Hi I'm Strawberry and I write XReader fiction! I also reblog ones I like here. Please be warned I read/write dark content, so if you don't like it I'm probably not the blog for you. Queue: Reblogs (including self reblogs) between 9-10am PST, Personal Content at 9-10pm PST Commissions: Open AO3| Ko-Fi
Hello loves! I'm Strawberry/Alex (I primarily use Strawberry on this blog but either or is totally fine) and I write xreader stuff. I write quite a bit of dark content (my primary focus honestly) so please be warned ahead of time!
Below the read more you'll find links to my recent works from when I revamped the blog, anything else that's older (aka before like october of 2023) is still tagged in everything but still!
Also you're free to leave requests or comments about my work/fandoms in general but as a warning it will always be a toss up on requests if I do them or not, or if I throw a couple ideas into the ask!
ok cool so to the person who just sent me that message in my inbox, thanks for that. This blog is officially being abandoned. Mutuals, I’ll let you know my new url is, but the ceilidho era is over.
Oughhhh butchfemme dubcon where you are chased by a butch werewolf and think you are going to die but you will in fact experience the best fuck of your life. Sorry, the fear and adrenaline makes you taste better to her… and you triggered her prey reflex ❤️
Reader is dead/in a coma and wakes up in Soap's body after he gets shot. Soap's nowhere to be found in the headspace and reader is going insane trying to deal with pretending to be him with amnesia
Especially since Ghost is on their ass constantly and theyre working so hard to make sure he doesn't figure out he has and also trying to figure out how to STOP possessing this fucking buff scottish asshole
I didn't get a resolution to it but Soap's definitely still in there and is gonna go ape shit when he gets control back + you know they're never letting reader go when Soap gets back. whether that's forcefully keeping them as a haunting or scooping them up after they wake from their coma
I have brown eyes and hair and was teased within my family for it, it was probably "normal" family teasing but either I'm too sensitive (so I've been told) or it's the fact that none of them knew healthy family dynamics and always hid everything behind sarcasm and teasing and as the youngest who always wore their heart on their sleeve I was a good target ig, so I hated my brown eyes for a good long while, but now I like them.
that being said the thought of Ghost and Gaz just constantly complimenting each others eyes would've made younger me cry tbh. I still sometimes remember the "so full of shit it's reached your eyes" joke at times and cringe a little internally. Having a bombardment of compliments about brown eyes from 2 freaks like Ghost and Gaz? I'd perish methinks
The compliments that would be showered upon you would make anyone perish. Ghost and Gaz are nothing if not sincere in their commitment to a bit, or at least what started as a bit.
Ghost and Gaz are getting like a little too into it actually. Gaz is holding Ghost's face and going "Your eyes remind me of being a kid, carting along my stuffed bear everywhere I went. They're so warm and comforting, same color as his fur." And Ghost responds, "Ya got eyes like a forest, the trunks blurrin' together as ya run, big and imposing but holdin' up the sky. Like I could make a home for myself in 'em." And Gaz narrows his eyes and goes, "When did you get poetic?" And Ghost tells him, "I read books."
And then they make out sloppy style on the couch while Soap asks Price if he thinks his eyes are pretty, and Price calls him the F word.
I’ve been thinking a lot about TPTBP and ugh it’s so good, gnawing at the bars of my enclosure.
In one of your posts you mentioned Simon does love Johnny. Is that the same for the reader? Obviously he won’t love reader at first, or not like he loves Johnny, but does he make an effort to try? Or does he kinda just have reader there for Johnny?
Again, hope you’re doing good :3
fjakls;jfa ty!! honestly i dont see the harm in answering this honestly bc its the development of the relationship that i think is more interesting than the inevitable answer
but for both length purposes and for the sake of technical spoilers check the read more
but the answer is that yes Simon loves Johnny, but he doesn't love reader now. That answer will change over the course of the fic b/c personally while I don't like, want to yuck anyone's yum i just personally am not interested when both parties aren't as obsessed with the target? At least in the inevitable sense.
Simon is point blank only interested in Johnny at the point in the story we're at. Johnny is Simon's, and although Simon gets reader for Johnny that does by extension make reader his. But to Simon, reader's not just a chew toy, reader is a pet, kind of like getting a dog for a horse or in this case kind of like getting a smaller dog for your big dog because you already have to deal with one big dog and you don't want two.
this will be more developed on in later chapters in what i HOPE comes through well or has at least been hinted at but Simon's whole deal with reader is kind of sunk cost fallacy mixing with his own obsessive/compulsive tendencies, even by the point that Johnny is pulled into the story proper.
Of course, that doesn't mean that Simon won't inevitably come to love reader but that's how it starts at least
I need you to know that I'm so incredibly down disgustingly bad for Gale Dekarios and I DEVOURED the fic you just posted - holy shit it was so perfect and delicious and accurate and I'm going to be thinking about it f.o.r.e.v.e.r.
PS glad to see you're back and sending you best vibes only 🩷
BFJDNXJZNSJDHD ty love 💖
i went into a fugue state and was possessed by the need to write so bad that i typed some of it on the clock even tho my laptop keys are broken, and then I continued to sit at my work desk for another four hours straight off the clock in a fury and all i can say is im obsessed sens tweet
Professor on Professor Violence (Professor Gale Dekarios x Professor Reader)
all you need to know is this is rivals to lovers where reader and gale have deeply sexually charged feelings for each other but they're both fucking idiots
AFAB reader, y/n not used, this has porn in it but it's 8k words of it you can also find it on ao3 right here but i have to go to bed now because i wrote this in a haze for six hours straight like a man possessed
Gale Dekarios.
The man.
The myth.
The legend.
The once lover of Mystra. The man who had survived the netherese orb. The man who had survived being infected by Mind Flayers and, with the help of his companions, had destroyed the Nether Brain.
Gale Dekarios.
The newest Evocation professor at Blackstaff.
Gale. Fucking. Dekarios.
The boy who pulled your hair, and gave you a black eye and who you had scratched and bit so much as a child that the two of you came home looking as though an owlbear had mauled you.
That Gale Dekarios.
That man, who was now teaching across the hall from you.
“And then he rolls his stupid sleeves up-” you rant, stabbing angrily at your lunch. Cheeks burning angrily as you direct the skeleton to continue cleaning the classroom. “And he says what a surprise to see you, Tabby.”
“No!” Gossamer gasps, her claws twitching in the air. “What did Master do?”
“I fucking left the room, obviously.” You snort. Scratching behind Gossamer’s quills as you take another bite of food. “Can you believe it? I don’t see the man for years and he still calls me that stupid nickname!”
“Honestly! How hard is it to say- DON’T TOUCH THAT!”
Dropping your fork, you immediately scramble up, turning your back on your familiar to stop the skeleton you’d animated from punching a damn hole into a desk.
“Gods above and below what are you- honestly!” You groan, throwing your hands into the air. “Can’t even, Gossamer are you seeing this shit-”
Turning around, you see… the absence of your familiar.
“Gossamer?”
Oh shit.
There’s a quasit loose in the building.
SHIT.
(LINE BREAK)
You are.
So fucked.
So unbelievably, terribly fucked.
Of course, you’re currently the only member of staff with a specialty in necromancy. There’s a little job security in that, at least - most necromancers tend to be blowhards trying to reverse engineer their way into immortality, or are so terribly delusional about the blackness of their own hearts that nobody can stand to be around them for more than twenty minutes. And, yeah, okay, you’re also a professional. You get along with most of the faculty, and your small group of necromantic majors are doing well.
But, unfortunately, you’re hardly any more tenured than Gale.
You’ve got a scant few months on the man, and if you don’t find your damned quasit who, by all means, has a penchant for mayhem, you’re absolutely, totally, irrevocably fucked.
As discreetly as possible, you wander the halls of Blackstaff between your classes.
Righting random wrongs that you’re almost certain are just normal wear and tear, but can’t be certain enough to leave well enough alone. Explaining that you were taking a much needed break when in reality you were doing your best to alleviate the damage you’re at least ninety percent sure is your familiar’s fault before someone actually realizes what’s happened.
Thank the gods for the mending cantrip.
Regardless, it unfortunately leaves you with a terrible headache, as your last classes of the night（well, some stereotypes are true, at least.）filter out into the hallway. You roam about again, your… well, probably eighth trip into the hallway going just about as well as the rest. Even as the early morning light filters into the halls through the large windows, you really just can’t find the beauty in it. Not with that terrible headache beginning to grind at your skull.
Like a nagging, angry voice in the back of your-
”Can’t believe how immature-”
”Ignoring me, really?”
Oh.
Wait, no, that’s actually just Gale.
Turning around just in marvelous time to peek back around the corner of the corridor, you get to watch Gale go completely off the deep end. Throwing his arms up in frustration, you joyously watch with immense satisfaction as the grown man kicks a gods damned doorstop.
Amazing.
”Did the doorstop jump out at you?” You can’t help but smirk. I hear those are prone to do that.
”Oh yes, very funny,” Gale grouses. Watching happily as his face twists in a soured exasperation. ”For the record, I know it was you in my office last night. I don’t know how you got in, considering I have that door locked by both mundane and magical means.”
Actually, it had been really easy.
A bit of lockpicking you’d picked up could have come in handy if you didn’t just… you know. Have the knock spell prepared.
…oh shit maybe he found the glitter.
”I have no idea what you’re talking about Dekarios,” you lie. ”I’ve been teaching all night.”
”Really?” Gale deadpans. ”That’s what you’re going with? You’ve been ‘teaching all night’? And I’m supposed to believe that.”
”You can believe what you want Dekarios. I haven’t been in your office.”
”Really, you’re going to play this game?” Gale asks, eyebrow arched. ”Who else in this bloody school enjoys bright colors as much as you? And so help me, don’t you dare blame Tara again. My tressym has more maturity in a single claw than I think you have in your entire body.”
…shit he did find the glitter.
”I love Tara. I would never blame her…more than once. But in my defense, she did help me that one time.” Huffing softly, you cross your arms, feeling heat rise in your cheeks. ”Anyway, it was just a bit of glitter-”
”Just a -” Gale goes positively red in the face at that. ”Just a bit of glitter? I’d say you did a fair bit more than putting just a little glitter on my lecture notes. The ones I’m to use for my first class in a scant two hours, mind you. A little glitter my behind, look at this and you tell me if you can understand a damned thing on the page.”
…huh?
”Huh?”
Staring at Gale’s notebook, which is now helpfully shoved in your face, you can see… fuck all. The neat handwriting that you’re intimately familiar with is completely scrawled over with your favorite crayon color.
Huh.
“I- okay I do now see how this looks.” You sweat, giving a nervous grin. “But I was… okay I was in your office, but I swear it wasn’t to ruin your lecture notes. I misplaced someo- something, and I was rummaging around to try and find it.”
“You were… rummaging around my office.”
“Yes.”
“For something important. Something that you misplaced.”
“Yes.”
“And it just so happened to be that you lost it in my office.”
“Again, yes.”
You watch Gale’s jaw clench, as he takes a steadying breath.
“Now, just to be clear. Most people would take locked doors as a sign that certain rooms aren’t meant for them.” Gale drawls, arching an eyebrow. “But as you so eloquently put it, you chose to open the locked door to my office, and rummage around.”
“You’ve got it.”
“And just what, exactly, is it that you lost?”
“It’s ah…” you trail off nervously. “Well it’s not something I think you’d be able to find easily. It’s a bit… tricky like that.”
“Is it… a ring? Or perhaps another piece of jewelry? Something small, you mean?”
“No…” you wince. “I mean, yeah it’s a little small but it’s… the problem is it can move around.“
“It can…“ You watch Gale’s mind begin to whirr, working in overtime to solve the riddle you’ve accidentally just given him. Just when you begin to think you might be able to give him the slip and run for it, you watch Gale’s face contort in horror. “Tabby.“
“Don’t call me that-“
“Tabby.“ Gale begins, voice choked. “Do you mean to tell me. That you let Gossamer run loose in my office?“
“Let her is a strong phrase!“ You hiss, pulling Gale into your classroom. Looking around wildly before you shut the door. “She ran off last night while I was- well one of my skeletons was about to punch a hole in a desk while rearranging, and I was ranting to her, and then I turn around and I see the door open.“
“And you didn’t follow her?!“
“She’s a fucking quasit! She can turn invisible!“
“And -“
Ah.
“What did you just realize?, Gale asks with a distinct tone of dread.“
Quickly opening and rummaging through the drawers of you desk, you look for your stationary.
“You didn’t. Tell me. You didn’t.“
After the great ink war at age eight, it had been a requirement that all familiars and summons were to be kept away from stationary. And you had fully left the drawer open. Like a damned test. Taunting your poor, innocent little familiar like a succubus to a greasy teenage boy.
“So,“ you begin. Holding up the crayon box that is, of course, missing your favorite color. “In my defense, I thought I locked the drawer.“
“You. You’re-“ Gale sputters. “You’re telling me, right now, that your familiar, who can turn invisible was let loose on the building with stationary.“
“…yes.“
“Dear Mystra, Tabby do you know what you’ve done to us?“
You can feel a twinge of something you are definitely not going to examine when he says her name, and push it down. Opting to focus on the anger bubbling in your chest. That you can handle. That is familiar.
“I said stop calling me tha-“
Oh gods.
“Please tell me there isn’t more.“ Gale whispers, face pale as he sees the thought cross your mind. “Please, for the love of everything that is holy, there is not more.”
“Well, you wince. I may have been ah… rambling this morning. And now I realize this may have been targeted because you… maybe came up.“
“Rambling. You were… rambling.“ Gale stares at you, as though you’ve just told him he’s become king of the possums that live behind the dorms because of an electoral vote. “To your notoriously spiteful familiar. For, I presume, long enough for her to not only find a way into my office, which was locked. With normal and magical means. And then had enough time after that to find my notebook, which contains my important class notes. Then draw all over them.“
“That is what you’re telling me.“
“Well technically I was - I really only turned around for a minute, but I had no clue she was going to run off to your office.“
“Now, just to be extremely clear. You said I may have come up. And you genuinely, for some reason thought she would not retaliate.“
“I complain about everyone Dekarios, don’t get a big ego.“ You huff, throwing a hand in the air. I’ve complained about you for years, why would I think she’d do anything about it now?!”
“You’ve complained about me for years?” Gale nearly shouts, voice raising at least an octave. “Years?!”
“We’ve known each other since we were four Gale!” You hiss back, throwing your hands in the air. “Is it really so hard to imagine that you may come up from time to time when I’m complaining?”
“I have never uttered a bad word about you to Tara you should-”
“Oh that is bullshit I talk to Tara,” you bite back. “And I know that you complain about me even if you don’t realize it.”
“I do not.”
“You do, and I know it for a fact because she brought it up when I talked to her last! In the middle of her complaining about your beard.”
“Tara did what?” Gale asks, flabbergasted as he looks at you.
“She has some very strong opinions.”
You did too… even if yours trended far more towards the opposite of the tressym, of course.
“Please,” you snort, misunderstanding Gale’s look of horror. “You can’t tell me that she hasn’t outright said it to you before.”
“That is…” Gale scowls, looking away from you as he puts a hand on his beard. “Very hurtful. And none of Tara’s business.”
You open your mouth to speak, and Gale cuts you off with a wave of his hand.
“That’s not the point. The point is that my notes are ruined. The notes I, may I remind you, need for my next class. And while you may not write lecture notes, I do.”
You sigh.
Tuning Gale’s ranting out for a moment, you rub at the back of your neck, already feeling a knot forming. Gods above, you do feel guilty.
Stupid Gale and his stupid attractive beard.
“I’m sorry,” you grit out. Almost pained. “I… did not ruin your notes, but I do know that it’s my fault since Gossamer did. I’m sorry.”
Gale is silent for a long moment.
You can see the surprise on his face, the anger slowly, reluctantly fading. It’s hard to pick apart the emotions on his face, but you like to think you’re slightly better at it than most, but there’s an unreadable emotion you don’t think you’ve seen before.
Strange.
“I…” Gale sighs. “It wasn’t so much work. I should, in theory, be able to redo most of them before my first class.”
“Let me help.”
“Excuse me?”
“I…” you sigh, rubbing your hand on your face and brushing a bit of hair out of your face. “It’s my fault. I know it might disrupt your lesson plan, but I can take over your first class. You can send them to my classroom so they can focus and I’ll do a lesson about some of the overlap between our schools of wizardry.”
“That is…” Gale nods hesitantly. “That would be most appreciated.”
You nod again, a bit awkwardly.
The silence in the room is palpable, and you try to ease the tension a bit.
“Not like I have many classes,” you laugh. Turning to look through the bookshelf behind your desk. Anything to keep you busy and not focus on the weight in the room. “Necromancy isn’t nearly as popular as Evocation, after all.”
“Yes well,” Gale laughs, and you see him sit on the corner of your desk. “I imagine some large number of students may be put off by the heart of the curriculum. After all, raising the dead does seem a tad… unsavory.”
You scowl, rolling your eyes - but fighting back a smile.
The age old argument between the two of you.
“Yes well, you can complain all you want about how unsavory raising the dead is. But it’s incredibly useful when you can turn two zombies into a horde of undead and turn the tide for your allies. I mean, the ones that are transformed from your original two aren’t meant to last, but still. More targets to hit, but more firepower that can take a total sweep of your allies to a triumph with no casualties.”
“Yes but it’s quite… well, the ethics leave something to be desired.”
“There are ways to ethically source your minions.” You laugh, waving a hand. “Don’t get me wrong, I can understand why someone might find it distasteful but you know not all necromancers rob the graves of innocent townsfolk. If you’ve got a horde of enemies, all you need do is help your allies kill two enemies, and then, well, the process I’ve already explained.”
“You’re making it sound like you’ve done battle before.” Gale snorts, crossing his arms over his stupid chest, his sleeves rolled up his forearms. “Not that this is all theory.”
You pause, hand on the spine of a tome.
Hesitating, you pluck it from the shelf.
“Because I have,” you deadpan. Not looking at Gale. “I was an adventurer before I joined the faculty here. I’m a professor because of my battle experience and practical application than just my theories, Dekarios.”
That… makes Gale pause.
You can hear the gears turning wildly in his head, grinding intensely as he processes the words.
He’s silent for nearly a full minute before he speaks again.
“You… you’re an adventurer?”
“Was,” you correct, turning to set the books on your desk. Unable to quite bring yourself to look him in the eye, you pretend that you’re checking the contents of the book. “I was an adventurer. I might do it again in the future, but that depends on how I feel and if any of the parties I’ve run with have need of a spellcaster of my caliber.”
“You… haven’t told me that before.”
An ugly, angry part of your heart stirs.
Deep in your chest, you feel it claw its way up into your throat. The bitter, acrid taste that you’ve come to know so well.
“Yes well, when have you ever asked?”
“Don’t…” Gale begins, and you hear him sigh. “I simply… we’ve known each other for years. How was I to know you still had secrets to hide?”
The black smoke of rage curls back up into your throat. Gnashing teeth and dragging claws. It hurts, snaking its tendrils around your heart in an ugly grip. Maybe if you were a little stronger, a little better, a little less… you… maybe you wouldn’t let it escape. Perhaps you’d just let it sit there and burn in your lungs. Or maybe you’d be honest, vulnerable.
But you aren’t.
“It’s not exactly a secret, Gale.” You snort, though the sound isn’t mirthful at all. “It was my primary income source for five bloody years.”
Silence meets your words.
“Why didn’t you tell me then?” Gale asks, just when you’re about to look up at him and see if he’s still paying attention. “If you spent five years as an adventurer, you’d think I’d have heard about it.”
“Ah, yes,” you nearly snarl. “Telling you. Would you have preferred I mentioned it between the paragraphs where you talked about your goddess lover like a lovesick puppy? Because I certainly couldn’t have mentioned it during the time you locked yourself in your tower for over a year because she dumped you.”
You laugh, the sound bitter.
Turning angrily, you ignore the look on Gale’s face.
There’s a line you’ve crossed, and you know it. But the anger doesn’t subside. And you… don’t care anymore.
(That’s not true, you do care. You care too much, you think. Too terribly much.)
“Oh, maybe I should have sent the update letter while you had an ilithid tadpole swimming in your skull. I’m sure Tara would have loved to deliver that letter to you.”
Gale… flinches.
Huh.
“You know,” he begins, anger rising in his own voice. Red hot. “It’s not like you’ve ever asked me how I’m doing. I don’t even know how you found out-”
“Oh don’t you pull that shit with me Dekarios, I’m not the one who stopped responding to your letters. It’s the other way around.”
“You- you only responded with one sentence half the time!” Gale stands, throwing his arms out as you slam the book in your hands shut. “I was lucky if you even responded for months!”
You feel like a cornered animal.
Gods you hate this man.
Why does he always know how to get under your skin?
“And what was I supposed to say Gale?” You demand. Knowing you’re crossing the line but needing to get the reaction that you’re looking for out of him. A sick, twisted part of you needs him to hurt like he’s hurting. “Congratulations on getting with the goddess who groomed you?”
“It’s my life! It has absolutely nothing to do with you!”
“Oh your life, that’s fucking rich Gale!” You shout, getting a little closer, leaning forward on your desk to point a finger at his chest. “What, you wanted me to sit by and say nothing about the matter? To watch my - to watch you love a goddess who is renowned for dating young boys? A woman who - again no disrespect to Mystra herself she’s a powerful goddess, I just don’t agree with her choices as is my right - dropped you the moment she was done with you?”
You stare at Gale expectantly, waiting for any expression to twist on his face than the defensive rage you already see.
“Yeah, I’ll be sure to note that down for next time. Next time, I won’t be supportive of you, I won’t just try and be nice or as nice as I can be. Next time, when you do something stupid I’m not going to even try to bail you out. No more sending loot to feed your orb, no more-”
“Wait,” Gale interjects, an expression on his face you don’t quite understand. “Are you telling me…”
You watch Gale’s hands clench into fists at his sides.
“Are you telling me that you brought me items full of the weave while I was locked in my damn tower?”
Ah.
Shit.
You… hadn’t meant to say that.
Shit.
Shit shit shit shit shit.
“I-”
“You’re telling me…” Gale laughs, hands coming to cover his eyes as his head tilts back. “You’re telling me that you snuck items into my tower?!”
That…
Well it sounds… bad when he phrases it like that.
“It’s not- I just knew you needed the items Gale! I had Tara take them inside and put them in spots to make them look forgotten.”
“And you didn’t say anything, why?!”
Because you…
Fuck.
You can barely think it without hot shame washing down your back. Face warm, eyes hot.
Like you’re about to cry.
“It’s not important Gale,” you deflect. “You got the items, why does it matter?”
“It’s not important?” Gale shouts in response. “Me dying wasn’t bloody important?!”
“That’s not - that’s not what I meant and you know it!”
“Oh? And what is it that you meant?”
Gods.
Don’t cry.
“I meant,” you begin. “That I didn’t want credit for it! I wasn’t doing it to curry favor or something, you needed the items and that was all that mattered to me!”
In fact, you’d exclusively taken your cut of some adventures in magical items. Instead of gold lining your pockets, you’d worked on getting more and more loot, some you’d keep to get better jobs, and the rest you sent back home- back to Gale. He’d even shut out his mother during that time, the only person you could trust to get the items to him had been Tara. Who had promised not to say a word, the damned angel.
Even more, you’d spent countless hours researching.
Working yourself to the bone, searching through texts. Any mention of Karsus had immediately gone to the top of your list.
“I don’t care if you didn’t want credit, I was dying!” Gale shouts. “I spent a year in that tower with nobody to talk to. Thinking every day I was losing my mind, damn near insane with the knowledge that if I failed I would take all of Waterdeep with me, and you knew?!”
Gale laughs again, the sound harsh against your ears.
“What the hells is wrong with you?”
Tears do prick your eyes now, and you scrub angrily at them with the back of your hand.
“What’s wrong with you?!” You snap back, pushing angrily at Gale’s chest. “It’s not like you ever reached out! I had to find out from Tara, who was beside herself with worry!”
“Of course I wasn’t reaching out! What was I supposed to have said? That I was losing my mind? Should I have just sent a letter saying ‘oh, hello, how’s your life going. I know it’s been awhile, but I’m dying and my life is falling apart’ and then went on to describe the weather?!”
“Yes!” Gods you feel like every word is a pulled tooth. “Yes! You should have! Anything! Why on Toril didn’t you?”
“Oh, and why would you have helped me?” Gale spits, letting you push him back a step before getting even closer than before. “Do you really think I’d have thought you’d have done anything but laugh at me and tell me I deserved it? That I was the biggest fool in the history of the Arcane?”
It’s like a bucket of cold water has doused you.
Ice dripping down your spine, heart turned to stone in your chest, sinking deep into your gut.
“Is that what you think of me?” You ask, voice low. “You think I’m so cruel, that I’m so heartless, that I’d have laughed in your face while you died?”
“Of course you could be that cruel.” Gale spits, proverbial venom dripping from his lips. “I’ve seen you be cruel. You’ve made me look a fool a thousand times over for a laugh.”
You stare at Gale, face turning cold.
Expression neutral.
You feel fucking sick.
“Okay.”
“I- okay?” Gale says, confusion etched into his face. “What do you mean okay?”
“I mean, okay.” You say, already building a wall around your heart. “Get out of my classroom. I heard what you have to say, now get out.”
“Excuse-”
“No. Get out.”
“You’re just… kicking me out.”
“I am.”
Gale stares at you, expression unreadable.
Then, you watch his eyes cast over to the windows, and then down at the watch he pulls from his pocket.
“Fine,” Gale spits, taking a step towards the door. His gaze locked onto you. “But we are not done talking about this.”
“Sure,” you huff. “Later.”
With a flick of your wrist, and a muttered incantation, you cast mage hand. Slamming the door behind him before flicking up an Arcane Lock.
The moment you think you’re alone… Gossamer appears.
A big smile on her face, a crayon in hand… and you just…
You just.
Sob.
//
You have a good week of peace.
(It’s not good. It can never be good again.)
You’re careful, between your days off, and your odd hours for the necromancy classes, to avoid Gale.
But today is just not your day.
“Professor Dekarios,” you say evenly in acknowledgement. Watching Gale enter the room while you’re wrapping up your final lesson of the day. “What can I help you with?”
Gale is silent for a moment, aware of the eyes on him. The students of various ages that are watching with rapt attention.
“May I have a word?” Gale asks, voice clipped.
God you want to run.
You have misty spell prepared. One of the windows is open to let in the afternoon breeze, and you’ve got a clear shot out into the open campus. You could do it, you just know it -
“Sure,” you say instead, knowing exactly how that’s going to look if you do end up running from your own damned classroom. You’re already on thin ice from letting Gossamer run amok when you could have dismissed her. Which you. Completely forgot about. “My class will be done in just about fifteen minutes if you’d like to come back.”
“That’s quite alright, actually.” Gale smiles, and gods. You’re fucked. “I’m happy to observe.”
And he watches.
Waiting.
You don’t stutter when you go over the homework for the evening - you don’t - and remind your class about the project that’s due two classes from now. Even more than that, you don’t stumble and your hands don’t shake. Certainly, you don’t stall by shutting both the window and the curtains. And, above all you don’t activate the wards in the classroom to make it soundproof and lock the door once all the students are gone.
Those are all things that just happen to occur for different reasons.
And still, Gale stands, leaning against the wall by the door. Arms crossed over his chest as you go back to your desk. Silent as the grave (if the pun can be forgiven) as you slowly sift through your mail instead of giving him the time of day. Both of you waiting to see who would break first.
“So?”
“So what, Professor Dekarios?” You ask neutrally, carefully not reading the source of the letter in your hand before you open it. “You’ll have to be a bit more specific.”
“You know damn well what I’m talking about.”
“I really don’t, actually. You will have to be more specific.”
“Really?” Gale asks, eyebrow arched, voice low. “You don’t think, in the slightest, this might be about something you know?”
You shrug, continuing to read the letter that’s… what even is it about. Some sort of promotion? No it’s-
“You kicked me out of your classroom.” Gale hisses. “And you have been avoiding me.”
“I have not been avoiding you.” Lies. “I’ve been busy. It’s not my fault you always seem to try and speak to me while I’m not here.”
“You can’t-”
You don’t watch Gale’s face contort with anger, don’t watch his fingers ball up into fists as his sides. But you know him well enough to imagine it, even as the splotches of ink all blur together on the page you’re holding.
“Fine, you weren’t avoiding me. Then why did you kick me out of your classroom?”
“We weren’t having a productive conversation,” you answer simply. A week had given you time to re-build up the wall you usually afforded strangers, rather than the man you- “And so it was, in my professional opinion, the best for us to call it there.”
“A productive- of course we weren’t having a productive conversation, I was trying to understand why you were hiding things behind my back, and you just tried to throw the blame at my feet-”
“Professor Dekarios if we can’t-”
“And stop calling me that!” Gale hisses, slamming his hand on your desk. You jolt - when had he gotten so close? “I’ve never been Professor Dekarios to you, don’t start that now.”
“What’s done is done, Professor.” You continue, digging your hand into the fabric of your top. “I tried to explain myself, and you wouldn’t listen-”
“Oh that is rich-”
“And so I thought it best-”
“You thought it best to stonewall me?” Gale asks incredulously, talking over you. A pang of irritation cuts through you, but you think you hide it fairly well. “Because that’s what you’ve been doing. You’ve been defensive and-”
Gale stops, and gods.
You hate the face he makes.
The dawning realization in his eyes.
You know that expression, you’ve seen it thousands of times. For good or ill, you’ve seen that face all your life.
“That’s what this is about.”
“What are you talking about?” You drawl, trying to keep some sort of neutral expression on your face. “Lay it out plainly, professor.”
“You’re trying to shut me out.”
Ah hells.
“You- you’re upset.”
A genius.
Truly.
“You’re upset.” Gale repeats, arms crossing over his chest as a flat laugh escapes his lips. “You’re upset and you’re trying to make me leave.”
“Gods I wonder what gave you that idea.”
“No, no you’re hurt.” Gale cuts through, gripping the edge of your desk so tight that you can see his knuckles go white in the periphery of your vision. “So you’re trying to be some… cruel, heartless person to make me leave.”
“I’m trying to be professional.” You frown. “Our… conversation last week made me realize I wasn’t. I’ll endeavor to be better in the future.”
“Oh you’re not fooling me.” Gale’s hand comes down to rip the letter from your hands when you look down at it. “I know you’re not reading some… some school newsletter about what they’re serving in the mess hall in the evenings.”
“Yes I am,” you huff.
Oh so that’s what that was.
Damn you actually should have read that - you really could use the staff meals if it’s something you can stomach.
“No, you’re not.” Gale asserts. “Now look at me.”
Rolling your eyes, you pull another letter from the pile and begin to look it over, reaching for your letter opener when Gale rips the damned thing from your hand. Ignoring your noise of protest. His hand coming up to - honestly kind of gently - grab your chin. Brows furrowed in anger as you’re stunned into silence.
“Look at me!”
You… holy shit.
You cannot process this.
Blinking dumbly, for the first time in years, Gale has rendered you speechless.
“There,” he grits out. “Now you have to look me in the face while you lie to me.”
“I’m not-”
“You are.”
“I am not!” You grunt, irrationally choosing to clamber up onto your desk, papers scattering as you try to reach for the letters in Gale’s hands. Hoping it will give you an advantage with a little more height. “I am trying to be professional! You- you horrible man!”
“Oh yes, I’m so terrible because I-”
“Because you’re a bastard!” You hiss, snapping your teeth at Gale in warning. The two of you were no longer children, but gods this reminds you of then. And, unfortunately for Gale, you’re still a biter. “Give me my mail!”
It doesn’t take long for the spat to turn ruthless, Gale yanking the letters from your hand so hard you end up toppling over onto his feet. Ramming straight into his knees, which in turn sends him tumbling to the ground with a matching groan.
“Ow.”
“Are you alright?” Gale asks with a soft huff, rubbing at his shoulder when he sits up. “ Didn’t hit your head, did you?”
“No,” you answer honestly, just like when the two of you were kids and trying to assess the damage before you went home. The anger of the moment briefly fading. “I’m fine.”
“Good.”
“And you?”
“I’m fine.”
“Good.”
Silence reigns for a moment.
“I don’t know why you-” Gale sighs. “You know you’re being ridiculous, right? Just be honest with me.”
“I already tried to tell you.” You huff, rubbing at your face with the back of your hand. “It doesn’t matter.”
“Doesn’t matter?” Gale asks, eyebrow arched. “You’re being a complete ass to me for no reason. Do you just enjoy being cruel?”
A shard of ice pierces straight through the walls you’ve painstakingly tried to build. But one week isn’t enough time to shut Gale out. Not when he’s had years and years to get under your skin like nobody else could.
“Yeah,” you answer with a shrug. Standing up and brushing yourself off. “Sure Gale. I do enjoy being cruel. Cruel and twisted and sadistic and all the horrible things you think of me.”
“You-”
Gale stops, stunned into silence.
He opens his mouth and closes it, and you can watch… something build in his eyes. Anger? It must be, you realize, when you see the tips of his ears turn red.
“You’re trying to make me stay away from you.”
“No, I’m not.” You lie again, shrugging as you lean back against your desk. “You’ve just made it abundantly clear what you think of me. I’m not trying to change your mind anymore.”
“That’s not-”
Gale falls silent, and you watch the emotions play out on his face.
This time you choose not to think about it.
“It’s fine, Dekarios.” You say flatly. “I’ve heard it before. I know what I am.”
Gale winces.
“You can’t honestly think you’re-”
“Heartless? Cruel? A monster?” You ask, arching an eyebrow. “Gale I’m a necromancer. Of course I am those things. I get the job done.”
Gale stares at you, eyes unreadable, and you can feel the terrible, terrible feelings return. Everything that you’d ever been scared about as a child comes bubbling right back up to the surface. Betrayal burns hot in your chest. And-
“What the fuck!” You choke out, jolting as Gale pushes you back into the desk. You go toppling on top of it, back pressed flat as he pins his hands by your head. “What has-”
“You do care what I think about you,” Gale says, and you freeze. His voice is… it’s not quite surprised. Soft, but not- he speaks again before you can finish your thoughts. “You actually do.”
“No I don’t.”
“You do,” Gale says, just a bit breathless. God, is that… pity in his voice? That’s just enough- “You actually do.”
Anger rises up like hot bile in your throat, and you feel tears prick in your eyes.
“What, do you want a fucking medal?” You ask, eyes watery. “Just laugh at me. Get it over with so we can both move on.”
“Move-” Gale blinks, and you recognize the anger in his eyes. “Move on?”
“You think so little of me,” you spit, jabbing a finger into Gale’s chest above you. “Go ahead, laugh. Laugh at the stupid little beast who cared.”
“Is that what you think?” Gale mirrors your words from days before, and it catches you off guard. “You think I view you as some… some heartless beast.”
“Clearly!” You bite out. “You all but said it outright.”
“I don’t-” Gale blinks, eyes owlishly wide. “I didn’t mean that.”
“Didn’t-”
You choke on your own laughter, and decide to pretend it isn’t sobs.
“Didn’t mean it? I spend years of my life trying to keep you alive, not telling you because I knew you’d reject the help.” You choke out, hot tears slipping down the sides of your face. “I didn’t want credit. And I try to tell you that, and the takeaway you got really did seem to be that I didn’t care.”
“I-”
“And now I know why! You fucking hate me!”
“I don’t hate you!” Gale shouts, and gods, you do idly think about how glad you are for the soundproofing. “How the hells could I hate you?”
“You sure sounded like it!”
“I don’t-” Gale begins again, before stopping. Realization dawning on his face again. “Gods. Gods you believe it. You believe I hate you.”
“No shit!” You choke out, bringing your hand up to angrily scrub at your eyes. “Clearly you hate me! And I think so fucking highly of you. Even now, I-”
“I’m an idiot.” Gale says plainly, the calm stupor in his voice enough to stop you dead in your tracks. “Gods, I am an idiot.”
“What?”
Eyes unreadable, Gale stares at you.
And then - and then -
Oh.
His lips are on yours.
Head twisting, sealing both of your lips together in a heavy, hot kiss. Teeth clacking awkwardly with the force of it, Gale swallowing the sound you make as one of his hands comes up to grip your hair.
Your eyes flutter shut, your own hand coming up to tangle in the locks at the back of Gale’s head.
Gods this is…
Everything.
You never-
You shiver as your legs wrap around Gale’s waist as he kisses you. Desperate, hungry, like a man deprived of everything and given a meal for the first time in his life. He presses his body into yours like he wants to merge them into the same being. Getting lost in the kiss, you can hardly tell who’s doing what, your own actions, your own need, far outweighing the logical portion of your brain.
Hands clutching and pulling and grabbing.
Gale grinds against you and you nearly see stars - by the noise he makes, you’re pretty sure it’s the same for both of you.
When the two of you finally part for air, your breathing is ragged, heavy gasps that match Gale’s own. Dazed, as your foreheads press together. Sharing the same air in a dizzyingly tender moment.
“You,” Gale pants against your cheek, eyes half lidded in a way that makes your toes fucking curl. “I- again. Again.”
You nod, desperately.
“Please.”
His mouth is on yours again, too much and not enough all at once.
You roll your hips up into Gale’s again, groaning at the friction. Your hands are still tangled in Gale’s hair, heat rolling th-
“Oh fuck!” You gasp when Gale yanks your head back and to the side, mouth moving to your neck with a desperate fervor. Intentionally bucking his hips into yours harder. The angle making it easy for him to do so. “Gale-”
“You-” Gale swallows thickly, nipping at your neck, his free hand coming to clutch your hip. “You drive me insane. Do you know that?”
“I-”
“You drive me insane, every damned day,” Gale growls out, body rolling against yours again. Pulling a high, needy whine from you. Gods, you’re rutting like teenagers and Gale is still fucking talking. “The things- the things you’ve made me want.”
“I thought-” you choke. “I didn’t think you wanted me. I- fuck, you, I’ve wanted you for so long. And I just never, never thought-”
“Never thought what?” Gale grinds out, voice hoarse as he bites down harder, sucking a hickey into your neck. “That you’d unravel me? Tear me apart at the seams? Make me ache for you, need you?”
Oh fuck.
God.
Why is he so hot.
“You didn’t-” Gale groans, leaving you breathless with each roll of his clothed hips against yours. “You didn’t know I’ve wanted you for months now, did you? Dreamed about touching you, just like this.”
“Gods,” you choke out, feeling like you’re going out of your damned mind as your face feels like it’s on fire. Nearly dizzy with desire as you admit the things you’ve thought out loud. “I’ve wanted you for so long. Can’t… gods, Gale.”
“You have no idea the images you put in my head,” Gale pants, uneven as he begins to struggle for the words. Groaning when you tug at his hair as he kisses your neck. “The things that I’ve wanted to do to you, to do with you.”
“I think- I think I might have an idea,” you admit softly, legs wrapping tighter around Gale’s waist. “If they’re any- fuck - any similar to my own.”
Gale groans at that.
Teeth clamping down hard against your neck.
“If you did,” he rasps. “I can guarantee they’re much filthier than you think.”
And fuck, that sends a hot bolt of lightning through your gut. You feel yourself clench around nothing, a high, reedy whine pulling from your throat again.
“Fuck.” You gasp. “Show me?”
“You really,” Gale chokes out, moving back from your neck to grab your hips with both hands. Grinding down harshly against your aching core. “You really want to know what I think about, when I look at you?”
“Yes. Yes, please-”
Yanking your shirt up, you can hear the pop of stitching even as you try and assist. Bra coming with as Gale takes a handful of your chest into his palm. Fingers tweaking a nipple as you gasp, throwing the damned shirt across the room or something. You aren’t really sure, and it doesn’t matter.
“Gods,” Gale whispers, almost reverently. Tracing his hands over your skin, leaning down to place kisses wherever he can, speaking between them. “Gods just look at you. So beautiful. So lovely.”
“You have no idea what you do to me like this.”
Your hands grip Gale’s forearms tight, as he holds you, giving a soft squeal when he nips at one of your nipples, sucking it into his mouth. A chuckle pulling from his lips while his hand tweaks the other.
“Fuck you can’t-” you choke. Squirming, unable to press your thighs together because Gale godsdamned Dekarios is between them. “Can’t just do that-”
“Do what?” Gale asks, pressing another soft kiss to your lips. “Say how perfect you look beneath me? Tell you that every whine, every breath, every sound makes me want to ruin you?”
“Holy shit,” you choke, jolting against Gale. You move, tugging desperately at his shirt. “Nine hells take your fucking shirt off Dekarios.”
Gale has the audacity to laugh at that, pulling his shirt over his head with the same desperation you had. Tossing it somewhere you didn’t care about in the room, before moving to curl his fingers in your waistband.
You nod, at the look he gives you.
When he stays still, you groan.
“Oh my god,” you huff. “Consent, hot, yes, get my fucking pants off before I soak through them.”
“Let me appreciate the moment,” Gale smirks, but complies. Yanking off your shoes, pants, and underwear as quickly as possible to join schrodinger's clothing pile somewhere in your classroom. “You make me crazy, gods, you truly do. The thoughts I have…”
“Show me then,” you taunt, rolling your hips into Gale’s, whining when you realize his pants are still on, the bastard.
“You truly want to know?” Gale grunts, his hand instead coming down to your thighs, holding them open as he presses a thumb, unmoving, right over your clit. “You want to know how badly I’ve daydreamed about you?”
You choke on your answer, hips jolting as Gale moves his thumb, but Gale just presses your hips down against your desk harder.
“You want to know how I’ve dreamed of you? Woke up with the taste of you in my mouth? Woke up to my own seed spilled in my underwear in the night?” Gale asks, punctuating his words with sharp movements of his thumb, his clothed cock grinding against your hole. He laughs, breathless, airy. “Like some desperate, hormone ridden teen?”
“F-fuck!” You gasp, every word going straight to your core. “Gods- just- I want you to ruin me.”
“Don’t-” Gale chokes out, hips grinding against you. Trying to gain some sort of leverage, he slips a finger inside of you, watching your mouth go slack. “Don’t just say that. You’re going to break me, talking like that-”
“I will say,” you groan, trying to remember words. “Whatever will get you inside of me faster.”
“Don’t tease,” Gale chokes, slipping another finger inside. “I can’t take it.”
“If I were teasing,” you choke out after a moment. “I would walk away.”
A sound you’ve never heard Gale make leaves his lips, and you nearly squeal as Gale’s fingers move faster, his thumb rubbing harder. Watching every expression you make just to be sure. The kind of intensity you’ve seen him give spells - oh god. He’s taking this more seriously than you thought.
“Don’t even threaten that,” he chokes out, teeth scraping against your neck as he leans down again. “I couldn’t- gods if you walked away-”
“I wouldn’t,” you assure him, desperately shaking your head. “I wouldn’t- I was just teasing. Trying to- to show how - fuck! - how serious I - a-am.”
“I would let you but gods would it break me,” Gale breathes, before sucking another hickey into your skin. He pulls his hand back, and you whine, shivering with need and desperation before Gale flips you onto your stomach. “Gods, just-”
“Fuck,” you breathe, parting your thighs as Gale takes himself out of his pants. Tucking them down just enough before he’s lining himself up, and then slams into you. “Gale!”
He pulls at your hips, arching you up into his touch. Snaking a hand around while he splays himself across your back. Fingers hot on your clit, Gale’s cock pounding in and out of you.
You choke, eyes watering as your leg twitches. Pleasure spiking harshly in your lower belly.
“Say it- say it again. Say my name again.”
You nod, trying to arch back into Gale’s touch.
“Gale!” You moan, your knuckles going white as you clutch at the desk.
Gale continues to rub your clit, harsh, and fast, as he pounds into you, desperate fervor driving his every movement. Suddenly, he arches you back, pulling you up onto your knees so you’re leaned back against him. One arm securely wrapping around your middle, Gale continues to pound up into you. All words muted down to whines and grunts and moans.
It doesn’t take long, not with how needy you both are, for you to cum around Gale’s cock, seeing stars when he pulls you down harshly against him.
The two of you are left panting, your head leaned back, resting on Gale’s shoulder. His face coming to rest in the crook of your neck.
“Gods,” Gale breathes first, hands smoothing over your skin. “You look divine.”
“I can barely think,” you grumble, tilting your head to press against his. “How are you still talking?”
“You like when I talk.”
“I do.”
“Mn…”
“I didn’t… think to…”
“It’s fine.” You say, shaking your head. “I have a contraceptive ward.”
“Oh thank gods.” Gale breathes. “It’s a bit too early to be talking about children.”
“You mean after we fucked in my office after a fight?”
“I do.”
You laugh softly, relaxing into Gale’s touch a moment longer.
“We should get dressed,” you say softly. One hand coming up to play with Gale’s hair. “Actually… talk later.”
“I know,” Gale nods pressing another kiss to your neck. “But do we really have to? Get dressed I mean.”
“Don’t do that,” you warn, drawing a groan from Gale when you involuntarily clench around him. “Or we’ll be here a lot longer.”
“Mmmn… is that such a bad thing?” He asks, and you can practically feel the smile on his lips as he presses another kiss to your shoulder. “I quite like having you… so docile. In comparison.”
“Don’t get used to it,” you warn softly, a smile on your lips. “But… if we get dressed, we can leave. Go to a real bed.”
That gets Gale moving, even if it is reluctantly. His hands smoothing over your skin one last time before he pulls out of you, tucking himself back into his pants. You swallow thickly at the feeling, and Gale helps you step into your underwear and pants. Pulling your shirt over your head, and helping you fix your hair so that you don’t look quite so fucked out.
“You know,” Gale hums softly, pressing a kiss to your ear. “We could always teleport to my tower. It’s a bit of an… irresponsible use of the planeshift spell, I must admit. But… I do have a rather large bed.”
You hum, as though pretending to think.
“I could be convinced,” you drawl teasingly. “For another kiss?”
Gale chuckles, and you smirk against his lips that are already on yours.
im watching that movie greenland and im obsessed with the idea of apocalypse level disaster and reader "randomly" gets selected to be relocated and cant for the life of them figure out why and they show up in the hanger and its because their husband is there... except reader. doesn't have a husband. so who is this military man with a beard sweeping them into a bone crushing hug and planting a wet kiss on their lips? Pulling them into a plane with a tight smile and keeping them pressed against the side of the plane with a hand on their thigh? Why are his men talking about "finally" meeting their captain's spouse? Talking about all the candid pictures he's shown, how he gushes...
(something for the other guys of 141 below)
ghost would just show up at readers house and kidnap them, pack their bag and everything. Knock their ass out with sedatives until they're long since relocated
Gaz would be the concerned neighbor that gets ahead of everything, convinces reader to come with him and "lies" about them being recently married so its not on record during the chaos. (They are legally married, actually. Gaz did it as soon as he heard but reader doesn't need to know that.) He acts the charming husband the whole time. It would genuinely be a surprise when reader finds out, much later, that their marriage certificate is dated well over a month before everything turned to shit
Soap is impulsive, and honestly id be surprised if he didnt just bust ass from base, break into readers house, pack them a bag and throw them over his shoulder even though hes only met them like. a handful of times and how the fuck does he know where they live he doesnt even *frequent* the place they work hang on-
