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mc-lukanette · 5 months

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Marinette was just tired, staring down at the ice cream on the ground as Andre scrambled to get her another. A fun time with her friends to run around Paris and maybe get a chance with Adrien had turned into a spotlight of embarrassment for her. The "couple time" her friends had been planning on having was now ruined to focus entirely on her, when all she wanted now was curl up into a corner and cry.

She felt bitter, watching as the mess on the bridge started to melt. It was like some sort of metaphor for how her attempts and opportunities all failed or slipped through her grasp, slowly but surely.

Andre grabbed her wrist and practically forced a replacement ice cream cone into her hand, saying stuff about how the magic doesn't lie and he must've just gotten the colors wrong, but she honestly wasn't listening anymore. She was in her own head, wondering, What would've been the point anyway? It's not like Adrien was coming to see me.

She couldn't see any reality in which that was false. He would've come for his friends, or for the thrill of the search, or maybe even just to have some ice cream. Even if she'd managed to make it all work out and share with him, what were the odds of everything afterward working out? She'd try to say something romantic and would mess it up, or he'd misunderstand and brush it off as nothing, or she'd be bumped into again and send the ice cream right onto his expensive clothes.

She winced at the thought. Maybe him not showing up was just a blessing in disguise, saving her from the humiliation of doing anything and having it all go wrong.

Marinette didn't want to make a big deal out of it, refusing to risk ruining her friends' time further. She diverted her attention to the ice cream cone in her hand, noting the blue and pink colors that she suspected were her own. Maybe Andre had just truly given up on her and this was the sign that it was a lost cause?

Or maybe he just realized that there was no way Adrien was coming and tried to save himself.

She stepped aside from everyone and sat down at a bench, keeping her distance from the happy couples while she poked at the ice cream with her tiny spoon. Andre wasn't exactly wrong if her thoughts on his mindset were true. Adrien always seemed to be unavailable when it mattered, and if she wanted to let herself spiral a little more, it almost seemed intentional.

After all, wasn't it a little too convenient that Adrien had missed out on the preparation for the music festival - when it would've been easiest for her to talk to him - just to show up afterward? Or for Adrien to have gotten the okay to go for ice cream only to be suddenly unavailable? Perhaps it would've been easy to pass those off if it weren't for the fact that Nino so rarely complained about their time together, and Adrien's schedule had been magically free when it came to him setting Nino up with her.

If her suspicions were accurate, then either Adrien knew how she felt and was doing everything possible to avoid her, or he just generally found her uncomfortable to be around; maybe even thought she was weird. Part of her wanted to defend that, suggesting that saying nothing was the "nice" thing to do, but her history of crushing on him when she apparently had no chance would disagree with that. She would've saved herself a lot of time then.

She huffed to herself, scooping up a bit of her ice cream and resolving to eat her sorrows away instead. Faintly recalling Andre's comment about how the magic only works if you eat it, she shook her head in disbelief and thought with a bittersweet expression, If I need magic to make him come see me, then what's the point?

She had opened her mouth, ready to finally taste the sweet treat, when a voice called out, "Marinette?"

Marinette paused, looking towards the source. Luka was standing just at the end of the bridge, presumably having been walking by as he spotted her. She smiled, wordlessly inviting him over, and he returned it as he made his way towards her.

"What are you up to?" she asked, genuinely curious.

"I was just taking a walk to the Trocadéro," he replied, his casual tone assuring her that she wasn't delaying anything serious, "but then I heard your song and wanted to check."

She ducked her head shyly, using her ice cream as an excuse to look away from him. She finally ate a bit, letting the taste of blueberry melt into her mouth. Already, she was feeling a little better.

When she looked back up, Luka hadn't looked away from her. Their friends (if they were Luka's friends anyway; they might've only been Juleka's) were only a small distance away, as well as the ice cream stand, but he didn't seem inclined to leave even to go say "hi."

Smiling, Marinette used her spare hand to pat the spot on the bench next to her, not unlike when he invited her to sit on his bed. Luka didn't waste any time, happily taking a seat beside her.

Whether or not he knew the legend, she was certain that he must've seen both the couples as well as the ice cream they were sharing that was made exactly like hers. She felt grateful at the idea that he was intentionally not prodding, even if he might've been curious.

"Someone didn't show," she explained anyway, fidgeting with her cone, "but I also might've gotten ditched."

He frowned, a hand going to her shoulder in sympathy. "I'm so sorry."

She shook her head, appreciating but not needing the comment. "It's okay. It was never going to work out anyway."

She wondered for a second if she was just fooling herself, but Luka's smile assured her otherwise. If he believed her, she must've meant it.

"Still," Luka began as he leaned back, crossing his ankles before continuing, "in our band, Rose writes the lyrics and I'm in charge of the music. Jule and Ivan feel bad about it sometimes, but we're all putting in effort to make it come together, so we don't mind."

Marinette hummed, nodding as she took that in. She could understand that, of course, given that she'd put effort into just about everything she did, from gaming to fashion to romance.

She never got any effort returned for the latter, either because it all went bad before reaching its intended recipient or it didn't change anything. She still had to ask for Adrien's whereabouts and information when she wanted to know, she'd thought they'd bonded over a shared love of games yet he never mentioned it to her again, and in retrospect, despite her image of him as the kind prince locked away in a tower, he hadn't given her a hand or showed any concern when Chloe shoved her.

The one thing she could think of was the charm he'd given her on her birthday based on the charm that she'd given him - which was so often a defense she came up with in her head - only now she’d finally remembered that she had loaned it to him and he'd just held onto it, thus making the situation seem substantially less romantic. It also didn't escape her that her luck had somehow gotten worse since then, even it was just the universe personally spiting her. "Hey, I'm glad you like having my luck and everything, but can I have it back?" she asked the imaginary Adrien in her head.

Luka had the luxury for her of being an "outsider" to all of it. They'd only met recently, so his knowledge of her relationships was extremely limited. Had it been one of the girls instead, they probably would've asked before she'd even gotten the chance to bring it up.

This was nice. Luka was nice. She still felt bubbly thinking about his apology at the first sign she was upset by him, how his first instinct was to protect her from the akuma, and the way he asked about her first to Ladybug even after having safely hidden her away. It was entirely possible that it had nothing to do with her and that it was just how Luka cared for people, but she actually liked that thought more.

"...Oh," she uttered in realization, noting that she was sitting there with ice cream while Luka wasn't. She turned to him, ensuring that he could see the second spoon still stuck in the ice cream. "Do you want any?"

His gaze flickered from the ice cream to her, confirming that she meant her ice cream. She nodded and he happily took the second spoon, adding a soft, "Thanks. I don't know what you got, but I love the colors."

She beamed, admiring the way his black nails stuck out against the color of the spoon as he scooped some of the ice cream she'd yet to try. Even in his mannerisms, he was such a sweetheart—

Wait.

"Ah—Luka, stop!" Marinette hurried to say, reaching out but not quite touching his wrist. "That's Sweetheart's Ice Cream! Maybe we should get you a different one."

He stopped, blinking at her confusedly. She'd honestly thought he'd know what she was talking about without her having to explain, but he seemed truly clueless.

"Um..." She gestured at it with her free hand. "People go all over Paris looking for Andre so they can taste his Sweetheart's Ice Cream." She raised a finger as she made her point. "They say that if two people eat it together, they'll be together forever!"

Huh. It actually sounded a little ridiculous when she said it to someone who didn't know.

She forged on anyway, figuring that she might as well finish what she started, "I-I don't want to magically attach us together? Especially because you didn't know that and..." She pouted, unsure if it was okay to touch on the topic but adding, "I thought you might have a girlfriend already? Or a boyfriend?"

Luka's eyes left hers to look at the tiny bit of ice cream on his spoon. He turned it left and right like he was trying to spot what exactly made it so magic, but it looked blatantly like normal, plain ice cream.

Eventually, he shrugged, catching her free hand in his and giving it a reassuring squeeze. "Thanks for looking out for me, Marinette, but I've never had anyone like that."

"Wh—really?" The shock of him knowing nothing of Sweetheart's Ice Cream paled in comparison to him never having had a partner. "So you're single?"

She'd asked out of sheer curiosity, but blushed when it became apparent how they sounded.

Luka, her savior from embarrassment, didn't even flinch and took it in stride. "Yeah." He looked back down at the ice cream, wondering aloud, "Do you believe in it?"

"Believe in...?" It took Marinette a second to remember what they'd been talking about. She followed his gaze to the ice cream, thinking the question over seriously. Could there actually be a magical solution to tie her to someone, or even just to help? Her parents had gotten together and thought fondly of their time with Sweetheart's Ice Cream, but did they actually believe in it? As Luka had asked, did she believe in it?

"...No. I don't think so," she sighed.

Funnily (or maybe tragically) enough, being Ladybug and getting exposed to the world's "magic" had made her more critical of the idea. "Magic" never actually solved any of her problems and often made them worse instead.

"I like what you said," she added with a self-conscious chuckle, "about effort. Sharing ice cream is nice, but there's no magic to it."

He nodded in agreement. "We don't have to worry then."

"Are you sure?" she continued to prod, though at this point it might not have been about the "magic" element anymore.

Instead of answering, he finally ate the ice cream that had been on his spoon, a pleased hum following at the taste. "Even if it was true, I wouldn't mind."

"You... wouldn't mind being tied to me?" she asked, her blush deepening. His directness was good - really, really good - because it left no room for her to misinterpret it, but she certainly wasn't used to it.

"Mhm." He confirmed it like it wasn't a big deal, but there was a warmth to his face that could've melted the ice cream on contact. "You're talented, amazing, and brave. Why wouldn't I?"

Marinette had experienced flirting before, but only under a mask. Even beyond Chat, there were a few people she'd saved who couldn't help but get a word in about how pretty she was or how awesome it was that she'd thrown the akuma into a web she'd fashioned out of her yoyo.

This was different though. He wasn't saying it to charm her, or gush about strength and dexterity she could only achieve after being powered up. He was just saying how he honestly felt without an ounce of exaggeration.

Shy, she attempted to take a bit more ice cream to give herself time to respond, but a bit turned to a lot when she mistakenly scooped too much. Trying not to laugh, she bit her bottom lip, almost in awe by how things had turned around after just a bit of introspection. She hadn't even realized how much was weighing her down until she let it all go.

"...Luka," she dared to call, throwing caution to the wind. When their gazes met, she held the spoon out to him encouragingly.

His lips parted for a moment - the first sign of throwing him off she'd gotten today - but like a puppy being offered a treat, he obediently leaned over and opened his mouth further to clamp down on the ice cream.

It did actually feel a little magic, but she was certain that it wasn't the legend's doing.

——

Marinette walked into her kitchen, letting her long hair down as she prepared to relax for the day. It was still strange getting used to having her own house, but not unwelcome, and one of the biggest pluses was that she didn't have to dig through her parents' weird dessert tastes in the freezer to get to what she wanted.

Pulling out two containers of ice cream at random - welcoming a little chaos in mixing the flavors - she set them on the counter and took out two bowls as well. Scooping an appropriate amount of the two flavors into them ("appropriate" for a lazy day anyway), she added one spoon in each before putting the containers back and taking the bowls out to the living room.

Luka, her boyfriend of almost five years, was skimming through a selection of movies on the couch to decide what they should watch. At the first sight of her though, he stopped, setting them down and welcoming her close.

She set her bowl down on the table, holding the other out to him and taking the time to give him a kiss on the forehead. He responded by pulling her down to kiss her chin, never one to leave a smooch unreturned.

Pulling back, she took in the sight of him holding ice cream and giggled. Unapologetically, she stated, "I guess that ice cream legend was right after all. You've already been stuck with me for years."

Luka raised a brow at her and smirked, catching the joke instantly. He held his arm out, allowing her to plop down next to him and snuggle against his side. "Mm, maybe I should've listened to you back then." Their lips met in a kiss as he blindly reached for the spoon in his bowl, scooping up some ice cream with it. "But you know what I said."

Marinette nodded, tucking her hair behind her earring-less ears before accepting the bite he fed her. "Mhm~" She took her time to savor the taste before swallowing, smiling contentedly as she responded, "I didn't mind being tied to you either."

#queuekanette #lukaneventte: No Context November #Flower Arrangement Shipping #Pro LukaMari #Lukanette #type: salt #episode: Glaciator #((Every episode where stuff like this happens to her my brain just jumps to))#((okay but what if this was the one where she realized ''hey maybe the hand I was dealt kinda sucks?''))#((I was going to say that this is nothing but self-indulgence but that's technically every Lukanette piece I write))

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failing-to-write-again · 3 months

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A Rainy Conversation; Shu Sakamaki x Reader

(Below audio is rain noise incase this link doesn't work, just for thematic background vibes)

"What a bother, you'll catch a cold and then that will be my problem"

You didn't hear him open the sliding door to the school's roof. He stood under the metal overhang protecting the welcome mat. You crouched on the lip of the bottom stair leading up to the more open area overlooking the sports courts. Instead holding an umbrella over your shoulder as you stared out to the town surrounding the school. The edges of your skirt damp from the cold, shoes shiny from the smattering of water droplets. You don't turn to him like you normally would.

"Heh, or do you just want the rain to turn guys shirts see through...perv."

He walks over, rain quickly causing his blonde curls to clumps and cling to his face, his blazer protected most of his cardigan from the rain. He sat beside you, most of his broad frame protected by the plastic. You then spoke.

"Why do you hang out with me so much?"

He scoffs at your deadpan comment. His hands remain in his pockets and he stretches one leg out straightening it.

"Why would you ask stupid questions like that? You always do."

"Because for all that talk you keep doing weirdly nice things, things that not a month ago would have you proclaiming how much of a bother they are."

His tongue runs across his teeth, a shallow soothing of his shame.

"You're imagining things."

"You've attended every class we have together, and suddenly I'm getting apologises for rude comments or being left out. My bed is now heated whenever you plan on sleeping there. Whenever I wake feeling anemic there's cranberry juice everywhere! And then this you keep talking all casual to me like we're friends."

Your head turns slightly as you look at him through the corner of your eye. Neither of your voices were very loud, the rain drowning you out what few noises of life remained in such weather. Shu's gaze remained transfixed on the ground, head tilted to the side slightly. His shoulders raised and fell slightly as he shifted.

"You cried all night a while ago."

His tone despondent and distant. As if he was somewhere else. His fingers tapped uncharacteristically against the stone, small droplets being flung as they moved. He let the words linger as he considered his next words.

"After the exams, I found your album with the ballet pictures. Then you just looked so sick compared to them, I went to leave and then I heard sobbing. It was you crying in your sleep about being taken away. That man, the priest, you kept saying his name begging him to let you go home."

You scoff, rolling your eyes and looking at your shoes. He looks to you in response.

"I don't see why that would make you act so weird, you don't care about anyone. 'Too mich effort.' That's your catchphrase right. So what you want to fuck up my life more?"

You stand, increasing the distance between you but still keeping him under the umbrellas protection.

"What's your deal?" You spit.

He shrugged.

"I didn't care. But it felt wrong whenever you looked hurt, I thought I wanted to hurt you, but everytime something did it felt horrible. I don't want to care, whenever I care about something it gets hurt. But then when you would fall asleep after I drank you, you never cried in your sleep."

"Shu this all sounds so round about. Just be brief. I'm sick of this!"

Your knuckles turn white gripping the umbrellas handle. Your chin wobbling slightly as you whispered.

"I don't like being played with, so if this is to get blood easier just say and I'll be easier. Because I'm starting to think you like me, and I'm starting to like you. So call me stupid and disappear."

He slowly pushes himself to stand before you. Now entirely out of the umbrellas reach to look down at you.

"You're an annoying pain but it's more of a pain when you're not around now. What you said when you first met me was right, I run away from people. But you, I can't run from without feeling even worse, especially after seeing everything that gets put on you."

His hands touch your waist, ducking under the umbrella as he slips into your space. His head comes to rest on your shoulder, sopping wet locks soaking through your uniform.

"I don't want to run anymore. You don't cry when you sleep next to me, so I'll stay by your side so you don't cry while awake."

Your shoulders begin to shake as tears begin to roll down your face. Your free hand gripping the soft wool of his cardigan tightly.

"You're an asshole. You're meant to say this before you start acting sweet."

"Cruel woman, a man pours his heart out for you and you insult him."

"Said the cruel man with the unbeating heart."

He laughs at that, pulling you closer and taking the umbrella from you. Your hand slips around him in turn. You feel a pressure on your forehead, similar to a kiss.

"It doesn't need to beat to belong to you."

Pulling back he holds your face up wiping some tears away with his thumb.

"Stop crying, it's bothersome"

#diabolik lovers #shu sakamaki x reader #shu sakamaki #rain confession #basic trope i know #i need to stop writing when I'm tired after studying.#look at me three posts so close together BE PROUD #Spotify

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lauras-collection · 1 year

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the end ✮ t.h.

|| Masterlist ||

Summary: this is not how you thought your evening would end.

Words: 1.5k

Warnings: just pure angst

A/N: uhhhh, long time no tom fic.... and it’s a bit of a different one. will this be my last tom fic ever? let’s hope not.

Feedback is always appreciated ❤️

He’s been checking his phone all evening. And not just once an hour, no, he’s checking it every five minutes.

“Are you waiting for a call?” You finally ask, not able to hide the frustration in your voice. You haven’t been able to spend a whole evening together in weeks. And now he’s not even really here with you.

“Hm? No, no it’s nothing.” He doesn’t even look at you for longer than a second.

And if it’s nothing why doesn’t he put his phone away?

You thought asking him about it would be hint enough to make him realise that you don’t like this. That you don’t like sitting in a fancy restaurant with your boyfriend while he’s got his phone right there. You didn’t even wanna come here. You would’ve rather stayed at home on the sofa, curled up into Tom’s side. But he insisted.

I wanna take you out. He said.

But now you’re thinking that maybe he just didn’t want to be around you. You close the menu, trying not to focus on the fact that your hands are shaking. What are you even doing here?

You knew that being with Tom had its challenges. Constantly being scrutinised by his fans, having to deal with him being away filming for most of the year. But you were so in love with him you didn’t mind. But this isn’t your scene. You don’t even like the fancy dress you’re wearing. You wanted to do him the favour, he’s been gone for so long and this is the first time he’s back and he actually has time for you. And he wanted to go to this restaurant. Why, you don’t know. At the beginning of your relationship all you did was order take out. Maybe go to the little Italian place around the corner if you felt like going on a proper date.

You feel like crying.

You’ve noticed him distancing himself from you for a while. You thought it was just because of his current job, that it was hard for him. But you thought you’d get through this. But every attempt from you to start a conversation was shot down by him. Not directly, but you didn’t really feel like having a conversation where he just gave you one worded answers.

The realisation comes suddenly, but you know it’s been brewing in your mind for a long time. You just weren’t ready to admit it to yourself.

You don’t want to be with Tom anymore.

Well, that’s not exactly true. You’re still in love with Tom, but not with the version of him sitting across from you right now. You don’t know what happened over the course of the last twelve months, but somehow he changed, and he changed in a way that you don’t recognise him anymore.

You look at him, trying to make eye contact but he’s busy staring at something over your shoulder.

“Tom?”

“Hm?” he forces a small smile but it’s gone before you can even really register it.

“What are we doing?” You look at him with furrowed eyebrows, you can feel your heart breaking in your chest.

“What do you mean? We’re having dinner at a nice restaurant.” Tom seems confused. Has he not noticed how tense this whole evening has been? How uncomfortable you are?

“We’re sitting in silence like two strangers.” You start, “Everytime I’m trying to start a conversation you brush me off with one worded answers.”

“Are you serious? I had a tough week, okay? So excuse me if I don’t feel like talking.”

You recoil a little at his harsh tone.

“We could’ve stayed at home. You insisted on going out. And now you keep checking your phone instead of talking to me.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.” He rolls his eyes and your jaw drops. You’re not letting him treat you like this. You brush your sweaty palms on your dress, then get up. “What are you doing?”

“I’m leaving.”

“You can’t just leave.”

“Watch me.” You push the chair in, put on your coat and sling your bag over your shoulder. “Have a nice evening.” With that you leave him sitting there.

And he doesn’t even try to stop you.

As soon as you step out of the restaurant the tears start rolling down your cheeks. How did you end up here? What happened that made him pull away from you? Was it something you did? It can’t be. You’ve always been supportive of him and his career. Even if it meant you were having a long distance relationship for most of the year. And of course your relationship had never been perfect. There have been fights and tears but you always managed to work through it together.

But you have a feeling Tom doesn’t want to work through whatever this is. He doesn’t even seem to care that your relationship is falling apart. If he did he would already be chasing after you.

Your fingers play with the keys in your pocket. They’re the keys to Tom’s place. You press your lips together as you make a decision.

“What is this?” You ask, the wide smile on your face matching Tom’s as you look at the little satchel in your hands.

“It’s for you.”

“I figured as much.” You playfully roll your eyes.

“Well, open it!” He urges you, his knee is bouncing with nervous energy.

You gently open the satchel and turn it around to let its contents fall into your palm.

It’s a set of keys.

You look at Tom in surprise. “Is this…?”

“The keys to my place, yeah.” His cheeks turn a soft shade of pink. “I thought it would be nice for you to have it. So you can come round whenever you want to, even if I’m not home yet.” He shrugs his shoulders.

You throw your arms around him. “Thank you so much.” You whisper before placing a kiss on his cheek, then his lips. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

***

The house is quiet when you enter. Of course it is, Tom is still at the restaurant. You have to be quick or you’ll start crying again. Taking two steps at a time you climb up the stairs, inside Tom’s bedroom you take a deep breath. Even his room seems to have a different aura. You grab all your clothes that have accumulated here over time. You spent most of your time at your place so it’s not too much but you don’t want to leave anything here. You’re on autopilot while you stuff everything inside the duffel bag you brought.

You rush down the stairs and enter the kitchen. Tessa’s bowls are collecting dust in the corner of the room. He’s been abandoning her, too. Leaving her with his parents even when he’s home. You suppress a sob and pull his key off your keyring, placing it on the kitchen table. Then you fumble with the clasp of your necklace. He gave it to you on your first anniversary.

“Happy anniversary, baby.” His voice is still gravelly from sleep, he tightens his arms around you placing a kiss on your cheek.

You lean back into him with a content sigh. “Happy anniversary.” You weave your fingers through his and kiss the back of his hand.

You turn around so you can look at him. His hair is messy, the sun that’s streaming in through the window hitting his eyes in a way that makes his eyes appear even prettier than usual.

“I love you.” You whisper and watch Tom’s face light up.

“I got you something.”

“I thought we said we wouldn’t get each other gifts?” You pout, you don’t have anything for him.

“I know but I saw this and it made me think of you. And this just seems like the perfect opportunity to give it to you.” His smile is cheeky as he reaches for something on his bedside table.

You're distracted by the way his muscles move under his tan skin. You’d both taken a week off and gone on an impromptu holiday in Spain. Just the two of you.

He turns back around, a small jewellery box in his hand and your heart starts beating out of your chest. You look at him with wide eyes.

“Don’t worry I’m not proposing yet.” He laughs and you breathe a sigh of relief. Even though you would’ve said yes to him in an instant but you don’t know if you’re ready for marriage yet. “Open it up.”

You feel your face heat up with excitement as you flip open the box. It’s a dainty necklace with a small sun pendant. It’s beautiful.

“Because you’re my sunshine.” He smiles, then gently takes the necklace out of the box. “C’mere.”

You move so Tom can put the necklace on you. The pendant rests between your collarbones, the material cold on your heated skin. You feel Tom press his lips to the back of your neck.

“You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

You place the necklace next to the key. As much as you love the piece of jewellery, it holds too many memories of you and Tom together. You can’t keep it.

You consider leaving a note, but decide against it. You don’t have to explain yourself. If he cares enough to want answers he can call you.

You quickly walk out the door and close it before you can change your mind again.

No turning back now.

_____

A/N: maybe I'll do a part 2 we’ll see

besties tag: @spidermanlondon ☆ @duskholland ☆ @heyhihellowhatsup0 ☆ @annathesillyfriend ☆ @hazofmyheart ☆ @emilykjh ☆ @sinisterspidey ☆ @lovebittenbyevans ☆ @miraclesoflove ☆ @seasidetom ☆ @selfcarecap ☆ @missevrythingg ☆ @userholland ☆ @softholand ☆ @hotforharrison ☆ @osterfield-holland-andcompany ☆ @thecodyexpress ☆ @worldoftom

#tom holland x reader #tom holland angst #tom holland fic #tom holland one shot #tom holland fanfic #tom holland imagine #tom holland x you

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burninlovebutler · 1 year

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26 - NYE pt. 2 - Say It Again** // Forever Winter Series

pairing: austin x fem!oc | word count: 6.8k-ish

warnings: smut, alcohol, mentions of substance abuse, mutual masturbation, use of toys, crying, fluffy?? sad fluffy?? (u know the deal), slight sub/dom undertones if u squint, aftercare, please don't hate me, 18+, MDNI

summary: After Austin’s encounter with Elsie in a side room and his new year’s kiss with his date, he spots Elsie making a speedy escape. Plagued with guilt of his actions, he runs to catch her but finds her in a… compromising position.

previous chapter -> 25 - NYE - Til You Come Back For More

see masterlist - for chapter log & all other fics

We go 'round again, we jump back in bed That's what you do when you love somebody

These bad omens, I look right through them That's what you do when you love somebody

I died when you left that night for the thousandth time 'Cause you love somebody else

-AUSTIN-

Aspen pulled away from our new year’s kiss with the biggest drunken grin. The taste of her vanilla lip gloss and straight tequila coated my lips. I kissed her again for good measure, pulling her waist against mine. “You look stunnin’ tonight babe.” Cupping her cheeks, “Just like a little sparkly firework.”

She blushed a bit and nudged my arm, “Oh shut up.”

I contemplated sweeping Aspen off into a bathroom to get the feeling of Elsie off me, but I couldn’t do another fuck in a bathroom.

The roar of the new year faded back into standard party noise and Aspen hauled me to the kitchen for fresh drinks. She was talking to me, but my focus was on the door down the hall that I left a desperate Elsie behind. She still hadn’t come out yet, which I figured she would’ve rushed out to get her New Year’s kiss from Nox.

It was only when Aspen handed me a new drink that I saw Elsie creep out from behind the wooden door. Slow at first then quickly zipping through the bustling crowd. Condensation from the red cup collected around my fingertips as I squeezed it between my fingers. My predisposed path I expected her to take was wrong, instead of going to find Nox, she escaped to the loft elevator.

Odd.

Guilt began to spread through my veins as quickly as the alcohol. I hadn’t exactly been nice in that room with her. Maybe it was too much. Maybe I took it too far. I never meant to make her upset – at least not enough to leave a party.

I then diverted my attention to tracking Nox, between the many other Elon Musk wannabe’s it wasn’t the easiest mission. I finally spotted him in a corner with some girl, a blonde girl.

A girl that looked pretty similar to the blonde I saw at the bistro weeks ago. The girl that ‘wasn’t there’.

Okay so – either she’s upset because of me or because of Nox – or I’m fucking seeing shit again.

Either way I needed to find her.

“Hey darlin’.” Curling my arm around Aspen, “I think I’m gonna head home.”

“Aw,” The edges of her plump lips downturned for a just a moment, “Well that’s okay, I kinda wanted to go to the club and cash in on lonely partiers.”

A smile tugged across my face, that was exactly why this was working. No strings, just fun.

“Why don’t you wanna stay and party?” She dropped a maraschino cherry in her mouth then plucking the stem out.

“I just don’t think I’m feelin’ all that well.”

She twirled the cherry stem between her thin fingers. “Aw,” She pushed out her bottom lip, “I can help, you want a bump?”

It took a good pause for me to contemplate the answer to that but ultimately decided against it, coke wasn’t something I wanted to make a habit of. I had too many fixes to juggle already.

“Nah I’m okay, but thanks for offerin’.” Picking her chin up, her brown eyes sparkling up at me. I’d be lying if I said she wasn’t gorgeous. She looked like if you put old Hollywood Marilyn Monroe into a present-day high-end escort. The type of escort that only the 1% hire, the Jeff Bezoz type of escort. Her features soft like a girl next door but her body like – a Playboy bunny. That’s exactly what she looked like, a Playboy bunny. The sex appeal, charm and the cheerfulness of a Playboy bunny.

I pressed a kiss on her full lips but before I could pull away, she hooked her finger into my shirt pocket. Her eyes met mine again, plopping the cherry stem in her mouth and within seconds plucking a newly formed knot from her extended tongue. Her fingers rotated it in my eyeline before dropping it in the pocket, her bedroom eyes locked on me the entire time. “Consider that a rain check for the other ways I could make you feel better.” She swiped the excess cherry juice from her thumb across her tongue then cleaned it off with a pop.

Navigating through shitfaced New Yorkers on New Years was hard enough on its own but the urgency of finding Elsie and the concoction of chemicals in my system made it quite a trying journey.

Finally reaching her door, I gave my signature knock.

No answer.

Knock again.

No answer.

With a slight turn of the knob, the door pushed open. “Els?” I called quietly. Tiptoeing around the empty apartment before hearing small noises from behind her cracked bedroom door. When I stepped closer, they sounded like whimpers.

Fuck. The last fucking thing I wanted to do was make her cry.

I knocked gently against the door frame, “Els?”

No answer, so I decided to just open the door. We had keys to each other’s places it wasn’t like we never just showed up.

A loud shriek came from her lips, her bare legs clamping around her hand.

“I-“ Eyes widening at the absolute opposite of what I thought was going on. Her dress bunched up at her hips, her hand between her thighs.

“What are you doing here!” Using her free hand to chuck a pillow at me that I promptly dodged. I’d never seen her cheeks so red.

“I thought you were sad!” I defended, putting both hands up as if I were under arrest.

“Why the fuck would I be sad!”

“Well I-“

“Get out!” Chucking another pillow at me.

Then it occurred to me, and maybe it was selfish, but the sight of her like that burned something vicious down my body. “Wait,” A slight curl at the corner of my lips, “Is this because of me?”

“What?”

“Is what you’re doing because of me?” I questioned, backing against the door clicking it closed.

“What are you doing, can you please just fucking leave.” Her voice was so flustered, it was almost endearing.

“Hm.” I stepped over to her, only causing her to clamp her legs more and slink further away from me. “Well, don’t stop on my account.”

I sat on the edge just below where her legs were bent. I loved having her be putty in my hands, I loved making her squirm and writhe and beg. Green eyes just blinked at me, even I could see the confusion behind them, the conflict. The visual struggle made me second guess my own actions. “I’m sorry I walked in on you. I’ll leave if you want me to.” Dropping the teasing tone.

“It’s okay um- just what are you doing here.” Well, she didn’t throw me out, maybe I was onto something after all.

“I saw you leave the party, I thought you were sad. But now I see you were just hor-“

“Sh!” Her free hand pressed a finger to my lips. She eyed me like if I was about to pull some rabbit out of a hat, like I was hiding something she was searching for. In the slowest motion she unfolded her legs, keeping her hand over her core.

God she was gonna send me into a frenzy.

“Need some help?” I couldn’t help but offer.

Her middle and ring fingers drew up her slit landing at her clit but didn’t move. I could already feel my blood rushing to my hips. All I wanted to do was finish what I started at the party.

Adjusting to be between her legs, I pressed my coordinating fingers into hers then guiding them in slow circles.

“Wha-“ She began to protest.

“I can’t touch you remember?” I reminded. She dropped her head as my hand took control of the motions on herself.

“Fuck.”

“Now I’m gonna ask again.” Speeding up just enough to be noticeable, “Were you touching yourself because of me?” Her eyes widened, that was he rabbit she was waiting for - the ‘mean’ me she was yelling about at the party, the me that made her weak.

Her lack of a response caused a pause in my motions. Leaning forward placing a kiss at her bent knee, “Now what did we talk about words?”

Her already desperate eyes scrunched closed in defeat. It was those tiny moments of defeat that fueled me to push her further and further.

“Yes – Yes it was because of fucking you.” The angst in her voice indicated that she didn’t want to give in, but she was. She was pissed that I was right, that I saw right through her.

“Hm. You’re getting better.” My fingertips moving again, now in circle-8’s.

A low moan poured from her mouth. As rock hard I was or as much I wanted to be buried inside her or how I wanted to hear her choke on me, any of it didn’t distract from this. For me, sometimes this was even better than any of those. Being an orchestrator of a beautiful woman’s demise? A puppet master for a blinding spiral? Well that’s better than any orgasm I could ever have.

“Tell me darlin’, you got any toys in that drawer?” Her eyes shooting open again, more pink flooding into her cheeks.

“I- uh- no, I don’t.” Her words barely coming out past her stutters.

“Well, then you don’t mind if I double check?” My tone innocent, teasing. I went to open her wooden bedside table drawer when she caught my arm.

“No, no I don’t think you need to double check.” Panic clear in her voice.

“Mhm.” A swift tug at the drawer before she could protest further. Her hands immediately covering her face from pure embarrassment.

I was in utter shock when the opened drawer revealed a rather large collection of toys. Though, I suppose when you’re with a partner who doesn’t satisfy you, you need to find ways to find relief. Each toy she owned was smaller than me, but I chose the closest one to my size and girth.

When I returned to her, she had clamped her legs together again and was still covering her face. “Well, that wasn’t very nice to lie to me.”

“Shut up.” She fussed.

“Oh, don’t be like that.” My index tracing up the side of her thigh, “C’mon open up for me will ya?”

“No, you’re being mean.” She grumbled still hidden behind her humiliation.

“I think you like it when I’m mean,” The throbbing in my jeans was beginning to become painful, threatening to take complete control. “Let me make you feel good baby.” My hand curving round her full thigh, indicating to let me spread them. She paused then obliged, slowly opening her legs for me.

You know how when you’re really craving a favorite meal and then you finally get it and all you want to do is devour it in the most depraved way? That’s exactly how I felt the minute I saw her glistening heat.

“Alright darlin’ here’s what I’m gonna need you to do for me,” Gently bringing her fingers back to her swollen bundle, “I need you to keep doin’ what you were doin’ before, I’ll take care of the rest alright?” The utterly taken aback look on her face swirled both fear and excitement. Her dainty fingers began moving in circles once more.

Her eyes tracking me as I let a drip of spit land on the silicone member and massaging it in to lubricate before I brought it to her. Before I could even line up to her entrance she opposed, “I want yours”

Those were not words I thought would come from her mouth, in that moment but it only made me strain in my pants more, it took the last bit of self-restraint to reply, “You know I can’t do that.”

“Why not.”

“Because you won’t answer me.” Stating the obvious.

“About what?”

“You know what. The reason you’re in this mess.”

“Aust please,” Looking up with pleading eyes, “I need you.”

“Answer it, why were you so upset at the party?”

“I told you I don’t have an answer.” She repeated, quite brave of her to be defiant in this compromising position.

“Well then I can’t fuck you.” The words physically pained me.

She groaned in frustration, “Fine but…” Contemplating, gears churning while her vision traced from my face down to the bulge in my pants, “Well, if I have to touch myself, then so do you.” She said matter-of-factly.

Now it was me who was taken aback, not expecting that either. “Is that really what you want?” Confirming the fucked-up compromise.

She nodded pathetically, “Please? I need to see your cock.”

I didn’t need much convincing after that, undoing my zipper and tugging both jeans and boxers down letting my member spring free. I eyed her core before slipping two fingers slowly into her, causing a gasp. I moved them back and forth to get just enough of her juices to use as my own lube. She watched my every movement, from her to myself, then watching as my fingers wrapped around the head of my length and began to slowly bob up and down. I couldn’t help letting out a low groan as I was finally getting the relief I so desperately needed all night.

“Is this what you wanted?” Bringing my grip lower on myself and noticing her index and middle fingers beginning to work on herself again, “To watch me fuck myself?”

“Yes,” She nodded watching my hand as if she was in a trance, “Do you… do that to the thought of me?”

Suddenly that question that I kept asking her now spun on me seemed significantly crueller. Letting out another low grunt when I finally reaching the base of my length, “Of course, how could I not think about being deep in your throat again?”

A tiny proud curve tugged at her lips, “You think about being inside me?”

My hand now gaining a rhythm on my pulsing cock, “Fuck – yes.” I glided the head of the toy up and down her glistening slit, before gently sliding it inside her with my free hand. “Just like that.”

She sucked in a sharp breath the moment the toy filled her, but it wasn’t enough, “Please, fuck me.” She pleaded once more.

If I had to tell her ‘no’ one more time, I didn’t know well I’d be able to deliver it. My actions continued, now matching my hand in time with the silicone slipping in and out of her dripping heat. She must’ve caught on since her index and middle fingers also paced with rhythm.

“Does that feel good baby? Being filled up?” My actions sped up marginally. Using that word both turned me on and twisted my stomach in knots. The knots only tightened when I felt myself press a gentle kiss to her inner thigh, breaking the ‘no touching’ rule. Even though we were engaged in some filthy action, the kiss felt so intimate. Probably one of the worst ways I could’ve touched her.

It earned me a pitched whimper, “Yes.” Her hips ever so slightly lifting and rotated on the fake dick.

Watching her soaked cunt getting fucked by something that wasn’t me only made me insatiable, I needed her in my mouth. My hand moved from my member using two fingers to spread her even more. I wanted to devour her but all I was allowed to do was watch. Whines rolled from her lips basically fucking herself with the way she rutted her hips on the toy.

“Please Austin, I need your cock – I need to feel you.” Her voice even weaker than before, “I wanna cum on you please.” As she begged her thrusts became more erratic, causing the grip on my length to follow suit.

Her digits took over my work sliding down between her folds and spread them wide for me, riding both fingers across her lips. She was trying to torture, make me give in. And I wanted to, god I fucking wanted to, so fucking bad.

I returned grasp to my throbbing cock and my eyes never once left her pussy. “I can’t, you know I can’t.” My stare still on her core as if I were hypnotized. I watched the blue toy drawing in and out of her, her walls gripping onto it. All I could do was imagine it was me inside her. It took every ounce of self-control to keep me from doing just that.

A weak moan fell as she circled her swollen clit again, “Are you close?”

I thought about it for a moment, but my pulsing head answered for me, “Yes.”

Tugging at her bottom lip seeming almost embarrassed of what she was about to say, “I want you to cum on me.” Rose blush tinted her cheeks.

“What?” Propping an eyebrow and stifling another moan as my hand wrapped around myself never took a break.

“I want you over me – and I want you to cum on me.” She clarified, “No touching.”

My view moved to her face to verify what she had just said, “You sure?”

“Mhm.” Nodding pathetically, “Please Aus? I wanna be covered in your cum.”

She didn’t need to ask any more for me to be between her legs, it took every ounce of restraint to not just slide right into her exposed and begging core. I stole the opportunity to take in the full sight of her, desperate, wet, pathetic, plump lips raw from biting down any noises she didn’t want escaping. The silky emerald dress beautifully draped off every curve of body, accentuating her full hourglass figure. She looked angelic, only illuminated by a singular bedside lamp and the glows from the city. Breathtaking and fragile like one of those sculptures where you can see every wrinkle of the dress. Had I never noticed her beauty in that way? Or had I just been lying the entire time - had I always looked at her that way?

I knew I couldn’t touch her, but I couldn’t resist from trailing my fingertips up her thighs to her hips, pushing the slinky dress material up a bit. “I don’t think you want me making a mess on this pretty dress baby.”

Every time I fucking said the term of endearment, I wanted to punch myself, but I wanted to keep using it.

She blinked up at me, showing the most hesitation I’d seen from her all night. “I um, I don’t wanna do that.”

Furling my brows up at her, “This has to be like $200 dress you really want me ruining it?”

“$500.” Correcting me but kept her focus on the side of the bed, chewing on her bottom lip. “It’s okay I’ll get it dry cleaned or something.”

Out of every fucking weird thing that led up to that moment tonight, that was the most puzzling one. There was something wrong and as a man of course it took me longer than it should’ve to figure it out.

Smoothing my hand up over hip beneath the dress, “You don’t have to hide from me.” Her cheeks prickled pink, “I’ve seen you without a shirt on before.”

“Yeah, but,” Running her tongue between pressed lips, “Never like this. I never do… this without a shirt on.”

“What do you mean?” It only got more perplexing, “You don’t have sex without a shirt on?”

“We’re not having sex.” She was quick to correct me, however her point was debatable. “But, no… ehm, he doesn’t like seeing me like that… when we’re, ya know.”

Nox continued to shock me because like, what the fuck? Why would you want her to hide? If it were me the dress would’ve been on the floor before we even left the party.

I wasn’t prepared to handle her statement, well I wasn’t really prepared to handle any of it.

“I’m not him.” I reminded her, “And I want to see you.”

She just stared at me when I figured maybe I should reframe my words.

Fingers molding around her hips gently, “I want to see you. I’m not lying about that. But more than that, I want you to be comfortable.” I reassured, “So, if me ruining your expensive dress is what will make you most comfortable then, I’m okay with that.”

She took a minute to process my words before replying with a soft, “Thank you.” Her tone was more appreciative than it should’ve been, like no one had ever taken time to prioritize her comfort.

“I want to…I just,” Eyes faltering once more, “I don’t think I can.”

I nodded, “Okay. That’s okay.”

She looked so relieved, making me sadder than it should’ve. It made me wonder the sort of backlash she was used to when saying no.

“Do you want to continue?” Making sure we were still on the same page, “It’s okay if you don’t.” Her hazy greens met mine though I couldn’t tell what they were thinking. I squeezed her hip again softly, “I won’t be upset, I promise.”

She pulled herself together, “I want to.” Giving me a little smile, as if my basic human decency had given her a green light. “No touching.”

Normally I hated those words, but this felt more like a victory. Not a sexual one, but some sort of a victory, nonetheless.

I gave her a small chuckle, “Okay, you got it. No touching.”

In that moment it felt like something began to weave together. Every other time us as friends and us as… whatever this was, were completely different, completely separate. But in that tiny fleeting exchange, it seemed to be both versions of us meshed.

The way her eyes blinked up at me, a soft sage suggested she might have felt the same sensation. If I didn’t know better, she was telepathically telling me to lean down and kiss her – it had to be her though right? It wasn’t be me. For whatever reason the thought of kissing her was the line – because of course us literally fucking ourselves to each other wasn’t the line. You kiss one-night stands, I kissed Aspen, I even fucked her, and it meant nothing to me. But Els would be different, I just knew it. And as much as I did want to sleep with her, that would be different too.

Her hands trickling down her body snapped me out of my thoughts. Fingers beginning to work on herself again in circles, not taking long for tiny whimpers to escape.

“You okay?” Her voice quiet, insecure, “If you really want me take it off-“

“No, no,” Stopping her free hand that already tugged the dress up slightly, “You look perfect just like this.”

Soft lips curled up, “Thanks Austie.”

It was no ‘baby’ but it was close.

“If you want to…you could take yours off.” I never saw her like this, shy, embarrassed, apprehensive, vulnerable. I loved it.

It caused a small laugh, “Is that what you want?”

“Mhm.” A little nod then tugged at the hem of my shirt.

Using just the collar to swiftly slip my black tee off, I watched her gaze rake down my body now fully bare in front of her. She brought dainty fingertips just hovering over my chest, tracing each accentuated ab. I knew I wasn’t nearly as muscular as Nox so, I wasn’t quite sure if her regard was one of comparison.

Her floating touch never making contact with me until finally reaching the wrist that held my member, fingers gently landing on my wrist bone. Even just the tips of her fingers on my wrist sent shockwaves through me and directly into my cock.

“Continue?” Her sight timidly reaching mine once more.

Using one hand to prop myself over her and the other started working on my length again. She reached down past her right hand and took over the toy to fuck herself under me.

I held myself up, my forehead pressed against hers – the only part of us that touched. Our focus never leaving each other’s eyes, our staggered breathing matched in time, watching the descent in the other’s face.

“Fuck I wish it was you around my cock.” The hand at work on myself speeding up at the thought of any part of her, even just her hand on me pushed me further.

“I know,” Her clouded wide eyes looking up at me so innocently, so pure. “I wish it was you inside me.”

Her fingers accelerated as well as moving the toy in and out of herself. Knowing that my cock was just inches away from being inside her drove me insane. I wanted to bury myself in her and fuck her senseless. She deserved it from how frustrated she made me.

Our working hands were so close to each other, in some twisted way we were fucking each other - her rhythm with the toy matched exactly the speed that my hips rolled into my hand.

The gentleness towards her from just before was slipping out of my grasp. “I don’t think you want that baby.” My head falling into the small of her neck.

“What, why?” She squeaked. “I do.”

“No, because you’ve driven me fucking insane. I’d make you pay. You’re lucky I can’t fuck you the way I want.” The thrusts into my grip sped up as they would if I was fucking her.

Her breath hitched clearly not expecting that answer. From earlier at the party, I figured her voice would fail her again, but she surprised me, “Maybe I’d like that.” The artificial tool catching up to my pace.

“Really?” Breathing into her neck from how her words fueled me, “You’d like it if I fucked you senseless? You’d like it if I used you as my own personal fuck doll?” Those were things I absolutely never imagined saying to her, especially not like this but the bourbon burned in my blood and I had little filter. From how silent she went, I thought for sure that had been too much.

“Yes.” She shyly answered through a stifled moan, “I’d like to be that for you.”

“Oh yeah?” My hand now catching up with her faster speed. God all I wanted was to sink my teeth into her, mark her, leave her covered in remnants of me. “What if I wanted to hurt you?”

Her silence even louder, I hoped she knew what I meant or that I didn’t just ruin everything. “I think I’d like that too.”

“Fuck baby.” I breathed out and failing at keeping a groan from escaping into her neck. My climax was approaching. As much as I wanted to finally come, I didn’t want this moment to end. It was the closest we’d ever gotten. “How about if I wanted to fill you up with my cum, would you like that too?”

“Yes.” No hesitation on that one. “I wish you’d do that right now.”

“Fuck,” I grunted when her reply caused my cock to twitch in my hand, “You’re gonna make me come if you keep talking like that.”

“I want you to cover me remember? I want your cum all over me, all over my dress.” Her fingers stumbling on her clit and the toy erratic. “Aus I’m so close, I’m so close.” Voice strained through her rapid breathing.

I nodded, then bring my forehead to hers again, I wanted to watch her unravel. “C’mon baby, you can come, give in to me. Pretend that’s my tongue on you, pretend it’s my cock inside you.” On the precipice of my own demise.

“Fuck,” She started before full euphoria hit her, “Fuck fuck fuck Austin!” Her back arching away from the bed as she let out the loudest moans I’d ever heard – full of curses and my name.

As she came, I soon followed, fucking my fist as hard as I’d be fucking her. Vivid buzzing filled my hips then spilled from my member, coating her silk dress in milky stripes. Our moans swirling and filling the room. It was watching her completely and totally collapse under me that sent me over the edge. Her eyes stayed locked with mine almost the entire time, only breaking contact when they rolled back in the height of her orgasm.

Eyes fluttered closed while we rode out our highs, heavy staggered breathing in time with each other. Her expression grew progressively bashful, blushing covered her cheeks. A heaviness dropped into my stomach resembling restraint.

Restraint from what?

It wasn’t my body.

Eerily similar to when you can’t wait to spoil the surprise of a birthday gift. A budding secret threatening to escape from your lips at any moment.

I went to pull away to clean the mess we’d made but she caught my arm curling her own around mine. “Please.” A low whisper.

I had no idea exactly what she was begging for but I knew it wasn’t for another finish line.

“I can clean you up-”

“No, I need you please” She didn’t look up at me and I swore I heard her voice crack.

“How? How do you need me?” Replying in a hush close to hers.

Hesitated, “I don’t know.”

“What’s wrong?” Running through any possible mistakes I had made, maybe I should’ve resisted my own urges for her sake.

“I, just- I just need you.” Her tone now clearly a cracking dam of restrained tears.

I would’ve had a hand hold her cheek if one wasn’t supporting me and the other wasn’t covered in cum. So, I did the closest thing and nudged her nose.

“How baby? How do you need me?”

Her gaze diverted and clearing her throat, “I- this way, this. I need you to fuck me.” She lied, it was a shit attempt at the truth.

Well now I was completely puzzled, not following a single damn mixed signal. “I don’t think that’s it Els. What is it?”

And in just the second after I used her name tears seeped out. She quickly brought her free arm up to wipe the tears off with her palm, clearly attempting to halt it from accelerating. My brows furled at the sight below me, those were not the kind of tears I normally caused during sex.

“Please, please,” She pled desperately, “Can we do it again please? I need you to do it again.”

“Whoa, what is going on?” Going to pull away but her grip on my arm kept me locked. “Are you upset about this? Did I do something wrong?” I questioned, the only things that seemed like valid reasons. “Did I say something?”

The cries worsened, face reddening under the palm that frantically worked to clean her now flowing tears.

“Is that it? Did I say something wrong?” I mean, I had said plenty to her tonight between the party and here. “What was it?”

Finally letting go of my arm to cover her face in folded arms, now completely sobbing, sharp inhales, and her chest heaving.

“C’mon baby, can you please tell me what it is? I’m sorry for anything.” I didn’t know her cries could get any worse but now she could barely get a full breath in.

She visibly attempted to tame the tears enough to speak, “That.” She said simply.

“I- what?” Before the pieces fell together in a way I didn’t expect – I didn’t expect it to hurt so much either. “’Baby’?”

She fell apart again nodding beneath her arms.

“Oh, um, I’m sorry. Is it too much? Do you not like it? I can stop.”

She stilled, seemingly processing how to respond, maybe she didn’t even know. “Please just fuck me? Or something?” Her breathing steading just marginally enough to speak, “I don’t even have to cum just – something, anything.”

“Els, I’m not gonna – do anything – when you’re like this. You’re literally sobbing.” I felt like I was in some sort of twilight zone, like I was missing some key element. She just told me I did something wrong and now she’s begging me to fuck her?

‘I don’t even have to come’?

“I’m gonna need you to tell me what’s really wrong because, well, I can’t just sit here and watch you cry?”

She just kept, wailing. Pure, unbridled wails.

“I mean, if this is really about me saying ba-“

“Please Austin please.”

I had never heard someone begging for sex in such a sad way. It made absolutely no sense. “Elsie, I really don’t know what you want right now. I’m sorry for saying or doing whatever I did. But I need you to tell me what this is about, please.” All I wanted to do was make it better, hold her, stop her tears, whatever she needed, I wanted to give.

She took a long pause.

“If you fuck me, you’ll say it again.”

I took an equally as long pause just trying to wrap my head around her delicate words, “Okay, now you’ve really lost me.”

She turned her face completely away from me even though she was still hidden behind her arms. In a feeble voice, “I need you to fuck me, because you’ll say it again.”

Huh?

“Say what again Els?”

Another pause with struggling inhales, “‘Baby’.”

Not what I was expecting but it was more confusing than anything else she could’ve said. “You only call me that when you want me.” Her words sliced through any fluff, any of the bullshit layers we had laid.

Well, duh. What, was I going to call her baby in front of her boyfriend? Or when we’re watching movies?

“Well – I mean – you know.” Stumped on what exactly was the correct response. “I, well, I just, you know.” Fumbling again, like I was trying to play football with a oil-coated ball.

“See?”

“I well, uh,” What was I supposed to say? You have a fucking boyfriend? I shouldn’t be saying it in the first place. “I just didn’t know you liked it.”

“I know.” As to confirm my thoughts of how it wasn’t right, of how it didn’t make sense for me to say it and how she shouldn’t like it.

“Well, I’m not saying it to like- coerce you into anything. It’s not just because I want to, ya know, do what we did.”

“It’s not?” A sniffle as her weeping slowly began to decline. She knew I couldn’t answer it, I shouldn’t answer it. “I just- I don’t know,” Timidly pulling from her arms now looking up at me teary eyed, “I just like hearing it, I guess.”

Before I could even stop myself, “You like hearing it, or you like to hear me say it?”

Her watery greens rounded but just nodded, so feeble it was barely noticeable.

“Okay,” Finally regaining some control over the situation and realizing that I was still completely fucking nude, “How about this, I clean you up and get you into some comfy clothes?”

With a sniffle she gave me a silent ‘okay’.

“Uh, before I do anything, should I be worried about, ehm… him coming home?”

I fully expected her to shoot up in a panic, but she just shook her head, “No, he texted me he’s not coming home. He’s crashing there.”

Mhm, it had nothing to do with the girl he was with, right?

“Okay.” I made my way out of the mess of sheets and to her bathroom, cleaning myself off and slipping back into my boxers. Then brought a towel to the bed and climbed back in. I kneeled in front of her legs that had clamped back together, not moving any other way.

Trailing my hand up her leg, “C’mon baby, open up for me.”

Immediately I saw a slight glimmer in her now mostly dry eyes and then complied to me, timidly spreading open.

Any other time the sight of her still dripping and the toy still deep inside her would’ve stirred me again, but right now my priority was taking care of her.

I gently pulled the silicone from her core, coming out with a pop which caused her to blush all over again.

“Is it okay that I’m doing this?” I confirmed before actually touching her.

“Mhm.” Now hiding behind her hands again.

I brought the towel to her messy center and softly moved it down between her lips, making sure she was thoroughly cleaned up. “Does that feel okay?”

“Mhm.”

Then going to the dress, wiping off the excess of me that hadn’t yet dried onto the fabric. I tugged a bit on the scrunched dress at her hips, “You wanna take this off? I can get you some PJs and leave the room if you want?”

“Hmm,” She thought, “You can stay but, you have to close your eyes.”

“Okay.” I agreed quietly, pulling off the bed and going to her drawers. From the many drunken nights there I knew exactly which drawer held her PJs, second drawer on the left. I picked out an oversized shirt, one that seemed quite familiar, probably one that she stole from me and then paired with some fleece shorts. I set them on the bed and sat next to them on the edge facing the wall and shutting my eyes. “Alright, I’m not looking.”

I heard her shuffle around the bed struggling through the thick duvet, then an audible struggle and a defeated sigh. “I need help.”

I let out a quiet chuckle, “Of course you do.” I kept my eyes shut but motioned her to come towards me. “C’mere, I’ll keep ‘em closed.”

“Hmph.” She exhaled hard and shuffled her way over to me, the dress rippling across the wooden floor, “Okay, here.”

I nodded even though she couldn’t see me. My hands reached out blindly and met her full hips first, then wandered up her curves on a discovery mission. It was the first time my hands felt her this way without it being fueled by desires. A heavy knot fell into the pit of my belly, but it wasn’t sexual. I didn’t know what it was. It mimicked the feeling of picking up a product in a florescent lit mall, something you felt the instant need for, something perfect for you. Then you look at the price tag and the realization that it is completely out of your budget. Not that she was an object to me, god no. She was anything but an object to me. But she was out of my reach, something I couldn’t afford.

I wanted more than I could handle.

This intimate plight over her body outside of the sexual lens gave me a new view of her physique. The sightless wandering heightened my ability to discern parts of her figure I’d somehow missed, like the extra around her midsection. The part no doubt was what Nox ridiculed and made her embarrassed of, the part that she would stop in mirrors to body-check. The parts she frowned at, pulled baggy clothes over, the parts she hid. And yet they were the parts of her that drove me crazy.

My hands fumbled to find the zipper, causing her to let out a giggle. “C’mon now Aus, it’s not that hard.” A smile crept across my face and I chuckled back, finally finding the zipper and running both index fingers up the length of it. I kept a hand anchored to her side as I delicately unzipped the satin dress.

It was those moments, the giggles in between, it felt like us, normal us. Us meshed between those mistakes. Us meshed over intimate names and forbidden actions. Could we be us while touching the way that we do?

“Thanks.” She replied quietly, stepping forward and slipping the dress off. I could hear the rustling of her changing into the pajamas then pulling herself into bed. “You can open now.”

I let my eyelids open after what felt like an eternity. My gaze fell on her wrapped in her white duvet and gave her a tiny grin, “Ya know, I think you look better like that.”

Red peaked in her cheeks, “Shut up.” Then looking over at me with big eyes and I already knew what was coming, “I’m cold.”

I nodded and climbed across the king-sized mattress and met her under the covers, spooning her from behind. Out of pure reflex I wrapped an arm around her and out of sheer stupidity my hand found hers, intertwining between her fingers. A loud silence fell upon the room, like an elephant had suddenly made an appearance.

After a long bit of stillness came a barely audible, “Aus.”

And suddenly it felt like I was a little kid being caught in something against the rules, “Yeah?” I responded, nervous of what would follow.

She let a long pause pass, “What is this?” Her voice held a slight shake, sadness tainted through every word. “What are we doing?”

And just like that, she broke every silence compromise, every rule, shattering the close call clause. It dawned on me that I didn’t know the answer to that question. What were we doing? What did I want? What did I think would come from this? What ghost was I chasing and why?

“I-I,” I let out a sigh, “I don’t know.”

Her body wouldn’t have been more still, even her knuckles froze in time, “Do um- Do you like it?”

At first thought I questioned it, but how could I not? How could I possibly deny that?

“I think so - I think that’s quite obvious.” I answered simply. “You?”

“I think so.” She copied, her hand giving mine a gentle squeeze. I knew it was the champagne in her system talking, she’d never be brave enough to say any of that sober. That begged the question, did she mean it? And possibly, more importantly, would she remember? Would she remember my answers in the morning? Did I want her to?

I rested my forehead against her shoulder and placed a gentle kiss on her fabric covered skin.

“What does that mean?” She inquired another impossible and prohibited question.

I decided to act dense, the last thing I needed to do was misconstrue what she was insinuating, “What do you mean?”

“Like… for us. What does that mean for us?” I could practically hear her wincing from her own questions, bracing for impact.

“I’m…I’m not sure.” I answered honestly. I didn’t. She had Nox and now I had Aspen. “We’re friends… I guess.” The truth never tasted so vile in my mouth, it was like saying the sky was green.

She ever so slightly curled away from me, her face nuzzled into her pillow and from her lips came an even more vile truth. A truth so loud, so violent that rattled every molecule in my carcass. A verity that would obliterate every rule and null every close call clause.

“Friends don’t do the things we do Aus.”

Next Chapter -> 27 - The First Close Call

Forever Winter Spotify Playlist -> ❄️

Thank you for every like, reblog or comment, it means the world to me truly. I love hearing your thoughts and I'm glad you're liking my little story 💗

taglist: @cryingabtab @slowsweetlove @purejasmine @feverdreamcaoilainn @coloradohighs @iluvnerds69 @denised916 @julie181 @navsblog @centaine @golden-kiwis @michellelv (if you'd like to be added pls comment 💗)

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snootlestheangel · 6 months

Text

Another Gaz has a twin post

Still thinking about Gaz having a twin sister named Olivia.

Their birthday is in late December, so he normally doesn't worry about being away from home for it, cause he's usually on holiday leave.

But something happened this year and he can't make it home.

Instead, because of some terrorist dumbfucks he's spending his birthday in some old safehouse that's definitely not up to code. Instead he's freezing his ass off and trapped waiting for new information to let them make a move.

Price is the first to notice something is wrong. Sure he's the captain and has seen all their personnel files, but it's not like he studies those things. He'd rather learn that shit about his boys through them, through getting to know them as a friend. So he definitely knows Gaz's birthday is soon, he vaguely remembers the month being listed as December in his file. But he doesn't know that today is their birthday.

Next is Soap, actually. Despite Ghost's uncanny ability to read people, he's not quite as close to Gaz as the other two. They're still close, don't get me wrong, but not as close as he and Price or he and Soap. Soap notices the way Gaz is suddenly constantly frowning, the way he's snippy, the way he's easily annoyed. He brings it up to Ghost cause he's worried something might be really wrong with Gaz, but he doesn't want Price to panic and make a fuss over nothing.

But Price hears it, says he noticed, and they all come to the conclusion that he's just not comfortable in this safehouse, that he's grumpy because of the fact they're stuck in a safe house when they should all be on holiday.

But then Soap finds Gaz curled into a dark corner in the room they're sharing, quietly crying. Soap doesn't ask any questions, doesn't say anything, and instead takes a seat next to Gaz. They sit there like that for so long.

Until Gaz's crying stops being quiet, when he starts hiccuping slightly with each worsening sob.

Then Soap panics, cause clearly something more than just being stuck in a safe house around Christmas isn't what's wrong with him. So he tries getting Gaz to calm down and explain what's wrong, except at this point he can't. Gaz is in his head and having a panic attack now.

So Soap gets Ghost. The one person he knows to be an expert on dealing with panic attacks. Of course Price follows, watching with the most worried look on his face as Ghost lowers himself to the floor in front of Gaz.

Once Gaz is back to reality, he explains what's bothering him. That it's his and Olivia's birthday. That he's never been away from her for one. It's an impressive record, he knows. But that's the way it works when your birthday is just a few days before Christmas, when you're both guaranteed to be home.

And he got scared cause he knows there's still work to be done, that he doesn't get to go home anytime soon. So he started thinking of how many birthdays Olivia will have to spend all by herself because he'll never come home again. He's scared cause this is the physical manifestation of a new era of their lives, and he's scared for what that means.

I don't really know where to go from here, I don't have a comfort for this, just the angst.

It probably also means the 141 never forgets Gaz's birthday again. They always send a gift for him and a gift for Liv.

#kyle gaz garrick #gaz mw2 #gaz modern warfare #gaz call of duty #gaz cod #simon ghost riley #john soap mactavish #captain john price #gaz has a twin sister #Gaz angst drabble #call of duty #Call of duty drabble

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boltupbitches · 3 months

Text

The One That Got Away - Justin Herbert

“I just think we’re going down two different paths.”

Justin stared blankly at his girlfriend for a moment, his brain doing its best to process what he just heard.

She stared nervously at him and then looked away as she tucked a piece of hair nervously behind her ear. To say the situation was awkward was an understatement.

“Melanie… I don’t understand where this is coming from.” Justin said, his voice was low and the obvious sadness seeped through with each word. He couldn’t understand why his girlfriend was saying this right now.

“Justin, I just think LA isn’t a good fit for me anymore. I want to go home. There’s no one here really that I’m close with.” It was true, except for Justin, Melanie was very reserved - even more than Justin at times - and due to that she struggled with making friends in a boisterous and social place like Los Angeles.

“Melanie, you can’t say there’s no one. What about me? Am I no one?” He was hurt by her words and tried to keep his voice level - the last thing he wanted to do was hurt her feelings and fight with her.

She said nothing for a few moments, staring down at her feet as she stayed silent. Her heart sank as she felt the tell-tale sign of tears pricking at the corners of her eyes. It felt like her heart was fracturing microscopically with each second that ticked past.

“Justin, I just… I think it’s better that we break up.” She said softly.

Justin was silent for a minute or two, looking down at his own feet. He said nothing and got up from the couch. He slipped his sandals on and walked directly to her front door where he opened it and walked out. The door clicked behind him.

Melanie sat there in silence, stunned even though she knew how it would end. Still, she started to cry quietly to herself, knowing that it was best. She couldn’t deal with the heart-aching reality of Justin leaving her for the many beautiful girls he followed on Instagram. Sure, to those outside her situation, it was her own insecurity getting in the way of her happiness, but she couldn’t face the heartbreak that she believed would come her way. He was the first boyfriend she ever had. She doubted he would be the one who would stay.

She wasn’t sure how much time had passed - possibly a few minutes - as she curled into herself and continued to cry.

Suddenly, her front door opened and a frustrated Justin reappeared through the door, his face looking determined as he locked eyes with his girlfriend. His sudden reappearance surprised her and caused her to sit up in response.

Justin shut the door, kicked his sandals back off, and walked back to her. He sat back down on her tiny couch and pivoted his body to face hers.

She thought he had left. Instead, what she didn’t realize was that he was outside cooling down and trying to think about what he wanted to say to her.

“Is it because of the reports of me dating that reporter? Cause I swear I’m not.” He said as he continued to sit on the couch next to her. “I’ve only ever spoken with her when doing media - and that was a few times. I don’t know where the media is getting this information, but Mel, I swear, it’s only ever been you for me.” He reached out gently to hold her hand, “These past five months have been the best I’ve felt in a long time since moving down here. Please, don’t shut me out.”

Melanie stared back at him with tear-stained cheeks and sad eyes. “I’m not worried about Biscotti.” That was a lie.

“Mel…” He urged, frustration clear in his eyes. “You are though. I know you are. Just like I know that you don’t like coming to SoFi to watch my games in case people find out you’re my girlfriend. I know those articles bother you. I saw you scrolling through a bullshit article the other day while you were laying in bed with me and watching TV.” He pointed out. “Just… please listen to what I’m saying here. There is no one else. I don’t care what the media says. I don’t care what people on Instagram say. I don’t care about anyone else outside this relationship but us and how we are doing. There is no Taylor Biscotti or anyone else I followed on Instagram before I met you. I’ll even show you my Instagram messages and texts.” He urged.

Melanie finally broke down and cried in front of him. “Justin, it’s not just that. I literally work as a vet technician and live in this tiny ass apartment. I barely can afford to live anywhere in LA - let alone stay here in Orange County. I came out here to experience life and try something new. I got in over my head. I don’t relate to your career and lifestyle. I can barely afford groceries week-to-week.” She wept as Justin pulled her gently against him.

His heart broke in hearing her admit all these things. He knew she wasn’t in a financially solid place, but she never admitted it and he knew her pride would be hurt if he brought it up. Often, he had her over at his place where he always did his best to cook for the both of them with the endless food he had stocked in his kitchen. When he went to her apartment, he was always bringing takeout or stuff to cook with her in her tiny kitchen. He knew she was independent - so stubbornly so that he didn’t know how to convince her to allow him to help her even a little bit.

She had always been that way - at least since he had met her. He recalled the first time he laid eyes on her and the second time they met when he finally got the nerve up to ask for her number.

—------------

They ended up meeting when he brought Nova to the veterinarian where she had just started. She caught his eye immediately and he knew by the end of the appointment that he was going to find an excuse to bring Nova back sooner rather than later so he could see her again.

And he did. A week later Nova faked a limp and Justin didn’t hesitate to call the vet’s office before wrestling his cat into her carrier.

The second he arrived, his eyes scanned for her in the front office, barely hearing a word the receptionist said to him as Nova hissed to show her disgruntled mood at being back at her least favorite place.

Justin sat nervously, his eyes glued to the door that led to the exam rooms. Finally, what felt like eons later with the occasional hiss and grumble from Nova, the vet technician he wanted to see came out with a small as she called them back.

Justin admired her. He loved her custom CatDog scrubs she wore as she gently coaxed out a frustrated Nova. He wanted so bad to talk to her about the show and ask her if it was her favorite. Instead, he listened and answered her questions intently as she glanced every so often at him. When she left and the vet came in to check on Nova, Justin was sad to not see the beautiful technician with him.

It was when he paid at the front desk that he reacted in desperation. “Can I have a sticky note please?”

The receptionist handed it over wordlessly as she processed his card for payment. Justin glanced around before quickly scribbling his first name and cell phone number. He folded it and asked the receptionist, “The.. the vet technician that helped us today, Melanie, could you give this to her?” He knew his face was burning red with embarrassment and nerves.

The receptionist looked at him curiously but nodded anyway, and sat it aside.

Justin walked out quickly after signing his receipt, his heart bursting as he heard the receptionist call out, “Mel, girl he gave you his number!”

He almost died in his car from the absolute panic that flushed over him. What did he just do?

She probably thought he was lame and would never call a guy like him.

Thankfully, she had texted him that night and the rest was history.

—---------

“Move in with me,” he blurted out.

“Justin, I can’t -” She pushed gently away from him, rubbing her face.

Justin wasn’t hearing it. “You can help me pay for groceries and show me the best stuff I can buy for Nova.” he was grasping at straws. She could move in completely free and not pay a cent - he would let her with no problem, but he knew he had to appeal to something to give her control of. “You have a car payment and insurance to pay. If you don't want to sleep in my room, you can have one of the three guest bedrooms I have.” He was bargaining now. “Anything you want.”

Melanie nodded and said, “Can I think about it for a bit?” She wanted to take him up on her offer, but she also knew she needed to decide with a clearer mind that wasn’t fresh off a crying spell. Melanie wanted this just as much as Justin, but she also knew she had to straighten a few of her own personal issues, such as her insecurity, for it to work.

“I love you,” Justin said as he pressed a deep kiss to her lips. He pulled back but his hands continued to cradle her face, “I know I don’t say it enough and I’ll do better in doing so, but I truly do. There is no one else. Not rich, middle class, or poor that could replace you in my life. Please know that. These five months haven’t been a waste of time. We just need to work on keeping the outside noise locked out where it belongs, ok?”

Melanie nodded as she leaned up to press her lips against his.

Thankfully, Justin was willing to fight for them. She knew she needed to do better in doing the same. She didn’t want him to be the one that got away.

#justin herbert fanfic #Justin Herbert fanfiction #justin herbert one shot #Justin Herbert imagines

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qrlvn · 2 years

Text

-— dating robin buckley.

info | robin buckley x fem!reader. headcanons. good ol fluff, mild swearing, platonic steve x reader, a little tipsy!reader. wc: 1k.

a/n uhmmm i don’t know how good my characterization of robin is but here’s a little something with her because i love her a lot <33 !! robin supremacy

for some backstory, you were one of steve’s friends. one of the only ones that wasn’t a child, as robin so kindly put it, and you always visited him at his workplaces, from scoops ahoy to family video

she’d found you mesmerizing the second you met, but it took her a while to even try to talk to you. to her surprise, you were a very easy person to talk to; she could tell you anything and you’d always have a comeback

she didn’t tell steve about her little crush on you right away, but he could see how she looked at you, and it was obvious so when she decided to tell him, it was just like

“hey i kinda like y/n”

“yeah i know”

he’d then proceed to tell her how she looked at you with clearly lovesick eyes and how she always seemed to follow wherever you went

from your perspective it looked normal. girl friends are just affectionate like that, right? it wasn’t much of a big deal

until it became one

you started to wonder if you liked robin the way you liked boys, though brushing it off as friendly, totally platonic affection since you thought it wouldn’t be possible to like robin like that

surprise! you were wrong

sometimes you’d catch yourself looking at her for a second too long, or getting lost in the sound of her voice, and the feeling was only getting harder to ignore

you knew you couldn’t tell robin just yet, because you didn’t even know if she liked you, or if she even liked girls at all, so you decide to talk to steve instead

“i don’t entirely know if this is like, possible, but i think i have a crush on robin.” you tell him, softly, in a whisper, afraid that anyone else would hear, even though it was the middle of the night and you two were in his car.

his eyes widen a little, nothing you could notice, because of how dark it was in his vehicle. “holy shit, you should tell her.”

“what if she doesn’t like girls? i’m gonna ruin everything.”

“you should still let her know.”

steve knew she did, but he felt that it wasn’t his secret to share. and it should be special, for the two of you.

“yeah. okay.”

and so you come up with a plan. it takes a few weeks; well, the plan took just a few hours – but having to gather up the courage? that was a little harder. actually, maybe one drink could help

you’d catch her on a break, the light smell of liquid courage on your lips. you weren’t drunk, no, just tipsy enough to calm your nerves

the words take a while to leave your mouth but they get there, and when they do? the corners of robin’s curl up into a huge grin – a relieved laugh unable to contain itself

“you– you’re sure? totally sure?” she asks, both your hands held tightly by hers. she holds eye contact with you, and you could feel yourself sobering up a bit already.

“mmm, pretty sure,”

robin smiles so widely her face starts to hurt. her eyes looked so glossy, and she felt like she could just cry. she never really had much luck with love, but with you, she’d clearly won the lottery.

“holy fuck– uhm, okay, can i, uh– can i kiss you, right now?” she asks, her voice shaking with excitement. you nod.

and she kisses you, eagerly, her lips still curled into a smile as she puts her arms around your neck. it’s a fleeting kiss, it ends quickly, but you pull her in for another one. the moment you pull away, the both of you are panting and laughing.

“you have no idea how long i’ve been waiting to do that.”

i feel like she’d be a very affectionate lover!! like she’d always love to be by your side and holding your hand or something, she just loves being able to hold you

she knows your relationship isn’t one that would be widely accepted, and that you two need to keep it a secret, but she still shows some form of pda, like keeping her hand on your back

she’s definitely a words of affirmation type of person too, constantly telling you how beautiful you look

she loves receiving compliments back as well!! you’re one of the only people whose opinion she truly cares about. being told she’s loved?? by you?? you’re gonna make her cry fr

i think robin would be the type to have trouble falling asleep so sometimes you’d just stay up talking to each other

“did you know that wombats shit in cubes?”

“you’re kidding”

“no, they do!”

“that’s fucking insane”

“right??”

sometimes she feels bad for talking so much. she feels like she’s constantly making things about her when all she wants to do is to be with you and admire you, so you reassure her that you love listening to her

she’s so so so interested in your hobbies and the things you do in your free time!

if you draw, she’d love to watch you do it and listen to you talk about your creative process. she thinks it’s amazing, what you can do with just a pencil, and even asks if you could draw her with you

and if maybe you could bake or cook, she’s right there by your side, handing you ingredients and whatnot, like your own assistant

and sometimes you two just lay in bed and listen to music, she’s satisfied with that already

you say i love you to each other a lot as it is, but there are certain moments where it feels more— for lack of a better word— real. times that just feel right, like every piece of the puzzle has been put in place

and those moments are when she’s holding you in her arms, half asleep, with the tv playing on low volume in the background. it’s when the rest of the world is silent and it’s just the two of you. it’s barely even a whisper, more of an action, really— it’s how she pulls you closer to her and wraps the blanket around the both of you just a little tigher, and it’s the soft kiss she plants on your forehead that night.

#yay more st content!! i swear i’m getting to the tua requests i js had to put this out here.#i love robin with my whole heart #stranger things x reader #robin buckley x reader #stranger things #robin buckley #robin buckley x female reader #robin buckley imagine #robin buckley headcanons #stranger things oneshot

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grungekitty-77 · 6 months

Text

SRMTHFG! Trick or Treat Fic exchange!

@creepyclue @sweetcircuits

I'm not overly proud of this, but I was shaking off a lot of rust in writing for these characters again and my October was a cesspool of personal problems and drama

Without further self deprecation, here's your spooky Spova. (Fair warning: It turned into fluff. I don't know how it happened, but I guess I defaulted to my old style.)

Nova sighed and rubbed her arms. The only thing she hated more than fall, was the winter that came after. Every year she glared at the changing leaves.

She really didn’t understand why it appealed to so many people. She wanted to curl up and hibernate instead of going shopping.

It was cold. It was windy. It was wet.

And Sprx was jumping out from behind the corner with a jack-o-lantern on his head.

“BOO!” he shouted.

Nova just sighed.

“Sprx. Get the pumpkin off your head!” Nova scolded.

Sprx struggled for a moment before his head popped out. Then struggled to rub the pumpkin guts off his face and spit out seeds. Nova almost laughed at him, but decided she was too cold for humor,

“Come on, Nova! It’s Halloween! Where’s your holiday spirit!?” Sprx asked, once he got himself sorted.

Nova rolled her eyes.

“It’s frozen.” She said, exaggerating her shivering.

Sprx pouted. Then a smirk crossed his face.

“I know the cure to that!” he said.

“Soup?” Nova asked hopefully.

It was something she didn’t hate about the colder seasons.

Sprx shook his head.

“You just need a good scare!” Sprx said, waving his hands for emphasis.

Nova rolled her eyes.

“What!? It’s the whole point of Halloween!” Sprx.

At least he started walking again so they could finish their chore.

“Good luck.” Nova said “I don’t scare easy.”

Sprx just smirked wider.

“Was that a challenge?” he asked.

Nova didn’t dignify him with a response.

“How about a bet?” he asked “If I manage to scare you before Halloween then you have to do all my patrols for November!”

“And when you don’t, you have to drop everything to make soup whenever I ask until March.” Nova responded.

Why not? It wasn’t like Sprx was going to pull it off.

“You’re on!”

Nova will admit that her heart skipped a beat or two when she saw a roach in her cereal, but she didn’t react. It only took a second of thought to realize the thing wasn’t moving. It was probably fake, and probably Sprx’s. No one else had noticed the thing yet. So, Nova had an opportunity.

Feeling mischievous herself, Nova carefully picked the thing up without anyone seeing. (It was in fact, rubber) Then she carefully snuck it into Gibson’s bowl and went back to her breakfast.

Sprx was eyeing her with suspicion, but she just waited. He was clearly wondering if she had found the fake roach.

Gibson’s scream was glorious. He shrieked like a wild monkey and flung his bowl into the air. It sailed over the table and landed on Sprx’s head, drenching him in milk.

Sprx pushed the bowl off his eyes and glared at Nova. She just laughed.

Sprx’s plan to prime her with a horror movie was smart, albeit transparent.

Too bad it backfired.

Nova hadn’t been the only one to see the movie. When Otto used the bathroom before her, he turned on the light and saw the life sized sticker Sprx had put on the mirror.

He ran out screaming and crying. Nova gave Sprx a smug look when Otto clung to her and begged for her to deal with the ghost. Sprx had to apologize and assure Otto that the ghost girl hadn’t escaped the movie.

Luckily for Sprx, Chiro found it hilarious. Otherwise Antauri would’ve launched into a lecture.

Nova didn’t have any time to react to the formless that appeared in the hallway. Chiro was already launching into an attack by the time she noticed it.

Scraps of cardboard went flying and Nova could hear Sprx sighing.

“Keep trying! This is pretty funny.” Nova said.

Chiro finished dismantling the false alarm. Sprx started to stutter out an apology, but Chiro cut him off.

“It’s good to keep me on my toes. Now we know I’m ready if a formless ever does sneak in to the robot.” Chiro said, flashing a cheeky grin and a peace sign.

Sprx sighed in relief.

“But you’re going to get yourself in trouble eventually.” Chiro added “Just admit it! Nova is unscarable!”

The closer it got to Halloween, the more desperate Sprx’s attempts got. He didn’t even care about the bet anymore. It was a pride issue at this point.

He resorted to climbing into the air ducts, waiting for a quiet moment, then dropping down like a spider onto the table.

Antauri let out one very undignified scream.

Sprx didn’t end up saying anything in his defense, and no one asked him to. They were all too busy staring at Antauri and wondering if the high pitched shriek they had heard really did come from the deep voiced monkey.

Antauri didn’t even acknowledge the event. No one wanted to ask him about it. He’d probably deny it anyways.

Nova had taken to making sly comments about how much soup she was going to enjoy this winter. Sprx gave her an angry glare every time, but Nova just smiled. He had dug his own grave in this.

“You know, this has actually been fun. Watching you make an idiot of yourself trying to scare me. Congrats on making me actually excited for Halloween!” Nova said.

“I still have one more day.” Sprx said.

“And there’s nothing you can do that I won’t be ready for!” Nova assured him.

“Whatever. I’ll think of something.” Sprx said, walking towards his transport tube.

“Where are you going?” Nova asked.

“Patrol.” Sprx said.

“Oh, I bet you wish you had a whole month without that, don’t you?” she teased.

It was hard to tell through the red fur, but Nova knew Sprx was blushing.

An hour later and Sprx opened his comms link.

“Hey, Otto. I said I was sorry about the whole bathroom mirror thing.” Sprx said nervously.

“Um…. I know?” Otto responded.

“Right…. So…. you didn’t do anything to my fist rocket in revenge, right?” Sprx grunted.

“No.....?”

Now everyone was paying closer attention.

“Sprx, what’s going on?” Chiro asked.

“Brainstrain? I know you know better than to mess with a pilot’s ship, but did you-“

“You are correct. I do know better.” Gibson snapped.

Gibson may not have been as passionate as Sprx, but he was still a pilot. He knew which lines to never cross.

“Right. That’s fine. I may be having some issues with my steering right now, but I’ll figure it out.” Sprx said, some words coming out in forced huffs.

Nova’s heart started to beat faster. Surely this was another prank, right? Sprx was just making it up.

“Sprx. Exactly what problem are you having?” Antauri asked.

To any stranger he sounded calm, but Nova had known him long enough to recognize his distinctive worry.

“A problem I’m trying to focus on fixing instead of explaining!” Sprx said, starting to sound a little panicked himself.

Alarms started to sound from his side. Nova abandoned the idea that it was a prank and started to twist her own tail in fear.

“Where are you!? We’re on our way.” Gibson said.

“I’m about to be in the bay.” Sprx said, sounding downright terrified.

Nova’s stopped breathing. Sprx was about as good with water as she was with cold. There was a horrible, sickening, splash, and then Sprx’s comm link cut.

A panicked twenty minutes is all it took before Sprx was back in the robot medbay, shivering but alive. He only sustained minor injuries from the crash. They were quick to treat. Gibson was more worried about hypothermia than anything else.

Sprx threw a fit when Otto insisted on checking the ship without him.

“Sprx, you are still recovering. You’re in no condition to climb around a fist rocket engine!” Gibson argued, pushing Sprx down.

“It’s my ship! No one touches it without me watching!” Sprx said.

He continued to fight against Gibson until Nova looped her arms around him and yanked.

“Sit down you moron!” Nova snapped.

“I’ll be gentle, Sprx. I promise.” Otto said.

Gibson was rolling his eyes.

“If Chiro and I supervised him, would that help?” he asked.

“I don’t want more people touching my ship!” Sprx snapped.

Nova squeezed, and Sprx seemed to settle under the hug.

“Look, I get that it’s scary for your ship to malfunction like that, but you know Otto isn’t going to hurt it. We need to know what went wrong, and you need to rest!” she said.

Sprx finally slackened.

“Fine.” He said. “but be careful. She’s been through enough!”

“Of course.” Gibson said, escorting Otto out of Medbay.

He turned back in the doorway and glared.

“I expect you not to vacate that bed! Nova, please ensure that he remains under that heat lamp.”

“Don’t have to ask me twice.” Nova said with a smile.

She liked the idea of being assigned to stay under a heater herself.

Gibson nodded and left.

Nova felt Sprx continue to shiver and pulled him close. He was still a little wet, so it wasn’t the most comfortable position. She didn’t say anything about it though. Sprx wasn’t in the mood to be teased.

She thought back to the terror she felt the moment he crashed. It wasn’t even a full hour ago, but it felt like a lifetime. She focused on every breath he took and resisted the urge to feel for a pulse.

“You scared me, you know.” She said.

“I what?” Sprx asked, craning his head around to look at her curiously.

“You scared me! I didn’t know if you were ok or not! I was worried I was going to lose you for a second there.” Nova said.

He tensed in her grip the second she said the word. She didn’t have to remind him of the significance.

“I’m sorry.” Sprx muttered.

Nova hugged him tighter.

“I’m just glad you’re ok.”

The stench of smug started to waft. Nova glanced suspiciously at Sprx.

“What?” she asked suspiciously.

Sprx broke into a large grin.

“I scared you.” He said.

Nova rolled her eyes.

“Yeah. I guess I love you or something. Do you want a parade?”

He shook his head.

“Not a parade.” Sprx said.

Nova didn’t know if she wanted to keep playing this game. He was either flirting or leading up to a joke at her expense.

“Then what do you want?”

“I scared you!” Sprx repeated.

“And…?”

“Halloween is tomorrow.” Sprx said.

Nova waited for more information.

“That means I scared you before Halloween!”

It clicked.

“What- NO! No! That doesn’t count!” Nova yelled.

“I can’t hear you over the sound of my victory!” Sprx said.

Nova was gearing up to punch him across the room when he sneezed. After a moment of clear misery, Nova decided on a different comeback.

“Was it worth it?” she asked.

Sprx sniffled.

“No. I’m just taking the wins I have.”

“That so?” Nova said “I love you.”

Sprx hummed in content.

“But this did not convince me to like Halloween at all.” Nova added, remembering the original reason for the bet.

Sprx laughed.

“I said I was taking the wins I had!”

Nova held him tight. Feeling his warmth and beating heart.

“So am I.”

I hope you liked it! Happy late Halloween!

#srmthfg #super robot monkey team hyperforce go #super robot monkey team hyper force go!#super robot monkey team hyper force go #super robot monkey team hyperforce go!#fic #srmthfg fic #srmthfg! fic #srmthg fic #srmthg! fic #srmthg #I'm still team Hyper Force is two words #They have different colors on the logo and they are said by two people in the robot sequence #fic exchange #trick or treat fic exchange #trick or treat

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cloudcountry · 1 year

Text

special

Genre/Tropes: No notable ones!!

Summary: You will never be like Yuuka, but maybe that's a good thing (since she seems to like you just the way you are.)

Author's Comments: leave to me to do two things. a) write for yuuka first instead of yuuken & b) start out writing fluff and then make it depressing. i tried to end it happy though!!

~~~~~

The chair next to you scrapes against the floor as Yuuka lets out a soft sigh, sitting down next to you as Grim rubs up against your leg. Your arm tenses up as she drags her nails down your forearm, leaning on her elbow as she gazes at you.

“You look lovely today, sweetness.” she hums, a smug grin on her face as you shudder.

“Hello, Yuuka.” you say, voice shaky as you fumble with the page of the textbook in front of you. She laughs and flicks the page over with her gloved finger, and you feel your face grow hot at your foolishness.

“Hello yourself.” she scoots closer, and out of the corner of your eye you see Grim jump up on her thighs and curl up in a little, sleepy ball.

What you wouldn’t give to be that damn cat right now.

“Whatcha studying?” she muses, pressing her middle and index fingers together and gently pressing on your cheek. You have no choice but to turn your head and face her, “Your gorgeous face is all scrunched up, it must be difficult.”

“Um...no, it’s fine.” you snap your eyes away, staring at your textbook like it’s the most interesting thing in the world even though you absolutely cannot remember what it says for the life of you.

“You sure? I can help you out.” she leans over, and you catch a whiff of cinnamon and vanilla that makes you feel lightheaded, “Ohhh, it’s alchemy? You should ask Azul for this kinda thing, he’s smart with potions.”

With that, she snatches up the sleeping Grim and jumps out of her chair in one fell swoop, as if she’s content with the teasing she’s put you through today. You can tell you’re gaping as he places a hand on her hip, looking smugly down at you.

“Hey, don’t worry about him roping you into a deal. if he tries anything I’ll fight him for you.” she giggles, but you can tell she’s being more serious than she lets on, “See you later, sweetness!”

Grim, freshly awakened by Yuuka’s sudden movement, yells something about how much of a cheesy weirdo she is before the weirdo in question turns into an alley of bookshelves and you can’t see her anymore. You can vaguely hear her teasing Grim and strain your ears to catch more of the conversation before it fades away and you’re left in silence once again.

You aren’t sure if it’s a good thing or a bad thing that she visits you so often. It’s inevitable that you’ll see her again, with the two of you being in the same dorm and all, but with the way she acts and the fact that you can never quite seem to hide your affection for her whatsoever is really making this difficult. It’s not fair that she’s so pretty and strong and kind and smells nice and is maybe slightly interested in you if you’re reading her body language correctly but you can never be sure because she’s literally the most interesting person on campus and well-

You’re you.

She makes friends so easily and you’ve been having trouble fitting in since you got here. She’s been saving the school from Overblot after Overblot and yeah, maybe you’ve always been there to help her through the front door when she’s scraped her arms up or when she twisted an ankle or that one time you genuinely thought Jamil had broken her leg when he sent her flying out of Scarabia, but you’re not someone who can fight those Overblots side by side with her even if you’re both magicless. You don’t have the mental fortitude she does. You’ve spent nights crying over the stress of being in this new world and she’s spent those nights comforting you. You’re the side character that sits and cowers and watches it all go down, only to try and make up for how useless you are by taking care of her wounds that she laughs off to everyone else.

You’re you.

And you hate being you so much.

You gather up your textbooks and shove them into your backpack, sighing heavily. Your happy mood has officially been soured, and now you just want to go home.

(It occurs to you then that when you think of home, you think of Yuuka and Grim and Ramshackle. That realization only makes the heavy feeling in your stomach grow.)

As you make your way back to the door, your mind wanders. Nobody stops to talk to you, nobody stares at you as you walk by. You and Yuuka have a very similar situation, but as far as the student body is concerned, you two could not be more different. There’s such a disconnect between the two of you that you wonder if you even should have been shorted in the same dorm together. They should have made a smaller shack for you to live in because Ramshackle was starting to feel a bit too small. Too crushing, too confining.

Or maybe Yuuka’s presence was just growing.

The wooden planks creaking under your feet is the only indication that you’ve reached your destination. They echo in your ears, and it's like the rest of your senses have left your body as you drag yourself through the front door. Before you can even set your bag down, Grim comes running up to you.

“Hey, Grim.” you sigh, lifting him up into your arms as he mrah’s and mroew’s at you.

“Someone’s happy to see you.” Yuuka follows the direbeast, arms crossed comfortably over her chest as she smiles, “And it’s not just Grim. Welcome home.”

She envelops you in a gentle hug and runs her fingers through your hair. Grim shrieks about you two being gross and immediately jumps out of your arms to run to the kitchen, but neither of you pay him any mind. Your arms hang limply by your sides, and you're not sure if she knows what's wrong and wants to comfort you or if she’s just feeling practically affectionate today. It doesn’t really matter at the end of the day.

She is one of the few things you can say that about because she’s always a sure thing.

“Is everything alright?” she asks, a slight hint of worry in her voice, “You don’t usually…”

She trails off, but you know what she wants to say. You don’t usually look down or collapse against her like this. In fact, she’s usually the one resting against you.

“How do you make friends with people so easily?” you mumble, slamming your eyes shut, “I mean, we’re in the same situation, but you’ve done so much more than I have. People know who they are and they talk look so happy when they see you and-”

A soft whisper of your name stops your rambling, and the breath catches in your throat. You open your eyes, look up at her, and she’s staring at you with the softest smile you’ve ever seen.

And you don’t deserve it.

“You never realize just how special you are.” she murmurs those words like it's a confession, and drags her knuckle down your jawline, “I like that you’re more reserved. I like that I can make you all embarrassed just by calling you cute. I like that you’re quiet and don’t open up to everyone. It makes me feel special when you trust me with parts of you. You’re like a treasure only I get to see. A solid foundation that nobody realizes until it leaves.”

Your knees are growing weaker the longer she keeps talking, that embarrassment she talked about causing coming back full force.

“I want to keep you safe.” she says, and spares a glance in the direction of the kitchen, “And the little one, too.”

“I am not little!” he hollers from the other room, and Yuuka laughs like a million fairy bells. You almost have the strength to laugh with her, but all of a sudden she’s staring at you again and you freeze.

“You’re special.” she repeats, “Because you’re always there when I’ve gotten a bit too reckless. You’re the only person on campus who bothers to take care of me after the day is done. You’re the only one who is from my world and understands how much of a toll magic can take on my body. Nobody could ever understand me like you do, and if Crowley finds a way to send us home I would never stop looking for you because there's no one in any world that could ever look at me the way you do.”

She was the only sure thing.

“Do I make myself clear?” she giggles, immediately shifting from serious to laidback when she sees just how embarrassed you are.

“You guys are gross!” Grim yells, shooting you both dirty looks from the kitchen doorway, “Let a man enjoy his tuna, sheesh!”

He huffs and marches into the living room, where he plops his behind on the carpet and starts scarfing down the canned fish. Yuuka laughs again, her face bright pink and happy. Your heart flutters as her hand grabs yours and squeezes, a silent promise to keep protecting you.

“Thank you, Yuuka.” you say, hoping you can pour every ounce of appreciation you feel for her into your voice.

“No, thank you.” she brings your hand to her lips and brushes them against your skin, “I wouldn’t be here without you, sweetness.”

#auburn's fics <3 #twisted wonderland x reader #twst x reader #twisted wonderland #yuuka hirasaka x reader #twst yuuka #yuuka hirasaka #fluff #angst #hurt comfort vibes???#idk whenever i try to write cutesy shit it goes sad :((

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socially-awkward-skeleton · 5 months

Text

All Along the Watchtower (Chapter 3)

Pairing: Captain John Price x Fem!OC (3rd person POV)

Word count: 3K+

Warnings: mentions of violence, human trafficking, morally gray characters, CIA Black missions = shady shit, swearing

Summary: The first flashback chapter for Rory regarding her time in Iraq working operations for the CIA (will tie into the overall story fyi, no ship stuff this chapter)

A/N: Rory Sinclair is a dual citizen (both Canada and the UK) who's been living in the UK since she was 14. She is 28 at the time of this fic, Price is 32. This series is set in 2017 before the events of the first MW game. Rory's thoughts are bold and italicized, other italics are used for emphasis. Will also be available to read on AO3.

2016 - Anbar Province, Iraq / Syrian Border

“All right, people, you have your orders. This ain’t gonna be pretty. So get your shit on right.”

Rory tried her hardest to ignore the droning voice of Officer Walker, the CIA operative assigned to the squad sitting in the front passenger seat, giving his best military impersonation for the crowd of soldiers jammed together in the armored vehicle. Crammed so tight her shoulders barely had room to bump against her fellow passengers as they drove along the rocky road. They were sardines in a tin can being boiled together on a hot stove – a pressure cooker – and the situation they were about to find themselves in only made it worse.

“We are fifteen minutes out from the Syrian border. I repeat one - five minutes. This is known home turf for ISIS. We’re expecting heavy resistance. I will remind you all that this is unsanctioned. We are heading into the Black. There will be no questions. There will be no reports. There will be no crying to your mamas on the phone when you get back to base, ‘cause believe me, we’ll be tracking it. That goes for you limey fucks too,” he said with a smirk, looking up into the rearview mirror with his amber eyes. “ God Bless Homeland Security. ”

Walker’s wry smile was enough to turn Rory’s stomach, but she didn’t get to choose her bosses in the middle of warfare. She had to nod her head with a ‘yes, sir’ and a ‘no, sir’ to make her way through this. He might have been American, he might have been CIA, but right now, he was in charge.

“We are dealing with a serious piece of shit in one Abdullah Al Ghulam, he is our target. I want him kept alive at all costs. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, sir.”

She said nothing while the other soldiers around her offered their oath of fealty to the man. Instead, Rory kept her head down and her mind focused on the mission. Her mind always had to be on the mission. In situations like these, knowing she was about to see some shit, she did her best to block out the conscience her mother had instilled in her – doing good things for the right people . Out here there was just getting your hands dirty and hoping that it would be for the best, that it paid off in the long run and wouldn’t come back to haunt. The end justifying the means when things went dark like this, Machiavellianism at its very peak. There were no heroes out here, no matter who was patted on the back and awarded medals.

Across from her Lt. Andrew Owen kept his eyes on her, his blue stare darkened by the brim of his helmet. The corner of his lip curled as he noticed her looking back at him with a ‘can you believe this guy’ flick of her brow, his head shaking slightly in return. He was the second in command of her unit, they seemed to never be too far away from one another, having fought in enough foxholes together to trust that the other had their six, and despite what the mission was expecting to serve them, seeing him there in the vehicle with her did add a certain sense of relative calm to the situation. There was a face in the crowd of strangers that wouldn’t just see her as some waste of space. Andrew knew what she was capable of. All too well .

As the stream of armored vehicles came to a stop, the soldiers completed their final weapons check as the sun began to fade down into the horizon, streaking the sky in deep orange and red like the hellfire they were about to rain down. Readying their thermal scopes and night vision, making sure their tac gear was strapped on tight, the doors opened, and shadows crept out into the evening.

Rory swung the strap of her rifle over her head and across her shoulder, looking out at the sky turned purple, the sun nearly completely gone down except for one lingering sliver of light along the horizon line. Pulling down on the goggles that would help lead her into the dark, seeing only in green and black as she marched forward, she followed her Lieutenant into battle. He was quick to give her a bump to the shoulder, that last little bit of comfort from a friend before hitting any possible SNAFUs.

“You good, Sinclair?” he whispered into the comm.

“Yeah. Same old, same old. Right, Andy?”

Chuckling at the nickname, a smile cracked his otherwise serious face, “Fuck you.”

Tensions were relieved for only a moment, building right back up as boots crunched slowly through the sand and small bits of gravel towards the munitions bunker American intelligence had confirmed the existence of several klicks across the border with the use of drones. It was up to her and the rest of the squad to clear out the guard of enemy combatants, neutralize the weapons, and then collect the intel that would lead to who had actually shipped them in. Weapons didn’t come from nowhere, there was always a trail that led back.

Silently stalking into the night, radio chatter was kept to an absolute minimum, hand signals being used instead. They’d crossed the border into enemy territory, they were no longer within the boundaries they were meant to maintain, they were in a country they weren’t at war with – not yet anyway. The squad broke up into two units, flanking the building in a pincer movement that would leave the resistance fighting from two opposing directions. Rory was split off with Walker and Lt. Owen, coming in from the rear of the bunker along with several other NATO soldiers of different rank and file, while the others stormed the front with charges to the doors.

Shock and awe .

Explosions rang out into the night, flashes of white light sparking from the corner of Rory’s night vision, the heat blurring her view for just a moment. She gripped her rifle a little tighter as they moved forward, heading down towards the opposite entrance of the complex. The heavy doors were locked tight, so C4 was strapped on in order to breach. Flying open along with a blast of sand, the doors were left to creak on their hinges as the soldiers entered before the ringing in their ears could quiet.

Black figures stormed through the halls lined with flickering fluorescent lights, the sounds of gunshots and yelling echoing as the B squad moved to meet them in the middle. Bullets ripped through the air, bodies falling. This wasn’t a precise operation, a striking opposite from the way Rory usually worked. Shifting from shock to all out bedlam for the enemy, the dead littered the bunker as the force pushed through the halls. They weren’t taking prisoners here, no hostages, this was meant to be a clean sweep except for the target, clearing all rooms of anyone armed or considered dangerous.

Room after room, corridor after corridor, this place seemed to go on forever. Some passages ran tighter than others but would lead into expansive rooms and from them more men would appear, gun spray missing the soldiers as they fired haphazardly. There would only be casualties on one side tonight as the enemy seemed to swarm like insects, wave after wave, protecting what lay at the heart of the labyrinth of tunnels. Cut down as the soldiers expected more to rise from their place.

Heading down one of the tunnels, it steadily grew darker as Rory’s squad moved away from the main hall. The lamps above glowed with warm, golden light, yet shadows still bloomed against the walls of the corridor. Another heavy steel door blocked their path at the end, and Walker was sure that was the entrance to Abdullah’s private area, sectioned off from everyone else like the queen in a nest.

Taking point at the door, Walker motioned for one of the other soldiers to come forward with the charges to breach, and the blood in Rory’s ears began to thunder with each pump of her heart, the sweat starting to form on her brow. It didn’t matter how many times she was in a situation like this, how practiced of a routine it had become, she still had that frantic moment just before hell was about to break loose. When the anxious prey animal in her head was set free before the chomping jaws of the wolf would clamp back down again and she’d return to calm. Battle readiness swept over her as the adrenaline spread through her body, keeping her head on a swivel.

With a massive bang and a gust of rushing air, the door was breached and once more they dove headfirst into the unknown. The darkness dissipated and the lights of sconces on the walls lit their way to Al Ghulam who threw himself down on to his knees without an order, wasting no time in placing his hands behind his head, as if he already knew he wouldn’t be sacrificed despite his crimes.

Rory’s hawklike gaze travelled over their newly acquired prisoner, surprised to find a man who was still clean cut and wearing a well-tailored shirt and pants and smooth leather boots, despite having been in a bunker for apparently some time, using this as his headquarters. He was a man who still held onto his ties to the West, despite working with terrorist organizations that actively despised the nations that made up its colonial powers.

Stalking up to the man, Walker grabbed the zip ties from his vest and slapped them around Abdullah’s wrists. “Well shit, you went down easy, huh?”

“Allaenat ealayk." <Arabic: Fuck you.>

“You gonna call me an American pig while you’re at it?” He looked down at the prisoner, his brow raised waiting for an answer, but he was met with only silence. “That’s what I thought. So, Mr. Al Ghulam I think you already know why we’re down here, so why don’t you save us nice people some trouble and lead us to your stash, ‘kay?”

Dark eyes rose to look at the American through a furrowed brow. “There are no weapons here,” he said confidently.

“You can fuck right off with that bullshit; I know for a fact –”

“You know nothing, fucking CIA.” Abdullah’s eyes scoured the officer with a glare. “You are led by your masters, but you don’t know anything at all.”

Grabbing Abdullah by the collar of his shirt, Walker lifted him to his feet and looked him in the eyes. “I know what I need to. And right now, you’re gonna play your role and lead me to the containers I know you have kept here.”

“Containers yes, but there are no weapons.”

“Sure there aren’t.” Walker shoved the man forward, causing him to stumble as he was pushed past the soldiers.

Rory’s stare followed him out of the room, focused on Walker and Al Ghulam. Containers, but no weapons – what was that supposed to mean? She looked to her Lieutenant, the question caught on her tongue, but it came through in her furrowed brow. Andrew gave her no answer, he didn’t have any more to go on than she did, but his jaw sat clenched.

They followed the CIA operative down, further down into the bunker. Metal stairs clanging as the boots of a dozen soldiers stomped upon them. Finally entering a massive room with a large roll up bay door at the end of it. Storage space, a delivery system, this base was well-established. Placed in the middle of the room were six large metal shipping containers and Walker’s eyes went wide at the sight.

“Alright, people, I want those doors opened. We’re taking inventory and then sweeping for intel.”

Using large bolt cutters, the locks on the containers were removed by the soldiers, but upon opening the doors it brought no peace. There weren’t any weapons as was promised, just as Al Ghulam had said, there was something else. Something that made Rory’s stomach drop and her eyes go wide with horror.

Inside each container sat women and children. Weeping and starving, treated like cattle. Their clothes dirty, the smell of body odor near unbearable as it wafted throughout the room.

“ Jesus Christ… ” Rory could only speak in a whisper, eyes glued to the sight before her.

Bolt cutters fell to the cement floor with a heavy bang. Soldiers stood, shocked so quiet they could hear a pin drop. The flashlights of a dozen rifles travelled over the tear-streaked faces of innocent people caught in the crossfire of a war that had been going on for too long. Herded into pens, treated like property, to be sent off to God only knew where.

She seethed, a deep-seated anger in her making her blood run cold. Violence she’d seen and dealt with, able to manage it and push it down to where it no longer kept her up at night. Such abhorrent behavior towards human lives however, that was something she couldn’t shut out. Her gut twisted, the stoic exterior breaking as her mouth hung open and her eyes began to sting.

Children and women reached out towards the soldiers, seeing their captor pushed to his knees and a gag shoved in his mouth. They thought the forces were there to save them and it broke Rory’s heart. They weren’t heroes, they weren’t here to save the day, if Walker had his way these civilians would likely be left here for some clean-up crew to deal with. Lives didn’t matter, just having the upper hand in the fight did.

Walker stood, his hand pressed to Al Ghulam’s shoulder as he forced the man to stay on his knees, but his face never seemed to change. Even as his amber eyes travelled over the countless faces that sat before him, the sickening sight had little effect on the man who had filled his life with secrets, lies, and deception, all to keep the power imbalance for the empire of America going strong.

“What the fuck is this?” Rory looked to Walker, her lips drawn back in a snarl. “What the fuck is this, Walker? I thought we were coming down here for weapons.”

“Yeah, we were. Intel was wrong,” he said with a shrug.

“How did no one know about this?” She tossed her arm out towards the half dozen steel cargo containers filled with women and children.

“Calm down, soldier. You think in an active war zone we got the time to be looking for missing persons? You think that’s what we’re here for? You think we give a shit about that? We are fighting terrorists, we are not the fucking UN,” Walker snapped.

Rory took off her helmet and held onto it by the straps, stabbing her tongue into her cheek if only to compose herself. “I think that whatever the fuck this asshole has going on –” Her attention turned to the man on his knees currently bound and gagged before her eyes darted back to Walker. “It’s a lot worse than whatever you or anyone else has been led to believe.”

The CIA officer stared her down, his face growing harder as he glared at her from under his brow. Unmoved by her compassion for humanity, he had a job to do and she was hindering those efforts.

“Don’t go pulling any heroics, Sinclair,” Andrew hissed, grabbing her arm and pulling her closer to him until he could talk low enough for only her to hear. “We don’t need to go any deeper than this. This is above our paygrade already. We’re just here to shoot, remember ?” His glare stabbed into her as if to caution her next move. “I'd like to keep it that way.”

Her brow knit together, her jaw tightening ever still. It was like she was the only one who could see what was happening, the only one with clarity of mind to know that something monstrous was going on here and it sunk deep into the bowels of things. There was an unseen side to war, and she had yet to have gotten a stomach for it. “There are women and children locked up in steel boxes like cargo. I don’t care if this isn’t the weapon shipment we were sent in for. You think I'm going to turn a blind eye to that?”

“I think we shouldn’t push our CIA friend.”

It was a warning. Andrew had been around this block more times than she, he knew how bad things could get, but still she couldn’t understand how he wouldn’t object to what was happening here. “ Andy ?” She was taken aback by her Lieutenant’s sudden willful withdrawal of his conscience. They were at war, weapons were something she expected, a human trafficking ring was not on her list of things to discover in a bunker.

“Listen to me, Rory. We let Officer Walker do what he needs to with our target, and you and I stay quiet. Do you understand me, Sergeant?” Rory’s eyes drifted away from Andrew and back over to Walker, still holding onto Abdullah like a hostage before Lieutenant Owen grabbed her arm and brought her attention back to him as her superior. “There’s a reason the CIA wants him kept alive when it would be so easy to just put a bullet in his head. I’d prefer not to be privy to all that. Clear?”

“Rog’,” she said sullenly.

“Good. Now then let’s say we help Officer Walker here find a private room where he can hold a discussion with Mr. Al Ghulam. The sooner we can get out of here, the better.”

Rory nodded, her face sunken into a scowl. She hated being beholden to a law that didn’t even truly exist, a shadow of the rule of justice that was meant to be carried out, where war crimes and human rights violations were swept under the rug so long as the right hands were greased and information could be swapped between hands. It was dirty, stained in red, and going into the black meant it would never come to light.

#cod fanfic #oc: rory sinclair #john price x female oc #ship: you are the sword to my shield

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charlieeenby · 25 days

Text

just close your eyes, you'll be alright

bruce and jason deal with jason's fear of rape

warnings and tags: abo, discussions of child rape, threats of rape, time skips

title from safe & sound by taylor swift

Jason wanted to cuddle with Alpha. He wanted Alpha to hold him and scent him. He wanted to be safe. He didn’t feel safe, he was just hot and sweaty.

It wasn’t fair. Nothing was fair.

Jason whined and buried himself further into his nest. He knew he wasn’t supposed to be in here, but it smelled like Alpha. It smelled safe.

A door opened somewhere and Jason flinched and whimpered. Alpha wasn’t here to keep him safe.

“Jason?” a voice said and Jason felt a tear run down his face. Where was Alpha? The bed shifted and the blanket that Jason had covered himself in was pulled away gently.

Then Jason could smell Alpha. He whined and looked up to see Alpha leaning over him.

“Alpha.” Jason lunged forward and into Alpha’s chest, whining.

“Pup, what’s the matter?” Alpha asked, hugging Jason.

Jason didn’t know. He just wanted Alpha.

“Puppy?”

Whining, Jason bared his throat to Alpha. Maybe if he was good and submitted to Alpha, then Alpha wouldn't leave him alone.

Alpha, shifted Jason and then laid down, curling around Jason. “Hush now, pup. You’re safe. You’re okay. I’m here, Jaylad.” a wrist brushed against Jason’s neck.

Jason sighed softly, relaxing against Alpha.

“There we go.” Alpha rumbled softly and then he started purring. Jason responded with his own puppy purr, though is sounded different now.

Jason decided to worry about that later.

Bruce watched Jason sleep, worried sick about the pup that was curled up in his arms. Bruce has assumed that Jason would be an alpha, but the sweet, vanilla smell coming from him made Bruce sure he was wrong.

Jason was only 13 years old, he was presenting years too early, though Bruce had heard of pups presenting early if they felt it would keep them safe or secure their place in their pack.

He hoped Jason felt safe here, but the idea that Jason might have presented early because he didn’t feel secure in the pack worried Bruce.

Jason was his pup now, he’d pack claimed the pup a year ago and Jason had yelled at the social worker when he’d insinuated abuse. The courts couldn’t take him away from Bruce.

When Jason woke up, he panicked.

As he was scrambling out of the bed and away from the sleeping alpha, he got tangled in the blankets and ended up on the floor.

He heard Bruce move and he whimpered. The room smelled like omega heat and alpha. Jason didn’t like it and his panic spiked.

“Pup?” Bruce asked, coming around to kneel next to Jason.

Jason yelped and tried to get away, still tangled in the blankets. When he finally managed to get his legs untangled, he bolted, running out of the room and down the hall.

“ALFRED!” he yelled, knowing the old beta would help him. He heard Bruce call after him and he wanted to cry.

When he started running down the stairs, he called for Alfred again, still not hearing a response. Then he turned the corner into the kitchen, he slammed into someone.

“Hey, Jaybird! What are you yelling about?” Dick asked, smiling at Jason.

“Where’s Alfie?” Jason asked instead of answering.

“I am right here, Master Jason. Why on earth were you – oh!” Jason wrapped his arms around the man’s waist and pressed his face into his stomach. A hand rested on his hair for a moment before petting him softly. “Master Jason, what’s the matter?”

“I don’t – I didn’t -” Jason’s breath hitched and tears flowed freely down his cheeks, wetting the butler’s shirt.

“Jason? Where’d you, oh there you are.” Bruce sighed.

“Master Bruce, what has the pup so frightened?”

“Probably me.”

Alfred growled. He was a beta, but he was also in charge of Jason’s care and the idea that the young pup was scared of Bruce angered him.

“And why, pray tell, would he be afraid of you?” he asked calmly, hiding his rage.

“He presented last night. When I went to bed, he’d created a nest in my bed and wouldn’t let go of me. He woke up and panicked.”

Alfred hummed. Then he knelt down in front of Jason. “Master Jason, are you hurt?”

Jason shook his head no.

“Okay. Where you frightened when you woke up?”

Jason nodded.

“Alright. Can you tell me why?” Alfred asked gently.

“No.” Jason whispered.

“That’s alright, pup. Are you in any pain?”

“My head hurts. And everything smells really strong.”

Alfred nodded. “Pup, do you know what’s going on?”

“No. Woke up in Bruce’s bed. I don’t -” Jason hiccuped. “Don’t know how I got there.” his chest heaved as he tried not to cry.

“Pup, you presented as an omega last night.” Alfred spoke in a soft and quiet tone. “Master Bruce found you nesting in his bed and you wanted him near you.”

“But I don’t remember goin’ in there.” Jason said tearfully.

“That is unfortunately, quite common.”

Jason whimpered. “Don’t like it.”

“I know.” Alfred paused, trying to think of a way to soothe the pups fear. “Master Jason, would you like me to conduct a medical checkup? That way you would know for certain whether or not Master Bruce hurt you in any way?”

Jason nodded a little. “Yeah.”

Alfred smiled at the young boy, despite the pain in his heart due to the fact that Jason still didn’t trust Bruce enough to know he’d never lay a hand on him.

“Alright. Why don’t we go down to the cave and do that? Then we can have breakfast.”

Jason just nodded and pressed a little closer to Alfred.

Alfred scooped the pup up and tucked him under his chin. Then he stood and nodded once to Bruce and Dick. “I will prepare breakfast after I come back with Master Jason. You will both be staying up here until we return. Am I clear?”

Bruce just nodded and Alfred could see the pain in his eyes.

“Yeah, Alfred. We’ll stay up here.” Dick spoke very softly.

“You’re sure?” Jason asked, wide eyed.

“I’m sure, Master Jason. I would never protect Bruce if he had hurt you. If he had, I would shoot him in the genitals and then I would make sure he bled out from that.”

Jason giggled a little. “That’s not very nice, Alfie.” he whispered.

Alfred smiled. “Neither is hurting a pup.”

That made the boy frown. “But I’m not a pup anymore. I presented.”

“Master Jason, look at me.” the boy looked up. “You are 13 years old. Until you are 18, you will be a pup. Presented or not, you are still legally a pup. And in this house, in this pack, you are a pup until you are over 18 and no longer want to be a pup. If you don’t believe me, ask Master Dick.” Alfred spoke firmly, not leaving any room for doubt.

Jason leaned forward and hugged Alfred tightly.

Alfred wrapped his arms around him. “Oh, pup. It’s all right.”

“Te amo, Abuelito.”

Alfred had a tear in his eye. Jason didn’t speak Spanish often, but when he did, it always felt like a special occasion.

“I love you too, Jason.”

The pair stayed that way for a few minutes, interrupted by Jason’s stomach growling. The boy laughed.

Alfred smiled. “Why don’t we go upstairs and you can help me make breakfast.”

“Really? I thought I wasn’t allowed in the kitchen.”

“Master Dick and Master Bruce aren’t, but until you cause a disaster, you are welcome to assist me.”

“Sweet! Will you teach me how to cook? I always wanted to, but…” Jason trailed off.

“Of course, I’d be happy to teach you.”

Jason beamed. “Thank you!”

As Alfred led Jason back upstairs, he wondered if the boy would still fear Bruce. He hopped not, but none of them were sure what all Jason had experienced on the streets.

When they entered the kitchen, Bruce and Dick looked over at them.

“Is everything all good, little wing?” Dick asked Jason.

The pup nodded but stuck close to Alfred.

Dick smiled. “That’s good.”

“Master Jason is going to help me make breakfast.” Alfred announced. “Does anyone have any requests?”

“Oh, can we have waffles?” Dick asked excitedly.

Alfred nodded. “Master Bruce?”

“Waffles are fine.” he said softly, not looking at Alfred or Jason.

“Alright then. Master Jason, shall we get started?”

Jason nodded, and seemed to relax a little bit.

(“Dickie, can I ask you a question?”

Dick smiled at Jason. “Yeah, what’s up?”

Jason sat down next to Dick. “Are you still a pup? Cause Alfie said that I was pup until I was over 18 and said I wasn’t a pup no more.”

“I’m not legally a pup, but here at home, yeah, I’m still a pup. And so are you. Alfie’s right. You’re still a pup even though you presented.”)

“Hey! Let go of me!” Jason yelled, pulling away from the drunk alpha that had grabbed his wrist.

The alpha laughed and tugged Jason closer. “Oh, come on. We’ll have so much fun.”

Jason whimpered. The alpha stunk of alcohol and Jason knew what drunk alphas did to omegas and pups.

“I don’t what to. Let me go.” Jason was terrified and sure his scent betrayed that. “Please.”

“Like it when you beg.” the alpha sneered.

A hand landed on Jason’s waist and the fear turned to terror. “LET GO OF ME!” he shouted, tears rolling down his face. He knew he wasn’t supposed to yell, but he was so scared of what this alpha would do if he didn’t.

For a minute, Jason wasn’t sure anyone had hear him, or if they had, if they even cared. But then a hand came from behind him and grabbed the alpha’s wrist.

“Let go of my son.” Bruce hissed and Jason relaxed a fraction. “Now.” his voice wasn’t loud, but there was a threat behind his words.

The alpha dropped his hands from Jason like he’d been burned. “We were just having some fun, man. Chill out.”

Bruce snarled and twisted the man’s arm until Jason heard a snap and the alpha screamed. Bruce let go and then pulled Jason to him, kneeling down in front of him.

“Can I see your wrist, pup?” he spoke gently.

Jason offered up his wrist. Bruce held it carefully, inspecting the red marks. “This will probably bruise. How much does it hurt?”

“Just a little bit.” Jason whispered, still shaken.

“Okay. I think we should find Dick and then go home.”

Jason hesitated.

“Pup?”

“Are you mad at me?”

Bruce looked confused, so Jason pushed forward.

“Are you mad that I yelled. You said I had to behave really well and yellin’ ain’t behavin’ well and I -” Jason began to hyperventilate.

Bruce shushed him gently, rubbing his hands up and down Jason’s arms. “Pup, listen to me. That alpha was going to hurt you. You were protecting yourself. Yes, I want you to be well behaved at these things, but not at the cost of your safety. Do you understand?”

Jason nodded and leaned into Bruce, crying.

“Oh, pup. You’re safe now. I promise.”

“Wanna go home.” Jason cried, and Bruce hugged him loosely. Jason wanted a real hug, wanted to feel safe. So he pressed himself closer to Bruce and buried his nose into the alpha’s neck.

For a moment, Bruce didn’t move and Jason started to worry he’d done something wrong. But then Bruce’s arms hugged him tightly and picked him up, standing and moving away from the alpha that was still wailing on the floor, keeping him tucked close.

He carried Jason over to where Dick was talking to a group of people. “Dick, it’s time to go.” there was no room for argument in his voice and when Dick saw Jason in Bruce’s arms, he didn’t even say goodbye, he just followed Bruce out.

Jason jerked awake, panting and afraid. A whimper escaped his throat as he threw the covers off and got out of bed.

Moving quietly, he crept out of his room and down the hall, stopping whenever he heard a noise. When he got to Bruce’s room, he hesitated.

Bruce had said that if he ever needed anything, he just had to ask. And right now, the only thing Jason wanted was to nest with his alpha.

Summoning all the courage he had, he knocked softly on the door.

A few seconds later, he heard Bruce’s feet hit the floor. A few seconds more, and the door opened. Bruce looked down at him, a little bleary eyed.

“Jason? What’s wrong?”

Jason shrugged.

Bruce let out a soft sigh. “Do you need something?”

Jason nodded.

“Okay. Is it something I can get you?”

“Kinda.” Jason whispered, staring at the floor.

Bruce hummed. “Is it something I can do?”

Jason nodded again.

“Okay. Are you worried I’ll be mad at you?”

“Not really.”

Bruce knelt down in front of Jason.

“Sweetheart, what’s going on?”

Jason hesitated, then said, “I had a nightmare.”

“Do you want to come sleep in my bed with me?”

“Yeah.”

Bruce smiled. “Okay. Dick’s in here with me. Is that okay?”

“Yeah. Can, um, can I sleep in between you guys?” Jason asked quietly.

“We’ll have to ask him, but probably.” Bruce said, then stepped to the side, letting Jason go into the room.

“B, what’s goin’ on?” Dick asked form the bed, voice soft and rough.

“Jason’s joining us. He wants to know if he can sleep in between us.”

“Course. Come here, lil’ wing.”

Jason crawled up onto the giant bed and tucked himself against Dick’s chest. Bruce waited until he was settled before crawling into bed behind him.

Moving slowly, he scooted closer to Jason until his chest was pressed against Jason’s back. Then he draped an arm across Jason and Dick, tugging them closer.

He sighed softly, relaxing now that he had his pups close by.

Jason did too, and it only took a few minutes for a soft purr to start echoing from his chest.

Dick and Bruce started purring as well.

“Little wing, wake up.”

Jason groaned and rolled over. Well, he tried, but something stopped him. He huffed.

“Jason. Wake up.”

“Fuck off, Dickhead.” he mumbled, keeping his face pressed against his pillow.

“Jay, language.” Bruce’s voice rumbled softly from underneath him. Jason jumped, a whimper escaping him. “Sorry, pup. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

Jason picked his head up and looked at Bruce, who had a soft smile on his face.

“Hey.” Bruce said gently. “You okay?”

“Yeah. Didn’t realize I was laying on top of you.”

Dick laughed, and Jason looked to his right to glare at Dick. “You didn’t want to share at all last night. I thought you’d cuddle with me, but no, you clung to B the whole night.”

“Which is fine, Jason. Dick just found it amusing.”

“You’re not angry?” Jason wasn’t sure who he was asking but they both said ‘no’ at the same time.

Dick spoke first. “Jay, I thought it was funny how cuddly you got with him in your sleep because you aren’t when you’re awake. I also thought the fact that Bruce refused to move in case he disturbed you very funny.”

“And I like cuddling with my pups, so no, I am not mad. I was a little surprised when I woke up to find you on top of me, but I was not, and am not upset.” Bruce said firmly, offering his wrist to scent Jason.

Jason tilted his head back and let Bruce scent him, a quiet purr emanating from his chest.

"Can we go see if Alfred's made breakfast yet? I'm hungry." Dick asked after a moment.

Bruce smiled and sat up, keeping Jason tucked to his chest. "Alright, let's go." he said. When he tried to set Jason down, the pup clung to him, his little face pressed against Bruce's neck.

"Jaylad, do you want me to carry you?"

"Please?"

Bruce hummed. "Of course." he stood up and Dick followed him out of the room, somehow full of energy and excited.

Tim sighed softly as he relaxed in Jason’s arms.

Jason had found the pup while on patrol, shivering and shaking in an alleyway and he hadn’t been able to leave him. So he’d scooped the pup up and brought him to the cave.

There, he had asked Tim for his name and his address. When Tim had told him, Jason asked if anyone would be looking for him.

The hesitation was enough for Jason to know that, no, there probably wasn’t anyone looking for sweet little Tim. Jason had hugged Tim and started purring.

Tim had frozen for a moment, then started crying, clinging to Jason.

When Jason asked what was wrong, Tim had told him that no one ever held him anymore. Jason asked if Tim wanted to stay here for a while.

It was then that Tim revealed that he knew everyone’s identities.

Despite his shock, Jason said the offer still stood, and Tim had excepted, though he seemed nervous about something.

Jason changed into his regular clothes then escorted Tim upstairs and asked Alfred if they could have hot chocolate.

Alfred had agreed and instructed them to sit in the living room. Now they were cuddled up in one of the giant arm chairs, waiting on the hot chocolate.

“Jason?” Bruce’s voice was loud and it startled both boys.

“Yeah?” Jason called out, scenting Tim to keep him calm.

Bruce came into the room, allowing Jason got a good whiff of his scent and Jason realized that Bruce was panicked.

“Jaylad, are you – who’s this?”

“This is Timmy. He’s mine now.” Jason said simply.

Bruce blinked. Then Alfred came in with the hot chocolate.

“Ah, Master Bruce, how are you?”

“I’m fine, Alfred. Um, what’s happening?”

Alfred hummed as he set down two mugs on the end table. “Master Jason and Master Tim are having hot chocolate because Master Tim was quite cold and I have found it to be one of the best ways to warm up cold pups.”

“Okay, and where did Tim come from?”

Jason answered. “I found him in an alleyway. His old pack wasn’t takin care of him, so we’re keepin ‘im.”

Bruce didn’t have a clue what he was supposed to do. The parenting books didn’t prepare him for his child adopting another child. Granted, Jason was almost 17, but he was still a puppy.

Before Bruce could say anything, Dick bounced into the room. “Jay!” he flipped over the couch, moving in to hug his little brother but froze when he saw a pup, half asleep on Jason. “Where did you get a puppy?”

“I found him. He’s mine now.”

Dick tilted his head, glanced at Bruce, then Alfred, then back to Jason. “Do I get to cuddle with him?”

Jason looked at Dick and let out a soft snarl. Bruce was ready to intervene, but Dick just moved on.

“Okay. What’s his name?”

“Tim.”

Dick smiled. “That’s a nice name.”

Jason purred, nuzzling against Tim’s head.

Alfred cleared his throat and Jason looked up at him. “Hot chocolate, young sirs.”

Smiling, Jason said, “Thank you.”

Bruce gave up. It was official. He gave up, he didn’t care anymore.

With Tim, Bruce had understood Jason’s need to take to pup in. But now, he didn’t.

Steph was never adopted, but she was around enough that she may as well be. Cass, despite being older than Jason, had been adopted. Duke wasn’t adopted at first, but then his parents had died, so Bruce had claimed him.

Now, Jason was sitting in the cave, cradling an infant pup. Full on baby. Bruce had no idea where Jason had even gotten the pup and he wasn’t sure he even wanted to know.

But he was going to have to do something about it. Because he was the one adopting all of the pups Jason found and brought home.

Bruce let out a long sigh, then stood and made his way over to Jason.

“Jaylad. Who’s this?”

Jason didn’t look up at him. “He doesn’t have a name.”

“Okay. Where did you get him from?”

Oddly, Jason flinched.

Bruce knelt down so he could see Jason’s face.

“Sweetheart, what’s the matter?”

“I don’t want to give him up.”

Bruce frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I wanna keep him.”

“Jay, if he needs a home, then we can give him a home.”

“I know. But I want him to be mine.”

Bruce had no idea what was going on, but clearly Jason was upset. “Jason, I don’t understand.”

Jason let out a shaky sigh. “You know how when I brought Tim home, you adopted him?”

“I do.”

“I wanted to.”

“You wanted to adopt him?”

Jason nodded. “And I know I was still a pup and they wouldn’t have let me adopt Cass or Duke, but…” his breath hitched.

“But you’d probably be able to adopt this pup.”

“Yeah.”

“Jay, I’m not gonna tell you no, and I’m not going to try to stop you, but the courts will want you to have a stable job and a home. I can and will help you, if that’s what you want.”

Jason looked at Bruce with wet eyes and tear tracks on his cheeks. “Really?”

“Sweetheart, of course. I want you to be happy. If you want to adopt this pup, then I will do everything I can to make that happen for you.”

Jason whimpered and Bruce reached our and wiped away the tears, then pulled Jason into a hug, careful not to squish the baby in between them.

Damian was the sweetest pup Bruce had ever met.

Jason was letting him watch the puppy while he interviewed for a job, and Bruce was captivated. Damian’s bright green eyes seemed to take in everything, and he was so quiet, even when he needed something.

The front door opened and Bruce heard Jason growing softly to himself and the scent of upset omega drifted in.

A moment later, Jason came in, flopped onto the couch next to Bruce and leaned against the alpha, cheek squished on his shoulder.

“Hey, sweetheart. How’d it go?”

“They don’t hire nursing omegas.” Jason’s voice threatened to crack.

Bruce sighed, annoyed for his son.

After sitting in silence for a few minutes, Jason hummed then spoke. “Are you still willing to get me a job?”

“Of course.”

“Does Wayne Enterprises hire nursing omegas?”

Bruce snorted. “Yes, we do. I’d be slaughtered if I tried to say no for that reason.”

“Good. Got any mechanic jobs open?”

“Not sure. I can look later, see what we have. I’ll email you the positions. I assume you want to do as much of it without my help as possible?”

“Yeah.”

Bruce hummed, then shifted so he could wrap his arm around Jason. “Love you, Jaylad.”

“Love you too, B.” Jason yawned and tucked his feet up, relaxing against Bruce. It only took a few minutes for him to doze off, Damian following suit not long after.

Bruce was out seconds after Damian.

As Alfred stepped into the den, wondering were Jason and Bruce where. He hadn’t seen them since Jason had left for an interview, and no one else had seen them since.

Flipping on the light, Alfred relaxed, a smile on his face.

Bruce was on the couch, Damian in one of his arms, Jason tucked against his side with the other. His head was tilted back, mouth open and soft snores coming from him.

#a/b/o #omega jason todd #alpha bruce wayne #batfam #tw discussion of rape #time skips #angst #happy ending #accidental child acquisition #my work

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