So I haven't seen anyone on here discussing the Texas bill to mandate Bible reading in the school curriculum. Besides the obvious problem, this new curriculum will minimize the teachings of slavery, geography, and other classes involving racial and cultural diversity.
This won't be rolled out until 2030, so we've yet to see how its going to play out, but they will have Bible stories and passages read alongside classic literature.
Students as young as six will be reading stories such as Noah's Ark, David and Goliath, and Daniel and the Lion's Den. Older students will encounter new testament passages (such as Luke 14:7-11) and the second chapter of the book of Genesis will be required reading for high school English class.
Texas is the first state to implement anything like this, and in my opinion it's a breach of the constitution. It's one thing to teach about Christianity in a philosophy or religion class, with an unbiased teacher who doesn't present it as fact, but in this context it's being treated as part of history. Of course, I may be slightly biased as an anti-theist, but we know of many contradictions and inaccuracies in the Bible, and I think teaching it as fact is an uneducated decision that is only spreading Christian Nationalism.
req: heyyyy, I was wondering if you would write a caleb mcdaniel from love island one shot?
What if Caleb made a weird comment about a new bombshell and she’s the complete opposite of reader so reader is pissed and tells him later that night she’s sleeping in soul ties. after lights out he runs to go join her and make it up to her . The next morning the girls ask if she’s upset and she makes a remark of like “he fixed it “ or something like that!
please and thank you!! <3
warnings: smut
a/n: HEY YALLL
You sat in the soul ties bed, taking sips of water. You were pissed, well, pissed was an understatement.
Caleb had made a comment about one of the bombshells that made you feel this way. That wasn’t even his type so why would he say something like that?
flashback:
A new bombshell came in during a challenge, and per usual, all the bots went crazy.
You knew that as soon as you saw the bombshell, that she wasn’t his type, so you thought it was okay.
But that was until he made a comment while with his boys, you didn’t hear since you were with the girls at the yellow couch, but one of the boys came up and told you about it.
“Hey, (Name), can we talk for a sec?” Sincere came up to you.
You and the other girls looked confused, but you went anyway. “Sure.”
He took you into Say Less and just started telling you everything.
“So like, when the new bombshell came in, we all know that’s not Caleb’s type, but now we’re unsure because he had said something.” Sincere said.
“What did he say.” You asked, nervously.
He cleared his throat and looked at you, “he said that if he wasn’t in the villa, he’d go up to her anyway. KC asked if he would crack her that night and um..” Sincere scratched his head. (KC looks like the type to say crack instead of fuck)
You already knew that he said yes, the way he scratched his head lets you know that Caleb, your soft Caleb, said yes.
Now you were pissed off because what? Sure, the whole point of this experience was to explore, but you couldn’t help it, you felt jealous. Really jealous.
As you were talking to Sincere, the boys were at the kitchen so you could see clearly. You saw Caleb talking to another one of the boys, then you saw the bombshell come up to him.
You couldn’t hear what they were saying but you saw he was smiling. Like overly cheesing.
That’s when you decided to sleep in soul ties.
end of flashback.
You went up into the kitchen, you weren’t supposed to eat but did you care? Hell no.
You had some fruit, and laid back down. As you were about to fall asleep you felt the bed dip and a voice speak.
“Hey, why aren’t you in bed with me?” Caleb asked you.
“And why aren’t you in bed with the new bombshell you wanted to fuck?” You asked, rolling your eyes and scooting away from him.
He sighed. He knew one of the boys told you. “Listen baby, I was with the boys, you know it was a joke and you know I’d never go for her.”
“Mhm okay, you can go sleep with your new bitch and throw all the weeks we’ve been together away.” You snapped.
“(Name) are we serious? We’ve literally showered together, many times. We had deep convos, good talks, and you really think I’d throw it away?” He cupped your tit.
You bite your lip, trying not to moan and give in. You were going to stand ten toes down on how you felt. “Stop, Caleb.”
“I know you don’t want me to stop, baby.” He replied, circling your nipple. He pulled your top off slowly and latched onto your nipple while playing with the other.
You gave in, you couldn’t help but give in. He pulled you closer and unlatched from your nipple, looking up at you.
“You gon’ let me fix that attitude?”
You nodded immediately. Spreading your legs for him. “Nah, baby. I want words.” He told you.
“Yes! Yes I’ll let you fix my attitude, j-just don’t tease.” You whine.
“Good girl.” He pulled down your shorts to reveal that you didn’t have any panties on, he looked at you and bit his lip before rubbing your clit with his middle finger.
You arched your back and let out a loud moan. He leaned closer until his mouth was to your ear and whispered, “stay quiet, baby.”
He took his finger away from your clit and shoved his boxers down. His length sprung onto his abdomen. He grabbed his length and stroked it slowly.
He rubbed it up and down your slick folds and looked at you. “You okay with us doing this?” You nodded quickly, “yes! Yes m’sure baby”
Caleb looked at you to make sure you truly wanted this, then he slowly pushed into you until he bottomed out.
“Fuck!” You moaned. Caleb kissed your neck and moved in and out of you slowly. “Quiet, baby.”
This pace would’ve been perfect for you if you weren’t so pent up. “Faster, Caleb, please, want more.”
“Yeah? You’ll have to be extra quiet, m’kay? You can do that for me right?” He said, kissing you.
You nod, but that wasn’t good enough for him. “Words, sweetheart.”
“Y-yes I can.” You told him.
He grabbed your waist and started ramming into you. You gripped the sheets, moaning out even though you told him you’d be quiet.
He put your shorts into your mouth to muffle you and continue to pound into you.
“You’re s-so loud f’me baby, fuck m’ close, so fucking close.” He got faster, his hand sliding down to your clit.
He pushed you over the edge and you came with a loud gasp. He followed after you, cumming inside you.
He collapsed on top of you, exhausted now.
None of you spoke for a good 10 minutes. Eventually he looked up at you. “Did I fix it?”
You slapped his arm playfully.
The next morning, you were in the girls area where they get their makeup done and stuff, you were in the middle of putting on your bikini and Trinity spoke up.
“Girl, you good? I saw that you was real upset over there after Sincere told you about Caleb.” She asked.
“Oh yeah, im good. He fixed it.” He told you.
Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at you.
req: Can you do one where maybe reader has a panic attack in front of Caleb and like he talks her through it.
warnings: panic attack, js sad in general
a/n: im so unserious with these pics bro , but i hope i did the panic attack part right, i based it on when i had one randomly while getting my hair done (LMFAO IDK BEO)
To say the least, you were upset. More than upset actually.
Everything went wrong.
When you woke up, you felt sluggish. When you were eating breakfast, you dropped it. When you were walking down the stairs, you slipped. When you went to shower, you slipped.
Everything was just wrong today. And you had stayed away from Caleb and interacted with everyone else because if you saw him, you knew you’d break down on the spot.
Caleb thought he did something. He went to Sincere, Corbin, and two others about it and said that you haven’t went up to them about him at all.
He asked some of the girls and said they haven’t heard a peep about him from you. So he was just so confused on why you were avoiding him.
So he decided to come grab you himself. He found you sitting alone by the dock. He sat next to you.
“Hey, (Name). What’s going on? Why’re you avoiding me?” He asked.
Then you got nervous. You don’t know why you got nervous, but you did. The first sign of your attack was your ears ringing.
“Hellooo? (Name)? Don’t you hear me talking to you?” He tried again.
Your head started to pound and your vision started to blur. The ringing in your ears got louder, and now you were breathing heavily.
“I-I can’t breathe—Caleb I-” you tried telling him what’s going on and he sprung immediately into action.
“It’s okay baby, look at me. I’m here.” He rubbed your shoulders. He saw the water next to you and put it to your lips to give you small lips of it.
You were still out of it, nothing helped as of right now. He sat you on his lap, continuing to give you sips of water.
“I’m here, baby, I’m here. Calm down.” He rubbed your back, swaying you back and forth.
After about 40 minutes, you were slumped in his lap, awake, but tired. “Thank you, Caleb.” You told him.
“No need to thank me. You good?” He asked.
“Yeah, I’m good. Just a bad day.” You said.
He kissed your cheek all the way to your lips. “Once we leave here, I’ll make sure to get you everything you want, baby. That’s how much you mean to me.”
You smile and kiss him back. “Is it too early to say ‘I love you’ or??”
“How bout we wait until we leave, kay?” He asked, and you nodded.
req: hey queen can you do a Caleb one shot where basically it’s movie night and you were coupled up with sincere but then you see everything that happened and crash out and after words caleb is there to comfort you and then over the next days you grow closer and start to former connection
warnings: angst a bit
a/n: Ik I haven’t been active as much im sorry😭😭
You all were sat for movie night. You remember seeing season 6 of Love Island and how they did movie night, so you know nothing good was coming outta this.
The boys sat with the boys and the girls sat with the girls.
You knew you were gonna see some shit when you saw sincere panicking and was with his boys the entire day after the text was announced. But nothing compared to how utterly shocked and angry you were when they showed his clips.
But enough of that, we’re not there yet.
You were sat with the girls, KC’s clips were first and everyone went off. Trinity went off, Melanie sorta went off and Kayda sorta went off too.
Just a whole bunch of shit happening. You stayed silent though, you noticed that Kenzie was also silent, you didn’t think too much of it though.
Then Sincere’s clips. They had you shocked, silently shocked. You watched how he lied to absolutely everyone and how insincere he was.
When the clip ended. You didn’t say a word at first. You stared at the screen before looking at him.
“So, you’re not gonna say anything?” You started. “Not gonna say anything about how you lied in my face? Not only my face though, everyone else’s face.”
“Listen, (Name). Everything I said up there, yeah I twisted the truth but that doesn’t change the way I feel about you. I wanna be with you 100 percent.” He tells you, putting that stupid ass arm out with his hand.
“Bullshit! What we had was bullshit. You lied to my face, I told you to tell the truth. I told you to be honest with me. I told you to be transparent. Did that not go through your head?” You yelled, standing up. He was dead silent.
“Hello?! I’m fucking talking to you?” You said, your anger was going through the roof right now.
You couldn’t take it anymore. You left and went upstairs not giving a fuck about movie night anymore.
The girls were about to come up with you but they saw Caleb getting up and going up the stairs to find you.
He found you in the photo booth curled up, sobbing. He felt so bad. He got on his knee and rubbed your arm. “You okay? I know it was crazy down there.”
You nodded. But it was obvious you weren’t okay.
“What he did was wrong on so many levels, you didn’t deserve that at all.” He told you, rubbing your back in circles.
It’s like he knew what calmed you down. You looked up at him before leaning your shoulder on his. “Thank you, Caleb.”
And from then on, he started making you breakfast and did whatever you wanted to do for the next few days.
He listened to you, made sure you were good, was honest to you and didn’t drain you out like Sincere did and you genuinely felt grateful for him.
One hot afternoon he pulled you for a chat into the speakeasy.
“Heyy, so, I wanted to talk to you about the recoupling, since it’s coming up tonight. Have you talked to Sincere?” He asked you.
“No, and I won’t ever talk to him again. I’m going to choose you at that recoupling.” You told him.
He smiled, because even though Jaiden was a lovely girl, that’s not who he came here for. When Caleb was watching Love Island before he came on, his eye was on you. Not Kenzie, you.
“And I’ll choose you at the recoupling too.” He said, kissing you.
You guys ended up making out on the couch until night time came.
req: ugh just imagine caleb making breakfast for you and being really forward with you while your current couple (it can be someone made up) stayed playing in your face and making you doubt yourself. you thought caleb would only want a blonde hair blue eyed girl but he really surprised when he told you he wanted you.
warnings: none
a/n: CALEB IS SUCH A CUTIE OMG
you had gotten into an argument with the boy you were coupled up with because he just straight up lied to you.
the argument was loud and everyone who was in the villa and probably farther could hear yall.
when it was night time, you grabbed some blankets and decided to sleep in Soul Ties, because you didn’t wanna be next to him, especially after he was petty and said he wasn’t making breakfast for you at all. childish right?
Caleb was the main one who heard it and felt really bad for you. he made sure everyone was asleep before getting up and sneaking to where you were.
he knew you weren’t sleep. that’s why he went to you.
he sat next to you, pulling the covers over his legs and rubbing your back.
“You okay?” he asked you.
you sniffled, “how many people heard us?”
“I think everyone heard you guys if you ask me, but everyone thinks you’re in the right. He had no reason yelling at you like that.” he told you, rubbing your back and laying down with you.
“i guess that’s good..” you say, you were still upset because why was the boy you were coupled up with so loud about it?
“I bet America is clowning him as we speak.” he said, which made you laugh.
“There she is, I like hearing that sound.” he kissed your cheek. “I have to get back to my bed, but I’ll make sure to come back once it’s time to get up.”
“Do you even wanna sleep with Kenzie? C’monnn sleep with me instead.” you tried giving him the puppy eyes, it almost worked but he knew he couldn’t, so he made a deal with you.
“Alright, how about I cuddle you until you fall asleep, okay?” he said.
“Mmmm, nah, sleep with me” you said, not budging. he had an idea, but wasn’t gonna voice it to you cause he knew you’d say no.
he cuddled you and held you tight, rubbing and caressing on your body giving you kisses on your cheeks (face cheeks guys).
when he knew you were in deep sleep, he gave you a small kiss to the lips and got up slowly and headed back to the room and got in his bed. he faced away from Kenzie and fell asleep.
the next morning, it was 5:50, 10 minutes before the lights came on. Caleb checked the phone he was provided with and saw the time. so he got out of bed and went into Soul Ties where you were sleeping and slowly got underneath the covers and cuddled you exactly how he did when you fell asleep.
when 6am hit, you both heard everyone getting up and talking which had the both of you getting up too.
“Morning, Caleb” you yawn, sitting up.
“Morning” he said, also sitting up with you. “Slept good?”
“I did actually, did you?” you asked.
“I did.” he replied.
a little later, all the girls were getting ready for the day, and all the boys brought the girls breakfast. you didn’t expect nothing, especially after the way the boy yelled at you so Melanie offered to share her breakfast with you.
as soon as she offered, Caleb came in bringing you breakfast. everyone awed the both of you because they knew they saw a connection in the both of you.
an hour or two later, you and Caleb soaked your feet in the water, just talking.
“So what’s your type?” he asked you.
“Well… someone respectful, kind, sweet and caring. And someone who’s cute too.” you said. “What about you though? I bet it’s someone like Kenzie, huh? She is really pretty, someone I can see you going for.”
“Yeah, she’s pretty but she ain’t you.” he told you.
on the outside, you were shocked but on the inside, you were screaming, kicking, smiling etc.
“Me?????” you asked.
“Yes, you. You’re so beautiful.” his thumb caressed your cheek.
“Stopppp” you said shyly, looking away.
he laughed and brought you closer and whispered in your ear.
She said, "I've had a hell of a summer. So, baby, don't take this hard, but maybe we should get an annulment before this goes way too far."
The challenge had finally ended, everyone laughing and sharing kisses. Not me. I smiled when I had to, clapped when it was needed, and joked with my girls.
But every time I blinked, all I could see was His hands on Kenzie's waist. How easy and natural it looked. How they complemented each other so well.
By the time we were getting ready for the evening, I was unusually quiet, stuck in my head. Sitting criss-crossed on the day beds, picking my nails. Aniya noticed me first.
"You okay?" I glance up at her, moving over so she can sit down. "Yeah, I'm okay." Jen walked over to us, sitting on the other side of me. "Girl, are you sure? You look like you're going through it."
I laugh softly, "I'm literally okay, guys." "The fake laugh gave it away..." Jen deadpanned.
Silence settled between us before I sighed deeply. ".....Can I sound crazy for a second?" Aniya immediately scooted closer. "Of course, baby." I looked down at my hands. "When Caleb kissed Kenzie..." I stop. Jen and Aniya glanced at each other. "Like I know it's just a challenge..."
"It is." Jen nodded. I smiled tightly. "I know...It's just. She's literally his type." Aniya frowned. "What do you mean?" "I mean, look at her," I said, gesturing towards Kenzie, who was having a talk with Caleb as we spoke. "She looks like his exact type," I said as my voice got smaller.
"Then there's me..." Aniya's face softened. "Girl..." I shook my head. "No, seriously, like it might sound stupid, but I've been in my head about it since the challenge."
"Like, it just made me realize...that if Caleb walked into a room with 10 girls.. I'm probably not the one he'd pick." Aniya looked personally offended. "Girl, who the fuck put that idea in your head?" I shrugged. "No one, It's just... I dont look like his ideal type." Jen grabbed my hand. "Girl, stop. Do you know how he looks at you?"
Aniya adds, "Literally, he follows you around anywhere you go." I smiled faintly. "You guys have to say that." "No, we dont," Jen said before Aniya spoke, "I think you should tell him." My eyes widened. "Hell no."
"Why?" Jen said, playing with one of my braids. "Because I'll sound insecure..." "You are insecure...?" I groaned. "Ugh dont say it out loud." Aniya hugged me before standing up. "Caleb can't fix something he doesnt know is broken, girl..." Before walking away, leaving me and Jen cuddling.
Later that night, while everyone was getting ready for bed, Aniya found Caleb at the kitchen island making something to drink.
"I need to tell you something." She said quietly, causing Caleb to look up, confused. "Yeah?" Aniya looked around before she spoke, "Your girl's in her head..." His smile disappeared. "What happened?" Aniya shrugged her shoulders. "It wasn't something you did. But that challenge..." He squinted his eyes. "The kiss?" She nodded. "She thinks Kenzies is more of your type...You should go talk to her."
I sat alone on the dock, basking in the sun, still in my head about everything, when I didn't hear Caleb sit next to me. I only noticed him when he grabbed my hand and pulled me to his side. "You okay?" He asked me. I stared at his face for a moment before answering, "Yeah, I'm fine." We held eye contact as his hand came to my face, moving a stray boho piece out of my line of view. "Talk to me, baby."
I broke eye contact as I stared into the water. " It's stupid," I mumbled, playing with my ring. "I'll decide that." I laughed softly before speaking. "I hated watching you kiss Kenzie." I bit my lip. Caleb blinked. "It was a challenge."
"I know..." I sigh. "So what's really bothering you?" He said, confused. I hesitated before speaking, "She just looks... more your type... and I don't." I say, closing my eyes, leaning my head on his bicep. It goes quiet for a while.
I sigh, becoming self-conscious, "See, I told you it sounds dumb." Suddenly, I felt him grab my chin and turn my head towards him. "Listen, I dont know who made you feel like your competeing with Kenzie, but you're not." I opened my mouth to talk, but he cut me off. "I'm serious. I kissed Kenzie because of a challenge, that's it." He reached for my hand, interlocking them.
"When we were sitting around the fire pit, I was looking at you. When I wake up, I'm looking for you. When something happens your the first person I want to tell." His thumb rubbed over my knuckles. "So why are you acting like one kiss changed that?"
I looked down. "It just feels like... If we were outside of the villa, you wouldn't even look my way." Caleb laughed in disbelief. "You can not be serious." I huff, throwing my head back. "I am." I drag out my sentence.
He stares at me, confused. "Baby." The nickname made my body warm. "If we met outside...I'd notice you before I notice anyone else." I frowned. "You dont have to say that to make me feel better."
"I'm saying it because it's true, Y/n. When I first came into the villa, you were the first person I laid eyes on. I picked you because you make life just flow so effortlessly; you make everything peaceful."
Our foreheads rested against each other's. "I dont care if another girl comes in here checking every box people think I'd want; I chose you." His voice dropped into a soft whisper, "And until you say otherwise, I'm going to continue choosing you."
I smiled, finally feeling like I'm not holding my breath, I can't breathe, "So I'm being dramatic?" He grinned, "Just a little bit." I smacked his arm as I finally let out a real laugh. He laughed before catching my hand and bringing it to his lips, pressing a kiss on my knuckles.
"And for the record.. I dont have a type." I raised my eyebrows in curiosity. "No?" He shrugged. "I do now." He smiled. "It's you." I smiled so hard with all of my 32, as I leaned in to kiss him.
In an attempt to get over his feelings for Emcee Xia after the announcement of her engagement to Valko Ao, Zayne Li seeks advice from a friend, Sylus Qin, who introduces him to a site and makes him make an account - something which Zayne plans to ignore but caves after Emcee came to personally drop off his Save the Date....
Nonmc is a struggling college student who is doing an internship for Valko Ao's company and is roommates with Rafayel Qi, who has been bugging her for ages to join the site to find herself a sugar daddy. She finally caves after an incident that left her almost in debt but finds herself struggling to find someone that wasn't creepy - until she comes across Doctor's profile...
Main Pairing: Zayne x Nonmc
Background Pairings: Sylus x Rafayel, Valko x MC
Cameos from: Xavier, Caleb
Tags: Angst, hurt/comfort, eventual smut, suggestive tones, possibly OOC lis, not beta read, younger woman x older man, sugar daddy x sugar baby, more tags to come
I swear to fucking god. I would claw out OneDrive from my computer if I could. I would burn down their servers if I could. I would run down their stocks to the ground if I could. I hope every single one of their workers gets a better offer from a competitor in the next 24 hours. I hope every single one of their light bulbs explodes at the same time. I hope every single carton of milk in their fridge will always be expired.
Stop backing up my fucking files.
Stop asking me to back up my fucking files.
Stop taking my fucking files off my fucking computer.
I don't want a fucking reminder in three fucking days. Let me fucking say no.
at some point in your life you will be boiling fruit, water, sugar, and lemon juice in a pot to make a syrup or jam. the instructions will tell you to simmer for a certain amt of time. your timer will go off and you will look at the pot and go, "hm, this doesn't look thick enough. maybe i'll let it go for another 10 minutes." this is the devil speaking. it's only so liquid right now because it is at boiling point. it will thicken when it cools down. learn from the follies of my youth and do not let this happen to you
at some point in your life you will be making a sauce or a stew in which you need to add cornstarch to thicken it. and you will prepare a slurry of starch in cold water and think "this looks like way too little starch to thicken this amount of liquid." this is the devil speaking. cornstarch instantly polymerizes at 95°C and if you add too much it will turn into an impossibly thick goop.
at some point in your life you will be making some sort of cream based dessert that requires gelatin to thicken it. and you will soak some gelatin sheets in water and think "this is too few gelatin sheets for this amount of cream." this is the devil speaking. it will thicken in the fridge and if you add too much you will end up with milk jelly
at some point in your life you will be baking cookies. you will take the sheet out after twelve minutes as the recipe instructs and the cookies will still be glistening and soft. "these don't seem cooked enough," you will think to yourself, "i should place them back into the oven until their edges are nice and golden." this is the devil talking. this is how you get dry, overdone cookies. the cookies will continue to bake on the warm sheet for several more minutes and then harden up after sitting on a rack for a while. trust the process. trust the process.
at some point in your life you will be adding a small pasta to a soup and you will think "that is not enough small pasta." this is the devil talking. the pasta will absorb the stock and expand. this is how you end up with a soup that is a solid mass of soggy ditalini.
At some point in your life you will be adding garlic to a dish and you will think "that is not enough garlic." These are angels speaking. They are correct. Add more garlic.
You asked for him like it could turn into something softer if you named it clearly enough and held onto it hard enough.Sylus lets you, quietly watching as you mistook his attention for permission to rewrite what he had never defined in the first place.
Pairing: Sylus x Reader (implied Non MC)
Genre: Boss x Assistant, Dark Romance, Slow Burn, Psychological Manipulation, Obsessive Dynamics, Power Imbalance Romance & Emotional Tension, Suggestive Themes & Ending not yet decided
Word count: Around 4.2k
Note: Next updates will be slow, please bear with me 🥺
Find the previous parts here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6
Find my other works here: Masterlist
Kindly let me know your thoughts, feedback, ignore the grammar mistakes and reblogs would be deeply appreciated.
Sylus involuntarily stared at the phone resting on his desk.
He had managed to repair it.
Every cracked component had been replaced, every loose wire secured back into place. It looked almost brand new now.
Almost.
His thumb hovered over the power button, but he couldn't bring himself to press it. A deep exhale escaped his lips as he leaned back against his chair, the leather creaking beneath his weight.
The office was quiet.
Too quiet.
In the dim lighting, the glow of the N109's skyline seeped through the floor-to-ceiling windows, casting shifting patterns across the ceiling. His crimson eyes followed those shapes absentmindedly, letting the silence stretch around him.
Minutes passed.
Nothing changed.
Eventually, Sylus pushed himself out of the chair.
"...Not now."
The phone remained where it was. He had a bottle of bourbon waiting for him. The living room was just as he had left it. A bottle already rested on the coffee table.
He lowered himself onto the couch facing the front entrance and poured himself another glass.
The amber liquid swirled lazily before he brought it to his lips.
One glass became two.
Two became four.
Somewhere along the line, he stopped counting altogether. By the time he reached for another pour, only a few stubborn drops trickled into the glass.
"...Tch."
Empty.
With an irritated groan, Sylus stood.
The alcohol had settled heavily into his limbs. His movements were slower now, lacking their usual precision.
Halfway, his knee clipped the edge of the coffee table. The impact sent him stumbling forward.
"Fuck—"
His hand shot out instinctively, catching himself before he hit the ground.
For a brief second he simply remained there, one palm braced against the table, head lowered as the room tilted around him. Then, with another quiet curse, he straightened himself and continued toward his office.
He barely managed to reach the liquor cabinet.
Pulling another bottle free, he twisted the cap off without ceremony and took a long swig straight from it.
The burn barely registered anymore. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
His gaze drifted.
The phone.
Still sitting exactly where he'd left it.
Waiting. Almost mockingly.
Bottle still clutched in one hand, Sylus crossed the room and picked up the device with the other. His thumb lingered over the power button.
Then—
He pressed it.
The loading screen illuminated the dark office.
His vision blurred for a second, forcing him to blink several times before the image sharpened again.
Come on...
The loading icon spun.
Then finally—
The home screen appeared.
Almost instantly, the phone erupted into life. Message notifications.
Business emails.
Mission reports.
Missed calls.
Updates.
Messages from business partners.
Messages from MC.
The endless symphony of notification chimes filled the office. Sylus ignored every single one. His eyes searched for only one name.
Y/N.
Nothing.
Another long sigh escaped him. He lifted the bottle again, taking another slow drink before staggering backwards.
His heel caught against the leg of his chair.
He stumbled.
A hollow laugh escaped him.
"...Pathetic."
He tossed the bottle aside, completely ignoring the sharp crash of glass shattering against the floor.
He didn't even look. Instead, he opened your conversation. The last thing staring back at him was still his own message.
Unread.
His brows knitted together.
Unread...
Then his thoughts drifted—
The image Mephisto had shown him earlier.
You.
Walking through the park.
Hand in hand with another man.
His jaw tightened.
Yet almost immediately, another memory shoved itself to the forefront. "She said... her neck needed stitches." Luke's hesitant voice echoed through his mind. "Boss... she left us. We don't even know if she wants to come back."
Sylus closed his eyes.
As if shutting them would silence the words.
Instead—
Another voice followed.
"If an apology... an admission that you were wrong to hurt her... could bring her back... wouldn't you do it?"
His grip around the phone tightened. Too tight. The memory changed again.
Your blood.
Warm.
Fresh.
Running between his fingers. His entire body flinched. His gaze instinctively dropped to his own hand.
Even now—
He could almost see it. A phantom stain that refused to disappear. After several long seconds, Sylus inhaled deeply.
Then opened your chat once more.
His thumb hovered over the call icon.
One press.
The ringtone echoed softly through the speaker. His heartbeat slowed.
One ring.
Two.
Three.
Then—
The call connected. Relief flooded through him so suddenly it almost hurt. He parted his lips.
"...Do—"
"What's the use of calling her multiple times when you already know she's not going to answer?"
Sylus froze. Slowly, he pulled the phone away from his ear. He stared at the screen.
Y/N.
It was your number. He hadn't misdialed. His brows furrowed. Silently, he lifted the phone back to his ear.
"She isn't some toy that'll fall back into your arms because you decided enough time has passed."
"You spilled her blood."
A beat.
"Don't ever forget that."
Then, quieter—
"Now piss off."
The line went dead. The office fell silent. Sylus remained standing exactly where he was. Phone still pressed against his ear.
He didn't move.
Didn't breathe.
The only sound left was the faint hum of the disconnected call. Several long seconds passed before his arm finally lowered. His thumb curled around the phone. His grip tightened.
For one dangerous moment—
He almost threw it.
His arm even twitched.
But...
It stopped halfway.
Slowly...
Very slowly...
He lowered the phone instead. The room suddenly felt impossibly empty. He made his way back toward the office’s couch.
Every step heavier than the last.
Without bothering to turn on any lights, he dropped onto the couch. His head fell back against the cushions. Eyes closed. The silence from the call replayed louder than any conversation ever could.
His phone vibrated.
Once.
Twice.
Again.
MC.
He didn't answer. The screen continued lighting up beside him. Sylus simply let it ring.
The Next Day
Sylus was jolted awake by a harsh, persistent onslaught of knocking on his office door. He groaned, sitting up and digging his fingers into his temples to combat the vicious hangover.
"What?"
Luke opened the door slightly.
“Miss Hunter is here.”
That made Sylus pause. Slowly, he lowered his hand.
"She's here?"
“She insisted. Said she’s been trying to reach you since last night.”
Sylus’s eyes flicked down to the phone.
Missed calls.
MC.
No messages from you.
Nothing.
Something in his jaw tightened, subtle but real. He stood up, stretching his towering frame as he walked past Luke. "Get ready for the mission. I'll deal with her."
Luke nodded and retreated, while Sylus marched into the living room. MC was sitting cross-legged on the sofa, a deep, bitter scowl twisting her features.
"What's the purpose of your visit?" Sylus asked flatly.
She scoffed, standing up.
“Do you have any idea how hard it is to get a response from you?”
Sylus didn’t move, like the weight of the night still hadn’t fully left him.
“…Good morning.”
MC scoffed.
“Don’t do that. I’ve been calling you all night.”
“I know.”
“Then why didn’t you pick up?”
A beat.
Sylus exhaled through his nose.
“Phone issues.”
That wasn’t a lie.
But it wasn’t an explanation either. MC stepped closer, but the moment she got within a few feet, she sharply stepped back, pinching her nose in sheer disgust.
"Did you fucking drink the whole liquor store? You reek, Sylus."
Sylus merely shrugged, leaning his shoulder casually against the wall. "What's the crisis, Miss Hunter? The one that required you to venture into the N109 zone again."
“Your assistant is causing problems.”
That word.
Assistant.
Sylus’s gaze sharpened slightly.
"Is this about the previous issue—"
“No. She went behind my back. She spoke to Captain Jenna about me. About allegations.”
Silence.
Sylus tilted his head slightly and pinched the bridge of his nose, letting out a dark chuckle. "Now, now. That's a rather baseless accusation, Miss Hunter."
"It's not! Captain Jenna summoned me to the Hunters' Association headquarters last night because of 'gross misconduct' I've apparently committed."
Another pause.
Longer this time.
Then Sylus spoke.
“…And?”
That one word shifted everything.
MC blinked.
“…And? That’s all you have to say?”
Sylus didn’t answer immediately.
Instead, he looked at her properly for the first time.
Calm.
Detached.
Almost tired.
MC’s face tightened.
"Captain Jenna met up with her yesterday—"
"Yesterday?" Sylus’s eyes narrowed, his mind flashing to the park footage.
"Yes! Apparently, some dude was the one who spilled the entire story about what happened at the base. Jenna was furious and demanded the absolute truth from me. I had to tell her everything, Sylus… and she sent me home for a pending investigation."
MC stepped closer, desperation leaking into her eyes. "Sylus, you better fix this. I demand that you fix this right now."
"Demand?" Sylus scoffed, a dark, dangerous smirk playing on his lips.
"You're asking me to fix a situation that you entirely caused yourself?"
MC stared at him in complete shock, clearly not expecting him to turn on her.
“If they spoke to Jenna,” he said slowly, “then there was a reason.”
MC’s disbelief cracked into anger.
“So you’re just going to side with her?”
Silence.
Then—
“Yes.”
Simple.
Final.
MC froze.
For a second, she looked like she hadn’t processed it correctly.
MC stepped closer.
“You’re letting her ruin everything I’ve built.”
Sylus’s gaze dropped slightly.
Then lifted again.
Cold.
"Sorry, I can't help you with your career issues, Miss Hunter. You'll have to fix this yourself."
Silence.
MC stopped moving.
“…What?”
Sylus turned and walked past her. "What I let out in a moment of trust… caused all of this to happen."
Before he could take another step, MC lunged forward, grabbing his wrist tightly to halt his movement.
"Why do you only think about her?! Why are you defending her? I'm about to lose my entire career, and you just don't seem to care! Why?!"
Sylus paused. Slowly, deliberately, he turned his head to look down at her. Her face was completely fallen, her eyes brimming with unshed tears.
"Why are you behaving so coldly to me… when I need you the most?" she whispered.
"Miss Hunter—"
"Why are you pushing me away? You're acting like this because of that bitch! What about me? What about us?"
"Us?" Sylus let out a hollow, mocking laugh. "Now you're talking about an 'us'? What about it? I'm actually curious, Miss Hunter. What exactly are we?"
MC sniffled, her voice trembling. "You love me, don't you?"
"Love?" Sylus’s crimson eyes were completely dead as he looked at her tears, feeling absolutely nothing.
"I don't think so. I've never put a label on anything here, and I gave you plenty of opportunities to do so. But you chose to ignore my advances. Now, when your perfect little world is crumbling and you're about to lose everything, suddenly it's 'I love you' and 'what about us'..." He tilted his head. "How stupid."
MC didn’t move.
“…This is about her.”
Sylus didn’t answer.
That was his answer.
MC’s voice sharpened again, trying to rebuild control.
"It's because of her, right? That slut is ruining—"
Sylus violently yanked his wrist out of her grip, his expression shifting into something genuinely terrifying.
“Leave.”
The word wasn’t raised.
But it ended everything.
MC stood frozen for a second longer. Then turned.
And walked out.
The door shut behind her. No echo of resolution. Just silence.
Meanwhile
You were perched on the wide windowsill of Gideon's apartment, sitting cross-legged as you stared out at the sprawling landscape, watching the tiny passerby below. Your phone lay untouched on the cushion beside you.
"Wanna go clubbing tonight?"
You lazily turned your head. Gideon was leaning against the doorway, a bright, easy smile on his lips.
"Clubbing?"
"Yeah. You need to lose that morose cloud floating around you."
You scoffed, turning back to the window. "There's nothing morose about me."
"Uh-huh. And I'm the President of France."
You grabbed a nearby throw pillow and hurled it directly at his face. He caught it effortlessly, grinning as he held up his phone.
"Jen invited us out to that new exclusive spot in Linkon."
"Captain Jenna?" you asked, shifting around. "She still wants to see us after the complete disaster of yesterday?"
Gideon shrugged.
"She's cool like that. Now wanna go or nah?"
You shrugged, a small part of you wanting to escape the heavy thoughts anchoring you down.
"Yeah. Maybe it'll help get my mind off things."
Gideon let out a fake, loud cough. "Like Sylus?"
"Tch. Shut up, Gid. What time are we leaving?"
"Around 10 PM-ish. Dress nice."
Club — Night
Later that night, the bass from the club's massive sound system vibrated right through the soles of your shoes. You were sitting at the sleek neon-lit bar, nursing an Aperol spritz.
You watched from afar as Gideon and Jenna navigated the crowded dance floor together, laughing and moving to the rhythm. You smiled to yourself, they genuinely looked cute together.
Then—
“Mind if I sit here?”
You didn’t look immediately.
“…Depends.”
A man.
Overconfident tone.
Wrong kind of confidence.
You already knew.
“I want to be left alone,” you said.
He threw his head back, laughing loudly as if you’d told a joke. Sliding his stool closer, he leaned into your personal space, whispering near your ear.
"Not when you're dressed like that, sweetheart."
You ignored him, taking a deliberate sip of your drink. He pressed closer, his breath smelling of cheap tequila. "Wanna get out of here?"
You shifted slightly away.
You eyed him coldly from the corner of your vision. "I'm good."
"Come on, pretty girl. We can have some real fun. Just the two of us. What do you say, hmm?"
Before you could stop him, he slid his hand onto your thigh, his fingers brushing right where the high slit of your dress parted. A wave of irritation washed over you. You sharply pulled your leg away, your voice hardening. "No."
"Come on. Let's just go. I promise I'll make it worthwhile."
He grabbed your forearm, his grip tightening as he tried to pull you off the stool.
"I said no, dude. Back the fuck off from me right now!"
You wrenched your arm free, stood up, and immediately walked away, intending to head to the washroom to regroup. But the dance floor was packed, and as you pushed through the swaying bodies near the back corridor, a hand suddenly clamped around your wrist again.
It was him. Utilizing the chaos of the crowd, he violently dragged you backward, throwing his weight against the heavy door of the emergency staircase to slip you inside the quiet, isolated concrete hallway. The heavy metal door slammed shut, cutting the blasting music down to a muffled thud.
You were thrown hard against the concrete wall, a painful hiss escaping your lips as your shoulder took the impact. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?!"
He laughed.
“Still talking tough?”
He stepped closer.
Too close now.
Your fingers instinctively slid down to the inner hem of your dress, reaching for the emergency silver dagger strapped tightly to your thigh.
But before your fingers could even touch the hilt, the man froze.
Everything stopped.
Not metaphorically.
Not emotionally.
Physically.
His body jerked.
Forward.
Then still.
A sound — wet, final.
He froze completely.
Then—
He was pulled off you.
Violently.
Thrown across the stairwell. Impact echoed.
You stayed still for half a second. Breathing steady. Then slowly looked up.
ꨄ︎ summary: You always assumed you were just the supportive Beta third wheel to Mei and Valko's inevitable Alpha power-couple romance. Turns out, you were wrong.
ꨄ︎ a/n: guys… i've fallen for the valko propaganda 😭 anyway, please note that his characterization in this fic is purely based on the 3 minute trailer that we got 🥹 also non mc x mc because wth, she's hot and the new fit is 🔥
ꨄ︎ lads masterlist ꨄ︎ AO3
Being a Beta definitely had its perks.
You didn't have to deal with heats, ruts, or the overwhelming biological urges that governed the lives of Alphas and Omegas. The only downside was that you were practically scent-blind to pheromones, which meant you had to rely strictly on visual cues to realize that your two best friends were hopelessly, undeniably in love with each other.
Yes, that was the only explanation that made sense.
You were currently sprawled on a plush, impossibly expensive velvet sofa in the middle of Valko’s penthouse.
As the sole heir to Eoncore Tech, Valko’s college living situation was less "dorm room" and more "billionaire's high-rise playground," complete with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the city and experimental tech prototypes scattered across every surface.
"Okay, but listen, if we overclock the core processors on the new VR rig…whoa!"
Valko, who had been pacing excitedly while rambling about the latest tech he was working on, suddenly tripped over a tangled mess of fiber-optic cables. His arms flailed wildly, his glasses flying off his face as he plummeted toward the glass coffee table.
Before you could even flinch, Mei was there.
The female Alpha moved with terrifying speed, catching Valko by the back of his designer hoodie then hauling his tall, broad frame upright with one hand like he was a stray kitten.
"Careful, idiot," Mei grumbled. She didn't let go of his hoodie right away, eyes locking onto his flushed face.
"Ah... right. Thanks, Mei," Valko chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. He looked like a massive, clumsy golden retriever who had just bumped into a glass door. He beamed at her, and the raw, unspoken Alpha energy between them felt so thick and intimate that you felt guilty just for watching.
You sighed fondly, picking up your textbook.
It was beautiful, really.
Two incredibly powerful Alphas, one a grounded, protective force of nature, and the other a brilliant, obscenely wealthy, loveable dork. They were a perfect match. You were just lucky they let their token Beta friend hang out in their penthouse to use the ultra-fast Wi-Fi.
Mei finally let go of Valko and walked over to you. She silently placed a plate of perfectly sliced fruit on the table in front of you, a soft, almost imperceptible gentleness softening her features when she looked your way.
"Thanks, Mei," you smiled.
Valko immediately scrambled over, nearly tripping again, to drop a brand-new, unreleased Eoncore smart tablet into your lap.
"I had the engineering team install that specific reading app you like! The screen adjusts to your retinas so you don't get headaches while studying!"
"Valko, this is worth more than my car," you said, staring at the sleek device.
"It's just a prototype! Consider it... beta testing," he said, winking proudly at his own pun.
You looked between the two of them. They had flanked you again, standing on either side of the sofa, looking down at you with undivided attention. Even without being able to smell their pheromones, the territorial, possessive aura in the room was suffocating.
They were practically vibrating.
They must be getting ready to court each other, you thought. They’re so tense. I’m totally ruining the mood.
You closed your textbook and carefully placed the ridiculously expensive tablet on the table.
"You know what, guys? I think I'm gonna head out. I have a lot of reading to do, and I really want to give you two the apartment to yourselves tonight."
Both Alphas froze.
Valko blinked, his brain clearly struggling to process the statement.
"Give us the apartment?" Mei repeated, eyebrows furrowed. "Why?"
"Well, you know," you gestured between them with an encouraging smile. "You two have been circling each other for months. The whole ‘Alpha power couple’ thing is great, and I fully support it, but you don't have to keep pretending to hang out with me just to spend time together. You should just establish your pack already!"
Silence fell over the penthouse.
Both Alphas stared at you then, they slowly turned to stare at each other.
"You think..." Valko started, his voice dropping slightly "You think Mei and I want to mate... with each other?"
"Well, yeah! You're always paying for our dinners, and Mei is always physically guarding us in public. You're constantly scenting the furniture around, which I can't smell, by the way, but I'm not blind. I know how Alpha courtships work!"
"We're scenting you," Mei stated bluntly, pinching the bridge of her nose. "We scent everything you touch so no other Alphas come near you. I'm guarding you. Valko is buying things for you."
You paused, your brain short-circuiting.
"Me? But… but I'm a Beta."
"Yeah, a Beta that we are entirely obsessed with," Valko blurted out, his cheeks burning. He practically threw himself onto the sofa next to you, looking like a panicked billionaire puppy. "We don't want to mate with each other! I mean, Mei is great, but she terrifies me! We want you. We've thought of you as our mate since sophomore year!"
Your mouth fell open.
"Wait. Both of you? But..."
"Did you really think," Mei said softly, sitting on your other side and boxing you in perfectly between their warm, solid frames, "that the heir to Eoncore Tech and I spend every single day following you around just to get to each other?"
"I thought I was the supportive third wheel!" you defended, your face flushing hot.
"You're the entire vehicle," Valko groaned, dramatically resting his forehead on your shoulder. "Please tell me you don't actually want to leave. Because if you do, I'm going to have to panic-buy the building you live in just so I have an excuse to be your landlord, and the paperwork is a nightmare."
Mei reached out, gently but firmly taking your hand, her thumb brushing over your knuckles.
"Stay," she murmured, a quiet, possessive plea in her tone. "Study here with your pack."
ꨄ︎ a/n: i also don't remember if i ever wrote a purely fluff fic for other lis...
ꨄ︎ taglist: @seraphineash, @loreleis-world, @tinuvieloflemuria, @thehyperfixationgirly (if i missed someone who requested to be perma-tagged, please lmk and i'm sorry 😭)
likes, reblogs, and comments are greatly appreciated! hope you guys enjoyed reading!
Lis x mc x non!mc reader, f/f, f/m, pt.3 pt.2 pt.1
It's been almost a week since you last saw Mc or any of the boys. It feels odd because you're so used to seeing them every day at random places. Suddenly they're just... gone.
Of course it is because they all have jobs, you convince yourself. And it's true. Why would a doctor or a full time hunter have time to lounge around with you?
It still makes you feel kind of anxious. Did they stop caring about you? Did you do something wrong? They are your only friends in Linkon City after all. It makes you feel even worse when everyone has their own excuse why they can't meet after you build up the courage to ask.
You have too much time to overthink about everything. And when things get overwhelming, you flee. A week in a forest cabin alone will surely calm your nervous system down.
You don't think Mc or the boys would even notice your absence, being so busy with their own lives.
Wrong.
As soon as you're happily settled down in the cabin, everyone back in Linkon gets worried. Why did you disappear? You're not answering your phone. (You're too busy sitting in a hot tub while your phone is god knows where.) Fortunately you share your location with Mc.
The atmosphere is heavy with guilt while sitting in Mc's apartment. It's not like they can just barge in your little cabin when they've been too busy to talk with you for days. It's understandable why you would be little upset.
Zayne, Xavier, Rafayel and Caleb have tight schedules so they can't just take a week off so suddenly. Instead everyone agrees to send Mc and Sylus. Obviously the idea of leaving you alone in the middle of nowhere is atrocious. What if something happens to you? In their eyes you are basically defenseless.
It's only the second day of your little trip when someone knocks on the door. You're little nervous as you peek out. What if it's a murderer?
"God finally!"
You should've known they won't leave you alone. (Although deep inside you knew you wanted this.) Mc hugs you tightly, holding your waist in a possessive grip as Sylus steps in and hugs you from behind.
The scolding comes only after you've gotten two tight hugs and moved to the living room.
"So, care to explain why you came here without telling us?" You don't think you have seen the duo as serious ever before.
You stare the floor and squirm slightly. Mc's arm is till on your shoulder as Sylus touches your knee.
"I was bored and I wanted some... peace of mind," you mumble as you play with your fingers.
Sylus squeezes your thigh.
"Is it because we haven't seen or talked in a while sweetheart? Is that what this is about? You know. It's dangerous to come alone in places like this."
You frown. "I don't think forest cabin can be that big of a threat."
Mc flicks your forehead. "How could you know that silly? You're not from Linkon. There could be so many dangerous wanderers lurking around."
When you don't answer she gently lifts your chin. "You wanted our attention, didn't you baby? You should've just asked again."
You open your mouth helplessly. "No! I mean yes but I just didn't want to bother anyo-"
Mc silences you with a press of her lips against yours. Your breath hitches when she kisses you softly and holds your face with both of her hands. You're frozen for a moment as your brain registers what is even happening. Before you can fully melt against Mc, she pulls away.
"Sylus' turn."
His large hand cradles your face and you're met with a different pair of lips. Sylus kisses as softly as Mc did while he squeezes your thigh again. Then you're kissing Mc again. And then Sylus. They pass you around like a ball but you can't be even offended because this is a dream come true.
A while after the kissing and teasing stops, you lay between their warm bodies quietly and let them do the talking. What would you even say? Do friends kiss on the mouth? You feel sleepy as Mc rubs your back and Sylus plays with the strands of your hair.
"The others are going to kill us when they find out what has happened," you hear while blinking heavily.
"What do you mean -"
"Shh." Mc shushes you and Sylus presses his finger against your mouth. "Don't you worry about anything. Just rest baby."
So sorry this took like 4 months lol i'll have to continue soon. If you have any ideas let me know<3
Tags: Sylus x NonMC!Reader, University AU, strangers to lovers with angst in the middle, look its a archetype plot but I dont care I like typical archetypes. MC may be involved later.
An: me a Snowfish + occasional star main writing nothing but Sylus and Caleb lmaooo, but this felt like a good idea fo Sylus. Itll be multiple parts, not sure how many yet though. This is also a bit more prologue-y? This fic is born 80% out of my vitriol for men's profiles on dating apps. I wonder if it's obvious.
You wont claim to be proud of being on a dating app.
Of course, everyone says "no judgement" on the outside, but the underlying embarrassment is always there among the attempts to casually wave it off. The feeling of subtly voicing your desperation. However three in college you couldnt help it. After all, you could only bear to be a secondary character to your friend group's romances for so long, chaotic and toxic as they sometimes may be. You only had one more year left before you graduate. In any case, you always thought you had a good, sensible head on your shoulders, atleast enough to filter out the obvious red flags your peers seemed to purposefully overlook despite your constant warnings. Did love make them blind or were they just like that? Part of you dreaded finding out, because the idea of acting like that, slicing parts of your dignity piece by piece for a man with an unwashed ass and 50/50 bills makes you gag. Even with your insecurities and hopeless romanticism, you really cannot imagine the thought of stooping to that level. You suppose you'll find out once you actually fall in love.
..is what you'd like to say. You never considered yourself someone with crazy high standards. Just someone who's passionate for their career or hobbies, well groomed, emotionally intelligent, a feminist, a bit of height wouldnt hurt either, neither would some good hair...
Your friends would only smile, clear their throats and look away as you'd rattle your bare minimums, before sympathetically placing a hand on your shoulder and gently telling you to either join a nunnery, or become a lesbian. You disagreed at first, holding out more hope and belief in your age group's male counterparts than you perhaps should, after all it's not like you had never met any good men. But after the 142nd left swipe on your app, you feel like you are actually going to lose your mind from the sheer lack of appeal and rock bottom attractiveness these men have. Serves you right for holding out hope from a dating app of all places you suppose. Every one is looking for "slightly autistic women" (fetishization ew), everyone's hobby is "travelling" (the most they've travelled in the past year is down the street. They would die without an Air Conditioner), and everyone has a "dark sense of humor" (translation: "I'm an absolute piece of shit but if you get offended you dont have a sense of humor!") half the men dont even have a decent photo of themselves and the ones that do are followed by 3 shirtless pictures from the gym and a "figuring out my dating goals", like you have time to waste on a useless situationship!
You really didnt expect to not find a single match after days of checking the app. The thought of lowering your standards did enter your mind for a brief second, but was quickly overridden by the common sense and self respect you had desperately and futily attempted to hammer into your friends once. Practice what you preach!
But today feels hopeless. Especially hopeless. And after a little while you realize you should close the app for your own mental health's sake, before you stalk and shoot the next cockroach whos "looking for his Nikki". You're just about to, when you see your swipe rights light up. Sighing you open it to see who swiped right on you, not hoping for much.
Youre immediately greeted by shockingly white hair, and if it werent accompanied by such a young face, you wouldve rechecked your age limit settings. Actually, scratch young, holy shit what is that jawline sculpted out of?! His red eyes make you consider if hes wearing contacts. If he is, they must be damn good quality to look so real. The man is dressed casually in a grey knit sweater layered on a white shirt. Comfortable but not completely covering what you can tell is quite a large body. It looks like the image is cropped from a larger, group photo, from the way his gaze is slightly unfocused and the slight grain of the photo. There are other people around but he is thankfully centered (unlike those group photos where you may as well be chatting to date the dog)
25, recent graduate, mechanical engineering major, and he doesnt live far. Just the fact that hes has interests listed is already propelling him to a premium profile in your eyes (and furthering your utter disappointment in humanity), and theyre not vague bullshit like "travelling" either. He claims to be into tinkering with gadgets and mechanical modification (to put in layman's terms), classical music and boxing, emphasized by a photo of him in a black tank top, working on a table, focused completely on the tiny bits of machinery in his- hoooooooly SHIT those are huge hands and arms. What the fuck does this guy eat?! It doesnt even look like hes flexing for the camera either, in fact he seems completely unaware of it, judging by his fucked up posture (and you thought you were a shrimp) with limbs awkwardly twisted around and head tilted near sideways, and mouth halfway open as if talking to someone.
In your scrutiny you realize you never even looked at his name, and quick scroll back up gives it to you: Sylus.
Now, you have a sensible head. This guy practically ticks off every single box for a conventionally attractive man, so there is the obvious question of why someone like him would be on a dating app unless theres red flags all over him. Frankly he even seems out of your league.
But well, it doesnt hurt to talk, maybe meet up, right..? Besides, he swiped right on you first, so clearly he doesnt agree with the whole leagues thing, and who are you to tell him what to think? You may not be the hottest shit on earth but its not like youre to be scoffed at, maybe you think too lowly of yourself!
Bolstered by a bit of confidence from being the one with the true choice in your hands, you go ahead and match with him. Hmph, he'll have to be the one to message first though!
....
"Oh, fuck. We got a match"
"Hahahah, dude, Sylus is going to kill us."
"Psh come on, it wont hurt to mess around just a little bit, right?"
— Bruce Wayne never expected to discover that his son was dating someone at one of his soccer games.
!!: fluff. 1.6k words. smitten!Damian. gn!reader but written with a fem! in mind. stablished relationship. aged up Damian. Not proofread. English is not my first language.
[dc masterlist] more soccer player!Damian
The day you discovered Damian Wayne knew how to play soccer you never stopped insisting until he joined the university’s team.
He would often say that he didn't have time to play soccer with all the study you guys had to do. But you knew your boyfriends better than anyone, and he could be studying three different, very difficult, degrees at the same time and still have enough free time to play with a ball.
Damian quickly became an important player in the team, the striker. Most of the goals the team had scored this season and the last were thanks to Damian, and you were always there, like a lucky charm.
It was almost like you had an assigned seat on the bleachers now, the perfect place to see the game and admire your boyfriend. Damian already knew where to find you among the people.
However, that seat wasn’t always free. If you arrived later than usual there was a good chance that someone else had already taken it, forcing you to look for another place. Like today, for example.
When you saw the final exam schedule and realized that one of your exams clashed with the university team's most important football match, you felt like dying. You'd become a huge football fan thanks to Damian, and you loved supporting him by attending all his games. And this one, being the most important and coinciding with an exam, drove you crazy.
While your exam was halfway done, you could see from the window how the players had already appeared on the field, meaning that the match was about to start, and you weren’t there.
You had told Damian, he understood, of course, but he was missing you. Standing on the field, next to his teammates, waiting for the game to start and not having you on the bleachers made him nervous, and he was never nervous when it came to soccer, but he missed his lucky charm.
You finished your exam as quickly as possible, and the teacher almost laughed when she saw how fast you gathered your things and bolted through the classroom door.
When you arrived to the field the bleachers were packed with people. Almost every student of the university was there, and almost every teacher too. You knew the people from Gotham university were passionate about their soccer.
You couldn’t find a seat, everything was occupied, so you settled with standing on the top part of the bleachers. You didn’t pay attention to who was standing next to you, when the game was on your eyes were only focused on Damian, who was now running with the ball to score their team’s second goal of the game.
“GOOOAL!!” The bleachers erupted with joy. People standing up, clapping, shouting, hugging.
2-0. Gotham University on the lead.
You were celebrating too. Clapping and shouting like the rest of the people.
Damian, while he was being congratulated by his teammates, raised his head to search for you on the bleachers.
He had a proud smile on his face from the goal, that softened when he finally spotted you on the very top part of the stands. However, his smile disappeared when he noticed his father standing right next to you.
His father, Bruce Wayne, who didn’t know Damian was in a very happy relationship with you, his classmate. A relationship that had turned a year old last week.
You were standing next to him.
Damian’s mind started filling with questions. Had you introduced yourself to Bruce? Was his father going to scold him from keeping you a secret? Were you going to kill him for not telling his father about you?
But the game wasn’t even halfway done and he needed to concentrate.
By the end of the game the score was 4-4. While Gotham University had gotten the lead at the very start, they had lost a player due to a red card, and the other team had managed to equal the score.
However, as it was the last match of the season, they had to break the tie in a penalty shootout. It was their last resort after extra time had already been played.
The penalties were tough. Gotham University didn't miss any, but the other team missed one, saved by Gotham’s goalkeeper. Now everything depended on Damian. If he scored that penalty, Gotham University would be crowned champions.
The stands were tense. The ones supporting Gotham university were holding their breaths, while the people supporting the other team were praying for Damian to miss. But Damian never missed. Because he was that good, and because you were there.
“He’s not going to miss." The man next to you said when he saw how tense you were. Your nails were digging into your hands.
“Oh, I know, he’s really good, it's just that I get nervous every time.” You let out a nervous laugh.
“Have you been to any other game?” The man asked. Damia started moving away from the ball to get a running start.
“To every single one, I often sit there,” You pointed to your usual seat, which was now occupied by a girl. “Gotta support my boyfriend.”
He nodded and you glanced at him, but not closely enough to recognize him.
“Have you ever come to a game before, or is this your first? I think I haven’t seen you here before” You asked, looking back to the field.
“This is the first one I’ve been to since my son joined the university’s team.”
“Who’s your son?” You asked.
You knew everyone on the team, most of them from the afterparties of every match. Some of the boys were nice, the others were assholes.
“Number nine, Damian.” He answered and your entire body froze.
You didn't even react when Damian scored the penalty. You clapped slowly as the stands on the Gotham University side erupted in celebration of their immediate victory.
Now you noticed the resemblance: the man had the same eyebrows as Damian, and it was clear you were related. The man in front of you was none other than Bruce Wayne, your boyfriend's father. And since you hadn't introduced yourself, he was going to think you were rude.
So you did what seemed best: you ran. You left the stands as fast as you could and went to find Damian.
And there he was, in the middle of the field, holding the trophy, surrounded by his teammates singing a silly song they'd made up in the locker room before the game to celebrate the victory.
When he saw you approaching, he broke away from the group and walked toward you. You had a proud smile on your face that would take a while to fade. Damian was smiling too.
With the trophy in his left hand, he used his right to take you by the waist and pull you toward him.
“Congratulations, my love.” You smiled, wrapped your arms around his neck, not even caring of how sweaty he was, and kissed him.
He melted into the kiss, savoring the victory and the feeling of having you with him. For Damian the post-game kiss was far better than any trophy.
“How did your exam go, Beloved?” He asked when you pulled away.
“I did it as best and as fast as I could.” You answered.
He hummed and gave you a sweet but short kiss on your neck.
Bruce, who had come down the bleachers to congratulate his son, had seen the whole interaction between you and Damian.
He had waited for you to have your romantic moment, but seeing how strangely in love Damian looked, he realized that if he didn't make his presence noticeable then you two could go on like this forever. And Bruce wanted answers.
He cleared his throat. This made Damian look up, seeing his father standing a few feet away from you two.
“Father.”
“You played wonderfully today, Damian, congratulations!” Bruce said, approaching with a proud and happy smile. “Now, would you mind explaining?”
Your cheeks were flushed, and you lowered your gaze, avoiding Bruce’s. Damian looked at his father and then at you. “Thanks, Father, but it was an easy game.”
Bruce stayed quiet, waiting for his son to start explaining about his secret relationship.
“I think you two have already met.” Damian said, remembering you had been standing next to his father during the game.
“Indeed.” Bruce nodded.
“We’re a couple. We’ve been together for a year.”
Bruce would be lying if he said it didn’t hurt to discover his youngest son had been dating someone for a year without telling him. He expected something like that from Jason, but not Damian.
“Well then, It’s a pleasure to finally meet you…” Bruce extended his hand for you to take.
You told him your name and shook his hand shyly. “The pleasure is all mine, Mr. Wayne.”
“I don’t want to bother you two, I’ll be going now. Congratulations son, I’m proud of you.” Bruce smiled at Damian and patted him on the shoulder. But, before leaving he turned to you. “We’ll be expecting you next week for dinner.”
Once Bruce had left, Damian rolled his eyes. “Great, now you’ll have to meet the entire family.” The sarcasm in his voice was sharp.
You let out a sweet giggle and kissed him on the cheek. “ Don’t be dramatic, It can’t be that bad.”
You really didn't know what you were getting yourself into. But you loved Damian, and if dating him meant dealing with a strange family, a single billionaire father, and lots of siblings, then so be it.
