pairing: rio x fem!reader
warnings: angst, mild swearing, hurt / comfort, discussion of violence (nothing gory & not directed at the reader), a bit of fluff
word count: 0.9k
summary: rio shows up at your door, showing you a side of him you'd never seen before.
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There was no denying, Rio had a violent temper.
Unsurprising, really. The rather illicit and dangerous business he was in all these years, it called for violence. He had no choice but to be irate ninety-five percent of the time. Anger was part of the job description.
However, he masked it well. He learned how to hide it.
Primarily because he tried to be better for you. Because he didn’t want you to see that side of him in fear he would lose you. Lose the only person that grounded him, made him feel somewhat deservant of the kinder things in life.
And - well - it helped that he now had people he could count on to carry out the violent temptations instead of him. He no longer needed to get his hands dirty — unless absolutely necessary.
Rio’s violent temper faded over time.
Yes, he still got angry. When someone wronged him, crossed him. He got angry. But it wasn’t in brutally destructive outbursts anymore, no. It was mainly loud yelling. Hard to understand due to the an unimaginable amount of swear words coming out his mouth.
The yelling you got used too as it was never directed at you. Rio always made it very clear the mad words weren’t because of you. He just needed someone he could let it all out with. Someone who would just… listen.
Which is what you did. You listened.
And tonight was no different, at first.
Rio appeared outside your front door in the middle of the night, and you could just tell by his rigid body language that something was up.
Without uttering a single word, you let him slide inside and watched as he hastily kicked off his shoes before sulking further into your home.
He slumped onto the sofa, a deep winded sigh escaping his lips.
“I’m gonna make us some coffee, okay?” But Rio didn’t respond and it was your turn to sigh, albeit softer than he.
When you returned with two mugs of freshly brewed coffee, he was no longer sitting. Instead, he was pacing circles around your living room — clearly deep in thought. His hands buried inside the pockets of his jacket. His eyes staring blankly ahead, not quite focusing on anything.
You placed the cups down on the low table in the middle of the space and propped yourself against the corner of the sofa. It was then Rio stopped in his tracks, body shifting towards you. His gaze met yours and your heart stopped. God, he had such power over you. A simple look made your knees buckle.
“Hey, mama.”
“Hey yourself.” A small smile circled your lips and for a moment everything was good. Calm.
“Sorry for showing up so late.”
You shrugged lightly. “You know I don’t care what time you come over. But, ehm… Do you wanna talk about what’s got you so vexed?”
Rio licked his lips. He bent down to reach for one of the coffee cups and took a careful sip of the hot liquid. He swallowed, eyes once again lading on your frame, and with the mug still in his tight grip he let his troubles spill.
His stories were always vague and you understood his reasons for that, in fact you were grateful. He never gave you exact details because he didn’t want to incriminate you, if push came to shove. Plus you knew you couldn’t stomach the details regardless.
As the words flew out of him, tone of his voice increasing with every sentence, you could tell this time was worse than any of the others. This time someone crossed him really bad. He was pissed. In fact, you were sure you’ve never seen him this angry before.
That’s when it happened.
A thud. Smash. The mug no longer in his hand. Instead, a million tiny pieces lay on the floor as the dark liquid slowly trickled down your white wall.
You flinched at the sound. At the sight. Jumping up to your feet, you took a couple of steps back until your own back hit a wall on the other end of the room.
The sound of your raspy hollow breaths caused Rio to snap his head in your direction. His face immediately fell. You looked so scared. Scared of what you witnessed. Scared of him.
He instantly rushed across the room to now stand in front of you. With a shaky hand, worrying that you would push him away, he placed the loose strands of your hair behind your ear before cupping your cheek.
“Shit… I-I… I am so sorry. I didn’t mean to lose control like that. Shit.” He muttered and momentarily dropped his arms before wrapping them protectively around you, “You shouldn’t have seen that. I shouldn’t have— I’m sorry.”
He repeated his apologies over and over again until your body relaxed and melted into his.
“You know I’d never hurt you. You know that, right?”
You nodded against his chest. “I know.”
The whisper was so quiet you weren’t sure he even heard you until he responded, “Good. That’s good, mama.”
The two of you stood embracing each other for what felt like eternity. His anger completely dissipating along with your fears. The mess on the floor currently forgotten, along with your cup of coffee.
“Let’s go to bed.” You mumbled, glancing up at him. He met your eyes with his and nodded his head in agreement.
As you led him to the comfort of your bedroom, Rio glanced at your dirty wall and took a mental note to never scare you like that again.
He loved you too much.
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masterlist
rio (good girls) taglist: @fictionalhoomanofnowhere [tag not working]
Warnings: This story will have swearing, mentions of blood & gore, panic attacks, smut, dirty talk, use of the “n” word, some racial tensions and gun violence
Summary: Toni forms an unsuspecting friendship with Christopher that turns into something more. As her feelings towards him continue to grow she starts to unravel the secrets that surround him and in return, he unravels her completely.
(Future Chapter Snippet)
Toni finally reached the elevator and kept pressing the buttons hoping that would make it come quicker, she felt Chris come up behind her and cursed at herself for not simply taking the stairs.
“Mama, listen-”
“The cops are looking for you,” Toni told him, not bothering to face him. “Of course they come, to talk to me first because I’m your girlfriend, your girlfriend that has no idea of what the hell is really going on.” She pressed the button again for the elevator, her hands shaking, stop fucking shaking!
“What did the doctor say?”
That made Toni finally turn to him, shock prevalent on her face, “Did you not hear what I said, the cops are looking for you, Christopher!”
“They ain’t got shit on me.” Chris said, his black hoodie slightly pulled back more, making her see the small specks of blood on his face. Toni shook her head when finally, the ding of the bell announced the elevator’s arrival. She went to walk on, but before she could, Chris grabbed her, “I promise I’ll tell you everything when I get home.”
“I won’t be home when you get there,” Toni said, getting her arm out of his grasp, and walking into the open doors.
He stopped the closing door with his hand, “So that’s it huh, You get a peek of who I really am, and you dip the first chance you get,” Chris said, his brown eyes cold. Toni could see the walls building up around him, around his heart.
“You killed a man Chris!”
“And I would do it again Antonia because I love you and I'll always do what’s necessary to keep you safe!” The door tried to close again, but Chris kept it open, not wanting her to leave, knowing it might just be the last time.
Before he could say anything else, Marco yelled from behind him, ruining the only possible chance he had, to make this right. “Sorry boss, but we need you!”
Toni could see Marco’s head poked out of the office door, and Chris’s jaw clench in frustration from the interruption. “You should go, they need you Rio,” Toni said, watching Chris flinch when she used his street name. Hot tears began to pool in her eyes when she looked at the man she ever truly loved, finally let her go. Toni pressed the first-floor button and the doors slowly began to shut. They both stared at each other like they were trying to imprint each other’s faces in their minds. Before the doors fully closed, Toni spoke in a quivering voice, “It’s a boy.”
I just realized that in rio!verse ryn probably still chased after Solas and may be on soals side and poor rio and he'd definitely be unsure but of course i want him to join soals because i love causing rio pain.
