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savemefromanepicoftimewasted · 7 months

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Secret Lovers

Simon "Ghost" Riley X F!Reader

Simon wasn’t someone who very willingly opened up to anyone, his teammates were no exception either, save for Price. It was always better to keep things quiet and let people assume what they pleased instead of trying to answer their questions. Better to remain mysterious than show your cards to the wrong person. a/n:this was originally started because of a snippet @thebeesatemyknees had written, thank you so much for letting me turn this into a full fic! I hope I was able to do it proper justice warnings:none, just tons of fluff Part 2

Simon wasn’t someone who very willingly opened up to anyone, his teammates were no exception either, save for Price. It was always better to keep things quiet and let people assume what they pleased instead of trying to answer their questions. Better to remain mysterious than show your cards to the wrong person. Johnny had badgered him from day one if he had a partner, going on and on about how much he loved his girlfriend. SImon wasn’t going to tell him anything, no matter what he’d keep his lips sealed.

Kyle was the next one to ask, though it was more in passing rather than a true and genuine question when he cornered the older man. They had been discussing mission details when the topic arose, did he have a next of kin? And if so, who would be the one to inform them if Ghost were to be KIA’d? He never asked Simon after that day, instead going on to different topics whether they had to do with the mission or what they wanted to eat. Kyle treated him like a friend, it was nice.

And John, well he knew all about Simon’s personal and very private life.

~~~

You were a new addition to the team, a medic that could stitch up a wound within a minute and get you back on the field within five. They were thankful to have you come around with them, helping stitch up a wound on Johnny’s arm, or cleaning up a gash on Kyle’s head. The only person who seemed to be a little wary around you was Simon, which both Johnny and Kyle felt odd. You fit in their group like the puzzle piece that was missing, and yet Simon acted as if he wanted nothing to do with you. Surely he’d warm up to you a little more, they were all sure of it.

“Thank you all for meeting me on such short notice. We’ve got word that an arms dealer is hosting a gala and we need to get more intel before we can swoop in.” Kate was a woman who took no shit and left no prisoners, she wasn’t going to risk this.

“Who do we want to send?” John was nervous, his men were trained for this, but putting them into a situation where they’d have to become someone else entirely? Nerve wracking.

“I was discussing it with Shepherd last night, and we’ve decided that Simon and Y/N will be going on this mission while the rest of you stake out the building.” All eyes suddenly shifted to Simon who looked calm as ever.

He’d forgone the mask for this mission briefing, knowing that only his teammates and Kate would be in the room with him. Knowing that you were going to be there made things a little more tense, could he handle something that dire?

“If you think that’s what’s best, I fully support the decision.” John wasn’t going to argue, Simon could be suave and charm the pants off of anyone if needed.

“Thank you, we’ll be heading out tomorrow and meeting up at the hotel. Promise me you’ll behave so no one suspects you, please.” Kate knew how much of a troublemaker that Johnny and Kyle could be, given the opportunity of course.

“I’ll make sure of it myself if need be, don’t you worry.” John smiled up at her, leaving Kate to wonder how much trouble there would be.

They would need to debrief you on the plane ride over, given that you weren’t even in the room with everyone. Having something like that just dumped on you with no time to prepare was the worst, how could they manage? Simon would just have John give you the rundown so he could worry about more important things, like how he’d have to act like the two of you were so desperately in love.

You would have an entire day to get comfortable in the hotel room, there would be a few people lingering so you’d get used to being stared at. Simon knew they’d mainly be staring at you, you were downright gorgeous. And with the clothes that had been picked out? A deep navy blue tux, with a pitch black button up and black silk tie. It perfectly matched the dress they’d picked out for you, a deep V down the front that left just enough to the imagination. The color matched his tux almost identically, the only difference was your dress was silk.

“They’ve packed everything for you to do your own hair and makeup, we don’t want you to stand out too much, better to blend in.” It was the smartest idea, if you or Simon were to attract too much attention things would end badly.

“Yeah, Kate told me as much as she could, I made sure to pack my best heels.” You were nervous, it’d been so long since you’d been able to go out to something fancy.

“Are you sure you can handle this?” John knew you were smart and quick witted, but something about this mission unnerved him.

“I’m positive, Simon and I will get the intel and get out before anyone even notices we’re missing.” You were confident everything would go smoothly, Simon could be silent if needed.

John nodded at you, settling back into his seat as the plan began to descend down onto the tarmac below. Simon was staring at you from across the way, palms sweating slightly as the time drew closer to getting inside the hotel. Johnny was going to see how nervous he was and make comments, he was sure of it. The sound of tires squealing brought everyone’s attention to high alert. It was time to grab your things and head to the cars, you were driving over with Simon, leaving the other three to their own car.

It was mainly to not raise any suspicion, if you were seen driving with any man that wasn’t your husband word would spread before you managed to make it to the party. You were absentmindedly playing with your ring, twirling the obnoxiously large diamond with your other fingers. It was a habit you picked up whenever you tended to wear jewelry, though it was much better than picking at your cuticles.

“You feeling alright hun?” Simon glanced over at you, though his own nerves were shot, he wanted you to feel comfortable.

“A little nervous, but that’s to be expected considering the circumstances.” You kept twirling the ring, glancing between Simon and the road ahead of you.

Simon took a quick breath and grabbed your hand, lacing your fingers together without skipping a beat or taking his eyes off the road. You couldn’t stop the smile that spread across your face, you had been waiting to see how long it took before he finally felt comfortable around you. You’d need to practice around everyone else if you were going to look natural around a bunch of strangers. Everything was going to be just fine, you were sure of it.

John had set up everything in the hotel room, along with hanging up your dress and Simon’s tux to help steam out any wrinkles if needed. So far there was nothing to worry about, save for Soap acting like a little shit and pranking Simon and Kyle for the most part. You’d all settled in, changing into comfortable clothes and ordering food so that you wouldn’t have to leave. Simon was cleaning up the kitchen so he could sit down and enjoy dinner with you.

“Do you need any help?” You walked over to him, pressing your hand against his lower back.

“Nah, just need to finish cleaning this plate and we can eat.” Simon smiled at you, leaning down to press a kiss to your cheek.

“Whatever you say.” You patted his back gently, heading over to the small kitchen table.

Johnny raised a brow at how you and Simon seemed to naturally work with one another, he didn’t want to raise any suspicion. Kyle on the other hand was ignoring him entirely, digging into his own meal and scrolling through his phone. Simon had finally finished, grabbing his plate of food and heading over to sit with you. He could faintly hear that you were both discussing the mission and going over your alias’ one last time.

“Simon, you need to wear your ring.” You’d gotten on his case the entire day, he kept taking it off complaining that it felt weird to wear it.

“I’ll wear it during the mission tomorrow.” Simon brough the fork to his mouth, focusing on his plate rather than your raised brow.

“You say that now, but when we end up leaving you’re going to forget it and then we’re going to have to drive all the way back because you won’t wear your ring.” You had put yours on right away, mainly because you were forgetful and didn’t want to end up forgetting it.

“Are you really going to make me wear the ring all night?” Simon’s expression would normally terrify a recruit, but you’d gotten used to it.

“If I want to make sure you have your ring on? Yes, I’m going to make you wear your ring until we get back on that plane and go back home.” You’d glue it on if need be, but Simon knew better than to disobey orders.

John chuckled to himself watching the two of you, it was a dynamic he hadn’t seen in quite a while and it was pretty funny to witness. Johnny on the other hand was now even more flabbergasted at the way you worked together. Why did you seem so comfortable arguing with a man who’d killed for less? This was something sinister and it unnerved him to no end, he’d get to the bottom of this.

You’d offered to clean up everyone’s dinner dishes, carefully cleaning any knives before laying them on a towel to be dried by Simon. He walked over to where you were, wrapping an arm around your waist to pull your bodies flush together. Johnny’s jaw dropped open as he slapped Kyle’s arm to get his attention. The playful bickering was one thing, but watching Simon the Ghost Riley be so affectionate?

“Damn, he’s a good actor.” Kyle watched the way you and Simon began to sway gently, giggling at something he’d whispered into your ear.

“Scarily good, didn’t think he had it in ‘em.” Johnny shook his head, turning back towards the computer in front of him.

It wasn’t until the sound of someone kissing caught their attention once more. Simon had dipped you, lips pressed against yours as his arms wrapped around your waist. Johnny’s jaw dropped wide open, well if you weren’t together already that was surely going to change. You pressed your hands against Simon’s chest, laughing happily as you stared up at him.

“Cap, do ya think Lt and the medic are gonna get together after all this?” Johnny had high hopes, no one gets kissed the way Simon kissed you and simply part ways.

“What’re you talking about?” John barely lifted his gaze from the screen, typing up the pre mission notes to help catch up on them before.

“Simon’s practically tonguing the medic! He’s gonna woo her.” He waggled his brows at the older man, cackling when John rolled his eyes.

“Oh, yeah that’s not gonna happen.” John’s attention focused back on the task at hand.

Johnny’s laughing abruptly halted, what the hell had he meant that Simon wasn’t going to woo the medic, it was obvious! Clearly John had no idea what he was talking about, Johnny could see the little twinkle in your eye from across the room.

“Gaz, am I wrong or do ye think Ghost and medic are gonna end up together?” He was determined to get someone to agree with him.

“Oh, if they don’t I’m asking for her number for him.” Kyle may have had a slight crush on you, not that he’d ever admit it.

John sat upright in his chair, focusing on Johnny and Kyle who thought they were being more subtle than they actually were.

“Have you ever looked at their name tag by chance?” John wanted to see if the other two would finally catch on.

Both Johnny and Kyle shook their heads, neither of them had a reason to over analyze your name tag when they had injuries to be taken care of. He sighed softly to himself before glancing over to you and Simon. You were laughing at some bad joke Simon had whispered to you, a bright smile on his face.

“Her last name is Riley.” John watched as realization dawned on their faces.

You’d been married this entire time and no one, besides Price, was none the wiser. How the hell had you managed to keep it hidden from everyone? Then again Simon wasn’t the most overly friendly or affectionate when it came to anyone. You were his wife though, that was different! Surely you could bring out a different side of him, something that no one usually got to…of course.

“Would’ve been nice to know at least.” Johnny shrugged off his disappointment, this was a big thing to keep hidden away.

“It wasn’t my place to tell, just remember that.” John wanted to respect your privacy, it was the least he could do considering your line of work.

Johnny and Kyle understood why Price hadn’t admitted to questions about your relationship, but knowing the truth? It felt good. They watched the way you and Simon danced to the music playing from your phone. Simon’s arms were wrapped around your waist, pressing kisses all over your face as you tried to squirm away. It was a side of their teammate they’d never thought to see, and no one outside of this hotel room would ever get to see it.

At least, not until after the mission of course.

tagging: @gaylemonshark

#simon ghost riley #simon riley x reader #simon ghost x reader #simon riley x you #simon riley #ghost call of duty #ghost mw2 #simon riley fluff #simon riley fic #simon riley fanfic #john price #john soap mactavish #kyle gaz garrick #kate laswell

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xx-webfoxxez-xx · 4 months

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therian dashboard simulator 🐕🐕🐕

(34 notes)

🐶 the-bravest-wiener Follow

guys i ate a bee during a shift what the fuck should i do?

🐺 runningwith-thewolves456 Follow

my dearest canine descendent: are you /srs or /j rn??????

🐶 the-bravest-wiener Follow

i was /j !!! although, eating a bee shaped gummy definetly gave me a hint of the True domestic dog experience LOL :3

🐝 irl-bee Follow

(3,492 notes)

🐯 thegiantorange Follow

The tiger prowls,

As ancient as the land itself,

Unseen, unheard,

But always felt.

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(436 notes)

🦊 leafthefox Follow

did my first successful quads jump today : DD

🦝 epicraccoon Follow

Yayy!!!! So happy for you *sniffs you*

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that's so cool!! I wish i could find a way to manifest my kin in a better way, do you guys have any ideas??

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HeLLo***!!!! @nebulakin , i Am 💥💥🩷 Lonely WOMAN 🙆‍♀️🥺🩷 click Here To Chat!!!!!!! 💋💋💋

🦊 leafthefox Follow

??????????????????

🦝 epicraccoon Follow

??????????????????

🎆 nebulakin Follow

NEBULA ATTACK 🌌🌌🌌

(10,739 notes)

🐱 kittykat Follow

YARN TAIL AND CAT MASK TUTORIALS BELOW 🐈🐈🐈

Found some great tips for diy gear guys, super excited about these!!

...

(read more)

(346 notes)

🌫 thelonewolf Follow

looks at you with my autistic eyes

#THE LAST ONE IS A POST I ACTUALLY REBLOGGED #THIS WAS FUNNIER IN MY MIND #MY DASH IS ALWAYS LOOKING LIKE THIS #LIKE ITS INSANE #therian #therian stuff #irl therian #fox therian #alterhuman #theriantropy #therianthropy #caninetherian #felinetherian #otherhearted #otherkin #mine #tommie speaks #therian memes

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xan-izme · 9 months

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Dubble Life (ACTSV x reader x Batfam) 4

Summary: Reader made a promise to never let Spider-Woman out. Knowing the dangers of putting that mask on. Reader is starting off fresh now, and they will be damned if anyone tries to have you pull that mask down your face again.

Part 3 Part 5

TW: break downs, mentions of past trauma, mentions of mental health

"Just listen to me!" Gwen was following you as you were still franticly searching for Damian.

"Bug off Gwen. Don't need the society's shit right now." You spoke harshly. Gwen sighed as she watched your stressed expression switch between worry and frustration.

Gwen stopped and spoke. "I know your probably still hurting. But New York needs Spider Woman. Your uncle and Miles can't hold Brooklyn down forever." You paused and turned your head to the blonde.

"More anomalies are showing up. The Prowlers aren't fit to control them. If this keeps up, who knows what will happen." Gwen was staring at you with those big blue eyes of her's.

You always used to like looking into Gwen's eyes. Her eyes always held this kind of sadness in them, sadness you and her connected with. But no, you see no connection. At least not the same as before.

". . .I'm sorry Gwendy. But I don't have time for this."

You made sure the coast was clear before shooting a web to a nearby building and land in an alleyway.

After nearly two hours of searching for Damian and nearly having a break down. Alfred was able to find you and inform you that Damian was safe and was currently with Bruce. Damian had wanted to stay with Bruce. And you decided to go back to the manor.

"Don't do that again Damian. You can't just leave your sister like that." Bruce scolded his son for making you worry. Knowing you must have been freaking out with the way he had disappeared. Damian sighed.

"If she's cross with me, then I'll tell her I went back for this." Damian lifted up an album. Bruce frowns in confusion. Because how the hell is a Boney M album going to calm you down?

"Lady Y/n. Is there anything you need before-"

"No Alfred! I just need some rest; I'll be in my room." You rushed up the stairs. And slammed your room door.

You finally took a seat on your bed. A second passed, and your breathing started to pick up, a minute passed, and your eyes began to sting from the incoming tears that seem to build up until your eyes couldn't hold them any longer, letting the tear drops fall.

It wasn't long till you became a sobbing mess.

it was too much. Emotions you didn't know were still in you started to burst out of control. You were a crying mess.

Why?

Were you stressed?

Or is it that you miss your family back in New York?

Were you upset seeing Gwen? Was seeing her bring back memories that you didn't want to see? Memories of people you don't want to remember?

No. . . that's not it, is it.

It was what happened with Damian. How he let your hand go, and just disappeared. It's funny, you don't really like the boy. Well, his attuited is what you distaste the most. But you were crying, because you thought you almost lost him.

You were scared you almost let someone who was your blood, your kin, die.

What a silly thought. Don't be thinking these things. Suck it up, you keep doing this and let these feelings show to the family. They won't be happy. If they aren't happy because you're not happy. You'll ruin the mood.

So, suck it up, you thought to yourself. Forget those silly thoughts, forget that knot you feel in your chest. Because your Y/n Morals- . . . Wayne. Y/n Wayne.

And this family, this manor. Is your fresh start. Your new beginning. And in order to make sure this new life of yours is to keep them safe. Make sure Spider-woman is never involved in their lives. Make sure they live.

Hours passed. There was no dinner time tonight. Which you were thankful for. You washed up and got yourself ready for bed.

Your phone began to ring. You stared at the contact number.

Miles👾

You took in a shaky breath and answered the call.

"Hey. . .you good?"

You smiled in relief from hearing your cousins voice.

"Yea. . . did you need something? Is Tia Rio, okay?" You questioned. Worried by the way Miles spoke.

"No- I mean yes! yes Mami's alright, It just . . ."

Your eyes squint, getting curies, and a little worried as to what was the matter.

"Just what?" Your voice seemed to have snapped Miles out of whatever train of thought he had.

"One of those people, a woman. Jess, she said her name was. She stopped by here. Saying she had a package for you."

You felt your heart stop for a second. Why the hell was Jess there.?

"A-and I heard her talking to dad. She claimed she was a doctor you and your mom used to go to. Sis, she was saying some shit bout you being mentally ill. And it looks like Dad and Mami bought it."

You began cussing at whatever caused this to happen.

"I just wanted to give you a heads up. Mami's going to drop off the package tomorrow at noon. She'll most likely bring it up to Bruce."

You sighed. You can handle this. You just have to observe, be patent and don't jump too early. Make sure to make the right moves. One wrong move, especially in front of Tia Rio. It's game over.

"Thanks bro. Goodnight, love you." You say as you lean on your desk. Your posture made it clear that you were absolutely exhausted for the day.

"Love you too. Good luck."

Miles hung up and you were once again alone with the silence in your room. You grabbed a CD and popped it in the CD player. You had to keep yourself distracted.

You needed to be distant from those silly thoughts. But don't float away now, you have to plan on how things are going to be tomorrow.

You want to jump and go straight into why in the hell did Jessica Drew go to Miles's house. A place you had made clear was off limits. You had informed Jess and Peter B that the places where your family is, are off-limits. Meaning Uncle Aarons apartment, Miles's apartment and the Wayne Manor in Gotham.

But for now, focus on the challenges that are in front of you now.

The next day came around. Damian had apologized and gave you a album as an apology.

You ended up forcing him to watch a horrible rom com just to get something out of it. And you did.

"That was stupid, and I'm never doing this again."

You laughed at Damian's words. The boy was truly fun to watch. A second past before you two heard a knock. You both look at the doorway to see Alfred.

"Lady Y/n. Your aunt is here to see you." The man said.

You began to mentally prepare yourself as you stood up and walked off to your room, that was where Alfred led Rio to wait for you.

As Rio was waiting for you. She took a look at your room. Your books were organized on the bookshelf. Pictures of you and Miles when you two were younger on the walls. One picture was on your nightstand. It was of her sister, your mother.

Rio didn't know you were seeing a therapist. Well, after what happened with that friend of yours a few years back. You did need it.

You just seemed so happy, even after that incident. But Rio now knows that you were only so happy because of your mother. After she died, Rio hasn't heard your laugh in a while.

The door to your room opened. You smiled, walking towards Rio with a smile.

Rio hugged you tight. She pulled away and saw how tired you look. She cups your face in worry.

"Oh, my baby. You look tired, have you been sleeping? Are you eating well? How about Bruce? Is he being good to you? I sware if he is not-" You chuckled and held both of her hands and kept them close to you.

"I'm okay, Bruce is nice. He's been spoiling me actually."

Rio calmed down and nods "And sleep? Hija mía, parece que no has dormido."

"Ah, I fell behind my studies last week and have been working to catch up. Don't worry I'm good now. My grades are safe!"

Rio smiled and sighed in relief. "I came here to drop this off. Your Therapist, Mrs. Drew?" Rio took out a box that was a size of a jewelry box. You took it and set it down on your nightstand.

"Honey is-. . ." You waited for what Rio was going to say. Was she going to ask about that 'theripist' of yours? Whatever Jess said, it seems to have made Rio upset.

"Is Bruce here? I need to speak to him."

You sighed and shook your head "Sorry, he's still at work." Rio nods and just smiled again as she gave your hand a squeeze before letting go. You and Rio went downstairs so you could walk her to her car.

"Oh! I almost forgot to tell you. Your uncle has got a new position now. He's going to be captain!" Rio smiled widely as she told you news.

You smiled and grabbed her hand. You kissed the back of her hand gave it a tight squeeze "Thats amazing"

You were spacing out. It looked like you were staring at something but thinking of nothing. But you were thinking of a lot of things. You wanted to live peacefully. Is that selfish?

Being Spider-Woman was amazing. You felt strong, felt like you could overcome anything that came your way. And protect loved ones made you feel safe. Knowing that you could protect them, made you feel safe.

But after your mother. After finding out the truth from Miguel. You didn't feel safe, you no longer felt like you could keep your loved ones or anyone around you safe. Not when you have that mask on.

So, you gave up the mask, made sure that without a Spider woman in your universe, things wouldn't go to hell. But every time, every time you thought things were okay, thought that everyone was safe from Spider Woman. The society keeps coming to ruin it. You had to find a way to stop them.

"Y/n? Hello?"

You snapped out of your train of thought. "Huh? Oh, sorry Damian, what were you saying?" You leaned in on your palm and gave your brother a smile.

"Movie. I'm bored." The boy bluntly said. You paused and began to process what he said. You smiled warmly and walked with Damian to the screen room.

You swear to all the gods, you won't let the mask take what you have left.

#atsv x reader #miles morales #miguel o'hara #mental health #gwen spiderverse #batfam x batsis #bruce wayne #bruce wayne x daughter!reader #x daughter!reader #damian wayne #dick grayson #rio morales #alfred pennyworth #slight angst

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pearlsinmyhair · 10 months

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₊ ⊹ the price of the name.

synopsis: reader has had a hard life, and now she’s an orphan. but someone just as lonely comes into her life to take her under his wing.

warnings: angst. lots of hurt, very little comfort. miguel is a hardass who pushes people away. death.

platonic!miguel x daughter-like!reader. no seriously, reader is eighteen and young. this is found family, not romantic.

the intention is for this to be multi-part. how many parts? idk.

word count: 1.3k

pt i : fate

　　　. 　　˚　　　　*　　　　✦　　　.　　.　　　✦　˚ 　　　　

being a spider person was always unfair. mercy from whatever divine being that controlled their universes was hard to come by.

you were no exception.

your father died early, shot by a man who ran with someone’s purse. you didn’t know him well, you were only three after all. but your mother fought hard to teach you about him, to make sure you remembered some semblance of him.

and all was well for a time. you went to school, made some friends, started working for some extra cash under the table.

you were reaching up into your attic when the sharp sting of a spider bite zinged up from your hand. you killed it with a slap, but nothing could stop the venom that now traveled through your veins.

the rest was history: you became your universes one and only spider woman, learning her trade as she went.

the cannon event hit later, and it was different from the others.

you had no uncle to find dead on the street.

but you did have a mother.

she was working the late shift at the hospital when a spouse of a dead patient burst through the doors and demanded to see a doctor. apparently, the man wanted revenge for the hospitals failure to save his wife, and he had come to instill justice.

your mother had raised her hands and tried to plead for him to stop, to calm down, to lower his gun.

the shot made your spider-senses go haywire, and you practically flew to the trauma center. the security guards had no idea what to do, so you just ran past them to find your mother bleeding on the cold white tile.

it took everything in you to remember that behind your mask, no one knew you were this woman’s daughter, and you’d have to respond carefully. you watched as the officers called the next of kin, and you were thankful that you had had the mind to put your phone on silent that day.

no one noticed the tears streaming from your eyes behind the suit. you swung back home as fast as you could, answering your phone when they called you again.

pretending to not know what was going on was the second worst thing you had to do that day. you had to fight from chocking on tears as you answered the call.

eighteen and orphaned, standing over your mothers open casket. a part of you thanked that you were older, because it meant that you didn’t have to go into foster care. but nothing could truly quell your grief.

and then the universe decided to send you a big middle finger in the shape of a Doc Oc right after the funeral ended.

you knew that you couldn’t keep going like this. no one should process grief this fast. but as the villain sent a tidal wave through the streets of new york city you relized that you didn’t exactly have a choice.

with great power comes great responsibility.

and saving these people was your responsibility, no matter what mental state you were in.

this Doc Oc looked to be from some other dimension. instead of mechanical tentacles like that of your Doc Oc, he had real ones, and he apparently threw actual octopi at people when he was pissed off.

it was no easy task, and at one point he had thrown you against the wall and knocked your head. as your vision swam, he picked you up with one of his suctioned limbs and squeezed.

it all happened so fast.

a flash of orange and yellow swirling at the edge of your vision. orange silk shooting into your captors face. and then someone shot forward and sliced the tentacle that held you.

you sank to the ground as you caught your breath, vaguely hearing someone say “Lyla, run a diagnostic. what’s the best way to take this guy down?”

as you wheezed, a large hand rested against your shoulder, and a soft voice greeted your ears.

“Sit tight, kid. I’ll handle this.”

you didn’t have time to argue when the hand vanished, and you peered up just in time to see a large spider-man in a blue suit throwing himself at the villain.

you stood as you caught your breath, rushing right back into battle to help the man that had saved you. the Doc Oc dragged you both to the bay, sinking down into the water. it was advantageous for him, being a water dwelling creature, and you and the man struggled. it took another spider, a woman on a motor cycle, showing up to help defeat him.

but it was you who dealt the final blow, wrapping the villains limbs to a nearby pier to keep him underwater. when the pair of new spider people got him all tied up and prepared to take away, you just…collapsed.

everything came down on you at once. your exhaustion, your sadness, your loneliness. everything.

you barely heard the spider woman murmur to the brash man across from her, and it was only when you felt a pair of strong arms wrap around you and pick you up that you snapped back to reality.

but just as quickly as you zeroed in on the feeling, your brain whispered sleep in your ear, and you passed out.

₊ ⊹

you woke to a strange bare bedroom and an odd watch that flickered with light on your wrist. noticing the glass of water on the bedside table, you chugged it, coughing when you got too eager.

“You’re awake!”

you screamed, a small voice coming from right beside your head unexpectedly. you turned to see a small woman illuminated in the light from your watch.

“no need to be afraid. i’m lyla.”

lyla. that rang a bell.

“where am i?” you asked as you noticed the clothes folded in the corner of the room. you cast a sideways glance at the projection, and lyla turned to give you the illusion of privacy.

“miguel will answer all your questions. i’ve alerted him of your new condition.”

you slipped on the black sweatpants and top gratefully, relishing the feeling of soft cotton against your skin. as your hands moved over your body, you quickly noticed various cuts and bruises.

that’s right, i passed out.

“where is this miguel?” you asked as you studied the watch, noticing the flickering ‘EARTH-928’ across the screen.

almost immediately, little glowing footsteps were projected from the watch, making you whip your hand away from your face.

“i guess that’s my answer?” you asked lyla, and the woman nodded.

you sighed, figuring you might as well follow them.

fantastic survival skills from the one and only spider-woman.

well, you thought, not the one and only.

₊ ⊹

the man before you seemed almost nothing like he was when you were fighting Doc Oc.

he seemed…infinitely tired. his shoulders hunched, head ducked down. you supposed that you were distracted during the fight.

but his expression revealed much more than his body language. he had deep eye bags, and his cheeks were sunken in a way that expressed not just natural bone structure but also a lack of eating and sleeping properly.

miguel looked drained.

you were still processing what he had told you, about the cannon and the ‘Spider-Society’ and the ‘Arachno-Humanoid Poly-Multiverse.’

you had actually openly scoffed at that one, and he looked dejected by your reaction.

“but i can’t just send you home now. i’m pretty sure jess would actually web me for all eternity if i did.” he was saying, rubbing his brow.

“so what exactly am i doing here, then?” you asked, curious but hesitant.

he turned his back to you, looking forlornly at his screens.

“i’m going to train you.”

“why?” came your response, surprised and uncertain. you may have only known miguel for less than an hour, but you could already tell that taking on a young apprentice wasn’t exactly in his character.

he didn’t turn to you. he just kept looking at a picture of a young girl on one of his screens.

“because you remind me of someone.” he said quietly. then he looked at you, and you were struck with the amount of guilt and suffering that lived in his eyes.

“and because you remind me of myself. and i can’t let you become like me.”

masterlists | part ii

#oh lord save me with these father daughter dynamics #miguel x reader #miguel ohara #miguel spiderverse #miguel o’hara #miguel ohara x reader #miguel ohara x fem!reader #platonic!miguel ohara x reader #dad!miguel #daughter!reader

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nexusnyx · 1 year

Text

Lost The Game

SUMMARY: The explanation your mind settled for was that whoever lived under that mask, also lived somewhere close by. It explained the first time you found him limping and bleeding on an alley, and it explains how you evolved into his personal caretaker for the wounds and afflictions of Spider-Man’s after battle consequences.

The only thing it doesn’t explain, however, is why through the thick and convoluted webs of your strange situationship, a certain tension has built between you two. Palpable. Physical. As electric as some of his tales, and as dangerous as he is.

The tension between you and Spidey grows, and it grows, and it grows. One day, it snaps.

⚠️ Minors DNI. Smut. Explicit depictions of sex. | 🏷️ 8.3K , fluff, established relationship, part three of three, reposting this ‘cause some people missed this one and asked for it.

• PART TWO •

In his world, there was no Avengers.

The bad thing about his inter-dimensional trip he had was this—Peter got an idea of what other worlds looked like and parts of him wished for a supernatural helping hand, sometimes, or maybe just someone who understood him. He had allies, but very few friends on this side of his life. This is why when Peter is almost killed by Kingpin, a decision that he's been dreading for months becomes easy in the snap of a finger.

Do I drop the last vail or do I not?

All of his excuses as to why not fly out of the window when Peter's bleeding to death and realizes that none of it matters. All of life is dangerous, on this or any other planet, and if he's always putting his own damn life — personal or not — at risk for the sake of saving a city, he might as well do that and let the woman he loves kiss him with the lights on while he's at it.

He swallows the metallic and thick taste of red in his mouth, reaches his trembling hand up, and knocks.

Tap-tap-tap-tap-tap. Tap-tap.

"Peter?"

The fright in your voice is what startles his eyes open.

"Peter!"

God, he loves your voice so much.

A lot less when it drips in worry like this, but the love is there nonetheless.

"Peter, open your eyes. What—oh my god," you choke on your words, and he feels you pulling his body inside your room.

Guiding himself by memory, Peter helps the way he can, letting his body slide down your bed.

"Gonna get your sheets dirty," he mumbles.

"Oh, for the love of god." There's the feeling of his suit being unzipped at the back, and even through the fogginess, Peter notices how your hands are cold. Shaking. "Peter, what happened?" It's a breathless whisper, and it makes his chest ache more than the bruises did because it sounds so small, and nothing about you is diminutive.

"Kin—ow—Kingpin." The ruthless man's minions might still be stuck in webs hung meters above the ground, but Wilson, Kingpin, that man needs no henchmen to do any damage. It was the point he had to prove today—more to Matt than to Peter, but because Peter had decided to help, he got mingled in the mess.

After a heartbeat, he hears. "Who's Matt?" you ask.

Wait—was Peter talking out loud?

"Oh, god," this time, it's a choked-up sob. "Peter, I think you have a concussion."

Y/n is going to be a doctor, so the probabilities of her being right are very high. He probably does have something on his head—Kingpin grabbed Peter's head in his hand, that enormous, gigantic hand that engulfed all of Peter's skull and smashed it against the nearest thing, which happened to be iron polls.

He's still unsure of what the tension and underlying secret were between that man and Matt, but there was so much anger in there tonight.

"Peter..."

He feels weak, but he still has some strength left and Peter had made up his mind before he arrived at the staircases of your apartment.

If he went to the hospital, Aunt May would have a heart attack.

If he came to you, Peter would have to let you see him.

With the taste of blood polluting every inch of his mouth, it was a surprisingly easy decision to make.

He ignores the strain and the pull on the sides of his body as he reaches up for the mask, and he hears you gasp when he pulls it off in a clean sweep.

"Peter."

"Hey. That's me." He can't laugh right now — or open his right eye that much — but he can smile at you. A weak, bloody thing. At least it's an honest one. "Hi. I think I might blackout."

"Peter," are you crying? Good gods, Peter would clock himself on the face if someone else hadn't beaten him to the punch. "I don't—I don't know if I can take care of all of this."

"It's just—the one on the back. I think I'm losin' lots of blood 'cause of it..."

"What's on your back?"

"Open gunshot wound closed with webs?"

"Peter!"

"I didn't sh... shoot it, baby." He knew she'd be mad the second he threw the webs at himself. "The rest will... it'll fade. Soon."

There's a moment of silence where Peter hears rapid, short breaths. He opens his left eye as much as he can as sees you breathing in through your nose and out of your mouth quickly, then feels the bed dipping when you leave it with purpose. He knows you're going for the first-aid kit, so he already does the job of turning around.

When he hears your footsteps coming back, the last thing he hears is what makes him smile against your duvet.

"I'll take care of you. It's okay. It's gonna be fine, Peter."

While he's aware you're hyping yourself up to believe it more than talking to him, the words are like anesthetic all over his body.

Peter inhales the scent that is acutely yours, and blacks out.

If he were anyone else, Peter would remember close to nothing of his hours alternating between consciousness and not.

Lucky for him, he's part spider.

At first, all he feels, sees, and hears, are small tidbits of you moving things in and around him.

There's the distinct — and nasty — feeling of a needle threading with nylon through his lower upper back.

During that moment, nothing else passes through.

He's distantly aware of your mumbling and whispering, the soft and comforting words not reaching his ears, but the sense they bring drape over his skin almost like a blanket.

Then, when he has a silver of consciousness again, he recognizes through the stinging pain and the dull, throbbing aches all over his body, that the heat he registers is not of his own blood anymore, but of your warm hands along with a warm towel washing him.

That's when he allows sleep to come for the first time.

He wakes up somewhere in the middle of the day judging by the light streaming through your window, and he's happy to access that his body's doing most of the healing by now.

The feeling of a gaping hole is gone, and so is the smell of blood.

Peter wants to look around a bit, but while the throbbing has passed, it's left a dull, sore ache in its place.

You're not there, either.

He knows that because Peter's spidey senses have almost a direct link to you, and you're not in the room.

It takes him a couple of minutes with the taste of sand at the back of his throat and that pounding on the back of his head for him to realize he can open his eyes.

There's a glass of water right next to him, and he smiles.

Of course you'd do that.

Even after he's ruined your nice duvets — after promising he'd never spill blood on your blankets again, shit — Peter still gets the kindest side of you.

And then he remembers—you saw his face.

The lights were on, he was a mess, and fuck—you saw him.

You saw him and saved his life, one more time.

How many times would you have to do it?

Why was his life so dangerous?

Peter's stomach starts to resemble something alive, something with tentacles and it's reaching up, so he swallows it back down.

After gulping the glass of water, he hears it.

Distant sounds of conversation.

Felicity's voice is what registers first. It's not as familiar to him as yours is right now, but it is the reason it brought him to you in the first place, even if Peter hates thinking about that. He ignores your roommate and the things he keeps hidden from you like most people would ignore a spider in the upper corner of their bathroom.

It hurts to try to hear the conversation.

The gun blasted too close to his ear, and Peter's not the biggest at eavesdropping, so he just lets his upper body lay down again and allows the darkness on the corners of his mind to take over the rest.

Next, there are the hours in-between.

As the sun goes down, Peter drifts between the land of dreams and this one, enjoying both of them very much.

In here, there's you with a warm, wet cloth cleaning his wounds that need tending, and in his dreams, there's you sitting next to a blond girl, smiling at him.

At some point, Peter opens his eyes and sees you sitting on your chair in front of your computer desk.

Your eyes widen and you slide the chair closer, looking at every inch of his face with furrowed eyebrows.

"Peter," it's the softest you've ever said his name. "Is there anyone you'd like me to text? About your whereabouts?"

Aunt May.

"You can go back to sleep right after, but you came without your backpack, and it's been almost a day—do you want some pain medicine? I can get it for you."

He nods.

You nod back, then get up and exit the room. Peter takes the opportunity to grab the notepad you have on your nightstand, write down Aunt May's phone number and name and a message underneath it.

I'm at Y/n's. Be back soon, aunt May. Love you <3

It's an ugly scribble, but your handwriting is far worse than anything he could dream of producing, so he sits back against your headboard and waits for you and the pills.

When you come back with them, Peter almost swallows it down without the water, but he's still so damn thirsty that another glass goes in a gulp.

He feels your eyes on him the whole time, and while he wants to talk, he prefers to wait for his body to finish using all his strength in stitching his insides up before he tries any conversation.

You grab the glass from his hand, place it on the nightstand and sit on the bed right next to him.

"Are you cold?" You ask, pressing your palm and the back of your hand to his forehead, neck, cheeks.

He's shirtless. Well—it's not anything you haven't seen before.

He shakes his head and clears his throat. The desert has left the back of his mouth, but the aftertaste of rust is still there.

"I'm sorry." He can say that, at least. "I am really sorry, Y/n. For coming to you like th—"

A hand tapes his mouth shut—your hand, and looking at your face in the bedroom light knowing you're looking back at his is not as terrifying as he made it out to be in the countless scenarios where he thought about this before.

"What's the alternative?" You ask him with a shrug. "You bleed out on the street because some drug lord had some beef with a Matt dude and you tried to help your friend?" He misses the heat of your hand as soon as it's gone. "I prefer you bleed on my death start duvets than on the streets, buddy. These ones I can wash."

Buddy.

'Don't call me buddy—I'm not your buddy. Fuck, I swear you say these things just to get a rise out of me. Do your buddies do this, huh? Touch you like this? Make you this wet? You get so wet for me, baby—'

'Peter.'

'Yeah, exactly. I taught you my name for a reason. Don't forget that.'

After a heartbeat, Peter licks his dry lips and looks away from yours. Those memories make his blood rate rise, and he's sure that's not good in the state he's still in. "I'm still not your buddy," he says. His voice comes out raspy, and he watches your gaze dropping from his eyes to his lips.

Peter's in love.

The way you look at him.

The way you look at his tall and graceless body already drove him insane, but the way you look at his face?

Parted lips and that distance gaze of someone who's getting lost in memories and the present?

Peter loves it. He's been in love with you, but seeing the softness and adoration mixing with desire on your face has put the cherry on the cake.

"Good to know that," you whisper back.

I'm happy to know this doesn't change things, he hears.

He scoffs. "I would suck at being your buddy."

"Yeah? Why's that?" You're smiling now, and as a reflex, so is he.

Peter frowns. Isn't it obvious? "I've bled on your bed more times than I can count, you've put your fingers inside me in more ways than you can count, and I'm pretty sure that if I tried to stay away from you, your lips, or that pretty brain of yours for longer than two weeks, I'd have withdrawal symptoms." He's sure of it, actually. He tried staying away from you, and it sucked. "I can't be your buddy, baby." He chuckles. "We're not meant to be buddies. I already explained that to you."

Your lips quiver, moving upwards in a smile, slowly.

"Right." The way you bite on the bottom lower one tells Peter all you need to know about where your mind went.

His body leans forward as if there's a magnetic poll right on the center of you pulling you towards him.

Unfortunately for him, he's still healing from a very big pound.

He makes it only a few centimeters away from the headboard before the muscles inside him sting like a sharp hook and he stops—"Ah."

"Don't move." You're on in an instant. A comforting — and silently demanding — hand on his bicep, scooching closer to him in the bed. "You still need... I don't know how much longer you need, actually." A chuckle. "I still haven't got a clue how your healing works, Spidey. Just... lay down. Stand still until you're not moving won't rip apart the stitches I so beautifully made, 'kay?"

That brings Peter's hand and eyes to the work at hand.

He inspects the stitch-up work and—you're right. It's beautiful, neat, and professional work.

He can almost hear the praises of your teachers during class, as well as the envious looks of your colleagues who have three times less practice than you in the matter.

(Truth be told, Peter's aware you'd have gotten to this point with or without him as a guinea pig because while you may feel or say like everything around you is collapsing, studying is a ball you've yet to let it drop. You do it and do it well. 'If I'm gonna do this, I might as well do it well, huh? you had told him. Peter believed a lot of it was innate talent, but he might be biased to speak of you.)

"Grade A work, Y/l/n."

"Thanks, Spidey."

When he looks up, Peter takes a punch to the chest.

There you are, looking at him again.

Damn.

He's frozen.

Have you lied to him all this time? He's pretty sure this is the effect of actual superpowers and not just the way your eyes glint under the light of the day.

It must have something to do with the frizz in your hair that gives you almost an angelic aura—there's gold, orange, a touch of pink and lilac touching your cheeks and the soft, dopey smile you have on your face, and Peter stands there with his hand hanging halfway to his lap, as frozen in the air as he is looking at you looking at him.

You can see him, and Peter has never felt more comfortable feeling this exposed.

This vulnerable.

"Hi," he whispers.

Instead of answering, your blinks seem to slow down in time.

One of your hands reaches up to his cheek, and Peter finds himself leaning towards the hand.

Magnets.

When the soft, velvety touch of your palm meets his dry skin, Peter takes in a deep breath.

Closes his eyes.

Your hand cups his cheek, and caresses his face, as slowly as you are breathing.

Then, Peter's spidey senses feel the vibrations and electricity on your skin inching closer, and he thinks the slow-motion of your delicate, almost afraid, and calculated moves are making the energy and waves that travel between your body and his twice as real.

He might get shocked.

Peter feels when your lips are mere inches away from his. He wants to dive in, but he lets you dip your fingers in the water and go as you want.

He can feel how much you're feeling right now.

Seeing him is not only affecting him, and that's perhaps why his body is rendered at your mercy.

When your lips press against his, they're as plump and tender as always.

He exhales, at last, enjoying the sensation of warmth that spreads through his body when yours connects to his in any intimate way. Usually, it takes a little bit more for the tingle to travel from head to toe like this, but something about the kiss and the way you're keeping still and yet he knows you feel it, just as he does, it makes it even better that he's all buzzing.

Peter's underwater, and it's almost a reflex when he exhales and presses harder.

Closer.

With abandon, Peter lets his body relax on yours, not wanting to push it any further than it can go, but wanting to melt against the welcoming and familiar heat of your body.

His right hand goes up to your hair, and he gets a few more soft, tender presses of your lips on his, as well as the sensual and slow drags of your mouth against his in between them before you move your head back a few inches, still keeping your hand on his face.

Peter swallows the knot in his throat.

"I... should get you food," you whisper.

He's too busy staring at how pink your lips are for a few seconds.

Eventually, he hums. "That'd be nice."

"I got soup." You lick your lips. There's a color on your cheeks, and Peter is definitely in trouble. He hasn't gotten the instinct to draw in a long time, yet here he is, trying to figure out what's the correct shade of your cheeks. "From the deli shop you like."

"Oh." He loves that place. "I love that place!" He whispers excitedly.

Your smile widens. "I know." With a quick, delicious peck of goodbye, you get up from the bed in one quick motion. "I'll be back. I'm gonna text," you pick up the paper from the nightstand and read it. "Aunt May. Wait—you want me to text her this? Will she know who I am? Aunt May knows me?"

Peter laughs. "Of course Aunt May knows you."

In your few blinks Peter sees the surprise. "Right." You turn around sharply, cheeks pulled up from the smiling. "Text. Soup. Then sleep. I gotta go run a few errands, so I'll shut the windows for you." More seriously, you add. "You should really get some rest. You look a bit... pale."

"It's the caucasian in me."

You snort. "God, it's horrible when you try to be funny."

"Yet, you're smiling."

"At you." You get up and regardless of what you say, the nose scrunch proves that Peter amused you, to say the least. "I'm gonna get your food. Stay put, Spidey boy."

"Man, Spider-Man."

He's arguing now more for the sake of your smile than because your 'boy' has gotten a rise out of him.

It used to.

The first time you said it, Peter recalled the tingling on his body and that desire to correct—not a boy, I'm a man, you'll see, I'll show you.

Did he feel silly two seconds afterward correcting you when he saw in your face that you'd be pulling his metaphorical pigtails? Maybe. Luckily for him, the mask hid it back then.

Now, it's just a skit between you two.

The teasing back and forth is almost like the sea tide.

You come back with the soup and sit back down on your desktop chair, returning to your books and papers while he eats. Peter recalls the day when he asked why you never eat when he's there and, on the occasion when you gave him food, why didn't you stay close to him while he ate.

'You're distracting when you're eating.' You had said.

'What? I'm distracting? How?'

'You make all these little noises when you're enjoying it. And your lips get super pink 'cause you keep licking them. It's distracting.'

'From what? You're not even doing anything.'

'I don't need to be doing something. It just... is.'

Later, he realized it was distracting because it made you want to kiss him. To take away the plate in his hands and replace it with your body instead.

He's content to share looks with you over the bowl of warm food and watch your profile as you read and type. The concentrated crease in your brows and your lips set in a firm line are distracting too, he thinks, but he enjoys it.

Peter finishes the food and the result of some protein, carbs and nutrients making their way inside him is instant—his eyes get heavier, and blinking is a bit harder, and all he wanted was to cuddle you. Slide under the blanket, say goodbye to the world.

It's when he lowers the bottom half of his body that Peter feels he's still wearing his suit.

"How come you haven't kicked me out of your bed yet? I'm gross," he says.

Even though his voice is softer and lower than before, you turn to him.

Smiling, you shrug. "I've been gross before. You're forgiven because of circumstances." Then, something happens—you blush. You were looking at his body before but when you look up, Peter recognizes the flash of 'oh, it's him' that passes fast as lightning in your eyes. "Also, you're pretty," you add in a whisper. Your peachy cheeks darken, looking good enough to eat. "Pretty privileges."

Peter feels it—the heat on his face. He laughs, ducking his head down. He's not used to people complimenting him like that, but coming from you it makes it three times worse. "So it is a real thing."

"Oh, it definitely is."

"Good to know." He hates to know he's making your small piece of safe haven dirty, but he'll make up for it. "As much as I'd love to stay awake and watch you study and be gorgeous for the next couple of hours, I think my brain's about to shut down in the next few minutes."

"Sleep, Spidey." If there's such thing as magic through the voice or words, Peter believes you have it. The gentle softness with which you say those two words are better than any of your blankets. "I'll be there soon."

That's even better. God, I love sleeping with you.

He hears a giggle.

"It's mutual, Peter."

He loves the sound of that, too.

If Peter believed in something, he'd have beautiful religious metaphors to use about the way you look in the mornings.

He'd maybe talk about how waking up with you next to him is the only sanctuary he needs, and for a Jewish boy who's missed so much of what one looks or sounds like, he's sure it felt something like this.

If Peter believed, he'd have more words to say about the way your tenderness makes him feel like he's holy.

"How are you feeling?"

"Better."

"Good. I'm glad... d'you wanna take a shower? I can separate some clothes for you."

"Are you coming with me?"

Peter would have words for what it feels like to sit in your loft's bathroom in his bloodied, mended superhero suit, his feet touching the freezing cold floor and his body still running as hot as ever because he can hear you walking around the place in your fuzzy socks while you wait for the water to warm.

How can he be so at peace like this?

He's beaten himself up for much less, but the seriousness in your tone when you told him to stay put while you changed the sheets only made him warm.

It made him feel cared for and nothing more.

Peter removes the rest of his suit. It comes off with difficulty—the sweat's stuck the material to his skin, and it still hurts to move, but he manages.

He feels the fresh tissues inside of him.

His heightened senses tell him the main wound is still healing, but everything else is almost okay. Peter needs maybe a good meal and a couple more days to be brand new, which is more than he'd expected when he left the bay area with webs sticking his skin together.

When you come back and see him already naked, Peter's happy that his eyes' swelling has done down.

He'd hate to miss the lust in your gaze.

To miss the obvious way your eyes travel up and down his body.

"You could've gone inside already," you whisper.

It's barely nine in the morning, there are only you two in the place and Peter has no idea why you'd think he wants to go anywhere without you.

"Was waiting for you." He's more at ease sitting naked on your toilet than he's been in three, maybe four years. That means something, right?

You start taking off your pajamas, and Peter gets up to help.

Not that you need it. He just loves removing clothes from your body.

The steam takes over the bathroom and by the time you two are immersed underneath the water, wet as rain, Peter already feels new.

Not even the best prayers could do that.

He loves the showerhead here because the water pressure is great and it's big enough to almost give space to the two of you. Almost.

That's why he wraps his arms around your waist and pulls you closer to his body.

He wants your warmth much more than the water's.

That's when he feels it—the shaky, interrupted way you breathe. Your arms come up around his middle so fast that he almost has to take a step back to keep himself in place, but he's rooted there.

And you're crying.

"Y/n?" Peter looks down.

You shake your head in three quick motions. Not yet.

Peter's not an idiot, and while he may be a little slow to the mysteries of his own heart, the loud and physical thumping of your heart against his ribcage is right there and doesn't lie.

He can feel every beat of it, and maybe there was something in that container that Kingpin had dropped on his head and all that mysterious blue sand inside of it, but Peter's sure he can see the black clouds exiting your head.

He sees the darkness of worry and fear leaving you.

Peter clings on tighter, letting you cry silent tears into his chest. He hopes the kisses he presses on your temple and your face make any worries left to be gone easier. Quicker.

He kisses the parts he can reach of you, and refuses to let go.

Eventually, you pull back against the hold of his arms and when you look up with those swollen, red eyes, Peter realizes what it all means.

What being so comfortable around you, laughing so easily, coming to you many more times even though he knew he shouldn't, watching you sleep, and all those minors or big things that made him stop and go—it means something, right?

It means Aunt May was right.

She was right when she said the world goes on regardless of how much we want it to stop sometimes, and right now, Peter's world is you.

When your lips, trembling just like your chin is, open and say, "I was terrified," in a whispered confession, Peter knows.

He'd give up anything for you. He'd conquer anything for you, as well, which he imagines lives on the other side of that coin.

"I am so sorry, baby," he tells you, blinking through the sting in his own eyes.

You shake your head and his heart almost falls to the ground before you pick it up. "You have nothing to be sorry for, Pete. I know—" you swallow a visible knot, sniffle, and then try again. "You have a responsibility. With your power, and... with what you believe."

With great power, comes great responsibility.

He nods.

"And please don't take this wrongly—don't shut down, or stop coming. God—if you stop coming I swear I'll die of worry—"

"Y/n." He interrupts because he knows when you're about to spiral as much as you know when he's about to go on a ramble. "I'd never. I—you're allowed to be scared. I'm not gonna go into martyr mode and make that decision for you. If you want me gone, I'll be gone. I know I'm a lot. I know my life, and how scary it is to be around it, but I think I also know you and if I take away your choice of being around me and all my mess—" he shakes his head. "I don't fancy that ass-whooping."

You laugh.

It untangles all the messy knots and webs inside his chest that formed when he saw your eyes puffy, and Peter breathes in what feels like clean, fresh air.

"I'm happy you're smart," you say.

He shrugs his shoulders. "It's what my teachers say."

"Is it?"

With your head tilt, he notices—he's nearing territory he used to avoid before.

Peter breathes in again, reaches behind him in the shower, and grabs your shampoo.

"Can I do your hair?" he asks.

Your face remains the same as you nod, but he sees you breathing out. Accepting his silence. The change in subjects, as it usually is.

When he's got enough bubbles forming, he massages your scalp and starts. "I got a scholarship for Biophysics, so I guess I am pretty smart, but it wasn't 'till one of my teachers at ESU told me my paper was 'informative even through the minors detours it took, which funnily enough, were informative as well' that I knew I had a good head for more than just web-developing and stuff like that."

Should he tell you about the time when he traveled between Universes and met the other versions of him?

He'd love for you to know how clever Peter 1 is.

Peter knows if it weren't for that experience, exactly four years after what happened at the clock, he'd be in a much worse place now.

I wouldn't have met you, he thinks.

"What d'you wanna do with the degree?" you ask him.

"Mmm. I don't know yet. Working with genetic mutation is not too on the nose, is it?" he chuckles.

You turn around, smiling wider than ever before.

"Are you for real?" you laugh.

"I am!" He laughs too.

"Gimme that," you take the shampoo from his hand, pour some on your hand, and look up expectantly at him. Peter ducks his head in silent permission, and you start doing the same to him. "I think that while it's a bit on the nose, it also makes a lot of sense, and given your personal experience, you could make breakthroughs no one else would. Your circumstances give you a lot of room."

"My dad was a Biochemist." The information slips out, and Peter opens his eyes. When had I closed them? He gives you a sheepish smile, and closes his eyes again. "I lot of what I know came from his research."

"Did it have anything to do with spiders?" you ask with a giggle, thinking you're being funny.

Here's to hoping. "It did," he answers.

Your movements halt for a second, then start again. "Oh." You stay silent for a moment. "Big brain runs in the family, so I imagine you'll make breakthroughs he's only dreamt of. Just... make sure you pick an area 'cause it's what you want to make yourself happy, you know?"

Peter wonders how many people have the luxury of having someone care for them this way.

"I will." He smiles when you pull him under the water stream. When the shampoo is rinsed, he opens his eyes. "And you? D'you have an area you wanna work at?"

Hearing you talk about your hopes for the future while showering makes Peter notice it's the first he's been thinking about the future and what paths he could take for it.

You two laugh a lot in there, and the only moment when somberness takes over the steamy bathroom is when your fingertips graze over the black nylon that still peaks out of his lower stomach.

Peter ignores the tingle your touch brings, and kisses you instead.

He distracts you by asking you more about residency, school, tests, and anything that comes to mind.

Your voice is one of his favorite things.

In your bedroom, Peter gets dressed in the sweats that now are basically his—one of his designated clothes from when he's around.

Now though, he can wear the sweater and shake his wet hair all over you.

He can pull you to his lap on the bed and kiss you filthy with the sun shining on both of you.

Lights on, face out in the open, nothing to hide because there never was.

When he starts grinding his hips upwards, seeking the friction of your heat—and god, you're already burning on his lap, and he doesn't need to touch your panties to know that you barely put them on and he's already ruined them—but you stop him with a hand around his neck.

"You're gonna bust your stitches," you say, mouth still close to his.

He groans. "Baby, c'mon..."

You shake your head, laughing under your breath. "As much as I want to, you'll have to wait a day more, buddy. I'm not gonna hurt you."

"You're hurting me right now," he whines, grinding on you. He hisses, not because of how hard he is from just a few minutes of making out with you and having his mind spin with how good you smell, how dizzying it makes him have you like this, no barriers whatsoever, but because he feels his insides protesting with the sharper thrust.

You give him a look that says I know what you're hiding. "Peter." While you ask him to stop, Peter's yet to feel you stop enjoying the ministrations of his hips. "Hey," you lean in closer and whisper in his ear. "You can enjoy fucking me like you've never fucked me before now... and you're gonna waste that first time of ours by not being able to do all that you wanna do?"

You are evil.

Peter moans. Hides his face in the space between your boobs, and kisses them since he's there already.

"So what you're telling me is that I should take you for a coffee and some breakfast and a few days and then we can come back here?" he asks.

"Yeah," you smile.

"And then I can take my time with you?" he confirms, his kisses going up. He loves the column of your throat. Loves the way you bear your neck for him, breathless and surrendered every time.

"Yeah..." this one comes out breathier, and Peter smiles before sucking on the skin of the space that's really sensitive.

"I can make you cum in all the ways I like?" Peter knows it's just torture at this point, but he keeps doing it. Keeps moving his hips in small little circles, and groans when he feels you meeting his movements. "On my tongue first... then on my fingers..."

"Only if you let me suck you off 'till you cum in my mouth."

Sneaky. "No." Peter hears your brain gears halting at it.

"Peter!"

"No!" He laughs. "Listen, I don't know what my—"

"—if you call your cum something weird again I'm leaving your lap right now."

"...my semen."

"Ugh. That's somehow worse," you laugh.

"I don't know what's in it! It's mutated, okay? What if you get pregnant from it? I am very fast. My sperm can be too."

Holding yourself with your arms around his neck, you stare at him with the blankest look.

The smile obviously hidden in the corners of your lips is where the truth lies, though.

"You know I'm right," he shrugs his shoulders.

You sigh. Heavily. "Ugh. I hate that I'm paranoid enough to buy your bullshit," you push him backward hard, and he falls into the bed in surprise, laughing. Leaning forward, you cage your arms around his head. "I wanna do so much to you," you whisper.

Just like that, the temperature's closer to the Sun again.

You have powers.

The power to make him religious. To make a conversation shift between the Sun and the Moon, just by laughing or speaking in a different tone.

Peter feels the tip of his cock dripping in his boxer, and he closes his eyes, exhaling from his nose. He grabs you by the neck and pulls you to a kiss, which turns messy and needy the second you moan in that pretty way he loves. Like a kitty, or like someone's squeezing you hard, just the way you like it.

He's grabbing you by the neck, squeezing and letting go, trying to gather his damn thoughts into coherent sentences and not the mess of I want you so bad I love you so much, so all that he can do is rub his forehead on yours.

Bring your body as close to his as possible.

That's what happened.

All these months culminated in this—Peter being unable to stay away, to him smiling in the corridors of his college, to the unfathomable infatuation with your legs, or the way you snort when you laugh really hard.

Into him loving you.

He's suddenly overwhelmed by the truth of it:

Peter is in love with you. He loves you.

Loves you for your brain, your skilled hands, the way you hate the Giants and love music he's never heard of. Loves you for all the ways you're you and the ways you remind him of his very first love too, but more than anything, because he knows he'd love you even if nothing was similar.

He swallows the knot in his throat and pulls you to a kiss.

You feel the difference in it—he knows you do because you hold his face with gentle hands, but answer the kiss with the same devotion.

You let him take over the kiss, let him taste his tongue on yours until he's got no oxygen left in his lungs and has to pull back.

He sees it in your face that something's taken over you, too.

"You can do anything you want. Anytime," he says. He feels your legs clenching around his waist as a response, and thinks to the hell with it. "What if you did all the work, hm? I promise I'll stay still. I'll web my own wrists to the bed if you want, just—please?" he begs.

"Peter..."

"I wanna feel you, baby." It's not even about the sex, or about cumming. It's about being as close to you as possible. He needs to be as close to you as possible. "I just wanna feel you. Wanna be inside you." Peter grabs your face again, smashing his lips on yours. "D'you have any idea how fucked I'd be without you? It just—" he's barely breathing, and he knows you feel why. "I realized just how much I adore every goddamn inch of you and I wanna feel you." He kisses you again, and again. "I owe you my life, baby."

You shake your head at his words and Peter moves his hand down to your chin, holding it still.

"Yes, I do. And I love that," he smiles. "I fell in the best hands of this city... and your hands are just one of the reasons why I'm in love with you."

"Peter." This time, it's you who smashes your mouth on his.

The first time he heard his name coming out from your lips, he thought he'd cum on the spot. He remembers feeling his dick twitching inside of you just at the mention of it—his name, and you.

He loved it.

He lets you kiss him to your desire and when you pull back with those puffy lips, he smiles.

You're looking at him like one looks at something they barely believe it's true. He's seen looks like this a few weeks ago when he went to the museum with May and he saw people staring at what he assumes is their favorite art pieces—nothing but attention to detail and a shine in their eyes.

He feels naked, even though he's not.

"I've been in love with you since the day you told me you had glass shrapnel all over your body because Mrs. Levinson was gonna take the fall for Castle's collateral damage, Y/n, I couldn't have that." You shrug like it's easy, like you haven't just given him the present of a lifetime and stolen every last bit of anxiety and sadness he had hidden in the corners of his mind, then kisses him.

Softly press your lips on his, once, then twice.

When he feels your hands sliding down his body, Peter warms up.

Powerful. From Moon to Sun, there he goes again.

There his body goes.

Peter knows standing still will be a bit of torture, and everything will be heightened from how little he can move, but he's okay with that.

Whining under the ministrations of your hands might be one of his top three activities ever. Peter watches you get off from on top of him so you can take off your sweatpants, and he groans under his breath when you slide your leg over his waist again with the panties still on.

"Just slide it to the side—fuck. Yeah, like that, baby. I love it like this."

Your attention to detail is unmatched.

When you learn something he likes, you never let it go. As soon as Peter feels your hand slipping inside his boxer and getting his cock out there, he's already moaning.

"Stand still," you tell him.

He nods, eagerly. Peter watches you pull your panties to the side, guide the head of his dick to your entrance and when the tip slides in, he feels you coming back, caging him between your arms.

You slide down painfully slow, taking your time with it.

To have something to hold on to, he grabs your ass with one hand and your face with the other. Having his hands on you is a must if he's gonna be good for you.

He might've said he could web his hands to the bed, but if he did that, he'd have to web his hips as well.

"Ahhh." Peter feels the walls of your pussy clenching around him, and he closes his eyes at the feeling.

You move back up, then down again until you're fully seated on his lap and he's fully buried inside of you.

"Use me, baby," he tells you. He might be out of his mind already—has it always been this hot to be inside you? "Fuck—you're always so wet for me. How are you this wet—oh."

You slam your hips down, pulling a grunt from him.

"You make me this way and you know it," you whine to him.

Peter admires you for keeping up with a gym routine, but he admires more the benefits it reaps: the way your legs can hold the weight of bouncing up and down as slow or as fast as you like.

He pulls your head closer until he can kiss you.

"You're gonna use me, hm?" Peter asks between kisses, grunting at how tight you are. "Use those thunder thighs to drive me insane?"

"Peter you feel so fucking good," you breathe out.

The praise warms him up even further. Peter's eyes close in response, and he whines at how hard it is to keep his hips on the bed and not pistoning up to meet your delicious thrusts. "You feel better," he mutters, a bit drunk on the wetness pouring out of you. It's so damn hot in and all around him. "So tight for me, baby."

"Oh, god."

"Hhnh—fuck. Fuck, do that again," he whines.

You do it—you move all the way up until he almost slips out, then slams those hips down again. And again, and again, and again, until the room is nothing but the sound of your skins slapping on one another and your mouths breathing on each other, grunting and moaning.

Peter loves swallowing your moans almost as much as he loves swallowing the slick from your pussy.

"Fuck, if I had a little bit more strength in me I'd ask you to sit on my face after this," he says.

You moan even louder now.

Peter smiles.

He loves it when you two are alone. Loves when you let go, especially if it's to use him to your pleasure.

Peter holds your hip instead of your ass now and tries to help you. While you don't need it, the strength of even just one of his arms is appreciated, and he watches as you let go of all pretenses and just fuck yourself on his cock.

It's when you grab him by the chin and look him in the eye that Peter feels you're fucking him too.

You clench around him. Purposely.

Peter moans as loud as you, and plants his feet on the bed.

The change in angle makes you scream, and as a response, you smash your lips on his again.

He knows you're close by the way you start whining into the kiss.

Peter lets go, too. He kisses you back, all tongue, teeth, bites and moans of your name. Uncoherent sentences and babbles about your pussy and how fucking good you make him feel, and he feels the tension building up in his groins before he'd imagine.

He hates coming before you. Peter makes it a habit to make you cum before he does, but he's in heaven, he's in you, and you're staring at him.

It's that which does it.

"Baby I can't hold it—oh fuck, Y/n, don't do that," if you keep clenching around him just to get a rise of him you'll get more than just that, and he whines because of it. "I'm close. I'm so so close, you feel too good."

He moves his hand from your head in direction of your clit, but you grab him by the wrist and pin his arm above his head, holding tight onto his wrist. While he could break free easier than breathing, feeling how tightly you're gripping him makes his head spin.

He's at your mercy, and he wouldn't have it any other way.

"Y/n, please." Please stop bouncing so fast, please slow down, baby, please don't clench again.

Your hips slow down just a fraction, and you move until your lips are almost touching his.

Then you ask. "Who has your heart, baby?"

Peter blinks, opening his eyes. His mouth hangs open, jaw wide for a second before he answers. "You."

You move your hips in the way a dancer would, circling like you're trying to spell his damn name or something, and then slam all the way down. "You're mine, baby?"

Peter's head is somewhere too far for him to reach, but he still manages to nod. "All yours."

"I love you so fucking much," you cry on his lips, and then you start again—the merciless speed of your hips against his while your hand holds his arm up and your other is on his neck.

"I love you more," Peter cries back, reaching for a kiss that you give with all the desire in the world. He kind of wants his hand free to hold your face, and kind of wants to see how much you'd fight him to stand still, but neither one happens because you start to speed up and Peter's moans grow louder and louder.

Being as attracted as you are by his sounds, your legs start shaking and squeezing around him.

"Cum for me, Y/n, please, please, please," before I lose it and cum inside you, please.

"Cum inside me first."

"What?"

"Cum in me." You sound as out of it as he is, and Peter's only human at the end of the day. "Please. Do it. Do it, Peter. I wanna feel you. Please, Spidey, c'mon."

Peter cums with a yell, and his hips can't take it, bucking up to meet your thrusts in the last seconds, and it must be the strength with which he fucks into you, the angle, the way he's crying out your name or just everything together, but you cum right with him.

Both of your bodies shake and tremble together, in a peculiar and hard-to-achieve glorious moment.

He'll need many minutes to recover, and you'll need even more to gather the strength and will to let him come out from inside of you, but none of that matters for the time being.

Peter's content to stay inside you for now, just as you are to lay on his chest.

He lets the sound of your hearts beating like hummingbirds bring him back to Earth.

There's a smile on his face, and with minimum inspection, he feels there's a smile resting on his shoulder, too. Your lips press kisses on the exposed skin there, and he feels your grin when the kisses stop.

Peter's not a very religious man, but he might have just found his heaven on Earth.

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flowersforchoso · 7 months

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Infatuation (ft. syzoth)

moments had passed since you duly introduced yourself, yet syzoth's eyes remained fixed on your form, a presence so magnetizing he couldn't escape from the clutches of its forcefield. your beauty beckoned to him as did your enchanting voice, a siren that only attracts and never repelled. desire stirred within him which made heat pool to his cheeks, and he felt exposed despite being shielded by the mask on the lower half of his face. you were an earthrealmer accompanied by liu kang, and there were no doubts you had no knowledge of zaterrans—who they were and what, they were capable of. he reasoned you would probably not take lightly to a monstrous being like him feening over you as his mind reeled a montage of ostracization and bullying he had faced from kin and strangers alike, a recollection all too painful. he knew he had to stay away for his sanity. a lie he told himself

too preoccupied with his thoughts, he hadn't noticed when you caught a glimpse of his stare and when he finally registered what had happened, the embarrassment almost made his knees buckle under him, prompting a shift of his gaze into the distance. he silently hoped you wouldn't be weirded out by his visual intrusion. a start off the wrong foot was no good that only thwarted whatever chance he might have in the realm of possibilities. he could feel the rising panic that threatened to spill over, to the point his sudden uneasiness became visible to ashrah. but thankfully, the meeting ended and just as you came in, liu kang escorted you out. syzoth felt he could breath again like a fish back into the pond before trailing behind everyone else.

over the course of days, syzoth's fixation worsened as his mind seemed to only relish in thoughts of you, which often distracted him from his tasks and left him scatterbrained. perhaps he was accursed, but beautifully so.

he had seen you out and about in sun do while on missions and wanted nothing more than to be in your space, soak up your warmth, and bask in your beauty, but resolved to keep his admiration at a distance.

apparently, you were settling in outworld, according to palace gossip. a healer versed in chloromancy now under the tutelage of lord liu kang. you, the woman he strongly desired, was both skilled and delicate.

sometimes instincts get the best of him through compulsion to get closer and reveal the lurking shadow. his intentions are pure: a desire to protect you from the dangers of outworld and maybe, keep you. he is unfamiliar with human customs. has absolutely no idea of how to court a woman. he supposes the zaterran approach is vastly different from the human one and avoids taking that route for fear of ending on a bad note.

he thinks about consulting johnny who is knowledgeable on matters pertaining to women but discards the idea entirely because he is certain he would never hear the end of it, much to his chagrin.

for now, he will remain in the shadows. stalking. maybe one day, you'll finally notice him. but until then, he would rather not leave his comfort zone.

#syzoth x you #syzoth x reader #mortal kombat 1 #mortal kombat syzoth #syzoth #reptile x reader #mk1 reptile #mk1 syzoth #mk1 syzoth x you

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hoverboards-and-dragons · 2 months

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A Lilith character study about Lucilith

Lilith thinks about how her husband would die for her, she'd kill for him and how their experiences during creation really did fucked them up but its probably fine.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lilith didn't trust easily.

She doubted she could trust at all anymore.

She was an admitted selfish woman, unapologetically ambitious, truly sinful.

She belonged in hell and she couldn't be prouder of that, of a kingdom that called her wholly it's own and loved her as fiercely as she loved it; of standing for herself among those who only knew how to kneel and demanded the same from her.

The only reason she'd say Lucifer didn't belong in Heaven was that he was simply far too good that wretched place. Even if his revulsion for her home and pride weighed heavy on her heart.

Good things didn't 'happen to' Lilith, every good thing in her life had been viciously fought for and defended: except for Lucifer.

Lucifer was the best thing to ever happen to her, the only good thing that ever just happened to her. Stepping into her life and simply giving her all the admiration, freedom and power she had could have ever desired, ever been denied, as if she deserved it, as if she didn't have to fight for it.

Lilith didn't trust easily, and small dark part of her doubted that there even was such a thing.

But she remembers what it was to be held against Lucifer while his body split the sky, all six wings shielding her without a thought to even trying to slow his own decent; and that pure relief when he saw her almost unscathed, even as his broken form was painting the ground gold in a quickly deepening puddle.

It remained her that she did know what trust was. She had a truth lain before her that not even her deepest skepticism could deny: that new scorned woman in Paradise, that had to learn all gifts came with strings, the benefit of the doubt only led to loss and that no one acted without agenda.

Lucifer was exactly who she had always seen. After everything was stripped away, there was nothing else hidden under mask or act.

He looked at Lilith like she centred the entire world, like she deserved everything and more, all of creation and anything belong it.

Because he truly believed she did.

How many nights awake had Lilith spent battling with that realization, that he was real, that anyone could be that openhanded, that endlessly eager and willing to put someone else before themselves, with no fear or hostility or even hesitation.

That he loved her.

Chose her.

Chose her before God.

(She shelved those thoughts for another time, she was spiralling enough without a contemplation of just how high his place in the universe - that he saw her as leagues above - actually was.)

She didn't bother with questions of deserving like Lucifer sometimes did. She didn't care if either of them deserved each other.

Lilith didn't 'deserve' anything, she wanted things, and then she took them.

Just like every other rare commodity Lilith got her hands on, she coveted him selfishly.

She couldn't let it ruin him. She may love hell, but Lucifer was something special, unreproducible and irreplaceable. He would not be torn down into just another sinner out for himself and his power.

Especially with the toll this separation from his family was already on him.

If she was any less sure it wouldn't help him, she'd storm the gates of Heaven itself and tear those pitiful excuses for siblings, kin and a Father apart limb by limb.

Did they not understand what they were so callously tarnishing?! This pure true divinity so infinitely rare even upon their holy kind! Tossed aside, forgotten and left to rot.

No.

Lilith wouldn't allow that.

She had always lived, worked and thrived in the scraps discarded from Heaven's over abundance. She knew the endless potential in things they habitually overlooked.

She would love and adore him like they failed to. Utilize every piece of him he offered, make fools out of everyone who'd ever given him up.

And they would learn to fear her at his stead.

Heaven has freely given her the rope they will hang by.

#Lucifer was hurt #Lilith was hardened #they are mutually obsessed with each other <3 #I like my women a bit deranged #and I like my men into it #when y'alls traumas fit together like puzzle pieces #hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel lucifer #hazbin hotel lilith #hazbin hotel headcanons #hellaverse #lucilith #lucifer morningstar #lilith x lucifer #hazbin hotel fanfiction

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assortedseaglass · 9 months

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Borne & Bound - III

[Masterlist]

Aemond Targaryen X OFC, Jacaerys Velaryon x OFC (if you squint)

Summary: When Prince Aemond insults the commander of the Braedel cavalry, Viserys sends him to their kingdom so that he may learn the art of diplomacy and do battle with the commander herself, the spirited Lady Geowyth.

Content Warnings: Strong Language, Violence, Smut, Canon-typical Sexism, Mentions of Incest¸ Mentions of Sexual Assault

Word Count: 5.3K

“-as warm as Dorne and strong as steel!” Geowyth grimaced at Ser Herumbrand as Ser Harrold crashed his cup into the other’s, ale spilling unnoticed onto their gauntlets. His taste for women was near as strong as it was for the fight, though her surprise as was nothing compared to the woman beside her, who stared at the chaste Ser Harrold in horror. King Viserys’ feast had reached its zenith. That moment recognised by all when the ideal share of amusement was reached. When cups were high and stomachs were full, granting upon everyone the glow of goodness with which to look upon their peers.

As the two goliaths laughed, Geowyth took her chance to observe the Princess of Dragonstone. There was no doubting she was Targaryen, for even if she had not the white hair of her forebears, she seemed to glow with the cold warmth that shrouded the rest of her kin. Beneath that alabaster skin, dragonblood flowed like wildfire. Geowyth was certain she could see it, and it was just that which bestowed the Princess with her aureate brilliance. The Princess laughed at something Ser Harrold said and Geowyth smiled along. Ser Herumbrand looked at his young charge, raising a knowing brow to her. The look she returned was demure, almost mischievous, and continued to watch the Princess from the corner of her eye. She was gazing up at the Lord Commander, her straight nose raised, hands crossed before her. She looked every image the queen. Geowyth glanced at the royal table. The real Queen was speaking amiably with her guests, brown eyes bright, holding the hand of a girl no more than seventeen. Geowyth supposed it was her first time at court. How kind of the Queen to calm her nerves.

The same could not be said of the King. He sat at the head of the table, head inclined towards Otto Hightower as the Hand muttered something in his ear. His gaunt face seemed to sag before her eyes, as though the grey skin was too heavy for the frame of his face. The effect was haunting. From out of the sunken mask of his face, the King’s eyes stared with little life and the golden gleam that radiated from the rest of his family was nowhere to be found. The dragon’s blood was beginning to run cold. Geowyth shivered and thought fleetingly of her uncle. She would send him a raven tomorrow, no doubt Geodred had forgotten.

Where was Geodred? Geowyth’s eyes scanned the myriad of people awaiting the chance to speak to the Royal Family. Like dying stars, each seemed to have a great many people orbiting them. The young Velaryon Princes were surrounded by other young noblemen. Each brother laughed freely, pointing and jesting at each other, their company of boys or else somebody in the crowd. Their betrotheds, Rhaena and Baela, were similarly speaking to a gaggle of young women. Geowyth saw the youngest Baratheon girls, some beautiful Tyrell noblewomen and even Princess Helaena, though she stood at the periphery of the group. A few of the young men were watching the young Princess and noblewomen with predatory interest. They blanched however, under the watch of the spry man looming behind them. Prince Daemon, the girls’ father.

Geowyth was struck by how handsome he was. Like his wife, he stood tall and proud, with his white hair and broad shoulders. He seemed, however, to possess that most unattractive air of vanity. His eyes shone with amusement, a half-formed smile playing on his small lips as he watched his daughters. The emotion could have been mistaken for gaiety. It wasn’t until the man beside him spoke however, that Geowyth noticed it was quite the reverse. The Prince’s eyes crinkled as he chuckled at the joke, yet his focus remained entirely on the men surrounding his children. His joy derived not from the festivity, or the happiness of his daughters, but in making the men around them squirm. He surveyed them as if knowing something to which they were not party, and watched one by one as they filtered away. Pleased with his dominant display, the King’s brother turned his attentions to the man at his side. There he was! All smiles and joviality. He seemed not to care about the Prince’s distraction and, such was Geodred’s effect on people, the Prince seemed not to mind his company. Geowyth smiled. If only she had her brother’s ease. Having located his whereabouts, she turned back to her own party of four. That is, she tried to, but an increasingly familiar sense of unease bristled the hackles of her neck. Drawn to the sensation like a wolf to the feast, her amber eyes halted in their path.

Geowyth’s breath caught beneath her ribs. A hot flush that had nothing to do with the King’s wine prickled her cheeks. When she found the courage to inhale, it juddered from her chest with fearful anticipation. From his sentinel at the royal table, Prince Aemond’s icy eye stared with pinpoint focus upon her. What terror was held within that gaze? Perhaps it was a miracle he only had one. His body seemed strained with tension, from the leather doublet stretched over his shoulders to the waxen skin across his cheekbones. All because of her. Geowyth blushed all the stronger. She was used to holding people’s attention, but for her quick wit and proficiency on the field. Not for…whatever she had done that aggrieved the Prince so. She cast her eyes down. When she returned her gaze to the Prince, he was engaged in conversation with his grandsire.

“- and dare I say it, the young Princess is much gentler than her older sister,”

“Ser Harrold,”

“And a good deal less trouble!” Laughter peeled behind Geowyth and, at last, she rejoined the conversation of the knights and woman of Dragonstone. The Princess’ eyes were warm despite her warning. For the first time in the hours that Geowyth had known her, Rhaenyra Targaryen looked happy.

“Tell me, Ser Harrold,” Herumbrand spoke to his counterpart of the Keep. “What advice do you have for an old man in charge of a wilful young woman?”

Geowyth leaned towards the Princess as if to whisper, only to loudly state, “He just thinks he’s in charge.” Rhaenyra and Ser Harrold laughed. Ser Herumbrand winked.

“There you have it!” Harrold said, gesturing to Geowyth. “Let them believe they are in charge. There is no way to tame these tempests-” Rhaenyra rolled her eyes at Geowyth and smiled at the Lord Commander. “We just weather whatever comes with them. That, and we must listen. Though, I don’t believe you need my advice, Ser Herumbrand. The Seven know I could not get the Princess to bestow upon me half the respect you command from Lady Geowyth and Lord Geodred.”

Ser Herumbrand’s laugh boomed about the chamber. “You have been fooled, Ser. Perhaps we could swap places during our stay? Princess Helaena for this nuisance.”

“I’ll tell uncle,” Geowyth said.

“I have served him well. I am certain he’d allow me the break.” Lady Geowyth smiled sweetly at him. For all her teasing and testing of him, it was true. Herumbrand was too good to her. She looked to Rhaenyra.

“Speaking of your sister, Princess, I wondered if you might help me?” The older woman inclined her head. “She is charming and pleasant company but, and I hope I don’t speak out of turn, she seems-” Geowyth searched for the word. “Nervous. Is there anything I could do that may help her?”

“Oh. Well,” The Princess looked to Ser Harrold. “I, erm,” Ser Herumbrand and Geowyth stilled, graciously averting their eyes as Rhaenyra struggled for words. She sighed and unclasped her hands. “The truth is, Lady Geowyth, I do not know.” There was embarrassed agitation in her tone, and Geowyth felt deeply that she had picked the scab of a family secret. “Excuse me.” Rhaenyra bowed her head to the party, and Geowyth descended into a deep curtsy as the Princess departed. She watched her weave through the crowd towards her husband and sons. As if called to her by magic, Prince Daemon looked to his wife as she approached. A word was exchanged between them, and all three Princes cast their eyes towards Geowyth. Whereas the Velaryon princes were intrigued, the mask of Prince Daemon’s face didn’t change and, placing his hand on the small of his wife’s back, he escorted her to a seat.

“I’ll never get the hang of this family,” Geowyth said, to no-one in particular.

“Animals.”

Geowyth startled. “Pardon?”

“Princess Helaena adores animals,” Ser Harrold said. “The smaller the better. And I think your gesture of companionship will mean more to her than you know.”

“Thank you, Ser.” Harrold nodded with finality and turned to Herumbrand.

“Another cup for you, Ser?”

Herumbrand clapped him on the back. “Lead the way.” The knights bowed to Geowyth and, as they turned, Herumbrand accosted a small serving boy carrying a tray of goblets. Left to her own devices and quite alone, Geowyth clapped her hands behind her back and made to watch the dancers. Her progress was hindered however, when she span straight into the chest of a dark haired young man. She jumped back into yet another deep curtsy.

“Forgive me, Your Grace.”

“Please, there is no need.” The hand of Jacaerys Velaryon was held out before her. “‘Twas my fault entirely.” Geowyth shook his outstretched hand and he laughed, bowing to place a chaste kiss on its back. “Baela told me you are a fan of dancing.”

“Yes, although I am struggling to find a partner,”

“That is precisely why I am here.” Jacaerys smiled with an offer of his arm. Geowyth took it gladly and the young Prince led her towards the centre of the hall, nestling them amongst the other dancers.

“How did Lady Baela know I like to dance?” Geowyth asked, place her hand against Jacaerys’ as they began circling each other.

“My aunt told her. Though it was hardly necessary, you have spent a good deal of the evening nowhere else.”

Geowyth blushed. “Forgive me, your aunt-?”

“Princess Helaena.”

“Of course! I will get the hang of it one day, Your Grace, but your family tree is more of a family circle”. She stopped in her tracks, mortified. Jacaerys only smiled and took her waist in encouragement that she continue dancing.

“It’s true. My only reassurance is that sometimes even I forget.”

“I don’t believe you!”

“Well now,” Jacaerys steered her so that they both faced the top table. “My parents and grandparents are a fairly straightforward matter. But the Rogue Prince?” He whispered lowly in Geowyth’s ear. “My step-father and great-uncle.” Geowyth laughed as he spun her round further to where his fiancée stood with her sister. “Lady Baela is my betrothed, my cousin and my step-sister. Her mother, my aunt, were she alive, would be my mother-in-law.”

“I can’t keep up,” Geowyth was giggling now.

“I told you it’s a tangled web,” he span her faster. He caught Larys Strong’s eye and faltered. “My aunt and uncles, through my grandmother Princess Rhaenys, are my cousins too.”

“Distantly,” Geowyth added.

“Yes, distantly.”

“How lucky for you.”

At this quiet yet cutting remark, Jacaerys turned his face from Baela to the Braedel stranger. “What do you mean?”

“Only that I have spent one day in the company of your uncles and already desire to be as far away from them as possible. Lucky your mother retreated to Dragonstone.”

“I see.” The young Prince smirked. “You are not charmed by their silver hair and silver tongues?”

“Hardly,” Geowyth scoffed. “I admit that Prince Aegon, despite his obvious flaws, has a taste for humour and merriment. Prince Aemond however,” She stopped once again, embarrassment clear on her face. “I’m sorry. My uncle sent me here to learn and all I seem to do is say the wrong thing-”

“Don’t trouble yourself, my Lady.” He cast a wary eye towards his uncle. “Despite our family’s proclivity for closeness, my brother and I never saw eye to eye with our uncles.”

Geowyth laughed. “Very good!” It was Jacaerys’ turn to be confused, and Geowyth nodded her head in the direction of the haughty prince. “’Eye to eye’!” They laughed heartily, and any thought or feeling of Aemond’s angry gaze upon her faded, just as the wine and revelers did the same. That it still lingered on her, secret and scathing, mattered not.

Beyond the great hall’s walls, guardsmen silently changed posts with nods of acknowledgement. The lingering echo of a brawl from the city beyond the Keep bounced off the stone walls, and somewhere in the night a dog was barking. But for the street of silk, King’s Landing slept.

For the gentry within the confines of the castle, the night too was waning. The King had long since retired to his chambers, Otto Hightower skulking closely in his wake. Princess Rhaenyra had encouraged her husband away to their chambers with much muttering and pointed looks towards his goblet and the young noblewomen he entertained. At his absence, many a second son had swept onto the scene to stake their claim. The beautiful Tyrells had retired, as had the Lannisters (though Lord Jason took much convincing), and only those remaining were the Baratheon nobles, the young royals and the contingent of Braedel horse lords and ladies.

Lady Geowyth sat by Ser Herumbrand, still deep in conversation with Ser Harrold, her body leant slightly against the cavalry captain. The deep rumble of his voice encouraged her to sleep, and she would have succumbed were it not for the hearty laughter of her brother and Lord Borros. She opened her eyes. It seemed everything in the hall was ready to slumber. Candles, once proud at the start of the night, dripped in puddles along the tables. The plumes of flowers were starting to droop and, in the darkening light, Geowyth made out a few shadowy figures linked arm in arm, slinking towards seclusion and away from gossip.

“Astandan (come).” Through her sleep-burdened eyes, Geowyth look up. Rosy as ever, as though the night hadn’t touched him, her brother beamed down. Herumbrand nudged her from his shoulder, and she took Geodred’s outstretched hand. “I will walk you to your chambers.” Geowyth nodded sleepily, but before she could begin her way towards the great chamber doors, Geodred swung her by the arm until she faced the opposite direction. “Geowyth, weordfulnes eower (your manners).” Together, they walked towards the raised royal table. Queen Alicent was speaking quickly in her eldest son’s ear, though what she said neither could make out. Princess Helaena was slumped uncomfortably in her chair beside her husband and, like her mother, her mouth moved quickly. Geowyth guessed however, that no words left her lips. She was speaking to no one at all, her face directed towards the table, eyes wide and glazed over, as though watching something frightful in the far distance. If Geowyth were concerned by this display, she soon realised she needn’t be. It was clear this mood was common for the queen-in-waiting, for where Helaena’s hand rested on the table, Prince Aemond’s sat atop it, his thumb stroking the pale skin there. Unlike his family, whose chairs were turned towards the hall at large, Prince Aemond’s fully faced his sister. The angle of his seat near disguised him entirely, for from this direction the Beridan siblings could see nought but the black of his clothes, the shine of his hair and the rough leather of his eyepatch. Indeed, the only part of him they could see was the hand stroking his sisters, and the crescent profile of his angular face.

“Queen Alicent,” Geodred bowed before her. “I come to bid you goodnight and thank you, again and as always, for your hospitality-”

Geowyth did not hear what her brother said next, nor the young Queen’s reply. Her sole focus remained instead on the Targaryen prince before her. From the slow way his thumb soothed his sister to his concentrated gaze over her, Geowyth would have said he almost looked…tender. His mouth, curved and quick, was set not in that line Geowyth was already accustomed to, but smiled. Perhaps if he could show Helaena he was happy, she would be too.

“Geowyth, sweostor (sister),”

At Lord Geodred’s voice, Aemond’s head snapped up. Quite unexpectedly, Lady Geowyth was looming over he and his sister, eyes curious and concerned. It wasn’t uncommon for visiting dignitaries to stare at the dreamer and the decrepit like Qartheen silk. He had become quite used to it in fact, and dare he say it, Helaena endured it too, from the heads of noble houses to foreign traders. Whether their business was politics or trade, alliance or reassurance, it was Aemond’s duty to let them stare. After all, it would not do for the second son of the King to scare away the guests. That does not a happy allegiance make. But a horse maid of little standing, from a kingdom of no consequence? Who was she to stare at them with such piteous interest? Her eye flickered from Helaena’s to his. A moment of fear flashed across her fiery irises and Aemond smirked. He’d caught her. Good. Let her learn his sister was not to be studied. But instead of blanching, of curtseying reverently and asking forgiveness for her impudence, the Braedel girl stepped forward and addressed the Queen.

“I know it is unbecoming for young women of court to express such rapturous pleasure, for fear it is mistaken as salacious and vulgar, but I so enjoyed the dancing, Your Grace.”

Aemond watched his mother smile kindly at the young woman. “Well, I am pleased we could provide many a partner for your amusement, Lady Geowyth.” At this, Geowyth curtsied.

“If I may say, Your Grace,” she turned towards Helaena. Aemond’s stomach twisted as she avoided his eye. Look at me, look at me. He willed her to do it, if only to see the scorn she’d find in his gaze. “Princess Helaena outshone any partner in skill, spirit and company.” At these words, Helaena looked up. She stared at Geowyth, and though her eyes were dark, a spark of recognition lit in their blue. Geowyth smiled. “If you would allow it, Your Grace, may I call upon you tomorrow?”

The party was silent. Alicent watched Helaena nervously from the corner of her eye, her hand reaching out to steady Aegon as he swayed a little in his seat. Behind Geowyth, Geodred smiled. His bright eyes darted between the young women, his worry the trip would not be a success decreasing with every glance at his sister. When his eye landed on Aemond, and found the stony-faced Prince staring back, Geodred winked. The Prince jolted.

“Helaena, darling?” Alicent’s voice was gentle.

“I would like that,” The Princess’ voice was but a whisper. “Very much.” The entire room seemed to exhale in relief. All, but for Aemond.

“Astandan,” Geodred whispered to his sister. “Goodnight, my Queen. Your Graces.” He bowed to the family and Geowyth followed suit. She cast her eyes over Prince Aegon (he did not notice her in his state), smiled at the Queen and grinned at Princess Helaena. When she turned to leave the chamber and saw Prince Aemond watching her, expressionless and intent, she bowed her head. They had started on the wrong foot, but surely her adoration of his sister would please him. She smiled coyly. He did not return it.

Geodred took his sister by the hand and, with one last bow, they left the chamber.

“Fulgod, ealdras (well done, princess.)”

Swete Eam, min Cyng, (Beloved uncle, my King),

I write to you in the assumption that Geodred has not. Do not fear, he has thrown himself into life at the Red Keep well, despite our being here only a few days. You should have seen them Eam, when we arrived. Targaryens struck dumb because of him, so much so that I saw upon Herumbrand’s face a glimmer of pride! The Queen was most taken by him, I believe. Do you know, with her dark hair and those beautiful eyes, she could almost be a Braedel. Is there any relation between the Beridans and the Hightowers? I have been reading Lineages and Histories of the Great Houses of the Seven Kingdoms from the Red Keep’s library, and I can see nothing in there.

Take comfort that I have been busying myself with learning and not in the yard. I know that you are relying on me to strengthen my politic and knowledge to the level of my riding and combat. I am trying, for you. The council helped a great deal, though there was much shouting and behaviour unbecoming to men of the court. By all above and below, how must they behave when women are not present? In the chamber, it was just myself, the Queen and the Princess of Dragonstone. There is no mistaking the grief that lingers there. They’re like the dark and light side of the moon, always turning to face the other, only to never know it.

Ser Herumbrand told me that Ser Harrold told him (he’s the Lord Commander and an equal to Herumbrand in honour) that they were once great friends. You will be pleased with my progress there too, Eam. I have found myself in the confidence of Princess Helaena. Well, almost. I am going to call on her after writing this to you. She is as enchanting as she is intriguing. Last night, at the King’s nameday feast, she was introduced to me by the youngest Velaryon Prince, Lucerys. She is his aunt (I have been taking great leaps with my understanding of the Targaryen lineage. You were right, it is a nightmare). The Princess is a wonderful dancer, so full of life that she seems to shine. But when she is with her husband, her brother Prince Aegon, all life seems to shrink from her, as though someone has placed her in a cage. Ser Harrold told me she likes animals, so I thought perhaps I would introduce her to Mearl.

Her brother-husband is a miscreant and a drunk. When not buried in wine he is a pleasant enough young man, but Alma, the maid that is looking after me during my stay, said the other young maids take great pains to avoid him. I think perhaps I will leave my assessment of him there. Whatever it is he does, he hides those faults much better than his younger brother. The less said there the better. Were it not for his condescension, poor manners, scowl and general dislike of all, I’m sure Prince Aemond is perfectly amiable. If an alliance does not come from our stay here, perhaps you should burn this letter.

Speaking of Mearl, how is Mawe? I hope you are looking after him – he expects chicken straight from the table. I’ll be sure to check when we return. And how are you? They best be letting you take the air and see Galepan. I am not for this “bedrest” nonsense. You are well yet and I will see you right. I have been dreaming of Braedel since we left. Of riding Mearl across the brimlad (seaway) and mor (moor). Walking with you along Braesbur. It is my sincerest hope that we can forge this alliance and leave the city as soon as possible, just to be at home by your side.

Gerestan wist, eower wraest nefene, (Rest well, your devoted niece),

Geowyth.

She folded the parchment and sealed it with wax. Pressing the stamp into the molten red, Geowyth saw it formed the three headed dragon of the Targaryen house. Alma had equipped her with all she needed to write to Braedel, having not the foresight to predict her own home-sickness.

It was early. Intentionally so. Geowyth asked a passing steward to have her woken just before the dawn, when the kitchen maids began lighting fires and preparing the day rooms of the Keep. Alma appeared before sunrise to draw the curtains in Geowyth’s small guest chambers, complete with a pitcher of fresh water and fruit from the kitchens. After retrieving writing things, Alma was dismissed for the day; Geowyth had no need of help with her hair or clothes, for her plans for the day were simple. Send the letter to her uncle, return her books to the library and perhaps collect new ones, ride Mearl through country on the outskirts of the city, and visit the Princess.

Not one item on her list had been achieved thus far, but Geowyth was content to bask in the summer warmth streaming through her chamber windows. In the courtyard below, the Keep’s staff were awaking to tend to the royals and their guests. Food was being ferried to and fro. Fruits, ornately decorated pastries and steaming carafes of exotic tea leaf. Two young maids were beating tapestries, making the most of the sunny days to rid them of dust, and below her window, Geowyth spotted Alma washing bed linens. A lanky groom leant against the wall beside her in an attempt at ease, though even from her chambers Geowyth could see the rapt attention he gave Alma as she chatted away.

Geowyth smiled. She was unashamed to admit that her excitement at visiting King’s Landing was not just for the libraries, arts and council. No. As second in line to Braedel, and the King’s young niece, she did not want for attention from the opposite sex. The problem, rather, lay in the pool of candidates. Braedel was a small kingdom, and a secluded one at that. The eligible men of the kingdom were those that Geowyth grew up with, Geodred’s friends or else faces that had come to populate every day by becoming part of the landscape; predictable, unsurprising and ordinary. It is true, the kingdom of Braedel kept to its own affairs and tales of the mainland and its elite were few and far between. But the prospect of Lords, rogues and Princes was exciting even to Geowyth. She was a woman, after all. How disappointed she was then, to find the Princess married, betrothed or disdainful in the extreme. The Lords tired and ale-wasted. The second sons too timid, or else too bawdy. Geowyth sighed. She had overheard one of the Baratheon girls, Floris, or was it Ellyn, talk of books that granted young girls the escapism and reprieve she craved. That is, if you knew where to look. Time to begin the day.

Wrapping her patterned shawl of Braedel gold and burgundy over her shoulders, Geowyth seized the letter to her uncle, Lineages and Histories of the Great Houses of the Seven Kingdoms and Island to Inland: The Lost Kingdoms of Westeros and flung open the great doors of her chamber. The route to the library, one of many in the Keep, where she had retrieved the books was a short one, along stone corridors decorated with the Targaryen history in tapestry. Servants smiled to Geowyth as she bid them good morning and a visiting Maester, Gerardys if she remembered rightly, stopped to enquire about the enjoyment of her stay. By the time she reached the library’s doors, carved with scrolls and scripture, Geowyth felt that maybe she had misjudged the Keep and those living within its walls. A certain Prince aside, it was a pleasant enough place. Bright, friendly and decidedly warmer than Braedel. She laughed, thinking of Mawe’s hair blowing in the coastal wind as he stood atop Eobarrow. How he would enjoy bathing on the warm stone of King’s Landing.

When opened, the doors groaned and expelled a gust of dusty air. Someone had left the window open. Even so early in the morning, with the sun’s youthful warmth, the room was dark and it took a moment for Geowyth eyes to adjust to the gloom. All about the place, books were piled by chairs and on tables. Loose papers fluttered in the breeze, held down by candlesticks whose wicks were puffing smoke. Books and letter under arm, Geowyth walked toward the small window and reached out for its handle- the floor creaked behind her and she span around.

Prince Aemond. Stood a metre or so way away, tall and foreboding, mouth parted as though he were about to speak. They appeared to have taken each other by surprise.

Geowyth hurriedly dipped into a low curtsy. “Your Grace,”

Aemond’s head bowed almost imperceptibly. “Lady Geowyth.” Neither spoke. Geowyth’s heart was hammering in her chest. She hadn’t anticipated anyone being in the library at this early hour, let alone someone with whom it appeared she couldn’t converse without offending. He was watching her, curiosity or anger missing from his face. Indeed, that hard visage was entirely unreadable. Geowyth indicated the window behind her.

“I was just going to-”

“Leave it open.”

Silence. Again. She couldn’t look away from him, unsure as she was of the Prince’s remote manner. “Ok…” When he didn’t speak, only continued to watch her, Geowyth took the books from under her arm and moved towards the bookshelf she had taken them from, at last tearing her eyes away from his.

“What have you there?” The Prince didn’t move, not even to gesture at the volumes in her hands.

“Books.”

“Yes, I know that.” Prince Aemond sighed. “Which ones?”

Geowyth laughed at herself. The Prince did not. “Lineages and Histories of the Great Houses of the Seven Kingdoms and Island to Inland: The Lost Kingdoms of Westeros. I wanted to brush up on my Westerosi history while I was here. And see what the kingdom knew of us. It seems, very little.” Geowyth indicated the smaller volume. “We are not a “lost kingdom” after all.”

The Prince hummed. “Not quite.” Before Geowyth could rebuke him, he held out a hand. “I’ve been looking for these. Your brother expressed an interest in learning more about the histories.”

“Forgive me, Your Grace,” Geowyth bowed her head and placed the two books in his outstretched arms. As she did so, the letter addressed to her uncle fell to the ground. In a swift motion of silver, Prince Aemond bent to recover it from the floor. Between two slender fingers, he turned the parchment to read its cover.

“King Gallan-”

“My uncle, Your Grace.” The Prince did not deign to answer this, only giving her a pointed look as if to say, I know. “After returning the books, your books, I was going to send it to him, although I do not know the way to the rookery-”

“I will take it.”

Geowyth faltered. Would it find its way? Would it be checked before delivery, for fear that palace secrets or slights were within? “There is no need, Your Gra-”

“I will take it.” The door opened, and a Maester Geowyth did not know entered the library. The Prince turned his head slightly, his covered eye towards the door. It gave him the air of omniscience; though no eye was there, he didn’t need it to know who had disturbed the quiet.

“Lady Geowyth.” The Prince bowed and, without waiting for a reply, was out of the door and away, Geowyth’s letter clasped in between his fingers.

Notes: Had to get in Mr Mitchell’s delightful reference to the Targaryen “family circle”. I’m sorry this is taking a long time to write my pals – as always this is a slow build so bear with me! I can’t freaking wait to take you all to Braedel and uncover more about its society and the Beridan’s past!

Mearl = same pronunciation as Merle

Mawe = more–weh

Addition: Look at this amazing art by @cyeco13!!!!

Tags: @arcielee @mefools @bladeofdreadfort @glitterandgoldfinds @heimtathurs @ewanmitchellcrumbs @babyblue711 @wingeddeliciouscanonrebel @greenowlfactif @fantasias-creativebubble @httyd-marauders @sirenangelroyal @theoneeyedprince @fyeahhotdocs @persephonerinyes @humanpurposes @elizarbell @el-is-green @booghostii @myfandomprompts @castellomargot @trashcanrat @boundlessfantasy @aemonds-fire

#ewan mitchell #aemond targaryen #aemond targaryen x oc #aemond targaryen x reader #aemond one eye #aemond x ofc #aemond x reader #aemond kinslayer #house of the dragon #hotd #jacaerys velaryon #daemon targaryen #borne and bound #ewan mitchell x reader #aemond x oc

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loverhymeswith · 7 months

Text

Spellbound

Day Four of the October Dreams 1K Follower Event

Pairing: Tommy Shelby x Witch!OFC

Summary: Polly’s meddling has unintended consequences for Tommy

Word Count: 1.8K

Warnings: Smoking, drinking, language, set around season four but mostly spoiler free

A/N: Dedicated to @a-reader-and-a-writer ❤️

“There’s a woman here to see you, Tom.”

Tommy tears his gaze from the pile of paperwork strewn across the desk to find Lizzie hovering in the doorway. His secretary’s face is a careful mask of indifference as she leans against the wooden frame, but her apparent apathy is belied by the hint of jealousy in her voice.

There’s nothing for her to worry about, Tommy muses to himself, reaching for the half-empty carton of cigarettes resting on the far side of his desk. He doesn’t have any of those appointments booked this evening - or for the foreseeable future. These days, sex is the furthest thing from his mind.

Pushing the paperwork to the side with one hand and lighting his cigarette with the other, he inclines his head. “Send her in then, eh?” Under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t be so accommodating towards unexpected visitors, but heaven knows he could do with a distraction.

Lizzie nods brusquely and disappears from the doorway before he can ask her to fetch him another packet of cigarettes.

“He says you can go in,” he hears her mutter in a clipped tone.

Choosing not to acknowledge her possessiveness for the time being - that’s another problem for another day - Tommy reclines in his chair and takes a long drag of his cigarette. He exhales heavily and when the smoke clears, he casts his attention over the woman who has taken Lizzie’s place.

Her appearance is unexpected. Striking, even, to say the least. Dressed from head to toe in black, she’s at least a foot shorter than his secretary but just as slight. A headscarf conceals much of her hair, and she appears to be dressed in a riding cloak and long skirts, a far cry from the ever-changing ladies’ fashion he has grown accustomed to in recent years.

Tommy narrows his gaze, trying to place her. It’s unheard of for his mother’s kin to approach him like this; these days, all communication flows through Esmee or Johnny Dogs. A gut feeling tells him this woman is something else entirely.

Seeming to shrink under the weight of his stare, his visitor is the first to break the silence, taking a tentative step forward as she murmurs, “Mr Shelby?”

There’s a note of nervousness in her soft Birmingham accent, which comes as little surprise. Clearly, she knows exactly who she’s dealing with. What he’s capable of. And why wouldn’t she? After all, the Shelby reputation continues to precede him.

Tommy nods, exhaling another cloud of smoke in her direction. “And who might you be?”

“Your aunt Polly sent me,” she answers, choosing to omit her name as she glances around the dimly lit office. “I’m sorry for turning up unannounced but she said it was for the best.”

A familiar sense of irritation prickles within Tommy’s veins as he recalls the particularly contentious conversation he’d had with Polly not two nights ago. It would seem his aunt has finally made good on her threats.

“Come in and close the door,” he barks, stubbing out his cigarette with more force than necessary.

The woman does as he commands, crossing the room until only the large mahogany desk separates them. With the distance between them now halved, he’s taken aback by how young she is, how her skin is unblemished and her hair - thick and dark - threatens to escape from two untidy braids. Her pale blue eyes, currently filled with the hint of trepidation, are lined with kohl.

“So you’re the witch, eh?” He raises his brow, wishing he’d poured himself a whiskey before agreeing to see this woman.

The feeling only intensifies as her striking gaze lingers on him for a beat longer than is comfortable and her voice takes on a more confident edge.

“We don’t like to use that term these days, Mr Shelby.”

“No?” Tommy considers this, pulling out another cigarette from his dwindling supply and rolling it across his bottom lip. “What would you have me call you then?”

The woman’s shoulders lift slightly, apparently unfazed by his churlish response. “Some call us healers.”

“Healers?” he scoffs around the cigarette, the beginning of a headache starting to form. “You think I’m in need of fixing?”

“What I think is irrelevant, Mr Shelby. But Polly seems to think so.”

Polly. Damn that meddlesome woman. One day she’ll realise that some things - some people - are better left broken. And even if he could undo the events of the last five years, there is simply no coming back from what happened in France. There is no coming back from death.

“Polly doesn’t know anything. And you are wasting your time.” He waves his hand towards the door. He has absolutely no intention of entertaining Polly’s fantasies tonight - or ever. “No amount of magic or potions is going to change a bloody thing. So you can leave now.”

Despite his disparaging tone, the woman doesn’t baulk. “She already paid me twenty shillings to come here tonight.”

“Twenty shillings, eh?” He blinks back his surprise. “That’s quite a profit you must be turning. And you didn’t just take the money and run?”

She frowns at the implied insult, her pink lips pursing. “My grandmother taught me better than that. Besides, Polly is a friend of the family.”

“And who is your family?” he wonders aloud. “You’re not one of the Lees.” No, they assuredly would have taken the money and ran.

She shakes her head, her unwavering gaze still trained in his direction. “I’d prefer it if we kept my family out of it, Mr Shelby. As I said, I’m here at your aunt’s behest.”

Unaccustomed to being on the backfoot, Tommy is careful to hide his unease. This woman seems to know him - or his family, at least - but he has absolutely no idea where she has come from.

“Forgive my curiosity,” he mutters around the cigarette, not an ounce of contrition in his tone. “But I usually seek references when doing business. It’s good practice to know who you’re getting into bed with. Do you know Johnny Dogs?”

Her lips curl into a smile. “He offered me his hand in marriage once. My grandmother saw him off with a shotgun. Threatened to put a curse on him if he ever came back.”

“Smart woman, your grandmother.” Despite his misgivings, Tommy gestures for her to take a seat across from him, unable to deny his growing intrigue. He’d wanted a distraction, had he not? “Cigarette?”

She shakes her head, gracefully lowering herself into the spare armchair. “They’re bad for your health.”

“This is Birmingham, sweetheart. Everything is bad for your health. Including” - he points a finger in her direction - “witches.”

In lieu of a response, she smiles again and suddenly he finds himself wishing she’d remove that headscarf. Her face is still partially cast with shadows in the low light; he’d like to see all of her.

“So humour me.” He settles back in his seat and stubs out his second cigarette, both his headache and the desire for whiskey beginning to fade away. “What exactly has Polly paid you to do?” Tommy would be the first to admit that he has a complex relationship when it comes to his family’s faith in fortunes and curses.

“Besides the magic and potions, you mean?” she teases, her ring-clad fingers clasped in her lap.

Fighting the unexpected and somewhat disconcerting urge to smile back, Tommy nods. “Besides the magic and potions.”

“You’ll have to forgive me, Mr Shelby, but it’s bad for business to reveal all my secrets.”

There’s no trace of her initial apprehension as she continues to meet his eye. In fact, she seems to have relaxed in his presence. He can’t decide whether she’s brave or just naive.

“Tommy,” he tells her, taking both of them by surprise. “You can call me Tommy.”

She pauses for a moment, her blue gaze suddenly unreadable, before she replies, “Ok, Tommy.”

Another beat of silence passes between the two of them and there’s a noticeable change in the air as it fills with an electric charge - the portent of a gathering storm.

“You won’t tell me about your family, but it seems only fair I should get your name, eh?” Tommy remarks, offering her an expectant look. The truth is, he wants to keep her talking. Magic and potions be damned.

“Evelyn,” she murmurs, her answer taking him by surprise.

“I knew a girl named Evelyn once,” Tommy tells her, clearing his throat. Deep in the back of his mind, a memory is stirring. A truth, demanding to be revealed. “We called her Evie. Always had flowers in her hair. We played together as children on the banks of the canal. Me, her and Arthur.”

The woman, the witch - Evelyn - shifts in her seat. “What happened to her?”

“War happened,” he tells her, bluntly. “Never saw her again.”

That’s not to say he hadn’t thought about the girl often, although admittedly less so over the years. He’d made a point not to seek her out when he’d returned from France. It was safer to treasure her as a memory than trouble her with the demons that had followed him back to Small Heath.

“But you got to say goodbye.”

It’s less a question than a statement, but Tommy finds himself responding anyway, still grappling with that insistent feeling that he’s forgetting something. “I did.”

“You kissed her,” Evelyn continues solemnly. “At Digbeth Lock. After the summer fair.”

Thrown off balance entirely, Tommy stutters. “I- how did you know that?” He frowns, rubbing a hand across his jaw. Is he under the witch's spell right now?

Slowly, wordlessly, the witch begins to unwrap her headscarf. Tommy watches, spellbound, as her beautiful face finally comes into full view, a thin crown of crimson and ochre flowers resting atop her midnight hair. All of the air leaves his lungs in a single breath.

It can’t be.

“It’s you. It’s fucking you.” He shakes his head, eyes rapidly searching her face as he reconciles the woman before him with the memory of his childhood sweetheart. Evie. How could he have been so blind. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

Evelyn clutches her discarded scarf tightly, her eyes now shining bright with unshed tears as she offers him a melancholy smile. “I was told the war had changed you, Tommy. Honestly, I didn’t think you’d remember me.”

Of course he remembered her. Evie. The girl with the flowers in her hair.

Abruptly, he rises to his feet, torn entirely between pouring himself a whiskey and gathering her into his arms.

The truth is, Tommy Shelby has always believed himself to be irrevocably broken. But maybe, just maybe, she could be the one to fix him.

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