Goulish love: hate to like you

A/N: Hi there my lovelies, I don’t know if you remember, but I wrote a ghoul story back in kinktober (read it here), and even made a character chart for Ben because I loved it so much. So now is time for us to see why they hate each other so much. I’m planning on developing this story further, so hopefully y’all like it as much as I do. I think their dynamics are fantastic, and this is going to be lots of fun.

Ghoul x fem!reader || enemies to lovers, banter, sexual tension thru the roof || tw: violence (kinda?)

“You have a new partner,” your captain announced as you glared at him. If looks could kill, the big minotaur in front of you would be dead right now.

“I don’t want a partner,” you told him for what felt like the thousandth time. “How did you even find somebody that wants to be paired with a human?” You asked.

“Well… Let’s say he really likes humans.” There was a hint of amusement on your boss's tone, and you didn’t catch the joke. But you never did. It was like monsters had a different sense of humor or something. You chuckled, inertia making you want to be agreeable to your boss.

But then a deep voice behind you made you jump a little. You hid it, or at least you thought you did. “That’s incredibly misinformed, captain. Do I need to report to HR?” The newcomer’s face was obscured by the shadows in the corner of the office. He walked into the light, and you had to bite your tongue to hold down a gasp.

A ghoul.

He was tall, way taller than you, and his skin was so pale it looked almost translucent. You could make out the veins on his neck, his features almost sunken into his skin. He had so many face piercings that you bet he couldn’t go through airport security. And his eyes… Completely black and dangerous. A shiver ran down your spine. You could feel your heart accelerating when he stared back at you, his way too long tongue lolling out to snap it in your direction. A mock in his world. You’d known him for less than 2 minutes and you already didn’t like him.

“Ben,” your boss grunted. “You know full well you can’t talk to your captain like that. Don’t make me put you back into paperwork duty again.” Again? So this dude already had misconduct in his file… Great. Just great.

Being a human police inspector was already hard enough. Nobody wanted to work with you, most monsters thought you were a liability because of how “weak” you were. It didn’t matter that you were the first in the academy, or that you could kick any monster’s butt if you got to it. At the end of the day, their judgment was bigger than any prove you could give them.

So you accepted it, and decided to work alone.

And you thought your captain knew that. You thought it was clear that you didn’t want to depend on a monster that probably thought you were a puny human. But there you were… Getting a new partner. One that apparently had misconduct offenses in the past. Fantastic. Once again, you were to be the butt of the joke. Fucking hell. Sometimes you hated being human.

“Why?” You asked your boss, who was staring between you two as if he was expecting you to start fighting like little kids. You wanted to, but you weren’t about to give him that satisfaction.

“I have no choice, sunshine,” you ground your molars at the pet name. “I did something and now they cursed me with the partner nobody wants.” His tone was nonchalant, but it hurt either way. You glared at him, the frown so deep you could almost see your eyebrows.

“You two need to be civil. I think you’d be a great asset to the force working together, so you better behave and learn how to work together. You,” he pointed at Ben, “are a pain in everybody’s ass, but you are a good damn inspector.” He smiled smugly. “And you,” he pointed at you, “are the best we have but we can’t have you doing something reckless and face the whole human community hating on monsters again. We’ve come a long way, and now you two need to act like adults who knew how to do your work.”

His speech was clear, and you wanted to argue, but you knew better. You knew you’d be the one losing if you tried arguing that you didn’t need protection or anything like that. “Is that all?” You asked instead.

Your captain nodded slowly. “Yes, you can leave. Ben, she’ll show you around.” Ben got up and followed you outside the office, too close for it to be casual.

You walked tensely next to him until you were out of earshot from your boss. “I’m not showing you anything. Find your own desk and get to work on the case 68503,” you ordered.

“Uhh, giving me orders… I didn’t know humans were into kink, too.” His smugness and amusement rubbed you the wrong way. You huffed, choosing to walk away before you did something absurd like hitting his stupidly pretty face.

“I didn't know they left zombies out in the day,” you retorted with an equally smug smile. His eye twitched, and you knew you hit a nerve. You fist bumped yourself in your brain. Point for the human.

He was the first one to walk away, and you counted that as a win.

A couple hours later, after arguing with him at least three more times, you found yourself in the gym, trying to work out some of your anger, when someone whistled behind you. “You look really good with that tiny shorts, sunshine.” His words only made you angrier, hitting the sandbag with such force that you could feel it in your bones. “I hope you aren’t thinking of me when hitting that, that would be really hurtful,” he told you.

You turned around, staring at him with hatred. “You know what? I don’t want you here. I want to gone. I’ve read your file, ghoul,” you made his species sound like an insult. “You are fucking liability. And I’m not letting you ruin my career.”

“Ruining your career? What career, sunshine? Nobody wants to work with you. You are just a puny human that thinks she can play with fire and don’t get burned… Sorry to tell you, that’s now how it works. Humans are just… weak.”

“Take that back.” You walked to him until you were face to face, so close your nose pressed to his and you could feel his warm breath against your mouth.

“Or what?” He chuckles, cruelly. “Are you going to hit me, sunshine? Come on, let’s fight and see if you can hold your ground against somebody who wants to… eat you,” he let out the last part with a soft growl, extra long tongue rolling out and licking your cheek. And you hated that it made your pulse skip a beat. And hated even more that he knew it. Fucking super senses.

His smirk was so big you wanted to kick his face. So you did. You jumped up and twirled your body until your leg collided with the side of his head, making him stumble but not fall. Fuck. He was stronger than he looked. And you hated that, too.

You wrestled for a while. He got in a couple of good punches, but you were faster. Your agility compensating for his strength, and by the time you were both breathless, your body felt on fire. You didn’t know what was about the whole thing, but punching him, struggling in his arms just to free yourself and give him another punch was just… exhilarating. Exhilarating in a way that made your pulse go crazy and your panties to get a bit wet.

And you hated it.

You hated him for making you feel things you didn’t know how to name.

You needed to get out. You needed to be as far away from his as possible.

But instead of walking away, you pushed him to the ground, straddling his hips and holding his hands above his head. You both were breathing hard. “Do you give up?” You asked, trying not to sound too choked up.

He chuckled, pushing his hips up in a fast movement that destabilized your body, and you went flying to the ground. A second later he was covering your body with his, cold and hard over you. You wanted to push him off, to tell him off… but you didn’t. You grabbed him by the hair and pulled his head down.

And then you kissed him.