stop calling it a war. it's not a goddamn fucking war. it's a genocide. call it as such. stop censoring yourself and stop falling for the most stupidest fucking propaganda right now. it is not a war. stop fucking calling it a war. it is genocide. say it. say the words. it is a genocide.
summary: when lando starts posting a new mystery figure to his instagram with no warning, fans get rabid trying to find their identity. but aside from lando's obsessive posting, the target of their hunt doesn't exist. in your cozy monaco world, you and lando agree to one thing: private, but not secret. the world will never know your name, but they will know that lando loves you.
♫ problemz, jungle
lando history isn't so bad 🧿
liked by osarpiastri, mclarenf1, georgerussell63, and 298,695 others
view 48,596 comments
user okay but WHO is that on slide 6??
user IS THIS A HARD LAUNCH?
user THERE WAS NO SOFT LAUNCH, THIS IS THE HARDEST LAUNCH I'VE EVER WITNESSED
user I'M SPEECHLESS, POWER MOVE FROM LANDO
user why is the face card so lethal?? who even is that??
user OH MY GOD CHAT ARE WE SEEING THIS??
user the entire grid liked omg do they know who this is???
user oscar or max HAS to know right???
user imagine it's a surprise to them too
user mclaren admin having a panic attack as we speak!
oscarpiastri You finally opened a book?
lando sending you into the wall mate 😇😇
mclarenf1 We do not encourage this!
user no one has pointed out that this isn't his usual taste?? did the person in the photos choose it?
user i was gonna say this but thought i was crazy!
user sunshine incarnate ngl!
user i need to know who this is YESTERDAY!!
user girl we all do, the sleuths haven't found them yet
user literally how??
georgerussell63 Looked like a great vacation! Share the deets when you get back
user ofc george says "deets"
user diva behaviour honestly
user he's going to steal the vacation i just know it liked by lando
user NOT HIM LIKING HE'S SO MESSY
user he saw someone call george a diva and went: my title?
user OKAY BUT SERIOUSLY WHO IS THAT???
lando hard launches new partner, who are they??
in his photodump from his greece trip, lando debuted a new partner, but it's been a week, and online sleuths haven't found any social media. it's like they don't exist. does anyone know bc admin has SEARCHED far and wide and found nothing!!
💬: this has been bugging me hardcore
💬: why do y'all NEED to know???
💬: bc we're all curious!!
💬: whoever they are, they're hot AND have good music taste!!
💬: it's gotta be pretty serious, right???
💬: i'm just glad he's happy tbh
💬: SAME HERE MANS HAS SUFFERED ENOUGH!
💬: literal millionaire btw
💬: hopefully they can handle him, lord knows we can't
💬: i propose we name his new partner sunshine bc they look gorgeous in golden hour
💬: THIS!! PLEASE!!
clip — i saw lando and sunshine at fp1!!
The clip starts with muffled words as the fan takes their phone out. The phone catches Lando and a mystery figure walking into the paddock, hand-in-hand. You're speaking in low tones, heads bowed to avoid the cameras. from behind the camera, the fan shouts "SUNSHINE!" and you turn to look, your attention drawn by the loud sound of the name the F1 fandom has chosen for you.
The fan locks eyes with them and their hand raises in front of the camera to wave. Eagerly, you start waving back with a wide grin. The bandana on your head catches in the wind as you wave, framing your face like a movie poster. Faintly, the camera picks up the word "hi!" being hollered over the roar of the crowd. Almost invisible, but heard by those who turned their volume up loud enough. There's pure happiness in your voice, something that can't be faked. You're happy to be there, happy to be known, even if it isn't the real you, but a nickname the world had given you.
Lando tilts his head up, a grin spreading on his face as he drinks in the way you lets go of his hand to make a heart at the camera with both hands. Your smile never fades, and seems to grow as the fan zooms in on you. The fan behind the camera squeals and it suddenly cuts.
view 2,930 comments
user OH SO THEY'RE PERFECT???
user THE WAY THEY WAVED AND SENT THE FAN A HEART!!
user oh so they're not terrified at all?? they know they're hidden.
user what if they don't have social media??
user honestly that's what i think!! lando doesn't follow anyone we don't already kinda know, so they might be off grid!
user how did they even meet?? they're everything and he's just ken
user bro is doing dating the old fashioned way
user he said: hold my monster energy and gave us a romcom level meetcute
user unrelated but they look so stunning?? and their smile is gorgeous
user the way i can't even hate bc they're lowkey perfect together
lando posted a story!
date night ready <3
view all replies
maxfewtrell you better have worn pink to match
lando got a pink shirt, dw mate i don't play around
user GOD THEY'RE SO GORGEOUS
user holy shit they're stunning
user lando can you fight??
maxverstappen1 Going to the place I told you about?
lando yeaaaah boi, thanks for the rec btw
maxverstappen1 👍👍
user god you're evil for this
user no crumbs in sight
user sunshine strikes again!
oscarpiastri Enjoy
lando sunshine says you and lily should join us for a double date
oscarpiastri I don't have a choice, do I?
lando nope :))
♫ monochromatic, niall horan
lando 📸📸
liked by mclarenf1, oscarpiastri, maxfewtrell, and 387,607 others
view 46,483 comments
user they dragged him ALL over damn
user sunshine said: this is your weekend but it's MY trip
user if the car is dogshit he should at least get a nice trip out of it
user praying both mclarens start on sunday 🙏🙏🙏🙏
user the way he probably carried all their bags while they got so many cute souvenirs
user another sunshine song choice?? mans is WHIPPED
user "take it all off till you're monochromatic" with the most colourful dump i've seen from him
user something something it's all about what we don't see
oscarpiastri Onto the race!
lando surely we both start and finish!
user this feels cryptic i don't like it
lnfour part time racer, full-time photographer!
user lnfour do you know who sunshine is
lnfour he doesn't actually tell us anything bestie 😊😊
INTERVIEW — Lando Norris on new partner!
"So, let's address the elephant in the room. How long have [you and sunshine] been together?"
"We've been together for about six months or so, and I asked about going public, and they were fine with it [ Laughs ]. They have no social media so you won't find them. Wish I could be that brave, you know?"
"How did you two meet?"
"I, uh, got a padel ball to the face and got rushed to ER, and they fixed my face up. I don't even remember asking them out! It just happened. They said yes, too, which was crazy enough. Don't know why they agreed, but I won't question it [ Laughs ]."
"You said they've got no social media, does that hinder your relationship, since your job requires so much presence?"
"That's actually a good question. **** I'm not good at academic sounding ones. But, no, it doesn't make things hard. They've made me go analogue, which is crazy because social media is my life when I'm not racing. We call instead of text, and they wrote me letters if they couldn't come to a race. I have a screen time limit now, for Christ's sake! { Laughs ] But it's been ... really good for me, I think. Been in my head a lot less, focusing on the now and stuff."
view all comments
💬: THEY'RE A NURSE??
💬: the fact that padel technically got them together AW
💬: he was smiling so wide when the interviewer brought up sunshine, they know BALL
💬: the questions we're all asking!!!
♫ lost in japan, shawn mendes
lando lost in japan 🏯
liked by mclarenf1, lnfour, oscarpiastri, and 394,040 others
view 58,639 comments
user oh this is gorgeous
user sunshine taking over the photo dump we love to see it!
user hope they actually start this race! 🤞🏻
user amen pls let both our papaya boys start
user sunshine has to be good luck 🤞🏻
user oh so he’s whipped
user we’ve known this 🙄
user he’s just showing them off now and i’m NOT complaining
user oh they’re glowing!
lnfour our queen 🫶
user even lnfour is obsessed, real shit
user don't blame them, aside from lando, they're sunshine's biggest fan
mclarenf1 Hi sunshine 👋🏻
user not admin waving to sunshine fjdnenslxkx that’s so cute
lando sunshine says hi back, admin
user the way he replied fuxscdsoi
user we are all sunshine fans here 🫵
user he may not have started all the races but lando looks happier this season
user yeah bc he got a partner and he’s got that glow™️
user my toxic trait is that i’m jealous of an f1 driver bc wdym he’s rich, good looking, successful, AND has a stunning partner??
carlossainz vamos 👏
oscarpiastri Why wasn’t I invited?
lando you’d be third wheeling 😊
user oscar found DEAD!
maxverstappen1 Surprised they got a photo of the empty track, very nice!
lando they woke me up at 4 am for that shot and begged me to post it, no regrets tho 🙂↕️
user sunshine must be so carefree without instagram
user jealous of their ability to lock TF out lmao
clip — Lando and Sunshine on the train to Suzuka!!
The clip starts on a train in the early hours of the morning. The sun paints the train a gentle shade of pink and orange, dousing the couple in a soft light. Lando and you are both packed into a corner of the train, him standing and blocking the view of you, and then sitting and reading something that can’t be identified. Every so often, you silently chuckle and turn the book to Lando, pointing at a line that made you smile. Lando reads it, and his laughter can be heard as an announcement of the next stop blares. Your hands brush and you lean your head against Lando’s stomach, and his free hand wraps around your shoulders, leaning down to press a kiss to the top of your head.
The clip cuts again to show you and Lando playing rock-paper-scissors in silence. You win, and the camera captures your small victory dance as Lando pretends to be devastated, but he's smiling like he won the best prize of all. Your hands intertwine as you lean into each other, humming a silent melody only the two of you know. The train goes over a bump and you both giggle as Lando sways, holding you in your seat.
"You okay?" He asks, his voice quiet and gentle as you nod. You're staring at him him like he hung the moon and painted the universe.
"More than okay," you whisper back, and the camera barely picks it up. Lando chuckles, and the redness in his cheeks is barely caught by the camera as you tap the end of his nose.
He looks so in love it hurts.
Lando’s scrolling on his phone when you headbutt his stomach and point to the fan. He looks up and offers a gentle smile and wave. The fan scrambles to put their phone away, apologizing.
Vaguely, sunshine’s voice can be heard. “Do you want a photo with him?”
Lando groans. “I look like shit!” To which sunshine laughs quietly and the video switches to selfie mode. Sunshine’s eyes widen as they scramble to end the video. The last shot is a clear frame of their face, a beaming smile on their lips as the clip ends.
view all comments ...
user the way they’re so tender together
user the shot of their face!!! no makeup spotted!!
user so they’re disgustingly in love got it
user someone put me down I can’t handle this
user the way that they’re wanted to take the train and he only agreed bc he can’t say no
user he’s even in his team kit and was fully intending to take a car but he didn’t want them to go alone
user the light makes them look unreal?? is this a romcom or f1??
user what book are they reading??
user i think it’s a translated Japanese book! can’t read the title sadly
user the way that he looks tired but also so soft
user oh they’re endgame i fear no one is beating this
user sunshine looks so effortlessly gorgeous this isn’t FAIR when is it my turn
user the way they’re camera focused on their face!!!
user saving this screenshot and telling everyone it’s my wife!
lando posted a story!
he’s ready to lock in!
view all replies
user SUNSHINE IS THAT YOU???
lando it is, hi 😄
user big fan of your work <3
mclarenf1 caught in 4K!! 📸
lando he can’t escape me 🙂↕️
mclarenf1 can you handle all his photos from now on? he might listen to you!
lando no promises 😏
user oh so they’ve stolen his phone! sunshine pov!!
user he totally knew they were taking a photo
oscarpiastri Can you take my photos too?
lando i’m on my way!! 🏃♀️
clip — Lando got a podium!!!
The clip starts with the crowd celebrating the podium lineup, the Miami air thick with cheers and the smell of alcohol. As Lando walks out onto the podium, a cheer unlike any rips through the crowd. The camera cuts to you, standing just past the fan zone with the largest smile plastered on your face. You're the source of the sound, that much is obvious. You're jumping up and down, waving frantically to Lando on the podium. The camera moves to Lando, who is mimicking you, jumping and waving like a child winning their first race. The camera picks up your voice screaming his name with a reverence found only in myths, dedicated to the gods above. Only now, it's dedicated to him. And you don't care about anyone else, only about showing him how in love with him you are. Likewise, Lando doesn't notice anything else, even when champagne covers him, he turns the bottle to aim it at you. You squeak as you dodge it, laughing with an open mouth and bright eyes.
The camera cuts to after the race as Lando rushes the parc ferme, colliding with you like atoms in a fusion reactor. He's dripping with champagne, but neither of you cares, because his arms are warm and safe. He spins you, both of you laughing and smiling like he'd won the whole fucking thing. It was P2, not the top spot, but it was the best result he'd achieved all season, and you made sure he knew it. You're pressing kisses across his face while he soaks in it. He doesn't even bother pretending to be nonchalant. You're it for him, and he doesn't care who sees it.
You nuzzle your noses together as you exchange silent words, but they're words that make Lando kiss you in the way reserved for movie stars under dreamy lighting, and it feels like the universe is colliding in ways never thought possible as you touch the ground but never separate.
The camera captures his lips moving. Everyone is sure he says "I love you".
view all comments ...
user oh they're SICKENING
user congrats lando!!
user he got a podium yippie!!!
user worth it to see his smile
user the way sunshine screamed?? and the way he jumped and waved back, i just know they're each other's hype person
user this made my stomach revolt
user fuck i wasn't gonna drink today but i want a love like them
user every love song is about them actually!
𓈒⠀𓂃⠀⠀˖⠀𓇬⠀˖⠀⠀𓂃⠀𓈒
hehe, i'm back! also those photos from the japan are ones i took! i got to see suzuka circuit and it was insanity! anyways, enjoy and have a lovely day <3
prompt: Nick Foligno drags Connor to see Hadestown after the Blackhawks get sent tickets, due to Connor's lack of knowledge about anything that doesn't surround hockey. What Connor didn't expect was to see you on stage, and to be utterly consumed.
pairing: Connor Bedard x theater f!reader
content: Hadestown references, theater vocab, awkward Connor, but he's also low key obsessed?, fluff
wc: 2.3k
a/n: is this niche? maybe. i've been so obsessed with the idea of Connor seeing a musical and falling in love with the female lead, so here we are. Also, I know Nick isn't captain anymore :((( I miss him though, so let's all pretend
Connor hadn’t been to many theater performances. In fact, he wasn’t sure he’d even been to one. But when Nick texted to say that the Blackhawks had been sent a few tickets and invited to the show Hadestown at the CIBC Theater, Connor wasn’t sure it was an event he could get out of.
Nick was always going on about how shameful it was that Connor knew almost nothing about anything that didn’t somewhat resolve around hockey. It looked like the Blackhawks captain was finally getting his chance to show Connor some culture.
That was how he ended up just a few rows away from the stage, wearing navy dress pants and a black dress shirt. Nick sat to one side of him, flipping through his Playbill. Frank sat on the other, playing Block Blast on his phone as they waited for the show to begin.
“I still can’t believe they invited us,” Nick said, setting the program on his lap. “This show is supposed to be amazing.”
“What is it even about?” Connor asked, his fingers fidgeting. “Is it boring?”
“Dude, it’s Greek Mythology,” Nick rolled his eyes. “Didn’t you learn anything in school?”
“Like Percy Jackson?” Frank cut in, picking up his head from his game.
Nick rolled his eyes again.
A few moments later, the theater lights dimmed, and the show began.
And there you were, dressed in a ratty coat, ripped tights, and a black slip dress. Your skin seemed to glow, your hair pulled back to show your face.
Connor’s mouth parted.
You might have been the most beautiful girl he’d ever seen—until you started singing, and then he wasn’t sure how anything else could compare.
He was enraptured, leaning forward in his seat as your character fell in love with Orpheus. His eyes followed you as you moved about the stage. He found himself clenching his fists as the Fates ripped your coat from your body.
The way you moved on stage made everything else feel secondary.
When intermission began, he hadn’t yet taken his eyes off the stage, hoping to catch another glimpse of you.
“You good?” Frank asked, elbowing his best friend.
Connor blinked, shaking his head lightly. “That girl, the one playing… fuck, what’s her name?”
“Uh,” Frank scratched his head. “They’re all kinda hard to remember.”
“Eurydice.” Nick helped, giving both boys an annoyed look. “Honestly, it’s not that hard.”
“Yes,” Connor said quickly. “She’s incredible.”
Nick made a small sound like he was trying not to laugh.
Frank gave them both an odd look. “I mean, they’re all fine. I’m confused about-”
“Shut up, Frank,” both Connor and Nick muttered.
A few minutes later, the lights dimmed once more. Connor straightened in his seat, causing Nick to smirk.
He leaned over, “you think she’s more than incredible, don’t you?”
Connor didn’t take his eyes off the stage, fully prepared for the show to resume. He didn’t want to miss a second. “She’s beautiful.”
Nick hummed thoughtfully but wasn’t able to say anything else as the show began once more.
Just like before, Connor found himself lost in your performance. At one point, you were singing Eurydice’s solo, knelt at the front of the stage, pure pain and longing on your face. Your performance and voice alone seemed to transport Connor into a different world.
He sucked in a breath when you briefly made eye contact.
And then, at the end, when Orpheus turned and you were sent back to Hadestown, Connor had to blink rapidly to keep his eyes from tearing up.
During the curtain call, the audience rose to their feet, clapping thunderously. Nick had to pull Connor out of his trance, encouraging him to stand and clap as well. When you came to take your bow, your eyes locked with his once more, and you smiled softly. The theater's volume crescendoed as you bowed, your hair slipping into your face.
The light in your eyes at curtain call was something Connor had seen before in himself—after a goal, after a hat trick—but never quite like that.
The cast and crew disappeared backstage, the lights came on, the audience began to trickle out. But Connor was still standing there, staring at the wing you’d exited through.
“Someone is supposed to meet us here to give us a backstage tour,” Nick muttered, glancing at the email on his phone. “I’m not sure when, or–”
“We get to go backstage?” Connor finally tore his eyes from the stage to turn to Nick. “Do we get to meet them?”
“Down, boy,” Frank joked. “I’m pretty sure we’ll see some of the actors.”
A few moments later, the actor playing Orpheus, now dressed in street clothes, was weaving through the seats towards them.
“Hey guys,” he stuck his hand out for them to shake. “It’s an honor for you to be here. I’m a big fan.”
Nick and the actor exchanged a few pleasantries.
“I’m supposed to give you the tour. Originally it was gonna be someone else, but when I heard you guys would be here I volunteered to do it.” And with that, he led the three hockey players through the theater, through a set of doors, and into a hallway.
“I’ll show you the dressing rooms first. Most of the cast will still be here if you want to meet any,” the man said, giving them a smile.
Connor’s heart jumped into his throat, blood racing in his ears.
“Oh, Connor would love to meet–”
Connor elbowed Frank quickly, shooting him a glare.
The actor just smiled, glancing between the two of them.
He took them into a hallway beneath the stage where doors lined each side. He knocked on the first one, opening it and peering into the room beyond.
“Y/n? Do you wanna meet the Blackhawks players I was telling you about?”
“Yeah! Just one second…”
Connor stilled at the familiar voice. Because it was yours, he’d nearly memorized its sound from when you’d been performing.
A rustling sound was heard from your dressing room, and Connor felt like the hallway was shrinking.
Connor didn’t even realize he had stopped breathing until Nick shifted, bumping him lightly as if to say, don’t be an idiot.
A second later, you stepped into the doorway, a used makeup wipe in hand. You’d taken your hair down, and it tumbled freely down your back. You had changed from your costume into a pair of sweat pants and a matching tank top.
Without the stage makeup, without the distance of the stage between you and the audience, you looked real in a way that made Connor’s brain stutter.
And then your eyes landed on him.
It wasn’t dramatic. No spotlight, no music swell. Just you.
Just a pause, like you recognized something in him too.
“Oh,” you gave a small smile, your eyes finally moving off Connor to flick over Nick and Frank. But then they landed back on Connor, and your smile seemed to soften even further. “Hi.”
“They watched the show tonight,” the actor said, gesturing towards them.
Nick stepped forward, offering a hand towards you. “Hi, yeah, the show was great.”
You took his hand, shaking it with a smile. “I’m glad you liked it!”
Frank nodded. “Yeah, uh, really good.” At his words, your smile seemed to grow.
And then it was Connor’s turn. Connor didn’t move right away, his brain scrambling for something, anything. Nick’s brows pinched together, like he was begging Connor to say something normal.
But Connor’s attention was stuck on you, noticing how your voice felt softer off stage. More like you, and less like the character you had played.
Finally, Connor stepped forward, offering his hand. You gripped it immediately, eyes locking onto his, your hand soft yet firm in his.
And warm, so warm and all encompassing.
“Hi,” he said, and then immediately regretted it. Because it didn’t feel like enough for what he was trying to say.
Your touch was solid and centering, a sensation that was so at odds with the chaos in his chest. Up close, Connor could see the faint traces of makeup you had missed while wiping it off. Little pieces of Eurydice that he thought clung to your skin like stardust.
“Hi,” you echoed, like you were saying it specifically for him. And then, “I think I saw you.”
“You- you did?” Connor had never felt like such a bumbling idiot in his life.
Your smile widened. “Yeah. Three, maybe four, rows back? You were…” your eyebrows drew together as you thought of the word you wanted to use. Connor thought that it was adorable. “You were really focused.”
Behind him, Frank made a soft, strangled sound like he was trying to hold in his laughter.
Connor ignored him.
“I was,” he admitted.
That seemed to amuse you. Not in a mocking way–more like you were pleasantly surprised that someone would say something so honest.
Neither one of you had let go. Your hand still felt soft in his.
“I’m glad,” your smile was genuine. “It’s a long show, people don’t always stay with it.”
“I stayed with it,” Connor said immediately. Then, he flushed slightly at the intensity in which the words poured from his mouth.
Nick, watching the entire exchange unfold, cleared his throat like he was witnessing something he wasn’t supposed to.
You glanced at him briefly, then back to Connor.
“What did you think?”
Connor’s mouth opened and closed.
Because there were a lot of answers. He was blown away by the way you were able to sound when everything was falling apart, by the way that you had clung to every little bit of hope, even when it had been stripped away.
“I didn’t know people could do that,” he finally admitted.
You paused. “Do what?” Your voice was quiet, maybe even a little unsure.
Connor didn’t hesitate before saying, “make it feel like that.”
For a moment, everything around the two of you seemed to fall away. Neither one of you noticed the looks that Frank and Nick were shooting at each other, or how Orpheus’s actor had begun fidgeting with his sleeves, or the thud of the stage crew resetting the props.
You felt completely swallowed up in Connor’s gaze. Your eyes were the only things that Connor could look at.
Then, you smiled. “That’s kind of the nicest thing anyone has said to me.”
Connor’s ears warmed, his cheeks flushing. “It is?”
“Yeah,” you said simply. “Usually I get a “great show,” and then people leave.”
Connor frowned at that, like the idea didn’t sit right. “That’s… not enough.”
That made you laugh softly, eyes sparkling. “No?”
“Why don’t we continue the tour, and you guys can stay here and chat?” Nick finally cut in, popping the bubble that had grown around you and Connor.
Connor went to nod, and then looked at you, waiting. Your cheeks warmed when you realized he was checking to see if that was something you wanted.
“Yeah, that sounds good,” you nodded.
With amused glances–and a pointed look from Nick–the three disappeared down the hallway, leaving just you and Connor.
“Do you want to see my dressing room?” You asked tentatively, watching his face closely for any reaction.
Connor’s nod was immediate, causing your smile to bloom. You turned, pushing your way back through the door. Connor was at your back, eyes following you as you moved.
Inside the room, you had countless letters taped to the edges of your mirror. Letters from friends, tabloid reviews, fan mail. Things that helped give you confidence before you poured your heart out on stage.
The vanity was cluttered with makeup, a spare pair of tights, skin care, anything that you might need.
“This is where the magic happens,” you said jokingly, smiling at Connor in the mirror. He was looking around, really taking it all in.
You couldn't deny how handsome he was—broad shoulders, dark clothes, and eyes that seemed to take in every little thing.
Eyeing the letters on your mirror, Connor asked, “Do you still get nervous?”
“Of performing?”
He nodded.
“Every night.” The admission came easier than you expected. Because, if anything, it seemed like he would understand.
“Don’t you?” You returned, turning fully to look at him head on.
He didn’t shy away when he said, “every game.”
He got it—the way you gave pieces of yourself away every night to a room full of strangers and hoped they'd hold them gently. To the show, the music, the audience. It wasn’t so different than stepping onto the ice; how it felt like the approval of the entire city of Chicago sat on his shoulders.
Slowly, you stepped forward. “I could show you a few more musicals. If you wanted.”
Connor wasn’t able to take his eyes away from yours. “I’d like that.”
You grabbed your phone from the vanity, unlocking it and handing it over to him. “Add your number then.”
He typed in his number and name before handing it back.
Connor Bedard.
You grinned. “I guess I’ll have to pick a good one.”
“A good what?” Connor asked, a small smile tugging at his mouth as he looked down at you.
“A good musical. Can’t scare you off too soon.”
Connor laughed, the sound filling the small dressing room. Your cheeks warmed.
“Hey!” A shout was heard from the hallway, causing both of you to pause. It was Nick. “Connor! Are we leaving you here, or what?”
Connor glanced back at you. “You’ll text me?”
You nodded, a pretty blush filling your cheeks. “I will.”
Connor’s smile was more calm, reassured. “Good,” he said quietly, like he believed you.
And then he was slipping into the hallway, his heart racing in his chest. Somewhere behind him, you started humming one of the songs from the show.
Connor Bedard x fem!reader || fluff, mild swearing
description: Connor Bedard has a lucky routine for everything - until one accidental "good luck" from his sarcastic neighbour ends the Blackhawks' winning streak. Convinced her relentless teasing is somehow his real lucky charm, he comes up with a plan.
Chicago in early November had a way of making the cold feel personal. It wasn't the dramatic, snowy kind. It was rather damp and windy, the kind that crept through your coat and settled in your bones before you'd even reached the corner. At eight in the morning the sun was still half-asleep, the sidewalks glistened from last night's drizzle, and the lobby of your apartment building smelled like fresh coffee and wet wool.
Your dog trotted happily beside you, blissfully unaware that normal people hated mornings. You wrapped both hands around your double espresso, trying to steal whatever warmth was left in the cup as you pushed through the front door.
Someone caught it before it swung shut.
"Oh. Thanks."
"No problem."
You glanced up. It was your neighbour.
You didn't know much about him beyond the obvious. Quiet. Polite. Lived on the same floor as you. Was a captain of Chicago Blackhawks. Left at strange hours carrying enough hockey equipment to stock a sporting goods store.
Today was no different. A duffel hung off one shoulder, two sticks tucked under one arm. His hair still looked slightly flattened from sleep.
"You off to practice?"
"Yeah."
You took another sip of your coffee.
"Game tonight too?"
He nodded.
"Against Minnesota, huh?"
"Yeah, right." He looked at you for a second. "Wait, you know who we're playing?"
You shrugged.
"I've accidentally learned more about the Blackhawks than I ever planned to."
Your dog decided this was the perfect moment to investigate a neighbour from 3b walking past you, nearly wrapping his leash around your legs. While you untangled the mess, you looked back at Connor.
"Well... try not to fall over today."
He stopped walking.
"...Excuse me?"
You exaggerated an awkward stumble, nearly spilling your own coffee in the process.
"You know, like that."
He groaned.
"Oh, come on."
"What?"
"You've seen it?"
"The entire internet has seen it, Bedard."
The clip of him eating ice during warmups had been published a few days ago and went viral. Somehow it ended up on everyone's for you page, yours included.
"It wasn't even during the game," he defended himself and then laughed through an exasperated sigh and shook his head.
"You're unbelievable."
"I've been told."
He started backing toward the parking garage.
"See you."
"Don't make friends with the boards this time."
"You too have a nice day." He rolled his eyes with a smirk on his face.
The Blackhawks beat Minnesota that night.
You only found out because ESPN insisted on sending you notifications you forgot to turn off.
Good for them, you guessed. Good for your weird neighbour, too.
⸻
A week later you were heading back from your morning walk with the dog when the elevator doors opened. Connor stepped out looking like he'd packed for six months.
Suit, winter coat, one large suitcase and his huge hockey bag.
You blinked.
"Moving out?"
He laughed.
"No. Flying out to Colorado for the night."
"You have another game already?"
"Yeah."
He pulled the suitcase behind him before adding, almost apologetically, "It's basically every other day."
"...That sounds miserable."
"It has its moments." He shrugged.
He was halfway across the lobby when you called after him.
"Hey."
He turned.
"Maybe hit the net tonight."
He stared.
"...That's literally my job."
"I know." You smiled sweetly. "Would be pretty embarrassing if you couldn't do the only thing you're paid for."
"I'll remember that." A laugh slipped out before he could stop it.
"You should."
Chicago won that night again.
⸻
By now it had somehow become... a thing. Not that either of you would've admitted it. Of course not.
You ran into Connor again in the mail room a few days later. He was sorting through letters with the same concentration most people reserved for tax returns.
"Funny enough, I'm actually going to your game tonight."
His eyebrows lifted.
"You?"
"My friend from Massachusetts is visiting."
"Hockey fan?"
"Obsessed."
You fished your mailbox key out of your bag.
"So apparently I'm spending my evening pretending I understand icing."
Connor laughed.
"You'll figure it out."
"I also bought decent seats."
"So?" He glanced over.
"So your little skating thing better be worth the money. The tickets were expensive."
"My little skating thing?" Connor leaned against the row of mailboxes. "Where are you sitting?"
You looked at him suspiciously.
"Why?"
"So I know where exactly to shoot the puck."
"Oh?"
"So you can properly appreciate how little my skating thing actually is."
You couldn't help laughing.
The Blackhawks won that night as well. Blackhawks' captain Bedard also scored a hat trick. Apparently, the game was indeed worth the money.
⸻
Two mornings later you were grabbing coffee across the street when you spotted Connor loading his gear into the trunk of his SUV. The pedestrian light had already started counting down. No chance. You cupped your hands around your mouth instead.
"Game day?"
He looked up.
"Yep."
Without thinking, you called back, "Good luck!"
He smiled.
"Thanks!"
That was it. No joke. No teasing this time. Just... good luck.
That night your phone buzzed. ESPN again. You really should figure out how to turn off the notifications.
Blackhawks lose 4–3 in overtime. Winning streak is officially over.
Before bed you watched Connor's postgame interview out of curiosity. He looked tired more than anything. Frustrated in the quiet way people get, when they know exactly what went wrong but can't change it anymore.
"We had our chances," he said. "Just didn't capitalize."
You closed Instagram and went to sleep without giving it another thought.
Connor was on the other hand still worked up from the game. Somewhere between the locker room and the team bus, a ridiculous little thought wandered into his head.
She didn't make fun of me today.
He actually snorted at himself.
Seriously?
He wasn't twelve. He was playing in the NHL. There were all sorts of ridiculous superstitions but there was absolutely no universe where his performance depended on his sarcastic neighbour roasting him in the apartment lobby... Still.
It was the only thing that had been different today.
⸻
Monday evening found you exactly forty-three minutes behind schedule. What was supposed to be a quick shower had spiraled into the full everything-shower - hair mask, exfoliator, shaving... Every bottle currently living on the edge of your bathtub had somehow been involved. The mirror was still completely fogged over, one leg was moisturized, the other definitely wasn't, and you were halfway through rubbing body lotion into your arms when someone knocked.
Three quick raps you could easily ignore, since nobody was supposed to come over. You were about to leave for the bar night with your girls and had absolutely no time for anything else.
Another knock. Longer and louder this time.
Your dog sprang off the bath mat and started barking like the building was under attack.
"Oh my God..."
You glanced toward the clock. You were already late for drinks with the girls. Shit.
The knocking came again. Persistent. For God's sake!
"Alright! Jesus, I'm coming."
You tied your bathrobe a little tighter and padded to the front door, your dog squeezing between your legs, determined to defend you and the apartment.
You opened it. Connor stood there looking oddly frantic - hockey bag over one shoulder, car keys in his hand. He was slightly out of breath. He looked ready to launch into something... Instead he stopped.
"...Is that vanilla?"
You blinked.
"...Sorry, what?"
He frowned, almost distracted.
"It smells sweet."
You looked down at the bottle still in your hand.
"Oh. Yeah." You held it up. "Lotion. Vanilla lotion."
"...Right."
An awkward beat passed.
"So..." you said. "What are you doing here?"
His brain seemed to catch up with the rest of him.
"I need you to do the thing."
"...What thing?"
"Your thing."
You frowned.
"My thing?"
"The..." He gestured vaguely between the two of you. "You know.. Before games."
"I honestly have no clue what you're talking about."
"The mean things."
"I don't say mean things. They're jokes."
"Fine." He checked his watch. "The jokes. Whatever." Another glance at his watch. "Please."
"...Connor."
"I have to be at the arena in twenty minutes."
"...Okay?"
"And everyone should stick to their routines."
You folded your arms.
"So I didn't change anything before Colorado." He started counting on his fingers. "Same breakfast. Same workout. Same drive. Same order getting dressed."
He looked at you.
"The only difference..." His shoulders dropped. "...was that you wished me good luck last time."
You stared at him for a second and then laughed.
"You think me saying 'good luck' made Blackhawks lose in overtime?"
"I don't know but I also can't prove it didn't."
You rubbed your forehead.
"I've heard hockey players are superstitious... But this..." You pointed straight at him. "...this is clinical."
Connor didn't even look offended.
"Sidney Crosby has routines."
"I'm sure they're nowhere this ridiculous."
"...Probably not. But if Sid's doing routine stuff, I'm doing routine stuff."
"That is some spectacularly bad logic."
He smiled sheepishly.
"Please?"
It wasn't dramatic or manipulative. Just... weirdly sincere. Like he knew this was completely insane and had decided to commit anyway.
"You told me not to fall over."
"...Yeah?"
"I had a good game after that."
"So?"
"So..." He spread his hands. "...do it again. Please."
You let out the longest sigh of your life.
"You are unbelievable, Bedard."
"I've heard."
"No, I don't think you have." Another sigh. "...Fine."
You pretended to think.
"Don't trip."
Connor nodded immediately.
"The ice is slippery."
Another nod.
"And maybe try shooting at the net."
"I usually- "
"It's literally the biggest thing standing there on the ice."
"I know."
"I don't know how you miss it, honestly."
Connor let out a breath that almost sounded relieved.
"There."
"Happy?"
"Very."
"Good."
"Thank-"
He stopped himself, straightened his shoulders and put on an exaggeratedly offended expression. He pointed toward the elevator.
"And you..."
"What?"
"...Don't miss it."
You looked at the single elevator at the end of the hallway and laughed.
"You're terrible at this."
"I know."
He checked the time again.
"Oh crap. Gotta run. Bye!"
Instead of waiting for the elevator, he shoved open the stairwell door and disappeared two steps at a time.
You stood there blinking after him. What... Was.. That?..
You leaned into the stairwell.
"YOU'RE OFFICIALLY A LUNATIC, BEDARD!"
Your voice echoed all the way down.
"DON'T FORGET TO SHOOT THE SMALL BLACK ROUND THING!"
A second later his voice floated back up.
"YOU ARE THE BEST!"
⸻
It was almost 1 a.m. when you got home. The underground garage was nearly empty, quiet except for your footsteps bouncing off the concrete. You'd barely locked your car when someone yelled -
"IT WORKED!"
You nearly had a heart attack. Whirling around, you instinctively held your keys between your fingers. Connor was leaning against his SUV, grinning like Christmas had come early. Your pulse was somewhere in your throat.
"BEDARD!"
He immediately started laughing.
"You absolute asshole!"
"Hi to you, too."
"What is wrong with you?"
"What?"
"You don't sneak up on women in parking garages at midnight!"
"I wasn't sneaking."
"I almost stabbed you!"
He looked at your hand.
"...With a key?"
"It's a sharp key!"
Still muttering, you started toward the elevator. Connor hurried after you.
"Okay." He was still smiling. "I'm sorry."
"No, you're not."
"...Yea, not really." Nothing seemed to bring him down and erase the grin from his face.
The elevator doors opened.
"You scared at least ten years off my life."
"I got excited."
You looked over.
"...Becauuuse?"
"I waited for you."
"You what?"
He shrugged.
"Media wrapped around eleven.. I've been down here since... eleven-thirty?"
You stared at him.
"You've been sitting in a parking garage for almost an hour?"
"I watched highlights from the game." He pointed upward. "Also our Wi-Fi reaches down here."
"...Good to know?"
"Anyway."
The elevator started moving.
"It worked."
"What worked?"
"You."
"...Me?"
"The comments. I scored twice."
"...Seriously?"
"We won three-one."
You couldn't help smiling.
"Well... Congratulations?"
"I told you."
"I still think it's complete nonsense."
"Maybe." He shrugged. "But we're chasing a playoff spot."
"And?"
"And I'm not risking it."
You shook your head.
"The amount of pucks that went to your head over all these years finally shows. You are actually insane."
He laughed.
"Breakfast tomorrow?"
"What?"
"Wildberry? The pancake place? You can insult me there before I head to the airport tomorrow."
The elevator chimed and you stepped out together.
"You know, Bedard..."
"Hm?"
"I genuinely think you'd have better games if you spent less time organising breakfast dates... and more time working on your stickhandling."
Connor laughed immediately.
"Oh, that's good."
"What?"
"Save that one for tomorrow."
He started walking backward toward his apartment.
"I'll pick you up at eight. You can take your dog. Actually please take your dog with you."
"I never agreed."
"You also didn't say no."
"This is not a date."
His grin somehow got even bigger.
"It absolutely is. I'll see you tomorrow."
He unlocked his door, then looked back.
"And for the record... You are right - I should probably spend more time practicing.."
A beat.
"But I also want to take you on a date. So we'll start with this tomorrow."
Before you could answer, he disappeared inside and his door clicked shut. You stood alone in the hallway, staring at it for several long seconds.
What. The. Hell?
Somehow, you'd ended up agreeing to breakfast with your hockey-playing neighbour because he genuinely believed your sarcastic insults were good luck. Which was absurd. Completely absurd.
So why were you already wondering what you were going to wear?
blurb: john logan is in love with you. he thinks you’re in love with his best friend when you keep sticking to garrett graham all night. boy is he wrong. based off two separate requests.
or: you want logan. logan wants you. and garrett’s just there.
warnings: fem!reader, jealous!logan, alcohol, miscommunication trope (i know i’m sorry), argument, brief angst, mutual pining, bad smut in the end lmao
John Logan has a tick.
It’s subtle. Barely there.
He doesn’t even notice it himself.
But right now, he could feel the dull ache of his clenching jaw every time he spotted you speaking to Garrett.
The off campus house was packed; college students drinking, loud music blasting, and Logan’s annoying roommates belting out incorrect song lyrics among other slurred talk.
Garrett was standing too close to you, whispering something in your ear that made you glance around with careful eyes before leaning into him again.
What were you talking about, anyway? You and Garrett were from two different worlds. Was he your type? But no, Garrett and Hannah were—
“Careful, any more and you’ll cut glass.”
Logan’s eyes flicked away from you and towards the sound. Jules.
He raised the beer bottle to his lips, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Jules raised their brows in amusement, “Really? We’re playing this game?”
Logan looked away from his sibling and back to where you were, except now, Garrett’s hand wrapped around your wrist and he led you up the stairs, disappearing out of sight.
Logan’s jaw ticked again.
Hannah stepped out of the kitchen, holding a can of berry soda in one hand, and a red solo cup—probably containing a concoction of Tucker’s design—in the other.
She blinked around, “Hey, have you seen Garrett?”
Logan placed his beer down on the closest table with a soft clink, his eyes not once wavering away from the staircase.
“I’ll go find him for you,” is all he said before pushing off the wall and making his way upstairs.
Logan’s legs carried him every step of the way, his mind too hazy from the alcohol and scattered with jumbling thoughts to trust his own judgment.
Garrett was with Hannah now. Supposedly. He wouldn’t do that with you…right? But his best friend’s words echoed in his head with mocking cruelty:
“We’re not exclusive or anything.”
Logan wouldn’t put it past Garrett to fuck around with another girl. But this is you. You wouldn’t do that.
Right?
He was too distracted to notice he reached Garrett’s bedroom until his body stopped him. He could back out. Right now. Leave whatever this was between you and Garrett up to his imagination, give you both the benefit of the doubt.
But his hand reacted faster than his brain, his grip on the door handle already turning it open before he could decide if forgiveness was a quality he deemed himself noble enough to procure.
But the sight that awaited him made him wish he was saintly enough for absolution.
You were pinned against Garrett’s dresser, in your bra and jeans, Garrett’s hand was on the dresser behind you, right by your head. You both turned your heads so quickly towards the door you might’ve gotten whiplash.
Garrett backed off immediately, clearing his throat and looking at the floor. You glanced between the two men before yanking Garrett’s dresser drawer open and pulling a shirt out to wear.
Logan seemed to snap out of his daze, moving aside from the door. His jaw clenched, “Garrett, Hannah’s looking for you downstairs.”
The hockey captain nodded, looking at you one more time, searching for something in your eyes. You shared a loaded look and only then did he leave, exchanging a hesitant glance at Logan as he walked by.
Then it was just you and Logan.
He didn’t want to look at you, didn’t want to see Garrett’s shirt on your body. The article of clothing was insulting to him.
“Logan,” you called.
His eyes finally flicked up to yours. He stepped inside and closed Garrett’s door behind him.
“Does Hannah know?” Logan asked quietly.
Your face dropped a little. “No, it’s—it’s not like that.”
“Then tell me what it is.”
You bit your lip.
Hannah had left Garrett’s side to get drinks. He was left alone by the bottom of the staircase. You made your move then.
You came up to him, “Hey, Graham.”
He played uninterested, “‘Sup.”
“No need to act like that, Jules isn’t around to write a gossip piece.” You responded, sipping on your drink.
Garrett turned to you in silent panic. He looked around before moving closer so nobody would hear the conversation.
“What does that mean?”
You looked up at him, “I don’t know what you’re doing exactly, Graham. But you’ve got my best friend involved and I don’t like it.”
Garrett tilted his head to the side, “Wellsy’s a big girl. She can handle herself.”
“I know she can. But I can handle you myself.”
Garrett narrowed his eyes slightly, “I’m not doing anything wrong with her.”
“I don’t know that yet. You and Hannah started dating out of nowhere. And she won’t tell me anything. That’s not like her—that’s not my best friend.” You told him.
“So what do you think this is, huh?” He asked.
“I think you’re using her to get on Jules’ account,” you answered.
Garrett let out a laugh, “Right. Like I need the publicity.”
And you hated how he wasn’t wrong. He was Garrett Graham, everybody on campus knew who he was. He didn’t need Jules to broadcast him to gain popularity.
You glanced around before leaning in to whisper, “Then tell me what’s going on.”
Garrett looked at you and he knew you wouldn’t let this go. He sighed, grabbing your hand and dragging you away from the crowd.
When you reached his bedroom, Garrett closed the door and turned so abruptly that he spilled your drink over your shirt.
You groaned, taking your top off before it could stick to your skin, “What the fuck, Graham?!”
He sighed and looked at the material of your shirt slowly soaking up the liquid, turning see through. He cleared his throat and went to his dresser to get you something new to wear.
You came between him and his dresser, “Just tell me. Don’t bullshit with me.” You demanded.
Garrett sighed, still holding onto his dresser behind you. “If you really want to know, why don’t you ask Wellsy?”
“She keeps telling me you guys ‘hit it off’ during tutoring.” You shrugged.
Garrett raised a brow, “And you don’t believe that?”
“I’ll believe that once I stop spotting you looking out for Jules every time you and Hannah stand next to each other.” You rolled your eyes at him.
Garrett could tell you really cared about Hannah. He leaned closer, “Look, I promise you? I’m not using her.”
If anything, she’s using me to get Justin, he wanted to say but didn’t.
Before you could shoot back a retort, the door creaked open and the two of you snapped towards the entrance where Logan stood, frozen like a deer caught in headlights.
Garrett stepped back, and when Logan told him Hannah was searching for him, he shared a pleading look with you as if to say ‘don’t tell Logan’.
You gave him a brief nod.
And now, back to where you left off with Logan.
“We’re not like that, I just needed to talk to him,” you explained to Logan.
“Why him?” He stepped closer. “Talk to me.”
You looked up at him. “It’s not about you, I—“
“No, I get it,” he stepped back and you hated how you needed him closer like it was oxygen.
“We can’t all be Garrett Graham, right?” He said with a self-deprecating smile.
You closed the distance, “I don’t want Garrett.”
He looked down at the shirt you were wearing, you followed his gaze. The name Graham—bold in bright capital letters on the fabric seemed to painfully taunt the two of you.
You took the offending shirt off and casted it aside.
Logan’s breath hitched, his adam’s apple bobbing in tandem with the spike in his heartbeat.
Maybe it was the alcohol, or the jealousy rearing its ugly head, or the close proximity between the two of you. Whatever it was, it was enough to compel the both of you to launch forward and share a long overdue, and very messy, kiss.
There was no finesse, all tongue and teeth. Neither of you minded. It had been a long semester of friendly exchanges and desperate pining, this was an inevitable outcome both you and Logan craved.
You should’ve felt bad for fucking on Garrett’s bed, but you couldn’t bother enough to care. Nor did Logan, it seemed. He had your legs hooked over his shoulders as he pounded into you in a fervor.
“Do you love me more than him? Tell me you never loved him,” Logan demanded through gritted teeth.
It was a miracle that you could hear him at all, let alone reply, “Never. Only you, only want you, Logan. Please.”
Your needy voice did things to him. His pace quickened, “Yeah? Only I can fuck you like this, right? Nobody can make you feel this good.”
You shook your head, nails digging into the muscles on his back. “Just you, I swear.”
He buried his face in your neck, “Fuck, you’re amazing. Perfect girl for me, perfect pussy made just for me.”
Goosebumps crawled up your skin at his words, it didn’t help that he left wet kisses on your skin. “Logan, I’m close…”
He bit your earlobe, “Yeah? Cum for me, baby. I wanna hear you say my name when you finish.”
Your cheeks flushed, part of you worried about the people downstairs, the other part of you ready to throw caution to the wind.
His thumb rubbed your clit in circles, helping you get there. Your eyes screwed shut and you screamed his name when the waves of pleasure took over your body.
Just the sight of you losing yourself made him finish. He grunted and held himself up over you, being mindful not to crush you with his body weight.
He brushed away the wet strands of hair that stuck to your forehead, wanting to look at your face. He admired you silently before kissing you deeply, much gentler than before. Your fingers tugged on the little hairs on the nape of his neck.
“Garrett’s gonna kill me,” he murmured.
You laughed softly, “He’ll live.”
He smiled and pecked your lips once more before getting off you, “Come on, let me get you one of my shirts to wear.”
alr lil bros this was so rushed gah whatever hate it
Your son sneaks into your bed in the middle of the night
Valarr x pregnant wife!reader
Content: pure fluff as the gods intended, your son is 3, Valarr is a great father and husband, Valarr wants a girl, really short.
You’re woken from your lovely sleep not by the maid or your husband, who was sound asleep with his face buried in your hair hand resting on your growing bump. No, it’s from your 3 year old son Jaehaerys pulling on your arm trying to use you to climb into bed.
“Do you need some help?” You whisper with a sleepy smile to your brunette boy, who like his father, has a streak of white running through it. At his nod you move forward to pick him up, ignoring the grumbling from your husband as he tries to pull you back to him. “What are you doing awake my little dragon?”
“Sleep was yucky.” He says climbing over you so he could lie in between you and Valarr. Waking his father in the process when he accidentally kicks him in the face.
“How was it yucky?” You ask stroking his hair out of his face. Valarr rubbing sleep out of his eyes knowing his son wouldn’t be going back to the nursery tonight.
“Just was.” Is all the response you get to that as the toddler moves the sheets down so he can look at you baby bump. “How’s baby?”
“Baby’s been good.” You say letting him poke you through your night dress, as baby is moving in you kicking Jace’s hand making him giggle. “Moving a lot though.”
“She moves even more than you did.” Valarr says voice rough with sleep before he gives you a quick kiss to the side of your head. Tired but loving these rare moments of just the three almost four of you.
“We don’t know it’s a girl.” You tell your husband also wanting a girl but not wanting to get your hopes up as you know you’d be fine with either.
“I have a feeling.” Valarr states with a smile kissing you before leaning forward to pick up Jace pulling him for a cuddle. “Now my little menace of a dragon.” He says pressing kisses all over the toddlers face making him giggle again. “In the morning you will tell me how you got out of the nursery, but now it’s sleep time. So I’ll read you your book but you have to let me and mama sleep, is that a deal?”
“Deal.” Jace says still giggling as you pass Valarr the book so he can read to you both of a change, Jace snuggling down in between you both.
“There once was a school many moons ago-.”
“Papa your doing to wrong.” Jace tells him mater of factly crossing his arms over his chest. Looking like Valarr when a lord has annoyed him in court.
“He’s not doing it wrong sweetheart.” You tell your dramatic toddler kissing his head. Valarr giving you a look of pure disbelief at his son’s statement. “Papa reads differently to me maybe you’ll end up preferring it, let him read us the story I can read it again tomorrow.” You offer just wanting to get some sleep.
“Fine.” He says with a humph but resting his head on Valarr anyway so he could continue. “But you will do the voices right?” He asks softly looking so adorable you feel like crying. Stupid pregnancy hormones.
“I’ll do my best.” Your husband tells him with a laugh as you try to get comfortable. “I know I’m not as good as mama but I will try my best I promise. Now where was I?”
No Aelias, your mother is NOT trapped inside that locket
Valarr Targaryen X Reader
ITIMMW AU
Synopsys: In which your brother gets sick and you leave your husband and child alone
WC: 3K
A/N: I don't really like how this turned out it feels rushed ): i've been busy, but i hope the person who requested it likes it
The first thing anyone would tell you about Aelias Targaryen was that he was a mother's boy. Not in the way that all babies prefer their mothers, though that was common enough. In the way that he would scream himself purple if you left the room to use the privy. In the way that he refused to settle for anyone except you, fought sleep unless you were the one holding him, and stared at the door whenever you walked through it like you were the sun breaking through clouds.
Valarr found this absolutely delightful. He was not jealous. He could not be jealous, not when he felt exactly the same way about you. He had been staring at you like that for over three years now, ever since he first saw you and he had no intention of stopping.
"He has good instincts," Valarr told his father one morning, watching you bounce Aelias on your hip while you tried to eat a piece of toast. The baby was grabbing at your hair, your collar, the crust of bread in your hand, and you were laughing about it, your whole face bright. "He knows who the best person in the room is."
Baelor had looked at his son with an expression that was equal parts fondness and exasperation. "You are aware that you are also in the room."
"I am aware. I am also aware that I am not the best person in it. The baby understands this. He is very advanced for his age."
Baelor had walked away shaking his head.
That was three weeks ago. Now you were gone, and Aelias was not laughing. He was not grabbing at hair or bread or anything except Valarr's shirt, which he was fisting with both tiny hands while he screamed directly into Valarr's chest.
Your brother was dying. Or he might be dying. The raven had been vague in the way that ravens often were when the news was bad. Your sister by law had written that the maesters were worried, that the fever was not breaking, that your brother kept asking for you in his delirious moments.
You had read the letter three times, your face growing paler with each reading. Then you had looked at Valarr and said, "I have to go."
He had not argued. He could not argue. But Aelias was four moons old. Aelias had never spent a night away from you. Aelias did not understand why his mother was not here, and he was making his feelings on the subject extremely clear.
"You cannot come," you had said, and Valarr had opened his mouth to protest, and you had held up your hand and said, "No. Listen to me. The journey is too long. The roads are too rough. If he gets sick on the way, if he catches whatever my brother has, he will die. He is too small to fight a fever. You know this."
Valarr had known this. He had hated it, but he had known it.
"You have to stay with him," you had said. "You have to be his parent while I am gone. Both of them. You have to be the one who holds him when he cries and tells him that everything is going to be alright."
"I am not good at that," Valarr had said. His voice had come out smaller than he wanted it to. "You are good at that. I am good at holding him while you do the things that actually matter."
You had kissed him then, hard and quick, and said, "You are good at loving him. That is what matters. The rest you will figure out."
And then you had left.
That was five days ago. Five days of screaming. Five days of sleepless nights and cold meals and a baby who looked at Valarr like he was an impostor, like he was the wrong parent, like he was some stranger who had stolen you away and was now trying to pretend he belonged in your place.
The wet nurse came twice a day. Aelias refused her. He clamped his mouth shut and turned his head away and screamed until his face was blotchy and his breath came in hiccupping gasps. Valarr had to hold him, walk him, bounce him, sing to him, anything to get him to calm down enough to eat. And even then, Aelias would only take a little, just enough to stop his stomach from hurting, before he started crying again.
Valarr was exhausted. He was heart sore. He was running out of songs to sing and patience to draw on and hope that you would come back before he completely fell apart.
On the third day, he started wearing the locket. It was a small circle of gold with your portrait painted inside, your face rendered in careful strokes of color and light. The painter had captured your smile perfectly, the way your eyes crinkled at the corners, the little mole near your left eyebrow that Valarr kissed every morning without fail.
He had worn it constantly during your last trip to your family's keep. He had kissed it so many times that the enamel had started to wear thin. But he had not needed it since you came home. You had been right there, warm and real and his.
Now you were gone again, and the locket was the only thing that kept him from falling apart entirely.
Aelias noticed it on the fourth day. The baby was lying on Valarr's chest, exhausted from a crying fit, his breath coming in shallow little hitches. The locket had slipped out from under Valarr's shirt and was resting against his collarbone, catching the afternoon light.
Aelias reached for it.
His tiny fingers closed around the gold disc. He pulled it toward his face, his eyes going wide and focused. He stared at your painted smile, your painted eyes, your painted hair.
"Mama," Valarr said softly. "That is Mama. She loves you. She is coming back."
Aelias made a sound. It was not a word. It was too early for real words. But it was a sound with shape to it, a sound that was trying to be something.
Valarr's throat tightened. "Yes. That is her. That is your mother."
Aelias held the locket for a long time. He did not cry. He did not scream. He just held it, his small fingers wrapped around the gold, his eyes fixed on your face.
Valarr let himself hope.
The hope lasted until the next morning.
Aelias woke up screaming. Not his hungry scream or his tired scream or his wet nappy scream. This was a new scream, a worse scream, a scream that sounded like his heart was breaking.
Valarr stumbled out of bed and scooped him up. "What is it? What is wrong? Are you hurt? Are you sick?"
Aelias clawed at Valarr's shirt. At the locket. He grabbed the gold disc and held it up and screamed at it, screamed at your painted face, screamed with the desperate fury of a child who could not understand why his mother was trapped inside a tiny circle and would not come out.
"Mama!" The word was not clear. It was not really a word at all. But it was close enough that Valarr understood it. "Mama! Mama!"
"No," Valarr said, trying to pull the locket away. "No, she is not in there. It is just a picture. A painting. She is not."
Aelias held on tighter. His face was red. His eyes were swollen. Tears ran down his cheeks and dripped onto his little fist, still clutching the locket.
"Mama," he sobbed. "Mama. Mama."
Valarr tried everything. He tried walking. He tried bouncing. He tried the garden and the fountain and the blanket that you always used. He tried singing the songs that you sang, the ones that always made Aelias sleepy when you were the one singing them.
Nothing worked.
By midday, Valarr was sitting on the floor of the nursery with his back against the wall and a screaming baby in his arms. He had not slept. He had not eaten. He had not changed out of the shirt he had been wearing for two days, and he was fairly certain that Aelias had spit up on him at least three times.
He was failing. You had trusted him to take care of your son, and he was failing.
"Please," he said to Aelias. His voice cracked. "Please stop. I do not know what to do. I cannot fix this. I cannot bring her back. I am not her. I am never going to be her. But I am here. I am right here. And I love you. I love you so much. Is that not enough? Can it not be enough?"
Aelias screamed.
Valarr closed his eyes. He rested his head against the wall. He let the screaming wash over him, and he thought about you, about the way you looked when you held Aelias, about the way your whole body softened around him like he was something precious and fragile and worth protecting.
He could not do this alone. He needed help.
He stood up. He tucked Aelias against his chest, one hand under the baby's bottom, the other pressed flat against his back. He walked out of the nursery, down the corridor, past the guards and the servants and the painted tapestries of Targaryen conquests.
He walked to his father's solar.
Baelor was alone when Valarr burst through the door. He was sitting at his desk, reading a report, a cup of wine at his elbow. He looked up at the commotion, and his expression shifted from annoyance to alarm to something that looked like he was trying very hard not to laugh.
"Valarr," he said. "You look terrible."
"My son thinks my wife is trapped inside a locket," Valarr said. His voice was too loud. He did not care. "He has been screaming for four hours. He will not eat. He will not sleep. He just keeps grabbing the locket and screaming Mama and I cannot make him understand that she is not in there."
Baelor set down his quill. He stood up slowly, carefully, like a man approaching a spooked horse. "May I?"
Valarr practically threw the baby at him.
Baelor caught Aelias with the ease of long practice. He settled the baby against his broad chest, one hand cradling the back of his head, and began to walk. Slow circles around the solar, his boots clicking against the stone floor, his free hand patting Aelias's back in a steady rhythm.
"Hello, little one," he said. His voice was low and calm, nothing like Valarr's desperate pleading. "You are having a difficult day, I hear."
Aelias hiccupped. His crying had dropped from a scream to a sob, his little body still shaking with the force of his distress.
"She is not in the locket," Baelor continued. "Your mother is not in there. She is far away, visiting your uncle, who is very sick. She will come back soon. But she is not in the locket."
Aelias grabbed at Baelor's collar. He was not holding the locket anymore. Valarr did not know when he had let go. He must have dropped it somewhere in the corridor, or maybe in the nursery, or maybe he had never picked it up after Valarr had tried to take it from him.
"Pictures are not people," Baelor said. "That is a hard lesson to learn. I remember when your father learned it. He was older than you. He cried for three days when he realized that the portrait of his mother was not actually his mother."
Valarr blinked. "I did not cry for three days."
"You cried for four."
"I did not."
"You absolutely did. Your grandmother had to lock the portrait in a chest because you kept trying to climb into it." Baelor looked down at Aelias, who had stopped crying entirely and was now staring up at his grandfather with wide, exhausted eyes. "He gets his dramatic nature from your father, in case you were wondering."
Aelias made a small sound. It might have been a laugh. It might have been a hiccup. It was hard to tell.
"Your mother will be back soon," Baelor said. "And until then, you have your father. He is not as good at this as she is. He will make mistakes. He will hold you wrong and sing the wrong songs and probably drop food on your head at least once. But he loves you. He loves you more than anything in this world. And that is worth more than a thousand lockets."
Valarr's throat was very tight. He sat down heavily in the chair across from his father's desk and put his head in his hands.
"She has only been gone five days," he said. "Five days. And I have already managed to convince our son that she is trapped in a piece of jewelry."
"Children believe all sorts of strange things," Baelor said. "Your brother Matarys believed there was a dragon living in the hearth until he was seven."
"I put a dragon there. I painted scales on a log and told him it was a baby dragon."
"Yes, and he believed you for three years. Children are not known for their critical thinking skills."
Valarr looked up. His father was still walking, still patting Aelias's back, still holding the baby with that easy confidence that Valarr had never been able to replicate. Aelias was not crying anymore. He was not sleeping either, but he was quiet, his dark blue eyes tracking the room as Baelor moved.
"How do you do that?" Valarr asked.
"Do what?"
"Calm him. I tried everything. I walked and bounced and sang and fed him and changed him and held him every way I could think of. Nothing worked. And you just. Walked."
Baelor considered the question. "I am not trying to be you," he said finally. "You are trying to be her. You are trying to comfort him the way she would, to hold him the way she would, to be the parent he wants instead of the parent you are. He can feel that. He knows that you are not her, and he knows that you are pretending, and it makes him feel unsafe."
"I am not pretending."
"You are. You are trying to be the mother because you think that is what he needs. But he does not need the mother right now. He cannot have the mother right now. He needs the father. He needs you. Not a poor copy of her. Just you."
Valarr stared at his father. "That is the most useful thing you have ever said to me."
"I have said many useful things to you."
"Name one."
"Last year I told you not to challenge Lord Frey to a drinking contest."
"That was useful. I forgot about that." Valarr stood up and held out his arms. "Give me my son."
Baelor raised an eyebrow. "Are you going to try to be me now?"
"No. I am going to try to be his father."
Baelor handed Aelias over. The baby was heavier than Valarr remembered, or maybe he was just more tired than he realized. He settled Aelias against his chest, not the way you did it, not the way Baelor did it, but the way that felt natural to him. His hand on the baby's back. His chin resting on top of the baby's head.
"Alright," he said to Aelias. "Here is the truth. Your mother is not in the locket. She is in a keep far away, sitting by your uncle's bed, holding his hand and telling him stories to keep his mind off his fever. She is thinking about you. She is thinking about us. She misses us as much as we miss her. Maybe more."
Aelias did not scream. He did not cry. He just lay there against Valarr's chest, his breath warm through the fabric of Valarr's shirt.
"She will be back soon," Valarr continued. "But until then, it is just you and me. And I know I am not her. I know I am not as good at this as she is. I know I get dramatic about colds and I talk too much and I probably hold you wrong. But I love you. I love you more than I knew it was possible to love anyone. And I am not going anywhere. I am right here. I am not trapped in a locket. I am just here."
Aelias yawned.
It was the most beautiful thing Valarr had ever seen.
He looked up at his father. Baelor was watching him with an expression that looked almost proud.
"There," Baelor said. "That is what he needed."
"He is still going to think she is in the locket."
"Probably. But now he knows that you are not. And that is a start."
Valarr looked down at his son. Aelias's eyes were closing, his breathing slowing, his tiny body finally relaxing after hours of tension.
"I miss her," Valarr said quietly.
"I know," Baelor said. "I know."
They stayed in the solar for the rest of the evening. Valarr sat in the chair with Aelias asleep on his chest, and Baelor went back to his reports, and the candles burned low, and the world outside the window turned from gold to grey to black.
At some point, a servant came in with food. Valarr ate with one hand while holding the baby with the other. Baelor told him a story about the time Matarys had tried to ride a dog and had broken his arm. Valarr laughed, quietly, so he would not wake Aelias.
"She is coming back," Valarr said, not for the first time.
"She is," Baelor agreed. "And when she does, you are going to tell her about the locket, and she is going to laugh at you."
"She is going to laugh at me," Valarr said. "And then she is going to kiss me. And then she is going to take the baby, and I am going to sleep for a week."
"That sounds like a good plan."
"It is the only plan I have."
Baelor smiled. It was a rare expression on his weathered face, and it made him look younger, softer, more like the father Valarr remembered from childhood.
"You are doing better than you think," Baelor said. "You are doing better than I did."
Valarr did not know if that was true. But it was what he needed to hear, and he suspected his father knew that.
He stayed in the solar until Aelias woke up hungry. Then he fed him, not with a cup, not with a wet nurse, but with his finger dipped in warm milk and honey, the way the old midwives had shown him. It was slow and messy and Aelias got more on his face than in his stomach.
But he ate.
And when he was done, he looked up at Valarr with your eyes, your dark blue eyes, and he did not scream. He did not cry. He just looked.
"Hi," Valarr said softly.
Aelias blinked.
"I love you," Valarr said. "I am going to tell you that every day until you are old enough to understand it. And then I am going to keep telling you, because you will probably need to hear it even more when you are older."
Aelias made a small sound. It was not a word. But it was not a scream either.
Hey so baby Thomas Grayson is the sweetest baby ever! If that's okay, could I please request something about Dick's reaction to his first milestones like crawling, walking, first word... or maybe tomtom being a mama's boy 🥺 loove a mini dick grayson loving his mama so so much just like his dad does
feel free to ignore it of it does not pleases you lol! have a good day <3
𝐌𝐀𝐌𝐀'𝐒 𝐁𝐎𝐘 ⸝⸝⸝ 𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐬𝐨𝐧
𝐬𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐞 ⇢ your son was always meant to be a mama's boy. dick simply made sure of it.
𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 ⇢ this is a sort of continuation of the tiny tyrant of blüdhaven ⬫ fluff ⬫ established relationship ⬫ f!reader ⬫ no physical description is given for the reader ⬫ for writing purposes, i named your baby thomas grayson ⬫ english isn't my language ...
𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 ⇢ 1,4k.
❝ 𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒓'𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒔 ❞ first of all, i'd like to give credit @/chrisssiren for the dividers. it's so nice to see how much you all loved little tomtom. i have so many scenarios for him living rent-free in my head. i've also been thinking about exploring jason's journey into fatherhood in future stories. anyway, enjoy reading! ꈍ ꈍ ੭っ
𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐌𝐀𝐒 𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐘𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐀 𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐘 little person with a personality much bigger than himself. he made it very clear whenever he disliked something, decided exactly what he would and wouldn't do, and treated everyone around him as though they were his own personal servants. but one thing became obvious from his very first months of life: tomtom was, without question, a mama's boy.
his very first intentional smile was meant for you. you were rocking him one quiet afternoon after a peaceful feeding. his tummy was full, he was warm and cozy in your arms, and then those bright blue eyes looked at you with unmistakable purpose. a beautiful, wide, completely toothless smile spread across his face, his smooth little gums greeting you so lovingly that your heart skipped a beat. in that moment, you knew you would love that little boy for the rest of your life.
tomtom had inherited his father's eyes, and just like dick, those eyes were always searching for you. as for his father himself... tomtom merely seemed to tolerate his existence.
one lazy morning, you carried tomtom into your bedroom and laid him down between you and dick. the baby looked around curiously, smiling every time he found your face. you entertained him with silly expressions, soft noises, and little tickles over his round belly. tomtom burst into delighted giggles, tried to grab your hand with his chubby fingers, and kicked his legs excitedly.
but the second dick leaned over his son and tried doing exactly the same thing, tomtom's expression darkened. his thin little eyebrows pulled together, his tiny lips formed the most offended pout imaginable, and both of his hands curled into determined little fists. who does this clown think he is? who let him get this close to us, mommy? the baby seemed to ask with nothing but his eyes as he glanced between you and his father.
at ten months old, tomtom said his first word. he sat in his high chair with a silicone bib around his neck and a spoon clutched tightly in his hand, banging it furiously against the tray while demanding that dick hurry up with lunch.
"easy there, buddy. it's not your last meal. daddy's working on it," dick said, as though his son would understand. instead, he received an enthusiastic, "ah! bah teh!"
once lunch was ready, dick placed the little plate in front of him. tomtom examined every single item with great seriousness. tiny pieces of steamed carrots, shredded grilled chicken, small cubes of pumpkin. a scoop of mashed potatoes so he could experience different textures. finely chopped lettuce and beets.
he stared for a long moment before letting out a tiny huff, almost as if approving his father's work. satisfied, dick gently took the spoon from tomtom's hand and began feeding him small bites.
eating had never been a problem. ever since starting solids, tomtom had happily accepted nearly everything offered to him. he opened his mouth impossibly wide and leaned forward eagerly.
the moment he closed his mouth around the spoon, his chubby little hands wrapped around dick's wrist, refusing to let him pull it back. "you really do love eating, don't you, little man?" dick laughed "did you know you're the most handsome baby in the whole world?" tomtom frowned, immediately letting go of his father's hand.
within minutes there was food on his cheeks, on the tip of his nose, between his fingers, all over his bib, and somehow... even in his hair. eventually, he grew impatient with dick's "slow" feeding and abandoned the spoon altogether, grabbing everything with both hands and enthusiastically stuffing it into his mouth.
you had only gone out for lunch with a friend, you couldn't have been gone for more than two hours. the moment you opened the apartment door and called out in a cheerful voice, "where are my two favorite boys in the whole wide world?" tomtom immediately began bouncing excitedly in his high chair.
his little legs kicked wildly. his clumsy hands clapped together over and over. he twisted his body as much as he could, desperately trying to see you. dick chuckled and reached for the bib. then, all of a sudden "ma... ma... ma..."
dick froze. his eyes went wide as he looked at you. you looked just as stunned. "is... is he trying to talk?" dick whispered in disbelief. you hurried over, dropping your shopping bags onto the living room floor without a second thought.
walking around the high chair, you leaned closer to your son "hi, sweetheart. are you trying to tell mommy something?" your voice was gentle and warm. tomtom's smile somehow grew even bigger.
he stretched both arms toward you, opening and closing his tiny hands while making excited little noises "ma... mama..." it came out quietly, still uncertain, but he kept trying "ma... ma..." then, proudly "mama!"
clear enough for both of you to hear, clear enough for him to know he'd gotten it right. your eyes filled with tears instantly. you didn't care about the food covering him anymore, all you wanted was to pick up your little boy and hold him as tightly as you possibly could.
"that's right, my love," you whispered through happy tears "that's me. i'm your mommy." tomtom immediately snuggled into your arms, wearing that dazzling smile that melted both your heart and dick's.
dick somehow looked even more emotional than you. his own eyes shimmered with tears as he wrapped both arms around you "i can't believe his first word was mommy. it was supposed to be daddy," he complained dramatically, pretending to be deeply offended.
laughing, you took tomtom's tiny hand and covered it with kisses "i carried him for nine months, sweetheart. of course he looked at all my hard work and thought, 'oh my god, my mom is incredible. i have to give her this one.'"
dick let out an exaggerated sigh before laughing softly, his forehead falling against yours. he snuggled even closer, hiding his face in the curve of your neck while absentmindedly stroking tomtom's hair.
dick grayson was, without question, a devoted husband and father. his two greatest treasures in the entire world were safely tucked inside his arms.
even before tomtom had been born, the two of you constantly argued over who would "receive" all the important milestones. the first smile, the first word, the first steps. naturally, you insisted that, as his mother, the obvious choice was you. dick argued just as passionately that, as his father, your son would naturally want to imitate him and make him proud.
they were silly little arguments, mostly excuses to distract you whenever your growing belly made your back ache or your feet swelled after standing for barely five minutes.
what you never knew was that almost every night after patrol, dick quietly slipped into tomtom's bedroom. more often than not, tomtom was awake, quietly staring up at the star-and-bat mobile bruce had given him as a gift.
the room was softly lit by a warm bedside lamp. tomtom spotted his father and immediately broke into a smile. "well, there's my big guy," dick whispered as he walked over to the crib.
he leaned down, tomtom instantly reached both arms up, determined to grab his father's nose. "did you miss daddy, buddy?" dick never picked him up, he knew it would only be a matter of minutes before tomtom drifted back to sleep on his own.
instead, he offered his fingers for tomtom to chew on and play with while the baby happily kicked beneath his blanket. then dick reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. he opened a picture of you.
tomtom immediately became fascinated by the glowing screen. "buddy... this is your mommy." he spoke slowly, carefully exaggerating every syllable "mom-my. can you say it with me? mom-my."
he made sure the baby could clearly watch the movement of his lips "she's the most important woman in the whole world, you know that? we're the two luckiest, and handsomest, guys alive. all because we have her." tomtom continued staring at your picture with complete fascination. "so here's the deal, little man. you're going to learn how to call for her, okay?"
"this..." he pointed gently toward your picture. "...is mommy. mommy. your beautiful mommy." and so, for countless nights over countless months, dick secretly held little lessons with your son, patiently teaching him that the most important person in both of their lives was, without a single doubt… mommy.
.ᐟ 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠: richard "dick" grayson x f!reader + your son.
.ᐟ 𝐬𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐞: dick grayson has faced supervillains, aliens, and identity crises. but nothing could have prepared him for becoming thomas grayson's father.
.ᐟ 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬: fluff・established relationship・no physical description is given for the reader・for writing purposes, i named your baby thomas grayson・english is not my language.
.ᐟ 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭: 1,8k.
dick grayson had always been someone who knew how to adapt and handle whatever life threw at him. he was an acrobat, after all he knew how to walk a tightrope. he had been the first robin, the leader of the titans, and had even worn the mantle of batman for a time. but nothing, absolutely nothing, had prepared him for thomas grayson, your son.
sitting at the kitchen table with an extra-strong mug of coffee, dick watched him carefully. tomtom — as everyone affectionately called him — was now nine months old. he had dick's blue eyes, but his nose and little mouth were entirely yours. he was a chubby baby, with delicious rolls on his arms and legs, little feet that looked like dinner rolls, and a pair of round cheeks that were impossible to resist squishing.
tomtom sat on his play mat wearing nothing but a green onesie and a diaper, his messy hair proof that he'd had a wonderful night's sleep. he was playing with shape blocks, visibly frustrated that the triangle wouldn't fit into the circle.
at some point, he stopped playing and looked at his father, his tiny brows furrowing as he brought one of the blocks to his mouth. dick recognized that expression immediately "are you staring at me, prince?" tomtom's frown deepened. he smacked the block against the floor and let out a loud, indignant "bah!"
"oh, don't you 'bah' me, young man." dick smiled at him. tomtom did not smile back. instead, he returned to his toys with a quiet little, "eh tah pah."
life with your son was a battlefield. tomtom had a lot of personality, and dick had learned to pick his battles. bath time, for example, always started peacefully. you carried him toward the bathroom while singing some silly song about getting clean and smelling nice. tomtom loved it. he slapped his little hands against the water, splashing you, played with his rubber duck, and delivered lengthy speeches made entirely of "ah gah bah teh" that sounded incredibly important.
the trouble came afterward. dick would carry him back to the nursery wrapped in a frog-hooded towel. tomtom tolerated everything until dick finished drying him off and laid him on the changing table. then the tiny menace transformed into an escaping octopus "easy there, champ. it's just your diaper. we'll be done in a second."
tomtom immediately began grunting and protesting. his chubby legs kicked wildly through the air while dick kept his hands around him, knowing his son could already roll over.
dick grayson, who had fought countless villains throughout gotham, felt genuinely challenged by a nine-month-old baby. he moved quickly, treating the diaper like a military operation, trying to secure it while holding down his son's flailing legs.
but tomtom was faster. a warm stream suddenly hit dick square in the chest, soaking his shirt. there was a long moment of silence. then "you just peed on me, young man?"
tomtom stared back serenely. his chin was lifted proudly, and he sucked on his thumb as if absolutely nothing unusual had happened. dick sighed heavily, looking from the wet stain on his shirt to his son. "i fight crime at night, but during the day i lose to a toothless baby."
you appeared in the doorway, struggling not to laugh "well, he does have excellent aim." dick narrowed his eyes at you and finished fastening the diaper. once tomtom was dressed and smelling wonderfully baby-like again, dick scooped him up and handed him to you, pressing a quick kiss to your lips. "i'm going to shower and wash this shirt since mr. pee-pants here apparently decided it was the perfect target."
one ordinary afternoon, dick decided to do some minor maintenance on his gear while tomtom played nearby. nothing major, just checking a few settings. his son seemed completely occupied with a little picture book he'd received as a gift. dick underestimated him.
it took only a minute of distraction for tomtom to grab one of nightwing's escrima sticks with both chubby hands and shove one end straight into his mouth. his eyes sparkled as though he'd discovered the greatest treasure in the world. "no, no, no..." dick immediately snatched it away.
tomtom froze. his little hands remained suspended exactly where they had been. slowly, his face changed. his eyebrows knitted together, his eyes widened, his lips pushed out into a dramatic pout "ah tah teh," he said indignantly.
the sound started soft but gradually grew louder, until suddenly "AH BAH TAH PAH GAH!" his tiny body stiffened with outrage. his little hands smacked against the padded floor while his legs kicked furiously. it was a complete scolding. a full lecture delivered in the language of babies, dick could only imagine what it meant.
holding the escrima stick, he stared in stunned silence. he'd been yelled at by plenty of people before, never had he felt so thoroughly reprimanded as he did now by an angry nine-month-old. "sorry?" he offered weakly. then he tried distraction. a giraffe teether, a toy guitar, several other toys. tomtom threw every single one onto the floor.
but none of that compared to the wooden spoon incident.
it was a peaceful evening. the breeze drifting through the apartment windows in blüdhaven felt pleasant. both of you had the night off. an upbeat song played loudly through the apartment while you danced around the kitchen with tomtom in your arms.
the baby laughed and squealed happily as dick prepared dinner. at one point, you stopped beside him, showing tomtom what his father was cooking while taking a sip of your soda.
tomtom reached toward dick. dick pretended to nibble on his chubby little hand, the resulting baby laughter was immediate and explosive. then tomtom spotted it. the wooden spoon resting on the counter.
he reached for it, opening and closing his fingers. "you want the spoon, sweetheart?" you said. "ah!" he replied excitedly and you handed it to him. tomtom examined it carefully before flashing a toothless grin.
he waved it over his head, pressed the end against your cheek, and happily chewed on the handle. for several glorious minutes, there was peace. then dick needed the spoon.
he approached with a relaxed smile, foolishly believing he could simply take it back. "come on, sweetheart. time to give daddy his spoon back." he reached for the handle.
tomtom immediately pulled it closer and frowned, releasing a warning sound. dick tried again. this time, a battle cry erupted from the baby's tiny mouth. in one swift, determined motion… the wooden spoon swung through the air in a perfect arc and landed squarely against dick's forehead.
thunk.
silence.
only the music continued playing in the background. you turned around with tomtom still in your arms, covering your mouth to keep from laughing. dick stood frozen. his forehead throbbed faintly as he stared at the two of you.
tomtom clutched the spoon like a royal scepter. an offended king who had personally delivered justice. his brows were furrowed, his little chest rose and fell with quick breaths. "he..." dick said weakly "he hit me. with a spoon."
you finally managed to compose yourself. adopting your best serious expression, you gently removed the spoon from tomtom's hand and placed it back on the counter "thomas grayson, we do not hit daddy. that hurts." you tried your best to sound stern in a way the baby might understand.
dick looked at his son. the chubby cheeks, the downcast eyes. he took a deep breath and fought back a laugh. he knew that if he laughed, he'd only encourage the behavior.
after a few moments, he held out his arms and took tomtom from you. dick kissed his little belly and blew raspberries against it. "you've got quite the temper, don't you, son? i think you got that from your dad."
perhaps bedtime was the worst battlefield of all. tomtom fought sleep as though it were his archenemy. his eyes would turn red, his eyelids grew heavy, but he refused to surrender.
he cried, kicked, delivered angry speeches to the ceiling with tiny fists clenched tight. yet dick continued rocking him gently, humming songs he remembered his mother singing to him. memories so old they sometimes felt like dreams.
when sleep finally won, tomtom melted against his father's chest. his little body relaxed, his breathing steadied, his face softened, and he became the most peaceful thing in the world.
those were the moments dick loved most. because it still amazed him. he and the love of his life had created this perfect little boy. tomtom was the result of your love, the perfect combination of both of you.
whenever dick looked at him, he could see pieces of each of you reflected back. and he loved that. loved knowing that a piece of your love existed in the world, growing healthy, happy, and cherished.
dick carried him to the crib and carefully laid him down on the soft mattress, tucking a warm blanket around him. tomtom sucked peacefully on his pacifier. it was hard to believe that only minutes earlier he'd been waging war against sleep itself.
dick lingered beside the crib for several minutes, watching over him. occasionally, he brushed a fingertip across one of those round cheeks.
dick grayson was many things. an acrobat, a hero, a leader, a symbol of hope for a chaotic city. he had learned how to fall and get back up, how to fight, how to trust others. but none of it compared to being a father.
now he finally understood bruce in a way he never had before. he understood the fear. and he understood the love. he understood that being a father wasn't about perfection, it was about showing up. every single night.
when dick returned to your bedroom, you were already in bed waiting for him. he climbed in beside you and immediately pulled you close. your head settled against his strong chest while his fingers gently stroked your hair.
"did he fall asleep?" you asked softly. dick answered with a quiet hum. you lifted your head to look at him, his blue eyes were wet. "sweetheart... are you crying?" you cupped his cheek gently.
dick hadn't even realized it. "it's just..." his voice caught "he's so small. and i... i love him so much. so much. i can't even explain it. it's the kind of love that fills my entire heart. and i'm so scared of getting it wrong, darling..."
you smiled and pressed a soft kiss to his lips. "dick, you're not going to get it wrong. you're the best father he could ever have, and we both love you." dick wasn't sure he was the best father in the world. but every time he looked at thomas grayson, he became absolutely certain of one thing: he would spend the rest of his life trying to be. every time tomtom cried because the world was unfair and sleep was a tyrant, dick would be there. he would always be there.
Includes: Jason Todd, Bruce Wayne, Hal Jordan, & Tim Drake
Summary: How would they react to "Lucky You" jeans
Content: f!reader unless you ignore the vaginal vocabulary, might be oc, fingering, & oral. Tell me if I missed any others .ᐟ
✶⋆.˚Jason Todd
Jason would be fumbling with the zipper, probably in a hurry, when his eyes caught something unusual. He’d pull it down further, trying to see the words more clearly, his eyes catching the printed letters: “lucky you” with a clover at the end.
A slow, predatory like grin would spread across his face, breath catching in his throat. The realization hitting him like a physical force.
”Lucky me?” he’d breathe out, voice rough and thick, panting from previously kissing you.
He’d then tug down the jeans down faster, a possessive, urgent need igniting within him.
”Yeah,” he’d practically growl, his voice low and raw, “damm right. Lucky me,” before forcefully getting rid of your underwear, spreading your legs in the process as well.
✶⋆.˚Bruce Wayne
The door to his quarters slam open, he’s carrying you in his arms, lips and tongues intertwined.
The air was now filled with warmth and the longing for each other's touch. Bruce throws you on to the soft mattress of his king sized bed, both of you pulling away from the kiss.
As you shifted slightly, trying to quickly unzip your jeans, Bruce's gaze shifted down, noticing the "lucky you” peeking from the inside of your jeans.
A slow, genuinely delighted smile spread across his face.
Lifting his head up to look at your face, his usual neat black hair now messy and scrambled from your fingers tugging and pulling at it earlier. Hovering over you, he whispers in your ear, “Lucky me?” He then reaches down to gently trace the edge of the fabric. “You have no idea how lucky I feel,”.
He pulls you closer, your clothed cunt meeting his crotch.
“Now let me make you feel good, hm?” He says as he pulls both your unzipped jeans and underwear off.
✶⋆.˚Hal Jordan
His large body hovers over yours, lips meeting your neck. He’s kissing and nibbling all over your skin.
Hal pulls away, before he moves down to your legs, his face in between your thighs. You could feel the warmth from his breath landing on your clothed cunt.
His fingers travel to the zipper of your jeans, pulling the small piece of metal down. His eyes notice the imprint of the words splattered on the fabric of your jeans. He looks up to your face and then back to the words before letting out a low chuckle.
”Lucky me? Always with the little surprises, aren't you?” he asks, a gentle teasing tone in his voice.
“Lets see how lucky I really am then,” he says with a glimmer in his eyes.
Hal swiftly pulls down both your jeans and underwear, exposing your throbbing pussy. His mouth latches onto your heat, swirling his tongue around the clit. Your hands grip his brown hair, while his mouth continues its work on your lower area, determined to make you finish.
✶⋆.˚Tim Drake
Tim’s gaze locked with yours, a shared amusement dancing in his eyes as your hand deliberately went to your jeans zipper.
He watched the slow, almost teasing way you began to unzip them, a knowing smirk playing on your lips as the hidden “Lucky you” was revealed.
He leaned closer, his breath warm against your cheek, his voice met your ear “What have we here?” His hand goes down to cover yours, the touch sending a jolt through you as he helps you to finish unzipping.
Your hips lift up slightly to make it easier to discard the jeans and your underwear. Tim then pulls you upward so that your back meets his chest before forcing your legs apart, his fingers glide down between your thighs. ”Wet already?” he says before pushing in two fingers, forcing a moan out of you.
Pairing: Prince Valarr Targaryen x Reader ( referred to as 'You')
Part 1: You Must Be His Nursemaid | Part 2: A Prince and A Dragon | Part 3: Where Princes, Ladies, Lords, and Knights Gathered in Candlelight | Part 4: Silk Morning, Bloodied Field | Part 5: Where the Dragon Set Its Gaze and Bared Its Teeth
Word Count: ~3.8k
Summary:
Upon arriving at Ashford Keep, Ser Duncan the Tall mistakes Prince Valarr’s wife — and mother of his child — for a nursemaid. Unfortunately for him, he says so aloud. Fortunately for him, she does not take offence.
The gates of Ashford Keep yawned wide beneath a hard blue autumn sky, their ancient towers hung with green-and-gold banners snapping briskly in the wind. House Ashford’s sigil: the white sun-and-chevron blazing against orange, caught the light with almost defiant brilliance, as though determined to rival the dragon standards riding in beneath it. Our Sun Shines Bright, their words declared, and on this day it seemed they meant to prove it.
Within the walls, the courtyard churned like a struck anthill. Destriers stamped and snorted steam into the crisp air; grooms darted between iron-shod hooves with half-swallowed curses; squires wrestled bridles with reddened faces and thinning patience. Petals scattered ceremoniously across the cobbles were ground at once into damp streaks of colour. The air carried leather, sweat, hot iron, and the faint sweetness of harvested grain drifting from the fields beyond the walls.
Trumpets split the noise clean in two.
The herald’s voice rang from the steps of the great hall, gilded with importance. “Our Lord of Ashford humbly welcomes the great and honourable Baelor Targaryen — firstborn son of King Daeron the Good, Prince of Dragonstone, Hand of the King, and heir to the Iron Throne.”
Fanfare burst bright and brazen. Heads bowed in rippling waves as the Targaryen procession rode through the gate beneath a forest of dragon banners.
Prince Baelor inclined his head with effortless grace, silver hair catching the sunlight like polished steel. “My Lord of Ashford.”
“It is a great honour to receive Your Grace,” Lord Ashford replied, bowing so low that the hem of his cloak brushed stone.
“It is a great honour to be received.”
Behind Baelor rode Prince Maekar, stern and hawk-eyed. And behind him—
Chaos.
“Boy, stop gaping. See to my horse.”
Prince Aerion’s voice cracked sharp as a riding whip.
Duncan the Tall, who had been staring perhaps a heartbeat too long at all that silver hair and dragon silk, started as if boards had clapped beside his ears. “I’m—I’m not a stable boy, m’lord.”
Aerion’s pale gaze skimmed over him with cool disdain. “Not clever enough?”
Dunk flushed the colour of boiled crab. “Um…”
“Well, if you cannot manage horses,” Aerion continued lazily, “fetch me wine and a pretty wench.”
“Oh, m’lord pardons. I’m—I’m no serving man either. I have—I have the honour to be a knight.”
Aerion inspected him as one might a bruised apple at market. “Oh. Well… knighthood has fallen on sad days.”
A horse screamed then, high and wild, hooves striking sparks from stone. The crowd jolted back in a flurry of silk and curses.
“Move away!”
Dunk was already moving. “Whoa, whoa. Easy now.” He caught the bridle with steady hands, his voice lowering to something patient and sure. “It’s all right, girl. Too many people. I don’t much like it either.”
The mare shuddered, then eased beneath his touch.
“I agree,” Dunk murmured when she nickered.
“The pretty ones are always temperamental,” came a dry voice behind him.
“He meant the princeling, not the palfrey,” another added.
Dunk turned to find two white cloaks observing him with faint amusement.
“Ser Roland Crakehall,” said the broader knight. “And this is my sworn brother, Ser Donnel of Duskendale. Gods, boy. Do you ride your horse into battle, or does it ride you?”
Donnel grinned. “Forgive Ser Roland. It is not often he must look up to cast his eyes down.”
“Yes, yes, I am quite the rascal,” Roland muttered. “Now tell me, Ser Duncan — is there a proper place to shit around here?”
Dunk blinked. “Uh… not really, no.”
“A man of such birth has never deigned to disturb his arsehole with hay.”
“He’ll deign before the week is out,” Dunk said with a crooked grin.
“Where are you from, man? You do not smell House-bred.”
“No place, really.” Dunk shrugged. “No place at all.”
“I know it. My family’s from there.”
“You’re not a Darklyn of Duskendale?”
“We were crabbers. Far back as it goes.”
“Ser Donnel?” someone called sharply, and Donnel’s attention snapped away at once.
Dunk hesitated. “May I ask, ser… how the son of a crabber came to wear white?”
“Same way we became crabbers,” Donnel tossed over his shoulder as he strode off, cloak stirring.
“‘Same way we became—’” Dunk began, too earnest to know when to stop.
“Are you Baelor Targaryen?” a stable hand called from behind him, dry as dust.
“N-no.”
“Then move the fuck out of the way.”
“Right. Yes. Of course. Apologies.”
As Dunk shuffled aside, the yard shifted again in waves of armour and colour. Near the far wall, away from trumpet and spectacle, something quieter unfolded — subtle enough that most missed it entirely.
While princes traded pleasantries and lords measured bows, you withdrew without fuss — the practiced retreat of one long accustomed to spectacle and tired of its glare. Your gown of deep red silk brushed the cobbles, edged in black, simple but finely made. At your throat hung a slender gold chain bearing a small three-headed dragon — a gift commissioned by King Daeron himself after you bore Prince Valarr’s son and heir. The metal caught the light softly: modest to the unknowing, unmistakable to those who understood.
You crouched, skirts pooling around you, and brought yourself level with the boy at your side.
He bore his father’s stubborn jaw and serious mouth, though his hair was brown and wind-tossed rather than silver. Through it ran a single white streak at the center of his brow like a slash of moonlight. One eye blue, one brown. Both were far too solemn for six.
“Hello, sweet boy,” you murmured, straightening his collar. “It is rather stuffy with all these people, is it not?” Your thumb brushed his cheek, gentle even amidst iron and noise. “Father is busy with his duties. Shall we say goodbye to the horses for the day?”
He nodded gravely, fingers curling around your dragon pendant so the tiny heads knocked softly together.
Inside the wagon behind you, half-hidden in shadow, his dragon lay curled upon wool and straw. Not large — not yet — but real. Breathing. The only dragon hatched for House Targaryen since the last had died in smoke and memory. Its existence drew reverence and unease in equal measure. Even now, glances flicked toward the wagon, quick and hungry, like crows daring not to land too near.
Your son looked back toward it, frowning faintly.
“Just a moment,” you said gently.
You lifted him into the carriage and laid a steadying palm against the dragon’s flank, feeling muscle twitch beneath warm scales. “Easy. Too many eyes today.” It was meant as much for your son as for the creature.
Arms circled your waist from behind.
Valarr.
He leaned in to peer at the small beast as your son declared, “Papa, he wants to get out.”
Valarr smiled, brushing the boy’s hair aside and pressing a kiss to his temple. He followed it with a soft caress of your cheek and a brief, careful kiss to your lips — restrained, public, but unmistakably his. “We must complete the arrival procession first,” he said. “Your rooms are ready. We will move our things inside shortly.”
“We were going to say goodbye to the horses,” your son added. “Will you join us?”
“Not yet.” Valarr’s hand remained warm at your waist. “I must stand with your grandfather and speak to Lord Ashford. But go on. I am sure they would enjoy kind company after such a journey.”
Even from across the yard, Valarr’s gaze returned once, brief but certain, as if he counted wife, child, and dragon all in a single glance and found none of them worth leaving unwatched for long.
The family turned toward the dragon, who quieted beneath the touch of his young rider and his future king. Valarr watched a moment longer and murmured, almost to himself, “He grows.”
It was not the princes or the banners that caught Dunk’s eye, but the small island of calm at the edge of the yard: a woman, a boy, and a wagon; everyone else seemed careful not to crowd too closely.
He saw you there, sleeves brushed with straw, posture unpretentious, your hand steady on horse and child alike. No crown. No glittering display. Only a woman soothing a beast and a boy speaking to it as though it were a friend.
The boy pressed his cheek to a stallion’s neck. “We shall not ride you into the lists,” he informed it solemnly. “You are far too noble for that.”
Dunk drifted closer before he quite realized it. “Aye?” he said, bending slightly in an effort to meet the boy on fairer terms, though he could not truly manage it. “And what if the horse disagrees, young lord?”
The boy looked up, stern enough to shame a bannerman twice his age. “Horses do not disagree with me.”
Dunk’s brows rose. “Is that so? Gods, I’ve been doing it wrong all my life. Mine disagrees every morning.”
A pause — long and deliberate — and then the boy’s mouth twitched. A small, stubborn giggle escaped before he could swallow it.
You watched Dunk with faint amusement, curious what sort of man could be so tall and so plainly earnest. Men often mistook composure for harmlessness. It was an error you had seen before. He mistook your look for encouragement.
“You must be the Targaryen prince’s nursemaid,” he said warmly. “And doing a fine job of it.”
Your son stiffened at once. “I am not in need of nursing.”
Dunk chuckled. “Aye, I can see that. You’ve the look of a boy who’d bite anyone who tried.”
“I would,” the boy said promptly.
“Good. That is a proper princeling.”
The boy’s shoulders drew back a fraction, pleased despite himself.
“But princes tend to wander,” Dunk went on. “Best keep one close. They’re like cats, I’ve heard.”
“I am not a cat.”
“Worse,” Dunk said solemnly. “Cats don’t have men with swords following them.”
Your son’s gaze flicked briefly toward the wagon.
“Mine does,” he replied.
Dunk nodded. “Sensible. I’ve always said a prince ought to have men with swords.”
“I have a dragon,” the boy added. He said it without boast or wonder, as though stating something as ordinary as the weather, which somehow made it far more convincing.
Dunk blinked, then laughed warmly. “A dragon? Aye, of course. And I’ve a castle back in No Place.”
“It is real,” the boy said, unimpressed.
“Of course it is. What’s it called?”
“He does not like strangers.”
“That’s wise of him,” Dunk replied. “I don’t much like strangers either. Especially not those with teeth.”
The boy’s laughter slipped free again, brighter this time.
“And does your dragon breathe fire?” Dunk asked. “Or smoke and disappointment, like certain lords I’ve met?”
Your son snorted.
You bit the inside of your cheek to hide your smile. There was something disarming about this enormous knight who did not yet understand he stood beside the future of his house and spoke of dragons as though they were kittens.
“And you are?” you asked gently.
“Ser Duncan the Tall.” He bowed, awkward but sincere. “At your service.”
“You are very tall,” your son observed.
“It seems to be my chief accomplishment.”
A smile tugged at your lips.
“Most fine ladies would scream at a startled horse,” Dunk continued, gesturing to the mare you had calmed. “Then the horse would scream, and then I would scream, and the whole yard would think dragons had come to eat us.”
Your son’s giggle rang clear this time — quick and bright as a coin striking stone — and he clapped a hand over his mouth, eyes shining despite his effort at dignity.
“And you believe I am his nursemaid?” you asked, your voice smooth as silk drawn over steel.
“Well,” Dunk said earnestly, “you’ve the look of someone sensible. Court ladies look like they’d faint at the sight of dung. You look like you’d clean it up and scold the horse for good measure.”
For a heartbeat, you went very still.
Dunk — blissfully unaware that he had just wandered to the edge of a cliff — smiled at you like a pleased fool who thought he had paid a compliment.
It was low and bright and utterly unoffended, the sound cutting clean through the din of hooves and harness. A few nearby heads turned without knowing why.
Behind you, a white cloak shifted.
Ser Roland approached with the quiet inevitability of gathering storm clouds.
“Your Grace,” he said evenly.
The words struck like a dropped blade.
Dunk went rigid, as though ice had been poured down his spine.
Your Grace.
Your son’s fingers tightened in yours — small, sudden, firm — and in the space of a single breath, Dunk’s mind seemed to race backward over every word he had spoken. Nursemaid. Cats. Smoke and disappointment. Dragons. All of it lined up before him like men awaiting sentence.
You inclined your head, serene. “It is nothing. Ser Duncan was offering his… assessment.”
Your smile softened deliberately, saving him from the edge he had not known he stood upon. Your son studied Dunk with grave deliberation, as though weighing whether this enormous knight was dangerous or merely foolish. After a moment, having decided the latter, he gave a small, dignified wave — a princeling’s mercy.
Dunk’s face burned scarlet.
“M’lady,” he managed, bowing far deeper this time. “I meant no disrespect.”
“None taken, Ser Duncan,” you replied, amusement still warming your tone. “It is refreshing to be thought sensible.”
The kindness in your words was the only plank between him and drowning.
He bowed again, too fast, too deep, nearly folding himself in half. You saw it then — the dawning horror in him. Not fear of swords. Not fear of pain. But the realization that he had been joking with a woman who, in another life, might have seen his head mounted above the gate and thought little of it.
Beside you, your son looked up at him with all the solemnity he wore like armour.
And then he failed at it completely.
His mouth twitched. His mismatched eyes shone. He pressed his lips together so tightly his cheeks puffed, as if he could trap the laughter inside by force of will alone.
Ser Roland stepped nearer, white cloak settling about him like snowfall. He did not raise his voice. He did not scowl. He merely looked at Dunk as though measuring the precise distance between foolishness and death.
Dunk, who had faced charging horses and hunger and a hundred small humiliations, went as still as a penitent before judgment.
You felt the laugh rise again, sharp and bright, but habit swallowed it. A princess did not snort in front of the Kingsguard, no matter how dearly she wished to. Your shoulders lifted faintly with the effort, and your fingers tightened around your son’s hand — not to still him, but to steady yourself.
Your son, of course, interpreted this as encouragement.
A slight sound escaped him — half-hiccup, half-choked breath — that might have passed for a cough if anyone had been charitable.
Dunk shot the boy a desperate look. Please. Don’t.
The boy’s eyes widened with innocent delight, as if he had been handed a new toy.
Dunk’s face had gone beyond red now — it bordered on catastrophic. “M-my lady,” he stammered, the words strangled nearly beyond recognition. “I— I truly meant no—”
“I know,” you said gently, rescuing him once more. You did not let your smile sharpen. “Thank you for speaking with us, Ser Duncan. You were… a welcome distraction.”
Ser Roland’s gaze flicked to you — brief, restrained, the faintest question in it — and you met it with the calm that had been forged into you by necessity. Whatever you were within, you were composed without. That was the rule. That was survival.
Dunk bobbed another bow, puppet-like. “Yes. Yes, my lady. Thank you, my lady.”
Roland looked back at him.
It was not a threatening look.
It was worse.
It was the look a seasoned knight gives a nervous squire who has somehow wandered into a lord’s solar and knocked over a cask of Arbor gold.
What, it said without words, in seven hells are you doing?
Dunk straightened an inch, caught the look on Ser Roland’s face, and immediately reconsidered the wisdom of straightening at all. His hands hovered awkwardly at his sides — too large, too empty — as though he might somehow fold himself into something smaller if he only tried hard enough.
You gave your son’s shoulder the gentlest squeeze. “Come,” you murmured, the word meant for him but also for the moment itself — to move it along before it sprouted teeth.
You turned, silk whispering over stone, and the courtyard’s roar rushed back in at once. Iron rang against iron. Voices rose and collided. Horses stamped and snorted, leather creaked, and banners cracked overhead like sails straining in a stiff wind. Somewhere, a stable boy shouted for a room. The world did not care that Ser Duncan the Tall had nearly perished of embarrassment beside a wagon.
Your son behaved for precisely three steps.
Then, just as Dunk’s heart might have begun beating normally again, the boy twisted at the waist and called back with bright, sudden curiosity, “Ser Duncan!”
Dunk flinched as if his name were another whipcrack. “Y-yes, my… young lord?”
“Are you jousting?” the boy demanded, as though this were the most pressing matter in all the Seven Kingdoms.
Dunk blinked. His eyes flicked to Roland, then to you, then back to the child. “I—” He swallowed. “Aye. I hope to, my—” Every title in his mind seemed suddenly treacherous. “My prince.”
Your son nodded once, solemn as a war council. “Good,” he said. “I will watch.”
Dunk’s expression did something helpless and painfully sincere. He looked like a man being offered honour when what he truly feared was public humiliation. “Ah,” he managed. “That’s… very kind.”
“I like tall knights,” the boy added thoughtfully, as if this were a strategic consideration.
Dunk attempted a smile that wavered between pride and impending doom. “Then I’m likely to be your favourite, I suppose.”
Your son beamed.
Dunk leaned forward a little, lowering his voice as though they were conspirators instead of spectacle. “But you shouldn’t… ah… You shouldn’t cheer too loudly, Your—” He faltered again. “You might frighten my horse.”
Roland’s mouth did not move, but something in the quiet set of his jaw suggested he was enjoying this far more than any sworn brother ought.
“Your horse is frightened of me?” your son asked, eyes wide with delighted offence.
“No,” Dunk lied at once. “Of course not. My horse is frightened of… noise. And lances. And… glory.”
The boy stared at him for a breath, then giggled outright — bright and boyish and utterly unsuited to a yard thick with steel.
You drew in a careful breath, shoulders tightening as you wrestled your own laughter back into something dignified. “Come, sweet boy,” you said, attempting sternness and failing slightly at the edges. “Leave Ser Duncan to prepare.”
“I am preparing,” Dunk insisted quickly, as though he might be examined on the matter. “I always prepare.”
“By talking?” your son asked, delighted beyond reason.
Dunk nodded with grave conviction. "Talking is important. That’s how you convince the horse not to throw you.”
As though the world itself had chosen to join the jest, a low sound rose from within the wagon behind you.
It was not the sound of any horse in Ashford’s stables.
It was rough. Throaty. A rumble that seemed to carry weight in the air itself. Squires paused and looked toward the carriage, and Ashford knights and maids visibly stiffened.
Dunk froze mid-bow, eyes widening. His head turned slowly toward the wagon, like a man staring at a dark doorway he has just heard breathe.
“What—” he began, voice cracking. “What was that?”
You did not look back. Your hand remained steady on your son’s shoulder, as though deep, resonant growls were as commonplace as squeaking wheels or unruly squires. “Oh,” you said lightly, silk-smooth. “He’s just tired.”
Dunk blinked. “He?”
Your son, still grinning, answered with perfect innocence. “My dragon.”
Dunk laughed at once — too loud, too quick — the laugh of a man who assumes a child is inventing marvels. “Ha! Aye, right. Your dragon. Of course.”
The wagon shifted faintly. Straw rustled. Something heavy resettled.
This time, Ser Roland’s gaze moved before the sound had entirely faded. His eyes sharpened at once, not in surprise but in recognition, as though he had spent long enough near danger to know exactly what shape this one wore. A moment later, the look was gone, smoothed back into Kingsguard composure.
Dunk noticed none of it.
He only shook his head fondly at the boy. “Well,” he said warmly, “your dragon has better manners than most knights I’ve met. Growls once, then goes back to sleep. Doesn’t even demand wine.”
Your son’s laughter burst free again, delighted and bright.
You bit the inside of your cheek so hard you tasted copper.
Because if you laughed now — here, in front of Roland, with half the court already measuring your son’s shadow for greatness — you might never stop.
That evening, when the yard had emptied of banners and bluster, and only the soft scuff of hooves and the low breath of horses lingered in the dark, Dunk sat cross-legged beside his mare, brushing her down by lanternlight. The glow turned her flank to warm bronze, leaving the rest of the world in shadow.
Across from him, Egg sat on an overturned bucket, polishing a helm with far more concentration than the task required.
“I made a bit of a fool of myself today,” Dunk said at last.
Egg did not look up. “That narrows it down very little, ser. Go on.”
Dunk scratched at his jaw. “Met a princeling. Mismatched eyes. Serious as a septon at a funeral. Claimed he had a dragon.” He huffed softly. “Nice lad. Said he’d watch me joust.”
“That sounds harmless enough.”
Dunk hesitated, brushing slowly. “Might’ve called his mother a nursemaid.”
Egg’s polishing stopped.
Very slowly, he lifted his head.
“Did anyone,” he asked carefully, “call her Your Grace?”
“…Yes.”
Egg closed his eyes.
“What was she wearing?”
“Red silk,” Dunk said, trying to remember. “Simple. Had a dragon pendant at her throat.”
Egg opened his eyes again and stared at him with something approaching despair. “Ser. That was Prince Valarr’s wife. Mother of his son.”
Dunk blinked once.
“And if the boy says he has a dragon,” Egg went on flatly, “then he has a dragon.”
Dunk blinked again.
Egg leaned forward, lowering his voice as though the very straw might carry it. “Please tell me you did not say any of this in front of her husband.”
Dunk shifted. “Well.”
“Ser.”
“He might’ve been nearby.”
Egg made a small, strangled noise and pressed the heel of his hand to his forehead. “Ser. Prince Valarr is not known for enjoying insults directed at his wife.”
“I didn’t insult her!” Dunk protested at once. “I said she looked sensible!”
Egg’s hand slid down his face.
Dunk paused.
“…Might’ve called his mother a nursemaid.”
Egg very slowly looked up at him.
“Ser.”
“It was complimentary.”
“Ser.”
Egg covered his face fully now. “Seven save us.”
Silence settled between them, broken only by the steady rasp of brush through horsehair.
After a long moment, Dunk cleared his throat.
“…The dragon didn’t eat me,” he offered weakly.
Egg lowered his hands and fixed him with a long, measuring stare.
“Be grateful,” he said at last, “that the prince did not.”
jason todd x fem!reader
summary: jason can't seem to understand why you keep talking about "your" wedding
contains: fluff, established relationship, pet names
word count: ~600
You and Jason laid in bed, morning light shuffling in through the blinds and illuminating the soft bedding. Jason had one arm around your waist as his head was tucked into the crook of your neck, eyes shut contentedly. Your eyes were open, staring blankly at the page of your book as you listened to Jason’s soft breathing mix with the morning birdsongs that rolled in with the light.
“Jay?” you whispered quietly, testing to see if he was awake.
“Hm?” he grunted in reply, nose nestling further into your neck.
You kept quiet for a moment, hesitant to bring up such a topic before finally asking, “Do you ever think about what you want your wedding to be like?”
Jason was silent and you felt his arm subtly tense around you. You started to worry you had crossed some line you didn’t know existed before he replied, “What do you mean?”
“I mean like how many people, what type of cake, the venue…that stuff. How do you picture your future wedding?”
You felt Jason’s brow furrow against your skin. “I’m still confused,” he mumbled, lips brushing ur neck and placing a soft kiss there.
You pursed your lips, puzzled at how he could be confused by such a question. “What are you confused about? When I picture my wedding I know I want—”
Jason abruptly sat up straight, causing you to stop speaking and stare at him in confusion. He was really starting to freak you out.
“Why do you keep saying it like that?” he asked, looking at you with a mix of annoyance, confusion, and a hint of hurt.
“Saying it like what?”
Jason looked away for a moment, letting the sunrays filtering in illuminate his features. His scars were highlighted and when his eyes met yours again, you could see them so clearly, their mix of green and blue capturing you before he spoke again.
“Saying ‘your wedding’ or ‘my wedding’. Why do you keep doing that?”
“Um…” you paused, laughing nervously. “What am I supposed to say, Jay?”
“Doll,” he brought his hand up to cradle your face. “There’s not gonna be a ‘my wedding’ or a ‘your wedding’...only ‘our wedding’. I’m not getting married unless it’s to you, princess.”
“Oh.” Your face flushed and your eyes widened, a soft smile breaking out across your lips before you buried your face in Jason’s chest in embarrassment.
Jason laughed, bringing his arms up to envelope you and leaning down to place a kiss upon your head. You were consumed by his intoxicating scent - the expensive cologne Dick had bought him for Christmas, gunpowder from last night’s patrol, your favorite shampoo he swore he never used, and the fresh smell of clean linen sheets.
“Yeah, ‘oh’.” He smiled as you brought your head back up to meet his. Jason kissed you softly and sweetly, still sluggish from sleep. “What, were you plannin’ on marrying someone else?”
Your eyes widened as you pulled back. “No! No, of course not! I just…didn’t know if you wanted that.”
He looked at you with a gentle, lovesick expression on his face. “I never thought I did either, doll.” He paused which made your heart pick up nervously again. But he just brought his hands to yours and raised one to kiss it tenderly. “Until I met you.”
You flushed again, swatting him away playfully. “Who knew you were such a romantic, Todd?”
“Always have been,” he pulled you back into his arms. “Just hadn’t met the right girl until now.”
summary : nobody could disturb jason peter todd when he was knee deep in a dostoevsky. except you, of course, his hot neighbour who liked making his lips bruise up and brain fall out as a friday night hobby.
contains : heavy making out, well read!jason, post Lazarus pit!jay, whipped!jay, thighs man!jay, grinding, basically dry humping, forearm tattoo!jason, but he’s actually a softie, reader wears warm sweaters, bookish!reader but that means she’s a lil freaky, neighbour!jason, booksmart!jason, streetsmart!jason, he’s a moaner I’m calling it, baddie!reader
inspiration : she’s my collar (g + k.u)
It started with a smile.
He'd been carrying boxes from the moving van Bruce had hired, in the middle of the rare heatwave in Gotham. His luck really was something.
He’d been hauling boxes in, wiping his forehead with the hem of his tee, dropping the wet fabric to hang by his waist. Your figure framed in the light of the hallway, like some sort of halo.
He blinked. “Uh, hey?”
You just smiled. Like you knew something he didn’t. “Hey, neighbour.” You disappeared into your apartment, slamming the door shut. With a mutter of “people”, he kicked open his door, resting the box of all his childhood photos on his new dining table. The thing was made of fucking MDF.
He’d failed to notice the copy of Twisted Love tucked in your elbow.
You’d done it, somehow. Ripped through his defences, your will a fist in his wet sheet of paper.
The copy of Twisted Love should’ve been a sign. It should’ve told him that you’d show up at his door after a few weeks of knowing him with a rain cloud over your head and an irrational desire to turn him on like a fucking switch every Friday since.
He’d pull a Glock 19 on whoever disturbed him when he was reading Crime and Punishment, but the annotated copy lay open beside him, his brain was engrossed in something else. Kissing you.
His hands gripped your thighs, sleeve of his plush hoodie sliding up and over the ink on his forearm, tugging you closer. Your lips burned his, nape of his neck stimulated by the drag of your nails.
“Bad day, ma?” His words were muffled by your mouth, tilting his head back into the gentle pressure of your fingers. You took and you took, sucking oxygen from his lungs, rolling your hips down so you dragged across his dick.
He couldn’t suppress a moan at that.
You hummed in agreement, dragging his bottom lip down with your thumb. He should’ve read the signs. Now he scheduled make out sessions with you in avoidance of admitting he liked the way you used him. He ached to be your boy toy whenever you saw fit. He wanted you to push him down, tint his lips with kisses and gloss.
Your teeth snagged at his lip, tugging, moulding him to you. His hands sliding up your back made your sweater drag up, bunching, cold of his apartment pricking at your skin. “Dostoevsky?” You mumbled, between wet, obscene smacks, pornographic moans and following the string of saliva that connected your mouths.
“Mhm,” He nodded dumbly, hips jerking up to catch his dick on your clit, the slow grind in response melted his brain. “Crime and Punishment.”
You chuckled, kisses burning down his jaw till your teeth pressed against his pulse. Nipping, latching, sucking a bruise. Maybe you got how to do that from Twisted Love, cause his toes fucking curled. He’d come, no joke. Right here, fully clothed, he’d do it. “Great book. Read Atonement, I still wanna watch it.”
He would, but he was a little tied up right now. “Later, ma.” He breathed, hand slipping in your jeans’ back pocket to squeeze your ass. Jesus, maybe that thing owed him rent. “Later.” He kissed back up to your mouth, allowing you to siphon his thoughts again.
He was 6’ 2”, 225 pounds and you had him like this. If anyone thought he’d been taken hostage, fuck no, he was right where he was supposed to be. Yes, he had patrol in ten minutes. Yes, he’d texted Dick to take his place while he dealt with a personal matter. Yes, he gave no fucks.
𑣲 featuring — dean di laurentis x fem!reader
𑣲 contains — reader being roommates with allie and hannah ; reader being an overthinker
𑣲 author's note — i hope u enjoy reading this as much as i loved writing it!!
It was a Saturday morning and you were still in bed, the sun gently peaking through your window blinds. You eventually yawned, sitting up and stretching your back. Then you heard your phone buzz, which was unusual for you, especially during weekends. Maybe it was either Hannah or Allie texting you that breakfast was ready, but everyone knew that the three of you were too lazy to have a proper meal to begin your day. And your intuition proved you right: it was a text from an unknown number.
What the hell. It would have been believable, except you spent your Friday night with your roommates binge-watching Love Island while lazily snacking. And also, you literally never give your number to people you just met. You give the stranger a genuine reply.
You scoffed, instantly typing back.
You see three dots appearing in the conversation before they disappear. Then they reappear. It seemed you caught that stranger off guard.
This is when you decide to ignore your phone: either way, that stranger went silent. You decide to get up, open your window blinds, brush your hair and finally throw on an oversized sweater over your pyjama top. You leave your room, finding Hannah and Allie on the couch, already watching Love Island again.
"Without me? Girls! I literally just woke up."
Allie turns to face you, a Cheeto hanging out of her mouth. You theatrically gasp when Hannah mimics her, a Cheeto also shoved in her mouth.
"In my defense, Hannah totally insisted we should rewatch yesterday's episodes to judge the fashion."
"I did not!"
All three of you giggle and you eventually join them on the couch, finding yourself munching on Cheetos too. This is exactly when your phone buzzes against your lap. You ignore it, but it vibrates again ten seconds later. Hannah glances down at your lap while Allie is too focused on the TV. You lazily unlock your phone to open the conversation with the mysterious stranger.
And then a picture follows. You don't even have the time to look at it that Hannah lets out the quietest gasp. But it was enough for Allie to turn towards Hannah because of the noise, and they both looked down at your phone screen.
"Is that Dean Di Laurentis?" They both excitedly say in perfect sync.
"Is it?"
You finally stare down at your phone. You take some time to look at the picture. Firstly, you see a pair of defined and glistening abs. Then your gaze trails up towards the face tied to it. Well, that face was recognizable everywhere. It was indeed Dean fucking Di Laurentis.
"Holy shit." You breathe out.
"Are you sexting him?" Allie quickly adds, instantly pausing the show.
"Are we talking about the same person? She doesn't do sexting." Hannah continues.
"Well if it isn't sexting, then she's definitely onto something."
"We all know she keeps hating on hockey guys. It's basically a sacred rule here."
"What about Garrett, uh?" Allie smirks.
"Not the topic!" Hannah shoots back.
"So, what's the tea girl?"
You helplessly look at Allie when she asks the question. Excellent question. There is no tea, considering this is just a misunderstanding with a really, really handsome guy. You simply showed them the conversation, telling them you had no interest in maintaining it, and they both agreed. Dean seemed like trouble and you tend to stay out of it anyway. Allie resumed Love Island and you didn't hear from Dean anymore.
Well, for someone wanting to stay out of trouble, you failed successfully. Truth is, you were overthinking the situation. You felt bad about leaving his text unanswered, so you eventually replied to his picture the same day, late at night. You sent Dean a selfie, eventually proving to him you guys were strangers. When you thought the conversation would stop after the misunderstanding was solved, you didn't expect him to keep texting you.
It has now been a month and the daily texting was a part of your routine. Friendly texts turned into banter, and banter turned into serious flirting. You couldn't even believe it yourself. You even nicknamed him "Prince Charming" no, not the Disney one. The one from Shrek. Same hairstyle, same person right?
This felt weird because the two of you had never met on campus. Not that the idea revulsed you, you simply feared it wouldn't be the same. Texting was easy, flawless and it gave you the time to think about a reply that just felt right. Hiding behind a screen was always easier to communicate your feelings: when you were in front of people, your thoughts were too tangled and you had a hard time speaking up. Well, except when you were around trusted people like Allie and Hannah.
You obviously trusted Dean too, but something about him felt intimidating. Something about a popular hockey player and some random campus girl was intimidating. What would the others think? And also, why are you overthinking this now? You guys are literally not a couple. Just good friends. Who happen to flirt most of the time. But the current situation was perfect for you: just a bunch of texts, away from the public eye, away from other people prying.
But you could feel that Dean yearned for more: he yearned to hang out with you in person. Every once in a while, he would ask you to come to a hockey game or come to a party. You always declined. He was never vexed, but you started feeling bad about pushing him away. Again, it is not that you didn't want to meet him. Your brain was just scared and imagined a thousand scenarios about how this could go wrong.
You feel a shiver running down your spine. Was this going to be the whole "I love you, I can't stop thinking about you" talk? Oh God. Please no. This is too soon. You don't reply and Dean keeps texting.
And yet, you are still mortified. You stare at the three moving dots, biting your lower lip as you expect literally anything. Mostly something negative, but you don't know. Then his message pops up.
You gulp. Well, that was straightforward, but that was less horrible than what you were expecting. You still take a few minutes to think. This might be the only opening you're gonna have, because there is no way you will willingly talk about it ever again. Dean is offering you his hand and you are wondering if you should take it. You take a few deep breaths before finally typing back. It takes you a few minutes to submit your answer.
You wish you could stop typing. But you can't. The fact that he is reading your texts as you send them is stressing you out.
You wait a few minutes. Dean read your messages, but he wasn't replying to them. A million thoughts crossed your mind: maybe he would block you, or maybe he would give you a humble thumbs-up reaction, or maybe he was showing the text to his friends. You sigh, burying your face in your pillow, lifting your head to check your phone every ten seconds.
You read his text once. Twice. Thrice. Many, many times. You couldn't believe it, it was like he ticked all the boxes on the "How to reassure an overthinker" list. Your heart eventually stopped racing and you found your body relaxing to his reply. This is exactly what you needed to hear. It was in the way he paid attention to everything you said, not trying to minimize your feelings, or telling you you would be okay. You also notice how his spelling became more serious, as if he genuinely were valuing the moment.
The two of you conclude that you will meet this exact Friday at your place. You would only have to tell Hannah and Allie to leave for the night, but that would be no trouble. You knew these two would have your back anyway. Actually, this was a good time to call for a girls' meeting. You text the group chat you had with them.
It was finally Friday. Hannah and Allie became your personal advisers since you shared the whole Dean "thing" a few days ago. They would playfully mention him every single time just to catch you blushing. Holy shit, you liked him more than you thought. Allie classified this as your first date, so you obviously had to make a killer first impression. So here you were in Allie's room, getting a complete makeover while Hannah sat in the back with her guitar and her notes.
"Are we sure this is okay?"
You say, worrying about the way your reflection looked. You weren't a huge makeup fan, but Allie made sure she gave you the tiniest makeover ever: just enough to enhance your natural features without transforming them. Hannah gives you a big thumbs-up while Allie frowns.
"Girl, you shouldn't doubt my makeup skills."
"I'm not! I'm just worried this isn't... Me, you know?"
"You look gorgeous. Trust me."
You give her a nod, biting your inner cheek while staring at your face. It'll be alright. Do men even notice makeup anyway? You feel your gaze drift away as Allie fixes your hair with hairspray. She puts her hands on your shoulders, whispering in your ear.
"Dean already loves you, trust me. Now go get dressed."
You come back a few minutes later, awkwardly standing in Allie's doorway. Although you picked an outfit you are used to wearing, you suddenly felt self-conscious. Pampering yourself for a boy was something you never did before, and you were worrying that you either did too much or not enough. Before you could let your thoughts sink in, Hannah speaks up.
"You're so pretty. How are you feeling?"
"I'm gonna shit myself." You blurt out with a chuckle.
"Then make sure you do it before he gets here." Allie laughs.
"Remember to try and communicate your feelings. From what you told us, it looks like Dean only wants you to feel comfortable. Don't worry about him being upset if you are nervous. If it doesn't go well, text us, alright?"
You shyly nod and before you can think further, there's a knock on your door.
"Special delivery's here!" Allie rushes out of her bedroom.
You can see her opening the door while you exit her room, Hannah following. There he is. Dean Di Laurentis. Even more impressive in real life, you had to admit. He casually stands in the doorway, brushing his hand through his hair while he holds a takeaway bag.
"Hey." He says, addressing everyone in the room, but he is looking at you.
"Hi." You reply.
In the meantime, Allie and Hannah are leaving the place. They sneak past the doorway and give you a wink behind Dean's back. You invite him in and you already feel more than awkward. This is when he speaks up.
"As your humble Prince Charming, I made sure to deliver you your favorite meal." His smirk brightens as he looks at you.
"Oh, my prince, you shouldn't have. I'm flattered." You mimic him, inviting him to sit on the couch.
He sets the bag down on the coffee table, opening it to set the food and drinks on it. You can't help but look at him, look at the way his movements are slow and gentle. He also picked your favorite drink, which you probably only mentioned once. You stay silent a bit too long, considering Dean speaks up.
"Are you okay?"
"Nervous." You instantly reply, almost cutting him.
"I think I have the solution. Can I use your TV?"
You nod, giving him the remote control. His fingers brush yours, such an innocent but also deliberate gesture. Your skin is almost tingling from the contact. Dean opens Netflix and puts the Shrek movie on. It gets a giggle out of you.
"You might be onto something, Prince Charming."
"I know I am."
This is when Dean catches you off guard. As you sip on your drink, you can hear him starting to sing along to All Star. Your head darts in his direction as he seriously keeps singing, a smile beaming on his face. He doesn't stop here. He stands up. Grabs the TV remote. Uses it as a fake microphone and you can't help but look at him, moving your head to the song's rhythm.
This interaction was strangely comforting, because even if to most people this would have been considered ridiculous, it was actually endearing. This was Dean's own way to tell you: "Hey, let's be weird together." And it worked. When the chorus finally arrives, you stand up too. You steal his makeshift mic and start singing along, his voice joining yours as the two of you parade around the room, ending your tour on the couch as the song ends and the movie continues. It somehow felt so natural and easy to be yourself around him.
"How are you feeling now?"
"Amazing." You admit, a shy smile forming on your face.
By the time the two of you finish your takeaway dinner, you snuggle next to him, resting your head on his shoulder. As the movie goes on, you feel Dean's arm wrapping around your shoulder, your eyelids getting heavier. You don't even try to fight it: your body is slowly relaxing next to his, promising you a power nap. The last thing you hear is his laugh.
You eventually wake up in your bed, immediately finding Dean sitting at the edge of it, watching you slowly come back to the living world. You squint your eyes, a yawn escaping your lips as you sit up.
"Did I fall asleep? I'm sor-"
"No, no more apologizing for things that aren't your fault." He says it with a playful tone, although he genuinely means it.
"No promises."
There is a comfortable silence between the two of you. He just looks at you and you stare back at him, lost in the moment. Was this it? Was this the end of your night? But you didn't want it to end, not when everything felt this right.
"By the way, someone drooling on my shoulder is a first for me."
"Hey!" You playfully hit him in the shoulder.
"I really enjoyed our date, though. I mean it."
"Me too. I don't know how you did it, but you managed to help me relax so quickly, so thank you."
"I was just being amazing. As usual." He rolls his eyes, anticipating another hit from you by blocking it.
"Can I see you again?" You ask, biting your inner cheek. There are little chances he will say no, but your brain is always making you doubt.
"I won't let you go." Dean tilts your chin up, making sure your eyes are locked with his. "I promise."
The sudden proximity makes your heart faint and your cheeks blush. You couldn't help but look at his lips until your thoughts escaped your mind before you could stop them.
"I think I really want to kiss you."
"I think I would love that."
Hand still on your chin, Dean closes the gap by sealing his lips with yours. Your arms naturally wrap around his neck, inviting him closer. This kiss is slow, gentle and warm, everything you ever wished for.
𑣲 dividers — @/cursed-carmine
𑣲 author's note — thoughts about the way i set the texts? figured it would be more immersive, but i don't really know tbh so any opinion is welcome tyy
Synopsys: In Which you get hurt, Valarr Panics and Everyone Else Suffers
wordcount: 4.3k
requester: yes but fore some reason it doesn't let me tag the user
(requests are open)
The Kingswood was beautiful in the afternoon light.
You'd convinced Valarr to accompany you on a ride despite his lingering protests that he was still recovering from his cold--, protests that had grown weaker with every passing day and had finally dissolved entirely when you'd pointed out that he'd been perfectly fine that morning when he'd kissed you breathless before breakfast.
"You're exploiting my love for you," he'd said as he helped you onto your horse.
"Absolutely."
"I should be offended."
"You should be grateful I'm letting you come at all. I could have asked Matarys."
The look of horror on his face had been worth the entire ride.
Now, an hour later, you were deep in the Kingswood, Valarr rode close beside you, closer than strictly necessary, but you'd long since given up commenting on his need to be near you. His horse, a gentle black mare, seemed accustomed to her master's inattention to proper riding formation.
"You're staring," you said without looking at him.
"I'm admiring."
"Same thing."
"No." He nudged his horse even closer, close enough that he could reach out and brush a strand of hair from your face. "Staring is what strangers do. Admiring is what husbands do. There's a significant difference."
You turned to smile at him, and for a moment, everything was perfect.
The next moment, a rabbit burst from the undergrowth directly beneath your horse's hooves.
The animal reared with a startled whinny, and you—caught completely off guard, your attention on your husband rather than your mount—felt yourself slipping. You grabbed for the mane, for the saddle, for anything, but it was too late. The world tilted, and then you were falling, the ground rushing up to meet you with terrifying speed.
You hit hard.
For a moment, there was nothing but shock—the breath knocked from your lungs, the world spinning, the distant sound of Valarr screaming your name. Then the pain hit, sharp and white-hot, radiating from your left ankle.
"Y/N!" Valarr was off his horse before the animal had fully stopped, crashing to his knees beside you in the leaf litter. His hands were everywhere—your face, your shoulders, your hair—checking, assessing, his eyes wild with fear. "Y/N, look at me. Look at me. Where does it hurt? What happened? Are you—gods, you're bleeding, where are you bleeding—"
"I'm not—" You gasped, trying to catch your breath. "I'm not bleeding. It's my ankle. I think—I think I twisted it."
He looked down at where your leg lay at an awkward angle, and his face went pale.
"Don't move." His voice was shaking. "Don't move, alright? Just stay still. I'm going to—I need to—" He looked around wildly, as if expecting a maester to materialize from the trees. "I need to get you back to the Keep. I need to—can you ride? No, of course you can't ride, your ankle—I'll carry you. I'll carry you the whole way if I have to."
"Valarr—"
"I should have never let you talk me into this. I should have said no. I should have—" He pressed a shaking hand to his mouth, and you realized with a start that his eyes were bright with unshed tears. "You fell. You fell and I was right there and I couldn't—I didn't catch you. I didn't—"
You reached up and caught his hand, pulling it away from his face.
"Valarr. Look at me."
He did. His beautiful blue eyes were glassy, terrified, fixed on you like you were the only solid thing in a world that had suddenly become unstable.
"I'm alright," you said firmly. "It's just my ankle. It hurts, but I'm alright. Do you understand? I'm alright."
"You fell." His voice cracked. "You fell and I couldn't—"
"You caught me now." You squeezed his hand. "That's what matters."
He stared at you for another long moment, and then something in him seemed to break. He leaned forward, pressing his forehead to yours, his breath coming in ragged gasps.
"I can't lose you," he whispered. "I can't. If something happened to you—if you were hurt worse than this—if you—" He couldn't finish.
You brought your free hand up to cup his cheek, feeling the dampness of tears against your palm.
"You're not going to lose me. I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere."
He nodded against your forehead, still shaking, still breathing too fast. But slowly, gradually, the panic began to recede. He pulled back just enough to look at you, to study your face with an intensity that made your heart ache.
"Your ankle," he said. "We need to—I need to get you back. Can you stand? No, don't try, you'll hurt yourself worse. I'll—" He looked at his horse, then at yours, then back at you. "I'll ride back for help. No, I can't leave you alone out here. I'll—I'll carry you to my horse. We'll ride together. Can you hold on to me if I lift you?"
"I can try."
He nodded, jaw tight with determination, and carefully—so carefully, as if you were made of glass—slid one arm beneath your shoulders and the other beneath your knees. He lifted you gently, cradling you against his chest, and you couldn't help the small gasp of pain as your ankle shifted.
"Sorry. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." He pressed a kiss to your temple, quick and desperate. "I've got you. I've got you. Just hold on to me."
He carried you to his horse with slow, careful steps, never jostling you, never letting go. Getting you situated on the mare's back was a challenge—your ankle screamed every time it moved, and Valarr's face grew paler with each pained sound you made—but eventually you were settled sideways across the saddle, your arms around his neck, his arms around your waist, holding you securely against him.
"Tell me if I hurt you," he said, swinging up behind you. "Tell me if anything hurts. Tell me if you need me to stop. Tell me—"
"I'll tell you." You leaned your head back against his shoulder. "I promise."
He clicked his tongue and the horse began to move, slower than before, picking its way carefully through the woods. Valarr's arms never loosened around you. His lips kept pressing to your hair, your temple, anywhere he could reach.
"You're so brave," he murmured against your skin. "You're so strong. You fell off a horse and you're not even crying. I'm crying and I'm not even the one who fell."
A laugh escaped you, surprising. "You're crying?"
"A little." His voice was thick. "Don't judge me. I watched you fall. I watched you hit the ground. I thought—for a moment I thought—"
"I know." You reached up and touched his face, finding the tear tracks on his cheeks. "But I'm here. I'm right here."
"You're here," he agreed, and kissed your fingers. "You're here and I'm never letting you ride a horse again. Ever. We'll walk everywhere. We'll stay in our chambers forever. I'll carry you everywhere you need to go."
"That seems impractical."
"I don't care about practical. I care about you. I care about you not falling off things and hurting yourself and making my heart stop."
You smiled, despite the pain radiating from your ankle. "My hero."
"Your very terrified hero who is going to have words with whoever trained that horse. And possibly with the rabbit. If I ever meet that rabbit again, it will regret the day it was born."
"You're going to fight a rabbit?"
"I'm going to do whatever it takes to keep you safe." He pressed his face into your hair. "Even if it means declaring war on small woodland creatures."
"You're ridiculous."
"I'm devoted. There's a difference."
You laughed again, softer this time, and felt his arms tighten around you in response.
The ride back to the Red Keep was slow and careful, Valarr's eyes constantly scanning the path ahead for anything that might jostle you. When you finally reached the gates, he was shouting for a maester before the guards could even greet him, lifting you down from the horse with the same impossible gentleness he'd used in the woods.
"Get the Grand Maester," he ordered no one in particular, carrying you through the yard. "Tell him it's an emergency. Tell him my wife is hurt. Tell him—"
"Valarr." You touched his face. "It's just my ankle."
"Just your ankle," he repeated, and his voice broke on the words. "You fell off a horse. You could have broken your neck. You could have—" He couldn't finish.
You didn't try to make him. You just held onto him, letting him carry you through the corridors, letting him shout at servants and guards, letting him be as dramatic and terrified and devoted as he needed to be.
Because that was who Valarr was. He loved you too much, too intensely, too completely. And when something threatened you—even something as small as a startled horse and a twisted ankle—it shattered him.
Later, after the maester had bound your ankle and assured you both that it was a minor sprain that would heal in a few weeks, Valarr sat on the edge of your bed and held your hand.
"I'm sorry," he said quietly.
"For what?"
"For not catching you. For letting you fall. For—"
"Valarr." You squeezed his hand. "You couldn't have caught me. It happened too fast."
"I should have been closer. I should have been paying more attention. I was looking at you and I should have been looking at the path, at the horse, at—"
"You were looking at me because you love me."
"Yes, and that love nearly got you killed."
"It got me a sprained ankle. There's a difference."
He looked at you for a long moment, and then—slowly, carefully—he leaned down and pressed his forehead to yours.
"I can't lose you," he whispered again. "I know I'm dramatic. I know I'm too much. But I can't—if something happened to you—I don't know how I'd survive it. You're half of me. You're the best half. You're—"
"I know." You brought your free hand up to cup his cheek. "I know. And I'm not going anywhere. Not today, not tomorrow, not for a long, long time."
He nodded against your forehead, and you felt the wetness of tears again.
"I love you," he said. "I love you so much. Too much. More than is reasonable or sensible or—"
"I love you too." You kissed him, soft and gentle. "Every ridiculous, unreasonable, excessive part of you."
He kissed you back, just as soft, just as gentle.
And when he finally pulled away, he didn't go far. He simply climbed onto the bed beside you, wrapped himself around you as carefully as if you were made of glass, and held on.
"I'm never letting you out of my sight again," he murmured against your hair.
"That seems excessive."
"I don't care."
"You'll have to attend council meetings."
"I'll bring you with me."
"I'll have to bathe."
A pause. "I'll can come too."
You laughed, and felt his arms tighten around you in response.
"I love you," he said again, like he couldn't say it enough. Like he needed to keep saying it to remind himself you were still there.
"I love you too," you answered. "Now let me sleep. The maester said rest."
"Rest," he agreed. "I'll watch."
"You'll sleep too."
"I'll try."
You knew he wouldn't. You knew he'd lie awake, holding you, listening to you breathe, reassuring himself that you were still there, still alive, still his. But that was alright. That was Valarr.
The first few days of your confinement were almost pleasant.
Valarr barely left your side. He brought you breakfast in bed, fed you grapes with the solemnity of a maester administering medicine, read to you from books of poetry and history and once, memorably, from a treatise on horse breeding that he'd grabbed by mistake. He held your hand while you slept, kissed your forehead every time you woke, and generally behaved as if your sprained ankle was the most serious injury in the history of Westeros.
You loved every moment of it.
By day four, however, the world began to intrude.
"It's just a council meeting," you said, for the third time, as Valarr paced beside your bed like a caged animal.
"A council meeting," he repeated bitterly. "While you lie here, wounded, in pain—"
"My ankle barely hurts anymore."
"—suffering in silence, being brave for my sake—"
"Valarr, I'm reading a book."
He stopped pacing to look at you, and for a moment his expression was so tragic that you almost laughed. Almost. You'd learned by now that laughing at his dramatics only encouraged him.
"I'll be gone for hours," he said. "Hours. Without you. While you're here, alone, needing me—"
"I won't be alone. I have your pillow."
He considered this. "That's not funny."
"It's a little funny."
"It's not funny at all." But the corner of his mouth twitched, just slightly, and he came to sit on the edge of the bed. "I hate leaving you."
"I know."
"I hate everything that takes me away from you. Council meetings. Meals. The need to breathe air that isn't yours."
"That last one seems medically necessary."
"Debatable." He leaned down and pressed his forehead to yours, a gesture so familiar now that you couldn't remember a time before it. "I'll be back as soon as I can. I'll sit through every boring report and every tedious argument and every moment I'll be thinking of you. Counting the minutes until I can return."
"I'll be here."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
He kissed you—soft, lingering, like he was trying to memorize the feel of your lips—and then he was gone, and you were alone with your book and your pillow and the warm glow of being loved by someone who loved you entirely too much.
The small council chamber had never felt so much like a tomb.
Valarr sat in his usual place, staring at the table, seeing nothing. The Lord Commander of the Kingsguard was droning on about something—watch rotations, perhaps, or the need for additional men at the gates—and Valarr heard approximately none of it.
He was thinking about you.
Were you comfortable? Had the servants brought you lunch? Did you need more pillows? Had anyone remembered to stoke the fire? You always got cold in the afternoons, even when the rest of the castle was warm, and if you were cold and he wasn't there to warm you—
"Valarr."
He blinked. His father, Prince Baelor, was looking at him from across the table with an expression of long-suffering patience.
"Yes, Father?"
"The Master of Coin asked for your opinion on the matter of the new tariffs."
Tariffs. Right. There were tariffs. He should have an opinion about them. He opened his mouth, prepared to say something—anything—but what came out was:
"Do you think she's warm enough?"
Baelor closed his eyes.
"The princess," Valarr continued, because now that he'd started he couldn't stop. "Her ankle. She gets cold in the afternoons. I told the servants to keep the fire going, but what if they forgot? What if she's lying there, cold and alone and in pain, and I'm not there to—"
"Valarr."
"—hold her, to warm her, to make sure she's alright. She fell off a horse, Father. A horse. She could have been killed. She could have—"
"She sprained her ankle."
"It's a serious injury!"
"It's a sprain. The maester said she'll be fine in a few weeks."
"A few weeks during which she is bedbound and suffering and I am here, discussing tariffs." He said the word like it personally offended him. "Tariffs. While my wife lies wounded."
The Master of Coin cleared his throat. "Shall I continue with the report, or—"
"No one is continuing with anything until my son stops looking like a man attending his own funeral." Baelor rubbed the bridge of his nose "Son. I need you to listen to me."
Valarr tried to focus on his father's face. It was difficult. Your face kept appearing in his mind instead.
"Your wife is fine," Baelor said firmly. "She is warm, she is comfortable, and she is being attended by half the servants in the Keep because you have made it clear that her comfort is your highest priority. She does not need you to stare at a wall and worry about her. She needs you to participate in this council so we can finish and you can go back to her."
This was... actually reasonable.
"I can go back to her? When we're done?"
"When we're done. Which will be sooner if you stop asking about her warmth and start offering opinions on tariffs."
Valarr straightened in his seat. "Right. Tariffs. I have opinions."
"Excellent. Share them."
He shared them. They were not particularly informed opinions—he'd been too busy thinking about you to read the briefing materials—but he shared them anyway, and the meeting continued, and slowly the minutes began to pass.
But his mind never fully left you.
He wondered if you were reading. He wondered if you'd finished the book you'd started yesterday. He wondered if you missed him, even half as much as he missed you. He wondered if your ankle hurt, if you needed more pillows, if the fire was still going, if—
"Valarr." His father again.
"Yes?"
"You're doing it again."
"Doing what?"
"Looking like a kicked puppy. We're almost done. Two more items, and then you can go."
Two more items. He could survive two more items.
He thought.
The meeting dragged on for another hour.
By the end, Valarr had contributed exactly three useful comments, spent approximately fifty minutes thinking about you, and developed a new appreciation for the phrase "death by boredom." He was out of his chair before the king had finished speaking, bowing hastily to his grandfather and striding toward the door with the speed of a man being chased.
"Valarr."
He stopped. Turned. His father had followed him into the corridor.
"Walk with me."
It wasn't a request. Valarr fell into step beside Baelor, trying to moderate his pace despite every instinct screaming at him to run.
"She's fine, you know," Baelor said quietly. "Your wife. I checked on her this morning before the meeting."
Valarr blinked. "You did?"
"I did. She was reading, she was comfortable, and she asked me to remind you that you're being ridiculous but that she loves you anyway." A pause. "She also asked me to tell you that the pillow is not an adequate substitute for your presence, which I assume means something to you."
It meant everything to him.
"She said that?"
"She did." Baelor glanced at him, and there was something soft in his eyes—something that looked almost like understanding. "I remember what it was like. When your mother and I were first married. Every moment apart felt like a small death."
Valarr had never heard his father speak of this. He didn't know what to say.
"She's fine," Baelor repeated. "She'll continue to be fine. But I know that doesn't stop the worrying. It never does. So go. Go to her. Hold her. Reassure yourself that she's still there." He clapped Valarr on the shoulder. "But try to focus during the next council meeting, yes? The Master of Coin looked genuinely hurt by your inattention to his tariffs."
Valarr managed a small smile. "I'll try."
"Good. Now go. Before you vibrate out of your skin."
He went.
He burst through the door of your chambers like a man pursued, and there you were—exactly where he'd left you, propped up on pillows, a book in your hands, looking up at him with that familiar warm smile.
"You're back," you said.
"I'm back." He crossed the room in three strides and dropped onto the bed beside you, gathering you into his arms before you could say another word. "I'm back and I'm never leaving again. The council can meet without me. The realm can manage. I'm staying right here."
You laughed softly, your hands coming up to stroke his hair. "The meeting went well, I take it?"
"It was terrible. I thought about you the entire time. Every moment. I kept wondering if you were warm, if you were comfortable, if you needed me. Father had to remind me to pay attention three times."
"Only three? That's better than I expected."
He pulled back just enough to look at you, to drink you in. You looked... fine. More than fine. Your cheeks were pink, your eyes were bright, and there was a book in your lap and a cup of tea on the table beside you.
"You're alright," he breathed.
"I'm alright." You touched his face, tracing the line of his jaw. "I told you I would be."
"I know. I just—I needed to see it. To be sure."
You pulled him down and kissed him, slow and sweet, and he melted into you like he always did. Like you were home and he'd been lost and now, finally, he'd found his way back.
"I love you," he murmured against your lips.
"I love you too." Another kiss. "Even when you're dramatic."
"Especially when I'm dramatic?"
"Don't push your luck."
He laughed—actually laughed, for the first time since leaving you that morning—and settled against your side, his head on your shoulder, his arm around your waist, his body curved around yours like he was trying to shield you from the world.
"How much longer do you have to stay in bed?" he asked.
"A few more days, the maester said. Then I can start putting weight on it."
"A few more days." He pressed a kiss to your shoulder. "I can do a few more days."
"You don't have a choice."
"I know." Another kiss. "But I'll be here for every one of them. Every hour. Every minute. Every—"
"Valarr."
"Yes?"
"I know."
He smiled against your skin, content for the first time all day.
And when his father came by that evening to check on you both, he found his son curled around his wife like a dragon guarding its treasure, fast asleep, with a look of utter peace on his face.
Baelor smiled, closed the door quietly, and left them to it.
A few days later…
The solar was quiet, the hour late, and Baelor Targaryen was rubbing the bridge of his nose in a way that had become habit over the past several weeks.
His brother Maekar sat across from him, a cup of wine in hand, watching with an expression that hovered somewhere between amusement and sympathy.
"That bad?" Maekar asked.
"He left the council meeting early today." Baelor's voice was flat. "Again. Claimed his wife needed him."
"Did she?"
"She was reading. Apparently she'd turned a page without him there to witness it, and he felt she shouldn't have to endure such moments alone."
Maekar snorted into his wine.
"It's not funny." But Baelor's lip twitched. "He's been like this since the accident. Worse, actually. Before, he merely talked about her constantly. Now he has to be with her constantly. I found him having breakfast brought to their chambers so they could eat together. As if the servants don't do that."
"He's in love."
"He's obsessed." Baelor leaned back in his chair, staring at the ceiling. "I thought it would pass. The intensity. The constant need to be near her. I thought once they were married, once the newness wore off, he'd settle into something more... reasonable."
"And?"
"And it's been nearly a year. The newness should have worn off by now."
Maekar considered this. "They're still newlyweds, in a sense. The first year is—"
"He was like this the moment he met her." Baelor cut him off, fixing his brother with a weary look. "Do you remember? He couldn't stop staring at her. Couldn't stop touching her hand, her shoulder, her hair. I thought he'd calm down once he'd secured her. Instead, he's gotten worse."
Maekar was quiet for a moment. Then, carefully "He loves her."
"He loves her too much."
"Is there such a thing?"
Baelor finally looked at his brother, Maekar's face was carefully neutral, but there was something in his eyes that Baelor recognized. A softness. A knowing.
"You're enjoying this," Baelor realized.
"I'm not."
"You are. You're sitting there, drinking my wine, watching me complain about my son, and you're enjoying it."
Maekar's composure cracked, just slightly. "I may be finding it... mildly entertaining."
"Because your children are monsters."
"My children are spirited."
"Your children have set fires in the throne room. Multiple times. Aerion once tried to eat raw meat. Your eldest has made half the ladies at court cry." Baelor leaned forward, pointing at his brother. "For years, I've listened to you complain. For years, Maekar. And now, finally—finally—it's my son causing the chaos."
Maekar's lip twitched again. "He's not causing chaos. He's just... very devoted."
"He's excessive. He commissioned a locket with her face. Then another. Then a third with both their faces together. He talks to her pillow when she's away. He told me last week that he's learned to recognize her footsteps in the corridor and can tell her mood by how quickly she's walking."
"That's... actually rather sweet."
"I think," Baelor said heavily, "that I have accepted my fate. This is our life now. Valarr will love that girl with every fiber of his being until one of them is in the grave. Possibly beyond. I wouldn't put it past him to find a way to love her in the afterlife."
Maekar was quiet for a long moment. Then, softly "You're happy about it."
Baelor looked at him sharply. "I didn't say that."
"You didn't have to." Maekar set down his wine, crossing his arms. "You're sitting here complaining, but underneath it, you're pleased. Your son loves his wife the way a Targaryen should love, completely, utterly, without reservation. It's excessive, yes. It's dramatic, certainly. But it's real. It's the kind of love that builds dynasties. The kind that songs are written about."
Baelor didn't answer.
"And," Maekar added, a smile tugging at his lips, "for the first time in years, it's not my children causing the family headaches. That alone is worth celebrating."
SUMMARY: You are not adjusting well to Westeros. Luckily, your husband is patient and kind and gentle. Unluckily, all of the other ladies in the Realm are aware of this as well. There are certain difficulties being married to Westeros’s most yearned-for prince, and after one miserable feast too many, everything you have been so desperately trying to quietly endure comes crashing down once you get your husband alone.
WARNINGS: fem!reader, hurt/comfort, reader is foreign (from Qarth), Westeros-typical xenophobia, starts with reader being jealous but escalates into a whole breakdown of her not feeling welcome in westeros, Valarr is also jealous/possessive at certain points.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: I genuinely am not sure where this came from, I don’t even remember writing most of it last night LOLLL I think I woke up from a fever dream at 4 am and banged most of this out, no joke. BUT sometimes a girl just needs to have a very, very justified crashout with a husband who will listen and comfort </3 Valarr I love you euhuhuhuhu Also, got to explore some Westeros-typical xenophobia, which we will see more of in the HTTYD universe after Volantene reader comes to Westeros w/Aerion—but specifically, how bad it likely gets post-Dornish unification when the Storm lords and Reach lords are already losing their mind over Dornish influence in court, and now also having to deal with some foreign Essosi girls being married to their princes. No Kiera erasure here :P Kiera still comes to Westeros, but to marry Matarys, and her and reader become very very close companions. Anyway, enjoy, and ignore any errors I didn't edit LOL! Comments and reblogs v appreciated
“I was looking for you at the feast,” Valarr says as he enters your chambers. You can hear the frown in his voice as he shrugs off his cloak and tosses it on the chair on the opposite side of the room. “Why is it that I had to hear from my cousin that my wife left early because she was feeling unwell?”
You press your lips together, not answering him as you stare out the window—east, to the Blackwater, the Narrow Sea, and beyond. Far, far beyond. Your jaw is tight, and your throat is tight, and your chest is tight, and your eyes already sting—you have been here for two hours already, and he has only just returned. Did he only just realize you were missing?
The irritation drains from his voice as he pauses, looking in your direction and catching the tension in your shoulders. He says quietly, “You are upset with me.”
You stiffen when you hear him make his way over to you, raising your chin when you feel the cushions dip behind you. You exhale hard through your nose as his fingers ghost the nape of your neck, brushing your hair over one shoulder so that he can press his lips there.
You bristle instantly.
“Oh my,” Valarr murmurs—he has the nerve to sound amused, you can picture the boyish grin curling at his lips, and it enrages you. The nerve. “You are very upset with me.”
“Unhand me, you lecherous cur,” you snap, shifting further away. “I shall catch the pox if your touch lingers too long.”
You hear the smile in his voice as he asks, “And what have I done to deserve such a vicious accusation, ñuha jorrāelagon?”
My love.
His High Valyrian is honeyed as ever, soft and sweet to your ears, the endearment enough to make lesser women melt, but you are not lesser women, so you only toss him a furious look, because how dare he play the fool as though he doesn’t know what he’s done? How dare he try to abate your anger with sweet nothings?
“What have you done?” you echo furiously, gaze cutting as you whirl around to face him. Loathsome man—you hate that he is beautiful, and you hate that even in the face of your rage, his eyes are soft and adoring. “You shame me, that is what you have done.”
Valarr tilts his head to the side slightly, a glimmer of calculation and confusion in his mismatched eyes as he searches your face—as though he does not know what he has done, how he has shamed you. You detest him.
“Tell me how I have shamed you,” he says softly, shifting closer still. Loathsome, loathsome, loathsome—he lifts his hand to brush the pads of his fingers against your cheekbone, and when you try to pull away, he holds your chin lightly, keeping you in place, forcing you to look at him. “Tell me, so that I may fix it.”
You almost bite him for that—for the softness in his voice and the fondness in the eyes, the way he looks at you as though you are something precious to him when he has spent the better part of the evening making a spectacle of you before half of the court, letting that Lannister woman parade around on his arm.
“You should know already,” you hiss.
“I do not,” he says, and he sounds earnest. You despise him. Loathsome man. His thumb glides over your lower lip, free hand coming up so that he can cradle your face between them both. “If I have wronged you, I would hear it from your lips.”
You think to spurn him some more, to press your hands to his chest and shove him away, to leave your chambers and go seek out—seek out who? You have no one in this wretched keep. Your brothers are all back home, six thousand miles away, because your wretched father sold you to the Targaryens for trade. And your wretched friends—who were never truly your friends, clearly—abandoned you the moment they realized you would no longer be able to bolster their standing when you are three seas away.
You are alone. All you have is a wretched husband—a man you were promised would be gallant and charming and respectful, only for him to spend the evening smiling at another woman while the court watched to see how his foreign bride would react.
They hate you—they have hated you since the moment you arrived on your father’s gilded ships, smiling to your face and scorning you the second your back is turned. They pray for illness and poor health, that an accident would befall you, so that Valarr might take one of their Andal daughters to wife instead, and—
—and the cruelest part of it all is that, in this wretched court with these wretched people, the only person who has ever made you feel wanted is your wretched husband.
Valarr leans in to press his lips against yours when you do not immediately respond, soft and gentle as he always is, trying to ease the answer out of you.
A wavering sigh escapes you before you can stop it, and you melt into him far too easily, because Valarr is loathsome and wretched. You detest him, and you despise him, but he is—he is insufferably good to you. Has been since the moment the two of you were introduced, in spite of the fact that he was as forced into this marriage as you. He is as gallant and charming as you were promised, much as you wish him to be otherwise, and he treats you as though you are not some foreign prize ferried across three seas to warm his bed and strengthen alliances, but someone he chooses and wants.
It is the worst part of it, because if he were cruel and disrespectful, you think you could hate him properly.
“You are wretched,” you whisper against his mouth, voice unsteady with the remnants of your anger. “You stand there all evening with that woman draped upon your arm, smiling at her as though she were the Sun Maiden herself, and then you come here and kiss me as though I am meant to simply forgive you.”
Valarr draws back only enough to look at you, brows knitting together slightly.
“The Lannister girl?”
You glare at him. “Yes, the Lannister girl, you witless dragon.”
To your mounting fury, understanding finally flashes across his face, and then amusement follows close behind it.
You shove at his chest immediately. “Do not laugh at me.”
Valarr catches your wrists before you can shove him too far, laughter warm and breathless as he presses a quick kiss to the inside of your palm. He pulls you closer to him, one hand sliding around your lower back to drag you into his lap, and you hate that your arms instinctively slink around his shoulders. You hate that your anger dissipates, and you hate that the fury on your face drains into a pout, that you have to chew the inside of your cheek to stop the tears from building in your eyes.
You hate everything about this. You are not so weak, but weeks of suffering through this snake pit have taken their toll on you.
The amusement fades from his expression when he sees yours, one hand lifting to caress your cheek gently.
“I was alone,” you say, grateful that your voice doesn’t break. “I am always alone in this awful place. You are the only person I have, and you abandoned me to let that girl cling to you. If you wish to take a proper Westerosi wife, you are free to do so, but divorce me and let me return home. Do not force me to endure such humiliation.”
“Now, that is a bit drastic,” Valarr murmurs, and your lashes flutter as his fingers drag lightly along the nape of your neck, tangling in your hair to pull your head down so that he might ghost his lips against your forehead. “Why ever would I divorce you when I have only just managed to convince you to tolerate me?”
You make a soft, offended sound that he swallows with another lingering kiss to your lips. He tastes of honey and wine; you let out a breath that is far too shaky as his arms tighten around you, one hand soothing up and down your back.
“I am serious,” you mutter. “You make light of everything.”
“Only because you speak as though I have cast you aside for a girl I scarcely noticed.” His thumb rubs small circles into the small of your back. “Look at me, wife.”
You do not wish to. You fear if you do, he will see the tears that have started to gather in your eyes, and your pride has suffered enough tonight. You meant to stay angry and silent, but it is hard to do so when Valarr is—well, Valarr.
He waits anyway, because he always does, and when you still refuse to do as he says, he hooks two fingers beneath your chin, and tilts your face upward so gently that you barely bite back a whine. There’s a softness in his face, an undeniable fondness that makes your heart ache.
“I did not abandon you,” he tells you quietly. “I left your side because Lord Lannister cornered me to speak of the new trade agreements with Qarth and his daughter decided to preen while doing so.” His thumb brushes beneath your eye to catch a tear before it can fall. “Had I known you were miserable, I would have returned immediately. I thought my cousins were taking care to ensure you were not alone.”
“You should have known,” you say, spiteful, voice sullen.
“Yes,” he agrees easily, without argument. “I should have. Forgive me.”
You falter, because you prepared yourself for his infuriating charm and smooth talk, not for an apology—especially not one so genuine.
Valarr exhales softly through his nose, gaze roaming over your face before he rests his forehead down on your shoulder, arms curling a bit tighter around your waist until your bodies are flush. You let out a shaky breath before burying your face in his soft hair, eyes sliding shut.
“The Lannister girl is not what really upset you,” Valarr says quietly after a moment—it is a question, but it is not phrased as one, and you stiffen. You do not respond, but you do not need to. He knows the answer already. He admits reluctantly, as though the realization pains him to speak aloud, “I do not know how to make you happy here.”
“I am happy,” you say immediately, an instinctive, courtly answer, a lie that tastes like poison on your tongue.
“Do not lie to me,” he tells you, and then he lets out another heavy breath. You see his jaw tighten slightly before he speaks again. “I…” He hesitates, trying to find the words. “I thought if I loved you enough, the rest would matter less.”
You inhale at his words, watching as he pulls back to look at you again. The grief in his eyes makes your stomach turn.
“It is not you who makes me unhappy,” you say, because guilt eats at you. Valarr is the only person trying to make you feel comfortable in this wretched place—he goes out of his way to ensure you are included, to make you feel wanted and welcome, and you—you what? You turn on him the moment he glances away? As though none of the rest matters? You feel embarrassed suddenly, mortification rolling waves in your stomach and chest, because Valarr has tried. He has tried so hard, so desperately, and here you are making a mess of everything, because of a tantrum over something beyond his control. “Valarr, I—”
“Hush,” he chides, leaning in to swallow your words with another kiss. “I understand. You do not need to explain yourself to me.”
The tears fall in earnest at that, rolling over your cheeks silently as you stare at him. You are the wretched one—wretched and miserable, you have been blessed with a marriage to a man most women would kill for, and you ruin it with your gloom. Love from Valarr should be enough to outweigh the rest, so why isn’t it?
Valarr clicks his tongue lightly, lifting his hands so his thumbs can wipe your tears as they fall.
“None of that,” he murmurs. “I do not know what is running through that beautiful mind of yours right now, but enough of it. I know this is not an easy transition for you—you are six thousand miles away from your home and family, in a strange place with stranger people. I do not begrudge you for struggling to find your place here, nor for being upset when alone. I should not have left you.”
“I want you to be enough,” you say, and you mean it. You mean it so desperately—you need him to understand. This is not—it is not of your choosing; if you had it your way, this would be enough. “I want to be happy here.”
“I know,” he says gently, holding the weight of your head in the palm of his hand as you lean into him. “I know, ñuha jorrāelagon.”
“They all hate me,” you tell him. When his brows furrow and lips part to deny it, you continue before he can, “I can tell. Do not deny it.”
Valarr doesn’t respond for a long time, and then he says quietly, “You are beautiful, and you are my wife, and their daughters are not. You arrived on gilded ships with enough wealth to shame the majority of lords in Westeros, and then had the audacity to capture the affection of a prince they had long hoped to claim for themselves. They would have hated you even if I did not adore you so openly. They hate men for much, much less.”
“It is not fair,” you say, voice weak and childish. “I have given up so much for their favor. I dress how they expect. I speak how they expect. I act how they expect. I celebrate their holy days with them, and I go to the temples of their gods, and—”
“I know,” Valarr cuts in gently again, stroking your hair.
“Then why? What more must I do for them to accept me?”
Valarr doesn’t reply for a long while, an unreadable expression on his face. “Do not give up anything more for them,” he says. Your face twists, but before you can rebuke his words, he continues, “I mean it. The only thing that will help is time—I do not want you to cut away parts of yourself to satisfy the likes of vultures who would strip you of everything if given the chance.”
“It is easy for you to say,” you scoff bitterly. “You do not have half of the lords in this keep praying for your ill health and accidents to befall you. It is only a matter of time before their prayers turn to action.”
Valarr goes very still and very quiet. For a moment, the only sound in the room is the crackling of the fireplace, and you realize you have made a terrible mistake.
His hand slides from your cheek to your hair, holding you close as something cold flickers briefly through his eyes—your husband is gallant and charming, and he loves you despite the circumstances. Your husband is also a Targaryen, and the blood of the dragon runs hot through his veins; madness and greatness are always one flip away from the other. It is tamer in Valarr compared to his cousins, but it is there nonetheless.
“Who?” he asks softly. The quietness of it chills you more than shouting would have.
You shake your head immediately, burying your face in the crook of his neck. He lets you, but his fingers remain stiff in your hair, body tense and coiled against yours.
“It does not matter.”
“It does to me,” he says. “You think someone in this keep means you harm. You think they pray for your death so openly that you have come to expect attempts on your life—and you would have me ignore it?”
You shouldn’t have said anything. You know this court better now than you did when you first arrived; you know how quickly whispers become accusations, and how quickly accusations become bloodshed when dragons are involved. Valarr has always seemed gentler than the rest of his kin—arrogant, maybe, but what prince is not? He is easy laughter and soft smiles, and it lulls you into a false sense of security, because you forget he is still a prince of House Targaryen. Still fire and blood.
“It was only a figure of speech,” you murmur, another lie.
“You do not speak carelessly, wife.”
You fall silent at that, because he is right—you do not.
Valarr exhales hard through his nose. “Who has threatened you?”
“No one.”
“Who has frightened you, then?”
You do not answer, looking away. “I do not want to talk about this anymore.”
Valarr’s jaw tightens, frustration flashing across his face briefly. For a moment, he looks as though he wants to fight, but then he concedes, “Very well. But this will not be the last we speak on this.”
His hands slide under your thighs, and your eyes slide shut, arms tightening around his shoulders as he rises to his feet with your body wrapped around his, carrying you over to the bed and laying you back gently on it. He slips out of his tunic and leathers before joining you beneath the covers.
You immediately curl into his side, pressing your face into the warm skin of his shoulder, sliding one leg between his to be as close to him as possible. His arms wrap tight around you, holding you impossibly closer.
“You are wrong,” he says after a moment, and your brows furrow. “Not everyone dislikes you in this keep. My family adores you, and that, I fear, is one of the greatest accomplishments a person can claim, considering most of them can barely tolerate each other.”
“That is not true,” you say immediately, lips pursed.
“It is,” Valarr insists. “My father and brother love you. They cherish the mornings you join them in the library. They like hearing your stories of Qartheen culture and the Far East. My father wishes to broach the subject of you joining them more often, but he does not want you to feel obligated to come.”
“Oh,” you say, voice wobbly again, eyes suddenly very wet.
“And the twins adore you,” he continues. “Aelora gave quite the verbal lashing to a Marcher lord who spoke poorly of our union—” Of you, he means, because no one in this keep would speak poorly of Valarr, the perfect prince. “—and Aelor threatened to have him whipped if he ever repeated such a thing again. They do not forget the day you found Uncle Rhaegel teetering on the edge of a balcony in the west tower and looked after him until they were able to come and retrieve him.”
“I did not know that,” you whisper.
“And gods know how you managed to gain the affection of Uncle Maekar’s sons—”
“Affection is a stretch,” you disagree.
“You do not know my cousins like I do, wife,” Valarr says with a wry smile. “It is affection, I must insist. I have never seen Aerion so captivated when someone speaks the way he is when you do.”
Your face feels hot. “It is only because he is interested in Qartheen magic and our warlocks. He wants to visit the House of the Undying.”
“I digress, both Aunt Shiera and Uncle Brynden are well-versed in magic, and Aerion is hardly so starry-eyed when he badgers them for information,” Valarr counters dryly, though there is something pinched in his voice that piques your curiosity. “And even you cannot deny that Daeron is enamored by you—I have caught him reciting poetry for you in his drunken ramblings. You have thoroughly charmed him, that is clear.”
This time, there is no denying the bitterness in his voice. You smile against his skin.
“Are you jealous, husband?” you ask, peeking up from his shoulder to look at the way his jaw is tight.
“In truth, I have contemplated tossing them both into the Blackwater a concerning number of times this past week,” he admits flatly.
A laugh startles out of you before you can stop it, and the flat line of his mouth softens at the sound. He leans down to press his lips to your forehead, long and lingering.
“Daeron cornered me for an hour last week to ask whether you prefer sweet wines or dry ones,” he continues after a moment, bitter. “Claimed he wished to ‘better understand Qartheen tastes’ as though I am foolish enough to not realize what he is really doing.”
Your eyes crinkle. “That explains the odd assortment of wines he brought to the gardens when I was there reading, then.”
Valarr lets out an exasperated sigh. “To think my own cousin is trying to woo my wife away from me,” he mutters, “and so shamelessly at that. To think he has the nerve to ask my advice on how to go about it.”
You find yourself giggling despite yourself. “He is sweet,” you say at last. “Harmless.”
“He is a Targaryen prince,” Valarr says dryly. “We are very rarely harmless.”
You are smiling openly now, warmth spreading through your chest as the void of loneliness is filled little by little. You had thought yourself so isolated here, so painfully unwanted, that you never considered anyone beyond Valarr might genuinely care for you.
The realization leaves your throat terribly tight.
Valarr notices at once, expression softening as he tilts your face up toward him to brush his lips against yours gently. Once. Twice. Three times. You think you could lose yourself in the taste and feel of him.
“My brother is to be married soon,” Valarr says after a moment, fingers stroking your hair absently. “To the daughter of the Tyroshi Archon—my father finalized the betrothal this morning. I hope, perhaps, the two of you will get along, since she will also be far from home. It may make court easier for you, to have someone who understands what it is to arrive here alone in a foreign land—a companion.”
You peek up at him again, blinking once. Tyrosh. He presses his lips to your forehead. You say, voice small, “The Tyroshi like dyes and hats. I am not versed in them. What if we cannot find common ground?”
Valarr pauses, and then says, far too amused, “I think you will have enough common ground that you need not be familiar with dyes and hats.”
“Do not mock me,” you mutter.
“I am trying very hard not to.”
“You are failing.”
“Terribly,” he admits.
You make a wounded sound and attempt to bury your face back against his shoulder, but Valarr catches your chin before you can escape, smiling as he brushes his thumb along your cheek.
“Wife,” he says gently, “I promise you the Tyroshi girl will not arrive here expecting expertise in dyes and hats.”
“Perhaps I should read up on them just in case,” you say, gaze flitting away briefly. “Qarth is—it is a far cry from any of the Free Cities. Very different… very far. She might think me strange, and if I am strange, then everyone here will be strange to her. It would be good to have common ground in interests, so that she can keep some of home with her at least with me. I think it would make her more comfortable, don’t you?”
Valarr’s expression changes at once, and there is something devastating in the way he looks at you now—so warm and tender, so sickeningly fond that it makes heat creep up the back of your neck. Valarr loves you; he loves you so deeply and so openly that it is impossible for anyone to deny, not with the way he looks at you as though you are the most precious thing in the world. You gnaw at your bottom lip, unable to hold his gaze when he looks at you like this. He kisses your temple again, long and lingering, and then sighs against your skin.
“You are worried about making her comfortable,” he realizes quietly.
You blink. “Well, yes.”
You remember too vividly what it felt like to arrive here alone, standing in a hall full of people smiling at you with teeth instead of warmth. If the Tyroshi girl is lonely, if she looks around this court and feels swallowed whole by it, you do not want her to feel the way you did.
“You are extraordinary,” he murmurs. “I do not know how I got so lucky.”
Heat floods your face immediately. “I am speaking about dyes and hats, Valarr. Do not be ridiculous.”
“You are speaking about a girl you have never met and worrying over how to make her feel welcomed in a foreign court despite the fact that you yourself are still struggling here.” His mouth curves softly. “You do not even realize how lovely you are, do you?”
You scowl weakly. “You are biased.”
“Hopelessly,” he agrees, so sincerely that it makes you embarrassed. He adds after a moment, “You know what I think will happen?”
You eye him warily. “What?”
“I think the Tyroshi girl will arrive terrified.”
Your brows knit slightly. You know this. That is exactly what you are trying to prepare for.
“I think she will spend the voyage rehearsing how she ought to speak and smile,” Valarr continues, voice soft. Yes, she will, you agree, because that is what you did, too. “I think she will step into court and immediately realize she is being examined like a prized horse at market.” His thumb strokes slowly along your cheekbone. “And then I think she will meet you.”
Something in your chest twists painfully.
“She will see another woman who crossed the world alone,” he says. “Another woman who survived it, and learned this court well enough to navigate it gracefully despite how cruel it can be.” His lips curve faintly. “And then she will cling to you desperately for guidance while you panic over whether or not you understand hats sufficiently.”
You let out a startled laugh despite yourself. Valarr smiles at the sound instantly, gaze unbearably warm.
“There she is,” he murmurs quietly. “You look less like you wish to flee back across the seas now.”
“You make it very difficult to remain angry with you.”
“That is because I am devastatingly charming,” he says, ghosting his lips against your nose, over your eyelids, your forehead, settling on the top of your head. “Ask anyone.”
“You are insufferable, is what you are.”
He hums in agreement. “And yet, you cling to me still. I cannot be so insufferable then, can I?”
“I told you not to mock me, husband. My homeland is fond of its poisons—you might find sweet death laced in your wine should you push too far,” you threaten, but there is a smile in your voice, hidden against his shoulder, and his chest rumbles as he huffs out a laugh.
“I will endure the risk if it means I get to have you curled in my arms like this, ñuha jorrāelagon,” he murmurs, all warmth and devotion as he tucks you closer into his chest.
You lay like that with him for a long while, basking in his warmth and the comfort of his arms, eyes sliding shut as the drowsiness finally hits you, all of the day's stress and excitement sinking in.
You murmur at last, “You smiled at her too much,” before you can stop yourself. Then you add for clarification, “The Lannister woman.”
He vows, “I shall never smile at anyone besides you again.”
“I will poison you if you do.”
His fingers trail up and down your side, gentle and adoring, lulling you to sleep. “A just punishment, certainly. I should expect nothing less from my fearsome wife.”
You make a soft, sleepy sound at that, too exhausted to muster another threat, and Valarr smiles faintly against your hair.
Valarr’s fingers continue their slow path along your side, absent and affectionate. You think he believes you are half asleep already by the way he presses another kiss to your temple, lingering there for a moment too long.
“You frightened me tonight,” Valarr admits quietly after a while.
Your lashes flutter slightly, but your eyes do not open. Your words are half slurred together as you ask sleepily, “I frightened you?”
“You spoke as though you truly believed I would cast you aside,” he murmurs. “That you were unwanted by me.”
You do not know how to reply to that, because a part of you had believed it, for a moment. You were forced upon him through politics and trade, and the rest of the court has made its opinions clear on you. You had let the insecurities get the best of you, with people around you whispering poison so sweetly it began to sound like truth.
“I choose you,” he says when you do not respond, fingers stroking your side again. “Not for your father’s ship and your family’s wealth. Not for trade with Qarth and access to the Jade Gates. You—because you do not look down on my brother for not taking to the sword the way everyone else expects him to, because my father’s eyes light up every time the two of you speak, because you ease the burden that weighs on my shoulder just by being in the same room as me. Because you are good and kind and worry about making sure another girl is comfortable here, when you still struggle yourself. Given the chance and opportunity to pick any woman in Westeros or Essos, I will always pick you—and anyone in this court who is bold enough to try to harm you will find themselves begging the gods for mercy before I am through with them.”
“You are very foolish,” you whisper weakly, barely awake.
Valarr’s lips curve. “Desperately so.”
“There are easier women,” you say quietly. “Women who your court would accept, who—”
“I do not want easier women,” he cuts in immediately. “I want you, and only you. I try very hard to be a good man—to follow in my father’s footsteps—but I would do terrible things to anyone who dared try to take you from me.”
Your chest aches. Loathsome man.
“I love you,” you say quietly, eyes heavy and voice slow, the steady beat of his heart and strokes of his fingers still doing quick work at ensuring you are half to sleep already.
“And I you,” he murmurs, pressing his lips to the top of your head. “Sleep, ñuha jorrāelagon. No one shall ever touch you while I draw breath.”
I ran here quick when I saw an ask about taking Valarr request….,
Valarr x Yapper!Reader…, because the prince seems like a quiet guy, but he’d be so happy with a yapping gorgeous wife, he just be heart eyes for his bride, who tells him all the gossip she has heard from the Red Keep, or dry humour and sarcastic wits about anything.
Don’t need to write right away, just something to think about hahah
I COULD LISTEN TO YOU ALL DAY—Valarr Targaryen
Valarr Targaryen x wife!reader
content: Valarr’s favorite activity of the day is to simply lie back and listen to his wife talk for hours.
words: 1k
cw: none that I can think of. simply just love sick Valarr listening to his wife talk.
a/n: oh my sweet prince who I often neglect to write about because I am always thirsting over his father and uncle 😔 also here is a small drabble as I work on my other stuff
The sun had long set, the doors to the balcony open allowing a slight breeze to flow through the chambers. It had been a long day of listening to men argue in council, performing duties, and staring at parchment until his eyes crossed. Even now when his body ached for sleep he would not give him.
Not because he had more duties to uphold to, but simply he could not spend his time doing as he wished. He was right where he wanted to be lounging back against the piles of pillows, a hand tucked behind his head the other resting against your thigh.
You sat up straight, your hair unbound moving slightly as you tilted your head back and forth. Your hands moved widely as you made gestures to follow through with your stories of the day. Both that included you and simply ones you had heard through the line of gossip.
He did not care for gossip. He did not often indulge in it himself, but by the Gods he loved to hear the tales that came from your pretty lips. Of who was partaking in what scandalous activity and better yet your own thoughts about the situations.
This was the best part of the day without a shadow of any doubt. Where the pair of you could simply be two young adults in love, without the constant eyes on you. Where he could stare at you as long as he wished without someone else begging for his attention some important matter.
Nothing was ever more important than you, but alas as a prince and future Heir to the Throne duty always called, and must be upheld.
He had always been regarded as quiet, respectful, and watching. You were on the opposite side. You had always talked, a lot according to your family. To which they regarded as a flaw, but he disagreed.
He loved the sound of your voice. He loved listening to the workings of your mind or simple observations you had picked up on. He would never speak again if that was what it took to hear your voice forever.
You were so bright. So beautiful and filled his world with so much light it brought him peace. That despite all the chaos, all the weights on his shoulders he still had this. He stull had his small moments of solace of being your husband.
It was his favorite title. One he wore with pride and made him peacock around more than the one of prince ever had.
You were his and only his.
He watched you carefully, listening to every word you deemed him fit to be graced with and he took everything in with utmost attention. He even often tried to piece together the ending. Seeing as if he could get it right.
Sometimes he did, and that was his favorite part. Watching your face light up even more realizing how he had listened to everything you had said, and even formed his own opinions on it.
He would always store the expression of your face into a small part of his brain so he could remember just how warm he felt during that moment when things got tough. That despite the duty, despite everything he still had you, and your wonderful stories.
You stopped, and he waited for you to continue patiently, wondering if you had lost your footing or something else had came to mind. He never minded straying course form the original topic. Sometimes you ended back at it, and sometimes not.
Your eyebrows came together as your eyes scanned across his face,"Valarr?" you questioned, causing him to hum in reply automatically You looked half surprised as if you had been expecting him not to listen. You clearly did not know you held his entire attention, his devotion, his heart even. "You look bored, my love."
His mouth opened immediately in shock or perhaps sorrow that you could ever think that. He pushed himself up from his lying position, his hand moving to cradle your cheek, "You could never bore me, ābrazȳrys."
"If you are tired you can rest. I know you have had a long day."
He shock his head in denial, "No. I wish for you to continuing
"Truly?" you asked, the doubt was evident seeping through all your features and it caused his gut to churn. Oh, how could you belie there was anything he rather be doing then sitting here, listening to you.
The Prince leaned forward instead pushing his mouth to yours gently, and he could feel you melting into him. His other hand moved to the side of your neck as he held you to him. Kissing away all the doubt that there was anything more important than you.
You were everything. And he would not trade this nightly routine for anything. No crown, no duty could ever stop him from enjoying the small unguarded moments of life with you.
He only pulled away when his lungs begged for air, and he more so did it for you then himself. His forehead rested against your own as he continued to cradle you as if you were glass, "Truly. I could listen to you talk all day," he assured you.
You hummed in reply and he smiled finally pulling back. He smirked pressing a kiss to your forehead, letting his lips linger to seal his words once more, before settling back against the pillows.
Valarr smiled at you, "Now continue on with your story of Lady Lannister I am waging to see if I can predict the ending."
You laughed, and the sound hit him directly in his chest, a warmth spreading through him, as you continued on with your story. Your hands moving widely once more, your face lit up in the happiness that mirrored his own.
As he laid there watching you, taking in every word you said as if it was the most important thing in the world, because to him it was. Simply because it came from you.