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jaylver · 8 months

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GOLDEN HOUR — S.JY

synopsis: a lovesick jake wasn’t going to stop himself from being impulsive and say those three words that he has been saving for another time. seeing you during the golden hour, sun beaming on your skin, looking ever so perfect, he couldn’t hold himself back. how could you blame the poor guy anyway?

pairings: non-idol!jake x afab!reader

genre: undertone of friends to lovers, fluff, cheesy confessions, romance

warning(s): profanities

wc: 889

a/n: a little self indulgent fic hehe. hope you'll enjoy this! please leave some feedbacks and reblogs are greatly appreciated! muah <3

Jake was in love.

It wasn’t those typical teen romances where people dated just for the sake of experience, no, it was something more than that. A connection deep enough to etch into the skins of one another, pulling you to him and him to you, there was an undying spark that continuously lingered without extinguishing.

Jake was the embodiment of love. He was love itself.

It was one of those days where it was only you and him, alone in his car right after he had picked you up and drove you home. But instead of leaving right away, the car was parked a few blocks down from yours, Frank Ocean’s ‘Blonde’ playing on shuffle in the background. The sky was a hue of pink and orange, telling you that it was time to head home, yet you weren’t willing to.

“Thanks for driving me home … again,” you laughed, feeling slightly embarrassed for having inconvenienced Jake, but he was thinking the complete opposite of being inconvenienced.

“It’s no problem,” Jake smiled, and no matter how hard he tried, he was still nervous around you. Maybe because he was dying to profess his love for you, confess and get you to be his, but he was holding himself back. “It’s along the way back to my house anyway,” it wasn’t.

Jake could already imagine the missed calls from his mother, text messages asking about his whereabouts, making it a routine for him to be home a little later than usual.

“Still, I feel bad sometimes,” you shrugged out of earnest. “But I’m really grateful, though,”

“I want to do this, Y/N, don’t feel bad,” his hold on the steering wheel tightened, watching the sun hitting your skin, making it almost glitter-like. You were the most beautiful person he has ever seen.

You nodded, biting on your lips thoughtfully. “I don’t really want to leave,”

Jake swore he felt his heart stop and revive, then proceeding to beat at ten times speed. The effect of your words surely made him light headed. “Then don’t,” he joked lightly, highkey dying internally. “‘Blonde’s’ still playing! Plus, ivy is next, isn’t it your favourite song?”

“You remembered!”

Of course he did. He remembered everything about you like second nature.

“It's nothing,” he laughed, waving you off, but internally feeling giddy when he saw your beaming face. You were so, so pretty.

“It is something to me,” you said softly and truthfully, staring into those puppy eyes of his.

“I like you,” Jake blurted out, as if the words were poured out before it even went through his mind. He did not expect himself to do this at all. Fuck.

Your wide eyes and gaped mouth only made him anxious, short silence filling the space between you two. Say something! Say something!

“I like you too, Jake,”

There it was.

“W–what?”

“Hm?” you tilted your head, looking back at Jake’s shock expression. “Did you expect a rejection instead?”

“Well—kinda—no—uh—” he was stuttering. The famous charmer Jake Sim was actually stuttering and losing his composure.

“I like you, very very much,” you said it again, each time making Jake’s heart flutter insanely.

“God, Y/N, you’re—” he exhaled, in disbelief that he had bagged his crush, “—everything, absolutely everything to me,”

Jake reached over for you and pulled you into his arms, squeezing you tight. The moment he let go, his eyes wouldn’t leave your face. He was taking every part of you in, gaze wandering every inch of your features as if he was memorising them.

“I—uhm—should leave, shouldn’t I?” you broke the momentary silence, noticing the time gradually slipping by. “As much as I want to stay, I don’t think my mum would approve,”

“O–oh, yeah! Sorry, I forgot,” he scratched the back of his neck awkwardly, managing a lopsided smile for you.

“It’s okay. Text me when you reach home safely, will you?”

“I will,” he squeezed your hand in reassurance. “You should get going now,”

“I probably should,” you nodded, holding onto your things tightly. “Bye, Jakey,”

“Bye,” he breathed out, staring at you with so much love that no one else could amount to. But then, he remembered something.

“Hey—” he went to stop you before you could exit his car, “so, summer’s coming up and I was wondering if you’d like to go somewhere with me,”

“Something like a date?”

“Very much so,”

“I’d love to,”

“Cool,”

“Cool,” you repeated, snickering a little at Jake’s reddening ears. “Make sure to tell me about your plans. Bye!” you snuck a quick peck on his cheek before exiting the car and slamming the door shut, turning around to wave him goodbye before disappearing behind your front door, all while the only thing Jake could do was stay in shock.

His fingers lingered on the spot your lips had made contact with, giddiness welled up in Jake’s stomach, butterflies swarming and heart going crazy. You just had that effect on him, always, undoubtedly.

It was just two lovers, sitting in the car, listening to ‘Blonde’ and falling for each other. Tension finally broken and true feelings revealed, Jake could die a happy man right there and then. You were his golden hour, his radiant beam in the night, the love of his life, and he wouldn’t trade anything for it.

☆ permanent taglist (open):

@silentkarnival @strvlveera @freshsaladbowl @bejewelledgirl @fakeuwus @yenqa @hsgwrld @ilovegyuvin @enhacatalog

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witchy-scribblings · 10 months

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for good

shinazugawa sanemi x reader

synopsis ➳ his plan had been perfect: push everyone away to escape the responsibility of death when it inevitably happened. it had been perfectly crafted to protect himself and the people who surrounded him... the only problem with this plan is that you vehemently refused to stick to it.

warnings ➳ angst with a happy ending, hurt/comfort, mean sanemi, lots of swearing, lowercase

wordcount ➳ 3.5k

[crossposted on ao3]

requested by @generic-teez-127

“thank you for helping out with the shopping today.” sanemi’s voice called for your attention to stray from the dusty path extending ahead of you. the street was bustling with people, as it was to be expected at midday, but your friend’s voice reached you firm and clear. you smiled.

“it’s nothing. it’s the least i can do since i stay over so often,” you giggle. “i might as well just move into your house at this point.”

you had known sanemi and his family for almost as long as you could remember, but it wasn’t until after his father’s recent death that your visits to the shinazugawa household began to increase in number. the eldest son would have been surprised if he didn’t already know you like he did after all those years of budding friendship in the streets. he was aware of the distant relationship you held with your parents as much as he knew that you loved his mom and little siblings like they were your own.

“that could work…” he acquiesced, and you turned to stare at him, perplexed. “i mean, we could use as many available hands as we can get now that he …” he trailed off, huffing. “it’s going to be hard from now on. but everyone back home loves you, really. mom is always asking if you’re planning to stay for dinner to make more food, or overnight so she can take out an extra futon. genya hasn’t stopped talking about you since you stayed that time to help with his fever while mom and i were busy.” the fond smile on his face was impossible to miss.

“i… i was joking, nemi. i really wouldn’t want to impose-”

“i want to have you over more often.” he spoke, quietly. “i want you with us- me , for good.” those statements, along with the faint blush on his cheeks, were enough to dissipate any further reservations you may have had.

“okay,” you beamed at him, delighted by his own blinding smile. “i will stay with you. for good.”

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

the ubuyashiki estate was deadly quiet. at least, you couldn’t hear anything outside of the guest room, no rushing servants, nor chatter between the manor’s residents. it almost felt sacrilegious to break the silence by starting a conversation with genya, who was sitting right in front of you, just as silent and tense as you felt.

“we can just leave, genya. we don’t have to wait for master himejima here…”

today had been the day assigned for one of the semiannual pillar meetings, as well as the first one held since you became the rock pillar’s tsuguko. himejima had been kind enough to take you in as his successor while also offering to train genya, your childhood friend, despite his inability to perform a breathing style. you had known genya long enough to guess when anxiety was eating him alive; his stiff shoulders, unfocused gaze and pinched lips were more than obvious tells. he didn’t answer, but you knew he had heard you, so you took that as a sign to continue.

“are you sure you’re ready to see him?” you, personally, didn’t think he was. and, frankly, neither were you. genya finally looked up at you, and he appeared absolutely offended by your question.

“i am ready,” he protested, determined. “everything i’ve done up until now has been so i could face sanemi again. there’s no way i’m chickening out now.” and then, he wavered, and you knew he wouldn’t have shared his next words with anyone who wasn’t you: “but i admit… i’m scared. i called him some really messed up shit that day.”

you hated that he kept blaming himself for that.

“you didn’t know,” you reminded him, gently. “you couldn’t have known, genya.” but he remained quiet, and you were left with a sour and tight feeling in the back of your mouth; you knew he would never stop beating himself up for the way he accused his brother of such a heinous crime, all those years back.

shinazugawa sanemi certainly hadn’t deserved being called a murderer, but it wasn’t genya’s fault that grief and ignorance had clouded his judgment. you wished he’d understand.

“...what if he doesn’t forgive me?” he spoke after another extended period of heavy silence. this time, words failed you. the sanemi you knew would have never held it against his beloved brother, but neither would he have run away without a word, leaving you to pick up the broken pieces that remained of his one living brother and yourself.

you weren’t sure you knew sanemi anymore. you couldn’t assure genya that the man he was about to face again, for the first time in years, was still the brother he once looked up to.

“if he doesn’t forgive you…” you take a deep breath, reaching out for genya’s hands, petting them gently until he released their harsh grip on the legs of his pants, “...i’ll still be right by you, genya.” you offer what you hope comes across as a comforting smile. “we’re together in this.”

you’re relieved when genya finally cracks a smile. it’s small and uncertain, but a smile nonetheless.

“we’re together in this.”

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

all things considered, it was a beautiful day despite the cloud of dread looming close by wherever you went. the sky was blue and the air, crisp. ubuyashiki’s garden was stunning as it was impressive, and you wondered if you would one day have seen it enough to take its beauty for granted.

the meeting had come and gone without a hitch, and you now found yourself next to genya, waiting for the rock pillar to appear and whisk you back to your training duties. deep down, you wished you wouldn’t see sanemi before being forced to left; perhaps it’d be for the best to simply walk different paths, but you knew that your roads were headed in the same direction, that confrontation would eventually be inevitable.

so inevitable that it was immediate.

the wind pillar had been the first one to excuse himself with the adjournment of the meeting, or so you assumed, because so far he was the only one on his way to leave the impressive building, walking in a confident stride towards the entrance of the estate; a confident stride that faltered to a gradual stop the moment you came into view, with genya standing stiffly by your side.

you could see the younger brother open his mouth to speak from the corner of your eye, but speech failed him and no one said a word for what felt like minutes, but couldn’t have been more than a few seconds.

“is this some kind of twisted joke?” breathed sanemi, eyes wide and crazed, while he kicked himself into action and closed the distance in a scarily small amount of steps. you noticed how he seemed unable to decide who to focus all of simmering wrath on, until his eyes descended on you. “what the fuck do you think you’re doing here? why are you wearing that? ”

unlike genya, who wasn’t yet deemed ready to partake in final selection, you were already an official demon slayer, a tsuchinoto and a tsuguko, and as such you were donning the slayer uniform you had been provided.

“we’re demon slayers, sanemi.” you didn’t let your voice waver, no matter how much the stranger in front of you radiated intimidation through each of his pores. staring firmly into his eyes, you were unable to miss the irritated twitch of an eyelid. “just like you.”

“bullshit,” he spat, and you fought the urge to flinch. the man who was currently breaking into your bubble of personal space may have looked like your sanemi, but those lilac eyes you had always found yourself lost into didn’t hold an ounce of that familiar fondness. not anymore. “weaklings like you, demon slayers? don’t make me fucking laugh.”

“it’s true!” genya finally stepped forward and forced sanemi to get out of your face, if only so he could direct that murderous glare to who had once been his cherished little brother. “this was the only way… the only way we could be together again, like a family. sanemi, i’m so s-”

“i don’t want your fucking apology. i don’t even want to see your face,” he hissed, and genya did startle, because those words were filled with a venom you’d have never attributed to the eldest shinazugawa son. you felt yourself begin to bristle. “a worthless piece of shit like you has no business calling himself my brother. get the fuck out of the corps before i do something about it myself.”

your hand moved faster than your mind, but slower than sanemi’s battle-hardened reflexes, and he caught your wrist in a bruising grip before you could make ill-intentioned contact with his face. those feral eyes were once more nailing you in place, and you couldn’t have stopped the whimper that crept up your throat even if you had tried, not when you felt and heard a sickening crack coming from your hindered wrist.

“and what the fuck are you tryna pull? you think i won’t break your wrist, don’t you? that i won’t show you how weak and useless you are?” sanemi chose to ignore the small tears springing along your waterline.

“nemi… you’re hurting me, please-”

“oh, am i? good.” his lips curled into a sadistic grin that had terror pooling in your gut. who the hell was this man standing there, sneering down at you so cruelly with the face of your childhood best friend? “do you see now why you're not cut out for this? and don’t you fucking dare call me that again, do you hear me?”

“i believe that’s enough, shinazugawa.” the spell was broken and sanemi’s hand dropped your sore wrist like it had burned him. “i would appreciate it if you didn’t threaten my students like that.”

you blinked back unshed tears to focus on himejima’s imposing presence standing next to genya, offering a kind and comforting palm on his slumped shoulder. the fear and anger that had festered in you started to simmer into anguish when you noticed how utterly defeated the teenager looked, downcast eyes fixated on the gravel where he stood.

then, you looked back at sanemi; you weren’t expecting to catch the briefest glimpse of bewilderment on his semblance before it morphed back into his carefully crafted indifference.

“your habit of picking up strays is starting to get on my nerves, himejima,” he countered, clicking his tongue and sending you a look full of finality. “heed my words and forget about becoming slayers. i’d better not see you again.”

and one more time, sanemi left without looking back.

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

it wasn’t hard to learn the whereabouts of the shinazugawa residence; it’s not like it was a hidden location like the headquarters or the swordsmith village, so asking around easily set you in the right direction that one moon bathed night.

genya hadn’t been the same since that day at the ubuyashiki estate, and even though neither had he been discouraged to carry on with his training, both you and your teacher knew that the brutal rejection had carved a bleeding hole in his psyche. himejima had warned the two of you to steer clear of the wind pillar, and you had decided it was best to obey.

one week was all it took for that resolution to slip, and against you master’s orders, you were off to reignite an unfinished conversation.

sanemi had yet to get the piece of your mind you’ve been brewing for years.

truthfully, it was a dangerous idea, because that child you used to love had become just that: dangerous and unpredictable, but you couldn’t find it in yourself to head back. not with how he had treated genya and you like neither had ever meant a thing to him. and so, you sneaked into the training yard with as much stealth as you could muster, hoping that your skills and the element of surprise would be enough to avoid a confrontation against your favor. it was a solid enough plan, or so you had hoped, until you found yourself restrained - with a calloused hand around you neck and another on your arm - against the stone wall that surrounded the residence just because you had underestimated the prowess of a fucking pillar.

looking back, it really had been a plan so idiotic it deserved praise.

“what the fuck did i tell you, huh?” the night wasn’t so dark that you couldn’t make out his face; those purple eyes glowered down at you with a mercilessness that, coupled with the low snarl of his voice, almost made you regret having come back for more. you tried not to dwell on how his touch lacked the distinct warmth it had always spared you. “you weren’t always this fucking dumb.”

“and you weren’t always… this fucking awful.” it hurt to breathe and to try getting the words out, but you weren’t going to let him have the last word if you could help it. there was no reaction to be perceived, but you felt the grip on your neck loosen slightly, enough to allow you to speak but not to let you escape.

“what the hell are you doing here?” he pressed, and you felt more than saw him invade your space once more with how his warm breath started to fan over your heated face.

“we weren’t done. i wasn’t done-”

“like i give a shit what you have to say, just disappear from my fucking life.”

“you did that well enough for the three of us.” you knew you had struck a chord when sanemi growled your name lowly, a warning, but you continued, hardly caring what he did to you at this point. “you had no right to leave without a word and you had no right to say those foul things to genya.”

“he needs to be put in his place, and so do you.” if you weren’t so fucking pissed off maybe you’d have caught the hesitance barely peeking from behind his detached tone. but you were, so you didn’t.

“what the fuck is your problem, sanemi?” you shouted, raising your free hand, but the pillar removed his fingers from your neck to restrain both of your arms before you could strike him, pining you further against the scratchy stone. “there isn’t a day genya doesn’t regret what he called you that day, and when he tries to apologize-”

“i don’t care about his apology,” he huffed, coldly.

“he couldn’t have known! if only you had stayed-”

“it’s not about what he said, will you just fucking shut up-”

“i’m not going to shut up, for fuck’s sake! we are family, sanemi! what the fuck did we even do for you to push us away like this?” you tried to push through the burn in your eyes and the tightness in your throat because you really needed to understand, more than anything, where it had all gone so wrong. “just help me figure out why you won’t let us in. we still lo-!”

“don’t you fucking understand?! i don’t want you anywhere near me ever again!” that stunned you into silence, but sanemi still wouldn’t stop his mouth now that it had begun running. “what the fuck do i need to do to make you understand that you need to fuck right off and leave me alone?! we’re. not . family. anymore. get that through your dumb skull and move the fuck on!”

the night air blew cold against the dampness on your cheeks. sanemi’s hands were unmistakably trembling where they pined you, and in a moment of clarity you realized that it wasn’t anger that made them shake, at least not entirely.

“sanemi… you’re just a fucking coward.”

“...say that again,” his whisper was dangerous and near crazed, but you accepted the challenge despite the goosebumps that licked over your clammy skin.

“you’re a coward, and i’m not leaving you alone. neither is genya. we’re together in this whether you like it or not, so drop this fucking attitude at once and let us in.”

only crickets filled the contemplative silence that ensued and, for a moment, you dared to feel hopeful that, somehow, you had managed to bring your sanemi back.

“why are you so hellbent on staying?” you found strength in how he sounded near defeated. as if you had expected his question, you released the words without an ounce of hesitation.

“because that’s the last thing you ever asked of me. to stay, for good. and, even now, you’re still asking me.”

“i’m not-”

“yes, you are,” you insisted, desperately trying to come to a breakthrough, “you’re trying so hard to put up a front that is not you, and don’t think for a second i’m going to believe that you just stopped caring about us because that’s not something that the nemi i know would ever do.” you were sure it was the nemi you knew who slowly let go of your arms, letting his hands fall limply by his sides.

“stop. fucking stop. i told you not to call me by that name. you don’t know anything about me-”

“-so teach me, then. i want to learn all about this new you, nemi.” tentatively, you reached out towards the silver outline of his face until your fingers made gentle contact with his cheek. the way he flinched made you sure that he was going to slap your hand away. and yet, he didn’t.

sanemi tried. he tried so hard to resist the warmth of your fingertips on the rough surface of the scar that split his face in halves, despite coming to the fast realization that he was fighting a losing battle. he didn’t protest in any way when you cupped his cheeks in your hands, succumbing to those searching eyes that had never stopped coming back to him in his dreams.

he hated how much prettier they were than what he remembered, now that they were seeing him at last.

“you won’t like the new me,” he warns, but there’s barely any trace of the bite he’s flaunted since since you saw him for the first time in years; it was surprising, to sat the least, to see the façade finally crumbling.

“the only you i don’t like is the sanemi who’s fighting tooth and nail to keep me out.” the tears were another, grander surprise when you felt them run into the hands cradling him so lovingly, and your thumbs worked fast to gather and wipe away the wetness.

“i’m begging you…” he tried, one last desperate effort to push you away before every wall he had spent so long building and strengthening came crashing down like a house of cards. “this is not the kind of life i want for you two. i’ve lost so much to those heartless fuckers already… you’re all i have left. i… i can’t-”

“then let’s fight together and protect each other to the best of our abilities, okay?” tentatively, you let yourself fall forward, burrowing into the warmth that he had tried so hard not to spare you, and sanemi let you; against his better judgment, he welcomed your trembling body against his, and he held you like he hadn’t held you in far too long. “you don’t have to be alone anymore, nemi. we’re here. i’m here.”

sanemi didn’t let himself hope, he didn’t think he was able to anymore. but he grasped your promise and ran with it, and he allowed himself to at least believe you.

“...this doesn’t fix everything,” you mutter into the open window of his chest, taking in the sweet smell that you had found there, “you’ve hurt genya very badly, sanemi.”

“i know,” he admitted it like the guilt had been eating at his mind for a long time. it probably had. “i know this isn’t an excuse, but everything i said and did was with your best interest in mind and-”

“-and you suck at guessing best interests because you didn’t even bother to ask us what we wanted.”

“for what it’s worth, i’m sorry i threatened you and pushed you away, and i’m sorry i nearly broke your wrist.” as if to emphasize his point, his large hand came to wrap itself around the offended joint, caressing with a gentleness that finally had his name on it. “i’ll… apologize to genya in the morning, i can promise you that but, for tonight… would you stay with me?”

it was a question, asked with such vulnerability, that brought you back years before, and the answer came to you as easy as breathing-

“i’ll stay, for good.”

-as easy as loving shinazugawa sanemi.

thank you to @desi-the-blue-eyed-kakushi and @sunandflame for the ideas and for convincing me not to make this hurt/no comfort :D

#kimetsu no yaiba #kny #demon slayer #kny x reader #kny angst #kny fluff #kny fanfic #demon slayer x reader #shinazugawa sanemi #sanemi shinazugawa #sanemi x reader #sanemi x you #sanemi x y/n #sanemi angst #sanemi fluff #shinazugawa sanemi x reader

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hungermakesmonsters · 2 months

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Catch Me If You Can

Chapter Twenty-Five

Plot summary : When your friend interviews for a position at Anvil, you have a chance encounter with Billy Russo. He takes you for coffee and, by the time you’re done, Billy decides he’s anything but done with you.

Pairing : Billy Russo x Reader

Story Rating : R

Chapter Rating : R - smut

Warnings : [This is a fic for 18+ only, minors DNI] Smut and extreme cuteness. Please check the warnings on each chapter if you choose to follow this story.

Word Count : ~5.2k

A/N : The final chapter. I really hope that this lives up to people's expectations.

Chapter Twenty-Five

The trip from the hospital to the penthouse left you feeling exhausted and, by the time Billy was helping you change into your pyjamas you were struggling to keep your eyes open. His touches were slow and delicate, treating you like you were the most fragile and precious thing in the world. And, you could tell from the little looks he shot you that he was still blaming himself for everything.

A soft sigh slipped from your lips as he helped you into bed and covered you with the duvet.

“You okay?” He asked in a quiet, subdued tone.

“Still a bit sore,” you admitted, “but I’m glad to be home.”

“Home,” Billy repeated, smiling. “This isn’t exactly how I wanted you moving in to go, but I’m glad you’re here.”

“I’m glad I’m here too,” you sank back in the pillows a little more, “I’m glad we can just be together now.”

“Me too,” he fell silent for a few moments, watching as you struggled to stay awake. “Do you want to get some rest? I could -”

“Can you stay with me?” You asked, eyes suddenly wide open. “Can you hold me? I’ve missed you holding me.”

“Of course I can.”

You watched as he quickly slipped out of his red sweater and jeans, stripping right down to his boxers before rounding the bed and climbing in beside you. There was noticeable hesitation as he edged towards you, his arm carefully slipping over your chest so he could hold you.

“Is this okay?” He asked.

“It’s perfect, thank you.”

“You don’t have to thank me, sweetheart,” He muttered softly, smiling as your eyes finally closed.

“Love you Billy.”

“Love you too, sweetheart.”

After a few hours of sleep, you felt a little bit better. Billy was still beside you, scrolling through his emails on his phone. When he noticed you were awake, he smiled.

“How are you feeling? Need me to get you anything?”

“A glass of water would be great,” you answered, “and something to eat?

Billy gave a nod and quickly got out of bed. You watched as he left the room, phone in hand. He was only gone for a couple of minutes, you heard him making a call, obviously ordering dinner before he came back with your drink and handed it to you. Then, after a slight hesitation, he got back into bed with you.

“Can we talk about it?” You asked cautiously, after taking a drink. “Scott, I mean...”

“Why?” He tensed.

“I don’t know, I just -” you weren’t even sure what you wanted to say to him, what you wanted to ask, “- we didn’t get to talk about it at the hospital. Are you okay?”

“He’s not the first person I’ve killed.”

“It’s not the same; you were a Marine in a warzone. This is -”

“Murder,” he filled in the blank without hesitation, without remorse.

And, maybe that should have bothered you more than it did; Billy had killed a man for you. Admittedly, not a great man, and certainly not one that you were going to miss in any way, shape or form. But a life was still a life and you were certain that neither of you should feel happy about it.

Billy took a slow breath.”Look, you don’t need to feel guilty about any of it. I would have killed him even if you told me not to.”

“It’s not guilt, it’s just - I dunno, Billy. A man is dead because of me...”

“You could have died because of him,” Billy answered back without hesitation. “He tried to kill you twice. He called you a whore, said you weren’t worth it.” There was no missing the bite in his tone, or the way his hand curled into a fist. “You are worth it. You mean everything to me -”

“Billy -”

“No, I’d kill a hundred men like him if it meant keeping you safe. I’d burn down the whole fucking world just to protect you.”

And you knew he would. With anyone else you’d think it was hyperbolic, you’d think he was just saying what he thought you wanted to hear, but not Billy. That was the wonderful and tragic thing about him, about the way he loved you; it was a lot, it was everything he had, every ounce of himself. You’d never change that about him, and you’d never want to. That was Billy. That was the man you loved, and loving him meant accepting him.

So, you nodded and reached for his hand, gently prising his tight fist open so your fingers could slip between his.

“Okay,” you told him, and that was that.

It wasn’t long before your food was delivered and you couldn’t help but laugh that he’d chosen to order pizza, just like he had the first night he’d brought you back to the penthouse. You sat together in bed, eating pizza and watching TV until you finally fell asleep again.

Hours later, voices outside the bedroom woke you; Billy and Sam.

“Look, I appreciate what you did for her, but I think it’d be better for everyone if she came back to Connecticut with me,” you heard Sam say. “She needs people around her to look after her.”

“She has people here,” Billy answered. “She’s not going anywhere.”

“You can’t expect me to leave my sister here with a killer.”

“And you can’t expect me to let her go with the man who allowed that piece of shit to keep breathing after the first time he tried to kill her,” Billy replied. Your breath caught, torn between listening to more and calling out to stop them from fighting. “Anyway, I’ve seen your service record, you’ve got blood on your hands too.”

“You think I didn’t want to kill that fucker -”

“I think you had every opportunity and you didn’t. I won’t let her go with anyone who’s not willing to do everything to protect her.”

“I know you think you love her, but -”

“I do love her, and there is nothing I won’t do for her,” you could hear the edge in Billy’s voice, the anger that he was barely managing to hold back. “Look around, look at the life I can give her; she’ll always be safe, she’ll never want for anything. You want to take that away from her? You want to take her away from everything that she’s achieved here? Her friends, her new job?”

A silence followed and you didn’t dare breathe in case you missed something.

“You don’t know her like I do,” Sam stated and your heart sank a little but you didn’t get time to dwell on it.

“I know her better than you do,” Billy was quick to answer. “You see her as some weak little thing just because she’s your sister. But I don’t. I see a woman who’s not scared to put me in my place when I fuck up, someone who’s been through so much and has kept going. She’s carried the guilt for your sister’s death for years, even though it was an accident, a stupid mistake. She’s the strongest person I’ve ever met and if you can’t see that, then you don’t know your sister at all.”

Before that moment you hadn’t thought it was possible to love him more, but you soon felt tears welling in the corners of your eyes.

There was another silence before you finally heard Sam relent.

“Fine, but if you ever hurt her, I’ll kill you myself.”

“If I ever hurt her, I’ll let you.” Billy quickly countered and you could hear just how serious he was.

There were some more muttered grumblings between the pair, but the tone had changed and both men seemed to have resolved their differences. Sam muttered something about coming back tomorrow to say goodbye before leaving town again and, then, when everything had fallen silent, you assumed that he had left.

You didn’t mention any of it to Billy when he came to bed later that night, and didn’t in the days that followed; it didn’t matter, there was no way you were going to go to Connecticut with Sam, not when everything in your life was finally perfect.

Sam insisted on staying in the city a little while longer, wanting to make sure you were going to be alright before he travelled home. He came by to see you most days and, slowly but surely, the tension seemed to ease between him and Billy, and they were able to stand each other enough to make small talk without either getting snippy.

Your heart was racing when the police arrived at the penthouse unexpectedly a week after you came home from hospital. Billy and Sam insisted that you weren’t ready to see them, that you were sleeping, but you managed to get yourself out of bed and made your way out of the bedroom.

The second you did, Billy was at your side, taking your arm.

“You don’t need to -”

“It’s okay, Billy. I’ll be fine,” you told him, letting him help you towards the sofa. “I need to tell the police that I’ve remembered what happened.”

Everyone, the police included, seemed a little taken aback by the comment, but no one tried to object. You sat, grimacing but trying not to let it show how sore you felt - the last thing you wanted was for Billy and Sam to worry about you. Before you started, Billy insisted on getting you something to drink, which in turn led to getting drinks for both of the officers, Sam, and himself.

The two officers sat opposite you, offering up their names and a few pleasantries before finally getting down to business.

“You said you’ve remembered what happened,” the younger of the two officers asked, a boyish looking man who had a friendlier face than his older partner, “would you be able to walk us through it, everything you remember from leaving Mexico right up to the incident?”

You nodded, discreetly trying to swallow the lump in your throat. Billy sat beside you and you soon had his hand in your own, held on your lap.

“We had an argument,” you glanced at Billy briefly, “Billy surprised me in Mexico and I thought - well, I thought he was there to propose to me,” at that Sam almost choked on his coffee, “but he wasn’t. It wasn’t a big argument, it was silly really, and I was embarrassed.”

Billy’s hand gave yours a gentle squeeze.

“I decided to come back to New York early because of it. I wanted to finish packing up my old apartment so we could move in here when Billy got back, and I wanted us to have a day or two apart so I could get over my embarrassment,” you shrugged uncomfortably but managed to force something of a smile to your face.

“I took a taxi home from the airport, had something to eat, then I was about to try to get a couple of hours sleep when someone knocked on the door,” your voice cracked. You tried to lean forward to grab your mug from the coffee table, but winced as pain lanced through your abdomen.

“Here, sweetheart, let me,” Billy reached for your mug as you sat back and, when he handed it to you, you caught something almost helpless in his eyes. “You don’t have to do this now if you don’t feel up to it.”

“It’s fine. I want to tell them what happened,” you told him, taking a quick sip of your coffee before continuing.

“You heard the knock...” the older officer prompted.

“I thought it was just a delivery or something for Tammy - Tammy was my roommate - but it wasn’t,” again your voice threatened to break. “It was my ex-boyfriend Scott Hendrix.”

“And did you talk to Mr Hendrix at all? Did he say anything to you before he shot you?” The younger officer asked, furiously scrawling in his notepad.

“Yes,” you answered without hesitation, feeling Billy’s hand twitch in yours. “He told me he wanted money, he said he owed someone money and he thought I owed him.”

“And why did he think that?” The older one asked.

“He blamed me for his life falling apart,” you gave another awkward shrug, trying to ignore the pain in your side. “He went to prison for a DUI after crashing his car with both of us in it, the judge gave him a harsher sentence because I was badly hurt but -”

“She wasn’t just hurt, he was trying to kill her,” interrupted Sam. “She wouldn’t testify because she was scared of him and his family.”

The officers looked at you and all you could do was nod to confirm the story.

“He tried to kill me because I wanted to leave him; I’d had enough of the drinking and the drugs. So, when he showed up and demanded money, I knew that was what it was for. He got angry when I said no and pulled a gun,” you looked down for a moment at Billy’s hand in yours. “He told me they were gonna kill him if he didn’t get their money -”

“Did he say who they were?” The younger one interrupted.

“No, he just said he owed a lot of money and, he figured, because I was with Billy I could get it for him. I told him no and tried to close the door, that’s when he -” when your voice broke again, Billy decided to intervene.

“Is there anything else you need? She needs to rest,” he stated, his grip tightening but this time not loosening even a fraction.

“How did you get that bruise on your cheek, Mr Russo?” The older cop asked, eyeing Billy for a second.

“I gave him it,” Sam answered, reminding everyone that he was still in the room.

“And why was that?” Asked the older officer.

“Because my sister had just been shot and I was looking for someone to take my frustrations out on,” Sam shrugged.

There was a moment of silence as both officers glanced at each other, as if deciding what to say next.

“You should know that we found where Mr Hendrix was staying in the city, as well as recovering a gun - it’s being tested at the lab to see if it matches the weapon that was used to shoot you,” the older cop explained. “Mr Hendrix was nowhere to be found.”

“What do you mean nowhere to be found?” Asked Sam.

“You mean that prick is still out there?” Billy added. The pair of them deserved an Oscar nomination.

“There was evidence found at the scene to suggest that Mr Hendrix had been badly injured, though we won’t know for sure until we hear back from the lab but, I can give you my assurances that the NYPD are looking for him.” The younger cop told you, offering a soft smile, as if he wanted to try and make you feel better about the thought that Scott could still be in the city.

“We’d offer to put a uniform on your door, but it seems like Mr Russo already has that covered,” added the older guy with a glance in Billy’s direction which, in turn, led to you looking at him.

“I didn’t want to worry you,” Billy offered.

“Anyway,” started the older cop, draining his mug of coffee and placing it down before reaching into his jacket for his card, “I think we’ve got everything we need. If you remember anything else, my number is on the card. And if Mr Hendrix tries to contact you -”

“He’ll wish he didn’t,” Billy stated, letting go of your hand and getting to his feet. “We appreciate you stopping by, officers, but she really needs to rest now.”

The officers stood, muttering their goodbyes and telling you that you didn’t need to see them out, but that didn’t stop Billy from following them and making sure they got on the elevator.

“What the fuck that?” Sam asked around twenty seconds after the elevator doors had slid shut.

“What was what?” You asked, feigning ignorance.

“That - lying to the cops,” he sounded annoyed. “Have you got any idea how much trouble you’ll be in if they figure out you lied?”

“What was I supposed to do? Wait until they find something that might lead them back to Billy?”

“Sweetheart -” Billy tried to interrupt.

“No, you protected me, now I’m protecting you. Scott took enough from me, he’s not going to take you too, Billy. I won’t lose you,” you told him.

“You won’t, sweetheart, I promise you won’t,” he told you, sitting beside you and placing a soft kiss on your cheek.

“We protect each other,” and that was how it was going to be from now on.

You felt a little better with each passing day but Billy continued to dote on you, barely leaving you alone for a moment, even after Sam had decided you were well enough for him to return to Connecticut. He did his work from home, hadn’t been to the office in over two weeks, but as much as you loved having him around, something was missing.

Him.

All of him.

He was treating you like some fragile thing with delicate touches and the sort of softness that felt like he was barely there at all. Of course, you understood he was being careful because he loved you, because he didn’t want to risk hurting you or causing you any sort of pain, but you knew it wasn’t doing either of you any good. He sated some of your longings with his fingers, and you’d given him more handjobs in the last few weeks than you had in almost eight months of being together, but you needed more.

You both had needs, but you were coming to realise that Billy wasn’t going to be the first to act, so you decided to take the initiative. You slipped out of the bedroom in nothing but a silk robe, finding him on the sofa. His eyes followed you as you approached and grew wider as you dropped the robe to the floor and climbed onto his lap.

Before he could even think to question you, you were kissing him desperately, pressing yourself against him and slowly starting to rock your hips. Billy easily lost himself to you for a few wonderful minutes and you felt him start to grow hard in his pants, but it didn’t last.

“I don’t want to hurt you,” he muttered against your lips, sighing but not pulling back.

“Then be gentle,” you retorted before capturing his lips again.

For a few moments he was content to kiss you, his hands running up your bare thighs to your hips, then your waist, but the feel of the dressing over your injury caused him to pull back again.

“I - I don’t know if I can be gentle.”

“You can,” you told him softly. “I don’t want you to fuck me, Billy, I want to make love.”

His breath caught and, for a few seconds, all he could do was stare at you awkwardly, as if he wasn’t entirely sure what you were asking him for, like something about your suggestion worried him. Your hand found his cheek, and you held his gaze.

“I don’t -”

“You do,” you told him softly, reassuringly, before taking his hand and slowly getting to your feet.

Billy rose slowly and let you lead him to the bedroom, where you slowly undressed him, running your hands over every inch of skin that you exposed. Once he was naked, his fingers lifted your chin and he just stared at you for a moment before, finally, kissing you. He held you close and carefully moved you onto the bed, placing himself on top of you, keeping his weight on his arms at your side.

Hesitation was etched on his features as he broke the kiss and stared down at you.

“You won’t hurt me,” you told him. “I trust you, Billy.”

His hips lowered and you felt the tip of his cock graze your clit and, after weeks of nothing but his hand between your legs, it made you shiver. He hesitated for a few seconds, but the moment he was pressed against you, the moment he could feel how wet you already were, he knew he couldn’t stop.

A long, relieved exhale escaped you as he finally started to move. The feeling of his cock pressing into you after so many weeks without it felt heavenly, and Billy’s soft groan told you he felt the exact same way. He moved so slowly that you could feel every inch as he filled you, and once you’d taken him all, he lingered long enough that you could feel him throbbing inside you.

Any discomfort you felt was forgotten the moment his hips started to draw back, your body already trembling beneath him.

“Billy -” you moaned, your fingertips pressing into his back.

Once he was certain that you weren’t in any sort of pain, he started to move with a little more purpose, not in his usual fast or rough way, but in a way that let you experience every single sensation.

“I love you,” he muttered breathlessly against your ear, lingering there and letting you feel every shallow breath against your skin, hearing every time his breath caught and every little groan.

“I love you too, Billy,” you moaned, angling your head so you could capture his lips in a kiss.

Your moans got louder, swallowed by Billy’s lips. Everything about it was perfect, everything was Billy. Fingers slipped into his hair and you heard him groan his approval, his lips pulling into a smile against yours.

“Mine,” you told him when your lips finally parted.

“Yours. Always,” he told you. “You feel so good...”

“So do you,” you moaned as he filled you again, your walls trembling and squeezing around him the closer you got to climaxing.

It was like nothing you’d ever felt before, a level of connection with him that made you feel like nothing existed outside of you and him and the moment you were sharing. His movements got a little faster the closer you got and, from his barely restrained groans, you could tell he wasn’t going to last much longer either.

You moaned his name as you came, your whole body shivering with a pleasure you didn’t even know how to completely process. A few seconds later, he was following, twitching inside you as he emptied himself.

“Fuck -” he grunted, the movements of his hips turning awkward before finally stilling.

He leaned, his forehead against your and his eyes shut tight. You ran your fingers through sweat-damp hair, smiling and waiting for him to open his eyes. When he did, you could tell he was at a loss for words.

“That was amazing,” you decided to break the silence.

“I love you,” was how he chose to respond, pressing his lips to yours in a brief but wonderful kiss.

The room was slowly turning dark around you and, as much as you’d wanted everything that had happened, you felt exhausted. Billy slowly pulled out and moved to lay beside you, gathering you in his arms so you could rest your head on his chest while his hand gently stroked your hair.

Your eyes closed and you let out a slow breath as everything turned still and silent around you. Minutes ticked by, the steady drumming of his heartbeat almost lulling you to sleep. His hand in your hair had fallen still and you assumed that he’d fallen asleep. Everything about the moment was perfect, it was how you wanted to spend the rest of your life.

Then you heard it.

“Marry me,” he whispered softly.

It sounded like he was testing the words, like he was trying them out to see how they sounded. You wanted to answer him, but the words wouldn’t come; he wasn’t asking, not really, he thought you were sleeping. So, you kept your eyes closed and, eventually, drifted off to sleep.

The next morning you woke to find Billy in an infectiously happy mood - obviously he’d needed last night just as much as you had. He made you breakfast in bed before surprising you and telling you that he was finally going to go back to the office. It felt like everything was going back to how it should be; you were feeling much better, he was going back to work, and in a week you’d be starting your job with The Bulletin. It was perfect.

Billy left for work and you spent the day relaxing with a book, before throwing together a casserole in the kitchen for the pair of you to have for dinner - as much as you’d been enjoying Billy taking care of dinner since you’d gotten home, you were starting to get bored of take out. Once everything was ready, you returned to the armchair in the bedroom, alternating between reading your book and watching the sun set over the city.

He was later than expected getting home and, when you heard the elevator, you expected him to call out. Instead there was silence. It was enough to have you anxiously getting up from your chair and heading out to see why he was being so quiet.

You found him standing awkwardly, looking at the floor, a serious expression on his face. Your heart skipped a beat and dread started to coil in your stomach.

“Billy, what’s wrong?” You dared to ask, making your way towards him.

The suddenness of your voice startled him, and he looked at you like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming truck.

“Nothing,” he managed in the most unconvincing tone, making you panic even more.

“Is it Scott? Did the police find something?” You stopped in front of him, worry written across your face.

“No, it’s not -” he looked at you for a moment before forcing a breath. “It’s not that. It’s - I need to ask you something.”

Your heart stuttered, remembering his whispered question the night before, and all you could do was nod, not knowing what you could possibly say. Billy took a moment and, for a second, you thought you could see fear in his eyes, like he was scared about what was about to happen.

“I know we haven’t known each other very long,” he started, his eyes fixed on yours, “but this last few weeks has shown me that I can’t go back to living without you. I don’t want a life that doesn’t have you in it.”

Despite his obvious nervousness, you felt your lips pulling into a smile as tears started to well in the corners of your eyes.

“I love you,” he continued, “more than I thought I’d ever be able to love anyone, and that’s never gonna change.”

Your heart almost stopped when he slowly got down on one knee and pulled a ring box from his pocket. His trembling hands opened the lid to reveal the ring inside; simple, delicate and elegant. Perfect.

“I know I fuck up sometimes and I piss you off, but I’m willing to spend the rest of my life trying to make you happy,” he looked up at you expectantly, even though he hadn’t actually asked.

Wiping your eyes, you smiled down at him. “Ask me the question, Billy.”

“Sweetheart, will you marry me?”

“Yes,” the word was instant, not even needing to think about it or consider any of it. Maybe it was crazy, but you’d been through more with Billy in the last eight months than most couples went through in a lifetime.

“Really?” His question, the confusion and relief in his voice, was enough to have you dropping to your knees in front of him, taking his face between your hands.

“Yes, Billy.” You told him again. “I will marry you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”

His hand took yours, sliding the ring onto your finger. A perfect fit. You leaned forward to kiss him, tears of joy streaming down your face.

“I love you,” he told you softly. “We don’t have to marry straight away, we can have a long engagement, we can do whatever -”

You pressed a finger to his lips, silencing him.

“Take me to bed, Billy.”

A blink of an eye later and you were on your back in bed, Billy’s greedy lips and tongue on your pussy, driving you insane. Your fingers tangled in his hair and you could see the diamond ring every time you looked down at him. Crying out as sank his fingers inside you, and trembling as he sucked your clit. Even though Billy tried to take things slow, with teasing and measured movements, it had been so long since he’d gone down on you that you came after only a few minutes.

He lifted his head and smiled up at you, his lips and chin glistening, though he seemed hesitant and you could guess why.

“Don’t you dare ask me if I’m okay,” you warned playfully. “Just get up here and fuck me.”

Billy didn’t need to be told twice. He moved up your body like a predator and, when you reached for him, you could feel his taut muscles beneath your hands. God, you wanted him. You’d never stop wanting him. And just one look from him told you that he felt the same.

He kissed you as he slid inside you, and you held him tight, moaning against his lips. When hips started to move, you could tell that he was still holding back. You moved beneath him, meeting his thrusts, silently begging him for more with every shift of your hips.

“Billy -” you moaned against his lips, you fingers curling in his hair again, “- I said fuck me.”

He started to move a little faster, sinking himself deeper with every stroke, his cock filling you in a way it hadn’t for weeks.

“Such a needy little pussy,” he muttered against your lips. “It’s all mine now.”

His lips moved to your neck, sucking and nipping at your skin, driving you wild. And still - still you wanted more. Everything. You could hear him muttering and grunting against your neck, the word ‘mine’ leaving his lips, over and over.

“I’m yours, Billy,” you moaned breathlessly, “forever.”

You pulled at his hair, causing him to lift his head from your neck so you could kiss him as you came for him, moaning into his mouth as your wall clenched around him. It was enough to drive Billy over the edge and soon you felt the steady pulse of his cock as he filled you.

“Fuck, that feels so good,” you moaned as he came, holding him tight as he stilled deep inside of you.

“I love you,” he told you between panted breaths, lingering inside you long after he’d finished, not wanting to sever your connection. “I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you.”

Epilogue

END NOTES : I don't know what to say. Honestly. When I started this I expected maybe three of four people might take an interest but I've honestly been overwhelmed by all the likes, the reblogs, and the comments; it's really made this a joy to write. While this is the lat main chapter of the story, I will be posting an epilogue next week and, in future, I might do some one shots with with reader and Billy. But, ultimately, after everything I wanted them to have a nice, happy ending and I hope you all enjoy that.

Thank you so so much for for those who have been following for the last five months! ... I know, it really has been five months and my mind is blown. This is the longest, consistent writing project I've ever undertaken - for context, altogether, this fic is about 110000 words and 220 doc pages, which just sounds insane.

ANYWAY. I'm rambling. Tune in next week for the epilogue. And thank you again, whether you like/comment/reblog or just read along every week. You all made this such a wonderful and fun experience for me!! I will have a little update next week after the epilogue when I decide what I'm going to do next on this blog. Have a great weekend!

If you want adding/removing from the tag list let me know (I know it’s not working for everyone - if it’s not working and you don’t want to miss a chapter, I post every Friday around 7:30pm gmt)

TAG LIST

@lincerad @sweetserendipity65 @rafaelakelley @slayerofthevampire @rensolodriver @lovelydoveval @doloreschanal @damagelove @danzer8705 @unlikelystarlightcowboy @schlotzshewrote @bisexualbith @uncontainedsmiles @fireeyes-on-teller-dixon-grimes @lilliesofmay @billyrussoslut @readingabouthim @arwensloanebarnes @scarlettrikstr @daughterofautumn @ashlynhasmanyhyperfixations @rosesintj @bunnygirlwriter876 @maddiedrmr @naabbie @arieltwvdtohamflash @yukimaniac

#billy russo #billy russo x reader #billy russo x female reader #the punisher #billy russo fanfic #cmiyc ff #billy russo imagine

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ladyfogg · 5 months

Text

Perfect Fit (Teaser)

Fic Summary: Since the first time you let him bite you, Astarion knew seducing you would be easy. What he didn’t anticipate were the feelings that came with it.

Fic Rating: 18+

Pairing: Astarion/Fem!Drow!Monk Reader

Fic Warnings: Biting, Blood Drinking (Vampire and all that) Vaginal Sex, Fingering, Grinding, Cuddling

A/N: Back on my bullshit for a new fandom. As of right now, this is the only fic idea I’m working on since I have a ton of work-writing to do, but you know how it goes. This pale elf has taken control of my brain, laughing maniacally as he does.

Right now this fic around 3k and not even halfway done. Let me know if you want to be tagged when the full fic comes along.

The first part of fic follows the game in terms of his first bite but after that it's all from my horny brain.

Update: Full Fic

---

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

This is not the question he expects and he blinks, taken aback. You don’t sound angry, hells it would be easier if you were. Anger he’s used to, can handle with poise. But Astarion thinks he can work with this, whatever it is.

Because it’s not pity, it’s not empathy, it’s something he does not have a name for.

“At best, I was sure you’d say no, more likely you’ll run a stake through my ribs,” he explains. “No, I needed you to trust me. And you can trust me.”

Of course you can’t. Anyone who ever put their trust in him came to bloody ends. Yet, he’s seen you drop a gnoll with nothing but your fists and an insane high kick, so he feels you may be sturdier than most.

You study him closely, and Astarion does everything to appear docile and properly chastised, hunching his body to make himself smaller. There’s a beat where neither of you blink or speak. However, he catches the subtle slump of your shoulders and a sigh escapes your lips.

“I believe you,” you say. “And I do trust you.”

Astarion slowly exhales his own sigh, this one of relief. “Thank you,” he says.

Then, because he can’t help himself, because his empty stomach twists, because you’re still close enough for him to inhale your scent, he pushes his luck.

“Do you think you could trust me just a little further?” he asks, a hopeful lilt to his voice as he bats his eyelashes at you. “I only need a taste, I swear.”

He's fully expects your refusal and wouldn’t blame you in the slightest. As much as this hunger is driving him to madness, he is fully prepared to slink away with his tail tucked between his legs if it means he lives to seduce you another day.

Yet the next words out of your mouth throw him off his game.

“Fine, but not a drop more than you need.”

There’s no hiding the surprise on his face. He knows you see it and with his darkvision, he can just make out the corner of your lips twitch up into a smirk.

“Really? I—” He clears his throat and recovers, swagger in place as comfortable as a well-worn mask molded just for him. “Of course, not one drop more. Let’s make ourselves comfortable, shall we?”

He motions towards your bedroll with a bow. As you brush past and turn towards the fire, your smirk is wider, as if you can tell how much excitement is building within him. Then again, with the tadpole and your uncanny ability to read people, you probably do.

The others are still silent and sleeping as you lay back onto your bedroll. Astarion’s chest heaves and he licks his lips as the prospect of blood, humanoid blood, becomes all he can focus on. He’s salivating again, red eyes drawn to the smooth expanse of your neck.

At first all he can hear is the crackling of the fire. But when you lay back and he leans in, the steady beating of your heart breaks through the noises of the night. Bloody hells, he can hear the blood rushing through your veins. It hypnotizes him, draws him forward as you roll your head to the side.

White fangs pierce dark skin, sliding clean through to find a thick, pulsing vein. Underneath the rush, he almost misses the soft gasp push past your lips.

Almost.

But he doesn’t have time to process it because the first drops of blood touch his tongue and nothing else matters. Not mind flayers, not tadpoles, not Cazador, nothing but the sweet, red liquid that is sliding down his throat carrying your scent.

Everything else before pales in comparison.

There’s no fear. When he hunts he can taste the deep fear of his prey in their final moments. But this, is different. You are different.

It’s such an onslaught of emotions he can’t process them right away. It’s secondhand, like trying to grab a rapidly fading echo in a dark cave.

Astarion doesn’t anticipate it and can’t recognize half of them at first. Sensation is what he does recognize. Pain is immediate, followed by warmth leading into heat in his cheeks and stomach. So much heat. He’s been cold for two-hundred years, he’s forgotten what it’s like to have body heat, to be hot.

His body naturally curls around yours, one hand sliding under your head to cradle it close. The fingers of his other hand dig into the packed soil, gripping for something solid yet finding nothing.

Your body arches into his, breasts pressed to his solid chest and for the briefest moment, he imagines how better this would be if he could feel your bare skin to his.

Then another splatter of blood hits the back of his throat as your heartrate increases and the thought is lost.

---

To Be Continued

#astarion #astarion ancunin #baldur's gate 3 #astarion x reader #astarion x you #fic teaser

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halcyonwrld · 7 months

Text

— FAIRYTALE ENDINGS

PAIRING. Lisa Manoban x Reader

After finding a cherished memento, you begin to think of the past, the present, and where your future lies with your girlfriend. (0.9K)

TAGS. childhoodbesties-to-lovers!au, insecurity, toothrotting fluff

Being with Lisa is the best thing that could’ve happened to you in life.

You two are like magnets; despite being so polar in relation to each other, you couldn't help but attract. If she was the sun, you were the moon. If she were flowers, you'd be a lone breeze. If she was her, and you were always like this, there shouldn't have been a fairytale ending in the cards.

There probably shouldn’t have even been a story to begin with.

But here you both are. Together for nearly a year now, going steady.

Proof of this is the polaroid you take into your hands, something you’ve found on the floor due to the insistent autumn breeze.

You brush away dust with the pad of your thumb and scan the row of photos. This day was sweet. Taken on your third date. You went to a carnival just on the edge of town. The Ferris Wheel, the gimmick games, the prizes--- it was perfect. Everything that your younger self would've never been brave enough to experience alone.

Something you could hardly face then, as you left early after swarms of people began to overwhelm you.

Lisa's cheek lands underneath your thumb. Her smile forever immortalized.

(You were disappointed in yourself that day, mad you’d ruined the date before it truly had a chance to really start off. But Lisa never blamed you. Never got upset. Instead, she got you dinner, took the scenic route back home to cruise, and sang her affection for you to the stars.)

Speak of the devil —or in this case, your angel— and she shall appear; Lisa smoothly wraps her arms around you from behind with a hum, peeking over your shoulder.

She gasps, and you watch in the vanity how she practically lights up the room.

“Oh my gosh, I forgot about these, this night was so fun…” A light touch on your wrist, fingers running over the frayed friendship bracelet on it—the one she made all those years ago— as if trying to remind you of your history together.

“Can I put this in the back of my phone case, please?” she begs, giving you puppy eyes like you’ve ever had the heart to deny her of anything.

You pull away to hand it to her, “You know I don’t mind.”

Lisa’s smile widens impossibly. The corners of her eyes crinkle with her hardly constrained enthusiasm.

It’s only after she realizes her pockets are empty— does she give you a swift peck on the cheek before scampering out of the room.

Heat flushes you from the neck up. You sit on the unmade bed, dazed with a muted rush of tenderness. How does she still manage to make you feel so lovesick way after all of these years?

You’ve always been content with fading into the background of people’s lives. Like a side character. Nothing more than a ghost in your own life as well— but Lisa has never once left you on the back burner. Never once made you feel like a second option. You don’t know what you did to deserve her unwavering devotion, but it’s always overflowing, and all you know how to do is take.

Lisa zooms back into the room muttering to herself, pulling you out of your reverie. Her phone is still missing. You catch a dismayed: why does this always happen, and something like: there’s only so many places you can put your phone Lalisa and then, an annoyed: well it must really be downstairs if it’s not up here because—

You catch her by the wrist before she can move too far and spin herself into a whirlwind. With a placating smile, you hand her the phone that was lost under the heap of ruffled blankets behind you.

“Oh… thank you,” she breathes, exasperated, appreciative.

You’re hardly expecting the way she bends and kisses your forehead, a smile in her voice as she murmurs, “My savior.”

Savior. Maybe that’s what you are for her. Have always been. The one to pull her back in when it all gets too much. You don’t like the odds with your luck, but deep down, you hope it’s somewhat true. Pray it’ll continue to be enough for someone as bright as her. Someone who would be perfectly fine without you.

Lisa plops down at your side, cracks open her phone case, then abruptly pauses, fingers twitching. She gives you one of those weird Lisa looks. The ones you can’t read. Then she places a comforting hand on your thigh. You don’t know what has prompted this; your silence never feels unusual to you. Just that same old tired thing. But Lisa just has a “sixth sense for these things”, her phrasing, not yours.

“You okay?” she asks, voice softened by delicate worry.

Your heart fawns over with that same tenderness from earlier, and —spurred on by a sudden surge of adoration— you lean forward and kiss her square on the cheek. You pull back with a smile,

“I’m always good when I’m with you.”

It feels as cheesy as it sounds. Feels stupid. Wildly vulnerable. Too loud and too unlike you and too this and too that, but it’s everything. What the two of you have formed— and will continue to no matter the hurdles along the way, that’s what matters. What you both will continue to make matter. That’s why you’re here, sitting together in bed together on a quiet November afternoon when you could be anywhere else, with anyone else.

And, there's no ending sweet enough to compare with the way Lisa flusters under your affection, burning brighter than any star you've ever seen.

#blackpink x reader #blackpink imagines #blackpink fanfic #lisa manoban x reader #lisa imagines #kpop x reader #kpop imagines #gg x reader #gg imagines #lisa x reader #halcyonfics

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eriquin · 11 months

Text

Time Travel AU

So I've been posting snippets from this, but it's still in need of a name. But it's also pretty long at this point so I figured I might as well post some chapters and see what people think.

(all parts post)

Summary

Steve Harrington goes to sleep sometime after the apocalypse and wakes up in October of 1983. He remembers what's going to happen. No one else does.

Part 1:

Steve was definitely dreaming.

The dream went like this. He woke up in his bedroom at home when he had gone to sleep at the Henderson house with half of the party. He woke up and the sky outside was cloudy but not raining ash. He woke up alone, instead of next to Robin or Dustin or someone who had curled up next to him for warmth or protection from nightmares. He woke up feeling rested and alert and with a clear head and no ringing in his ears. He woke up and listened and there was someone moving around downstairs.

His bat wasn’t next to the bed, or under it, so he grabbed a trophy off the shelf and flipped it around so that he could use the stone base as a weapon. He stopped to listen at the top step and recognized the voices. Somehow, his parents had come home.

He kept the trophy in his hand and crept down the stairs to find his mom cooking breakfast and his dad reading the paper at the kitchen island. They both looked as surprised to see him as he was to see them.

“Uh. Hi?” he said with a little wave. He still had the trophy in his hand and he set it down on the kitchen counter.

“Good morning,” Mom said. “I didn’t expect to see you up so early on a Sunday.”

Dad chuckled and got up to pour himself another cup of coffee. “Something must’ve startled him. He came downstairs and his hair isn’t perfect.” Steve’s hands automatically went to his head to pat his hair into place.

Mom tutted at Dad as she turned back to the stove to flip some pancakes over. “Like you’re one to talk, David.”

They were both dressed for the weekend, slacks and sweaters and polos. His mom’s hair was curly and pinned up, and his dad’s beard was trimmed short. Neither of the styles were the ones they’d been sporting the last time they’d been home, but there was something nostalgically familiar about it all. “Uh. What time is it, anyway?”

“Only nine, honey,” Mom said. She got out a small stack of plates and set them on the table. “It is nice to see you before noon, though. Just think! You can actually have some pancakes while they’re hot instead of microwaving them when you get up.” She put three pancakes from her stack on one of the plates and held it out to him.

He knew his confusion was showing on his face as he crossed the kitchen to take the plate from her. His parents just looked amused at it all. He brought the plate to the counter next across from where his dad had been sitting, but immediately had to get back up for a fork and knife.

Dad poured a second cup of coffee and brought both it and his own back to the counter, setting the fresh one down next to his plate. “Seems like you’re starting to need this to get started,” he said with a chuckle. “Really settling into your old age, eh son?”

“Thanks, yeah,” he said. He pulled the bottle of maple syrup close and caught his reflection in the bottle. He looked different. His hair was mussed but significantly shorter, and the redness around his neck was missing. He rubbed at it as he stared at himself. There was no hint of the healing abrasions. He ran his hand over the places on his face where he knew he had scars and they were also gone.

His dad laughed again. “He gets that from you,” he said to Mom, gesturing at the way Steve was examining himself.

Mom glanced over at what he was doing and grinned. “Well, he got my good looks, so I don’t blame him.” She put the spatula down and came over to take the bottle out of his hands. “You look fine, sweetheart,” she said, smoothing his hair down. “Got a big date tonight or something?”

“Uh, no?” he said quickly. “I wouldn’t... I mean, what?”

“This is why he sleeps until noon, you know,” Dad said. “His body is moving but his brain hasn’t woken up yet.”

“He gets that from you.” Mom went over to the microwave and pulled out a covered plate. “Here, you two might as well start on the bacon while I finish the pancakes. You’d better leave me some this time, or else you’re making your own damn pancakes next weekend.”

Steve stared at the plate. Mom used to make pancakes and bacon every Sunday that she was home when he was still in school. She’d fry up half a pound of bacon for the three of them and then hide it in the microwave until the pancakes were done. He snagged a piece of it and ate it with his fingers. It was still warm. The memory struck him as something from ages past, but it couldn’t even have been a year since the last time this happened.

“Hey Dad,” he said, leaning across the counter. “Can I see the paper real quick?”

“Want to check the funnies?” Dad asked. But he folded it closed and slid it across to him.

Steve just took a quick look at the date under the headline. It said October 16, 1983. He felt his stomach drop and he stared at it for a minute, slowly chewing the bacon in his mouth. The saltiness of it was grounding him in a reassuring way, but he still felt like the world was spinning a bit.

He didn’t hear the next thing his parents said, but when he looked up they were both quietly staring at him. He tried to think of something to say that would make sense of it all, but his mind was a complete blank. He slowly pushed the paper back towards his dad.

“You suddenly become concerned with what Reagan’s up to, Steve?” his dad asked with a light chuckle. He picked up the paper and folded it.

His mom looked more concerned. She stacked the finished pancakes onto the plate and shut the burner off. “Honey, are you feeling all right?” she asked as she wiped her hands off on her apron. “You look pale.”

He tried to come up with a good excuse but his mind was still whirling. He thought back to falling asleep and waking up somewhere new, but everything was still vividly real. Mom came over and pressed the back of her cool hand to his forehead. He leaned into it without thinking, shutting his eyes and soaking up the attention. Other than the complete disbelief in his environment, he felt completely fine. That was the weirdest part. Nothing actually hurt. He had no aching joints or healing bruises or buzzing in his ears or lingering headaches.

He felt exactly like he had before everything to do with the Upside Down had started. Just like it was October of ‘83.

“I’m fine,” he muttered, pushing his mom’s hand away. “Really, I’m okay.” His mind was reeling more than a little. If this was a dream, then it was a nice one. Nothing nightmarish had happened yet. And if it wasn’t a dream, then he was really back before everything had started. Maybe all the run-ins with the Upside Down were the real nightmare. He tried to think back to what had been going on in the weeks before Will’s disappearance. It was his junior year. There was no looming threat of college applications. Basketball tryouts had just happened, and he was on the team but not captain. There weren’t any games for weeks. His parents were planning a long trip in November. They were a little worried about leaving him home alone for a week, which in hindsight was appropriate.

“Are you sure, Steven?” Mom asked. She brushed a wild strand of hair out of his face and patted his cheek.

“Don’t baby him, Rebecca,” Dad said. “If something was wrong, he’d tell us.”

Mom took a step back towards the stove. “If he’s sick now, he’s actually sick,” she said. “He wouldn’t fake it on a Sunday.”

“Unless he’s one step ahead of you on that,” Dad said. His eyes twinkled a little and he winked at Steve over the lip of his coffee cup. “Counting on you remembering how off he was today so that when he wakes up tomorrow feeling just awful you won’t send him to school.”

“It’s not that,” Steve protested. He pulled the sugar bowl and creamer closer so he could load up his coffee the way he liked it. “I just woke up weird. Think I had a nightmare.”

His dad hummed and shook his head at the amount of sugar Steve was spooning into his coffee. “And this nightmare involved the news somehow?”

“No, I was just double-checking the date,” Steve said. “I dreamt that you guys had left on your trip already and something happened to the house while you were gone.”

Mom let out a scandalized gasp. “Don’t say that! You’ll jinx it.”

“She’s nervous enough leaving you home for a week,” Dad added. He still looked amused.

“No, it’s fine. Really, it’s fine.” Steve took another sip of his coffee and cleared his throat. “Completely unrelated, where are the fire extinguishers?”

This got Mom to gasp again and drop her spatula. When she turned to see Steve and Dad grinning at her, she snatched the kitchen towel off of its hook and swatted at them. It made them burst out laughing. “I can’t believe what I put up with in this family,” she muttered. “After I cooked you all this nice breakfast and everything.”

“Sorry! I’m sorry,” Steve said, holding up his hands in defeat but still giggling. “I promise I’m not going to burn the house down.”

“Or do any other kind of damage!” Mom said. She threw the kitchen towel at his head and missed. “You promise?”

“I promise!”

“Good.” She flipped the next batch of pancakes. “Eat up and then go get ready for the day. Since you’re up, you can help me go grocery shopping.”

#time travel #in need of a name #and probably editing #my writing #stranger things #steddie

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acourtofwhatthefuck · 2 years

Text

Fireleaf (Part Two)

Lucien Vanserra x Reader

Part One

Here's hoping this works and Tumblr doesn't fuck up the format.

Warnings: None!

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The next morning, you were to have a private breakfast with Dion.

Your mother had seen to it herself that your appearance was perfected, bustling into your suite at first light and dragging you from sleep. Only the second day in this new life, and you were already sick of being poked and prodded like a doll. Even as a noble family, your parents had never pushed you to dress in the ways that were typically expected. Until now. You missed the tunics and breeches that you favoured over the dresses.

Your mother stared at you in the mirror as she fastened your corset, her eyes like shards of ice, her mouth pinched. You could only imagine the whole host of things that lay on the tip of her tongue, waiting to be said.

“You don’t need me to tell you,” She murmured after a sting of silence, “that your attitude yesterday was terrible. The way you spoke to the High Lord–”

“Beron Vanserra is a sexist pig.” You cut in, not caring who might be passing by, listening, “I don’t–”

Your corset strings were yanked so tight, you had to grab hold of the mirror’s frame in front of you. You sucked in a sharp breath as your mother gripped you by the shoulders and spun you round to face her.

“Are you truly so conceited, so selfish, that you believe your opinions take precedence over the wellbeing of our family?” She hissed. “Because it will be you, Y/N – you who is to blame if we cannot secure the High Lord’s help, and we lose everything.”

You barked a laugh. “And what of father? Where does his blame come into this? We’re in this position because of him–”

Her jaw ticked. “What was done by your father is done. That cannot be changed. But it can be fixed – by you. You are Beron’s condition in all of this. Do you really wish to shirk this and see us fall? After so many years of hard work?”

You stared at her – the woman who had birthed you, raised you. Who had once told you that you didn’t have to wear gowns if you preferred not to, who had promised that love and health was far more important to her than money, than reputation. Where was that woman now? Had your family’s downfall truly hardened her so much? The thought made you ache – made you want that beautiful, caring woman back who had loved you for the ways you differed to your sisters.

“Of course I don’t wish that, mama,” You frowned, studying her. Searching for her. “But I want to be happy.”

Her eyes shuttered, her hands reaching out to gently cup your face. “My wild, wild girl,” She whispered, pressing a kiss to your forehead. “Don’t you know? Females in our world don’t have that luxury.”

Your frown deepened, but before you could question it, push more, she turned you around again; far more gently, this time. Her fingers were lighter as she finished dressing you, and she didn’t speak another word as she painted your face and fixed your hair.

Had she ever been happy? She’d certainly seemed happy. She and your father weren’t mates, but they seemed to love each other well enough. You’d never known your mother to complain that her life with her husband and her girls was not one she’d chosen for herself.

Unless it had all been a lie, of course. But your sisters had chosen their husbands for themselves, and they seemed happy.

So why couldn’t you be, also?

Your mother kissed you once more before you went to find Dion.

“We all have to make sacrifices, Y/N.” Was all she parted with.

⤲

Dion Vanserra was a beautiful male.

There was no doubt in your mind about that as you strolled onto the veranda that backed onto the sprawling gardens. The morning seemed a tad fresh for dining outside, but Dion showed no sign of discomfort from where he lounged at a table spread with far too much food for two people.

His hair was unbound this morning, sitting around his shoulders in waves that caught the early light perfectly, the vibrant red seeming to blend into the autumnal landscape as though the trees and their leaves had spared some of their colour for him.

He looked up with a warm smile, his milky skin tinged pink from the air and his brown eyes bright and alert. In a movement of pure, fluid grace, he rose from his seat and inclined his chin at you.

“Good morning to you, lady.” He said, his eyes roving over your appearance – not leeringly, but…appreciatively. As though the burgundy shade of your gown was pleasing to him. “I thought it might be nice for us to have breakfast here. Quite a view, isn’t it?”

It was quite a view – both the landscape, and your betrothed himself. And all you had to do was nod your head, agree – the correct thing to do. But it would be so, so easy to reject his offer, to turn on your feet and find somewhere for you to have breakfast alone.

Your mother’s face flashed into your mind. We all have to make sacrifices, Y/N. Which ones she’d made, you had no clue, but…perhaps she was right. Perhaps it was just a fact of your life.

So you forced a pretty smile onto your face, the picture of innocence. “The view is lovely.” You replied. “Thank you for the invitation.”

Dipping his chin again, Dion sidled round to the other end of the circular table. He pulled the seat out, and your skirts whispered against the veranda floor as you approached. You met his eyes, wondering if you blushed at the intensity of his stare as you lowered yourself into the seat.

The table was crammed full with everything you could possibly want. Fruits and pastries and pewters of chilled juices and a pot of steaming tea. All magicked, no doubt, to stay as fresh and delicious for as long as possible. You couldn’t deny your mouth watering at the sight – if you were ever up this early, you were usually wolfing down a quick bowl of porridge before your training session with Linden.

“I’m sorry if it’s a bit overboard.” Dion sat down once more, a coy smile on his lips. “I should have asked you yesterday what you liked to eat. I think I may have pissed the cook off with my requests”

You snorted – and then cringed, imagining your mother’s reaction to such a sound. Clearing your throat, you straightened yourself up in your chair and attempted to look…delicate…while spearing melon with a fork.

The fact that Dion had been thoughtful enough to arrange such a spread, himself, may – or may not – have made you warm to him just slightly.

“This is perfect,” You admitted, trying not to groan at the sweet juices pawing your tastebuds. “Breakfast for me usually consists of bland porridge – if I remember to eat at all, before I’m out and about.”

Dion filled his plate, genuine interest on his face. “Out and about doing what?”

You swallowed. Knew how you should answer. That you woke up early just to sing along with the birds until the sun was up, when you’d then bathe in a tub of milk and honey until your skin was supple and glowing, and then you’d spend the rest of your day devouring romance novels about noble princes and stitching pretty patterns of flowers into handkerchiefs.

You almost choked on a laugh at the thought. Almost.

“There’s always something to keep you busy.” You vaguely answered. “Always some kind of work around the territory.”

Dion nodded, sipping from a glass of juice. “You mentioned yesterday that you help your father with his work. I admire that. If I had sisters, I’d like to think they’d be as ambitious. Although, I doubt my father would echo that sentiment.”

You studied him – really studied him, while he was distracted with his bowl of fruit. He seemed…decent. Even if you didn’t have much to go on yet, you didn’t feel the natural impulse to recoil from him like you had with Beron the day before. Nor did you feel the urge to escape from breakfast as soon as possible. You were just…relaxed. Just fine.

But, you thought, as you studied the sharp cut of his jaw, the long lashes that swept his cheekbones with every glance downward, you were intrigued. You hadn’t forgotten what Barric had said a year ago – that Dion had volunteered your name for this arrangement himself. It had surprised you that he even remembered your existence.

You swallowed again, wondering if you were being inappropriate as you said. “I have a question.”

Dion looked up, his head falling into a tilt. “I’ll try my best to answer whatever it is.”

You kept him a little in suspense as you chewed, swallowed, chewed, swallowed, wondering how the hell to word this without bursting the bubble the two of you were supposed to be in. Without dousing you both in reality and demanding, what’s in this for you?

You cleared your throat, dabbing at your mouth with a napkin. “When Barric came to my family’s estate a year ago and…spoke to me…he told me that in looking for a potential wife, you’d volunteered my name. I was wondering why.”

Your eyes watched him closely, searching for any little sign that there was scheming involved, any indication of disingenuity. What you didn’t expect was the way his cheeks turned slightly pinker. The way he shifted, as though he was embarrassed.

“Honestly?” He said, and you nodded. “Well…around a year and a half ago, I happened to be passing through your family’s lands while on business. I knew that our fathers were old friends, and so I thought I’d stop by and see how your family were faring. All I could remember was that your father had only daughters — no sons — and that you’d visited our estate many years before. I had tea with your parents and they told me about how your sisters were married and living in their own estates, now — that you were the only one still at home.”

You didn’t know whether you were supposed to feel embarrassed and ashamed at that. You didn’t, though — merely speared another piece of melon and listened.

“I didn’t really think much of it. After catching up with your parents, I set off on my travels again. But as I was leaving the lands, I happened to ride past the plains around your estate — and I saw you. I only knew who you must be from how closely you resemble your mother. But you were out there in that field, sparring with a male. A male far bigger than you. And I found myself just…stopping to watch. There was something I found very beautiful in the way you just threw yourself into it without caring about how you looked. You seemed so…alive and fluid and free. And I suppose I looked at you and wondered if maybe…maybe you were someone like me. Someone who doesn’t want for much other than to be happy. Someone who does the things they like rather than what they’re expected to like.”

Amongst the small mark of respect you felt for him, you felt it – that muted bleat of panic. Because you weren’t supposed to be the female who wielded swords and sparred with males. But it seemed that Dion already knew, to some degree, what lurked beneath the surface of you.

And yet he’d still volunteered your name.

You frowned, shifting in your seat. “...If your father knew that I had such a hobby–”

“He would be outraged.” Dion cut in, a teasing smirk lifting his lips. “So we best not let him find out.”

“Wouldn’t it just be easier for you to wed one of the females he suggested?”

“Easier.” He shrugged. “But painfully dull. I’m not looking for a quiet, obedient bride. I’m looking for someone I can live with.”

Well. You hadn’t known what to expect of the second-eldest Vanserra brother, but…it certainly hadn’t been such…open-mindedness. Such tolerance. And by no means did those qualities make you comfortable with such an agreement, but…but maybe it would be easier to see it through with someone like Dion by your side. Maybe you could help your family and not have to be totally miserable while doing so.

He tilted his head at you, his hair rippling to the side. “I know this is all probably a bit daunting – today in particular, with all the families arriving for the festival. But I’ll try to make it as easy for you as possible. Just stick with me. I’ll do all the talking and posturing.”

You could have launched yourself across the table and hugged him for that reason alone. The next two weeks were going to be pure hell, you were sure, with all the dinners and dances and events that you’d have no choice but to show up to because you were Dion’s fiancee. All the eyes that would be on you – not just those of your parents and your sisters. You were in for a fortnight of scrutiny and judgement, far worse than you’d ever had to tolerate before.

Maybe Dion was your saving grace in all of this. With him knowing how to act under so many stares, maybe you could just…take yourself off into your own head. Block the situation out as much as you possibly could.

“Thank you.” You breathed – and meant it. “There’s going to be a lot of people to…impress. And if I'm honest…I’m not sure how.”

“Just be yourself.” Dion smiled. “Your sisters will be joining us, yes?”

You hummed, sipping your drink. “All four of them. And their husbands. My eldest sister is pregnant with her first child.”

“Are you close to them?”

You suppressed the urge to snort. How were you supposed to explain such complex relationships as the ones you had with your sisters? It would be easier to bend his ear about the tensions between the five of you.

“I’m really only close to my youngest sister – Willow.” You admitted. “She’s the most…like me, I suppose. She’s quiet and bookish and kind. My second youngest, Clem, is just…indifferent to all of us. Like she’s not one of us. Then there’s Sara, the middle sister…she’s not unkind, but—she lives in Molly’s shadow too much. Molly’s my eldest sister. And I wouldn’t say such a shadow is a good one to live in.”

Dion perched his elbow on the glass top of the table, resting his chin on his hand. He was gazing at you, listening intently like your family gossip was the most enthralling bit of conversation he’d ever heard. “And what is Molly like?”

How long have you got? Was what you wanted to ask. Spiteful, rude, snobbish—

“She’s…” You chewed your lip, wondering the most diplomatic way to describe your eldest sister, “We clash, I suppose. We’re polar opposites. Which wouldn’t be a problem, only…she knows how to use words as weapons. She seems to have a talent for sniffing out a person’s weakest points and firing for them. And she has a tendency to look down her nose at people.”

And that was the mildest description you could have given him. The things you had to say about Molly were endless.

Dion snorted, sitting back. “Well she sounds delightful. She’s certainly right up Jareth’s street. What a shame that she’s already married.”

Not a shame for you. Molly’s marriage had meant her leaving your family home and you no longer having to tolerate her constant stream of snarky comments and complaints and judgements. It was the happiest you’d ever been after she’d left – until now, anyway.

It was why you dreaded her arrival so much. Because you weren’t truly sure what she was capable of. How low she would stoop to belittle you.

And in a situation where you needed to be at your strongest, your bravest…your eldest sister was the worst person you could have around.

Dion seemed to read the worry on your face. His smile was gentler, more understanding as he said, “Don’t worry – I, too, have siblings I have to routinely take time away from. We can be each other’s excuses when they become too much.”

Lucien Vanserra seemed just the same, going by how solitary he seemed to be. You wondered if he’d be around today…how Molly would take to him.

You swallowed a mouthful of tea and shot Dion a somewhat grateful smile.

Little did he know, you were going to need a lot more than just his kindness to get through the next two weeks.

⤲

Your sisters and their husbands were some of the last to arrive, the Vanserra Estate already teeming with families and staff and action when their carriages finally pulled up. The grounds were dotted with groups of people chatting, sipping from wine flutes and picking at the finger foods that immaculate servants carried around on platters.

You – you stood at the top of the steps at the front of the manor, Dion’s presence warm and comforting pressed against your side. It didn’t stop the sickness unfurling in you, though, as you watched Molly grasp the footman’s hand and step down from her carriage, looking resplendent in a dress of peony pink that hid the growing swell of her baby bump. Her handsome – if not simple – husband followed in her tracks.

You had no doubt that your other three sisters had been told to plan their gowns around Molly’s as they, too, emerged with their husbands, decked to the nines in various shades far different to the one your eldest sister was glowing in. You didn’t move as your parents hurried down the steps to greet them. Dion rested a supportive hand on your back.

“Y/N.” Your father called. “Come greet your sisters before the fun begins.”

You sucked in a deep breath. It was a whole damn effort to force your legs down those concrete stairs. Dion only followed after the first step, leaving you room to approach them first. He nodded politely to the husbands at their sides.

“Welcome back to our home.” He stopped behind you, his smile winning and pleasant. “I hope you’re looking forward to the next couple of weeks as much as Y/N and I am.”

And that – that was a playful glint in his eye as he shot you a subtle smile. One only the two of you would understand. That you’d both rather build a tunnel that led you to the horrors of the Night Court than spend the next two weeks here, with all these people.

You weren’t able to form words. You merely nodded, met Molly’s eyes, and Sara’s, then Clem’s and Willow’s.

“We were honoured to receive the invite.” Molly said, her eyes shamelessly roving over Dion – as if her husband wasn’t standing right there. “I’m sure it’s going to be–”

She was cut off by the squeal that came from your right. Every one of you looked up just as your youngest sister, Willow, shrieked and threw herself at you. You couldn’t help but grin as you snaked your arms around her.

“It feels like I haven’t seen you in ages.” She gushed, squeezing you. She pulled back, studying you from head-to-toe – the sight of you in your gown must have been something alien to her. “You look beautiful.”

The smile that broke out on your face was genuine as you squeezed her arms. “As do you. All of you do.” You directed that smile at Sara, at Clem – and at Molly, your eyes flickering momentarily to her stomach. “You’re glowing, sister.”

Molly placed a protective hand over her stomach as though you were seconds away from attacking. She’d convinced herself long ago that your skill with a sword was indication of some hidden violent tendencies. It was an effort not to roll your eyes.

“That colour suits you.” Sara smiled at you. “Y/N looks lovely, don’t you think, Mol?”

“Mm.” Molly’s smile…nobody else seemed to realise how sharp it was. As sharp as the blades you were a dab-hand at wielding. She was a weapon. “Ravishing. It’s like putting rouge on a feral cat.”

And the laugh that followed the remark…one that said I’m acting like I’m joking but I’m not…you’d heard it too many times before. Willow squeezed your hand gently. You wanted to knock Molly’s tiny hat off her head, to tackle her to the ground–

Dion was suddenly at your side, once again placing a hand at your back. “Well. Never have I seen a feral cat that was so pretty.” He smiled – easily, confidently. As cuttingly as Molly. “How about we have some tea?”

Molly’s eyes traced him again. “Tea would be wonderful.”

You knew that was as far as the pleasantries would go. Keeping hold of Willow’s hand, you turned. You didn’t wait before you strolled back up to the house, Dion at your other side. Your family followed, murmuring quietly beneath their breaths.

“It’s so good to see you,” Willow whispered in your ear, grinning. “Your fiance has a nice ass.”

You snorted, stifling the sound with your hand. Not quickly enough for Dion to miss it. He tilted his head at you inquisitively…and behind your back, you could already feel it. The heavy stares. The scrutiny.

The two weeks had barely begun, and you already felt like screaming.

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

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vannahfanfics · 10 months

Text

Fright Night

Word Count: 2,400

Established Relationship, Humor, Pranks

Summary: Robin and Law share a morbid sense of humor, and they use it to terrorize their crewmates. Just a little bit.

“You know, Nico-ya—when you said that you wanted to spice up date night, this isn’t quite what I had in mind,” Law frowned as he scratched at the side of his head. He was looking down at Robin with a mixture of concern and intrigue.

“I can’t blame you for that, I suppose,” came Robin’s nonchalant reply. “Most people’s ideas of dates don’t involve a disembodied head on a platter.”

“Yet, here we are, with your disembodied head on a platter.”

Robin’s body was sitting in the chair at the small side table on which her detached head rested comfortably; it gave Law an airy shrug, then resumed arranging romaine lettuce leaves on a large ceramic serving plate. It was quite a strange feeling, Robin mused, knowing that you were completely disconnected from your body yet able to direct its motions unimpeded. Robin merely felt like the rest of her body was suspended in water, a little weighty and cool but otherwise sensorily intact.

“Come, now,” Robin hummed mirthfully at her boyfriend, her lipsticked mouth curling up into an impish smirk. “You can’t act all unsure before you ask me what I intend to do with my severed head on a platter.”

“Pray tell, what do you intend to do with your severed head on a platter?” Law chuckled.

Knowing Law, Robin surmised that he had thought that she was joking when she’d asked him to sever her head using his Devil Fruit powers. Feeling a little light-hearted himself, he’d probably done it as a joke with all intention of putting it back within a minute or so. He’d probably expected Robin to be wholly unfazed by it, given that they shared the same morbid sense of humor, but he apparently hadn’t expected her to plop her own head on a table and start arranging things like she was going to present it to a meal to somebody.

Which is exactly what she intended to do.

“I overheard Sanji say that Usopp missed dinner again because he’s too busy tinkering with something in his workshop,” Robin explained, pausing to let her hand pop an extra piece of lettuce into her mouth. She crunched it between her teeth and swallowed, madly curious to see if it would merely fall out of her throat or would somehow be teleported to the rest of her body. She wasn’t sure if she was disappointed or relieved to find it was the latter.

“Sorry, I couldn’t help myself,” she grinned when Law raised an eyebrow at her. “Anyway, Sanji went to prepare something for him, and it will take time, naturally. So I thought that was the perfect recipe for a prank. Don’t you think so, too, Law?” she asked with an alluring flap of her lashes. The coy gesture did little to disguise the downright devilish gleam in her eyes.

“I think you should leave the cooking to Black Leg-ya,” Law huffed, but his face directly contradicted his words. A Cheshire cat grin stretched wide across his mouth, and his dark eyes had taken on the same devious gleam as Robin’s. “That being said… You’ve already put in so much effort, and the man does hate to waste food. We wouldn’t want to upset your hard-working cook, now, would we?”

“Indeed not,” Robin purred. She knew that winning over Law would be easy, but she was still incredibly pleased with his compliance. She really had intended for this to be a way to shake up the humdrum of date night, after all. One could only do so many private dinners and cuddle sessions before boredom began to set in. Variety was the spice of life, as the saying went, and Robin was in the mood for something tasty.

And what could be tastier than scaring the living daylights out of the ship’s resident fraidy-cat?

“All right, I think that’s enough. It’s time to bring Usopp a special delivery,” Robin smirked wickedly when her body had finished placing the last leaf of lettuce on the plate.

“It’s a good thing that I’m a doctor,” Law laughed while picking up Robin’s head to gently set it on the plate. “I think I might have to do CPR on him after this prank. I’ve seen you all pull some shit on him, but I think this one takes the cake.”

As he pulled his hands away, Robin blinked thoughtfully up at him; in the chair, her body mimed as if she was cupping her chin with a hand. Since her chin was a foot away resting against some romaine, of course, it merely cupped empty air.

“What?” Law asked her.

“Do you think I should have my body jump out of a cake?”

“Nico-ya, I’m starting to think that you might actually want to kill Nose-ya,” Law laughed and shook his head at her.

“Well, even if he does die, you can just resuscitate him,” Robin pointed out, her headless body shrugging casually once again. “Although, I suppose a heart attack isn’t exactly pleasant, and I’ve no real grudge against Usopp. I’ll save that idea for another time, I guess.” Robin willed her body to stand, then to motion at the silver dish cover sitting on the table beside her plattered head. “All right. Let’s hurry, before Sanji gets to him and ruins the joke!”

“I pity those you do have grudges against,” Law just chuckled and grabbed the dish cover.

When Law placed it over her head, Robin couldn’t help but quip, “Hey, who turned out the lights?”

It took several minutes to get down to Usopp’s workshop in the depths of the Thousand Sunny’s hull, for Law had to proceed carefully with Robin’s headless body in tow. Most of the crew were still above decks, most likely, but they didn’t want to risk running into one of them and having to waste time on explanations. They couldn’t use Law’s Room to fast-travel down there, either; in order to do so, he’d have to create one of considerable size, and it might attract the attention of Robin’s crewmates. Both circumstances could result in Sanji completing his cooking and delivering the meal to Usopp, which would not bode well for Robin’s practical joke. Thankfully, they arrived at the door to the workshop having encountered nary a soul.

“Oi, Nose-ya,” Robin heard her significant other call while rapping his knuckles against the door. “I’m coming in.” While her body hid in the shadows of the hall, Law slipped into the workshop, making sure to shut the door behind him. “You missed dinner, so Black Leg-ya had me bring it to you since I was headed toward the underwater viewing deck.”

“Aw, man, I totally lost track of time!” Robin heard Usopp whine, presumably from his workbench based on the muffled sound of him hastily pushing things aside. Robin felt the platter shift as Law brought it across the room.

“Thanks, Law!” Usopp chirped when Law set the platter down. “Funny how as soon as you stop doing something, you realize how hungry you are!” he then laughed, followed by a loud, gurgling growl of his belly. He sounded positively famished, and Robin almost felt bad for playing this little joke on him.

Almost.

“Now, let’s see what ol’ Sanji’s whipped up this time!” she heard Usopp cackle in anticipation, combined with the sound of him rubbing his hands together. “Come to Papa~”

Robin plastered a big, cheesy grin on her face, and when Usopp removed the lid from the platter, she trilled, “Bon appetit!”

“AAAIIIYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!” Usopp immediately howled and sprang off his stool like it was suddenly a blazing-hot fire under his rump. He frantically back-pedaled away from Robin’s detached head, and she watched with glee as all the blood drained from his face and his irises shrank into the whites of his eyes. In so doing, he tripped over a loose board and went sprawling out on his back.

Law hastily scrambled out of the way of his flailing arms, then immediately succumbed to laughter; one hand clutched the workbench, while the other held his stomach as he gasped through his cackling fit.

Meanwhile, Robin laughed merrily and bid her body to stroll into the room, while ripping another high-pitched scream from the terrified young man. He just watched in a mixture of horror and fascination as her body strolled up to the silver platter and plucked her head from the bed of leaves. His eyes then rolled into the back of his head, and he flopped lifelessly back to the floor.

“Shah—Shah—Shambles!” Law wheezed while holding out a quivering hand to activate his Devil Fruit.

Just like that, Robin’s form was now all put together. She experimentally rolled her neck around her shoulders and turned it side-to-side; once satisfied that the reattachment had not gone awry, she smiled and strolled over to the splayed-out Usopp. She crouched down beside him and clicked her tongue; sure enough, he was out cold, his eyes rolled back so she could only see the whites. When she checked his pulse, however, she felt it thrumming strong against her fingertips. No harm, no faul, she decided.

Just then, Robin and Law heard thundering footsteps approaching. They looked up just in time to see the door burst open.

“Usopp! Usopp, are you—?!” Sanji shouted, eyes wide with panic and his cigarette clenched tight between his teeth. It took him a second to process the scene, and as he did, his fright slowly morphed into confusion. His gaze flicked from Robin to the silver platter to Law several times in succession before the revelation dawned on his face.

“Law! What did you do to Usopp?” he demanded, pointing a stern finger at him while using his other hand to hold a bowl of steaming-hot soup high over his head.

“It was Nico-ya’s idea!” Law shrugged, though his devilish smirk didn’t do much to inspire any notions of his innocence.

“Oh, we just played a little prank on him,” Robin tutted while fanning Usopp’s face. She smiled as his eyelids began to flutter and color return to his ghastly white face. “I didn’t expect him to faint.”

Sanji scrunched up his face in a terse frown, caught between wanting to scold her and being totally unable to. So, he just stood there in stiff silence as Usopp slowly came to, moaning and groaning.

“Ah… Robin… Your head…” he whined as he looked up at her through hazy, unfocused eyes. “Hey… It’s… It’s attached!” The sight of her totally not-headless body had him rapidly ascending into consciousness; he sat bolt upright with a gasp, looking between her, Law, and the platter with a series of confused noises. “But—But I—you—your head—the platter—Wuh?” He suddenly stopped to fix his bewildered stare on Law, and it, too, dawned on him.

“You guys! That was totally not cool!” he cried while throwing his hands into his curly black hair. “Taking advantage of my hunger—way to hit below the belt, Robin!”

“Sorry,” Robin apologized, though she only half-meant it. “If it makes it any better, Sanji’s here with a real plate of food for you.”

Usopp crossed his legs underneath him and looked up at the cook as he walked over. Sanji bent down to hand Usopp the plate, and the inventor took it with a grateful sigh. He then grimaced and swirled the spoon around the broth several times, scrutinizing it.

“You’re not in on this, are you, Sanji? No eyeballs, fingers, or creepy-crawlies?” Usopp asked with a suspicious frown up at the blond.

“Nope. Soup is totally safe, Usopp,” Sanji reassured him with a weary smile. “Jeez… I’m glad you didn’t kill him, you two. I’d’ve been pissed if that soup had gone to waste.”

“Oh, thanks,” Usopp huffed around a mouthful of soup and rolled his eyes. “Be pissed about the soup, not about the fact that I died. Really feeling the love here, guys.”

“Oh, come now. I only pranked you because I knew you’d have such a delightful reaction,” Robin giggled. When Usopp frowned dourly at her, she reached up to pat him on the head. “I’m joking. You’re a good sport, Usopp; you know how to laugh at yourself. Come on—it was pretty funny, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Usopp agreed with a little snicker. “I gotta admit, that was pretty good. I can’t believe I haven’t thought of using Law’s Devil Fruit powers to pull a prank like that.” He stopped in the middle of spooning more soup into his mouth, and Robin purred excitedly at the devious gleam that alit his eyes. “Wait… What if we took off my arm and used it to prank Chopper?! Or my leg? Heck, my head, even!”

“Nope. Not gonna be a part of this. Not listening,” Sanji quipped and strode right out of the door, hands over his ears.

“Hold on, hold on—let me just finish this and we’ll think of something real good!” Usopp cackled maniacally and started shoveling soup into his mouth with gusto.

Robin left him to it, rising to her feet and strolling languidly over to Law. As she leaned against the workbench beside him, he frowned at her.

“Okay, Nose-ya coming in to third-wheel is definitely not what I had in mind.”

“Oh, don’t even,” Robin chortled and gave him a knowing smirk. “I know that you’re dying to scare the pants off of Chopper.”

Law could only hold his stern glare for a second before it morphed into a wolfish grin.

“... I’d wonder if that makes me a bad person, except, I really don’t care,” he snickered devilishly and rubbed his tattooed hands together. “Oi, Nose-ya! What about sticking your arms in Nami’s tangerine trees and getting her, too?”

“Yes!” Usopp agreed animatedly. “Although, we should save her for last. Nami might actually kill us. I want to prank everybody else before I’m brutally slaughtered like a helpless prey animal.”

“Don’t worry, Usopp, I’ll protect you,” Robin chuckled.

Yes, this was shaping up to be a rather interesting date night indeed. Oh, Robin was so glad that she found someone who shared her morbid sense of humor. The Thousand Sunny could do with a little excitement here and there, after all. They were just good little shipmates doing their part to keep things lively!

“Fufufu…”

Did you enjoy this oneshot? Consider requesting from me by visiting my rules, then either commenting on this story, submitting an ask, or contacting me via DM!

#lawbin #law x robin #robin x law #one piece #nico robin #trafalgar law #trafalgar d water law #one piece law #one piece robin #op law #op robin

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spotsandsocks · 1 year

Text

Cover by the oh so talented and lovely @ronordmann thank you love, I adore it it’s perfect.

Read on AO3 9k E

Silence fills the room as soon as Eddie hangs up the phone. He’d known something was wrong the second he’d seen his Dad’s caller ID pop up at 2pm on a Wednesday afternoon. It had been a quick call, just long enough to update him on the situation, his Dad had been keen to get back to Abuela, Eddie doesn’t blame him, he wishes he could be there too. He hates that she’s moved away even though he knows it made sense. He just misses her so much, worries about her too, even more now.

His phone is still in his hand so he doesn’t really think much about what he’s doing, just makes the call. It’s picked up in under three rings and Eddie breathes out a heavy greeting.

‘Hey. It’s me.” Although Buck knows that, caller ID and all.

He gets a “Hey,” right back and then after a brief pause Buck asks the question Eddie knew he would.

“You ok?” There’s quite concern in his friend’s voice, he already knows something’s wrong. Eddie guesses there must have been something in his voice to give it away, even if he has only said three words. He doesn’t know why he’s surprised, Buck’s good like that. He knows people, he sees things people don’t expect him to and he cares. Eddie knows he’s lucky to be one of the people Buck cares about.

“Not really,” Eddie sniffs and he can just imagine Buck stopping whatever he was doing and frowning in worry. It’s an expression he’s quite familiar with but he hasn’t seen too much of lately, not now things are getting a little better for him.

“My Dad called, it’s my Abuela.” He takes a deep slightly shuddering breath, “she’s in the hospital, they’re doing tests and things but no one's sure what’s wrong, Dad tried to play it down but I could tell he was worried.”

“And now you’re thinking about plane tickets right?” The understanding is instant, Eddie nods and confirms Bucks guess.

“Yeah, I can’t go, I know that and I’m glad he told me but..”

“You’re too far away and you feel useless.”

Again he nods, a small huff of air escapes too, Buck knows him well.

“I’m gonna call her later, Dad said she’s sleeping.”

“She’ll like that, give her my love.” A heartbeat later Buck says “You want me to come over?”

He does but what he says is “No it’s ok, you’re busy. I just wanted to talk to you.”

Buck’s voice is soft, “Anytime Eds. I’m always here, you know that.”

They hang up not long afterwards, Eddie feeling slightly better having spoken to someone. No, having spoken to Buck, who’s right, he is always there for him. Every time. Eddie’s still not sure what he’s done to deserve it but he’s glad, so very glad he has Buck in his life.

Caller ID tells him it’s Buck’s calling and he doesn’t even wait for Eddie to say hi, just jumps in with,

“Eddie! You have to help! Maddie’s going to kill me.”

“What have you done now?” Eddie knows that tone, he waits to hear what minor crisis Buck finds himself in today.

“I’ve lost Jee’s favourite teddy. Maddie just called and Jee’s distraught.”

Eddie thinks Buck’s worked himself up into a similar state by the sound of him.

“Ok, calm down.”

“I am calm.”

“You’re really not, ok, take a sec and...”

“I’ve looked everywhere, Jee will never forgive me, Maddie won’t either.”

“Buck you were here this morning, let me check, maybe it fell out somewhere.”

“Please find it Eddie, I’m a terrible Uncle.”

Eddie rolls his eyes as he pulls cushions around and looks under and behind couches and chairs.

“You’re a fantastic Uncle. Jee loves you. Maddie loves you too. A lost teddy isn’t going to change that .”

“I don’t know Eds. She really loves that bear.”

His hand closes around something fluffy under one of his chairs, he pulls it out and recognises the bear Jee had had earlier.

“Well it’s a good job I’ve found it then.”

“You have!? Oh thank god!” he can just imagine Buck's face, the way he’s throwing his head back, exposing his neck, mouth open as he sighs in relief. He gets lost in the image for a moment then shakes himself free.

“I’ll run it over to Maddie for you, I’m closer.”

“Thank you, thank you, you're the best man, I mean it.”

He laughs, he’s glad he could help wipe Buck’s distress away, a quick trip to Maddie and Chim’s is the very least he can do for Buck.

Eddie knows he’d do almost anything for his friend, but all he says is “No problem, just glad I can help reunite a girl with her bear.” before he hangs up, bear in hand ready to save Buck’s neck from his niece’s tears and sister’s wrath

Read on AO3

#911 fic #911fic #Buddie #spotty scribbles #buddie fanfiction #buddie fic #evan buck buckley #eddie x Buck #buck x Eddie #eddie diaz #evan buckley

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joondaya · 2 years

Text

long post on the hsmtmts initial core 4 and their relationships and development i guess:

a lot of yall think getting into a relationship solves every existing problem within these characters and then get shocked when these exact problems get brought up again. the dumbest thing is that yall then bring up the argument “why spend the whole season building them up only to break them up in the next” or “you’re ruining their character development” as if we are not watching the same show and the answers are not right in front of you.

ricky accepted moving on from nini and it took her making a move and almost kissing him for him to realise he could go back to that and have one thing stay the same. he was terrified of change while she running towards change. i’m not saying he didn’t love her, but i’m saying that loving her was not the only reason for him to run back on his path of growth. and then in season two he did not like the person he was becoming with nini. ricky is not out of character this season but actually falling back to his character. because i don’t know what show yall were watching in season one but he was always goofy and carefree around gina. when he was reminiscing his friendship with nini he talked about himself as someone who was carefree and easygoing. he is not acting weird now just because yall did not pay attention to his character. he finally restored his relationship with his mother and no longer in a relationship where he feels he is being left behind, of course he no longer acts like an angsty teenager. please think a little.

nini got called out for making her life about boys and she tried to find her own person. but people seem to forget that besides that silly song that she did not actually grow from boys. in fact, right after that conversation with kourtney she was already getting jealous of ricky and gina. and right after that song she was already trying to kiss ricky. she needed that second chance with him to realise that an “i love you” wasn’t the problem of their relationship and they needed to work a lot more than just ricky’s feelings and communication. she also needed to know that her song wasn’t just for show and she actually needed to define herself and not having relationships define her.

they have not once been on the same page throughout season one and that was an argument people made before season two even aired and for some reason some of you were still shocked how things unfolded. (some even blamed outside drama but that’s another topic altogether) i feel like some of you guys are just not watching the show because this is a disney show, the subtext is not that deep. most of the things are right in your face.

and for some reason yall doing it again this season and i’m confused what part of the show have you missed? ej’s anxiety has been ongoing since season one. he is a guy that has never known anything less than perfection, and we could see that it comes from his family. he doesn’t work well with pressure and doesn’t really know his own way if things are not mapped out for him. he freaked out with having to play troy last minute, and freaked out with not being accepted into duke. mr mazzara told him to find a story and learn from it, so he focused on gina. now i’m not saying he hasn’t or couldn’t learn from gina, but that it was a pivotal moment in his life to finally learn about himself but he chose not to. now he is at camp with his girlfriend, with a responsibility he did not ask for but obviously wouldn’t turn away because that’s who he is. he had the summer mapped out for him but not anymore and that freaks him out. delivering anything less than perfection also freaks him out. this is something he should’ve started dealing with since last season when he realised his sense of self came from his family expectations. just like ricky, he got into a relationship to delay a growth that’s impossible to stumble upon. in addition, this guy severely lacks communication skills for someone that has been implied to be in several relationships. it happened with nini, it happened in the season finale with gina, and it’s happening once again. he creates scenarios in his head and goes with it instead of talking with the other person. in fact, he communicates his problems with anyone (ashlyn and now val) but the intended person. contrary to popular belief, “i’m no longer cunning” is not growth. specially when all his actions of redemption in season one was to make himself feel better. his character development is only starting now because besides not accepting that duke offer his dad practically bought him, he actually had no growth.

and then you have gina, a girl who entered a relationship in order to feel safe, seen and loved while not being over ricky. and deny it all you want, but that scene in carlos’ party wasn’t closure. her having to be away from ricky to create a path for ej and have her focus on it is not moving on. it’s only just creating a diversion that would eventually go back to its original path. this is also not me saying that she doesn’t like ej. it’s me saying that her heart has never been 100% with him because she never actually retrieved it from ricky in the first place. moreover, her character growth has never been about her “dropping the attitude” but about opening herself up to others and not run away when things get complicated as she never actually had the opportunity to form relationships and know how to communicate in them. that she doesn’t have to compromise who she is in order to feel loved and accepted.

and to just be clear, i’m not saying that these ships can’t eventually find each other again. but it’s never a surprise when a breakup is eventually coming towards them. and using “but they spend the whole season building them up” as an excuse is not the take you think it is. and that their character development is more than just “i did bad things and now i don’t” when they’re not actually growth. a lot of yall take one song or dialogue as character development and fail to realise that their actions are not following along and then call it “repetitive” when it gets brought up again when it hasn’t even been solved in the first place.

and i’m also not saying rina is above them. (although i do believe they are) but what i’m saying is that ricky and gina always had story arcs that flowed together and yet, it wasn’t time for them. so for me it makes no sense to question why rina is still a thing because you just do not understand the concept of slow burn and do not understand that these characters and their storylines have always been intertwined from the very first season. i understand the denial in season one, but if you finished season two truly believe they were over and done with, you’re either obtuse, or you were settling for extremely bad writing.

#hsmtmts #hsmtmts season 3 #gina porter #ricky bowen #ej caswell #nini salazar roberts #ricky x gina #rina #ricky and gina #gina x ricky #rina hsmtmts #hsmtmts rina

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lorkai · 2 years

Note

Can you make the brothers and the dateables react to MC that has family issues? I had a really bad family issues and I want a little comfort :') (I'm sorry if my english are bad 😿)

A/N: First of all my dear your english is not bad, it’s quite perfect so don’t worry about. And I'm sorry that you have to go through this, I hope this helps you get through whatever it is you're going through right now. I've written for Dateables for now, but I'll be doing part two with the brothers. I hope you like it!

TW: Implied abuse (?) on Simeon’s part, implied spoilers for chapter 16, family issues, hurt/comfort

Diavolo can understand you since he has problems with his father. He still blames himself for his mother's death, but it's not something he could have avoided at all, he was just an innocent baby. And this innocent baby grew up to be an anxious child, ready to fulfill any and all harsh expectations his father had for him and his future. He grew up not having the childhood he should have had, growing up without friends and carrying all the pressure and guilt of it until the present millennia without anyone knowing about it.

But during the first few weeks on the exchange program he recognizes that unlike anyone else you don't say anything about your family or express any desire to return to the human world, almost as if you had no one you missed. It's weird, but maybe you're just pretending to be strong or pretending not to miss you so you don't fall apart in front of everyone. You can't come home for a year and it's better to fake it than complain all year, right? Wrong. Diavolo finds out about your family issues when the accident with Belphegor happens, Barbatos reports to him about it and they both feel a conflict within them growing. Technically you can't stay in Devildom forever, because you're a human and this place is only for demons, but neither of them wants to send you back.

However you are an exception to the rule and when the year is over he lets you stay in the castle. Regardless of the relationship you share, whether platonic or romantic, Diavolo will spoil you a lot and will always tell you how proud you made him today, even if you did something small and insignificant in your opinion. He is sincere with his compliments and always offers tips for you to improve what you need, he always helps you too and loves the lazy moments you spend in the garden, drinking tea with Barbatos or playing with Cerberus. Or even when you vent to him about your family situation.

Now if you want to go back to the human world, then you can bet he will give you an amazing home no matter what country you live in. Or of course, if you like, he can let you stay on the island he owns. He knows that you will be protected there and that fills his heart with hope, that no one else will be able to harm you and you can overcome all your traumas while resting in a place far away from your home.

⠀⠀⠀

Barbatos always knew there was something wrong with you, despite not knowing what specifically. Maybe it was your quiet and shy way or your rude and explosive way, maybe it was the independent way you had or the way you waited for people to tell you exactly what to do that made him think your childhood might not have been the best. Anyway, after the incident with Belphegor, Barbatos took it upon himself to make you smile more, to make you laugh more and to make you feel genuine affection and this butler here doesn't back down when he decides he wants something.

He will make you smile, he will tear down your walls and he will be your new foundation, just like he is the foundation of Diavolo.

Barbatos never had a childhood literally. But he understands how painful it is to grow up in the midst of an unstable environment, not knowing how to act and if you want to vent, know that he will always be here for you. To listen to you, to wipe your tears and offer you the best hug you've ever had, Barbatos will validate your feelings and support you in each of your decisions, he will celebrate your achievements and always help you in whatever you need. You are one of the dearest people to him and he wants to see you being your best, he wants to see you at the top and most of all, he wants to see you happy.

So when the exchange program finally ends Barbatos takes you under his wing and starts actively participating in your hobbies, and if you want to learn how to cook and bake? The man is over the moon to teach you everything he knows, all his secrets and recipes are passed on directly to you. And the moments when you cook together is one of the most special for both of you and it's also in the kitchen that you always have the most sincere and profound conversations.

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Solomon understands your pain in a different way since so many years have passed and he is unable to remember his parents, their faces and their voices too, it's all an inconsistent blur in the memory he has. But the pain of having a dear bond cut by a disagreement he can understand all too well. He lost his dear apprentice to a silly disagreement, he lost people because of his ideals and he understands how lonely it is to be alone, how it hurts to see everyone else and imagine yourself in their place just for a day to make the pain go away, to be able to smile and have someone who supports you without doubting your potential. So yes, he may not be the quickest to realize the precarious situation you're in, but he's one of the quickest to act and help you get back on your feet.

If he can help it you will never feel lonely or anything like that as he will always be there for you with the excuse that humans stay together in Devildom and while that is true he doesn't want to leave you alone with your thoughts and bad memories. He wants the time you spend together to be enough to replace the other memories you have of humans, he wants to teach you the gentleness and kindness, the love and affection of a friendship.

It is very common for you and Solomon to be on video call during the night or for you to skip class when the pressure is too great on you. He loves sneaking you up to Rad's roof and having you lie on his lap so he can play with your hair or entertain you by telling you some story of forgotten ages as you watch the clouds creep across the sky. Quiet days like this make you relax enough to vent about what's on your mind, about your problems and how you should try harder to solve them despite not having the necessary strength. And during those days when Solomon likes to use his wisdom and offer advice to guide you on the right path. He wants to see you happy too, after all it's been a long time since he got attached to someone else.

And by your side he is also able to heal from his loneliness and thoughts of doubt, he is also able to see a light shining and he wants to show you that same light. So hold his hand and let him follow you wherever you are going, let him help you with your problems and rest your head on his shoulder when things get too hard. It's okay, all this will pass and he will be by your side to tell you that you did everything well, that your efforts were enough and that your work is perfect.

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Family issues develop from a number of factors such as strict parents, parental fights, sibling rivalries, communication problems and the list goes on. While Simeon is definitely the quickest to notice that you have some sort of problem that is bothering you, always so nervous, planning what you have to say and how to say it and noticing how you flich when someone is yelling or waving their hands agitated, Simeon is also the sweetest and most attentive. He's gone out of his way to make sure you're feeling good, always very subtle and caring about your needs. He doesn't care if you notice what he's doing, or if you feel scared and try to walk away from finally having someone on your side telling you how proud he is of your accomplishments.

Yes, he knows it's suffocating, but he also knows when to walk away so he doesn't hurt you. He can't help but want to help you in any way he can, whether it's your homework, your hobby, or a simple spell. Simeon knows that childhood fears and traumas can take a long time to heal but like a good angel he promises to stay by your side as long as it takes so you don't feel like you have to lie or hide things, so you can smile again and freely say what you think.

Humans should live in peace, have happy memories with their family and have a good life in the world so that when they come to the Celestial Realm they don't have any regrets or plans left behind. It's a shame your life didn't turn out that way, but he'll make sure your memories of Devildom are as happy as possible. And he's great at making you let your guard down and laugh so hard your belly hurts, Simeon always takes you and Luke to explore the woods of Devildom and have picnics there. The landscape is so beautiful that it leaves you in a state of permanent peace. Or he can sing for you while Luke plays the harp.

One thing is for sure, however, if you have any serious issues with your family, congratulations because now he is your father and you have just gained a little brother. They will both take great care of you.

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