#“oh yeah i just don't really come but dw i still enjoy it”

[likeumeanit9497]

blue pill | m.s. |

matt sturniolo x fem!reader

summary: alternate outcome of this;)

warnings: unprotected p in v; oral (m/f receiving); fingering; switch!matt; matt the munch (yes pls); dirty talk; use of boner pills; deepthroating; 18+

notes: here u are my matt queens!! if u start reading this and think ummm hello i've read this before????? no u haven't dw this has the exact same beginning as red pill the reader just makes a different choice when things start gettin hot;) if you've read red pill already and don't feel like u need a refresher on the buildup skip to the bolded sentence. i hope y'all enjoy this as much as i enjoyed writing it!! love u all so so much <333

─ ⊹ ⊱ ☆ ⊰ ⊹ ─

“This is so fucking stupid.” Matt groaned, sitting in between his brothers on the living room couch, holding a single red pill delicately in between two fingers as though it was a toxin. “Bro you’re the one who came up with the idea and bought them.” Chris retorted, inspecting the identical pill in his own hand. “Yeah, and I have no fucking clue why I agreed to this.” Nick chimed in, his voice filled with misery. “Because you can never turn down a competition.” I replied cheekily from my place on the other couch, giggling at the boys’ petty arguing.

Leaning forward, I pulled my phone out of my back pocket — opening up the timer app and hovering my finger over the start button. “Now hurry up and take them dummies, I’ll keep score.” I peered up at them as they gave each other tentative looks, seemingly hoping that one was going to have a change of heart. When nothing but silence followed, they all seemed to unanimously commit, dropping the red pills on their tongues and chasing them down with soda. As soon as they swallowed, I started the timer and sat back; crossing my arms across my chest with a smirk plastered to my face.

After the guys had posted the video at the gas station where Matt was talking about his idea for the sex pills, I had jokingly messaged him saying that I would gladly keep score if they really did it. Taking my message seriously, Matt had secretly gone out and grabbed three pills before inviting me over tonight. Thinking we were all just going to hangout, I was shocked when I showed up to find the pills neatly lined up on the coffee table and the three brothers pacing around the room arguing. After plenty of deliberation, Matt finally convinced Nick and Chris, and now here they were; awkwardly looking between themselves and me.

“How long do these even take to kick in?” Asked Chris, toying with the can of Pepsi in his hand. Grabbing one of the packages from the coffee table, Matt examined it for a moment. “It says thirty minutes.” He replied, sighing and running a hand through his messy hair. “This is ridiculous.” Remarked Nick, shaking his head as though he was disappointed in everyone in the room. Still giggling, I stretched my legs along the couch. “Oh come on,” I whined, “Relax, get comfy, and let the games begin.”

𓆩☆𓆪

“Okay, this isn’t working.” Nick deadpanned, locking his phone and throwing it beside him. “Really?” Asked Chris, turning to face his brother. Dropping his jaw, Nick made a disgusted face. “Is it for you?” Chris smirked bashfully, shrugging his shoulders. “I’m feeling somethin’.” He replied, to which Matt and Nick both groaned. “What about you Matt?” I asked, eyeing his still-relaxed frame leaning against the couch. Jutting out his bottom lip, he shrugged. “No, nothin’.” Chris groaned beside him, and I couldn’t help but notice him adjust himself slightly. “Great, now I feel weird.” He said, grabbing a blanket and swiftly draping it across his lap. I laughed and slowly pulled myself up from the couch.

“Looks like you might end up being the loser.” I teased as I began tidying up the packages strewn around the room. “I will n-” Dropping to my knees, I collected torn up pieces of packaging that had gathered at Chris’s feet. Noticing that Chris’s words had been cut short and now the room had fallen into heavy silence, I glanced up at him through my eyelashes. His eyes — which from up close seemed glassy and dilated — were on me, his mouth open slightly from his disrupted speech, and even his breathing seemed slightly rapid as his chest rose and fell.

Noticing this, Nick threw his hands up in the air exasperatedly. “Chris are you serious? See I knew this was a fucking horrible idea.” His sharp words pulled Chris’s eyes away from me, and he winced at his brother. “I’m sorry,” He replied, his words aimed at both Nick and myself, “I don’t know what the fuck is going on with me.” He added, seeming to grow increasingly uncomfortable. I giggled nervously before pulling myself back up to my feet. “It’s okay.” I reassured him before bringing the packages to the garbage; using the short walk to recover from that oddly intense moment.

As I returned, I suddenly noticed Matt fidgeting in his place on the couch, his brows knit in what seemed to be anguish. With Nick scrolling on his phone and Chris burying his head in his hands, I seemed to be the only one noticing Matt’s sudden discomfort. I chuckled as I slid back into my seat. “You good Matt?” I asked, teasing him. His eyes shot up to mine, and I watched as his Adam’s apple bobbed nervously. “Uh…yeah. All—all good.” He replied, his voice thick and slightly raspy.

Glancing down at my phone, I check the timer. It had been 32 minutes since they took the pills. I smiled gently. “Right on time.” I replied, shooting him a knowing look which just made him grow even more visibly restless. My comment grabbed the attention of Nick and Chris, and they turned to look at their rosy-cheeked brother. “You too?” Nick shouted, jumping up off of the couch. Matt grimaced, shrugging his shoulders again. “It’s not like I can control it.” He replied, letting out an uncomfortable laugh. Sighing, Nick began walking towards the stairs. “Whoa! Where are you going?” Chris asked him. “Nothing is happening to me dumbass! And I will absolutely not be sitting around you two anymore now that you’re both bricked up.” He sassed as he began climbing the stairs. “Good luck Y/n!” He called as he disappeared into his bedroom.

“Looks like we’re in a 1 v 1.” I said, wiggling my eyebrows teasingly. I registered the look of torment on the faces of Matt and Chris, and decided that it would be in my best interest to hold back my laughter. “Let’s see who can make it to an hour.” I added. Chris grunted as he shifted in his seat uncomfortably. “I’ll be lucky if I make it another five minutes.” He replied, his voice also more gruff than usual. “Aww c’mon, you can do it.” I encouraged, moving to place a reassuring hand on his knee but deciding against it. As the room fell back into silence, I could hear Matt’s heavy breathing permeated by the occasional soft whine.

Although I was trying to keep things light-hearted, their overwhelming arousal was growing more and more palpable. My wandering eyes flittered from Matt’s bottom lip pulled in between his teeth to Chris’s temple coated in a sheen of sweat. As I focused on their features, it was as though their chemically-induced lust was contagious. I began to feel my own heart pounding in my chest, and I noticed a dampness in my panties that hadn’t been there before. In that silent room, all of our desires suddenly fell in sync with one another, and it was growing harder and harder to ignore.

“I need to go deal with this.” Chris suddenly blurted out, his voice laced with urgency as his focused eyes stared straight ahead. “You’re throwin’ in the towel?” Asked Matt, his lips curling into a smile infused with what seemed to be an odd combination of arrogance and relief. Chris winced as he tried to lean forward, nodding his head intensely. I watched in painful silence as he folded his hands together and pressed them against his plump lips, deep in thought. Very slowly, his eyes were pulled in my direction.

I froze under his gaze, the look he was giving me was worth a thousand words. My brows furrowed momentarily, instinctually denying what his eyes were asking me, before I felt my body begin to react. Heart pounding in my ears, I leaned back against the couch and crossed my legs; dying for some relief. “Hey—what’s going on?” Matt’s voice infiltrated mine and Chris’s stare-down. Picking up on the shift of air in the room, his eyebrows shot up. “Chris, no! That’s not how this works.” He exclaimed, turning to face his brother. Still looking at me, a smirk pulled at the corner of Chris’s lips. “We never laid down any ground rules kid.” He replied, and I felt my throat go dry.

“Well…” Matt’s exasperated voice trailed off for a moment, “Well, who said you get to fuck her?” The words sat heavy in the air around us, the reality of the situation being verbalized for the first time. I couldn’t manage to get a single word out if I tried, nor did I have the power to pull my eyes from Chris’s heady gaze. Chris chuckled, pulling himself off of the couch before slowly beginning to walk towards me. “No one,” He began, his voice suddenly menacing, “That’s up to her.” He finished just as he stopped in front of me, his frame towering above me with his tantalizing bulge directly in my line of sight.

Very slowly, he leaned down so that we were once again face-to-face. I felt my cheeks burn red from the situation I had suddenly found myself in, and the desire was radiating off of me in pulses. “What do you say?” He asked, his dilated eyes flooded with amusement. I swallowed, trying my best to re-instate my own vocal chords. Just as I was about to squeak out a response, a mindless gasp fell from my lips as Chris ducked his head down; his face buried in my neck.

My eyes fluttered shut momentarily, but once they opened they immediately landed on Matt’s tense figure sitting on the couch. His eyes were wide open, showing me just how badly he was suffering in that moment. The sheer need radiating from his gaze on me was infiltrating my mind, but the feeling of Chris’s warm breath dancing against my neck made it difficult for anything else to matter.

That is, until my eyes trailed down to Matt’s lap.

In between his fidgeting thighs, I saw the perfect outline of his cock. His pitiful arousal was evident in the shaded contours of his length in combination with the dark bead of pre-cum leaking through his grey sweats, letting me know that he had made the unsavoury decision of skipping on boxers. The visual of it — him being so transparently aroused while simultaneously ashamed — caused my mind to wander.

It wandered to the thought of me on my knees, wrapping my lips around his satin-skinned cock while he twitched and moaned out my name; dying to give into a release that was almost too much to handle. It wandered to the feeling of his sharp breath against my skin as he whined into my touch; bucking his hips as I teased his sensitive tip. It wandered to the idea of him taking out his insatiable hunger on my core — now slick with arousal —licking, sucking, groaning against its heat.

My silence flooded the room, and as I fought against the urge to drool at the thoughts swimming through my mind, a look of recognition flashed across Matt’s flushed face. I kept my eyes glued to him as Chris’s mouth traveled across my neck, and watched his heaving chest and white-knuckled fists at his side. His eyes — now four shades darker and twice as droopy as they usually are — were telling me a story. A story of exactly what he wanted to do to me — what he wanted me to do to him. And then — just as Chris nibbled against a particularly sensitive part of my neck and my eyes fluttered shut in pleasure, another soft whine slipped from the lips of the man watching me. The one who so clearly needed my help.

Using all my self restraint, I placed a gentle but firm hand on Chris’s chest. “I’m sorry Chris,” I spoke, feeling bad about my inability to help out both brothers. But, I knew for a fact that Chris had a much longer roster than his triplet brother, and was sure that he would be able to have someone over in less than 10 minutes to help him out. At my words, Chris released a disappointed huff of air against my skin but didn’t fight against my hand. As he stood up, I had to force my eyes away from his own visible arousal that was still within my reach.

“I wouldn’t recommend staying out here, I’m gonna get Marie to come over.” Chris grumbled, his voice still thick with arousal, before shooting his brother the middle finger and heading for the stairs leading to his bedroom. Once we were alone, the weight of the situation seemed to fill the space between us, making it difficult for me to breathe. The intensity of Matt’s gaze, never once leaving me, didn’t make things any easier — his retinas might as well have been screens playing out all of the filthy scenes that were running through both of our minds.

Forcing myself back to reality, I gathered all of my thoughts and nudged my head in the direction of his bedroom down the hall. “Should we go?” My question elicited the harsh bob of his Adam’s apple, and a curt nod of his head. On shaky legs, I stood up. He wrapped an uncertain, hovering arm around my waist and together we began walking towards his bedroom. As we walked, I felt, more than heard, his breathing grow more and more rapid; his pulse radiating from his body into my own.

Just as we passed the kitchen and entered the hallway, Matt stopped in his tracks. “Wait, Y/n,” Gently, he grabbed onto my hips and pressed me against the wall, standing in front of me with concern etched into his face. “Are you sure you’re good with this?” His question a paradox to his obvious desperation to get relief, I stifled a surprised laugh. “Yeah, I’m sure.” I replied, amused. Still not satisfied, he continued. “I just don’t want you to think that you have to do this, I mean I got these pills as a joke and really just invited you to keep score. You’re my friend and I don’t want you to think this was my pl—”

I cut him off with a finger pressed gently to his soft lips. Although his concern was charming and even comforting to me, it was entirely unnecessary. “Matt,” I began, my voice dropped to a low whisper as I looked up at him through my eyelashes, “I’m good with this.” Tracing the tattoos on his arm slowly, I continued, “See for yourself.” His eyes scanned my face for a moment, confused, before a glint of understanding appeared. Very slowly, his eyes dropped to my lower half and wordlessly I encouraged him by widening my stance slightly. One of his hands that had been resting on my hip began toying with the waistband of my shorts, before it creeped down the front of the cotton material blindly.

As soon as his long fingers reached my slippery heat, we both released simultaneous groans. His skin was so cold against my own, and as they gently slid in between my folds it sent a delicious shiver down my spine. “God,” Matt breathed, his eyes glued to my clothed heat as though he had x-ray vision. I bit my lower lip as I fought the urge to moan from the feeling of his exploring fingers, but all restraint disappeared once he reached my throbbing bundle of nerves. As the erotic noise fell from my lips, Matt’s eyes fluttered back up to mine before he pulled my lips into a feverish kiss.

Drawing slow circles against my clit, Matt’s tongue slipped delicately into my mouth with a certain hunger I hadn’t quite experienced before. Even as I relished in the taste of him combined with the exquisite pressure he was using against my nerves, I recognized that he was holding back some of his desperation. “Like that,” I breathed against his lips, panting as he worked me into a frenzy. He released a puff of air through his nostrils in response, shifting on his feet as he struggled to keep his composure.

“S-so wet for you.” I continued egging him on, finding his resistance to let go erotic. “S-so wet.” He parroted, his breathing rapid against my swollen lips before they traveled down my jaw and onto my neck. My eyes fluttered shut as I felt his mouth toy with my delicate skin, though the feeling was cut short as he pulled his head back slightly, his breathing hot against my ear. “D-don’t love that.” He muttered, running his thumb along my neck where I was sure his brother had left dark purple bruises just moments before.

Grabbing his jaw, I gently pulled his face up so that I could lock eyes with him. His fingers were still circling my clit, so through breathy gasps I spoke, “Why don’t you plant your own somewhere else?” I watched as his face suddenly grew overcome with aching fervour, before his hands slid back to my waistband and he sunk to his knees; taking my shorts and thong down to my ankles with him. My gaze followed him to the floor, and with a slacked jaw I watched as Matt took in the sight of me exposed just inches away from him. His hands crawled back up my thighs and his thumbs brushed delicately against the silky smooth skin of my bikini line before he brought his mouth to my pelvis.

His tongue swirled against my skin in a place I was sure had never been kissed before. He groaned, the sound muffled by his suckling lips, and I felt as though I might melt away from how worshipped I felt in that moment. My skin began to grow warm under his nibbling and sucking, and my stomach flipped from the sight of the angry purple bruise he had left once his mouth began moving closer to my aching core.

Just as Matt’s nose brushed against my heat, he pulled back slightly and used his grip on my thighs to pull my legs further apart. With a look of anguished hunger, he pulled his lower lip between his teeth as his thumbs spread apart my folds; granting him an unrestricted view of the arousal dripping from my core. “Jesus,” His singular word held the weight of all of the desire radiating between the two of us, and like the snap of an elastic band, all of his self-restraint dissipated as he impulsively ran his flat tongue along my heat; causing me to cry out in ecstasy as he savoured my sweet arousal against his tastebuds.

As if he was an addict and had just had his first fix, Matt turned into someone unrecognizable with his face buried between my thighs. His fingers wrapped so tightly around my thighs that I was sure he was going to leave a bruise as his tongue flicked deliciously against my swollen bundle of nerves. “Oh god, Matt!” I cried out, lacing my fingers through his hair and pressing my heat against him desperately. He responded to my pathetic moans by throwing one of my legs around his shoulder; granting his tongue a new angle that sent shock waves down my spine.

“So fucking good.” He groaned against my cunt, his voice more hoarse than usual. His tongue slid from my bundle of nerves down to my entrance, which he circled for a moment before plunging the strong muscle into it; lapping up my juices as I struggled to stand upright. He used his tongue to fuck me, his own moans echoing through my walls as his nose simultaneously rubbed my puffy clit, and the short hallway filled with the wet sounds of my needy cunt being worked towards my impending orgasm.

“F-fuck Matt,” I whined, rolling my hips hungrily against his face, “I-I’m gonna-” Without even finishing my words, Matt grunted in approval before fumbling blindly with his sweatpants. Through hooded lids I watched in glory as Matt slipped his pants down just enough to let his veiny cock free. Without removing his working mouth, he slid two fingers in the shape of a V through my folds to collect my juices before bringing his slippery hand to his cock; stroking it in rhythm with his movements against my cunt.

My legs began to shake and my vision grew blurry from my fast-approaching orgasm, though I couldn’t pull my eyes away from Matt as he milked his cock; clearly grown too desperate to wait another moment for relief. Just as he released a throaty moan against my cunt and I felt myself begin to give in to the overwhelming pressure radiating through every nerve in my body, I froze at the sound of the front door opening.

Chris’s lucky roster pick.

Matt and I locked eyes, sharing a look of mutual anguish before he jumped to his feet. Without even bothering to get dressed, I slipped out of my discarded bottoms and silently headed for Matt’s bedroom, the heat of his own brooding frame close behind me. As soon as we were behind the closed door, Matt tried to drop to his knees once again. Although it took nearly all of the self-restraint that I held in my body, I grabbed onto his shoulders to stop him. “Matt, you’re torturing yourself.” I whispered, dropping my eyes to his throbbing cock — bright red and swollen at the tip.

He pouted, running a gentle hand through my hair. “But you taste so fuckin’ good.” He breathed out just before engulfing my lips with his own; allowing me to taste my own sweetness against his slick tongue. His hands toyed with the bottom of my shirt, tugging it gently as though asking for permission. I pulled away from his mouth, drunk from the way I tasted on him, and allowed him to slip my shirt over my head. His pleading eyes dropped to my tits, and he ran the pad of his thumb along my pebbled nipple before dropping it back down to the bundle of nerves between my legs.

“You were so close to cumming,” He added. His voice was deep yet laced with the whine of a man who needed something bad, and it numbed my mind for a second. He pressed his thumb against my clit, slowly adding more and more pressure as I bit my bottom lip. “We can cum together.” I offered, looking up at him through droopy eyelids as my stomach flipped from the thought of him inside of me at last.

That thought seemed to have been mirrored in Matt’s mind as well, because his blown out eyes grew hazy and his brows knit together in wistful lust. Taking his expression as my answer, I gestured toward his bed behind him. With a curious smirk, Matt slipped off his t-shirt and began walking backwards towards his bed; using his grip on my hips to pull me with him. As his heels reached the frame, I gently pushed him down so that he was sitting on the edge of the bed. Although a part of me wanted to straddle his lap and sink down onto his gorgeous cock immediately, instead of following him onto the bed I dropped onto my knees before him.

His eyes glimmered for a moment. “What are you doing?” He asked, the mild concern on his face worked paradoxically with his hands gathering my hair into a make-shift ponytail. I snaked my hands up his legs, letting them rest just centimetres away from his cock; the nearly-there contact making it jump. “Just wanna taste you too,” My seductive words caused his hands to subconsciously tighten in my hair just as I wrapped my lips around his spongey tip.

His savoury pre-cum on my tastebuds intoxicated me, and I lapped it up hungrily before bobbing my head in a rapid, but steady, rhythm. A whiney groan fell from his lips, his thighs twitched under my hands as I let his cock reach the back of my throat; swallowing around it and relishing in his needy reaction. “Mmm Y/n,” He groaned, his breath rapid as he struggled to keep his composure, “F-feels so good,” His grip in my hair was firm, as though that was what was holding him steady, but I felt his thumbs gently brush my neck in a way that was comforting to both of us.

Relaxing my throat, I pushed myself all the way down his long cock so that my nose pressed against his flexed stomach. A sharp whimper filled the room as I gargled his entire length until tears began streaming down my face, and already I felt his cock begin to swell in my throat. “Oh god baby, not g-gonna la-ast — s-so clos-se.” His words were choppy, punctuated by his rapid breathing as his body grew red from the hot arousal. Panties flooding, I took his words as motivation and swallowed his cock fervently; knowing that he had to be close to pain by how hard he was.

A chorus of sharp, rapid whines began slipping from Matt’s lips, and I felt his body begin to tremble under my touch as his balls tightened against my chin. His hips lifted from the bed in uncontrollable pleasure, and after a final, exquisite moan, I felt the warmth of his cum as his powerful orgasm washed over him. I fought the urge to gasp at the sheer amount of fluid that filled my mouth, but was pulled back by the addicting taste of him on my tongue. Greedily, I swallowed everything that he had before continuing to slowly bob my head.

Matt’s body writhed under my warm mouth, and only once he released a pathetic moan from my tongue swirling around the crest of his head did I pull back; releasing his still-hard cock with a pop. My vision was blurry from my tears, but I still managed to pull my eyes from the string of saliva dangling from his leaking cock back to his flushed face; gazing down at me in shock. “I…I’ve never finished that fast in my fucking life.” His words were laced with genuine astonishment, causing me to laugh in amusement.

“We can blame the pill,” I replied, pulling myself off of the floor and climbing on top of him on the bed. As soon as my core was level with his lap, his hands gripped firmly onto the flesh of my ass and his cock flexed against the pressure of my body. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I laughed before subtly pushing him back so that he was laying flat on the bed. “Doesn’t matter anyways, looks like you still got more in you.”

My words seemed to awaken something within him, because as soon as they left my mouth Matt flipped us over so that it was now me who was laying flat against the bed. His mouth consumed my own once again, the taste of both of our arousal now floating between our tongues. My head spun from the glorious feeling of being underneath Matt, feeling somehow so powerless yet so in tune with my own body. A gasp slipped from my lips as I felt his cock brush against my heat, the urge to be filled now growing void of any ignorance.

“You still wet?” Matt breathed against my lips, using a hand to spread my legs apart before bringing it to my sensitive core. A satisfied hum fell from his lips as he felt the warm juices of my arousal not only pooled in between my legs, but smeared all down my inner thighs from the pleasure of having him fall apart in my mouth. “Oh you’re fuckin soaked baby,” He cooed, his voice gentle against my parted lips. I writhed against his investigative fingers, needing more contact than what he was granting me by admiring just how turned on I had grown.

Growing impatient, I reached down and grabbed his sticky cock, eliciting a hiss from him as I guided it towards my needy entrance. “Jesus,” Matt groaned, overwhelmed by the confirmation of my insatiable need for him, before allowing himself to be guided by my hand. Just as I felt the head of his cock sink into the crest of my aching pussy, I let go of his shaft and relied on the fervour warmth of my walls to swallow his length.

He slid into me slowly, with anguish, and once he bottomed out guttural moans fell from both of our lips. He filled me so intensely that I felt feverish, delirious with desire. My walls welcomed him graciously, though they enveloped him so tightly I was worried he may not be able to move. Just as that thought crossed my mind, Matt pulled himself almost entirely out of me before driving his cock back down to the hilt. A gasp fell from my lips as my arms wrapped around his neck, overcome with the relief that his movements granted me.

“Holy fuck,” Matt grunted, and as I looked up at him I recognized the look of strain on his face and throughout his muscles. “You’re s-so tight.” The tensity of his voice drew a soft moan from me, and by wrapping my legs around his waist I urged him to keep moving. Recognizing my silent request, he began pumping himself into me. He started slow, though on each thrust it was as if my cunt began to stretch more and more for him until it moulded to fit him perfectly, to which he responded by going harder and faster.

The squelching sound of our bodies as they joined together provided a perfect harmony to the slurry of moans that fell from both of our lips. Matt snaked a hand around my lower back, adding a new level of pressure as he held me tight against him. I cried out as he wrapped his warm mouth against a hardened nipple, swirling his tongue around the dark pink, sensitive bud as he snapped his hips into me. “Feels…so…good…” Matt’s words were punctuated by his thrusts, and his breath tickled against my skin as he spoke into my plush breast. I mewled in response, nails turning into claws against the tense skin of his back.

“N-eeded this s-so fucking b-bad. T-thank you,” Solace was already evident in his voice, and his gratitude was enough to make my head spin. He lifted his head from my chest and placed his open mouth against my own with the intention of kissing me, but we were both so caught up in the mutual pleasure radiating through our bodies that the most we could do was breathe against one another; matching the tempos of our beating hearts. Matt’s thrusts began to grow sloppier, his breath more ragged, and the heat of our bodies came crashing down on me.

“N-need you to cum baby,” Matt groaned, slight panic and desperation laced through his tone. I released a pathetic moan, knowing I was close but could sense from his words that he was closer. “P-please Y/n, I’m — so c-close,” The trepidation was evident in his voice now, and I whined as I fought to stay on track chasing my own high. “K-keep going, just l-like that,” I purred, closing my eyes as I focused on my impending orgasm.

Matt’s hand traveled down my body in between my legs, where his thumb went to work vigorously swirling against my overstimulated bundle of nerves. Immediately, I felt myself inch closer and closer to the high I had been dying for. “F-fuck!” I cried out, my body beginning to tremble from the intensity of the oncoming waves of pleasure. “Please—Please—Please,” Matt grunted with each weakened thrust, his voice thick with untethered need as I felt his cock begin to swell inside of me; ready to erupt any minute.

Finally, after another desperate swirl along my clit in sync with a quick snap of his hips, Matt drew a long string of moans from my lips and pushed me over the edge of my teetering orgasm. Upon the first erratic pulse of my spongey walls, Matt released his own guttural moan and cried out my name before I felt his warm seed spill deep into my core. Although his body seemed to want to give in to the waves of pleasure it was experiencing, he forced his hips to continue to drive into me; helping me ride out my high as my clammy back arched off of the mattress and my legs constricted his waist. I felt the indescribable release of pressure as I squirted all along his throbbing cock and lower stomach, earning a satisfied moan from Matt as he let his eyes drop to admire the sight.

Only once our bodies began to relax and we came down from our highs did Matt halt his movements; crashing his exhausted body onto mine and burying his face in my neck. I let myself sink into the soft mattress under his comforting weight, focusing on my decreasing heart rate and the feeling of Matt’s hand running up and down my side. My eyes fluttered shut, the physical exertion draining me of all energy, and I felt us simultaneously fall into a peaceful lull as our breathing steadied.

After what could have been hours, Matt lifted his head from my neck and shot me a bashful smile. “I’m never taking one of those fucking pills again.” Laughing, I propped myself up on my elbows and smiled down at him. “So what I’m hearing is that was horrible and you hate me.” Matt scoffed, jokingly rolling his eyes. “Obviously not, Y/n. The issue is that was way too fucking good. And we’re friends. Friends can’t be dogging each other like that.” Matt ran a hand through his hair, a sign that behind his joking tone he was genuinely stressing out over what we had done.

I grabbed his tattooed arm gently, getting his attention. “Hey crazy, don’t worry. It was a one time thing caused by your little boner pill. It won’t happen again.” He sighed, rolling off of me and draping his body along the bed beside me. “Won’t happen again.” He repeated softly, staring up at the ceiling with concern still etched in his face. “Hey,” I looked down at him in amusement, “At least you feel better though, right?” Slowly, Matt turned to face me with that same flushed look he had on the couch an hour ago. Wincing, he let his gaze drop to his dick — still standing straight up in the air; red and swollen at the tip.

“One more time?”

“One more time.”

─ ⊹ ⊱ ☆ ⊰ ⊹ ─

[pixie-felix]

So...poly now ey??

Ngl, I need more about how han's dick almost got destroyed 🤧 I prolly feel like he was into it tho?? Like "just to make you feel good bby"

We need to see what happens when Chan gets back to the dorm thoooo, mating press definitely looks like his style tho too

gasp! reverse cowgirl boys - lino and maybe i.n??? They def wanna see it jiggle 😔 ooh! Changbin finna put you in the air and do it (he's got the muscle dw) hyunjin def needs to see your pretty face when he's fucking you in front of the mirror...

Ps. I think it's nice of you to do drabbles when the ideas come rather than stressing over full length fics. Anything goes!

- 🥞

For anyone reading this who is not 🥞anon, we're talking about this drabble.

Thank you for such a lovely message, 🥞 anon 🥰 sorry it's taken me over a month to reply. So, I thought I should try and write a good one at least...

Much like how I am OT8 (shut up Chan), I am a firm advocate of poly!skz. Especially when I'm ovulating.

I think Channie may have actually trademarked the mating press 💁‍♀️ as soon as I'd written that for Seungmin, my brain immediately went: but that's Chan's position.

And then I left it in anyway, because I figured that's exactly the sort of shit Seungmin would pull- using Chan's favourite move when the old man has to go on the condom run. He's such a little shit, I love him.

I think he was also proving a point of some kind- he's usually a lot more private when it comes to sex -even when you're ovulating and feral for it- so why he decided to take you in Chan's favourite position, right in front of his salad, is an unexplained mystery. I bet the reason is petty though.

As for what happened to that time y/n nearly broke Hannie's dick... Let's just say there was some very enthusiastic bouncing happening. Y/n did offer to kiss it better, but somehow Han ended up being the one on his knees. His dick might be bruised, but his tongue still works just fine.

Oh, and you're right- Han was into it. A little pain is good for you. If you haven't read mine-and-lollipop anon's ballbusting Han posts, they can be found here and here. Excellent reading.

Minho does not spend all that time butthunting not to look at your ass while he's fucking you. So yeah, reverse cowgirl is a favourite for sure. I don't think he's into doggy so much as he's a cat, not a dog, and also it can be quite hard on the knees. He needs those for dancing, and there are other positions he can dick you down in.

I.N definitely enjoys all versions of cowgirl- ass, tits, tummy- as long as he can see something bouncing he's a happy boy. I like to think about the times he goes feral and territorial though, when he's sick of being teased by the hyungs and decides to channel that frustration into fucking you dumb. Oh, and marking you up so that all the others have to look at his marks on your skin when they're touching you.

Changbin is such a soft boy. I read somewhere that he got so buff because he's allergic to a lot of things, and scared of more things like that, so he made himself big and strong because of that. Thank fuck for those allergies, because yeah, those muscles definitely come in handy in the bedroom. And the shower. And the living room. And everywhere else.

Hyunjin was made for mirror sex. In any position. As long as he can see your face, how he's making you feel, he's a happy boy. Definitely the type to have a mirror on the ceiling as well. I think he's really into missionary too- the intimacy of all that body contact, the eye contact. The way he can kiss you and hold your hands? Yeah. Mirrors and missionary. #justhyunjinthings

And Felix? Felix is the one who cockwarms you while you sleep. I guess you're technically cockwarming him, but meh whatever you understand what I mean. Ovulation sex with Felix is practically aftercare in itself. He's the one gently fucking you when you're too sore to take a proper pounding but still needy and desperate, the one who fucks you to sleep when you can't bear to be empty.

[hotchsofficialwifey]

Heyo, I'm about as new to requests as you are to writing fanfictions, so please also bear with me if I do this wrong xD Also, just write and don't say sorry, after all we should be thanking you for putting your content out there :3 Thanks for doing this! Looking forward to your stories :-) So for the prompts:

- Jonathan Crane date with scientist!reader (I'd be really interested in something completely different from Crane's interests, like computer science/math). Maybe they know each other from university and get in touch again when he works at Arkham and appears on the news or sth.

- Neil Lewis smut where the reader crushes a little too much on a character in a movie (👀) and Neil gets jealous.

- Jonathan Crane fluff/smut where the reader has a nightmare and Crane tries to comfort them while also being turned on by the fear? xD

hi! thanks so much for your request, sorry it took me so long to get to it. I'll try to do all of your requests but i'll start with the last one. thanks again, hope you enjoy!

summary: your sleeping over at your boyfriend Jonathan's house when you have a terrible nightmare. thankfully, he's there to help.

pairing: jonathan crane x fem!reader

warnings: light smut (jonathan's horny but nothing really happens, more smut to come later ;) ), fluff, descriptions of a bad dream (nothing too scary, dw), use of fear toxin, hurt/comfort,

You're sitting on a field, eating ice cream on a sunny day, and the drizzling rain doesn't deter you from enjoying your summer afternoon. The world is bright, fun, colorful, and at ease.

But it all passes as soon as it came. The drizzling rain turns into booming thunder, and it pours and pours like buckets. You run into a nearby store, soaking wet and praying for a safe place to wait out the storm. The sky is a nauseating shade of grey, you notice once in the safety of the store. Then, you see it. A shadow lurking in the walls with red piercing eyes. Your breath catches in your throat as you inch away from it.

It, however, lunges towards you, and initiates a chase. You're running through the pouring rain, heart pounding and screaming for help, but the world is empty. Silent. Under different circumstances, maybe even peaceful. You run faster and harder, wailing and begging for help, but when you turn around...it's gone! You sigh in relief, but hide behind a tree for safe-keeping. You wait a few moments, but the coast seems clear. As soon as you begin to walk back to the store, your snatched by a shadowy claw wrapped around your neck.

You wake with a jolt, gasping as your eyes shoot open. It was a dream, you think. Just a dream.

"You okay?" A gravely, half-asleep voice asks. You turn to see Jonathan's soft brown eyes, and your heart slows at the sight of him.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine." You say, still slightly breathless. But upon remembering the dream, tears resurface in your eyes. " I just had a really fucked up dream." You say with a quivering voice.

"Oh, baby." Jonathan coos, wrapping his arms around you. "It's okay..." He murmurs. His voice is sweet as honey, but his mind is far from it. The tightening in his pants only grows as tears begin to stream down your face and land on his white shirt. He shifts uncomfortably, hoping you don't notice how flustered he is as his hand rubs your back carefully.

"Jonny?" Your sweet voice calls. "You okay?"

He nods quickly, trying to play it cool.

"Yeah..." he smiles. "Yeah, I'm fine. Let's just go back to sleep, sweetheart..." As you both lay back down, he quickly hides the can of fear toxin he used on you.

a/n: yay, first fic on here!! not my best work, but i wanted to write a little something because i feel like I kept y'all waiting for too long lol. hope this was okay, much more to come soon!

[bryonyashleysworld]

Hi, helloooo!

I don't think I've ever made a post here buuut I thought now is a great time! I've written a small self insert inspired by @queenofsovngarde fanfiction "Carefully Orchestrated Plans (no strings attached)" on Ao3 and I wanted to share it with you guys🩷

Enjoy!

-------

Ash: Mingjue will act as my family and by extension Jin Guanyao and Xichen too apparently

Jiang Cheng: Wait what

Mo Xuanyu: What's going on?

Wei Wuxian: Yeah what?

Nie Huaisang: Could you elaborate on that dear?

Ash: Okay so, remember how we said that we're doing family dinner? Well, Jiang Chengs parents graciously invited us but anyway, Mingjue and I met up today after he learned that I'm the girl from theater with Huaisang and we caught up on what's going on in our lives and all that jazz. Well, when it was my turn I had like a whole breakdown about my life, cried, it was nothing and then we talked about our latest shenanigans aaaaaand he decided to host the dinner and judge™ you guys and decide if you can (fake) marry me or not since he was always like a big bro to me until we lost contact and since my family situation is kinda wack anyway, this is great!

Wei Wuxian: ?????? BIG BRO MINGJUE???

Jiang Cheng: What the fuck

Mo Xuanyu: get wrecked guys

Lou Qingyang: I just got here but this is hilarious

Jiang Cheng: I didn't even plan this dinner okay? They decided to!

Wei Wuxian: Oh you're in trouble now brother

Ash: You know you can always just back out, right?

Jiang Cheng: :/

Nie Huaisang: Okay, she's speaking the truth.

Ash: What, you thought I was lying?

Nie Huaisang: Not about the dinner, I'm coming over now

Ash: Hey you really don't have to, oh there he goes....

Mo Xuanyu: Are we meeting up now?

Ash: Scratch that apparently because I'm already getting company?

-----------

(in privat chat between Jiang Cheng and Nie Huaisang)

Nie Huaisang: Are you at home?

Jiang Cheng: No?

Nie Huaisang: Well then get over here too

Jiang Cheng: The fuck, no

Nie Huaisang: So you're saying you don't care about Ash, proving to my brother that we are *not* serious about the (fake) marriage and I can't have that.

Jiang Cheng: Ugh, fine.

Nie Huaisang: Hurry

--------

Mo Xuanyu: Yeah well, text me if you still need me then

Ash: I will, thank you love <3

Wei Wuxian: I'm so confused????

Ash: Dw, the (fake) wedding is doing great and that's what's important

Lou Qingyang: Oh sure, the most important

Mo Xuanyu: Clearly, nothing is more important! How's the planning going btw?

Wei Wuxian: It's going great!!!

Wei Wuxian: Huaisang isn't being a huge help and A-Chang told me to fuck off but Ashley has been helping me immensely!!! We have a Pinterest board and everything

Ash: Oh yeah, we're really thriving

Lou Qingyang: Yesterday we looked at some wedding dresses with Wen Qing and Yanli, made a girls night out of it

Wei Wuxian: DDDD:

Wei Wuxian: @NieHuaisang @JiangCheng @WenNing GUYS NIGHT ON FRIDAY!!!!!

Wen Ning: Uh..? If I'm not busy

Wei Wuxian: you are now!!!

---------------

I sit in my room. On my bed are chocolates, already halfway eaten and in the background you can hear the quiet singing of Tamino playing soothing my silent cries. Today has been a lot on me and I just want the day to end so I can start fresh once more.

Through the screams of my thoughts I hear the front door opening and closing. Someone must've come home. Hushed voices make their way closer to my room and when I hear the knock I slowly look up with a tear stained face and slightly flushed from the warmth of my room.

"Ash...Ashley? It's Huaisang and A-Cheng. Can we come in? Please?" the quiet voice of Nie Huaisang speaks. Before I can utter a word, the door is being pushed open and I see them both standing in the door frame, their eyes in search of me. When they spot me sitting on the bed, Huaisang lets out a sigh and makes his way over to me, Jiang Cheng following closely but with a slight hesitance.

They find their places next to me. Finally, the words make their way to my mouth and I say "What are you two doing here? I didn't expect any visitors". I try to rub over my face as sneakily as possible while avoiding their gaze. Huaisang slowly puts an arm around me, pulling me into his arms gently. "We came because a birdy told me that you're not feeling well and how could we just let you be miserable by yourself?".

I put my head down, ashamed for them to find me in this vulnerable state. They haven't seen what a mess I can become nor did I want them to see it. " So he told you....I'm sorry, it's nothing you have to worry about" I speak quietly, my voice hoarse from all the crying I've done today. Jiang Cheng awkwardly puts a hand on my thigh and pats it softly, like a reminder that he's also there.

Huaisang smiles softly and shakes his head "No, brother didn't tell me anything I didn't already know. He just said that you looked like you would need company after you told us what has happened today. If he's your big brother, I want to be there for you too. And Jiang Cheng too, even if he is a grumpy cat." The latter grunts at Huaisang's teasing and shakes his head disapprovingly.

"I just didn't want you to be sad all by yourself. It's not right." he tells me firmly and once again, I find myself with tears in my eyes as I slowly lift up my head. "A-Chang, you-" I begin but he interrupts me "Don't make fun of me".

I choke out a small laugh and the tears start to fall without any control. "N-no I...thank you. Thank you both. This means...s-so much to me I-.."

Nie Huaisang presses me closer to himself. A warm body touches mine and suddenly I'm holding Jiang Chengs hand, all while my tears continue to fall down. I look up and into his face. A slight blush appears on his skin and he looks away, embarrassed by the affection showed so openly. "Yeah yeah, whatever.."he mumbles quietly, interlacing our fingers in the process. Despite the tears I smile. The thought that these two came here just because they were worried about me fills my heart with joy and a feeling I can't quite place while my cries continue.

After some time I calm down and clean my nose with a tissue Nie Huaisang hands me. "You guys are so cute..truly, thank you for coming here." I lean into Nie Huaisang and squeeze Jiang Chengs hand once more. "You know you can always count on us.." A-Cheng reminds me and I smile softly. Before I can reply, a sudden wave of tiredness sweeps over me and a big yawn escapes my mouth. Today's rollercoaster ride seems to finally be coming to an end. Huaisang gently pats my back and says " It's probably time to go to sleep huh? What do you say, we stay here tonight so we can make sure you get a good night's rest, hm? "

Stay? I blink my eyes in confusion and look at him: "Do you mean that?". He smiles and nods "Of course, right A-Cheng? Surely you have no problem with that" Jiang Cheng gives a small nod, his eyes softening as he squeezes my hand gently. "Yeah, I don't mind. We can keep you company."

Relief washes over me, knowing I won't be alone tonight. It's times like these where I always wished for someone to keep me company and I'm beyond happy that they are offering it to me. I manage a small, grateful smile. "Thank you. Really, it means a lot."

Huaisang pulls away slightly, just enough to reach for the box of chocolates. "Well, since we're staying, how about we finish these chocolates and then get ready for bed?"

Jiang Cheng raises an eyebrow but doesn't object as Huaisang pops a chocolate into his mouth. I let out a small laugh, the tension easing from my shoulders. "Alright," I say, my voice steadier. "But I get the last one."

Huaisang grins, nodding. "Deal."

The three of us share the remaining chocolates, the quiet sounds from us eating and the music in the background a welcome distraction. As we finish, Huaisang stands up and stretches. "I'll grab some extra blankets and pillows. A-Cheng, can you help set up?"

Jiang Cheng nods, releasing my hand reluctantly. "Yeah, sure."

I watch them move around the room, setting up a makeshift bed on the floor with extra blankets and pillows. Their presence is comforting, their quiet camaraderie a balm to my frayed nerves. When everything is ready, Huaisang turns to me with a gentle smile and reaches out his hand. "Alright, Ashley. Time to get some rest."

I nod, feeling the day's exhaustion catching up to me. I take his hand and move down to the floor where I quickly crawl under the covers, feeling a sense of safety I desperately needed. Jiang Cheng and Huaisang settle on either side of me, creating a protective barrier that solidifies this feeling of security.

"Goodnight," I whisper, my eyes already closing from how tired they are from crying.

"Goodnight," they both reply softly.

For the first time in a while I sleep through the whole night without even waking up once. As I slowly wake up the next morning, I notice some strong arms holding me tightly. It seems that during the night, both Huaisang and A-Cheng started to cuddle me in their sleep. A bright red plush appears on my face but I can't help but smile gently at this situation. I feel warm and secure between them.

As I drift off to sleep once again, I can't help but think of how lucky I am that I have such amazing people in my life, who are willing to drop everything and come to me, just to make sure that I am alright and will remain fine for the reminder of the day.

-----

If you've read this far, thank you so much and I hope you have a great day! Take a cookie on your way out (^o^)>🍪

[fancyfade]

i know i'm just being a hater and people might find me annoying because i just Have to bring it up and wont shut up about this, but im glad im not the only one whos got some problems with Robni 2021

the comic is okay at best and mid at worse for me. there are parts that i liked and the comic wasn't all Bad, i get why a lot of people loved it, i just don't get that same hype over it and i didn't really have an explanation without making me sound bitchy

umm before any willismson's or his comics defenders come at me please just remember dont take anything so serious Peace

and i'm probably biased, but i think the people who get it, get it. sorry for the annoying rant! as always i love your takes and thoughts on comics heart emoji

its always valid to rant about comics dw !

and yeah like. I just re-read robin 2021 and knowing what to expect that I didn't like, it wasn't horrible, excepting issue 2 and 3 and it lost the plot a bit by the end. Like I can see why people enjoy just seeing damian doing stuff. But seeing it suggested as The Damian Comic ™ is always disappointing to me.

I think what made me dislike it so much (and what made other people like it) is it came off the teen titans character assassination fiasco... and williamson is really not interested in retconning that out at all and acts as if it was perfectly in character. and who knows maybe DC told him he couldn't retcon it out! But he does still try to act like it's in character, and simultaneously makes Ra's worse as he also is trying to restore Ra's to his pre-2D-villain-ified status quo.... but i think the fact that many people were like "Oh thank god its not teen titans 2016 character assassination arc" made it get graded on a curve.

[cosmic-pheonix]

Feeling bored and unmotivated in posting stuff (and probably in a need for some interaction with fellow moots/followers). Saw a post on Twitter on everyone sharing their cartoon crushes. (In case you missed it!)

I decided to be brave and share my fictional crushes! 😖🫡 Feel free to either agree or roast me! (Civically of course!) I'd love to see others fictional crushes and gush over them as well! So don't be shy in sharing them under the replies!

So to first start off...

Him💜

The 1st pic and GIF of him always does something to me (My god...)

Yami Yugi/Atem (Yu-Gi-Oh! DM/DSOD) | Main Crush - My first anime fictional crush 💜✨🌟 (and still is to this day! And has been recently the cause for all those self ship/self insert reblog posts on my other blog, as embarrassing as it sounds....) This man has inadvertently popped back into my brain all of sudden and slowly got me back to hyper fixating on YGO, (in the year of our lord saviour 2024), specifically for him 💜! There's really a plethora of reasons why I enjoy and appreciate him as a character (ie his personality, aura, kindness, complexity and flaws as a character, his voice - both in English and Japanese 😳 etc. - if anyone's interested maybe I might make a seperate post about it and share my headcanons for him perhaps)

2. Seto Kaiba (Yu-Gi-Oh! DM/DSOD) - Do I really need to say anything? 🤷🏾‍♀️ Same reasons applied as Yami/Atem really! The guy’s iconic, what can I say?

3. Dartz (Yu-Gi-Oh! DM) - Unpopular opinion/hot take but I think he’s pretty underrated as a villain (fuck him for making Yami Yugi cry + manipulating him and everyone else - Affectionately?? Just so my words don’t get twisted out of context, I’m appreciating him as a villain/character here, so don’t get it twisted). Is the story a hit or a miss or is it necessary? Can’t really say for sure, sorry🤷🏾‍♀️.

It’s been a long time I watched YGO, so go easy on me and take it with a grain of salt. All I will say honestly, is that I really like his design, him as a character (I think there’s a lot of missed potential that could’ve been explored more) and his voice (English preferably, Wayne Grayson’s performance as Dartz really did it for me! No hate towards the Japanese VA/Dub, just a preference towards his eng voice)

4. Pantalone (Genshin Impact) - Okay, so here’s the thing with him…If I happen to come across a guy with this much drip, charm and mysterious aura, with glasses to boot than I’m already sold! I haven’t played much Genshin in a long time, so I’m not sure what role he plays into the story. (I’d love to hear your thoughts and theories, though no spoilers please! 😊)

I’ve only seen snippets of clips and fanart of him and the fatui from here and there, but I hope he’s playable in the near future.

If Arlecchino (Father - MORE LIKE DADD-), can become playable in the future, then so can he (among other fatui members, aside from Childe).

5. Boothill (Honkai Star Rail) - I don't know about you guys, but ever since he's been leaked (and now recently added to the game have seen his character trailer - the way he just sauves and moonwalked like the smooth criminal he is did it for me!) I just adore him - Design, personality, voice everything! I love me a spunky, sassy rootin tootin space ranger cowboy that loves to cause havoc and chaos! (and serves cun-) I just think he’s neat! (Also is it just me or does his theme song in the character trailer sounded something you would hear in a freakin Ford Truck Commercial, his theme screams pure “America. Freedom, F yeah!” Vibes. PLEASE TELL ME I’M NOT THE ONLY ONE THAT THINKS THIS?! I JUST FIND IT FUNNY TO ME)

6. Miguel O'Hara (Across The Spiderverse) - Haven’t seen the movie yet (dw I plan to watch it but PLEASE NO SPOILERS!) but this man is everywhere and I don’t blame you! I’ve seen fanart/edits of him (especially ones whenever they show his fangs 😳👀) and honestly it’s on me because I been rewatching ColeyDoesThings video on him and it immediately got me back to start watching the spider verse movies (it’s on my to do list) So thanks Coley! (You should go check out her YouTube videos on everything fandom related, it’s great!)

UPDATE: Got another honourable mention! ✨⭐️

7. Lycaon (Zenless Zone Zero) - I’ve recently started playing ZZZ and so far it’s pretty fun! I’ve seen so many clips and fanart of this dude it’s not even funny. He’s pretty cool and got a nice design and voice. And that’s all I’m gonna say. I think this video on Twitter should speak for itself:

[valiant-if]

It's been a while since I talked about the games I'm playing, so I'm gonna take a sec here...

I got Dynasty Warriors: Origins a while back. I've been playing DW games since 3. 8 is my favorite, and that still hasn't changed, but I'm actually enjoying Origins a lot so far. It's very different pacing from the standard DW experience, but I think in a way that speaks well to the novel the games are based off of (which I've been trying to read slowly for many years, but it's dense as fuck). I think that not all DW fans are going to like it, but that's okay. I like that they tried something a little different.

I played Avowed when that came out. As a long-time Pillars of Eternity fan, I have a few minor complaints about it, but mostly I thoroughly enjoyed it. I ended up really liking all of the companions, and I think the game allows a decent range of roleplay options (though nothing near as extensive as Pillars 1 & 2).

It did really make me want to go back and replay Pillars though, so I'm slowly working my way through a Pillars of Eternity playthrough on the side of other things right now. Since I've played it before and that game involves a lot of reading, I'm not in a rush to go through it.

But I also have a library of games I've amassed over the years, about half of which I have never played, so I'm trying to work my way through unplayed games that I already own.

I finished Dark Deity two days ago, which is like a Fire Emblem style game for those who don't know. It was pretty decent. I liked the art, character classes, and combat animations a lot. There were other things that definitely could have used more work. I hope they learned a lot and their Dark Deity 2 release goes well!

Now I'm working on AI: The Somnium Files. It's very interesting so far. I'm interested in the unreliable narrator aspect of it the most right now. I can't play too much of it though because honestly all of the characters are unsettling as fuck. I'm pretty sure it's very intentional, but yeah I have to be in the mood for that one.

And I'm still a slave to my gachas (though thankfully I'm too poor right now to be tempted into spending money on any of them). I've been enjoying the newest Integrated Strategies in Arknights—the roguelike mode is actually what brought me to that game in the first place. I've also gone back to Genshin after a long hiatus there. They finally did a Wriothesley rerun, and thankfully my f2p ass got him. (I wish I had enough to pull for Furina too, but I don't.) And I've continued playing Honkai pretty steadily, but I'm waiting for some of the upcoming banners, like Mydei, Anaxa, and Castorice. I've also still been playing Limbus Company, but not as often lately. I'm in Canto VI right now. That game is such a trial for me when it comes to pulling IDs, because I should be trying to get good IDs for Faust and Sinclair, but I just love Yisang and Hong Lu so fucking much that I keep pulling for their IDs even when I already have some of their best ones lol

Also, Dark Deity made me nostalgic for Fire Emblem, so I've decided to replay Three Houses. I have a playthrough of Engage, which I've never played all the way through, in progress, but I'm just not as interested in the cast of that one.

So gaming has been enjoyable. There are a lot of new releases coming up soon that I'm interested in, but I'm definitely gonna have to pick and choose for a while. (I was doing well financially prior to 2020 and had money saved up for a while that meant I could buy games whenever I wanted them, but those days are over for now.)

Oh, not video games, but I'm also going to be starting a new dnd campaign this weekend as a player. I'm very fucking excited about it mostly because, of all the games i play, this is my favorite group of people and my favorite dm. I'm also addicted to playing a lot of different types of characters (like, seriously, I'm the kind of person who gets excited when my character dies) so it'll be really fun getting into a new one.

So that's about what I'm up to when I have free time. Any games y'all have played and liked or are looking forward to?

[rollercoasterwords]

Ok this may come off as ramble-y but i just wanted on come in here gush abt how much I love your fics!! I'm a big fan of atyd so intially that's how i found your work -- through Sirius' perspective -- and i loved that shit (dare i say more than the original,, they're both amazing ofc I'm just biased coz Sirius is my fav character). I come from a super religious/conservative background and I have never related so much to a character with internalised homophobia -- like the resemblance was a little uncanny ngl lol.

But yeah,, than i read 'thtf' becoz i was craving some lesbian fics (coz the marauders' fandom is in a lesbian drought let's be real). And it was so good and i absolutely bawled my eyes out. You're writing i think especially shined in this fic and i remember i would go back an reread pages because they we're so beautifully written lol.

And then i read ur cowboy and zombie au fics (even tho I don't really ship jegulus/marylily) but they were still amazing and so, so fun!!

My favourite fic of yours by far tho is ur most recent fic, 'As the Worm Moon Dies'. I'm a sucker for fics that expand on the world-building/magic of hp because i feel like there is so much missed potential in the og hp series due to jkr neoliberal centrist politics (gag). I loved how u depicted magic in series as more of a spectrum and how every human has the capability for it. I loved how u described the elves and their enslavement becoz holy shit is that a horrible plot point in the og series (dw!! they liked being enslaved!!). Sirius as a death eater is so weird becoz canon sirius would never -- but it also shows just how much of an influence James and subsequently the Potter's had on his life. Ooooh also don't even get me started on the werewolf fighting rings and the hypocrisy of pureblood societies its absolutely so fascinating to me!! Ahh i've reread it so many times already lol. (and obviously, the wolfstar is *chefs kiss*)

I love ur writing so much i actually started reading the captive prince series solely so ic ould read ur fanfics on it lmao. (up to book 2 -- so far very interesting -- and wondering what Laurent's perspective could possibly contain).

Honourable mentions to ur nobleflower and emmary fics because they were awesome and ur characterisation of emmaline as a butch aloof lesbian is now absolutely cannon to me!!

Anyways sorry for rambling so much i just needed to fangirl about ur works!! I just wanted to thank you for all the time you put into them and your services to the marauders fandom. Oh, and if you ever published a book one day i would read it no doubt.

aww thank u 🥹 this is so sweet it’s always crazy 2 remember that there r like…real live actual people out there who r resonating w the things im writing etc so i v much appreciate the kind words 💕 also reading captive prince just 4 the laurent pov fic is crazy lmao but i hope u enjoy the series…book 1 is rough but book 2 will start bringing u back and book 3?? bananas….

[the-illiterate-pirate]

Tell Him that His Lonesome Nights are Over || Pt. 1

I decided on a two shot! Adding this one together with the rest of the story would be too long imo, and tbh I need to hit my fic quota for the month before it's too late. This chap is just story but dw, the next one will have all the good stuff 😏

This draft is like a year old please forgive me if my old style and my new style clashes together noticably lmao

NOTES: SFW, Fem!reader, Reader and Sandman eat jerky, Reader is said to have a large family, like huge like. Oh my god, keep it in your pants please. Tell me if I need to add anymore warnings!

I've added a reference to a song I enjoy a lot, think you can find it? >:3 probably it's very noticable

You'd felt his eye on you for most of the race. You didn't mind though. It wasn't a harmful look, more like one of interest. And dare you say it, you liked the attention.

Sandman was an attractive man, and he finished first in the last race only on his feet. (His feet! Against horses! How incredible.) It was flattering to know you'd caught the attention of someone so important to the race, but you didn't understand why he watched you so intensely. You were nothing important. You had only finished in tenth place. That was more because you got distracted helping one of the other contestants that had fallen into some cacti. If you truly had your mind on winning, there wasn't a chance you'd score under fifth place, and you knew it.

Maybe it was because you were a woman. You couldn't blame him for that. There wasn't another in the race. You stuck out like a sore thumb compared to all of the men that surrounded you. You had a bright red target on your back since you joined the race, but you didn't really care. You had one plan in mind, and you wouldn't let some misogyny take you off of it. But the woman thing was just a guess. Maybe the sandman saw something else in you.

What timing, maybe I could ask him tonight.

It was dark now, you had settled down for a night of rest. Earlier that afternoon those two riders Johnny Joestar and Gyro Zeppeli raced by, but they were the only two you found. It was late, your horse and you both were tired, and it was still early in the race, it wouldn't hurt to take your time getting to the finish lines.

You watch the dark headed man walking, rather than running, past your camp some meters away. You called his name, arm waving in the air in a gesture for him to come over. He was unsure at first, but he came over. Victory. The fire you had going sparked in his eyes and illuminated his sharp features in a way that made him look more charming than usual. He was beautiful in the firelight.

Settle down, now. You warned yourself.

"Hey! You are Sandman, yeah? Wanna rest those feet of yours? I got food and drink for two." You handed him one of your canteens. He stared at the offering skeptically for a second but decided to take it quickly after, downing it like it was the only water he'd seen today. The container was already half its original weight when he finally pulled away to thank you. You simply waved off the thanks. "You gotta be tired from all this running you're doin', why don'tcha stick around for the night? I don't mind the company."

Silence from the man. Then a soft, "How do I know I can trust you?"

"What? To not hurt you in your sleep? Hah!" You laughed, "I don't care about this race enough to hurt people over it. So I've got some competition, that just makes it even more exciting." You smile wickedly, the fire extenuating the color of your eyes for Sandman to see. You look down at your canteen, swirling the water around inside in a circle. "As for trust... I guess you just have my word." You look into his burning eyes. "I won't hurt you, Sandman."

He seemed to think about it. He took a slow drink from his canteen while he did. He swallowed before answering; "Today has been tiring. I'll take your word for it, so I'll stay the night."

Fantastic.

He sat across from you on the other side of the fire. A little too close to your horse for your comfort, but you brushed it off, he didn't seem like the type to hurt an innocent animal.

Only the fire crackling was heard for some time. You both sipped from canteens, washing away the thirst of racing across dry deserts. Just the image of dead trees and cacti in your mind made your cottonmouth act up again.

There were times you almost started a new conversation. Your mouth would open, but you were quick to shut it yet again. Sandman threw you a questioning raise of an eyebrow, but you could only look away in embarrassment at your inability to be comfortable in silence. Growing up in a big family would do that to you. There always had to be some sort of commotion going on in your house, and you'd grown accustomed to it in your years. The thought of being without your family for the next few months saddened you. You really missed it all. A nagging in your reprimanded the rest of you for being so homesick already. It hadn't even been a week yet!

Instead of striking conversation, you turned to your bag and opened it. This bag was smaller than the one that held your clothes (still on your horse) and was home to your toiletries, rations, a third canteen, and finally some elk jerky, made specially for you in your favorite flavoring. You tore off a chunk and began to nibble on the tough meat. The familiar taste brought you back to earlier times of traveling America with your big brothers, hunting for the best game the world offered. Simpler times, you missed it, and your brothers. But maybe now wasn't the time to be sentimental.

You weren't sure if Sandman would be interested in jerky. Did his people have jerky too? Was it wrong to assume otherwise?

"U-Uhm," The glare he shot made you jump just the tiniest bit. No one looked at you the way this man did. It was unnerving. But kind of exciting. You steeled yourself for your next question. "Do you like jerky? My brother's specially made it."

"Jerky." He quoted as he took the dehydrated meat from your hand and looked it over. "I haven't had any before the first race. I think it's really good." He took his first bite and was surprised with how tender the meat was. His eyes sparked at the flavor, mixing together in ways that made his mouth drool like nothing else. You breathed a triumphant breath through your nose. Your brothers win again. Best not to tell them that once you got home, though, all of their heads were big enough.

Although, those boys knew their way around an elk. Meat not too tender, with just enough chew. And the seasonings were to die for.

Sandman quickly finished his first piece of jerky and seemed disappointed that it was gone. He was pleased when you offered more. This time, he ate it slower.

"You mentioned your brothers made this... Do you have a lot of them?" The innocent question got a laugh from you.

"You could say that... F-Five. I... have five brothers."

Your answer must've made him inhale his jerky, because once the words left your mouth he spasmed and coughed like nothing else.

"Five brothers? How, how–?" You tried to smother your giggles, as not to interrupt him, but his face just then was too good. He seemed absolutely gobsmacked over it.

"Yeah! Five brothers and three sisters. We all chip in to help Ma and Pop at home, though. My three eldest brothers help my dad out with work while my sister's help Mom with the gardening and chores. It's pretty crowded but we made it work. We're doing well financially, but the prize money from this race could help us out a lot, that's why I joined... None of them could come though. It's kinda lonely, but I know I'll come back home to a happy family.

"...S-Sorry, I didn't mean to ramble. Do you have any family, Sandman?" He turned his sight at the fire before him, staring intently at the flames. You could see them dancing in his eyes reflection. "I have a sister," He started softly, then paused. Those intense eyes of his looked at you next as he thought over something silently. "My tribesmen have disowned me, so she's all I have left."

He fought against the urge to admit more and explain his situation. Like how with the winning money he would buy back his ancestor's land and save his people. There was something soft about you. Sandman wanted to trust you, there was something about you that made it hard to hate. Was it all just so you can trick him? If he decided to ride with you, would... would you use his trust against him to your advantage? He took his time admiring your features.

...No, he didn't think so. That look on your face, you looked so sympathetic towards him, someone you'd just met.

He decided he hated your full attention on him, he squirmed underneath your gaze. To push your attention away from him, he nodded his head towards the shadows on the far side of the fire. "Your horse, what's their name?"

"Oh! That there is Boom-Lay Boom. But my family's taken to calling her Diamond Eye." The sudden attention to your mount had you excited and jumping up from your seat to walk to her side. She was a fine mare, you'd had her since your fifteenth birthday. It was then you truly learned how to care for a horse, you'd done just about everything for her, all except change her shoes, to this day you were still nervous of hurting her hooves. And at this point you were pretty sure you'd grown a mental connection to the girl. You were as thick as thieves.

"Your horse has two names?" Sandman asked, quirking an eyebrow. "Why not?" You asked back, raising your own. Sandman laughed. And at that moment you decided Sandman's voice was wonderful to listen to. You could hear him speak all night if he would. You'd enjoy it more than your mother's music.

"She's a beautiful steed." He said while he began to stand, coming towards you and Diamond Eye.

"Aw, did'ja hear that, Boom-Lay? Sandman says you're pretty!" You cooed and coddled the horse, running fingers through her mane and up her jaw. She simply snorted at you. You heard Sandman chuckle from his spot on the other side of the mare. His hand was raised, gently petting the side of her thick neck.

It was then you decided that he and you had connected on some level, just like you had with Diamond Eye. Maybe not as deep, yet, but it was a great start.

[hazbinsponsoredbyvee]

[hello, I'm the anon that asked about all your favorite horror movies and food :]

Dw, I feel you Mel, I used to not be a fan of horror or scary shit in general, like even the thumbnails of YouTube videos would make me super nervous

But what got me out of that shell was playing a horror game...

After that I slowly started watching creepy stuff and eventually horror, reading horror, listening to true crime etc. All these things that used to leave me wondering if I'll be able to sleep tonight are now some of my favorite things, turns out I like getting jumpscared half to death 🙂

All because I played Granny one time with my bsf cause we were bored 😭

Even so, there are still a few horror movies I won't indulge in, not sure if I can handle those...yet

BUT ENOUGH BACKSTORY TALK

FAVORITE TV SHOW GO‼️

- Favorite anon

So, I consider myself a horror fan. I love watching people play horror games, and the not so intense ones, I love playing myself. And I LOVE slasher movies. The Scream franchise especially, even though I don't consider it actually scary at all. And more creature-based movies like The Thing don't bother me.

I used to say I just couldn't do paranormal, but I love movies like Thirteen Ghosts and 1408. I even like The Haunting of Connecticut movies. My best guess is when there's a mystery aspect + benevolent spirits + a happy ending, it helps to overpower whatever I can't handle. 1408 I still don't fully understand how I'm cool with it, and my first time trying to watch it, I did nope out pretty quick once things started happening, but now I really like it. The Shining walked the line of what I can and can't handle - I was able to function afterwards without nightmares, but I did make my husband come to the bathroom with me cause I didn't want to be alone, and I don't know if I'll ever watch it again.

I think when the paranormal borders more on demonic, and when there's creepy stuff with children, that's when things really become too much for me. Oh, also certain psychological things (the most recent Halloween movie actually fucked me up with this, and that Netflix Black Mirror choose your own adventure movie really messed me up for a while). So yeah, I love horror, until there's something I can't handle, and then I really can't handle it. And then I will ruminate on it until I am very unwell. But I don't fully know where that line is, so it's like playing Russian Roulette anytime I want to watch a horror movie.

ANYWAY, to your actual question.

"My favorites are game shows!"

"I don't watch much TV. Scrambles the brain."

"I really like shows that are musicals! Smash is really good, if a little heavy at times."

"I really enjoyed The Fall of the House of Usher miniseries."

"Don' know about my favorite, but Heartbreak High is pretty good."

[brilliantfantasticgeronimo]

dw rewatch - takes on "the end of the world"

companion watch:

"the artic desert" hits different lol

something something bella vs the witch

rose's fear attack when she finds heres lf in the alien situation. she's genuinely terrified! it's a good beat, man. more than that, it's a rare beat. I get a lot of people don't vibe with it and prefer the more "buffy-esque approach, since it's "more to the point" and gets you larger than life figures… but personally I much prefer it when scifi/fantasy scenarios are portrayed as the terrifying reality they would be. also this: "ROSE: I just hitched a ride with a man. I don't even know who he is. He's a complete stranger"

war of the world vibes with the little robot fellas. /unintentional parallel to how cassandra dies and how the aliens in that book die?

"it gets inside and changes my mind, and you didnt even ask" "i didnt think about it like that" it's interesting that rose question this tbh

"five billion years in the future, my mum's dead" "bundle of laughs you are" /god i love this exchange. nine's constant attempt to downplay ANY surfacing of Real Emotions. rose's naivety in contemplating for the first time in her life that oh yeah, people die. the first statement of the "everything dies, everything ends" theme that will be woven throughout all the rtd era.

ngl i wish rose Did More in the plot of this episode, in terms of actually solving the crisis, feels like a stepdown after Rose giving her the most climatic moment... that said she does get a lot of great quibs in this one: "you two go pollinate and i'll go meet the family"/ "and i want you home by midnight!"/ "its better to die than to live like you, a bitchy trampoline" / "youre just lipstick and skin"

she's really similar to nine/ten in that aspect. they both have that "humor as defense mechanism" thing

blorbos:

the way nine and rose Lean in those stairs…. im Looking respectfully and im Thinking pure thoughts. (honestly ppl talk a lot about ten and rose's body language in s2 but there was A Lot going on with nine and rose as early as episode 1)

"all that counts is here and now" can't tell if zen mindfulness or a desperate defense mechanism to cope with ptsd.

first thing rose does is call her mum ): - Cassandra "I'm too young" vs Ten's "I was going to do so much more"...(ben wyatt voice) it's about the hypocrisy (oh having written this note before rewatching new earth... put a pin on that!)

timeless child retroactive continuity bonus: perhaps cassandra as "the last human" (not really a "human") paralleling "the last timelord" (not really a "timelord)? - "JABE: And what about your ancestry, Doctor? Perhaps you could tell a story or two. Perhaps a man only enjoys trouble when there's nothing else left". well post-s13 they're gonna enjoy themselves a lot more lol - there's something very anti-entropy about how the child gets to regenerate indefinitely without "losing" its essence and its dna integrity (vs cassandra's "flatness", the child gains more and more complexity as time passes).

colonialism/hegemony: - NINE: "mind you, when I say "the great and the good" what I mean is the rich." / "Five billion years and it still comes down to money" / this maybe be harsh,,, honestly i hate to say but doctor who sometimes really is just typical neolib """anti-capitalist""" fiction. - in the sense that it pretends to be anti-capitalist, but really is just capitalist realist. it's writers can imagine 203223 scenarios of the earth dying but they cannot conceive of a post-capitalist world, a classless society or simply a world without taxes. Of course you could say "this is so these stories are relatable" but even in their relatedness, there's rarely a portrayal of the anti-capitalist struggle (rather than just generic star wars-style, ideology-less "rebellions).- (that said, obligatory "I'm not a politics robot" disclaimer... "Do you think it's cheap, looking like this? Flatness costs a fortune." is an iconic retort lol) - there's also a kind of subtle Myth Of The Linear Progress Of History thing going on with cassandra being framed as someone who "stayed behind" and has not embraced this analogue to our "Color Blind Post Racial Society" which has "Obviously" outgrown prejudice and notions of racial purity. - "good thing i didn't take you to the deep south" / "you were to busy making cheap shots about the deep south" // parallels to-> "who do you think makes your clothes?" "Is that why you travel 'round with a human at your side? It's not so you can show them the wonders of the universe, it's so you can take cheap shots?" "sorry" . actually no rtd i dont think these are chepashots at all lol they are VERY relevant shots!! it's very transparent how the writers are kind of meek about making these *truly* transgressive points, but it's much easier to have the doctor argue that rose having a donor card is "a different morality"... again one is truly transgressive, the other is fun-but-no-challenging-of-the-hegemony scifi "dilemma". - the "quick word with Michael Jackson" line is doing A Lot but idek how to even begin to entangle it lol it's very 00s, for sure. - for once, a self aware one: "People have died, Cassandra. You murdered them." / "It depends on your definition of people, and that's enough of a technicality to keep your lawyers dizzy for centuries"

themes: - everything has its time and everything ends check your bingo cards. racial purity vs mixing vs 'progress'. class. life cycles. gut instinct (rose jumping the gun to empatise w/ the doc + nine going through the fans + rose reaction to the alien parade). destruction as tourism, as "artistic event" (an uncomfortable parallel to how this is what our heroes will be doing for the next 10+ seasons). - this episode does a bit of a u-turn on the previous (And the next) on its constant questioning of the intrinsic "meaning" of a physical body. in this, cassandra's continuous operations are framed as a kind of "lost of an essence". also the "surface" of her thinking as metaphor for her missing the "essence" of what it means to be human (biologically but more fundamentally, ethically).

Live Fast Die Young / YOLO / everyone deserves to be mourned. everyone deserves a dignified death. thread carefully and cherish life, because it will all be gone. our time is limited and short and it is because it is short that it means something. Life only means anything because there's Death.

ecology and environmentalism. "there are many species in that planet. mankind is only one / I'm a direct descendant of the tropical rainforest." obsessed with it. wish they brought back the rainforest.

[octolingkiera]

5, 15, 16, 29

hi!! thanks for your ask!! :3

(the list)

5. What work of yours got more feedback than you expected?

so on the one hand, my danny phantom fics always get a lot of attention and it always leaves me a little surprised, but on the other hand, that fandom is very fic focused, so at the same time it Doesn't really surprise me when i get a lot of kudos for them. what surprises me more is how much other fandoms DON'T comment or bookmark or follow fics lol. i was seriously spoiled with those lol

as for a fic that's gotten more feedback, uhhhh hm. a couple of my dp fics have done better than i thought they would, yeah, but i also have this bleach fic that's in second person that seems to have come across really well, so i guess that one's the most surprising lol

aftershocks has done really well, but that's not surprising considering the talent that went into it, the fact we updated every week, and the word count, but it still baffled me as we were updating it how well it was doing lol

15. What WIP are you taking into next year with you?

definitely my rottmnt separated au (chapter 1 is posted on ao3 as sunset hues, jetpack blues (SHJB)) lol. ive been putting a lot of effort into it, more than i give most of my fics, tho i'm realizing now as i'm working more on planning i may have jumped the gun a bit and posted it a biiit early?? but also i wanted to post it on my birthday so i'm not so concerned about that kdshbfhdsf

when i post chapter 2 (which is basically done except for the final revision i need to give it), i'm gonna reread chapter 1 as well and make sure it's up to date with the minor stuff i left out bc i hadn't nailed down some specifics yet (but dw, it'll be Very minor and won't effect the plot lol)

besides that, i have oneshot prompts i wanna fill out and i have a fic in the works i'm calling Fallout, which is inspired by fall out boy songs (which ive been thinking about since like february/march when "love from the other side" dropped lol)

i also lowkey wanna try to get a fic done for danny phantom's 20th anniversary in april but idk how that's gonna go lol. i'm still very focused on ninja turtles

16. What’s your most common “Additional Tags” tag?

of my 54 works on ao3 Fluff seems to be my most used tag with 10 times, which is. lowkey a surprise LOL. Hurt/Comfort comes in second with 7 (tied with "not beta read" and a tag for a danny phantom fic event) and Angst is in third with 6 (barring the two that i'm not counting lol)

going by just my rise fics, first place tag goes to Donatello and Leonardo are Twins (TMNT) with 6 of my 8 fics (ao3 says 9, but one of them is aftershocks, which i won't include bc it's a collab) and only reason it's not all 8 is bc i didn't tag it in fics where it's not a main focus lol

29. Favorite line/passage you wrote this year?

hmmmm let's see.... okay what have i written this year....

oh god that's a lot more than i thought, uhhhh

i have a lot of stuff i Really enjoyed tbh. there's a fun little action sequence i wrote for a later part of SHJB that i liked (that i'll prolly have to rework a little), there's a few Other parts of my prewritten SHJB stuff i enjoy, there's a bunch of stuff in my rise august fills i really liked...

but i think for a single line/passage, i'll go with this bit from the beginning of my fic what's in a name? (which is also posted here on tumblr!!)

Donnie, not bothering to look up from his phone, flaps a hand in the air dismissively. “I keep all my anger bottled up in here,” he taps his chest, “and hope one day it will just kill me. Like a normal person,” he adds, as if what he just described is unequivocally a universal experience.

this entire piece was a lot of fun to write and there's some more silly lines in this i really enjoyed but i think this is the one i think about the most, like the exchange directly after this lol

Leo purses his lips and steeples his hands, holding this fingers to his mouth. “So that’s a yes to the mad, then.” “Or it could be, like, the coo-coo for cocoa puffs type of mad!” Mikey chimes in, crossing his eyes and swirling a finger beside his ear. “Y’know, like British people say.” “Ew,” Leo says, because that’s all that needs to be said about that.

and this line a little bit down from that

Raph’s next exhale is heavy, the burden of Atlas in his eternal torment. “Pizza Supreme, I wish.”

thanks again for your ask!!! these were a lot of fun to answer. i love talking about my writing dfjghbdfg get me started and i'll never shut up lol

[darcyfangirlsfrequently]

I Met You At the End of the World - chapter 4: All is Well (but I'm scared as hell that you won't like me)

Chapter summary: The Dirty Dozen case comes to a close, and Luke bids the BAU adieu, to the disappointment of many.

Chapter word count: 10,388

Total word count: 27,010

Can also be read here on Ao3

And I don't normally do this, but I'm tagging some people in this chapter: @hey-dw I know you exclusively read this on here and I don't want you to miss it! @a-potato-wearing-plaid I don't know if you follow this fic at all (I don't think so but you totally should because it's great and completely spoiler-free for you) but this is the chapter where Pretty Boy™ and Soft Boy™ meet and become friends and also there is a large Reid focus and also a lot of Soft Garvez™ that I think you'd enjoy

Luke and Tara had food in front of them they had no intention of really eating and martinis they were probably only going to take a sip or two from as they watched from their table as Reid entered the restaurant and sat down at the table that had been reserved for him and the woman he was meeting that night. Luke made eye contact with Morgan who was across the restaurant at the bar with JJ to confirm that they were all in position. Nothing could go wrong that night.

Luke watched as Reid fidgeted with his tie nervously—he wasn’t used to undercover work. Luke had offered to go in his place since he had plenty of experience with it, but he wasn’t a profiler, and they needed one to be the person going head-to-head with this woman. Reid placed a rose on the table—a request from the woman—and waited. All they could do now was wait.

They didn’t have to wait very long. A woman in a dark coat and teal dress with brown hair down to her chin walked up to him. “Spencer?” She could be heard asking through the microphone hidden behind Reid’s tie. Here she was. Cat Adams.

“Cat?” Reid responded.

“Hi!” 

“Hi. Hello. Hi.”

Cat attempted to hug him. “It’s nice to finally—”

Reid backed away from the hug. “Oh! Sorry, I have a… kind of a germ thing. I’m kind of weird with hugs.”

“Oh,” Cat replied. “Sorry.” 

They stood there silently for a moment, just standing there. The inaction made Luke uneasy. He knew Reid was nervous, but if his nerves accidentally caused him to do anything that might tip their hand… this night could go very poorly.

“Can I sit down?” Cat eventually asked.

Reid snapped right back into the moment. “Yes, please! Yeah, of course! Sit down!”

They both sat, and she took off her coat, placing it and her bag on the stretch of curved booth in between the two of them. 

They were silent for a moment more, and Luke couldn’t see her face, but he imagined Cat was examining Reid and his facial expressions. 

Cat was, again, the first one to break the silence. “First time doing this?”

“Yeah,” Reid replied, almost sound relieved. “I mean, yeah.”

“Yeah, I still get nervous too,” she said, as if to reassure him. Credit where credit is due, this woman was good at what she did. “Really, it wasn’t until an hour ago that I was like, wait, we’ve been trading emails back and forth but I still have no idea what this guy looks like.”

“Hence the…” Reid pointed to the rose on the table.

“I know, and then I was like, wait, he’s going to bring a red rose so we need to go to a nicer place, which is why I switched the restaurant at the last minute…”

“Not a problem at all,” Reid assured her, which was a bit of a lie. It had been a frustrating detail for the team, but one they were able to work with nonetheless. 

“And now I need to change and put something nice on for this place,” Cat continued. “‘Cause I was totally underdressed and my whole wardrobe makes me look like a Kardashian.”

Luke scoffed and rolled his eyes. Sure, it does.

Tara smiled at his reaction, having had the same thought.

Reid must have made a face at the name “Kardashian,” because Cat asked, “You don’t know who that is, do you?”

“No, oh yeah,” Reid replied enthusiastically. “Robert Kardashian. He got OJ Simpson off. You don’t… you don’t look like his daughter.”

Luke pressed his lips together so he didn’t actually laugh out loud, but made a mental note to tell Penelope about this later, knowing she’d get a kick out of her beloved “Boy Wonder’s” little slip-up.

“Yeah, no,” Cat said. “I was making a joke. A bad one.”

“No, it was a good joke!”

“No, it wasn’t.”

“It was funny.”

They chuckled awkwardly and then, for the third time that evening, were silent. After a pause, Cat finally said, “Can we start over? Hi, I’m Cat.”

Reid was still laughing nervously. “Hi, hello. Hi, I’m… I’m Spencer.”

“It really is nice to meet you, in person, finally,” she told him, sounding incredibly sincere. 

Reid nodded in response. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Tell me a little bit about yourself,” Cat prodded. “Do you really have three PhDs?”

“Yes. Erm, yeah, I do, I have three PhDs.”

“What was your favorite book that you read last year?”

“Um, honestly, I’ve never read a book I didn’t love.”

Then, Cat said the one thing that got their evening started in earnest. “Tell me about your wife.” She rested her head on her hands casually, waiting for his response.

Poor Reid was instantly made nervous yet again. “If you don’t mind, I’d, er, I’d rather not talk about her.”

“Might as well get it out in the open, right?” Cat replied. “That’s why we’re here. How long have you been married?”

“Four years.”

“When is she due to give birth?”

“In a couple of months.” Reid leaned across the table then, and lowered his voice, but not enough that the microphone could no longer pick up the conversation. “Should we talk about price now, or…”

Cat leaned forward as well. “Slow down, tiger. What exactly are we negotiating here?”

“You know.”

Cat shrugged. “I want to hear you say it.” 

There it was. There was a bit of the psychopath coming out. Forcing him to say what she already knew, giving herself all the power she could.

“To have her killed,” Reid whispered.

Cat remained silent for a moment, and Luke was almost certain she was smiling. People like her often did at this point.

“Let me see your ring,” she said. 

Reid held out his left hand where his fake wedding band was sitting, and Cat reached over to twist it around his finger.

“You know what that is?” She asked him. “A noose. Only it doesn’t kill you all at once. It kills you slowly, day by day. You ever feel that way?”

Luke watched as Reid nodded and knew that he, along with everyone else on the team, was making note of Cat’s destructive views of marriage, likely stemming from her experience with the marriage of her parents, and likely contributing to her corrupted worldview. 

“I feel that way all the time,” Reid said. 

“Take it off,” Cat instructed. 

“Why?”

“As a sign of your commitment,” she replied simply. “To me.”

Reid did as he was told, taking off the ring and handing it to her. 

She turned the ring over in her hand, examining it as she did so.

“If she sticks to pattern, she’ll take him to a secondary location and kill him,” JJ said over their comms. 

“We’re not going to let it get that far,” Rossi told her from his place at a booth on the opposite side of Reid and Cat that Luke and Tara were. He could see her completely if he looked over, while they could see him completely. “Hotch, do you have a visual?”

“Just hacked in,” came Penelope’s voice through their earpieces. She and Hotch were back at Quantico watching and monitoring remotely.

“All right Reid,” Hotch said. “We have you over her left shoulder. Do you copy?” Reid was supposed to cast a glance up at the security camera to confirm, and he must have, because then Hotch said, “All right, all agents stand by. Dr. Reid will give the green light. Don’t move until we have it.”

Cat was still playing with Reid’s ring. “24-karat?” 

Reid nodded. “Mmm-hmm.”

“24 K… times four years… means this rign should be dinged and nicked, but this sucker is brand new.”

Luke’s heart dropped to his stomach. They hadn’t given him an artificially distressed ring? They hadn’t even attempted to make the ring look old? What were they doing?

“You’re not married,” Cat continued. She fiddled with something in her bag, and then Luke swore he could hear the sound of a gun clicking. Shit. This was not good.

“What was that?” Penelope asked over the comms, obviously having heard what Luke did. “Was that what I think it was?”

“Everybody hold,” Hotch instructed.

“Why are we here, Spencer?” Cat asked, voice still unnervingly light and calm. 

Reid leaned forward again, and when he spoke, his voice was steady, even, and even slightly cold. It was made very obvious that his nerves that night had all been an act to get her feeling confident and make her drop her defenses. “We are here because you belong to a network of four hitmen who’ve been operating in the shadows of the Internet. You’re known as Miss 45. My team and I have been hunting you for months, and I knew that if I boxed you in, I could arrest you with as little resistance as possible.”

Luke knew that all of this was supposed to remain a secret from Cat until the end for obvious reasons, but flipping the tables like this would get the element of surprise back on their side. She was alone, and if she knew she was surrounded, she might be able to be convinced to give herself up.

“Your team being the Behavioral Analysis Unit of the FBI?”

Luke and Tara stared at each other. She wasn’t supposed to know that. They hadn’t anticipated her knowing that. 

“You guys are good,” Cat admitted. “You’re the only ones that got close to us.”

Well yeah, Luke wanted to tell her. Because you were stupid enough to go after one of their own.

“But we got kind of close to you too, didn’t we?” Cat asked Reid. She leaned forwards, closer to Reid and the mic she must know he had. “Hi, Penelope.”

Luke’s blood boiled at the mention of her name, but he toned down his reaction. He needed to avoid Tara finding out, and besides, he couldn’t let his feelings for her get in the way of his job. Not when his job was protecting her. 

Penelope’s small gasp of fear could be heard on their comms, and Luke’s heart broke for her. She was so scared for herself already, and she was scared for Reid, this must all just be exacerbating that.

Cat sat up straighter. “Do you know why I’m so good at my job?”

“Because you kill without compunction or remorse,” Reid stated plainly.

“That only gets a girl so far in life,” Cat told him. “No, it’s because I think through every potential outcome, and then I plan accordingly. You see, I didn’t walk into your trap. You walked into mine.”

Reid remained silent.

“Where’s your head, Spencer?” She asked him. She slid along their curved booth until she was right up next to him, putting herself in everyone’s line of sight, barring Rossi. “What are you thinking about?”

“I was thinking about entropy,” Reid answered.

Cat nodded, and put her hand on Reid’s chest and began moving it lower, looking for something. 

“It’s the thermodynamic measure of the degradation of matter and energy in the universe. To put it another way—”

Cat found what she was looking for. “There’s your gun,” she said, pulling it out and taking it away from him. 

With potentially the worst timing ever, the waiter approached them then. “Good evening.”

Undoubtedly knowing she had to get him away from them for whatever her plan was to continue, Cat acted quickly. “Hi, you know what? We’ve been having so much fun getting to know one another, we’ll let you know when we’re ready, okay? Thank you.”

The waiter nodded and left their table, unintentionally guaranteeing his own safety.

“Now that we got that out of the way,” Cat continued, sliding back over to her original place. “Will you do me a favor and tell Blondie and Baldie over there at the bar to disappear?” She looked right over at JJ and Morgan, blowing their cover.

“JJ, Morgan, stand down,” Hotch instructed through their earpieces. 

The two got up and walked out of the restaurant, passing right by Cat and Reid’s table.

“Thanks for playing, guys,” Cat sing-songed after them.

“If she learns how many agents we have outside she’ll start shooting,” Hotch said. “Dave, get ready to take her out.”

“Yeah,” Rossi confirmed. 

“Reid, do not let her get up from the table,” Hotch told him. 

“All right, you’re in charge,” Reid said to Cat. Placing the control back in her hands would prevent any unexpected actions on her part. “Tell me what you want and I will see if I can get it here for you.”

“Anything I want?”

“Anything you want.”

“Like a million dollars in unmarked bills and maybe a plane to Aruba?”

“Is that what you want?”

“And you’ll say you’ll bring it here, but the real plan is to distract me from what is, I’m sure, an impressive law enforcement response just outside that door. Is that the plan?”

Reid smiled at her. “That’s the plan.”

What is he doing? Luke mouthed to Tara. 

She shrugged in response. It was anyone’s guess at this point.

“Okay,” Cat said. “Let’s talk, but let’s talk about something interesting at least. Tell me about me.”

She had no idea that that was a mistake. Getting Reid to talk to her about her would only play into her psychopathy and narcissism, and it would give the power back to him. 

“You?” Reid repeated before continuing. “You’re a black widow hitwoman. You specialize in seduction and you’re patient. You learn everything you can about the men you’re hired to kill, physically, psychologically, and emotionally, because you want them in as compromised a position as possible so they don’t see it coming when you pull the trigger.”

“And when I do it really well, they pull the trigger themselves.” She paused. “Give me your phone.”

“Why?”

“Because I know what I want now. I want to play a game with you. You like games?”

“I do.”

“Do you win?”

“I always win.”

“Give it to me,” Cat insisted.

Reid handed over his phone.

“Okay, here’s my game. You have thirty minutes to answer every question I ask. And if you lie, I’ll know. Because I’ve spent the past ten years of my life studying men and their lies before I kill them. Do you believe me?”

“I do.”

She set the phone down in the middle of the table. “That was true, you’re getting this. Now here’s how we’ll know who wins at the end of thirty minutes: If you win, you’ll drag me out of here in handcuffs. But if I win, you will escort me out, like a gentleman, to make sure I exit safely. What do you say, Spencer? Think you can win this one?”

He leaned over the table to her, motioning that she do the same. “Considering everything you put Garcia and so many other people through,” he whispered dangerously, “you’re going to have to shoot me in the face before you walk out of here.”

“Game on.”

“Oh boy.” Penelope’s voice was wavering, fear for her friend evident. No one knew what was about to happen.

“What do you want to ask me?” Reid said to Cat.

“How you found me, of course. A professional learns from her mistakes.” With that, she started the timer. 

The game was afoot.

“We got our big break in the case at the end of last year. I didn’t learn how big until I came back from some time off.”

“Why’d you take time off?”

Reid started to tell the story of coming back and meeting with Morgan and Savannah, getting some medical research from her, and collecting him for work.

“Stop,” Cat commanded.

“Why?”

“You still haven’t told me why you took time off.”

“It’s not relevant.”

“That’s not the game. The game is you answer every question I ask. Is it a secret?”

Reid shook his head. “No.”

“Is it dirty?”

“No.”

“Then tell me.” She strung the ‘me’ out, almost sounding like she was whining. Pleading. Begging.

“It’s not important to your story.”

“Out of curiosity, is it me you don’t want to tell or the people listening in?”

Reid looked down at the phone in the middle of the table. “Is this really how you want to spend your thirty minutes?”

“Yes,” she replied, not even skipping a beat to consider. But then she paused. And admitted, “No. Okay, so you were saying you showed up for work that morning and…”

“We learned that someone unexpected decided to talk.”

“And who would that be?”

***

Three weeks before

Hotch had called an emergency meeting, and Luke had anticipated being the first one to the Round Table Room, but he wasn’t. A man he had never met before was already there, studying files. This must be the famed Dr. Spencer Reid. Penelope had told Luke he’d be coming back that day. She was really excited about it, and so he was, by extension, happy on her behalf.

“Hey,” Luke said in greeting. “Luke. Alvez.”

“Oh hi!” The other man exclaimed. “I’m Dr. Spencer Reid.”

Luke smiled at his correct assumption. “Ah. No hand-shaking, right? Your reputation precedes you.”

“Yeah. Did Morgan tell you?”

“Him and Garcia, actually. They both speak very highly of you.”

“Of you, too.”

The rest of the team filed in then, cutting their conversation short. Hotch and Penelope took their places at the front of the room as everyone else took a seat. Luke shot Penelope a comforting smile, and she returned one of gratitude.

Hotch turned on the presentation. “Brian Cochran from the NSA. I’ve placed him on a 24/7 lockdown at USP Terre Haute. The network has proven that they can kill anyone, anywhere, anytime, and now that they’ve targeted Garcia, we can’t afford to lose another lead. Cochran used one of the hitmen to target DEA Supervisor Graff.”

“But we can press him on that to get him to cooperate,” Morgan said.

“Well, fortunately, that won’t be necessary,” Hotch told him. “He had a breakdown in solitary confinement and he was already willing to make a deal.”

“We need to go talk to him,” Rossi declared.

“Garcia and I already did,” Hotch informed them. 

“That is, we video-conferenced with him,” Penelope elaborated. “He was limited in what he could tell us about the hit people. He didn’t know their names, but he did know all of their areas of expertise.”

“How specific do they get?” Reid asked her. “Most successful hitmen are basically just Swiss Army Knives of murder.”

“Well, take the OG hit guy who got us into this mess, Giuseppe Montolo. Remember him? He was a genius at making hits look like an accident. The others, depends on what you’re looking for. Take the guy who’s still out there who’s responsible for shooting poor Mr. Graff. He’s known simply as The Sniper. He can make a T-zone shot from over 2,000 metres.”

“Which means he’s ex military,” Luke said. “Not necessarily ours, but he’s definitely trained. Has to be. You don’t get that good anywhere else. I’ve worked with really good snipers in the past, all of them are current or ex-military.”

“So who’s number two?” Tara asked.

“That would be The Chemist,” Penelope told her. “He works with poison. He specializes in hits that don’t leave a trace.”

“He sounds delightful,” Rossi quipped. “What about number three?”

“That would be The Bomber,” Penelope answered, using the remote to switch to pictures of an absolutely devastating bombing site. “According to Cochran, he’s responsible for this. It’s a chemical fire in Tianjin, China. Apparently a bureaucrat didn’t pay his bribe on time.”

“All that’s Conspiracy Theory Garbage,” JJ argued.

“But what is credible” Hotch replied, “is Cochrans insistence that he was trained by Mossad. Jack Garrett’s following up on leads.”

“That leaves us with number four,” Penelope continued. “The one with the highest body count of them all.”

“And who’s that?” Reid asked.

***

“Me!” Cat answered.

Reid nodded. “Yes.”

“Wow, that was really impressive,” Cat said sarcastically. “Yeah, the way you just made all those brilliant deductions with all that information that was just handed to you on a silver platter. Quick question: are you guys really profilers or are you just lucky? Because this, what I’m about to say, is profiling.” She cleared her throat before continuing. “The reason you took time off from work was to deal with the same girl who broke your heart.”

“No,” Reid answered quickly.

“The death of a parent, then.”

Luke rolled his eyes. Some ‘profiling’ this was if she was just guessing at different reasons someone might need to take time off work.

Reid hesitated slightly this time. “No.”

“Ah, hello, I’m getting close. It’s Mom or Dad in the billiard room with the candlestick… oh you’re mad at me aren’t you?”

“Not even a little bit.”

“Yes you are, I can tell.”

“No offense,” Reid said to her, “but you’re not really worth getting angry at.”

Luke’s eyes went wide. Goddamn.

Cat changed the subject. “So you figured out what the four of us did, and then what?”

“We profiled that you operated as spokes on a wheel. Somehow it had to be centralized, how you got jobs, who paid you. Somebody did all that for you.”

“You found The Snowman, didn’t you?”

***

“Great, so who’s this Snowman jagoff?” Rossi asked. Penelope had just explained that central role to the network.

“Cochran says he’s the IT expert,” Hotch informed them. “He’s the key to the whole network.”

“But if he set it up, he’s not going to tear it down just because we ask nicely,” Morgan remarked. 

“He will,” Hotch refuted, “because he was kidnapped by one of the hitmen and held against his will in a safe house.”

“I wonder how that feels,” Penelope snipped. 

Luke bit down on his lips to keep from laughing.

“Even if they have him under duress, he’s still going to be impossible to find,” JJ said.

“We will find him,” Hotch stated, “with this.” He held up the USB he’d confiscated off Cochran when he’d been arrested and then placed it down on the center of the table.

***

“Woah, woah, woah,” Cat interrupted. “I’m confused. What just happened there?”

“When we arrested Cochran, we found a flash drive, one that gave us access to a specific shadow of the Darknet, one we didn’t even knwo existed. Garcia used it to find the website The Snowman set up for all of you. Once we had the website, we had geography, specifically, the safehouse you were keeping him in. So we waited until the shift change when we knew we could take two of you down at once.”

***

Penelope had hacked into The Snowman’s server and was live-streaming a video of herself to him. She was holding up flashcards with messages on them, so she could silently talk to him. On these cards, she explained who she was and how she could help him. And, most importantly, told him to get down as the rest of the team stormed the building. 

Luke and JJ ran in, and she was able to take down The Sniper. Unfortunately, The Chemist killed himself with his own poison before they were able to aprehend him.

“What is this?” Barry Winslow, The Snowman, asked JJ and Luke as they undid his chains. “What’s going on?”

Luke patted him on the back as they exited the room. “Welcome to the FBI, kid.”

***

“Well, well, well,” Cat said. If Luke didn’t know any better, he’d say she sounded impressed. “You took The Chemist and The Sniper out of commission, huh?”

“Did you know?” Reid asked her. 

“I knew something was off. They didn’t bid on some contracts. And this isn’t the kind of job where you get to take time off to be with your… mother? Is it your mom? It’s gotta be your mom.”

Reid didn’t answer her.

“Why’d you take time off from the FBI?”

“I’m not going to tell you.”

“Spencer,” Cat insisted. “Why did you take time off from the FBI?”

“You can ask me as many times you want,” he replied in a cool voice, “and you can continue to waste your time, but I’m still not going to tell you.”

“Then you’re cheating and I don’t like cheaters.”

Luke rolled his eyes. She sounded like a petulant child.

“You don’t get everything you want just because you’re pointing a gun at me under a table,” Reid said, practically scolding her. “You’re not the first killer to point a gun at me, you’re not even the first woman to point a gun at me. Sorry.”

“You’re really going to take this all the way, aren’t you?”

He nodded. “Yeah.” 

“So am I.”

“Dave, go,” Hotch ordered through the earpieces.

“Look at my face,” Cat said. “Does it look like I’m bluffing?”

“I know you’re not bluffing.”

Rossi got up and started to move towards the pair just as Cat slid over in the booth, putting Reid directly in between her and Rossi, blocking the latter’s line of sight.

“I’m going to ask you this one more time,” she told him. “Before you say no, I want you to consider something.”

A sharp ringing went through their earpieces then, and Luke winced.

“She muffled the mic,” Penelope told them. “We lost audio.”

“Damn,” Luke whispered.

He couldn’t hear what Cat and Reid whispered to each other, but she must have seen Rossi and threatened him, because he could then hear Reid say, at a normal volume, “I’ll tell you.”

She removed her hand from his tie.

“Rossi, stand down,” Reid instructed, not breaking eye contact with Cat. He turned to the older man then, and said, “Please.”

Rossi turned, and walked away.

“My mom has schizophrenia,” Reid finally admitted to Cat. “The doctor has changed her medication, which seemed to agitate her, so I went to the treatment center to help her.”

Luke’s heart sank for the man he considered a friend. He hadn’t known that, and that kind of news was just devastating. No one deserved that.

“That’s it?” Cat asked.

“That’s it,” Reid confirmed.

“You just risked your life over mommy’s pills?”

“It’s the truth.”

“It’s part of the truth,” Cat decided. “You’re holding something back. Here’s what I’m going to do.” She reached over to the phone in the middle of the table. “I’m going to penalize you by adding ten minutes. And keep in mind that the only reason why you’re not dead right now is because I did learn something important.”

“Oh really?” Reid asked, doubting her statement. “What’s that?”

Cat grinned and gestured widely to the space around them. “Your backup! I flushed them out! It’s just you and me now.”

Smarking, Tara lifted her glass to Luke. “Guess again, bitch.”

Luke returned a smirk of his own, and tapped his glass against hers. Tara was the newest to the team, and Luke wasn’t even officially on it, so of course she wouldn’t recognize them.

“So,” Cat said. “When we left off, the score was you had two of our guys and The Snowman. You must have thought you were home free.”

“No,” Reid told her. “If anything, the case was harder.”

***

“I can’t tell you that much about them,” Barry Winslow told the team. “It’s not like we had heart-to-heart conversations while they handcuffed me to a computer.”

“Do you know any of their names?” Tara asked him.

“No. But I know their bank accounts.”

“How long do you think we have before the other two realize the network’s been compromised?” Reid asked.

“Two days, maybe. They like being independent contractors, so they always work jobs separately. And, uh, they rely on me to coordinate all their online traffic.”

“Which I can help fake,” Penelope offered.

Brian nodded. “Yeah. We have the facade covered on our end, but they also have back channel communications that I can’t account for. Especially The Bomber.”

“Why him?” Rossi asked.

“I don’t know,” Barry replied honestly. “But all I know is when they would rotate watching over me, he never showed.”

“I know why,” JJ said. “Because he’s paranoid. Most explosives experts are. Blow everything up, you live in fear that you’re next.”

“We need to lure out the hitwoman,” Hotch stated. “If we can take her alive, she’d lead us to The Bomber.”

“We have to give her a target worth coming out of hiding for,” Morgan said.

“That means me, doesn’t it?” Penelope asked timidly.

“No,” Hotch, Luke, and Morgan answered simultaneously and firmly.

“Sir,” she tried to argue.

“Garcia, that’s not going to happen,” Morgan told her in a voice that bore no room for disagreement.

“It’s not safe to leave you there exposed like that,” Luke explained gently.

Hotch turned to face Barry. “You have a record of all the kills she was paid for?”

“I have records of everything,” Barry confirmed.

“All right, even a contract killer can have victimology,” Hotch mused. “A pattern of which she’s not aware. We need to find that.”

It didn’t take long for Barry and Penelope to find the pattern after they knew what they were looking for. They found three men, all of whom wanted their wives killed. However, those hits had not gone the way the buyers had intended. The hitwoman had taken their money and then killed the men who hired her. Additionally, all three men had children. They were able to deduce that those specific kills were personal to her because something similar happened to her when she was a child. They decided they needed to lure her out using a made up client that fit that victimology.

“I can do it,” Luke offered without missing a beat. “I have undercover experience, it’ll be as easy as breathing for me.”

“I appreciate the offer,” Hotch told him. “Really, I do, and I appreciate your undercover experience, but to guarantee this will lead us to The Bomber, we need a profiler to be the one talking face-to-face with her, and unfortunately you aren’t trained for that. However, your undercover experience is still invaluable, and I would greatly appreciate your help planning the operation.

Luke nodded. “Whatever I can do.”

“I can do it,” Reid said then. “I pretend to be that kind of client. I’m going to pretend to be a husband who wants his pregnant wife dead.”

“Well I’d want to kill you if you told me that,” JJ remarked.

“Exactly,” Reid said. “Then all we have to do is set the right meeting spot. A bar or a restaurant that we can control so the odds are better of us taking her alive.”

Hotch nodded. “That’s our best strategy.”

***

“But there was one flaw,” Cat said. “You. You’re not married, and you don’t have children.”

“I’m the person on my team whose closest in age to you, and I knew that if I lost control of the situation, you’d be more likely to negotiate with a peer.”

“You have zero control here,” Cat said bitingly. “None. I outflanked you from the beginning.”

Reid considered this. “Well, some of your moves were pretty obvious.”

“Such as?”

“Such as showing up armed, such as changing the venue at the last moment…”

“I needed a restaurant full of innocents in case this was a trap.”

“If you really suspected this was a trap, then why show up at all? Even when you first laid eyes on me, from the bar, from outside, from wherever you were, you should have seen through me and kept moving but you didn’t. You couldn’t. Because you can’t get to the man you really want to hurt, so you need to hurt any man who reminds you of him.”

Luke knew Reid’s words had affected Cat, because she hesitated before answering him, and when she did, her voice was slightly shaky. “That’s kind of boilerplate psychology, isn’t it? I’m just another girl with daddy issues.”

“You’d be surprised how many killers do what they do because of their parents. If it’s so boilerplate, then why don’t we test that theory? How hard did you look for him?”

“Very hard.”

“And how disappointed were you when you realized that you will never find him? You needed some other outlet for your rage, and for a while this worked, but it also tripped you up. Can I tell you a little secret?” When Cat didn’t respond, Reid took it as his sign to continue. “Everything eventually falls apart. The trick is accepting when it’s over.”

Cat stared at him.

Reid stared at her.

The timer went off.

“Except it ain’t over, is it?” Cat asked.

“Do you really think I’m just going to let you walk out of here?”

“You profiled so much about me, except, you forgot to ask the most important question. Why would I make you sit here for thirty minutes?”

“Because you’re stalling.”

“Then you don’t know me at all. Do you think I’d show up here without an escape plan? Or is that what just another girl with daddy issues would do? Maybe if you hadn’t fallen victim to your own gender bias, and yes, all men have gender bias, even you, Dr. Reid, you would have recognized that your entire strategy was based on one faulty detail. Can you see it?”

“You’re not here alone,” Reid realized.

“And my partner? Less paranoid than you think.”

“You planted a bomb in the building.”

Luke and Tara glanced at each other, unsure of what they should do. Stand by and wait for instruction? Try to find the bomb?

“We’re on the move,” JJ said through their earpieces.

“I’m going to go look for the owner,” Tara whispered to Luke. “Stay here.”

He nodded.

“I didn’t,” Cat corrected. “My job was to keep your entire team focused on us, so he could do what he does best.”

Luke realized that Cat had, once again, unwittingly made a detrimental error. She had wanted the entire team’s focus on her… but then got rid of three team members, leaving them free to focus on anything else, including whatever The Bomber had set up.

“Hotch,” came JJ’s voice again. “We’ve got inter-connected C-4 charges down here.”

“How many?” He asked her.

“There’s six charges,” Rossi replied.

“They’re connected to the city’s gas line,” Morgan added. “She could take out the whole block.”

“There are innocent people here,” Reid pleaded with Cat.

“Yes, there are,” she agreed. “So let me remind you what we’re playing for. Not only will I walk out of here, but you will make sure I leave safely. And from where I’m sitting, it looks like I’ve won. You need to pay attention to this part. I’m going to tell you the terms of my victory. I want you to move all of your backup away from this building. If I walk out of here and see one cop, I will incinerate us all.”

“I can’t do that.”

“Spencer,” she warned.

“It’s not me. What you’re asking takes time.”

Cat grabbed Reid by the tie and pulled him close, her face right by the mic. “This is to whoever’s in charge: Unless you guys want to be responsible for the biggest FBI disaster since Waco, you will back off now.” She let go of the tie and whispered, “Watch this.”

Hotch was too busy trying to deal with the bomb to address Cat’s demands. “JJ, say again. The bomb has a cellphone trigger?”

“That’s right,” she confirmed. “All she has to do is call the number and boom.”

“Can you jam the signal?” Hotch asked, most likely to Penelope.

“Not from here, no,” came her reply, her voice tight with fear.

“The failsafe will still kick in,” Morgan told them. “Same outcome. Can’t move ‘em, can’t submerge ‘em.”

“It’ll take us hours to get the gas turned off on the whole block,” Hotch said mournfully. “If we alert anyone, then the panic could set her and the bomb off.”

“SWAT’s on the radio with the bomb squad,” Rossi informed them. “They say our only chance is to get our hands on that cellphone. If we shut down the trigger, we can remove the charges.”

“Alvez,” Hotch called. 

“Go ahead, Hotch,” Luke replied.

“Does she have a cellphone with her?”

Lifting his glass to his mouth so the wide brim would slightly shield his eyes, Luke looked over at Cat and Reid discreetly. “I don’t think so. I didn’t see her pull one out. The Bomber was setting this up while we were all up here. I think he’s holding the trigger.”

“We’re combing the block. He could be anywhere though. Where’s Lewis?”

“She went to go find the owner and inform the staff of the situation,” Luke told him. “She just texted me, she said she told the staff to calmly tell each patron there was an unforeseen problem in the kitchen that cannot be resolved, their dinner has been paid for, and they need to leave at their earliest possible convenience, as well as instructing them to leave Cat and Reid alone.”

“Good,” Hotch replied. “It’ll minimize if not completely eliminate mass panic.”

The servers started coming out in droves then, and Cat noticed. “Look at that, there they go.”

Reid started to explain. “All we want to do—”

“Is minimize the collateral damage,” Cat cut him off. “I get it. I’m not mad. It’ll give me the cover I need to slip out. I just need to know it’s clear, so do me a favor and tell your boss that nobody leaves until it’s safe for me to.”

“Reid, perimeter agents are pulling back,” came Hotch’s voice. “You have to let her go.”

Reid’s face looked pained. 

“Well?” Cat demanded.

“Repeat,” Hotch said. “All agents do not engage or pursue until the bomb is defused.”

Reid still said nothing.

“Spencer…” Cat said, audibly growing annoyed.

Finally, he said, “You can leave.”

Cat got up, took her bag and coat, and moved to leave.

“But you won’t,” Reid said, stopping her in her tracks. 

“I’m sorry?”

“Double or nothing I can get you to sit back down.”

“Reid, what are you doing?” Hotch asked, unnerved at this sudden turn of events.

“Wow,” Cat drawled. “Now you’re stalling.”

“You played your trump card, but I have one too.”

Cat wasn’t taking the bait. Turning away, she said, “Thanks for dinner. I had fun.”

“I found your father,” Reid called out to her.

If Luke had taken a sip of his drink at that moment, he would have choked on it.

Cat’s reaction was similar. She stopped dead in her tracks and turned back around. “No you didn't.”

“Look at my face,” Reid replied. “Am I bluffing? I’ll tell you where he is. But you need to sit back down and listen to the rest of my story.”

“No, tell me now, or I’ll—”

“Detonate the bomb? You’re not going to do that, Cat, because then you won’t learn anything. You said you were good at your job because you think through every outcome. Well guess what? So do I.”

Cat looked around for a moment, seeming unsure, but then sat back down at the table. “All right. Finish the story.”

“To prepare for this dinner, I had to learn everything about you, starting with your real name.” He described the way he had profiled her and found her with the help of Penelope. “Catherine Adams. Daughter of Daniel Adams, who did in fact leave the country in 1987 but came back in 2012. Based on confidentialrecords in rehabs and sober living houses, which in turn pointed us to flophouses and soup kitchens. He couldn’t put twenty-four hours together sober. And you can probably imagine my surprise when I discovered that he actually lives right here in DC.”

“Where?” Cat demanded, tears in her voice.

“It’s not that simple,” Reid told her. “He was in bad shape when I found him. I showed him a picture of you. He had no idea who you were.”

“He didn’t remember me?”

“The alcoholism shredded his brain. I’m sorry.”

Cat scoffed. “You’re not sorry. Sorry is what people say when they don’t understand.”

Reid didn’t reply.

“Wait,” Cat said, realizing something. “Your mother. Tell me.”

“Is this part of the game?”

“No. The game is over.”

Reid was silent for a moment before answering. “When I looked at her medical chart, it didn’t make any sense. The medication they gave her should have been helping, but I couldn’t figure out why it was making her so angry. So I went to see her. The moment I walked into her room, I saw it. For three seconds, she didn’t know who I was.”

Luke’s heart clenched with sympathy. He hoped his new friend was lying in an effort to stall Cat, but if he wasn’t… that was potentially the worst experience someone could have with their parents. He couldn’t imagine how he’d react if, one day, his own mother didn’t recognize him. 

“I had her tested that morning,” Reid continued. “And I found out that night that she had early onset of dementia. Most likely Alzheimer’s.

“Did you test yourself?” Cat asked him.

Reid looked down at his lap. 

“No, you didn’t. You were too scared.”

“I thought I dodged a bullet when I turned thirty and didn’t have a schizophrenic break like her,” Reid said, voice thick with tears. “But this is somehow bigger and scarier because I can actually see it happening. All the memories that we used to share… are just dying. I can’t stop it. I can’t help her. All I can do is find people that I can help.”

Cat cocked her head to the side. “Is that really why you showed up tonight? To help me?” She leaned across the table to him. “Do you know how many men have told me that they wanted to help me? How do you think that worked out for them?”

JJ’s panicked voice came through the comms then. “Hotch, she just armed the bomb.”

“Hotch we need to pull back,” Morgan insisted.

“Copy. Alvez, get out of there.”

“Hotch, we might have a lead here,” Tara said, having returned to their table a few minutes prior.

“She hasn’t touched anything to arm the bomb,” Luke explained. “That means The Bomber’s here, somewhere in the restaurant.”

“All right, if you can take him, do so,” Hotch conceded. “But the priority is evacuation.”

“I’m not even sure it is a him” Luke mused. 

Tara nodded. “Cat mentioned something about gender bias. So what if we applied that to The Bomber as well?”

Hotch considered this. “All right, she’d have to be in a position to maintain line of sight of Reid all night. Who do you see?”

“Look for anyone with their phone out,” Luke advised as he and Tara started discreetly scanning the restaurant. “That’s the detonator. Our woman will give herself away by looking over.”

“You’re right,” Reid said then to Cat. “You don’t need my help. You don’t need anyone’s help. You are completely in control.”

Tara and Luke kept looking as Reid spoke, and then Tara found her.

“I’ve got her,” she whispered. “Blue dress. By the bar.”

“Hey, you know what, babe?” Luke asked at a normal, playing his part of the couple he and Tara were pretending to be as their cover. “Let’s get out of here, I’m not really feeling this place.” He got up and extended a hand to her.

“Aw, really?” Tara pretended to whine. “I kind of like it.”

“I want to take you to a spot where we can do some dancing,” he explained, leading her along the bar on their way to the exit. The second he was behind the woman Tara had pointed out, he grabbed her arm and twisted her away from the bar, wrestling with her for her phone. The second he had it, he pushed her toward Tara, who in turn shoved her against the bar to make the arrest as Luke used the phone to de-activate the bomb.

“Hotch, we’re clear,” came JJ’s voice, alerting Luke to his success, but only momentarily.

“Reid’s not,” Hotch informed them. 

Cat had grabbed Reid and was standing by their table, holding her gun to his head. “Don’t!” She screamed.

“FBI,” Luke announced, making his way over to them. “Everybody stay calm please.”

“We’re going to be smart about this and talk it out, aren’t we, Cat?” Tara called out as she cuffed The Bomber.

“That’s up to you,” Cat called back.

“Get everyone out of here,” Reid instructed them.

“Move,” Tara ordered the civilians around her, dragging The Bomber out with her. 

Morgan came into the main area of the restaurant then, having run back after the bomb was safely deactivated, and stood by Luke who was still standing in front of Cat and Reid with his gun trained on her. 

“Morgan, Luke, you too,” Reid said to them. 

Morgan shook his head. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“Me neither,” Luke agreed.

“Guess we’re right back where we started,” Cat mused, looking at Reid. “You and me with a gun.”

“Reid, it’s time,” Morgan warned.

Time for what? Luke wanted to ask, but he held his tongue.

“No,” Reid pleaded.

“We don’t have a choice,” Morgan insisted. “We have to do it.”

“Morgan, shut up,” Reid begged. 

“There’s one thing he hasn’t told you yet.” Morgan directed that at Cat.

“That’s not true, he’s lying, don’t listen to him,” Reid babbled.

“What haven’t you told me?” Cat demanded. 

“Nothing! Nothing! Nothing!”

“We brought your father here,” Morgan announced. 

Okay, so he was bluffing, Luke realized. The promise of her father was likely the only thing that could guarantee to get Cat out of this building alive.

“Here?” Cat repeated in disbelief. “He’s here?”

“He’s right outside,” Luke confirmed.

“Reid thought he needed every bargaining chip he could get,” Morgan explained.

“Morgan,” Reid pleaded again. “I am begging you, don’t. Don’t.”

Morgan ignored him. “Every bargaining chip he could get to convince you to do the right thing.”

Cat scoffed. “How is this the right thing?”

“Your father killed your mother,” Luke stated, playing along. This, this was what he knew. What he did best. The hunting, the undercover operation, talking down the unsub, it all brought him right back to the Fugitive Taskforce, and he loved it. He thrived in it. In these final hours of the night, it finally made sense to him why Morgan had begged him to come aboard. “There’s no statute of limitations on murder, so you really need to think about your options right now. You shoot him, I will kill you. Or if you surrender, you will live to testify against your father.” 

“That’s not good enough,” Cat spat.

“We can arrange for the two of you to drive into custody together,” Morgan offered, “and then you can remind him of who you are.”

“If you give her this she wins,” Reid argued. “Don’t do it.”

“Kid I am trying to save your life, now let me do that!” Morgan snapped back. There was a beeping sound outside, a large vehicle backing up. “They’re bringing him in right now.”

Cat looked over at Reid, who looked absolutely agonized and distraught. “You’re really upset about this, aren’t you?”

“This is what you wanted, isn’t it?” Luke asked her. “A chance to finally hurt the man who deserves it.”

“They all deserve it,” Cat told him. 

“He deserves it the most,” Luke countered.

Reid shook his head, which only seemed to spur Cat on and make her decision easier. “Only if Spencer escorts me out.”

“Deal,” Reid said through gritted teeth.

She threw her gun to the ground. Morgan and Luke approached the pair, Morgan handing Reid the cuffs while Luke kept his gun trained on Cat in case she had any surprises up her sleeve. Once she was cuffed, Reid began to escort her from the building.

“Hotch,” Morgan said into his comm.

“Yeah?” 

“We’re coming out.”

“Okay, you’re all clear,” the Unit Chief informed them.

The four of them walked out of the building together, but Cat stopped dead in her tracks the second they crossed the threshold. “Wait.” She paused for a minute, then said, “Okay. I’m ready.”

Reid guided her down the steps and to the police van that was waiting for her, and Morgan and Luke followed them. They swing open the doors to reveal… nothing. Cat’s father wasn’t there. He never had been.

Reid led her into the van and cuffed her properly to the wall.

“You lied to me,” she said, sounding near tears.

“If it makes you feel any better, I really did look for him,” Reid told her sincerely. “But I couldn’t find him, so yeah, I did make it all up.”

“Not all of it,” Cat replied. “You don’t pull a story about a parent losing her memory out of nowhere. Your mother and the Alzheimer’s, that’s true.”

“Did you know?” Luke whispered to Morgan.

“Not a clue,” he whispered back.

“I won,” Cat declared.

“How so?” Reid asked her.

“Because I will get out of here.”

“Yeah, in twenty years, maybe, if you’re lucky,” Reid retorted.

She brushed him off. “Yeah, that’s fine. You know why? Because in twenty years, I’ll remember your name, but you won’t remember mine.”

Reid didn’t bother responding, he just stood up and got out of the van, Luke and Morgan slamming it shut behind him.

“Come on,” Morgan said to the other two. “Garcia’s spending the night with me and Savannah, let’s go and say hi to our girl.”

Reid nodded, smiling at the prospect of getting to see his friend free and happy again. Luke tried to not make it incredibly evident how much he was looking forward to seeing Penelope again, and at the same time, how sad he was this whole ordeal was over.

Morgan’s house was a decent walk away, but the weather was nice, and the three men enjoyed the cool night air to help soothe their nerves after the intense night, hell, intense months they had had. They didn’t say a word the whole time.

“You guys want to come in for a bit?” Morgan offered once they had arrived. “Decompress?”

Luke nodded, but Reid shook his head.

“I’m good, I’m probably just going to go home,” he replied.

“That was an intense case,” Morgan sighed. 

“Yeah,” Reid laughed. “It’s over. Network’s gone.”

Morgan nodded, a serious look on his face, and Luke stepped to the side a little, wanting to be as not-present as he possibly could be for this no doubt personal conversation that was about to transpire. 

However, before anyone got the chance to speak, a very drunk Penelope came barrelling out of the house calling, “Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god!” A frantic Savannah came running out after her.

Morgan’s eyes went wide. “Hey hey hey, what is happening right now?”

Penelope was on a roll, running down the stairs in her four-inch heels to go to them. “You’re what’s going on. Right now is what’s… You are here. Do you know what’s happening right now? It is… it is done! The Dirty Dozen is done! Yes! Duh-uhn! I’m in it!” She made little strange gestures with her hands as she spoke, which had the group in absolute stitches. 

Morgan turned to Savannah. “How much did she have?”

Savannah scratched the back of her head guiltily. “She started out with jäger.”

“Jäger?” Morgan repeated in shock.

Penelope put her hands on Morgan’s shoulders. “I love you.”

“Okay,” he replied, trying to see where she was going with this.

“I love you,” she repeated. “And you!” Penelope pointed at Reid. “I love you so much. And you,” she stumbled over to Luke and planted her hands on his chest to ground herself, staring down at her feet. He was glad she was so drunk she likely couldn’t feel how much his heartrate had just accelerated. She turned her head back toward him, a look of concentration on her face. “I don’t know you well enough to love you yet, but I definitely like you a lot and I could love you.”

“Okay,” Luke managed to squeak out, flustered as all hell.

Penelope turned to Savannah then and grabbed her by the shoulders. “And you! I should be jealous of you because you’re so hot—”

Savannah turned in shock to stare at Morgan, who was equally at a loss for words. 

“But I’m not!” Penelope swore. “I’m not! I promise you I’m not! I’m not, I promise! No, I’m not, ‘cause you know what? All I feel in here is love.” She started running her hands over her body. “I just… I am feeling full of love. So much love… I’m wearing too many clothes!” She turned and started running back up the stairs to the house. 

“I got this,” Savannah assured them.

Casting a glance to Morgan and Reid, Luke decided they could probably use a moment to themselves, so he called after Savannah, “I’ll help you.”

"You don't have to," Savannah told him as they chased Penelope through the house. "I can handle a drunk Penelope, it wouldn't be the first time." 

"Oh I know, but I don't mind," Luke assured her. "Besides, Mor– Derek and Spencer looked like they needed a minute to themselves." 

Savannah nodded, understanding. She knew Derek's three closest friends were right there, Luke, Penelope, and Spencer, and knew that two of them had been having an especially tough go of it. She had learned to love each of them as much as he did. She wouldn't fault her boyfriend for spending time with his friend, especially one who had been gone so long. "We need to convince Penelope to go to sleep," she told Luke. "She's a very blabbery drunk, as you saw, but she's also a sleepy one. The sooner we get her to bed, the better she feels in the morning. But normally she brings pajamas, she doesn't have any this time." 

"Did she happen to bring her bag that she was living out of at Quantico?"

Savannah's eyes lit up. “Yes she did! Okay, I’ll go grab the pajamas, you try to corral her in the guest bedroom at the end of the hall, okay?”

“Sounds like a plan, but first I’m going to get her a glass of water so she doesn’t have a killer headache tomorrow.”

Savannah took off to find the pajamas, and went to get the water and Penelope. “Hey, Penelope, hey,” he said gently, taking her by her shoulder—and trying to pull her cardigan back on because he was respectful.

“Luke! Hi!”

He smiled warmly at her. “Hi. I have a question for you. Wouldn’t you just love to go to sleep in a real bed instead of your office couch like you’ve been having to do the last few months?”

Penelope’s entire face lit up. “Yes! I’d love that! Yes! Please!”

“Okay, then follow me, all right? We’re going to the guest bedroom. Savannah is bringing you pajamas.”

“All right!” Penelope replied enthusiastically.

Luke was absolutely enamored. She was just… adorable. “And can you drink this glass of water, please? I don’t want you having a headache in the morning.”

“Oooh, good idea.” She took the glass from him and gulped at it greedily.

Savannah met them in the guest bedroom and gave Penelope the pajamas, and they gave her time to change. Once she had, Luke helped get Penelope into the bed—she was somehow more uncoordinated drunk and out of heels than she was drunk and in them—while Savannah put the dress she’d changed out of with her other things. 

“I am really tired,” Penelope said as she lay down, falling asleep the second her head hit the pillow, letting out a small snore that Luke genuinely considered one of the most beautiful sounds he had ever heard.

Savannah chuckled as she left the room. “Now I need a drink.”

Luke pulled the blankets up to Penelope’s chin, a soft smile on both their faces. If he happened to give her a small kiss on the forehead once Savannah had left the room, what would it matter? Sweet dreams, sweetheart. Sleep tight.

Morgan came in once Reid left, and the three remaining adults sat down with drinks of their own. 

"So," Morgan sighed. "That's over. At long last." 

Luke shook his head in disbelief. "I know. It hasn't sunk in yet. It was the last few months of our lives, and now it's done." 

"And you're done with the BAU now." 

"Yeah. I'll be by tomorrow to pick up my things and say goodbye, but then it's back to normal." 

"Well we'll miss you." 

"I'll miss you guys too." 

"How'd you like the BAU, Luke?" Savannah asked him. 

"Oh, it was great," he replied easily. "Great experience, great people, I kind of wish I didn't have to go." 

"See?" Morgan laughed. "I told you you had nothing to worry about! You were all worried about not being good at the job, but you're a natural." 

Luke shrugged off the compliment humbly. "Eh, once I met the people it was easy. You guys make the job easy. And of course, once I met Penelope, I understood why you were so eager to protect her." 

"Yeah, she has that effect on people, doesn't she?" Savannah laughed fondly. "She's pretty great."

Luke's entire face lit up. "She's amazing. We got along great, she's definitely one of the people I'm going to miss the most. I would check in on her every night, I'm gonna have to get use to not doing that anymore." 

Morgan's eyes went wide. “Ooh, look at how he’s smiling!” He turned to Savannah. "Are you seeing this?" 

Savannah's eyes were shining with shock, glee, and a little bit of mischief. "Oh I'm seeing it all right." 

Luke schooled his expression instantly. "Seeing what?"

"You, my friend, are crushing," Morgan sing-songed.

"I am not!" Luke lied, feeling his cheeks and ears burn.

"You so are!" Morgan goaded. "You have a crush on Penelope!" 

"Can we not call it a crush, please?" Luke begged. "That sounds so… high school." 

"Maybe so, but that's exactly what it is!" Savannah teased. 

He fixed her with a faux-glare. "Et tu, Sav?" They had only met a few times in the two years she and Morgan had been together, but, both being easy people to get along with, they formed a quick and easy friendship.

She raised her hands in the air in mock surrender. "Hey, I'm just calling it like it is!"

Morgan grinned. "I think it's great. You are absolutely smitten."

Luke smiled to himself. Yes, he was helplessly and hopelessly smitten, but he wasn't going to admit that. At least, not in those words. "Shut up," he replied instead, with a laugh.

Morgan only half-listened. "So. You gonna ask her out?" 

"No," Luke replied quickly. 

Morgan cocked his head to the side. "Why not? You two would be good together!"

Like thought for a moment, trying to figure out how to phrase everything in a way that made sense. "I'd feel weird about it. She's just been through an incredibly intense draining and traumatic experience, I would feel like I'm taking advantage of that. And I also wouldn't want her to feel like she owes me, in some weird way? And I also don’t want to come off as the guy who feels like he’s owed, because I’m not an asshole. Besides, you know, I’m sure once I no longer see her every day for a few weeks, and I’d hate to try to start something only for that to happen.”

“First of all,” Morgan countered, she would never think any of those things and second of all, if you really think your feelings will fade by not seeing her, then by asking her out and seeing her frequently, they wouldn’t fade.”

Luke seemed unsure. “I’d hate to ruin our friendship over something I’m unsure about.”

“Then wait a bit, see how you’re feeling, and then go for it!”

Luke shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe.”

***

As promised, Luke was back at the BAU the next day to collect his things. The army and the Fugitive Taskforce had instilled in him a habit of traveling light, so all he had to do was throw a few things in his backpack and he was all set. He said goodbye to everyone, giving Hotch and Rossi a firm handshake, Morgan, Tara, and JJ a hug, and holding up his elbow to Reid to bump his own against. Then, before leaving, he made his way over to Penelope’s office. 

“How’re you feeling?” Luke asked with a smirk once she opened the door.

She rolled her eyes playfully in response. “Fine, actually. Probably because you and Savannah made me drink water and go to sleep, so thank you.”

“Any time.”

“So what are you doing here? I thought you were done now? Are you staying longer?”

She looked so excited at that prospect, and he was loath to contradict her. “No, I’m done. I was just here to grab my things, and I wanted to say a proper goodbye.”

Her smile morphed into a frown. “Aw, okay.” She stepped forward, wrapping her arms around him tight and resting her hands in the middle of his back.

He wrapped his arms around her waist and buried his face in the crook of her neck, inhaling the sweet, flowery smell of her hair. 

“I’ll miss you,” she whispered into him. 

“I’ll miss you too,” he whispered back.

“I’ll have to get use to you not coming to visit me every day,” Penelope said as she stepped out of the hug.

“Well you can call or text me any time,” Luke assured her, squeezing her shoulder gently. “Don’t be a stranger, okay, Penelope?”

She nodded, smiling softly. “Okay. You either, Luke.”

He smiled warmly at her one last time. “Goodbye, Penelope.”

[spiritofcamelot]

Doctor Who Lux liveblog

Overall a fun episode. It really feels like hammering in some foundational themes of this series. I'm excited that there are themes continuing over from the previous series. I've got lots of ideas about what is to come.

There were some bits I didn't enjoy in the writing, but possibly because I couldn't get the similar Torchwood episode out of my mind while watching. Still, a fun episode. Live this below.

Hey so light doesn't work like that. You cant bounce a point of light and expect it to be a flat plane. Admitedly pretty vfx though.

But also I'm suddenly thinking of the Torchwood episode where things step out of old film and I'm excited. 

Checked and RTD did write From Out of the Rain.

I appreciate her attitude of not passing up a potential adventure.

"It helps if you run!"

The clothes and the music are great though. 

Wait, this was how long ago that people went missing? And it's still a full moon? 

Don't remember the sonic having a flashlight. That's an improvement. 

Is Mr Pye held captive?

Oh not again

Oh okay, at least it's a different god. 

I mean, not gonna lie I'm excited for them to be in the background of this season again.

Oh he made home movies turn 3D, didn't he? That's actually really sweet if deeply creepy.

Yeah I knew he would come in through under the door. 

Character depth as literal more dimensions is both so dumb and so funny. 

WAIT! If they are 3D in a 2D world and they need to break the fourth wall to get out, is Mrs Flood an extra dimensional being/god trapped in the world of Doctor Who and that's why she keeps breaking the fourth wall in the show?! 

Oh we are really having fun with the DW being a tv show

Well shit. Don't give him Time Lord energy. 

Huh. I thought just opening a door to the sunlight would work. Okay now we get sunlight.

Interesting. That's... A choice for an ending. 

And Mrs Flood is here!!

Okay so cute that they cut away to the fans again.

[cloudydays69]

❇️Intro post thingy!!!❇️

Uhhh Hi! My name is Spencer, welcome to my blog I guess? I'm just on here being goofy and weird, nothing special. I'm Transmasc and go by both He/Him and They/Them pronouns!

I'm not that active on here anymore but I come on here occasionally ^^

Oh, and nicknames are welcome here too! You can also call me Shark, Cloudy or anything else y'all come up with. :D (if I'm comfortable with it)

My ask box is always open sooo, feel free to send anything there, speak yo shit :> /pos

(Also, I'm a minor, so keep note of that. You're welcome to interact with my posts and stuff obviously, idrc. Just no weird shit. Please.)

And also, I'm (possiblyy) autistic and I have pretty bad anxiety, please be patient with me. It usually takes me a while to respond to things, but dw! ^^

OH right I forgot to mention that I'm a Selfshipper/Yumeshipper but that's not all I post, doubles are welcome ofc, I don't mind :∆

-!!⚠️Rules/DNI Criteria⚠️!!-

‼️DNI CRITERIA: Just the basic dni stuff, I don't want any weirdos or bigots on here man. This shit ain't for you!!

❗General rules for this blog: Don't be an asshole, don't be a creep. That's all I gotta say. I block ppl who make me uncomfy :p❗

Also this isn't a proshitter safe space or anything related to yucky shit whatsoever so uh. Yeah. Shoo

Anyways, here's more stuff about me underneath!! :3

💚💉 More About me!💉💚

(Yes I like re-animator, how could you tell?)

This section is gunna list off the stuff I like, along with my interests! Many of the things I enjoy are centered around horror, movies, shows, games and music. Expect me to never shut up about any of these LMFAO. (I feel like this is the only place where I can be cringe and free where people actually kinda care idk)

🦠 Current worms rn🦠

(I don't update this often but yea)

Final Fantasy 7

Re-animator

Did I mention Sephiroth no ok

Idk :∆

And One (band)

🧪Categories listed below!🧪

⚡Movies I love!!⚡

Re-animator, Evil Dead, Rocky Horror Picture Show, American Psycho, Little Shop of Horrors, the Saw franchise (still getting into!), Malignant and Electric Dreams.

🦴Shows I love!!🦴

Prodigal son, NBC's Hannibal, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (anime), Yuri!!! on Ice.

👾Games that are cool!!👾

Splatoon, Cult of the Lamb, FAITH the Unholy Trinity, Sonic the Hedgehog, Detroit: Become Human, Pressure, Dandy's world, and Regretevator which are all on roblox, Final Fantasy 7 and Homicipher

I have a switch btw, if anyone wants to add me, my friend code is SW-5412-3964-7506— I WAS chronically on Splatoon but I'm losing interest :(

📀Music!!💿

WWATT, Malice Mizer, Oingo Boingo, Depeche Mode, And One, uhh and a lot of Vocaloid stuff. (The most normal music taste in the world /j) I'm also getting REALLY into Vkei as well!! (PLS GIVE ME BAND RECOMMENDATIONS)

And the things that I didn't really know how to categorize are analog horror, lost media, ARG's, sharks, rhythm games, Kandi crafts and anything else I forgot. :p

Yeah that's about it for now byeee, also here are my f/o's :3

•Sephiroth (aka MY WIFEEE), Mr. Crawling, Herbert West, Folly (Regretevator) and Teagan :3 (dandy's world)

I'm absolutely chill with doubles and it's alright if you don't like sharing!! I understand ^^

Snart hehe 🏳️‍⚧️

[kinetic-socks]

Long post expressing my frustration with my procrastination

wake up in the morning like yeah lets get this essay done today

have meal

go to class

ok essay time.

find myself crocheting instead. hey brain, what?

brain: we have time, we'll get it done later dw

well. crocheting isn't as fun now but ok, what can ya do.

ok, we don't want to crochet anymore. essay now?

brain: no let's walk around and listen to music. exercise is good and will help us later.

me: again, it would be nice to be getting work done but alright.

me: hey, I still wanna get that essay done. can we go home and do that?

brain: no. exercise good. shut up.

me: i guess this is what we're doing.

brain: ok we got a cut on our arm while running let's go home and treat that.

me: yeah sounds great. in perfect agreement with you there.

brain: ok, cut is treated. let's nap now *reads comics instead and does more crochet like simultaneously*

me: what is happening

brain: ok NOW let's nap (it is 10:30 pm)

me: is this wise? It's late at night and we haven't done any work, and what if we accidentally sleep too long?

brain: alarm will handle it (it did) and we need sleep or we won't be able to think

me: you make sense but I don't feel great about this

I get back up at like. mignight and am like ok. essay Now.

brain: we're hungry again, eat first. and use the bathroom and change your bandaid it's coming off.

me: eating and using the bathroom and changing the bandaid all sound fine. these are reasonable things for a person to do.

It becomes 4am. Don't ask me how.

me: pleasee. essay now, we wanted to finish it before tomorrow

brain: well, it's either essay or go to bed for the night, which means it's the latest we can start and have it be today, so alright! you can now make yourself take out a pencil and write a bit. but also let's write a tumblr post about this phenomenon to ask the internet if you're just an undisciplined bitch for procrastinating or if i'm the bastard. also good luck making yourself follow any tips they give on making yourself get started because you can't make me do shit. it would be funny to watch you try honestly bc it didn't even work last semester when you got so frustrated with me that you'd start hitting yourself. so I really cannot think of a single way you could ever subjugate me and I will only make you miserable if you try. I will also make you miserable by doing this even if you don't try. This is who we are and you're simply not good enough

me: ok, when I post the post can we do the essay then?

brain: yeah probably. it's almost the end of today so I'll let you get started on it. You wanted it to be today and I understand that. You're right that we don't have a lot of time left.

me: it's not really today anymore but you're right that it still feels like it. thank god for the small mercy that is you letting me do it at all. We've been thinking about it for awhile anyway, maybe we'll enjoy this. Oh and you'd probably fight me like this tomorrow if I did it then, right? We'd turn it in at 7 am instead of midnight?

brain: I might enjoy it but you'll still have to fight me the whole way. and oh yeah for sure I would give you hell tomorrow. I wouldn't let you start it till late at night. that's what we did last time!

me: okay. at least we'll be able to edit it tomorrow after we write tonight. Plus we'll hopefully be tired tomorrow and not the next day when we have more important classes.

brain: should we finish writing tonight it's very unlikely I'll want to edit it tomorrow and you're likely to be satisfied enough that we have anything that you won't call me on it at all. We're probably not sleeping tonight so I'm going to give you a headache tomorrow to compel you to sleep after class and then probably all day and you rarely fight naps because our sleep schedule is so bad you figure we need it. plus yknow it makes sense to sleep after an all nighter.

me: ok but we'll write the essay?? when this post is done??

brain: yeah alright put in a readmore and hit post now.