Darling Little Creature [Yuri Briar x f.Reader - SPY x FAMILY]

Tempt

A yawn slips through your gloved fingers as you take the usual post-date route back to her apartment that follows the river. You've stayed up several nights in a row to listen in on a current suspect. Clearly the strain is getting to you today.

"You don't have to walk me home if you're tired, Yuri. I walk myself home every night after I close the bakery."

You're snapped back to the present by a heavy thud when your leather suitcase slips from your grasp.

You knew she worked late to prepare the dough for the next day, but what you hadn't realized is that she always closes the shop by herself; her father starts baking at four in the morning and thus goes home first in the afternoon.

Though you're appalled that she's forced to walk home alone in the dark, you're outraged that you didn't bother to inquire about this sooner so that you could protect her yourself.

"Absolutely not! You're never walking home alone again! What kind of a parent would allow, let alone require, their only child to trench home in the dark in a city crawling with human garbage like this?!"

She protests that she's done it for years and has always been fine, that Berlint is a safe city, and that she's

You hear none of it, mind racing through an endless list of potential threats. She knows nothing of the underworld in which you spend your days.

Hence, every evening thereafter you wait outside the bakery for her to finish her tasks. Often it means returning to work upon dropping her off, but you wouldn't settle for anything less than personally seeing her home safely. After all, no one beneath you in the secret police whom you might send in your stead could protect her as well as you, and you can't very well ask your superiors.

A month has passed since you began this routine, yet each time you walk her home, she appears to grow more and more impatient with you; fidgeting and dawdling longer and longer in what you guess is the hope that you'll finally give her a good night kiss.

And maybe you should...

But you want her to put her trust in you...

To make prove to herself that she trusts you...

To give her a sense of security around you...

Because if she knew the thoughts that run through your head when she bites her lip like that...

So, though it's self-inflicted torture, you've managed to restrain yourself - at least until tonight.

"Yuri... why won't you kiss me... like in the movies we go see...?" she mumbles against your chest as she hugs you goodnight.

"That's simple, bunny. Because I'm already at my limit just holding you close like this," you tell her honestly with a chuckle.

"What?! I know my arms are strong from kneading the dough all day, but I didn't think I was hugging you that hard!" she squeaks and steps back, concern filling her pretty eyes as she gazes up at you.

Laughter spills forth until it's hard to breathe. The idea that she could ever hurt you is unreasonably endearing.

"Mmm, and here I thought you couldn't possibly get any cuter." Wrapping your arms around her again you continue, "You've never had a boyfriend before, have you, bunny?"

From the way she stiffens and looks away suddenly, you know the answer. You'd suspected as much from how vulnerable she leaves herself at times, entirely unaware of how easy it would be to take advantage of her.

Letting you walk her home, alone, at night without question; drinking happily without a hint of restraint or worry for her safety; wrapping herself around you at every chance she gets, seeking comfort in your embrace.