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#there was a first version of this where reader is a manwhore
jhuzen · 1 year
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a game of chase [m.reader]
i told myself i’d never get caught dead doing a solo childe fic bc my friends and i hate him. well. i’m not dead yet. ahdijsidmv. jk i’m just taking a break from a fic i’m writing so have this one-shot :D. idk why but when i thought of this, childe fits for some reason. and when i brought this up with my friend, they only said “yeah, the attention whore checks out”.
𖦹 i have no idea what genre this is, childe pining for you like mad, my indulgent hc of ekaterina being so done with her boss, a little bit of some characters x you
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For every unfortunate soul out there that Childe would have the pleasure of coming across, he made a personal ranking of just how good that first meet was. Of course, it didn’t happen until halfway through he realized how much fun it was to catch some opponents off guard. And on times that he has to go and personally fight to collect certain debts for the bank, he always liked the absolute fear he instilled in every person.
Oddly enough, it wasn’t an ambush he created to be the one sitting at the top rank. Rather, it was his meeting with the traveler. It’s not everyday you see someone with a little flying child getting chased by the Millelith the moment they’ve stepped foot in Liyue. It was hilarious, really. And their meet was nothing short of pure amusement.
And yet, even rankings change.
Especially with the way you barged into his not-so-quaint little life.
A quiet stroll through the harbor — that’s all Chile ever needed and he knew he’d be set to sit on his chair for hours on end, doing boring old paperwork and reports to submit to The Jester. It was nothing to exciting, hence his innate need to get out and go for some fresh air. Take it as a preparation for this grueling boredom that he’s about to face. Though his subordinate preferred he start work now, he still was the one who has the last say.
And so here he was.
Children that reminded him of his little siblings loitered around, playing with huge smiles on their faces. It warmed his heart as he thought about his cold motherland where his family was. He ought to head back as soon as he finishes his reports for now. Just a few days with his family will do the trick.
Vendors by their stalls beckoned to him. He is the facilitator of the Northland Bank in Liyue’s Branch. It’s not too odd to be pulled aside constantly to be offered certain goods. They were only doing business, and as someone who has a sizable mora to spare, it wasn’t surprising to be solicited by them.
With a quick wave to the vendors, he rounded the corner. It was the relatively quiet part of the harbor — not often populated by any vendors as it wasn’t quite in the middle of the bustling crowd where anyone could see. It was quiet. And for someone like him who craved the noise of every clanging blades in a spar, the pained grunts of opponents, and the sound of a blunt impact from every landed punch, Childe enjoyed this part.
A subtle pout came onto his features as he realized that it wouldn’t be long before he has to go back and face the music of the cumbersome paperworks.
Well, that would have happened until his keen ears heard hurried footsteps hitting the pavement. He looked over his shoulder only to see someone hellbent on running. His mind quickly deduced the way you ran — calculative in steps and yet still on a hurry.
Is this guy running away from someone?
Hiding away from them too, in fact, as you booked it to his direction, and before Childe could even react, you had a hand on his wrist that not even he can tear away from. Your head snapped towards an alleyway and shoved him in it, with you following after as you caged him in this tight squeeze of a gap.
Childe blinked. And while he had many questions, your tensed silence was enough for him to clamp his mouth shut, with only your short ragged breaths filling the quiet space.
It didn’t take long though before a portion of his hypothesis was quickly answered as he heard dozens of heavy footsteps and clamoring armor heading to the direction where you and him were in. While you were a tad bit taller, he managed to see over your shoulder a couple of Millelith soldiers all in hot pursuit of you, no doubt. His dull eyes looked up at you, and even with the heavy shadow, he could faintly make out your relieved face when the soldiers came to pass.
You both waited for yet another excruciating minute until the soldier’s clanking armors finally drowned out in distance. A sigh of relief escaped your lips as you finally shimmied your way out of that tight gap, hand already pulling the little harbinger by the wrist once more.
“Sorry about that,” you finally spoke and Childe had to nod. For once, he was less chattier as he slowly rode out the mild thrill in his system. “I had to leave no witnesses.”
He quickly regained his footing in the conversation and chuckled, “Yeah? And I don’t suppose I’m your only witness?” He asked, adjusting his clothing from all the ruckus of being shoved in a dark corner.
“I ran out of luck hiding. So, yeah. You’re the only witness. And besides, if I move anymore while wearing this, I’m bound to attract more than what I intend — which is none,” You shifted around in your clothing, which now Childe took note of. You were dressed in the finest robes, patterned with the most graceful looking snakes and dragons that were no doubt handwoven by skilled artisans in Liyue.
Childe also happened to look up at your visage, cleaned up nice and well, hair done neatly aside from the little stray hairs that went out of place from what he assumed was your little chase with the Millelith. His brain quickly noticed the incongruence. You looked like an important figure and yet… you were being chased around by the people meant to protect figures that are deemed important.
He cocked an eyebrow, sizing you up and down, and you almost laughed at how hard he concentrated. You kept quiet as you waited for his little guess.
“A politician?” He tried and you quickly shot it down. Though, if Childe was being honest, with that Adeptus working in the Qixing as well as that scary fellow hydro vision and bow user lady, there was no room for corruption in the position of power. And besides, there would have been news around, even through rumors, knowing how well informed Liyue citizens could be.
Childe took a step back before he realized just what in Teyvat you were wearing. Those robes were no ordinary ones — they were a traditional Liyue garment used in ceremonies.
Your grin was evident as he locked in his final answer with a flabbergasted look;
“A runaway groom.”
“Bingo.”
“Well, I’ve heard of brides being whisked away before. But I’ve never heard of a runaway groom.” Childe laughed a little, but even in his dull eyes, a flash of pity and curiosity shone through which did not escape you. “What happened to you, man?”
You waved him off with a charming grin, “Nothing you should concern yourself over, my good friend. I just happened to be the unfortunate son who had to be pawned off to a lovely lady to expand our clan’s horizons.”
“That’s insane.”
“It is. Such is the life of a nobleman. Well, no, not always — just some special nutcases who can’t live without power.”
That was how Childe met you. Through a chase. A chase that decided the path of a good portion of your life.
How ironic was it that now he was trying to determine a certain part of his life through a chase.
Perhaps the fact that you were being chased when he met you was an omen of some sort of how his tumultuous love would end up. Childe wasn’t always superstitious, he only believes in the palpable results, the successes in his every mission, and the triumph that gives him high in every victorious ending in fights. But now, the thought of it was slowly questioning his radically logical mind.
Because now, he was chasing after you. Despite the fact that you’ve settled over your marital affairs, you risked your connections being severed from your family when you refused to marry the woman that waited for you by the ceremonial altar. And when you did, you proved everyone wrong by living a far more comfortable life at the edge of the harbor, managing a little teahouse that Childe had funded in capital for you.
In hindsight, the harbinger’s claims of generating more profit should have been an obvious forefront of how his emotions truly manifested. It was a hulking passionate love that towered over everyone but somehow it could never reach the peak where you sat in peace, making tea and indulging the bliss of your freedom.
Though Childe, despite the rationality that he claims he possesses, can be an unreliable narrator. He lies to protect his family, so it’s not a surprise to say that although true, his imaginative descriptions of his love for you is anything but tragic and complicated.
Simply put — he loves you but you were so, so dense.
Always just a foot away no matter how much he ran to catch up to you. No matter how many times he dropped by your shop that he proudly invested in, bringing you lavish gifts to woo you, all you had to do was smile gratefully, make him tea and it felt like all his efforts in winning your affections reversed into your favor — wooing him instead.
“Boss, have you tried… confronting the bull head on?” Ekaterina sipped on her tea as she looked at her boss with mild disdain, which is justifiable, considering that Andrei would always pass him off to her in his heartbroken rants about you.
A resounding groan left Childe’s lips as he slumped over the table with a lack of grace. He looked up at the bank’s receptionist and glared at her, “Mind your words. He is not a bull.” He said in defense of you, completely missing his subordinate’s point. “He’s more like a… a stallion that I would ri—”
“I will turn in my resignation if you continue that sentence, boss.” Ekaterina says with much defiance. The determination to just resign and perhaps get hired by you instead sounds lovely. Granted, she’d still see Childe and his insufferable pining soul, but she would be busy enough tending to other people to notice him… not to be the catch basin of this man-child’s flooding love troubles.
His blue eyes flitted from corner to corner, eyes narrowing at any unsuspecting man or woman that dared to make a move on you. He was always on the guard, but if anything, if he took Ekaterina’s little piece of advice, he would’ve had no worries. You would reject people with that kind smile of yours and politely tell them off with a claim that you finally have someone else.
Ugh. And you would look so cute with his family too! Teucer made another unprecedented excursion two months ago and was relatively surprised that his big brother made an investment on a teahouse. The way you tended to his little brother like a good big brother or even a father made him feel weak in the knees. Though it wasn’t as fun when Teucer had to be convinced to head back to their motherland, it endeared Childe to see a side of you that rarely comes out unless in the company of the little ones.
The way you acted now was a stark contrast compared to when you and him met. You were mischievous and playful on the first few months in his company, but it was the surface that he was slowly chipping away at — only appreciating your much deeper layers when he saw you fight for your freedom against an undesired matrimony that was being pushed on you. You worked with persistence and diligence in your name and Childe could not get more hot and bothered.
You were so inexplicably interesting. It was no wonder he was just one of the many people who were hoping to have a shot with you — that quiet teahouse owner in the outskirts of the harbor. Hell, even he had to meet that fellow hydro vision and bow user lady twice as she convinced you to come down and work in her establishment.
Childe’s eyes narrowed at the thought of her luring you into her web. Though he knows she means it as a literal job offer at the teahouse and nothing more, he couldn’t shake off the way your eyes seemed to soften around her, growing relatively fond of her appearance.
The harbinger decides that the day Yelan starts to bring in gifts, is the day he urges a business relocation. Maybe somewhere in Wuwang Hill. Anywhere but here.
It also didn’t help that one of your regulars was the charming former archon. He either came alone or brought his tiny superior with him. And on the off chance that Childe comes to pass by, he could see the way you seemed so engaged with the old man, leaning closer as he told his life stories from a thousand years ago, meriting him a melodious laugh that Childe couldn’t hear from the outside.
And while he adored the traveler, he also didn’t like that they’ve been trying to nestle themselves into your cozy abode like a love tick. And it drove him over the edge when you, ever the generous man that you are, would treat them to a cup of tea, free of charge. Like, that was a lost revenue, you annoyingly attractive and scrumptious airhead! That could have been profit!
You are denser than the muscles Childe would subtly feel out in his tight hugs with you. It was annoying. You’re annoying. It’s annoying. He hates it.
He hates you.
“Oh dear, you don’t look too good, Ajax.”
His eyes snapped open as he felt your hands raking through his ginger hair. He almost sobbed at your gentle touch, just going through with ease. He looked ahead to see Ekaterina missing, and from his peripherals, he could see her pouring herself another fresh pot of tea. Ah. Now that he noticed, the teahouse is now quiet, completely void of customers. He supposed it’s already your closing time.
“Had a tough day at work.” He mumbled.
“No, he didn’t.” Ekaterina’s voice echoed from and Childe only huffed.
Laughter rumbled from somewhere deep in your chest and Childe had to restrain himself from just ambushing you with something that he deems as the deciding moment of your relationship. He’s normally impatient, often just wanting to go at it bare hands. Heck, if stated otherwise in a mission, he would directly make contact and fight off the opponent.
But this isn’t a fight. It’s love. It’s raw attraction towards you and for once, Childe who had the boyish charm that could make everyone drop to their knees was at loss.
“Go back to the bank, Ekaterina,” Childe grumbled as he finally sat up from his seat, looking at his subordinate with a pout. “Andrei would scold you.”
“Andrei pays me double to stay with you.”
“I wish Andrei would also pay me double for putting up with him,” you sighed and he almost choked on his own spit, hitting your torso with a glare. You may be dense to his advances, but you still displayed a teasing disposition that no one is safe from. Not even poor him.
He huffed, crossing his arms, “I can just as easily pull out as this teahouse’s investor, y’know? Watch your words, [Name].” His threat was light and empty, and you knew as well — much to his chagrin. “I mean it,” he added for extra measure.
You only gave him a light hum and nodded along, “Of course you do,” your words were in agreement, and yet it only served to invalidate his empty threat towards you. “So, would you like a refill?” You asked, cocking your head in Ekaterina’s direction, who still had a hand on the pot. You were sure she’s gone through about half of it already since the moment she got a hand on it.
Childe’s breath suddenly got caught in his throat as he watched the setting sun’s rays illuminate through your form from the window. You looked absolutely breathtaking and suddenly, the moment felt right. You were only a few inches away, but as his foot moved to take a step, he felt restricted, bound by the chains of uncertainty as he watched you take a step away, your distance growing by a foot. Again, you were a foot away. After he hesitated when he was so close to just… claim you right there.
He coughed before nodding, “Yeah. Sure,” his voice, painfully stiff and strained.
The harbinger was quick to blame it on the fact that Ekaterina didn’t leave you two alone for some space.
But he knows that she was hardly the reason, not when his heart thudded with regret as he watched you walk over to his subordinate and wrestle the pot away from her. Not when his heart continued to hammer against his chest as his emotions went into another overdrive of absolute adoration.
Not when he can finally feel the chains loosen against his heart when he finally, absolutely without a doubt realized you truly were the one.
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imaslutforwritingshit · 7 months
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Things Ethan Landry would text- (Fem Friend Reader) PART 3
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Warnings- mentions of smut, knifeplay, sexting, fearplay, confessions to murder.
If you guys like this, I’ll make an extended version, where I write a story in Y/n’s pov that happens after this texting story:)
The Ballad Of Terror
Y/n: hey loser
Ethan: Loser? that’s new.
Y/n: but true
Ethan: no good night text, bunny?
Y/n: ugh stop calling me that. I promise I don’t jump that weird.
Ethan: in PE class you look like a rodent
Y/n: shut up
Y/n: I want something else first before you get your good night text
Ethan: let me guess. You need homework answers?
Y/n: I don’t get anything in science. I don’t even know what a molecule is.
Ethan: luckily I’m smart.
Y/n: luckily.
Ethan: click to view
Y/n: thank u <3
Ethan: np.
Ethan: hey, how are you and David doing together?
Y/n: why?
Ethan: I’m just curious
Y/n: maybe being curious isn’t always the right thing to be
Ethan: I’m your friend who wants you to be happy.
Y/n: I am happy
Ethan: with David?
Y/n: why are you asking that like david can’t make me happy?
Ethan: because I don’t think he could
Y/n: he does.
Ethan: oh, yeah?
Y/n: yes.
Ethan: as in, present tense?
Y/n omg yes
Y/n: why do you care so much?
Ethan: you broke up with him last night.
Y/n: how did you know that?
Y/n: Ethan??
Y/n: who told you
Ethan: no one told me.
Y/n: then why the fuck do you know?
Ethan: I watched you get that text. You cried over your bedside table.
Ethan: don’t leave me on read
Ethan: cmon
Y/n: how do you know
Ethan: I watched you through the window.
Y/n: you’re my friend
Y/n: this is scaring me
Ethan: Don’t be scared. Remember when you told me that you loved the real me?
Y/n: yes.
Ethan: this is the real me.
Y/n: a stalker?
Ethan: For you,
Ethan: Yes.
Y/n: if you were watching me, what was I wearing?
Ethan: That Ivy League shirt I bought for you in 2018.
Y/n: what pants, then ??
Ethan: oh, that’s the best part.
Y/n: please
Ethan: you weren’t wearing any
Ethan: you hiked your thighs to your chest
Ethan: you were wearing black panties
Y/n: you’re a fucking creep
Ethan: don’t be like that.
Y/n: how long has this been going on?
Ethan: How long have I been in love with you?
Ethan: or watching you sleep
Ethan: ?
Y/n: i should call the police. do you stalk other girls?
Ethan: you’re the only one for me
Ethan: nobody makes me feel the way you make me feel
Ethan: All those girls meant nothing to me. They couldn’t replace you.
Y/n: what girls?
Y/n: you’re a manwhore now?
Ethan: don’t be stupid. I didn’t fuck anyone
Ethan: I killed them
Y/n: im calling the police
Ethan: I disconnected the system from your number
Ethan: you can’t call anyone for help
Y/n: what do you want from me?
Ethan: Don’t you want to know?
Ethan: Why I did it?
Y/n: no
Ethan: I want to hurt you. Is that bad?
Ethan: it just turns me on so much
Ethan: to imagine you begging for me
Ethan: begging me not to slice you open
Ethan: fuck your brains out until your screaming my name
Ethan: i want to use you
Ethan: and you and I both know you would enjoy it
Y/n: you’re ghostface
Ethan: oh
Ethan: what gave it away ?
Y/n: you piece of shit.
Ethan: I don’t think you should insult me right now
Y/n: why? you gonna kill me??
Ethan: don’t tempt me.
Y/n: but apparently I already am. I’m basically asking for a knife to my throat, aren’t I?
Y/n: to watch your cock enter me as you choke me
Y/n: god, it would turn me on so much!!!
Ethan: I don’t take sarcasm too well
Ethan: if your asking for it, I’ll give it to you.
Y/n: im blocking you
Ethan: you can’t hide
Y/n: I’ll lock my doors. Get my parents to call the cops when they come back.
Ethan: your parents aren’t home?
Ethan: That changes things.
Y/n: I locked everything
Y/n: leave me alone
Ethan: why did you assume I was outside your house?
Y/n: please leave me alone
Ethan: let’s play a game of hide and seek, y/n.
Ethan: you run
Ethan: you hide
Ethan: and we’ll see if I can catch you.
Ethan: and if I do…
Ethan: god, I love making you my victim.
Y/n: Ethan please
Ethan: 3
Ethan: 2
Ethan: 1
Ethan: time to run, bunny.
🩷
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auecho · 25 days
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hiii ur fic was SAURR scrumptious and it's officially converted me into a blade stan i fear 😭 since there won't be a part 2 im just curious and wanna hear ur thoughts on what kafka, sw, and blade's occupations are !! ALSO !! THE TEXTS from jing yuan n his explanation, like was there a genuine reason or was it just an ass excuse (probably the latter but i wanna know what yukong told him 😟).
the way you wrote blade like oh .. that boy is in love w our cutie patootie mc and i loved the contrast between him, bc it really felt like a relief knowing ?? there's really no ulterior motives n he's just down bad . him blushing n getting hard n all .. ESPECIALLY WHEN HE STARTED YAPPING ABT IMBIBITOR LUNAE HELP😭😭 man he had the mc feeling special as opposed to a certain supposed manwhore </3 so sorry to queen tingyun who had to b sacrificed for the plot 💔 mc being put through that was a lil embarrassing but at least on the first date she said NO to sex !! homegirl got dicked down anyway bc she has blade now LMAO but when blade confessed his type was the mc, gosh your writing had my heart fluttering . kafka instigating everything ,,, oh shes such a genius for this i love my girl sososo much, she's simply the coolest n the way you wrote her ?? im in love wtf .
i also wanna know what a direct interaction between jy (or any of mc's other friends) would be like with kafka bc i find her personality and wit so charming 😭😭 SINCE WE KNOW SHE DOESN'T LIKE JY OR DIDNT FIND HIM SUITABLE ⁉️‼️💯🐺🔥😵‍💫 and cutting to the point where mc n blade r already dating , what does the mother think abt it considering kafka's thoughts n how mc was raised,, it seems like she'd go into a cardiac arrest 😍😍 blade n mc dynamic is the cutest to me ,, supposed golden girl n .. whoever blade is ☠️ some guy in a completely different crowd mingling w her but it works bc he's one of kafka's close buddies !! gosh just the way you write the hsr characters makes me want to know more abt them in this au (?) eg what's life like after these events bc mc and jy still share a same class right ?? i imagine seeing them again like the next day or smth would be awkward unless he's the type of guy to move on completely after the facade is gone erm .
anyways yws im extremely excited for ur future works and i spent a good 2 hrs reading this fic so i could really savour it 🤓🤓🤓 except i hve an assignment due tonight but TRUST i will come back to reread this masterpiece 🙄 would i be able to take 🦦 anon too .. yeah that's it from me rn byebye !! 🎀
omg haii nonnie ♡ hehe welcome to the dark side but ! ! yes let’s get into it ^_^
( biiiggg yapping under the cut lol )
so 1st — i wanted to keep it as canon as possible while modernizing it && in a scrapped scene , silver actually told yn that she works as a . . hacker of some sort . really , my idea was that kafka was unemployed n was gonna mooch off of yn but i scrapped that too - so i hadn ’ t really re-thought abt what kafka ’ s ( or blade ’ s ) jobs were . jst know that it ’ s smth shady lol .
2nd — jing yuan ’ s ‘explanation’ was jst going to be a lie . in my head , i ’ d came up w him saying smth along the lines of “ it ’ s not what it looks like / we ’ re jst close / etc etc” real cliche && douche-y becuz . . he’s a douche lol . also in my head he eventually came down from tingyun && yukong approached him to set him straight , telling him he broke your heart nd that he never deserves you , yadda yadda
3rd — thank u so much for ur compliments ! ! i actually didnt know what direction i was taking the fic in because my original idea was a lil’ bit . . darker . i reworked the story multiple times becuz i kept getting stumped nd figured that something a bit lighter would be easier to work on . i always knew i wanted blade to have a crush on the reader but initially , it was gonna be smth more obsessive && borderline concerning as opposed to the more tame version of him here . basically , the whole idea is that kafka jst wants to help ! blade is shy and bad w his emotions && reader is similar . in a way , it’s abt bringing both out of their shells ( if u want to add meaning to the filth lol ) . nd i also had planned for yn && jy to have full blown sex but i felt like the fic was leaning a bit too jy heavy ? n he’s not the focus at all he’s jst a plot device ! i struggled a lil w writing kafka becuz shes a complex chara nd i didnt wanna water her down to just being manipulative ( i hate stuf lik that so bad . . ) so i was rly praying that i did her justice 😞😞
4th — in yet another scrapped scene , kafka n jy were actually going to interact . i wanted her to kinda seduce him n show yn that hes easy nd not shit—so it was going to go a little smth like : yn & kafka go out , coincidentally run into jy, jy is eyeing kafka shamelessly , yn notices but tries to ignore it , kafka gets bold & makes a move nd he doesnt shut it down yadda yadda and then when he EVENTUALLY ‘cheats’ on yn , kafka would be like “see he wasnt shit he didn’t deserve u but yk who does ? BLADIE ! !” n then i would go on from there . i also planned that instead of sw it was kafka who dropped in on their study session but i didn’t want her to be that much of a menace 😭 in a weird way , kafka rly cares for the reader . its like . . a mix of sisterly but some type of romance but kafka wont rly cross that boundary herself yk ? in her mind she knows whats best for yn & shes always known ; hence why when they were younger she didn’t let her join in n tried to preserve her innocence kinda bcuz it just wasn’t her time . while blade isn’t the best guy , hes better than jy bcuz he has a better heart . he means well , even if he doesn’t do well whereas jy ( & guys like him ) want one thing n one thing only . if i didnt prefer writing smut , the story would’ve went different bcuz it’s less abt the sex && superficial connections . thats like rly deep for a smutshot n might not make a lotta sense but that was kinda my thought process lol
ALSO ! i planned for the mom to be kinda oblivious ? she checks in on the two & they don’t mention anything at all n shes nkt gonna suspect it cus 1) she raised yn better than that & 2) kafka has her fooled into thinking shes not a deviant lol . i think yn & blade would take it slow afterwards n she wouldn’t let her mom know until she was 100% sure he was the one becuz obv her mom wouldn’t approve 😭 it would be like . she waits till shes positive so her mom cant get into her head . its apart of this idea that shes trying to detach from that prim-proper lifestyle and live her own life , w or w/o mom’s approval .
ig in this world itd just go on normally . yn would ignore jy n after a while hed move on nd probs start dating tingyun - so theyd go their separate ways nd jst forget they ever associated w one another . blade is a lil scared cus like he doesnt think they should be tg ( bcuz of their differences ) but in classic fanfic fashion they belong together ! ! in my perfect ending they get together no matter what n grow as people tg . kafka’s proud, eventually moves out n all is well in theparty&theafterparty-ville (๑ᵔ⤙ᵔ๑)
i wrote a lot srry lolol but thank u sm for reading & enjoying it nonnie 🥺 ur kind words n engagement mean so much to me haha i’m v glad u enjoyed it ! ! ! ! good luck on ur assignment & ofc u can be my otter hehe 😘🤍
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thekatebridgerton · 2 years
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babes have you seen charithra’s latest tweet 😬😬 I was willing to believe their words might’ve been misconstrued a little but …
You mean this one
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where she reffers to this part of the interview:
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I stand by what I said in my previous post, Kate and Edwina love each other and won't be fighting over a man. But just to elaborate, here's more of my opinions on the topic dear reader
And I like to start nothing that I always knew that the part of TVWL where Kate asks Anthony if he'd be okay marrying Edwina after kissing her sister, would come back to haunt me later and I honestly expected this from fanfiction, not from Netflix. (Because during that part of the book, I'm sure I'm not the only one who thinks that in a darker timeline, Anthony would definitely have tried to pull a Benedict with Kate after the lack of sexual chemistry in his marriage to Edwina drove him mad)
And I'm not saying it could happen in the show. I'm saying that it's heavily implied by both characters that Anthony had it in him.
Well apparently show Anthony is taking this literally.
I'm going off on a limb and calling it right now. The love triangle,( if there is one at all), is definitely going to be a Princess and The Frog kind of situation. And yes, I also can't believe they are going to pull a Charlotte Lebouf with Edwina, but *sigh* the shoe fits.
I mean it's sort of close enough to the book cannon to be believable. Edwina is the type who is kind, sweet and probably only inlove superficially because Anthony is what she thinks she should love.
Like Charlotte and Naveen they sound like there's genuine affectionate friendship there, but they eventually realize that 1) they both love Tiana more and 2) they both deserve better, no matter how much they like each other.
So in my opinion this is where our infamous love triangle is headed after reading the EW article. Me thinks Edwina's won't be as hurt as we think when she realizes that her favorite suitor loves her sister more than her. Disappointed yeah, but not really heartbroken.
And that this will create a whole wreck for Kate internally. Not just because Edwina likes the guy, but because she's never thought herself a rival for someone Edwina wants in the first place. Kate would love to Katniss the whole love triangle right away and sacrifice herself and Anthony for her sister's happiness (it's just cannon that Anthony won't let her)... And just sort of accidentally end up married to him because they can't help all the sexual tension.
Why am I looking forward to that? I shouldn't be so mean! Why does this situation make me laugh so much?
Oh right because they both will be giving Anthony manwhore Bridgerton a headache. Not knowing if he's attracted to Edwina because he should be attracted to her or to Kate the woman who literally could step on him and he would thank her. Does he want to be a good Viscount who dies early? Or does he want to spend the rest of his life as Kate's sex slave? he likes them both and he should be picking the nice one who won't kill him if hooks up with Sienna after marriage, but nope, he wants that one, the one who will shoot him if he takes a mistress. Yes dear readers, anything that makes Anthony tear his hair out is funny as hell for me.
I shouldn't be enjoying this! I saw what butchering historical cannon in Hamilton did to Angelica Schuyler. ( But let's face it as much as we love Eliza and Alexander. If musical version Alexander Hamilton had married Angelica Schuyler, he'd probably still be alive and also the president. )
So, honestly speaking, I'm both looking forward to it and dreading the Tiana/Charlotte/Naveen mess this is going to be.
And that's the tea.
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ithebookhoarder · 3 years
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‘Holding everything in doesn’t help, you know’: Part 2 (Javier Peña x F!Reader)
Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 
Description: After the night in your apartment together, things between you and Javi have been... well... awkward, to say the least. If you didn't know any better you’d say he was actually avoiding you, which isn’t ideal considering you’ve now been partnered together for a raid in the jungle. What could possibly go wrong?
A/N: So, ok. I did NOT expect such a lovely and overwhelming response to the one shot I did for this prompt. I was so touched that basically I couldn't resist giving in to @delorena​‘s request for a part 2... and a soon to be released part 3, as this baby was getting long XD Sorry!
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Warnings: Alcohol, swearing, canon-typical violence, reference to death, references to drugs, threat, my poor ass attempts at translating Spanish, Javi being an idiot (let me know if I missed anything)
Masterlist:
It had been a month since that night in your apartment: the night that had seen you waking up next to your partner, Javier Peña. 
Yeah.
Even now, it felt like some kind of surreal dream to think about. It probably didn’t help that neither of you had actually spoken about it since then, simply heading out the door the next morning, off to work like nothing had happened. 
Then again, what had happened? Other than you making a drunken ass of yourself in front of the guy who was both your colleague, but also your crush. It wasn’t like you’d kissed or slept with each other, in the usual sense of the word. Instead, you’d actually just slept. Fully clothed. With Javier Peña. 
If anything, that fact alone should have been enough to tell you not only had nothing happened, it most likely never would. This was the Javier Peña, after all. He normally slept with anything with a pulse. So, despite his confession that night about his recent lack of companions, you were surprised to say the least that he hadn’t made some kind of move. Not then, and not in any of the days since.  
Maybe he didn’t see you as attractive? God. Wouldn’t that be the fucking kick in the teeth you didn’t need. Or, maybe he was just trying to preserve your working relationship? After all, you did spend almost every minute of your waking lives together, watching each other’s backs out in the field and the treacherous world Escobar had created. You couldn’t afford distractions. Distractions could get you killed. 
But even if that was the case, why did it do nothing to soothe the hurt you felt in your gut? A hurt that had been impossible to shift since the moment Javi had woken you that fateful morning and hurriedly shot you a ‘goodbye’ as he ran out the door without you. 
“This way Steve won’t see me leaving your apartment,” he’d explained casually, pulling on his shoes as you watched from the doorway. 
You’d only been awake for two minutes before noticing that the bed had been empty next to you. Not only that, but it was cold to touch, as if no one had slept on it in some time. The thought had made your stomach turn, and you knew you couldn’t entirely blame your hangover for the sudden urge to hurl as you hurried out of bed and found yourself here. 
Needless to say, you were more than surprised to see Javi fully dressed, and almost creeping out the front door like some guilty one night stand. 
A one night stand who’d made pancakes? God. Could this have got any stranger?
“Y/N. You’re up?”
If you didn’t know better, you’d have said he sounded disappointed by that fact. Like, he’d been planning on being gone well before you woke up. That would explain the stack of pancakes and glass of OJ on the side, and the hastily scrawled post-it note beside it. 
- Eat these and drink some water. You’ll feel better.
That was all he’d been planning to give you after last night? 
Not even a goodbye?
Just some home cooked food and a crappy note?
You felt like you had to still be drunk. There was no other explanation for this bizarre scenario, not considering the genuine vulnerability Javi had shown you the night before. Had you dreamt half of the things he’d said and done the night before? After all, for someone who had kissed your forehead and called you ‘querida’ he seemed pretty keen to be rid of you. 
Had he just been pandering to your drunken state? Had he simply not meant it in any other way than friendly? Had you read more into it, hoping for what wasn’t really there in some kind of grief fuelled haze? 
If so, you’d really fucked up and had no one but yourself to blame. It would take more than one good night to prove Javier Peña - the manwhore of Bogotá  - had changed. To think otherwise had been foolish and naive, and most likely due to the amount of alcohol in your system.  
“You not eating? Why make it if you’re not gonna eat any of it?”
“I already ate,” Javi explained hastily, “I hope you don’t mind. I should get going and I didn’t want to wake you yet. I figured you could use the rest after...”
“Yeah, of course,” you’d stammered, blearily trying to make it make sense as you noticed the freshly washed frying pan beside the sink. How long had he been awake? Had he even slept at all? “You uh, you want some coffee before you go?”
“No, thanks. I’ll grab some at work. This way, I can get back to mine and shower before I leave.”
“You can use the shower here, if you want?”
“No, thanks,” he’d repeated, rubbing the back of his neck and hauling on his jacket. If he sensed the sharpness to his tone, he didn’t address it. Instead, he just scoffed as if this whole thing was just some cosmic joke between the pair of you. “Last thing we need is for Steve or Connie to see me coming out of here and start making assumptions about last night, am I right?”
You’d frozen. 
Would that have been so bad? Bad enough to make Javi look like he was trying to escape from sicarios, and not you? 
You didn’t trust yourself to do much more than fake a laugh back and nod in agreement. Burying your hurt was for the best as you thanked him one last time for his help the night before. “I’ll see you in a couple hours, then?”
“Sure thing, Y/N. See ya in a bit.” 
With that, he’d shut the door and left you staring after him, just as confused as you were now, a whole month later.
It just didn’t make any sense, no matter how many times you’d played that night over and over in your head - which was quite a lot, if you were being honest. The sudden lack of leads from Escobar’s men had seen to that, forcing you, Steve, and Javi, to spend a hell of a lot of time stuck at your desks at the embassy, sorting paperwork and trying to find ways to keep yours minds from wandering. 
It was easier said than done. 
No matter how many extras files you offered to handle, you still couldn’t get Javi out of your mind. Not when he was always sat opposite you, smoking away or making conversation with Steve… and occasionally you, but only when he had to - something you’d noticed early on. 
Even Steve had noticed Javi’s sudden aversion to being left alone with you. It was beyond odd, and had lead to him staring at the pair of you with a baffled look on his face as Javi seemed to always find somewhere else to be just as he was about to leave you two alone. 
It was like your own version of hell. 
At this point, you’d almost pay one of Escobar’s men to give you an excuse to get out of the embassy and away from the suffocating tension that lingered between you. 
“What the hell is going on between you?” Connie had pried, barging into your apartment as soon as Steve had filled her in on the latest situation between you and Javi. One look at her determined expression had warned you she wasn’t leaving without answers. “Did something happen the other night? When he walked you home after the bar?” 
With a sigh, you’d told her everything from first to last, hoping she’d be able to make some sort of sense out of it. 
“I just don’t get it, Con. I mean… he made fucking pancakes and slept in my bed. Then the next day, it’s like he can’t even look at me.”
“Did he say anything about it?”
You groaned, busying yourself with opening the bottle of wine Connie had brought with her. It was easier than letting her see the guilt on your face as you replayed your failed attempts to confront the man. 
“I… I haven’t actually asked him about it,” you whispered. 
“Y/N!”
“I know Connie-“
“Are you kidding me?”
“No,” you protested, ripping off the cork and emptying a worrying amount of the wine into your glass. Once you’d deemed your glass full enough for this conversation, you passed the bottle back and tried to ignore her disapproving glare. She looked scarily like your fourth grade teacher when she did that. “I know how it sounds, ok? I just can’t! I chicken out whenever I try and, I have tried! It’s like trying to wrestle an eel trying to get him alone with me for more than thirty seconds.”  
It was Connie’s turn to sigh, running a hand through her hair as she leant back into the couch. “So Steve tells me.” 
“Oh? What else has Stevie been saying?”
“Just that he’s worried about you two,” Connie continued, smirking at the outraged expression on your face. “I’m his wife, Y/N. He’s gonna tell me stuff, and by the sounds of it, you two aren’t exactly being subtle about the whole thing. It’s been driving Steve mad. I had to talk him out of locking you both in a closet until you two worked this out.”
You paused. Oh, Steve was gonna get it next time you saw him. 
And he called Connie dramatic? Locking you in a closet? What was this? Some cheesy telenovela? 
“For a DEA agent, he can be an idiot sometimes. As if that was gonna work.”
“Who knows,” Connie laughed, shrugging her shoulders. “But at least it might have got you two talking again, even if only about how much you both hated Steve. It would have been a start.”
Sure, but the start of what? 
You weren’t sure anymore of where your life was headed, or even where you wanted it to be headed. Your relationship - or non-existent one - with Javi, was just one more murky variable you had yet to decide on. 
Did you even want to fix things? He had been the one to cut you off after all. Why should you go running after someone who clearly didn’t want you, or value you? You were better than that. You were worth more than that. 
Whatever his problem was, it wasn’t on you to fix it. 
“A start of a court case after we murder each other, you mean?” you grumbled, taking another desperate gulp of wine. However, you did your best not to spit it out a second later as Connie said something you’d never thought you’d hear… not outside of your dreams, anyway. 
“Or, the start of a relationship? I mean, honestly, Y/N? I think he likes you.”
“What?”
“I mean it,” Connie hummed thoughtfully. “Why else would he spook like this? I saw how he was looking at you that night, gazing at you in the rearview the whole way home. He likes you and knowing him, he probably doesn’t do feelings very often. He’s probably scared to feel like that about someone. Especially, someone he works with.” 
You snorted at the absurdity of it. Did Connie hear herself? She was talking bullshit. Sure, Javi had said that he hadn’t been seeing his informants in his usual sense any more, but he could have been lying. Or, he could have found some other source of comfort. Either way, it wasn’t proof he had feelings for you. Not real feelings. Not feelings that would warrant this level of panic. 
“Holy shit. You sound like my Mom.”
“What?”
“She used to tell me crap like, if a boy’s mean to you it’s because he likes you,” you sniggered, trying to ignore the brief flicker of hope that lingered, even now. ”But he doesn’t. If he’s mean, he’s mean and you should shove him on his ass.”
Connie smirked. “You wanna shove Javi on his ass?”
“Yes, no, I mean…” you babbled, caught off by her logic. “I’m just saying, he doesn’t like me. I thought he did, Con, but he doesn’t. End of story. He made it perfectly clear when he ran out my apartment like I’d given him a disease. This is Javi, we’re talking about, Connie. You know him as well as I do. He slept next to me and didn’t make a single move the whole night. What does that tell you about how he sees me?” 
“I think it says a lot,” Connie sighed. “And that he has enough of a conscience not to make a move on an upset, drunk, grieving woman.” 
“Be that as it may, he doesn’t get a medal for being a good person.”
“No, but it does tell you a lot about him and how much he cares about you. Why else would he do all that? And, not tell anyone about it either? It’s not like he did it for the good-guy points.”
You hated how right she was. You also hated how this conversation wasn’t making anything clearer at all. If anything, it had just got more complicated. 
It was official: things had been much simpler before Javier Peña had come into your life. 
——
As with most things in your life, there was a certain inevitability about things. Like, no matter how hard you tried to avoid something - or someone - they nearly always ended up catching up with you eventually. Honestly, you didn’t know why you were surprised to find Javi was one of those things. 
Clearly, the universe was done with letting you two try and work things out by yourselves. Fate had got bored and decided to step in and intervene, or so you grumbled quietly, listening to the Ambassador’s orders with horror: You were off on an assignment. 
Not just any assignment either, but a raid. A big raid at that, hoping to bust one of Escobar’s labs located out in the jungle. The intel had come via one of Javi’s informants and had somehow been proven as true enough to act on. But of course, things were never simple. 
Not only were you going on a raid, but you were partnered off in teams with individual areas to take charge of once you hit the ground. It was standard procedure and nothing to throw you off your game, but it was who your teammate was that concerned you. 
None other than Javier Peña himself - a fact that made you wonder if there was any way you could beg Steve into swapping with you. You’d much prefer teaming up with Carillo instead. Even if he was a little cold towards you, at least he didn’t treat you like a nameless nobody. His nonchalance came from professional courtesy, not personal disgust. 
However, you’d never even had the chance to ask. Not when the Ambassador had ordered you all off there and then, piling you into a chopper and dumping your asses on the ground with barely enough time to strap yourselves into tactical gear, let alone negotiate the particulars of the operation. 
At least being out in the field meant Javi had to talk to you. There wasn’t really a way he could avoid it, or even you, given that you were supposed to be keeping each other alive long enough to shut down the operation being run out here. 
One look at the tents and workstations dotted around the surrounding jungle told you this wasn’t going to be easy. There were a lot of workers, and even more weapons between them. Weapons as big and as powerful as your own. 
“Close in on your positions,” a voice ordered, crackling into life over the radio you had hooked up to you. One look at Javi, crouched in the brush beside you, told you’d he’d heard loud and clear. The well-rehearsed signal his hand made, followed by a slow nod, also told you he was ready to move in on the specific area your pair had been told to target. 
“Stay close,” he whispered, almost as if it was an after thought. 
You wanted to roll your eyes, and had you not been about to entire a life threatening situation, you probably would have. Instead, the best you could do was repeat his words back mockingly. 
“You stay close.”
Javi looked surprised by the venom in your voice. 
Thankfully, he was spared the chance to reply as a shout echoed throughout the clearing, sending men charging in all directions, gunfire quick to follow. 
“Go, go, go!”
The command was clear. 
You gripped your gun tightly, raising it and hurrying out of your hiding spot to join the others. Without even looking you could tell Javi was following alongside you, opening fire on the sicarios who were firing back at you. 
You were quick to pick off the immediate threats, choosing your targets and pulling the trigger with a familiar ease that - to this day - made you worry for your soul. Still, as Javi had once told you, it was you or them. When it came down to it, pulling the trigger wasn’t a choice but a necessity. 
You hated the fact his words brought you comfort as you turned and fired a shot at a passing assailant with surprising speed. If only all problems could be removed as easily. 
“Y/N! 9 o’clock!”
You turned, firing again before registering it had been Javi that had warned you. 
So, he did remember your name after all. 
You didn’t know if that made things better or worse between you considering he’d just been choosing not to use it. Either way, you knew the aggression as you stormed through the tarp flaps of the tent wasn’t entirely due to the men you knew would be inside. 
“¡Detener!” you bellowed, watching as Javi mirrored you. “Deje el arma y levante las manos donde pueda verlas.” (*Stop! Put down the gun and put your hands up where I can see them)
“Estas bajo arresto!”  (*You’re under arrest!)
Your voice was loud, even if your Spanish was still a little rough despite being in Colombia for almost eight months. It wasn’t like you had Javi to teach you while you worked anymore, but you knew enough by this point to get by. 
You also knew a remarkable amount of insults and swears - words that were quickly thrown at you by the men in front of you, hands raised and cocaine powder staining their hands from their nearby work stations.  
“Maldita perra americana,” one spat, as if not caring you had a gun pointed at his head.  (*Damn American Bitch)
“Puede que sea una perra, pero soy el que tiene la pistola, pendejo,” you warned, reminding yourself that you couldn’t kill the bastards for simply annoying you. They were unarmed and workers, even if people like these had been behind your sister’s OD. It was their cocaine, shipped in to the US, in packages like the ones surrounding you, that had lead to your sister’s demise. 
(*I might be a bitch but I'm the one with the gun, asshole)
“Sigues siendo una perra-” (*You’re still a bitch)
“Want to say that again? Huh?” Javi barked, surging towards the one who had spoken and grabbing his sweat-stained wife-beater in his fist. With surprising ferocity, he slammed the man back against the wooden pillar in the centre of the tent and pressed his gun into his cheek. “¿Quieres decirme eso a la cara? O eres un bastardo muy valiente o muy estúpido.”
(*Do you want to say that to my face? Either you are a very brave bastard or a very stupid)
“Javi!” you scolded, eyes wide at your partner. Sure, this wasn’t the first time Javi had been a little unorthodox with his methods, but he’d never been so openly violent or unhinged in front of you. He normally left that to Carillo, or at least waited until you weren’t watching. He knew how you hated it. “Javi! Let him go! Just cuff him already.”
“Oh, I don’t know. What’s one more dead asshole?”
The man had the decency to finally look terrified as he whimpered, squirming under Javi as he looked at you, as if begging for you to rein in your partner. 
“I could pull the trigger, here and now. No one would care.”
“No! NO! Por favor. Lo siento.” (*Please. I’m sorry)
“Javi,” you snapped. “Fucking stop, already! What is wrong with you? Jesus!”
Your horror must have finally got through to him as Javi tensed, throwing the man to the floor before looking at you with guilt in his eyes. 
This man was just a puzzle wrapped in an enigma. You could never work him out. Never. After all, this man was the man who’d been treating you like you had the plague, but now? Now he was seconds away from losing it over one sicario insulting you? 
It wasn’t like you weren’t used to it. You’d been called a lot worse by a lot more terrible people. 
What was wrong with him? It couldn’t just be because you were his partner. You were Steve’s partner and it took more than the odd asshole calling you a bitch to rile him up. 
Speaking of your partner, you were pleased to hear his voice interrupting over the radio, speaking to you from his position the other side of the site. It was like he knew something was wrong between them. “Come in, Peña? L/N? Can you hear me?”
“Yes, Steve. We hear you,” you replied swiftly, unable to look at Javi as he finally cuffed the guy, beginning to hand him and the other workers off to the soldiers that were now joining you. “This side is secured.”
“Good. We’re headed over to you guys now. We’re just processing how much damn product there is. My bet is it’s worth at least a couple million. Carillo says closer to ten million.”
You scoffed. Typical. You’d been in a war zone a matter of minutes ago, and your colleagues were already placing bets like this was just some game? 
“Put me down. $10 says it’s five million.“
Steve laughed. “You got it. Escobar is gonna lose his shit. Peña?”
Javi was slow to respond, taking a deep breath as he ran a hand through his hair. You knew he was trying to look like he was thinking it over, but his eyes gave him away. Even behind his signature yellow aviators. He was too busy staring between you and the floor to be paying all that much attention. 
Suddenly, the tent seemed all the more stifling and it wasn’t because of the humidity of the Colombian jungle. 
“Uh… seven, put me down for seven.”
“You got it! Hurry your asses up and meet us at the rendezvous. We need to fucking celebrate.” 
You were quick to follow his instruction, turning and hurrying out of the tent before you could pass out. Unfortunately, the sound of footsteps behind you told you Javi had done the same. Perhaps it was Steve’s promise of celebrating that had him moving with surprising speed as you began to make your way back to the centre of the site, where Carillo would be co-ordinating the effort to wrap this operation up. 
It would take a while, if not the rest of the day, to catalogue everything and start moving the detainees somewhere for interrogation. Even if they were just grunt workers, you knew someone likely knew something that could give you a lead towards catching Escobar. 
That was why you were here, after all. To catch the bastard behind all of this. Not to make friends, or have an adventure, or all the other bullshit you’d been telling yourself since you’d moved down here. This was just a job. One that you’d be glad to finish, sooner rather than later, especially if it meant you didn’t have to deal with the agent walking behind you. 
You could feel his eyes boring into the back of your head as you marched across the clearing. It was like he was just waiting to say something but couldn’t bring himself to spit it out. 
That was a first. A speechless Javier?
“You want to tell me what happened back there?”
Your words hung in the air, the offer clear even without you looking at the agitated agent behind you. All you could hear in response was the undergrowth crunching beneath his boots as he took a breath, as if debating whether to answer. 
“Nothing happened.” 
“Oh, really?” 
“Yes, really.”
“So you don’t want to explain to me why you almost went ape shit back there?”  
“I did not,” he huffed, sounding oddly bored by the conversation. “I was merely apprehending a possible threat. He was disrespecting you but also the DEA. You’re not going to make me explain defending a colleague, are you?”
“Like how Steve’s cat was DEA?” you scoffed, disbelief evident as you stopped dead in your tracks and whirled to face him. God. Even through your hate you couldn’t help but admire the way he looked, with his sinful dark green button down clinging to him in the heat. Even with his tactical vest still on, you could see that the top two buttons were undone, which didn’t help matters at all. “All he did was throw a few nasty words my way, Peña. I’m a big girl. I can handle it.”
Javi looked stunned you’d even suggest otherwise. “I never said you couldn’t.”
“Then why did you-?”
You never got the chance to finish the question. 
You’d barely even opened your mouth to start before you were interrupted by the sudden chorus of startled shouts, echoing across the clearing. Panic was almost tangible in the air as your head turned, staring towards the structure nearest you as a shout of “¡Bomba! ¡Hay una bomba! ¡Todos se mueven! Es una trampa. Va a explotar. Carrera” rang out. 
You weren’t fluent in Spanish, but as you said before, you knew enough words to get by. The words ‘bomb’, ‘trap’ and ‘run’ were definitely clear enough for your heart to race and your eyes to widen in shock. 
Before you could even move, you felt arms wrap around your body, hauling you to the ground as an earth shattering explosion sent the world turning. 
The entire world felt like it shook as dirt and debris erupted overhead, causing you to curl in on yourself tightly. You could only hear ringing in your ears as you struggled to make sense of what had just happened. 
A bomb.
There had been a bomb. 
Fuck. Escobar had likely left it as a fail safe in case the place was raided as it had been today. Someone had likely set it to explode the moment your team and Search Bloc had come running out of the trees. 
Oh god. 
A weight was pressed against you, arms holding you close to someone as your world began to righten itself. Only as your vision stopped spinning were you able to realise someone was holding you, shielding your body beneath theirs as they’d thrown you both to the ground. 
The sudden smell of cigarettes, whiskey and cologne told you exactly who it was on top of you. The feel of his hands around you was also a pretty big clue, given how you’d memorised their feel a month ago, when he’d held you similar to this… in a bed… soothing you as you’d drifted to sleep, safe and sound. 
“Y/N?”
Javi’s voice was soft in your ear as he repeated your name over and over until you seemed to acknowledge him. It must have been shock that kept you still for so long, unresponsive as he sat up, releasing you and checking you over with pure unadulterated terror on his face. 
“Y/N? Can you hear me? Are you hurt?”
“Javi?” you whispered. 
You had to be concussed. Maybe you’d hit the ground harder than you’d thought? There was no way Javi would be looking down at you with such kindness and relief, an expression all too similar to the one he’d worn as he’d put you to bed before. 
The old Javi? Maybe. But this new Javi, the one who had appeared in old-Javi’s place, recently? No. He could barely give you the time of day, let alone do something as monumentally stupid as this. Risking his life to save yours without even hesitating? 
It was enough to make your eyes water.  
“I… I’m fine,” you croaked, pulling away all-too quickly and scrambling to your feet again. The world swayed dangerously, but you weren’t about to give Javi the satisfaction of holding on to him for support. You were fine, all things considered. “You good?”
Javi nodded, also getting to his feet. “Yeah. Yeah I am.”
You’d been lucky. A quick glance behind you told you the explosion’s epicentre had been close enough to you both to knock you down, but far enough away to avoid any real damage. Hopefully, no one had been injured… or worse. 
Suddenly, it all became too real, too fast, as you realised what had almost happened. You stared at Javi, trying to prove to yourself that you were both ok. 
He wasn’t bleeding. 
He wasn’t wounded. 
He was simply coated in dirt and sweat, and still looking unfairly handsome for it. 
It wasn’t fair. Not by a long shot, and considering the hellish day you’d had, it was no surprise your temper finally seemed to snap, terror quickly gave way to relief, which quickly gave way to something else… Rage. 
“You asshole!” you seethed, slapping Javi’s arm as hard as you could. The yelp he gave wasn’t nearly as satisfying as you’d hoped for, but his surprise was. He looked at you like you’d lost your damn mind. Maybe you had? Who knew anymore? “You utter asshole, Javi! What were you thinking? Actually, you clearly weren’t thinking else you’d never have been so stupid as to pull a stunt like that back there-”
“Stupid? I was looking out for you!”
“I didn’t ask you to, Peña,” you snarled, pointing at him. “Why would you even care if I got a bit of shrapnel in me? It would do you a favour, actually, if I ended up in the hospital for a few days. Give you a break from me and trying to avoid me.”
“What?” he choked, looking genuinely horrified by your declaration. So much so that it took him a minute to realise you’d started to march away from him, intending on getting back to the others and the hell out of here. “Y/N. Stop. Don’t be ridiculous.”
His hand was warm as it touched your arm, turning you to face him as he had that night in the hallway. Yet again, you were forced to recoil, growling at the pity you found staring back at you. 
“Do NOT touch me!”
“What-?“
“You can’t even look at me for a whole month, Peña, and suddenly you’re willing to be some hero? Taking a damn hit for me? Throwing yourself on top of me like that? How dare you!” you hissed, pure rage and hurt coursing through you as the adrenaline wore off. “I am as capable an agent as you are. I know you don’t think all that highly of people without pricks between their legs, but I don’t need you protecting me. I don’t need anything from you. Not when we both know you don’t care. You made that pretty clear last time.”
Javi blinked, hands on his hips, as if trying to process what the hell was happening. Even through your outrage, you hated knowing that the pain in his eyes was your fault. “Last time? Now wait a fucking minute, if you’re talking about the night Xiomara died-”
“What other fucking night would I be talking about, asshole?” 
“I don’t know! Stop yelling at me and calm down!” 
“I AM CALM!” you screamed, hating the irony of the moment. At least Steve and Carillo weren’t there to witness it. As it was, you could feel the eyes of several officers staring at you as you gave them a show you didn’t need. “Now, why don’t you just do us both a favour and fuck off. You’ve done your hero thing. It worked well last time. Your job is done. Completed. Finished. Wouldn’t want me to think you actually cared about me.”  
“Y/N-”
“No, Javi!”
“Y/N,” he snarled, rooting you to the spot as something cold ran down your spine. The feel of his hand loosely gripping your arm was enough to make your heart stop all over again. “Just… let me explain, ok? Please?” 
You’d hardly ever heard Javi say that word: please. Let alone so desperately, so brokenly, as if afraid you’d say no. That you’d walk away and leave him standing there. 
On one hand, it would have served him right given he’d all but done the same thing to you. However, you didn’t have it in you to be petty, and it would have been petty to carry on this feud just to spite him. To cause him pain. To make him feel how he’d made you feel. 
Was it wrong to want that? 
Was it wrong to not want that? To replace this rage with something better? Something else entirely that would make the ache inside of you go away and allow you to get back on with living your life. 
Then again, how could you? How could you go back to how things had been before, with your shared jokes and hidden smiles? With his habit of bringing you coffee from the place you both liked on the corner, every morning? With his kind words and ability to put a smile on your face even after the darkest of days? 
To go back to that also meant going back to him seeing you as a friend and nothing more. To acting as if the private conversations, and the vulnerability he’d gifted you with in your apartment, hadn’t ever happened. To watching as he drank, smoked, and fucked away any real emotion he had. 
Be that as it may, despite it all, he’d at least acknowledged your existence… 
A minute passed before you took a breath and mustered the courage to look back at him. 
“Ok.”
Javi’s body instantly relaxed as he realised what you’d said. “Thank you,” he sighed, gesturing to the waiting helicopter further down the hill. The invitation was clear. “But… just not here, ok? We can talk back at the embassy or at your place, or mine, just… somewhere private.”
You nodded. You had a feeling you’d both need it for the conversation awaiting you both. 
“Ok. We can talk back at mine. Let’s just get the hell out of here first.”
You didn’t have to ask him twice. 
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