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caffeinatedbraincell · 3 years

Note

So you asked about prompts? ;D What about Joe/Nicky + any team member cuddling for warmth? Or something about all of them sharing clothes? Huge bonus if Lykon is still part of the Guard ❤️❤️❤️

Thank you anon for the ask!! 💕 This took forever but here it is~

Read on AO3

“Whose idea was this, again?” Joe complained, readjusting the weight of the front half of the giant plastic evergreen. He was sweating and freezing at the same time, which was decidedly one of his least favorite feelings ever.

“Yeah, I wonder,” Quynh seconded from behind him, throwing Andy a dirty look.

Andy sauntered hands-free in front of them, talking animatedly with Nicky and Lykon as they walked. The three of them clearly loved the snow, though Joe doubted they would be having even half as much fun if they had to carry the tree.

Quynh spat out some plastic pine needles. “Andromache! It’s your turn to carry this, come here!”

“Pleeease babe, we’re almost home!”

“Yeah,” Nicky interjected. “Besides, we have to carry the presents!” He waved the small, sparkly gift bag at them before pointedly turning back around.

Joe muttered something in Arabic about lazy spouses with nice asses, and Quynh cackled.

“Alright, alright,” Lykon interjected, jumping in front to get everyone’s attention. “Booker just texted me that he’s managed to get Nile out of the house under the pretext of, and I quote, ‘the snowball duel of the century.’ They’re going to the mountain pass, so we have two hours to get set up.”

“Perfetto,” Nicky said. “It’ll take me about twenty minutes to get the cookies in the oven, and then I’ll help decorate the tree.”

“You better get out in less than twenty,” Quynh warned. “When am I supposed to work? Do you even know how long it takes to cook chicken?”

“He doesn’t,” Joe confirmed.

“Habibi, that’s not fair. What about that time I made-”

A long, ominous buzz innervated all of their phones simultaneously. It was an emergency weather alert.

“Blizzard warning until 2:15 AM. All inner city residents are encouraged to shelter in place until further notice. Sudden snowfall and landslides may prove deadly,” Nicky read.

“Lykon, text Booker,” Andy ordered.

“On it.”

“No use,” Nicky cut in. “They’re probably already at the mountain pass. They won’t make it back in time.”

Andy swore loudly. “Joe, get the car. We’re going after them.”

Quynh and Joe dropped the tree and ran towards the house. By the time Joe started the car, Quynh was climbing down the porch steps with an armful of towels. The five of them piled into the car and tore down the icy roads.

The storm picked up with terrifying haste. When they got to the bridge near the mountain pass, visibility was already nearing zero. Joe switched places with Andy, clambering into the passenger seat so she could take the wheel. If anything could help them now, it was Andy’s extensive experience with driving in extreme weather conditions.

As they traveled through the pass, everyone kept their eyes trained on the snowy slopes, looking for any signs of Nile and Booker.

Suddenly, Lykon cried out in horror. Only a few feet away from the road were two motionless bodies, almost fully buried in a snow drift.

“Cazzo!” Nicky yelled, leaping out of the car. “There must have been an avalanche!”

Andy shoved the gearshift into parking and followed, joining the others as they attempted to dig out their friends with their bare hands. About two minutes after the frostbite set in, they were able to pull Nile and Booker free of the drift.

“Why aren’t they waking up?” Lykon asked, a tinge of panic in his voice. Andy rubbed Nile’s wrist as she looked at her watch, attempting to measure a pulse. Nicky tried to do the same for Booker, unconsciously chanting a Hail Mary under his breath.

Quynh stepped forward. “We need to get them back to the car. The heater will warm them up and help dry them off. Come on.”

Joe picked up Nile in his arms, cradling her head. Quynh threw Booker over her shoulders in a fireman’s carry. This time, they noticed neither the weight nor the cold. Their entire focus was on getting their friends home to warmth and safety.

“Joe, your coat,” Andy said as they got to the car. “It’s fleece. Take Nile’s ski jacket off and give her yours.”

Joe obeyed without hesitation, bundling her in his own winter gear and buckling her into the back seat. Meanwhile, Quynh and Nicky used the towels to dry off Booker’s snow coat as best as they could. Lykon climbed into the passenger seat, and Andy began to drive.

Thankfully, the storm didn’t get worse on their way back (though Joe seriously doubted it could get worse). By the time Andy pulled into their driveway, Nile and Booker were beginning to stir.

“Hey, easy now,” Lykon soothed, helping a dazed Booker out of the car. “Let’s get you inside. There we go, you’re okay. Just a little farther.”

Behind them, Nile leaned heavily on Quynh as she half-carried her up the porch steps. Joe paused, watching them enter.

“All okay?” Andy asked, placing a hand on his shoulder as the wind whipped the snow around them.

“The tree…” Joe muttered, fazed. “I dropped it somewhere. We were going to surprise Nile, and I-”

Andy turned him gently to face her, pulling his woolen beanie down to cover his ears.

“It’s alright, love,” she said softly, switching to Arabic. “She needs a different kind of comfort from us now. She and Booker both. Let’s go take care of them, okay?”

Joe nodded, following her into the warmth of their home.

A fire blazed happily in the hearth. Someone had expanded their futon and pulled it closer to the fireplace. Nile and Booker were seated on it now, wearing large, clean sweatpants - Nicky’s sweatpants, Joe noticed - and fuzzy Christmas sweaters. Quynh and Lykon were snuggled up on either side of them, feeding them something from a thermos flask and adjusting the heated blankets.

“Room for two more?” Andy grinned, curling up next to Quynh and gesturing at Joe to sit. “What’s that?” Joe asked, sliding under Lykon’s side of the blanket and pointing at the steaming drink in the thermos.

“I made apple cider earlier and left it in the instant pot,” Lykon replied. “It was still hot.”

Lykon held the drink to Nile’s lips. She took a large sip, sighing happily. Joe made a mental note to pour himself some cider if he ever got out from under this heated blanket.

Just then, Nicky walked out of the kitchen, balancing a large tray in his hands. “Soup time! Everyone sit up, let’s eat.”

Joe blinked, wondering how his husband had had the presence of mind to immediately go into the kitchen and make soup, of all things. He himself was still recovering from the last hour’s ordeal.

Nicky tutted disapprovingly. “Boss, get changed. Joe, you too. Why would you think it’s a good idea to get under an electric blanket in wet clothes?”

Andy grimaced, throwing her jacket and t-shirt on the floor and snuggling up to Quynh in just her bra. Quynh tugged Andy closer.

Nicky turned to Joe, raising an eyebrow. “Habibi?”

Joe pulled a face. “Do you have any sweatpants left for me?”

“Always.” Nicky ruffled Joe’s curls. “My gray university ones are in the dryer. They’ll still be warm if you hurry.”

Joe got up, returning two minutes later in the gray sweatpants and a black tank top he stole off of Andy’s dresser. He hastily dove back under Lykon’s heated blanket.

In the middle of the couch, swaddled in blankets and eating soup, Nile and Booker were looking much more alive. The color returned to their cheeks, intensifying as Nicky began to scold them.

“Booker, what the fuck were you thinking?” he demanded.

“I don’t know! You said to distract Nile, and she wanted to have a snowball fight. So I said yes!”

“Why didn’t you just go to the park?”

“I thought driving out to the mountain pass would buy you guys more time. It was a bad idea. I’m sorry.”

“You could have died, Book! Just because we’re immortal doesn’t mean we can play with our lives like that. Not to mention, you put Nile in danger!”

Quynh sat up, reaching for Nicky’s hands. She swiped her thumbs over his knuckles in a soothing gesture. “Hey, lay off him, would you? They’ve had a tough night.”

“But what if-”

“No what-ifs, Nicky. It’s alright. They’re safe. Now put the rest of that soup down and come here.”

Nicky sighed in secret gratitude. This was not a night he wanted to be left to follow his thoughts. “Fine.”

He squeezed onto the futon between Quynh and Nile, accepting the blanket Andy threw over him. He wrapped his arms around Nile, who snuggled closer.

“Nicky?” she mumbled after a moment.

“Hmm?”

“If you’re not still angry, can I ask you a question?”

Nicky pulled back to look at her. “Sorellina, I’m so sorry. I was never angry at you. Nor at Booker, really. Just a bit worried.”

“Yeah,” Joe piped up from the other end of the couch. “He gets mean when he’s scared.”

“I am not mean,” Nicky insisted. “Nile, what was it you wanted to ask?”

“Why did Booker say you wanted him to distract me? Distract me from what?”

Lykon laughed. “Should we tell her, Nicky, or do we plan to try again tomorrow?”

“We lost the tree, so I think we should just tell her,” Joe voted sleepily.

“You just don’t want to carry another tree,” Booker accused.

“Easy for you to say!” Quynh jumped in. “Next time, I’ll distract her, and you can walk a mile in the snow with plastic pine needles in your face.”

“Okay, that’s enough,” Andy said, lips twitching. “No more attempts. Jesus wasn’t actually born on this day, anyway. I was there.”

Nicky blinked at her, and then rapidly shook his head to clear it. He looked at Nile. “We were trying to surprise you with a Christmas party. Remember last Thursday, when you were telling us how your family celebrated it back home?”

“Yeah.”

“We wanted to recreate all the same traditions. We got a tree, and some ornaments, and stockings with your initials on it, and, uh…”

“Presents! And that Christmas music you like,” Joe added.

“Yes, and Nicky was going to make cookies shaped like reindeer,” Quynh said.

“Also,” Lykon pointed to a folded-up tripod in the corner, “we were going to take family photos in our sweaters and put them on postcards. Copley said we can’t send them to anyone, but we could still make some.”

Booker sighed. “Sorry I ruined it, Nile. I thought- wait, are you crying?!”

Nile sniffled, turning away from Booker to tuck her face under the blanket. “No.”

“Oh, honey,” Quynh cooed. We can still do it all tomorrow, if you want…”

“It’s not that,” Nile croaked. “It’s just- You guys did all that just to surprise me?”

“It’s nothing,” Nicky assured. “Well, it’s really nothing now, but even if everything had gone according to plan, it still wouldn’t have been any trouble. It’s your first Christmas with us, and we wanted it to be memorable.”

“You’re the best,” Nile said, voice choked with emotions. “All of you. And this is the best Christmas Eve ever. Thank you.”

“Hush,” Andy smirked. “In this house, we show gratitude by not dying unnecessarily.”

“Oh, that was all Booker’s fault,” Nile countered smoothly. “I would have been content with a snowball fight in the park.”

“Really loving the underside of this bus,” Booker muttered as the others laughed.

Over the next hour, the lighthearted conversation drifted into sleepy silence. By the time Nicky thought to ask who would turn off the lights, Joe was only half-pretending to be fast asleep.

#the old guard #joe x nicky #fanfiction #kavi writes #tog fanfic #fluff #hurt/comfort #found family #platonic cuddling #holiday season #lykon #nile freeman #andy #booker #yusuf al kaysani #nicolo di genova #quynh #yes quynh is alive as well!!

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moonlit-mizukage · 3 years

Text

Chapter Fifteen: 1am Joyride

Summary: Y/l/n Y/n, a third year at Sakura High School, is just a girl with a bad attitude towards anyone outside her small circle. When y/n’s younger sister starts first year, she gains a lot of attention. Unfortunately for everyone in school, the Y/l/n household has one rule, No dating till y/n does. Some people become just desperate enough to pay the leader of the “Monsters”, the trouble making group on campus, to date y/n. What will happen when she finds out? (All characters aged up to third year unless otherwise stated)

TW: Swearing, mentions of violence, implied past abuse, parents not loving their children, abandonment, foster care, jail, death

AN: THIS CHAP IS A BACK STORY SO IF YOU ARE UNCOMFY I WILL POST A SMALL LINE FROM THEN END OF THISON THE NEXT ONE AS WELL!!! Sorry as well for not updating lots. Yeah girl has been dissociating so much and losing days. I blinked and now its friday at almost 3am. My even closes as well on the 21st so if you want to participate please check out this Prompt list!!

Word Count: 1.2K

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Y/N POV

I heard the rev of Tendou’s motorbike outside my window. I grabbed my jacket and Climbed out my open window. I took the lightest steps I could around and passed Mei’s window. I grabbed the tree and started to climb down. I walked up to Tendou.

“You look hot when you are angry babe.”

“Gross, let’s just get out of here.” I grabbed the helmet from his hands as I climbed on the back.

We rode down the rural neighbourhoods of the city. I never felt more relaxed than I did in that moment, my arms wrapped around him, the wind blowing on my body as we rode off. I wanted this moment to last. We soon stopped as Tendou reached for his helmet.

“This is my thinking spot. It’s usually quiet this time of night.” I took my helmet off and stepped off the bike.

“I didn’t expect you to be of all people to need a thinking spot. Though you just Monster listed them.”

“Unfortunately there's things the Monsters can’t always help with.” The atmosphere around him seemed to change to somewhat of a depressing vibe.

“I really liked being on the bike. I didn’t even notice we ended up going up a hill to this lookout point.”

“I knew you’d be distracted once you got to touch me.” He said with a wink as he pulled me into his arms. Our lips almost touched as he whispered. “Everytime I see you, you get more beautiful.”

“Gross.” I whispered back as we both went in for a kiss..

Tendou’s phone startled us as he pulled away.

“What is it?” He asked as he answered the phone. A few minutes of silence passed.

“No, I am at the lookout point. Can’t he just lie like he always does?” A deep sigh came from him as he heard the response.

“Just give him my special stash and tell him to give it to her only if she won't come back. Shes a fucking bitch anyways. No one is at a loss by this. What’s a few couple hundred to get a forever problem solved?” Tendou laughed at whoever was on the other side of the phone and hung up.

“Sorry Y/n. Monster shit never stops when Teru”s one time hook ups won’t stop coming back.”

“I don’t understand why you covered his ass. He’s going to act like a pig. He should deal with it on his own.” I slapped a hand over my mouth “I didn’t mean to say that out loud.”

“I know you aren’t the only one who sees it that way but Teru and Mad have been here for me always. We used to be little brats back in our elementary days too. Teru was actually a Quiet little devil at first. I do admit we definitely have opposite opinions on girls' purpose. He did watch his mom go through boys every other day some new guy railing her in the kitchen when he got home from school. His mom told him if the sex isn’t an 10 then they are not worth it”

“How would he even know what a 10 is?’’

“I think he just does it to feel some kind of connection to a girl. In hope’s to find ‘The one’, he just wants to be loved and accepted by someone. He knows he's got us but he’s never felt loved by his mom, doesn’t even know who his dad is.”

“I had no idea, I feel terrible now” I said back to him. He pulled me closer to him again as he rested on the rail.

“He’s honestly such a good guy. All four of them are. Mad gets in a lot of fights because that's all he knew his entire childhood from his 3 older brothers used to fight him. His dad was about the same in that sense too. The reason he always punches instead of thinks before he acts is that is what he's been taught. He moved out of his house at 16 after we got some income and met the other two. Started to raise some hell in our school you know?”

“It makes sense why he always tries to fight everyone then.”I said back.

“Hanamaki though is a rich kid whose parents would rather pretend he doesn’t exist. He lived with his grandma on the other side of Tokyo till she passed away in the last year of middle school. Now they buy him whatever he wants while they live who knows where in the world. Him and Matsukawa have been friends since elementary though, Matsun even followed him to Highschool cause he got expelled the last day of school for setting a classroom on fire smoking too close to some curtains. Matsukawa though also didn’t have a good upbringing. His mom left him at 2 years old outside a random house with a note saying she never wanted him. It took 4 years for him to find his father, by then the kid already had some damage because of the system. His dad worked too much to see it for himself though. That just made his choice to move in with Maki much easier for him. That's how we all kinda met though, our broken homes.” Tendou finished, as he turned away and looked out at the view.

“What’s your story Satori?” I asked him.

“My father’s in jail, my mother is dead.”

“Holy shit, I am so sorry Satori.”

“I spent most of my childhood jumping from foster home to foster home. I was a demon spawn though. Always making sure they would move me around. Getting my nickname Guess Monster cause no one knew what I would do next. I live with my grandma now.” He said.

“I am sorry I always called you the second biggest asshole on earth. I had no idea.” He just laughed knowing I meant Oikawa as number one.

“And how about you y/n? What’s your story?”

“Um, my mom left us for a guy in Paris when I was young. I was basically raising Mei as my child, with my father being a doctor he's usually never home. Well till I started dipping on her for Oikawa. Now she hates my guts and my father spoils her so much cause he feels bad about missing out so much.”

“Wait Oikawa? I thought you always hated him” He said. I began to explain to him the same story I had told Mei earlier the night. “I always knew he was a piece of shit.”

“If only Mei did. That’s why we fought too.” Tendou pulled me in closer again. He smiled at me as he gave his signature smile.

“It’s nice to have someone to trust outside of my circle again.” He pulled me into a passionate kiss….

The night continued for a bit longer as he brought me back home once again. I got off his bike and looked down at him as he took his helmet off and stood up.

“Satori.”

“Yes Y/n?”

“You were right, I did fall for you.” With that I placed a passionate kiss on his lips again. I pulled away and turned around to begin to climb back into my house...

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Previous | Masterlist | Next

An: My mobile tumblr wont let my fix things so links on all “next” buttons will be fixed when it stops being this T^T

Taglist: @belongtothewcrld @elianetsantana @its-the-aerieljeane @london-quynh @vhskenma @denkithunder @swagdaddycam @ems1des @tendouispretty @senpaisbadass @elephantloser @smolbbgorl @mikeys-thighs @kuroolilchibichan @softesyoongi @ouijaeater15 @xxsilverwingxx @prettyinblack231 @kookie-doughs @mikesdeath @bruh-kill-me @skeet-skeet-double-fckn-yeet @d0llpie @0-hysteria-0 @katsumi-sumi @rintarawr @sirachano0dles @satan-ruler-of-hells @himboos @maer-333 @pastel-prynce

#tendou x reader #tendou x you #tendou x y/n #tendou smau #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu x you #haikyuu x y/n #haikyuu smau

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cinebration · 3 years

Text

Written in DNA (Booker x Reader) [Part 3]

Booker wakes up in an unusual position.

Tagged: @lucy-sky, @city-of-weird

Warnings: none

Gif Source: dcnnatroya

Booker woke slowly, painfully. His head pulsed with each heartbeat. His tongue felt dry and gummy in his mouth, yearning for liquid relief.

His eyes peeled open.

The ground was moving beneath him. He stared down at it, struggling to orient himself. How could he see it do that when he was stationary?

Touch was the last of his sense to reawaken. He felt an arm wrapped around one of his thighs, his right wrist held in a hand. Something hard pushed into his chest, not quite uncomfortable.

He was being carried.

Booker tensed involuntarily.

“Awake now?” you asked.

He lifted his head and glanced aside to see your face in close profile.

You stopped walking abruptly and slung him off your shoulders with the ease of someone slipping off a backpack. He stumbled as his feet hit the ground, hung onto you for dear life.

It felt like grabbing hold of a pole. You didn’t so much as move as he unintentionally yanked on your arm to right himself.

“Are you a robot?” he heard himself ask.

You laughed. “No.”

The early morning sunlight chose to lance through the swaying tree tops, assaulting Booker’s eyes. He squeezed them shut, wishing he would wake from this strange dream.

You were still there when he opened them again.

In natural lighting, you seemed…normal. Ordinary. There was something deep in your eyes that he couldn’t quite see in the light, but you stood with a casualness that belied what he had experienced so far.

“Look, you basically went to a lot of trouble to break me out,” you said. “So I figure, I can go with you to see whomever your boss is, that way you don’t get in trouble.”

Booker frowned. “Why?”

“Because I owe you for opening the door. Plus, it’s been my first time out here in…ten years, I think. And I don’t have any friends, so.”

“So…”

“So right now, you’re my touchstone to the world. TV only taught me so much about what the world’s like right now, and we both know it gives a biased view of things.”

The meaning of your words sunk in as Booker watched you start off in the same direction you had been traveling when he had woken. Ten years away from the world?

Ten years trapped in that room?

In his two-hundred years on the planet, nothing had been as crazy as this.

He debated running off in another direction, but something told him you would hunt him down with all the skill of an apex predator. Why he thought this, he wasn’t sure, but you hadn’t killed him. Yet.

He still had to deliver you to Quynh…

Booker trudged after you.

You had been following the road via the woods the whole night. When you finally stepped onto the asphalt road just outside of a mid-sized town, you had traveled fifty miles with Booker on your back for eight hours over uneven terrain.

Booker did the math as he trailed behind you. Fifty miles over eight hours meant you had averaged six miles an hour—or a mile every ten minutes.

He weighed about 180lbs.

It shouldn’t have been possible. Then again, very little he had experienced with you seemed possible.

Probable, he corrected himself. It wasn’t probable, but the…things had happened. He couldn’t ignore that.

You headed straight for the nearest diner. It hung just on the outskirts of the town, catering to overnight truckers. By the time Booker reached the door, you were already inside, ordering right at the counter.

“I ordered for you,” you said as he stepped up beside you. “Mind if we sit in a booth? I need to rest my back.”

Booker shrugged and followed you to the booth in a corner. You sat with your back to the wall, your position giving you a full sweep of the establishment.

Training, Booker noted, slipping into the bench seat opposite you.

A waitress strode over and poured out a mug of steaming coffee for Booker.

“Leave the pot,” you said, smiling.

The woman arched an eyebrow but set the pot down on the cracked tabletop. “Food’ll be right up.”

“Thank you.”

Booker watched you scan first the room, then the parking lot through the window. Your gaze settled on him after you were satisfied.

There was something unsettling about your stare. It wasn’t like you were looking through him. It seemed more like you were processing him like a computer crunching data.

He itched beneath that stare.

“How old are you?”

The question caught him off guard. “Two hundred years old, give or take.”

“How many times have you died?”

Something writhed within him. “Too many.”

The waitress returned, a tray laden with plates balanced on her hand. She set the dishes out on the table with practiced swiftness: waffles, pancakes, eggs, sausage, bacon, hash browns, toast. The whole shebang.

You smothered the waffles in butter and maple syrup. The first forkful went in your mouth. Your eyes fluttered closed, your back slumped against the seat. The ecstasy on your face almost brought a smile to Booker’s face despite his confusion and mistrust.

“I haven’t had these in forever,” you said. There were almost tears in your voice.

Booker forked some eggs and toast onto a plate. He ate slowly as you devoured your meal. Somehow you seemed to relish each bite despite the pace at which you ate.

If he didn’t know any better, he would’ve thought you were starving.

At last, on the second plate of food, you slowed. You finished another plate before you pushed the empty platters aside. Leaning back against the seat, you resettled your attention back on Booker.

“Are there others like you?”

His chest constricted. “Yes,” he answered, glancing away. “Are there others like you?”

A pause. Then: “I don’t know. I imagine so. I’m not exactly a top-quality specimen.”

“What does that mean?”

The waitress sauntered over. “Can I get you anything else?”

“No, thank you,” you said. “Just the bill.”

The woman set the bill down with a flourish. You looked pointedly at Booker.

“What?” he asked.

“I don’t have money.”

“Of course you don’t.” He pulled out his wallet and counted out the necessary cash.

You reached over and pulled a ten-dollar bill out of the billfold before he could close it. “For the waitress,” you explained. “I have to use the bathroom. You gonna run out on me?”

Booker met your intense gaze. “No.”

You made a sound in your throat but got up and headed toward the restrooms anyway. Booker followed a moment later, realizing he needed to piss.

The restroom was thankfully empty. Booker stepped up to the urinal and tried to relax. His body still ached. How long had it been doing that? Maybe since before he had been exiled from the group. The thought poisoned his thoughts and soured the food in his stomach.

Shaking himself, he zipped up, flushed, and went to the sink. The cool water felt restorative over his hands. He splashed it onto his face, risked a glance in the mirror. His broken gaze reflected back to him, fractured by grief and shame and self-loathing.

He looked away.

The door to the bathroom opened. He glanced up to se you in the doorway.

“What?”

“We should get moving,” you said.

“You can wait a minute.”

“I’m a multi-million-dollar project. Waiting isn’t an option. They’ll come for me.”

Booker read the warning in your eyes and the tension in your voice. He turned off the faucet and snatched up some paper towels to dry his hands and face.

The government would want you back. And they’d love to get his hands on him, too.

He wasn’t going to stick around for that.

#Booker x Reader #Booker #Booker imagine #Sebastien le Livre x Reader #Sebastien le Livre #Sebastien le Livre imagine #Matthias Schoenaerts x Reader #Matthias Schoenaerts #Matthias Schoenaerts imagine #The Old Guard

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bestillmyslashyheart · 4 years

Text

under the sea pt 2

part one

Yusuf

Air. There was air.

He sucked in lungfuls of it greedily. Hands clutched at him, grasping tightly. It was Nicolo, he knew, but he couldn’t see him. It was too bright.

“Yusuf,” Nicolo cried. He hunched over Yusuf, his head blocking the worst of the sun, and suddenly Yusuf could see him.

“Amore mio,” he croaked. His throat was fine, as healed as the rest of him, but it was like the muscles had forgotten how to form words. Nicolo didn’t seem to mind though, his smile wide and bright even as his eyes watered. Yusuf lifted a hand to his cheek, Nicolo’s eyes falling shut, and gently wiped away the tears. “Don’t cry,” he whispered. He wasn’t sure what language it came out in. “You found me.”

Nicolo sagged on top of him in relief. “I found you,” he whispered back.

Two new hands grabbed his head. Yusuf jerked, his position lying prone on the floor with Nicolo holding him in place not allowing him much movement, and the sun was back in his eyes. He squeezed them tightly and trusted that Nicolo wouldn’t let anyone hurt him. A moment later soft lips pressed to his forehead and stayed there. A drop of water hit his nose. “Do not ever do that again,” a woman whispered in his own language, one he had not heard in centuries except from Nicolo’s lips.

Yusuf tried to shade his face from the sun in order to see. When he realized what was happening, Nicolo moved to block the light entirely and suddenly Yusuf could see Andromache’s face upside over his. “Andromache,” he greeted weakly, trying to smile.

Andromache smiled, her eyes watery. “Hello, Yusuf,” she said. “It is very good to see you.”

Yusuf reached a hand out to his left, Andromache’s right, where he knew Quynh must be. He was rewarded with two hands clutching him tightly. “You are the most beautiful things I have ever seen,” he told them honestly, his eyes drifting back to Nicolo as he spoke.

“Let’s get you below deck,” Quynh offered. She picked over the words slowly, the sounds unfamiliar in her mouth though Yusuf knew she spoke his language fluently. She and Andromache moved back slightly and let Nicolo help him to his feet. Yusuf was unsteady on his feet but Nicolo held him surely, his arm clamped tightly around his waist, and Yusuf had no troubles leaning heavily on him as they made their way down into the blessedly dark cabins below deck.

A wave of exhaustion crashed over him all of a sudden, his already unsteady steps becoming even more of a hindrance until Nicolo swept him off his feet into his arms and carried him the rest of the way. “I am tired Nicolo,” he murmured.

“Sleep,” Nicolo urged. “I will be here when you wake up.”

“Promise?”

“Always.”

Andy

Nicky disappeared into a cabin, Yusuf clutched carefully in his arms, and Andy hesitated only a moment before following. Quynh grabbed her hand and for a moment Andy feared she would try to hold her back but Quynh only squeezed tightly and walked next to her as they followed Nicky.

Yusuf was laying on the bunk when they stepped into the cabin. Next to him, Nicky was stripping out of his wetsuit as fast as he possibly could, his eyes fixed on the man on the bed.

“You need clothes,” Quynh noted.

“They are on the other ship,” Nicky told her absently. He stripped completely before climbing into bed with Yusuf, his arms around him and his ear pressed to his chest. Nicky’s head moved up and down with the rise and fall of Yusuf’s breathing and Andy found herself mesmerized by it.

“I will find them both something to wear,” Quynh touched her arm lightly. Andy nodded in acknowledgement but barely noticed when she left the small room.

Yusuf was okay. They had found him. He was back where he belonged.

It only took them five hundred years. Half of his life so far.

Andy had given up. She’d known he was down there and she had given up. Andy buried her face in her hands to smother a sudden sob.

“Stop.” Nicky’s voice was loud in the silence of the room. Andy lifted her head to find him unmoved, his eyes closed as he listened to Yusuf’s heartbeat. “It is done. He is here. There is no point in worrying over the past now. It will not do him any good.”

Andy blinked away a few tears and forced herself to speak. “It’s not that easy.” She was the leader. It was her job to keep them all safe and she’d failed. Even worse, she’d walked away.

“Make it that easy,” Nicky countered. “All that matters is moving forward, Andromache.” He held out one of his hands to her, his eyes still closed. Andy moved to her knees next to the bed and took it. Nicky squeezed briefly and then brought their joined hands to the center of Yusuf’s chest and Andy could feel the life in him. His skin was warm, his chest moved with his every breath, his heart beat soundly under her hand. Yusuf was alive. “He is here,” he said again. “He has been gone from the world a long time,” he added. “As have I. We will need you to teach us what we have missed.”

They needed her. Both of them. Andy swallowed and nodded. She’d failed them both before, but never again. “I will,” she promised solemnly.

Quynh

Quynh wasn’t quite sure how but by the time she got back above deck, the two ships were pressed close together and joined by a gangplank. Rather than questioning either captain, she brushed past everyone and crossed to the other ship. “Where are his quarters?” One of the crew leads her to a small bunk that could have been anyone’s were it not for the two swords laying in the corner. Quynh gathered the few items that were not in the bag and stuffed them inside before grabbing it and the weapons and leaving the terrible room behind.

No one stopped her or tried to speak to her as she crossed back to the other ship. Everyone seemed to have plenty of tasks to keep them busy though Quynh knew the second she was out of sight again, the work would stagger to a halt and the chatter would tick up.

“Quynh,” Nile stopped her with a hand on her arm. Quynh turned to her, a small amount of guilt welling up inside for having completely forgotten about the girl in the light of recent events. “Is Yusuf okay?”

Quynh smiled. New though she may be, Nile had a big heart and had clearly already welcomed Yusuf into it. “He will be,” she promised. “It will take time but he will be. Nicky will make sure of it.” She paused. “And so will we.” Nile nodded and took half a step back as if to separate herself from Quynh and the others. Quynh stopped her with a firm grip on her shoulder. “All of us. We are a team and a family and we will make sure Yusuf is okay. That includes you, Nile.”

Nile straightened her shoulders and nodded. “And Booker?”

There was that big heart again, Quynh mused. “That is up to Nicky.” She lifted the bag. “They need clothes.” Nile blinked as if seeing the bag for the first time and quickly moved out of Quynh’s way.

“Oh yeah, of course, sorry.”

“He is sleeping,” Quynh told her. “We should be ready to move by the time we get back to the port.”

“I’ll get us moving,” Nile promised.

Quynh touched her arm in thanks and hurried back to the cabin. Inside, she paused briefly at the sight of Andy on her knees, her hand pressed to Yusuf’s chest and her head on top of Nicky’s, before closing the door to ensure their privacy.

Andy turned around at the sound and Quynh saw the tears still in her eyes. Nicky didn’t move.

“I brought your stuff,” Quynh told him. Nicky didn’t react. “He’s still wet, Nicolo,” she reminded him gently. Nicky’s eyes shot open like he hadn’t noticed the wet cloth under his cheek.

He looked from the bag in Quynh’s hand to Yusuf and back but he didn’t move. Quynh wasn’t sure he’d be moving anytime soon, truthfully.

She dropped the bag to the floor and started going through it. Thankfully, Nicky was an organized packer and she found a full set of clothes rather quickly. Andy took it from her and handed them over to Nicky while Quynh kept searching for a second pair. When she found it, some sweats and a large t-shirt, something warm and comfortable, she stood up only to find Nicky struggling into his clothes as best he could without leaving Yusuf’s side.

“Nicolo,” she said quietly. Nicky’s movements paused. “Take a moment. It is alright.”

Nicky closed his eyes. If Quynh didn’t know him any better she’d say he looked like he was praying. After a moment he climbed out of the bed and pulled on the rest of his clothes with his newfound freedom of movement. As soon as he left Yusuf’s side, Quynh took over. She sat down next to Yusuf and pressed her hand to his chest and felt his heartbeat strong under her touch. Her shoulders sagged as the undeniable finally registered. She’d held his hand and heard his voice on the deck earlier but it still hadn’t quite seemed real until this moment. Quynh pressed a firm kiss to his forehead and raked her hand through his hair. It was longer and wilder than she remembered.

Nicky and Andy let her have a moment but when she stood up, they moved in. Andy grabbed his shoulders to sit him up and Quynh reached out to steady him. “Nicolo,” he murmured, the movement waking him up.

“I am here, my love,” Nicky replied. Or at least, Quynh was fairly certain that’s what he’d said. There was a time when all of them had been equally fluent in each other’s native languages but Quynh hadn’t had the chance to practice Yusuf’s in a long time and her memory wasn’t as good as Andy’s when it came to the subject. Nicky seemed to have no trouble with it, though, murmuring soft words in his lilting accent. Together, they pulled the tattered remains of Yusuf’s shirt from him. Andy ran one of Nicky’s shirts over his back and chest to try and dry him off a little bit and then Nicky was helping Yusuf into the shirt Quynh had laid out.

“Your accent is terrible,” Yusuf mumbled halfway through, as he always did when Nicky spoke his language. Nicky choked out a wet laugh.

“My accent is romantic,” he countered, as Quynh knew he would. Yusuf leaned forward and pressed his forehead into Nicky’s neck, his hands clutching at his hair lazily in his sleepy movements. Nicky’s eyes closed and he clutched Yusuf back with shaky hands.

Quynh shared a look with Andy and they came to a silent agreement. Without a word, they rose to their feet and slipped out of the room.

Nile

They needed to get back to land, that much Nile knew. But two entire ships full of people had just seen Nicky come back to life not to mention three people had gone into the water and four had come out.

There would be questions, there had to be. And Nile had no idea how to answer them or how to contain this.

The second Quynh disappeared below deck, the frantic movement on both ships stuttered to a halt, everyone’s attention on the closed door and who lay behind it.

“So,” the captain of the ship Nile, Andy, and Quynh had come out here on came up next to her. Nile waited but he didn’t say anything else. A moment later, the captain of the other ship came up on her other side.

“So,” he too said.

They looked at each other over her head and Nile was surprised to see smiles on their faces. They both turned slightly giddy a moment later until they were breathless with laughter.

Nile stepped back to stare at them both. “What?”

“We found him,” one of them said.

“Holy shit, we actually found him,” the other replied.

“What?”

They turned to her. “Yusuf. We found Yusuf.”

Nile stared at the man who captained Nicky’s ship. “Wait. You knew?” She blinked and turned to the other man. “And you?”

They nodded. The man to her left looked over at his ship with a fond gaze. “We’ve been looking for him for a long time.”

“I don’t understand.”

The man on her right gestured between himself and the other man. “Our ancestors were on the ship that put him in the water,” he explained. “Ever since then, our families have been looking for him.”

Nile tried to process that. “But why? If your ancestors…”

They laughed. “Nicky’s very persuasive.” One of them shrugged. “I mean, in recent generations we wanted to help obviously. Once Nicky proved what he could do and we knew there was someone trapped, we had to help, but before that…”

“Let’s just say there’s a reason we’re the only two left?”

Nile could read between the lines just fine. Nicky had made his way through the crew of the men who sealed Yusuf in his coffin and dumped him overboard until he found men willing to help him look. She assumed willing was a generous term. Just as she assumed those who weren’t didn’t have any descendents to help Nicky look.

One of them clapped a friendly hand on her shoulder. “You’re new to all of this, aren’t you?” Nile only nodded. “You’ll get used to it. We all did.” He gestured to their combined crews. “Come on. We’ll head back to port now. You might want to get some rest until we get there.”

Nile watched him go, watched the crews spring into actual action, and the two ships separated before turning back towards shore. After a moment where she only felt in the way, Nile made her way below deck, wary of intruding. She found Andy and Quynh in the first room she came across. It was a small break room and Nile helped herself to some coffee before sitting down next to them. “How are you two doing?”

“It’s, uh,” Andy laughed. “It’s been an interesting day.”

Quynh smiled. “We’ll be okay.”

Nile took her word for it and let the rest of their journey pass in comfortable silence. When the captain came down to tell them they had docked, Nile let Andy shepherd her upstairs while Quynh relayed the news to Nicky and Yusuf.

They made their way off the ship and into a nearby coffee shop before Quynh joined them. Nile was halfway through her iced coffee when she spotted the two men. They were moving slowly across the deck of the ship, Nicky holding Yusuf tightly though it didn’t look like Yusuf needed the aid anymore. Nile watched as they made their way off the ship and shuffled along the pier. She’d look away if Andy and Quynh weren’t also fixed on the sight.

When the men were close enough to hear, Yusuf stepped out of Nicky’s grasp and held his arms out. His lips quirked in a rakish smile and he said something in that language that Nile didn’t know. There was a single beat, a moment where time seemed to stand still, and then both Andy and Quynh were on their feet, their chairs shoved back by the motion, and they were rushing into Yusuf’s arms. He wrapped his arms around them both as best he could as they clutched at him tightly. Behind him, Nile saw Nicky put his hands on Yusuf’s hips and his forehead into the back of his head. She wasn’t sure Nicky had actually stopped touching him yet.

She pulled out her phone and took a picture of the four of them. Andy and Quynh had stressed the importance of not leaving a trail but Nile didn’t think they’d care in this case. She hesitated only a moment before sending it to Booker, no message attached.

His response came just a moment later: I’m glad.

“Nile.”

Nile looked up at her name to see Yusuf standing next to her. She jumped to her feet. “Hi.”

He smiled. “I have seen you in my dreams.” His English was halting, like he’d forgotten it, but his voice was warm and wrapped around her like a hug. A moment later, his arms followed the way of his voice and he pulled her close. Their hug didn’t last nearly as long as the others’ did but Nile felt grateful for it.

“It’s really nice to meet you,” she told him honestly.

Nicky

Yusuf balked at the hotel. He’d watched the women walk in and taken a full step back, his eyes wide. Nicky saw it, because Nicky hadn’t looked away from him for a single moment yet, and led him away. Somehow they’d found themselves at the end of the pier, nothing before them but the shimmering blue water.

Nicky would very happily never go near the ocean ever again. Just the sight of it turned his stomach even though Yusuf was standing next to him.

Yusuf was standing next to him.

It would take some time to adjust to. In the meantime, Nicky refused to apologize for being clingy. He let Yusuf stare out at the water and attached himself to his back, his arms wrapping around Yusuf’s waist. They would need to cut his hair. And give him a bath. But Nicky didn’t care about any of that right now.

“I never stopped looking for you,” he murmured in Yusuf’s Arabic. It was an antiquated version of the modern language with a distinct regional dialect that Nicky hadn’t let himself forget. It had been centuries since he’d been able to truly speak it with another person, since Andy had stopped responding to him in it, but it was still fresh on his tongue.

“I know,” Yusuf replied. “I have had my dreams, Nicolo. They were brief and far between but I saw you. In Booker’s eyes and in Nile’s. I knew you were coming for me. I just had to be patient.”

“I’m sorry I took so long.”

Yusuf turned in his arms and cupped Nicky’s face gently. “Do not apologize. I do not want to hear that word from your lips.” Nicky might have protested, might have reminded Yusuf just how long Nicky had taken to find him, just how long Yusuf had had to suffer because Nicky wasn’t better at searching, but Yusuf kissed him and Nicky didn’t care about words anymore.

It was a terrible kiss.

It had been half a millennia since either one of them had had a kiss and they’d clearly forgotten a few things.

Nicky could not have cared less. He certainly wasn’t planning to pull away any time soon and from the way Yusuf was pressing up against him, neither did he. After a while, his lungs burned with the need to breathe but Nicky ignored it. If he died from suffocation from kissing Yusuf, it would be worth it.

Eventually, though, Yusuf pulled away. He was panting lightly, his eyes wide open as he sucked in gasps of air. After a moment, his breathing evened out and he smiled. “Hello, love.”

Nicky kissed him again, this time making sure to pull back before they got too far. It was a bit like riding a bike, the familiar motions coming back to them the longer they kissed. There was a time when Nicky knew Yusuf’s lips better than anything and if he didn’t remember, he was certainly going to enjoy learning them all over again.

Eventually, they slowed to a stop until they were simply sharing breath. The sun set behind them and the night air cooled around them and they didn’t move. “Why the pier?” Nicky asked.

“There is wind. And the sun was high in the sky,” Yusuf answered. “And I can see the water below me. I am above it. I am not there anymore.”

“No,” Nicky promised earnestly. “You are not. And you never will be again.”

“Will you protect me?”

“Always,” Nicky promised.

He could only hope desperately that he would be able to keep his promise this time.

#the old guard #joe x nicky #tog fic #my fic #all you really need to know is it was joe in the coffin not quynh

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firefliesintheskyline · 4 years

Text

(Me, prompting myself under the shower : What if we take the popular “person A is drunk and asks person B to be their partner, person B laughs and answers by saying they are married already (without saying they are actually married to person A) and person A pouts” and add “what person B doesn’t know is that person A sees them interact with person C and thinks they are the significant other”)

So, I guess… enjoy???

(Now on AO3 !)

INTOXICATED (Nicky x Joe + the Immortal Family)

Their last mission in France had been extremely successful, so Andy wasn't entirely surprised to find 2 cases of champagne in front of their safe house. She had to admit that, while at first she had been very reluctant to give Copley the address, taking the risk to share the information had paid off nicely more than once. He also really didn’t need to know that this was only one of the half dozen properties they had in Paris and its surroundings.

“Well, I guess we are in for a big celebration tonight!” Quynh was enthusiastically emptying the first box and passing the bottles over to Booker, while Nile and Joe were already heading to the kitchen to get some glasses.

“Don’t start moping, Nicky,” Andy gave him her signature half smile, “you don’t have to drink, if you don’t want to.”

Nicky looked almost offended by her suggestion.

“Just because I have a very low tolerance, it doesn’t mean I have to refrain from alcohol entirely, Andromache.”

She shrugged, completely unbothered.

“If you say so.”

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

From her spot on the sofa, Andy let out a self-satisfied smirk when she noticed that Nicky was curled up into the armchair, looking comfortable and completely gone.

“Hush, love,” Quynh pinched her very lightly on the arm, “stop making fun of him. After all, you where the one who instigated the drinking.”

Andy gave her a pointed look. “I merely told him that he didn’t have to, if he didn’t want to.”

“Because you knew exactly what his reaction would be,” Quynh retorted, looking back at Nicky with fondness in her eyes, “I still don’t get how he could be the fiercest warrior in the room and yet be totally unaware of the tricks you play on him.”

“I didn’t play any trick,” Andy shook her head, “and you know it. He knows it. Nicky has been too tense lately, and I need him to loosen up a little.” She got up, heading for the kitchen to refill her empty glass. “And you can call him the 'fiercest warrior in the room’ only once I’m gone from this world.”

Quynh laughed quietly and scooped closer to Nile, who was lazily trying to engage Booker into an art debate. The frenchman was mostly content to listen, while resisting the urge to drift off to sleep.

Joe, who was sitting right next to him, was about to pitch in as well, when suddenly Nicky decided to get up from the armchair and drop himself unceremoniously into his partner’s lap.

“Hi.”

The room went quiet for about half a minute, before Nile tactfully started talking again, soon followed by both Booker and Quynh. However, it didn’t stop them from taking turns to glance back at the couple every once in a while.

“Well, hi to you.” Joe wasn’t used to Nicky being openly affectionate in front of their family, and wasn’t sure if he should indulge in this. He didn’t want Nicky to feel mortified the next morning. Still, he put his hands very lightly on each side of Nicky’s waist. “Do you want to go to bed?”

Nicky tilted his head on the side a little, looking at him with lust. “Would you care to join me?”

Joe was a little flushed by the situation, but couldn’t help the soft smile that escaped his lips. “I have to say, your proposition sounds extremely appealing, but if you think you can get my pants off of me that easily…” he trailed off, winking.

Now it was Nicky’s turn to feel embarrassed. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean…” He took a deep breath and lowered his voice. “You are very handsome. And I want you. Very much. And I think your body wants me too. So, if you accept to be my lover, I can bed you and make sweet love to you. Or rough love. Both. I think I would enjoy both very much.”

It took Joe a whole minute to register all the words that came out of Nicky’s mouth. His Nicky, who was always shy with words (but never with gestures), who took months to actually voice his love for Joe at the beginning of their shared journey, but was now apparently propositioning him in the middle of a room full of people.

The same Nicky who, in the meantime, was getting worried by the lack of response. “Please be assured that this wouldn’t be a one time occurrence, I wouldn’t dare deflower your body without promptly making an honest man out of you…"

At which point Joe couldn’t help it and burst into laughter. “Well, that is very noble of you,” he said, and then, just because he wanted to see how far he could push it, “but unfortunately I’m already united in wedlock.”

The color drained entirely from Nicky’s face, making it very clear that this was not the answer he was expecting. Joe immediately regretted his words, and was about to add more concerning the obvious piece of information that Nicky was missing, when he got distracted by Booker, who was laughing hard at one of Nile’s joke, squeezing Joe’s arm with both of his hands in the process and putting his forehead on his shoulder. “Did you hear it? Man, that was hilarious.”

Joe faintly registered that Nicky was moving from his lap and slopingly getting up, but didn’t want to be rude to the rest of his family. “I’m sorry, I was not listening, would you mind repeating it?”

While Booker was making himself more comfortable into his side, Joe vaguely noticed Nicky leaving the room, but decided to stay and listen to Nile before following him and explain the misunderstanding. Or at least that was the intention, spoiled completely by Nicky who came back in the room almost in a rush and vehemently slapped Booker with a glove.

For the second time of the night, the room went very, very quiet.

“I demand satisfaction!,” Nicky exclaimed in a loud voice, slurring only slightly and making sure that the attention of everyone was on him, “this man has been distracted in frivolous conversation for the entire night, and when I decided to make a move on his beloved, only then he reminded himself of his duty as a husband! But tonight, we will end this,” he said, his fierce eyes on Booker, “I challenge you to a duel.”

Nile was, surprisingly, the first one to break the silence. “Is this a regular thing?” she said, uncertain on how she should feel about the whole situation.

“No, it is not.” The mischievous light in Andy’s eyes was unmistakable. “Ladies, let’s go get the popcorns, we can’t miss this for anything in the world.”

“Boss, you can’t be serious,” Booker called after her, but was clearly ignored. He straightened himself up. “Nicky, come on, I’m n—“

“Not. Another. Word.” Nicky looked at him pointedly in the eyes, before dropping on one knee and taking Joe’s hands in his. “You have to forgive me, I have acted out of pride, without even asking in which direction your heart was pointing…"

“You. It was pointing at you. Tonight, tomorrow, always. I would always choose you,” Joe didn’t hesitate for a single moment, and was rewarded by Nicky’s beautiful smile.

“Well, let the challenge begin!” Nicky pointed at his sword and at Joe’s scimitar, set on the wall on a corner of the room. “We have the weapons, now we just need some… space.”

“I’m glad our backyard is huge,” Quynh took the blades and started walking outside, “chop chop guys, we don’t have all night! Some of us want to use the early morning hours for better activities.” She winked at Andy, while Nile was rolling her eyes, clearly over their not-so-subtle flirting.

They were followed by Nicky and Joe, while Booker was contemplating the idea of making a run for it and loose himself in the Parisian night. He shook the thought out of his head and joined the rest of them outside, aware of the fact that sometimes his family could be too goddamn much.

“It’s going to be a duel to first blood! Since, well, death wouldn’t stick anyway…” Quynh clapped her hands, excitedly, “good luck to the contenders!” she yelled, before going to sit next to Andy and starting to eat the popcorns with way too much enthusiasm.

Nicky was about to reach for the sword, but Joe pushed the scimitar in his hands instead. “A token of love,” he whispered tenderly, before giving Nicky a light kiss on the cheek.

Booker took the sword and sent a clearly exasperated look in their direction, but couldn’t help the little smile on his lips. He really did admire the lengths these two would go to keep their love alive, he just wished they didn’t need to involve the entire family on a regular basis.

Andy gave the signal, and soon enough they started to fight. In a normal situation, Nicky would have had the upper hand, but he was still heavily inebriated, and only his consummated skills as a warrior made it seem like he was doing perfectly fine. He shielded himself from a couple of blows and was about to strike, but he got distracted by Joe’s anxious stare and tight grip on Nile. That was all Booker needed to make a cut on his forearm.

Cheers erupted from both Quynh and Andy, who run to Booker and started clapping on his shoulders, while Joe rushed on Nicky’s side. “My love, are you alright? I should have not given you the scimitar, not after you had so much alcohol…”

Nicky put a hand on Joe's cheek, stroking him softly. “Don’t you worry for me, vita mia. The only thing that makes me sad is to be parted from you.”

“No one will ever part us, hayati. I belong by your side.”

“Even if I lost to him?” At Joe’s strong nod, Nicky pushed the issue further. “You would leave your husband for me?”

“In a heartbeat.”

Nicky looked triumphant, and pulled Joe in a fierce kiss, before taking his hand and walking back into the house, leaving the others behind.

“I say one week.”

Nile, who had been distracted by Nicky and Joe’s epic act of love, turned her head at the other three people left there, looking utterly confused.

“What are you guys talking about?”

They completely ignored her.

“Very optimistic of you, Booker. A month,” Andy smirked, looking entirely confident.

“Oh please, Andy! It’s wasn’t that bad,” Quynh was shaking her head, clearly unimpressed, “I’m not even sure it’s going to last more than 24 hours.”

Andy started laughing very loudly. “None of you has known Nicky for as long as I did. He has a serious problem with holding grudges.”

“Guys,” Nile tried again, “what are you betting on?”

Booker took pity on her. “How long before we’ll have to leave them alone in the house to avoid the noises of celebratory sex."

“I’m pretty sure they are doing... ‘that’ right as we speak?” Nile loved her new family, she really did, but she still wasn’t comfortable with the amount of intimate information that were often shared as an off-hand comment.

“Definitely not,” Andy was looking straight at her, “Joe would never take advantage of a drunk Nicky. Even if I honestly doubt Nicky would have any objection.”

Nile shrugged, “Well, then tomorrow morning.”

“That’s when Nicky is going to wake up and remember.”

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

Joe was awakened by the morning sun, and he stirred lazily while keeping his eyes shut. He didn’t remember the last time he had been in such a good mood right at the beginning of the day. After the duel, he and Nicky had sat on the bed for a long time, making out like a couple of teenagers, until Nicky had wanted to push it a little further and Joe had gently stopped him, pressing him to lay down on the bed. They had lazily curled into each other and had been fast asleep only moments later.

But now they were both sober, and Joe was very well intentioned to take his sweet time and make love to the perfect, gorgeous man who was laying by his side.

Except Nicky was not by his side, and suddenly Joe realized that his arms were empty. He moved his hand up and down the other side of the bed, until his fingers brushed along other fingers. He tried to reach for them, but after a gentle squeeze, the other hand left his. He opened his eyes.

His Nicky was looking at him with something that looked like… disappointment.

“Nicolò, come back to bed.”

There was no answer. No reaction.

“Light of my eyes, moon of my life, can you tell me what is wrong?”

Nicky kept glaring at him, much to Joe’s dismay.

“Tell me again how you would leave your husband… in a heartbeat?” Nicky’s statement was followed by a heavy sigh, and a shake of the head. “I didn’t think you such a cruel man, Yusuf.”

Joe’s eyes widened, in alarm. “Nicky, I was talking about… him! Not you! And even by intending you as my husband, which was by the way absolutely not what was happening, I would have still left you… for you!” Joe knew he was making absolutely no sense, but he had just woken up. And he and mornings didn’t necessarily get along.

Nicky shook his head again, clearly dismissive. “I’m deeply hurt, my heart. Someone bats their eyes at you and suddenly you forget all about your husband.”

“You were batting your eyes at me, not just… someone!” Joe was slightly starting to panic. “I wouldn’t notice anyone else if they tried to bat their eyes at me!”

“If you say so.” Nicky got up from the bed, and only then Joe noticed that he was already dressed up. “I’m taking a walk with Nile. Let’s see if when I come back, you’re going to be here, or if you have just decided to run away and leave your husband in a heartbeat.”

Nicky exited the room without another word, content to just leave a loudly groaning Joe on the bed. He made it to the kitchen, where Andy was drinking her coffee.

“How long?”

“A month.”

“Never going to happen,” Nicky was fighting the urge to smile, “I am merely trying to make a point. My instincts are already screaming in protest."

Andy rolled her eyes.

“Fine. But at least wait more than a week, I don’t want to lose to /Booker/.”

“I said this morning,” Nile approached Nicky and touched him lightly on the arm, “and by the look of it, it feels like that’s what you want to go for.”

“My dear, dear Nile,” Nicky covered her hand with his own, “let’s go quickly buy you something with the money that our brothers and sisters are going to owe you.”

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

(originally written for @percivlgraves birthday

(Notes:

1) this is my first fanfiction in almost seven years, hopefully it’s not too bad;

2) this is my first fanfiction in english E V E R, please don’t be too harsh, I swear I’ll try to improve!!)

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kyra-bane · 4 years

Text

the old guard - kinktober day 2 - dream a little dream (of us)

rating: explicit

pairing: joe/nicky; andy/quynh (background)

extra tags: angst and fluff; 5+1 things; hand jobs; intercrural sex

word count: 3885

read on ao3 or keep reading below

Dream a Little Dream (Of Us)

Andromache of Scythia

Yusuf has been travelling with the Frank for almost a year.

In that time, they have formed a fragile truce, learnt enough of each other’s languages that they can communicate, and have managed not to kill each other for, now, a little over a month.

All in all, things are going better than they were when he woke up on the battlefield, a sword still half impaled in his chest, but there is a long way to go.

This constant living, it worries the Frank – Nicolò, he ground out one of those first few days; not that Yusuf ever uses his name – but that only proves to annoy Yusuf further because he does not wish to admit to his own doubts, does not wish to share any other quality with this man.

They are travelling still, crossing through grassland, and they have settled into a routine; despite Yusuf’s dislike of him, the Frank builds a fire each night and they lay out their bed rolls on opposite sides and, Yusuf has to admit, on the occasions they have been attacked, he has always been first to his feet, cutting down enemies before Yusuf even has his scimitar in a tight grip.

The Frank mutters something tonight, as he settles down to sleep. He never turns his back, so Yusuf rolls onto his, staring up at the canopy of stars above. It is not often that he falls into despair, now, but tonight he does: Will he have to travel with this ungrateful Frank forever? Will there be a day, someday, when the sight of him does not make Yusuf’s stomach twist unpleasantly, does not remind him of the stink of blood and bodies and a battle that cannot, will not, be justified?

Will they be the only two, at the end of time? The thought makes his chest ache. To live a life so closely tied to a person he can barely tolerate – maybe time will cool his temper, soothe some of the hurt and, maybe, one day he might feel forgiveness – but for now, he cannot.

He falls into a fitful sleep, the dream at once alien and all too familiar. He has had similar dreams this past year, where he has felt as though he has seen someone he should know. Yet he has never quite seen them; they are always just out of reach.

Tonight, he finally does.

She is tall, the woman, with long hair that cascades down her back as she swings around, the axe in her hands taking down one man, then another. Blood splatters across her face and she never slows; she fights in a way that Yusuf has seen in very few men – and never in a woman.

The image changes and she is at a feast, laughing with the men, a woman kneeling by her side who looks up at her as though she hung the very stars themselves, and when there is a lull in the conversation, this dark-haired stranger kisses her admirer, to the appreciative laughter of the men.

One more change; she is riding, alone, but she meets another rider on an outcrop – another woman whose face Yusuf cannot quite make out, only the sight of her feels familiar to him, also. They speak a language Yusuf has never heard, in low, warm tones, and maybe he will not be alone at the end of the world, after all.

Yusuf startles awake to find the Frank already sitting up, stoking the dying embers of the fire. He has dark circles under his eyes, Yusuf notices, and he wonders why he did not notice before.

“Did you see her?” the Frank asks, in halting Arabic.

“Yes,” Yusuf answers, in the Frank’s language, because despite the fact that they have spent a year travelling through lands where the Frank should have had more practice, Yusuf clearly has more of a talent for it.

“What did you see?”

“She was fighting. Feasting. Meeting a friend.”

“Ah,” the Frank says. He looks sad.

No.

He looks as though he has seen something terrible.

“What did you see?” Yusuf asks and he is sitting up, now, leaning closer without meaning to.

“Her death,” the Frank says. “I dream of it every night.”

Yusuf does not know what to say to that. He knows the Frank is always awake before him, but if he dreams of that every time he closes his eyes, then he really must be getting precious little sleep.

Against all his wishes, the first seeds of sympathy begin to sprout.

“I am glad you do not,” the Frank says, almost a whisper, and Yusuf frowns.

“Sleep, Nicolò,” Yusuf replies. “I will still be here, when you wake.”

***

Quynh

It is not long after his first dream of the two women meeting that Yusuf dreams of the second woman properly. She is smaller than the first, built slighter, but he sees the way she moves, fast like a viper, and decides that he cannot wait to meet her.

His and Nicolò’s relationship has improved these last few months; Yusuf calls him by his name now, most of the time, and Nicolò seems more inclined to share information about himself.

It helps that he seems, at heart, to be inescapably kind and small demonstrations of that gradually chip away at the cage Yusuf has built around his heart; he still does not feel as though he will offer Nicolò forgiveness – if it were even his to offer – but knowing Nicolò as he does now, he thinks he will not ask.

They fight before sleeping, most nights, training bouts and scuffles, because of course they can die, but Yusuf would still rather avoid it, wherever possible. He spent his youth fighting with other boys, too, wrestling, and he understands what can happen when there are two bodies in close contact, regardless of feelings, but the first time he pins Nicolò and feels him hard against his thigh, he is awash with a sudden jolt of want, and Nicolò scrambles away quickly and does not talk to him for two days.

So, most of the time it is combat training, with a bout of wrestling when Yusuf is feeling daring and there has been time enough in between for Nicolò to have forgotten about what inevitably happens.

They still sleep across from each other, either side of the fire, and Yusuf faces Nicolò too, before he falls asleep.

The dream he tumbles into captures him immediately. He sees the first woman, the warrior with her axe, but she is not the focus. The other woman has her pushed back into their bed rolls – they are on the move, like he and Nicolò – and is kissing down her throat, over her breasts. Neither of them seems to be in a hurry, both in tune with one another; the warrior parts her legs and the woman smiles against her skin, buries her face there.

Yusuf wakes, breathing hard, straining his leggings, and Nicolò is staring across at him, his eyes dark and glittering in the night.

Yusuf is suddenly, acutely aware of what he could do. He could round the fire, crawl over Nicolò and he is sure Nicolò would give him anything he wanted. He could roll over and go back to sleep and they could both pretend this never happened.

He lets out a shaky breath and smiles. It does not appear to dissuade Nicolò any.

“Did you dream of them?” Yusuf asks.

Nicolò nods. “They are…” He trails off, shakes his head, sighs, and finally says, in the saddest voice Yusuf has ever heard, “They are in love.”

The hurt of it curls in behind Yusuf’s heart, in that small, special place he has had no reason to acknowledge – and still, consciously, does not.

“They are,” he says, blood cooling. “I hope we will have a chance to meet them soon.”

Nicolò nods, although he seems less enthusiastic. “As do I.”

***

Lykon

Yusuf’s dream of Lykon is, of course, very different to the ones he first had of Andromache and Quynh.

It has taken them, in the end, a very long time to find each other. So long that, despite the dreams, Yusuf has all but given up.

He and Nicolò have become friends, more than friends, although it is all still very new and he knows one misstep may just destroy the fragile love blossoming between them. He knows this even though Nicolò insists it is love, whispers the words against Yusuf’s skin over and over as he learns how to take him apart.

Then they find Andromache, Quynh, and everything they know, about themselves and each other, is suddenly thrown into a very sharp contrast.

Andromache reveals the truth: they can die, and stay dead.

She says it when they are all drinking around the fire, a few weeks into their time together. Quynh has her head resting in Andromache’s lap; she has been no less affectionate just because they have two other people with them now, though Yusuf supposes that if he saw what she and Andromache were doing, she has certainly seen what he and Nicolò have been up to.

“Lykon and I were together for a couple of thousand years,” Andromache says and she takes a long pull of the jug before passing it to Quynh, who drinks while keeping one of her hands on Andromache’s thigh. “He went down in battle. Until then, I thought we would live forever.”

“He was injured?” Nicolò asks, leaning forwards, and there is something almost frantic in his gaze.

“Yes,” Quynh says because Andromache’s eyes are shining, though Yusuf doubts they will see her shed a tear. “He simply… stopped healing. Did not get up again.”

“So we do die, in the end,” Yusuf says. “There is an end, after all.”

“You sound so excited by it,” Nicolò says, his expression drawn and Yusuf shakes his head.

“Not at all, habibi,” he replies, because he may not be certain about the strength of their love but he knows it can survive this. “I simply am glad to know it, for sure.”

They turn in early that night, Andromache and Quynh on one side of the fire, Yusuf and Nicolò on the other. Quynh is tucked tight against Andromache, wrapped around her tightly, and Yusuf presses along Nicolò’s back, sighing only when Nicolò’s breathing evens out into sleep.

He follows not long after and, when his dream begins, he knows it is not real. He has had too many that are, for that, and since, he has dreamt of Nicolò, of his life left behind, of current and past fears.

Tonight, he dreams of Lykon.

He does not know the man’s face, of course, but he sees Andromache, and Quynh, and the man – the figment his mind has invented – fights with them, ever as fierce, ever as powerful, until, suddenly, he does not.

He crumples when the spear hits him, falls, and the others are screaming and Yusuf is scared, in the way a person only is when they are dreaming, because he wants to help but he cannot–

He wakes to the sound of Nicolò’s voice and buries his face in his love’s chest. Nicolò rubs his back, holds him tightly, and when Yusuf realises it was only a dream, he lifts his head.

“I saw him,” he murmurs. “Did I wake the others?”

“No,” Nicolò says. “You saw who?”

“Lykon. Not Lykon, of course, but a man I believed to be. I saw him die, Nicolò…”

He fears it because he saw not only Lykon, but Nicolò too, and he realises he cannot stand the thought of them being apart for even a second – at least, in terms of their death.

“Yusuf,” Nicolò says and he kisses away Yusuf’s tears, brushes his lips over his forehead, his nose, his cheeks. “Yusuf, cuore mio, I am here. Wherever we go, we go together.”

“Promise me,” Yusuf says, because he needs the reassurance here, in the dark.

Nicolò, to his credit, does not hesitate. “I promise,” he says and Yusuf kisses him because he does truly love this man, enough to believe that he will do everything in his power to either cling to life until Yusuf can join him, or to follow on right after.

“I love you,” Yusuf says and Nicolò breathes a sigh against his skin.

“And I you.”

***

Sébastien “Booker” Le Livre

Yusuf has had many names, by now. He is currently going by Joseph, he and Nicolò – now Nicholas – and Andromache – Andrea – are in Europe and it has been several centuries since they lost Quynh.

Andromache is not over it – she will never be over it – but they have managed to coax her back into doing what good they can, what with the world still turning and wars raging everywhere.

They are in the Austrian Empire, sharing one small room between the three of them, and the night that Sébastien dies, they all wake at once.

Nicolò is the first to get his wits about him, although Andromache looks, simply, sad.

“What did you see?” Nicolò asks.

“He appears older than me,” Yusuf says. He is already digging around in his things, trying to find a sketchbook. He has an image swimming in his mind; a strong jaw and sad eyes – he thinks the man is French, fighting in this bloody war he believes to be endless.

He will believe it even more, now.

“We should find him,” Nicolò says and Yusuf draws, coaxing details from Andromache she clearly does not want to give.

He knows why. The prospect of a new member to their unnatural club has them thinking of the member still missing, the one they cannot be certain is still alive.

Yusuf sucks in a breath and snaps the end of his pencil.

“What is it?” Andromache asks. Nicolò turns to face him.

“He will dream of us,” Yusuf says. “Do you believe he will dream of her?”

Andromache swallows, her lips trembling; they have seen her cry, now, and much more besides – she raged at them when they finally convinced her there was nothing more to be done. Yusuf still doubts he will ever set eyes on Quynh again.

“We must find him,” she says and Yusuf agrees.

Except, a few days later, he dreams of something new. A woman, blonde hair falling in soft curls around her face; children, who look upon their newest brother wish pure adoration.

“He has gone back to them,” he says into the crook of Nicolò’s neck one morning, and Nicolò hums in agreement. He left behind nothing, he has told Yusuf, when he headed out for the crusades. Yusuf had a wife but no children, and back then, it would have taken him months to return; and with all the doubt and fear he had around his new ability, it was not something he had even considered.

Sometimes, he does regret it. Sometimes, he thinks Nicolò had more at home than he lets on, but has chosen to forget about it to ease the pain.

“We must leave him be,” Yusuf says when they enter the Kingdom of France. “Speak to him, maybe, but then leave him to do as he chooses.”

Andromache is angry; she thinks this is her only chance to retrieve Quynh and Yusuf does not doubt he would react in much the same way, should he ever find himself in her position.

“When they discover what he is…”

“It is his choice to make,” Nicolò replies, ever so softly. “He will have been dreaming of us and we should find him so that he knows he is not alone, but… Yusuf is right. If he wishes to have more time with his family, then who are we to take that from him.”

He does not say Quynh has been down there for centuries, if she is still alive; she can wait a little longer, but they both know Andromache still hears it.

They meet Sébastien weeks later. They find out Quynh still lives. They leave him with his family.

When he eventually joins them, years later, Yusuf thinks he carries more pain than Yusuf has ever felt and Yusuf decides to do his best to do right by their newest brother.

***

Nile

“She needs us,” Nicky says, and Joe sees the moment Andy gives in.

“I’ll handle the retrieval.”

It is better that way, Joe thinks. After everything that has just happened, he wants to keep Nicky close – and two of them would be spotted. Booker seems to almost argue with Andy, for a moment, but Joe thinks little of it. He is just scared, unsure; he has had his own dreams, of course, but has never been on this side of them.

They make it to France and Joe dreams of her again, of Nile, sees flashes of her marine friends, of the man who sliced her throat. He is already fascinated by her, Nicky too, though Nicky does not speak of it.

“Do you think it is a good idea, Andy going to fetch her?” Booker asks when they reach the safe house.

Nicky shrugs, goes off to drop their stuff in the only bedroom.

“Why would it not be?” Joe asks.

Booker shrugs. “She’s so young,” he says. “So beautiful. Do we really need to drag her in now?”

Joe is half-tempted to tease Booker a little, because he has never expressed that he believes anyone beautiful – not ever – but he lets the desire fade.

“Things are different now, Book,” Joe replies quietly. “She is in the military. We might be dragging her into our danger, but she is in danger there, too – people saw her die, and now she is fine. It only takes one more mishap to reveal her true nature, and then she will have no one who can keep her safe.”

Booker hums. He will not meet Joe’s eyes; he looks terribly sad.

“I hope you are right,” he says and Joe laughs, claps him on the shoulder.

“We will all be fine, Book. Come, let us get things ready here. The game is on tonight, you know.”

Booker rolls his eyes at that. “Yeah, yeah,” he says and his amusement washes away almost all the melancholy in his eyes. “I know.”

***

Yusuf “Joe” ibn Ibrahim ibn Muhammad ibn al-Kaysani, called al-Tayyib

Nicky, sometimes, is sad he never had a chance to meet Joe through his dreams.

He wonders what that would have been like, if another had killed him on the battlefield, and Nicky had spent the years getting to know him through flashes of images, of feelings.

Still, sometimes he dreams of Joe anyway.

Like tonight. They have their own room, for once, Andy and Nile bunked up in the other, and when Nicky closes his eyes, he falls into the dream headfirst.

It’s Joe, everywhere, his hair cropped shorter like it was once in Damascus, and he bites his way down Nicky’s chest, stopping every so often to throw him a bright grin. It is one of those dreams that Nicky cannot control; Joe has moved, suddenly, to take Nicky’s cock in his mouth, fingers slick and teasing at his rim; then his fingers are sliding deep and there is no need for adjustment, no discomfort, because Nicky is ready for him, skin hot and prickling and he needs him…

He wakes with a start, a moan caught in the back of his throat. He feels hot all over, his cock tenting his boxers and he eyes the clock with no little distaste.

He fell asleep two hours ago, by the looks of things, which means his idea of waking Joe is terribly inconsiderate.

One touch will probably be enough to get him off, though leaving the bed might wake Joe as well, and Nicky would never lie to him about this – so then Joe would ask why Nicky had not woken him and Nicky does not want to get into their recurring low-stakes argument that Joe is not getting as much sleep as he should at the moment, what with all their worry about Andy and Nile and Booker…

He turns his face into the pillow and bites down – and promptly starts when a hand, not his hand, slides below the waistband of his boxers.

Joe scrapes his teeth over the back of Nicky’s neck, takes him in a sure, familiar grip, and Nicky is so keyed up that it only takes a handful of strokes before he comes, gasping into the darkness around them.

Joe chuckles when he’s done, moving his hand to grip Nicky’s hip as he presses open-mouthed kisses to the back of his neck.

“When did you wake, hayati?” Nicky grumbles.

He feels Joe’s smile against his skin; Joe rolls his hips and he feels his hardness, too.

“Hmm, I think some time in the middle of your dream,” he murmurs. “I thought you might spend before waking, in truth.”

Nicky wriggles back against him and Joe starts to roll his hips in a slow, steady rhythm. There’s a little more moving around as they both push down their underwear and then Nicky lifts his leg, Joe’s cock sliding between his thighs.

It’s slick and messy and Nicky reaches back to grab Joe’s hip even as Joe wraps an arm around Nicky’s chest, tight as a band.

“I dreamt of you,” Nicky says. “Of Damascus, when you had me on that bed for a day, made me come over and over again just on your fingers…”

Joe moans against his skin, gives him a full-body shudder, but he’s still moving. Nicky touches the head of his cock, when it pushes between his thighs and Joe moans again.

“We could try that again, sometime,” Nicky says. “Whenever we go back to Malta. Except, I want to do it to you, this time.”

Joe chuckles. He’s breathing hard and Nicky knows, from that alone, that he is close.

“You have far more patience than me, my love,” Joe says. His voice comes out strangled. He’s beginning to lose his rhythm, chasing his orgasm, and Nicky turns the idea over in his mind.

“I bet I could keep you on the edge for hours,” he says, lets his accent thicken a little because he knows Joe likes it. Sure enough, he moans. “Either that or really test our limits – I bet I could make you come ten times or more.”

“Nicky,” Joe says and Nicky never tires of hearing his name – any of his names – being said that way.

“Are you close?” Nicky asks, even though he knows. “Do you enjoy it, using me like this? Maybe we could try this one day – you could tie me up and use me however you liked and–”

Joe moans and holds Nicky tight as he comes, burying his face in the back of Nicky’s neck. They remain that way for a while, until they’re breathing in sync again.

Nicky cleans the mess from his thighs with his boxers and then turns, tangling his legs with Joe’s.

“Love you, babe,” Joe murmurs, sleepy and sated and happy. Nothing else can reach either of them in this moment and Nicky kisses him softly.

“Love you, too.”

#the old guard #the old guard fanfic #the old guard fanfiction #kinktober #kinktober 2020 #fanfiction #fanfic #joe x nicky #nicky x joe #andy x quynh #quynh x andy

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microsuedemouse · 4 years

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man it has been a MINUTE since I made my own post about anything fandom-related on this website but @suzirya is blogging about The Old Guard and I haven’t seen anyone else talking about it really and I’ve got. some thoughts

I had literally never heard of this movie at all until a few nights ago when we were eating dinner in the living room and my dad pulled it up and said ‘hey I want to watch this’ and played the trailer for my brother and me. We were pretty much like yeah, sure, we all enjoy a good action flick, and aside from my other brother (who was occupied with D&D) it ended up being the whole family watching it. and I enjoyed it WAY more than I’d anticipated, especially for something I’d never heard about.

if you don’t know what I’m talking about: drop what you’re doing and go watch The Old Guard on Netflix. (it’s a Netflix original so yes it will be there.) it’s a very fun and good action film based on a series of graphic novels about a small group of immortals trying to do what’s right. there are many selling points but one of them is that it will be very good for your little gay soul, bc Charlize Theron stars (in a character with no explicitly-stated romances but lots of relationships that will make you Feel Things) and two of the other main characters are two men who met during the Crusades and are just amazingly in love with each other. And not in a vague way that the straights can interpret as Powerful Friendship. They are explicitly in love with each other and so devoted and ugh.

ANYWAY. putting the rest of my chattering under a cut bc spoilers and also I’m a wordy piece of shit

1 - early in this movie I was thinking about how glad I am that Charlize Theron has stepped into this role of like... cool female action star, but also, her characters are never super sexed up. almost any female characters I can think of in action movies, if they’re part of the action rather than victims/bystanders, are always made sexy. even when they’re Strong sexy, they’re still... a lot sometimes? I was thinking especially of some Angelina Jolie stuff, Scarlett Johanssen, etc. there are probably lots of exceptions to this that I just don’t know but still - we’ve had Theron in several roles like this recently, and appearance-wise she’s treated with the same respect as her male counterparts, which is so fucking cool and also such a fucking relief. we all love beautiful ladies, obviously, but it’s so SO good to see our female heroes just doing their jobs, without us ever being made aware of their sexuality.

and as the movie went on this was hitting me more and more, and I was also thinking it about... everyone? like. the other female lead, played by KiKi Layne, was arguably more feminine than Theron but not any more sexualised. even once she’s out of her army fatigues she’s dressed with practicality in mind, and again, we never have her female-ness pointed out to us. and I was so about every bit of that. both objectively and as a person whose relationship to female-ness and femininity is kind of weird, it’s such a good thing to see leading women whose gender and appearances and bodies aren’t being focussed on that way.

and as a sidebar to that, while I wouldn’t describe any of the prominent male characters as unattractive by any means, none of them were like... Marvel-actor hot. and I just, idk, especially in action/superhero movies, that’s refreshing to me. a lot of them looked like Regular Dudes in a way that I find very appealing.

2 - can we TALK about Joe and Nicky. holy shit. my brother and I kept leaning over to each other to be like ‘if anything happens to either of them I’ll riot.’ I MEAN.

we got a genuine, explicit, on-screen established romance between these men. it was not implied, it was not just how the actors played it in the hopes that people would catch on - it was right there. they hold each other to sleep, they kiss each other with such love, they talk to other characters about how much they adore each other. they met during the Crusades. they’ve been in love for centuries! and they’re so sweet, so devoted, so adoring! and they never have any arguments or tension to further the plot (one of my personal most-hated plot devices in any story with an established relationship). they just spend this movie loving each other, protecting each other and their weird little family, doing anything they can for each other. they’re taken prisoner and spend their time awake joking and making each other smile. and the one singular bit of casual homophobia they encounter on-screen is met with a declaration of love so heartfelt and intense that the guy who made the shitty comment literally doesn’t know what to say - which is a brief but extremely good scene in the movie, imo.

oh, also worth noting: this romance is biracial and interfaith (inasmuch as either of them may be men of faith after being alive for centuries). just to add to how good this is to see on-screen. all of this on top of them being IMMORTAL AND UNKILLABLE. NO GAYS BURIED HERE

2.5 - can I talk for a second about how goddamn much I love seeing non-hetero romance in genre fiction!!! I know it’s getting easier to find, but still. genre fiction is very much my domain and I love seeing queer romance there, especially when it’s simply an accepted fact and the characters’ queerness isn’t central to the story. narratives about queerness are good and important and serve a function but most of them aren’t really my thing, personally. a story that’s about all kinds of other things but also has queer characters there, being themselves, being in love, is so 1000% my shit.

3 - also? Charlize Theron’s character, Andy?? fascinating from a queer perspective. she doesn’t have any explicitly-stated romance with anyone, but her relationships with other characters are so compelling and so interesting. The backstory about her and another immortal, Quynh, very very distinctly gives you the impression that they were women in love. everything about Andy’s guilt and bitterness over not having been able to find/save Quynh feels so much like there was a romance there. it could have been platonic or familial - they were together, without anyone else, for centuries at least, and therefore obviously developed a very deep love - but the way Andy talks about Quynh it feels so much like there was something left unsaid, or unresolved.

also, her scene with the clerk in the pharmacy. oh my god. this woman clearly recognises that whatever is going on with Andy, something is wrong, and she offers her help, no questions asked. she takes her into the back room and patches up her wound. this scene has such an inherent intimacy because of the close quarters and the privacy and the act taking place, but... there’s also this really interesting connection happening between them, where they recognise something in one another but don’t state it. (personally, I couldn’t help wondering if the clerk was a domestic abuse survivor, maybe? but there are so many ways you could interpret her character from her behaviour and dialogue in that scene, and I’d love to see other people’s takes.)

and then on the other hand you have her relationship with Booker, who’s been with her the longest out of any of the living immortals. they’re incredible. their relationship is so, so interesting and well-depicted! they have such chemistry, that you can easily read as romantic or platonic. they’ve been together for so many hundreds of years and they work together, trust each other, with such a deep understanding and love and respect. and it never quite tips over into the romance you kind of think it will, which imo only makes it that much more compelling - there are so many directions you could take that dynamic.

4 - and then on the topic of Booker: I am SO into the way his betrayal was handled.

he did, undeniably, betray the others. there’s no argument on that fact. his motivations were understandable (and heartbreaking), even to Andy, though certainly not an excuse. so yes, they were furious with him. reasonably so! but... that didn’t actually break their relationships with him. they didn’t leave him behind in the lab, even if in some ways they might have wanted to. and in the ensuing battle, they were still able to work together and trust each other as they always have. the damage done to their larger relationship was put aside to be dealt with after all of this, as it should be. and even when they did deal with it, what they agreed on was just a century of exile from their group. given the lives they’re all living, that seems like such a mild sentence.

but to me, it makes so much sense. again, these people have lived for centuries, and there are so few of them. they need each other. the bonds they’ve formed over all this time together - the trust, the love, the sense of family - would not only be vital to both their survival and their sanity, but also incredibly difficult to truly break. what he did would seem unforgivable from an outside perspective, and even after that century passed I’m certain he’d have to earn back their trust and respect, but it makes absolute sense that they’d be willing to take him back one day.

god. GOD. I’m sure there’s more I could talk about but this is what I can think of right now and I’ve been typing for like forty minutes probably so I’m done for now but.

god.

this movie and its characters GOT ME, guys. I’m really in it. ugh UGH

#the old guard #Courtney talks

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hurlumerlu · 4 years

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@themagicalshrimp The short answer is “I wouldn’t particularly recommend the comics” but I had actually been meaning to sort out my thoughts on the subject so here’s a too long post on

The Old Guard : why the movie works better than the comics :

(imo)

1) The visuals : Let’s get this out of the way : I don’t like the art. I don’t like the coloring. And some of the character designs really bother me : Noriko (Quynh in the movie), the only Asian character, is drawn completely differently from the rest, and Joe’s design makes me very uncomfortable. I’m also not a fan of Nile’s design, tbh.

2) The general writing of female characters : It’s kinda sad because I think Rucka really likes them and wanted to make them cool, but they feel less like characters and more like cliché/fantasies. Andy is the Tough Girl who likes to fuck with no strings attached (but maybe she’ll soften for u), Nile the Spunky Younger Woman (also tough but less cold ! more approachable !) and Noriko is mostly a mix of the Psycho Lesbian and the Dangerous Asian Chick. Idk maybe I’m being too harsh here, they all have good to great moments, but... I think it’s very telling that the comics introduce Andy half-naked with a montage of her fucking and being killed in battle while the movie shows her dying and walking purposefully toward something. All of the female characters in the movie are extremely pretty, but you never get the sense that they need to be sexy, and that’s refreshing.

3) The warmth : The comics feel so much colder than the movie ! They have pretty much the same plot and a lot of the dialogues are the same (as an aside, I wish the movie had changed the dialogues more) so it really all comes down to acting and directing choices. Mainly : focusing on making the characters vulnerable rather than badass. I think a good example here would be the van scene because the speech has been lifted almost verbatim from the comics (second aside : I wish they had kept Joe’s line “his very thoughts make music of the mundane” because it slaps). But in the comics, Joe looks angry and full of disdain while in the movie his eyes are all shiny with unshed tears and his voice is passionate but soft : both version have a very different impact. And I know that the purpose of an action movie is to give you badass content but I’ve always thought that the badass content works much better if you’ve shown me that your characters can be vulnerable and open. 4) Andy : In the comics, Andy is still immortal. That in itself is not necessarily a bad thing - and it indeed gives us some very entertaining panels - but many good moments in the movie come from Andy being mortal : the pharmacy scene, the team working together to protect her, Nile stepping up again and again to get the team out of danger, Andy’s tearful conversation with Booker while she’s bleeding out... Like, in the comics, they have that convo while yelling and repeatedly mortally shooting each other until Nile gets fed up and shoots them and yells at them and honnestly, it’s fun, but it doesn’t pack the same punch as Andy’s voice cracking when she says “not like this, Book...” (aaaand we’re back to vulnerability again) Could the movie have given us that with Andy staying immortal ? Probably. But do the comics deliver ? Nope.

5) Nile : In the comics, Nile doesn’t meet Joe and Nicky before they’re taken and she’s not the one who’s shown all the good the old guard did throughout history. She’s an important character, but she’s just not there in the same way. The comics are Andy’s story. They’re about her, how she feels, how she reacts to things. Nile is the deuteragonist, but compared to Andy we see less of her thoughts, less of her past (to be fair, she has less past) and less of her struggles. I don’t hate that choice, but making Nile the heart of the movie was by far the superior one. Part of it is just because Kiki Layne is an excellent lead, but I think it’s also because Andy (by virtue of being a thousands year old warrior who went through a lot of shit) is just more detached, and I’m of the opinion that we connect better to a story when we see its characters feel things. As such, being encouraged to relate to a character who’s less guarded and more open to wonder really benefits the audience. This time we’re back to the idea of warmth, but : by centering itself on Nile, the movie gains a heart the comics lack.

In conclusion, the comics are entertaining, but not much more than that. But I put under the cut a list of things that I liked in the comics and that didn’t make it in the movie :

When they find Booker “dead” at the hideout and Andy thinks “that’s so unfair, why does he gets to die and not me”. It wouldn’t have worked in the movie at all but in the comics it does.

Joe and Nicky call each other babe and I think that’s sweet.

Not to be a broken record but his very thoughts make music of the mundane

Nile realizes that Booker is the mole because he was pretending to have wi-fi in their hideout cave and Andy is too bad with new technology to notice, it’s so funny.

I like that Andy was suspicious of Booker but still went along just to feel something. Again, wouldn’t have worked in the movie, great here.

Andy asking Nile “so... read any good book lately ?” while they’re falling from a skycrapper.

Nicky playing mind games with the scientist to convince him (it’s a dude in the comics) to free Joe and him. wish he had killed him himself after that instead of letting Joe do it but still, worked for me.

In the movie we see a painting of Andy with a black man and in the comics we learn that they were both in love and he knew she was immortal but they stayed together up until their visible age difference started to raise questions and parted ways sad but still in love and it’s honnestly one of the only moments in the comics where I felt emotionally invested and he’s just a very cool character despite having only a handfull of pages to shine.

Aaaand that’s it ! Fingers crossed for the potential sequel to do Quynh justice !

#the old guard #yeah that got long #long post

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jackswolfe · 4 years

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what are your top ten favourite and least favourite moments in the old guard (film)? is there anything else you want to see being explored? also, hello!

Ohhh this is going to be hard because I absolutely adore every second of this movie and so it will be difficult for me to name my least favourite moments. That being said, here is my top ten favourite moments:

1. The baklava scene. Many have said it before me so I don’t need to elaborate on this one but I absolutely love the way that they decided go introduce all the characters to us. In doing so, they also revealed the dynamic between the group, they established the relationship between each character and it was kind of like getting a glimpse at the many years they have been together for and worked together as a single entity.

2. Van scene. Because it’s the van scene.

3. The plane fight. It’s not just a typical fighting scene. It’s so much more than that. Again, this movie is so good at establishing the relationship between the characters while simultaneously telling us more about each character. I really like the way Andy seems to be enjoying herself, almost like she is happy to have finally found a match in Nile. It’s like she hasn’t found anything a new challenge in centuries, and she is staring at one right now. I like the fire in Nile as well because even if things are confusing, even if she has been quite literally abducted from a familiar space for her and she isn’t even sure where they are going, Nile does not back down.

4. Anything with Quynh and Andy. Literally every second that they are together on the screen is a delight.

5. Booker’s story about the loss of his sons. It hurts so much to listen to him and his pain. Matthias is incredible at conveying every single feeling that Booker might be feeling in the moment.

6. The lab fight!! The way they move and fight like all the pieces are falling once again into place. How Nile who has no previous experience of fighting with them, who has spend a grand total of a few hours with them, already seems to be a part of the team/family as if she has been with them for centuries.

8. Quynh in Booker’s apartment.

9. That shot when we focus on Andy’s face after Booker tells her to give Nile some time. Others have said her concerned look could be due to the fact that she doesn’t want Nile to lose her humanity in time the way they did. However, I interpreted it as Andy thinking “But I don’t have time.”

10. Finally!! Merrick quoting King Lear. Fun fact!! Harry Melling who plays Merrick has played a character in King Lear on three separate occasions!!

Some things that I wish they had explored more is definitely the way Joe and Nicky met in the battle of Jerusalem (for selfish reasons), why Lykon died so quickly after becoming immortal (Andy has been around for 6000+ years, Quynh just a little under that, Nicky and Joe have been alive for 1000 years, why did Lykon only live for a few centuries?), MALTA!!, how Quynh escaped or was saved (but they have an opportunity to do this in the sequel so I’m not to pressed about this!)

#the old guard #immortal-warriors #answered #thank you for the q!!

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female-overlord-3 · 4 years

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Someone take tumblr away from me I'M ACTUALLY POSTING. SO MUCH. I NEED TO BE STOPPED. But here enjoy more content from my ADHD brain. The caffeine has set in everyone I'm so sorry.

The old gaurd AU w/ symbiots:

Andy made peace with her symbiot and searches for the others. She didn't undertand, thought her god had chosen her for a purpose until she was alone and starving and did terrible things to stop the hunger. They find another, the second in command to Andy's symbiot in Quynh and the spawn one of them have in Lykon some time later. (WE CAN HAVE HAPPY AND TOGETHER OKAY. CAUSE MY BRAIN SAID SO)

Then 2 others finally crash onto earth near the crusades time and find their hosts in Nicolo and Yusuf. Their symbiots are lovers and have to deal with their hosts conflicting beliefs and hatred that eventually changes to friendship then love. Their symbiots don't need to feed as much cause of the love Joe and Nicky have (again I blame @imawriteriwrite who enables me and sends me things that spark things edit: here's the POST). It's not until more tech advances that they realize symbiots don't like loud sonic waves (or like whatever science bit that was. No thoughts just words everyone). Booker is still bitter and the symbiot that chose him is equally one. They doesn't need no human and booker doesn't need this thing but over time they come to a begrudging agreement. They can at least do good and feed and survive.

Then the last of their group finally crashes and finds their way to Nile, nearly at deaths door because of the heat but finds Nile to be their perfect host. Then Nile "dies" and things more or less go along with the same plot. Idk this crashed into my brain and possessed me.... I HAVE ANOTHER THING COMING CAUSE I SAID I WAS WRITING. @bestillmyslashyheart you know what it is.

SELF-CONTROL WHO? GOING FERAL AT THE THOUGHT OF THE OLD GUARD IS IN. RATIONAL THOUGHT IS OUT. NO I DON'T TAKE CRITICISM ONLY PRAISE. I'M A WEAK SOFT BITCH SUE ME.

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qqueenofhades · 4 years

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Top 3 things I loved about Deus Vult: 1. All the historical and cultural details and how neatly they tied into and elevated the story, without it feeling like heavy handed exposition or scoring points for accuracy. 2. How you showed how awful the crusades, and war in general, are, but without the sense of "hurr durr ye olden days were all terrible", but instead contrasting things like the time Yusuf spent with his mother, or their time together in Constantinople, versus what the crusades... 1/2

2/2... did to those places, and the people - the bit that really hit me was the introduction to Phil, and his propensity for screaming like he's never been fed in his life, and then seeing him lying in the street - that hurt bruh. 3. The whole idea, best exemplified in Nicky & Quynh's conversation that hundreds of years of pain and loss and heartbreak don't have to turn you into a grimdark (tm) angsty tool, but instead it's an endless series of chances to do the right thing...

3/2 And even if that right thing isn't guiding humanity to this wonderful utopia, but just standing up for what is good and right, and speaking for them as has no voices. But yeah, whole thing was incredible and I really really loved it and thanks for writing it

Ahaha, I did change the title slightly, to Deo Volente, as a commenter kindly reminded me that (because they ruin everything) white supremacists and the alt-right have co-opted the other version of the phrase for their Nazi crusades fantasia, and I obviously did not want any confusion or misunderstanding with that. “Deo volente” means the same thing in Latin, just a slightly different version of the phrase (”God willing” vs “God wills it.”) So yes, sigh. White supremacists: still the worst.

Anyway, I’m so happy that you enjoyed it so much, and this comment is delightful to me because it picks up on many of the things that I personally enjoyed about this fic (as I said, possibly the most self-indulgent thing I’ve ever written). I’ve had so many lovely comments on AO3 raving over the history, that either they knew some of it already or they’re learning so much of it, and as an early career academic who’s struggling with the job market and feeling useless that I currently can’t do professionally what I’m good at: really,you have NO IDEA how much it truly warms my heart to have people tell me that I’m teaching them something real and valuable (and in the course of gay historical romance enemies to lovers Feelings, which we all have to admit has to be a pretty painless way to do it?) Obviously, anybody who has spent two seconds on my blog knows that I have Strong Opinions on the “hurr durr ye olden days were all terrible” thing, and there was never any chance that was happening. Instead, I very much wanted to do exactly as you say: creating these moments of beauty and wonder and magic, showing how happy they were in places like Constantinople, and then what the crusades ultimately did to those beautiful things, and how it got turned and twisted into something so awful (and frankly, was pretty awful to start with). Obviously this is VERY relevant to what’s going on right now, and the entire “War on Terror,” and.... yes. It’s very relevant to the arc and themes of the whole story and especially post-9/11.

(And yes, Phil. That whole latter third of the chapter during the sacking of Constantinople, as noted, just gives me a lot of emotions. It’s fine.)

And I ended up LOVING Nicky and Quynh’s relationship (and hurting myself deeply as a result). Obviously we never see them together in canon, we just hear Nicky (and Joe) explaining what happened to her, and that whole conversation is deeply poignant in that we KNOW what’s going to happen to Quynh. She’s going to face an even worse kind of totally dehumanizing and insanity-causing experience, she’s going to be put in the position of whether to completely turn her back on everything she loved and swear herself to revenge, and her expressing that fear that she wouldn’t be strong enough to resist that temptation, that she might BECOME a monster, is... ouch. (Where is my sequel goddammit I need the Quynh Reunion and the feelings not just with Andy but Nicky and Joe /gnaws own arm off.) And obviously Nicky being the world’s biggest romantic as usual and talking about how he didn’t even consider giving into revenge long-term because Joe was there, and he always knew that was worth more. In other news, I hate them.

ALSO YES, the idea that you CAN take pain and it can make you kinder, that we all have a choice as to how to respond to all the bad things happening around us (even if not on the same scale/long-term view as the immortals). We’ve all learned that by how utterly much of a shitshow 2020 is for everyone, and I think a lot about the lesson that, unlike every single Grimdark Fantasy (tm) and Macho Post Apocalyptic Fantasy Where Only The Strong Survive, we can become better even in the face of total darkness, and in fact, it’s the only way forward to any kind of future for anyone. The so-called “strong” are throwing fits over being forced to wear face masks in a pandemic and sitting on their hands while America descends into fascism, while in places like Portland, we have middle-aged mothers in bicycle helmets standing in a human chain to protect BLM protestors from the literal American Gestapo. So after Joe and Nicky try to fix everything permanently from on high with the Sixth Crusade, and then that doesn’t work, they have to reckon with the fact that like everyone else’s, their lives are going to be a series of choices, of small steps, of making things better where they can, and accepting that that will not be forever, rather than just doing it once and thinking that will work forever. They likewise can’t blame ordinary people for not living long enough to see the same things that they do, and they have to understand that they’ll see it crumble over and over, and still hold onto their goodness and desire to do the right thing, and.... yes.

They can’t just work with the kings and sultans and powerful people of the world and try to think that that’s the solution (as Nicky says during their conversation in Malta in chapter 5). They have to stand with the little people, the powerless, the people who aren’t going to get paid attention to in any of these wars, and do what they can, when they can, even in the face of total horror (as is the case with Joe in chapter 6). I really LOVE the movie (and love it more with every rewatch) for so totally demolishing the idea that a) superheroes can only Fix Big Things and b) that being kind even in the smallest and anonymous ways doesn’t ultimately matter. Because it DOES. We’ve all justifiably bagged on Marvel for totally giving into hollow CGI spectacle rather than any kind of authentic conflict that feels personal and constant manufactured conflict between the characters, and on GOT for “everyone is secretly awful and no good deed goes unpunished,” and I really, truly love the fact that the core message of The Old Guard is to do good for the most vulnerable among us, and that it DOES make a difference. Because there are so, so many of the usual tired tropes and cliches that they could have done, and they didn’t. It’s optimistic and hopeful and makes a statement about moral good without being saccharine; it doesn’t feel like we’re being force-fed some Disneyfied version of good and evil, but rather that the good can exist with, and ultimately overcome, even the worst evil. So that was a theme I also wanted to explore in the fic, with both the beauty and the pain, and obviously I also emotioned over that.

Just. Gah. Anyway. I had feelings about that story. Thanks for giving me a chance to talk about some of them.

#the old guard meta #tobsjpalfrey #ask #dvla asks

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liliaeth · 3 years

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Rules: List the first lines of your last 20 stories (if you have less than 20, just list them all!) See if there are any patterns. Choose your favourite opening line. Then tag 10 of your favourite authors!

Well the one pattern I can see is that I have way too many wips, damn my flighty muse

I’m tagging anyone willing to do this one

1. The Weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh (Nicolò di Genova/Yusuf al Kaysani, The Old Guard

Yusuf wasn’t even sure what he was doing, taking the invader with him. He should have left the man behind after the Franks took the city, but when he’d seen the look on the Christian’s face, that thousand mile stare in the other’s eyes, he’d been unable to do so. There had been a plea in the way he knelt there, not even reaching for a weapon, though he and Yusuf had killed each other dozens of times by now. Almost as if he wanted Yusuf to kill him. That might have been why he stayed his blade at first, that notion that he couldn’t give the other what he wanted, not after what the Franks had done. But then he’d seen the man’s eyes and he hadn’t been able to stop himself from feeling pity for him.

2. The Body Remembers (Scott McCall/Theo Raeken, Teen Wolf

He had flinched.

3. We come from Warriors (gen fic, with some Nicky/Joe , The Old Guard)

Solomon hesitated as he reached the door. He didn't want to go in. Not now, not when Mom would have prettied up the room, trying to achieve holiday cheer, desperate to pretend things were normal, that there wasn't another empty chair at the table. He was about ready to just turn around, to take his gifts back to the car and leave, go to a bar, and drink soda after soda, until he got on too much of a high and had to head out in his car, driving till the carbohydrate high was out of his system.

4.Artefacts of history (Nicky/Joe, Andy/Quynh, Nile, The Old Guard)

His first thought was ‘another one’.

5. Sinking Down (Gen, Andy and Booker, The Old Guard)

Booker wasn’t even sure why he was in this damn room, with these people, none of whom had a clue who he was, or what he’d done. They all had their issues of course, and he wasn’t stupid enough to assume that anything he went through was worse than what they went through.

6. Tomatoes, lettuce and a burger (Gen, Dean and Sam Winchester, Supernatural)

Dean wasn’t sure what it was that made it feel like his heart was torn to pieces. Sam was sitting right there, mere inches away from him. Reading, writing, Dean wasn’t sure what his brother was doing as Dean himself was cooking.

7. A Soldier goes marching on (gen, Nile Freeman, and Jay, The Old Guard)

Jay stared at he empty bunk. Dizzy wouldn’t even look at her. Jay would have screamed at her, but she knew it wasn’t fair, since her anger was aimed as much at herself as it was at Dizzy. And neither would do any good.

8. New Wolf in the Old Guard (Teen Wolf/The Old Guard crossover, Scott centric)

Scott woke up gasping for air. It was the third time this week that he had the dream of drowning. The other dreams were weird, and scary, but he’d have any of them over the ones where he drowned.

9. Good Little Milker (Dean Winchester, Supernatural a/b/o au)

Dean was still sulking. Sam could see it in the poor Omega cow's eyes, the way he glared at the both of them, when he thought Sam or Dad weren't looking. Oh sure, he was playing nice after the rough spanking Dad had given him. Dad had had no choice after Dean's initial tantrum when John had mentioned what was going to happen. It hadn't really been a surprise to anyone but Dean himself, when Sam's younger brother had presented as an Omega. Even during the first signs of his first heat, the boy had still been hoping to present at least as a beta if not an Alpha. But both Sam and John had known better. Dean was a brat, but he'd always been at his happiest when Dad or Sam told him what to do.

10. Clean (JDM/Jensen Ackles, spn rps, non-con)

Jeff couldn't believe his luck. The notion that this perfect piece of slave flesh had never once been fucked was probably the biggest waste of a slave's body he'd ever seen in his life.

11. Light in the Basement (Jensen Ackles/Jared Padalecki, spn rps, non-con)

Jensen wasn't even sure what had happened as he slowly woke up face down on a dusty floor. He stared up at the room he was in. It was dark, stuffy, like there was something in his throat making it hard to breathe. There was a pervading smell of shit and mold hanging around the place, like he was in a badly cleaned toilet in one of the factories he'd been working at over the past few months. He crawled up into the dark

12. The Treaty (Jensen Ackles/Jared Padalecki, spn rps, a/b/o, dub-con)

Peace. After ten years of war, it was long awaited, and even from the throne room, Jared could hear the celebrations spreading across the capitol city. Jared wished he could join the people, spend time with his loved ones and hold his mother, but all he could think of was his father's face as he'd died in Jared's arms.

13. the Wolf who Ran with Hunters (gen Teen Wolf/Supernatural, Scott-centric)

Scott shivered as he woke up. He didn’t want to open his eyes, because once he did, he’d have to accept that he was all alone in some crappy motel room. Outside the window, he could see the dusty town in Oklahoma which he didn’t even know the name of.

14. Covered in Bandaids (Scott McCall/Isaac Lahey, Teen Wolf)

Isaac wasn’t quite sure what he was doing at the field. He shouldn’t even care about lacrosse any more. He was strong now, and lacrosse had been something he’d done because his father wanted him to be more like Camden.

15. Breaking Point (Scott McCall/Theo Raeken, Teen Wolf)

The place was cold. Even with the increased body heat of a werewolf Scott shivered in the corner of the cell. He wished he’d been wearing more than a tank top and his jeans when the cops had burst into his room. They hadn’t told him what he was being arrested for, or what they wanted, which as far as he knew, was not the norm.

16. Kindness for the Devil (Lucifer Morningstar/Scott McCall, Lucifer/Teen Wolf)

It was a night like any other. Things were a bit too quiet over at Lux, but then it was early, and it seemed to make Linda happy, making her more likely to stay instead of having her take Charlie and leaving.

17.Can’t Always hold him back (Stiles Stilinski/Derek Hale, Teen Wolf)

Scott looked down at Stiles, carefully listening to his friend’s heartbeat, pushing out the distraction of outside noise. Nurses and visitors talking in the hall outside, the beeping of the machine monitoring Stiles. He desperately tried to follow the pattern. It scared him, how hard his friend’s heart was working just to keep going, how difficult Stiles’ breathing went even with the oxygen mask covering his mouth and nose. Scott had finally managed to get the sheriff to go downstairs to have something to eat, maybe even take a shower if Mom could slip him into the staff showers. They all knew that their stay here could end up being a marathon that might last days more than it already had.

18. Beloved (Btvs/Angel, co written with @spikesheart)

Sitting at one end of a fully laden table, Buffy looked at the appetizers piled on the finest bone china sitting atop platinum charger plates, studied her matching platinum silverware, and wrangled with the finely woven silver linen napkin in her lap – patently avoiding her lover’s gaze as he sat at the other end. Only the best of everything life had to offer was laid out before her. A wide variety of catered pasta, meat and vegetable dishes filled every square inch of space in between them, yet nothing caught her fancy.

19. Parent Wolf (Teen Wolf, the parents)

She woke up in an endless white room, found her head leaning against the bark of an old tree trunk, staring up and noticing several other men and women waking up alongside her.

20. Missed Shot (gen, teen wolf, Scott-centric)

Scott stared up at the men coming closer and at the man who had just shot him with an arrow. Derek Hale, the creepy guy who’d lured him here in the first place, tried to grab him and pull him loose, but seconds later he was down on the ground as well with arrows in his leg and back. Scott stared around in fear, pulling at the arrow, too scared to think of breaking it free.

#Teen Wolf #the old guard #supernatural #supernatural rps #fanfic meme

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ariesnicolo · 3 years

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spencer if you’d like to do 13 i’d thank you for my life <3

kallen i was hoping someone would ask for this one tysm ily<3

this really got away from me lol and it’s over 2k words so i’m putting it under a read more, i hope you like it!!!

13. This wasn’t meant to be a date, but we’ve had such a good time and now it’s 2 a.m. and I should really go home… | andromaquynh, 2k+

Their day had started casual enough, just Andy and Quynh running errands together, first stopping at the library to return a textbook Andy needed for her research (I don’t know why you just didn’t download it off the internet, Quynh had complained as they waited for the older woman in front of them to find her library card from her purse, but Andy only shook her head and said, You know it hurts my eyes-- the words are always too small. Andy had bent down and picked up the women’s library card that had fallen out of her purse at some point and onto the ground, and then they were stuck there even longer as the woman profusely thanked Andy and wouldn’t let go of her hand.), and Andy felt bad about the holdup at the library so she lead them slightly out of the way toward a coffee shop so Quynh could order one of her too sweet coffees (Andy had to hide her smile in her own coffee far too frequently, Quynh’s enjoyment and excitement over a single drink infectious.)

Then Quynh needed to stop at a grocery store to pick up broth for a soup she was making for the monthly dinner she hosted with her mom, dad, and grandmother (You could just buy this in bulk, you know. It would probably be easier than coming here every few weeks, Andy said as Quynh handed Andy a carton of broth and then immediately turned left away from where the cash registers were and toward the snacks. Andy was prepared for this though, because Quynh always came just for broth and ended leaving with three bags full of groceries, so she just put the broth in the basket she quietly picked up when they walked in and followed Quynh. I know, but I like coming here. The people are nice, I like talking to them.)

After that Andy needed to buy flowers for Joe and Nicky’s daughter’s dance recital, since it was apparently customary for the family friend/aunt to bring flowers to those kind of events, (They just want you to bring her flowers too. She’s spoiled rotten, she gonna have all the other kids jealous, Quynh muttered with a fond smile as she thumbed over the petals of a light pink carnation. Andy had to physically resist the urge to pick one out of the bunch and hand it to Quynh, like in the movies where the two leads lock eyes and brush fingers and swelling music plays over them before something breaks the tension. Instead, Andy picked up a bunch of purple flowers and walked to the counter to check out.)

They stopped at Quynh’s apartment next to drop off the broth and flowers so they didn’t have to carry them around for the rest of the day. Even though they had no more errands to run and no set plans for the rest of the day, they both knew they didn’t want their time together to end so soon. They never needed anything concrete to have fun anyways, all Andy needed was Quynh around and she was set, could walk aimlessly with Quynh for centuries and want for nothing else.

“So,” Quynh turns from her kitchen sink with a vase half full of water and puts the flowers in the vase, “what do you want to do for the rest of the day?”

_______

They met when they were kids, at the school playground, each alone and looking for someone to play with. Quynh was sitting on the swings, alone and trying to catch someone’s eye to push her, but eventually giving up and trying to kick off the ground with her feet. Andy was wandering around the playground looking for something cool to climb when she spotted Quynh, and before she knew it, she was running toward Quynh and offering to push the swing for her. Quynh accepted Andy’s offer with excitement clear in her eyes, and Andy smiled and rushed behind the swing to start pushing. They have been inseparable ever since.

_______

They end up at the mall. It wouldn’t be Andy’s first choice in activity, but Quynh said she needed a new winter coat and it was always better to go shopping with a friend. Quynh stops in a million different stores before they even make it to where she likes to buy her coats, and if Andy drags her feet a little more than necessary, it isn’t because she knows Quynh will eventually grab her wrist to pull her along faster, and it certainly isn’t because she thinks Quynh is cute when huffs after her to get her to walk faster.

“Andy, c’mon, what if someone gets the coat I want before me?” Quynh tugs on Andy’s wrist one more time, and Andy falls into step beside Quynh. Quynh leads them to the escalator to the second floor, and Andy tries to remember if Quynh has mentioned a specific coat this entire time.

“How do you already know which one you want?” Andy asks as they step off the escalator, Quynh dodging through the people ahead of them and creating a pathway for Andy. Andy can’t help the little smile that forms as Quynh stops a few feet from the elevator and turns around, waits the few extra steps for Andy to catch up with a smile of her own.

“I saw it in a magazine at the dentist. It’s this really beautiful red coat and you can tie it in the front-- I’ll just show you when we get there. You’ll like it, though, I’m sure.”

“Yeah, I’m sure.” Andy already likes the coat if Quynh is this excited about it, Andy already loves the idea of Quynh getting to her store and finding the coat with a smile, Andy already has the mental image of Quynh wearing something she loves, something she’s comfortable in, locked in her mind.

_______

Quynh gets invited to Joe and Nicky’s daughter’s dance recital when it occurs to Andy that Quynh is still with her as she walks to the recital with Quynh next to her, that Quynh never stayed back at her apartment after Andy picked up the flowers and Quynh put away her coat. Not that Andy wasn’t already excited for the recital, because she does love that kid, but now that she knows Quynh will be next to her, the idea of sitting through a recital full of five year olds becomes a little more appealing.

Andy and Quynh meet Joe and Nicky inside, sliding into two empty seats next to them. Joe manages to wiggle his eyebrows at Andy before the lights dim and the curtain draws across the stage, and then his attention couldn’t be further from Andy. Andy rolls her eyes and tries to be normal about the fact that Quynh rests her head on Andy’s shoulder five minutes into the recital and doesn’t move until it’s over. Because it is normal, it’s perfectly normal for Quynh to lean on Andy or link their elbows together while they walk or for Quynh to twist her ankle around Andy’s foot when she wants her attention, but just because it happens doesn’t mean Andy ever gets used to it. It doesn’t mean Andy’s heart still doesn’t skip a beat whenever Quynh touches her, doesn’t mean Andy can’t feel like a little girl again whenever Quynh touches her.

The recital ends, Quynh takes her head off Andy’s shoulder, Andy gives her flowers to the kid (These are from me and Quynh. You were perfect up there, way better than all those other kids, but you already know that, huh?), and Andy and Quynh leave the recital hall together. The sun is starting to set, bright oranges and pinks and yellows mixing together in the sky, and it might be the most beautiful sunset Andy has ever seen, but she can’t take her eyes off how Quynh is staring in awe of the sky.

“Let’s walk through the park.” Andy suggests. “We can see the sunset better from up on the hill.”

Quynh shoots Andy a closed mouth smile before they start walking, her mouth scrunching toward the side as she glances at Andy. Andy knocks their shoulders together once they cross the street, and Quynh repeat the gesture toward Andy. Andy can’t be one hundred percent sure what Quynh means when she returns it, but Andy knows what she meant.

Of course I know you wanted to see it better. I know you, I see you, I’ve been in love with you since we were children. It feels like I know you better than I know myself.

_______

It’s late by the time they get dinner, much later than Quynh would like to be eating if the jealous looks she keeps sending the people eating next to them are any indication.

“You can’t keep glaring at the people next to us just because they have food and we don’t.”

Quynh tears her eyes away from the table next to them and shoots Andy a glare that would have been effective on anyone but Andy. Not only has Andy known Quynh much too long for the look to have any effect, Quynh has also known Andy too long to keep her glare free of fondness. “That’s rich, coming from someone who practically burned holes into the the back of Nile’s date last week.”

Andy just shrugs and takes a sip of her drink. She doesn’t regret it, and Nile’s date got over it pretty quickly, which was a good sign. “Do as I say, not as I do.”

Quynh scoffs and rolls her eyes, but Andy sees the little smile on Quynh’s face, even if no one else would be able to. Quynh’s eyes take her back to the people next to them and their food, and the longer she stares, the more Andy can see an idea forming in her mind. Andy just waits for Quynh to share what she’s thinking, knowing it’s going to be something outlandish.

“What if I asked them for a piece of their food?”

“Quynh-”

Their waitress arrives at that exact moment with their food, and Quynh’s focus on the people next to them is lost. Maybe they should stop drinking, or at least get the food in their stomachs quickly. “Thank you.” Andy tells the waitress after she checks that everything is good, and Quynh mumbles out a “Thank you” of her own through her noodles.

_______

They both got a little drunk at dinner, so when they left the restaurant and ended up on the boardwalk, every gamestand seemed like a great idea, and the cotton candy on the way out seemed like an even better idea. Neither of them were very successful in any of the game stands, but they each managed to win a few games, and they carry their trophies home proudly.

Andy has a stuffed black cat tucked under her arm and a flashing necklace hanging from her neck, and Quynh is wearing an alien headband and carrying a purple dragon by the tail.

“Can we take a cab home, Andy? I’m tired.” Quynh leans harder into Andy as if to prove her point, and Andy moves her stuffed cat into her other arm so she can wrap her left arm around Quynh’s shoulders, keeping her close. Andy does everything in her power to not overthink how Quynh called her apartment home. It’s late, probably close to two in the morning, and it’s been a long day for the both of them, so it’s best to just let it go.

“We’re one street over from your place. Just a little bit longer.”

Quynh’s responding groan is good enough for Andy, and she carries most of Quynh’s weight down the last street to Quynh’s apartment. It hits Andy then, seeing Quynh’s apartment building in the dark, that they’ve spent all day together, just wandering around with no plan other than to spend time together. It’s probably one of the best days Andy’s had in a long, long time. When she started the day running errands with Quynh, Andy didn’t think the day would end with them hanging out all day and getting dinner and laughing through games at the boardwalk.

If Andy didn’t know any better, she would think today was a date. But it wasn’t, and it isn’t, because Andy didn’t plan today and Quynh is just her friend. Her best friend, and that’s fine. It’s good, great even. Everything is good.

“Oh, I love you.” Quynh whispers, and Andy almost drops Quynh onto the front steps of her building in surprise.

“What did you just say?” Andy whispers back, not trusting her ears or her brain.

“I said I love you.” Quynh says, untangling herself from Andy’s arms and adjusting her headband. Andy can’t figure out if she’s having trouble breathing from how cute Quynh looks right now, goofy headband askew and a sleepy look about her, or if it’s because Quynh is finally telling her everything she’s ever wanted to hear. “To my apartment building. I’m so fucking tired, I guess it just slipped out.”

“Right.” Andy swallows and looks away, hides the emotion on her face before she looks back at Quynh. Quynh doesn’t love her, and Andy knows that, but she’s so tired and has had such a fuckign good day that it was easy to let herself believe for a second. “You gonna be okay to get upstairs by yourself?”

Quynh looks at her like she she just said the stupidest thing ever. “You’re not staying here? It’s late, you don’t have to go all the way back to your apartment now.”

Andy waves the suggestion away, knowing she shouldn’t tonight. “No, I’m going to go back to my place tonight. You have your dinner tomorrow, I don’t want to get in the way of your cooking.”

“You could never get in the way, Andy.” Quynh says that with such conviction, so quickly and so seriously that Andy’s breath gets caught in her throat. Before Andy can respond or process, Quynh is talking again. “Listen, Andy, I…”

Now it’s Quynh’s turn to look away for a moment before she can face Andy. Andy searches Quynh’s face for any sign of what she’s about to say, what she’s feeling, but Andy can’t tell. For the first time in her life, Andy can’t get a clear enough read on Quynh to tell what she’s feeling, and Andy hates it. They had such a nice day, what could Quynh be upset about? “What, Quynh?”

Quynh steps closer to Andy, gets right up in Andy’s personal space, and looks up at Andy from under her eyelashes. Andy stares back, fighting to keep her arms at her side and not reach out and touch Quynh, to not run her thumbs over her cheek bones, to not tuck a piece of hair behind her ear, to not wrap her arms around Quynh’s waist. Andy would be impressed with her self restraint today if it wasn’t packaged with longing and regret.

“I want- I just- you are-” Quynh gets frustrated and cuts herself off with a huff and a determined look, and before Andy can open her mouth to ask what’s wrong, Quynh is closing the remaining gap between them and kissing her. Quynh’s hands end up framing Andy’s face, pulling her down a little to meet Quynh on her tip toes, and once Andy’s brain clicks back on and understands what’s happening (Quynh is kissing her Quynh is kissing her Quynh is kissing her-), Andy wraps her arms around Quynh’s waist like she’s always wanted and kisses her back.

They kiss and kiss and kiss for what feels like forever in front of Quynh’s building, and eventually Quynh pulls back to breathe. Good thing too, because Andy probably would have kept kissing her until one or both of them passed out. Holy fuck. Andy closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, processing the last minute or two. When Andy opens her eyes, the first thing she sees is Quynh looking back at her, and the only thing Andy is one hundred percent sure of right now is that she wants to experience that for the rest of her life.

“You took me on a date today.” Quynh is looking directly at Andy as she says that, breathing a little heavy and biting her lower lip.

“Not intentionally.” Andy says, pulling Quynh back in for a kiss before she’s even finished talking.

“You’ll stay the night now?”

Forever. I’m staying forever. “Yeah, I’m staying, Quynh.”

#answered #sunshinequynh #thank u for sending one i really hope u like this <333

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writingwhilecaffeinated · 4 years

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Chapter 2 of my Eurovision AU cause apparently this is who I am now...

“You’re staring, Joe.”

Joe was startled out of his reverie by Booker and Nile, both of whom were smirking at him.

“What? No, I wasn’t-”

“Staring at the very attractive Italian singer?” Booker teased.

Joe turned back to the stage where Nicky seemed to be adamantly refusing the addition of drably clothed acrobatic dancers to his act. Booker gave a low whistle when he saw the short haired woman at his side, leveling a glare at the stage manager.

“Andromache is his manager, huh?”

Nile and Joe raised inquisitive eyebrows in Booker’s direction.

“Andromache, well, Andy. She’s one of the best in the business, she’s extremely loyal to her artists. She managed in Greece before moving on up to Italy.”

Joe nodded vaguely before turning his full attention back to Nicky, who seemed to have won his battle, as Nicky held his microphone to his lips. The music started, a ballad, and Nicky opened his mouth and began to sing. His voice was unique, gruff but somehow...calm, and melancholy. He could see how Nicky was known primarily as a rock singer in his home country.

Nile nudged Joe’s ribs. Joe didn’t look at her but simply nodded. Nile was attuned to Joe enough to know she could speak.

“What’s up Joe? You look… puzzled.”

“Nicky’s song.”

“Oh, on nickname terms with him already, are you?”

Joe ignored her comment.

“He’s beautiful… I mean, his voice is beautiful...I mean, he and his voice are beautiful. But something is missing.”

Nile turned and also listened to Nicky sing. She couldn’t understand much since Nicky’s song was in Italian (she had been told that Italy always submitted songs in Italian instead of English like many of the other countries) but she knew what love songs sounded like. The song itself, she could tell, was quite good. But the more she listened the more she just wasn’t convinced.

“Hmmmm,” Nile pondered, glancing a sly look up at Joe as he stood transfixed. “Let’s hope the man can find what he’s missing before the Final, no?”

Nicky was breathing hard as he exited his rehearsal. It had been better than expected, once he had fought off the idea of having backup dancers of any kind. He didn’t want any distractions on stage, both for the audience but also for himself. It was hard enough singing the song as it was and it didn’t need to be harder. Plus, Nicky thought as he used his long legs to propel him backstage, he was hoping he could catch Joe before he left the stadium.

Nicky saw he was in luck, Joe was just outside the backstage area in the hallway where the dressing rooms were. Joe was talking to a young, beautiful black woman and a handsome, roguish middle aged man. He had the manager look about him, Nicky observed. He just had that vibe.

Nicky forced himself to speak before he lost his nerve.

“Joe!”

Joe looked up and his face broke into that wide, radiant smile that did funny things to Nicky’s stomach. Was it possible that you could die of happiness and embarrassment at the same time due to someone’s smile? To think you were filled to the brim with joy and the need to throw up at the same time? Nicky was anxiously thrilled with the thought of it.

“Nicky,” Joe said, breaking the ranks of his trio to meet Nicky in the middle of the hallway. “I hope you don’t mind. I heard your act. You have a wonderful voice.”

Nicky, for what felt like the millionth time that day, flushed.

“Oh. Oh no you don’t need to be kind. You were much better. Listen,” Nicky had to get this out before he lost his nerve. “I was thinking, would you...that is - uh…”

Joe was still smiling at him, encouragingly but it was only making Nicky lose all train of thought faster than ever before. Dear lord it was like he was a busker all over again, paralyzed by fear as he tried to get tips by passersby on the streets in Roma.

“What he’s trying to say is would you be willing to join us for a party tonight,” said a voice and suddenly Quynh was at his side, smiling and affable. “I’m Quynh,” she said, sticking out her pale hand, her long fingers wiggling in invitation. “Nicky’s makeup artist.”

Joe took Quynh’s hand in his own and shook it firmly.

“Oh, very nice,” Quynh remarked, studying Joe’s hand before letting it go. “You don’t shake like I’m gonna break. I quite like you!”

“Quynh, calm down, he hasn’t said he’ll accompany us yet,” Andy said, appearing out of thin air on Nicky’s other side. “Hey, I have a feeling you know who I am if Booker’s had any say in it.”

“Oh you know I did, Andy,” Booker said, saddling up with Nile to flank Joe. Booker walks forward and gives Andy a hug and both Joe and Nicky realize that the two must have a longer history together than either has let on. “Now what’s this about a party?”

“Oh you know, the usual schmooze and booze before the semi-finals start. Lots of countries will be there, particularly the Western bloc and the coastal countries. You should join, it’d be good for your boy, Joe, here.”

Nicky felt like the conversation had been ripped out from under him and taken on new life between the two managers. This was not how he had imagined this conversation going. At all.

“Well, we should definitely go then. Joe’s performing in the second round of Semi-Finals so if he gets smashed, won’t be too much of an issue.”

Suddenly Andy and Booker were walking off, talking about the other countries, what the odd-makers were predicting, and oddly the newest editions to their liquor cabinets at home. Quynh sighed, an exasperated grin gracing her face.

“Don’t mind them, those two go way back. And god when you get managers in the same room together,” at this she rolled her eyes. “It’s almost insufferable. Luckily Andy has me to keep things fun!”

With that Quynh proceeded to glide after them, playfully throwing sarcastic comments over Booker and Andy’s conversation like well-placed confetti.

“Um,” Nile said, turning her head towards Joe and Nicky. The two men had gone back to staring at each other. “Well, I would introduce myself but I don’t think you would even register the words I’m saying. Nicky, pick Joe up at 7pm. He’ll give you the hotel address. Make sure he gets back safely. I will be getting smashed with those three. Joe, don’t wait up. I have a feeling I won’t be coming back to the room tonight.”

With that Nile gave Nicky a wink and punched Joe playfully in his bicep before prancing off the same way the others had left.

“What… just happened?” Nicky asked, utterly bewildered by how that entire conversation went down.

“I’m not exactly sure, but I think you were in the middle of asking me out?” Joe wiggled his eyebrows suggestively and Nicky couldn’t help but chortle.

“I mean-”

“Well, go ahead.”

“What?”

“Ask me out.”

Nicky met Joe’s eyes once again and, miraculously, saw Joe’s answer before he even asked him. Nicky’s heart swelled as his chest tightened, creating the most delightful bloom of pain in his chest.

“Joe, will you go with me to the party tonight? As my date?”

“Why Nicky,” Joe murmured, stepping closer so his lips were brushing the shell of Nicky’s ear. “I would be delighted.”

“Get a room already!

“Don’t ruin, the moment Nile!”

But the moment was made better as Joe and Nicky’s effervescent laughter filled the hall.

Nicky fidgeted with his earring as he knocked on Joe's hotel door. Should he have taken it out? Was it too much? Did it go with his black button down? Dear god, what was he doing? What was he wearing? He should go change… But before Nicky could run the door opened and Nicky was met with a vision.

Joe was in dress casual wear, what any pop singer might throw on to a party or a club. He was wearing the leather jacket of sin again, but this time coupled with a designer black t-shirt, a backward leopard print baseball cap, perfectly tailored, tight black trousers, designer sneakers, and an array of silver rings decorating his fingers.

“Fuck me,” Nicky breathed before realizing he said that out loud and frantically covered his mouth shut with a hand.

Joe threw back his head and laughed but it was not unkind. When he looked at Nicky again his shoulders were shaking, his tanned cheeks tinged pink from trying to hold the laughter in.

“I usually don’t get that until the end of the date,” Joe said, closing the door behind him and stepping forward. “But it can be arranged.”

———— Read the rest at Ao3

#immortal husbands #the old guard #joe x nicky #kaysonova #nicky x joe #tog

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