#some pining

You glanced around warily before practically darting out of your hiding spot and sprinting across the sandy beach as quickly as you possibly could while clutching your basket to you. Because while you didn’t really know what you’d do if you got caught, you certainly didn't want to have to find out.

After all, there was no doubt that there would be a punishment in store for you if you were caught this close to the surf. And that was assuming no one found out about the merman you were hiding. Or rather, helping to stay hidden.

You sped into the seaside cave and exhaled softly in relief. Leaning against the eternally damp rocks that surrounded you. But you wouldn’t get caught now that you were here and out of sight of any of the guards.

“You should work on your form if you’re going to keep sprinting out here like that.”

You looked over with a frown only to find Mydei eying you in an almost nonchalant fashion. Causing you to let out a slight huff as  you straightened, straightening, “When did you learn so much about running?”

You gestured vaguely to his bright red tail as if to evidence your point, and he snorted in response. Crossing his arms where he reclined on a particularly large rock that jutted up out of the water, “I’ve seen many sprinters. For one thing your people’s soldiers train on the beach, and their form is quite different from yours.”

You felt your eyebrows arch, “And I’m supposed to be able to outrun the soldiers?”

Even the thought of it was laughable. The one time you’d jokingly run from Phainon while playing tag with him and the triplets, and he’d caught you in mere seconds. And even if he was one of the very best of the guards, you doubted you would barely even have a chance to move before getting tackled if one of them actually took a chase seriously.

“If you want to avoid getting caught, then yes.” At odds with your idle thoughts, Mydei met your words with a quick, blunt response that was paired with a short little nod of his head.

You pursed your lips but didn’t argue the point as you walked over. Plopping down on the rock next to him before pushing your basket toward him, “Yeah, yeah, here’s your sandwich.”

Despite your petulant tone, you knew he was right. If it ever came right down to it, you probably would get caught in your sprint across the beach. And then a fine mess you’d be in.

Plus you wouldn’t be able to bring Mydei food anymore. And while he probably could manage on his own, the thought of him venturing out and getting spotted didn’t sit well with you. Not when it was on the books that merpeople were to be killed on sight for the supposed safety of everyone in the city.

Yet another law you were breaking and had been for quite some time now. Though you were getting distressingly used to breaking laws, which really was something you probably ought to consider.

Because you’d been coming to see and check in on Mydei ever since you’d accidentally stumbled upon him after falling through an old ruin, which had perhaps ironically been filled with frescoes depicting merpeople seemingly coming out of the sea to invade the land.

It was practically a miracle you hadn’t died after tumbling into this tiny cave, and at the time you’d been terrified.

You’d landed in the water, luckily, and scraped your arm in the fall against some of the ancient tiles that you’d desperately tried to catch yourself on when the ground had given way. And of course those tiles had fallen with you the moment you’d grasped at them.

But at the time you’d been far more concerned by the presence of the merman who’d stared at you through the steadily clearing dust from the mini cave-in. 

In your defense, though, all you’d ever heard about merpeople was that they were dangerous and would either curse the city or kill you due to decades-old wrongs that left them embittered with the people of the land.

That was, supposedly, the entire reasoning behind the orders to kill them on sight. And seeing merpeople was practically unheard of for your everyday individual anyway, since civilians weren’t supposed to venture onto the beaches lest they get dragged to the watery depths.

That was probably why you’d floundered backward the moment Mydei had approached you. Only stopping when he’d made a distinctly frustrated sound and grabbed you. Practically growling his words at you as you’d opened your mouth to either shriek or beg for mercy, “Don’t you dare scream.”

To your good name, you actually hadn’t screamed. Largely because you’d been terrified of what he might do if you had.

You had let out a pathetic squeak when he’d held up a jagged-looking knife that you now knew he kept tied around his waist, though.

But rather than hurting you, he’d stabbed his finger instead. Drawing a bead of bright gold blood that had practically sparkled in the light that’d shone through the hole you’d made when you’d crashed into the cave.

 He’d then pressed his fingertip to your bloodied forearm and drew it down in a line along your scrape in a perfectly cryptic manner. Leaving a thin line of gold blood along your arm even as you’d flinched away from him and let out a slight hiss in pain that’d had his gaze flickering up to meet yours for the briefest of seconds.

And for a brief moment you’d just stared at each other. With you wondering what he was going to do to you while he’d stared back at you wordlessly.

And then you’d been roughly shoved toward the rocky entrance of the cave with a terse order to leave and not tell anyone what you’d seen.

Not a strong start to a friendship or decent relationship of any sort at all, to say the least.

You hadn’t looked back when you’d scrambled out of the cave, off the beach, and ran all the way home. And you really weren’t sure how you hadn’t been seen.

But you did know the reason you’d come back, perhaps against all logic. And that was because once you had gotten home, you’d finally taken a glance at your home only to find completely uninjured flesh that was still coated in a mixture of yours and his blood drying together on your arm where your scrape had been.

Which was how you’d first learned that there was quite a bit more to the merpeople than you’d ever been told. 

"And I agree. But the two of you can't deny that there is something going on. I'm all for the two of you being together. But you must know that if that happens, you (y/n) will become more of a target than ever before. You need to be ready for that."

The discussion had left you and Stephen in a foul mood. Enough so that you took off for a few hours to calm down, telling Stephen you would see him later.

While you were away, you and Stephen each pondered Wong's words. You pondered all the hours you spent working with Stephen. You pondered the hours spent just hanging around with him.

 You liked him to be sure.You more than liked him in fact. You felt comfortable around him in more ways than one. You felt things around him you didn't dare tell others about. 

The cuddling had started off innocently. The first time was after a movie. After drifting you had woken up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat, shaking, having had the worst nightmare of your life. 

If that hadn't been enough, it had woken up Stephen. Stephen took one look at you and instantly knew what had happened. Wordlessly he had pulled you into his arms and held you close till you fell asleep again.

The two of you never discuss it. But on a few occasions when one or both of you couldn't sleep, you would come over and sleep next to him.

As humiliating as the talk was, Wong had a point. The two of you were gonna have to talk this over. Sooner rather than later.

__________________________________

Stephen tried to bury himself in work while you were gone, but nothing helped. All he could think about was your gorgeous smile. He thought of all the times the two of you spent hours reading and researching together.  You were just as voracious about consuming knowledge as he was. It was one of the many things he adored about you. But most of all, he adored you, just for being you.

Though he didn't want to admit it, Wong did have a point. Perhaps it was best that the two of you sit down and decide in which direction the two of you wanted this relationship to go. Or decide if you wanted a relationship at all.

After returning to the Sanctum, you found Stephen in one of the studies. Stephen looked almost fearful when he saw you. He worried that you were about to tell him that you didn't wish to be with him. Or even associate with him.

Wordlessly you walked over to him, looking very nervous. Stephen held out his arms to you. Thankful for it you hurried over to him and let him hold you. His presence in that moment was very soothing to you. 

"Let's sort through this."

You and Stephen walked over and sat down near one of the hearths. Each of you looked nervous. Neither one wanted to go first. That was a sign to each of you that it wouldn't be an easy discussion. So you did the natural thing, flipped a coin to see who would go first. To your dismay, you won.

Before you could start, you were quickly interrupted by Wong arriving and asking for the two of you to come assist with a problem. Both of you were relieved and disappointed to be interrupted. Swearing that the two of you would talk it over, the two of you left.

Hours later, you and Stephen stumbled back into the Sanctum, bloodly, bruised and utterly exhausted. You both agreed that the talk would have to wait till the morning and that there would be no putting it off.You would stay there again. Once again, in Stephen's bed.

You and Stephen cleaned up. Stephen finished first and went to lay down and wait for you. As you stripped down to check for injuries, you saw that your robes were badly torn. That would be another problem to fix in the morning. 

After cleaning up, you realized that you didn't have anything to sleep in. Not wanting to sleep in your knickers alone, you took Stephen's robe, wrapped yourself in it and walked out of the washroom.

Looking at the bed, you saw Stephen,seemingly passed out in a pair of shorts. You found yourself glad he was asleep so that he couldn't see you staring at how well those shorts showed off his ass.

Trying your best to not wake him, you reached into one of his drawers and pulled out the first t-shirt you found and put it on. It would have to suffice tonight.

With nothing else for it, you walked over and climbed into bed. For a second you saw Stephen's eyes flutter open a bit. Mentally you kicked yourself for waking him and hoped he would fall back asleep quickly. 

Without a word, you made yourself comfortable next to him and pulled the covers over the both of you. Stephen wrapped an arm around you and pulled you close to him, murmuring in his sleep as he settled back in.

You said nothing as he did so. Though you had never told Stephen, you always enjoyed being held by him. In his arms, you felt completely safe.

You closed your eyes and tried to get some semblance of sleep.If you were lucky, in the morning, he might still be in bed holding you close to him. 

Maybe.

_________________________________

As the dawn rose, Stephen began to stir from a deep sleep. He then heard the sounds of a torrential downpour, followed seconds later by a large crack of thunder. It was enough to rattle the building itself. Looking around, he saw that you were curled up on your side next to him, facing away from him. The thunder didn't seem to phase you at all.

Rubbing the sleep from his eyes,Stephen thought back to last night. Just before he slipped into the land of dreams, he distinctly remembered you coming to bed, dressed in what looked like a very short garment.

 The last thing he remembered was you climbing into bed, curling up in his arms. It was all such a blur that he wondered if that had been a part of the dream too.

He became aware of what he thought was your nightgown and saw that it was made of a very familiar shade of blue. 

Stephen then realized that part wasn't a dream. You had in fact come to bed dressed in what was a very short garment. In fact it was in one of his blue Columbia University shirts. The shirt on anyone one else would have been ordinary. Draped over your perfect body, to Stephen, it was just as enticing if not more so than lingerie. 

Curiosity overtook Stephen. A quick glance under the covers revealed to him that sometime during the night, the bottom hem of the shirt had ridden up enough to reveal a pair of dark red, lace trimmed knickers you had recently bought. The panties were of a cut that revealed the bottom half of your luscious arse. 

This wasn't the first time Stephen woke up before you. It also wasn't the first time he woke up hungry for you. Everytime he did, he tried every mental trick to cool himself. He even went so far as to try and take care of the problem himself in the washroom. But it wasn't enough. It was never enough.

Stephen sighed, closed his eyes and tried to go back to sleep. Maybe he would get lucky and wake up to you on top of him. 

Maybe.

________________________________

Waking up early to the sound of heavy rain, you rubbed your eyes and groaned. Though you had slept well with Stephen holding you, you had spent all night dreaming of Stephen. Dreams that made you feel very hot to think about. 

Through it wasn't the first time you had dreams involving him, having them while next to him added an additional level of uncertainty to it all. A part of you wanted to dash home and douse yourself with cold water. Another part of you wanted to wake him up with your mouth. And with how worked up you felt, you were giving that idea serious consideration. 

After thinking it over, you decided to get up before you did something you could end up regretting. Though the wise idea would have been to leave Stephen a note and come back later, you decided to see about making breakfast for the two of you. Perhaps having a good meal first would make the discussion easier. 

Another Earth shattering crack of thunder woke him up again. This time as Stephen awoke, he reached out for you and felt nothing. Looking to the side, he saw that you were gone.

Stephen had dozed off again for about another hour or so. Much like earlier, his dreams were filled with visions of you. He both loved and hated these dreams for they always left him feeling like his subconscious was torturing him.

Stephen felt disappointed. He had hoped would still be there so that he might have some alone time with you. He didn't know if you were just up and about or if you had gone home. But he did know that he might as well get up and face the day. 

Grabbing his robe nearby, he made his way to the kitchen. As he got close to it, the smell of coffee hit his nose. He could also hear other noises. Maybe Wong was there. Or someone else.

As soon as he entered the kitchen he saw you. You were levitating while looking through the cabinet. Though your back was turned to Stephen, his focus was on the fact that the hem of the shirt had risen up enough to give him another glance at your arse. Stephen licked his lips at the sight and seriously considered sneaking up behind you.

"Like what you see Strange?" You asked, still looking for something to make for the two of you.

Stephen was a bit surprised to know that you had sensed his presence. He tried his best not to blush at being caught out. Though this wasn't the first time the two of you started off the day a bit flirty, this was different.

"I will neither confirm nor deny" Stephen replied, hoping you wouldnt notice the slight hint of nervousness in his deep voice.. "Though I've a question."

"Yes?"

"Why do you have my Columbia University shirt on?"

You turned to look at him. Seeing him dressed in his robe, looking so casual so early in the day was a pleasant sight.

"Because I wasn't sure how you would feel about waking up to me in my bra and panties. That and this was the first one I found in your drawer." You admitted, floating back down to the ground.

"Oh. Is it comfortable?"

"Very. In fact…I might have to swipe this from you."  You teased, twirling a bit.

"Not gonna happen. That's one of my favorites" Stephen said with a smirk.

"Oh is it? Now I definitely wanna keep it."

"Do you now?" Stephen asked, starting to move closer to you, giving you that devious smile of his.That smile always made you feel weak in the knees. And right now, it was also making your knickers a bit damp. 

Any other time, you would have just handed the shirt over to him. Hand it over and just let him enjoy the show.But not this time.

"If you want it back, you'll have to take it off me yourself. " 

"That an invitation or a challenge?"

"What do you think?"

Stephen suddenly pulled you into his arms and kissed you, kissing you so deeply and with such passion you couldn't help but moan into his mouth. It made you wonder just how long he had waited to do that and it made you hope that kiss wouldn't be the last one.

Your hopes were not dashed. Though Stephen broke the kiss just enough to catch his breath for a second, his mouth was soon on yours again, intent on leaving you a breathless mess. Soon enough he had you against the cabinets.

He was a phenomenal kisser. His hands were also phenomenal as well. While he was intent on keeping your mouth occupied with his, it wasn't long before you felt his hands start to move all over you. 

He soon removed his robe, letting it drop to the floor. He then picked you up and wrapped your legs around him and resumed kissing you. You wondered if he might have his way with you right there and then. 

Though he had you pinned, there was still space for you to move a hand down between you two. Stephen moaned loudly the moment he felt your hand grip his cock through his shorts, rubbing it a bit to tease him more. He was unbelievably hard. You whimpered, imagining what he would taste like. 

Before he could say a word, Stephen felt your hand move up again and then down his shorts. He shuddered, feeling you take a hold of him again. From what you could feel he was long and rather thick. He would for sure, fill up your mouth.

Not to be outdone, Stephen slid a hand up between your legs. Once his fingers reached the fabric of your knickers, he traced a few along your opening,delighting at feeling how soaked they were. 

With your hand still working him, Stephen slid several of his long fingers in your wet hole. While he moved them in and out, he rubbed your throbbing clit with his thumb. Feeling it brush against you nearly made your legs give out from under you.

The both of you struggled mightily to keep your focus. Stephen kept his face against yours as you pleasured each other. Each of you wanted you to get on your knees and take the other in their mouth. 

"We should probably take this back upstairs." You gasped between breaths.

Stephen pulled you closer and whisked the two of you back to his sleeping area. It was only due to the two of you being used to it that neither of you fell. You then pulled the shirt off of , and quickly unhooked your bra, letting them fall to the floor behind you.

Stephen carried you over to the bed. He carefully laid you down and climbed on top of you, kissing you up and down your neck and chest. He also started running his hands all over you again, kneading your breasts while sucking on them. When you could reach him, you would kiss him along his neck, shoulders and chest as well. You also fought the urge to bite into his neck.

While he was busy rolling his tongue around your nipples and flicking them, he also resumed fingering you hard through your utterly ruined panties, still taking care to rub your swollen clit with his thumb. 

It was impossible to lie still. Between his mouth and those long fingers of his, you found yourself arching your back and gripping the sheets tightly. You even ran your fingers through his hair, pulling at it hard when his fingers found your g-spot.

Stephen swore loudly when he felt you pull at him. It had been enough to break his concentration. For a second you worried that you had ruined the mood by pulling too hard. But the absolutely feral look he gave you told you that there would be no playing nice now. And you couldn't wait for it to begin.

Stephen removed his fingers from you and pushed himself up. You watched with anticipation while he opened a drawer nearby and pulled out a condom. He placed it between his teeth so that he might finally take his shorts off. Finally getting to see his cock was very thrilling, especially with it being as you imagined it.

Stephen opened the wrapper and put the condom on. While he did so, you slid off your knickers and tossed them. They were for sure ruined now, but perhaps you could talk him into getting you more. 

With the both of you now naked, Stephen climbed back onto the bed and between your legs. He grabbed a hold of them and lifted up your hips, enough to where you were at an angle.

Stephen guided the tip up and down your folds. He couldn't resist teasing you a bit longer. Especially if it meant it would get you to beg him for it.

He watched you bite your lower lip so hard he thought it might draw blood at any moment. You whimpered as you felt him move it up and down. As much as you loved being edged by him, there was only so much you could take before you handed matters yourself. 

You had never begged for a damn thing in your life and you didn't wish to start now. But if he didn't make a move soon…

"Stephen…"

"Yes…" He asked,licking his.lips, hoping this meant what he thought it did.

"Do you plan on just teasing me all day?" You groaned.

"Maybe.." He grinned devilishly as he guided his tip to your dripping wet hole.

"Either fuck me already…or let me up so I can fuck you." You commanded.

"When you put it that way.."

With that, Stephen abandoned all pretense and shoved himself inside you. It was hard to tell who moaned louder, you or him.

He didn't give you any time to think. Stephen lowered himself onto you, kissing you hard as he started thrusting. With how he had you positioned, you felt him go rather deep. With how long and thick he was, you would feel it later.

Stephen slid his arms under you as he fucked you harder. He kept his face to yours, kissing you hard and often and not just on your mouth. 

With your hands still free, you ran them all over him, even through his hair again. He would moan loudly into your mouth when you would run your nails along his skin. More than once you dug them in when he would pull himself out just enough that only the tip of him remained inside you, edging you a bit more before shoving himself inside again. 

Several times he got you close to the edge before he would change things up again. It was both arousing and frustrating. All you wanted to do was come all over him and make him scream your name as he emptied himself inside. But if he kept this up and you got too worked up, only one of you was gonna have a happy ending. 

"Stephen, let me up?"

"Is it too much?" He asked, a bit concerned.

"Yeah..but if you let me up and fuck me from behind.."

Stephen got the hint. He lifted himself up,and helped flip you over so you were on your hands and knees facing away from him. Still inside you, he gripped your hips firmly and started in on you again.

He kept a fast rhythm, delighting in watching his cock slide in and out of you. He could only grunt and growl as he pushed himself further towards the edge. Between the sounds of skin hitting skin and the two of you moaning and whimpering, if anyone else had entered the Sanctum, there would be no hiding what you were doing. 

With his more even rhythm, you could finally just let yourself enjoy him being inside you. You could enjoy him holding your waist to him tightly, grunting louder as he felt himself start to come. 

Your own climax came upon you quickly. You could only call out his name in a throaty voice as you throbbed hard,gripping him tightly as you made a wet, sticky mess on him. Not even a moment later, Stephen swore loudly. Holding you to him as tightly as could, he shuddered as he came. With how hard it was, he knew he had filled up the condom quite a bit.

Just as Stephen finished coming, you collapsed onto the bed on your stomach. Still inside you, Stephen laid down on top of you, burying his face in your neck. The two of you struggled a bit to catch your breath. 

Stephen couldn't resist the urge to give you a few more kisses along your neck. His goatee tickled you a bit.The sound of your laughter made him smile and made him roll over and pull you into his arms. Though the both of you were a hot and sticky mess, neither of you wanted to let go. And neither of you wanted that to be the last time you fucked.

"Up for more?" Stephen asked as he began to caress you again

"I thought you'd never ask."

____________________________________

A few hours and a few more rounds later, you found yourself still in bed with Stephen, laying comfortably in his arms, your head on his chest.

"We should probably have that talk now."

"Do we have to?" You asked, looking up to face him. 

"Yes." Stephen said, thinking the two of you might as well get it over with.

"Very well." You sighed, hoping that the conversation wouldn't be a long one. Or at least you hoped it wouldn't end in tears.

"I think it's pretty obvious we are long past the friendship level." Stephen said, taking the  lead. Though he didn't show it, he was just as anxious as you.

"That's an understatement." You said,fighting the urge to roll your eyes.

"What do you mean?"

"Well I don't know what all friendships you've had in the past Strange, but I've never had a friendship before that involved falling asleep together often. I've also never had a history of sleeping in the bed of someone I consider just a friend."

"Seriously?"

"I don't know if you noticed this, but I am rather picky about who I let in my personal space. The last few people I let sleep next to me like that were people I was in a serious relationship with."

"I didn't know I was the exception. " Stephen smiled a bit.

"You've been the exception in many ways."

"How did I manage that?"

"By being you." You confessed,hoping he would appreciate just how big of a deal that was for you. Stephen felt honored.

The two of you were silent a moment. It was going well enough.

"Wong does have a point though. You do have a tendency to attract trouble."  You said.

Much as Stephen wanted to disagree, he couldn't. Time and time again he would find himself having to deal with an attack simply because someone had heard of him and decided to push their luck.

"Part of the package I'm afraid."

"Unfortunately. Plus doing what we do, can't really ignore the risks." You admitted. 

"Do you think I'm worth the risks?" He asked, a hint of nervousness in his voice. Even though he was scared to hear the answer, he needed to know once and for all.

There it was out in the open. All the confirmation you needed that to Stephen that this wasn't just some flight of fancy to him. He was ready to go all in if you were.

"I wouldn't be here if I didnt." You replied, taking his hand in yours. 

"Are you sure?"

"If I've learned anything since arriving at Kamar-Taj, , it's that there is a laundry list of beings out there that would wipe us all out if they could. I'm a target no matter what."

"But you would be an even bigger one." Stephen warned.

"I wont deny that it is a concern. But as long as you promise to have my back if it all goes pear shaped, I've got yours." You said, looking him straight in the eyes. 

"So that settles that. We're official."

You gave Stephen a soft kiss to seal the deal. The both of you smiled, thrilled to finally have it all sorted. Though the two of you knew there might be challenges, at least you wouldn't face them alone.

"Okay, but I do wanna give one warning."

"Yes?"

" Cheat on me and you may or may not find yourself in a dimension without your sling ring."

Which brings us to now, where Patton is sat on the couch in the living room, hoodie folded in his lap as he played with the seams while absentmindedly watching tv. He heard someone come down the stairs and turned his head to look, giving a small smile when he saw that it was Virgil. He was also a little worried, he knew he was up a little later than now, but Virgil wasn’t usually up this late. He decided to put his confusion to words.

“Hey Virge. What’s up? Need a snack or something?”

“No thanks, Pat,” Virgil said lightly. “I just thought I’d check on you.”

Patton was confused and titled his heads a little, spurring a small sigh form Virgil as he sat beside him on the couch.

“It’s just, after everything that’s been going on,” he said, “I wanted to make sure you were doing alright. You know, emotionally.”

Virgil did sound concerned, which Patton thought was just a little silly, but he was really touched by the thought. 

“Well, thank you Virge, but I’m doing just fine!”

Virgil looked at him with calculating eyes, and Patton fought hard against his blush that started to appear under the intense gaze. He jerked his shoulders in a half-shrug, which caught Virgil’s attention.

“Are you sure Pat? You seem really tense right now. You know it isn’t good to bottle up anything you might be feeling.”

Patton frowned at the reminder and looked away, bringing up a hand to rub at the back of his neck.

“Yeah I know,” he said , reaching for his hoodie to put it back over his shoulders when a hand stopped him. Patton looked up and caught Virgil’s intense stare again.

Virgil watched him for a few moments before sighing and dropping Patton’s hand which left him longing for the touch.

“At least let me give you a message or something, for the… tension.”

Patton gulped and nodded, shifting around so his back faced Virgil and tried very hard not to think about the soulmarks peeking out of his polo. The room was silent around them as Virgil shifted, the sound of clothes moving as Patton bit his lip, hoping and yet not. Then, wonderfully, Virgil’s bare hands touched his shoulders, moving aside the polo, touching skin, and Patton felt like electricity zapped down his spine and he sucked in a breath, sitting still a s statue as he felt Virgil freeze behind him. 

“Virgil?”

“Pat,” Virgil whispered, and Patton turned his head for some inkling on how he was feeling.

There, on his shoulders and Virgil’s palms, was a blaze of color, as bright as any he had seen before, and Virgil-- looked scared. Patton turned fully around and carefully put his hands in Virgil’s, covering some of the mark and drawing Virgil’s attention. 

“Hey,” Patton said, “It’s okay, this doesn’t have to mean anything you don’t want it to, but, if you want, I would love to be with you.”

Virgil looked at him, emotions swirling in his eyes and mouth agape. Finally, he spoke in a soft whisper of amazement.

“I always wished it was you.”