#cooper x reader

Gif credit: doortotomorrow

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Chapter 32: That's a Wrap - Part 2 [Link to Ao3] **FINAL CHAPTER - FIC COMPLETE**

Cooper Howard x Reader, pre-war Hollywood au setting, kinda slow burn, Cooper Howard is horny & it makes him feel guilty.

CN: SEX. (YAY.) Choking. Ghoulcum being radioactive. Y'know. There's also a brief part of this where there's an 'implication' of SA (I guess more of a fear of it like in the previous chapter) but it's never actually threatened or comes close to passing. Promise.

Preview: 『 Without another word, you take this as your permission to continue, climbing onto his lap, straddling him on the couch, the hand dropping from his face immediately to find its way to your thigh along with the other one. Finally, he seems to give himself permission to really, really take you in, exploring you with his gaze as he inhales sharply through his teeth, almost hissing. “Sweetheart—“

You reach out and take the cowboy hat from the arm rest, putting it on your head and offering him a smile.

This does something to him, his gloved hands starting to wander as he grins at you, a certain little glint in his eyes that’s all too familiar to you yet still makes your stomach flip like it’s the first time. “Real dangerous, y’know,” he says, his voice turning low, his hands smoothing their way from your thighs upwards to your hips. “Wearin’ a man’s hat like that. Y’know why?”

“Why?” You ask, bringing your own hands to his chest and slowly sliding them up and over his shoulders, resting them behind his neck.

“You familiar with the cowboy’s code?” He asks, waiting for you to shake your head before he continues. “Lotta’ rules t’ bein’ a cowboy. Mostly ‘bout respect, fairness, that kinda’ thing… but there’s a very, very important rule ‘bout hats.”

“Yeah? And what’s that?”

Gif credit: doortotomorrow

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Chapter 32: That's a Wrap - Part 1 [Link to Ao3]

Cooper Howard x Reader, pre-war Hollywood au setting, kinda slow burn, Cooper Howard is horny & it makes him feel guilty.

CN: World-ending catastrophe, grief, sex work (just dancing tho,) light body horror, goo (ew,) no sexual assault but there's a moment where you fear it because of... the implication.

Preview: 『 You immediately sigh as the door swings closed behind you. Lights are off. Janitor must have come through early — you hate when they leave the lights off. The light switch is in a weird spot above one of the shelves you store the spare pantyhose and tape in and you have to kind of fumble around for it in the dark.

You step forward, awkwardly feeling your way around the desk, your hand reaching out over it to try and find the switch. After a few seconds, your fingers find it, and—

“Gorgeous, hey?”

You jump as the room lights up, spinning around to face the voice, nearly knocking over the shelf as you bump your hip against it. It hurts, but you’re way more worried about the man sitting at the main makeup bench.

He’s in a seat — your seat — facing the mirror, his boots kicked up onto the bench-top. He keeps his face tilted down, fidgeting with something in his hands, his hat (a fucking cowboy hat — seriously?) obscuring his face. You realize what he’s fidgeting with. It’s a gun. He has a fucking gun. A revolver, maybe. No, a pistol? …Actually, you don’t know much about guns at all, but it sort of looks like a shotgun. He’s not fidgeting. He’s feeding bullets into the chambers. He’s loading it.

Your stay completely still.

“Reckon’ I’m inclined to agree, Miss…” he trails off, his attention turning from the gun in his hands to your section of the bench, the decorations that surround the edge of your mirror. He reaches out, a gloved hand plucking one of the mini-fliers they give to passers by outside from where it’s been wedged in between the mirror and its frame. “Honey Monroe,” he says it like it’s a revelation, laughing, seemingly delighted. “Well, ain’t that a name as charmin’ as you are, Miss Monroe.”

You hold your place, hoping that Swank will come through the door at any second. You just need to buy some time. “Just take whatever you want and go,” you say, trying to sound calm but knowing there’s no way this guy’s buying it. You look down at the bucket of caps in your hand and slowly place it on the floor in front of you, raising your hands in the air as you stand back upright, keeping your back against the shelf. “There. Gotta be at least five hundred caps in there. Most valuable thing in the room. The other girls already left with their cap-outs for the night.”

Gif credit: doortotomorrow

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Chapter 31: Happy Trails [Link to Ao3]

Cooper Howard x Reader, pre-war Hollywood au setting, kinda slow burn, Cooper Howard is horny & it makes him feel guilty.

CN: Mention of needles, a medical type scenario, sex (yay,) grief, mention of pregnancy termination.

Preview: 『 “Maybe we should come up with a little signal,” he says. “Some kinda thing you can do in your fancy Vault-films to let me know you’re thinking of me without saying it out loud.” Another kiss. “Then you can see me without seeing me.”

“Not really the same—“

“’Cmon,” the arm you’ve been laying on squeezes around you. “Humor a lonely old man, will ya’?”

You guffaw at this, partially in outrage and partially in shock. “Lonely old man?!” You repeat. “Coop!”

“What abouuuttt,” he drawls, ignoring you, unable to stop himself grinning, “this?” He lifts his free hand, curving his fingers and his thumbs into a ‘C’ shape. “Like my name.”

“That’s—“ you laugh, shaking your head, realizing he’s going to ignore your earlier protests. “That’s way too obvious. It needs to be subtle.”

“Can’t be too subtle, or else I won’t see it.”

“It can be subtle without being invisible,” you argue, placing your hand on his chest and setting in against him again. “Something that most people might think is a… nervous little quirk, or just a habit, you know? Just have to make sure it’s not distracting.” You frown, gently drumming your fingertips against the center of his chest as you think. It’s something surprisingly difficult to come up with, actually.

His hand grips your wrist suddenly, making you jerk reflexively, trying to pull your hand away. Cooper holds it in place, though. “That,” he says, bringing it back down to his chest. “What you were just doing.”

“Huh?”

He sighs, releasing your wrist and reaching over, bringing his fingers to your sternum. He lightly drums his fingertips against the skin. “This thing.” He brings his hand back to his chest, repeating it on his own skin. “You drum your fingers against things like this all the time.” Shit. He’s right. You do do that, enough that no one would think twice about it if you did it on your own chest.

You smile, bringing your hand to your chest and mirroring it. “Like this?”

Gif credit: doortotomorrow

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Chapter 30: I Will Say 'Au Revoir' [Link to Ao3]

Cooper Howard x Reader, pre-war Hollywood au setting, kinda slow burn, Cooper Howard is horny & it makes him feel guilty.

CN: Relationship breakdown, death of a supporting character, grief, Marilyn Monroe's story and life being intrinsically linked to the cruelty of the female experience as a whole in a way that can hurt to unpack.

Preview: 『 You share a silence for a moment, both of your gazes dropped, the air even more uncomfortable between you than it would have been if either of you were alone. “How was it?” he eventually asks, referring to the funeral, his voice low and gentle in a way you recognize, the tone he’d use when he was trying to be kind in the face of something he was unsure of.

“Lovely,” you answer. “I think she would have liked it.” You pause, tilting your head to the side a little. “Lots of people,” it sounds like a concession, “but that’s just because she’s so loved, you know? I think it would have made her smile.”

He nods, glancing towards her crypt. “I was planning on standing outside,” he explains, “but the crowds when I got there were… I would’ve been a ZIP code away.” He gets a little smile out of you for a moment with this.

“You should have come. Like, properly. Inside with everyone. She would have liked that. She always spoke well of you, even after everything happened.”

He inhales sharply. He knew this. It’d left him so conflicted that he’d barely slept the night before, trying to decide. After everything Marilyn had done for him, all the kindness and understanding she’d given him, he owed her the respect of showing up to her funeral, even if it’d be uncomfortable. But on the other hand, there’s so many other people who loved her that his presence would have upset. It was a matter of the greater good, out of respect for her. Cooper had felt it would have been selfish, like trying to prove a point. “I thought about it,” he finally admits. “Wanted to. But… would have made a lot of folk she really cares about uncomfortable. Figured it was best to wait and come visit her once it was quiet, avoid causing any trouble.”

Gif credit: doortotomorrow

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Chapter 29: Good Americans [Link to Ao3]

Cooper Howard x Reader, pre-war Hollywood setting, kinda slow burn, Cooper Howard is horny & it makes him feel guilty.

CN: SEX! Dirty talk! Rawdogging your spouse for purposes other than procreation! Yay! Getting blackmailed. boo.

Preview: 『 After setting the pillows in place, you take a step back from the bed, hands on your hips and a smile on your face as you give something of a triumphant sigh, taking in your hard work.

“Now this looks like a home,” Cooper says after a brief moment.

“Well, there’s still the kitchen,” you say, gesturing to the bedroom door, “I’ve still got to pick out some actual dinnerware—“

“We have plenty of plates.”

“They’re paper,” you laugh, Cooper smirking back in response. He’s teasing you. “And we still have to decide what kind of couches we want—“

“There’s a thrift store twenty minutes away.” He says this with the same smirk as before, taking you into his arms. “Has a whole furniture section.”

“We are not thrifting a couch!”

“Why not?”

“You know exactly what people do on their couches when no one else is around,” you say as you playfully poke him in the chest. “You really want a couch with who-knows’ business on it?”

“It’s character building.” He barely has to wait for your reaction, laughing out loud as you visibly cringe at the thought of it. He ducks his head down, kissing your forehead, holding you against him. “Guessing the bed’s not thrifted, then?” He asks.

“Jesus, no, ew, that’d be gross—“

He cuts you off with a kiss, slowly backing you up to the edge of the bed. “Good.” His voice is notably lower, the back of your legs pressing against the foot of the bed. “Means we’ve got some character development to do.”

Will do a proper update post later but this one is seriously long and has a lot of big important stuff happen in it so fuck it have this for now.

Gif credit: doortotomorrow

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Chapter 27: A Certain Fondness [Link to Ao3]

Cooper Howard x Reader, pre-war Hollywood setting, kinda slow burn, Cooper Howard is horny & it makes him feel guilty.

NO CONTENT WARNINGS FOR THIS CHAPTER

Preview: 『 Cooper expects to have to negotiate a little, but to his surprise, Barb nods. “We can do that,” she agrees. “Maybe you can take her the weekend before as well?” She finally finds what she was looking for, removing an envelope from her purse. “Double up those weekends, I’ll double up the next, and then we’ll be back on schedule.”

He’s a little taken aback — not that Barb agreed, but that she was so… happy to, or that she didn’t complaint about it being inconsistent with Janey’s routine, or that she didn’t complain about the studio being unfair (which he’d be inclined to agree with.) It’s… different. “Sounds… uh… good.” He says with a nod. “Thanks, Barb. I owe you one.”

What’s even more surprising to him, though, is the way that Barb wordlessly offers him the envelope, holding it out towards him, almost like he’s being served. In fact, Cooper is pretty sure that he is being served, and instinctively hesitates to take it from her until he realizes that his name isn’t on it. The envelope is addressed to you.

“What’s this?” He asks her, finally accepting it and taking it into his hands, frowning, still a little suspicious of it — more so when he realizes that Barb has already started walking away.