#''ugh they fucked up again and of COURSE this one lands in the lap of my paycheck''

[cuddlytogas]

so, this week, my work tried to retroactively change our pay for two weeks, saying that the bonus rates we'd been given actually ended two weeks ago, there was just a glitch that meant we didn't get the emails about it in time. so we should change our invoices for that period and send them back at the lower rate.

so I rolled my eyes and went back and recalculated my invoice, and i was just about to hit send on the email when i had a straight up wirt moment of

why in the fuck would it be fine and normal to retroactively charge less for work already completed under a certain understanding of the rate of pay....????? no!!! i'm not doing that!!!!!! fuck off!!!

[etherealily]

​🇹​​🇭​​🇪​ ​🇱​​🇮​​🇳​​🇪​ // 𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘹𝘦𝘪 𝘷𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘬𝘺

Alexei Vronsky + fem!reader

Warnings : Cuss words.

You do NOT have permission to repost and/or translate any of my fics.

'Cross that line for me, sweetheart?'

Desc. : You are not a temptress, but he is tempted.

══════════════════ ⋆🍷⋆ ══════════════════

It was curious, to say the least, how land was divided. The conch next to you was half your property and half the Vronsky estate's property. It had remained that way for ages.

The waves lapped up the sand, like a heart reaching desperately for its other half as you sat watching the entire ordeal.

The Line - one drawn up every morning and marked by tiny flags as placeholders - had always pissed you off. Intrigued you. What would happen if you were to... just a finger? The hem of your dress. Would you immediately be shot at by concealed snipers? Perhaps you'd have to be tried in court.

You had never really noticed much about this Vronsky character before. Another handsome, manipulative bastard. Nothing much.

In turn, he'd also never noticed you. A face. One of many. Beautiful, of course, he was not blind, but never seen as worthy of his efforts. You were not rebellious. You were not adorably innocent. He could not entice you. He could not corrupt you.

In theory, your paths were never to cross. Different lives, same circles.

The key word : theory.

Because there are moments in life when you know that nothing will ever be the same again, when you know that your proverbial pathway is forever skewed and rerouted. These may appear to you embossed in calamities such as loss and grief, or these may be whispered in your ear by silent smiles, lovestruck looks across a ballroom, or the simple offer of champagne.

Or, in the case of you and Alexei Vronsky, all of the above.

And this was one of those torturous, life-altering moments.

"-And that's when I said, it was just a bloody goat !"

Booming, drunken laughter ensued from your left - the other side of the Line. Fuck. Keep drawing, shut up, keep drawing, shut up.

Your pencil made unintelligible sounds as it scratched out a somewhat passable depiction of the moonlit waves. The screams and guffaws grew louder, but the issue was that if you moved, he'd assume you did it because you were on his side. You were not, but it would look highly suspicious if you fled.

No. They'd quietened down. Meaning either they left - highly unlikely - or, they'd noticed you.

"Oi!"

Don't respond, don't respond.

"You! Pretty girl!"

Drunk men are terrifying. How could such kind words be said in a way that made your skin crawl?

"Mate, maybe she's a mute. Or deaf. Or both."

"I know for a fact she's not. She's got quite a mouth on her, as I can remember from last year- HEY! LADY WITH THE SKETCHBOOK!"

And that was Alexei Vronsky. His story with the goat had ended, apparently. Ugh.

You turned. "Uh, hello."

"ARE YOU A MUTE?" his companion yelled.

"Are you daft? She just answered! How could she be mute?"

Drunk men are also idiotic.

"WHY DON'T YOU COME ON OVER HERE, WE'LL GIVE YOU SOMETHING TO DRAW?"

Bellowing laughter followed.

For fuck's sake.

"I'm alright, THANKS!"

"OI, C'MON! WE DON'T BITE!"

From what you'd heard, he does.

"IS IT 'CAUSE OF THAT LINE?"

"Good night, Count Vronsky.", you called back, as you gathered up your things and stood, dusting the sand off your dress.

"HOLD ON! WAIT!"

"Let'r go, mate, c'mon, we've got a party to get back to."

"I WAS JUST BEING NEIGHBOURLY, YOU BITCH!"

FUCKING HELL.

"What did you just call me?!", you yelled, turning. He looked back at you in a swaying, inebriated haze, trying to focus those glaciers he called eyes on yours in the darkness.

"A witch. You've cast a spell on me, bewitched me, so to speak. You're magic."

Ugh. "Whatever."

"Just come over here, or I'll have to come there, and you wouldn't like that.", he slurred, his friends chortling and egging him on.

Buggering Christ.

"You can't. See?", you replied defiantly, pointing deliberately at the faint white outline of the line they renewed every morning with chalk powder. "That would be trespassing."

"I'm Alexei Vronsky."

What was that supposed to mean?

"So? It's still trespassing. My family's had it in for you for a long time - we'll take you to court."

"Then you come here.", he shrugged, taking an unstable stumble closer. "Cross that line for me, sweetheart? Yeah?"

"You're a creep. And you're drunk."

"You're a beauty. And you're technically trespassing, so I need to punish you."

"HOW am I-"

"Your pencil." Fuck. How is it he's sober enough to notice that, but not sober enough to know that his buddy said 'the coat storage' not 'the goat story'?

"It blew in the wind."

"Yes. To my estate."

"You can keep it."

"Are you sure? Isn't this your, uh, fabulous pencil from Paris you were talking of?"

"No." Yes.

"No?", he frowned, picking it up. NO! Not in his grimy, disgustingly delicate fingers. "Seems pretty French to me."

"Are you actually inebriated or do you simply enjoy pretending to be so that you can get away with things?"

He stopped swaying, pointing the pencil in your direction as he placed the other hand behind his back. "You're sharp."

"So you're sober?"

Drunk Vronsky could have been molded. Sober Vronsky was a cunt.

"More or less. My friends feel left out because they are unable to hold their liquor as well as I can, so I act for them.", he explained, with a small look behind him, at his comrades trying to jump over the waves as they came.

"You should be in theatre, then."

"Adding performer to my resume is just a smidge too over-accomplished.", he retorted, an amused glint in his eye.

Ugh.

"So you're going to hold on to my pencil, then, I'm guessing."

"What? No, I know how much this means to you."

Trap. You'd bet your entire estate it was a trap.

"I will give it back.", he continued as he paced, his hand still placed behind his back as though he were planning war strategies. "On one condition."

See? Trap.

"Dinner. With me. Tomorrow."

Did he think this was a smart way to secure an evening with a woman?

"I won't be here tomorrow." Bold-faced lie, and he could tell.

"Then tonight. Right now." You couldn't think of anything you were doing.

"And I'll get my pencil back."

"Yes."

"That can't be it. There's a catch."

"You are... remarkable. Yes. There is.", he whispered, softly, as though impressed that you caught on. "Champagne. I wish to see you drunk. Drunk, in denial and... ruined."

Lot of darkness for someone who'd just been talking about a goat.

"In denial?"

"Nothing. Just... join me for dinner and drink a little, and I promise you shall have your pencil back."

"I do not drink."

"Then I do not return fancy French pencils."

"I can always purchase another."

"You do not have sentimentality, then?"

"No." Yes.

"I see. Then you may be on your way."

"I don't have to go anywhere. I have every right to be here! This is still my side of The Line."

"Suit yourself, darling."

The silence that followed was torturous and unbearable. "I do not like steak."

"Then you shall have no steak."

══════════════════ ⋆🍷⋆ ══════════════════

His eyes focused on you from across the table, his spoon paused midway above his plate. Eyes like the ocean in a storm. Terrifying but alluring.

"Enjoying your not-steak?"

You hid a smile. "Yes, I am."

He nodded, bringing his spoon up to his lips as he watched you do the same.

"You've left your friends out there?"

"They know not to cross The Line. They will be alright."

"Why is it you wanted to have dinner with me? To trap me into trespassing?"

"I've wanted to speak with you since I first saw you." Lie.

"And I you." Lie.

"What was it you wished to say?"

"Simply a greeting. You?"

"The same."

He set down his spoon, scrunching up his napkin as he stood up and walked the short distance across the table to you, resting his hands on the back of your chair. "You promised you'd drink."

"I did?"

"You did.", he whispers, accepting the newly-uncorked bottle the servant handed him, and pouring it into the glass next to your plate, smoothly. "And you're a good girl who keeps promises, yes?"

You'd heard he loved using such degrading language, but this was the first time you'd seen it firsthand.

"What gave you that idea?"

"I just figured you were of proper breeding and were raised right."

Good answer.

"Well, the words 'I promise' never left my mouth."

"Well-bred women do not look for loopholes. And they most certainly do not argue."

Lord knows where he'd worked up the audacity to brush some hair off your shoulder, but perhaps he was born with it imbibed in his blood.

He narrowed his eyes at your unchanging expression. "Drink."

"I am not done with my food."

He breathes out loudly, taking your plate and thrusting it into the hands of the nearest servant. "Yes, you are."

"I still have dessert."

"No, you don't. Drink."

"This is not champagne. You said champagne."

"And you said you'd drink. We both have uttered falsities. Drink."

"I fear you may be trying to-"

"Poison you? I am not. I would not like to see you die."

Was that supposed to be some form of assurance? Romantic? Caring? That did not have the intended effect.

"Drink, lovely."

It irked you how invested he was to see you drunk.

You wrapped your fingers around the glass, bringing it to your lips. Tilting it upwards, you let the liquor cascade down your throat, and echoes of your sputtering filled the room - it burned.

He laughed heartily, shaking his head as he stroked your shoulder from behind you. "Do you know what that was?"

"No. But I do know I will not take another sip."

"It was vodka, my dear, and in a few moments, you will want more. Trust me."

"I'm not taking another sip of that ghastly liquid!"

"Not even for me? Not even if I begged?"

"You think your begging has any effect on me?"

"Doesn't it? I'm known to be quite persuasive, and- besides, aren't you supposed to be the empathetic one in the family?"

"And where did you hear that?"

"Just about everywhere, really.", he huffed, resting his elbow on the table as he knelt down by your side. "'Y/N is the nicest one. She cares the most. Empathetic.' Surely you are not telling me those are lies?"

"Not lies, but exaggerations, perhaps."

"I am quite literally on my knees, Y/N, and you should realize how rare that is. Drink more or I will have to force you."

You frowned at him.

"I will do it. Force you. Don't think that because I have let you in my house so courteously that I will continue to be a gentleman with you."

"How could you be? You're nothing but a cad.", you scoffed, as you took another stingingly painful gulp.

He watched the glass, your tongue, your throat, almost mesmerized as he replied. "A cad?", he questioned softly, amused but still fascinated by your every movement.

"A cad.", you nodded, trying not to show how much you were gasping for breath. It hurt, satisfyingly.

"That's a first. No one has ever said 'oh, Alexei Vronsky, that cad'.", he murmured against his palm as he observed you meticulously.

"Then they have met a different person."

"You say this out of personal experience, do you?"

"I've met him. The Alexei Vronsky. He only thinks of one thing."

A lilt of his lips. "And that is?"

"Himself."

He concealed a grin.

"Or perhaps...", he mused, fingertips on the back of your neck as though he were playing your skin as one would a piano. "He is one who shows different versions of himself to different people."

"So he is deceitful."

"I'd say careful."

"Would you, now?"

"I think we put up far too many false pretences anyway. No point in fighting it - it is necessary, to be part of society."

"And what false pretences am I putting up, in your expert opinion?"

He smiled, one too pure to match the description you had so harshly delivered a moment before, but you knew more than most that it was a ruse. "Drink more."

"You're an incredibly demanding man, aren't you? Dine with me. Drink more. Not a single please, nor thank you.", you retorted, as though that could take away from the fact that you obeyed.

"When you are incredibly in demand, you learn to be incredibly demanding."

If ever a smoother talker existed, you'd wager he'd simply be Alexei Vronsky in disguise.

"So tell me, then. Are you a gentleman, a cad, or an opportunist, Count Vronsky?"

You had to steer the conversation back to him, because whatever this vilely beguiling liquor was, it was shooting through your veins at a rate too fast to risk talking about yourself, lest any family secrets spilled out.

"I am whatever you want me to be. And you? Are the rumours true? Are you a virgin, a temptress, or a genius?"

"I am whatever I want to be. For tonight."

"Come morning?", he murmured against your neck as he slipped a finger under a loose strand of hair, and twirled it with such dedication you would think that were his only purpose in life.

"A memory."

"Well, we can't have that.", he pouted, as he stood up, gently taking the glass away from you and finishing the last of it. "What does it take for a memory to stay in the present?"

"Vronsky-"

"A dance, perhaps, as they say you enjoy?"

If you weren't unsure of the functionality of your motor skills in your drunken haze, you'd have punched him right then and there.

"The rumours aren't true, you know?"

"What rumours?", he asked, feigning obliviousness.

He'd just spoken of them, but you were quite sure if you reminded him, he'd attribute it to the vodka. Tell you you were 'surely imagining things, dear one'.

"The ones that led you to come and have a go at me."

"Those? Oh, I didn't believe them for a second.", he grinned, his eyes examining the filthiest, most remote parts of your soul - ones that even you had never been privy to.

A moment washed over the both of you, tauntingly. You looked for any secrets in his eyes, and he looked for any in yours, albeit, more calmly than you.

"Come.", he mumbled, finally, offering his hand for you to get up out of his disgustingly well-crafted chair. "Let's get you back on your side of The Line."

══════════════════ ⋆🍷⋆ ══════════════════

"There. Oh, and here. I am of proper manners.", he added after you'd leapt over The Line, handing your pencil back over to you.

It felt oddly anticlimactic after the events of the evening.

His icy blue eyes - striking, so striking that they pierced you - fell onto your lips for just a moment before landing on the pencil in your hand. "You don't want it back."

"What? Of course I do."

He had you. He was onto you.

"Let me rephrase. You don't need it back."

"Sentimentality. Of course I do."

"You really don't want it to stay in my possession, instead?"

"No."

"Liar.", he smirked, his lips curving deliciously, and you just about lost it. "You know I'll take very good care of it, no? Like I took care of you, tonight. No complaints, yes?"

"Besides the aggressive persuasion to drink a fiery liquid that most probably burnt my throat off, no."

"You exaggerate. Tell me tonight was just another of your dull nights. Tell me I haven't been a source of reprieve from your tedious, mundane days of fakeness and gossip."

You scoffed, refusing to dignify that with a reply, although you already knew that any response- or lack thereof - would be all too telling.

"You cannot, can you?"

There was nothing you hated more than when men were right.

Especially men who were as captivating as Vronsky. It was unnecessary and dangerous.

He beamed, clearly so fucking proud of himself, as he looked out at the waves. "It is a lovely dress you are wearing."

No, it wasn't. It was the most commonplace of dresses one could wear. But he'd say it anyway. Because that was his play.

"Thank you."

"It is disgusting, though."

"In what way? A disgusting display of my wealth, or disgustingly lovely?"

He knelt down next to you from the other side, on the sand. "It is disgusting that such beauty and purity like yours can exist and people continue to slander its name."

Had you been a lesser woman, you'd have fallen for it.

It seemed, however, that he knew you wouldn't. It was confusing, to say the least, whether he was being genuine or being genuinely fake.

"It is how I live."

If you'd read him right, he should say something along the lines of...

"It shouldn't be."

There.

"However... the dress in itself is not disgusting?"

"No, it is spectacular- although, I must say, the woman wearing it is far more ravishing."

Games get boring when they are predictable.

"So. What is it you normally do after parties, since you cannot get drunk? Unless blackmailing women to dine with you and drink your vodka is your usual pastime."

He snickered, although a slight maliciousness infiltrated his gaze for a moment. "It isn't so much a pastime as... an unfortunately common occurence. Perhaps that's why you've got an opinion of me as a - how'd you put it?"

"A cad."

"Ah, yes, a cad. I wonder if your opinion has changed."

That was not hope in his eyes, no. That was a challenge. 'Go ahead, Y/N, say no. If you dare.', his look said.

"I wonder that, too. Perhaps it will if you keep your promise."

"Promise?", he repeated, raising a brow. He knew. He knew all too well what you were saying.

"False pretences.", you reminded, watching him as he watched the waves distort the light of the moon. "You said you would tell me what false pretences you think I put up."

He was far too close. The incredibly fragile, entirely imaginary Line wouldn't be able to stop him from reaching over and touching your shoulder once more.

"I think... do you want to know what I think?"

"I might."

"I think that you're lying when you brush off the rumours."

"You think I am a slut? A temptress?" Now, suddenly, the monotonous nature of everyday seemed far more interesting than the thousandth iteration of the same conversation.

"No, I think you brushing them off is the lie. They affect you far too much." Alright. That was... progress.

"Do they, now?"

"Very much. And there is one more, as well, although I doubt you will like to hear it. You crave to prove them right."

Congratulations, Alexei Vronsky, you've caught my attention.

"That is an extremely, extremely bold suggestion."

"Yet you are not denying it."

"I do not wish to have my virtue questioned, Vronsky, and us having dinner does not change that."

"But it pokes at it, does it not? A slight scratch, an itch, asking if that is what you really want. It blurred the lines, did it not?"

Shut up, shut up, shut up.

"You're an incredibly delusional man, Count Vronsky."

"A delusional cad."

"Precisely."

You didn't miss the amusement in his tone, the laughter, the way he knew how perfectly right he was.

"Well, this delusional cad did not lie, earlier. You truly have bewitched me, my dear, and I do not think I shall ever turn you down."

He stood up, dusting the sand off his gloves and pants. You stood up too, not out of respect, but out of the desire to relish his face once more.

"Turn me down?"

"When you inevitably ask for me when your marriage is dry, lifeless and torturous."

Good lord. How long had he been- how far ahead was he thinking?

"I will be right here. On this side."

"Why are you so adamant that my marriage will be-"

"Because I'm the one you need. You've broken quite literally every rule tonight. Crossed the line, fraternized with the enemy, drank unfamiliar alcohol that could so easily have been poisoned or used against you."

"How does that make you the one I-"

"I'm taking you out of your comfort zone. Freeing you. What more would one want from a lover?"

So casual with that word. Lover. As though that was all you two had been, since the beginning.

"Have I mentioned that you're-"

"Delusional? Yes, you have. But you have also yet to mean it."

Who the hell allowed this man to be so confident?

His thumb rubbed against your cheek in pure tenderness that you are well-prepared for - you've learnt over the years he's unpredictable, and since his mercurial nature was the only predictable thing about him, it was easy for you to guess his next move.

Or at least, figure out that it would be the exact opposite of the tone of his words.

"I can help you, you see?", he said, words so faint they were almost whisked away in the sea breeze. "Honest."

"Was that the point of tonight?"

"No, the point of tonight was to get you so utterly inebriated that you would tell me your family's secrets, and hence, your own."

That was the only thing that had come out of his mouth all night that you could guarantee was the truth.

"And since that did not happen, you are doing this?"

"No, I couldn't let that happen. Unwrapping you, figuring you out, it is far too intriguing a task to complete with a glass of vodka and enticing words. I want to spend years, decades, the rest of my life, performing this task, revealing you slowly and addictively, until I have lost myself or driven myself crazy trying to reach the core of your soul."

The silence kissed you two over and over until you couldn't take it anymore. "You are terrifyingly good at this."

He almost looked like he was about to say 'at what', but it seemed his mood had turned too serious to coax a half-hearted insult out of you.

"And you are terrifying. You are like the eye of a storm, intricately, almost... sinisterly drawing me closer."

"I'm not sure what you want me to-"

His lips devoured your words, and you could not help but think that this night had progressed far too rapidly to your liking. He was a stranger, a random man who you shared nothing but a flimsy little line with, but here you were, letting him kiss you, letting him ruin you, letting him convince you with his words that this was a good idea.

"Come on, darling.", he murmured against your lips, his eyes still half-lidded in a triumphant haze. "Cross the line. I promise, I'll take care of you."

You surrendered, and all you could do was hope that his beauty was simply angelic in nature, and was not designed for the sole purpose of ruining you and every iota of self-respect you had.

Hard to tell, but perhaps he had meant it that way.

[broadwaybalogna]

Zutara prompt: While fishing, Zuko accidentally admits to Sokka that he like Katara.

STOP IT THIS IS SO CUTE OMG

-

Sokka didn’t exactly know how to bond with Zuko when they weren’t committing crimes or saving the world, so they went on an abundance of “bro trips” to find new hobbies for the two of them. There was golfing, swimming, and cooking, but they ultimately landed on fishing. The activity was a nice change of pace for their busy days, and it allowed them to catch up with each other without having to worry about anything else.

The sun was just beginning to set when Zuko and Sokka finally got their stuff outside and ready to set up. It had been a long day for both of them, but they tried to maintain their weekly bro hangouts as much as possible.

“So, how was your week?” Sokka asked once they had fully set up.

“Ugh, the usual. Making laws, opening borders, selling my soul. How about you? How’s Suki?”

“Suki’s doing great. I soar her every now and again-“

“And lose.”

“And allow her to take advantage of weak spots I didn’t know I had.” Sokka huffed. Zuko laughed. “And you? Any new girls in your life?” Sokka asked as he wiggled his eyebrows.

“Ah, no. Just the usual, haha.” He sputtered.

Sokka liked to think he and Zuko shared everything with one another, so when he sensed that Zuko was hiding something, he immediately pounced.

“Reaaaally….” He imposed, making the word long as he got up in Zuko’s face. “C’mon, you can trust me bro. Bro to bro, what’s my bro been up to?”

“That’s too many bros.”

“My bad bro.”

“And I’m not seeing anyone.”

“You so are.”

“Am not.”

“Are to.”

“I’m not.”

“You’re beat red! You very clearly are!”

“It’s not because of- Agni help me.” Zuko sighed, exasperated.

“Just tell me who she is!”

“I’m not seeing any girls. I wouldn’t be allowed to see her anyway.”

“So you DO have your eyes on someone! And why wouldn’t you be able to see her?”

“Why do you ask so many questions.”

“I’m a top tier wingman, I don’t know what else to say.”

Zuko rolled his eyes. “Look, her family is- er.. strict?”

“Is that a statement or a question?”

Zuko gave Sokka a look that very clearly said that he wasn’t playing any games. Sokka raised his eyebrows in surprise.

“Damn, you have some serious feeling for this girl, huh?”

“I suppose.” Zuko looked down at his lap, then out into the distance. There was this look in his eyes that Sokka saw and he knew Zuko saw her in the sunset before them.

“I’m sure that if her family see how much you care, they’ll come around.”

“I’m also afraid it’ll strain a relationship I have with one of my best friends.” Zuko finally said after a few moments.

Sokka thought for a moment. “Well, I’ll always be here to pick up the slack from whatever friend you’re talking about! Bros gotta stick out for each other all the time!”

Then Zuko looked over at him. And there was this look in his eyes that confused Sokka for a moment before the realization finally settled in.

“Do you?- my- Kat—? HER!?”

Zuko looked over to his fishing rod, nothing had been caught yet.

“How long, Zuko?”

“How long what?”

“Have you liked her!?”

Zuko flinched at the sudden loudness of Sokka. He couldn’t tell if his friend was angry, upset, confused, surprised, or a horrifying mix of it all.

“I don’t know. Maybe a couple years?”

“Years!?”

Zuko sighed, “Yeah.”

“Fucking FINALLY.”

“What?”

“I said ‘finally’, dipshit.”

“Yeah, I heard that. Why?”

“Because I’ve been so sick and tired of hearing her ramble on about you and how hot you are and blah blah blah!”

Zuko was in pure awe, “Seriously?”

“‘SeRiOuSlY’ my ass! You’re saying I could’ve avoided this for YEARS!?”

“Sokka, are you being serious?” Zuko had gotten closer to Sokka and grabbed him by his shirt.

“Of course I am! I wouldn’t be this annoying if I wasn’t.” Zuko softly let go of the taller man and sat down in his chair beside his fishing rod.

“Holy shit.”

“You better tell her as soon as possible because I don’t know how much longer I can listen to her ramble on and on-“

“I thought you would hate me.”

“What?” Sokka was finally taken out of his annoying persona and thrown back into reality. “Why would I hate you?”

“C’mon Sokka, I like your sister. Most people would be at my throat if I said I liked their family member.”

“Yeah, sure, but— you’re my best friend. If anyone should date my sis, it should be you. There have been plenty of guys who have had a crush on Katara and believe me, not many of them have been all that good. So to know she has someone who I know is amazing for her. That makes everything a lot easier. Of course I’m glad you like her. I’m just upset you would think anything would make me hate you!”

Zuko laughed and Sokka continues to babble on. Zuko finally caught a fish and Sokka begged him to cook it for the two of them.

“Promise me you won’t hate me if I tell your sister my feelings and we start going out.” Zuko finally said after they finished eating.

Sokka thought for a short moment before responding. “Promise. Pinky swear.” He held out his pinky finger and wiggled it, urging Zuko to lock in own pinky with his. Zuko grumbled but ultimately folded.

“Thanks.”

“Of course, bud.”

[sweetnsour1]

9:36:10

Fluff, Bakugou x fem reader

Part 10 of the Broken Collection

How was this even happening? 

You stared down into the drawer that wasn’t cooperating. This would be much easier if it could just manifest the straw you suddenly needed. You groaned, setting the cup down for the fourth...fifth time. Ugh, whatever it was. You couldn’t make out the muffled words coming from the other room, but they were probably directed at Kitsune if the steady thumps of tail were any indication.

The cabinet below had more promising options. You finally found a matching set that had a straw that still had a sense of duty...unlike the many others that had the audacity to let you lose them around the city. 

You paused at the sound of a much larger thump, but still took a moment to dump the water into the new, hopefully more acceptable, cup choice. You weren’t surprised to find him on the floor when you made it back to the living room. It took an unusual amount of time for him to disentangle his limbs and decide to abandon the attempts to get back on the sofa. Instead, he opted to just roll over and sit on the floor where he’d landed. Thankfully, you had put on less of a show when you’d drunkenly found your way to his place weeks ago. 

“How’s it feel to be the number one lightweight?”  

“Course I’m number one.” His smile was wide and sure as he looked up at you. He had some nerve being cute right now. Red eyes drifted down to the grenade-shaped tumbler you were holding. “So you did have a straw.”

You couldn’t quite bring yourself to roll your eyes as he snatched the cup, waggling his tongue unsuccessfully a couple times before finally getting everything lined up for optimal hydration. You made sure to wait for him to finish a few gulps before risking distracting him again. 

“Pretty sure you would’ve been just fine with the other cup.” He leaned away from you and covered the straw protectively as if you were threatening to take it back. 

“It tastes better with a straw.” 

“I see.” 

“Do you?” He squinted his eyes, either in distrust or because the light was behind you.

“Sure.” 

“Hear that? She’s lying again, Kit.” 

You ignored him, but scrunched your nose at your dog. You knew her nod was a coincidence and probably more related to watching drops of water trail to the floor from the now sideways cup, but it still felt like another betrayal from the treacherous creature.  

It was more or less her fault you were even in this situation. You huffed as she tried to crawl into his lap, quickly deciding she was completely to blame for the direction the evening had taken. She really had no business growing a habit for midnight walks due to your inconsistent schedule. She had some nerve tricking you to walk the opposite end of the park than usual. She definitely had some nerve when she yanked the leash out of your grip for the first time in her entire fucking life. She, without a doubt, acted with intent when she kept leading you towards a scent she knew. She was also unapologetically pleased as fuck when she hopped up onto a bench next to an unnecessarily attractive blonde that was cuddling a phone, but who didn’t seem to have any intention of answering the loud voice coming from it. A voice you recognized. You stepped closer, grabbing the phone to see a running face time call with a very stressed Red Riot on the screen.  

“Oh thank fuck...wait, why are you-shit it doesn’t matter. Where the hell is he?” 

“Past the river by my apartment.” 

“How the-idiot! Did you use your fucking quirk to ditch us?” 

You felt a similar level of rage to what Kiri was now trying to direct toward the hero ignoring him. Bakugou knew better than to use his quirk to travel off the clock...especially when he was this fucking trashed. Although, you weren’t positive if he’d ever been this trashed. He mumbled something that sounded like “too many wrong fucking people” into Kitsune’s fur as he continued to bury himself into her neck.  

“Fuck…how the hell did you let him get this drunk?” 

“Okay, that is actually not my fault. I didn’t know Kaminari and Sero gave him a shot every time I went to dance with Mina.” 

“They went a little fuckin’ far this time.” 

“Well...those two are taken care of already.” He shifted the screen to show Mina still towering over the culprits, attempting some form of re-education involving bops on the head and a tone you recognized but had, thankfully, never been on the receiving end of. 

“It’ll be a while before I can get over there for him.” The blonde was now almost exclusively being held upright by your dog. He was at least awake enough to blink his eyes at you slowly as he now resisted sleep. You turned at a cough from your palm, pulling your gaze back to the phone. “You good to stay with him?” 

“No.” 

“Oh...um, well I just thought-” 

“No, I mean he can just sleep it off at my place. You seem to have your hands full and I’m not close to—your place.” Of course you weren’t. When you moved last year, you had made sure of it. He lived a few floors below Bakugou. A flash of pink covered the screen as Mina took the phone. 

“Are you sure you’ll be okay with...” She looked over her shoulder to aim a glare at the men behind her before turning back to you. “Are you sure you’ll be okay?” 

“Yea, I kinda owe him one right?” 

As you watched the water bottle roll under your vintage couch and a distraught Dynamight try to dive after it, nearly toppling the entire sofa, and your dog take a similar position with her shoulders down, ass up, paws outstretched trying to help pounce what he was after...you were realizing how very wrong you had been. Your impromptu sleepover had been awkward, sure, but it didn’t seem to be a fair trade for the situation you were now taking part of. You walked past both of them, around to the wall that the bottle was resting against. You handed it to the outstretched calloused hands. He frowned at the unsatisfying sounds coming from the straw as he took a sip. He sighed a bit longer than anyone would need to before turning back to the wide brown eyes of Kit.  

“She drank it.”  

You snatched the cup back, and moved for the kitchen for water and a towel for whatever puddles were now under your sofa. You really hoped he'd fall asleep soon.

Masterlist

Next part

[vivid-dreamscapes]

~♡~ Love’s captive duel ~♡~

Part one part two part four

Bakugou gritted his teeth for a moment but chose not to say anything. He knew Dabi was right. You were valuable for whatever they needed you for. That’s the only reason he hadn’t completely lost it on the villains. “I swear, if you hurt them-“

“Yeah, yeah. You’ll kill me, I know, I know. Threats aren’t gonna do anything.”

“And what’s that supposed to mean?”

“For fucks sake—Kai, do it already.”

The blonde didn’t even have time to react before the host hit smack him right on the back of the head with the gun.

All he heard was your scream as he fell to the ground and blacked out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The blonde soon woke up, groaning as his head pounded. What the hell happened? Why did everything hurt so damn much? He tried to sit up but everything started spinning and he fell back down. “Ugh…the hell…”

Memories of what happened slowly came back to him. Dabi. Kai. You.

He tried to sit up again and managed to slowly raise himself off the ground. Everything was spinning but at least he was sitting up now. “God damn…”

Bakugou quickly looked around the room, trying to get his bearings. It seemed like he was in a different room than before. It was small, with only a small bed and a chair on his side, and the same thing across the tiny room. The entire wall with the door was bars. It was an old prison cell. “What the hell?”

He sat there for a moment, letting his head stop spinning before groaning and pushing himself up to his feet. He stumbled a bit, still feeling a bit groggy from the hit earlier, but managed to get his balance. “Fucking…great.”

“Bakugou?”

The blonde froze for a moment upon hearing your voice. Gods, you were alive. You were still here. Kai and Dabi hadn’t done anything to you…..not yet, at least.

He slowly looked around until his eyes landed on you. You were sitting on the bed in a corner of the room. Other than looking a bit roughed up, you were alive. Thank gods, you were alive.

“Hey…are you okay?” He asked, and you nodded, rubbing your arm. Your shoulder was bandaged, and he assumed your stab wound was as well under your shirt.

He started to get up to move over to you, but he found his ankle cuffed to his own bed. You had a cuff attached to your bed as well.

Bakugou looked down at the cuffs and frowned. Of course they’d cuff him. They weren’t gonna give him a chance to start anything. He sat back down on the bed, still trying to fully get the feeling back in his head.

“The hell…what happened?” He paused for a moment, his head still throbbing a bit. “How long was I out?”

I wrung my hands together, looking down at my lap.

Two days.

You mumbled and his eyes widened. Being knocked out for two days seemed impossible. After seeing his shocked expression, you explained quickly.

“They were injecting sedatives into you. So that you wouldn’t be able to fight them. But the effects lasted a long time.” You said, rubbing your arm slightly. You winced and pulled away—it still hurt from the shot wound. Your entire arm did. “And the cuffs are this bullets overhaul had, just melted down. They’re quirk-suppressing cuffs.”

Bakugou’s expression turned from shocked to pissed off as he listened. The bastards used sedatives on him. That was why everything was hazy.

He noticed the way you winced whenever you moved your arm. Seeing you hurt like that pissed him off. The fact that he couldn’t do anything about it, also pissed him off.

“Damn bastards…” He grumbled but he still wasn’t quite processing what you said about the bullets and he raised an eyebrow. “…What do you mean ‘quirk-suppressing’?”

“Try exploding something.”

He raised an eyebrow. He didn’t question it, though.

Bakugou stared at you for a moment before holding his hands out, palms up. He clenched them into fists and tried to use his quirk. Nothing. No sparks. No explosions. He tried again and got the same result. He frowned and lowered his hands a bit.

“Damnit…” He quickly and a bit more frantically raised his hand to set off an explosion. Nothing. He gritted his teeth, trying again, but it didn’t work. “The hell?!”

Bakugou was trying his hardest to remain calm and not lose his temper right then and there. He felt…helpless. That was a feeling he hated more than anything.

“Damnit, why can’t I-“ He stopped, trying to get his breath level back to normal. Gods, why were things so difficult right now? Why couldn’t he use his own damn quirk? “It’s the cuffs, isn’t it?”

You nodded, not having the energy to his him your usual, smartass answers, like ‘that’s what I said dipshit.’

That’s when Kai came over, the designated guard, assigned by Dabi.

The explosive boy scowled the second he saw the host, a look of anger and annoyance on his face.

“Bastard.” He grumbled under his breath. He already had a headache, and seeing Kai just worsened his mood. How long were they going to keep you both here? He just wanted to be back home, damnit! And for you to be safe.

“Wow. Totally haven’t heard that one before.” The goat boy smirked, leaning against the bars from the outside. His spiraled horns clanked against the cage as he smirked, his grey eyes sharp.

Bakugou clenched his fists, gritting his teeth so hard you could hear them grinding. “Shut it, goat boy.” He snapped, the annoyance showing on his face.

Kai only laughed it off, seemingly unfazed by the angry blonde. “Aw, did no one ever tell you it’s rude to make fun of people’s appearances?”

“And I don’t care if it is. Especially if it’s yours.”

“Rude.”

Bakugou continued to glare at Kai, still annoyed. Why was the damn host so calm about everything? “Just get out.”

“And deny myself the pleasure of pissing you off? Nah, I’m good.”

“You’re a damn pain in the ass, you know that?”

“So I’ve been told.”

You gritted your teeth. They’re bickering was not helping with the headache, and the slight fear was replaced by pissy-ness. “Girls, girls, you’re both pretty. Now zip it before we’re here all day.”

Bakugou looked surprised for a moment, not expecting that comment to come from you, followed by a smirk. He liked your smartass comments better than Kai’s constant smirk. “Not my fault he’s goddamn annoying.”

“I don’t remember asking for your opinion.”

“When have I ever needed your permission?”

“Touché.”

You sighed and massaged your temples. Fucking hell.

Bakugou noticed you rubbing your temples and his expression softened a bit. He knew you were probably feeling frustrated with these two arguing all the time. Hell, he was too.

“Knock it off Kai. Mir doesn’t need another pain today.”

“Yes mom.”

“Watch it, goat boy.”

They were still arguing. Oh boy. This was going to be a long captivity.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The blonde was slowly growing more impatient by the day. Kai seemed to be assigned to watch them, and it was driving Bakugou mental. He couldn’t do anything. Every time he tried to ask Kai questions, he was given no answers.

“Can’t you do anything other than stand and stare?”

“Aw, why? You don’t like my company?”

“You gotta be kidding me.”

“Shut up you two.” You mumbled, laying down in the bed and staring up at the ceiling.

Bakugou rolled his eyes and huffed before dropping it. The constant fighting was going absolutely nowhere. “Fine. I’ll shut up.”

“About damn time.”

“Shut. It. Before I blast that smirk off your face.”

“Oh nooo, I’m shaking. The currently quirkless boy is gonna explode meee.”

Bakugou gritted his teeth in frustration and anger. He wanted to punch Kai so badly. But he just had to sit there and let the smartass host make fun of him. He hated being powerless. “I’ll blast you when I get these cuffs off me, you smartass bastard.”

“That a threat?”

“A promise.”

They started bickering again, loud shouts coming from Bakugou, only to be met with teasing insults back from Kai.

Meanwhile you, being the only smart one here, was trying to figure out two things. Why Dabi needed to two. And how to get out.

Bakugou continued arguing with Kai, a constant shouting match taking place. The blond just needed to let out some of the pent-up aggression and anger from being stuck here, but Kai was making it hard. He was just being a smartass, as per usual.

“Seriously, when I get out of these cuffs—and I fucking will, just you watch— you’re dead.”

“Sure, sure. I believe you.”

“You gonna keep sassing me?”

“Yup.”

Bakugou was beginning to get pissed off. Kai’s smart-ass comments were really starting to get on his nerves now. How was he just staying so calm? “Damnit, you’re seriously starting to piss me off.”

“That’s the goal.”

The blonde’s anger grew at that statement. How could he be calm when this orange haired bastard was teasing him, dammit?! “You little-“

Thats when Dabi walked up to the bars of the cage, his hands in his pockets and his head tilted back.

Both Bakugou and Kai quieted down immediately as Dabi approached the cell. You sat up and looked at the villain.

“Finally.” The UA students grumbled, narrowing his red eyes.

“Shut it, Hothead.” Dabi smirked as the blonde scowled at the nickname he was given.

Dabi looked at Kai and nodded his head towards you.

“Get me that one.”

Your eyes widened at that, tensing up. Kai looked at you over his shoulder with a smirk, running his tongue over his teeth.

Bakugou immediately tensed upon hearing Dabi’s order and he looked between the two of you. “What do you want her for?”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“Like hell I won’t!”

He snapped, trying to push himself to his feet. His damn ankle was chained to the bed though, plus the after effects of the drugs, and he couldn’t get very far.

“Bakugou, I can stand up for myself.” You said, narrowing your eyes at him.

Bakugou knew that you could speak for yourself. He knew you could take care of yourself and didn’t need anyone’s help, but that doesn’t mean he could let you go with Dabi like that.

“Like I’m gonna let you go with the bastard.”

“You don’t have a choice in this, Hothead.”

“I don’t give a damn what you say. I’m not letting you take her!”

“I can fight my own battles, you don’t need to defend me!” You shouted, looking at your classmate. Okay, well now this was just a chaotic shouting match.

Bakugou looked at you in disbelief as soon as you spoke. Why were you being so calm about this? “You’re gonna go with him? Just like that?”

You clenched your fists as you stood up. Maybe you could find out why he had taken you guys, or how to get out. “It’s obvious that he’s going to take me whether I like or not, so I don’t see any reason to argue it.”

Bakugou couldn’t believe his eyes. How were you being so calm about this?! Dabi was a criminal, why were you acting like it was completely normal?!

Bakugou was completely stunned by your reaction. How could you be so calm about this?! You weren’t even fighting it, you were just going along with it. It baffled the blond.

“Are you insane?!”

“I swear to god if you start treating me like a fragile doll-“

“I’m trying to keep you safe, damnit!”

Bakugou was starting to get frustrated. Why were you being so calm about this?! He couldn’t understand it and it was pissing him off. “Why are you acting like it’s fine?!”

“I’m not acting like it’s fine!”

“What is this then?!”

“Me not wanting to deal with your overprotectiveness!”

Bakugou’s expression changed. He couldn’t believe you just said that. He was just trying to make sure you were okay, that you weren’t getting hurt, and yet you were throwing it in his face. It made him mad.

“Overprotectiveness?! I care about you damnit!”

“Well it’s a bit much! Gods, it’s not like we’re dating, you can back off a little!”

“Wait, they weren’t dating?” The villain asked Kai, who shrugged as you two fought. They just kinda stood there, observing the back and forth.

Bakugou froze at that question, his face turning pink at the insinuation. Wait, people thought they were dating? That idea flustered the blond for a second. “Wha?! We’re not-“

“Nope, we’re not.”

“No! We’re just-!”

“Friends.” You finished calmly as the villain both raised an eyebrow.

Bakugou’s face got even redder as Dabi and Kai snickered from the side at his and your interaction. “I was gonna say that! Dammit.”

The burnt villain just crisssed his arms, a smirk dancing in his lips. “Friends, huh?”

“It’s not like that. The blonde grumbled, crossing his arms as the two hosts chuckled at his red face.

Bakugou grumbled and huffed at the villains. He couldn’t believe that people actually thought he and you were dating! “It’s not like that! We’re friends! Nothing more!”

Kai smirked, crossing his arms. “Mhm, sure.”

“I’m being serious! We’re just friends!”

After a moment though, Dabi huffed and grabbed one of the metal bars. His smirk was gone and he was no longer playing around.

Bakugou tensed as soon as Dabi’s smirk fell. That damn smirk meant trouble when it was there, so what was it when it was gone? “What?”

“I’m taking your classmate here and now.” He said adamantly as Kai ran a finger along his horns, unbothered.

You gritted your teeth and clenched your fist, eyes meeting the villains with a stubborn glint. “Not until you tell us why we’re here.”

Dabi raised an eyebrow, glancing between the two of you for a moment. After that moment, he leaned back and crossed his arms.

“You two remember when we made Nomu’s out of corpses?” The two of you nodded wearily and Dabi smirked. “Well we’re trying to do the same thing—with living, breathing people.”

[painonthebrain]

Dial Tone

Whumptober Day 4: “You’re still alive in my head”

Masterlist

Content: Implied major character death, nightmares, unreality, referenced drug use/addiction

“Ma?”

Saul’s voice is soft, tired. He holds a phone to his cheek, leaning back in his beanbag chair, surrounded by his trinkets and decorations. It’s cozy. The colors shift and bend, pleasant.

He hears her voice answer him, and hums in response. “Yeah, I’m back from work.” His eyes drift across the room. “Of course it was shit. Ugh, sorry. I mean, you know how it is.” They land on a suncatcher, painted in translucent, vivid hues. It gleams in the low light, the warm glow spreading across the room, the colors melding together, psychedelic. So much of his room blends together. The colors, the textures, all of it a portrait of himself. It breathes when he does, the walls twitch and quiver, and the lights within flicker every so often. It’s homey. It’s nice.

“He’s not here? Where is he, then? Off doing… whatever you people do when you don’t call?” He doesn’t mention it over the phone. He knows not to speak of it unless they’re completely alone. “Yeah… I know…”

Silence.

“Uh… how’s it been?” Saul licks his lips. “I miss you.” He adds.

He doesn’t know why, but his chest squeezes when he says that. His gut twists, and he swallows, his throat tight. It’s unlike him to admit such a thing, but he can’t remember the last time they spoke to him. Or even interacted, really. He wonders if he might be remembering their faces wrong by now. “Oh. Uh huh. Yeah.” He looks down into his lap.

“Oh, uh… today was slow.” He can’t actually recall what happened today. “I uh… listen, it was nothing new.” He exhales, his breath heavy. She probably thinks he’s a disappointment. “Yes, I still do that. It’s not that bad.” He lies. The weight of it presses on him, but he doesn’t hang up. “I only do it like, once a day. S’not like you can OD on it.” He adds. “God, it’s like you want me to be unhappy!” He snaps, then immediately regrets it. “…Sorry. I…”

His mother coughs, interrupting him, and it’s loud enough that it can be heard through the speaker. It’s a hacking cough, ugly, like she’s choking. Saul sits and waits. “You okay?” His voice shakes. He doesn’t know why. He waits for a response, quiet.

Heavy breathing comes from the speaker, ragged.

“…Ma?”

She coughs and chokes, and it’s scratchy, like her throat is full of gravel.

“Hey — hey, are you alright?”

All that can be heard through the speaker is heavy breathing.

“What the fuck—”

“Saul!” Her voice peaks through the speaker suddenly. “Saul, Saul—”

“What?—” He says, his voice tight.

She breaks into a coughing fit again. “Saul, I— … to tell you …thing— Need to tell you…”

“Just tell me!” He shouts, standing. The room shrinks, becoming claustrophobic. “Spit it out!”

“You ca…n’t l… them—”

Her breathing becomes erratic. His mother screams, a wretched, bloodcurdling sound, over and over, gasping, crying, overlaid by an incessant crackling sound. The phone turns hot in his palm, and he drops it, clutching his hand. The thin sliver of metal hisses and burns, melting into the carpet. Even as it melts, his mother’s screaming is audible, becoming garbled and ghostly.

He steps away from the melting, bubbling mess, and as he does, the world turns, framed like a dutch angle.

Saul runs to the bathroom, making a beeline for the sink.

Water, he needs cold water — he splashes it on his face, gasping, leaning over the counter. It’s freezing, but he needs this. The world contorts around him, and he breathes deep, in, out.

Tilting his head to look into the mirror, he glimpses it. Them. They stand behind his reflection, shadowy, specters that flicker and blur together. Their shadows cross over Saul, one hand on each shoulder.

He whips back to look at them. Nothing. Whirling to look back in the mirror, he locks onto his reflection. Young. Small. Horror etched into his wide eyes.

Him. It’s him when it happened.

Saul wakes up with a jolt. He’s curled in bed, half-draped across the edge, clutching the covers.

For a good, long moment, he breathes, clutching his chest, easing himself into reality. Then, he sits up, the movement slow, aching.

Finally sobered, he groans, running a hand through his hair.

“Fuck.”

[fuckmeyer]

Will we ever see the deleted from the CN epilogue again? Because, uh, I kinda loved it 👀

i did too. sad it had to go, but happy with the results. you will see it again. it was dismantled and reconfigured for the next book.

here's the original - knock yourself out:

COME NIGHTFALL: EPILOGUE V1 DELETED SCENE

[WARNINGS: Come Nightfall: Epilogue spoilers (duh), 18+ smut]

WC: 4200

***

And so, everyone lived happily ever after forever and ever in the childhood kingdom where nobody dies. 

The end. 

…Kinda.

I.e., Everything was back to normal. 

Also sorta kinda fucked up.

“Back to normal” meaning between the hours of sunup and sundown, not much had changed. Victoria and Mystery Man hadn’t returned since the day of The Plan. With more bandwidth to breathe, I resumed cooking, cleaning, reading, training with the wolfpack, and knocking off bucket list items with Jake before his move to LA. Charlie’s law of the land meant I had to check-in periodically. However, Harry's death had made him detached— and consequently, lenient. 

Only between the hours of sundown and sunup was I kept on a short leash. All nighttime affairs had to be scheduled and preapproved by the old man. Otherwise, I had to be home before dark. 

No problem. I was always home. Ready. Waiting. 

Nighttime was when the “fucked up” part came in.

Edward would slip through my window after Charlie went to bed. Every night he risked being caught by the wolfpack to stay with me. Every morning I kicked him out before the sun rose. In between, I would lie in bed with my (ex-boyfriend? lover? partner? mate? Ugh) vampire until I fell asleep. Sometimes Edward and I would read— bells hooks and Baudelaire, respectively— only speaking to recite striking quotes. Sometimes we would split earbuds and listen in silence to mixtape CDs we burned that day. Sometimes we did and said nothing— only held each other. When Edward would tremble I would lay his head over my beating heart, and he would soften and still. When I would cry Edward’s cold tongue would lap up the tears trailing down my throat, and the warming, icy venom would sink me into a state of serenity. 

Apart from the reassurance his presence gave me, he was a great nightmare deterrent. Because of him I had basically managed to wean myself off the sleep meds. (Now I kept them stowed away. They seemed to upset him.)

Not as to say the nightmares disappeared. Whispers of terror still snagged on the thorns of my mind. The woman with the rosary, Irina’s decapitation, Laurent pouncing for the kill, Victoria’s green sparkles—all had rotten roots that had wormed deep in my psyche. 

Of these, the most terrifying were ones where I would discover that Italy had never happened. Edward had never come home. I would stumble into the bathroom and stare back at the hundred-year-old lady in the mirror. Despite decades passing— graying my hair, wrinkling my face, decaying me slowly— those grieving goldstone-brown eyes remained unchanging. My wrinkled, knobby hands would scratch at the mirror, hoping to climb inside some alternate reality. When that didn’t work, I would start hitting the glass, desperate to shatter my reflection—

Cold arms calmed my thrashing. Edward would wrap himself around me, muffling my breaths. His fingers, warm from my body heat, would caress the bare skin underneath my shirt, scattering oxytocin through my body as he whispered, “It’s okay. Shh. I’m here. You’re safe.” 

It never made sense. Of course he wasn’t here. He couldn't be. I would tell "him" this through frantic whispers starting along the lines of, “No, you’re not, not real, not—”

“Shh, Bells, you’re awake, I am here—”

—and end with an aching, desperate plea: “Edward, don't go, I need you.”

Need you. Need something . Need a break. A breath. Release. For all life’s normalcy, the raging chaos behind the scenes still set me on edge. I was too tightly wound even with the extra bandwidth. So many lines to toe with so little time: sunup, sundown; live, die; together, apart; hold on—

“Let go,” he purred. 

His freezing lips latched onto my breast again. 

Cursing, my hands fisted tufts of his hair. Between rhythmic sucking, his soft tongue lapped at the stiff peak of my nipple. The vibrations from Edward’s moan sent pinpricks scattering across my skin. My heart raced under his touch. 

This morning, jolting awake from a particularly nasty nightmare, I’d kissed him full-force in the darkness of dawn, desperate for a taste after decades of growing old alone. Slices of sunshine now spilled across twisted bedsheets and our bare skin. How long had we been here? How the hell had Edward managed to go from vestal vampire to this with just one kiss? Maybe this wasn’t real after all and—

“I can’t.”

“Yes, you can. Breathe.”

He kissed a path to the other one, swirled his tongue around the stiff peak, and suckled. Electricity crackled through my core at a fever pitch. 

Okay. Real. Too real.

I tried to breathe. No, really. But Edward was a master at sucking. Go figure. Bonus, he remembered exactly what I liked and how. Bonus bonus, venom felt way better than I remembered. Rainbow fractals pulsed and whirled in the sunlight while flashes of hot and cold needled the flesh where his tongue touched.

So, breathing? Impossible. Ragged breaths always devolved into frantic panting. And when his fingers once again rubbed the soaked spot on my cotton shorts—

“God,” I gasped, back arching. “Too much.”

“You’re so sensitive now.”

“It’s—” I shuddered on the downstroke “—been a while.”

“A long while?”

“Since before you left.”

“For me as well. —Breathe, Bells.”

“I can’t. Breathe. When you’re doing. That.”

A wicked grin stretched across his lips. His eyes glinted a subtle pink in sunlight. “I can stop if you—”

“Nonono.” I seized his wrist to hold him there, right there. “Don’t stop, don’t stop; please don’t stop.”

He chuckled. “Me? Never.” Even preoccupied, I managed to scoff. “Not now. You’re close. I can feel how close you are.” I rutted against his fingers, trembling at the vibration of his growl. His teeth tugged my earlobe. Feral whispers flossed through my brain, almost drowned out by my breaths. “Close. Wet. Hot. Mine.”

“Mine, mine, faster— like that—"

“Yes. Come. For me. Breathe. Let go—"

A delirious giggle burst from my mouth. “Shut up.” I slammed my foot into his thigh. He laughed too. “Damn you. I’m letting go.”

“You’re doing no such thing.”

“I’m doing my best,” I said. He snorted. “I don’t need your frickin advice.” 

“Suit yourself.” Edward concentrated his circular strokes to give me friction where I craved it most. The slippery cotton rubbed against the swollen bud at the top of my folds. Trails of fire spread down my thighs, so searing I twitched and squirmed. “Tell me what you need.”

I groaned. “I need…”

“What do you need?

“I need…”

“Say it.”

My hand roamed down his chest until I brushed the tented fabric of his boxers. “I need…”

Stiffening, Edward jerked his hips back. 

“Edward.”

“Isabella.”

“I need to touch you. Please.”

“I appreciate your generosity.” His laugh was tight and hoarse. “I don’t have the control for that.”

“Then you touch you.”

“And touch you? I would have even less control.”

My exhale bordered a whine. Even in my delirium, I knew my request had been a longshot. For all the strides we had made during our relationship, Edward never let me touch him. Ever. 

“Then can we…can we do…that thing…we used to do?”

“You’ll have to be more specific.”

“S-San Francisco. The night we…”

“That doesn’t narrow it down.”

I huffed. There were few games Edward loved to play more than getting me to open my unfiltered mind. Especially in bed.

“I wanna…watch,” I blurted out. “I want to watch you touch yourself.”

Edward’s hand stilled. Wide-eyed, his gaze roamed up to my face.

“Oh.”

Needless to say, my sexuality superseding my shyness was a rare occurrence.

“Please,” I said. Hot blood blazed across my cheeks; my head pounded. “Please. You can watch me.” 

“I…” I swear he’d be blushing if he was human. “I…” His uncertain sigh bordered a groan. “I don’t think I can—”

“Yes. You can. You’ve done it. Multiple times.”

“After months of practice.”

“Which you clearly haven’t forgotten.”

“I seem to recall not twenty minutes ago an imminent danger of you spontaneously combusting if I didn’t touch you.”

I chortled. “It won’t help me if you’re still wound up.” I placed a hand on my chest to illustrate my point. “You know how it goes.”

“I’ll take care of it later.”

“Take care of it now.”

I reached for him again. He chuckled, intercepting my hand and placing it in the space between us. 

“Do you know what would make me spontaneously combust?”

“If I ripped off your limbs and tossed your body on a burning pyre?” His eyes narrowed. “Oh, you mean sexually? Uhh…”

“Not being able to kiss you.”

“That was my second guess.”

“I want— need — to kiss you, Bells.” His voice ached with desire. “God, the only thing that would make me lose more control than burying my everything inside of you would be not kissing you at all.”

“I… I did kiss you.”

Noting the hesitation in my tone, he said, “I respect your condition. Forever or nothing. I’m coming to terms with…that. I am trying.”

“I know you are,” I said softly.

“In the meantime, if a platonic relationship with you increases our odds of being together in any form, I will do it; if satisfying you sexually increases our odds of being together, I will do it. I will do anything you wish. But if your wish is to satisfy me… ” 

“Kiss you, huh?” Nervousness— or fear?— boiled up into my throat. I leaned in close until our foreheads touched. Breathing him in usually calmed me down, but now it made me shake. I rubbed my arousal-slicked thighs together. I wanted to resume. So bad. He move to seal our lips, but I said, “Sir, I believe that is against one of the several tenants of Edward Cullen’s Ground Rules for Vampire-Human Sexual Relations.”

“Indeed. Which I still expect you to follow. If…” Shier, softer, he added, “In the event that you consent to kiss me, of course." I bit my lip. "I know. I know it’s different for you now. Perhaps for that reason you don’t want to, but for me—”

Before shame could overtake him, I smothered his mouth with mine. Shuddering, he whimpered. I stole his sound with another kiss. Another. I could live in his mouth. I could drown in his venom.

Just when his kisses turned urgent and aggressive, I broke and whispered, “I'll kiss you. I’ll come for you. I'll follow the rules. I’ll let go. For you. I will. If you come for me. Please, Edward.” 

He didn’t answer, only cupped my cheek and pulled my mouth back to his, fierce and hungry. Seeing his willpower unravel made my veins zing with adrenaline.

He said, “I’ve missed you; god, I’ve missed you," and stole another deep kiss.

“How much?”

“Very much.”

“How much?” 

Edward captured my lips again. A slow guttural thunder erupted deep inside him.

Mine. Mine. Mine.

“Show me," I commanded.

He didn’t move until I detangled myself from him (another ground rule: no touching). Using the same hand that had touched me, he slowly grasped his shaft through his boxers. A bead of precum darkened the fabric. 

Heart racing, I moved my hand back between my legs. For a moment his eyes closed, his lips ghosting words as he listened to the slick sounds of my silk-drenched fingers stroking my slit. My heartbeat thumped so hard my whole body seemed to quake. 

He swallowed. Froze. Swallowed again. This was a common sight when we first started getting intimate— venom flooding his mouth in waves. I slowed, watching for warning cues in his slipping control.

Only when I stopped did his midnight eyes snap to my face.

My breathing ceased.

When his hand began to move, so did mine.

Eyes black, he watched me, unblinking. My fingers circling my clit under the fabric of my shorts. My licking my lips. My hooded eyes watching him touch himself. He was grinding into his hand. Pumping up and down. Faster. Stroking himself. To me. To my cadence. Our rhythm. Our scent. Us. I slipped a finger into my scalding heat, imagining his cold length buried inside me, and rode my hand in breathy gasps. Every cell in my body vibrated at the frequency of his growl; I gripped the bedsheets to keep from reaching out. An exquisite burn licked my insides as though I were being pulled up to the pits of an erupting volcano; god, I—

“I’m going to—”

“Me too.”

“Bells.”

Ripples of heat surged through my veins at the desperate hush of my name. 

“Edward, Edward...”

“Come for me, love.”

“Yes.”

“Come with me.”

“Yes, Edward—"

When the heat hit the tips of my fingers and toes, everything shattered. Lights flashed. Energy crackled. I threw my head back and cried out as waves of lava melted my spine and my skin and the rest of me. Venom lit my veins on fire. My jaw wired shut, desperate to bite down on something. From far away, Edward’s muffled groan and seams ripping snapped me back to reality. His erection throbbed in his vice grip, growing damp at the head as pulses of come saturated the fabric. A strangled growl rumbled in his chest.

We collapsed together as the last of my orgasm prickled like a cold sweat into a warm, sparkly afterglow. The flush in my cheeks made my head pound. Our ragged breaths filled the air. 

He panted, “Kiss me,” just as I rolled over and seized him by the undershirt. We consumed each other. Cold velvety lips slick with cinnamon venom opened to mine. I sunk deeper into his mouth. Edward hitched my leg around his waist, and our hips rolled in sync. The rhythmic creak of the bed quickened. Between our scent, our tongues, our come, it was too much, too good…

“I love you.”

“Again,” I begged between kisses. 

“We’re on a schedule.” 

“Let’s reschedule.”

“Not again.”

“Why not? They’re vampires. They can reschedule till the end of time.”

Though he broke our kiss to speak, his hands kept kneading my curves on their own accord. “Be nice. They’re awfully anxious to see you.” His lips attacked the delicate, sensitive flesh where my jaw met my neck; I shivered and moaned. He brushed away a strand of my hair as he spoke. “They think you’re still avoiding me, you know. You’re giving them the impression you’re angry at us.”

I rolled my eyes. “It’s not that I…” 

Looking up, he cocked a brow. We held our gaze.

I groaned. Edward chuckled under his breath. Defeated, my head slumped against his.

Edward repositioned us and laid back against the headboard. Tucked into him, I waited for the room to spin back into place. Colors and shadows breathed into each other. The world felt loud, though I swore it was only us on earth. Edward kept combing my hair while he waited for my confession.

“Okay, fine. I’m kinda angry.”

“Understandably so.” He added, in a softer voice, “I will say this. They know as I do how valuable this second chance with you is. If you are angry and need to tell them how you feel, they won’t blame you for doing so. They will listen.” 

I rubbed my brows, blotting out fantasies of cursing and screaming and throwing things at the vampires’ stupid perfect heads.

“What is there to say? Carlisle and Alice knew about my history with Victoria. Alice knew James wanted me. I mean…”

“Yes.” Edward’s response was cool. Figures he’d be upset with them too. The only thing he hated more than reading everyone’s mind was being blocked out. I wondered if he knew I had told them not to say (or think) anything.

“They still left. How could they—” I huffed. I drummed my fingers on his exposed skin. It felt like they were casting little lightning bolts. “Whatever. Never mind.”

“It is not ‘whatever’. I think they would rather you share your feelings than ignore them altogether.”

“I won’t ignore them. But this treaty is bigger than how I feel. I’d rather be diplomatic until everything is squared away.”

Edward chuckled. “Well, I won't argue with that. A bit of diplomacy never hurts. You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar anyway.”

I sighed, going limp as the last of the venom burned off like glowing embers. Eyes glued to the ceiling, I watched colorful patterns pulse across the shadows. 

“Who’s really the fly here?” 

I felt Edward’s eyes on me. He didn’t reply.

“Whatever saves the shapeshifters. Whatever buys me time.” My voice was soft. “Plus, it would be great if I didn’t have to smuggle you into Forks every night.”

“Don’t mind me,” he said with a grin. “I enjoy the smuggling. It’s the ‘kicking me out’ part I dislike.”

“That’s just as much for my own sanity as it is for your protection. I have a lot of feelings about…everything.” 

However badly I wanted him, each day brought fresh fear. Sometimes I cried. Sometimes I had panic attacks. Sometimes I angrily swore at myself for letting him back in my bed.

No matter what my reaction, in the end, I would pace my room and smell Edward on my sheets and turn my phone over and over in my hands, resisting the urge to call him and beg him to come home.

It was so hard to push past the fear.

“I know.” His expression turned solemn but didn’t lose its kindness. “I appreciate that you have made space in your life for me. I certainly will not take that for granted. Neither will the Cullens.”

Warmth crept up my cheeks at the thought of facing them. My hesitation for visiting stemmed from places other than anger.

“Do they know?” 

“You’ll have to be more specific.”

“About us. Our situation.”

Edward snorted. "Do we know our situation?”

Sure. It was everything. It was nothing. It was normal. It was deviant. Beautiful. Ugly. Perfect. Messy. Chaste. Salacious. Ugh.

I drew in a long breath.

“Alice obviously knows,” he answered. “Carlisle has connected enough dots to draw vague— not inaccurate— conclusions. The sheer fact that you and I have been granted temporary amnesty from the Volturi’s law gives my family reason enough to suspect our relationship is exceptional. Beyond that, they know nothing. Alice and I have been tight-lipped in the face of their curiosity. I believe they hope you and I will come out and tell them. When we’re ready.” 

Though he said that last part quietly, it relieved me that he said it at all. I didn’t want him to think I was rejecting him. I just wasn’t ready. To…mate. Ugh. Gross.

“What will we tell them— when we’re ready?”

“I should think that would be up to you. As much or as little as you want. Depending on what you want.”

“Everything. You know what I want.” 

“Then I suppose we’ll tell them everything.”

“When we’re ready.”

“When we’re ready.” 

Any unspoken questions we could let die in the silence—for now. Tangled in each other, the oxytocin sparks prickling between us made me forget where I ended and he began. He lazily stroked my foot with his. I nibbled his neck. Though too quiet to hear, I could feel him purring.

It was perfect and strange. Real and not real. Everything that had once felt natural to us now required reexamination. Was this natural to humans? To vampires? Was this bonding? Was this what had caused our crossing the Point of No Return? Maybe I knew the answer. Maybe I had always known.

I pulled away, bushing.

“Then I guess,” I said, hesitating to remove my hand from his chest, “maybe we shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves. With…this. Us. You know. Just…in case.”

Edward hummed a sigh. His foot stopped rubbing against mine. 

Not knowing what the hell that was supposed to mean, I quickly added, “I just don’t know… I mean, I-I—I love being with you. I want to be with you. But I know you’re not comfortable with this whole…thing we have going on. I’m not either. I don’t want to push you. Or me. That’s all.”

“You took the words right out of my mouth.”

I perked. “Really?”

“Well, I would have put it more eloquently—"

“Dramatically,” I corrected.

“—but yes,” he said in a more jovial tone than I was expecting. “I value you. I am committed to you— to us— in whatever form that takes. I will respect and support your choices, whatever they may be, however they might change. But you are right to be cautious. Our…bond—” he drew out the word as if experimenting with the sound of it “—may prove fatal for us both if we misstep. I am delighted to hear you expressing some modicum of self-preservation.” 

He seemed less delighted when I rolled off of him.

After a moment laying next to each other, staring at the ceiling, I placed my hand on his. His thumb brushed the backs of my fingers.

“What will we tell them now?” I said. 

Edward shrugged. “Whatever you want. Or nothing at all.”

“Ooh. I like that idea,” I said. Our relationship had been put in the spotlight enough. I was ready for some privacy. “Let them talk.” 

“Gladly.” An evil glint accompanied his crooked smile. He kissed the tip of my nose. Then my forehead. I ached for him.

“How long do you think we’ll be able to keep it up?” I joked.

“About ninety seconds,” he said, and flashed a grin. “But I’ll be rooting for us.”

“Me too. Maybe we’ll make it a hundred and eighty seconds.”

“I believe in us.” He rolled over and sat up, facing the window. Edward blinked as if dazed. “If we’re heading out, I suppose I should get cleaned up. Shall I meet you back here in—”

“Don’t go.” At the soft command, his eyes glittered like dewy dandelions. I looked away. “You stayed too long. The sun’s up. The wolves will be starting their training soon.” I grimaced. More to myself, I added, “I should tell Sam I won’t be there.”

“You train with them?”

“Yes.”

“What does that entail?”

I got up to dig around the cardboard box in my closet. “First, we run routes—they do about twenty miles, I do a little over half on a good day. Then they do an extra fifty as wolves. Then they go off and do sparring or train phasing, and I…” I didn’t finish but noticed Edward’s subtle glance at the bow in the corner. “Then brunch. Then weightlifting. Then yoga. Then meditation—”

“Good lord.”

“Then lunch. Then meditation again. Then snacktime and games— boosts morale. Sometimes we have strategy sessions. Or we break off into patrol shifts. Here.” From the box, I flung an old pair of his briefs at him. 

He caught it while he studied my face. “Do you patrol?”

“Just the house, really. Once or twice around Forks. I also help create some of the trails out at Old Quil’s.”

His features darkened. With that old concern lacing his tone, he said, “You really shouldn’t—”

“Yeah, well, I do,” I said. Softer, I added, “We all pitch in. That’s how it works.”

A beat of silence passed. I kept digging until I held one of his flannels in one hand and his sweater in the other.

“I’m sorry.”

Resisting the urge to sigh, I said with the faintest hint of humor, “You’re doing a good job making it up to me.”

But Edward wasn’t looking at me. Boxers still in hand, he had trained his gaze on my bow and arrows. This wasn’t the first time I caught him sneaking glances at them. I could practically hear the gears turning in his brain. Questions fomenting. Conclusions festering.

“Bells…”

My heartbeat tripped over itself.

“Hm?”

As soon as he turned to catch me staring, his fear flickered into an even mask.

“Do you mind if I shower here?”

“Not at all.” 

I shook the two articles of clothing; he nodded to the sweater. Dropping the flannel back in the box, I nabbed a fresh towel and tossed him it. He slung it over his shoulder. When he rose, it draped over most of him—his lean chest, covered by a thin ribbed undershirt, and his now-stained boxers.

“Thank you kindly, miss.” 

Taking the sweater from my hands, he leaned in to kiss me. Fear clawed at my chest; I turned my head and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. Impassive, Edward gave me a nod and brushed past me.

I grabbed his hand.

Don't go.

“Thank you,” I said softly. When he turned to look back, I gave his hand a squeeze. I pecked his cheek. Then added, blushing, “I…um…I kinda— I mean, not kinda, I do …”

“Think I’m great in bed?” he guessed jokingly.

I laughed. “Sure, sure.”

Edward’s cocky smile told me he knew the real end of my sentence.

“I’ll save you some hot water,” he promised. “I know you like your showers hotter than the devil.”

I snorted and blushed harder but said nothing. Edward disappeared within the second. From the bathroom, I heard the shower handle creak and water spilling from the showerhead.

Shaking out my nerves, I ambled downstairs for some coffee.

[afreakingdork]

Ngl been thinking about wth could happen during the drive home between reader and Donnie like???

It could be dead fucking silent with so much pining in the air you could cut it with Leo's swords. Which would hurt so bad like ow???

Or it could be Donnie asking for an explanation to the rest of it and it just being more emotional and hes just sitting there listening while also going 'I fucked up I fucked up Ifuckedup'.

Or maybe as the van starts driving and reader is sitting there like fuck. This is awkward. And Donnie basically throws his seat back and groans into his hands. Reader is just like ???? Donnie???? And he just goes "I'm such a fuckup"

And we're like "Well. Kinda. But why now specifically"

"I didn't mean that I couldn't love you because I-" insert frustrated growl here "-ugh, what I meant is that I'm still processing and I need a bit."

We blink. We process. "Uh. Yeah, sounds about right. We should save the talk for when both of us can think clearly, yeah?"

OR (and this is highly unlikely but its where my brain wishes it could go) is Donnie just. Needing things to feel real. To connect with reality again. So he just... hugs reader. Think full-on, reader in his lap as he clings bc we're the only thing there right now that is solid and real and he needs that right now. And reader is just like. Well. I guess this is happening. And decides that now is not the time to say something because we can feel his tears landing on our shoulder.

Or some combination of those or something entirely different and I'm just SO EXCITED FOR CHAPTER 11 NO MATTER WHAT IT IS

Fanfic within fanfics, I am alive and well!!! Oh especially the pining one? I mean come on! There is nothing like lovey dovey tension so thick, but something keeping them apart so when they finally give in it's like boom.

None of this is to say that will happen, of course, but what delicious fun.

[babyboibucky]

The Match - Part 5

Pairing: CEO!Bucky Barnes x Reader

Summary: You find yourself in the middle of a predicament.

Word Count: 2.3k

Warnings: SMUT as always, sort of public sex??? Unprotected sexy times, emotional damage lmao

A/N: Buckle up, babies!!! You’re in for a rollercoaster ride for this chapter ajckjasncjak I apologize in advance and please don’t hate me

AND BTW if you guys haven’t seen, I found the perfect playlist for this series lmao I saw the title and I was like HOLD UP this is perfect https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3Eg5ZH6wMq4iocF5fWSesb?si=aff157a6198a4446

The Match Masterlist || MAIN MASTERLIST

Still awake, baby?

Fuck.

You screamed into your pillow upon reading Bucky’s text. It was quarter to midnight and you couldn’t sleep, especially not after Bucky told you that he wanted to make the relationship official.

It’d only been three months and you felt like he was moving too fast. And when he promised that he would find a way to snatch your heart the old-fashioned way? You wanted to explode because obviously, he already did.

But you weren’t going to say that to someone who already had a huge ego (and cock, too).

You composed yourself and typed in your reply, throwing your phone to your side after sending it.

Yeah. Why are you still up tho?

Not even a minute later and your phone began to ring. You sat up on your bed and squeezed your pillow, hating how Bucky had such an effect on you. Jesus, what are you, a high school student?!

You stared at his name on your screen before swiping and accepting the call.

“What’s up?” You answered as calmly as you could.

Bucky’s low chuckle sounded so fucking sexy that you had to bite your lower lip to prevent a moan from escaping.

“Still working. Can’t concentrate though, I keep remembering how you looked like with my cock in your mouth.”

You exhaled through your nose, “Jesus, you’re insatiable.” You said.

“Only for you, baby. You know that.” He said and your heart did a little somersault inside your chest.

“Don’t stay up too late, you have an early meeting tomorrow, right?” You asked, trying to change the topic because if you didn’t, you were sure how things would go.

Bucky let out another chuckle, “Yeah, yeah. I’ll just finish signing some papers and then I’m off to bed.”

You hummed and laid back down on the bed. It was completely silent but it wasn’t awkward. You heard the shuffling of paper on Bucky’s end, followed by the squeaking of a chair.

“You still there?” Bucky asked.

“Mhmm, you done?” You asked back.

“A few more papers left, baby. Can you wait ‘til I finish?”

There was something about talking to Bucky on the phone like this, so casual and so...mundane. It felt natural and comfortable, to think that this was the first phone conversation you had with him. He only sent you texts previously so this was new, but you had to admit, you loved it.

Bucky heard you yawning and let out a soft laugh. He sounded sleepy too when he spoke, “Almost done.” He reassured.

“Let’s have dinner tomorrow.” He added.

“Yeah, okay. As long as it’s not in the same restaurant we went to after my promotion.” You groaned at the memory.

Bucky snorted, “We’re banned there, babe. Even if I wanted to go back there, they wouldn’t allow it.” He said.

“No shit, Sherlock. We got caught in their bathroom, of course they’ll ban us.” You huffed out.

“I was looking forward to dessert, you know.” You pouted.

“I got my dessert though.” You could hear Bucky’s smug smirk through the phone.

“Are you done?” Bucky whispered into your ear as he placed an arm on the back of the booth.

You shivered at his voice and nodded, grabbing your champagne and drinking it in one go.

“I promised you something, didn’t I? That I’ll give you something right before dessert? Meet me in the bathroom in five. Again, don’t be late.”

And with that, Bucky slid out of the booth and adjusted his suit before leaving for the bathroom. You clutched your heart and waved at the waiter who passed by, requesting for a refill and downing it before following Bucky.

You adjusted the black dress that Bucky bought you, you were surprised at how perfect the fit was. The lovely dress though, made you uncomfortable because of its length and the fact that Bucky still had your panties with him was making you feel even more conscious.

You were immediately pulled into the men’s bathroom as soon as you got there. Bucky tugged you into one of the cubicles and wasted no time to bend you over, lifting your skirt up to squeeze your ass.

“I knew I picked the right dress, you look good enough to eat.” Bucky grunted as he unbuckled his belt.

You moaned and pressed your palms against the door, pushing out your ass towards Bucky until you felt him line his tip up to your entrance. In one swift move, Bucky bottomed out and didn’t give you enough time to adjust.

It was fast and violent, the way Bucky fucked you inside that stall. Both of you were too caught up in the pleasure to even hear the commotion happening outside.

“Not gonna last long, Bucky...” you whimpered, feeling your legs tremble.

You’d been on edge the entire time, having been denied your orgasm earlier. And Bucky kept on squeezing your thigh teasingly during dinner, palm always inching higher until it settled close to your bare mound.

Of course, you wouldn’t last long!

“I know, baby.” Bucky said, sucking the skin on your exposed shoulder as he continued to fuck you from behind.

Once done with the sex escapade, the both of you were welcomed by the restaurant’s manager with a disapproving (and scarred) look on his face.

You blushed at the memory, “Let’s not do that again, please?” You said.

Bucky laughed, “Fine, fine. But dinner tomorrow, okay?”

You yawned at the same time you hummed, “Just dinner.”

“Wholesome dinner.” He confirmed. “Alright, I’m done with work. Sleep now, baby.” He cooed and you nodded even though Bucky couldn’t see you.

You heard footsteps and then the sound of the door closing shut.

“Good night, baby.”

“Hmm, good night, Bucky.”

-

To say you were giddy the next day was an understatement. You were on cloud nine after having a phone conversation with Bucky last night. You even greeted Janet the snitch a very good morning when you shared the elevator with her.

You entered your floor and offered everyone a smile, but you also noticed that they seemed to be preoccupied talking to each other.

“What’s up?” You asked Martha and the other girls who were huddled together.

“Haven’t you heard?” She asked. “Sophia shared an elevator ride with Mister Barnes earlier. He called a flower shop, asked for their most expensive bouquet and then went on to make dinner reservations at an elite restaurant!”

You paled at the discovery and cleared your throat, “And that’s a big deal because?”

Martha snickered, “Girl, we’re talking about James Barnes here, a rich and eligible bachelor. It is a big deal. And ugh, I wonder who the lucky lady is! What I’d do to be her.” Martha dreamily said.

“Do you think it’s an employee here? Fuck, I’d be so envious if that girl happens to be working here!” Sophia added.

“Is that even allowed? Sounds pretty scandalous to me.” Kate chimed in.

“Oh my god. Remember the pantry incident that Janet reported? What if that was Mister Barnes and his girl? Damn, that’s juicy. It’d be horrifying if they get caught.” Kate added.

Your head felt light-headed at all the information that was going on. Hearing their conversations felt like a bucket of iced water was being poured on you. It was like a moment of a major realization.

Shit, what has gotten into you, getting all tangled up in this mess? Damn you, Tinder!

Even if Bucky agreed to take things slow, you realized that it wouldn’t really help. If news got out that you were dating the CEO of your company, you’d still receive some backlash for it.

Maybe making it official wasn’t the right thing to do. At least, not yet.

“Ladies, gossip time is over.” You announced and tried to stay calm. “And speaking of Barnes, I need to submit a report.”

-

You nervously knocked on Bucky’s door, hoping that he was back from his early morning meeting. You could hear him talking inside and thought that maybe he was busy.

“Come in.” He called before you could even turn around.

Slowly, you opened the door and slipped inside his office. Bucky was on his chair, talking to someone over the phone. When he saw that it was you, he quickly put his phone on mute and smiled.

“Yes, baby? What do you need?” He asked softly.

Goddammit! Bucky was surely getting used to that pet name. Initially, he’d only call you that in the throes of pleasure. But somehow, Bucky began to use it so casually that it made you nervous. What if he slipped and called you that during a meeting, in front of everyone?

You hated how Bucky was becoming soft and gentle around you, well, except maybe when he was in a certain mood. It was confusing the hell out of you. But you also enjoyed being the only one to witness his soft side.

Was his offer to make things official because he truly liked you or was the fucking that good to make him want to commit all of a sudden?

“I uhh, I think I’ll just come back later if you’re busy.” You stammered.

Bucky held up a finger and then unmuted his phone, “Hey, something important came up. I’ll call you again later.” He said and quickly ended the call before turning to you.

“You know I’m never too busy for you.” He said, his eyes the softest you’d ever seen.

There goes your heart.

“I think...” you trailed, not sure how you were going to say it.

Bucky raised his eyebrows at you, urging for you to continue. You heaved out a deep sigh. Your hands balled into fists at your side as you walked closer to his desk.

“Can we raincheck on the dinner tonight?” You asked.

Bucky frowned, “Why?”

You shrugged, “No reason.”

“Lie to me one more time and I’ll have you on my lap for some spanking.”

How the hell does Bucky do that? Become all sweet and soft and then rough and dominating all of a sudden?!

You squeezed your thighs together because the image of Bucky’s hand landing on your ass was doing things to you. You willed yourself not to give in, you came here for a reason.

“There are rumors about you. Someone heard you making dinner reservations and now everyone’s talking about it. I just...” you paused to check Bucky’s reaction but as usual, you couldn’t read his face.

“Maybe making this official isn’t...the right thing to do.”

Bucky pushed himself up from the chair slowly and stalked towards you. Was he mad? Fuck, you hoped he wasn’t. When he reached you, his hand came up to brush your cheek with his knuckles.

“What do you want then?” He asked.

Shit, you never actually thought about it. What do you want? Keep things casual between you and Bucky? Completely stop whatever it was that was going on between the two of you?

“I don’t know.” You shrugged.

“I like you.” Bucky stated and stepped back. “You’re intelligent and you don’t take shit from anyone, myself included. When you said you wanted to take things slow, I agreed to it. Hence, the flowers and dinner. Now that I’m giving it to you, you still don’t want it.”

Bucky’s livid. He was composed but the way his jaw tensed as he spoke was enough proof that he was mad, really mad. It’s his calm demeanor despite being angry that somehow scared you. The calm before the storm. What the storm was going to be? You didn’t know and honestly, you weren’t sure whether it was something that you even want to find out.

Maybe you were being confusing or indecisive but only because things happened too quickly for you to even properly process it. To think that you addressed your concerns last night, you actually that Bucky understood where your feelings were stemming from. However, it seemed to have gone over his head.

“Bucky, I don’t think you’re getting my point here.” You explained, tucking your hair behind your ear.

“If you heard what your employees have been saying about you and your...girl, you’d understand.” You said and placed your hands on your hips.

Bucky made a face, “Then make me understand. What did you hear?” he asked.

“We already talked about this last night! They’d think that the promotion was given to me because we fucked! That’s going to taint my image for the rest of my life.” You huffed out.

Bucky rubbed his face with his hand as he paced back and forth, “They’re idiots if they think of that. What do you want me to do? Give a detailed presentation why I decided to promote you? Go through your evaluation one by one? He sarcastically said.

“Oh my god, Bucky. You really don’t get it, do you?” You let out a humorless laugh.

He shrugged, “You’re confusing the hell out of me. Just tell me what the hell you want to happen.”

“Maybe I just want keep things professional.” You blurted out in the spur of the moment.

You didn’t mean it. You so didn’t mean it. Fuck. You word vomitted and now you were going to regret it.

Something in Bucky ticked, you saw it. He approached you until he was towering over your frame. It was intimidating to say the least, the way Bucky stared down at you with a blank expression on his face.

“What if I don’t want to?” Bucky asked, his eyes looking down at your lips for a quick second before moving back up to your eyes.

“I wasn’t asking for your permission.” you retorted and you’re not sure why.

Bucky exhaled through his nose and this time, you could read his face. He was fuming.

“I told you, you’re mine.” He said through gritted teeth.

The tension in the air was thick. The close proximity was making you dizzy, Bucky was so close that his scent was invading your senses. His jaw was clenched tightly as he looked down at you with piercing eyes and you were so tempted to just grab his face and kiss him and tell him that you liked him too.

But of course, your pride just had to be in the way.

“You don’t own me, Bucky. I am my own person.”

Another word vomit. You were Bucky’s the moment he laid his hands on you and you liked it.

Bucky inhaled and shrugged, loosening up before taking a step back. “So you want to keep it professional, huh?”

No.

“Yes.”

Bucky nodded, “You’re lying. I know you are. But okay then, professional it is. Let’s see how long you can keep lying to yourself.”

You watched Bucky walk back to his desk, sitting down on his chair with his arms crossed over his wide chest. His face was void of any emotion all of a sudden, he didn’t even look angry anymore and you hated how you couldn’t seem to figure him out.

“Anything else you’d like to discuss?” he asked, the professional tone of his voice sending chills down your spine, but not in a good way.

You slightly nodded, placing a folder on top of his desk before backing away. “It’s this month’s report.”

“Okay. You’re dismissed.” He casually said, grabbing the folder and skimming through your report as if you weren’t standing right in front of him.

You felt a pang of pain hit you right in the heart when he looked up at you questioningly, as if he was wondering why the fuck you still haven’t left his office. At that moment, you wanted to take back all the things you said and just give in to your damn feelings.

But would you really let your career nosedive just to be with Bucky? You weren’t sure if you were ready for that.

You straightened up and maintained a calm demeanor, “That’s all. Thanks, Bucky.”

“That’s Mister Barnes for you.”

-

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[tiptapricot]

Ok ok this ended up so long bUT

Gods and Monsters is a better MK ep than ppl view it as n here’s why >:-)

Let’s start off with general commentary on the ep as a whole:

The um… I can’t believe no one has talked ab the title song here. It’s The End by Earl Grant, and the lyrics we hear are: “At the end of a rainbow, you’ll find a pot of gold. At the end of a story, you’ll find it’s all been told. But our love has a treasure, our hearts can always spend. And it has, a story, without any end. At the end of a river, the water stops it’s flow…” AND THEN IT HAS THE BLURRY ECHOEY TRANSITION TO PULLING THE SYS’S BODY OUT OF THE FUCKING WATER AND ITS LIKE AND ITS LIKE ok I’m not normal but I am but I’m not

The lyrics here sum up so much of this episode’s vibes. It is about the end, but it’s also not, because things continue on. It is about love, love living forever and pulling people gently through their lives. But things have to end, at some point, and sometimes the story has nothing left to tell, we simply have to ease away and let things move forward, lapping, flowing, breathing, existing. I’ll get more into this later.

At the start after the opening we also get the line “Marc Spector, Steven Grant, whoever else might be in there,” which is a line with sO much weight for Jake, as well as any other extended system members we don’t or won’t see

ALSO the line “Sometimes we need the cold light of death before we can see reality,” is uh??? Very fucking poignant considering death IS LITERALLY what helps both Steven and Marc come to terms with their places with each other, with the care and understanding they hold, and the space they have in each other’s lives and together working as a whole

Obviously it’s not in the way Harrow means it, bc he’s an asshole and I hate him, but this is still so fucking on theme because the system coming back to life also solidifies their goals and views on what they’re fighting for, on who. Will touch more on later, but the through lines and intentional call backs in MK are so fucking good and interesting every time.

We also get to follow Layla as her own independent entity for the first chunk of the episode, getting to see more strongly how she operates on her own away from the system and just getting some fucking WONDERFUL acting from May Calamawy

Truly, the scene where it really sets in for her that Marc and Steven are dead, and we just see that realization land slowly and strongly and see her face break, and she cries over the body and presses against their chest and kisses their forehead, and THE FUCKING RAGE we see settle into her face as she stands up and readies herself to take revenge just UGH chefs kissing

We saw similar stuff in The Tomb but here we really get to see her shine, get to see her make choices and be flawed and be angry and go to do something we as the audience knows is stupid (“… a suicide mission to stop Harrow all by herself”) and it’s just SUCH a good moment for her ugh god ok ok

May’s skill is truly on display in this episode and it makes me fucking NUTS also she’s so pretty I’m not into women but for Layla I could be

The scene where she goes after Harrow after he cleanses the souls of the checkpoint (?) guards and Taweret barely stops her is also a perfect insight into her and Marc’s dynamic, both of them being emotionally driven and nearly incapable of stopping once they’re on a course

Also small but I love Taweret talking through dead people it’s so unnerving n creepy but also she’s so sweet I love her :-)c

The other avatars getting fucking wiped out off screen WAS a weird choice which I’ll get into in critiques, but after further watches it does make sense. We know from the trial that they are meant to be passive observers, and likely wouldn’t have much power or skill when it comes to fighting, which Harrow confirms when he says they’re judges not warriors. Also… also it’s funny. Again will go more in depth in critiques but… get fucking owned fuck you

Ammit’s. Fucking. Design. AND THE CHORAL SWELLS LEADING UP TO HER USHABTI BREAKING GODDDD. She is so cool and I love her voice and I love her, and this is also a really strong scene overall, showing the hypocrisy in Ammit’s view of the world. Her main cult leader is unbalanced, but he serves her goal when someone who was perfectly balanced didn’t so she doesn’t care, therefore proving her morals are moot no matter what.

I’ll talk more ab Wendy parallels later bc that’s a big thing, but what I will say here is that this ties into those similarities by showing that the moral judgement of people with a twisted view of the world is almost always never applied to themselves. They blame others for causing pain but do not hold themselves to that level, nor do they recognize the pain they themselves cause because it would mean self reflection on their world view as a whole.

Next we have Layla and Khonshu’s interaction which is another FUCKING FANTASTIC MOMENT!! Khonshu immediately goes to take advantage of her, but Layla rebuffs him without a second thought, shattering any piece of control Khonshu could have leveraged over Marc to keep him in service, and also showing that Layla is beyond that, that she trusts Marc, sees the pain Khonshu has caused him, and even in death and in an emergency would never agree to do that same harm to herself.

She also emphasizes that Marc died fighting “your war,” solidifying that Marc is being used as a tool and a pawn to further Khonshu’s goal, and that it is not his job to fight it, no matter what he may want or believe, he should be able to make those choices without being used for someone else’s agenda.

Also get fucking rejected Khonshu fuck you

Next…. Marc in the field of reeds. I yell. I scream. I cry a little.

He has everything he has ever wanted, a rest, a paradise. Taweret says his heart is full, his journey is over, and you can see how Marc aches for that to be true, how he breathes so quietly, so overwhelmed. But then he immediately asks after Steven, and when told that he “doesn’t need him anymore” he just knows that’s not true. One of them doesn’t get to move on alone, that’s not how it works, that’s not how it’s meant to be.

Marc Spector gives up paradise without a second thought, because Steven is a core piece of his life, of him, and paradise is nothing when it is skewed so incorrectly

Also FUCK the way the field of reeds visually melts into the Duat and then its quiet soft music swells and grows to a sudden fever pitch as Marc morphs the world and pushes through a barrier he can never return through, gives me fucking CHILLS GOD FUCK

It gives such a perfect auditory-tactile experience of the differences between the two places, the lightness of the field of reeds, of peace, versus the weight of the Duat, of being dragged down into the sands. The fucking score on this shit I swEAR

We get a moment of intercut Khonshu and Ammit, tying the chronological passing of time between worlds together, and giving such a powerful push between their ideologies on both sides. It’s short, but very good, and again highlights Ammit’s hypocrisy

Then… the speech in the Duat. We all love this scene. It is so good. It is perfectly acted, soft and weighty and emotional, and shows just how far Marc has come, the way that his journey has changed him and loosened the part of himself that is able to express the care and thoughts and memories that he’s been repressing for so long. Marc Spector cares so deeply for the people in his life, and Steven has been a constant since he was younger, his support and his friend, even if it was one sided because he was alone and isolated but now he doesn’t have to be, and just and just—

Love in any form being the genesis of life and that being the thing that has Osiris open the doors for them, lets them breathe and escape the Duat, that’s all I have to say.

And the HUG

And the MUSIC

And the wAY STEVEN IS SO TAKEN ABACK BY HAVING SOMEONE COME BACK FOR HIM AND HOW THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST EMOTIONALLY OPEN MOMENTS MARC HAS HAD

This scene. This fucking scene. THIS FUCKING SCENE YOU GUYS.

Might b unpopular but I fucking love Khonshu n Ammit’s fighting. Khonshu’s airy and intense way of moving and Ammit’s strong and grounded reactions, it’s a perfect dichotomy

“Hippo!!”

The muted patchy scene of Marc crawling out of the water, bleeding and desperate, but alive, then Khonshu’s voice ringing in his head so familiar, and the way death is shown as Marc’s low point, as his self hate and his violence and his loneliness when Khonshu first came to him, and that life is shown as being quite literally Layla herself

It’s so quick but so perfectly juxtaposes these two against each other, the importance of choosing love and the people who care about you and using that to unstick from moments of trauma and self hatred, having that lifeline and source of healing, of love being life

And we get another shot of Layla, being held by Marc, looking at him, before there is a quiet, weighty shot of the bullets falling from Marc’s chest. And then we see him rise, breathing, casually adjusting his outfit as the suit forms, something new behind his actions

He is no longer fighting for Khonshu, he’s fighting for himself, for Layla, for life

I love when the suits are so clearly real, and we then get the fucking FANTASTIC convo between Khonshu and Marc and Steven, with Khonshu deflecting the question about being rejected, and Steven switching in so easily to sass and to hold the system’s boundaries and gain their independence (to his knowledge). This also indicates the new dynamic between Marc and Steven, the ease of being cocon and the trust in leaning on each other while fighting

Never gonna get tired of Taweret, yelling through a dead body like a teenage girl on a phone call just going: “LayLAAAAAAA!!!!!!” she’s so excited

AND THEN AND THEN MAY CALAMAWY COMING IN CLUTCH AGAIN acting as Taweret controlling Layla’s body. Her switches between the two n her acting of being moved around by something else, and her exhaustion, and the character catharsis of getting to know her father is at peace after all this, that he found happiness and paradise and still gets to be proud of her, it’s such a good moment

Ahem. AHEM. Scarlet Scarab. Her outfit is so good, the music is so good, her smirk at the camera, the unfurling of her wings, I fucking love her.

Marc flying has so much weight and it’s so fucking fun. This finale fight is a release of energy, of cathartic action and push that the show has built through its depth of character exploration, and truly it feels earned to me. It is intense and ecstatic and just joyfully done.

IT HAS A BOTH METAPHORICAL AND LITERAL FUCKING GOD KAIJU FIGHT OK WHAT ELSE COULD YOU WANT

And more SERIOUSLY Khonshu and Ammit’s fight mirrors their avatars when it comes to who has the upper hand, changing as they fight dynamically through Cairo

LAYLA SAVING MARC HAVING HER OWN MUSICAL STING MARC GRABBING HER FACE AND SAYING “Oh baby,” STEVEN SWITCHING IN TO COMPLIMENT HER SO TENDERLY AND THEN THE THREE OF THEM KICKING FUCKING ASS

This scene is sO FUCKING GOOD for small relationship moments and showing their arcs. It shows the smoothness, the trust, the autonomy they all hold within themselves and in relation to each other.

General fight details I love: Khonshu’s staff having weight and effect on the area around him, the pump up music as Steven and Layla rush into battle, Steven knowing how to fight now that there’s fewer barriers between him and Marc, but still having his own style, his own moves, his FLIP OVER THE LASER, the way his baton bounces around and is caught by Marc instead, the fact that Marc jumping over the car IS A REAL STUNT WHICH IS SO FUCKING COOL, battle couple Layla and Marc/Steven, Steven brushing off his jacket mid fight, Marc exploding out of the storefront w a little grapple, LAYLA SAVING THE YOUNG GIRL AND STOPPING THE VAN AND GETTING TO BE SOMEONE EGYPTIAN GIRLS CAN LOOK UP TO GODDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

This entire fight is overall just choreographed so fucking well and is so engaging, but we also see them lose. It’s also an extremely important scene for Ammit and Wendy ties which I will again get into later.

The fucking… the slow motion silent angled shot of Ammit pushing Khonshu down with his own weapon as Harrow slowly steps onto screen and advances towards Marc. The battle is lost. They lost.

And then. It cuts out.

I love this choice I love it so much. Someone before the finale release was like: what if Layla n Marc and Steven are gearing up for battle and then it just cuts to the end and we have no idea what happened because Jake took front?

AND WELL THEY KINDA DID THAT AND I LOVE IT

It’s so unexpected, such a subversion from the usual epic final fight scene, because this isn’t usual, there are things happening the characters and audience don’t understand and it’s understandably disorienting as a result.

I just… I love the fucking huge gods juxtaposed on the background it’s such a good choice

Layla and Marc saving the day together :-) Holding hands :-)

The way Ammit disappears is so interesting and I fucking LOVE the way they did that it looks so fucking cool, her dress cracking to pieces and her tail/hair being eaten up by energy

The moment where Marc refuses to kill Ammit/Harrow is so important, because it’s not about the killing itself, it’s about Marc having agency, about having choice between death and life, about getting to recognize he can make choices without Khonshu. The line “You want them dead… do it yourself,” IS aHHHH!!

It’s about Khonshu not using Marc as an extension of himself, it’s about Marc choosing not to kill someone even if they deserve it because he would be manipulated into doing it and he needs to be able to make choices that heavy without being under duress.

God. GOD OK.

Now, the doctor Harrow scene when the system is released. We all know this is in a different spot then it was before, and I have my own issues w that, but here’s in support of it being where it is:

I think with the new placement, this scene is no longer about Marc and Steven breaking out of the construction in the Duat, but more about coming to peace with… them. With the fears they have about existing on their own, with the uncertainty of a new structure, with the doubts they still hold, but they have each other, and in many ways this scene is also them rejecting the realities of control Khonshu pushed on them about not being able to escape his service

Also of course, OSCAR FUCKING ISAACS ACTING IN THIS SCENE HOLY FUCK It is a joy to watch

As for how this scene is experienced, it very much seems like a dream, which makes sense. They’ve both been through a lot, a lot of trauma, a lot of events in a short period of time, and their first rest after Cairo having their brain working through that, taking pieces of the last few days, and “Going to save the world” being taken not as literally going to a fight but instead… a gentle awakening

They are free. They are at peace. They have saved their world, and created a new one.

ALSO EP ONE PARALLELS BUT NOW NEITHER OF THEM ARE ALONE AND THEY HAVE TWO FISHES N THEYRE TIRED N DROWSY N BANTERING AND JUST

And of course… Jake Lockley. The man the myth the legend.

The music here is so soft and atmospheric and then cuts off abruptly when the car door closes, shutting Harrow off from the outside world

Enough has been said ab this scene but god god god god fuck it is so good. And I love the use of older more vintage feeling songs at so many points in this episode too, they are so fantastic and give it such a vibe.

So now, critiques:

I do agree that pacing can be weird in this episode, or that it feels like it should be bigger than it is, and I think with more time to breathe it could’ve elevated itself higher, but again, the more I watch it the more natural it feels? The fast pace goes smoother, but I still wish there had been more

I do still think there are some lines or moments that are clunky, like having some weird cuts where things happen off screen for some reason (Harrow’s staff changing into an axe, the jurors/other avatars getting killed in a very anticlimactic way therefore making their characters feel moot, etc.), but I also have that issue with other episodes, which is why this is not my one singular favorite.

The Dr. Harrow scene is in a rlly weird spot still even if I don’t really mind it, and I do wish we got the cool directorial shot teased in the trailer of them falling back in his office cutting to falling back in the water, but we didn’t so 🤷

The scene w Marc refusing to kill Ammit should’ve been framed/written differently because as is it lands a little clunkily. I still think it has a good point, but it feels weird in context.

Overall I do wish they had had more time to flesh out the story and beats, and that certain things were framed diff, but I’m also trying to take it as is and enjoy what’s there and see it with its own merit, which I think is rlly important bc it helps to see the story the team was able to create even within their limited episode and time slot allowance

It isn’t perfect! No TV is, but I hope I’ve given some stuff that shows why I enjoy it so much and why I think it deserves more credit

Ammit and Wendy and the Missing Scene

This is a big one! And honestly I have a balance of not really having an opinion, and having some stuff I want to add

So first off yes, the scene with Marc and Steven confronting Wendy would’ve solidly tied and solidified Ammit’s views to hers as thematic parallels, and it’s a hell of a thing to cut and changes the story we get as a result

But that’s also the thing: it changes the story, it doesn’t make it worse

When shows and movies and media have deleted scenes, they are fun, they give us new insight into the material and the writing process, and give us extra looks at the characters, as well as alternate routes it could’ve taken

But those scenes are still not canon, and therefore can’t exactly hurt against the on screen material

Yea the Ammit and Wendy thing being made solid and clear would’ve been cool! I do want to see the scene, but I also recognize that it’s… not in the episode. And so the episode is different, and the show is different, and I don’t think it’s fair to judge solely on what “could’ve been”

I also think the parallels were very well done on their own! Many lines from Harrow and Ammit in this episode tie the two together, yes, subtly, but that’s why we examine and analyze works, to catch the intentions behind things

Harrow’s line while defeating the system in the final fight about how Ammit would’ve saved Roro and Marc’s family as a result is also an extremely blatant reference in it of itself, directly connecting the two characters and ideologies

So basically… I would like to see the scene, I think it was important and would’ve made a strong message about triumphing over pain to accept the self, and would’ve really strongly mirrored the themes of the Lemire run, however at the same time I recognize that’s not what we got, and trying to compare a story’s message to a hypothetical version of itself clouds the already great point and messages present in the original

You can’t compare two things not aiming at the same end goal

So can I say which one is better? No because we didn’t get that other version, and all we can do is speculate. Overall I am neutral, but I felt like these ideas should b included here since it influences how I view the finale

Overall thoughts

To me, the message of Gods and Monsters is not meant to be a big cathartic moment, it is not meant to have a perfect climax and a perfect ending, or to have the triumph of the Lemire run, it is meant to be slower, fuzzy around the edges.

It, to me, is about the slow and messy process of healing from trauma, of moving forward via love and support and making new beginnings and just… living. Trauma is not something that goes away, it is not fixed, there is not one single moment of overcoming it and everything is better, it is about moving on with it.

I don’t exactly think the Ammit and Wendy scene would’ve been this, but again, I enjoy the outcome the show ended up with even in it’s absence because it spins things differently in an equally important way, focusing on persevering through highs and lows, forward.

And that’s what I like about the more gentle wrap up, it gives room to breathe and for expectation. The story is wrapped up, but it is not finished, because it never will be. We are peeking into a life for the beginning of a journey and seeing that it expands beyond us, because that’s what it will do.

And the culmination of the characters? Of their relationships? It is imperfect, but it is centered so fucking strongly on how much they care for each other, on love, and presence, and what that brings to their experiences and process of healing

As the opening song goes, “it has a story without any end.”

[sorryimanon]

Character: Katsuki Bakugou

Warnings: so much fluff and a bit of spice

In which you and bakugou witness your child’s quirk for the first time

-

Early mornings were the best in your opinion. The warmth of the blankets hugging every inch of your cold body, the sound of cars zipping by outside the cracked window, and the familiar wandering hands that belong to none other than your boyfriend. It’s quite a sight, seeing Katsuki all vulnerable with his head angled just right into the base of the pillow, a pool of drool collecting on it. Usually he’s an early bird, waking up before you to cram in a quick workout then head off making breakfast in the kitchen. However, the routine switched up when a little bundle of joy enterd both of your lives.

Everyone, including you, was surprised you managed to settle Katsuki down let alone have him become a domesticated father. Of course it scared the living shit out of you. Sex with Bakugou was amazing, tenfold even, but one night both of you made an irrational decision to not use protection while being intimate, resulting in you heaving yourself over the toilet the following weekend.

“Stomach flu, right?” Katsuki reasoned anxiously.

“Right.” You reassured him with a crooked smile.

Nine months later you gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. To say you were happy was an understatement. Hell, everything you ever wanted landed graciously on your lap like a silver plater. Even though you and Katsuki weren’t planning having kids for a long time, the moment when your daughter finally arrived, it’s like both of y’all knew she came into your lives at the right time.

Now she lays crushed between Katsukis chest, his arms wrapped protectively around her as though something were to have grabbed her in the middle of the night. Their breathing synchronized each time they inhaled and exhaled. For a second, you admire the two figures in front of you. She sure inherited the looks from your boyfriend. Same blonde hair, toothy grin, and crimson eyes. At least she had more of your personality and mannerisms. Although occasionally her sudden outbursts reminded you of Katsuki when he was a teenager.

Your daughters head was in a awkward 45 degree angle, making her blonde hair cover half of her face. Instinctively, you reached over and brushed aside the tangled mess, making her squirm in place at the sudden touch. She opened her eyes finally and obnoxiously yawned, stretching out her small arms. One of her arms accidentally whacked Katsuki in the face during the process.

“Ugh you fucking gremlin...” Katsuki mumbles, playfully swatting his daughters hand away from his face. Your daughter eventually unlatched herself from his arms and began to jump up and down in the space between you and your grumpy looking boyfriend.

“Daddy’s up! It’s time for breakfast!” Your daughter joyfully proclaimed while bouncing around on the king sized bed.

“No it’s not.” He swept his feet that weren’t covered by the devet under hers, causing her to land softly against the bed. You knew she enjoyed the harsh playfulness when you heard her cries of laughter. You giggled and looked over at Katsuki, who at the moment had a temporary scowl across his face.

“Squirt you know the rules. Get yourself cleaned up and then we’ll start making breakfast,” you promised her.

Her eyes lit up at that moment like it was Christmas morning and hoisted herself off the large bed. She closed the door behind her, like you taught her, and scurried off to the shared bathroom. You wanted to have a moment of peace before she comes barging in again. Closing your eyes, you hummed in satisfaction and snuggled more into your pillow. Across from you, Katsuki had other plans in mind. He closed the space between you and laid his hand on the base of your waist, the other bunching up your shirt. Wanting to feel your skin, he slipped his hand under your shirt and rubbed circles around your abdomen. The coldness that clung to your skin immediately warmed up by his gentle touch. The sensation dragged a familiar sensual feeling down your body. A feeling that you haven’t felt in a while. Opening your eyes to where they’re just tiny slits, you can make out Katsuki staring right back at you.

“I know you’re still awake dumbass,” he softly spoke, his breath fanning the crook of your neck. So close he took the opportunity and started kissing the sensitive area. His tongue darted out, licking a small strip in the crevice. You didn’t need a third party to know a bruise was already forming.

“K-Katsuki. Not right now. Our d-daughter is just down the hall from us,” you manage to croak out as he attacked your neck with love bites. Oh how you missed these small little interactions with him. You knew they resorted to adultry, but anything involving foreplay with Katsuki excited you.

He sucked and bit some more of your supple flesh, causing you to ripple out a soft moan.

“Oh baby, how I missed your fucking moans.”

His morning voice mixed in with his already deep brooding one made you even wetter by the minute.

Soon the hand that was rubbing circles around your stomach extended to your breast, grabbing it playfully in tune to his tongue massage on your neck. Katsuki flicked his thumb over your perky nipple, giving it much desired attention. You parted your mouth slightly at the action, letting him latch his lips onto yours. Thankfully your moans were muffled, or else your daughter would’ve heard.

To return the favor, you carelessly grope Katsukis member through his boxers, earning a groan from him within your mouth.

“Fuck baby. You almost made me...cum by just... doing that,” he said in between sloppy kisses.

Without breaking the kiss, you shifted yourself on top of him, straddling his waist with your bare legs on display. His hand left your breast and replaced itself onto your hip, massaging the skin that was exposed. You removed your mouth from his, catching some air you forgot existed until he meshed into you. The two of you were a panting mess.

“It has been awhile, hasn’t it?” You whispered into his ear.

If looks could melt, his infamous smirk would. “Quickie? Before the brat ruins the fun.”

You huffed and pinched his cheek to the point where the flesh turned red.

“Ow fuck! Okay shitty woman. I take back what I said.” He smacked your ass as revenge and kissed the corner of your mouth. “For later then.”

You triumphantly smirk and peck his lips for good measure. Despite being cold turkey from sex, you knew punishing him by having him wait was the best part. You pushed yourself off him and rejoiced to the warm feeling of his chest. Defeated, Katsuki begrudgingly snaked his arms around you, kissing the crown of your forehead. He had to admit, he’d rather enjoy your body next to his than underneath all sweaty with lust. Don’t be fooled, he loves that too.

“What’s taking that brat so long-“

A loud beep startled both you and Katsuki to sit up straight in bed. It was your fire alarm. An alarm that hasn’t gone off since when you first moved in. Katsuki activated his quirk by accident one time in the kitchen, emitting the same annoying blast of noise this morning.

Leaving the bed in shambles, you both hurried out the door in search for your daughter. A foul scent of smoke and ash was wafting through the air. What you weren’t expecting was for the living room and kitchen to be perfectly pristine of any flames or smoke. You checked the perimeter of the area a second time to make sure you weren’t going crazy. Nothing. Maybe the fire alarm was glitching out? You were pull out of your daze when Katsuki slipped on his own feet coming out from the long hallway.

“I think I found out where the smoke is coming from,” he said breathlessly.

He dragged you along with him to your daughters room. Scared and confused, you turn the nob and slowly open the door. There sat your daughter, in the middle of the room laughing hysterically at something. She then noticed you two standing there and smiled widely. Gosh, she looked so much like her father there.

“Mommy daddy, look what I can do!” She said before plugging her nose and lighting herself on fire.

You’d think, this image would scare you, but no. You stared at awe towards your inflamed daughter, basking in at how the flames protected her body and moved with her. It finally came the day where your child’s quirk manifested. She was basically a lone torch. Katsuki mirrored the same emotions you were feeling as well. Your daughter extinguished herself and trailed over to where you both stood. She hugged your lovers leg, cranking her head to where they can directly look at each other.

“Does this mean I can be like you daddy? I can be a future hero just like you?”

Katsuki couldn’t help but to chuckle and bend down to grab her and place her on his hip.

“Just don’t be hanging out with extras when you’re older kiddo.” He reached around and started tickling her aggressively on the sides.

“I promise d-dad n-no stupid extras!” Her laugh with the combination of Katsukis childish taunts was like music to your ears.

And that wasn’t the last of the rude awakening mornings. Nevertheless, you cherished them more now than ever.

-

(Might be a reoccurring story bc I love daddy katsuki with a torch daughter)

[sanguinescorpios]

Still Alive

dream x f!reader

PART ONE

summary | Just under 20 years ago, the world slipped from humanity’s grasp and fell into the lap of mutant creatures. While most humans hid from the variants, some, like reader, grew restless in the bases they grew up in and needed out. What will happen when reader realizes that she doesn’t stand a chance in the wild on her own, and can something deeper blossom from a survival-based alliance? 

warnings | none!

word count | 1.7k

I had never seen a flower before. At least, not that I could remember. Things like that didn’t exist within the confines of the city walls, the beautiful, living things. The things that reminded you you were alive. My gaze fixated on the object before I even knew what I was looking at. Its petals swirled with pinks and purples, hues I had only seen in worn-out wool and peeling paint. Deep emerald leaves adorned a similarly colored stem, all woven together intricately and standing out amidst the field of brown. I marveled at the plant, bending down to hold it delicately between two fingers. It was incredible, even better than in photographs.

I spent months looking through the old textbooks Zoe had found, simply admiring the anatomy of different flowers and plants from the Old World. She was so excited to show me. I can still picture her jumping up and down as she entered my room in her tattered sports jersey and two-sizes-too-big jeans, a huge stack of books cradled like a child in her arms. Her tight curls were always pulled up into two buns, perfectly placed on the top of her head and bouncing with her childlike movements. I had quirked up an eyebrow at her as she wordlessly dropped her findings on my cot with a thump.

“Books,” she had said, looking at me with a newfound glimmer in her eye, “textbooks. We can learn!”

There was plenty of other information in those textbooks, but the flowers fascinated me. They caught my attention not just for their beauty, but for their mechanics, too. As I read, I began to appreciate how their roots anchored them to the earth, how their stems acted as passageways for water and nutrients, how they came in so many shapes, shades, and sizes. I wanted to know everything I could about them. I had always been that way, I guess.

A nearly foreign feeling emerged in me as a smile curled its way onto my face. The muscles were rusty from a long hibernation and they weren’t sure how to react to the sudden use. Dust found its way into my eyes as my cheeks rose with the grin, so I brushed it away quickly. That, I was used to.

“A cosmos,” I said to no one but myself. Of course, it was a cosmos.

The world before me was barren, a bleak expanse of land that seemed to never end. How the fuck was I supposed to survive out here? Despite my extensive studying, I wasn’t necessarily well-versed in survival. I had no protection out here, no roof over my head, and no soldiers with weapons on watch for intruders, or worse, for variants. A shiver ran down my spine at the thought. Variants were the one thing I knew almost nothing about, despite how hard I tried to get information from the watchmen and neighboring families. In all honesty, we didn’t know much about them, just that they didn’t seem to like us too much. One week the world was our terrain and the next it was theirs. I had never met one and I wasn’t planning on doing so, but I no longer had control over that. I chose to leave and there was no turning back.

That didn’t make it any less terrifying.

Adjusting my pack on my back, I grabbed my flask and poured a bit of water over the stubborn flower.

“Hope we make it, little guy.”

One last look at the distant confines I used to call home, then I was walking again, this time never turning back.

. . .

As it turns out, walking across one huge expanse of dust and dirt isn’t very fun! In fact, it’s fucking brutal. I had no idea where I was going, that much was clear not even ten minutes into the journey. Leave the city, that was my only plan. A shit plan, in hindsight. I reached into one of the many pockets of my pack and pulled out my water bottle. Last sip, that’s not good. If I could just go a little longer and reach the forest, I’d be okay. Much of the landscape had been torn apart over the years, but there were still occasional patches of green, at least that’s what I had been told. Just a little farther, surely I would reach it soon.

The hours dragged on, all melding together into one blurry week of sleeping in a ripped tent in the middle of nowhere and barely eating or drinking. When my eyes focused on a small dot of green in the distance, I nearly brought my hands up to rub the mirage from them, but I knew better than to do anything like that before washing. Especially after the week I’ve had, too much dust and not enough water.

I had been preparing for my lunch break when I spotted it, excited to get my hands on my tenth granola bar of the week. All desire for a break left my body, replaced by the desperate need to get to that forest before nightfall. There could be water in there, shelter, food, the possibilities were endless. I picked up my pace, feet moving with fervor despite my obvious exhaustion. My pack threatened to slip off my back, but I ignored it.

I reached the edge of the forest by nightfall, a shudder running through me at the thought of spending the night alone in the dense environment. Anyone or anything could be living here, and they could be hungry. The ground didn’t feel safe, too open and vulnerable of a place to sleep, but the sliver of moonlight shining down on me wasn’t enough to find anywhere else. This would have to do.

A few restless hours passed before I had finally fallen into a deep sleep, my back pressed uncomfortably against a tree and my pack serving as a makeshift pillow. I didn’t bother to set up camp, figuring I’d pick up and move in the morning anyways. I expected to get a few good hours of sleep at least, but that wasn’t the case. Instead, I was shaken awake by unfamiliar hands and a gruff voice.

“Get the fuck up,” the voice barked as my eyes adjusted to the morning light, peering up at the shaded figure looming over me.

“Wha-what?”

“Get. The fuck. Up.” The figure grabbed my pack from underneath my head and I groaned at the rude awakening. In my early morning haziness, I barely questioned the individual’s orders. My body moved before my brain told it to, pulling itself out of the fetal position and standing up, unsteady but sturdy enough.

As I rose to my feet, I took a good look at the person for the first time. He stood tall, towering over my frame with long legs and broad shoulders. Underneath his hood, a mask shielded most of his face from me; it looked to be made of some sort of wood and with the jagged smile that was carved into it, it was borderline terrifying. Dark blond hair toppled out and around the thing, curling messily at the ends. He sported muted green cargo pants and a thick belt bearing a multitude of knives and other weapons I didn’t even want to imagine. A black T-Shirt spread across his torso, strong arms emerging from the sleeves and gloved hands gripping a satchel against his hip. If this went south, I was outmatched.

“What made you think sleeping on the ground was a good idea?” he hissed out a few minutes later as he led me through the trees, taking angry steps at least two yards ahead of me.

“I didn’t have many other options,” I responded simply, not sure what he wanted from me and still groggy with sleep.

“Well, you picked the stupidest option.”

I rolled my eyes, who did this guy think he was? Sure, the ground wasn’t the smartest choice, but it was all I had! I huffed, kicking at a rock as he stopped to check...something — who knows what he was doing.

“You got a name, mask boy?”

He shushed me, holding up his index finger as he looked around at our surroundings.

“It was just a question-”

“Dream,” he cut me off, “now shush.”

He said it simply, like it wasn’t the most absurd name anyone had ever heard, and went right back to surveying the space around us. I poked my head around at him, trying and failing to get this mystery man’s attention.

“Is that your real name?” I inquired, making awkward eye contact with the mesh-covered eyeholes of his mask and wishing I could see his face when he answered. Maybe then I’d know if he was bluffing or not. Or if he planned on killing me.

“It’s what you’ll call me.”

There was a finality in the way he said it, a sternness in his voice that I wasn’t about to argue with. A beat passed in utter silence, me waiting for him to continue the conversation and him already three steps ahead of me on the path. Dream isn’t a chatty guy, noted.

I jogged to catch up to him, slowing as I reached his side. He didn’t seem like he was going to kill me as soon as night fell on the already dark forest, but keeping him in my sight was the safest bet.

“You’re not gonna ask my name?” He turned to face me, raising an eyebrow and bobbing his head as if to say ‘go on’. I gave him my name and he grunted in response — men.

He persevered through the forest, cutting away branches and leaving a green mess in our wake. I had no idea where we were going or why I was following his lead so easily, but he seemed confident and I trusted his confidence more than my own.

“So…” I dragged on, twiddling my thumbs and shooting him a look, “do we have a plan here or are we just gonna wander for the next five hours of daylight?”

He rolled his eyes, letting out an “ugh” as he pushed through another set of leaves. I wasn’t wrong; the sun would be setting soon, and based on how he reacted this morning, he wasn’t a night owl.

“Our camp is set up a few miles north. We should get there before nightfall.”

Did he say our?

[softboywriting]

Delicate | Billy Russo

Summary: Billy takes you on a surprise weekend trip and is forced to face some truths about himself. [Fluff] [Alternate Timeline - Castle Family Alive] [Billy Russo x F!Reader] [Assistant!Reader Trope] 

Word Count: 4.4k

|Masterlist In Bio|

A/N: This is in the same universe as my fic Little Moments and Meet The Parents but can be read separately as a stand alone story. I may be doing several in a series with these two.

___

"I want to take you somewhere." Billy says walking into your shared office near closing time. He's got on a pair of jeans, a sweater and his boots. Not quite the usual work attire but you love his casual wear.

"A date?"

"No. More of a long weekend trip."

You raise your eyebrows and push away from your desk. A weekend trip is a big surprise. Not that you have plans or anything. "Where to?"

"England."

"England?!" You splutter. "That is not a weekend trip Billy!"

Billy gathers your jacket and purse from the hooks behind the door. "It is. The flight leaves in about two hours."

"Billy! I haven't packed a single thing, I-I'm not ready!" You take your items from him and run a hand through your hair. Weekend trips are like in-state or nearby. They're a night at a hotel and seeing a museum for two days or something. Not flying to England and doing Gods know what.

"You cannot be serious."

He wraps his arm around your shoulders. "I am serious. I've got your stuff packed. Don't worry."

"What did you pack me?"

"Clothes. Trust me, I know what you wear."

"Why the surprise? Why not tell me sooner?"

Billy chuckles. "Don't worry about it. You'll like it."

"Where are we even going?" You sigh as he walks with you out of the office and down the steps to the main floor. "London or Wales? Are we going for business or pleasure?"

"We're going to Devon."

"Where the fuck is that?"

"England."

You smack his back and he laughs. "You son of a bitch. Why?"

"Pleasure."

"Ugh why now though? Why not later?"

Billy opens the passenger door to his car as you approach it. He leans on the roof, gesturing you inside. "C'mon the airport is almost half an hour drive, and we gotta stop at the apartment for our stuff."

You sink down in the passenger seat and glare up at him suspiciously. He's being like this on purpose. You hate not knowing what is going on and he knows it. The last thing you expected to do after work was to be hurried onto a plane that is no doubt a multi-hour flight. But here you are and there he is, staring down at you.

"Get in? I'm not the one wasting time now."

"God you're beautiful." He leans in and kisses your cheek quickly. "And I know you're pissed." He closes the door and walks around to get in the driver's seat. "I promise it will be worth it."

You lean your head back and close your eyes as he drives out of the lot. "It better be. This is very spontaneous and off my usual rhythm."

"I know. But you'll love it. I know you will."

"Mmm." You turn on the seat warmer and relax into the lush comfort. "You're also lucky I love you, and trust you."

Billy chuckles as his hand finds yours, thumb stroking the tops of your fingers.

"I wouldn't let anyone else pack me a bag, let alone take me to a foreign country for a weekend." You scoff. "That sounds so wildly pretentious."

"It's alright. It is a little pretentious, but we've earned it."

"You've earned it."

"Hey." He squeezes your hand and you open your eyes to look at him. "This company is just as much yours as mine."

"Bullshit. It is not. My name isn't on the lease, it's not on the LLC, I'm just your assistant and girlfriend."

Billy scoffs and turns the car into the parking garage of his apartment complex. He lives close to Anvil, honestly you don't actually need to drive. He just likes to show off his car. It gets dark as you enter the garage but you can tell he's not having any of your shit.

"When I marry you, your name will be on all of that."

"What?"

"What?"

"When you marry me?" You swallow hard as he stops the car in a space. It's only been a about six months that you've officially been an item. A little quick to be thinking about marriage.

Billy kills the engine and pockets his keys. "Yeah, when." He opens the door so nonchalantly, like he hasn't just thrown you for a loop. He walks around and opens your door. "C'mon, up and attem sweetheart."

"You're joking right?"

"About what? Marrying you one day?" He puts his hand on your back as you head to the elevator. "You're absolutely going to be a Russo. No doubt about it."

"I don't have a choice then?"

"Of course you have a choice." He presses the button to the penthouse and puts in the security key to make it go. "You can say no."

"Are you asking me right now?" You laugh and he turns, hands on your hips as he walks you into the wall, eyes locked on yours. "W-what's this about?"

Billy licks his lip and sets his jaw. It's not anger. He's making a decision in that brain of his. Is he asking? Is he teasing?

"You'll know when I ask."

"It's only been a few months. Don't rush."

"When you know you know right?"

"Billy, c'mon." You give him a look. "Using Frank's lines now?"

Billy steps aways, hands falling from your body and he runs a hand over his hair. "Sometimes that asshole is right about things."

You chuckle. "Sometimes."

"Enough about that. We have a plane to catch." The elevator dings and the doors open to the short hall before his penthouse. "Get your pretty ass changed and let's go."

"So pushy." You giggle and he shoves your shoulder. "Hey!"

"I'm pushy." He pushes again and you stumble into the door before he pins you against it. "You're so lucky we don't have time to mess around."

"Lucky?" You wiggle your ass against his waist. "Or unfortunate. Because any chance I miss to have-"

His hand comes up along your throat and you groan, tilting your head back. "Keep talking and I'm gonna make time."

"Or maybe we'd miss the flight."

"Little shit." He drops the hand on your throat and swats your ass before unlocking the door and ushering you inside. "Go change. Now."

"Okay, okay, good grief."

"We'll just join the mile high club." He calls out as you head to the bedroom to change. "I've always wanted to see how we'd fit in a tiny bathroom!"

"Those things are filthy! No!"

"Then you can ride me in the seat in first class!"

You pop your head around the door and he is grinning, leaning against the kitchen island. You narrow your eyes and he just raises his eyebrows. "Not happening."

"We'll see sweetheart."

"Whatever."

"Mmm. I'm very persuasive."

You roll your eyes and go back to changing clothes. If he thinks you're gonna do the dirty on an airplane he has a world of disappointment coming.

_________________

Billy always gets his way it would seem. Because less than half an hour ago you were on his lap, bouncing on his dick while he grinned oh so smugly. The flight was less than full for the first class seating, your nearest neighbor was across the aisle and six sections back. There were dividers between the seats, privacy walls. That's what really ended up convincing you in the end.

All that and you maybe sort of got off to the thought of being semi public about the whole ordeal. A kink you didn't know you had until Billy was whispering filth in your ear and making you squirm.

"How much longer?" You ask, curling into your seat and yawning.

"Three more hours. We'll land in Exeter."

"Seven hours to a spontaneous weekend? This is insane. When we arrive it's going to be dark. I assume you have a place for us to stay?"

Billy rolls his eyes. "Of course I do. We're not camping out in a train station."

"Oh fuck you."

"Get some sleep."

"I'd love to but I don't sleep well on planes."

"You fuck well on 'em."

"Billy!" You kick his leg and he grins. "Shut up!"

Billy puts his hand out and you take it. "We can go another round to kill the time."

You grab the complimentary earbuds in a little package and rip them open to stuff them in your ears. "Can't hear you."

"Bullshit."

"What?" You smirk, gesturing to the earbuds. "Can't hear ya."

Billy leans in and your eyes lock with his. "Maybe I should raise my voice then. And ask if YOU WANT TO F-"

You slam your hand against his mouth and he grins behind your palm. "Son of a bitch."

"You know I am." He licks your palm and sits back in his seat. He side eyes you, gauging your reaction to his childish move while nonchalantly opening a travel guide pamphlet.

You wipe your hand on his thigh and he chuckles. Whatever awaits in Devon in three or four hours better be good because he is really dancing on your last nerve. What has got him so wound up, you have no idea.

____________________

Devon is... breathtaking. It's the English country side on the ocean. The town you drove through was all cobblestone homes and shops and it looked like a fairytale honestly. Places like this didn't actually exist in your mind but here you are. It's so radically different than New York, even the country side of the state. You're stunned silent for the majority of the drive to your destination. Even in the evening it looks incredible.

Billy turns onto a road with a gate through a dense wooded area. The gate is open and he slides the rental car through carefully as not to scratch the sides on the narrow stone walls along the roadway. The path winds and winds until it opens up, the drive lined with a shorter stone wall as it leads to a large beautiful house.

"Where are we?"

Billy turns the car into the dirt and rock parking area in front of the door to the house. "We're in Dartmouth, just outside of it actually."

"Why? This place is beautiful, don't get me wrong. I'm just confused why we're here."

He looks over at you and brings your hand up to kiss. "I told you I was taking you on a weekend vacation."

"So you rented this house? Or does someone live here that we're staying with?"

"I bought it." He looks up at the door from beyond your window. "It's ours."

You turn and look at the house. "What? Billy you don't just buy a house! What on Earth is going through your head?!"

"What's going through my head is that I saw an opportunity and I took it. A friend of mine, Martin, had this place here after he got out of the Marines. His wife was English. Anyway, the family moved recently, and left everything behind because it is too expensive to haul across the ocean to Texas where they were relocating."

"So you bought a house with someone else's whole life inside?"

"Well, they took their personal belongings. It's furnished and decorated but we can change that."

You look over at Billy and lay a hand on his chest. "This is insane. Why would you buy a house in England?! What could you possibly want to do with it?"

"Live in it."

"Billy. Anvil is in New York. How do you propose to move here, bumfuck nowhere England, and run the company?"

Billy smiles and kisses your cheek. "Semantics. C'mon let's go see the house."

"Billy!"

He climbs out of the car and walks around to open your door. "It's beautiful, you're going to love it."

You step out with his hand in yours and he pulls out his keys to unlock the front door. As the door swings open you're hit with the smell of cinnamon, warm earthy spices, and vanilla.

"Come inside." Billy pulls you in gently. "It's incredible."

Inside is far more than incredible. It's like a dream, a home from some show book. The floors are dark natural wood, there are stairs with intricate banisters by the door, three archways to various rooms that are just the epitome of a country house. It's rustic, traditional like a farm house that's been updated to the modern century but kept it's charm. You feel like you're in a fairytale still, but it's real. It's so real and the house is so beautiful. You've never seen anything like it with your own eyes.

"Billy...this is...why?"

"You're very attached to that word y'know." He chuckles and rubs your shoulders. "Stop asking why and start enjoying."

"I will, I mean but- this is...I don't know what to say."

"Stunning right? So different than the penthouse or your apartment."

"Radically different."

"Come explore with me." He takes your hands and walks backwards leading you into a dining area.

You look around at the empty china hutch, shelves with various pots and pans for storage and decor, the huge wood table that looks like it was handmade by someone many years ago. "You're going to propose."

"What?"

"You're going to propose to me here aren't you?"

Billy laughs and steps close, cradling your face in his hands. "Maybe."

"Maybe?!"

"Yeah, maybe." He kisses you softly. "And maybe I just brought you here to get away from everything. Work, family, obligations. We can be us here. You and me, no one else."

"Billy we can be us at home, in the penthouse."

"I know, but this is a good place. The air is cleaner, life is simpler, everything is just easier here. We can unwind."

"You really bought this place?"

"Hundred percent. I've got a few payments still but it's almost paid off." He leans on a counter and you step between his legs. He gathers you close, hands on your sides. "It's got five bedrooms."

"Expansive."

"I think if...well..." He ducks his head in a chuckle, eyes refusing to meet yours. "If kids were ever, y'know, on the table. It'd be a good home."

"William Russo, you cannot be serious about that. You've thought of having kids? You?"

"No! No, fuck no. Maybe. I don't know." He pushes away from the counter and you'd stumble back as he walks into the enclosed patio off the side of the kitchen. "I'm just saying, it could accommodate kids."

You step down into the patio and look around. It's a simple screened in area, a sitting area and a terracotta chiminea sit on the right. "You'd have to marry me first."

"First?"

"Before I have a kid."

He laughs, leaning on the door to the outside area. "Of course."

"I thought you were afraid of having kids. Didn't want them to end up like you."

"Yeah well, I told myself a long time ago I'd never mess my kids up like I was messed up if I had them. I'd love 'em every day, make sure they know their dad loves them." His voice cracks and you cross the patio to lay a hand on his arm. "I won't have my kids wonderin' if their dad loves them. I won't."

"Hey, hey, you're not your parents okay?"

"I know. We'd be good, learning from our fucked up childhoods." He laughs joylessly and gathers you into his arms. "We'd have the happiest kid ever."

"We could. Maybe. One day."

"Lotta maybe's goin' on today." He bites his lip and puts his hand in yours. "It's late. We should go to bed."

"We've got a few days right? We can explore the house and grounds tomorrow."

"Absolutely."

You slide a hand over his jaw and pull him down for a kiss. "I do love this by the way. It's very romantic."

Billy smiles against your lips. "I'm not all hard edges and sharp wit." He kisses you slowly, pulling your lip between his teeth. "I do love you."

"I know." You bump your nose to his. "And I love you too."

_____________________

The sound of rain wakes you and you open your eyes to an unfamiliar room. It takes a moment to remember where you are. England. In a house Billy bought. Right. You rub your eyes and yawn big.

"You awake over there?" Billy asks, voice heavy and raspy with sleep.

"No."

"Yes you are." He reaches over under the blankets and wiggles his fingers up your side. "Little liar. How long you been awake?"

"Few moments."

"Mmm. It's raining. Can you hear it?"

"Yeah." You roll onto your back and Billy lifts his arm up so you can snuggle into his side. "It's nice."

Billy's hand finds your hair and twirls a piece between his fingers. "It rained the first time we met, remember?"

"It did?"

"Mmmhmm. The day you interviewed for the position at Anvil. It was pouring rain, I remember because when you came in you had on bright orange rainboots that you changed out of in the main room before coming up to do the interview."

You look up at him and his eyes are closed like he's picturing that day. "You saw that?"

"Of course I did. I see everything in Anvil."

"That's been so long ago, it seems like ages."

"Almost two years now."

"Crazy how things have changed."

Billy's hand leaves your hair and joins your hand on his chest. "Things will continue to change. Always."

You hum in agreement. He's right, logically, things will always change. But you feel he means more by that. "Billy, if you were to propose to me, how would you do it?"

"There is no fun in telling you."

"There is. It's healthy to discuss this in a relationship. So, how?"

Billy sits up a bit and you slide down his chest, face on his stomach. "Now, that's not fair. What about you? How would you propose to me?"

"I think, well, I think you're too smart. I think you'd figure it out before I could get it set up. I'd have to be blunt, slap a ring on the table and ask if you wanna do this."

He laughs, hand going to his chest as he struggles for words and air. "That is a hell of a proposal sweetheart!"

"You're a hell of a pain in the ass."

"Oh baby I know." He drops a quick kiss on your head. "I know. Now for me, I like to think I'd be a classic man. Dinner, dancing maybe. I'd get on one knee in a doorway somewhere and ask you, surprise you."

"You like to think? What's the reality look like then?"

"Reality is that you'd probably find the ring before I could plan something. You little snoop."

"Hey! You gave me free reign of the penthouse. No secrets."

"Yes yes. Alright, maybe I'd just surprise you. On a walk or something."

You rub over his chest and he hums. "I'd like that. But you don't wanna marry me yet. It's too soon."

"It's not too soon if you know."

"Yeah...let's get up. We have a house to explore." You sit up and he follows. "Maybe we can go into town for some breakfast too."

"Sounds like a plan."

______________________

The house is huge, well cared for, and beautifully designed. It's nothing like the apartments you grew up in your whole life. You never had a house, always dreamed of one. You like to think this one is exactly the summation of all those dreams. Like somehow Billy knew exactly what you wanted one day before you even knew yourself.

The gesture is lovely, the intent is good, but you cannot help but wonder why. Why now? Why this house? Why this place? Surely you shouldn't be one to look a gift horse in the mouth, but damnit you and Billy have just begun living together at his penthouse. You've not even settled the lease on your apartment. Now he's gone and bought a house in another country. It makes you worry, it makes you suspicious.

You don't want to push him. He has made it clear he doesn't want you to ask why, but to just accept it. That's not like you though. You can accept up to a point.

"Billy, I want to talk." You say as he sinks down in a chair beside the pool in the back area. You've gone out there post dinner for a swim after the rain.

Billy sets his phone on the side table and raises his eyebrows at you. "We've been talking all day sweetheart."

"I want to talk seriously. No antics, no sarcasm."

"Yeah, okay." He runs a hand over his hair. It's his nervous tick. A dead giveaway that he is truly listening to your words. "What's goin' on?"

You take a seat opposite him and take a deep breath. Where to begin. "Why did you buy this house?"

"I told you. Martin's family was moving and-"

"No." You say softly. "No, you didn't have to buy it from them. You chose to. Why?"

"I liked it."

"Okay. A house like this is a lot of money I presume. And yes, maybe the family gave you a discount or something, none the less it's a major expense for it to be a place you only come to now and again. What is the plan here?"

Billy chuckles and looks back at the house. "The plan is to live in it. Obviously. It's a house."

"Billy."

"What?"

You stare at him, lips pursed.

He looks away.

"We've only just moved in together, back home in New York. Do you plan on moving everything here? I'm just not understanding how this works Billy."

"Maybe someday we could move here. I suppose that's the end goal."

"You're thinking long term then? That I will surely be in your life for the rest of it?"

"I don't like where this is going." Billy's eyes harden and you know that look too well. "Don't do this."

"I'm not doing anything. I'm just saying that we're still very new into this relationship. It's been about six months, and a year of aqaintance-ship before that. I just feel like maybe you're making some very big moves and it's a bit much."

Billy leans back on the chair and closes his eyes. "I knew this was a bad idea."

"No, hey, no. I love this place, it's beautiful."

"I should have waited but I was just so excited about it."

"Honey."

"No, listen I don't know how to be in love. I've never been in love before, I'm sure of it." He looks over at you and you reach out and grab his hand. "I wanted to do this for you, to start putting things in motion because I don't want to lose you. I know that sounds so ridiculous, how does buying a house make you want to stay with me? I don't know honestly."

You squeeze his hand gently. "I'm not going anywhere I promise."

"I've never had something like this." He gestures to the house. "A stable home, a loving family. When we started dating, I knew I loved you. Hell. I blurted that shit out that night in my apartment. You had every right to be freaked out, to leave and quit Anvil. I was half shocked you didn't."

"I do love you Billy. The feeling was a hundred percent mutual. Don't doubt that."

"I don't. But I doubt myself all the time. Am I in love with you? Or do I have love for you? Over the last few months I've sorted out that I'm in love. I don't know how to be in love. I don't know what steps to take, how fast things should move. I can count on one hand the number of relationships I've had that were more than sex, and they obviously didn't end well. If the house is too much, we'll wait. I don't care if it's years, we'll wait to move here. Or if you don't want to then we don't have to."

"I'd like to, one day."

"I just-" his lip trembles. "I think I bought it because I wanted a better life for us. We both had messed up childhoods. I had a messed up early adult life in the military, did shit I didn't want to because I had to. This house is our chance to start over, to be new people."

Your eyes widen and he threads his fingers between yours on the hand you've been holding. "What about Anvil?"

"I can relocate. Or just...do something else. Anvil seemed like a great idea when I got out of the Marines. But now it's tethering me to my past." He brings your hand to his lips. "I want to be more than a dog of war. I want to be a normal guy with a wife and a kid or just a dog is fine too. I never pegged myself as one to want the white picket fence life but here we are."

You lay your hand on his cheek and he leans into it. "Three years. Give us three years together and if you still feel the same, and we're still together, we'll do it."

Billy leans in, bumping his nose with yours. "You drive a hard bargain."

"Learned from the best."

He smiles big, lips meeting yours for a quick kiss. "It's a deal. But I do still want to come here for vacations, long weekends and the like."

"Absolutely." You hold his face, his beard scratchy under your palms. "It'll be our private getaway."

"Mmhmm." He guides you up as he stands. "Now, time for the fun we actually came out here to indulge in."

You glance at the pool and he plucks at the sleeve of your tee. "It's our pool."

"Yes it is."

"It's very private." You giggle. "Not a neighbor for a few miles."

Billy lifts your shirt hem. "That's right."

You step back and pull your shirt off, pushing your pants down quickly. Billy quickly shucks his own and you both laugh at how ridiculous you look. You jump in and he follows suit.

"I've never skinny dipped before. It's so strange, like I shouldn't do it."

"It's freeing." Billy says, floating up to you and cradling your face. "Revel in it. Feel alive."

You press your lips to his. "I've felt alive since the day I met you."

"Me too." He presses your foreheads together. "Me too."

__________

end

----------

Header image by delicate-venus

Thank you so much for reading, please reblog to support and encourage content creators like myself. -A

*****Note: none of my works should be posted anywhere outside of my linked accounts. I do not give permission to repost with or without credit to my accounts. Please notify me of any reposted works.*****

[vixenpen]

Can you do a KiriBaku smut imagine with a chubby black s/o

KiriBaku x (F)Thicc Black Reader NSFW

“Ugh! I need a vacation,” you groaned as you exhaled a stream of smoke.

“I need a baecation.” Kirishima replied, grabbing the joint from you.

“Haah? What the hell is that?” Bakugo chimed in, confused.

“It’s a vacation where you spend the whole time fucking.” You explained, laughingly.

“Tch. Isn’t that what vacations are for anyways?” He scoffed, beckoning to Kirishima for the joint next.

The three of you were relaxing at Katsuki’s massive apartment enjoying one of your rare days off together. Mellow music pumped through the surround sound system in his room and black lights cast a purple glow over everything.

The rotation matched the order you all were sitting in. Bakugo, sat against the headboard, your head resting in his lap, and Kirishima sat on the opposite side of you, massaging your feet. It felt amazing to be able to vibe with your best friends. Something that, since becoming pro-heroes, you all found yourselves with little time to do.

“Ya know, Katsu, not everyone turns into a horn dog the minute they step outside of a five mile radius of the gossip rags.” You laughed.

“Hey, if you idiots want the media dissecting your sex lives and splashing it all over the gossip rags that’s on you, but some of us actually give a fuck about our reputation as heroes.”

“Bro, at this point the whole internet knows you’ve got hoes in different area codes,” Kirishima chuckled. “You’re not foolin’ anybody.”

“Yeah, but can you name one name? No. Cuz the people I fuck with know how to keep their mouths shut when it counts.”

“You mean, you break ‘em off a fat check to keep them quiet.”

“Hey, it’s kept my name out of scandals. Can’t say the same for you Mr. Red Ran Through.”

You burst out laughing especially when you saw the baffled expression on Kirishima’s face.

“Ouch man! That was harsh.”

“But accurate.” You pointed out.

Kirishima definitely had a reputation in the hero world as a more of a lover than a fighter in every sense of the word. He was constantly courting a new hero, sidekick, or medical worker. But where as that type of philandering might hurt another hero’s reputation, Kirishima managed to come out of his multiple affairs relatively unscathed; as none of his former conquests had a negative word to say about him. You chalked it up to his charming and chivalrous personality.

“I may have been with a few of our colleagues-“

“A few?! Kiri, you’ve sucked and fucked your way through our entire agency. I think the only people you haven’t fucked in the hero world is us.”

“You, babe.” Bakugo chuckled blowing smoke in your face. “I’ve been there done that.”

“Wait, what?!”

“Yeah,” Kirishima laughed, “Bakugo was actually my first.”

“Wait, what?!” You shot up so fast, you almost knocked the joint from Bakugo’s hand. “I’m sorry, he was your what, when and where was I?!”

“Chill, thickums,” Bakugo smirked. “We were kids—still in high school. It was before we met you.”

You gaped back and forth between the two men in disbelief. Meanwhile they were trading the joint over you as if they hadn’t just dropped the biggest bombshell of the year on you.

“Aww baby,” Kirishima tucked your chin, running his thumb over you bottom lip. “What’s with that pouty face? Are you really that upset?”

“Yes!” You crossed your arms. “We’re besties and neither of you assholes thought that might be valuable information for me to know?”

“I mean, not really.” Bakugo snorted. “What were you gonna do with it? Sell it to the gossip rags?”

“Or maybe she was gonna dream about it herself.” Kirishima winked. There was a wicked gleam in his ruby eyes that made you flush.

“Heyyy, I think you may have been on to something there shitty hair.” Bakugo pinched your round cheek. “She’s blushing.”

“No I’m not! Black girls don’t blush!”

“Baby, blushing is more than just a color on your cheeks, it’s a mood, and right now you’re totally giving me that mood.”

“W-whatever! I could care less that you two used to sleep together.”

“Used to?” Kirishima quirked a brow.

That statement earned an incredulous look from you.

“S-seriously?! You still...” A pang if envy shot through you at the idea of your best friends sharing something that you weren’t apart of. “You know what, I don’t even care.”

“Oh?” Bakugo quirked a brow. “Then you won’t care if I do this.”

He reached across you to grab Kirishima by the collar and plant a deep kiss on the man’s lips. The burly redhead melted into the kiss easily.

Simultaneous moans escaped your friends as the kiss deepened.

“Ahem! Y’all realize I’m still here right?” You snapped.

“How could we forget?” Bakugo smacked one of your chunky thighs, jiggling it a bit. “That little show was for you thickums.”

You wished you could look away, but there wasn’t much else to look at with two hot, shirtless, muscular men looming over you. You popped your lips and rolled your eyes.

“That little attitude ain’t scarin’ nobody pun’kin.” Kirishima pressed a soft kiss on your lips. “I know you liked it.”

“Hell yeah she did.” Bakugo added. He toked the joint one more time and held your gaze as he blew the smoke in your face. The predatory way he sized you up made you feel...exposed—vulnerable. “You know, as long as we’ve all been friends, I wonder why neither me or Shitty Hair never tried to fuck your fine ass yet. God knows it’s not like we aren’t both into you.”

“Better yet,” Kirishima said, turning you to face him by your chin, “it’s not like we aren’t all into each other.” He kissed you again. This one was much more commanding than the last and his tongue wrestled yours into submission.

“Oi!” Bakugo snapped. He grabbed your chin as well and pulled you towards him. “You not gone keep stealing all her affection from me, Shitty Hair.”

Bakugo bit your lip, making you gasp. He took full advantage of that opportunity to slide his tongue into your mouth.

Is this really happening right now? What the hell?

“G-guys, wait...” You pulled away from Bakugo.

“What’s wrong, sweetness?” Kirishima asked, sliding your box braids aside to plant gentle kisses along your neck.

Between his soft lips and Bakugo’s strong, scarred hands sliding along your thick thighs, your sex was clenching desperately for stimulation.

“You don’t want this?”

“I-I’m not sayin that, I’m just saying...” what the hell were you saying? Because the way Bakugo was sucking the top of your breasts had you drawing blanks.

“Why don’t you stop pretending, y/n?” He smirked up at you, hooking a finger into the scooped collar of your tank top and yanking it down to free your full, round breasts.

He hummed. “Fuckin’ delicious.” He groaned.

Licking his lips, the ash blonde dove down to suck your hard, brown nipple into his mouth making you hiss in pleasure.

“You clearly want this, y/n.” Kirishima chuckled. The deep, rich sound rolled down your spine and made goosebumps rise on your skin.

His large hand slid around your side to squeeze your other breast. He rolled the pebbled nipple gently between his fingers.

“You want this and so do we.” He nipped at your ear. “So what’s up? Are we doing this or not, thickums?”

Before you could say anything, Kirishima’s hot mouth sucked your nipple into it.

“Oh god.” You sighed as shivers ran down your spine.

They ran their strong hands up your juicy thighs, squeezing and massaging them.

Each man worked either side of your body. Bakugo was now behind you, running his hands down your spine—mouth tasting your sweet skin, nipping along your spine. He dug his hands into your hips, caressing them lovingly.

Kirishima took care of the front. He sucked hickies onto your soft stomach and slowly worked your shorts down.

He groaned at the sight of your bare brown skin.

“Damn, that’s beautiful.” He grinned up at you, ruby eyes flashing once more. His mouth landed in an open mouth kiss against your clothed core, fingers exploring your pussy through the thin fabric of your panties.

“Ki-Kiri~” you sighed.

Bakugo bit your ear, making you yelp in surprise.

“Is Kiri the only one here, thickness?” He asked.

“N-no..” you stammered back.

He slid his hand down until he reached your pussy and toyed with your clit. Shockwaves of pleasure coursed through you.

“Then say my name too, Thickums.” He plunged two fingers into your heat, flexing them towards your gspot.

“Ahaaa, Katsu!” You cried out.

“Man, Katsuki, you gotta see how pretty this kitty is.”

“Does it look as good as it feels?” He asked, slipping a third finger into your gripping cunt.

“Mmhhm,” he hummed in response. His long tongue slithered out, joining Bakugo’s fingers in your juicy pussy.

The sensations had your head swimming and your nipples and cat tingling with excitement.

“Tastes just as good too.”

“Oh yeah?” Bakugo slipped from behind you to join Kirishima’s side. He laced his fingers through the redhead’s long hair and forced a harsh kiss onto the man’s mouth. “Shit,” he muttered between kisses, “that is good. But I bet it’s better straight from the source.”

Soon Kirishima’s mouth and fingers were replaced with Katsuki’s. His fingers swam inside of you and he sucked at the sensitive button of your clit until your pleasured screams grew hoarse. Your cream soaked his face and hands. When he made way for Kirishima to join in, your moans only grew louder.

The two men seemed to be competing in who could bring you to ecstasy more times. They worked your sex until your legs shook and your toes curls. You dug your hands into their hair, and bucked your hips to meet their mouths, hungry for more of the overwhelming pleasure.

“Baku-Kiri, shit! Shit, shit, shiiiit! Oh my god!” You couldn’t breathe, couldn’t speak, and couldn’t think.

“Cum for us, Princess,” Kirishima urged, “come for your daddies.”

And cum you did. Again, and again, and again, until everything went black.

(Art by: @deb_amm/Debby-San)

[hey-there-love]

Apologize

Summary: Friday nights don’t have to be lame when Katsuki Bakugo is involved.

Content Warnings: Aged up, NSFW, 18+, Fem oral receiving, penetration, slight anal play, slight dacryphilia, slight spit play, choking, AU, Adult Language, Enter at your own risk.

WC: 3.1K

It was a boring Friday night alone. You were lost in one of your many textbooks studying for a big test on Monday when your phone notified that you had a snapchat. Assuming it was from your roommate Mina, who should have been busy with work, you grabbed your phone.

It was from Katsuki Bakugo. You rolled your eyes and threw your phone onto the pillow. Bakugo was your on and off again friend with benefits. On and off meaning you saw him when it was convenient to Bakugo and Bakugo only. Sadly, you came back each time because you genuinely liked the guy...

Plus it was the best sex of your life.

It was an unfortunate situation to say the least. In the moment when you were with him you were satisfied, but as you got back home you craved more. You were both alike in many ways. Rough around the edges, but soft once you opened up. Goal oriented, focused on your schooling and your futures. A fucked up sense of humor that matched toe to toe. You both came to a mutual agreement that you were meant to be friends early on, but lately you longed for more.

The thing about your situationship with Bakugo was on the rocks since he canceled on you a few nights ago to go out with his friends. Granted you didn’t owe each other anything, but canceling last minute really pissed you off.

After a few minutes of pondering about the Snapchat, you went against your better judgement and opened it.

Bakugo: What are you doing?

You sucked your teeth and debated on messaging him back. Tentatively you set your phone down, deciding to give him a taste of his own medicine and leaving him on read. You stuck your nose back in your textbook. About 10 minutes of note taking had passed and your phone had went off again. You glared and looked at the message.

Bakugo: Don’t ignore me shitty woman.

Your body fluttered. The part of your body that did was undetermined though. You scraped your brain of something wity to say back.

Y/N: What do you need? You’re interrupting my hot date.

He responded instantly, almost as if he was awaiting your response.

Bakugo: An actual date or your hand because you know I’m better than both.

You swallowed the lump that had formed in the back of your throat. He wasn’t exactly wrong. Bakugo was far more experienced in the handiwork than you were, but that’s exactly what a vibrator was for. You snapped a picture of the textbook in your lap and captioned it.

Y/N: His name is Pearson’s Guide to Anatomy and we’re madly in love.

At this point you gave up on studying because you were clearly distracted and laid down. Your message sat on delivered for a few minutes before he finally opened it. This time it was a picture. You looked at instantly. He snapped a picture of his roommate Kirishima grinning in front of the stove with a spatula in his hand.

Bakugo: Come eat and before you say no it wasn’t a question.

You fought the battle inside your brain. You were still pretty upset with him, but you hadn’t ate since breakfast so you were hungry. Plus...sex of course. You opted to send him a short message.

Y/N : Gimme 30 minutes asshole.

Bakugo replied with the thumbs up emoji and sent you into action. You had just taken a shower and thankfully something told you to shave your legs. You brushed your teeth quickly and brushed your hair back into a tight pony tail. Everything you needed was already in your purse. A toothbrush, a pair of underwear, deodorant, a few condoms, a charger, and body spray. ( AN: I always recommend keeping a mini spendanight bag in your purse just in case :) )

You spent a few minutes deciding what to wear before putting on a black lace bra and matching underwear. You opted for a pair of black sweats and long sleeve shirt. It was a little chilly out so you threw on a hoodie. Deciding you were finally ready you sent a message to Mina, alerting her of your absence.

Mina: Wear protection! ;) I get off at 2 if you need a ride home.

You laughed at your best friend’s response and began the short walk to Bakugo’s. There was a little bit of day light left so it was easy to navigate through his neighborhood.

Pretty soon you were standing in front of his building. You pressed the buzzer. Kirishima’s sing song voice sounded through the speaker. “Whooooo is it?” Clearly he knew it was you.

“Kiri let me in! I’m freaking freezing.” You whinned.

“That’s not the passworddddd.” He chided, laughing.

“Let her in dumbass.” You heard Bakugo growling in the background.

“Hey!” Kirishima cried and the door buzzed. You rode the elevator up to the third floor. You rasped on the front door. It was opened abruptly by Kirishima who rubbed the back of his head cautiously.

“Let me guess, he smacked you didn’t he?” You pondered and gave him a side hug.

“Yeah and it wasn’t very manly of him either.” He sighed and hugged you back.

“Keep it up and I’ll do it again, Shitty Hair.” Bakugo called from the kitchen. You shook your head and ruffled his hair.

Kirishima grinned and whispered in your ear, “I’m glad your here, he’s been in a mood all day.” You blushed majorly and looked down as he trailed off into the kitchen. It wasn’t a secret to your friend group what you and Bakugo were. Kirishima and Mina had walked in on you two multiple times, but it still wasn’t embarrassing.

You removed your shoes and padded into the kitchen. The aroma of deliciousness hit your nose instantly. Your stomach grumbled. “See I knew you were hungry.” Bakugo said finishing up the stir fry.

Your wrapped your arms around his waist tightly and laid your head on his back. “Shut up and feed me.” You mumbled.

“You want dinner or desert first?” He replied and rubbed your arm as he mixed up the food in the pan.

“Who said you were getting desert?”

“Please guys! Not infront of the stir fry! It’s innocent!” Kirishima groaned and shoved you two out of the way deciding it was done.

You both shot him a glare as he happily loaded his plate up with food. Bakugo fixed your plate and handed it to you. The three of you sat down on the couch in front of the tv. Kirishima put on a series he just started. You began to chatter about the show in between bites. Pretty soon you were done eating and he gave you a synopsis. Bakugo took your plates to the kitchen.

“Hold on wait, so wait. If he’s an international criminal why did he just turn himself in like that to help the agent?” You questioned, clearly enthralled by the show.

“That’s what I’m trying to figure out! There’s literally 7 seasons of this! I need answers.” Kirishima agreed.

“Bro what if that’s his like secretly his daughter? Like it makes sense why he’s so connected to her and protects her.” You said excitedly, slapping his leg.

“Dude. That actually makes hella sense.” He replied. Bakugo quietly sat down next to you and began to stroke your lower back, signaling it was time to retreat to his bedroom. You looked up at him with pleading eyes to finish the episode. He rolled his eyes and moved his hand to the back of the couch.

Pretty soon the credits rolled at the end of the episode. “I’m going to bed.” Bakugo announced and stood up.

“Ugh, lame.” Kirishima huffed. Bakugo walked into his bedroom without a word, leaving you two on the couch. You both looked at each other and shrugged.

“I’m definitely going to start watching whenever I get home. Text me about it tomorrow yeah?” You asked making your way to the room.

“For sure!” He called after you as you shut the door. You set your bag down next to the bed and sat down to check your phone. You heard the sink running and then the bathroom door opened revealing a shirtless Bakugo. Grey sweatpants hung off of his hips.

You licked your lips slightly as he turned off the lights and slinked to the bed. A candle faintly flicked in the corner, giving a slight orange glow to the room. “Damn that was like pulling teeth, Y/N” he said and laid down next to you.

“What? You weren’t interested in the show? It was good.” You replied, feeling your pulse quicken as he looked up at you through his lashes.

“I’ve been interested in something else for the past hour.” Bakugo sighed and wrapped his strong arm around your waist, pulling you towards him.

“And what would that be exactly?” You questioned and leaned back into the pillows. He quickly moved ontop of you and hovered over your lips.

“Getting inbetween your thighs.” He whispered. You sucked in a breath before his lips landed on yours. It was slow at first. Sweet closed mouth kisses turned into a passionate tongues mingling together. One of your hands began to run its way through his hair while the other traced the expanse of his bare back.

He groaned into your mouth and you pulled his hair lightly. His hand caressed up your neck until it grabbed your jaw holding you in place. Bakugo began to slowly grind against your sweet spot. Causing you to grow wetter than you already were. His freehand began to explore your body, running along your stomach and up to your bra.

Moans escaped as he began to stroke your nipple through the fabric. He lifted you up from the bed and removed your hoodie and shirt in a swift motion, throwing it somewhere off the bed. You weren’t too concerned at the moment of the location. The hand that gripped your jaw made its way down to your neck as he delicately squeezed the side of your throat.

He kissed down your neck until he made it to the area were your breast pooled ontop of your bra. He began to suck on the revealed flesh before pulling it down to free them. “You’ve got such nice tits, babygirl.” Bakugo growled and took a nipple into his mouth.

You mewled at the praise. He began to nip and suck at it, making sure to tweak and pinch the other in the same fashion. You bucked your hips to meet his, adding more friction to the equation. A few moments passed before he began trail down to the hem of your sweatpants.

Bakugo worked diligently sliding them down your legs before laying in between your thighs. You locked eyes as he started to speak, completely in a trance. “Allow me to formally apologize for canceling on you before.” You nodded slowly. He smiled devilishly and kissed your inner thighs.

The teasing was unreal. It made you so hot that you knew your panties were soaked. He planted a light kiss to your clothed clit. Using his index finger he stroked your pussy vertically with the tip. “You smell so good, Y/N. I can’t wait to taste you.” Bakugo growled. He pulled your panties to the side and slipped the finger in. You instantly clenched around him as he began to pump the tip teasingly.

You were a mess. The strokes were torchous, your mind swirled. “Look at you, grabbing my fucking finger and it’s barely even there.” You loved how vocal he was. He slowly pulled his digit out before entering it again, this time deeper inside you. Your juices cascaded down his hand.

“Shit.” Bakugo cursed and tore your underwear off. You were much too distracted to even worry about your thong being shredded. He added a second finger into the mix. He curled them up inside you, finding the spongy spot that sent you crazy.

Removing his fingers he held them up to the light, entranced by the stringy substance that coated them. “Open your mouth.” He demanded. You did as you were told, no questions asked. Bakugo inserted the two into your mouth. You swirled your tongue around and inbetween then, collecting your slick. He groaned as you sucked and bit down.

His mouth attacked your clit promptly. It was a relief you craved. There was no kitten licks about it. His tongue did figure 8’s around your cunt. You were a moaning mess, saying his name without a care in the world that Kirishima could hear you. Then he did something foreign that you never experienced before. His tongue trailed down your pussy until it found your tight, puckered hole.

You weren’t quite sure what was going on, but in the moment it didn’t matter. Bakugo had your trust completely and he knew it. He didn’t go too far though, just kissing and licking it slightly before focusing his attention back on your throbbing pussy. He plunged the two fingers into your hole again, but this time he fucked it.

The lewd sounds that came from your cunt were enough to make you blush. His free hand flew up to your pelvis and began to gently press down causing pressure. “You hear how loud your cunt is babygirl? You sound like your enjoying it.” Bakugo called. He bit down harshly on your thigh.

“Please Bakugo, please fuck me.” You begged, wrapping your leg around his shoulder.

“That’s not what you should call me Y/N. What’s my name?” He slowed down his pumps, but kept the pressure, making the pleasure the same level of intensity as before.

“Katsuki please!” You cried out. He grinned as you.

“I’m sorry Y/N, but I’m not done apologizing yet.” You threw your head back against the pillows as his mouth attacked you once more. His pace began to speed up again. You felt his fingers scissoring inside of you. Your release barreled towards you.

“I’m about to cum.” You whimpered, pushing his head closer to your cunt. His fingers pumped faster than before, hitting your g-spot every time. Your orgasm washed over you promptly as you moaned his name. Your once rigid body melted against the bed. You felt Bakugo climb up your body.

He grabbed your face and made you open your mouth. He spit the saliva and cum mixed fluid into your mouth before running his hand over your breasts again. You were putty and under his mercy.

“Still want me to fuck your brains out?” Bakugo questioned as he stroked himself through his sweats.

“Please.” You breathed out. He chuckled and stood up, removing his pants. His dick sprang free and slapped against his stomach. Precum pooled around the tip. He pulled a condom out of the drawer on the bed side table.

He noticed you staring at him, “See something you like?” Bakugo questioned as he rolled the condom onto his cock. You nodded sheepishly and spread your legs. He shook his head and then nestled inbetween your legs again as he kissed your lips sweetly. He began to rub the tip against your sensitivity, making you jump at the sensation.

“I’ll go slow this time, I promise.” Bakugo kissed your forehead and gently pressed into you, giving you inch by inch. You both hissed until he sank himself fully in your heat. “Shit, you’re always so tight for me baby.” He moaned rested his head on yours.

He began to thrust slowly allowing you to adjust to the pain. Bakugo was not small in the slightest, so you were grateful at the pace he set. He buried his head into your shoulder as profanities escaped his lips. “Fuck, Katsuki. You fill me up so good.” You moaned, scratching his back lightly.

This encouraged him to increase his speed, grinding his hips into yours until he filled you to the hilt. “You are mine. You’ll always fucking be mine Y/N.” He growled, nipping at your collarbone. The declaration made your heart soar, but it also gave you a sinking feeling in the back of your mind.

Bakugo threw your legs over his shoulders as he drilled deep into you. You felt tears prick in your eyes at the sensation as another orgasm began to build. He grasped your face, “Look me in the eyes when you cum because I know you’re close.” You nodded quickly. Tears flowed freely as your mouth hung open. The next orgasm hit you like a brick wall. You were pretty sure you screamed his name that time, but you couldn’t be too sure.

Once your body calmed down Bakugo pulled out, flipped you over onto your stomach and pulled your ass into the air. He slammed back into you. You attempted to jerk forward, but he gripped your hips tight. A loud smack landing against your ass for trying to run away.

You felt his warm saliva drip down to your puckered hole before he used his thumb to swirl it around. Unintentionally, you jerked again. He paused his actions. “You trust me right?” Bakugo panted and rubbed your cheek delicately.

“Yes, of course.” You whinned at the loss of rhythm. Another slap landed on you cheek.

“Okay, run away again,” he stated, “I’m fucking your ass.” That caused you to remain absolutely still. Granted after the experience before you didn’t mind the thought of it, but you we’re too spent for that tonight and you knew Katsuki Bakugo would make good on his promise. He began fucking you again, this time not as rough. He repeated his actions from earlier and teased your ass again before gently pressing his thumb in your tight rear.

You were grateful that you could shove your head into the pillow because the noises that came from you would have woken up the whole building. You mentally reminded yourself to apologize to Kirishima tomorrow. “Shit, I’m really fucking close babygirl.”

“Please Katsuki, please come inside of me.” You moaned, egging him on. That was all it took. His once steady, prominent strokes turned into sloppy thrusts as he filled the condom. Once he steadied, he removed himself as you collapsed. Bakugo rolled the condom off and threw it into the trash before falling in next to you.

You were both panting messes. Once you caught your breath you glanced over at him. “Apology accepted.”

“Shut up, shitty woman.” Bakugo laughed and kissed you cheek.

[kelieah]

going on dates with arvin russell

request (summary): anon: I read one of your head cannons for Arvin the other day and loved it!! Could you do one with a drive-in movie theater where they get a little steamy or another one where they go dancing maybe the reader is shy about dancing and Arvin’s all sweet about it? I just love both date ideas and so much could happen! You don’t have to do either, I know it’s vague but I’m here for just about anything:)

anon: Hey Arvin x reader fluff just going on a date

word count: 1.7k

warnings: fluff fluff luff, lil bit of suggestive content

a/n: ugh the idea of going on a date w arvin fking russell during the 50s? yes pls,, and thank you sm doll! decided to do multiple dates bc yes. also yes i decided to make this a head canon bc im too lazy / busy to write out a whole ass fic, but this is still going to be a long ass head canon so ennnjooooyy i hope ehbejsf

main masterlist | arvin russell masterlist

when you first met arvin you never thought of him as a romantic guy

but oh you were so wrong

so wrong

your first date with arvin was nothing what you’d expect to be

i mean

it’s not like you expected arvin to show up with two cans of beer and a carton of cigarettes 

but you didn’t expect him to go all out either

you remember your first date with that damn boy like it was yesterday

he showed up to your house with a bunch of flowers

you could tell he picked them out from the park or something

but it was the thought that counted and it warmed your heart

god what a sight he was

all doe-eyed

face still mean as hell though

and pretty too of course 

you liked to call him pretty boy and he called you stupid

anyway

his eyebrows were a bit furrowed and knitted together 

but the look in his eye and the small smile on his lips

enough to make any girl swoon

“hey,” he said briefly, pushing out the poor yet lovely flowers in his hands

some were fully bloomed, bright yet dull

some lopping over

some dead

even a little bit of dirt and roots hanging from the end

but you could tell he tried

he tied a bit of woven rope around it all to keep it together

before you could speak he interrupted 

“i– i know girls like flowers. but i couldn’t get you em fancy ones from the store cus. yanno. m’ sorry doll, but this is all i could get,” he held them out again and you gladly took them

“there’s no need to apologize, i love these arvin. thank you,” you smiled and leaned close towards him, kissing his cheek

his cheeks were instantly dusted with pink at your affectionate gesture

“y’ of course. my pleasure. well, uhm. if you’re ready, my car’s parked a bit down the road, cause you said your parents?” he trailed off, glancing behind you.

you nodded and giggled softly

“yea, they usually don’t like it when boys come over. but i don’t give a fuck,” you whispered the last part and sent him a wink

god he loved it when you cursed

he found it kinda hot he told you

he flushed and looked away, chuckling 

“well alright, do you want me to wait in my car?” he stuffed his hands in his pockets, looking back at you

“yep, i’ll be out ina jiffy,” you said, about to turn the other way and put the flowers in a vase

“wait,” he coughed while taking a step forward

“yeah, arvin?” you turned back towards him

“you look real pretty,” he complimented you

it was then your turn to blush

“why thank—” before you said anything he turned around and walked off to your car

you always found him such an interesting fella

you giggled to yourself and retreated back into your home

he first took you on a long drive

which honestly scared you a bit

“you sure you’re not taking me somewhere to kill me?” you muttered and looked around

nothing but trees and road was in sight 

“i think,” he replied blankly, one hand on the wheel while the other was on his thigh casually

you blushed at the sight

you weren’t sure why you found it attractive

but you sure did

“how reassuring,” you teased, catching a smirk beginning to curl at the end of his lips

he eventually found a spot and parked on to a hill, that looked over knockemstiff

the sun was setting and the town was dark

it looked absolutely beautiful

he got out of the car and soon opened your door, holding out his hand

you jokingly froze and looked at him suspiciously

“you sure y’ not gonna kill—”

before you could finish your sentence he pulled your arm towards him, holding you close

you let out a squeal and looked at him with a flushed expression

“no, i’d never. you hear me dumb one?” he cupped the side of your face

you blushed and nodded into his touch

“m’ only teasing. jeez.”

he chuckled and pulled you carefully toward the front of his car

“gimme a minute,” he walked off towards the back of his car

you smiled and leaned against his car, looking out at the stunning scenery in front of you

soon arvin came out with a picnic basket

he’d hear you before the both of you went on a date that you loved picnics

so of course, he had to take you on a picnic

it was so sweet

a basket full of sandwiches, pop, and some cheap snacks he managed to buy

with change, he scrounged all over his room, place, and car

the both of you shared your first kiss that night

“i’d genuinely never met a girl like you,” he murmured, looking down at you as lied across his lap

“well i sure as hell never met a boy like you,” you whispered and looked back up at him

you both leaned closer and closer towards each other’s faces

and then pure

bliss

your lips fit perfectly on his

his floppy hair that was surprisingly not hidden underneath a cap fell onto your face

he held your face so gently and you held onto his shirt like you were going to fall 

you both kissed the night away

he’d never put so much effort into dates before

most of his past dates were sexual, but he didn’t tell you that until later

the more dates you two had, the better they got

now this one date you took him on

you don’t know how you did it

but you managed to get the poor boy to go rollerskating with you

and lord

was it a great laugh for you

as soon as the two of you rolled out into the arena

arvin was wobbling all of the place

you had multiple fits of giggles and laugh

“how the hell!” he grunted and continuously slipped

eventually having to hold onto the railing

“honey, you just glide y’ feet,” you snickered and held his hand

“yeah no shit. it’s like m’ a goddamn baby again learning how to fucking walk,” he muttered frustratingly underneath his breath

“awe you poor poor baby,” you teased and squeezed his hand. “just watch me lover, look at me feet. move with me, ready?” 

he nodded and stared at you closely

you began to move your feet slowly, watching him as he watched you

“yes! see you’re getting there, slowly. yep. wow arvin, didn’t think ya had it in y—”

course

before you could even finish your praise

he let out a loud yelp while slipping, bringing you down in the process

you landed on his chest

he let out a grunt, holding you up before you could hurt yourself more

you both looked at each other in disbelief and burst out in laughter

it was moments like these where the both of you truly enjoyed each other’s presence

some dates were steamier than the other

the two of you were supposed to be watching the movie

while in his car and snacking

but of course y’all couldn’t keep your hands of each of other

his hand was already up your skirt 

caressing your skin

while your tongues pressed against each other

your hand tangled in his hair

you felt his finger brush against your lower area and you gasped in response

yeah you and arvin had made out before

but it’s never gotten farther than that

so lil touches like that surprised you

“oh m’ sorry baby doll. did you not like that?” he pulled his hand away immediately

he cupped your face with his other hand and looked at you with pure concern

you blushed and shook your head 

“no i liked it. i’m just scared, but you can continue. please?” you leaned into his touch

“okay, i got you,” he smirked slightly and pushed his hand back under your skirt

let’s just say

you saw fireworks for the first time that night

and not any typical fireworks

as the weeks went on

you and arvin were inseparable 

everyday was a date and the both of you couldn’t be happier

one day he really surprised you

he got you and him tickets to some dinner and dance

“ain’t no way, you, arvin russell got these,” you looked down at the tickets in your hand

“gee thanks darlin’, but yes. i did get these, for us,” he stuffed his hands in pockets and looked down at the ground sheepishly

you let out a loud squeal that scared the hell out of him

you jumped into his arms and crushed his bones while hugging him

he laughed softly and held you up, spinning you around

honestly, you thought the two of you would just go for the food

for some reason you didn’t think he’d like the dancing

but oh were you wrong

again

“c’ mon beautiful,” he begged and dragged your hand toward the dance floor

“i don’t know about dancing baby, you know me,” you whined and hesitantly followed

“oh yes i do know you y/n. and i know i got you tied around my finger. so you know damn well you’re going to dance with me right now,” he said lowly underneath his breath, leaning close toward your face

his hot breath fanning your skin and sending chills throughout your face

cocky motherfucker

you huffed and glared up at him, “yea i know, i know.”

“okay perfect, follow my lead gorgeous,” he placed his hands around your hips while he brought your arms to snake around his neck

“n-now what?” you said awkwardly, your body still a bit stiff

usually he’d hate to do this in such a crowd but since you were there with him

he felt like it was just you and him

all alone

that’s always how you made him felt 

like it was you and him against the world

“i got you. alright? just move with me, it’s just you and me. don’t focus on nobody but us,” he murmured softly and began to sway

you smiled timidly and swayed along with him

you kept your eyes on your shoes, afraid to step on him

“don’t worry about that, just look at me angel,” he reassured

you sighed and looked back up at him, “mk. since when did you dance?”

“mama taught me when i was a kid, she’d dance with me,” he confessed sheepishly

your eyes softened 

“i love you,” you nuzzled your nose against his

his heart hammered in his chest at those three goddamn words

“shit,” he mumbled as his cheeks burned red

“w- what?” you said a bit panicked, about to pull back

he pulled your body closer and embraced you while pressing his lips against yours

you complied and kissed him back, smiling against his lips

he moved back and placed his forehead against yours, “i love you a lot more, flower.”

and right then and there

you just knew you were the luckiest girl in the world

to be able to be with someone like him

to be able to go on dates like these with arvin russell

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