#tonight im a dannie it seems

[amid-fandoms]

let me out of this torture cell

[brain-deadx0]

(Got a brain worm that I had to write. No plans to continue so feel free to take for yourself)

Batman was responding to reports of Harley Quinn running around Gotham. Joker had been put back in Arkham several months ago so there was a chance she was making a move to set him free again.

But apparently Harley was expecting him.

"Well finally! You sure know how to keep a gal waiting Batsy. Ive been running around all night waitin for ya."

When Harley turned to face him his eyes were immediately drawn to her stomach.

"You're pregnant..."

"Yeesh your manners are bad ya cant just say that!" Harley rolled her eyes before pausing with a sigh and a serious look that almost seemed out of place on her, "But yeah... I am."

"Joker?" Batman asked softly.

Harley nodded, "Thats why I was runnin around tonight. Wanted to get your attention." She looked down before continuing, "I was in denial about it at first. I was always careful with that birth control stuff ya know? And I didn't want it to be real. Before I knew it it was too late to... you know... but. But I dont think I coulda anyway. I know its selfish but I love em too much already. Thats why I need your help."

"I'll help in anyway I can." Batman told her, "I can set up a place for the two of you where Joker won't find you."

Harley shook her head, "No can do Batsy. Mista J wouldn't let me go that easy. Specially if he knows about my little puddin. And if I'm honest I love him too much to leave too.

"I need someplace to have 'im that won't tell. And... I want you to look out for him. Not like, take 'im in or nothing. If I see my baby runnin around as one of your birds in ten years I'll let you have it-" She sighed, "But find someplace away from Gotham and all this. I don't want this for my little puddin. I don't want him to turn out like me or Joker and his best chance is someplace else.

"Please Batman."

-

Bruce kept his promise to Harley. She gave birth in secret and Daniel was taken to the other side of the country to be left at a firestation with nothing but his name and a note from Harley saying she loved him.

When Daniel was adopted Bruce ran a background check on his new parents. Inventors who seemed to be researching some sort of renewable energy and already had a child. Seemed safe enough.

He checked the area when they moved to a small town in Illinois and it seemed safe enough even with the likely tourist trap of "most haunted town in America"

Daniel, or Danny as he seemed to prefer, got decent grades and had a few close friends. His grades dropped suddenly for a time but eventually they returned to their previous state so he didn't worry too much.

But when the boy applied to and was accepted into Gotham U, Bruce started to worry.

They had left Danny as far away from Gotham as possible. So what were the chances he should return?

[milkgemini]

Tip Of The Iceberg

Pairing: Josh Kiszka X f!reader Word Count: 3.2k

A/N: josh in that beanie had a chokehold on me tonight.. so how could i not. shout out to my baby @babyhoneygvf for helping me come up with this. ily pookie. as always, plsssss let me know your thoughts! 🫶🏻

Part 2

Jake 4:59 pm

“Get up ya lazy shit. We’re going skating in an hour” 

You 5:05 pm

“Im up Im up. I’ll be over in 20.” 

The friendship you shared with Jake was something near and dear to your heart. He felt like a big brother to you. You both shared the same humor. He would tease you and call you names, but at the end of the day, you knew he would never let anything happen to you. 

His twin brother, Josh, was a different story. You didn’t dislike Josh. You didn’t know him well enough to even dislike him. There had never been a time where you hung out with Josh one on one. Jake or Sam had always been there to ease the awkward tension. You had tried to spark up a conversation with him before at parties the boys had thrown, but had always felt like a nuisance to him. Like he couldn’t be bothered to be included in the conversation. So you stopped trying. 

You were always civil towards him. It was in your nature. He was your best friend’s other half, literally. The least you could do was acknowledge his presence as he entered the room. 

It was just past 6 when you had shown up to the Airbnb they had rented. The 3 Kiszka boys had been staying with their parents for the holiday, but decided to rent this place so they could create their version of a Christmas break, which included a little more volume than their parents could handle. 

As you entered the rental, you couldn’t spot anyone right away, but were greeted with the volume of voices which seemed to be coming from the kitchen around the corner. Your presence was made known as you stepped into the frame of the room. 5 heads turning towards your direction, with only 4 them showing excitement that you came. 

“Hey hey! There she is!” Jake chimes in pulling you into a hug. One of the most important things in your friendship with Jake was the fact that his girlfriend Jita was respectful and understanding of the bond you two shared. They had been together for years and never once had she questioned you two, so to see the smile on her face as you reached your arms out to embrace her as well made your heart feel warm. 

Danny and Sam were leaning against the counter, sipping on whatever experimental concoction they had decided to whip up tonight. Sam's eyebrow rose over the rim of his drink, gulping down a sip while simultaneously throwing an arm around you to welcome you. “Hi you two. What’s the drink of choice tonight?” you hesitantly asked, fearful they would force you to try. “This right here is a secret family recipe.” Sam replies, smacking his lips acting as if he’s savoring the flavors of the cocktail. “I’d tell ya the ingredients, but like I said, it’s a secret so you’ll just have to try yourself.” He gives you a smirk while pushing the rim of the cup closer and closer to your lips. 

“He’s full of shit, don’t believe him. There’s no family recipe.” Danny warns you just as you’re about to fall for Sam's tricks. “Aw come on, Daniel. I almost had her!” With a wave of your hand, you roll your eyes to Sam, realizing there’s one person left in the kitchen you’ve not yet said hello to. 

Josh had also been leaning against the kitchen counter a little farther down from Sam and Danny. He had a red solo cup in his hand, silently sipping his drink perusing the scene of people in the room. His legs were crossed at the ankles, and he watched over the rim of his cup as you greeted the rest of the crew. Once you had realized it was rude of you not to at least say something, you faced his direction. “Hi Josh” you waved meekly towards him. His only response was to lift his cup giving you a tight grin. 

“Well, that was awkward.” you thought to yourself. And as if your best friend could read your mind, Jake saved you from any further embarrassment by interrupting. 

“Alright guys. Uber’s gonna be here in 10, so get your shit together.” 

As you all exited the kitchen, each of you began bundling yourselves with jackets, hats, scarves, and gloves in preparation of bracing the bitter Michigan winter air. With your hat, scarves and gloves secured, you patted the pockets of your winter coat making sure you had all of your belongings before leaving. 

“Think you left this” a flat voice called from behind you. 

Josh stood there, holding your wallet in his right hand, wiggling it towards you. 

“Right, thanks.” was all you could reply. 

Stuffing the wallet into your side pocket, you followed behind Sam as you all crammed into the van taking you to the ice rink. 

The place was packed. It was Christmas break so you didn’t expect any less. As you approached the booth to pay, you began to feel your nerves rise in your stomach. Here you were about to step onto the ice, with no clue in the world of how to skate. 

You followed Jake over to the stand where it was time to pick out your skates. You whispered to him, “I don’t know what I’m doing, so..” He huffed a laugh and turned to the employee before the desk. “She’s a size 7.” The man behind the counter had handed you a pair of white skates, heavier than you expected. 

The 6 of you had found a bench outside, and everyone started untying their shoes to put their skates on. Unsure of how to tie your own skates but unwilling to admit it, you peeked out of the corner of your eye to mimic Jake’s movements. 

“Is this right?” You pointed your feet in his direction, laces not tied properly. 

“Lift up for me.” He tapped his thigh signaling to lift your feet to him. 

Jake fixed your laces for you, tying them extra tight, resulting in you huffing out a breath to him. 

“You’ll thank me later” he shot a wink at you before grabbing Jitas hand, and walking towards the entrance to the rink. 

Sam and Danny had already gotten out there, Josh following in his twin brother's footsteps right behind him. Which left you by yourself to wobble up to the entrance, clinging on to anything in sight that would help stable your balance. 

As you stood in the entryway, you closed your eyes and said a quick affirmation to yourself before stepping on the ice. You clung to the side walls as you moved your skates centimeters apart. Jake and Jita skated by you with ease and you flashed them a fake smile, immediately rolling your eyes when they were no longer in sight. 

“Well, I paid for this so I might as well at least try..” you thought to yourself. You had no idea where this shot of courage came from, but before you could overthink it, you pushed yourself from the edge of the rink and tried skating on your own. 

“Slow and steady wins the race” you repeat to yourself, as other people whip by you showing off how well they could skate. A younger boy in a hockey jersey was skating incredibly fast with friends behind you. Their volume increased, giving you a warning they were approaching quickly. The boy was paying no attention to you, just trying to get past as fast as he could, unfortunately knocking your shoulder in the process. Nudging you a bit too hard, you had lost your balance, sticking your arms out into nothing, bracing yourself for the fall you knew was coming. 

Just before falling on your ass, you felt two sets of hands steady you by your elbows, straightening you up, saving you from the fall. 

With the hands still gripping your elbows, and you too terrified to move an inch, all you could do was turn your head to the side to catch a glimpse of who was behind you. 

“Josh?” you blurted out. “Oh um… thank you. I was about to bust my ass” you chuckled to yourself. 

“I saw. Here. Go slow, let’s just get to the edge.” With his back flush to your chest, his hands still gripping the back of your arms tight, he guided you to the edge of the rink. 

As best you could, you used your mittens to try to push your bangs out of your eyesight and readjusted the hat on your head. 

“I’m not very good at this.” You admitted to him with a half smile. 

“Takes practice. Jake and I started really young.” he responded flatly. 

“Yeah well, I’m over it. You guys go head. I'm gonna grab a hot chocolate.” Before giving him time to respond, you began to creep along the edge of the rink towards the entrance. 

“Wait!” 

You turned to Josh with wide eyes. You weren’t even expecting him to be there anymore after you told him you’re finished with skating. You figured he wouldn’t really care what you were doing actually. 

“I was thinking of getting a beer myself, so if you don’t mind…” he trails off 

“Sure, what do you want? I’ll bring it back over. Just meet me on the side and I’ll hand it to you.” you absentmindedly start reaching in your pocket for your wallet. 

“I meant… do you mind if I join?” he retorts back to you, looking directly in your eyes this time. 

His question shocked you. Not once has Josh put the energy into hanging out, just you two. If anything, sometimes it seemed like he went out of his way to avoid this exact circumstance from happening. 

“Oh umm. Yeah of course.” you tried your best to hide the surprised look on your face. 

Slowly but surely, you reached the exit gate to the rink, stepping down onto the rubbery ground. It was much easier to walk on the skates now, so you had no trouble finding a bench and plopping yourself down. Until you were faced with your next challenge. You look down at your skates to see the jumbled mess of laces Jake had tied for you earlier. You leaned over and tried to tackle the knots. Josh sitting next to you, had already untied his skates and laced up his boots. 

“Need some help?” He asked. 

“I think I got it. It’s just stuc-“ 

“Gimme it” he reaches down to grab your ankle, pulling your skate into his lap. Within seconds, he unties the mess his twin made earlier, and taps the skate to signal for you to bring your next foot up. 

You finished tying the laces to your own boots, skates in hand and stood up next to Josh. 

“Ready?” He asks, nodding towards the concession stand. 

You trail behind him, unsure of how this is going to go. You were so used to awkward situations when it came to Josh. Was this going to be filled with uncomfortable silence? 

As you reach the concession stand, you scan your eyes over the menu. Josh steps up to the counter first. 

“Hey how are you?” He greets the woman behind the cash register with a tight lipped grin. “Can I get a Dogfish Namaste and a hot chocolate?” He whips his head around back to you. “Anything else?” He asks. 

“Uhh, no just the hot chocolate. Thanks.” The thought of him buying your drink for you without questioning it made a smile creep up on your face. 

The woman at the counter handed over both of your drinks to which Josh thanked her and stuffed a few bills in their tip jar. He turned to you, extending his hand with your warm drink. 

“Thank you, Josh. You didn’t have to do that. I have my wallet, remember?” You reminded him. 

“Don’t worry about it.” He took a sip from his beer. 

You both started walking towards an empty table inside, needing the extra warmth right now. 

As you sat down, just the two of you at the table, you started to pick at the skin around your finger nails, worried about how awkward this might be. You decided to be the one to spark the conversation to ease the tension. 

“I like your beanie” you complimented him. 

The smallest smile shown on his face, as he reached up to feel the black knit hat on his head as if he forgot he was wearing it. 

“Oh, thanks. My mom got it for me for Christmas.” 

As you scanned Josh, you started to realize he looked different tonight. He looked good. The beanie was pulled tight onto his head, his curls stuffed inside. All you could see coming through were the shaved sides of his head. He kept his ears out of the beanie, which made the dainty golden hoops he wore even more noticeable to you. 

“You ever try this kind?” He lifted the beer up to you. 

Was he finally trying to carry on an actual conversation with you? 

“I’ve tried their other ones, but I’ve never had that kind before.” You replied to him, trying your best not to show your excitement from him continuing the conversation. 

“Try it. It’s good. It’s a wheat beer so if you like anything Belgian style, you’ll like this” he hands the beer across the table to you. As you wrap your fingers around the can, you also cover his fingers in the process before he has time to let go. Keeping your eyes on him, you watch his bashful reaction as he hands the can over and tries to find anything else to look at. 

You take a sip of the beer, swirling your tongue in your mouth to take in the flavor. Josh watches your mouth from across the table. 

“It’s good! I like it. I’ll have to pick this one up next time.” You hand the can back over to Josh. 

A familiar set of voices can be heard coming from behind you. 

“There you guys are!” Sam interjects, playfully slapping his brother’s shoulder. 

“We thought you guys ubered back and left us here.” Jake huffed a laugh and looked at both you and Josh. “You guys ready to go? We called the Uber before we even stepped off the ice. It’s fucking freezing out there.” 

The notification on Jake’s phone alerted you that the Uber was pulling into the parking lot. The 6 of you made your way out, tumbling into your seats and huffing out a breath as you all settled in. 

Sam sat in the front seat, Jake and Jita in the two separate seats in the middle of the van. Which left you, Josh, and Danny in the row in the back, with you sandwiched between them. It was a tight squeeze, and all you could think about was making sure your thigh wasn’t leaning on Josh’s side too much. 

He could tell you were tensing yourself, almost leaning into Danny to avoid your leg pressing up against his. As your Uber driver took a sharp turn rounding the block of the Airbnb, it caused your knee to brush against him, which you quickly retreated back. 

“No worries” Josh leaned over to whisper towards you, giving your thigh a soft pat. 

Thank god it was dark in that van, because the flush of your cheeks could be spotted from a mile away. 

As you exited the car and walked through the front door of the house, everyone gathered in the kitchen, cracking open a new beer or pouring a new glass. 

Remembering that you had been the last to show up to the function, and the only sober one left, you opted for a glass of wine to catch up to the others. You grabbed a red solo cup from the stack, and held the bottle of Pinot by the neck to pour into your cup. 

Once everyone’s drinks had been refilled, most of the group had walked over to the living room, leaving you and Josh in the kitchen. Screwing the cap back on the bottle of wine, Josh had resumed his position from earlier. Ankles crossed, sipping his drink, peering at you over the edge of his can. 

As you returned the bottle back to the wine rack, you could feel his eyes follow you around the kitchen. Before you could pick your cup up to follow the others to the living room, his voice stopped you. 

“Is there a reason you’re so hesitant towards me?” He finally breaks the silence. 

“What?” You look up at him with a questioning face. 

“In the van. It was almost as if you were trying to get away from me back there. You can only scooch so close to Danny before you’re in his lap.” He took another sip of his beer, looking at you over the can with raised eyebrows. 

“I…. Didn’t mean to it’s just-“ you continued

“Just what?” He stepped closer to you, placing his hand on the counter space between the two of you. 

“I don’t know. I’ve always felt like I annoyed you, so I didn’t want to press it any further.” You admitted to him shyly. 

He set his beer down on the counter, stepping even closer to you now, the smallest space separating your hips from touching. 

“Which part of tonight made you think I was annoyed by you” his back left the edge of the counter to stand directly in front of you now. Your eyes wide as you gazed back at him, mouth parted in shock that he was so close to you right now. 

With the toes of your boots touching, he stood in front of you, his eyes flicking back and forth between your wide stare and your lips. 

“Was it the way I gripped onto you tight, making sure you never hit the ground…” he lifts his hand to your face, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear while leaning closer before finishing his sentence. 

“Or was it the way I tried my best to get you alone earlier to share a drink?” His fingertips trailed from behind your ear to your jaw, tracing along the outline of it. As he got to your chin, he held it with his thumb, the knuckle of his pointer finger curled below it. 

He moved his face closer to yours now, noses close to touching. Your eyes fluttered at his movements. He tilted your face up to him while keeping his eyes on your lips, his mouth parted. 

As he moved closer to you, his lips came to your ear, just brushing up against it. 

As you felt his soft lips brush against the shell of your ear he whispered to you. 

“And what about now? Can you tell how bad I want you?” 

to be continued….

Taglist: @gretasimp @writingcold

[builtbybrokenbells]

Gold Dust Woman | viii

Y/n quickly learns that touring with the brothers she is so emotionally intertwined with is not all that it’s cracked up to be.

Read part seven here

Listen while reading: Money for Nothing - Dire Straits, Voodoo Child (slight return) - Jimi Hendrix, Pride and Joy - Stevie Ray Vaughan

Pairing: sam kiszka x f!reader, jake kiszka x f!reader

Word Count: 12k

Warnings: drinking, swearing, smoking, arguing, jealousy/intentional jealousy, insecurity, angst, sad Jake, flirting, making out, brief emotional talks, sorry if I miss any!

finally!! most of this is light hearted fun, but the end is clearly setting the tone for the following chapters. the calm before the storm, perhaps 🥰 sorry for the wait, and sorry if this is not my best work! im just trying to bridge the gap and set the themes before we get into the gritty emotional stuff next. as always, enjoy, be kind, and don’t mind any grammar mistakes!! (p.s. this is super lightly edited 🫣)

Your bag dropped to the ground with a pathetic echo, the sound barely breaking through the dead air of the hotel room. It seemed just as exhausted as you were, and you found the slump of the fabric on the track bag ironically funny, because you felt like doing just the same. You kicked your shoes off at the door, immediately looking to the bed with longing in your eyes. Before you could get the chance to shut the door and climb under the covers, a surge of voices rang from down the hallway. You made your first mistake of the day as you peeked your head around the corner to investigate. Immediately, you saw your bandmates following behind Danny, who was moving towards your room with mischievous intent written all over his features.

By the time you had registered what was happening, Danny was close enough to reach out and touch you. You took a step backwards, a fruitless attempt at escape, but his hands were already reaching out for you. His fingers closed around your wrist just in enough time to pull you back into the hallway. “Danny!” You exclaimed, feeling a laugh break from your lips despite your disinterest in their antics.

“What do you think you’re doing? Trying to get away from us?” He questioned, raising an eyebrow as he spoke.

“Was hoping to take a nap before the show tonight. You know, so I don’t fall sleep on stage.” You rolled your eyes, but that answer was unacceptable for him.

“Oh come on, you’re gonna sleep away your first day of tour? Don’t let a little travel get you down.” Your two bandmates nodded their heads in agreement, standing guard with their arms crossed over their chests.

“I’m okay with that.” You nodded. It was uncharacteristic of you to refuse a party, but your bones were aching with sleepiness, begging you to rest on a mattress even for a moment.

“Yeah, but I’m not.” He said, reaching into his pocket and grabbing a mini bottle of fireball. “Drink up, sound check is in two hours.” You watched him, hoping for him to change his mind, but he had never looked so serious. You grabbed it, although openly reluctant about doing so. “That’s my girl.” He basked in his victory only for a moment before crouching to the ground.

“Danny, I’m not getting on your shoulders.” You refused. It was a charade the two of you seemed to fancy when you were drunk, but you were far too sober to entertain the idea now.

“Come on, have some fun!” He exclaimed, clearly over your displeasure with his attempts to set the mood. You let out a sigh, but ultimately did as he asked. You were never one to say no to Danny, especially when he seemed so happy. “Aha!” He spoke in triumph as he secured his hands on your thighs. He rose to his feet, and you ducked your head instinctively. The ceilings were high, not near close enough for you to hit your head, but your anxiety seemed to be much worse when you didn’t have any false confidence from alcohol.

“Don’t drop me, Daniel.” You scolded, holding onto his hands secured on your legs.

“Shut up and take the shot.” He chuckled, both of you knowing that dropping you was the last thing he would do, and if he did, he would cushion your fall just to make sure you wouldn’t get a scrape. He was the best friend you had ever had, and you were always a priority to him. He stopped in front of another door, loosening his grip on your leg only for a second to knock on the wood. After a few seconds, shuffling could be heard from inside the room, and Josh popped out from behind the door. He let out an immediate boom of laughter at the sight, clearly equally as thrilled about the first day of tour. Danny carefully grabbed another fireball shot from his pocket and handed it to the boy. He accepted and joined the party without a single exchange of words. You realized that this must be a normal antic for the boys, which also came with the realization that you had willingly signed up for months of the same torture.

“Two more to go.” Danny smiled.

“How many shots do you have?” You questioned, genuinely curious about the collection he was hoarding.

“Enough.” Was all he replied. Another door was knocked on, and Sam joined the party.

“Seems you’ve gotten taller.” Sam noted, looking up at you with a twinkle in his eyes. You wanted to chastise him, to sit back another witty remark, but every time you looked at him for a moment too long, all of the thoughts seemed to disappear from your brain. He always stole the moment, shining brighter than anything else. Instead of waiting for a response, he cracked the cap of the shot and tilted his head back, drinking down the liquid with nothing to spare.

You were hyper aware that the last person to retrieve was Jake, and you were excited to see him, although a bit nervous. Since the fiasco of the tour agreement signing, you and Jake had been distant. Not by an overwhelming margin, but definitely enough to notice. You were withdrawn because of your guilt for pushing him away, and he was withdrawn due to his hurt from you doing so. In your moments and nights spent alone, you could feel the tension in the air. It was minimal, but completely unspoken. Even the sex seemed to be different, definitely still phenomenal but a little less emotionally gratifying. You were both aching for connection, but couldn’t seem to find the right words to express it. You hadn’t seen him much on the plane, and you were itching to catch a glimpse of him, like an addict looking for a fix.

Sam, on the other hand, had grown quite fond of your company after the shared sweetness that night in his car. He felt closer to you than he ever had, and he wasn’t willing to give that up. In the weeks leading up to the start of tour, you had found yourself playing house with him more than usual, spending the night and drifting through the morning in minimal clothing and hearts dancing in your eyes. Morning coffee no longer tasted the same without his company, and the sunrise was a little less pleasant when he wasn’t there to share it with you.

Even with the space in your bed spoken for and the mornings laced with a promise of love, you couldn’t help but miss Jake. Every now and again, you yearned for that first morning spent with him, with his hands around your waist and his sweet nothings whispered in your ear. The serenity of cooking breakfast while he plucked away at a guitar and wordlessly dedicated songs to you; it was a subtle show of affection because, like always, he had been too afraid to speak it into existence. Your heart still ached for Jake, even with Sam loving you so deeply. He could tell; your eyes spoke it louder than any words you could say. You loved Sam, and he knew that even if you had refrained from saying it aloud, but he knew you loved his brother, too. He chose not to mention the pain he felt at the thought.

The debacle the three of you found yourself in had been going on for months, now. All of you were tired, ready for it to be over, but nobody was willing to give up. By refusing to let go, all of you were simply allowing the hurt to grow. If a choice in the beginning was impossible, it had grown into something even more catastrophic than what it started as. You prided yourself on being a levelheaded person, someone who was calculated and well thought out, but this mess was something so uncharacteristic for you. Had you been half the person you viewed yourself as, you would have put a stop to it long ago. You were a fool for both of them, and a fool for thinking you could outsmart them in their own game.

“Open up!” Danny sang as he knocked on the door of the last brothers room.

“M’coming!” He grumbled from inside. Within a moment, he appeared looking just as tired as you were feeling. He paused his movements, head just slight cocked to the side as he took in the sight before him. Slowly, his head upturned to you perched on Danny’s shoulders. You gave him a smile, one that showed him just how happy you were that he decided to join. His eyes softened at your expression, any gruff exterior melting away within an instant.

“Fireball?” You asked, carefully reaching down to hand him your bottle.

“You shouldn’t have.” He chuckled, retrieving the shot from you. He let his fingers rest on yours for a second extra, desperately wanting a moment of closeness with you. “But what about you?” A smirk tugged at his lips.

“Plenty more where that came from.” Danny answered for you, content that you seemed to be enjoying the energy, now. “Onward!” He sounded, turning quickly to go back in the direction you all came from. You grabbed on to him, holding yourself steady in fear of being dropped. He tightened his grip on your legs, a silent reassurance that he had you, and he wouldn’t let you go. “You know, I think we should try beer pong like this.” He theorized.

“I think that’s cheating.” You replied, seeing him near the door of your room.

“I’d let it slide.” Josh said, as if he were the commissioner of the game. Danny let out a noise of triumph, happy that he had someone on his side to disregard your arguments. He led everyone into your room, immediately walking to your bed and leaning backwards. You let out a shriek of terror as you began to lose your balance, but he loosened his grip on your thighs. You fell to the mattress, landing with a thud and a chorus of laughter from the audience surrounding you.

“Asshole,” you grumbled as you straightened yourself out.

“Here,” Danny threw a mini bottle at you. It landed beside you, catching your attention and distracting you from the excitement of the moment. “Drink up.” You did as you were told, cracking the cap and draining the alcohol from the bottle. The burn settled deep in your chest, the cinnamon overpowering and warming your body. Although the burn was not comparable to both of the familiar sets of eyes on you, neither thinking anything wholesome.

Sam was by the door, lost in chatter with Dylan and Riley, but his gaze was only settled on you. It did not matter who he was caught in conversation with, or what he was busy doing, you were permanently in the forefront of his mind. Jake was talking to Josh, small business about the show tonight and the importance of an opening night. Even though the context of the talk was about his passion, his biggest dream in which he’d been working his whole life to achieve, you were still heavily weighing on his thoughts. Jake was not even attempting to hide his stare; Josh was aware, and uncaring of the infatuation between the two of you. He continued speaking despite knowing Jake’s attention was not directed at him.

“Another?” Danny asked, pulling a few more bottles from his pocket.

“Jesus,” you laughed, amazed at the amount of alcohol he had shoved in the pocket of his jeans. “I’d like to make it to the concert, tonight.”

“Oh, you will. Don’t worry about that.” He assured you. “We’re celebrating your first day on tour ever. Isn’t it exciting?” He questioned, taking a seat next to you. You turned to face him, your back to the brothers in hopes to forget about their lingering eyes and wistful thoughts. You have a shrug, plucking another shot from his hand.

“Of course,” you nodded, but your tone was withdrawn.

“You’re nervous.” He stated, narrowing his gaze at you.

“No,” you scoffed, but avoided meeting his eyes at all costs. He could read you like a book; he didn’t need you to say the words for him to know. “Yeah.” You finally changed your stance when he refused to look away. “It’s normal, is it not? I mean, those people are there to see you guys, not us. And your fans… they can be ruthless, sometimes. I’m about to give my entire soul to the public, everything I’ve been scared of for my whole life. I think it’s okay to be a little scared.”

“Of course it is, y/n, but if you’re scared because you don’t think you have the talent, that’s not okay.” He corrected. You drank down the second shot, finally feeling a touch of relief from the anxiety constricting your chest. You took a deep breath as you swallowed down the alcohol, bargaining with your fear.

“I mean, I guess.” You sighed. “Fear of not being good enough is just as normal as anything else.”

“Not when you have as much talent as you do.” His answer was final, no willingness to debate the issue any further. “You’re going to get up there, and they’re going to love you just as much as they love us. You’re going to do fantastic, y/n. I’m not worried and you shouldn’t be, either.”

“Thank you, Danny.” You smiled. The warmth of his sincerity alone was enough to make you feel better, but his company worked even better. “I am excited, but I think the anxiety gets in the way of that sometimes.”

“Trust me, when you get in your stage clothes and they put your makeup on, you’ll feel like a whole new person. It’s a different kind of feeling, like you’re the most extravagant version of yourself and you can take on the whole world.” He assured you, taking a shot of his own. “Plus, we’ll be there on the sidelines cheering louder than anyone else. If you get nervous, just look for me.” He grinned. Sometimes you were overwhelmed by the support and love that Danny gave you. It was more than you had ever felt in your life, and you hoped he never stopped. Friendship with Danny was more beautiful than most simple pleasures in life, and he proved that love existed in many different ways, and even stronger than romantic by times.

“I love you.” You smiled, feeling the tension whither away indefinitely.

“I love you.” He said, glancing past you for a moment. “I think lover boy is jealous that I’m getting a moment alone with you.”

“Fuck, which one?” You sighed, rolling your eyes at the thought.

“Both.” He muttered, laughing to himself. “Any sign of stopping?”

“Plenty, but it seems like I’m colourblind, now. The stop signs look green and the red flags look pink.” You mumbled, twirling a frayed string from the rip in your jeans around your finger. “But the show must go on, right?”

“Not necessarily.” He shrugged. “Effect from cause, remember? If you’re hurting, you can stop it at the source.”

“I think that would hurt worse.” You gave a sad smile, shaking the idea from your head. “It doesn’t matter. It’s my own fault, so I’ll fix it somehow.” You advised, shuffling to your feet. “Thanks for the pep talk. I needed it.” You spoke softly as you moved towards the large glass doors on the other side of your room. Danny watched you walk away, realizing that pre-show anxiety might not be the only thing that was troubling you. He let you slip on to the balcony with no intent to follow. He loved you enough to recognize when you needed to be alone, and solitude was what you were craving. You were fine with the crowd hanging around your room, but you were searching for a moment of peace in hopes to decompress from the days activities.

You broke out into the afternoon air, surrounded by the distant sounds of the city. The sky was blue, cloudless and beholding the type of beauty you couldn’t recreate in a picture. You rummaged through your sweater pocket, locating a pack of cigarettes, and pulled one out. You took a seat on the patio chair, lighting the end and watching the flame from the lighter fizzle away in the wind. The building was tall, taller than any you had ever seen in your hometown, and you were nestled nearly at the top. You���d seen plenty of skyscrapers in Nashville, but upon your arrival in Atlanta you couldn’t believe how many people littered the streets of the cities you had never been privileged enough to visit.

You thought of your younger self, how excited she would be for you now, how thrilled she would be that you had broken free of the generational curses and you were finally living your dream. If only she could understand that implications of dreams were dangerous, and just because you were living the life you had hoped for did not mean you were perfectly content. Ever since the confessional of your broken childhood to Sam, it had been looming over your head like a sinister nightmare. You felt more pain over the memories of your past than you ever had before. You were forever wounded from the scars you had collected from loving the brothers now, and your body was giving way underneath the weight of your wrongs.

You were living your dream, yet you were so worn down that it was painful to enjoy it. You felt guilty for not being able to have fun; you knew you should be joyous, celebrating and drinking with the rest of your friends, but the ache that settled in your chest was almost too strong to withstand. Laughing felt foreign, and you thought that fun could not come without crushing guilt following it. You wished so badly that you could fall out of love as fast as you fell in love, but it just wasn’t possible. For a while, you felt like you were ahead, winning by possessing the ability of control, but they had their teeth in you, and as the days passed, claws, too. They were tearing you apart and you were letting them. The grief was growing, rooting into your bones and metastasizing on your soul while you mourned something you hadn’t even lost yet. But, loss was familiar even if you weren’t aware you were feeling it; you had lost yourself, respect for yourself, and the sense of right and wrong. You’d spent months believing you were gaining something from their love, but it simply wasn’t true. You’d given up so much of yourself amidst loving them that you were unrecognizable, now. The losses outweighed the benefits, and you were finally beginning to understand.

In your journey of learning how to love, you had quickly learned that loving was not easy. You can love and hurt at the same time, just the same as you can die while the sun is shining. As you sat under the sun, cigarette smoking in your hand, you realized that you already were. You were inviting it, welcoming death with open arms just to enjoy the peacefulness as you drifted. You were out of ideas on how to satiate the pain without inviting it back into your life, no idea how to heal the wounds without reopening them. The pain was worsened by them, but healed by them, too, and you were at the end of the road. Your last flame was flickering away, and they were out of fuel to keep it going. Instead of protecting it, you chose to focus on attempting to warm yourself with their fire, ignorant to the fact that their flames were producing a wind strong enough to turn you to dust.

“Hasn’t anyone told you that those are bad for you?” His voice cut through the serenity like a knife, breaking you from your internal brooding. It was so familiar, so comforting, yet left a lasting burn on your skin. He was comfort, but he was also catastrophe. Unfortunately for you, you were so comfortable in chaos that you loved him despite the disaster.

“Woke up a hypocrite, today?” You asked, not bothering to turn and look to him. For once, you weren’t yearning for the moment with him. You were perfectly fine with being upset, and perfectly fine without his help.

“Ouch,” he said, taking the seat beside you. “Just because I do it doesn’t mean I want you to do it, too. Not allowed to worry about you anymore?”

“I think you should stop worrying, Jacob.” You said, still refusing to look at him.

“I thought you quit?” He refused to give up, knowing that being on the receiving of your standoffish nature was better than not speaking to you at all.

“Living the rockstar lifestyle, now. Have to look the part.” You joked, but your tone was flat. You both fell into a silence, listening to the sound of cars passing below. You wanted to touch him, but you were afraid that you would give too much of yourself to him once more. It was so easy to give everything to Jake, even when he wasn’t asking for it.

“I miss you, y/n.” His admission was prompted by nothing but his own heart. The distance between you two was larger than it ever had been, and he was desperate to bridge the gap. He craved that connection he felt with you in the beginning, and he was fearful that all of the time you spent with Sam was locking him into a corner. He regretted pushing you to tell him your troubles, scared that it drove you even further away from him.

“I miss you, Jake.” You finally looked over at him, the sight of his face giving you nothing but pain. He caught your eye, holding your gaze but doing nothing more. He didn’t reach for you, not even expressing a thought that he would. He wanted you to reach for him, he needed to feel like you still wanted him as badly as he wanted you. If only he knew how much you wanted to tell him, he would never have to worry. You wanted to be everything for him; the best version of yourself, one that knew how to love properly and how to be loved by another, one who could give him the entire world, but you were fearful that you would never be that person, that you couldn’t be that person.

“When are you going to let me in, Gold Dust Woman?” He asked, looking back out over the balcony rail. The cloud of emotion radiating from him was so large that it was beginning to fill the sky with confessions and desires.

“I’m trying.” You whispered, flicking the ash off of your cigarette and watching as it fluttered to the ground. “I don’t know how.”

“Do you want to?”

“Yeah.” You admitted. “I really do, Jake, but it’s hard.”

“I think it’s time you let go of the idea that intimacy is easy.” He said, no passion nor desperation in his voice. He was fighting the battle with nonchalance despite every molecule in his body screaming for salvation. He had become painfully aware that emotion was not easy for you, but it was still excruciatingly difficult to contain his own. “You’ve been searching for the simple solution, but you need to understand that it’s not supposed to be easy. If it was, this would have been over a long time ago.” You wanted to be angry, upset that he shoved words down your throat that you didn’t want to hear, but he was right. Simplicity was extremely tempting, but it was not the answer to your questions. If you continued to search blindly for it, you would remain on the same journey until you died empty-handed and alone. “If you want to love me, you can. If you want to love him, you can. Sam and I aren’t strangers to the world we’ve been living in. I know you love him. I can see it. I can feel it when you look at him, y/n. I’m not asking you to stop feeling that way for him. I’m just hoping that you feel it for me, too. I think that you do, but I need to know if this is more than just sex, or if I’m only waiting to get my heart broken.”

“You’re an idiot if you can’t see it.” You were harsh, unbelieving of the fact that he was unsure if you felt that way for him. “It’s never been about sex, Jake. Maybe that first night, but never after that. If Sam gave me the world, and you didn’t, why would I still be here?” You asked, pulling your knees to your chest on the flimsy chair. Your cigarette was long burnt to a butt in your hand, but you continued holding it so you wouldn’t reach for another. You did feel obligated to teach them a lesson, but you never would have subjected him to so much pain if you felt nothing for him. “I don’t know how to let you in. I’ve spent my entire life trying to keep everyone out. Before you and Sam, I never needed to open up. I apologize for struggling, but it’s never been because I don’t want you.”

“There you go.” He whispered, looking back at you with more hope in his eye than before. “I’m not asking to be your hiding place for every secret. I would always keep it safe for you, but I know that’s too much to expect. I just need to know that you care. I think we’ve been doing this long enough for me to ask.”

“Like I said, Jacob. Idiot.” Your words were insulting, but a smile was tugging at your lips. There was one on his, too. “Don’t convince yourself you’re not special, because you know it’s not true. You know what you mean to me.”

“Don’t have to be so mean about it.” He joked, but the tension was nonexistent. You were back in the realm of comfortability that you hadn’t felt in a long time.

“I think we’ve been doing this long enough for me to say that.” You shot back his own statement. “In fact, I think you like it.”

“Sadist,” he whispered, hopeful for normalcy. He was rewarded when extended your hand out to him, which he slipped into his own eagerly. Silence became you as you both leaned back in your chairs, fingers interlocked while looking down upon the city. Although normal was not even close to what the current situation was, it was normal for you and Jake, and that was all that mattered.

“Are you excited?” He broke the silence after a long while without conversation.

“Scared.” You corrected. “Seems like fear is the only thing I know how to feel.”

“You’ll blow them away, Gold Dust Woman.” He assured you, giving your hand a gentle squeeze. “I didn’t give you that nickname for nothing.”

“I can’t believe you talked me into this.” And you meant it. It was beyond you that Jake was able to persuade you to join them on tour, and although he did not single-handedly convince you, he definitely did the brunt of the work.

“You’ll change your mind after tonight. I promise.” He assured you, still trying to keep his eyes off of you. He felt if he looked in your direction again, he would never be able to look away. “Once the dream comes to life, you’ll never look back. You’ll want to live in it forever.”

“You’re telling that to someone who’s created a life from running away.”

“At least slow down to look at the sights, this time.” You broke, looking over at him in a moment of weakness. Through the storm weathering your brain, he was the moment of serenity. It was like driving under a bridge during a hurricane, loud for so long until you were covered by his shadow and blessed with silence.

“I am.” You promised, the two words strong and full of hope for something better. “I’ve been angry with myself for not knowing how to change, but it’s time to learn.” You explained. “I’m done running, and I’m trying not to be afraid anymore.”

“And I’m proud of you for it.” He finally caught your gaze again, weak from the power you had over him. “I’ll be proud of you forever, even if it has to be from a distance. Even if you don’t pick me, Gold Dust Woman.” He hoped the profession wouldn’t cause another rift between you, but the truth was that you had been waiting years for someone to say something so meaningful to you. When he said it the first time, it was too overwhelming to accept. Now, you could listen to him say it forever. Little by little, he was breaking down the wall.

“I…” Love you. “Like you, Jake. A lot.” You couldn’t muster the strength for the truth, but he knew. Even without the proper word spoken, he could feel the power of the statement.

“I like you, too.” He said, leaning in for a kiss. It was short, but sweet and filled with love. If you weren’t okay with speaking it aloud, he could settle for showing you. “We should probably get ready to head to the venue.” He said, regretful for pulling away. He wished he could kiss you until his lips turned blue and his lungs could no longer remember what oxygen felt like.

“Yeah, you’re probably right.” You agreed, but wished you could stay, too.

“I’ll come and see you before you get on stage.” He promised. “Just so you know your biggest fan is cheering you on.”

“You don’t need to be there for me to know that.” You murmured, nose still brushing with his own. He left another kiss on your lips, the sweetness strong enough to last until he could get the chance again.

The two of you filtered back into the hotel room to join the crowd. Your chest felt lighter, like Jake had picked up some of the weight that was dragging you down and put it upon his own shoulders. In a sense, he did. Jake was always willing to carry some of your struggle so you could walk with ease, even if it was a bit too heavy for him to handle. You grabbed your bag from the floor, picking through it to grab your wallet and any other necessities for the night. By the time you collected your belongings, the rest of the company dwindled away, returning to their own rooms to do the same. Jake did not stay to chat, but he did give you a look of longing before emerging into the hallway. He didn’t stay long enough to see it, but you gave him one just the same.

When you arrived at the venue, the sheer size of the building was overwhelming. It was a long journey from playing bars around town to opening for a world tour. A regular crowd for your local shows wouldn’t even fill a single section of this venue. Riley slipped an arm around your shoulder, sensing the return of your anxiety. He was incredibly understanding, mostly because they were both feeling the pressure too. When you entered the back door, event organizers were pointing you in the correct directions. You tried to swallow your nerves, but seeing how naturally the boys responded only made you realize how much of an amateur you were at their craft.

“You guys are up first for soundcheck,” Aaron said, nodding towards the stage. “We do most of the work, so just play a few songs. If something sounds off, let us know.”

“Oh, o-okay,” you nodded, looking to your bandmates. They seemed eager to get out there, like they were counting down the minutes until they could finally play for the world. You wished to dig a hole and hide in it forever; you never felt more out of place than you did in that moment.

“We’re okay.” Dylan assured you. “It’s going to be fine.” You gave another nod, letting the other to lead the way to the stage. Your instruments were set up, ready to go so the sound check could run smoothly.

You grabbed your guitar, throwing the strap over your head. You plucked a few of the strings, caught off guard by the volume. Riley did the same with a grin eating away at his cheeks, wanting to test the volume for himself. Dylan couldn’t contain her laughter at the excitement dancing in his eyes, hitting a few off beats to join in on the moment. It seemed like the sound of the music had struck a nerve in all of you. The sheer excitement from the volume was enough to keep you going. “Give me something to work with.” You broke out of your shell, joking with the drummer. She was pleased with your response, taking your comment and running with it.

She began a familiar beat, the sound ringing through the empty stadium. The noise was so strong that you could feel it in your chest, rattling your bones and overtaking your heartbeat, but it was fantastic. You had never felt more alive; all the fears you had been feeling seemed to float away, replaced with electricity from the booming beat of the drum. After a few moments, you hit a couple chords on the guitar. The clean tone wasn’t good enough for you, though. You took a step towards the pedalboard and engaged one of the switches with your foot. The distortion kicked in, prompting a smile on your lips. Dylan hit a high, her arms moving faster than you could comprehend, and then she stopped completely. There was stagnant air only for a second before you started the main riff of the song. Once you ran through it, Dylan and Riley joined.

“Now look at them yo-yo’s, that’s the way you do it

You play the guitar on the MTV

That ain’t workin, that’s the way you do it

Money for nothing and your chicks for free.”

You stopped playing as you finished, opting not to play the entire song and eager to move onto something a little harder. You looked between the two, your smile never leaving your face. “Let’s pick up the pace.” You teased, breathless and your cheeks stained red.

“Try me.” She challenged.

You turned off the distortion, clicking another pedal to replace the effect. You hovered your foot over the Wah pedal and began an intro to Voodoo Child. The other two joined and Riley began singing the lyrics to the song. You finished without a hitch, all of you giggly and high off the adrenaline rush.

“You want a challenge?” Riley asked. You nodded, listening intently for him to begin a bass line. He plucked a few familiar notes, lighting a fire in you.

“You’re on.” You cut him off, switching your pedals again. He lowered his hand, taking a step away from the mic in anticipation. You took a breath, closing your eyes for a moment to channel the right energy. He had picked a hard song, and you were unsure if you could pull it off, but you were more than willing to try. You took a look over your shoulder before starting, catching the staring eyes of the four boys watching in awe. Jake wasn’t even attempting to hide his stare, falling more in love with you every time your fingers graced the strings of the Les Paul. His eyes flickered to your face, hoping to catch a glimpse of your beauty in the moment. When he realized you were already looking at him, he sent a smile your way. You gave him a wink, but didn’t wait to see a reaction.

Your fingers carried the tune from muscle memory. It was fast, hard to keep up with even when you were the one setting the pace. You took a step to the microphone, Riley already well aware that you were leading the way. It was your favourite song to play, and one of the most difficult to beat in comparison to any other. It was a show stopper, and clearly he was looking to set the record straight with your talent. He knew that you belonged on the stage, but he wanted you to realize it, too. You sang through the first verse, extra concentrated to ensure you didn’t make any mistakes. When the chorus came around, the tension in your shoulders dissipated indefinitely, and you were one with the guitar as you played.

“He’s my sweet little thing,

He’s my pride and joy

He’s my sweet little baby,

He’s my little lover boy.”

You laughed into the mic as you sang and Riley jumped right into the next verse. He sang the second chorus, looking over to you as he led you into the solo. You took a step back from the microphone and towards the bassist, leaning into him as you played. He laughed at your antics, leaning forward as well while his fingers continued to move on the fretboard. Dylan was giggling as she tried to keep time with you both, always finding your performance hilarious. Being on stage seemed to bring out an entirely new side of you, but it was fantastic for them to see. You had a passion for performing, and if you could, you would stay on stage and sing until your lungs gave out. It was getting up there that was the trouble, and never anything that came after.

You both moved back to the microphones to finish the song, singing the lyrics together for the finale. When you plucked the final note, you barely had time to comprehend the loss of the music before cheers erupted from the side stage. You looked over at the group of boys, skin still tingling with the euphoric feeling of playing live music. Aaron gave you a thumbs up, happy with the sound and signalling that you guys were good. You placed your guitar back on it’s stand, rushing off to meet the group waiting for you. “We sound okay?” You asked, looking between them with a hopeful gleam in your eye.

“Okay?” Sam scoffed.

“Try amazing.” Josh corrected.

“Three man band really is all you need.” Danny smiled.

“Stevie Ray Vaughan?” Jake questioned, an eyebrow raised. The entire group turned to look at him, wondering if he was really going to critique the performance.

“Yeah,” you breathed, suddenly feeling nervous. ‘Was it that bad?’ You thought to yourself, shifting your weight on your feet.

“You have to be one phenomenal guitarist to pull that off.” He said, gaze still lingering over your face. He had a far away look in his eye, like his mind was completely elsewhere. “I think that you played it even better than he did. That was fantastic, Gold Dust Woman.” The term of endearment slipped out, like a little secret he’d been burying for a lifetime was finally too strong to withstand. He was too in love with you to notice, and you were too ecstatic to care. Hearing such a compliment from Jake was more intoxicating than any kind of substance you could use. You wished you could live in the cloud of elation from his words forever.

Before you could speak to thank him, you were being pulled in another direction from a set of unfamiliar hands. The event staff was whisking you away to your dressing room, but you weren’t ready to leave. You wanted to tell him how much his compliment meant to you, to stay and admire his beauty for just a moment longer. Looking at Jake was like wishing upon a shooting star; normally, your hopes felt feeble, but the sight of him before you served as a reminder that all dreams could come true if you wished hard enough. Before you were completely out of reach, he managed to reach for your hand and give it a gentle squeeze. Your fingers broke from him while still caught in a plea for more, but you had things to do that did not include his company.

“Gold Dust Woman?” Dylan asked, both her and Riley following along close behind you. The staff directed you into a dressing room, stating that this would be yours and your stylist would join you shortly. “Did the name come from him, or does he call you that because of the name?”

“Lines a little blurred there, honestly. I couldn’t tell you.” You shrugged, stepping inside the room. Riley went his separate way, being led down the hallway to a different area. But Dylan wasn’t one to quit, never leaving your side until you were unable to escape her.

“Come on, y/n.” She pried, a laugh stuck in her throat.

“Yes, the name came from him.” You snipped, taking a seat on the couch. She sat beside you, kicking her feet up on the table sitting in front of her and making herself at home.

“I thought you and Sam were a thing. Doesn’t it bother him that you named your band after Jakes nickname for you?” It was your turn to laugh, the question so incredibly hard to answer that it was more humorous than anything.

“Yes, Sam and I are a thing.” You said, sinking down into the cushions. She watched, waiting for you to continue. When you didn’t, her eyes widened in shock.

“Him, too?”

“Him first, actually.” You muttered. “It’s all so fucked up.

“They’re brothers,” she said, looking off into the distance as she processed the information. “Promiscuous.” She giggled, looking back at you. “Good for you.”

“No, not good.” You chuckled, still finding her jokes funny despite the twisted premise of the conversation. “It’s a mess, and I don’t know how to get out of it.”

“Clearly, if you named the band after him.” She let out another giggle, shaking her head at the new information as she reiterated her point. “You’re a smart girl. You’ll figure it out.” She assured you.

“Haven’t felt very smart lately.” You sighed as you looked up at her. She gave a sympathetic nod, but wasn’t anywhere near ready to end the conversation yet.

“They’re cute, so you have that going for you at least.” You both shared a laugh, unable to refute the fact. “How long?”

“Couple months.”

“And you’ve been keeping it a secret from me for that long?” She feigned a look of hurt.

“Guess I thought if I didn’t talk about it, it would work itself out. I was wrong.”

“It’s okay to be wrong sometimes. Happens to all of us.” She shrugged. “I thought Gold Dust Woman came from your love for Fleetwood Mac. I was wrong. Very wrong.” You both divulged into another laugh, one that made your stomach ache and your lungs desperate for oxygen.

“Which one are you in love with?” She asked, ceasing her laughter but holding her smile. You looked up to meet her eyes, unable to give her the proper answer. “I mean, whichever one you choose should be the one you fell in love with. After this long, you should know that by now.”

“Both of them.” You mumbled, looking to your hands in your lap. “I love them both, for completely different reasons.”

“Ouch,” she winced, not expecting the bluntness of your words. “That makes it tough, then.”

“You have no idea.” You replied, cut off by a body entering the room carrying two large suitcases worth of supplies.

“Alright, y/n?” The unknown woman asked, eyes drifting between you both. You raised your hand, giving her a smile. “You’re up first for makeup and wardrobe.”

“I’ll leave you to it.” Dylan slapped her hands to her thighs before making a move to stand. You gave her an apologetic smile, but she was out the door before she even noticed. You turned your attention to the girl you had yet to be introduced to, giving her a warm grin, excited for what she had in store for you.

She ushered you over to the chair on the other side of the room. You took a seat, but didn’t speak a word until she got a good look at you, familiarizing herself with your face. “I’m your stylist. Specifically yours, but I do work with Greta’s team occasionally. I’m Rachel.” She hummed, running her fingers through your hair.

“Nice to meet you.” You said, looking at your reflection in the mirror while she studied you. You could already tell you were going to like her; she had an exuberant attitude that drew you in, even with her minimal conversation.

“I have lots of stuff planned for you, but I want to hear your thoughts.” She said, pulling another chair up beside you. She took a seat, leaning back and watching your face. “What do you want to look like? Who do you want to be when you get up on that stage?” You pondered her words, thinking hard about the personality you wanted to encase.

“Confident. I want to be me, but just more confident.” You deducted. “Don’t have a whole lot of that normally, so I want something to make me look like I am. Maybe I’ll actually feel it once I get out there.” She nodded as you spoke.

“I like it.” She smiled. “Are you a bold colour type of person, or do you like darker?”

“Darker clothes usually, but I don’t mind a bit of excitement.” She chuckled.

“You’re comfortable with makeup?” You nodded. She repeated your action, standing once again. “Alright, I think I’ve got it figured out.”

She got to work, starting with your makeup. You made as much small talk as the situation would allow, but mostly just enjoyed being pampered. It was something you had never experienced before, and you were enjoying being able to sit back and relax while somebody else was doing the brainstorming for the final look. She was agile with her hands, quick at her job and damn good at it, too. When she finished your makeup, she took a step back for you to admire the sight. You had a black smokey eye, bold and yet elegant looking. It was complimented by a precise wing of gold eyeliner that made your eyes stand out. Deep contour and a dusty blush plastered your cheeks, and your lips shined with a glossy glow. Where highlighter usually sat, she had arranged a few gold star stickers that shimmered under the light. Your eyebrows were done neatly and false eyelashes sat on your eyelids.

You barely recognized yourself; you felt more beautiful than you ever had before. The makeup was heavy, but somehow looked natural, like your face was meant to house such a statement. When you looked to her with a gleam in your eye, you didn’t even have to tell her how good she did. It was written all over your expression. She got you into your outfit next, saving your hair for last. She helped you into the unfamiliar clothes, fixing a shirt on you that would certainly catch attention. It was a metallic gold tank top with only one strap. It was asymmetrical, coming down further on the opposite side of the strap and sitting above your hip on the other. She used a few safety pins to hold the fabric to your bra, ensuring it wouldn’t slip out of place. You out on a pair of black pants that were tight, hugging every inch of your skin and complementing the right spots.

“Heels or no?”

“Yeah, I’m good with heels.” You agreed. You wore them often enough to be comfortable in them all night without worry. She found a pair of black leather boots with a thicker heel to make you as comfortable as possible. You changed from your regular shoes into the new pair before checking yourself in the mirror.

You were baffled at your reflection; you had no idea you could look so enchanting with such little work. It seemed like she completely transformed you into the most stunning version of yourself. “Alright, hair and then we’re done.” She smiled. You took a seat back in the chair and watched as she searched for the tools she needed. She took little time running a curling iron through the locks of your hair with ease. She clipped them as she curled, wanting them to keep their shape while she worked. Once she finished, she brushed through the ringlets with her fingers, breaking them up as they formed into one solid wave. She doused it with hairspray to hold it there, and then spritzed some glitter into the strands so it would glisten under the stage light. “What do you think?”

“I… I don’t even know what to say.” You gave a small laugh, inspecting your reflection intently. “I don’t even recognize myself. It’s… ethereal.”

“It’s all you, Gold Dust Woman. You just look the part, now.” She grinned, making a move to pack up her things. You knew that she had called you that because of the name of your band, but you couldn’t help but feel a tingle down your spine at the term. Jake had done fantastically at sedimenting himself into your thoughts, making himself inescapable even when the situation had nothing to do with him. “I have to get started with Dylan, but if you need me I’ll just be in her room.”

“Yeah, okay.” You nodded, still breathless at the glamorous nature of your presentation. “Thank you.” She filtered out of the room, bags rustling as she struggled to keep them all in her arms. After a few more moment of admiration for her work, you decided to explore the place a bit more.

You stepped into the hallway, peering around for a familiar face. You heard the sound of music lingering through the air, figuring the boys were still amidst their own sound check. Instead of waiting around, you walked towards the door that led to the main building in hopes of locating a bar. You snuck into the next hallway, looking around curiously at the unfamiliar territory. It was silent, seemingly no bodies present in the area, but you continued on your search anyway. You broke into a main entrance, sunlight beaming through the panel windows. Chatter sounded from a distance, and you noticed a sign on the wall displaying directions. You let out a noise of triumph, following the arrow that was pointing to a bar.

When you presented yourself in front of the counter, there were a few people bustling behind it and making small talk amongst themselves. When they noticed your presence, a younger man walked to greet you. “Was hoping there was a bar here. Otherwise I would have looked quite ridiculous walking around for nothing.” You grinned.

“Where there’s music there’s alcohol, right?” He chuckled.

“Right.” You agreed. “Double rum and coke, please.” You pulled a twenty from the back of your phone case, ready to pay him, but he seemed immersed in the details of your face.

“You’re part of the opening act, right?”

“Yeah, that’s my band.” You smiled, nodding your head towards the tour posters splayed across the walls.

“So, was that you I heard singing earlier?” He raised an eyebrow. You scanned his expression, noticing his eyes were laced with flirtatious undertones. He wasn’t bad looking; in fact, he was quite handsome, but you were in no position to entertain a third pursuer. Not that he could ever compare to the two boys you had already fallen for, anyway.

“It was.” You nodded, keeping the smile on your lips. Entertaining was different than enjoying, after all, and you could definitely enjoy it without intent for more. “Did I sound good?”

“Don’t know why you’re not headlining.” He responded, his voice dropping slightly as he poured the liquor into your cup. “Pretty face, pretty voice. You’ve got it all.” Under all of the makeup, you felt your cheeks heat with a blush. He sat your drink on the counter and you tried to pass him the money to pay. “This one’s on me,” he said, refusing to accept the bill. “As long as you come back and say hi before the night ends.”

“I guess I’ll have to.” You grinned, taking a sip from the straw. “Thank you.” He grabbed a pen and quickly jotted something down on a napkin. He slid it your way before speaking again.

“If you’re around town after the show and looking for some sights to see, give me a call. I make a great tour guide.”

“I’ll certainly keep that in mind.” You grinned before uttering a small goodbye. You followed the same path back to the backstage entrance. As you made your way back to your room, your stomach sank with disappointment in yourself for flirting back with the bartender, even knowing how in love you were with Jake and Sam both. Even so, you couldn’t help but notice the carefree nature you had during the interaction; it was nice flirting with someone other than the two boys. It was easy, no crushing guilt nor worry for repercussions about your actions. You’d spent so long tangled within the Kiszka web that you forgot how simple love could be, and the realization was horrible to feel.

Amidst loving both of them so deeply, you had forgotten the ease and carelessness that came before them. You adored them, and knew that what you felt for them was true, but the pain from loving them was hard to handle sometimes. It wasn’t hard enough to want to stop, but it was definitely painful enough to make you wish for something easier by times.

You rounded the corner into your dressing room, stopping with a shock when you noticed the body present on your couch. He looked up from his phone with a smile on his lips as he prepared to greet you. Once his eyes landed on you, he couldn’t seem to find the words he wanted to say. At the sight of him, your previous thoughts dissipated instantly, only leaving a residual sense of guilt behind. The phone number in your pocket was meaningless; no matter how difficult loving them could be, nobody else could ever make you feel the same way that the brothers could. “Hi, Sammy.” You breathed, suddenly nervous just from his presence. Even in his street clothes, completely relaxed and careless, he was stunning.

“Hello, Gorgeous.” He greeted you in the same awestruck tone, a smile tugging at his lips. “Or Gold Dust Woman, rather.” He corrected. You forced a smile onto your lips, worried that his words were hidden with hurt from Jake’s term of endearment, but he didn’t seem to be upset at all. Perhaps he was just referring to the band name. You had gotten yourself in quite a bind by naming the band after Jake’s favourite nickname for you, but it felt so right at the time that you couldn’t seem to refute the idea.

“Like the new look?” You asked, moving towards him. He stood, ready to greet you as you approached. Once you were within reach, you placed your drink down on the table and he snaked his hand to your waist, pulling you into him.

“Love it, actually.” He brought his other hand to your cheek, fingers gently brushing against your skin as they moved under the hair framing your face. Your eyes fluttered closed at the touch, an involuntary reaction prompted by the blissful feeling of his skin on your own. “I think I’d like it more if we took the clothes off.” He added, the hand on your hip tightening more as he spoke. You felt a flutter in your stomach, unable to fight the rush of emotion that arose from his statement.

“Behave yourself, Sam.” You scolded, but a smile was growing on your lips.

“Where’s the fun in that?” He was smiling, too. His face was just hovering over your own, his lips dangerously close to yours. Too close to resist. “I’m sure your stylist wouldn’t mind fixing you up again. If we locked the door, nobody would ever know.”

“Don’t want to ruin her hard work.”

“Can I at least get a rain check for the hotel?” You could practically feel his lips on yours, his close proximity being the only thing you could think of.

“You know my room number.” You said, leaning forward and bridging the gap between you. He responded enthusiastically, happy that you made the move. Although you denied him sex, you weren’t willing to deny him everything all at once. You parted your lips slightly, deepening the kiss. The longer you kissed him, the more you were willing to agree to his suggestion of locking the door. When you parted from him, you were both breathless with stars dancing in your eyes. “Is that my good luck for tonight?”

“You don’t need any luck,” he brushed your comment off. “Not with that much talent.”

“So it was just an invitation for later.” You laughed.

“Yeah, exactly.” He agreed, pulling you in for another kiss. It was short, but sweet and filled with love. You both had become experts at saying I love you without uttering a word. “They opened the doors not too long ago, so you guys will be up soon.”

“Okay,” you heard his words, but didn’t really register the meaning. You were too immersed in his company to care about what was to come next.

“I don’t want to distract you for too long.” He mumbled, letting his thumb drift over the exposed skin on your neck. “Just wanted to tell you that you’re going to do great. The kiss was just a bonus.”

“I think another one would be even better.” You crooned. He let out a low chuckle, agreeing with you but not willing to give in. “Just for a little extra luck.”

“Well, if that’s the case…” he trailed off, leaning down and pulling you into one last kiss. You held him to you, enjoying the moment too much to let it slip away so soon. You let out a hum of pleasure against him, letting him know just how much you appreciated his company.

You were so lost in him that when a sharp knock on the door sounded, you nearly jumped out of your skin in fear. You jumped away from him, much like a kid who was showing guilt for doing something mischievous. Although your entanglement was known to many, you still felt that pestering need to hide it. You turned, nearly vibrating with anxiety, to see who was at the door. When your eyes landed upon the intruder, your stomach sank. Jake was standing in the doorway, face stoney and eyes glossed over with a type of pain that was impossible to conceal. You had forgotten about his promise to visit you before the concert. You had forgotten about your own rule of keeping your relationships with them separate. You had welcomed Sam and disregarded Jake once again, and this time it seemed like it had devastated him even more so than the last.

Sam could sense the tension, also appearing sheepish for being caught. It served little comfort to know that neither seemed like they were in a rush to leave. “Wardrobe, Sam. They’ve been looking for you for ten minutes.” His tone was strong, his sentences short. His chest was aching at the thought of Sam loving you in the same way he did. Knowing it was one thing, and seeing it was another, even more horrible thing.

“Sorry,” he cleared his throat. He omitted any type of goodbye, but did brush hands with you on his way by as a silent show of apology. Jake barely moved out of the way to let him by, causing Sam to bump Jake’s shoulder with his own. When he disappeared around the corner, you were at a loss for words to express your remorse.

“Came by to make sure you were doing okay. Guess he beat me to it.” He gave a tight lipped smile, showing no emotion as he spoke, but you knew how much it was bothering him. “You seem to be doing more than alright.”

“Jake, I’m sorry.” You pleaded, desperate to make up for the mishap somehow. You took a step towards him, but he took a step back. He didn’t want it, and you didn’t want to push him. As he scuttled away from you, his eyes landed on something on the floor. He leaned down and picked it up, eyes dusting over the words written on the paper. The napkin with the bartenders phone number had slipped from your pocket, but the innocent interaction seemed to come back just to bury you within the grave.

“You really have been busy tonight.” He hummed, looking back to you and extending his arm for you to grab the napkin. “Better give the ‘handsome bartender’ a call, just to make sure he doesn’t feel left out, too.” He didn’t intend to sound so rude, but he didn’t know how else to respond to the situation. You snatched the napkin, frantically reading over the message the nameless boy wrote.

“This?” You said, crumpling it and throwing it in the garbage. “Is nothing. If I can swear to anything, it’s that.” You came off stronger than intended, your desperation evident and very unflattering. “I’m not calling him, Jake. I call you, I want to see you, I like spending time with you. I like you.” You hoped that your profession would serve a purpose, but it only seemed to drive him further away. Perhaps if you were able to speak the true sentiments that you had for him, it would have made the difference.

“And Sam, y/n. Can’t forget about him.” He reminded, raising an eyebrow at you. You couldn’t find the words to answer, so instead you said nothing. You had never seen Jake look at you with such contempt, and it was killing you. Any thoughts of the simple nature with the bartender were futile. You were certain you would never care this much about another person. You had never before cared enough to want to stop someone from walking away. You were a lot of things, but never one to beg someone to stay. “And it was enough to get you to take his number, though. Two not enough for you anymore?”

“Oh, fuck you, Jake.” You snapped, feeling a bubble of anger rise within you. “You started this and now you want to chastise me for being stuck in the middle? You don’t get to be mad, Jacob. We’ve been over this.” Your defensive response was not what was needed to diffuse the situation, and you could tell that it did nothing but worsen the tension. Jake gave a slow nod of his head, wondering if you were going to say anything else. When you stood, staring with fire dancing in your eyes, he spoke again.

“You’re gonna do great tonight, y/n.” He said as monotone as he could. He thought if he had the ability to properly express himself, he might be able to put the suffering to an end. The first time was child’s play, a superficial scrape in comparison to the stab that came with this one. Before, it was easy to digest the knowledge of you loving Sam. Now, it was excruciating. Everything was easier to overcome when love wasn’t a question, but once the dreaded feeling settled in and seemed to want to stay, the pain seemed to hurt just a little bit worse each time.

“Wait, I’m sorry. Jake, please.” You took another step towards him, hoping he would stay long enough for you to talk to him.

“You look beautiful.” He added, turning away from you. “You really fit the part, Gold Dust Woman.” He muttered to himself, shaking his head as he walked away. You stepped into the hallway to follow, but instead, you watched him walk away. You knew there was no way to stop his hurt; that ache in his chest was all too familiar, and the only thing that would put an end to it was a decision that you weren’t ready to make. As much as you wanted to take his pain away, you needed to understand that sometimes it was impossible, especially in that moment, because you were the one causing it. It was horrible knowing that you wanted to give him the world, but you were the sole reason he couldn’t have it.

You didn’t have time to dwell because your bandmates had crowded behind you, jittering with excitement and eager to see your outfit. In hopes to tend to your own wounds, you retired to your dressing room with the other two in tow. You drank away your sorrow as your friends expressed their feelings about performing, and after a while, you managed to find the strength to speak, too. When the time to perform drew near, the staff came to explain how it would work and give you instructions and cues to remember. You were so nervous by the time you were supposed to get on stage that your interaction with Jake had floated to the back of your mind. Your stylist came to touch up makeup, and the three of you were sent to side-stage.

You had your eyes closed intermittently as you walked to the curtain, blocking out the world and repeating encouragements in your head to overshadow any doubt. As you opened your eyes and exhaled the breath you were holding, you took a look around your surroundings. When you turned your head back towards the hallway, you felt like you had been punched in the stomach. Jake was placed perfectly against the wall in plain sight. He had a smile on his lips and his arm slung around the waist of an unfamiliar woman. In an instant, you were brought back to your own garage, drunk off cheap vodka and grief over your non-existent relationship with Sam Kiszka. It only took one smile with hidden implications to send you into a downward spiral of despair. One touch that was bordering the line of innocence shattered your confidence, leaving you choking down the suffocating feeling of not being good enough. His fingers lingering on her waist were grounds to drive you to insanity. You felt like you were going to be sick.

As if he knew you were watching, like he knew you were there and hurting over his careless behaviour, he looked up and caught your eyes. He let his stare captivate you for a moment too long before a smile graced his lips, proving that his motive was solely to piss you off. He was intentional about his actions, and covering his own hurt in the only way he knew how: shutting down and pushing you away. It was soul-crushing, the way he protected himself, because it was the exact same thing that you had learned to do. He didn’t break your stare until the woman let out a giggle and wiggled further into his arms.

“You look like you’re going to throw up.” Dylan said, worry evident in her tone.

“I’m good.” You assured her, swallowing down your momentary distaste for Jake. If he wanted to play with fire, he was asking to get burned. “Let’s put on a hell of a fucking show.” You said, staring straight faced at the instruments that awaited your hands.

“You guys are on.” Aaron ordered, cutting your conversation short. You shared a look between your bandmates, feigning confidence as you emerged onto the stage. You pushed the thought of Jake as far down as you could, ignoring the searing sensation left in its place. Your entire body felt like it was on fire, ignited with rage over his childish tactics.

The spotlight beamed down on you, nearly blinding you as it illuminated your face. You picked up the Gold Top, taking your place by the microphone as your friends situated themselves with their own instruments. “Hello, Atlanta!” Riley boomed into the microphone. He was met with cheers from the crowd. Thousands of people were staring up at you, curious about who you were and what you had to offer. “It’s great to be here. We’re new at this, so please be patient with us while you wait for the main event.” Laughter filled the air, easing your erratic heartbeat.

“If you don’t know who we are, I really hope you will after tonight.” You smiled into the mic, eyes drifting over nameless faces. Another wave of applause filled the stadium.

“There’s no better way to introduce ourselves than by honouring the woman who started it all: Stevie Nicks.” Riley said, looking to you. “Take it away, Gold Dust Woman.” You smiled at his introduction, immediately looking down at your hands and plucking the first notes to the infamous song.

Muscle memory guided you through the cover of the song you held so dearly to your heart, but the lyrics served no comfort as you sang. You took the stage by storm, breaking out of your shell and singing the anthem of the band, the anthem perfect for a woman who was as despicable as you, but there was still some habits that you couldn’t seem to break. Every face in the crowd seemed to morph into Jake’s, and your lungs burned with anguish at the sight. No matter how hard you tried to forget him, he seemed to want to invade every possible aspect of your life until there was nothing left to overtake. You loved him dearly, but it was at a cost too high to afford; you were losing your sanity, and he was just happy that it was at his own hands rather than his brothers. Your twisted game only seemed to become more sick as time passed.

But, the blame was not on Jake alone. You would not have taken the name Gold Dust Woman had it not fit the narrative. You would not be a Gold Dust Woman if not for your deepest desires being the exact things that would inevitably destroy you in the end.

Rock on Ancient Queen

TAGLIST: @itsdannysworld @gretavansara @jaketlove @laneygvf @freefallthoughts @psychedelicsprinkles @idontwannabeherenow @joshysgirl @sanguinebats @objectsinspvce @klarxtr @sinarainbows @jakesmustache

[hinacu-arts]

Tags That Made Me Smile 2023 — Part 1 (Jan-June)

Ive collected so many of my "Tags That Made Me Smile List" that i wont be posting it annually this year, its going to be at least biannually (although a good portion of this list is actually random comments in the author notes/lines and not tags 🤣)

[2022's List] [2021's List]

.

Not Fandom Specific

if they seem ooc at times (to YOU) just ignore it... i know Them

“It’s impossible to figure out comic book timelines” - people who are not me and who I cannot relate to

im ace but i tried my damnest to emulate allo behaviour

canon is nothing more than the sandbox in which I choose to build my castle

Not canon, not fanon, but some other third thing (my love for extravagant world building)

fan fiction vs foe fiction

bro we are teens its ok to be vunerable in front of me #now we are kissing bro dont stop

They have my mind on fucking speed dial i stg

intentional miscommunication in the name of fuckery

Cheesy romance taken seriously

The universe frantically consults the rule book while fate runs off with their action figures

getting a toddler dumped on you by your ex’s ex

“I’m not dying without kissing you” #And then they don’t die #And It’s all quite awkward

"Now if you'll excuse me… Tonight's bad decision isn't going to make itself."

“What’s a ‘boyfriend’? And why am I yours?”

“It has come to my attention that you are, unfortunately, my favorite person on this planet.”

i’m staring at the ceiling fighting the urge to kick you -a love story

Accidental Soul-Bonding oops

Enemy to Caretaker

Wooing via Prank War

Allegedly Platonic Kissing

Fandom Specific

These are ordered by the chronological order of which fandom i was reading at the time

Wednesday

werewolves mate for life

The Gomezification of Wednesday Addams

Legend of Zelda

Hi my name is Link and Welcome to Jackass

Link and Sidon both get a little bit gay: The Chapter

Gerudo Vai Outfit shenanigans

DC x Danny Phantom

Danny is the Tom Bombadil of Superheroes

Jack Fenton’s ability to casually Cool-Aid-Man his way through walls is a symptom of ectoplasm exposure

Skulker, No Skulking!

Danger Twink!Danny Fenton

Red Hood: Civilian Edition

inception—magic school bus version

a guy on staff so adorable it triggers Jason’s fight or flight response

Jason gets diagnosed with "bro your ectoplasm is fucked up" disease

Inspired by Hallmark Christmas Movies #But make it Halloween #where Tim Drake finds out the true meaning of love and Halloween #a true Rom-Com that's just a lil spooky

keeps the Hallmark themes of anti-capitalism #Vlad is the capitalism

pit is gone #raging anger has been replaced with raging hormones

All the (pit) rage he felt at the Joker for killing him is now being redirected and funneled into admiration/gratitude for the guy who did kill Joker

What is a murderer, a maker of ghosts, to the king of ghosts, but a faithful servant?

“Hood, your boyfriend's haunted!”

batman looked at gotham and said "i can fix her" #gotham looked at batman and said "i can make him worse"

Various DC Media

DC stands for Disregard Canon

Pining batman? more like Down Badman

Fortress of Sulkitude

Hurricane Dick and smaller Tropical Storm Damian

Tim finds his missing spleen #:)

just two dudes chillin' in a sleeping bag zero feet apart because Bart stole the other one

Kon's jacket #(it's made from boyfriend material)

Batfam? Bat colony? #how exactly do you to refer to the fascinating taxon that is Tim's family

Breaking the laws of Nature with sheer fucking will and bullshit circumstance (Time and Dimension Travel)

"Ha! Ive been sleeping in his bed for years, i no longer register as a threat"

Let it not be said that Bruce Wayne is a coward. A fool, perhaps, but never a coward.

"This is not very slay of you Tim" Bruce said

[spectacular-skywalker]

Time for my DWTS thoughts!! S33 Ep2

Spoilers BTC and a lot of typos (sorry!)

okay oscars night yayyy i like the lineup so far and also i would bet money that illona does the dirty danving lift

YAY Jen first okay first of all this song makes me think of Riker Lynchs dance to the same song many seasons ago. And that dance WAS SO GOOD so unfortunately I am comparing them subconsciously. Okay first of all the pink! pop off HMMM that beginning was strange to me, also its wayyy too fast imo, idk if they can choose the speed also choreo not my fav but its not Jens fault (im looking at you sasha) the scores, i hate to say it but i think its deserved

AWWWWW britt is so sweet and this is actually making me emotional BRITTS DRESS IS GORGEOUS YES GO ERIC that was actually beautiful DEREK WHAT YOU HORRIBLE MAN OMG WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT the audible gasp that came out of my mouth dude

Dannys lucky because he has whitney as a partner whitney hot as usual better facials , props, he needs cleener lines man, but he kept up well so good aw he looks so happy (ps i hate top gun)

poor ezra, okay heres my take on anna no i dont think she should be on the show, however im not going to be an asshole because shes here. honestly i think shell go one of these first weeks because people wont vote, so im going to watch and just vibe i do agree, she did pretty okay but she needs more energy/emotions

REGINALDDDD geez derek what are you on tonight

chandler chandler i love you BEAUTIFUL GORGEOUS AMAAING shes going to go all the way omg this is actuallt so beautiful my only thing is she mightve needed more hip action?? i feel like rumbas have alot of hip we'll see what the judges say SHE WAS made for dancing she did make it look easy shes so real

i love reginald hes so cute AHAHA hes so funny emmas dress is gorg go dude go, so far im really proud wtf feel from the ceiling in the beginning tho (ive never seen die hard) carrie ann is so right steven next hes so fun DEREK WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU

i forget steven has so much muscle i am a person who thinks tha tsteven is more of a peter parker than superman BUT THAT WAS SO GOOD overall that was really good and hes so entertaining i do feel like he has trouble getting back into hold sometimes but thats hardly a concern okay yes Bruno i agree, just a bit more finesse that was the best fucking answer stephen could you get any better

w song for jenna, shes so beautiful lady gaga supremacy oh dude chill out its a dance and you have to act sorry hes just a normal guy i need to be more forgiving his ryhthm seems off, but could jsut be me

phaedra did good still needs a bit of tecnique refinement but overall that was super good

some of toris spins were super nice but not enough content

first of city of stars slaps second daniella is so smart that was super super good like that frame was better than some of these guys who have normal heights so real bruno that spin was gorgeous

imma be honest yall i dont like brooks, idk she irks me therfor i will not comment a lot "so connected" omg rme theyre definetley fucking wait that was actually good i like how i said im not gonna comment alot and here i am BRUNO AH OMG it was good in hold, her lines were nice gleb fucked upp cause he very distracted wink wink AHAH ezra and rylee in the back

YASSSSS ILONA i lover herrrr also the lfit fucked up the thing a littl but she got back on track overall good much better and shes seems so HAPPY ilona is iconic she was much lighter on her feet this week

hmmm im conflicted im thinking anna and eric ohhhh i was wrong aw jennas oh thats us LOL i hope tori goes sorry not sorry i liek reginal wayyy more YAS aw i like pasha poor ezra

okay earlier i was being sympathetic with anna but with that final response its an absolute know (im sorry im a hypocrite)

[badbanaynas]

SINCE IM HERE i wann agive my raw quick match ratings/thoughts!!!

willow / ishii vs kris / stoke: so fun!! i wish we had more intergender fighting , but tony is coward so... 💫💫.5

latter match: LOVE.. i love the wackiness of latter matches, i loveed loved loved lucha in it i love how much they're dragging out the eventual moment lucha eats christiAN. i also liked that pac, yuta, and claudio won, very different and fun! 💫💫💫💫

gauntlet match: this was pretty fun too! was hoping jay white would show up but ALAS... i was really into christian running in for another chance at a belt because he CANNOT be beltless. it was awesome.. i love him.. AND LUCHA....AUGH...i kno there was some disappointment that hangman didn't win but i also think there's this shared idea that hangman is the main character of the show and deserves everything.. like no he dont! he's MEAN! and there's a story being told with him obviously, it wasnt this one. 💫💫

tony vs mariah: this shit was SO GOOD, i dont know why it was SO early in the show tho? they def should have switched slots with the tbs match...anyways it was pretty emotional , the way it PAINED toni to fight mariah.. she still loves her despite it all, and mariah feels nothing.. YES! 💫💫💫💫

jericho vs hook: why do we keep letting jericho have matches in the main show? why don't we zero hour this bitch and eliminate him once and for ALL...? dont get me started on hook.. he's just not good, he has NO juice. there's no reason to want him to win his belt besides the fact that his dad created it. and if its so important to uphold the family legacy then why not.. like make it important? why not have taz be like ' im gonna disown you if you lose this belt again' or something? there's NO stakes and hook suplexes like he's gonna leap out of the ring bc he has NO CONTROL CAUSE HE'S FUCKING 2 PPOUNDS BUT FIGHTS LIKE HE's JUICED. i DID like him throwing the cricket balls tho, that was really funNY. 💫.5

bucks vs ftw vs acclaimed: daddy ass looked SO CUUUTEE ^_^! (NO STARS)

mjf vs ospreay: 90% of this match felt like we were in the middle of a commercial break... why were they on the ground so much. why where they SO WINDED.. very boring, ospreay's ADVERTISEMENT entrance STUNK as well. this whole feud just could have not happened and i think things would have been fine....see in the jericho and hook match i can at least name a moment i thought was fun .. not so much this match, just a whole DUD..glad we got to see danny again tho, i know he WILL SLAY. 💫

britt vs mercedes: i anticipated this one the most cause i wanted to see if mercedes could carry britt to a decent match.. but it seems when you're working with someone as limp as THE DENTIST , it's just impossible. i feel bad for mercedes because she deserves better than to have the DMD thrown onto her lap like that. im glad she retained but i dont think these two will have another feud for a while...TO THE PERFORMANCE CENTER BRITTANY!! 💫 ( all stars are for merecedes)

jack vs darby: UGHH i wanted to love this one but it was just too short! this felt like being edged and then just getting over with the rest.. everything that happened was fun and good but it all just hAPPENED AND THEN ENDED. i dont like darby at all, but it didnt make darby look too good. he wasnt the challenge that he made himself out to be.. i dont blame either men because i truly think they were just rushed for time , because that's what it felt like. i am glad jack retained tho, he deserves it! i rthink the moment where the crowd starts doing his lil emote with him over the pile of glass was beautiful. a nice contrast to where he was last year at this time! im looking forward to who challenges him next, and i hope we see him more on tv now. >_> 💫💫

swerve vs brian: AUGH......SO GOOOD... swerve looked very pretty tonight, i loved his hair cuffs! bryan as always, just knows how to play a crowd he's a sicko that lives off upsetting people and i think thts really great :-)!! im glad bryan won, but i cant help but feel so sad when seeing swerve on the ground like that.. i wish swerve could have retained but i think thats what makes the match really good. you pick someone to root for and you can root for either of them honestly, both are great.. im glad it was bryan he lost the belt to than hangman honestLY...deducting points for no shaka khan tho... 💫💫💫💫

[heartsoulspiritelite]

Eddie Kingston x Daniel Garcia

Summary-

He did exactly what he said he was gonna do. Did you doubt him? Well sucks to fucking suck. He beat Claudio, He's done with him. Eddie Kingston. Mad King. Is the ROH World and NJPW Strong Openweight Champion, and he did it infront of his people.

But even on one of the best days of his life he can never seem to catch a break from the boy.

~

Pretty boy

He's literally the fucking king of New York, He did exactly what he said he was gonna do. Did you doubt him? Well sucks to fucking suck. He beat Claudio, He's done with him. Eddie Kingston. Mad King. Is the ROH World and NJPW Strong Openweight Champion, and he did it infront of his people.

But even on one of the best days of his life he can never seem to catch a break from the boy, he doesnt really mind it actually, the boys pretty, he really is but Eddie would rather fucking die than admit that to literally ANYONE.

Eddie finally got back to the hotel, The traffic held him back for like 30 minutes, So reaching the hotel was relief.

He unlocked the door once he fetched his key card from his back pocket, Now you may ask, Why the hell is he staying at a hotel when he is quite literally from New York. Well who would want to make a nearly 40 minute drive to Yonkers when he could crash a hotel and leave in the morning, and plus with the traffic and shit. He would have fell asleep and yknow.. that wouldn't end well.

Taking off his shoes and throwing his suitcase to god knows where. He stripped down and took a very much needed hot ass shower.

After about 30 minutes of staring into space he turned off the water and got out of the shower, being careful to not to fall and stares at himself in the foggy bathroom mirror. He looks quite rough doesnt he? Why does the kid have such a fasincation with him?

He changes into his clothes after he dries off and leaves the bathroom to check his phone.

Of course theres a text message from the one and only Daniel Garcia. He forgot how he got his contact info but honestly he doesnt care whatsoever.

Danny- Hey

He was quite awkward at some points, He never really expresses himself to Eddie, its odd.

Eddie- Rooms 114, come up.

It doesnt take very long for Danny to show up. Before he knows it, theres a knock at his door. He goes to open it and see's the younger man looking quite nervous.

"Hey pretty boy" He greets him calmly while inviting him in

Danny looks up at him in surprise and smiles slightly

"Hey Eddie" He whispers not looking the man in the eye

"Hey kid, Why're so glum?" he asks while unpacking his suitcase slightly.

"I-Im not" The boy stuttered slightly while staying close to the door trying to appear smaller

The older man looks him up and down and raises a brow.

"Fine, im just- Im proud of you okay, Wait why aren't you telling me to get lost?" He asks utterly confused

Why isn't he? That's the question of the night apparently. He gotten quite fond of the younger man. He doesn't get much affection anymore so its different to have someone who's quite fond of him.

"Listen. I dont fucking know alright. I've gotten quite used to you being here, Its become a routine, not a big fan of change" he simply shrugs

This information seemed to brightened up Danny immediatly.

"Really..?" He asks trying not to smile finally looking eddie fully in the eyes

"Yeah Yeah, come're pretty boy" He replies offering a hug to the beaming boy.

Daniel rushes into his arms finally getting the warmth and comfort he was seeking all this time.

"Im so happy for you, i watched every damn second, never looked away once" Danny says into Eddies chest, not breaking the hug.

He feels the older man smile into his hair.

"Imma need you to stick around for awhile pretty boy" They both know what he means, neither ready to say it yet in the fear of making one another feel uncomfortable.

Danny just hugs him tighter in response.

The boy has an affect on him, He's not mad about it. Tonight really has been a good night.

~

~Cross-posted on wattpad and ao3~

Btw sorry I haven't posted oneshots in awhile

[starry-bi-sky]

#battinson with chronically ill half dead teenager yesssssssss#I'm imagining that first night he brings danny to the cave and hes just internally panicking#like what do i do with this kid. where do i put him. i cant just leave him in the cave. im DEFINITELY not leaving him alone

FRRRR. Like @/that1badassbitch mentioned in the comments, Bruce's thoughts that entire time was just varying pitches of internal screaming. Which I am still wheezing at because yeah, preach. Bruce's pov from the moment Danny accosts him in the alley to him bringing Danny into the cave ranges from awkward panicking, genuine desperation to get this kid some help, a lot of heartbreak on the boy's behalf, and also just pure anger at his godfather.

Cuz like, who the fuck does this?? How dare he. This boy is a child. If it weren't for Danny's genuine terrified pleading, Bruce would've probably had a confrontation with Vlad. He would've lost, considering Vlad's power set and Bruce's lack of and Vlad would have gotten away with Danny. But he would've tried it. (Could've resulted in a spin-off au where Bruce, after losing to Vlad, proceeds to hunt the bastard down to save Danny.)

But yeah, I absolutely, delightfully agree that Battinson is just. internally panicking the entire time. From the rooftops, to the car, to the driving all the way to the cave -- which, after a quick google search, is apparently in an abandoned train depot in Batman (2022). Which is fascinating to me, but I digress. His internal monologue consists of cussing out Danny's godfather, trying to figure out what the poison is, a repetitive use of the word "FUCK", and him going "keep him awake keep him awake keep him aWAKE--"

But like, in a more Bruce Wayne fashion.

Danny is curled up in the passenger seat beside him and Bruce keeps intermittently checking on him every few seconds. Danny just looks like shit, man. Poor kid has a seemingly unending bloody nose, he's coughed a few times already and each time sounds like its shaking through his lungs and taking a piece out. His breathing is hollow, quietly raspy, and Danny sounds like he's gasping each time he breathes in. He's pale, clammy and sweating, but trembling, and his eyes are glazed over, unfocused, and half-lidded.

Dealer's choice here but I'm very amused but also fond of the idea that Bruce, in an attempt to do anything to soothe this kid, panic-clips off his cape and kinda just. throws it at him. Cringes, then awkwardly tries to adjust it so it's laying over him like a blanket.

It works though! Danny, through his haze, cracks a smile at him before grabbing the cape and practically curling around it. He seems to visibly relax, and Bruce silently slumps with relief that his idea worked. I also think he tries to painfully make some sort of small talk but frankly the only valid form of "small talk" he knows is interrogation. Danny's too out of it to mind though.

Bruce asks him if he knows what his godfather used to poison him.

("Blood Bl'ssom.") ("What is that?") ("A k'nda plant. Issa type o' rose.") ("Where can I find one?") ("Y'can't.") (And hear Bruce's blood chills for a moment. "What do you mean?") ("Blossoms went extinct in th- in the 1600s.") ("What? How is that possible? How'd your godfather get his hands on one?") ("Science.")

He also learns that the poison is, horrifyingly, cannibalistic, and Danny reassures him that he kinda stopped feeling the pain a few hours ago. Then he gags on nothing and spirals into an ugly coughing fit. "...Mostly." He adds on.

I have this very vivid mental image of Battinson screeching to a stop in the cave, Alfred's off to the side messing with some prototype gadgets. Bruce's side door swings open and Alfred's in the middle of snarkily asking if he's decided to get a reasonable amount of sleep tonight, only to immediately eat his tongue when Bruce beelines to the other side of the car and frantically pulls a waifish victorian kid with the tuberculosis blood cough to match out of the passenger's side.

("Dear god, what happened!?") ("His godfather poisoned him. I need towels and every medical device we have in here.")

The few photos I could find of the Battinson Cave did not imply there was a gurney in there, so Bruce uses on of the metal tables. He uses one arm to swipe off all the stuff on there onto the floor before laying Danny down.

It's. a very stressful time! That's for sure. Bruce is stuck between trying to get some form of antidote or at the very least a neutralizer to the blood blossom extract made, and also reassuring Danny that he's going to be fine. He's out of his depth.

They do get Danny stabilized though! How? Uh, I hadn't actually been able to think of how up until now, and this is just me trying to throw together an idea up on the fly. But Bruce like, manages to make some kind of 'antidote' that doesn't completely kill the blood blossom extract, but it makes the poison at least forcibly slow down.

[Forced to put a read more because this got SO LONG. oops]

"like what do i do with this kid. where do i put him. i cant just leave him in the cave. im DEFINITELY not leaving him alone" <<< is his sudden internal crisis after Danny's stabilized and passed out on the table. Giving him back to his godfather is completely off the fucking table, and Bruce can't give him up to CPS because there's a risk that he'll also return to his godfather.

He ends up, unsurprisingly to all of us, on deciding to keep Danny with him for the time being. At least until they can get his godfather behind bars. And you're right! Danny can't stay in the cave -- it's a half-furnished, rundown train depot. There's a tetanus shot waiting around each corner. It's Bruce's (reluctant) idea to take him up to the manor.

So Danny wakes up in an incredibly gothic guest bedroom, not feeling 100%, but also not feeling like total death like he did yesterday. He can still feel the blood blossom in him -- it leaves a joint and muscle soreness throughout his whole body, and when he breathes there's a weight there.

His confusion over where he woke up -- because it's very much not Vlad's place -- is overshadowed by his frank awe. You can't tell me he hasn't developed an appreciation and fondness of gothness due to his friendship with Sam. He might not be into it like Sam is, but he can appreciate the beauty when it's right in front of him.

#and hes got that awkward silent staring thing going on. Danny's trying not to die and vlads not there anymore#so hes unbothered by it really

Bruce pulled up a chair next to Danny's bed in the manor and didn't move a single inch the entire time. Just. sat there and stared to make sure the kid didn't stop breathing in the middle of the night. Probably has some facial recognition scanner going to try and figure out Danny's last name -- whether that works or not is dealer's choice frankly.

Either way, Danny turns his head to the left and nearly jumps three feet into the air when he sees Bruce and his 'stares into your soul' blue eyes. Sends him into a minor coughing fit by accident. Battinson very awkwardly and quietly apologizes. danny kinda just waves him off.

That's a whole conversation I'm not gonna go into, but to sum it up Bruce asks how Danny's feeling, and Danny tells him that he feels better, but he can still feel the blood blossom poison. So whatever he did, didn't get rid of all of it. (He's still incredibly fucking grateful nonetheless)

cue that "getting to know you" interrogation stuff.

(Danny can probably keep the full extent of his halfa status a secret from Bruce at first, but he is forced to tell Bruce about the ectoplasm running through him since it's the only reason the blood blossom toxin even works on him. Which results in him telling him a.. slightly omitted version of why he even has that in there in the first place.)

(Maybe he reveals that he was a hero in order to convince Bruce to let him out on the field rather than being just support? I've got ideas and fortunately your tags will help me delve into them)

#alfred pretends to be exasperated that bruce kidnapped a kid but honestly hes relieved#maybe being responsible for someone else will make bruce more responsible for his own health

no notes. just know that i'm wheezing at this. my friend @kingcrow01 had Alfred essentially reacting the same fucking way.

#the media would eat it up are you kidding??? the reclusive prince of gotham seen with a mysterious child???#and theyve both got that sickly pathetic wet cat look to them what with bruce constantly being injured and danny being chronically poisoned

FR! I love social media shenanigans and I love seeing it in fic (Lex Luthor's Ascent From Supervillainy To Fatherhood is a really good example of it imo), although i'm not too good at making it myself. Imagining how twitter in-universe might react to photo evidence of Danny with Bruce is going to fuel my desire for seeing people's reactions to things for ages. I am delighted to imagine that dumpster fire. The in-universe memes, guys.

Nobody has any clue what this mysterious Wayne child looks like for the longest time because Danny follows Bruce's lead and dresses in Anti-Paparazzi Recluse Fits. Mostly because he's the godchild of an equally reclusive and influential billionaire figure, and I imagine Vlad would pitch a media fit trying to find his poor, beloved godson.

Can you imagine the fucking SCANDAL if people found out that Vlad Masters' godson ran off and was currently living with recluse Gotham Prince Bruce Wayne? The tabloids would eat this shit up. It's a three-course meal that's paying their rent for the next three months. That's not even to say what Vlad might do upon finding out Danny's whereabouts.

So yeah, photo evidence of Danny only has shots of him wearing a large hoodie, one of Bruce's jackets, and a medical face mask and a hat. It doesn't hide any of the Sickly Pathetic Wet Cat look, if anything it enhances it. But you can see his bright 'staring into your soul like the oracle of delphi' blue eyes, and the black curls plastering his face, and his pale skin.

In some photos, as blurry as they are, Danny appears to be leaning into Bruce's side, seemingly using him as a support. The "antidote" (medicine?) Bruce created that first night was effective, but it wears off eventually. Before they make his medical bracelets, the both of them agree to use the antidote Bruce made to stave off the worst of the poison.

These photos are taken around the times the antidote was wearing off or had worn off, and the toxin was taking itself out of the backseat and shifting back into high gear. Despite that, Danny managed to convince Bruce to let him tag along on whatever shopping run he was on.

Someone took one of these photos and captioned it "Pathetic Wet Cat and his Sickly Pathetic Wet Kitten" and posted it on SMS. It got numbers.

Oh my god, I just thought of this but when Battinson is finally cornered by reporters asking him about Danny he does this:

he internally panics, and then with a straight face says "i don't know what you're talking about. i don't have a son." and then he Flees.

(this blows up in his face because the reporter he responded to never asked him if Danny was his son, they asked him who the boy seen with him was. Bruce is trending on twitter before he even makes it home. He's mortified. There's potential here for a scene between Bruce and Danny where they have that long-awaited 'are we family?' conversation.)

#i know everyone's focusing on danny working as a hero with batman and his relationships with dick and jason and everyone as the older siblin#but im still stuck on early days batman with a teenager to care for and how that dynamic is going to be SO DIFFERENT#than that same bruce with a 9 year old Dick. like the circumstances are so different and hes never bat-dopted a kid before this

NO BECAUSE YOU GET IT. YOU GET IIIIT! I fucking love older brother danny, however the biggest appeal of the "eldest son danny" idea is in fact how he and bruce's relationship would have to play out in order for that to happen. You could argue that Danny could be an 'older brother figure' to the Robins and still not have any familial affiliation with Batman, but the fact of the matter is, simply? I want that familial affiliation with Bruce. I want to see how that would play out, and how it would develop.

I am. a scientist prodding a little glass stirring rod at the potential family dynamic of Bruce Wayne and Danny Fenton and going, in complete wonderment and awe, "wow. fascinating. how does that work? how did you happen? what made you? how can i do it again?"

I also think there could be something fascinating over the fact that Bruce Wayne watched his parents die in front of him, while Danny's parents don't even know Danny died at all. A (once) child with dead parents, and a dead child with living parents. I think there's something to be explored there, I just haven't yet figured out what.

And yeah! a teen is completely different than an 8 year old. They're in very different developmental stages in their life, and that's not even addressing their lifestyle differences. When I made this prompt I mentally kinda just placed the death of danny's parents as having happened a few months ago. To me, it feels like enough time for Vlad's temperament to escalate from bad to worse, and for him to actually cook up that blood blossom toxin.

Danny's at a different mourning period compared to Dick, who was brought in while it wasn't even a day old. Maybe Danny hasn't had much time to mourn his family as much as he's wanted because he's been stuck in survival mode living with Vlad, and once he feels secure with Bruce he can finally tap into that grief he's been keeping on the backburner.

Lots of things to explore that can adjusted and changed as needed! Very flexible.

All in all though, I am a sucker for found family and in order for Danny to have family in Dick and the others, he needs to find it with Bruce.

#and this one has a crazy demon murder godfather and poison blood and a history of punching otherworldly apocalypse-creatures#into another dimension. no parenting book will help.

no notes here other than yeah, agreed, wheeze. The good news is that he doesn't need to be completely afraid that those otherworldly potential-apocalypse kickstarters will show up at any random point, Because, imo, Danny shut down and destroyed the portal before he could be shipped off in order to prevent anyway (cough-the GIW-cough) from accessing it. Vlad's the only one with a working portal currently and he's not as careless as the fentons are as to keep it open willy-nilly.

now the only thing he needs to worry about is the crazy demon godfather and the flora-boros blood toxin in his son's veins! whoo.

#and like yeah danny will want to help gotham and save people#but honestly? with his new limitations and no expectations from a previous robin do you think he would do it the same way?

I love this question! because honestly when I was initially expanding on this idea on my own, my initial answer was "no" due to the toxin's limitations. I had the same idea as you where Danny takes on a more 'oracle' role where he's not out in the field, but he's still helping behind the scenes. I was torn between "logically would this happen" as well as "chronically ill people aren't delicate flowers, they can do things" and a little dash of "okay but i really want nightingale out in the field"

In the end I decided that I liked the idea of Danny actually out with Bruce, and that as a result there would need to appropriate consequences and drawbacks for this decision.

#idk guys he fights ghosts because no one else can#i think he'd probably play a much more supportive role. at least at first. << you're totally right, too. And Danny's motivations for wanting to help in Gotham would have to be different than in Amity Park. Oooo this has good character growth potential.

Danny helps Amity Park out of a sense of obligation right? Like obviously it's also because he's a good person, but ultimately it kinda comes across as an obligation. He's the only one who can, so he's the one to do it, despite the fact that throughout the show he's shown to want that normal life. There's guilt there if he doesn't do anything; he has the power to stop this, so why shouldn't he?

(Oo, doesn't that sound kinda familiar? Guilt over something he ultimately has no control over, but thinks he could have?)

So! For him to choose to decide to rejoin the hero life, and not just from behind the curtain, feels like a pretty big character decision to me. Especially because now, he doesn't really have the power to help. Not like he did before.

He's sickly, essentially powerless because using his powers speeds up the toxin, and equipped only with his wits, his creativity, and whatever fighting skills he may have acquired during his time as Phantom -- and whatever martial arts prowess the author decides to have Maddie pass down to Danny.

He's not doing this because he feels like he has to, but because he wants to. I think that's pretty cool.

You reminded me that ideas can be combined too! It's dealers choice for anyone who wants to throw their hat into the ring in how Danny decides to join the frontline fight.

I'm going to kinda contradict myself here but one of my ideas for Danny going from behind-the-scenes to in-your-face-scenes is just. Batman needing backup for a fight. I'm not going to go into specifics for who he's facing, because frankly i'm not sure myself, but he needs backup.

And Danny, who likes to sit in the cave more often than not, waiting for Bruce to come back, sees this through whatever cameras are available. He's stressed out, worried for Batman's safety. This could be a good catalyst for the overarching subplot of him rejoining the hero scene as well as hey, maybe realizing that he doesn't need his powers to help people.

Danny's warring with himself about what to do. Trying to soothe his anxieties by reminding himself that Bruce is an incredible fighter and good at getting out of tight spots, telling himself it would be fine. Rebuffing the little voice in his mind saying he should help by telling it that he might make things worse. And when his subconscious tries to tell him that he can help, he rebuffs it by saying does he need to?

And there, right there, is what's been playing on repeat for however long it takes for him to become nightingale. Every night: "I can help, but do I need to?" and during this night is when he has an epiphany; "No, but I want to."

it's like the sun peaking through the clouds after weeks of gray skies. He wants to help. He can help, but not because he should or because he's able to, although that is important, but because he wants to.

So he finds where Bruce hides the face paint, smears what he think is an adequate amount on his face -- it looks almost mask like. And hunts down one of the spare utility belts -- he ends up having to wrap it around his shoulder and torso like a bandolier due to how tall Bruce is and how willowy Danny is. he already has a hoodie on, and pulls it up over his head. And fuck it, i'm calling down the Rule of Cool Law. Danny finds one of Bruce's spare capes and tears it up to make a makeshift scarf to better hide his face. He gets some other tools he needs that he knows Bruce uses, and then he's off.

(Bruce is both very shocked and very upset when Danny comes crashing through the ceiling with a faux-confident; "Hiyo, B! You're looking pretty bat-tered, so I thought I'd come in and give a helping claw!")

(Results in what I think is a very funny post-fight conversation where they have something of a hissed argument in front of the half-conscious criminals. "what are you doing here?!" "i wanted to help!" "where'd you learn to fight like this?" "mom taught me" -> which causes a fucking BUZZ in the criminal underground when word gets out.)

there's conflict. argument over bruce not wanting danny to come out to help him. Until danny eventually wins out in the end by pulling up footage of phantom on the batcomputer, revealing his previous hero status, and pure damn stubbornness. Bruce agrees but only after he updates Danny's self-defense and gets him a proper suit.

#alfred cant handle TWO wet rats getting beat up every night lol

singling this out because it's funny and you're rIGHT.

#danny innovating new and better bat gadgets. making good humanitarian use of the wayne money in ways that would make sam proud. #making sure alfred isnt the only thing standing between bruce and bruce's death at the hands of the city he loves

Danny's bambi eyes are lethal work, and Alfred's favorite employ whenever Bruce is being stubborn. Even after rejoining the active hero scene, Danny will still team up with Alfred to drag Bruce to bed or rest. Excuse you, don't make the same mistakes he did! He's the elder hero here!

Danny churns out so many anti-ghost gadgets for Bruce for the inevitable confrontation with Vlad, along with non-ecto gadgets just because he wants him safe. It becomes an unusual bonding experience for the both of them to come up with gadget ideas together and then figuring out how to make it work, and then building them together.

Vigilante equivalent of helping dad in the garage except you're both fixing the car and telling the other to grab them the 3/5th quarter-inch flathead screwdriver from the toolbox.

Danny is delighted to have someone to bounce ideas off of with, as does Bruce.

For the good old "fights are one of the ways ghosts socialize" trope: They have regular training sessions, but it's Danny who asks if they could sometimes just have some for-fun sparring sessions. Then has to very embarrassedly explain to Bruce that it's just something ghosts do with each other to socialize sometimes.

Bruce reads between the lines and sees it for what it is: play fighting. Danny's asking to play fight. There are no parenting books on taking care of a half-ghost teen, but he immediately thinks on a documentary on lions he saw a while ago and agrees.

These play fights more often than not result in Danny being tossed around like a ragdoll and loving it -- he's light as feathers and being thrown up into the air feels like he's flying again. Something he can't do anymore for obvious reasons. Plus the ghostly bonding thing.

I don't have much to add about the humanitarian use of wayne money thing, i agree. It also makes Bruce proud and could help inspire him to start getting more involved with Wayne Industries so he can start using his parents' company for humanitarian use as well.

#MAN imagine the fluff of danny learning to decipher bat grunts#if anyone has experience seeing past the crazy obsessive seemingly single minded focus of a parental figure and to the real love and care#that exists so deeply and truly under and throughout it all it'll be danny

aaaaaa, man you're so right. i was talking to crow about this but, for context, the idea was that Nightingale has a tendency to sometimes bite his opponents. And it's become something almost like a signature surprise move because he has Ghost Fangs, but the first time this happens its during some kind of gang fight between B, Gale, and a handful of goons.

However, the fight halts to surprised stop when one of the guys shrieks out; "OW, HE BIT ME!" and like a spell, everyone turns, flabbergasted, towards the guy who said it. Because what the fuck did you mean he bit you, wHY IS HE BITING.

And there, hanging off the guy's arm with all the smug self-satisfaction of a cat, is Nightingale, with his fangs still chomped down onto the guy's arm. There's a few seconds of silence, long enough for everyone to see what's going on, before Gale reorients his momentum and kicks the guy square in the jaw; knocking him out cold.

The thing that catches everyone's attention is that Nightingale drew blood. They watch, half-terrified, half-baffled, as the kid scrunches his nose up, wipes at his mouth, and makes a noise of disgust. He turns to look at Batman, who has also stopped what he's doing to stare as well.

Nightingale asks him; "Am I gonna have to get checked for this?"

Rather than deign him with a response, Batman remains silent. They stare at each other for three whole seconds, before Nightingale clicks his tongue like Batman had said something he didn't like, but expected.

"Aw, okay." Then without missing a beat, he turns and launches himself like a feral cat at the closest person next to him, and the room descends back into chaos once more.

Man, I'm just imagining them working next to each other on their own personal project, and Danny will quietly ask for Bruce's opinion on something. Bruce gives him a single grunt, and Danny's silent for a moment, contemplative, before muttering something like "huh, i guess you're right" or "oh, good idea."

Danny eventually adopts Bruce's little "hrm" quirk himself, and it slowly goes from: "hey, what do you think about this?" "hrm" "that's what I thought too" to: "..hmn?" "hm."

The ever consistent urge to make Your Blorbo The Most Specialist Character On The Block Ever is forever a plague of mine, and I'm very tempted to say that Danny is the only other kid except Cass who can do the "hm?" "hn" thing back to back with Bruce. Don't get me wrong, the other batkids can do the "Hey X thing" "hm" "okay" thing, and on some level can do the "hm" "hm" thing too, but they can't do it quite to the same extent as Danny can, and its from those years where it was just the two of them.

but yess!! I agree! Danny's got experience with that kind of obsessiveness, Bruce reminds him a lot of his parents that way and he understands it the best out of all his siblings as a result. It also means, however, that he willingly goes in to drag Bruce out of whatever obsessive rabbit hole he's fallen into, if he feels that Bruce has been too hyperfocused on something. He saw it with his parents, and it ended up killing them. He's not losing another dad because of his foolish tunnel vision.

#bruce is so much quieter than his parents but man if danny doesnt understand him. and maybe bruce comes to learn what dannys used to as well#comes to learn to speak his affection and open up so much more. to make danny feel more comfortable and welcome

AGAIN, NO NOTES. This is perfect and yes. I've got nothing to add.. okay I lied, i just needed a moment to think. Bruce isn't the most physically affectionate person, but he starts to be thanks to Danny, who is very tactile. Same thing with verbal praise, Danny hardly got any of it in school or, regretfully, at home since Jazz tended to get all the praise.

Bruce tells him "good eye" once after Danny spotted something before Bruce did, and Danny preened so brightly Bruce genuinely wondered if stars were going to appear over his head. He'd gotten his hands on video footage about Phantom that had shown him doing that exact same thing.

(oh which reminds me. The moment Danny tells Bruce about his previous hero experience as Phantom, Bruce goes on a research helldive to get his hands on everything about it. He's watched every single video showing Phantom. There were very few videos of Phantom that weren't videos of his fights, which were horrifying to watch on multiple levels.

Including but not limited to the fact that ghosts could apparently survive the most lethal of injuries, and he was never going to get the image of Phantom yanking a steel pipe out of his chest out of his head, or him pulling out a broken chunk of glass from his throat.)

(It was even worse seeing videos of Danny's parents shooting at him. That was a long, uncomfortable conversation.)

Another time Bruce is asking Danny about being a ghost, and Danny wistfully tells him that the thing he misses most is flying. Grappling through the city is the closest thing to it, but it's still fundamentally different -- and in some ways more exciting -- than flying. The closest comparison he could give is an indoor skydiving ring.

Bruce, a week later, rents out an indoor skydiving ring for the day and Danny spends hours inside the wind tunnel. He tells Bruce all about the similarities and differences in the car on the drive home, and then tells him that next time Bruce should try it too.

Just, all-in-all, seeing how these two interact and impact each other is what makes this so appealing to me. Especially with early years Batman. And I had so much fun typing all this out, thanks for the opportunity to infodump haha.

#UGH OP THIS POST TT-TT

AH YOUR TAGS <33

I am loudly pushing the batdad agenda i am loudly pushing the— DPxDC Prompt

“Woah. You look like shit."

Granted, that’s probably not the first thing Danny should be saying to the guy that just bit the curb, but in his defense; he’s not running on 100% right now either.

The man -- tall, towering, and broader than Danny is tall -- whips around on his heel, black frayed cape flaring out impressively. Danny would've whistled in appreciation, but he takes the time instead to wipe the back of his hand across his mouth, smearing the blood running from his nose across his cheek.

"Sorry." He blinks widely, not even flinching as the man with the horns zeroes in on him. "That was rude of me. I have a really bad brain-to-mouth filter; Sam says its what always gets me into trouble."

And she's not wrong either, per say. His smart mouth is what landed him in this situation -- with blood blossom extract running through his veins and cannibalizing the ectoplasm in his bloodstream. Thanks Vlad.

The man grunts at him; a short, curt "hm" that shouldn't make Danny smile, but he does because he's somewhat delirious and probably concussed. The man keeps some kind of distance, sinking towards the shadows of Gotham's alleyway like he dares to melt right into it.

If it's supposed to scare Danny, it doesn't work. Danny's never been afraid of the dark; he's always been able to hide himself in it. He blinks slowly at the mass of shadows.

"You look hurt." The shadows says, blurring together around the edges. Danny squints, and licks his lips to get the blood dripping down his chin off. Ugh, he hates the taste of blood.

"I am." He says, "My godfather poisoned me. M'dying." The agony of the blood blossom eating him from the inside out looped back around to numbing a while ago, so all he feels is half-awake and dazed.

"Hey," Danny stumbles forward towards the man, a bloodied hand reaching out to him. "You-- you're a hero, right? You're not attacking me; which is more than I can say for most costumed people I've met." Maybe it's a poor bar to judge someone at, but he's already established that Danny's not in his right mind.

The man makes no change in expression, but Danny realizes blearily that it's hard to tell with the shadows on his face. He stays still long enough for Danny to latch onto the cape -- stretchy, but almost soft under his fingers.

He looks up blearily into the whites of the man's eyes. "Can you help me? I don't-- I don't wanna die." Again. He doesn't wanna die again. He blinks slow and lizard-like. "I mean- I'll probably get to see mom and dad again, but I told them I'd at least try and make it to adulthood."

There's a clatter down the street, and Danny's ghost sense chills up his spine and leaves a bitter, ashy taste in his mouth. He immediately knows who it belongs to even before the deceptively gentle; "Daniel?" echoes down the way.

"Daniel? Quit your games, badger, Gotham is dangerous for children."

Danny's mouth pulls back, and blood spills against his tongue. "Please." He rasps, and grabs onto the shadow's cape with both hands. "Please. He's going to kill me. Please--"

"Daniel? Is that you?"

His lips part, dragging in air to plead with the darkness again. He doesn't need to, the whites of his eyes narrow, and the cape whirls around him before Danny can blink. Soon swaddled in shadows, the Night lifts him up, and steals him away.

[mikeylivesattheend]

I feel really paranoid & weird about this but I just unsubbed from multiple commentary youtubers (jarvis johnson, chad chad, kurtis conner, danny's main channel). I just,, this started with jarvis

I followed him on twitch & decided to watch a stream live. DUDE i hated it so much. The vibes were so off, and his comments felt so basic. It doesn't help that his focus is on gold! these days, so he does twitch like its a youtube video, with multiple takes. I know its not uncommon, it's just odd.

So after that I caught on that his content is stale, never dives as deep as I like, and the main channel stuff I subbed for seems to have been abandoned.

The next thing I learned is that kurtis conner had a failed web3 project (i cannot recall the video I heard this from so sorry). That's such a red flag. Then tonight I googled about any drama and he apparently brought a,,, questionable guy named Dean on his tour.

ChadChad here is a victim by association & I've just not been into her stuff lately. I could see myself resubbing to her in the future, but,,

I truly think the codyko stuff is going to start a chain w/ these commentary youtubers. They thrive on being in the moment & politically neutral enough to attract a large audience. But if I watch someone purposefully apolitical w/ current things, they've gotta be hilarious enough to ignore that very real flaw(aka they don't mention palestine/presidents - i dont follow homophobic/transphobic, etc creators at all). Maybe its just me changing, but a lot of these videos don't hit the same humor, and uploading at the speed of tiktok would burn anyone out, so they don't upload that quickly. None of them ever go deep, and I usually know more than them if it's a trendy thing. So I can't be the only one reevaluating these people, the shitty deals they all push, the people they call friends, and questioning it.

I'm still subbed to danny's side channel and drew. For the side channel its bc i just like the vids on there more than main, and it strikes a better balance of niche random shit that feels like video twitter. Danny still has the above issues, and his main channel's best content is when he does weird ideas & commits, not reacting tbh. Drew is so dead that each video feels great lmao. No idea what's going on with him tho, hopefully he's doing okay and not doing cancelable things.

Not sure this post has a point, but I wanted to make it just in case shit starts to hit the fan. I conceded to drew&danny for now, but im ready to dash if any bombs drop in 2025 lol

[aro-aizawa]

OH YEAH I WAS GONNA WRITE TODAY

[tripthelightfandomtastic]

listen to me… imagine babysitting your neighbors baby because they had an emergency or something, and danny comes home from the studio all like “honey!! im home!!” and then stops in his tracks, wide eyes set on the baby and he says something like “wha- how long was i gone for??” and everything is soft and to see this gentle giant hold this curious baby who looks even tinier in his arms (he definitely asks for help when the baby has a tight grip on a hair curl)

he’d be so shy with his baby fever 😭😭

Oh I love baby fever in men, makes me so weak.

You didn't think you'd be spending your Friday afternoon holding your neighbors baby. They were in a rush to go to the hospital and had no one to watch their baby, so being neighborly, you were able to take her in for the day, waiting for a knock at the door to relieve you of your babysitting duties. But the person who got to the door first was not your neighbors, it was your boyfriend Danny, home from the studio.

"Oh honey, I'm hooome!" He'd sing out, you work to hold the baby closer to you as she starts to stir from her nap. "Shh, shhh." You whisper, trying to hush her from getting fussy again. Danny loudly closes the door and tosses his keys by the front door, making a heinous clattering sound, you never realized how loud he was before until now. "Hi baby-" "Shh!" You hush him as he enters the room, looking confused at your scolding. "Oh, my baby has a baby?" He asks confused and quieter than before. "It's the neighbors daughter, the Romero's next door. Her moms appendix burst and they needed to hurry to the hospital and needed someone to watch her. Mr. Romero will be home later tonight to pick her up, she's been here since this afternoon, she's been pretty good actually." You explained while going to stand to show Danny the little baby girl bundled in your arms.

"Why didn't you call me?" Danny asks in an exaggerated whisper of confusion that makes you smile. Seeing him so surprised is always such a treat. "I've kind of had my hands full today." You joke as you bounce her a bit as she begins to stir awake from all of the excitement. "No no, it's okay, you're okay." You soothe as you attempt to calm her. "Ugh, it's probably her dinner time. I need to heat up her bottle-" "I can do it?" Danny offers sweetly. "Can you hold her? My arms are killing me, I'll make it, just, here-" you say hurriedly, the baby beginning to cry a bit louder as you show him how to hold her. "Just support her head, okay, just hold her close to you." You say as you fix the blanket swaddled around her before walking to the kitchen to warm up the bottle. The baby starts to cry, following your instruction Danny holds the baby closer to him and looks over to you, looking towards you but drawn silent looking for a way to solve the problem without bothering you. He starts to mimic your hushing but she only begins to cry more, "Hey, hey, hey, it's okay! Hi baby, I'm Danny. You're okay, you just hungry? It's okay sweetie, it's okay." He says softly. "Try bouncing her a little! She really seems to like it when I do it!" You call from the kitchen.

Danny looks nervously down at the infant, "But maybe she just likes you?" Danny replies as he starts to awkwardly bounce with the crying child. You come back to his side, bottle in hand, you come over to his side, placing a hand tenderly on the small of his back. "Just bounce lightly, just move like you're keeping time to the beat, use your foot to rock a bit." You instruct him kindly, Danny looks so nervous to be holding such a little thing, it's so endearing to see him this way, so cautious and careful. He begins to move a little more subtly, swaying a bit, the cries start to subside as he moves with her. "See, just like that." "Hey sweetie, that all better? Hm?" Danny asks the little baby girl as she begins to quiet down, "I think she likes when you do it too." You smile softly at him as he begins to get the hang of the motion, he smiles at your compliment, watching as the baby making small sounds as she calms down. "What's her name?" "Adelaide." You replied, "I like that, that's sweet." He grins, you start to move him over to the couch. "Here, wanna give her her bottle?" you offer, handing him the warmed bottle as he sinks down to the couch beside you. He takes it and brings the bottle to her lips, she easily suckles it, making sweet little drinking sounds, as her eyes start to flutter shut. "I think she's sleepy." He whispers as to not disturb her. "She's a baby. They do that." You smile, looking at your gentle giant of a man, holding such a small innocent little thing. "I think we could have a baby." He whispers, you suppress a laugh, "We can have a baby, darling. But for now, let's just babysit." You negotiate kindly, his eyes meeting yours, a wide smile on his face as he holds her. The two of you spend the rest of the evening together watching tv until Adelaide's dad comes by to pick her up, watching as Danny quells Mr. Romero that it was "no trouble at all," and how good she was and how they can, "bring her over anytime you need a sitter!" He almost seemed sad handing her back over. It's official, Danny has baby fever.

[constellaj]

top ten danny phantom episodes based solely on how gay dash is in them

i will not be ranking these based on plot, animation, or literally any other criteria ok here we go

10: Public Enemies

dash himself is not very gay in this one but danny does beat him up and he gets the angst of being possessed and not remembering what happens. also this screenshot is literally so gay

4/10 for wasted potential in proving dash is gay. this couldve gone so much harder. but bonus points for for passed out dash

9: Doctor’s Disorders

fellas is it gay to lock yourself in a bathroom stall so fenturd doesnt see the horrible monster youve become, tell him to ‘get away,’ and then pass out before being able to fight him despite being a school jock who could probably deal some damage and has a better immune system than the other kids? is it also gay to then when your entire life revolves around ghosts and having ghost powers to watch a sappy romcom while waiting for phantom to come save you? the answer is yes. 6/10 again it couldve gone harder

8: Frightmare

again dash himself isnt explicitly gay in this episode. but danny why is your ultimate dream scenario being best friends with dash and having him know your secret. it gets a higher rating than the other two bc its literally a wish fulfillment scenario aka 174% more gay. but mathematically speaking 2/10 for baiting me with dash in the first two minutes and then never bringing him back

7: Forever Phantom

“watch it, fentertainment tonight! i’m chasin’ a real somebody!” 10/10

also spending the entire episode devoted to hanging with phantom + another reference to the romance channel. not very nuanced but still very gay

6: Reality Trip

what do you think it means when the school jock finds out your secret, wastes exactly 0 time in helping you, and finds a way to shoehorn in giving you his clothes to wear while doing it. dash was only in this entire movie for like 4 minutes but damn if he wasnt homosexual for all of them 7/10

5: Ultimate Enemy

”but dash wasn’t even IN the ultimate enemy!!11!1!” EXACTLY. if older dash had been in the future with dark dan he simply would have smooched him and then there would have been no conflict. if younger dash had shown up to the big fight then dark dan wouldve broke down sobbing at what couldve been. they had to restrain dash from this entire episode bc of his power. 9/10 i know the truth.

4: Splitting Images

it is important to remember that dash has no goddamn idea that’s sidney. danny literally does 1 (one) nice thing for him and dash decides “ok well i will be his best friend and play football with him and be impressed by his skills and then throw a party and also put my hands on his shoulders several times.” this proves my point that if danny werent a little shit he and dash would already have been dating by the time the show starts. 8/10 for letting dash be mundanely gay instead of knowing anything about ghosts. it doesnt happen very often

3: Attack of the Killer Garage Sale

do you ever just get a tutor who happens to be the exact sister of that nerd you pick on and also call him a twink and then invite him to your party even though you do not have to and specifically tell him the dress code and get him at the popular kids table and then realize he might not have the money for the dress code so you intentionally seek him out to give him money for some computery thing you dont know about but you also also realize that probably isnt enough so last minute you change the entire dress code to something you know he has and wear his exact outfit to make him seem cool by comparison. do you ever do that.

also these two shots are back to back 10/10

2: Micro Management

the pièce de résistance of all dash content. im talking 20 minutes of nonstop dash. im talking taking every opportunity to talk about how cool phantom is. im talking abt getting grabbed by phantom to be saved by him. im talking abt having a mental breakdown cause you think youre not good enough. im talking about casually flirting via jokes. im talking being unable to stop thinking abt fenton even when youre face to face with your biggest hero. im talking about saying “we did it!!! :D” to cheer on said hero. im talking taking his hand. holding his hand. being lifted or pulled. im talking abt flipping the switch to save the day! im talking abt micro fucking management baybey!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 12/10

but what in the goddamn world could have more gay dash than micro management??? well ill tell you

1: Pirate Radio

he SAVES him. he calls him a hero. they are on EQUAL FOOTING and they KNOW IT. they have MATCHING GODDAMN OUTFITS!!!!!!!!!!! dashs personality doesnt have to be absolutely scrapped for him to be gay (”but i will be wailing on you”) but he clearly DOES get better (”sorry, old habits.”) he puts his heart and soul into fighting side by side w danny and we dont even SEE dashs parents which means that is Not Exactly The Reason he Is Here. he also believes with 0 hesitation that fenton is capable of throwing a total rager. NO there is not as much dash here as in micro management but. i mean look at these screenshots. THIS is gay representation. THESE are some genuine fucking boyfriends. 18/10

[jesswithane]

Scene from the Pied Piper/DP idea: [Also the Pied Piper is now agender...because i don’t really want them being male, but im not sold on any one idea]

Danny watched as his parents ran past him and into the GAV. He could hear Jazz give a ‘huff’ next to him as she was almost bowled over. 

“Sorry Jazzy-pants, duty calls!” his dad shouted, grinning. 

“We’ve gotten a call about some Ghost Rats near the Mayor’s office and want to see if we can catch any to study,” his mom added on with glee, “The ones we’ve caught already haven’t shown much progress, but there’s hope!”

“What do you mean progress?” Danny felt his heart and core both stuttered. 

“It’s the strangest thing, as soon as we catch one they vanish!” she whined, “or are just normal -- albeit very sturdy -- rats.” 

“Please tell me you aren’t dissecting them in the kitchen,” Jazz looked to be turning green, “again.”

“Oh honey, no, of course not!” she responded, putting away another ghost weapon, “we’ve kept it to the lab.”

Danny felt as sick as Jazz looked at the idea. At least it was just rats -- normal rats -- but still. That was rather unpleasant. 

“Anyway, I left some leftovers in the fridge next to some of the ghost rat samples,” his mom said as Jazz tried not to gag, “Don’t stay up to late!” 

And with that, his parents drove off in the GAV. He, being ever-so lucky, got splashed with some stagnate water as the vehicle sped off. Jazz was already inside, mumbling about buying a “normal” pizza or “normal” salad. 

Danny could only sigh and be semi-relieved at least he wouldn’t have to worry about hiding Phantom from his parents tonight. He could actually have some time to himself if he played his cards right. 

“Well, that’s unfortunate.”

Danny jumped nearly a foot in the air. Out of nowhere was a person -- short hair, dark eyeliner -- standing next to him. They were wearing...a rather eccentric coat or multiple colors stitched together, jeans, and long boots. In their hand was a flute, adding on to the weirdness.

“Uhm, can i help you?” Danny asked, a bit perturbed that something felt...off but there was no ghost sense going off. 

“No, I don’t think so,” they replied, still looking off to where his parents drove off, “It must be hard though, with parents like that.” 

“Ah, well, it’s fine,” Danny gave a nervous laugh and rubbed the back of his neck, “They mean well.”

“Most do,” they hummed, but turned to him and gave a soft smile, “I’m sorry, I must seem rude. I would love to stay and chat but I must be off. Would you be so kind to point me in the direction of city hall?”

Danny nodded, and started to point in the right direction. The other nodded, thanked him, and went off. They played as their flute as the strode off. It was actually...kind of a nice tune? 

Well, whatever. He had a book reported to start. 

[starlight-writes-stuff]

hi, do you think you could do another blurb for ethan? maybe something nsfw? like, a party hookup? im thinkin about fratboy!ethan 👁👄👁

(wc: 5.5k) pls im always thinking about fratboy ethan :,) but yes i can do this 100 % ! this ask prompted something deep in me and i ended up making a playlist to go with it as well 🤧here’s the link to that if ur interested https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4yXuVtAKBHexm5ifE9NQ2B ! A L S O i’m sorry this took forever to get to ,,,, life has been a lot recently lol . reblogs are always appreciated ! <3

AYO LOOK AT THESE ! : smut (obvious but still) , sex while under the influence (with explicit consent given) , softdom! ethan , marajuana use , alcohol use , unprotected sex (wrap it b4 u tap it , plz) , swearing , college au , an unus annus reference if u look close enough , and i believe thats it . enjoy ! xoxoxoxo , starlight .

a little party never killed nobody

it was the exact same as every other college party you’d ever been to. shitty music, shittier alcohol, shittiest people- except for him. 

when ethan nestor had invited you to a frat party, you’d laughed in his face. you knew that he was a member of data data data, but he wasn’t the type that made it his whole personality. as far as you’d observed, he wasn’t the partying type, either, but there he was, texting you the house address.

“so you’ll come tonight? it’s going to be a pretty big thing- a lot of people coming. you should be able to walk right in, but if anyone gives you shit just tell them you’re with me,” he said, a slight smirk playing on his lips. you and ethan hadn’t been talking for long; technically, you hadn’t even known that he’d existed two weeks ago. 

when ethan had first sauntered up to you in physical sciences, that same smirk painting his face, you’d picked up on the underlying chemistry right away. he was a flirt by nature, but he seemed to play it up even more around you- the brunette boy had asked for your number the first day you met, and you’d been talking almost constantly since. he was funny and sweet and extremely charismatic, and he made your heart flip in your chest with the smallest glance. the two of you hadn’t hung out alone yet, so this party felt like a big deal.

or, at least, that's what you’d thought.

when you showed up at the front door of the frat house loud, bass-filled music was already shaking the window panes in their frames, and you could hear what sounded like a hundred different voices all talking over each other. ethan hadn’t been kidding when he said that it was a big party; at least half of your year was here, plus the older and younger students interspersed throughout the throngs of people as well. as you made your way to the kitchen, ethan was nowhere to be found. you felt as if all eyes were on you as you started to pour a drink, and dimly, you wondered if people could tell that you didn’t belong.

however, most of your anxious thoughts had been subdued after the first solo cup of vodka lemonade, and you were now well through your second. the music pounding throughout the house felt as if it had infiltrated your veins, filling them with a warm, buzzing sensation that loosened your limbs. at some point, a guy had come up to chat with you. then another. you weren't sure how many times you’d given out your snapchat tonight, but it had been a lot, and you were about to do it again. 

the guy you were currently talking to introduced himself as danny. he was some sort of business major, much like every other guy that you’d spoken with tonight, and was very clearly trying to hit on you. even through the alcohol-induced haze, you remembered who you came here for and you weren't leaving without him. you put a hand on danny’s shoulder, effectively cutting him off in the middle of his sentence.

“hey, do you know where ethan is? ethan nestor, i mean? he’s the one who invited me here.”

danny looked disappointed, but seemed to shift and slot puzzle pieces together in his head, snapping his fingers. “you're the girl he invited? that makes so much sense, actually. yeah, he’s out back- toking up, probably,” he explained, gesturing towards a door you would’ve never noticed. “out there and down the stairs. need an escort?”

you almost denied his advances but spotted an old fling loitering by the hidden door. giving danny a tight smile, you drained the rest of your drink and held up a finger. “one sec! stay here.”

butterflies flooded every inch of your being as you stumbled over to the makeshift bar, pouting a variety of liquors into your cup. you were going to see ethan outside of class. on his turf. something about it shook you to your core, but you couldn’t quite figure out why. 

sure, ethan was hot- that was obvious. but he’d been flirty, too. were the two of you a thing? if you weren’t, why had he been talking to danny about 'the girl he was inviting’? clearly, ethan had been talking about you, you just weren't sure of the context. you tried to swallow all these fears as you topped off your cup with lemonade, taking a small sip. trying not to spit it out, you added more juice; you’d made the strongest mixture you could think of, and it tasted like some sort of poison. that didn’t stop you from taking another small sip, then a bigger one. you needed the buzz.

“okay! let's go.”

danny led you out the door and down the stairs with no issue, and you quickly realized how tipsy you were - the stairs seemed to bob and warp under your feet, and you grabbed onto the handrail with a death grip. he noticed this easily, laughing a bit. “are you good?”

“great. it's the heels and alcohol- they don't mix well.” you laughed at yourself, regretting the chunky, heeled boots you’d thrown on.

“you can ditch them, if you want. we’re going out onto a deck, so you won't be in grass or anything,” danny explained, pointing to a pile of shoes by the door you were about to exit. you weren't going to argue with that, thankful that you’d chosen cute socks as you wrestled the footwear off and tossed it onto the pile. your stomach flipped as danny opened the door, cool night air biting into your warm skin, waking you up a bit. the sourish-sweet scent of marijuana flooded the small stairwell, and danny chuckled. “told you he was smoking.”

nothing could’ve prepared you for the way you felt watching ethan take a long drag off of some sort of pen, letting the vapor pour from his lips in pale blue plumes. something about the easy way the smoke seemed to float from his mouth went straight to your center, and you dug your nails into your palms, trying to get yourself under control. ethan finally realized that more people had joined the small crowd on the bench, and his heavy-lidded eyes seemed to light up as they roamed all over you lazily. this only furthered the sensation between your legs, the coils starting to tighten in your lower stomach. 

what the hell?

“y/n, you made it,” ethan said, a smile taking over his face. he quickly hopped down from where he’d been sitting on the guardrail and made his way over, wrapping an arm dangerously low around your waist. he hugged you tightly, making your heartbeat stutter as you squeezed him back.

you mumbled a ‘hello’ into his neck as ethan let his touch linger, your body held tightly to his. someone cleared their throat, conversation starting back up, and ethan reluctantly pulled away, dropping his eyes to yours. he kept a hand on the small of your back, sending electricity running up and down your spine. “having fun?”

you could barely talk as you forced yourself to respond. “yeah, lots. you’re a hard person to find.”

ethan grinned again, letting his head fall back as he laughed. “my bad. i thought you would text me when you got here. found someone to take care of you , though?” he asked, cocking an eyebrow. the facial expression did absolutely nothing for the situation building up under your skirt- only worsening your want for the tall boy in front of you. 

“who?”

ethan smirked, dropping his lips to your ear. “that's what i like to hear. you look pretty, y/n.”

the way he said your name practically undid you, ripping your self-control apart at the already weakened seams. you let a hand wander up and down one of ethan’s sculpted arms, outlining the planes of muscle through his hoodie as you crossed your legs; sure, it was the ladylike thing to do, but you were desperately looking for some sort of friction, anything to lessen the need for him.

“thank you.”

ethan nodded, the hand that had been perched on your back sliding over your hip before finding your hand. he laced his fingers into yours, and you were shocked at how forward he was being. the two of you had flirted heavily- and okay, maybe you’d sent some suggestive pictures back and forth- but ethan seemed to be claiming you as he led you over to the round table where all his friends were sat. again, you carved half-moons into your palms with your nails as you added up all the chairs- there wasn’t enough. you began to let go of ethan’s hand, ready to boost yourself onto the railing, but he gave your fingers a gentle squeeze. you watched as ethan settled into the overstuffed outdoor chair, gesturing at his lap.

fuck.

you took a brief moment to admire the mess you’d gotten yourself into before you gingerly sat on ethan’s lap, trying to make yourself as small and weightless as humanly possible. that didn’t last long, though. ethan circled an arm over your hips, pulling you onto his lap firmly. you couldn’t breathe as you settled into him, crossing your legs tightly. your lower body was tucked away, hidden under the table, but still. you tucked a small portion of fabric between your thighs, ensuring nothing would slip. 

you didn’t say much as ethan continued to conversate with his friends, passing the silvery, skinny device around the table. 

soon, the talk turned from school and classes to typical, stuttering stoner laughing; everyone besides ethan and danny seemed to be a complete lightweight, gone after one hit of the cartridge. however, both the boys were on at least their fourth hit and still seemed relatively composed. they’d started to talk about some sort of economic study, and you’d quickly grown bored and confused. after sitting through 10 more minutes of the terminology you didn't understand, you began to wiggle around on ethan’s lap, loosening his grip on you. 

at the same moment, you and ethan both shifted in just the right way, causing one of his legs to end up between both of yours just as your hips rolled forward. delicious friction flooded your system, and you bit down hard on your lower lip, trying to stifle a moan. you fought with everything in you not to rock your body again, sensation overwhelming your impulse control. before you could do anything, one of ethan’s large hands found your hips, squeezing just enough to leave fingerprint-shaped marks on your skin. ethan knew what he’d done- you could hear the satisfaction threaded through his voice.

“you okay? what d’you need?”

you tried to steady your voice, painfully conscious of the people around you. while most of ethan’s friends were high enough that they wouldn’t notice, you knew that danny would pick up on any changes in your demeanor. you swallowed hard before answering him.

“i'm gonna go get another drink.” another gentle squeeze practically lit your skin on fire, and ethan held the pen up to you. 

“wanna try this instead?”

you weren’t going to lie- you’d been a bit jealous of the boys, not even thinking of passing the device to you. with shaky hands, you reached to accept the cartridge, but ethan had different plans. a sinful look found its way into his slitted eyes as ethan held the pen up to your lips. “go ahead.”

you could’ve passed out from the command, the look, the way that he’d started to bounce his leg. it was as if he was trying to break you- like he wanted you to give him some sort of sign that you wanted him. you did, more than anything. desire seemed to curl its way into every inch, every cell of your body, its spurs digging into your skin. 

you met ethan’s eyes deliberately as you accepted the cold metal into your mouth, inhaling deeply. you took immense pleasure in the look that crossed ethans face as you pulled away with lungs full of the hazy drug. you held your breath for as long as possible before letting the vapor drift from your lips, just as ethan and done earlier. you watched his adam's apple bob as he swallowed hard, his eyes snapping off of yours and over to danny.

“i’m gonna take y/n to get a drink. watch them, will you?” he asked, gesturing to the rest of his friends. danny just nodded, mumbling a low ‘have fun’ as ethan practically lifted you off of his lap. adrenaline coursed through each and every one of your veins and ethan laced his fingers through yours, leading you inside. 

ethan barely let the door shut before his hands were on your hips, pinning you to the wall of the small stairwell. his lips met yours roughly, and you couldn’t hold back the whimper that had been building in your throat for the past hour. you felt ethan smirk at the soft noise before he bit at your lower lip, dragging the soft flesh between his teeth. again, you let out a whine full of pleasure- he just felt so good. you let your arms circle ethans neck, one of your hands knotting in his dark hair. you pulled at the roots gently as ethan’s tongue rolled against yours, your body entirely succumbing to him.

he forced himself to pull off of your body, and you let out a small whine; you’d been waiting on this. ethan smirked, his laugh coming out dark and much raspier than usual. “don’t worry doll, i'm not done with you yet. just can't have you here.”

the words went right through you, only adding to the ache between your thighs. ethan took your hand with a profound gentleness, and dropped a soft kiss on your forehead. “before this even starts, are you sure?” 

you nodded eagerly, getting up on your tiptoes to recapture his lips, but ethan pulled back. you furrowed your eyebrows at the tall boy, confused- until he brought a hand up to your face, holding your jaw. ethan tilted your head up, forcing you to meet his eyes. “i need words, baby. are you positive? i can-”

“so sure. i promise.” you nodded at him, your eyes never leaving his. “i want you.”

ethan swore under his breath and kissed you hard before leading you up the stairs. you started to feel the effects of the drug as ethan took you from kitchen to living room, up some stairs… you lost track of all the places you’d been, allowing the weed to cloud everything in a gauzy veil. you felt good; light and somehow heavy at the same time, and you enjoyed the way that everything seemed to slow down. finally, ethan opened a door and pulled you in behind him. you realised where you were- his room. it smelled like ethan, like citrus and musk and something you could only describe as boy. 

you let out a small giggle as ethan reached for a remote, colored lights dousing the room in a sultry red glow. “setting the mood?”

quickly, you were shut up in the best possible way. ethan kissed your roughly, all teeth and tongue and hands everywhere as he backed you against one of his walls. you let yourself get lost in him, basking in the warmth of your hunger for him. one of ethan’s cold hands made its way under your shirt, the other holding your jaw in place as he bit into your bottom lip once again, making you whine. 

“feel good?” ethan asked, breathlessly. you could hear the smirk in his voice, but you couldn’t help the way your back arched at the simple question. your nails dug into his shoulder as ethan slid his thumb under the band of your bra, and he let out a rough moan, managing to undo the clasp with one hand. ethan pulled away from you long enough to rid you of your shirt, discarding your bra on the floor as well while you practically ripped his hoodie off, desperate to feel his skin against your own. he clearly wanted the same, judging by the way he wrapped an arm around your back, pulling you flesh against his chest. 

ethan managed to capture both of your wrists in one of his hands, pinning them above your head. you were unfamiliar with the feeling of being restrained, but the sensation seemed to send your heart thrumming even faster. he kissed you until your lips were sore and your knees were weak before finally dropping his forehead to yours. ethan took his chance, letting his eyes roam all over you and you watched his pupils grow larger until his eyes were practically black. “jesus fuck, y/n. you’re beautiful.”

your voice came out high and breathy as you responded. “ ‘could say the same about you.” you were practically panting, your body no longer responding to your mind as your back arched. ethan let out a hard breath. 

“do you know what you do to me?”

your eyes fluttered shut as ethan’s lips met the sensitive skin of your neck, his tongue exploring the delicate flesh. he quickly found your weak spot and focused his attention there; he let his teeth gently sink into your skin, making you gasp before using his soft tongue to soothe the spot. he repeated this process all over your neck, sucking on your flesh when he found a sweet spot. you knew that you’d be covered in purple-blue bruises, but you’d wear them proudly- that was ethan’s motivation for marking you up.

ethan trailed soft, wet kisses all the way down your neck to your collarbones, groaning at the way you pushed your chest toward him. he hesitated, but started kissing back up your neck, your jaw, back up to your lips. he released his grip on your wrist and you quickly cupped his face in your hands, kissing him with everything in you. you wanted the boy to feel the way you wanted him, and you knew he could as his lips seemed to slow, the kisses getting deeper and deeper. you lost yourself completely in ethan, unsure of where he started and you ended. you could feel his heartbeat against your own, the two thumping rapidly, almost erratic.

the two of you stayed pressed up against each other, your back firmly against the wall for a while, until ethan finally pressed a soft kiss to your cheek. “bed?”

you nodded eagerly, wanting the boy all over you. the two of you stumbled, half kissing over to the mattress, falling together. ethan quickly situated himself on top of your body, caging you in between his arms. he began kissing down your body at a torturously slow pace, tracing the dark marks he’d already left with his soft tongue, driving you insane. ethan took his time working down to your breasts, finally taking one of your sensitive nubs into his mouth. you let out an almost guttural moan at the sensation, pleasure overwhelming your senses. ethan hummed at your reaction, only intensifying the feeling. you tangled a hand in his hair, the other digging into his back, leaving long, red scratches on his pale skin. 

ethan swirled his tongue around your bud, taking extreme pride in the way you let your head fall back against the mattress, moans of his name spilling from your lips. he tucked an arm under the arch of your back, pulling your body even closer to him- he didn’t want any space dividing the two of you. ethan pulled off of your puffy nipple with a soft moan, wasting no time in kissing over your chest, pulling the other into his mouth. he covered your chest in dark, deep bruises, admiring his work under the sensual glow of the red lights. “so pretty..”

you couldn’t form full sentences to respond with, just broken moans and pleads and tugs on his hair. ethan found it endearing, the way you wanted him so badly. he couldn’t help but give you what you needed.

he kisses hastily down your body leaving small lovebites here and there on your ribs, your stomach. ethan hooked his thumbs in the waistband of your skirt and pressed a kiss to the exposed skin right above the fabric. “this okay?”

“yes, i- please,” you pleaded, lifting your hips to make it easier. ethan got rid of the piece of clothing, discarding it on his bedroom floor, quickly followed by your panties. he let out a throaty moan, his eyes working over you lazily, like he had all the time in the world. he admired your body until you wriggled underneath him, needing some sort of stimulation. 

“what do you want, baby?”

“you,” you whined, desperation weaving through your voice. ethan pressed gentle, warm kisses on your hip bones, fighting a laugh. 

“i know that. what specifically?”

“fuck, ethan. anything, just touch me. please.”

“okay, okay. and you're positive this is alright?”

“yes. i’m so sure. i swe-” your words died in the back of your throat as ethan pressed his thumb to your clit, rubbing small, soft circles. “holy fuck.”

“already so worked up,” ethan mumbled, pressing kisses to your inner thighs. “this because of me?”

you were taken aback by the way your high seemed to multiply the pleasure by tens of thousands- ethan was barely touching you and you could feel your high approaching quickly. you couldn’t find the words to answer him as ethan shifted between your legs, giving himself a better view of your sex. “does that feel okay?”

a stream of swears left your lips as ethan quickened his pace, hooking one of your legs over his shoulder. “so fucking good, just like that.” the knots in your stomach continued to tighten as you balled the sheets in your fist, tugging at his hair with the other hand.

ethan pressed a kiss dangerously low on your hip, looking up at you. “can i?”

your hips bucked at the tone of his voice, and you nodded vigorously. ethan kept his eyes on yours as he ran his tongue through your folds, lapping your arousal up. he couldn’t help but groan at the taste of you, the way you pulled at his hair, putting his mouth where you wanted it before letting your head fall back onto his bed. ethan started to suck at your sensitive bud, rolling his tongue over the bundle of nerves and you knew you wouldn’t last much longer.

“i- fuck- i’m close.”

he hummed, the vibrations sending you over the edge. your eyes rolled back into your head while you tugged at his hair, your orgasm completely undoing you- the high only added to the sensation, making it that much better. your hips bucked under the skillful work of his soft tongue as ethan let you ride out your high on his face. 

ethan dropped a gentle kiss on your clit before peppering your entire body with them, giggling at the way you squealed. he finally attached his lips to your neck, your jaw, back to your lips. you kissed him hard, tasting yourself off of him. finally, when your exhaustion won out you pulled away, running your hands through ethan’s fluffy hair. 

“how was that?”

you propped yourself up on your elbows, pecking ethan’s lips. “so, so good,” you mewled between heavy breaths. ethan bit down on his lower lip and smiled, pride filling his system. 

“god, you look good moaning my name. you're beautiful, you know,” he said, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear. ethan looked at you with a tenderness in his eyes, placing another kiss on your lips. “think you can go again?”

ethan started trailing down your body again, not waiting for an answer. he was laser focused on pleasuring you, making you whine and whimper for him- only for him. before he could get far, though, you were grabbing at his arm and shaking your head. he flushed, peeling away from you while starting to profusely apologize, but you pressed a finger to his lips. 

“want you. inside of me,” you explained between pants, still exhausted from the first round of stimulation. ethan threw his head back, swearing. 

“jesus christ, y/n. need me that bad, baby?”

his choice of words drowned you in desire, and you were all his. “yes. please, ethan?”

he wanted to fuck you until all you could do was moan his name just like that, over and over again. before you could process what was happening ethan had his hands all over you, roaming your body as he practically drooled at the sight before him: your already fucked out body, the sweet look painting your face, begging for him. ethan could barely control himself, his words coming out as rough murmurs.

“protection? i mean, i have it.”

you bit at your lip, hard. you were on birth control, and you wanted him- all of him.

shaking your head, you explained. “birth control. we’ll be fine, if you’re comfortable.”

you jumped as ethan moved a finger to your entrance, dipping into your sex. he groaned at the way you clenched around the appendage, his cock jumping in his boxers. “want my cum inside you?”

“yes- fuck, ethan, please,” you begged, reduced to nothing. all you wanted; all you needed was him inside you, ruining your body until you couldn’t take anymore pleasure. 

“so tight,” he mumbled, lining another finger up. you bucked your hips, the sensitivity almost too much as he stretched you out, watching the way your face contorted under his influence. ethan placed a large hand low on your abdomen, applying light pressure. “if you can’t take this, you won’t be able to take me.”

you nodded, pace almost desperate for him to continue. “feels good baby. so good.”

you took note of the pleased expression that stretched over ethan’s face as you praised the boy- you were just telling the truth, but clearly he liked to hear what a good job he was doing. ethan brought his thumb up to your clit, rubbing tight circles on the bundle of nerves and you grabbed at his wrist, nails digging into skin. 

“gonna make me cum again,” you warned, but ethan only smiled at you, nodding almost condescendingly.

“wanna finish on my fingers, pretty girl?”

you wanted to say no, wait to come undone around him, but his movements felt too good. you dug your nails into his arm even harder, your other hand clawing into ethan’s soft sheets as the knots in your stomach came undone, your walls contracting around his fingers tight enough to make him moan. 

ethan let his pace slow, extending your orgasm as you practically rode his hand, crying out in absolute euphoria as he increased pressure on your clit.  unable to form words, you released your grasp on the boy’s arm, bringing your hand up to his face instead. you pulled ethan’s lips down to meet yours, whining at the feeling of his clothed cock grinding against your center.

ethan couldn’t take it anymore, quickly ridding himself of the soft sweatpants. you watched as his manhood sprung up, hitting his abdomen; the sight in and of itself enough to make you let out another bliss-filled noise. ethan let his eyes fall to yours as he stroked himself, shuddering at the heavenly friction. again, his voice came out low as he lined himself up with you.

“sure?”

far beyond words, you nodded and laced your fingers through his. 

ethan returned your grasp with a sweet squeeze, gliding the tip of his cock through your folds- coating himself in your arousal. the two of you moaned in sync; a sweet, satisfied sort of harmony. finally, ethan pushed into you slowly, gasping at the feeling. you couldn’t help the way your eyes rolled back into your head, the feeling of him inside you almost too much. 

“you okay?”

“so good,” you breathed, trying not to yelp at the feeling spreading through your lower body. ethan was well endowed- the biggest you’d ever taken- and it was an addictive sort of pain. he moved slowly, stopping a few times; allowing you to adjust around his length. when he’d bottomed out, ethan let his head fall back, groans escaping his throat.

“so fucking tiny,” he gasped, a groan cutting his statement off. “feel so good around me, gorgeous.”

you nodded at him, trying your best to meet ethan’s eyes as you praised the boy. “so fucking big- you feel so good,” you whined, your hips bucking. “want you so bad.”

a breathless laugh escaped ethan’s lungs as he maneuvered a hand behind one of your thighs, lifting your leg to hook over his shoulder. he pushed even deeper into you and black spots began to crowd the sides of your vision, the pleasure overwhelming. slowly, ethan started to pull out of you, eliciting filthy words and moans from you before he slid his length back in. 

“fucking hell, y/n. so tight,” he said, voice tipping up into a whimper at the end. he quickened his pace, the noise of sleeping skin filling the room. you could barely contain yourself, no longer fighting the stream of murmurs and swears leaving your lips as ethan continued to pump in and out of you. your next orgasm was already building, the coils tightening rapidly in your lower belly.

ethan let his hand wander down to your sensitive bud, almost coming undone at the sight of your eyes fluttering shut. you traced up his forearm, scraping at his sweet skin before knotting your fingers in his hair, tugging at the roots. 

“eyes open, baby. look at me.”

you could’ve cum then and there, the instructions only turning you on further. you forced your eyes open, meeting his as ethan sped up again. an almost animalistic noise left your throat as ethan thrusted into you roughly- you weren’t going to be able to hang on much longer. ethan felt the way your walls were clenching around him, fluttering and tightening as he increased his speed on your clit.

“close?” he asked, unable to say much more than that. your grip around him was euphoric- he was closer than he’d like to be. it hadn’t been more than 20 minutes, but with the way you were pulling at his head, almost crying in completely bliss, ethan wanted to fill you to the brim with his cum then fuck it into your sensitive pussy, overstimulating the sweet flesh.

you nodded, humming a small “mhm,” as you looked at him with wide eyes. ethan paused for a moment, shifting your leg up even higher onto his shoulder before plunging back into you. you felt the head of his cock hit a new, even more delicious spot and you became almost delirious. looking at him with furrowed eyebrows, you felt a tear crawl down your cheek.

“gonna cum, ethan-”

“fuck- me too. let go, baby.”

your entire body seemed to shake and shudder under the force of your orgasm- it hit you like a fucking train. you felt ethan’s thrusts get sloppier as he buried himself inside you, his head dropping to the crook of your neck. he whimpered as he shot his cum deep into your pussy, the sensation all consuming. the two of you stayed like that for a while- riding out your highs with each other, rough moans turned to honey-sweet mewls. 

as your heart rate started to come down, you peppered the boy's face with soft, careless kisses: ones that he gladly returned. ethan finally found your lips, pressing tender, long kisses to the swollen skin. 

“you’re a fucking god,” you murmured, stressing the word as ethan’s face flushed even hotter than it already had been.

“that,” he huffed, breathing still hard and uneven, “would be you.”

you giggled at the statement, your voice hitching as ethan slowly pulled out of you. you could feel a mixture of him and you spill out, the substance flowing over your things as ethan kissed down your body, taking in the sight between your legs. 

“so pretty, baby,” he whispered, sinking a long finger into your pussy. your whole body spasmed at the feeling, completely overstimulated. ethan pulled out of you softly, watching the way his cum seemed to spill out of you endlessly. he placed small, delicate kisses to the marks he’d left covering your thighs, admiring his work. “can i keep you here for the night?” he asked, eyes turning affectionate.

you nodded at the boy as he came back up to meet your lips, then your forehead. as you settled onto his chest, drawing lazy patterns on his skin, ethan's voice seemed to return to normal.

“such a good girl.”

[starshipsofstarlord]

Online dating

darcy lewis x reader / masterlist

summary; darcy decides to try a dating app, least to say, the guy isn’t anything like his picture. and thus she ditches him, and finds someone else in a hot second / warnings; the oc guys in this fic are dicks, homophobia, darcy being bae, swearing, mentions of sex and cheating, mentions of joy x reader.

he was a polar opposite to what he had portrayed his online self to be, screw the internet! this date was truly tragic, darcy had plenty of things that she could be better using her time for, rather than sitting opposite this oaf, that was licking his unappealing lips, and staring at the waitress when he thought that she didn’t notice.

“huh?” the scientific doctor pulled her phone out, ushering a puzzled expression on her face as she stared at the blank screen. she of course recognised that no one was making any attempts to contact her, but he didn’t know that. “one second.” she held her finger up, bringing the phone to her ear as she blabbered into the speaker that was inherently catching nothing that she was saying.

“slow down jane.” darcy falsely ushered, using her hands to exaggerate the conversation in her head. she put the phone down, a facade of panic elaborating behind her spectacle adorned eyes as she grabbed her belongings in a frenzy, standing upright and out of her seat. “im so sorry, my friend has just hit some guy with her car and she needs some moral support. tonight is going to have to be cut extremely short.”

short was a relief, but the hopeful expression on this dude’s face wasn’t. perhaps it was cruel to leave this guy hanging, and well, she couldn’t blame him for wanting more, she sent him an awkward smile as he began to speak. “we should do this again some time - properly.” darcy wasn’t dumb, she noticed how his eyes sped to the side as the curvy waitress walked by.

“sure...” no, definitely not. darcy was well aware that she was wasting her time with this moron, she didn’t need a man, let alone a dweeb of one. a quick wave was all she bade him as she exited the coffee shop, only to become engrossed in a scene erupting on the local streets. there was a woman, flinging shirts, and a bra within the bundle that looked as though it was not her size, what was she thinking, clearly it wasn’t, at said example of figurative masculinity.

“screw you durkus!” any guy named ‘durkus’ was basically a label confirming that he was a dick. “i don’t need you, nor the next man! i am a well established woman who has done more for this country than you could ever know, you’re dust beneath my feet, a pathetic layer of residue that i want nothing more to brush off.” perhaps she was being harsh, but it sounded like he deserved it.

from the red lipstick, that the woman was not at all sporting, from the random bra that she had flung at her partner, it was a safe bet to assume that he had cheated on her. darcy plodded closer, listening whimsically in, and realising that her life was pretty calm, there were no longer asguardians or dark elves infiltrating her life, nor the work that she had attained to field in.

she had only recently earned herself the title of doctor, and it was frustrating that people would assume that she opted for a profession in a hospital room, or they would forget the professional endorsement all together, and address her as ‘miss lewis’. she was no one’s puppet, she had scaled herself up the ladder of her career to be where she was now, but another thing that she was alongside such a wave of potential was a feminist.

this dick was shouting in the streets, calling her inexplicable names such as a ‘whore’, and a ‘two faced bitch’. having the ability to hear the insults brew anger in her stomach, she couldn’t just stand there. “what are you going to do, turn into a complete lesbian?” now that was the last straw, it had darcy marching over, and promptly she shoved the guy, making him drop all the items that were grasped in the basket of his arms.

a flabbergasted ‘huh’ was riveted from him, and it made darcy smirk as she attuned his attention towards her; the stranger that had gotten involved in his public display of disrespect and homophobia. “how about you watch your damned mouth before i make sure you can’t open it again. and whilst you’re at it, get some new shirts, you’re not a model, unless you’re the kind that are put on prison pamphlets.”

“who the fuck are you?” he spat his saliva on the ground by darcy’s feet, establishing her with the information that her first impression of this dick had been correct. women just knew with this kind of thing, they could sense trouble from a mile away. “you know what, keep that crazy bitch. maybe you can help her store her katanas, and go on double dates with danny rand and his plus one. rather you than me.”

“don’t ask.” the woman shook her head, tired of the drama that durkus always seemed to bring. she had enough trouble, involving work and extracurricular night time activities, without him adding to them. darcy presented her with a sweet smile, picking up the box of random bits and bobs that was on the floor. “that’s just work stuff, i’m moving offices and as i came to collect some things from our apartment, and i found him- well let’s just say he wasn’t alone.”

“that was pretty easy to pick up on. how’d you not realise that you were dating a total sleaze?” she was blunt with her enquiry, though the woman shrugged, a guilty expression cowering upon your features, like an ashamed shadow. a small, attractive smile graced her lips, secrets hidden beneath the span of the expression.

“oh, i knew. i just had to pretend to be happy, so that my ex, or well now, my other ex joy would stop chastising me, claiming that i haven’t got over her. she’s so up her own ass sometimes and it drives me- shit, i’m sorry, you don’t know me, nor do you need to hear about my problems.” the y/h/c haired woman shook her head, stretching her hand out to miss lewis. “i’m y/n, thanks a bunch for helping me out back there.”

darcy accepted her handshake, completing the action as she smiled. “i’m darcy.” this woman didn’t need to know about her doctor title, in fact, darcy was keen on knowing everything about her instead. “so’d how you meet him?” referring to the person that had most recently became y/n’s ex. y/n was relieved that darcy had shown up, she was sure she’d have used her martial art training for more than composition; she’d have kicked durkus’ flat ass.

“on a dating app.” it was a normal answer, she wouldn’t share the intel that before that she had saved his ass whilst wearing a black hood, stopping him from getting mugged in the dead of night. perhaps she should have saved someone else that particular late evening. darcy couldn’t help but let a small laugh out, finding both their circumstances quite amusing. she was sure a similar situation would have unfolded if she had decided to regularly see the date that she ditched.

“online dating man, it sucks, am i right?” it had quite the reputation, for the two of them especially. “maybe we should just date each other.” she joked, though she was being partially serious. it felt right, they had bumped randomly into one another’s faulted situations on the same day, it almost felt like fate, though that subject was too cheesy to say aloud.

“well doctor lewis, i would not at all mind going on a date with you.” darcy frowned at the title that she had been called, pointing at the side of the woman’s jacket, that had a recyclable label stuck upon the material. “so you majored in science, if i am correct?” finally, someone got it! she could get used to that.

y/n did not appear as a deity nor a creature from another realm, she was normal. or so as far as the eye could tell, in fact, she did not suspect a thing from this woman, much less to be a defender of the earth that worked in a small and less know league than the avengers, yet still roamed the us to protect its people.

darcy though had won this battle for her though, giving her a moment of peace from fighting, and had idly sent durkus on his route far away. y/n could get used to not being the hero all the time, more so if this doctor was her knight in shining armour.