it this far, Angel.” He watches for your expression carefully. “My
apologies”
You snort, “for what? You’re right.”
Silence hangs for a moment as the conversation dies down for a moment, you’re quick at work on the grabpack, finding yourself almost finished with the much needed repairs.
“You’re a mechanic?” He asks
“Hardly-“ you add, “-I only know what I know about machines thanks to my dad...”
“Who was your father? I-If you don’t mind me asking?”
“No worries- He was a technician for Playtime Co., he spent most of his time fixing electrical issues and
doing tech support for the machines and computers that broke down.”
“And what of your mother?”
“Mom?” You pause, “Mom told me she helped take care of the orphans in Playtime, the most she would
ever tell me was that she was directly responsible for making sure that they were always happy and healthy.” DogDay nods, soaking in the information as you speak to him.
“They sound like good people”
“And they were...” you pause, “...I miss them...”
DogDay cringes inwardly slightly, “I-I’m sorry Angel, I didn’t mean to upset you.” You shake your head, sighing deeply, “It’s okay, don’t worry about it.”
There’s another beat of silence before this time, YOU break it.
“And what about you?” You ask him
“Pardon?”
“We’re you always known as ‘DogDay’? Or were you someone else...?” You ask, taking notice of his
hesitance you add in, “I read about this thing called the “Bigger Bodies Initiative” and- from what I’ve gathered- it seems that... somehow... they used people and turned them into... toys.”
You hardly believed your own words, but the evidence was all there in the scraps of important documents you had collected, and that sort of evidence is hard to deny.
You watch as DogDay nods, “I was- am.” He corrects, “My real name is Oskar, Oskar Sonnen.”
You pause, your hands stilling for a moment at the mention of his name.
“That’s German” you add, surprised. “You’re German?”
He chuckles, “No, but I am descended from Germans, I’m American, born and raised. Why do you ask
Angel?”
“Well, your name literally means ‘dear sunny friend’ or ‘dear friend of sunshine’-“ you chuckle, your
smile widening, “-incredibly fitting for someone whose named ‘DogDay’”
You watch as he nods and chuckles alongside you, “You’re quite the keen observer, Angel.”
You nod, and you’re finally compete with the grabpack, finally setting it down on the ground beside you. You watch as DogDay stretches and yawns, he tries to make himself as comfortable as he can.
“Am I still allowed to call you DogDay, though? Or do you prefer Oskar?”
You watch as he seems to take a moment to consider your proposal before replying, “I’ll answer
regardless of whatever you decide to call me by, Angel.”
You nod, “DogDay it is then-“ you smile warmly at the canid, “-it suits you the most, after all...” you
gently boop his nose with your finger and watch as he chuckled, his whole body shaking in response to the wave of happiness.
“Thank you, my dear” You smile.
“Oh!” You jump up, suddenly remembering what else you wanted to ask him, “One last question?” “Anything for you, Angel, you deserve as much.”
“Where you an employee of Playtime Co. like my parents? A technician? A doctor?”
He shook his head, “No, not quite, I was... a low-level researcher during my time here...” he recalls,
“Pardon my memory, Angel, but I can hardly recall that era of my life. All I can offer you in response was that I helped the children in the Play area... that’s as far as my memory goes. Again, my deepest apologies.”
You shake your head, “It’s okay, I don’t expect you to recall everything that happened to you...”
You yawn and stretch, and watch as DogDay does the same.
“It appears that rest is in order...” he states, “Come now, Angel. You must regain your energy-“ he says, patting the space in front of him.
You nod, making your way over to him, you decide to give him ample space to himself , but watch as his arm lazily droops over your waist, holding you there.
“-I sense that we’ll need all the energy we can muster for what’s to come next.”
You hum in agreement and sigh, grateful for this moment of respite to finally gather your energy and your bearings.
Despite laying down with DogDay on the hard wooden floor over a less than comfortable blanket, you find that you’re not as tired as you imagined.
No amount of counting sheep and thinking of stories within your head help to lull you into the warm embrace of sleep.
Your eyes pan over to DogDay and watch him, he’s still as can be safe for the slow rising and falling of
his chest.
He’s sound asleep.
Good, you know he needs it more than anyone.
Suddenly! An idea crosses your mind;If you’re GOING to defeat CatNap and put an end to this once and for all, you know deep down inside that with the current state that he’s in, DogDay won’t survive not even one minute next to the feline.
You HAVE to do something about it.
That’s when your brain reminds you of the red-and-white polka dot skirt you took from Miss Delight’s corpse.
You wager that if you can scour the remnants of these offices, you’ll probably find just enough fabric scraps to not only patch up DogDay, but hopefully gift him with new legs.
Determined to have this happen, you slowly and carefully pry yourself from DogDay’s warm embrace, you don’t want to rouse him awake. He NEEDS to rest.
Once freed, you slowly make your way out of the room, creeping along just quietly enough to not make as much noise as you can.
As you leave, you close the door behind you and slink off...
-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈
Chapter 11: DogDay awakens to you missing.
Something feels wrong.
DogDay finds himself being roused by sleep’s warm embrace by none other than his own body.
He blinks a few times, removing the haze from his eyes. When they finally adjusts he notices the empty
space in front of him.
He feels his heart sink.
“Angel?” He half whispers, begging the stars above that you’re just behind him, distracted by the clutter
of papers.
With great effort, he gets himself to turn over and when he doesn’t see your form, a pang of terror
overwhelms him.
All he can think of is CatNap.
CatNap.
That FUCKER.
Rage bubbles inside of him.
Did he take you away from him when the two of you were resting? Did he stalk the two of you and
waited to strike when a moment of weakness- of calmness, had finally befallen the two of you? How very typical of him.
That fucking cat.
Nay- that DEMON.
That THING wasn’t CatNap, it wasn’t his friend anymore, whatever that thing was, it needed to be
defeated. And to be rid of this world.
Feeling the fear rise inside of him, DogDay couldn’t control himself anymore and began calling out for you, desperately praying that you weren’t that far from him.
“ANGEL?!”
That you were still alive. “ANGEL!!”
DogDay began crawling for the door, pulling himself forward with the use of his arms with what little strength he had left inside of him.
Just as he reached the door, extending an arm for the door knob, the door swung open.
And there you stood. You were safe.
“Oh thank God” DogDay sighed, as a wave of relief washed over him. “DogDay-“ you start, “Are you okay, I-“
You watch as his demeanor shifts from that of relief to anger.
“Where the HELL did you go, Angel?!”
“I-“
Wait, no... it wasn’t anger.
“Do you have ANY IDEA how dangerous what you just did?!” He was afraid.
Afraid of losing YOU.
You bite your lower lip and turn to look away from his gaze, your eyes are cast downward. He’s right, you know.
What you did WAS- no, IS incredibly dangerous.
CatNap could’ve found you and taken you, and DogDay would’ve been none the wiser.
You step inside the room and close the door behind you, making sure to lock it as you do so for safety’s sake.
As you step inside, DogDay is finally able to take note of what you’re doing; on your hands are what appear to be various scraps of fabric and cloth, all in various colors and varying in the materials that they were made from.
It finally clicks for him what you were doing.
You were searching for materials to repair him with.
“I’m sorry”
You turn your head to face him.
“I-I’m sorry, Angel, I-I shouldn’t have- I-“
You set the materials aside and kneel down to hug DogDay, pulling him into your embrace.
“No, I’M sorry...” you correct him, “I should’ve told you before you went to sleep.”
DogDay gives you a loving squeeze as you hug him, “Still, that doesn’t warrant me, yelling at you. I’m
so sorry. Truly.”
You chuckle slightly but shake your head, “No, I think it’s warranted.”
You carefully pull away and help DogDay back on the blanket and move towards the desk where you’d set the materials down before sitting besides him.
“This was the best I could do-“ you explained, displaying to him all of the fabric and cloth pieces you found in a neatly arranged pile before him: most were scraps you’d manage to tear off from the covers of the desk chairs with the help of a knife, the rest were just an array of cloth from curtains used for the faux windows or extra company clothes that were in storage.
“Oh! And I also managed to get this too-“ you pulled towards you the red-and-white polka dot fabric that had now taken on the shape of a sack, it was holding something inside it.
Upon opening it, out spilled a hefty sized pile of cotton and pieces of foam.
“I got it from the office chairs, it’ll help me reconstruct your legs.”
DogDay nodded, eyeing the wide array of fabric closely before turning to you. “But... you don’t have any twine or or even string, how do you-?”
“-funny that you mentioned that-“ you stopped him, pulling out a small basket of sewing supplies, “-it looks like one of the employees here was a hobbyist sewer.”
Opening the container you showcased all of the supplies available to you; measuring take, seam ripper, tailors chalk, hand sewing needles, pins and pincushion as well as multiple spools of thread.
DogDay hums and nods, “I suppose you were quite lucky, Angel.” “Absolutely” you agreed.
“Now, let’s get this started-“ you began, “-let’s make sure you’re comfortable before I start-“ as you say that, you finally slip off the sweater that you had tied onto your waist. It was a miracle that the thing was still intact after going through so much.
Folding it, you placed it under his head as a makeshift pillow. “Better?” You asked him.
“Oh, Angel-“ he gasped slightly, surprised. “-you don’t have t-“ “Better?” You echoed.
He nodded, “Better”
“Good” you smiled warmly and moved back into position, sitting in front of his open lower half.
It was incredibly jarring to you that you could just see inside of him like that, especially being able to see
what you assumed to be the sack that was likely holding his insides together.
Shaking off the worry that crept into you, you willed yourself to continue. You got this.
DogDay remained quiet as you worked on sewing him up, his eyes were focused mainly on how your nimble and graceful fingers gilded about.
You grabbed the fabric that was harvested from the office chairs since the material was the strongest and used that to reinforce the now sewn shut lower half. This piece of fabric was placed atop that area and sewn over.
As you worked, you found yourself humming the same song that your mother would sing to you since you were a baby: “♩♩♩ ♭♭♩♩♩♭♭...”
“You are my Sunshine” DogDay commented.
You laughed, blushing slightly, “Thanks, you too” you joked, knowing fully well he was just talking about the title.
DogDay, though incapable of blushing, audibly made a strangled noise which only made you laugh. “What? Cat got your tongue?”
“Angel”
“Sorry, sorry! I’m just messing with you!”
He laughs, and the sound makes you smile.
It’s been a while since you had any semblance of normalcy, it was nice. You wanted more of this.
Yes, you wanted more moments just like this one.
But with HIM alongside you.
It took a LONG while, but by the time you were done, you managed to sew DogDay a brand new pair of legs, made of mismatched fabric and cloth.
DogDay helped himself to sit up with his hands and eyed his new lower half.
“How does it feel?” You asked, “Are you able to move?”
DogDay attempted to move his foot but found that nothing occurred, worried he tried again and again. You stopped him with a gentle hand placed over his stomach, “It’s okay, don’t worry, it might take some
time for your body to realize that you now have a lower half.” You commented, “The same happens to humans who undergo surgeries where they reattach limbs after accidents or for people who wake up from comas. It takes the body some time to catch up and work.”
“Don’t overwork yourself and just take it slow, okay?”
DogDay nodded, “Thank you, Angel. I’m eternally indebted to you.” He proclaimed, gently he took your hand in his own hand and gave it a loving squeeze.
You couldn’t but smile and return the squeeze, “Anything for you, pumpkin.” You don’t even take notice of the term of endearment that escapes your lips.
But he does, and in response his hold on your hand doesn’t let up.
Not that you’d complain about it.
A thought crosses your mind and you turn to look behind you, there’s enough fabric and foam left over that you could probably use it for...
you turn back to him.
“Hey-“
“Yes, my dear?”
“-how do you feel about getting a new tail?”
DogDay blinks for a moment, oh... right! Yeah, he realizes that doesn’t have one. “That would be a great addition, Angel.”
You let go of his hand and DogDay finds himself quite upset at the sudden lack of physical contact. He watches you move back over to where your supplies are and pick them up, resuming your work at sewing.
DogDay lets out a satisfied sigh as he observes.
In comparison to repairing his body and reconstructing his legs, making a tail takes significantly less time to build.
“Considering that you’re roughly the same size of an American doorway, 6ft 7in, I have enough to make your tail-“ you pause, taking out your measuring tape and taking the length of the now fully assembled tail.
-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈
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The Scent
Miguel O’Hara x Fem!Reader
Summary: You've been transferred back to the general work zone without explanation after spending a couple of months working with Miguel. You decide to confront him about it but reason for your transfer is not what you expected.
Word count: 4K
Rated: M / NSFW
Tags/warnings: Mating cycles/In Heat, Biting, Scent kink, Knoting, Fluff, Smut, Oral sex, She/Her pronouns, Breeding talk, No beta reader we die as a cowards, Vaginal sex, Pet name, this is not good don’t let the tags fool you, Spanish.
Author notes: So here it’s the first one… I loved Miguel so much and the Oscar Isaac voice is a turn on to me so here we goo!
✵ ✵ ✵ ✵ ✵ ✵ ✵ ✵ ✵ ✵
The following week marked the two-year anniversary of your arrival to the Spider Society. Jessica had invited you to join after you helped her deal with an anomaly in your universe. At the beginning you had individual tasks of little importance until your first team mission arrived. You had been assigned to Miguel's group for the first time, he didn't seem to care about anyone in his group, after a couple of missions you were able to start adapting to his rhythm, avoiding getting in his way and tying up loose ends when he needed it.
He liked working with you: You were efficient, something he liked very much and you were not intrusive which he liked even more, you did your solo missions on time and covered him perfectly in battle. You also brought him lunch without interrupting him and made his coffee just the way he liked without having to tell you how.
You did the reports better than anyone else and always had the answers he needed. Plus you are very good at talking to people, could see how you were genuinely interested in what others had to say. You were able to talk to him... which was not an easy task, at first you talked about casual things like Lyla's updates or Hobbie's disasters but soon you started talking about more important things such as the multiverse or even his family.
He had moved your desk into his office a couple of months ago, with the excuse that it would make the work more efficient. But the real reason was that he could see you from there even when you didn't realize it.
Jess started teasing him about how much he liked you but he would always deny it and end up grumpy. He didn't like you...he just thought it was nice how you smiled when something went right or how your hair fell a little messy over your face...well maybe he liked how you smelled… like black cherry and vanilla it was a pleasant smell that he began to get used to. Sometimes his office smelled like you when he arrived in the mornings which made him smile as he started with the day's activities, however right now your sweet smell had started to become a problem.
A couple of weeks ago something started to change in him. He could smell you even before you came into the quarters and being there next to you had become a living hell, your essence was affecting him in unexpected ways.
With you in his office every time you moved a burst of vanilla flooded the room, like when you stretched to straighten up or when you untied your hair it was totally intoxicating.
He felt the need to hold you in his arms and kiss you, just imagining it made his cock twitch inside his suit and it was getting annoying. He knew his rut was close but there were too many things to do in the GQ so he decided - for his own sake and especially yours - to return your desk to its original place.
It had been a couple of weeks of you working in your old space wondering what had happened. In addition to sending you as far away as he could, Miguel had been completely ignoring you and put you to Peter B's mission group. Something was wrong and you needed to find out.
You walked to his office to discuss but Lyla informed you that he was sick so he had taken a couple of days at home. Concerned, you decided to go to his house with a bowl of hot soup with the intention of helping him to get better, but above all to get some answers.
Lyla would help you to remotely open the door for you, the house was beautiful, with an exquisite Scandinavian style but with more earthy tones and small decorative accents of Mexican craftsmanship. Everything seemed to be in its place and there was no trace of dust anywhere. You left the soup on the open kitchen counter to check if he was okay but heard a noise in what seemed like the master bedroom, you approached and heard his voice through the door.
"Mieerda... I can even smell her in here" A knocking noise alarmed you a little and you opened the door cautiously. A book flew next to your head; the room was a mess with pillows torn, sheets disheveled and many items lying on the floor.
"Miguel, are you okay?" you asked as you walked in, his eyes looked confused to see you there "I came to drop off some soup for you...Lyla said you were sick and I was worried tha..."
"Get out of here." he said bluntly as he sat on the edge of the bed to turn his back on you, you walked to where he was “Que te vayas carajo”.
"No" you replied "You've been ignoring me all this time... you even took me back to the main work room... what's wrong Miguel? Did I do something to upset you? If so I didn't mean to, I apologize if..." He made a grunt interrupting you
"You didn't do anything wrong... It's my business go away please" He said with clenched teeth. You ignored his words and moved closer to face him. He looked feverish and he was sweating.
"Miguel you don't look good at all" You said ignoring his words putting your hand on his face.
When you reached his chest, Miguel gave a soft growl in response. His muscles were tense beneath your touch, and you could feel his heartbeat pounding against your hand. Despite this, he still wasn't saying anything.
"You have a fever Miguel, you need some medicine" You told him as you sat down next to him. He started to stand up to walk away "Let me take care of you Miguel" You told him by taking his hand. Miguel's eyes got a little darker, there was something in the air that felt heavy "Please".
As you spoke, Miguel let out another low groan from deep within himself. For some reason, hearing those words coming from you made him feel more at ease than before. He looked up at you, his eyes full of emotion. "I’m sorry," he said quietly. "But you can’t help me”
"I can't do it if you don't tell me what's wrong, trust me Miguel... I just want to help you" I said looking at him with genuine concern.
Miguel hesitated for a moment, but then nodded slowly. Taking a deep breath, he finally opened up about his situation. "I've been feeling these… urges lately they have become so intense that they won’t let me work." he admitted, looking away slightly.
“Urges?” You said confused. “What kind of urges?”
Miguel took a deep breath, hesitating for a few moments before speaking again. "Sexual urges… It comes with powers. I have them from time to time…" he paused before continuing “I had always been able to control them but… They get worse when you're around... your scent… It makes them worse” he confessed in a quiet voice.
"Oh..." You blushed at his confession. "I didn't know sorry… I was so worried… I thought I had offended you in some way " You replied "Or that I had inadvertently jeopardized a mission and I made you angry without realizing it" you continued relieved "I’m sorry Miguel” You told him sincerely “…But don't worry you just need a little help and you'll be fine"
Miguel's face softened as he heard your words. His eyes were still wary though, like he was waiting for something else. "Y-you are going to help me?" he asked softly, sounding hopeful.
"In any way I can" You said to him as you approached him again "Tell me how I can help you Miguel..."
Miguel looked at you with surprise, unsure if he should trust you or not. After a moment of hesitation, he spoke quietly "Pero Cariño… I don’t want to hurt you"
"What could be so bad that would hurt me Miguel?" You asked looking at him tenderly
Miguel nodded slowly, looking relieved. He seemed hesitant but determined too. As you leaned closer, he whispered "I want to bite you..."
"Then do it..." You told him as you moved even closer… Vainilla y cereza negra he thought as he closed his eyes, your scent flooded the room and then without a hesitation you kissed him.
As soon as you kissed him, Miguel let out an animalistic growl in response. You could feel his sharp teeth pressing against your lips, before he started to kiss back passionately. Soon enough, his hands moved up from your waist to grip onto your neck tightly, pulling you closer to him.
“Miguel…” you say with a sight
Miguel responded by deepening the kiss, his tongue exploring every inch of yours. His hand slid down your body until it reached between your legs, gently caressing your inner thighs. With each passing second, his desire grew stronger, making him more desperate to possess you completely.
Miguel's hand moved up to remove your jeans. Each movement was accompanied by a soft moan from you, heightening the intensity of the moment. "I want you," he whispered huskily, his breath hot on your skin “I have wanted you for months”
"Take me then" You said looking him in the eyes.
Miguel smiled devilishly before leaning in closer to capture your lips once again. His hands roamed freely across your body as he explored every inch of it, leaving trails of fire wherever they touched. You moaned softly as he pressed harder against you, letting out a growl of desire.
You heard the sound of the fabric of your panties tearing “Miguel… oh my god… they were brand new” You told him in a tone of mock indignation as he carelessly removed your button-down shirt and unclasp your bra to throw it away.
With a wicked grin, Miguel pulled away slightly to admire your exposed curves. Taking in each detail with his eyes, he then leaned forward to claim your mouth once more. As he kissed you deeply, he ground his hips against yours, sending waves of pleasure through your body. "Yes… I’m going to prepare you Cariñito”
You blushed when you heard the pet name again. His hands moved slowly across your body, exploring every inch of you with his fingertips. When he finally stopped on your pussy and then on your clit, he began to massage gently, sending shivers through your spine. "Are you already wet for me Preciosa?" he asked huskily.
As Miguel's fingers moved down faster and faster, your breathing grew heavier and deeper. His lips traveled lower, leaving trails of fire wherever they went. When he finally reached your most sensitive spot "I've wanted to taste you ever since I first smelled you...so sweet." The sensation was overwhelming, he started to lick your entrance and you closed your eyes while he made circular movements over your clit. It was overwhelming you tried to close your legs but he stopped them to continue devouring you, at some point your hands were on his head grabbing his hair as you began to tremble and a feeling of pleasure formed in your lower stomach it didn't last long before you were left trembling from the intensity of your orgasm.
You looked at Miguel, panting heavily. With a satisfied smirk on his face, he pulled you close and kissed you deeply, savoring the taste of your passion. “Are you ready to take me now Cariño?" he asked.
The interior of your thighs was all wet and your chest was rising and falling rapidly as you gasped for breath “Miguel…” You said almost inaudibly “Please… I need you…”
His eyes darkened as he heard your plea, and he knew exactly what you needed. Without another word, he take you and lay you face down on the bed and lift your hips positioned himself behind you. Taking hold of your hips, he pushed himself inside you in one swift motion. "Ohhh...yes..."
Your face sank into the mattress, silencing a little the scream of pleasure when you felt him deep inside you "My God... Miguel" You moan
As he continued thrusting deeply within you, Miguel let out a low growl that was part pleasure and part dominance. With each powerful movement, he reached deeper and deeper until he couldn't contain the need any longer. "So pretty like this… and just for me… you want me to fuck you harder right Cariño" he said between breaths.
Tears of pleasure streamed from your eyes and as you felt it deep inside, the angle made each thrust touch that soft spot "Yes..." You said in a whisper.
He responded by increasing his pace, pushing himself harder against you with every stroke. His breathing became ragged and his grip tightened around your waist, pulling you closer to him. "Yes… just like that preciosa, cum for me” he murmured softly.
"I’m close…" You moaned, my hands gripped the sheet as you felt him moving inside of you, his hands tightened on your hips as your walls began to contract in their length and your legs trembled trying to hold up.
With each wave of pleasure that washed through you, Miguel grunted in satisfaction and increased his speed. As your orgasm subsided, he slowed down slightly but kept moving inside of you gently, savoring the feeling of being close to you. "That's right, babe, feel it," His knot was forming inside you
As Miguel continued thrusting slowly and steadily, you felt his body trembling from within. With each movement, he seemed to be getting closer and closer to release. His knot was big inside and you could hear the soft sounds of skin slapping together echoing throughout the room, creating an intense rhythm between the two of you. "Take it… take it all of it”
His breathing was heavy and his grip on your hips tightened leaving a red mark. Suddenly, without warning, he let out a loud moan and released himself inside of you, filling you up completely.
As you lay there feeling satisfied by the sensation of being filled up by Miguel's seed. Miguel wrapped his arms around you tightly, pulling you close to him as he nuzzled against your neck softly. “I need to bite you honey”
You shivered when he put his mouth in the back of your neck and began to give small wet kisses.
As Miguel kissed your neck, you shivered in anticipation, enjoying the warmth of his breath and the gentle touch of his lips. You closed your eyes, letting yourself get lost in the moment, until suddenly, you heard a low growl coming from behind you.
Miguel slowly turned you around, you looked at him revealing that his fangs were now fully extended. His gaze was intense, and his breathing was heavy as he stared at you hungrily. "Don't move," he said in a low voice, before moving closer towards you. A feeling of dread settled in your chest and you closed my eyes in anticipation "Is it going to hurt?" You asked.
Miguel chuckled darkly, but there was no trace of humor or kindness in it. Instead, there was only an animalistic hunger mixed with lustful desire. Without warning, he grabbed hold of your waist firmly and pulled you close, pressing his body against yours. His hot breath brushed against your ear as he whispered. "Yes, it will hurt... but I promise it won't be too bad just stay still”
You let out a sigh with your eyes closed feeling his hot breath on your neck and suddenly a sensation of sharp pain flooded you as he began to bite you.
As Miguel bit harder, you let out a sharp gasp from the pain. You couldn't believe how strong he was, yet also gentle enough not to cause any more harm than necessary. Despite this, the sensation of being bitten made you feel like prey instead of a human.
Miguel's hand went down until it reached your pussy and to make circular movements on your clit. The sensation of pleasure that started to build up inside of you quickly overwhelmed your senses. Your breathing was heavier and faster as you began to moan softly in response to Miguel's hands. Soon, you were lost in a world of pure bliss, unable to think or control yourself completely.
"Vamos cariño, cum for me," Miguel said with difficulty with his fangs still in your skin. As you came closer to orgasm again, Miguel increased the intensity of his movements until finally, you reached your climax once more.
For a moment you forgot that his teeth were still on your neck until he let go. His teeth marks left behind a trail of red lines across your skin, but it didn't hurt anymore thanks to the numbing effect of his venom.
You were breathing heavily as he caressed you tenderly, helped you into his arms and then put his chin on your head. You closed your eyes for a moment as your breathing returned to normal "Are you okay?" He asked you softly
"Yes, I'm perfectly fine" You told him as you smiled, you turned to look at him, his hair was messy and his lips were a little swollen. "How are you Miguel?... I was able to help you?" You said whispering in his ear, he let out a small laugh. No one had ever seen him so relaxed, he looked you in the eyes and started to bring his face closer to yours.
His lips brushed yours for a few seconds and then he kissed you again softly, he took your face gently with his right hand and caressed your cheek. He pulled away from your face slowly to move down to your neck, he gave a couple of kisses on the bite mark and you closed your eyes at the contact "So beautiful… and just for me." He sat on the edge of the bed and carefully helped you onto his lap.
Miguel looked up at you with intense desire in his eyes as you lay on top of him. You both stared deeply into each other's eyes before he leaned forward and kissed you passionately. After several minutes of rough kissing, he pulled away slightly and whispered in your ear, “Ride me Cariño”
Having control after what happened before seemed a bit surreal. You kissed him again as you guided his length to place it in your folds, he let out a grunt as you began to push him inside you "Oh Miguel… you feel so good" You said to him.
Miguel let out a low moan as you rode him, feeling completely enveloped by pleasure. As you continued moving up and down, he reached around and grabbed onto your hips tightly, pulling you closer to him. As he continued thrusting upward, " Who owns this beautiful cunt??"
“It belongs to you Miguel…” You said in a needy moan your walls began to contract as you found the right angle, your eyebrows drew together and you let out a moan. “Only to you…” Miguel responded with a growl as he increased the intensity of his thrusts, pushing himself harder and deeper helping you. You gasped in pleasure as his movements grew more powerful, sending waves of sensation through your entire body when your climax came.
Miguel's breathing became ragged as he approached his climax, gripping you tighter as he plunged deeply inside of you. His eyes closed shut tight, groaning loudly as wave after wave of pleasure coursed through his veins. His knot feels big inside you, he trusted in you a couple of times and he cums again.
You felt his hot cum inside and looked at him as he kept his eyes closed. He looked handsome with his sweaty forehead and breathing erratically, he was still inside you without moving, you could feel his seed sliding down your thighs. That’s when a thought hit you "Miguel..." You said in panic "I'm not on birth control."
Miguel opened his eyes at the sound of your voice and looked back up at you with no worries in his face. "I know," he said softly, his expression turning serious. "In fact, I was hoping for that…” You looked at at him in confusion as he moved carefully to get out of you.
Miguel smiled reassuringly at you before leaning down to kiss you gently. "Don't worry about it," he murmured against your lips. "I'm not going to lie, I was thinking about it when I knot you."
You opened your eyes in surprise. "What are you talking about Miguel..."
Miguel chuckled lightly at your surprise. He kissed you again to stop your words, he moved closer so that his body pressed against yours. His hands began exploring your curves while his tongue explored every inch of your mouth. When he finally pulled away, he looked deeply into your eyes and spoke quietly. "Well, let's just say I like the idea of it," he whispered kindly. You shivered slightly from his words, feeling both scared and excited.
He continued kissing you and caressing your skin until you relaxed, it was then he carefully placed you on the bed so that you would rest. He stood up and walked to the bathroom leaving you alone on the bed for a moment reflecting on his words. After a few minutes he came out of the bathroom with a damp towel and helped you clean your thighs, he noticed how nervous you seemed. "Is everything okay?" he asked softly, kneeling beside you on the bed.
You avoided his gaze for a moment "Miguel... I don't think you're serious, are you?..." You said nervously "About the pregnancy"
Miguel looked at you thoughtfully before speaking again. "I don't want to scare you off, but... yes, I was serious about it." His voice was gentle yet confident.
You looked at him surprised, the idea of having a son with Miguel seemed crazy… you weren't even together... But that didn't stop you from fantasizing about what it would be like, the idea flitted through your mind as he caressed your legs lovingly and the more you thought about it the more it started to make sense. You guys were the best team in GQ and you spent all your time together even when you didn't have any missions. He cared about you as much as you cared about him, he knew you more than anyone and above all he understood you...
Before the rut situation and his sudden estrangement, you began to suspect that he liked you as much as you liked him. Hobbie annoys you with it all the time, Gwen encouraged you to be more flirtatious... Even Jessica hinted at how much he liked you sometimes but you were sure about Miguel’s feelings. He had never crossed the friendship line before this, that made you doubt ."Miguel…” You said with sadness in your voice “Do you really like me in that way or is this all just about your rut?" You asked
Miguel smiled gently at your question, his eyes softening with affection. "Is not about that…” He answered “I care about you… I always have," he said quietly. He said reassuringly. "I care about you deeply, more than anything else in this world. You're important to me” He paused for a moment before continuing. "I've been caring about you since the first day we met. I feel bad when you're not with me... you don't know how hard it was not being able to have you around"
Before he could continue, you kissed him with a tenderness that the two had not shared before. Miguel's face lit up with joy as he felt you kissing him like that. His heart was pounding faster now, but he managed to keep himself calm. He leaned forward slightly and brushed his lips against yours tenderly. "I love you Cariño" he whispered softly.
#miguel o'hara#miguel o’hara x y/n#miguel o’hara x you#miguel o’hara x reader#spider man: across the spider verse#miguel o’hara smut#miguel o’hara imagine#miguel o’hara fanfiction#spider man 2099 x reader
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The Girl in IT- 8. The Panic! in the Breakroom (Christine's Version)
A Boss! Joel Miller x IT Specialist F! Reader AU
The LIST │ Series Masterlist
Chapter Rating: M
Chapter Summary: Joel and Sugar spend some time apart and have serious conversations about their relationship's future. Everything is about to change...
Chapter Warnings and Tags: No outbreak AU, Boss x Employee Relationship, Sugar Daddy Lite, Reckless Driving, Talks about Periods and Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) and all of the shitty things that could happen with it including blood loss, miscarriage, and painful pregnancies, Someone gets punched (it's Joel, he gets socked in the face), Sugar takes a backseat as chaos ensues, Badass Ellie Miller, Ellie is going through it, Joel is going through it, Sugar's going through it!, Badass Survivalist Bill to the rescue, There is no smut in this chapter (like at all), no beta we die like men!
Word Count: 8.2 K
A/N: Here it is, the first chapter of my big rework, as I mentioned in this post. If you've read the original posting of this chapter, you know it ended with a surprise pregnancy and a proposal. As much as I know many of you enjoyed that outcome, it was also a departure from my true intentions for Sugar and Joel's relationship timeline, which set off a chain reaction for this story. I was afraid of alienating my readers- I thought by avoiding a darker or more heartbreaking storyline, I wouldn't upset anyone and felt like giving a happy ending to this chapter was the right move. Upon reflection, I started to regret it. Trying to censor myself out of fear of losing readers and not staying true to myself is not the way to go, and I've learned from this lesson.
There is a massive plot change in this chapter. Most of the story is the same, but I have included several pivotal moments with Joel and Sugar that will change the tone of the rest of the series. I do promise that we will be getting our happy ending, just at a different pace. This chapter does have some triggering moments, so please read the tags before reading. I also want to note that chapters 9 and 10 will be completely rewritten. I have set those chapters to private as I continue to rework them, and I hope to get those chapters out promptly before we dive into 'My Wife in IT'. Thank you so much for reading and for sticking around. I really do appreciate it.
"The conference should only be a few days, baby," Joel reassures you, planting a soft kiss on your forehead before disappearing into the walk-in closet to grab a flannel.
As he starts getting dressed, he catches your lingering gaze and teases, "See something you like, baby?" A mischievous smirk plays on his lips as he zips up his jeans.
Unable to resist, you slide out of bed and join him. Wrapping your arms around him from behind, you pout and playfully protest, "Do you really need to go, though?" You reach around him to button up his shirt, meeting his gaze in the mirror. "The bed will feel so empty without you... and it's kind of weird being here alone."
"Well, with Ellie being in the house I bet you'll hardly feel alone, hell, I can just see her attached to your hip the whole time," Joel replies, spinning around and pulling you into the warmth of his broad chest, kissing the top of your head. "You won't even notice I'm gone when she's around, she'll keep you on your toes plenty."
"Have you spent time with Ellie lately? You know anything could happen when she's around."
Joel smirks, "You've got a point there. I still need to fix the oven from her latest kitchen mishap. But hey, don't stress. If you bring Sir Bubbles along, she'll be entertained for days. It's like she's more attached to him than she is to both of us combined."
"But do you have to go, Joel?" you protest once more, "I'm sure Tommy can handle things; he's a big boy."
Joel raises an intrigued eyebrow. "Bigger than me, Mami?" he murmurs, giving you a little pout.
"No one is bigger than you, Papi," you tease, giving him a wink. Gazing up at the ceiling, a sudden wave of unease twists your expression. You find yourself clutching at your middle, groaning slightly in pain.
"Baby? Are you okay?" Joel is suddenly at your side, his face etched with concern. He pushes your hair out of your face, giving you a small smile.
"I don't want to call it, but I think my period is coming," you reply sadly.
"You would think with all of the times we've tried to get pregnant, surely it would take," you sigh, frowning as you stare at the ceiling, not wanting to face Joel and his disappointment. "I'm sorry, Papi."
"Why are you apologizing to me, Sugar? We have all the time in the world! Besides, I'm loving all of the attempts," he wiggles his eyebrows, pressing a kiss on your forehead. I'm more concerned about your health than anything else, okay?"
"Okay. I'm just worried because we're not getting any younger, and I don't think your knees can handle chasing a toddler," You tease, pulling him into a slow and languid kiss.
"I'll have you know, all of this sex we've been having has given me a new lease on life, I haven't worked out so much in my damn life! I'm in my prime, baby." Joel runs a hand through his hair as he walks over to the bedroom door, scanning the hallway for Ellie. He turns back to look at you on the bed. "Promise me you'll see a doctor if you get any worse?"
"I can't make any promises-"
"Sugar, I'm serious. If you start to get worse, you call Ellie and have her take you to the doctor. I mean it, baby. Please. Just put my mind at ease, okay?"
"Okay."
"Ellie!" Joel's voice echoes down the hallway. "Come here for a second!"
"Yeah?" Ellie pops her head out of her bedroom door. "Are you heading out now?" She strolls out, securing her hair into a ponytail as she settles beside you on Joel's bed. "Hey, why don't we swing by your place after the old man leaves to pick up my buddy? I can't wait for Sir Bubbles to see his new cat jungle!"
You flinch slightly, adjusting into a seated position next to Ellie. "Sure thing. We can grab some lunch on the way, too."
Joel clears his throat, retrieving something from his dresser and handing it to you with a smile. "I've been meaning to give this to you sooner, but since I'm leaving for a few days-"
You open the envelope he hands you, eyes widening at the realization that he's giving you an American Express card that matches his, your name etched onto the metal surface. "Woah, Joel, I don't think this is necessary-"
"If you're going to be spending time under this roof while I'm gone, I don't want you using your own money for things like groceries and necessities, especially if it's for you and Ellie. Use this card while I'm away; go to the mall and go wild," he glances at Ellie, who grins conspiratorially. "But no more guitars, Ellie. Not after the last time."
"How was I supposed to know the guitar was $10,000? The one in your office is twice the amount, I swear!" Ellie groans, knocking her shoulder against yours. "I'm sure Sugar will keep me in check, you have nothing to worry about, old man!"
"Hey, are you ready yet, asshole?" Tommy's voice suddenly booms from the front door. "We needed to head to Waco ten minutes ago!" he exclaims.
Joel sticks his head out of his bedroom door. "Yeah, just give me a damn second!" Grabbing his weekender duffle, he presses a kiss on your cheek. "Okay baby, I need to go. I'll see you in two days, okay?"
"Okay," you reply with a smile, pulling him into a kiss. "... and don't worry, nothing bad is going to happen to me, okay? Promise."
"Reservation for Miller," Joel tells the hotel receptionist, retrieving his wallet from his back pocket to produce his Amex. "It should be under Joel Miller."
"Welcome back Mr. Miller!" The receptionist beams, tapping away at her computer. "Let me just pull up your reservation. Give me a moment... Ah, yes, reservation for Joel Miller, one room, two keys."
"Wait, hold on," Tommy interjects, nudging Joel aside. "What do you mean one room?"
"The reservation for Miller only indicates one room," the receptionist replies with a sweet smile, her head cocked to one side.
"Well, there must be some mistake, miss." Joel's brows furrow with concern.
The receptionist glances at the screen, her brow furrowing slightly. "I apologize for any confusion, but that's how it's listed in our system. One room, two keys for Mr. Joel Miller."
Tommy exchanges a perplexed look with Joel, a touch of frustration evident. "Look, we need two separate rooms. Must've been a mix-up. Can you check again or maybe offer us an additional room?"
The receptionist hesitates for a moment before typing away on her keyboard. "I'm sorry for the inconvenience. Let me see if there's anything available." After a brief pause, she looks up. "I'm afraid we're fully booked tonight, with the conference and all, and the reservation is for a single room. Is there anything else I can assist you with?"
"Please tell me there's at least a cot or a pull-out couch in the room," Tommy groans, shaking his head.
The Receptionist hesitates, giggling awkwardly. "Well, there's a king-size bed? I guess it's pretty spacious?"
Joel and Tommy exchange glances, silently communicating their dissatisfaction with the situation. "Alright, fine," Joel concedes with a sigh. "We'll make do with what we have. But this better not become a habit."
The receptionist offers an apologetic smile. "I assure you, Mr. Miller, we'll do our best to make your stay enjoyable. If you need anything else, please don't hesitate to ask."
Joel and Tommy head towards the elevator, resigned to share a room for the night. As they walk away, Joel mutters to Tommy, "We'll sort this out tomorrow. Let's just get some rest for now."
"I guess it'll be like old times, brother, sharing a room and all," Tommy grunts. "I swear, if you snuggle up with me or fart in the sheets, I'll punch you right in the balls."
"If my memory serves me right, weren't you the one sneaking into my bed when things got a bit dicey in the night?" Joel retorts, arching an eyebrow while casually checking his emails on his iPhone. "Oh, Joel, I'm so scared of the boogeyman, can I sleep with you tonight?!" he imitates in an attempt at a childish voice, smirking.
"It's really gonna be like that, huh? You're gonna play that card? What about that time after we watched 'A Nightmare on Elm Street'? Weren't you begging Mama to let you sleep in her bed, thinking Freddy's gonna suck you up from your bed like Johnny Depp? Am I gonna wake up to you screaming?"
"Oh, go fuck yourself, Tommy, you ass-" The elevator dings to their floor, a family staring back at them. Tommy clears his throat, navigating around the family, shooting Joel a look as he heads to the room. "Evenin'," Joel murmurs, tipping his head to the family. "Excuse me."
Tommy is already in the room by the time Joel casually strolls in, rummaging through the welcome basket the conference organizers had prepared for Joel. "Well, it's nice of you to grace us with your presence, 'Mr. Austin's Entrepreneur of the Year 2023,'" he teases, extracting a bottle of Johnny Walker. "At least they give you the decent shit." Taking a swig straight from the bottle, he hands it over to Joel.
"Nah, I'm not drinking tonight," Joel murmurs, dropping his weekender unceremoniously on the floor as he plops onto the bed, pinching the space between his eyebrows. "I want to stay sober just in case Sugar calls me."
Tommy takes another swig, settling on the couch beside the window with a view of the city of Waco. "I noticed that she was looking a bit pale. Something going on?"
"She told me that she's about to start her period, I'm assuming that they can be quite an ordeal," Joel muses, glancing at his phone screen displaying a photo of you and him at your birthday dinner. A smile creeps across his face as he observes the image, capturing the moment when you kissed his cheek while he smiled at the camera. "I just have a really weird feeling like something's wrong," he groans, stretching his back onto the mattress.
"Well, Sugar's a big girl; I'm sure she'll be okay. Hell, I know how periods go, with Maria and all. Maybe I'll have her check in just in case." Tommy looks out of the window. "This is nice, you know. The two of us. Feels like it's been ages since we've done something like this."
"That's because the last time we were like this, it was your bachelor weekend in Vegas, and you ditched me and fucked off on some strip club crawl with your friends," Joel chides. "Then you had the fucking audacity to crawl into my bed, only to throw up on me in the middle of the night."
"I told you I was sorry! Shit, you could have come out with us, but you were still hung up on Sugar, even then. I don't know if that girl knows just how much you've loved her all these years."
"All that matters is she knows how much I love her now. Besides, I think it's only a matter of time before I ask her to marry me," Joel muses, revealing a ring from his jeans pocket.
Tommy's eyes widen at the sight of the diamond ring, whistling. "Shit, Joel, you're serious. How many carats is that puppy?"
"Just about 2 carats. Do you think she'll like it?" Joel asks nervously.
"I think she would say yes even without that rock; the girl's been crazy about you."
"I'm scared shitless, to be honest," Joel murmurs. "Never would have thought I would be put in this situation again, getting married and all... wondering if it's the right thing to do since my first marriage crashed and burned."
"Well, it's not like you married for love the first time around," Tommy muses, taking another swig.
"Now I have a second lease on life, time to get married for real. For love, this time."
"So, you get the girl, you ask her to marry you. But what about after that?" Tommy asks, taking another swig of Jimmy Bean. "... are you guys planning on having any kids? Do you want any more kids? You're not getting any younger, brother. Surely you don't want to be chasing some toddler when you're pushing 60-"
"I mean, we talked about the prospect of having kids, Sugar's only 36. I'm not gonna deny her of something she may want because I'm older than her." Joel responds with a heavy sigh. "Truthfully, I would give her anything she wanted, no questions asked... but sometimes I think to myself, what about our kids? I don't want to die before they become adults, you know?"
"... but is kids something that she wants? Sugar's a beautiful woman, surely if she wanted a family, she would have already gotten one, you know?" Tommy muses, chuckling to himself. "Maybe she would have gotten her head out of her ass sooner and sought you out beforehand."
"What are you trying to say, Tommy?"
"I'm saying, maybe before you ask her to marry you, you both have all of your cards on the table, brother."
"What if she wants kids, though? What if she wants a family, and I'm too old to give it to her? I don't want to lose her, I can't lose her. Not when I've just gotten her. I didn't work hard for these last ten years only for me to lose the girl because I can't give her what she wants."
"I have a feeling you don't have to worry about losing her, Joel. I do think that you should talk to her, at least."
Joel nods, a knot forming in his stomach as he contemplates Tommy's words. "Yeah, you're right. I need to have an honest conversation with Sugar about this. I owe her that much."
Tommy claps Joel on the shoulder, offering a reassuring smile. "She loves you, man. Just be open and honest with her, and I'm sure you two will figure it out together."
"Yeah, I hope so," Joel murmurs, a mixture of determination and anxiety swirling within him.
"So, what's the plan for dinner tonight?" Ellie asks, idly toying with Sir Bubbles by the towering cat tree in the family room. "I was thinking of whipping up some homemade Hot Pockets. I saw Sam snacking on them the other day, and they smelled divine!"
"You know, Ellie, you could just buy them at Randalls for $2 instead of going through the trouble of making them."
"Yeah, but where's the fun in that?" She grabs her phone, tapping away at Safari. "I found a great recipe that seems easy enough! Why don't we head to Randalls and grab the ingredients I need?"
"The whole beauty of Hot Pockets is the convenience," you groan, shifting on the sofa while flipping through channels. You wince as you manage to sit up. "You're not one to do things half-assed, are you?"
"I'm a Miller; we don't do things halfway. We must embrace chaos in all its glory, you know?" She glances at you from the corner of her eye, frowning at your pained form. "Are you sure you're okay? You look really uncomfortable sitting there."
You offer her a small smile through the discomfort. "Yeah, I'm just fine. It's that time of the month for me, always a bit uncomfortable."
Ellie nods in agreement. "Yeah, I hate it when I have my period. The cramps, especially! How do you deal with it? Midol?"
"Well, I have a condition that makes periods hell for me," you admit.
"PCOS is a beast I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. It's like period symptoms on steroids, honestly. Bad cramps, nausea, heavy period flow, the whole nine yards and then some."
Ellie frowns at that. "How long have you had PCOS?"
"Since my mid-twenties?" you muse, scrolling through your phone. "It's been a while, that's for sure."
"Bullshit! That's like a decade! How can you deal with such painful periods like that every month? I would be yelling at the doctors to rip my uterus out!" Ellie pets Sir Bubbles, her face deep in thought. "I heard that women who have PCOS have a hard time conceiving. Is that why you haven't had any kids yet?"
You snort. "Yeah, well, I haven't been trying to have kids, either."
"But I bet it's different now that you're with Joel, huh? I bet he's been wanting to knock you up since you agreed to be with him," she smirks. "I mean, for someone who built his own house, you'd think he would insulate the walls a little more, make it more soundproof-"
"Ellie-" you grit through your teeth, cheeks burning with embarrassment.
"What? I know it's just human nature to want to be intimate with your partner-"
"Ellie, deciding to have kids is a big step in any relationship. It's something that changes your life forever."
"...and is that something you want, Sugar? To have kids?"
"I don't know what I want, really," you respond truthfully, shrugging. "I never really allowed myself to think about the future like this before, and now that I'm with Joel... it's making me question whether or not I would be a good mother. I... I didn't grow up in the most nurturing home when I was a kid, but I do remember promising myself that if I were to have any kids, I wouldn't raise them the way my parents did."
"That's understandable," Ellie quips thoughtfully, settling herself into the couch as she faces you. "I don't think I would ever want kids. It seems so freaking scary and overwhelming; I can't fathom the kind of pressure you're feeling about it. Have you talked to Joel about this?"
"We've talked about it," you admit, the weight of uncertainty evident in your voice. "I don't know if he wants kids, but I'm just not sure if I'm ready. I don't know if I'll ever be ready, you know? I'm scared of disappointing him. What if he sees it as a deal-breaker?"
Ellie nods sympathetically, her demeanor softening. "I get it, Sugar. It's a tough spot to be in. But Joel loves you for you, not for whether you want kids or not. And if he's the right guy, he'll understand your concerns and respect your feelings. Joel's a lot, but I know that this man would do anything for you. I don't think you have anything to worry about. Trust me, I live with the guy."
You exhale slowly, feeling a bit lighter with Ellie's reassurance. "Thanks, Ellie. I guess I need to talk to Joel and figure things out."
"Exactly," Ellie responds with a hopeful smile. "Communication is key. Just be honest with him, and who knows? Maybe you two can find a way through this together."
"You know, you're pretty wise for a little shit, but I do appreciate the words of wisdom, Ellie Bellie. Maybe you're not so bad after all," you tease, a chuckle escaping your lips. "Thanks for the armchair therapy. Should we get a move on to buy the ingredients for these hot pockets of yours?"
"Yeah, yeah," Ellie sighs. "We might as well head to Target, so we can get some Midol too. Grab your key; I'm driving! Can't have you navigating these streets in your condition. Plus, I've been meaning to take the Tessie out on a joyride!"
The next morning, you wake up to find blood on the sheets. Panic grips you as a sharp, stabbing pain surges through your lower body, causing you to double over in agony. You suppress tears as you carefully slip out of Joel's bed, realizing that your flow was so heavy it soaked through to the mattress. Gathering the sheets, you remove your stained pajamas and underwear, wrapping yourself in a towel to avoid waking Ellie down the hall.
On tiptoes, you make your way to the laundry room, groaning with each step. After depositing the soiled linens and clothes into the wash, you hobble back to Joel's bedroom. Sighing, you enter the bathroom and draw a hot bath. Glancing at your phone, it's 5:34 am. You meet your reflection in the mirror, eyes widening at the sight—your skin is pale and clammy. Quickly splashing water on your face, you try to shake off the discomfort.
You recall your recent FaceTime with Joel. You remember the sadness and concern in his eyes as he saw your pain. It's not like any period you've experienced before.
"Baby, I really think you should go to the ER," he pleads. "Wake Ellie up, have her take you-"
"It's just my period, Joel," you assure him, smiling through the pain to ease his worry. "Sometimes they get really bad, maybe this time is one of those times."
"I just wish you wouldn't be so stubborn, Mami. This is really concerning, maybe I should drive back-"
"I just think I should sleep it off. If it's not any better, I'll go to the hospital, okay? Sleep makes everything better," you promise, knowing your stubbornness may hold true. It's not new to you, but how is Joel to know?
"I wish I could keep you on FaceTime all night, just to make sure you're okay, but I don't want to keep you up with all of Tommy's snoring-"
"I'll be fine, baby, don't worry. You have a big day tomorrow, Austin's Entrepreneur of the Year," you tease, hoping to divert the conversation. "I love you so much, Papi. I wish you were here with me."
"I wish I was too, baby," Joel smiles. "Call me tomorrow? And please, if it doesn't get any better-"
"... I'll go straight to the doctor. I promise."
"Hey, Sugar, you don't look too hot."
"I'm fine, Ellie. Just a little headache," you assure her, managing a weak smile while holding up your Owala water bottle. "Probably just dehydrated, nothing a little water can't fix. I also got my period last night, and it always gives me problems. It's just a bit heavier than usual."
Ellie eyes you with concern. "Maybe it's time we get it checked out. Joel did say-"
"I know, Ellie, but I'm already behind on my reports, and Tess will flip if I don't finish them by the end of the day. I'll tough it out. If it gets worse, I promise I'll get myself checked out. I'll even let you drive me there, okay? Let's just keep this between us for now. I wouldn't want to bother Joel by being a baby about period cramps."
"Well, could you at least try to eat something? I swear the last time I saw you eat was yesterday. Joel's gonna kill me if something happens to you, and I really don't need that kind of stress right now. Not before the apprentice exam," Ellie urges, sliding her glass container into the microwave. "Besides, you can try out the Hot Pockets we made last night!"
"Isn't this supposed to be the other way around? I'm the adult in this equation; I should be looking over you, not the other way around," you chuckle. "What would Joel say if he saw us right now?"
"He would give us his best frowny face and bridal carry you out of here, taking you to the doctor," she replies, taking the seat across from you. "I'm not lying when I tell you that you look sick as hell. You should be at home, resting! I'm really worried about you, Sugar. For real this time. You need to at least eat something so you don't pass out!"
She places one of her creations on a plate, presenting it in front of you with a flourish as she begins to devour her own, inhaling it in a few bites. "Damn, that was good," she exclaims to herself, leaning back in her chair, taking a sip of her Baja Blast. "Come on, Sugar," she pleads, "Eat!"
You take a deep breath as you eye the hot pocket, your stomach churning at the overwhelming smell. With a hesitant smile, you lift it off your plate, taking a small, careful bite to avoid offending Ellie. "Mmm," you say softly, placing it back onto your plate. "You really outdid yourself this time, Ellie!" you commend, pushing the plate away. However, the effort to conceal your discomfort becomes futile as your head starts to spin when you attempt to stand.
Ellie's eyes widen as she quickly rises from her seat. "Sugar-"
"Ellie, I'll be right-"
Before you can reach the door, everything turns black.
"Sugar!" Ellie screams, dropping to her knees as she attempts to lift you, panic evident in her voice. "Somebody, help!"
Bill bursts through the door in an instant, his eyes wild as he assesses the situation. "What the hell happened?"
"I don't know!" Ellie exclaims, cradling your head in her lap as tears stream down her face. "She wasn't looking too good, so I gave her a hot pocket, and she took one bite and fainted! What am I going to do? Joel's going to freak!"
"Bill?" Frank calls out as he enters the breakroom. "What the hell is going on?!"
"Frank," he says calmly, "Call 911. Tell them that someone passed out." He turns his attention back to Ellie, his eyes focused. "Ellie, do you know if she hit her head?" Ellie is frozen in place, her breathing erratic, the weight of the situation settling in.
"Ellie!" Bill shouts, trying to maintain control. "Focus! Did she hit her head or not?"
"I don't know!" she says shakily, her hands trembling. "Everything happened so fast!"
"Bill," Frank says uneasily, "She's bleeding," he points to your lower body, his eyes widening in fear. "It's a lot of blood, fuck, is she... what if-"
"Fuck this!" Bill mutters, urgency in his voice as he picks up your limp body. "Frank, get the van, we need to go to the hospital, NOW." He looks over at Ellie, who is crying uncontrollably. "Ellie, call Joel."
"But Sugar begged me not to call Joel-"
"Joel won't forgive you if you keep him in the dark. Get him on the phone, NOW," he commands, darting towards the door behind Frank. "... and pick up the pace! You're coming with us!"
Ellie grabs her phone from her back pocket, her hands shaking as she scrambles to call Joel. She curses as it goes straight to voicemail. "He's not answering! It's going straight to voicemail-"
"THEN CALL TOMMY, ELLIE!" he shouts as Frank parks near the entrance, engine still running. He hurries out of the driver's seat, opening the back door. "Ellie, sit here! I need you to elevate her head!"
Ellie jumps into the car, phone in hand. Bill gently places you in the van, positioning your head across Ellie's lap. "Keep it elevated, okay?" Ellie nods, looking at you with concern. "Do you think she's going to be okay?" she whispers, placing a hand on your cheek. "This is all my fault-"
"Ellie," Bill says, heading toward the driver's seat. "This is not the time for that," he steps on the gas, swerving to avoid an oncoming vehicle. "Put Tommy on the phone, now!"
Ellie fumbles with her phone, quickly dialing Tommy's number. As the line rings, Bill navigates the van through the chaotic streets, tension thick in the air.
"Come on, Tommy, pick up," Ellie mutters anxiously, glancing at you still cradled in her lap. After a few tense moments, Tommy's voice crackles through the phone.
"Ellie? What's happening?"
"It's Sugar. We're on our way to the hospital. Something's wrong," Ellie replies, her voice shaky. "I tried to call Joel but it's going straight to voicemail! Could you put him on the line? Please!"
"Shit, Ellie-" Tommy stammers, "He's about to go on stage-"
"What's going on?" Joel notices Tommy's unease. "Who is it?"
Tommy hesitates as he puts the phone on speaker. "It's Ellie, something's happened at the office-"
"Joel? Dad?" Ellie cries, her voice quivering.
"Ellie? Baby girl, what's wrong?" Joel asks worriedly, peering out to the stage as the emcee begins. "Baby, what's going on?!"
"It's Sugar, something happened at lunch-" she sobs, looking down at your pale form.
Tommy's eyes widen as he witnesses Joel's demeanor change rapidly. "Ellie, what happened to Sugar?" he soothes, trying to get her to calm down through her sobs. "Come on baby, breathe-"
"She passed out at work! I know, she shouldn't have gone in, but she swore that she was fine! I tried to get her to eat something and she looked sick all of a sudden... and then she was on the ground, bleeding! It all happened so fast, I swear! I'm so sorry, Dad! It's all my fault!" she cries.
"Joel," Bill cuts in, honking as he narrowly misses a car he overtakes. "I'm heading over to Austin General, ETA 2 minutes. She's lost a lot of blood." He runs a red light, a barrage of horns erupting from the maneuver. "I don't know what's going on, but I'm going to get her there."
"You're driving her there? Why didn't you call 911?" Joel demands.
"They would have taken too long, Joel. Minutes we do not have. Trust me, I'll get her there faster than they could," Bill hesitates. "Joel, I think she's-" The line cuts off as Ellie's phone dies.
"BILL? ELLIE??!" Joel screams into the phone frantically as he runs his hand through his hair. He tries to call Ellie back, only to be met with voicemail. "Fuck!" he shouts, trying to call Bill. "Why aren't they answering?"
"Joel, you're gonna have to tell me what the fuck is going on-"
"Sugar collapsed at work. They're on their way to Austin General now. Grab your shit, we're leaving."
[and it's with my great pleasure to introduce you to our keynote speaker and Austin's Entrepreneur of the Year, Joel Miller!]
"Okay Mr. Miller," the assistant interrupts, hand on his earpiece. "You're up!"
"I have a family emergency, I need to leave," Joel replies, attempting to make a quick exit.
"No can do, Mr. Miller; it's your turn!" The assistant insists, pushing Joel towards the door.
"Are you deaf?!" Joel shouts, forcefully removing the assistant's hands from him. "I already told you, my wife is being taken to the hospital right now-"
"Just get on stage, say your piece for five minutes, and then you can go straight to the hospital," the assistant insists, shoving Joel towards the door, unfazed.
Joel's frustration boils over, and he shoves the assistant back, his anger reaching its peak. "Listen, I don't give a damn about your schedule! My wife needs me, and I'm not wasting another second here!"
The assistant, angered by Joel's defiance, clenches his fists. "You're not going anywhere until you fulfill your obligations. This is important!"
"Joel, we don't have time for this!" Tommy grits, glaring at the assistant. "If we leave now, we can miss the rush on 1-35."
The assistant grabs Joel's forearm, pulling him as he makes his way towards the door that leads to the stage. "You're getting on that stage, give your fucking speech, and then you can fuck off and get to your little wife-"
Joel pulls himself out of his grasp. "Are you fucking kidding me? Don't put your hands on me!"
The man glares at Joel. "Look asshole, we fucking paid for you to come here, and you're not going to make some half-assed excuse about your sick wife-"
Joel's patience snaps, and he throws a punch, hitting the guy square in the face. "Don't talk about my wife like that!"
"Fuck! You broke my fucking nose!" he shouts, tackling Joel to the ground. He manages to land one good punch before Tommy intervenes, pulling the man off of him and shoving him to the ground. "What the fuck is your problem, man?" he yells as he tries to get up.
"Joel, are you okay? Come on, let's get the fuck out of here before they call someone!" Tommy hoists Joel onto his feet, his lip split and a bruise forming on his cheek. They run towards the parking garage, Tommy throwing his keys at Joel as they jump in, peeling out of the parking stall. At the corner of Joel's eyes, he sees security guards running along the lot, searching for them.
"Stop!" one of the guards yells, trying to block the truck at the exit. Joel swerves around, narrowly avoiding the guard as they pass the parking attendant booth. He hits the gas, driving through the parking arms, pieces flying over the dashboard as they merge onto the main road. "Joel, think they'll chase us?" Tommy asks, the tension thick as they speed away. "I don't think Maria will appreciate watching us on a high-speed chase on the evening news-"
"Shut the fuck up, Tommy!" Joel cuts him off, navigating towards the freeway out of Waco, heading to Austin. "Just let me fucking concentrate on the road!"
"Slow down, Joel! Dying on the way there won't help anyone!" Tommy yells as Joel narrowly avoids a car while speeding down the freeway. Fortunately, no police cars are chasing them as they make their way towards Austin. "I can't believe that guy wanted to fight you, and you just started throwing punches!"
"Tommy, not now," Joel grits his teeth, gripping the wheel tightly. "I knew I should've stayed home. If I were there, then-"
Tommy's phone rings, displaying Sarah's face on the screen. He answers the Facetime call, and Sarah's concerned face fills the screen. "Where are you guys?" she asks nervously. "Ellie's phone died, but the hospital just called asking for information. You're her emergency contact, Dad."
"Do you know what's going on?" Joel inquires as he navigates down the freeway. "I don't have my phone, but we're on I-35 right now, should be there in about 30 minutes."
"They can't release any information because we're not family," she says hesitantly. "I'm legally supposed to call her parents, but-"
"You can't call them, Baby. She wouldn't want them there. Tell them she's my wife, and I'm on my way," Joel insists.
"Dad, I don't think we should lie about that-" Sarah expresses her concern.
"I'm all she has, baby. I can't be kept in the dark. Were you there when it happened?"
"No, but Dad, she was bleeding. There was a lot of blood-"
"Damn it!" Joel slams his hands on the steering wheel, his eyes wide as he overtakes a few cars, stepping on the gas. "I should've followed my gut and stayed home. She was already in pain when I left yesterday!"
"Well, speeding down the freeway isn't helping, Dad!" Sarah shouts through the phone. "We're all concerned for Sugar, not just you. I sent Tess to the hospital to bring chargers and Bill and Frank's phones. I need you to relax; it's not going to help her if you two get into an accident!"
"I can't help it, baby girl. I love her, and it's hard to think straight. All I'm thinking about is how scared I am. I can't lose her. I've already known how it feels losing her all these years; I don't think I can survive a second time."
"I know, Dad," Sarah replies. "Just get to her in one piece, okay? I'll let you know if I hear anything back."
"What do you mean I can't go in with her?" Ellie groans, attempting to keep pace with the gurney as they rush you down the hallway towards a room, with Bill and Frank following behind.
The doctor raises an eyebrow at her. "Are you her family?"
"She's my sister!" Ellie asserts. "I was adopted by her family!"
"Doctor," the nurse interjects urgently. "She's lost a lot of blood; she's going to need a transfusion... she might be in the middle of a hemorrhage-"
"If you know she needs a transfusion, then what are you waiting for?"
"The patient has O Negative, and we don't have any on hand-"
"I have O Negative!" Ellie tells the nurse, showing her wrist. "I found out my blood type after an accident as a kid. Take it from me, please!"
The doctor eyes Ellie warily. "... and you're sure she's your sister?"
"Not by blood, but by heart. Please, doctor. She's important to me, and I know she would do the same for me in a heartbeat," Ellie pleads.
The doctor sighs, nodding his head in agreement. "Fine, if you say that she's your sister, then I'll just take your word for it. Nurse, prep her for a blood draw. She's a match."
"Hey! You can't park here!" The hospital security guard shouts as Joel and Tommy hastily exit the car, leaving it right outside the ER. Joel sprints through the hospital, Tommy trailing behind him. He reaches the receptionist's stand, his chest heaving. "Where is she? Where is my wife?!" he demands, attempting to jump over the partition, with Tommy trying to hold him back.
"Sir, I'm going to need you to calm down," the receptionist replies, glaring at both of them. "I'm going to need a name."
Joel hesitates but states your first name, adding 'Miller' as your last. Tommy shoots him a look, signaling the obvious lie, but Joel gives him a warning glare. The receptionist's eyes narrow at Joel. "She was just brought in 20 minutes ago. She's currently under observation but will be put in a room soon. Should be room 203. You can wait for her if you'd like."
Joel breathes a sigh of relief. "Do you have any idea what's going on?"
"I don't, but the attending Doctor should be with her. He could answer any of your questions," she hands him a clipboard. "I'm going to need you to fill this out for me with her information, and then you can head down the hall and take a left. Her room should be a few doors down that corridor." She assesses his disheveled state. "Sir, are you needing assistance as well?"
"I'm fine," Joel dismisses her as he fills out the form. He takes out his Amex and hands it to the receptionist. "I don't have her insurance card, but please put all charges on this card."
The receptionist's eyes widen at the color of his Amex. "Certainly, sir."
Joel strides down the hallway towards room 203, catching a glimpse of Ellie in the room adjacent to yours, a nurse tending to her bandaged wrist. His heart lurches at the sight, but he pushes the worry aside for the moment. As he approaches your room, he sees Bill and Frank sitting on a nearby bench, their expressions heavy with concern. Frank rests his head on Bill's shoulder, a distant sadness clouding his eyes.
"Bill!" Joel's voice echoes in the hallway. "Thank you for bringing her here!" He notices their somber demeanor and furrows his brow. "What happened-"
Bill hesitates, his gaze flickering with reluctance. "Joel, I think it's best if you go inside and talk to the doctor," he suggests softly, his voice strained with emotion. "He'll be able to explain everything to you." He offers a weak smile, though it fails to mask the worry etched on his face. "Frank and I are gonna head back to the office, alright?"
"Yeah," Joel stammers, nodding. "Thanks again, Bill... for everything."
"Anytime, Joel," Bill responds, his eyes watery. "Take care of her, okay? She's gonna need you."
Joel's stomach churns with apprehension, but he nods in understanding. With a final glance at Bill and Frank, he takes a deep breath and steps into your room, steeling himself for whatever news awaits him. He nods as he walks into your hospital room, audibly gasping at the sight of you, unconscious. A doctor is tending to you, engaged in conversation with a nurse. He turns around at the sound of the gasp.
"Mr. Miller, I presume?"
"What's going on with her, Doc?" Joel asks, his face reflecting a mix of worry and tears.
The doctor eyes Joel silently, a heavy sigh escaping from his chest.
"Why are you not telling me anything? She's my wife-"
The doctor, catching on to Joel's distress, gives a serious look. "Mr. Miller, let's maintain a level of seriousness here."
"But she's practically my wife! I'd give my life for her, you understand? Please, man to man, wouldn't you do the same for someone you love?" he pleads, Tommy, looking away from his brother to keep himself from breaking down.
The doctor, unyielding, emphasizes, "We have legal protocols to safeguard those who can't speak for themselves. I can't divulge information to just anyone; there are procedures that must be followed for the well-being of the patient."
"Well, what can you tell me, then?" Joel's voice wavers as he pleads with the doctor. "I'm in the dark here, doctor. Please," Joel begs. "Just give me something. Tell me she's going to be okay."
The doctor takes a deep breath before delivering the news, "She was pregnant, Mr. Miller. She has Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome and is anemic. Due to significant blood loss, we had to perform a blood transfusion. Luckily, someone who accompanied her was a match."
Joel's heart sinks as the words hit him like a ton of bricks. "Was? So, Sugar and the baby... Are they okay?"
The doctor's demeanor shifts, his eyes reflecting a mix of empathy and gravity. "Mr. Miller," he begins cautiously, "Sugar lost a lot of blood during the procedure. She was suffering from a hemorrhage and was going into shock. I did everything in my power to save them both, but... I'm sorry, Mr. Miller. The baby didn't make it. Sugar almost didn't make it out herself. Without that blood transfusion-" He trails off, the weight of the situation hanging heavy in the air.
"Ellie..." Joel whispers, realization dawning on him as he connects the dots. "That's why she's bandaged up?"
The doctor leans in, a glimmer of understanding in his eyes. "Yes," he confirms, his tone somber. "What we did was highly unethical and illegal. I don't appreciate being lied to, but your daughter's quick thinking saved Sugar's life. Despite the miscarriage, Ellie's actions kept Sugar alive. It was incredibly brave of her. I'm willing to keep this between us if any issues arise. Sugar is still with us because of her. That girl has nerves of steel," he chuckles softly, his gaze distant with memories. "Reminds me of my daughter. Us fathers need to stick together, right?"
Joel nods, his gaze unwaveringly fixed on you lying on the hospital bed. "I knew something was wrong... I should have stayed back. I can't imagine the pain she must have been in-"
"Unfortunately, this is highly common for women with her condition," the doctor interjects, his tone gentle yet matter-of-fact. "As much as we can dwell on the what-ifs, most times the baby won't make it past the first trimester. It does give us a little hope that she was able to conceive to begin with. Have you two been trying long?"
Joel's shoulders sag slightly at the doctor's words, a mixture of grief and understanding washing over him. "We've spoken about it, but only decided to try recently," he admits, his voice tinged with sadness. "But we never imagined it would end like this."
The doctor offers a sympathetic nod, his expression reflecting empathy. "I'm sorry for your loss, Joel. Losing a child is never easy, but please know that you're not alone in this. If either of you need support or someone to talk to, we have resources available. I want to have Sugar spend a day or two here, just to make sure her blood count gets back to normal. You're welcome to stay as long as you need to, okay? I'll make sure of it."
Joel manages a faint smile, grateful for the doctor's compassion. "Thank you," he murmurs, his gaze drifting back to you, his heart heavy with sorrow yet filled with love and determination.
The doctor nods, glancing at Joel's disheveled appearance and the split lip. "I can get someone to fix that for you if you'd like. Waking up to see you like this might frighten Sugar. You must have been through hell to get here."
"Pretty much," Tommy says sadly, his eyes filled with tears. "Thank you for saving Sugar, doc. We really owe you one."
The doctor nods. "Yeah, well, thank your little girl; she's the real hero today." He gestures behind Tommy and Joel. Ellie stands at the doorway, nervously fiddling with the bandage on her wrist. Giving Joel one last nod, the doctor makes his way to the door, giving Ellie a comforting pat on her shoulder as he walks away. Joel turns his attention back to Ellie, a sad look on his face as he tries not to lose his shit in front of his brother and his daughter.
"Ellie-" he starts, his voice shaky. "Baby-"
"Oh, it was nothing, you know, just another day at the office," she casually says, downplaying herself. "Besides, she's family, and we do anything for family."
"You're damn right we do," Tommy boasts, pulling Ellie into a side hug. "You saved the day, Girlie."
"You sure did," Joel cries, pulling her into a tight hug, his tears soaking into her hair. "You did so good, baby girl. Thank you, thank you, baby."
Ellie hugs Joel back, sobbing into his chest and clinging to his shirt. "I was so scared, Joel. It made me think about what happened with Marlene, and I just froze! If Bill didn't step in, I don't know what would have happened—"
"Ellie—"
"... and I told her that she should tell you. She looked so sick, so I told her that she needed to eat something, and I gave her a hot pocket—"
"A hot pocket?"
"Yeah, we made it last night, and even then, I knew something was up. She was always wincing and flinching in pain, told me that she was on her period—"
"Ellie. She was bleeding out, then. It—" Joel takes her face in his hands, his expression serious. "She was pregnant, baby girl. She has a condition that makes her bleed heavily. Fuck, she must have been in so much pain—"
"Wait," Ellie says, her eyes reflecting shock. "What do you mean, she was pregnant? Does this mean that she lost the baby?" she says solemnly, turning her attention to you. "Joel, I'm so sorry, maybe if I had been more stubborn and firm with her, maybe-"
"Ellie, trust me when I say that none of this was your fault, baby girl," Joel pulls her into his chest as she sobs, his hand soothing her back. "These things happen all the time with women that have the same condition as her. Honestly, I'm just happy that she had you to watch over her, you did everything perfectly, alright? No more tears, baby. Sugar's still here with us, and that's all that matters, okay?"
"Okay," Ellie murmurs into his chest. "Joel, what's going to happen now? are you going to tell her? We need to tell her, right?"
"Why don't you head back to the office with Tommy and let me worry about that, alright?" Joel responds, sighing as he sits at the edge of your bed. "I think you've had too much excitement for one day, I can talk to her when she wakes up, okay? Don't worry."
Tommy places a comforting hand on Joel's shoulder, pulling him into a side hug. "I'm really sorry, brother. If there's anything you both need, just let me know, okay?"
Joel nods. "Thanks, Tommy."
"Ready to go, Ellie?" Tommy asks, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. "We better get moving before they tow my truck out front." Ellie nods as they both give you and Joel one last glance, making their way out of your hospital room.
"Let me know if you need me to bring you anything from home, alright?" Ellie tells Joel, giving him one last smile. "Take care of yourself. I love you."
"I love you too, baby. Get some rest, okay?"
Joel looks back at them helplessly as a sob escapes his mouth. He buries his face in his hands, finally allowing himself to fall completely apart. As heartbreaking as the miscarriage is, the thought of losing you at the same time is unbearable. How could he have turned a blind eye to the pain you were going through? How could he have almost lost you, just like that? The guilt and anguish weigh heavily on his shoulders as he grapples with the harsh reality of the situation.
"I'm so sorry, baby," he cries, reaching for your hand. Joel presses a soft kiss on your forehead, his tears falling upon your face. He wipes them away as he settles himself on the seat next to your bed, his eyes never leaving your face as he waits for you to wake up. Every fiber of his being yearns for you to open your eyes, to assure him that you're still here, still fighting alongside him.
Taglist: @sarcasm-theotherwhitemeat@gwendibleywrites@brittmb115@joeldjarin@drewharrisonwriter@littlebunnybigheartfics
@missladym1981 @auteurdelabre @quicax3 @casa-boiardi @amyispxnk
@untamedheart81@paleidiot@laurrrra@la-vie-est-une-fleur29@bbiophiliaa
@thewiigers@survivingandenduring (I apologize if I missed anyone, but if you are looking for any of my fic updates, please feel free to follow my updates blog @chiriwritesstuffnotifs!)
#pedro pascal#the girl in it#joel miller fanfiction#joel miller x reader#joel miller x you#joel miller#pedro pascal fanfiction#joel miller x female reader#joel tlou#joel the last of us#joel miller fanfic#joel miller the last of us#joel miller tlou#pedro pascal character fanfic#pedro pascal characters#pedro pascal fandom#joel miller fic#joel miller x Sugar
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The Gates of Jackson | Joel Miller x F!Reader | Chapter 5 - The Lookout Tower
masterlist | ao3 | follow @youwouldntdownloadapizza and turn on notifications for updates
You showed up at the gates of Jackson with hands covered in blood and no memory of how you got there. That was two years ago. Since then, you've become Maria's right-hand woman and the person in charge of Jackson's logistical backend. Patrol schedules, inventory—all your purview. When a patrol gone wrong forces you to get to know Joel, memories of your past begin resurfacing—along with their consequences.
previous | next
pairing: joel miller x f!reader
rating: 18+, minors DNI
word count: 1.6k
tags: no use of y/n, eventual smut, no beta we die like sarah, jackson era, other additional tags to be added, slow burn, ellie needs a hug, joel lives, good parent joel, reader-insert, reader insert, forced proximity, only one bed trope, nightmares, childbirth, hurt/comfort, emotional hurt/comfort, angst with a happy ending, soft joel, cuddling & snuggling, fluff, masturbation, pining, joel falls first, possibly demisexual reader (tbd), ptsd, ptsd flashbacks, panic attacks, amnesia, sexual braiding
chapter warnings: childbirth (mentioned)
Chapter 5 - The Lookout Tower
The trailhead proved useful, sloping gently downwards for a while before bringing you to the base of a long series of switchbacks. You couldn’t see the lookout tower, but the path led uphill. And uphill was the right direction.
Joel was quiet as you made your way up the twisting path. You were starting to think that was just his natural state when he spoke up.
“About last night…” he started. You didn’t let him finish.
“It never happened.” You offered him a reassuring smile over your shoulder. “I appreciate it. But I don’t…expect anything. From you.”
He looked like he wanted to say more, but didn’t. He just nodded, looking down at the path in front of him. You felt bad, cutting him off like that.
“How are Ellie’s shoes holding up?” you asked.
“They’re good,” he nodded. “Very flashy.”
You pulled your horse to a halt, whipping around to look at him.
“Joel Miller, was that a pun ?”
He looked like a deer in headlights.
“Don’t tell Ellie.”
The rest of the trek passed easily, the conversation light. You talked about your lives before the outbreak, at least the parts that didn’t hurt to discuss.
He’d worked in construction, he told you. He built houses, and liked it well enough. You tried asking him about his life outside of work, but he kept redirecting the conversation back to you. You didn’t push him on it.
You told him of your own life—that you’d been 18 when the outbreak hit, and had just started college in Colorado when a bout of homesickness brought you home to Salt Lake City for the weekend. You’d been there ever since. Well, until Jackson, that is.
“What was your major?” he asked you.
You sighed wistfully at the memory of your 18-year-old self, whose future had gone up in spores.
“Undeclared.”
Joel let out a low hum of understanding. You heard the soft sound of his lips parting as if to say more, but no words followed.
You forged ahead.
After a while, the switchbacks spat you out at the base of a tall wooden tower supported by beams far rustier than you’d anticipated.
“We’ll get tetanus if we try to climb that thing,” you said.
“Might have a point there,” he agreed.
While you tethered the horses to a tree, Joel circled the base of the tower, looking for a way up.
“There,” he pointed to the collapsed balcony on one side. “The railing’s out. I’ll boost you up, then you can drop down a ladder or something.”
You crossed your arms, nodding.
“How does that work, exactly?”
He quirked a smile. “You’ve never been boosted?”
“Not that I can recall.”
“It’s simple,” he said, squatting beneath the access point and interlacing his fingers. He held them out in front of him, creating a sort of foothold. “One foot goes here, then one on my shoulder, then I stand up and give you a boost.”
“That sounds wildly unsafe.”
“You just have to trust me. I won’t let you fall, I promise. Just use the momentum and push yourself up like you’re getting out of a swimming pool.”
“And Ellie does this?”
“All the time.”
“Fine,” you nodded, stepping towards him. He met your eyes, then assumed the position. You stepped into his hands, then on his shoulder, and next thing you knew you were pulling yourself up onto the balcony.
You looked back down at Joel, who gave you a patronizing smile and two thumbs up.
“Nice job, sweetheart.”
You flipped him off, and went to find something for him to climb on.
The place was sparsely decorated, with a cot against one wall and a large map spread across a central table. Waist-height wooden walls bordered the small square room, with windows spanning the remaining gap to the ceiling.
A coil of rope sat atop a strange wooden stool with each leg placed in what appeared to be a water glass, the liquid long since evaporated. Thick knots were tied at one-foot increments, clearly meant for climbing.
You secured the rope to a metal bracket protruding from the outside wall and dropped the loose end over the edge to Joel.
“Here,” you called out to him. “Climb on up.”
You continued your inspection of the place, opening drawers to find little more than dusty old clothes and files from before the outbreak. In the top drawer of what appeared to be a dresser, however, you found a threadbare plushie. Not a lion, or a tiger, or a bear.
But a rat.
You wailed, dropping the thing like it just bit you.
“Doe!” Joel called up.
You couldn't hear him. You couldn't hear anything. You were frozen to the spot, memories flashing through your mind at breakneck speed. Memories of nightmares like the one you'd had last night.
Over and over and over again, you watched your sister die. Watched as she was mauled by clickers, shot by raiders, hanged by FEDRA for breaking some arbitrary rule.
Joel shouted your name again, but there was no response.
“Dammit,” he muttered, taking the rope in his hands and beginning to climb. He made it about five feet off the ground before the bracket snapped under his weight, the bolts giving way and dropping him on his ass.
He got to his feet quickly, assessing the situation. He wasn't sure what was going on with you, there was no sound of a struggle so he doubted you were hurt. Maybe something had startled you? He couldn't tell for certain without being there himself.
He pulled thick leather gloves from his pack, and risked the rusty scaffolding. Pulling himself up over the railing, he entered the tower to see you sitting on the edge of the cot, silent tears spilling down your cheeks while your eyes stared out into nothingness.
Pulling off his gloves, he got down on his knees before you. He put a hand on your knee, shaking you gently in an attempt to snap you out of it. It didn't work.
“Doe, what's wrong?” He asked gently.
His words caught your attention, but the only explanation you could offer was the rat plushie held gingerly in your hands. He took it, looking the scraggly thing over.
“I don't understand,” he said.
“My sister,” you said quietly. “She was here.”
He sat next to you, both of your gazes fixed firmly on the toy rodent.
“Were you separated?” He asked.
You shook your head. “She's dead.”
“How?” The question slipped out before he could stop it. Joel winced at the rude inquiry, but it didn't seem to faze you.
“That's the thing,” you smiled dejectedly. “I don't remember.”
The two of you sat in silence for a long while, you not offering up any additional information and Joel not coaxing it out of you.
“I–” he started, just as you rose to your feet.
“We should go,” you cut him off, crossing to the map that sat atop the large central table.
Joel nodded, joining you.
The map showed Jackson and the surrounding mountains, with the lookout tower marked with what appeared to be a gold star sticker like the kind your first grade teacher used to give out. You pulled a compass from your pack, aligning it with the one on the map, and pointed ahead and slightly to your right.
“The lodge is that way.”
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#joel miller x reader#joel miller x you#joel miller smut#joel miller fluff#joel miller angst#joel miller series#joel miller fic#the last of us#tlou#joel x reader#joel x you#no use of y/n#joel miller x f!reader#jackson era#joel lives#ao3#fanfic#fanfiction
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In Pursuit of Happiness | Various Genshin Men x Reader SAGU AU
A/N: Hello everyone and sorry for the extremely late update. Real life has really decided to kick me in the butt. At this point, I’m not sure where the story is going to lead us because I don’t know where we’re going. I’m going to need a beta reader later or something. But in other news, I’ve been trying to make a discord server for anyone that’s interested in this story and sharing ideas, getting along, Simp for genshin characters share tips for the game. :3
Not beta read/proofed, we die like Signora
Word count: 3381
Tags/Warnings: Female!Reader, Child! nephew Reader, God!Reader, Cult AU, Fluff, Romance, Found Family, and many references to other fandoms
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Summary: The task of an aunt is no easy thing, especially towards a rambunctious and curious nephew who can not sit still. After a bad car accident, the two of them awaken in the world of Teyvat where Y/n must do her best to not only keep herself and her nephew alive to find a way back home but to also beat back all kinds of suitors and become the pseudo mother to every child she meets and her nephew befriends.
CHAPTER 3 – Meeting the Geo Archon
It wasn’t a good day to wear a skirt as the cool breeze was blowing more than normal. But that didn’t stop Y/n from wearing any shorts underneath. Little else mattered as she heard her nephew laugh, hearing it echo with the winds and making the lands of Liyue and Tevvat glow with joy as the two waltzed through the skies.
She had always wanted to try this out ever since she saw Howl’s Moving Castle, but it would be better to try it out with a handsome partner. One can only dream.
“Weee!” her nephew’s cries of joy and his glee were heard by Teyvat as it hummed. The land, skies, and seas were calm and watched their beloved creator and her heir slowly descending towards the ground, flowers and leaves moving to bloom fully to soften their landing. Thanking the plants and the winds, Y/n knelt to fix [Nephew’s name] clothes and hair, avoiding the childs playful swats.
“Auntie! I can do it myself!” he pouted and continued to push the young woman’s hands away as she smoothened the ruffled-up hair, earning a small chuckle.
“I know, but I want to. There’s going to be few chances left that I could do this when you grow up. You’ll grow big and won’t need me anymore.”
They might have struck a lot towards the child as he quickly wrapped his arms around her waist, enveloping her in a hug as his face reached only to her stomach, surprising the woman but welcomed the affection, gently stroking his hair and back.
“I think I’ll always need you.”
Living with him as made Y/n think he was a son to her. Out in public both back home and here, many thought they were mother and son. The amount of times she corrected people was laughable, but she couldn’t deny the warmth in her heart – how highly the boy thought of her.
Pulling away, she held his hand once more as they made their way back towards the Hilichurl camp hideout where the Hilichurls and Billy were waiting for them.
The first to notice their arrival was a Lawlchurl Y/n had affectionately called Mufasa. He made a slight noise that alerted the rest of the camp and saw the two as they all cheered and started to give out food even before the announcement.
“Well, it seems you’re all celebrating already but he’s in good health, everyone. Thank you so much for helping me take care of him.” The entire camp cheered, Billy the Hydro slime bounced up and down as he nuzzled against the young boy who was giggling. Teyvat showed their happiness by glowing and emitting more flowers that the boy enjoyed.
It was a blessing to hear the laughter and joy of the Divine Creator and their heir.
Amber eyes followed them, watching from a distance as he didn’t want to startle the Hilichurl camp. It was one of the biggest ones he’s seen, with towering huts and homes, platforms, and towers as tall as some cliffs he made during the Archon Wars. How was this able to escape detection, he wouldn’t know. He noticed that his camp was far from the main paths that led to the nearest villages and Liyue Harbor. It would have been easy to pass by the camp without knowing its existence. But he could understand the mass attempting to protect Her Eminence and her Heir.
For thousands of years, he has seen and cared for the numerous statues of the creator all around Teyvat (mainly Liyue) – one of the perks of being the oldest of the Archons. He has visited the shrines dedicated to their benevolent god. He had once been in their divine presence before and after so long of their absence, he could never forget the radiating warmth or the glowing of Her Eminence when she bestowed blessings or created life. He had seen her fight numerous times when otherworlders or even outer Gods attempted to take Teyvat for theirs – he wondered how it would be to fight alongside her.
He was Morax.
But…
How could he face her when he took part in the Archon Wars, the destruction of Khaenri’ah… events that he knew His precious Creator vehemently protested against. The death of so many of her creations by his hands due to misplaced grief…
“Auntie! Let’s play! Or we can go out again with the Hilichurls! Or better yet! Let’s hold a party!”
“Oh? What kind of party would it be?” Tilting her head to the side, the young woman decided to entertain her nephew, smiling as she knelt down to his height, right before he wrapped his arms around her, the woman picking him up with ease and spun around, earning a few laughs and giggles.
“A dance party! One with music and food! Lots and lots of food!” Though he was ecstatic, [Y/n] could see the sadness on his face and in his voice, looking back at the slimes and Hilichurls sensing the young boys want for friends to eat with them. This world wasn’t kind to monsters like them..
They disliked seeing the boy saddened by anything, he greatly valued their company and friendship from what the young woman noticed.
They’d have lived among cities and towns once but… she couldn’t accept how people treated the Hilichurls and slimes, some saying that they were simply monsters with no thoughts.. living among other people also meant that she accepted being a part of this world. Half of her did want to since she didn’t want to go back to such a mundane life where her life was just… average. Doing the same thing every day all year round and repeat. It wasn’t appealing. The other half wanted to go home as she missed many things, one of them being her family. And her nephew had to go back too for he sorely missed his parents even as he put on a brave face for his aunt.
Holding him close again, she hummed gently as Billy and a small Dendro Slime hopped alongside her as she walked towards their hut.
Zhongli smiled at the child’s desire. And frowned at the lucky Hilichurls and smiles that were around the Creator. It was natural for all creatures to gravitate towards the Creator, he was one of the lucky few that got so close long ago. He remembered her showing unconditional love and though some wished to be considered a favorite, she never chose anyone. These actions made everyone instantly love their Creator and dedicated themselves to follow them. He remembered during those times how he wanted to prove his loyalty to their World, their Eminence. What could he do to prove to them that he was faithful and loyal.
Some feared being selfish but would it really be bad to be selfish just once?
He saw an opening to get close and he made his move, making sure to be unnoticed as he had to have the two in his vision in fear of them leaving again.
“Auntie, why do we keep moving? I want to stay in Liyue.” The young boy laid his head against the womans lap, pouting as the said woman giggled, her hand running through his hair gently.
“Because soon people of this nation… the Qixing, the Millilith, and even possibly the adeptus will know that we’re different. Before we came here, I read stories where though some people appeared like their god, they were chased away despite being the real one. It’s my job as your guardian and aunt to keep you away from danger.”
He wouldn’t dare!
The thought that he or anyone in Liyue could turn away their Divine Creator would be preposterous. To dare harm or turn away the Creator was blasphemous!
“Do they think we’re bad people? Is it because we’re those Gods they talk about?”
“That’s part of it. But even if you are, don’t let it get to your little head. Remember, with great power-
“Comes great responsibility. I know, Auntie.”
The young heir was intelligent – a hope for the future. Though it was the desire of everyone to have him live happily, live innocently and never let him see the hardships that Teyvat has seen.
Seeing his chance, he made himself known as he quickly stepped in front, knowing that he’ll shock his beloved creator and her heir as they audibly gasped, the woman quickly holding her nephew close while the two slimes appeared in front and were waiting for their word to attack and defend – even going so far as to even let the Hilichurls know of the intruder before the man suddenly knelt to the ground, his forehead touching the ground.
This was his chance!
To show his unwavering devotion, his adoration. His love for the Divine Creator that helped him keep sane for so many years. And the glee to be the first of the seven to find her.
“Your Grace! Though I’m unworthy to be in your presence, please hear me out.”
[Y/n] held [Nephew’s name] close to her as the mysterious man appeared. Billy and the Dendro slime didn’t waver as they were serious in their job. [E/c] eyes stared down at the man that was basically kowtowing in front of her – the man was quite tall though she couldn’t be too sure just yet. His skin was fair, short dark hair with a long fringe to his right and amber tips. There was a section of his hair that ends towards his waist. But [Y/n] knew one thing….
HE WAS SEXY SEXY MAN!
He was handsome.
And [Nephew’s Name] knew it too as he was willing to hear the man out. Besides, he was a mission and he was sure that he may have found a worthy person to make his aunt happy. Wiggling out of his aunts grip, same as when they first met the Hilichurls, he hopped down and slowly walked towards the man as his head was still touching the ground. But [Nephew’s name] was quite certain that the mysterious man wasn’t going to hurt them. He raised his hand slowly and [Y/n] was behind him, watching with batted breath and to ensure nothing happened to the boy. The small hand gently touched the mans hair, curious as he ran his fingers through it slowly and patted him gently, the man moving to look up at them.
Seeing them this close, it was there that Zhongli finally shed tears.
His despair for many years have now been rewarded in seeing his God, his beloved.
Her glow, though dimmed by her mortal form, he could clearly see it – the envy of the stars and the moon in the night skies. Her stare – it was said to hold mass kindness and wisdom, a far away look that knew about the past, present, and the future and even beyond worlds.
Standing before him was the very God that he devoted his victories to in his younger years, the very God that made all of Teyvat and Celestia mourn from their disappearance.
[Nephew’s Name] was cheering in his mind as the man was indeed handsome. Gorgeous even! If he wanted to, he could set him up with his aunt! He had to play his cards right!
“Mister, are you okay?”
It wasn’t the words of his beloved but the voice of the child that brought him back.
The Heir.
The Divine Creator talked constantly about their relatives, about their siblings and how one of them gave birth to a child, the very child that was in front of him. A child that everyone agreed to be the God of Youth and Innocence.
He truly fit the role as he was bestowed with perfectly as there was childlike innocence in his eyes but he could see a hidden mischievousness too. How easy it was for him to see through his sorrow and the Divine Creator just standing behind the child and looking at him with concern. Concern for him, a lowly Archon that has worshiped her for millennia.
The Geo Archon felt tiny fingers wipe away the tears from his eyes as he stared gently at the boy who smiled widely.
“There now! Hey, do you want to hear a story? Auntie always said that the tears always turn to gems or even become stars. I like stars so when I cry, I wish that they soon go so high up and hope that they shine the brightest so people can wish on them or even be homes to others!”
This wishful thinking earned a giggle from the woman, making the two slimes then relax a little as they then nuzzled against the boy who giggled as well.
“Well, its bad for a growing boy to hold back your emotions. Ah, sir, you may stand. I’m sure it must hurt your knees being in such a position.”
Her Grace was benevolent just as he remembered!
He stood just as he was told, though amused by the child’s pout before he went back to his place beside his aunt, holding onto her skirt and hand as the two slimes stood at each side of the two.
“I’m sure you have plenty of questions, oh man of Liyue. Or… could I call you Morax? Or… what name are you comfortable with?”
In the year of being in Teyvat, there has been access to public libraries like in Mondstadt, and Sumeru. There was also the people of Liyue talking animatedly about the history and culture of the land and even the Gods that once roamed everywhere, but not so much as the Lord of Geo, Rex Lapis. But others tend to call him Morax as well and if her research was correct, the Mora of Teyvat was named after him.
One other thing that [Y/n] learned was that the Geo Archon was known to have many disguises but one tell of his was that each disguise had his signature Geo Amber eyes.
“Your Grace…” Though it shouldn’t surprise him, Zhongli was speechless. But then again, she was the Divine Creator. The Lady that created All should be the last one he should be surprised in their actions.
“I am still the governing Archon of Liyue. Rex Lapis will do. But I also go by the name of Zhongli.”
“I see. Well then. Zhongli, there is something I must ask of you.” [Y/n] smiled gently, the Geo Archon looking almost hopeful.
“Anything.”
“You must pretend you never saw us here today.”
He didn’t think it was possible to hear one’s own heart break until today. Could he have done something wrong? Surely not. He couldn’t have when he has been a faithful follower all these centuries. Could Barbatos and Baal say the same? Or even the others? Well, he could see the Dendro and Cryo Archons, but to his degree of devotion?
“Your Grace. I can’t do that. The people of Liyue… the people Across Teyvat. They are searching for you and the young Heir. Surely, someone of your stature and his deserve comfort and a safe haven other than in the wilds!”
[Y/n] sighed as she held onto her nephew, closing her eyes to think for a moment. She was sure now the Hilichurls heard their voices but she didn’t want a fight to break out.
“Yes. I understand that but…” Could she play around with the people’s faith here? This sounded sacrilegious. It could be just a coincidence that she happened to share the same face – the same likeness – as the great God of this world. If she waited long enough, maybe the real one will come and she could even ask if they could send her and her nephew home.
“But… I am not ready to take the mantel of being Teyvats God. It has been a year, yes. However I must think of my nephew. He is still young and confused of the responsibilities he will have one day. I don’t want to rush him towards that blind. Though I have full faith in all of you, there are just something where it needs to be me to tell him.”
‘Okay, that sounded mature and reasonable. Not sacrilegious either. Maybe he’ll take this answer.’
“But, Your Eminence! We are your faithful creations. Your burdens are our own and if there’s any way we can help, then we’ll gladly do so!”
‘Fuuuuuck!’
Faith is said to be strong, also depending on the person or being. Reading more, Morax or Rex Lapis was said to be one of the most, if not the most, faithful of all the Gods that still live among Teyvat. If anyone that was still alive in the time of the first appearance of the Creator that was faithful to the God, it would be Morax.
“And I am grateful for such loyalty. However, my nephew is my top priority. As I said before, pretend that you never saw us. But, that doesn’t mean that I have forgotten you and the others. May we meet again, oh Great Geo Archon.” Carefully holding onto her nephew, [Y/n] swiftly ran out of the hut, Billy and the Dendro slime following behind as the two soon took to the skies like earlier.
It didn’t seem right to give the Archon hope, but it were the words that might give him comfort. The following days, she has noticed that some powers were coming to her. And though she was in denial, that first day with the Hilichurls starting in Mondstadt with her blood being gold was an indicator that she was who the people of Teyvat say she is.
“Auntie, why did you leave him? He seemed so nice!” [Nephew’s name] cried out as he climbed onto her back and held on tightly. She glanced back and smiled gently.
“Because what he was asking of me was something I’m not ready for. Besides, the day that we must go home might be here sooner than you think.”
Isekai anime and manga taught her much to be weary of who to trust and how much to reveal. And if worse comes to show that she must be cunning to enact revenge. Hopefully it won’t come to that, but it never hurts to prepare.
“We’re going far away, nugget. We’re going to have to work on a disguise for each other. Think of it as Halloween all over again.”
“Yay! Halloween!”
The next stop of their adventure was the nation of Sumeru, where the green forests met with their vision and made them audibly gasp. They have been here before but every time they step foot in the forests, there was a singing being heard either by Teyvat themselves or the beings that inhabit the forest.
Unbeknownst to the two, a certain amber eyed Archon was running around Liyue in hopes to find the Divine Creator and her nephew. How could he take his eyes off of them and let them leave after he just discovered them?! Though he wasn’t in touch with Celestia, he was certain the higher powers that his beloved God was a part of would surely punish him.
He hasn’t been this frantic since the Archon wars, protecting his people and sheltering more ever since Havria was killed and her followers fearful for their lives. Every second mattered, every second with every action meant the difference between life and death as sought protection for the mortals he was caring for as well.
Though he was certain that Teyvat would care for his beloved God, there was the voice in his mind that spoke of the untold dangers that might come from extreme devotees or even, dare he say, sacrilegious zealots – people that were adamant that the Creator never existed. To them, he would show them the Wrath of the Rock. How dare they when he himself has seen Her. And he has seen Her with the Heir this time.
He will remain hopeful of seeing her again. And the next time he will come across Her path, he will be sure that Liyue will be the home that they deserve – for it is said that wherever the Creator decides to descend will be showered with grand favor other nations will gladly go to war for.
A/n: Zhongli is going to be a simp but that's okay UwU What will happen next? Btw, I just now made it to Sumeru sooo~ will we meet Al Haitham? Cyno? Nahida? Kaveh? Who's to say~ We still got the men in Mondstadt, Inazuma and Childe. And the rest of Liyue cause we only met Baizhu and Zhongli. Everyone, good luck pulling for whoever you want! I'm pulling for Al Haitham~!
TAGLIST:
I tried tagging most of who I could but it wasn't letting me qwq
@axolotlboo
@crazypriestess
@gallantyss
@catjsjs
@lonelysoup
@yuii-v
@memema-exists-here
@sweetbills
@catjsjs
@shizunxie
@esthelily
#self aware genshin au#genshin self aware#genshinimpact#genshin x reader#genshin impact x reader#zhongli x reader#genshin impact sagau#sagau#zhongli#self aware genshin#sagau cult au#genshin sagau#female reader
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Colossus
Day #7! I spent the majority of the weekend writhing in unimaginable pain so it doesn't count as late. Those are the rules I've just made up!
Pairing: Halsin/Tav(f)
Summary: He's just so...big
Rating: Explicit. Minors DNI
Warnings/Tags: Porn, Smut, Cunnilingus, Size kink, Hand job, blow job, foreskin play, inappropriate use of colossus elixir, shotgunning
No beta we die like Yonas (RIP Yonas)
And the AO3 link, with love
Special note: Hysterically this is colossal compared to the others I've posted for HalsinTav week.
Additional note: I'll eventually post the one i started writing for Day4 (?). I took the prompt "wildshape misuse" in a completely different direction and it's taking me longer to write because it's more angst than romance. Probably no romance at all but we'll see.
Enjoy!
Halsin was a big guy. Like a really big guy.
Until she met Halsin, Tav had not been aware that people even came in sizes that large. It did not help that he was as thickly muscled as he was tall. No part of him was too skinny or unproportionate which always sent her dirty mind tumbling straight into the gutter wondering just how proportionate he was where she couldn't see.
All of this was just harmless thinking on her part, she knew how to mind her manners and keep her hands to herself after all. He was a great ally and becoming an even greater friend so, despite the turn of her lustful thought from time to time, she’d never overtly act in any way to make him uncomfortable.
That didn’t stop her from laying in her tent late at night, calloused fingers strumming her sex, brain full of how’d she’d whimper and shake trying to take his thick cock. What if he was too big? The thought drove her wild, picturing him tensed up beneath her while she used her hands, her tongue, to bring him to release. Pussy drenched, skin flushed, breathing thready; the thought of how he’d stretch her near to breaking always pushed her over the precipice of her climax, choking back her moans while she writhed with her desperation.
All of this was fine, probably a healthy outlet all things considered, and a welcome distraction from the horrors of their day to day adventuring. She was completely content with keeping her own company and it seemed unlikely her fortune in that regard would change any time soon.
So if his larger than average hands brushing hers when she handed him a plate of dinner set her stomach fluttering. Or when he towered over her just slightly too close and she felt dizzy with fantasies about that large frame fucking her to the feywild and back, well, nobody needed to know it but her and her hands late at night in her bedroll.
Things might have continued in this fashion till the conclusion of their little adventure but for one critical incident.
The fight with Ketheric had been awful in more ways than one but when the avatar of Myrkul threatened to completely devastate them Tav had pulled out all the stops. Her focus had narrowed down to each fighter, her desperation providing her with all manner of tricks up her sleeve to, if not turn the tide of the fight, at least tread water till Aylin could finish smiting him to death. Or undeath.
When she had spun on her heel and thrown the elixir to Halsin she hadn’t really been thinking too much beyond the immediate threat and how to keep her companions alive. Hadn’t been thinking about what the “after” of their fight would leave her with. So when the fight was over and that line of thinking evaporated she was chagrined and thrilled to realize what she was left with was a druid of colossal size and embarrassingly damp panties.
Halsin had been huge before but now the sight of him was enough to break her brain a little bit.
His hand could completely engulf her head and the thought alone was enough to have her lashes fluttering, her breath whooshing out of her in a pained sigh. And when she imagined his enormous cock, well, it was best she didn’t think too hard about that till she was safely ensconced in her tent that was for certain.
Her companions may have joked from time to time about climbing Mount Halsin but actually seeing him so…engorged, had even the wittiest among them speechless, tongues dry behind their teeth. He was very good natured about it of course, the man didn’t seem to let anything phase him. He excused himself after they decided to camp for the night, the tenor of his voice deeper than usual and each step as he left camp was like a gentle tremor that climbed up her legs and tapped insistently at her clit.
When her companions scattered to their own bedrolls for some much needed rest and he still hadn’t returned, Tav's mind began to worry. It wasn’t like anything out in the wilderness would be a challenge for him to deal with in his current state but still the worry gnawed at her. Isolation could be just as dangerous to one’s mental wellbeing as an enemy was to the physical form after all.
With this thought in mind she shoved her lust to the side and went to find him. It didn’t take her long. Halsin was down by the water’s edge, sitting on the sand and gazing out at where Tav was surprised to see stars twinkling down from a nearly cloudless sky.
When he turns to see her a kind smile breaks across his face and Tav’s worry dissipates in its warmth.
“It’s late,” she says chidingly when she’s close. She climbs a large rock to put them on more even ground, sitting on the edge of the damp stone closest to him and letting her legs dangle over the water.
Halsin hums in agreement. “I find myself overwhelmed,” he says softly. “Overwhelmed and grateful for this chance to see these lands begin to heal. For once I think my rest will not be found in my meditations but here, watching the fruits our labors unfold.”
Gods, even the way he spoke had a sexy appeal that left her heart hammering in her chest. “Right,” she says skeptically, “I guess. You could just say you’re too excited to sleep. Or trance or whatever.”
Halsin laughs and shrugs. “I suppose I could.” When she meets his eyes there’s something in them she doesn’t recognize immediately but it warms her clear down to her toes. “You have a gift for seeing to the heart of things. A trait you share with Karlach I feel. One could learn a lot from seeing the world as you do.”
Tav feels herself blush though she’s not sure why. She coughs. “Ah, right, well. Thanks. Myself, I quite like to smoke a little flower to help me relax if I can’t sleep. Something I’m sure you’re acquainted with.”
“Indeed,” he agrees. “The stresses of leadership can take their toll and as Archdruid I became well acquainted with medicinal herbs to soothe the mind when rest was beyond my reach.” He gives a thoughtful hum. “Pity I left my pipe behind.”
“Oh I don’t know,” says Tav slyly pulling out a familiar pipe from the small pouch at her hip.
Halsin laughs, a booming thing that vibrates low in Tav’s belly. “How did you–?”
She fans a hand out and wiggles her fingers with a grin. “Sticky fingers I’m afraid.” She digs in her pouch a little more until she pulls out a little snuff box the size of her thumb and a match. “I snagged it after talking with Lettie, I honestly didn’t have a whole lot of faith you were still alive.”
With the skill of someone who is well acquainted with the action she packs and lights the pipe, sucking at the stem till she feels the familiar curl of smoke burn in her throat. She turns to offer it to him but realizes his predicament in the same breath he declines with a rueful smile.
“Too small for these fingers,” he tells her. If he notices how her dark eyes seem to zero in on his hands for a beat too long he is gracious enough not to shame her for it.
Tav, as is her nature, puts zero thought into the consequences before she offers the easiest solution that pops in her tadpole’d brain. “Come here then. Let me show you how it’s done in the Gate.”
Halsin stares at her but she beckons him closer impatiently until he complies.
“Come on, scaredy cat.” She sucks at the pipe for a long moment before she pulls his face close and puts her lips close to his, tapping at his bottom lip till he opens his mouth and she breathes the smoke between his lips. When he sucks it in her lips graze his, only lightly, like the brush of a feather.
She lingers then, checking his expression and the moment seems to slow down and draw out as if they’re locked in a slowing spell. This close she gets her first real look at the peculiar shade of his eyes and what was once a harmless way to share a little smoke between friends turns into something heavier, charged.
Leaning back she sucks at the pipe again, a shorter puff to give herself something to do before she opens her fat mouth and says something insane. Halsin breathes out the smoke slowly, turning his gaze from watching her to instead watch the curl of smoke twist and dissipate in the evening air.
“Inventive,” he says, voice a tad rougher than he normally speaks.
Humming in assent she smiles, enjoying the pleasant buzz that hums along her frayed nerves, soothing the disjointed clamor of her thoughts. “I wasn’t sure about you,” she confesses after a beat. He looks at her with interest. “The other druids in the grove were so…” she trails off, weighing her words. She settles on frankness. “Rude. Possessive of their time, their grove. Willing to follow Khaga rather than risk speaking up against each other. Even after you came back I tried talking to them but besides the few that were relieved most were more than glad to see the back of me and ballsy enough to say it to my face.”
Halsin frowns but lets her continue.
“I was worried you were going to turn out to be the same. Sure, you accepted the tieflings and all but, still, I wondered when your patience was going to snap. We’re not exactly the most cohesive group on our best days. You surprised me though. You take everything as it comes and never lose sight of what you want while sticking to your scruples. It’s admirable.”
Maybe it’s the way the moonlight shines in his eyes or maybe it’s the flower working its magic, untangling her tongue but she pushes on, a light flush suffusing her cheeks.
“You’ve become something of a hero to me. Someone I can aspire to be like, especially now. With the bloody cult and all. Gods and curses and monsters. You’re someone I can look at and be reminded that, even against these absurd, impossible odds, I don’t have to lose sight of myself. You look at me and it’s like you really see me. See the me that I want to see in myself. I, uh, I’ve never had that before.” She breaks off with a rueful chuckle. “Sorry, I just had to say it. It’s just…I’m really glad you’re here is all.” She rubs the back of her neck and looks away from his stare.
A finger as large as her wrist brushes her chin and her gaze snaps back to his in surprise.
“I feel the same.” He swallows and Tav tracks the movement before meeting his eyes again, feeling something like anticipation welling up within her. “About you. Before you came to the grove I had all but lost sight of who I was. Being Archdruid consumed me so entirely I had…cast off who I was. It didn’t seem to matter, not when so many things needed doing, people needed the skills and diplomacy of the First Druid, not me. It’s been a long time, longer than I like to think about, since I had a…friend. Someone I could just enjoy the company of without the distance of my station playing some role.”
“Sounds lonely.”
“Yes. It was. You pay me a high compliment, calling me a pillar to look to but it is you, my friend, who has been my guiding light. You showed me that ‘Halsin’ still has value, beyond the title and everything else. It means a great deal to me, what you’ve given me. You mean a great deal to me.”
Tav shrugs a shoulder, lopsided smile bashful in the face of such open praise. “Flattery will get you everywhere.” It’s a crude attempt at brushing off the heavy feeling that has settled over the moment but Halsin’s eyes crinkle at the corners, charmed. Producing another match she gestured with the now-cold pipe, “Another hit?”
Halsin’s chest expands as he takes in a slow breath, as if conflicted and thinking too hard about it. Tav, who has perhaps never thought too hard about anything in her entire life, ‘tsk’s’ with a teasing smile and lights the pipe, sucking on the lip of the stem. Holding the smoke in she gives him a challenging look, smirking when he draws closer.
Emboldened by the lingering intimacy from their conversation and her own burgeoning tangle of feelings and lust, Tav grasps his chin with both hands and plants her lips against the seam of his firmly, releasing the air and smoke from her lungs into his mouth when he sucks in a surprised gasp. She lingers there, eyes shut and consumed with the warmth of his lips against hers before reluctantly pulling away.
His eyes are shut tight and she feels a twinge of guilt for the way he holds himself so still and tense. “Was that alright?” She asks quietly, wondering which would destroy her first, the rejection or the disappointment.
But the druid surprises her. “Yes,” he utters, eyes opening at last. “I am only disappointed my current form is not well suited for returning the gesture.”
Tav has a sudden vision of being suffocated by those lips. A warm wet tongue the size of her face gliding over her body and she shivers with want. Her tongue darts out to wet her lips and his eyes flick to her mouth to watch it closely. “I wouldn’t say that.”
A muscle in Halsin’s jaw twitches as he clenches his teeth together, the pupils of his eyes swelling and she breathes out slowly, suddenly acutely aware of their proximity.
“You’re not shy about what you want,” he breathes with a smile. “I like that.”
Tav’s expression turns wry. “You say that now,” she mutters.
Before Halsin can think of how to respond to a loaded statement like that she leaps off the boulder she’d been sitting on and approaches him. She doesn’t hide the way she stares at his body. The way her eyes trail along his massive legs while she steps between them. The way they linger on his hands, the expanse of his chest, and trail scorchingly up his neck to his face.
“The pipe is nice but I know of even better ways to relax.”
Halsin’s chuckle rumbles in the night air. “An intriguing if unwise notion.”
Tav’s expression turns coy, her smile sly. “Is it so unwise to embrace the unexpected opportunities we’re afforded? I’m just ‘seizing the moment’.” The look he cuts her at parroting words he once spoke to her sizzles along her skin.
“I had hoped to take the time to broach the subject of my affections for you before we–”
“Oh, we’re past broached, Halsin.”
“I could crush you.”
“You won’t,” she says dismissively and then, “I’d very much like to touch you. If you’ll allow me.”
His stomach clenches with equal parts anticipation and uneasiness. He nods.
She trails a hand along his thigh. It’s so small but burns through the leather of his trousers and he shifts, releasing a sigh. It takes her less time than he’s expecting to reach the apex of his thighs and when she runs her palms down the straining seam of his pants where his cock lies trapped and swollen he breathes in sharply.
She checks his expression and must see the reservation in them because she stops, removing her hands. “Do you want me to stop?”
“I don’t think y–”
“Yes or no, druid. I won’t be offended.” She cants her head to the side in thought. “Disappointed maybe.”
The muscle in his jaw jumps again and when he swallows the bob of his throat sends a thrill up her spine. She’s definitely playing with fire but she’s never been particularly good at denying herself when she has her mind set on something. And burying her face in the slit of cock is very much on the forefront of her brain.
“No,” he says finally.
Tav grins. “We can stop anytime you wish.” Tugging on the laces of his breeches she pulls the leather away and she comes face to eye with the largest dick she could have ever imagined. To call him proportionate would be doing him a disservice, he was clearly very well endowed, colossus elixir notwithstanding.
Using her hands to ease him from his breeches completely she feels her cunt give a needy throb at the weight of it. Holding it with both hands the girth is wider than the fattest part of her thigh and she runs her hands from the base to the tip experimentally. His foreskin is impossibly soft and loose enough she adds more pressure to her grip and salivates as it glides down easily revealing the flushed head of his glans.
He shifts, his breathing turning heavy when she lowers her face and licks at the slit. She probes and suckles, moving across the smooth skin eagerly while she caresses and strokes the shaft. When precum beads at the tip she licks it away and hums appreciatively at the salty taste. His musk is overwhelming, intoxicating.
Sucking his loose foreskin into her mouth, twisting her tongue against it, running her hands over every exposed inch of him she smiles against his erection when he groans, gasping and needy. It resonates in the air and she flexes her thighs together to ease the wet need that beats between her legs.
He allows her to indulge herself for only so long before, trembling with immense effort, he asks her to stop. Immediately removing herself she backs up a step but gives him a searching look.“Are you certain?”
Running a hand down his face Halsin works at controlling his erratic breathing. “I am. My control is…not what it should be. In my current state, I cannot promise to be able to contain myself. I will not risk your safety, no matter how your touch ignites me.”
Wiping a slick streak of precum from her chin and licking it from her finger she almost misses the way his eyes flash gold while he tracks the movement. “Another time then,” she says with an easy smile. “Whenever you’re ready.” She turns, as if to leave, but Halsin can smell her arousal. The scent of it makes his mouth water.
“Wait. Do not suppose I am an inconsiderate lover. I would taste you tonight, beneath the light of the waning moon.”
Tav cannot help the gasp this pulls from her, nor the throb of desire that starts at her cunt and spreads like branching roots through her body, lighting every nerve on fire. “I would like that.” Her voice thrums with want. “Very much.”
“Then come here to me,” he beckons.
She steps closer and nearly swoons as the palm of his hand scoops her up. He is gentle as he brings her close and with his other hand he gently thumbs open the clasp of her robe. Underneath she is bare and the cool night air prickles at her skin, pebbling the dusky mauve of her nipples into stiff peaks.
“Perfect,” he murmurs and the intensity of his gaze sends the blood rushing to the surface of her skin in a hot wave.
He holds her to his face, running his nose from the thatch of dark hair between her legs to her chest. When he slots his mouth over her bosom, the warm wet mass of his tongue flicking and curling against each breast she moans, letting her head fall back. She holds his face and presses further against his exploring touch with wanton abandon.
When his tongue retreats she whines, her legs falling open desperately. He smiles through the blazing hunger and takes his time mouthing her soft flesh with careful attentiveness. Halsin’s tongue swipes down one leg to her feet and she feels her mind go brittle at the edges when he sucks the entire foot into his mouth. Engulfing her foot he continues to sup and the suction of it has her writhing and eager in his hand. Treating her other leg to the same treatment is too much and her hand dives between her legs to sooth the apex of her desire.
Halsin’s eyes, black as the night sky behind him flash gold and for a second his teeth look sharper, his expression wild. He plucks her hands away and this time when she widens her legs her cunt is met with probing wet warmth of his tongue and she cries out, shrill and breathy.
Possessing an infinite amount of patience he laps at the damp lips between her legs at a slow, rhythmic pace driving her feral. The heels of her feet find purchase on his forearm and at the next swipe of his tongue she thrusts her hips to meet it, groaning when it presses against her clit with an insane amount of pressure.
Her breathing comes in gasps and pants, her eyes half lidded with need. “Please,” she babbles, nearly sobbing. “Please, H-Halsin, m-more, please!”
Holding her against his mouth firmly he swirls his tongue between the lips of pussy and she keens, roughly palming her own breasts and arching her back. It’s too much, it’s not enough. Her orgasm flickers in and out of her reach. With the rough flat of his tongue he licks and gently suckles and her body shakes.
“Gods!”
Pressing the tip of his tongue to her cunt he rolls the muscle there in a continuous undulation that has her gripping at her own hair, her back bowed.
The taste of her arousal, the scent of her musk, the salt of her body pulls an appreciative groan from his throat. The vibration shivers across her clit and she reaches her climax with a lust drunk wail that cracks through the night air.
Removing his mouth from her body she lies limp, flushed dark and muscles trembling.
“Fuck,” she whimpers, voice rasping. “That was,” she struggles to return her breathing to something approaching normal. “That was incredible.” The look she gives him is awed, sated. “You are incredible.”
Halsin grins. She thought he might set her down but instead he brings her to his chest and she leans into the heat of his body gratefully. Exhaustion tugs at her but she’d rather bask in the bliss, snuggled into him. She nuzzles at his neck, reaching up a hand to run the flat of her palm against the edge of his tattoo that curls around his throat.
“Sleep,” he murmurs, the sound of his voice as lulling as the steady beat of his heart against her ear.
“I don’t want to miss this,” she complains, turning her face into his bare skin and pressing a kiss there.
He chuckles, warm and rich. “We have plenty of time. Rest.”
So she does.
That's All Folks!
#halsintavweek#halsin x tav#smut#bg3 fanfic#bg3 fanfiction#if i stepped into a church i'd catch fire immediately
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Given that Blue Lock is an in-universe reality show with (apparently) millions of worldwide fans, that implies the theoretical existence of a Blue Lock fandom and, by extension, Blue Lock fanfic.
What kind of mischaracterisations do you think in-universe fans have of the various members of Blue Lock? Which ships would be popular? This is an rpf situation so what sort of drama goes on surrounding the very existence of bllk fanfic? Does the fandom have pockets which behave like other rpf fandoms such as Kpop and streamers? How much does Reddit fucking hate the stans? I NEED ANSWERS!!!!!
Firstly, the fandoms tagged in fics would be a mix of: Football RPF — all media types, Blue Lock (Football RPF), Neo Egoist League (Football RPF) and BLTV (Football RPF).
Common fandom-specific tags include: ‘Referenced Professional Footballers’, ‘No Beta We Die Like Kunigami Rensuke’s Ratings’, ‘Not Safe For Ego Jinpachi’s eyes’ and ‘Author Uses Football Not Soccer’.
Platonic relationships are pretty common in the fandom, with the most popular ones being ‘Michael Kaiser & Alexis Ness’, ‘Meguru Bachira & Lavinho’, ‘Yoichi Isagi & Noel Noa’ and ‘Yoichi Isagi & Rensuke Kunigami’.
Personally I think the most popular ships (as of right now) would be Kaisagi, Kainess, Reonagi and Ryurin. Bachisagi would be practically nonexistent because fans wouldn’t have seen them interact much. Only old fans know they were basically unstoppable together during the U-20 match. Most fans joined during the NEL, after the show started streaming.
Noel Noa gets shipped with Lavinho but only because he’s always the dad in fics who needs emotional support. In these fics, Isagi and Bachira are always the gremlin step brothers who scheme their not-dads into getting together.
There’s a ship war going on between the kaisagi and the kainess shippers. There’s also a third party which is against real-person shipping but is fine with rpf in general so Bastard Munchen for them is a hodge-podge, falling apart at the seams found family trope. The same goes for all the other teams but the Bastard Family TM is the most popular one.
 THERE ARE SO MANY FOUND FAMILY AUs. Popular tags include: “Noel Noa Is A Tired Dad”, “Isagi And Kunigami Are Brothers”, “Kaiser Is The Rich Cousin” and “They’re A Family Of Bastards Your Honour”.
There’s definitely fandom drama around the ethics of reading and writing fanfic. General consensus seems to end up being that non-ship fics are technically fine. Shippers still do their thing though because they’re impossible to get rid of.
The fandom ‘cinnamon rolls’ are definitely Bachira and Ness. Ness especially get mischaracterised as an ‘innocent, fragile flower’ that Kaiser has to protect. Bachira is most;y just characterised as Lavinho’s protege who is a happy lil sunshine with no flaws. Nagi also nearly falls into the ‘cinnamon roll’ category because he’s quiet and gives off ‘uwu’ energy (according to his stans) but slightly less so.
Rin gets the most x readers written about him. He beats everyone else except maybe Kunigami, who is a close second. They’re always characterised as the ‘bad boys’ and are the kings of Wattpad.
Sae gets inserted into Rin fics all the time purely because they’re brothers. Because he doesn’t appear in the NEL, his fandom interpretation is COMPLETELY off. Fans have basically turned him into a completely new, fictional character, he’s that different. He’s always dating Shidou though — Ryusae is a rare ‘it’s probably okay to ship this’ ship because literally everyone is convinced they’re actually dating irl.
If Kaiser is in the fic, his tattoo is usually brought up either as some kind of trauma-related thing or, in fantasy AUs, as a cursed mark. Fans have written whole ass essays about the symbolic meaning of his tattoo and how it can relate to fics.
Some of the more popular fics in the fandom, by kudos, include:
the obligatory fantasy AU where all the teams are kingdoms — 240k words, major character death, hurt no comfort (one of the fandom’s ‘cinnamon rolls’ dies in the third act).
the obligatory university/college AU where for some reason the university uses the US system despite none of the characters being American, each team is a different frat house and the fic is 25/? chapters, 32k words.
A Fluff And Angst, completely unrealistic found family “they all live in one house” fic where Noa adopts Isagi and it’s tooth-rottingly sweet but it’s clear that the author has been through some shit and is drawing from personal experience when writing. All the kids from Blue Lock and Bastard Munchen are like 10 years old. Noa is shipped with Lavinho and people choose to either ignore it and enjoy the fluff or are active shippers — 56k words, 19/22 chapters, hurt/comfort, implied/referenced child abuse, Noel Noa Is A Tired Dad.
Several one-shots involving the ‘brothers/cousins’ Isagi, Kunigami, Kaiser and Ness all doing random shit together. Usually the fics are either from Isagi or Kaiser’s perspective and you can tell which authors prefer the Blue Lockers and which ones prefer the German players — usually 3-6k words each.
A long-distance relationship Kaisagi AU named after a Glass Animals song that gets so popular it crashes AO3 twice- (sry I’ll stop, that would be rancid).
A Manshine City found family AU where Reo and Nagi are characterised as brothers to the nth degree, Chigiri is the golden child and Chris Prince is the uncle who didn’t want to take them in but had to and slowly grows to love them as if they were his own kids. The grown-up mentors all have weekly brunch down at the local diner where they talk like gossiping aunts — 19k words, 5/? chapters, Manshine Triplets, Reo And Nagi Are Twins, Chigiri is also there tho!!! Give Chris Prince A Break.
The aforementioned AU where Bachira and Isagi trick their not-dads into getting together — 16k words, 4/10 chapters, Fluff And Angst, Slow Burn.
#blue lock#bllk#blue lock headcanons#bllk headcanons#I wanna know what the in-universe AO3 page for Blue Lock (footballer RPF) looks like!!!
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@huskers-bar x @nunalastor chapter 2
Tags: enemies to lovers, angst?, eventual fluff, yearning?, soft huskers-bar, both mods are separate people, no beta we die like i do in this fic (not yet though), minor character death, ooc, au: hellaverse (hazbin hotel), nunalastor is head of the marketing department of the hazbin hotel (lucifer grabbed them randomly), jealousy?, huskers-bar is an employee at voxtek, lulu as a villain, lulu is a dog, huskers-bar is a liar, secret dating?
chapter: 2/? / chapter Word count: 1852 / total word count: 3283
Featuring: babygirl anon and @xxx-angie . eventually will feature solis, the oc of @soliac-snecc
nunalastor as a single entity is nunalastor, traumatized mod dickmaster and cursed mod nun. and huskers-bar just husk. babygirl anon will be babygirl anon. I will be lulu. Angie will be angie but is meant to be read as angel dust.
A/N: I am a little drunk while writing the start of this, forgive me for any weird mistakes and stuff. bit of a change to the script, angie will no longer be a villain, but an obstacle and yes. I am currently the only true villain. the font size joke was very much forced in
this chapter is huskers-bar focused
"Ugh... Fuck"
The growly and gruff voice of Huskers echoed throughout the empty room. They winced as they rolled over in bed, accidentally knocking over a pile of empty bottles. The sound of their clinking was giving them a headache. One shattered at the side of the makeshift bed of their small private room-
Which you can only get at voxtek, come and become a part of the family! Voxtek, trust us with your employment and living quarters-
Ugh, they must be hallucinating... They squinted their eyes, trying to make sense of their surroundings. The migrane wasn't helping. Huskers stared at the ceiling, a little more dazed than usual. They tried to recall what happened, but the past few hours were completely wiped from their memory. It must've been one of those days. They look over at the clock.
It'a about time they get to work...
With one groan they get up, dragging their hands on the floor as they reach for their keys and phone. The room still spun a little, but it's not like they had a choice. They headed towards the door, less than ready, and finally left their sanctuary.
~
"Where the fuck is my cameraman?!" The angry shouting of Val could be heard from behind closed doors. Vox can already hear the glasses breaking and his precious voxtek equipment getting destroyed. The frustration of dealing with that mans temper never stops. Who does he think he is anyway?! Making all these expensive equipment costs money! Precious money! And it doesn't help the fact that he always demands the highest quality cameras too. Besides, why does he need them?! His eyes see in 144p anyway!
It was right at that point when a knife cut through the wooden door and broke yet another piece of expensive furniture. Great. All these were custom made god damn it.
Vox sighed heavily, trying to pinch an imaginary bridge of his nose, before his fingers were met with the flatness of his screen. It was the thought that counts.
"Hey huskers" vox called out with casual annoyance, like he'd rather not be dealing with this right now.
Huskers who had been loading up the latest voxtek equipment paused and turned their attention to Vox. "Yes?" They asked.
"I need you to take over the cameraman duty, our regular isn't showing up on time" Vox explained, already making his way to the door and waving his hand dismissively, muttering something under his breath about killing their regular with a five headed spear later.
Huskers, hurried to put away the box, which they assumed was filled with weird sex toys, and hurried over to Val's door. The knife sticking out of the door was concerning but it wouldn't be the first. Carefully they opened the door, readying themselves to dodge any attack thrown their way. Luckily for them, Val seemed to be distracted with another employee.
"Hi, I'm a stand-in for the cameraman" husk said, sliding over to the cameras sneakily. Val of course noticed and angrily shouted. "Fucking finally! That slut finally sent a bitch. Now chop chop!"
~
The job of a cameraman was not an easy one, especially when the scene in front of you is ridiculous. Not intentionally of course, but husk had to keep it in if they valued their life. Val didn't seem like the type of person who would take that kind of "disrespect" lightly.
"Oh daddy, please don't stack all those donuts on my penis!" Came the overly sexual and whimpering voice of Angie, who finally had gotten that line down without breaking character. A fish demon groaned, both for the act and because this stupid scene had finally been recorded after attempt number 69, much to everyone's relief. Val was getting antsy and would murder some poor employee any second.
Husk didn't know how angie took any of it seriously, even the sexier scenes. The whole scripted aspect felt very silly and goofy.
They guessed it didn't matter though, their job was finally done and they can fuck off from the studio. Husk would not be missing this place. They got up off their chair and just as they were about to head out, Angie, the one and only, had stopped them with an arm on the shoulder.
"Hey there new kid, pleasure-" he said, moaning out that specific word like a bitch in heat "to be doin buisness with ya" he said, offering two hands to shake husks one. Angie leaned against one of the lamps, nearly knocking it over in the process and started eyeing them up and down. "So, what brings ya to this studio?"
Huskers was visibly a little put off by the directness, but they should've expected as much. Everyday an event just reminds them that they are indeed in hell and that only the worst of the worst live here...
Ah, yes the question. "I'm just a stand-in for whoever was here before" They answered, pointing vaguely at the outside world. "Vox asked me to, and honestly doing camerawork is a much lighter load than what I was doing before"
Angie quirked a brow at this, either confused or not expecting that response. It could've honestly been both. His demeanor changed quickly though. "yeah. say, whatchya doin later?" biting his lip, he wiggled his eyebrows in a manner that would make grown men cum on the spot.
"Drowning down my sorrows with liquor" Huskers deadpanned, not biting at that fruit angel was so provocatively dangling in front of them. A scoff from him was expected. what wasn't expected though, was that the scoff was more amused than offended.
"you remind me of someone. say, how do you feel about redemption?"
~
"And these are the cockroaches that won't stop breeding! and this is the wall with a record breaking repairs done to it, and here's Angies dildo collection and-"
"babe, we've talked about this, you don't have to show them everything" Vaggie said, patting charlies shoulder hoping to ease or at least slow down the excited vibrating of her dearly beloved.
"Right, right! Sorry!" Charlie was quick to snap out of it, offering a small kiss to the back of Vaggies palm as an appreciative thank you and returning her attention back to Husk.
Husk was very much overwhelmed. All the energy in the room was making their brain sort-circuit and start buffering. They felt like they were under a microscope and being prodded with electric wires and it was... strangely pleasant. "Uh... Yes hi?"
A very mischievous chuckle came from nearby, one very much at a higher pitch of frequency and- Wait, is that the radio demon?
"Pardon my intrusion, but what is that on your wrist?" Alastor the radio demon said, bending his slutty waist to lean down at Husks eye level. "I believe there's a strict 'no voxtek products' policy here. Did you not bother to read the sign?" Alastor pointed his cane over to the whiteboard, which read:
RULES:
no Voxtek
no Vox
Jambalaya every friday
One of those sexy tentacles reached out, unclipping and retrieving the watch. He held it up in the air in front of everyone to see.
A collective gasp echoed through the room as Vaggie swiftly retrieved her spear from behind her back, pointing it menacingly at Husk "Not another one of these idiots" Vaggie growled, now in her defensive position. Angie and Charlie both flew to husk's defense, meanwhile Husk remained frozen in place. This was how they double died wasn't it?
"It's okay guys, they just work at voxtek. They're okay, I would know. They're harmless" Angie used one set of arms to shield husk and the other to gesture for everyone to ease their guard. The tension did die down a little, but that was fine. The tension in the room slowly began to dissipate, but Angie knew that Charlie would soon work her magic and convince everyone to give Husk a chance, as per usual.
~
Bang! Bang! Bang!
"nun get out! I need to take a shit" dickmaster banged on the hotel's currently singular clean bathroom. The force of their knocking was definitely excessive and damaging to their hands, but it got the desperation of the request-no-demand across.
"you said to help answer asks, so I am doing that... in the toilet" Nun yelled through the door, not even bothering to look towards the door, currently blocking access to Dickmasters relief.
"I doubt that" Dickmaster crossed their arms, and legs. Their bladder was about to fucking explode. Just at that moment a ding went off on their phone.
'nunalastor just posted: anonymous asked...'.
huh.
guess they were actually answering asks in there.
"Okay fine but I still need to shit! Do your answering outside!"
"I'll get out after one more ask" Nun chuckled, knowing full well, they weren't about to stop the torment anytime soon.
"Your eyesight is piss poor. I doubt you can even read anything on your phone"
"You'll just have to wait and see~"
And of course, as any normal sane person would do in this situation, Dickmaster decided to start banging on the door until either nun had enough and left or until the door broke and they murdered nun themself.
"I bet your phone's font size is 230%-"
~
All that banging attracted the attention of Husk, who had been wandering around the room with Angie. They weren't walking together, but their paths were the same.
"What's that noise?"
"Oh that? That's just our marketing team doing their job"
"Sounds like fucking... Are they fucking?"
"HA, doubt it..." there was a pause, both in the speech and in the walk. "Maybe, sex sells afterall" Angie shrugged and continued walking forward.
"seems counterproductive for a place made for rehabilitation..."
Husk couldn't help but be curious. This hotel had turned out to be everything they hadn't expected from Hell. The residents were surprisingly pleasant, and even the staff, though weird as fuck, weren't as unbearable as the other sinners in Hell. Now that they thought about it, Charlie never mentioned a marketing staff. She seemed so excited to share about the hotel and it's people. One would think she wouldn't forget to mention them, right?
unable to resist the curiousity, Husk had to know who they were. They quietly sneaked towards the source of the banging. They rounded the corner and was met with an... Interesting visual. One demon, black eyes with yellow pupils desperately pounding on a door.
Dickmaster paused their relentless banging, a feeling of being watched washing over them. Their head snapped immediately in Husk's direction, locking eyes with them. Their expression displayed emotional as well as physical constipation.
Husk froze, their body stiffening like a board. Had they interrupted something? Should they make a break for it? The state of being caught in such an awkward situation was undeniably terrifying. With a rigid and awkward wave, Husk managed an awkward smile. And then they realised-
"Are you nunalastor? You look just like your profile picture"
FUCK, they're going to get accused of being a stalker.
#stopping the fic here because I am actually going insane#and yes#I got a bit lazy at the end#nunwhiskers#huskers bar x nunalastor#huskers-bar x nunalastor
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new fic time
you can read it below the cut here on tumblr or over on ao3
I'm Stuck in this Life, and I'm Stuck in these Pants
Rating:
Not Rated
Archive Warning:
Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Category:
Gen
Fandoms:
Batman - All Media Types
Justice League - All Media Types
Relationship:
Dick Grayson & Bruce Wayne
Characters:
Bruce Wayne
Dick Grayson
Clark Kent
Justice League (DCU)
Additional Tags:
Emotional Hurt/Comfort
its crack and hurt/comfort so have fun with that
enjoy the whiplash
no beta we die like jason todd
Dick Grayson Needs a Hug
Dick Grayson Gets a Hug
Dick Grayson joins the Justice League
Hurt Dick Grayson
Dick Grayson Has Eldest Daughter Syndrome
Probably ooc
Bruce Wayne is Trying to be a Good Dad
One Shot
Language: English
Summary:
"Do you want me to join the League?" The League would assume it was an open question, but Bruce knew it was directed at him. This moment was in complete contrast to years of conversations about protecting their identities and keeping their former partnership a secret. He needed to speak up.
"You are one of the best, you deserve the right to choose." He responded, consciously keeping his voice in Batman mode.
aka Dick get chosen to join the League but before he does he has to face his inner demons
Notes:
this started as a crack fic and became hurt/comfort so be aware, it's also the longest single chapter work i have every written at 6082 which is short for some people but me and my adhd tried
no beta reader obviously so any mistakes are there for good now. i did a sweep but again, it's tagged and i've warned you so no telling me i spelt something wrong or used the wrong version of there ok *points at you*
Bruce had been working with the Justice League for over a decade, taking solo heroes and turning them into a team. They knew each other's strengths and weaknesses and can bounce off of one another during combat. It took time but they truly were a single unit. He's proud of what they have accomplished.
The rest of the League weren't on the same page. Sure, they all worked well together, but then there's Batman. He kept to himself, was never on the watchtower when he wasn't needed, constantly avoided talking about himself, and looked like he hated being with them. After years of working together, everyone had revealed their identities, some by choice, some accidental. Everyone but Batman. No one in the League knew who he was. They knew very little about him, other than that he's completely human (probably) and that he's from gotham. He doesn't even let them in his city, with strict rules about them working there. something about "human rogues" and "dangerous for supers". They disagreed with the rule, but without explicit permission from him, they couldn't enter. And no one was about to argue with him.
The time had come to propose new members for the League. Everyone was allowed to submit up to one person to join, and unless there were any serious objections, they would put it to a vote and the person with the most votes would join the League, provided they wanted to of course. But no one had ever turned down their offer before, who would refuse to join the Justice League?
The majority of the League didn't put anyone forward. Barry had suggested Wally, not as a new member but as his replacement given he was looking to retire from the hero game, and given that Wally had left the Titans recently, was available. Batman had said that would be discussed separately at a second meeting as replacements were a different conversation. No one had spoken otherwise, until the nominations got around to Superman.
"I do have a nomination this year. I've worked with this person a lot and I believe they would be an excellent addition to the League. They have been in the game for almost 10 years and protect an entire city on their own. He truly is one of the best."
A chill went down his spine and Bruce suppressed a shudder. That could apply to multiple people, a lot of heroes have been around for a while. But very few were responsible for a city, and there was only one person he knew that was close with Superman.
“I nominate Nightwing for the League."
Honestly, he was surprised it took this long for Dick to get nominated. He was one of the most capable heroes out there, having worked alongside the League before as both an independent hero and as the leader of the Titans. He worked well with others, as Bruce would know given he was Robin for a decade. He trusted no one more in the world. Batman fought well with the League, but he was constantly thinking about how to work with their moves. watching himself and others, predicting what they would do so he could make sure he wasn't interfered with. But with Nightwing he could just fight. They knew exactly how the other would move, and on instinct could follow through. He knew they would both protect each other.
"...Batman?" Superman broke him out of thought
"Hn"
"Do you object?"
Having him on the team would mean he wasn't alone. He had someone there that immediately understood his plan and was much better at communicating with the others. He would be a bridge, a bridge that provided support for everyone. Bruce would also have an excuse to work with him more. He did sometimes miss the conversations they would have in the field, the snarky jabs at rouges, the smile on his face whenever he managed to make Bruce laugh.
But having Dick on the team put them at risk. It wouldn't be too hard for the League to figure out that they knew each other. They could dig and find a connection to Gotham and then to everyone else. Maybe something he'd say would cause a memory to resurface for one of them, a memory of Batman during the time when Dick wore the cowl, and they could see that Nightwing happened to disappear during that time. It was too risky.
He opened his mouth to object, but no sound came out. Dick had taught him a lot, one of which was to trust him. Dick was his own hero now, and he could weigh up the decision. He deserved the chance.
"No."
"Ok then, as no one else was nominated, that negates voting. Batman, could you give him watchtower access and request him?"
Trying to figure out how he could manage this, he got up and moved over to the console on the side. Dick had watchtower access, they all did, but he went through the process of giving it anyway, all it did was throw you a message saying they already had it, which Bruce dismissed. That was the easy part. bracing himself, he tuned into the comms.
"Oracle."
"What's up batman?" Babs always cloaked her voice, even on the bat exclusive channels, but he could still make out her speech pattern and a sliver of her accent.
"I need you to relay to Nightwing that he is requested in the watchtower."
"Y- yeah." The surprise wasn't hidden at all. "Everything ok? Do you need me to send it to anyone else?"
"No."
"Right, I'll let him know." Static on the line told Bruce that Dick was in the same room and they were discussing it. He was in Gotham that night, helping out while Bruce was with the League, and must have stopped into the watchtower. "Yeah, ok, he's on his way now."
Bruce hung up. He felt bad not thanking her but he had an image to uphold. The League all thought oracle was an AI program, and it would be weird. Not for someone like Clark, who would thank automatic doors half the time. But Batman? People would be worried.
He'd barely made it back to the table when the zeta-tube whirred to life.
"Entering, Nightwing, B-01"
"Wait, hold up, there's a B?"
"I know he isn't Titan anymore but weren't they T?"
"That was really fast, like he was expecting it..."
Bruce tuned them out and turned to face his former partner, now only a few feet away.
"So... why exactly was I requested?"
Complete confidence in his voice. If Bruce didn't know him, he would assume he was comfortable. But he could see the minor tension held in his chest, the way he rubbed his thumb along the side of his index finger, how his footsteps were almost silent to not disturb. Dick was confused, curious, and concerned.
Superman stood up. "We held nominations for a new member, and your name was put forward. We deliberated and would like to extend an invitation to join the League."
Dick stood there. He was completely still and looked in shock, and was staring directly at Bruce. They could see each other's eyes behind their dominoes thanks to the lenses in them, so he could see Dicks locked onto him, narrowed as if to ask 'what the hell is going on?'. If he hadn't opened his mouth, Bruce would've walked over to check on him.
"Do you want me to join the League?" The League would assume it was an open question, but Bruce knew it was directed at him. This moment was in complete contrast to years of conversations about protecting their identities and keeping their former partnership a secret. He needed to speak up.
"You are one of the best, you deserve the right to choose." He responded, consciously keeping his voice in Batman mode.
He was so proud of what Dick had become. He'd outgrown Robin, had gone far beyond what Batman could be, and had truly become the best. No matter how much he tries, it's hard to keep the affection he had out of his tone.
Dick noticed, and softened his posture. He started towards him and Bruce felt the League tense behind him. Normally he wouldn't allow anyone that close without reason, yet to them, here he was, letting this almost stranger into his personal space. Ignoring them, his eyes remained locked onto Dick until he was alongside him, forcing Bruce to turn around and face the League.
Every set of eyes was on him as Nightwing clapped him on the shoulder. The last person who'd tried anything like that had ended up with a batarang in their hand. Batman wasn't a people person and that was to be respected. The rest of the League tensed, prepared for bloodshed that would never come.
"Well, if Big Batsy over here gave me the stamp of approval, I would be insane to reject it immediately, although I am going to need some time to consider."
The majority of the room looked shell shocked as Bruce took his seat and Dick shuffled to stand behind him, resting his arms on Bruce's shoulders.
"I mean, this is a very big decision and I would at least like to discuss it with my team."
Flash spoke up. "But I thought you left the Titans? Wally said it was something about trust issues."
Dick snorted.
"Wally’s right, the endless debates about identities and how valuable they can be started to get on my nerves. If you must know, we disagreed on if I can be truly trusted without revealing my identity, so I chose to leave, along with Wally and Donna. With B over here, I assume you don't share their sentiments." He tugged on the bat ears as he spoke, a gesture he'd been doing since he was Robin, and something they both found comfort in.
The League was still in shock over how Batman was letting someone be near him, let alone play with his cowl. Bruce should've stopped him, kept up the act, but he was tired and he was happy Dick was this comfortable around him, after all the time they spent at a distance.
He sensed the rouse of working alone was coming to an end
Dick was having too much fun.
Sure, he was honoured for the invite, but messing with Bruce in front of the League was an opportunity he couldn't pass up. Of course, he wouldn't jeopardise their identities, but just getting to poke the bear would bring him so much joy. Making the Justice League lose their minds watching this random hero from Blüdhaven get close and personal with Batman and walking away unscathed was the highlight of the year, and it was clear Bruce was also enjoying it.
Well, he was tolerating it, which meant he found comfort in it and didn't growl at him.
He'd take it, after all the years they spent at each other's throats. Dick's later teenage years as both Robin and Nightwing hadn't been the most pleasant. He was a teenaged boy who'd spent every day at school and then came home to be ordered around. He needed his freedom and he'd gotten it, albeit by less than peaceful means. But after he came to terms with being fired, and had recovered from Jason's death, he'd started mending their relationship, and now they were closer than they'd ever been. So he was absolutely going to stand too close to Batman and put the League on edge.
It was even funnier given he'd met most of them before, back when he was Batman. Not that they'd know it, he made an excellent brooding, works alone, Dark Knight Batman. Even as he actively worked with Damian, Tim, Steph, and Babs. But he'd kept up the mythos, kept everything in the dark, and had seamlessly given the mantle back to Bruce once he was ready. As far as the League was concerned, he'd never been here before and was no different than the other ex-Titans.
At least, he hoped that. A hope that was crushed when Hal Jordan opened his mouth.
"Ok, but explain why you have the code B-01 for the zeta tube? The Titans were under T, and as far as I am aware, no one was under B."
This is where the real fun begins.
"Yeah, I've asked B the same thing, but he said it was due to clearance issues, that T had restrictions and I needed to be separate from that. I'm honestly surprised he didn't just throw me in with you guys, make me like 3-6 or something, but he's paranoid and didn't want to risk anyone finding it so..."
This seemed to confuse him more.
"What kind of clearance?"
Dick walked around the side to lean against Bruce, folding his arms and crossing his right leg behind his left.
"Oh, y'know, being able to use the Gotham tubes."
He feigned innocence, knowing the storm that would erupt from those few words. And indeed it did, as shouts echoed around the room in disbelief that someone other than Batman can enter Gotham.
After a few minutes of this, Dick saw something click in Superman's head. Dick had worked with Clark a lot, and had been inspired to take the name Nightwing from him. Clark was the only member of the League that knew Batman had a Robin, although he'd never personally met anyone besides Dick and probably assumed Batman worked alone now. He also knew Clark hadn't pieced together that Nightwing was that Robin, which was surprising given he took his name from a Kryptonian myth that Clark had told him once. But we see what we want to see and as far as everyone was concerned up until this moment, Batman and Nightwing didn't know each other.
But Clark had seen it. He'd seen Robin tug on Batman's cowl. He'd seen how Robin was the only one Batman allowed to get near him. He'd seen Robin's eyes light up telling him the story of Nightwing and Flamebird. Nightwing was Robin. An older, stronger, all-round better fighter and strategist, but still the same little shit he'd always been. The Man of Steel had finally figured it out.
"Robin?"
Silence fell and everyone turned to face Superman.
"Who?" Barry tilted his head like a dog, a move that almost caused Dick to snort at.
"You know, Robin. Batman and Robin? He used to have a 12 year old kid dressed like a traffic light follow him around everywhere..?"
Nothing.
"Wait, did no one else meet Robin?" all eyes remained locked onto him.
Breaking the silence, Diana, who had been quietly watching this unfold, made her way over and stood next to Batman with tension throughout her body.
"Batman-"
"Hold up, Nightwing still hasn't explained anything, like how he can enter Gotham, and who is this team he has if he isn't a Titan anymore?"
Dick unfolded his arms and placed his hand on Bruce’s shoulder. He gave a subtle squeeze, asking if he could explain. After a second, Bruce shrugged, the signal for yes.
"When I was 9, B took me in and trained me. He taught me how to fight, but he also showed me how to be a detective. Once he knew I could handle myself and be an asset, he let me go out with him. I chose the name Robin and to wear bright colours. We worked together for a decade before I outgrew being his sidekick and became Nightwing, operating solo in Blüdhaven or with the Titans."
"I thought Robin died..." Superman looked straight at Dick, locking eyes with him as if his mask wasn’t there.
This startled the two of them. Maybe Clark knew more than they thought. Bruce shifted under his hand, letting him know he was there. This was still a tough subject for them both, given how their current standing with Jason was.
“Well, I’m clearly not dead so… Don’t know what to tell you, Supes.”
Clark furrowed his brows and looked down. The journalist was clearly unsatisfied with that response yet chose to let it go. The rest of the League shuffled around, obviously uncomfortable with the latest development. Dick took that as his cue.
“Welp, with that revelation I shall leave and ponder your offer. Good morrow fair Justice League.” Tipping his head into an incredibly dramatic bow and sweeping his arms out, he turned on his heel and headed for the Zeta Tube. He’d had his fun but the mention of Jason had brought him back to reality and he wanted to leave. A nice, long, warm shower awaited him at home.
Pondering was hard. Dick discovered this as he sat in his shower, the water falling on his face. After making his way back to his apartment in Blüdhaven, he’d climbed out of his suit and straight into the shower as his thoughts finally hit him.
Holy shit, he’d been invited to join the League.
He knew he’d been a vigilante for longer than most of the members, save for Batman, Superman, and Captain Marvel. But that still didn’t diminish that fact he was chosen to join THE superhero team.
Dick loved being on a team. He was a leader by nature but he also liked bouncing ideas between people. He knew he wouldn’t be in a leadership position but he wouldn’t be seen as less. He would be an equal and that was all he needed. Besides, he would be working with Bruce, someone that knew his abilities and just how useful he could be.
“Oh. Ok, that need for approval will be promptly filed away in the ‘things to bring up in therapy’ folder,” he mumbled to himself. He’d been working on his people pleasing tendencies and desperate need to prove himself and be more, yet clearly not enough. Wally called it his ‘eldest daughter syndrome’ and he couldn’t really disagree. He did put the weight of the world on his shoulders sometimes. But this was why he needed a team, people who he could rely on when needed. People who could help remove some of that weight. People he could trust. The trust issues that came with being a bat never really go away, huh.
He stood up, turning the shower off, and wrapped himself in a towel. There was no point in thinking about it any further. His answer was obvious. He opened the bathroom door and made his way into the main room, where Batman was waiting for him.
“You are so lucky I put a towel on.”
Bruce grunted. Dick rolled his eyes in response.
“Seriously, I could’ve walked out with nothing on and that would have been traumatising to both of us. Imagine me having to explain to everyone why you can’t look at me, how embarrassing that would be.”
“Hn. I came to congratulate you.” Dick couldn’t stop the smile that crept onto his lips at that.
“Thanks B. I'm still a little shocked if I’m being honest. I know I’m not an unknown vigilante, but not only being noticed, but getting nominated and accepted is a big deal.”
Bruce stepped closer, pulling his cowl down and placing his hand on Dick’s shoulder. Dick looked down at the ground, sheepish in the face of actual affection.
“Dick, you have been doing this for longer than almost everyone. You’ve helped save the world countless times and been a beacon of light and hope. Not only to the rest of the world but to me too.”
His head snapped up and he met Bruce’s eyes. After a second it was Bruce that looked down at the floor.
“I know I haven’t always been the best, firing you and acting the way I did after Jason… But you have made me proud, Dick, never forget that.”
Almost without thinking, Dick wrapped his arms around Bruce. Since he’d become Nightwing, they hadn’t been very affectionate with each other. They never really were but when he lived at the manor, when he was Robin, he would find comfort in Bruce’s arms after a bad night on patrol or after he woke from a nightmare. This was one of the few moments of vulnerability they shared and Dick knew to let himself fall into it. He felt pressure on his back, and he was enveloped in the embrace. He didn’t want to let go but knew Bruce wouldn’t if he kept hold. He almost didn’t, wanting to keep this moment going, but Batman had important work to do tonight. Gotham wouldn’t stay quiet for long.
As if the powers of the universe were listening, beeping echoed from the cowl and the two separated. Bruce grabbed the comm and listened to whatever was going down, before turning to Dick.
“Don’t feel like you must rush this. I trust your judgement and know whatever you decide will be the right choice.” He moved back towards Dick before hesitating. Dick wasn’t sure what he wanted, but after a few seconds, he found his hair being ruffled. Just like when he was Robin.
The pressure left and with a breeze, Batman was gone. Dick debated throwing his suit on and going to help, but he’d had a long day and needed the sleep. He would catch up with Bruce in the morning, after filing ‘Wanting the feelings he had as Robin’ to his therapy list.
“Has he decided yet?”
Bruce was glad his eyes were covered, otherwise the Flash would’ve seen a very un-Batman-like eyeroll. Wally was settling into the team well after Barry departed a few days prior, but he was clearly impatiently waiting for his best friend to arrive. That is, if Dick chose to join the team at all. It had been a week with no hint of a choice. Bruce didn’t want to push him, this was a big decision, but he also wanted to get the rest of the League to stop asking him. It was as if they were children, poking him and asking ‘are we there yet?’
“He has not, and I will not push him for a response.”
“But he said he would think about it, surely a week is long enough.” Wally paced back and forth as if he was trying to solve a complex math problem.
“I am aware of that, but it is a big decision.”
“UGH I’m gonna call him, see if I can get him to choose.” He sped over to the tubes, punching in the coordinates for what Bruce assumed was Central City.
“Recognised, Flash, 0-7.”
“Stupid tower and it’s lack of phone signal. How hard is it to install cell service up here…” His voice fading away as he travelled off the tower, finally giving Bruce room to breathe.
It was his turn for monitor duty, which he was supposed to do with Green Arrow, but had let Oliver off for the night, due to a gala he needed to attend. He himself was supposed to be there but unfortunately Bruce Wayne had come down with a nasty case of the flu and so wouldn’t be attending. The was partly true, Bruce had caught the flu and was suffering because of it, but no one would notice if Batman was quieter than usual.
The silence he was enjoying was promptly broken by the Zeta Tube announcing the arrival of Clark.
“Entering, Superman, 0-1”
“Hey Batman, how’s the case going?”
“Hn.”
“Good good. Don’t worry, I’m just here to pick up something before heading back to work. You’ll be left to your silence again soon.”
Bruce turned back to his files as Clark moved around the Watchtower. Of course, he wasn’t working on the file, but rather keeping track of where Clark was in the room. He was awful at keeping his emotions off his face, and Bruce knew he wanted something. No doubt it was Zeta access to Gotham for the night. Clark was covering the gala for the Planet and even with his speed, it would be quicker to go straight there instead of via Metropolis. He knew Clark was getting closer to him as he moved around, and finally, when he gathered the courage to stand right behind Bruce, did he turn around to face him.
“What do you want, Kal?”
“Well, I wanted to ask if I could have access to the Gotham tubes, just for tonight while I’m working there.”
“You can just fly across the bay from Metropolis.”
“I- Yes I can but I would rather no one know Superman was around Gotham, and I believe you do too.”
Bruce sighed, his patented ‘Tired Dad Batman’ sigh as Dick labelled it after he managed to elicit the sigh on many occasions. Clark was right, he definitely didn’t want anyone thinking Superman was operating in Gotham on a night where Batman wasn’t. It would send the wrong impression and risk the exposure of the other Bats.
“Hn. Fine. You can have one time access to the Tube nearest the Museum.” Bruce got up and made his way to the console.
“Oh, wow, err, thanks.” Clark stammered out as he followed. He started to put in the access code and was almost done when the tube roared into life, the screen showing the connection coming from the Batcave. Both men turned to face the tube as a human outline started to appear. Bruce let a small smile creep onto his face as the announcement was made.
“Entering, Nightwing, 3-6.”
Dick stepped through onto the Watchtower and was immediately greeted by Bruce and Clark. He threw his iconic grin onto his face and threw his arms out
“Whoops, didn’t realise you guys were using the tube. Sorry about that.”
Clark tilted his head slightly, as Barry had when he’d been invited. Guess it was a midwestern thing. Bruce, however, just turned back to the console as he spoke.
“I see you had Oracle reassign you.”
“I figured you were busy.”
“Yes.”
Dick snorted and made his way past Clark, who followed him with his eyes.
“Wait, Nightwing?”
“Yeah?”
“Why are you number 3-6? We don’t have that many members so you should be a lower designation.”
Dick kept the smile on his face.
“Inside joke, and when Oracle is the one giving me access, I couldn’t not ask.”
Clark looked as if he wanted to pry deeper, but that was cut off by Bruce.
“Superman, you will arrive about three blocks from the museum. I assume you can find your way from there.”
Clark turned back to the tube and nodded.
“Recognised, Superman, 0-1.”
Then he was gone.
Dick turned to Bruce, and was met with a smile.
“Wally just left. He went to call you.”
“Oh, well I guess I’ll just call him back later. I didn’t come to see him.” Dick shrugged.
“Did you need something, or did you just want to test your new designation?”
“Ha, both. But I knew you were up here and working on the Fear Toxin case and came to offer help. That and tell you my decision. I figured it was pretty obvious I would accept.”
“I wasn’t so sure.” Dick frowned at Bruce. “You’ve just left your team, one you lead, to join one with people that don’t exactly trust you.”
“Hey, they don’t trust you either. Now there’s two of us.” Dick tried to deflect but after almost 20 years, Bruce knew to ignore this.
“I was unsure if you’d want to join a team so soon, let alone one where people already are weary of you. My reputation is something I’ve built but now people know you and I have been working together for a long time. The tension has been higher in the past week. I’m yet to be called out, though I suspect people will attempt to gather information from you on the incorrect assumption that would be easier. I wanted to leave the decision to you, but was tempted to inform you of how it has been in case that would change your mind. I don’t regret offering you a place on the team. If I’m being transparent, I would enjoy having you here, someone I can trust without any hesitation. But I want you to make sure it’s right.”
Dick inhaled sharply. Bruce had thought about this, and was actually being open with him. Since their meeting in his apartment, Dick had thought about it a lot. He’d jumped between joining and not, missing being part of a team but worried about how it would affect him and Bruce. When Wally had told him he’d be replacing Barry as the Flash, including joining the League, Dick had the only serious doubt about it. Not because he didn’t want to be on a team with Wally, he was his best friend. He just didn’t want it becoming another Titans debacle, where he was incredibly close to Wally and Donna, but everyone else questioned him because he hadn’t revealed his identity.
That hurt. Being a bat meant wearing a mask and protecting your identity for the sake of everyone else. If even one of them was unmasked, it wouldn’t be too hard to figure out the rest. So he never did. He couldn’t risk any of them. He couldn’t risk his family. And in protecting one, he lost another. The Titans slowly withdrew from him, getting more and more combative, and it resulted in a disaster of a mission.
What should’ve been a simple rescue after an earthquake ended up with Dick having to call in Superman to help. His plan had been solid but everyone other than Donna and Wally had abandoned it in a sort of coup. What they hadn’t planned, however, was exactly how the building they were operating around would collapse. Dick had studied the building’s structural integrity using blueprints and footage of the earthquake, and had constructed his plan to evacuate at the right speed and in the right order to minimise extra strain on the weakened foundations. This required to start from the central part of each floor and work outwards, maintaining the balance of the building. This ensured it wouldn’t crumble under the weight down one side. He’d been in the process of explaining this when the team had run off and started rescuing whoever they could access first, which altered the building’s centre of gravity as they shifted piles of rubble, and caused a complete collapse.
Dick had called Clark immediately, a vulnerable moment where he’d screamed for Superman out of pure fear, who’d helped in recovering the bodies of those that didn’t make it, and after arriving back at Titans Tower, Dick had packed up his stuff and left. He’d dropped his bag at his apartment before going out on his bike. He hadn’t paid attention to where he was driving and the next thing he knew, he was outside the gates to the Manor. Driven there on instinct. He hadn’t gone in, just sat outside for longer than he should’ve, before driving back to Blüdhaven and beating the shit out of some corrupt cops, something that was incredibly cathartic. But part of him regretted not going up to the door and asking if he could stay a while. He missed having people around, and being alone in his apartment didn’t help with his thoughts. He knew it wasn’t his fault the team didn’t listen to him. He did everything he could. But people had died on his watch, and he’d called for help instead of handling it by himself. He was a leader and he’d let everybody down.
A cough brought him back and he looked up to see Bruce had made his way over and placed his hand on Dicks shoulder. He’d missed it during his spiral, and Bruce had noticed. He could see his eyes through the cowl, new lenses that polarised for each other but no one else, and they were full of concern. Dick hadn’t spiralled like that in front of Bruce for a while and it was clear he was worried.
“I- I’m just thinking about the last mission I had with the Titans. Maybe it was time for me to leave leading behind me.”
“Dick,” Bruce brushed the hair that had fallen onto his face behind his ear. “We can’t always win. Sometimes we try our hardest and we lose. But we have to move on. I know this is hypocritical coming from me, but that’s why we have each other. Me, you, Robin, the Batgirls, everyone else. I know how much it hurts, I know the pain and anger and fear you feel inside. I felt it when you got shot, I felt it when Jason died, and I feel it every time one of you gets injured. But we are there to support each other and keep ourselves from getting lost in that pain. You taught me that. So I’m here to support you, and anyone else here will say the same thing.”
He coughed back his tears. Bruce knew what he was doing but made no move to get closer. That would be on Dicks terms.
“I want to be in the League, but I’m scared of messing up again.”
“You didn’t mess up. Clark told me what happened, how your team ignored your plan and acted in a way that caused the collapse. You then called for help when you knew you couldn’t do anything more. That’s why we are here, to help when needed.” Bruce sighed, but this time it wasn’t out of annoyance for Dick, but annoyance for myself. “I know I trained you to be the best. I know you put so much pressure on yourself to save everyone. To be there for everyone. And I know that is my fault. But you are not capable of saving everyone. No one is. Not me, not Wonder Woman, and not even Superman. That’s why the League has so many members with different strengths. Our strengths fill holes in others weaknesses. You would do that. You’re a natural leader who sees the best in everyone. You have an ability to light up the space and make people feel comfortable. You are one of the smartest people on the planet and could take over the world if you tried. Which, please don’t try to take over the world.”
Dick let out a sob as he laughed.
“I don’t plan on it yet, but if I do I’ll make sure to give you a few minutes' notice before I begin.”
Both men let themselves be vulnerable for a minute, holding each other and laughing. If the other Leaguers had been there, they would’ve lost it at the sight of Batman acting like… a person. The League probably believe all the rumours that Batman is a local cryptid, or maybe they prefer the vampire story. He’ll be able to find out, probably from people asking him about it.
Dick pulled himself back from Bruce and looked back up at him. They’d both been crying, but they both needed it. They’d both learned to be vulnerable sometimes, even if progress was slow. Bruce put his hand back onto Dicks shoulder, steadying himself. They moved apart and he straightened himself out.
“I’ll be okay, B. Besides, the moment someone else walks into the room, I’ll be all happy again.”
“Dick.” Bruce tried to grumble but he could hear the compassion that lay underneath.
“Ugh, fine, I will deal with it, Mr Hypocritical.”
Bruce smiled at that, knowing how this discussion would go if it continued. Dick knew it too, and soon they were standing next to each other, staring out the window at Earth.
He bumped Bruce, who bumped him back. It felt so calm, the two of them together. Not as Batman and Robin, but as Bruce and Dick. Father figure and first son. Two decades of fighting together, training together, learning together. He was going to have a lot of fun working with him again, this time as individuals.
But more than that, he was looking forward to playing the League. He was ready to ruin them, to make them doubt themselves. He wanted to see how far he could go before Batman would step in, and knowing Bruce, it would be pretty far.
He was going to be ok.
Notes:
i hope you didn't hate that, it was a brain worm that bounced around in my head for weeks and i'm glad i was finally able to get it out
oh, and the inside joke is that 3-6 is the date dick debuted in the comics, March 6th 1940, so for the non-us americans it would be 6-3 but they are american so...
the title is a lyric from inertia by ajr, which i listened to whilst writing this (specifically the acoustic version)
it's so good and can be found on youtube or spotify
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