#(i haven't started season 3 yet so i'm not sure about this)

[mikimeiko]

Miracle Workers | Season 2 (2020), Simon Rich

[il-miele-che-scrive]

Lando Norris and [Y/n] Wolff are an on-and-off thing, fans think they're all good after [Y/n] releases a song supposedly about Lando, but they forget he's not the only Brit on the grid.

username1 HE LAUGHS AT ALL MY JOKES

↳username2 AND HE SAYS I'M SO AMERICAN

username3 sorry but in which part is y/n american?

↳username1 her mother, Y/m/n Y/l/n, is American and Y/n spent most of her life in the US after Y/m/n and Toto divorced

username3 oooh good to know, thank you!!

username4 I'm so happy to know Y/n and Lando are still together after all

↳username5 But they were never official

username4 But it's obvious! They were seen on dates many times, hanging out around Monaco, not to mention every time Y/n is in the paddock she spends more time in the McLaren garage than Mercedes'

username6 my fav nepo baby <3

username7 damn Lando must be doing a good job lol

username8 Y/n finally released a love song, everybody thank Lando

username9 Weren't there rumours about them being over forever just during the winter break?

↳username10 Toto would find a way to get Lando kicked out of F1 if he ever broke Y/n's heart lmao

username9 What does Toto gotta do with McLaren?

username10 He's rich? Lol

username9 And? Stroll's daddy is rich as well yet he can't make idk Verstappen disappear lol rich doesn't mean he can do anything he wants

username11 Guys I have a bad feeling, we actually haven't seen them together in a long time , I'm afraid they might be actually broken up for good

↳username6 I wouldn't read too much into it, Y/n studies in Monaco so she isn't able to attend races right now

username11 You sure? Y/n hasn't made a single appearance since the season started

username6 The season started in the middle of her uni year lol you ever thought of that?

↳username7 this is literally a love song, how are we even wondering if they broke up? she wouldn't release this if they were done

username6 THIS!! I feel like this song is a confirmation from Y/n that all is good, maybe she was tired of people talking if they're broken up or not

username5 Then why don't they make it official?

username6 that's not a question i can answer

username12 "I'll go anywhere he goes" then why aren't you attending races miss girl? Education can wait

↳username2 lmao it literally can't wait

username13 "the books you read" ma'am, Lando looks like he hasn't touched a single book his whole life

↳username12 And it's not like he dresses that well either, his style is nothing special

· · ────── ·𖥸· ────── · ·

y/n's texts with Lando

· · ────── ·𖥸· ────── · ·

username1 All men are the same I swear

↳username2 nooo I swear there are good ones, but that's just not Lando

username3 excuse me sir, y/n has just written a love song about you

username4 NOOOO THE WAY HE PUT HIS HAND ON THE GIRL'S LOWER BACK

↳username1 Him and Y/n are done frfr 😭

username5 Do we know who the girl is?

↳f1gossip Not yet, but I'm sure we'll know in no time

username6 Wtf is wrong with you, it's not her fault Lando can't focus on one woman

username7 But there's no way she didn't know about him and Y/n ;)

username6 There is/was no "Lando and Y/n", they never confirmed a relationship

username8 He's just won in Miami, I was hoping they'd make it official after that :(

↳username9 Sameeee it would be so cool

↳username10 Literally same, it'd be perfect

username11 Lando Norris, you disappoint me again

↳username12 at this point Y/n must be used to that lmao poor girl I hope she finds someone better

username13 WHAT DOES TOTO SAY ABOUT IT?

↳username3 Whats he supposed to say? Y/n is a grown woman, stop treating her like a baby

username14 I swear if we see Y/n back again with him after THIS I'm gonna break some dishes

↳username15 Yeah I hope she'll find some self respect and finally leave his ass

username16 Y/n I beg you to leave him, the d can't be THAT fire

yn_wolff posted on instastory

landonorris replied to your story:

↳mind if i join?

yn_wolff:

yeah lol don't join

landonorris:

i was gonna sail today anyway, what if we do it together?

hey i think i see u thru my window who are u with?

yn_wolff:

with dad and susie

stalker ass creep don't get anywhere near me today

landonorris:

I see another man

who is he?

*seen*

y/n answer me who is he

is that russell?

fucking russell wtf is he doing there

he better keep his hands away from you

what the fuck why are u hugging him

yn_wolff:

i'm hugging george and I'll do something worse if you don't stop with ur stalker shit

landonorris:

what the fuck do you mean y/n

yn_wolff:

don't worry, I'm sure that blonde girl would love to give you a hug, you should go see her

landonorris:

she's just a friend

y/n you're mine

she doesn't mean shit to me

don't show my texts to russell

yn_wolff:

Hello it's George, stop texting my girlfriend or we'll have to tell Toto

landonorris:

girlfriend?

username1 Right after? The Lando thing was yesterday

↳f1gossip Yeah, and this was this morning

username2 Whats Y/n doin with George? 🤨

↳username3 in case you forgot she's y/n WOLFF, the daughter of Mercedes' boss which GR drives for

username4 After seeing Y/n's story I hoped she's finally spending some time with Lando but...

↳username5 Have u seen what Lando posted? 😂

username4 What did he post?

username5 Oh apparently he deleted it already lol it was a story

username5 Anyway he posted like a lowkey thirst trap pic and the music he added was Tumblr girls by g eazy lmao

username4 Boohoo consequences of his own actions catching up

username5 Yeahh and he especially chose the verse that goes like "fucking off and on, always stop and go, probably got someone, choose not to know"

username6 Guys, I say we take in consideration the possibility of 'so american' being about George

landonorris Monaco weekend 🇲🇨☀

view all comments

username1 Why do I feel like he posted this just so people think Y/n was there with him even though there's not a single pic of her? 😂

↳username2 Bro why he want her when he can't have her anymore?

username3 get over it, it's your fault

username4 I feel like he's tryna say "Hey guys look, Y/n took these pics" but why would we believe it 💀

↳username1 Exactly!! We all KNOW she most likely spent the day with George

username5 Now all i think about when i see Lando is the story he deleted 😭

↳username6 totally hahah he literally called Y/n a bitch but also admitted that he can't help wanting other girls

username7 Wait when did this happen? When did he say that?

username6 he never said that, it's lyrics of a song he posted but quickly deleted

username5 He immediately regretted hahah

username8 @/maxfewtrell Tell Lando to behave, why are you even helping him with this bullshit?

username9 It's too late, you had your chance FOR HALF A YEAR and still chose to lead Y/n on, now she got someone else and you're being petty

↳username10 She let him lead her on for half a year? Damn it he should pay for her therapy

username9 I feel like she really hoped she can change him but realized "if you can't change the man, change the man"

username10 Very accurate lmao

username11 Guys, I believe Y/n and Lando were a thing for much more time than half a year, it was going on for at least a year, they were just very secretive about it

username9 Well, good for her to finally get out of this shit, she deserves so much better and I hope George will give her that

username1 I bet Toto loves his new son in law

↳username2 He has to be very relieved to know Y/n chose George eventually

username3 We still don't know if they're dating, remember George drives for Mercedes

username4 I really hope Lando is crying rn

username5 Now Lando for sure can't trick us into thinking Y/n was with him lmao

username6 I love George for saving Y/n

username7 I love them, they're all so old money, Y/n and George are a great match

username8 MY DELULU IS BECOMING TRULULU

username9 This is our confirmation that so american is about George

username10 I feel like Y/n upgraded at some point but at one point also downgraded

↳username2 Let's not talk about it, we should be happy for her and George, at least he won't treat her like an option

username11 George is literally THE MAN for Y/n, I'm so glad she finally realized that

↳username12 Chill, let's not assume stuff before we have any statement from them, we all know where assuming can get us

username13 This is my old money dream

username14 HEAR ME OUT but I'd actually love to see George and Y/n get married one day

↳username12 THIS is exactly where assuming can get us

yn_wolff Oh you'll like him, he's really kind andhe's funny like you sometimes, and I found someone I really like maybe for the first time

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username1 I'm so happy for them I'm gonna cry

lewishamilton Invite me next time!

↳georgerussell63 Toto said it was family only, I'm sorry, Lewis!

↳yn_wolff Ask Ferrari to invite you wtf

username1 lmao only Y/n Wolff can talk to a 7 times world champion like that

username2 YESSSS IT'S OFFICIAL

↳username1 Y/n is officially free from Lando!!

username3 I love the vibes, I love the fact that Y/n is dating a driver from her dad's team, I love the fact that Toto accepts it

↳username4 He must've been going CRAZY when Y/n had the situationship with Lando

username3 Absolutely and I think we all know about Toto's anger issues lol

susie_wolff 💝

↳yn_wolff 🩷

ymn_yln I hope George knows he's welcome in America too 😊

↳yn_wolff Of course!! We have a plane on Friday❤️

↳georgerussell63 I wanted to take Y/n to Miami so we can visit after the GP, but she refused 😔

yn_wolff Shut up I have uni!!

georgerussell63 It can't be more important than me meeting your mum

lilymhe Beautiful couple 😚

↳yn_wolff @/susie_wolff it's about you and dad💕

lilymhe Might as well be 😂

username3 Susie and Toto literally are Y/n and George in like 20 years lmao

alex_albon Finally, no more secrets

↳username2 ALBONO KNEW?

username4 Phew I can't imagine how much stress it was for him 😂

username5 George just MIGHT be the guy which so american is about...

username6 Something about this relationship makes me feel so at peace and I don't even know them in person

charles_leclerc Someone check on Lando😂

↳yn_wolff Charles 💀

username5 Is he wrong tho

username7 I laughed harder than I should've

↳username8 Betting all my money he's regretting all his actions

username9 As he should tbh imagine leading sb on for about a year, people who do this are evil

username8 Yeah, that was so wrong of him

username10 No but I need to know what books George reads tho

landonorris 👍

↳yn_wolff Stalker ass you don't even follow me

↳username4 THE AUDACITY

landonorris I hope you'll have fun while it lasts

↳yn_wolff YOU'RE the one to speak about lasting

↳georgerussell63 Not your place to worry about it🙂

username5 THE EMOJI MAKES IT SO FUNNY FOR NO REASON

username1 "THE WAY YOU DRESS, THE BOOKS YOU READ" he dresses well✅ he looks like he reads✅

username2 He's the perfect man for Y/n frfr

username3 I'm so happy that it's not about Lando after all, I was like girl he's treating you like shit and you write a love song??

username4 I've been waiting for it for YEARS

username5 So they had a thing for no longer than since the end of winter break and already made it official

↳username2 Something Lando couldn't do for almost a whole ass year lmao

username6 But have y'all noticed how obsessed with Y/n Lando is suddenly?

↳username1 of course he is, that's how it works, he's been rejected so his fragile ego is hurt

username3 He's even liking fans' edits of Y/n😭man is manifesting hard but I doubt anything can help him

username7 Good to know George's hands are warmer than hell, they don't look like it

username8 Girlie deserved a man who doesn't have commitment issues aka is a real man, I'm glad she got him

username9 Y'all think Lando reads Y/n x reader fanfics?👀

↳username1 Totally

↳username2 I can imagine it

↳username3 He'll do it until his delulu becomes trululu (it'll never happen🔥)

username10 I'll laugh so hard if now Lando will now stop fooling around with other girls 😂

username11 Can't wait for a whole album full of love songs about him

↳username12 I don't think we'll have to wait for long

[lincolndjarin]

Not So Secret Santa

javier peña x fem!reader

this is a part of the @pedrostories gift exchange!!

summary : you get the only person you didn't want for your offices secret santa.

warnings/tags : 18+ mdni, enemies/friends to lovers, canon divergence, steve is your boss/close friend, reader and javier have a complicated relationship, reader is insecure, brief mentions of alcohol, porn with plot, smut, light angst, javier and reader fight physically but it's very light with no actual injury, masturbation, semi-public sex, p in v, idk how to properly tag this but javi likes boobs in this so he touches boobs, unprotected sex (don't do this, wrap it this holiday season), use of a makeshift gag, rough yet very loving sex because it's christmas and christmas magic means i can write what i want.

tldr : you and javi have sex in his office and you put his tie in his mouth to shut him up.

word count : 4.4k

✦ : merry christmas @taro-666 !!! i'm your secret santa !!! i hope you're well this holiday season and i hope you enjoy this fic !! i haven't written much peña, despite how much i love him so i hope i did him justice and i hope you have a wonderful holiday <3 <3 (also sorry this is a little late (20 minuetes left before midnight so we're good). i was out with family all day and was only just now able to get to my laptop, i promise i didn't forget about you lmao)

no use of y/n, reader has hair and painted nails & javier sort of half picks her up at one point, nothing else is described besides clothing.

lovely dividers by @saradika-graphics

“Please, Steve, I’ll give you a week's pay.” You lean across his desk, genuine desperation in your voice after an hour of begging. 

“Not gonna happen.” He doesn’t even bother looking up from his computer.

“A month.” Your voice is starting to pitch up, something similar to anguish in your tone. Your offer finally gets a reaction out of him as his eyes widen, head tilting up.  

“Jesus, you can’t be serious.” He’s examining your expression, trying to determine the sincerity of your claim. 

“My entire Christmas bonus.” 

“Okay, stop.” He sighs, giving you a sympathetic look. “We’re not allowed to switch.”

“When did you become such a stickler for the rules?” You cross your arms in front of your chest. 

“It’s just a secret Santa. He’s our friend, whether you like it or not, you two are close and this shouldn’t be this big of a deal, now go, please, I need to finish up here so I can leave at a reasonable hour.” He loosens his tie as you sigh. 

“It’s not just a secret Santa, Steve. It’s an opportunity for him to tell me that I once again didn’t do something right. No matter what I get him, it isn’t going to be good enough.” Even as you’re saying it you can see that he isn’t going to change his mind about this. 

“He’s a dick to everybody. That’s inevitable, it just means he’s comfortable with you.” He’s already turning back to his work. 

“Please, Steve.” 

“No.”

You glare down at him, giving him your angriest look as his gaze tilts back up to meet yours. 

When it’s clear that he isn’t going to switch you turn and leave, slamming his office door in the process. 

“Don’t forget, I need you here early to help set up for the party!” His muffled voice seeps out into the hall as you walk away. 

Once you’re out in your car and far away from prying eyes you unfold the damned slip of paper you’d drawn earlier today. 

Javier P. 

Of course, you got stuck with fucking Peña, a nickname you’d given him a few months ago. He absolutely hates it but the entire time you’ve worked for the DEA he’s gone out of his way to bother you. Sure, he’s your “friend”, in a strange, complicated way. But he still drives you up the wall with his constant need to one up you and the way he’s constantly making passes at women around the office. 

And it’s not like you have any problems with him sleeping around, lord knows you’ve had a fair amount of one night stands, but he just has to hit on every woman you work with. 

Every single woman, except you. 

You’d never admit it of course but a part of you will always be self conscious about that fact. It doesn’t help that Javier absolutely adores bothering you at every possible moment. He loves nothing more than to pester, annoy, and mock you, spending nearly half his day leaning over your desk despite the million complaints you’ve sent Steve about his persistent partner. 

He’ll sit on your desk, doing an endless amount of things to cause you distress. Like crowding you with his cigarette smell and vanilla cologne as he tells you you’re filling papers wrong, or telling you what colors to paint your nails, or solving your cases before you can even get to them, or teasing you about your shitty car. Today he wouldn’t stop bothering you about your weekend plans like he doesn’t already know exactly where you’ll be. 

“Are you doing anything this weekend?” He’d asked with that devastating smirk and eyebrow raise combo. 

“I have to go buy my secret Santa gift, just like everyone else.” You’d turned away, avoiding eye contact as he scoffed. 

“What about Saturday?” He continued to pry, you wanted nothing more than to shove his perfect ass off your desk. 

“The Christmas party, Javi. Just like everyone else.” You had sighed, squeezing the bridge of your nose as Emilia had walked past your desk. Javier immediately forgot your entire conversation as he turned to her. 

“I love your nails.” He’d pushed his hair out of his face, holding his hand out to take hers, getting a closer look at the well manicured designs. 

You had tuned out after that. Not wanting to be involved in the exchange as you went back to typing. Acutely aware of your own nails. 

Red chipped paint. 

You couldn’t help but wonder what it must be like to be the object of his affection.

It wouldn’t matter if he did hit on you, you would probably reject him anyway. 

Probably. 

It doesn’t matter, it’s never gonna happen so why let it bother you? 

With a sigh you toss the paper into your cup holder, reaching to turn on the radio, maybe some Christmas music will make you feel better. Of course nothing happens as you turn up the volume knob but it makes you want to scream regardless. 

Stupid fucking Peña. 

Stupid broken radio, stupid shitty car. 

“Fuck.” You mumble under your breath as you shift into drive.

Before you know it you’re back in your car in the DEA office parking lot, this time a few things are different though. 

You’re dressed nicer, trading your slacks in for a skirt and your dress shirt for a sweater. And of course you now have a small wrapped box in your lap. 

Since you had yesterday off for the holiday you spent your Friday at the mall, searching for a gift for Javier. Eventually you had settled on three little things; Nicotine gum, mostly because you’ll get more work done if he isn’t constantly dragging you outside for his smoke breaks. He complains too much about going alone and it’s always been easier not to argue, now he can stay at your desk with his gum. Beard oil, the fancy stuff he always insists on using in his mustache. You’d bought him the wrong kind last year for his birthday and you still haven’t heard the end of it. And a lighter, you had to beg the shop owner to make an exception and do a same day engraving of his birthday. 

Jesus. 

You know way too much about him. 

You arrived two hours early as requested by Steve to help him set up. With the wrapped box tucked under your arm you anxiously tap the patterned wrapping paper with your freshly manicured nails. 

“You should paint your nails green, I love green.” He had said through a drag of his cigarette. 

Why did you let that idiot's opinions influence this decision? You feel foolish. The green chrome polish shimmering in the street lights in the parking lot as you step into the building. You had extra time while you were waiting for the engraving and you just couldn’t help yourself when the salon was just a few stores away. The image of Javier holding your hand and examining your painted nails while telling you how nice they looked was just too tempting. Maybe he’d even ask if you did it just for him, and you could drag him into a closet at the party, the exact situation you watched unfold last year. Except in that scenario you weren’t the lucky lady he’d run off with that night. 

There’s no time to be thinking like that.

You shake off whatever filth you were imagining as you look around the hectic mess of garland and glitter.

Steve is already stressing, setting up tables as you set your gift under the tree before getting to work. The office is already mostly decorated but with his new position as supervisor Steve is insistent that everything be perfect his first Christmas in charge. So you plate food, and you mix drinks exactly as he wants them, and you hold the ladder steady when he insists on putting more lights up. When you’ve got about a half an hour before guests start arriving you’re finishing up and last minute touches, the two of you crowded around a drink tower. 

The tension from your conversation yesterday seems to have fizzled out as you become engrossed in your work, when you’ve both finished he gives you an appreciative look.

“Thank you, seriously, it means a lot.” You help him adjust his tie as he straightens out his shirt. 

“Anytime, although I’m surprised you didn’t just ask Javier.” You pat his shoulder as you finish, brushing a stray blonde hair out of his eyes. 

He laughs, a nervous chuckle that makes you raise an eyebrow but when you open your mouth to comment on it he lets out a relieved sigh as the first of your coworkers arrive.

More people show up than you could have expected. 

You stay near Steve for most of the beginning until he gets dragged away by one of the higher ups who had made an appearance, leaving you alone to sip your drink against the back wall. You hum along to a Christmas song that plays loud enough to drown out any conversation you might eavesdrop on to entertain yourself in his absence, your eyes scan the crowds as you try to match up the people you work with with their spouses. 

You’re getting ready to find another group to talk to when you catch a glimpse of him standing against the opposite wall, talking to Bonnie, the woman who works in the cubicle next to yours. 

Fucking Peña. Dressed in a stupidly tight green dress shirt. 

You should leave them alone, especially if he’s trying to make a move on her. But you can’t help it as you make your way around the room towards them, a vague sense of jealousy settling in your stomach. 

String lights twinkle across the ceiling of the office, creating a warm ambience throughout the space, just as you’re about to tap him on the shoulder you overhear their conversation. 

“I had to beg Steve to switch with me, took an hour of convincing and a week's paycheck but it’ll be worth it to see the look on her face.” His back is to you as he leans in closer to Bonnie. 

He’s probably talking about one of the other women from the office. Steve probably had someone Javier was trying to impress and that’s why Steve didn’t want to trade with you, he had already promised his pick to Javier. 

Whatever, you can’t be too bothered about that. It does make you want to return to your spot on the other side of the room but you don’t get the chance to as the music is turned down rather suddenly.

One of the secretaries, Benjamin, stands on a chair, making an announcement that it’s time to do the secret Santa. You manage to twist through the crowds so Javier never sees you, finding his gift and bringing it to where he now stands, simultaneously keeping an eye out for your own gift.  

You hand him the box, watching the way his face lights up. 

“You picked me?” He grins as you nod, carefully peeling back the wrapping paper as you feel a tap on your shoulder. Benjamin waits behind you, leaning in to whisper while you watch Javier open his gift. 

“It was short notice so we didn’t have time to get you a back up gift but your secret Santa told us at the last minute that he forgot to get you something, he promised to bring in something after New Years, I’m so sorry.” You feel a little disappointed as he murmurs but it isn’t that big of a deal, it’s a busy time of year and people can forget things. 

“No worries, do you know who it was? I’d like to at least tell them it’s fine.” You turn away from Javier as he smiles at the nicotine gum, Benjamin's eyes flicker from your face to Javier’s before he gives you a sympathetic look, walking away. 

Javier traded for your name? 

As your head tilts to look at him now you can see the smirk he’s now sporting. 

“ …but it’ll be worth it to see the look on her face.”

Javier had made a conscious effort to get your name just so he could not get you something.

Huh.

That doesn’t feel great. The look he gets to see on your face is betrayal and then just sadness. You don’t really care what the reason for his decision is, you turn and walk away from him regardless. If he tries to say something to you it’s drowned out by the music that starts once again. 

Why are you so upset over some stupid joke? If it had been anyone else you wouldn’t have cared, you’d have brushed it off as a harmless accident but this wasn’t an accident. 

Maybe he didn’t really think of you as a friend. 

Maybe all of the teasing and one-upmanship really was from a place of animosity and you were just too blind and too infatuated to see it. You want to cry but you don’t want to give him the satisfaction so you sift through the bowl of keys, searching for the Star Wars keychain attached to your lanyard but you can’t find it. The combination of the blaring Christmas songs with the frustration you’re currently feeling only makes you more emotional.  

You don’t want to go to the bathrooms where you might run into someone and you can’t go to Steve’s office because he might be talking to his supervisor, so you go to the only place you know there won’t be people. 

Javier’s office. 

You walk as quickly as you can, slipping inside as you slam the door shut behind you, clicking the lock in place before turning around, resting against the door as you feel tears spilling from your eyes. It isn’t until he clears his throat that your head snaps up.

Today is just not your day.

Did he know you’d come here? How the hell did he beat you here? He’s fidgeting with the lighter you bought him, watching it light and go out as he sits with your keys in his other hand. 

Your face feels hot as you take in the sight of him. 

“Give me my keys.” You hold your hand out, wiping your eyes with the other as you wait. Of course he doesn’t hand them over, that would be too easy and today is insisting on being difficult. 

“I really liked your gift. Seriously, this is… outrageously thoughtful.” He murmurs, seemingly unaware of your mood until he takes a closer look at you, his expression shifting as he realizes your eyes are rimmed with red. “Why are you so upset? What happened?” He slides open a drawer, tossing your keys into his desk while you consider calling a cab. 

What a foolish question. 

How could he possibly not know?

“I want to leave, I’m sick of this party.” You turn to leave, maybe Steve can drive you home. 

“Come on, the parties barely started.” He’s on his feet, he doesn’t try to corner you, if anything he sets himself against the wall. 

“And I want to leave.” When you reach for the doorknob he grabs your wrist, holding it as he stares at you, a look of impatience crosses his face. 

“Don’t tell me you’re mad about the secret Santa.” His brows furrow. 

“This isn’t about a stupid secret Santa.”

“It sure seems like it is.” He’s still holding your wrist, why is he still holding your wrist?  

This isn’t about the secret Santa. It’s a lot more than that, and after ages of keeping your thoughts to yourself in front of him you just let it out. 

“This is about the fact that you don’t even care about me enough to make any sort of effort. I know you deliberately chose me, you specifically chose to do this to me and I don’t care that it’s just a stupid prank. It still- It’s still a shitty thing to do.” Your voice starts cracking half way through and you can feel your eyes welling up again but it doesn’t matter anymore, you were wrong, the two of you aren’t friends. 

“So this is about the secret Santa.” 

Of course he wouldn’t get it. 

“You’re an idiot.” You finally pull your wrist from him. 

You aren’t sure what else to do so you shove him, his back hitting the wall with a soft thud as you push past him to get to his desk, hoping to grab your keys but he catches your waist first. 

“Can you stop being so stubborn for five seconds and just let me explain myself?” You can tell his patience is wearing thin, his voice is strained as he pulls you back against him, caging you against his chest with his arms. 

“Fuck Javi- let me go-” You try to kick his knees but he anticipates it, shifting his legs to avoid you.

“Just wait- listen to me.” He swings you around a bit as he tries to still you, you can feel his breath hitching, the buttons of his shirt digging into your back. The two of you thrash around for another moment until you freeze, feeling something poking your hip. When he realizes why you stopped putting up a fight he lets you go in an instant. “Shit- I-I’m sorry.” He stammers as you turn around towards him, eyes wide. 

You never thought you’d see Javier Peña flustered yet here he is. When you take a step back his cheeks are burning red, his fingers twitch nervously at his side, and as much as you try to ignore it, his pants are tighter than usual. (And considering how tight they usually are this is quite a feat.) He won’t look you in the eye. 

“It- It’s fine, Javi.” You adjust the hem of your skirt, trying to fix your hair. You just can’t catch a break today. “It was an accident, there was a lot of- of friction and it happens. I think I should just go.” You stutter a bit trying to find the right words. This entire evening has been catastrophic, and you’re more than ready to call it a night. 

“It’s not an accident.” He mumbles, finally looking at you, not bothering with subtlety as he adjusts himself. “You should probably go.” 

If it’s not an accident you don’t want to go. 

You want to stay and keep making accidents, starting with rushing forward into him, taking his face in your hands and kissing him. Which is exactly what you do. At first he doesn’t react and you worry you read the situation wrong but when you pull away, just an inch, his hands envelop you. 

Hips, waist, back, shoulders, hair. He’s everywhere, all consuming as his teeth graze your lips, in an instant your backside hits his desk.

When he finally does remove his lips from yours his are slick and a tiny bit swollen, his pupils swallow his irises whole. 

“I loved your gift, I wasn’t joking, it’s perfect and the last thing I want is for you to think that I don’t care about you. Of course we’re friends, you-” As he rambles on you ball up the end of his tie, unceremoniously shoving it between his teeth. 

“Talk later, this now.” You grab the bottom of your sweater, pulling it up over your head, watching his jaw tense at the sight of your chest, his hands playing with the strap of your bra as you hop up onto his desk. Hiking your skirt up, he slots himself between your legs, your own fingers push your panties to the side as he reaches behind you, easily twisting the clasp of your bra to release it, tossing it to the side as his enormous palms engulf your breasts. 

You dip your fingers into the wetness between your legs, briefly taking a moment to wonder how you found yourself here. Just moments ago you were ready to leave and consider your friendship with Javier over, yet now you’re spread out on his desk, on display for him as you sink your fingers into your eager cunt. 

You don’t get to linger on the thought for long because he groans into the fabric of his tie and you’re pulled back into the moment. 

Jesus you’re soaked. 

You have no trouble pushing two slick digits into yourself. You can feel the outline of him against your thigh and you know that you need to warm yourself up to take him. He’s too engrossed in your tits to do it right now and you’ve waited too long for this, you don’t want to wait, you just want to have him. 

He’s tender at first, squeezing and softly tracing the outline of your areola until he seemingly can’t control himself any longer and he pinches, rolling your nipples between his thumb and pointer finger as your whine. Back arching of the oak of his desk as you curl your own fingers. Even through the tie his moans are still somehow louder than yours, you’re briefly worried about someone hearing as you let out a whimper while he tweaks your nipple but the music’s so loud at the party you can hear Mariah Carey from here. 

You don’t stop for a second, putting your focus on reaching the peak that you find yourself already getting startlingly close to. You can feel yourself pulsing as you pick up the pace, reveling in the way his eyes devour the very sight of you. You’re agonizingly close when he grabs your wrist, removing your fingers carefully as you try and resist, wanting to finish what you started, you’re about to whine when he begins unzipping his pants. You can feel your pussy clenching at the very sight of him, of course he isn’t wearing any underwear under his dress pants so the second his zipper is fully down his cock springs free.

Javier fucking Peña has a gorgeous cock. 

Standing stiff and proud without either one of you even having to touch it. Pretty and pink on the tip, already leaking down the shaft. And heavy, as he takes it in his hand, his other hand gripping your waist as lines himself at your entrance. He takes a moment, eyes scanning your face, silently asking for permission. 

You can’t nod fast enough but the second that you do he slides into you. 

You could never conjure up something this good in your fantasies. The way he fills you, stretching you open as he whimpers into the fabric of his tie, you like that he listened, that he kept it in his mouth this long. His strokes are needy and fast, like he’s been waiting for this for so long and now he can’t help but be ravenous. You were already painfully close before he filled you with his perfect cock, it takes only a few minutes for you to be right back there. His fingers dig into your waist so hard that you’re certain he’ll leave marks as he slams in and out of you, pulling out almost entirely with every thrust. 

You’re vaguely aware of the sound of his trinkets rolling off his desk and onto the floor. 

“Javi, Javi, Javi.” Between gasps you chant his name, the sound encouraging him as he pushes in deep, his pelvis grinding against your clit until you see stars. Your cunt clenching around him as your orgasm is ripped out of you. Messy and loud and blurry, he fucks you through it. You’re so blissed out you can barely focus on the persistent pounding into you until you manage to come back to your senses and his hands leave your waist, instead intertwining with your fingers as his hips twitch forward and you feel him hastily pull out of you.

He spits his tie out, opting to instead bite your shoulder as he comes, the groan that leaves his throat is obscene. Raspy and filthy as he collapses down on top of you, the two of you sweating and gasping amongst the paperwork and pens now scattered across his desk. 

Did that really just happen?

He manages to collect himself first, leaning back and tucking himself into his pants before quickly tending to you. He grabs a few tissues, wiping your stomach where the product of your activities lay, before redressing you, slipping the flats that had slipped off, back onto your feet, pulling your skirt back down to cover you as he slides your panties back into place, and retrieving your bra and sweater, lifting you into a sitting position as he redresses you, kissing your cheeks, nose, and forehead the entire time. 

“All good?” He whispers, gentler than you’ve ever heard him as you nod, grinning. 

“Good enough to make me forgive you for not getting me a present.” You reach into his drawer, grabbing your keys before sliding off of his desk. 

“Maybe this was your present.” He tilts his head, kissing you again, smiling all the while. 

“That was the perfect gift then.” Probably the best you’ve ever gotten.

“Are you gonna stay for the rest of the party?” He takes your hands in his, his thumbs absentmindedly rubbing circles into your skin. 

“I think I need to go to bed after that.” You laugh as you jingle your keys, turning towards the door as he catches your lips in another kiss. 

It makes your heart flutter. The continued affection makes you think this isn’t a one time thing. You want more. You want conversations about feelings, and to talk about what just happened, you want to feel him inside you again, and the look in his eyes tells you that you’re going to get all of that. But right now you’re tired, so the rest can wait. 

“Can I walk you to your car?” You nod as he murmurs.

He doesn’t let go of your hand, walking you out of the building towards your car, opening the door for you and giving you one last kiss with a promise that he’d call you tomorrow, before you watched him walk back into the building.

Your phone buzzes as you turn your key in the ignition, the sound of Wham! fills the car, Last Christmas playing softly. You take your phone out of your pocket, checking the text notification from Javier. 

[ i forgot to tell you how pretty your nails are. merry christmas hermosa ]

Your head turns up in surprise as you realize your radio is working. A new radio system is installed in the center of your dashboard, with a little green bow taped to the top, and a paper tag with Javi’s familiar messy handwriting. 

from : your secret fucking santa

a/n : happy holidays everyone!!

[sarah-bear706318]

Summary: When Tyler's baby sister joins him and his team for a season she seems to catch the eye of a certain StormPar member much to her brothers dismay... will she listen listen to her big brother or follow her heart?

Pairing: Scott Miller X fem!reader, Tyler Owens x sister!reader

Warnings: Sneaking around, Pissed off Tyler, Love Struck Scott, ALOTS of kissing, A little age gap, Cussing, Drinking, Storms(duh), Falling in love, Slow burn

A/N: This is my first series so any feedback would be amazing! There isn't much Scott in this chapter but there will be plenty of him in future chapters. I'm writing this with the help of @nikkicloudie she save me the idea for it! Go check out her stories there are amazing!!!

You loved storms just as much if not more then your older brother Tyler. You were 10 years younger then him but you were one in the same. You even followed in his foot steps and majored in Meteorology but, you took it a step further and got your PhD in it at UT Austin. You had just graduated early and your brother was proud so as your graduation gift your brother invited you to join him and the wranglers for the season. It took you all of .5 seconds to say yes.

You still weren't sure what you were gonna do with your degree you had a few job offers from different places but joining your brother could hopefully help you figure it all out. Hey you may even follow in your brothers foot steps even more and become a storm chaser who's knows your life was just starting and anything was a possibility!

It was early evening when your plane landed. After getting your suitcases from baggage claim you're off to find your brother. While looking around you all of a sudden feel 2 arms from behind left you in the air.

"Baby sister" you hear from behind you. You turn around and see your brother's big smiling face. You wrap your arms around his neck and squeeze as hard as you can. "I'm so happy you're here" "I am too I miss you big brother" he hugs you back and give you a kiss on your temple "I've missed you too sis, come one let's get your stuff in the truck the rest of the crew are waiting for you they can't wait to see you"

You couldn't wait to see the crew you loved them almost as much as your brother.

The ride to the hotel was 45 minutes away from the airport and the ride was filled with stories about about chases the crew have done and some new research they have and things you've been up to since graduation. You haven't seen your brother since Thanksgiving so it was nice to be spending time with him for the next few months.

Once you pull into the hotel parking lot you saw a lot of other storm chasing teams and of course you see the wranglers. When Tyler parks the truck you barley have time to get out before you have a pair of arms around your waist and your feet lifted off the ground. "Dr.Owens you're finally here"

"Boone oh my God put me down before you drop me" you say as you kick your feet

"Boone don't break my sister she just got here" Tyler says shaking his head making his way around the truck.

"I'd never drop my favorite Owens" Boone says with a big smile.

Boone finally puts you back on your feet so you can hug and greet the others. You all decide to hang around, have a few beers and catch up. Everyone is just how you remembered and you know its gonna be a great time. You are about 3 beers in and laughing at some story Boone was telling but unbeknownst to you your laughter had got the attention of another storm chaser and he couldn't take his eyes off you.

Across the parking lot Scott is standing by one of StormPars trucks uploading data to his laptop when he hears a beautiful laugh. His head shots up and sees not only is the laugh beautiful but it's coming from the more beautiful girl he's ever seen and he can't help but stare.

"Hey man you get that data in the system yet" Javi asks as he walks up to the truck. Scott snaps out of the trance he's in and looks to Javi "oh just about done" he says looking back at his laptop.

"Hey who's the new girl over there with Owens" Scott ask eyes still looking down tapping away "she a new hillbilly member?" Javi looks over to Tyler and and his crew to see who Scott is talking about.

"Nah dude that's Y/N Owens Tyler's little sister, she just graduated from UT Austin with her PhD in Meteorology. She's hella smart not to mention drop dead gorgeous don't ya think" Javi says "She's ok i guess". Scott says with a shug, he couldn't let Javi think he had a thing for Tyler's sister could he it would ruin his hard ass imagine.

Back over across the lot the wranglers are still having their reunion with Y/N. "As much fun as this all has been we gotta get to bed got a long day of chasing tomorrow ahead of us radar looking really promising" Tyler says to his crew and sister.

"Hopefully I get to get up close and inside a tornado tomorrow" you say beaming with the biggest smile. "More like your big brother everyday" Tyler says with a laugh pulling you into a hug.

As the crew is putting all their equipment away you and Tyler grab your bags from the bed of his truck. "You think you packed enough stuff Y/N, you know we are chasing tornados not trying out for that modeling show" Tyler says as he grabs 2 of your bags and looking at the other 2 smaller ones still laying in the back of the truck.

"One that show is Americas next top model and 2 I came straight from school so I had to bring everything that was in my dorm, I'll sort it all out and send the rest to mom and dads" you say rolling your eyes. "Plus you there are some pretty cute storm chasers in this lot never know when ill need a sexy outfit" you say throwing a wink to the crew who bust out laughing knowing how protective Tyler is of you.

"No that's not happening " Tyler says looking at you while handing you one of your smaller bags. You look at him and rolls your eyes while taking the bag from him " Yeah ok" is the only thing you say with a smirk.

"You ok with sharing a room with your big brother tonight? They only had 3 rooms left when we got here" Tyler ask while making you way to the stairs. "Yeah that's fine use to do it when we were kids". You make your way up the stairs to the room you and your brother were sharing carrying the 2 smaller bags. When you got to the door Tyler is looking for the key, he finally finds the card and goes to unlock the door but instead of a green light on the handle its red. "Shit stay here I need to go get a new card".

Tyler leaves you on the second floor while he goes to get a new key. You walk over to the railing cross your arms over it and look out at all the other storm chasing teams. As you're looking over the rail you spot a group of chasers looking way more professional then anyone else in the parking lot. Along with the group you a tall muscular guy in a ballcap catches you eye and all you can think of is how insanely good looking he is. Your focus on the cute guy is broken by your brothers voice.

"Got a new key" Tyler says. "Bless you big brother I'm so ready for a shower, food, and sleep in that order". As Tyler opens the door you peak over your shoulder and you swear you see the cute guy looking at you with a smirk.

Tyler orders pizza for the 2 of you while you get in the shower. It was nice to wash away your day of travel. You stayed in the shower longer then you normally would have but the hot water felt amazing you couldn't help it. You get out and start to dry yourself off when your brother yells to you the pizza was delivered.

The rest of the night spent eating pizza, watching tv, and doing more catching up with your brother. "Thank you for inviting me Ty it means a lot. I still don't know what I'm gonna do my new fancy degree I'm hoping being here and chasing will help me figure it out" you say looking at your brother. "I'm happy to help you figure it out sis" Tyler says with a smile.

When the pizza is on gone and you have cleaned up the mess you crawl into your bed with a loud sigh. Tyler laughs and shakes his head. "I've stayed in this hotel before the beds are not that good" "They so when you've been traveling all day and had a 3 hour delay in Austin" You say as you close your eyes. "Ok well I'm going to take a shower you need to get some sleep got a long day of storm chasing ahead, and with any luck you will be inside your first tornado" your brother says while grabbing his shower things and clothes.

"Can't wait" you mumble not able to keep your eyes open any longer. You couldn't wait for your first real chase and with any luck you would see the cute tall guy with the ballcap.

[aviyx]

Discussing Caitlyn Kiramman

Caitlyn, especially in the second season, reminds me of Macbeth in all the worst and most concerning ways.

At the start of Macbeth, Macdonwald is a character who had committed treason and was killed by Macbeth, as at that point he still had his morality.

This is similar to how at the start of Arcane, Caitlyn was an enforcer who did her job, and did it well without engaging in any of the corruption that seemed pretty rampant at this point.

Later, Macbeth's wife Lady Macbeth, in a self serving manner, manipulates Macbeth into committing regicide by killing the king. He's obviously hesitant to do this as it goes against his morals, but with the encouragement, he does go through with it on his own accord. Despite having the power of being the Thane of Cawdor and Glamis, he still does this in attempt to get more power. After this, he successfully becomes king.

Now, I don't think Caitlyn is acting how she is in attempt of power, however thats definitely one of the outcomes of her actions. Ambessa, who is who I see in Lady Macbeth's role in this analogy, is also manipulating Caitlyn in order to gain personally, and to encourage war so that hextech weapons are made and she can use them to fight her own battles. Caitlyn has a moral code, yet despite this she does do bad things. She uses the grey as a tool to clear out the streets, when that is a literal war crime. She knows this is wrong, emphasised by her mothers words that go starkly against her actions playing right before the scene. She also takes the position of power Ambessa presents her with despite her in earlier episodes likely being against Ambessa's whole cause, and the war that she's about to start.

Macbeth, before this, has a friend called Banquo, who suspects that he killed Duncan for the throne and power. Macbeth then gets him assassinated.

This is, albeit less so, reminiscent of Vi, and how after being called out on her actions, Caitlyn hits her and leaves.

Considering we only have 3 episodes of season 2, I cant be sure whether this continues progressing, but if it does, there are a few things I am assuming will happen in arc 2 and 3.

I think Caitlyn is going to start hallucinating more. The hallucinations might be of Vi, as Macbeth hallucinates seeing Banquo after causing his death, but they could also be of her mother, Jinx or even Isha, as she could've easily killed either of them had Vi not stopped her.

Now if you have read Macbeth, you'll realize i haven't mentioned one of the main reasons Macbeth turns into a usurper. The witches and their prophecy. And this is honestly because I'm not sure.

I think its entirely possible that the witches could be symbolised through the hextech, as we know the hextech weapons act up sometimes, as shown in episode 3. Its possible they may lead to hallucinations, similar to that of Victor, if they're used repeatedly while acting up, which I can imagine Caitlyn doing.

Otherwise, I think the witches could be symbolised through Jinx, and possibly Sevika and Isha to maintain the symbolism of threes. This is because the 3 of them represent the power Caitlyn wishes she has- the power to avenge her mother.

Either way, I'm hoping that Caitlyn doesn't stay on this path, as Macbeth is a tragedy for a reason.

[bloodyshadow1]

Not gonna lie, I am really like A-Train and Ashley's odd friendship this season. Like Ashley has always skirted the line of ass kisser to sympathetic person trapped in a hellish environment. While A-train's redemption arc has been one of my favorite parts of the Boys as a whole, but especially this season. Maeve was my favorite character and with her gone, I wasn't sure how I'd feel but A-Train filled the void in a lot of ways.

And it's surprising given how they've interacted in the past, especially season 3 where Ashley calls him out on his shit self-centered Hypocrisy, but I think he's a better person for it by the end and part of the reason they can change.

I'm glad it wasn't turned into a secret romantic relationship, it's made very clear that neither of them find the other attractive, at least not enough to view them as a sexual or romantic prospect. It's just a bond forged by two people who are trapped in hell that they're both terrified people who have done a lot of bad things, but are trapped with monsters willing to do far worse.

It's not even a friendship really because they still dont' really like each other or enjoy each other's company, but despite everything, they care . They sort of start with the' if you tell, I'll tell' mutually assured destruction thing and that evolves into covering for each other and making sure the other is alive.

In ep 7 though it really shows that they've come to care about each other against their will. Ashley is having a breakdown and drunk and wants A-Train to get them out of there. She offers to platonically run away with him away from Vought and just be free and happy away from the tower. A-Train isn't nice, but he basically does what he can to keep her grounded and not do something stupid because of guilt, fear, and booze, something she surely needs. And by the end A-Train had already outed himself as the mole, Noir was out of the building but nothing the boys did really hurt him, he could have told Homelander by then and A-Train knew that. Yet he still went back to the tower to try and get her out of there, something he didn't have to do. Ashley didn't even have anything over him since he outed himself as the mole, I've seen half a dozen reactors terrified that Homelander was already outside of Ashley's door when A-train tried to get her to leave. yet he still went back for her. Ashley for her part, even though she doesn't agree to leave with him, reminds him about his tracker chip, if he didn't get rid of that he would have been killed.

Now I haven't seen ep 8, I know some spoilers, but nothing much on these two so maybe it's been a set up to come crashing down. But for the last 7 eps it's been endearing to see the two of them being forced to build a relationship over blackmail and mutual fear.

[totallynotokguys]

Lego Monkie Kid Rewatch: Season 3

Episode 9, The King, the Prince, the Shadow Part 2/2

"Does anyone else feel like-" "We've been here before? Yeah. Its weird, right? But- I ah- know I haven't." "Me neither. And yet this place feels so familiar." "Nah. Not me, man. This is all new to me."

Remember when I said that a lot of characters keep wrongly comparing MK to Wukong, like MK is supposed to be the next Wukong. Well…. that wasn't just at the characters. That was at us the fans too. Up until this season, I too just thought of MK as the next Monkey King. It just felt right. Pigsy was Zhu Bajie, Tang Tang Sanzang, Mei as Ao Lie, and Sandy as Sha Wujing. Simplistically, I assumed MK was supposed to be this new version's Monkey King. But he's not. He's not like the rest. He's not part of their story- at least he wasn't supposed to be.

MK was never meant to be here... to experience this, or them. And this season is when the show really starts opening our eyes to it.

(Also… I think this proves pretty definitively that Sandy is not the still alive Sha Wujing. With his flashback in To Catch a Leaf, I was so sure. I mean, look at those old looking weaponry?!)

(But unless Sha Wujing has amnesia that conveniently lets him forget the Samadhi Fire incident, than he really is just the reincarnation instead of the original.)

"It is on brand for you to have a worse version of everyone elses powers."

Ouch. Also… is this a hint at Macaque having been a clone of Wukong once upon a time? Like, in Shadow Play, Macaque chooses to feature a lot of Wukong and his clones for some reason, especially when speaking of the Warrior and Hero being a team. Strangely, some of those clones look an awful lot like Macaque.

Or could this be a hint at season 5 where its revealed Macaque's shadow powers are more like certain other being who shall not be named for sake of spoilers?

Loud Annoying Wukong: "What? You got what you wanted, didn't you? Not going to gloat, monologue a little bit before scurrying off to your master?"

Inner Panicking Wukong: "Ah drat! He's totally gonna know those are fake. Quick! I gotta distract him into wasting more time!"

"Wukong!"

I'm pretty sure that's Ne Zha's favourite word. He says it almost every second. Might even be his catch phrase.

"Oh, so the piece of paper just magically made a bunch of light!" "That's exactly what happened and you know it!"

Ah, I love these two.

"Stop! If you hurt that kid I'll-" "What. Make things worse for MK?"

Like I said last time, bad hero, good mentor. He cares about MK more than anything else right now. This same kind of protective passion has happened before, back in the Journey to the West. Wukong is good at devoting himself to one person, and tolerating everyone else for the sake of that person.

"Glowy mystic symbol thingies are always never good!"

Proceeds to touch said glowy mystic symbol thingies.

AWWWW! Tang trying to protect Mei!

I love the majority of the adults in this show. They do their best to help the kiddos and protect them, even when those kiddo's are typically more powerful than them. Tang, Pigsy, and Sandy understand that young one's always need to be cared for.

THIS SHOT THIS SHOT THIS SHOT!

I totally missed this shot the first time around! OH MY GOSHNESS SANDY I LOvE YOU!

Once again Macaque forgets about Mei.

I'm starting to see why she and Macaque were put in a team together in season 4. She is, strangely enough, his blind spot.

And once again I am shaking my head at the way the show treated Macaque's supposed redemption arc. Look at the way he's treating her, the way he's treating them all! The fear and pain he causes them!

Bashes MK repeatedly into the ground until he is unconscious.

Threatens Mei's life while holding her by the throat.

Forces the parental figures to watch their kids get ruined.

Forces Tang to choose the life of his friends over the sake of the world.

The trauma this guy is causing them- and they just never bring it up? Mei should have held the largest grudge Katara style until Macaque made it up to her! Tang should be absolutely afraid to go near Macaque after the moral trauma the simian caused him. Pigsy should throw a spoon at him every time he darkens his door way with all his ping pong master might. Sandy should constantly keep Macaque between himself and the kids as a protective barrier everytime the shadow comes around.

Until Macaque makes it up to them, apologizes and tries to do right by them all... they should have continued to treat him with fear, anger, and wariness.

"But he was under LBD control' you say. 'He had no choice."

No he wasn't. This threatening, this danger he puts them in? That was for his own gain. Macaque wanted the Samadhi Fire to escape LBD. He was in control of his actions here. He was going to take the power needed to break her control over him and then dip, leaving the mortals to parish under LDB's rule. Sure, he was probably in pain and obviously scared for his life- but that doesn't excuse the choices he made and the trauma he caused.

It's like Macaque said last episode. You have to look out for yourself, no one else.

[canirove]

The invinsible princess | Chapter 4

“Tenerife”

Chapter 3 | Chapter 5

Masterlist

“You are so lucky, Sofía.”

“Why?” I chuckle.

“Because you get to leave scorching hot Madrid to go to Tenerife and enjoy the beach!” Leonor says. 

“It's gonna be just for two days, tho. I don't know if I'll see much of the beach.”

“Two days are enough to disconnect from this horrible weather” she sighs.

“We’ll plan a little trip there next time the weather sucks here in Madrid either because it is too hot or too cold.”

“Promise?”

“I do. A princess always keeps her promises.”

“What?” she laughs.

“It's… it's nothing. Something silly Pedri told me when we met and that we've kept telling each other since then.”

“Aww, cute” Leonor smiles. “And speaking of him… Are you nervous about meeting his parents?”

Because that basically is the reason why I am going to Tenerife for just a couple of days. I am going to meet his parents for the first time. His mother overheard him talking about me with his brother and… well. It was just simply impossible to lie to her, so before he leaves for the pre-season, we decided to go pay them a quick visit.

“I am… My necklace” I gasp when my hand instinctively moves to touch it.

“What?”

“My necklace, Leonor. It's gone.”

“The banana one?”

“Yes!” I say, getting up from my bed, where we have been chilling together, and shaking my clothes just in case it was tangled on them. “Oh my God, Leonor. If I've lost it…”

“We'll find it, don't worry” she says as I take off my hoodie, hoping to feel or see the necklace somewhere. “Nothing?”

“Nothing.”

“What about your joggers? Have you checked them?” she says as she also gets up from the bed and checks my sweatshirt just in case I missed it.

“What?”

“Maybe the chain broke and rolled down your back” she shrugs.

“I… urgh” I say, taking them off. “Nothing. It isn't on me. Leonor…”

“No, Sofía. No” she says, threatening me with her finger. “No crying. We haven't lost hope yet.”

“But…”

“No” she says. “When was the last time you noticed you were wearing it?”

“I don't know… I… Ummm… Last night!”

“Last night? Are you sure?” 

“Yes! I woke up to go to the bathroom and the little banana was tangled in my hair”

“Do you remember feeling it when you went back to bed?”

“I don't know, I was half asleep. But… maybe?”

“Ok… Then this is what we will do. We'll first check the bed, and if we don't find it there, we'll check the bathroom.”

“And if we don't find it there either?” I ask.

“Then we'll retrace what you've done today. You haven't left the palace, have you?”

“No.”

“Then it has to be here somewhere.”

“Leonor, if we don't find it…”

“We will, Sofía. Repeat after me…” she says, putting her hands on my shoulders. “We will find the necklace.”

“We will find the necklace.”

“With more conviction. C'mon, you can do it.”

“We will find the necklace.”

“Good. That's better. Now let's start with the bed.”

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

“It's gone, Leonor. I've lost Pedri's necklace” I cry while sitting on my mattress, that now lies in the middle of my room after undoing the bed completely. 

“Don't lose hope, Sofía. We still haven't checked the corridor outside your room. It may have fallen after you left for breakfast.”

“No! It's gone! I'm stupid and I lost it!”

“Hey, don't say that! You aren't stupid for losing a necklace!”

“But it was a very special one, Leonor. The most special one I've ever owned, and now it is gone forever!”

“Girls, may I… Oh my God!” my mum gasps when she walks into the room. “What has happened here? And why are you crying like that, Sofía?”

“I lost it, mum” I sob, quickly getting up and running towards her, hugging her like I used to do as a little kid when I was upset. “I've lost it forever.”

“Lost what, sweetheart?” she says, her hand making circles on my back to try and comfort me.

“My necklace.”

“The one with the little banana?”

“Yes.”

“We've looked everywhere in the room and haven't been able to find it, mum. She knows she went to bed with it, but after that…” Leonor shrugs.

“I see… Why is that necklace so important, Sofía?”

“It… it was a gift.”

“From?”

“You know from who, mum” Leonor chuckles.

“That boy you are seeing in Barcelona?”

“Maybe” I say, breaking our embrace and wiping away my tears.

“Well, you won't believe what María found under your chair when she was tidying up after breakfast” my mum says, getting something from her pocket.

“No!” I gasp, basically snatching the necklace from her hand.

“The clasp was broken, that's why you lost it. But I had one of the guys who takes care of my jewellery fix it and now it is as good as new. Maybe even better” she smiles.

“Oh my God, mum. Thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you!” I say, giving her a quick hug and putting on the necklace, the moment I feel the little charms on my skin making me finally relax. “If I had shown up in Tenerife without it Pedri would have been so disappointed…”

“Pardon?” she says, Leonor gasping an oh, shit behind me. Because oh shit indeed. 

“I… umm…” 

“You are going to Tenerife? And who is this Pedri? Why does the name sound so familiar? Why… Sofía!” she gasps, her eyes going wide when she makes all the connections. “Sofía!”

“That's my name, yes” I say with a nervous laugh.

“The boy you are seeing is Pedri the football player? The one who got injured during the Euros?”

“I… yes?”

“That's… I…” she says, starting to pace around the room. Or trying to since my bed cushions and sheets are scattered everywhere. “Now everything makes sense!”

“Does it?” Leonor asks with a confused look.

“Yes!” my mum says. “The day the national team visited us after winning the Euros you weren't looking at Ferran, you were looking at him! They were together!”

“As usual” Leonor chuckles.

“And after, when we invited them to have a refreshment in the garden, I could swear I had seen you talking with someone behind a tree, with a man that walked weirdly, as if he had a limp. I thought I had imagined it all, but it actually was real. You were with him!”

“I was” I nod, feeling my face getting warmer and warmer by the second.

“That's why you suddenly became so interested in Barcelona and spending time with Irene. You were going to see him!”

“And Irene, Aunt Cristina and the boys too. That I missed them wasn't a lie” I add.

“And those quick trips around Europe… You were going to watch him play! Now everything makes sense!” she laughs.

“I… umm…” I mumble, looking at Leonor, whose only answer is a shrug.

“Oh, Sofía” my mum says, taking my hands on hers. “I am so happy for you. So happy you've found someone who loves you like you deserve and makes you shine like this.”

“I… umm… Aren't you… disappointed?”

“About what?”

“About me dating him. I know you said you don't care if he is a football player, but every time I've told someone that I'm dating a Barça player, their first reaction is asking if it is Ferran.”

“Guilty” she chuckles.

“And then when I tell them that it is Pedri, they all react a bit like… Yeah. Disappointed.”

“Sofía, how could I be disappointed when he makes you the happiest I've ever seen you?” she says, caressing my cheek.

“I… I don't know” I shrug. 

“And you love him, don't you?”

“I do” I whisper.

“Oh, my little girl is in love! She's in love, Leonor!”

“I know” my sister smiles. “And he is head over heels for her too. He actually is introducing her to his family on this trip to Tenerife.”

“Leonor!” I say, giving her a murderous look.

“If we are finally telling her about him, better to say it all, don't you think?” she shrugs.

“Sofía, if you are about to meet his parents, I think it is only fair we meet him too. But maybe not just yet. In the future. When you are ready” my mum says, definitely seeing how all the colour is draining from my face. “Besides, we've already met him and been introduced. Not as your parents and your boyfriend, but…”

“Exactly. No need to worry about that now, Sofía” Leonor says, walking towards where my mum and I are. “Right now we should be celebrating that you found your necklace, that mum is ok with you dating Pedri, and that you are about to spend a couple of days on the beach while we melt yo our deaths.”

“You are so dramatic, Leonor” my mum laughs. “But you are right. Fancy a cheeky drink just the three of us?” she smirks.

“Now? It's like 1 p.m., mum” I say.

“But it always is happy hour somewhere in the world” she winks. “Besides, you will need it to give you a little push before tidying up this mess. Because you made it, you fix it” she says first pointing at me and then at Leonor.

“Fine” we sigh.

“Now, come on” she says, liking my arm with hers. “Let's go toast in honour of you and Pedri” she smiles. 

“Woop, woop!” Leonor says, leaving my room while my mum and I walk behind her.

“Now the necklace also makes sense.”

“Uh?” I say, looking at her.

“I always wondered why you had bought a necklace with a banana, and now I know. It represents you and him, doesn't it? The banana and the S.”

“It does” I say, touching the little charms.

“Urgh, that is so cute… Your father has never bought me anything like that, you know?” she says as we keep walking and she tells me about some gifts my dad bought her while they were dating, the huge weight I was feeling on my chest finally going away.

One, because I found the necklace, and two, because my mum, the intimidating and scary one, is over the moon about me dating Pedri.

Let's just hope that my dad, and his parents, feel the same too.

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

“Welcome to one of the best things in Tenerife during this time of the year, my lady. At least in my humble opinion. The funfair!” Pedri says, extending his arms.

“Look at you, channeling your inner Bellingham” I tease him.

“Meh meh meh” he says, sticking out his tongue and wrapping his arm around my shoulders, pulling me closer towards him and making me giggle. 

“First time, Sofía?” his brother Fer asks me.

“I've been to Winter Wonderland a few times.”

“The what?”

“It's something like this but bigger. They have it every winter in London” I explain.

“Who is the bright mind who chooses to have a funfair during winter?” Fer says. “Having fun while freezing your butt doesn't make sense to me.”

“It is fun. I'll take you this year and you'll see it for yourself” I tell him.

“Bro, I think your girlfriend just asked me out on a date” Fer smirks.

“Whatever” Pedri says, rolling his eyes. “Anyway, where should we go first? Are you scared of heights, my lady?” he asks me with a teasing smile.

“I'm not. Are you?” I reply.

“I'm scared of nothing.”

“That's a lie” Fer says. “You are scared of spiders. You should see the way he reacts to even the tiniest ones” he laughs.

“I'll protect you from them, don't worry” I say, kissing Pedri's cheek.

“Thank you, my lady” he smiles after giving his brother a murderous look. “But, as I was saying… where should we start?”

“What about… there?” I say, pointing at one of the highest rides.

“I like you, Sofía. I like you very, very much” Fer grins. “So you better marry her, bro. She's the one.”

“Yeah, ummm… Let's go” Pedri says, his cheeks turning a dark shade of pink. 

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

“That was fucking amazing!” Fer says.

“Definitely the best ride we've checked.”

“You said the same about the previous one, Sofía” Pedri chuckles.

“Because that one had been the best one until this one. Can we go again? The queue isn't that bad.”

“I think my stomach needs a little break and to stay in its place for a bit” Fer chuckles.

“Why don't we grab something to eat?” Pedri suggests. “I think I saw Paco's stand earlier.”

“Paco? Who is that?” I ask.

“You'll see, my lady. You'll see” Pedri winks.

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

“Pedri, are you sure this is legal?” 

“What?” he laughs.

“Yes, like… I don't know if this stand follows the basic health rules” I say, looking at it. 

“This stand has been here since we were little kids, and we've come out ok” Fer shrugs.

“Yes, but…” I say as the man behind it gives a cone filled to the brim with chips and ketchup to the couple in front of us. “Shouldn't he be wearing gloves or something? And shouldn't she have her hair tied up? Also, I am pretty sure that machine they are using to fry the chips wasn't always black.”

“Oh, Sofía. Your princess is showing” Pedri tells me with a teasing smile.

“Idiot” I say, hitting his arm. “But just look at it. Everything is so… greasy.”

“And?”

“And that's… That can't be good for your health, can it?”

“You should never judge a book by its cover, Sofía” Fer says.

“Not even when it is making my cholesterol go up just by looking at it?”

“Nope” he says. “And it's our turn. Paco, my man! How are you?”

“Doing good, doing good” he smiles. “Same as always, boys?”

“Same” Fer says. 

“And for the lady?” the man says, nodding towards me.

“I… Umm…” I mumble.

“Well, it is her first time. What do you recommend?” 

“Run” the girl helping Paco says.

“Oh, shush!” he says. “Don't listen to her. She's mad because I have her working here with me instead of letting her go out there with her friends.”

“And do you blame me?” the girl says, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Get the lady one of the classics. I'll get the boys’ orders ready” he says, ignoring her.

“Urgh” she groans, getting to work. “Has anyone ever told you that you look like one of the princesses?” 

“Who, me?” I say, Pedri and Fer sharing concerned looks, Carlos taking a step closer towards us. Because he also is here with us.

My mum had ordered him to keep his distance, to let us enjoy ourselves and only intervene if there was some actual danger. And so far, it has been as if he wasn't with us.

“When I first saw you on the queue I was like, woah, that's princess Sofía! But then I was like, what would someone like her be doing here?” she chuckles. “Though she is the cool one, it would not be that weird” she shrugs.

“The cool one?” I ask her.

“Yeah. My nan likes buying that magazine that always has articles about all the royals, and just by the photos you can tell that she is really cool. She isn't as stiff as her sister, dresses really well, always has a nice smile for everyone, when she is talking with someone you can tell that she is actually listening… And I love that Instagram dump that cousin of hers posted for her birthday. You could see that despite all the things she's grown up with and her position, she is just a normal girl who likes dancing to Dua Lipa, who cries watching “Pride and Prejudice”, and who enjoys watching football like any of us would. She's cool.”

“I completely agree” Pedri smiles, the way he is looking at me making me blush.

“Anyway, this is ready” the girl says, giving me my cone of chips. This one at least isn't as greasy as the ones they were giving to other costumers, and she's giving me a napkin too. “Do you want one of the little forks to not get your hands dirty?”

“Oh, no, it's fine. Thank you” I smile.

“There you go, boys” Paco says, giving Pedri and Fer his cones. “And look, the forks are blue and red” he winks. “Have fun!”

“Thank you, Paco” Fer says after paying for our food.

“He knows who you are, doesn't he?” I ask Pedri as we look for a place where we can sit and eat.

“He does. Like Fer said earlier, he has basically seen us grow up. But he acts as if he doesn't to let me go as unnoticed as possible.”

“That's nice of him.”

“It is” he smiles. “But now tell me, my lady. Are his chips also nice or should we call the healthy food police?” 

“They are ok” I shrug. 

“Just ok?” Fer says. “Try one of these” he says, offering one of his. 

“I don't like mustard, I'm sorry.”

“You don't?” he gasps. “Pedri, forget about what I told you earlier. You can't marry her if she doesn't like mustard. I won't allow it.”

“She doesn't like ketchup either” he says.

“What? Oh my God, Sofía. What do you eat in that palace of yours? Aren't royals allowed to eat junk food?”

“Of course we are” I laugh. “My dad actually loves burgers and gets himself one each Friday night. And maybe you should stop making fun of me for not liking mundane things, and look at yourselves right now.”

“What?” Pedri says, ketchup dripping down his chin after definitely putting way too many chips inside his mouth.

“You are eating with your little forks while I am using my hands” I say, wiping the ketchup from Pedri's face with my napkin. “That's not very princess like of me, is it?”

“You like getting dirty” Pedri says, definitely speaking before thinking, and making Fer almost choke with his chips. “I meant that you… That… Ummm…”

“We should probably get ourselves something to drink too, don't you think?” I say, trying to change the topic of conversations. “Beer?”

“Alcohol sounds amazing, yes” Fer says once he has recovered. “Follow me, I know the perfect place.”

“I… Sorry about that, Sofía” Pedri says. “I wasn't thinking and…”

“It's ok, don't worry. And it wasn't a lie, was it?” I whisper in his ear, making him trip with his own feet.

“Bro, are you ok?” Fer says.

“Yep, all good” Pedri smiles. “But you are gonna be the death of me, my lady” he says, pinching my butt with his free hand and making me giggle. 

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

“C'mon, Fer. You can do it” Pedri says, cheering for his brother.

Once we finished eating we were so full that we didn't go back to the rides, so we decided to go for a walk and check some of the other stands they had at the fair like the games ones, where we crossed paths with their parents.

Despite Pedri telling them that they didn't have to address me as her royal highness or anything similar, meeting them had been a bit awkward at first. Thankfully, Fer had stepped up and made us all relax with his jokes, and now there was no awkwardness between us. 

“Growing up all of Pedri's teddies were from here. His dad would always try to win him at least one at these games” his mum tells me.

“Aww, that's so cute! My dad used to always bring me a different one from his trips, usually dressed with something typical from the country where he had been.”

“You must have a nice collection, then” she chuckles.

“I actually do, yes. I loved those teddies and took care of them as if they were little treasures, and Leonor always made fun of me because of it. She was like, they are just toys. Sofía. Why aren't you playing with them? Now I have them all packed away, tho. I plan on passing them to my kids one day.”

“Oh, that's lovely!”

“They may not be like me and ruin them while playing with them, but… oh well” I shrug. 

“If your kids take after Pedri, they will survive, don't worry” she chuckles, definitely not paying too much attention to what she just said. To me and Pedri… to our… Umm... What? “He still has his in his room” she continues. “Or had them. He asked me to hide them when he told us you were coming. But don't let him know I told you” she says with a cheeky smile.

“My lips are sealed” I reply, still trying to process her previous comment.

“Yes, Fer!” Pedri says, bringing me back to reality. “So good, bro!”

“Thank you, thank you” he says while doing an over the top curtsey. “Sofía, which teddy do you want?”

“Uh?”

“Pedri won't be getting you one, he sucks at these things.”

“I don't suck” he says.

“You do, little bro. You may be amazing with your feet, but you are useless with your hands.”

“I'm not useless. Watch me” Pedri says, taking one of the balls and getting himself ready to throw it.

“Yeah, watch him” Fer chuckles. 

“Don't be mean” his mum says, giving him a little slap in the back of his neck.

But the thing is… that Pedri does suck at this game.

“It's ok, don't worry” I smile at him when he is done, giving him a hug. “I know you aren't useless with your hands. Or rather… your fingers” I whisper.

“So naughty, my lady” he whispers back. 

“Sofía, why don't you give it a go?” Pedri's dad suggests.

“Me?”

“Yeah” he smiles. “Have you ever played at this?”

“I… no.”

“Then c'mon, give it a go.”

“You can't be worse than Pedri” Fer chuckles, his mum hitting him again.

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

“Penny for your thoughts?”

“Uh?” Pedri says.

“You haven't said a word since we got into the big wheel.”

“Yes, sorry. I just… I feel a bit lame.”

“What? Why? Please tell me it isn't because of the teddy.”

“Yeah” he whispers.

“Pedri, it is just a silly toy.”

“Yeah… But I wanted you the remember this trip with a teddy I had won for you, not my brother.”

“I don't need an ugly teddy to remind me of it, Pedri” I say, caressing his cheek and making him look at me. 

“It is a bit ugly, isn't it?” he chuckles, looking down at the weird animal sitting next to me. “It's just that they are such a happy memory from my childhood that… I wanted to share it with you, you know? But then even you were better at it than me, and you had never played that game or seen one of those stands in real life before.”

“Beginners luck” I shrug. “And if you wanted to share that with me, why did you hide your collection of teddies?” I ask him, breaking my promise to his mum.

“She told you about that?”

“Yep. But please don't get mad at her, I brought up the topic. Why did you hide them?”

“I don't know. I thought it was a bit lame to show you my room and see it covered in teddies” he shrugs.

“Well, it isn't lame. It's cute” I smile.

“Really?”

“Really. Will you show them to me later? Or at least your favourite one.”

“I'll think about it.”

“C'mon, Pedri” I pout.

“Ok, fine” he sighs. “I can't say no to that face” he smiles before kissing my nose.

“I know” I smile back, resting my head on his shoulder as the big wheel keeps moving. “I love it here.”

“Do you?” he says, also resting his head on top of mine.

“I do. And I also like your family a lot.”

“They also like you a lot.”

“Even if I don't like mustard?”

“Even so” Pedri chuckles. “Though they don't like you as much as I do.”

“You don't like me.”

“What?”

“You, Pedro González…” I say, lifting my head and looking at him. “You love me” I smirk. 

“Do I?” he smirks back, putting a lock of hair behind my ear.

“I'm afraid so.”

“And what about you, my lady? Do you love me?”

“I do. I love you with every fiber in my body.”

“So cheesy” he laughs.

“Yet the truth” I say before kissing him.

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

“Sofía, this package just arrived for you” my mum says, walking into my room.

“For me?”

“For you” she repeats. “I think it's from Pedri's family. It says it comes from Tenerife.”

“What?” I say, getting up from my bed so quickly that my laptop almost ends on the floor.

“Did you forget something when you visited them?”

“I… I don't think so” I say, inspecting the box.

“Then maybe it is a gift. Something to say thank you for your visit.”

“Maybe…”

“I'll leave you alone to open it. Though if it is food, you know you can find me in my office” she winks, making me laugh. 

“Ok…” I say once I am alone, slowly opening the package. Inside it there isn't much, just a note and… “No way” I chuckle. 

“This is Anacleto, one of Pedri's favourite teddies growing up” the note says. “He apparently has a superpower that can make anyone bald, his farts smell like chocolate, and loves eating sand from the beach. But not any sand from any beach. Just the one from Tenerife. Though don't worry, Sofía. Now that he is a bit old he only eats a few times per year, and we fed him before sending him your way. Which means that you'll have to come back… maybe for the new year? We will be waiting for you (and Anacleto) with open arms.”

“Aww…” I say, hugging the teddy with one hand and grabbing my phone with the other.

“Hello, my… Anacleto!” Pedri says over facetime.

“Hi” I reply, making a funny voice. “Is that how he sounds?”

“Something like that” he laughs. “Did he arrive safe and sound?”

“He did. And he also was fed before leaving Tenerife.”

“Good.”

“Pedri, why…”

“Why did I ask my mum to send you Anacleto?”

“Yes” I nod.

“Well, since I didn't get you a new teddy at the funfair, I thought… why don't I gift her one of mine?”

“What?”

“He is yours now, Sofía.”

“Are you serious? I… I can't accept this, Pedri. He is yours, one of your childhood memories! I…”

“You can and you will accept it, Sofía.”

“But…”

“No. He is yours now. So you better take good care of him.”

“I will. I promise you I will” I say, hugging him. 

“You better. Because you just made a promise, and a princess…”

“Always keeps her promises.”

“Exactly” Pedri smiles. “But my lady, are you crying?”

“No” I say, wiping away my tears half with my hand, half with the teddy.

“Anacleto gives really good cuddles when you are crying. Not as good as mine, but…”

“Yours are really good” I chuckle.

“Oh, I know” Pedri says with a cheeky smile. “Can't wait for the pre-season to be over and see you again. I'm counting the days. The hours. The minutes. The seconds!”

“Of course you are” I laugh. “But Pedri…”

“Yes?”

“Thank you for this” I say, hugging Anacleto again. “I love it.”

“And I love you” he smiles. “And I would love to keep talking with you and telling you more about him, but I have to leave in… two minutes if I don't want to be late for training.”

“Yes, of course.”

“I'll call you when I'm back, ok?” 

“Ok” I nod. “I love you, Pedri.”

“I love you too, Sofía” he says before hanging up.

[ladykailitha]

Never Hold Back Your Step... Part 1

Here is it is. Book 2 of The Boy With a Bat and I'm posting it on the anniversary of the first chapter of "Can Anybody See Me?" I couldn't pass up the opportunity do so, you know? If you haven't read that yet, I would recommend it.

This one starts up almost immediately after the last one ended. And I do have four chapters written.

This story will go through to the end of season 3.

@mira-jadeamethyst @rozzieroos @itsall-taken @redfreckledwolf @emly03

***

The weather started to warm and the Harringtons were away for longer and longer stretches of time. So to say that Steve was happy would be an understatement.

He used that open period to do his homework so that he had more time to practice his swimming. It was inevitable that Eddie would cotton on to the glaringly obvious gap in Steve’s swim practice. As in despite having a large pool of his own, Steve would practice at the school or on the weekends at the community center.

At first the excuse of it being too cold to swim in the outdoor pool, that fell away to the warmer weather. Thankfully it was the last meet of the season, and the team had gotten to state.

Steve hadn’t even bothered to tell his parents that the swim team had a chance at nationals. That they had been that good. Nope. He told Wayne Munson and Claudia Henderson though. Those were the adults he really wanted to see there. Not Clint and Marilyn Harrington. Of course Joyce and Hopper were told, too. But Claudia had become more like his mother and Wayne, the father figure he had always wanted.

Eddie had avoided the swim meets for the most part. Not because he didn’t want to support Steve. He did. The problem was the *ahem* uniform for the boys’ swim team. It consisted of one cap, one pair of goggles and the tiniest Speedo known to man. Or at least known to Eddie. He could barely handle his boyfriend in the booty shorts the basketball team wore, the Speedo was just too much for his poor developed teenaged brain.

But through begging, bribing, and blow jobs, Eddie was at that meet.

Thankfully he wasn’t sandwiched between Uncle Wayne and Claudia Henderson. Nope, Marty and Janice had come, too. The rest of them couldn’t get out of their classes to come but they all told Steve they were rooting for him.

Steve walked out in the green Speedo (being the ‘away’ team) cap. The white framed goggles perched on his head. He spoke briefly to coaches Hall and Hastings. And then turned to wave at the enthusiastic crowd. Claudia had gotten Dustin excused from school and Nancy and Jonathan were there as members of the school news paper.

All in all not a bad turnout for the boy who thought that 1985 was going to be as bad as 1984 had been. He thought he was going to end the year with no girlfriend, no friends, and no future. But that all changed with Eddie Munson deciding he was worth having. First as a friend and then as a boyfriend.

The boyfriend thing was still being kept on the down low as they were still in high school and Steve’s dad was just too big of a wild card to tell people that might get word back to him. Steve felt bad. Because it meant that Dustin and the other kids didn’t know about him and Eddie. Well...he was pretty sure Max had figured it out and maybe El, too. But everyone else was told that they were strictly bros.

A lie Eddie was surprisingly okay with. The last thing he wanted was Steve to get another concussion and if Billy and his gang scented blood in the water before, it would be a literal blood bath if Steve was even hinted at being in a relationship with another boy. Tommy and Billy could taunt all they wanted as long as there wasn’t any proof, they were fine.

It made Steve itch. But even he knew better than to scratch it.

He took a deep breath and stepped up to the starting block. He got in position and lowered his goggles. Out of the corners of his eyes he could see the other competitors look at each other, sizing each other up. But Steve was focused. He put his head down and took a deep breath. He loved the butterfly stroke. It worked his shoulders in a way that helped round out his strengths.

The whistle blew and they were off. Distantly he could hear people screaming his name and cheering him on every time he broke the water. He smiled and doubled his efforts. He touched the pad and the whistle blew. He then looked around at his competitors and saw to his satisfaction that he had definitely finished first.

Steve could hear Dustin freaking out in the stands. He pulled the goggles off his eyes and placed them on his head. He wiped the water out of his face and he looked to the stands.

Wayne was asking Claudia a question and she was explaining it animatedly. Steve grinned. He pulled himself out of the water and listened to the judges give the times. It was no record by any means, but it was much faster than his peers.

He stood up and Coach Hall raised his hand up. All his team members came up to him and cheering excitedly. Even the ones that he had beaten.

Steve sat on the sidelines and waited for the relay to start. That was his final event. He was first, followed by two other boys, Lyle and Nick, and then Ezra. Steve and Ezra were the teams two fastest swimmers and bookended the relay team.

Finally they were up. He looked up at the stands again. The most important people in Steve’s life were up there cheering him on. He got into position and pulled his goggles down. He zipped through the water like an otter and was soon tapping out for the next swimmer. He quickly got out of the way and was shocked to see that other team wasn’t even close. As each boy popped out of the water and looked at how far they were in front of the other team, they would start to jump up and down excitedly.

Soon it was the three of them waiting for Ezra to finish. There was no doubt they won. The question was whether or not they had beat the state record. Ezra tapped the board and hopped out of the water.

They waited in silence as the other team finished their run and got out of the pool. The judge must have had a flare for the dramatic as he read the other team’s time first. Steve and his team wrapped their arms around each other as they waited for the time.

Finally it was read.

“A new state record!” the judge called out.

Steve and his team started screaming and cheering.

“And thereby qualify for the regionals that will be held in Chicago this year in two weeks!” the judge continued.

They made it!

Steve looked up at the stands and the entire section that held the Hawkins fans were on their feet. Even Eddie had been lost in the sea of fans screaming their lungs out.

*

After he had showered and got the chlorine out of his hair, he walked out to all his friends waiting for him. They were holding up signs and cheering. Even Nancy and Jonathan were waiting for him.

“Steve, that was amazing, man,” Jonathan said. He snapped a a couple of pictures that left Steve blinking from the flash.

Nancy hugged him and then straightened out her skirt. She cleared her throat and said as professionally as possible, “Weekly Streak, as co-captain of the team, how does it feel making regionals for the first time in the school’s history?”

“Me and Ezra Wincott are both proud of how well our players did,” Steve said after shaking his head a little. “We’re disappointed that no one in the individual events made it, but grateful that we made it to state. It was an honor to compete.”

“Will the school be raising the money for the team to go?” Nancy asked.

Steve covered his wince with a half smile. This was a hotly contested subject between them about where school funds went. She thought that more money should go to arts like theater and the newspaper, of course.

“I wouldn’t know,” he said and pursed his lips. He licked a stripe over his upper lip and Eddie winced.

Eddie wondered if Nancy was familiar with Steve’s tell that he was seriously annoyed. Judging from her expression, probably not.

“It’s up to the administration where the funds go,” Steve said, dryly. “However, if it will help Lyle or Nick have the chance to go, I’m sure my parents would be willing to pay for me to go regardless of the school’s ability to fund the trip.”

Nancy and Eddie both scoffed, but they didn’t say anything.

“Any word on elections for next years captain or captains?” Nancy asked.

“We’ll be holding them after nationals,” Steve said. “Coaches Higgins and Hall have opted to continue with the co-captains as they have in the past few years.”

“Are you disappointed that none of the girls made it to state?” Nancy asked.

Eddie and Steve exchanged a glance over her head of exasperation. “Co-captains Laura Gilbert and Denise Portman led the girls to a great season. It was unfortunate that they went against better teams. The hope next year is that they are getting six new members next year that will freshen up the team.”

“And how many boys will be joining the team next year?”

Steve crossed his arms and licked his upper lip again, and it sent a not nice shiver down Eddie’s spine. He could tell that he was getting upset with Nancy’s questions.

“Not as many,” Steve said, knowing that was exactly why she asked. She was gloating that the girls were getting more players next year. “Only four. Which considering we’re losing six this year is quite the blow.”

“Just one last question,” Nancy said a sneer on her face. “Who are you celebrating with tonight?”

Everyone went dead silent. Steve wasn’t sure if she was being obtuse or if she was trying to out him, but it wasn’t appropriate by any stretch of the imagination.

“Friends and family,” Steve said with a sinister smile.

Nancy turned of the recorder and stuck it in her pocket. Both Eddie and Steve opened their mouths to protest, but Jonathan beat them to it.

“What the fuck was with that last question?” he growled as he packed away his camera.

Nancy rolled her eyes. “The school’s student editor is one of Tommy’s ilk and wanted me to ask it off all the people I interviewed, but especially Steve.”

“You do realize that only seven people in the whole school read the school newspaper, right?” Eddie asked. “Like everyone I know tosses it the second it gets handed to them.”

Nancy rolled her eyes. “Well maybe you guys should. It’s not just sports you know. The debate team also made it to state. The drama club got invited to perform at the drama conference with ‘Yours, Yours, Yours’ and a dozen other things that you would know if you read the only paper in town that cared about that sort of thing.”

Steve and Eddie looked at Marty and Janice and then back at Nancy.

“You do realize that that last example was a piss poor one right?” Steve asked, waving his hand to include Eddie, Janice and Marty. “We were all part of the play in some way. Of course we knew about the invite.”

Nancy rolled her eyes. “Okay, so that was a bad example. But you know what I mean.”

“It’s not the end of the world, Nance,” Dustin said. “You’re destined for greatness at some big name paper.”

Nancy blushed. “Thanks!”

Eddie smiled. “Come on, sweetheart. Uncle Wayne and I have celebration plans for you, big boy.”

Steve grinned. “Is Wayne going to barbecue like he’d been teasing all winter?”

Wayne laughed. “Not quite warm enough for that yet. I promise, once it is, I’ll blow your god damn mind.”

Steve laughed.

“No,” Claudia said with a smile. “We’re going for milk shakes at the diner. Best celebration there is.”

Steve high-fived Dustin.

****

Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16

Tag List: @spectrum-spectre @estrellami-1 @zerokrox-blog @gregre369 @artiststarme ​@a-little-unsteddie @chaosgremlinmunson @messrs-weasley @chaoticlovingdreamer @maya-custodios-dionach @danili666 @goodolefashionedloverboi @val-from-lawrence @i-must-potato @carlyv @wonderland-girl143-blog @justforthedead89 @vecnuthy @irregular-child @bookbinderbitch @bookworm0690 @anne-bennett-cosplayer @yikes-a-bee @awkwardgravity1 @littlewildflowerkitten @genderless-spoon @counting-dollars-counting-stars @cinnamon-mushroomabomination @dragonmama76 @scheodingers-muppet @ellietheasexylibrarian @thedragonsaunt @useless-nb-bisexual

[befemininenow]

Some of us change, and for the better. If you haven't yet, what could you change?

Well, this one is a longer description than what I've been writing during special days. I've been debating on making changes for the blog, as well my improving on my personal needs. I haven't been able to enjoy anything these past few months due to work, bills, and other circumstances in my life. I've been wanting to enjoy this 2024, but it seems that it hasn't been any better.

It's currently April and the spring season is supposed to be a fresh new start for everyone. I always felt that April is the perfect month to adjust towards the new year and initiate those plans you had during your New Year's Resolution, but have never started. 90 days is usually enough time to adjust and I think we're well above 90 days to make an excuse. Well, no more excuses.

See, it's been exactly a year since I made my "retirement" post. However, I did so at an impulsive rate and lapsed back to uploading captions again. Then, on June of last year, I did so again. I uploaded a new caption or two between June and September before uploading more captions around October until now. Yet again, I didn't last.

I come to the conclusion that as much as I love making captions, it's been affecting my actual life. Caption making isn't as easy as it seems. Not only do you have to find good pictures, but you also have to create a meaningful message relating to the picture. Sometimes, you even have to give a detailed description either because the message can't fit in the entire picture or because I have to spice up the post. Then, you have to make sure the caption looks good because the wrong color, font, space, etc, can make it look ugly. It doesn't have to be this stressful, but it got to the point where it took a chunk of my free time and left me with a lack of satisfaction.

You may be asking yourself if this is another "retirement" post where I'm going to quit and come back again. Let me make this statement clear because as the saying goes "Third time's a charm": I'm not going to retire. Yet. However, don't be surprised if I go without uploading a new caption for 3 or 5 days. Chances are, I'm probably either busy with other errands in my life or because I need a proper vacation that allows me to enjoy my other hobbies. Feminization captions aren't my personality, y'know.

When and how I will conclude this blog will be a surprise I will unveil one day. Maybe next week, next month, maybe even next year. But for now, I'm going to make a change with this blog based at my own pace. This caption (No. 505) is a preview of what you will expect to see for the next several captions: basic, simple, effective, and of course, attractive. Also, for the first time since forever, I will upload captions without a post description. All of my captions have at least a small description of what the post is about. This time, there will be some caption posts without description because I believe the caption is enough to detail what the topic will be about.

For now, this is the future of this blog. I promise you that the next captions will be great. I put more effort and love into them and I hope you love them as well. Have a great night, everyone!

[yazmarina]

and everything is new (and everything is you)

zak o'sullivan (f2) x fem!reader

a beach trip, one bed, and your ex-teammate turned frenemy. you're no math genius but you can already see the result of this equation.

warnings/notes: suggestive, enemies (?) to lovers, only one bed, appearances by other drivers

a/n: you guys have been too kind to me requesting all these zak fics <3 here's a little (mostly) fluffy thing for all my fellow zak enjoyers

"Are you coming along to Mallorca?"

You tug off your balaclava, turning your head toward Marta. She's undoing her race suit, looking at you expectantly. For a moment, you're confused, but you remember just as quickly the group chat that popped up in your notifications this morning. The one with current and ex-Prema drivers.

"Is that where we're going? I haven't gone through the chat yet, sorry," you admit, pulling off your hair tie.

"Why not? Even the ex-members already said yes," Marta prods. "Is this about Zak?"

Your head snaps back up in Marta's direction, your forehead creased.

"What about Zak?" You try nonchalantly, ripping your race suit's zipper down.

Marta snickers. "Ollie told me that you and him don't get along that well."

You raise your eyebrows at this. "Ollie told you? You talk often?"

"Don't change the subject," Marta says rolling her eyes. She sidles up to you as you start to walk out of the garage, back to Prema's service truck.

"Come on, Amna and Hamda will be there, it'll be fun," Marta pleads, nudging you lightly.

You sigh, contemplating on it. A few days in Mallorca, with friends, and for sure, free-flowing alcohol. The FRECA season hasn't been good to you lately and a trip like this one before the season picks up again in Imola might do you well.

It's a no-brainer. And yet...

"Is...he going?" You tread cautiously, already rolling your eyes at the way Marta grins at your question.

"Zak? Yeah, he is. What's the deal with you two?" Marta asks, just as you two arrive at the service truck.

You two let yourselves in, momentarily distracted by the strategists and engineers who congratulate you and Marta's qualifying positions. Mostly Marta's P5, though. Not much to celebrate about your P17.

"The deal is..." you begin once you're settled in the small sitting area on the second floor. "He and I are just kind of awkward around each other. He's always so standoffish when I'm around. So I don't push, 'cause I wouldn't want to bother him if he doesn't want to talk to me."

"Standoffish?" Marta asks. "Like, Zak ignores you?"

You nod. "Never knew why but I guess he just doesn't like me that much."

"That's crazy. What's there to dislike?" Marta asks incredulously.

"Ask him," you say. "He's left Prema and all and he still hasn't said a word to me other than, 'hi', 'bye', or 'see you'."

"Maybe he likes you," Marta suggests, plopping down on one of the chairs.

"No," you immediately interject. "Don't give me that, 'he avoids you so he must like you' theory. It's so cliche!"

Marta just shrugs. "Cliche, yes. Impossible? No."

You let out a breath, opening your driver room door. Just then, Rafael comes bounding up the steps, grinning, fresh from his pole position celebrations.

"That's pole, ladies!" He exclaims. "My mind's already celebrating in Mallorca."

Marta throws her balaclava at Rafael, who catches it with ease.

"At least someone's happy about Mallorca," Marta comments, turning to look at you knowingly.

You huff, slamming your door shut.

-

"Hi."

You already know who the man standing in the aisle next to you is. This was your connecting flight to Mallorca from Heathrow Airport and the moment Zak texted the group chat that his flight was the exact same time as yours, you already knew you'd run into him.

You look up and sure enough, Zak has his lips pursed as he eyes the seat next to you.

Great. Not only are you on the same flight. He's sitting right next to you, too.

"Hi Zak," you mumble quietly, the feeling of his name in your mouth so unfamiliar that you almost cringe.

"You can take this seat and I'll just move," you hurriedly add, not wanting to stretch the conversation any longer. You scoot over to the middle seat before hauling yourself all the way to the one next to the window.

Zak blinks, giving you a look. He shakes his head, situating himself in the seat you were previously in.

"And if someone comes along and says they have that seat, what then?" Zak asks, glancing your way briefly before averting his eyes back to his phone.

You take a deep breath, your stomach flipping around weirdly. You haven't ever been this physically close to Zak, always making sure to keep your distance. The proximity makes you feel all jumpy now.

"Boarding's almost over, I'm sure no one–"

"Hi, sorry, I believe that's my seat?"

You're cut off mid-sentence by a sweet old lady, peering over at you from the aisle. Zak quickly gets up and motions for her to enter your row, smiling all gentlemanly, even guiding her by the arm. You grit your teeth as you exit the cramped space, letting the woman shuffle into the widow seat.

"Aisle seat is yours," Zak says with a smirk, gesturing to the place he just vacated.

"Wouldn't want you to bear the inconvenience of the middle one," he adds.

"Thanks," you reply quietly, settling back down into your original place as Zak takes the space between you and the old lady.

"Long time no see, _______," Zak greets, smiling at you politely.

"Yeah," you say rather flatly. "Leaving the team kind of does that."

"I didn't leave," Zak counters matter-of-factly. "I was...There wasn't enough space left for me at Prema. That F2 seat wasn't going to be for me, anyway, unless I find another team."

There's a moment of silence as you suddenly feel bad for wording it the way you did. You glance up at Zak and find that he's already looking. You look away, heart leaping in your chest.

"Sorry," you mutter under your breath.

"You're good," Zak says with a sigh.

-

You blink your eyes open, finding yourself rather warm in the airconditioned aircraft.

Then the smell hits you. Perfume, vaguely manly. And then the feeling of a soft wool sweater against your cheek registers in your mind. Someone is leaning their head against yours from above.

That's when the dots connect in your head.

You've fallen asleep on Zak's shoulder.

In that short amount of time from when you took off and the moment you fell asleep, you managed to cuddle up to your...enemy? Ex-teammate? Ferenemy?

You shift your eyes downward and see that your arm has coiled around his own, his fingers loosely wrapped around yours, as if the two of you were just holding hands. Zak must have felt the sudden rigidness in your body because you feel him wake up as he raises his head, pulling away from you.

You retract your own arm, smoothing your hair down, and avoiding eye contact. Zak clears his throat, busying himself with his phone.

"We're about to land," Zak says.

You merely nod, your chest squeezing tightly.

"I was about to wake both of you, but you two looked so peaceful," the old lady suddenly says, drawing both your and Zak's attention.

"What a lovely couple," she adds, grinning at you both.

You smile weakly in return and Zak mumbles a nervous 'thank you'.

-

"This villa is huge!" Hamda exclaims, bounding through the foyer of the beach house your group has rented for the week.

You pull your suitcase past the landing, neck craning as you take your temporary residence in.

The ceiling's high, with a balcony overlooking the entrance from the second floor. The kitchen is to the right and the living room is to your left. Large glass double doors are straight ahead, leading to a garden which then leads to the beach.

"It says there are six rooms," Marta declares, peering at her phone. "And there's twelve of us, so that's perfect."

"I'm rooming with Dino," Paul cuts in, already hauling his stuff up the stairs. Dino gives the group a thumbs up as he follows Paul.

"Okay, there should also be two beds in each room," Marta adds. "So no one can complain about their roommate punching them in their sleep."

The Al-Qubaisi sisters stalk off on their own, automatically roommates. Arthur and Ollie decide to room together, with Rafael and Gabriele racing up the stairs to see who gets to their room first.

Doriane sticks around with Marta, helping the older organize the kitchen before they retreat to their own room.

That leaves you and Zak because of course it does.

"I can room with the other guys," Zak offers as the two of you stand around the living room.

You give it a thought. Marta did say it would be two beds.

"I'd feel bad if I had a room to myself while everyone has a roommate," you reason, hauling your luggage along.

"I mean, if you don't want to room with me, that's fine–"

"No," Zak cuts in quickly. "I mean, it's fine. We can share a room."

"Are you two roommates?" Marta asks from the kitchen, peering through the doorway. Doriane gives the two of you a look before nudging Marta not-so-discreetly.

"Yep," you respond, trying to act casual. "That happens when there are more guys than girls."

You're about to drag your stuff up the stairs when Zak slips his own hand into the handle of your suitcase. You pull your hand back, as if burned, peering up at him.

"Let me," Zak offers, bounding up the stairs easily, both your and his things in his hands.

Unbeknownst to you, a violent blush creeps up your whole neck and face.

You follow Zak to one of the two remaining rooms. He pauses by the door and turns to you. "You wanna take this one?"

You nod, just wanting to get settled down and bond with the other girls. The image of Zak's hand around yours is still fresh in your mind and you don't like the way it sends flutters through your stomach.

You need to get far away from this man before you say or do something drastic.

He sets the bags down and pushes the door open. There's a short hallway leading to the actual room, concealing the rest of it from view. Zak shuffles in, past the bathroom to your left and the closet to the right. You follow at a distance, startling when Zak cusses.

You approach, peeking at where Zak is looking and your heart sinks.

"Dino and I were supposed to pick this one, but it only has one bed."

You turn to see Paul standing in the doorway, a knowing smile on his face. Dino peeks from behind him and gives you a kissy face which he quickly drops when Zak turns to look as well.

"We can let Marta and Doriane have this one," you offer up to Zak, already grabbing the handle of your bag.

"They already picked the other one," Paul says hurriedly, reaching for the doorknob. "We'll leave you guys to unpack. Bye!"

He swings the door closed and you're about to protest when you decide against it. Knowing the rest of them, they probably planned this ahead of time and they'll give both you and Zak hell if you refuse.

You turn to Zak who looks just as confused as you. You sigh, setting your things down at the far end of the room, just beneath the large window looking out into the ocean.

"It has a nice view," you comment, watching as the clouds breeze past in the sky. You feel Zak come up behind you and you freeze, trying not to crowd into his personal space.

"Huh," Zak begins. "It does. I guess that's one good thing about this room."

You turn around fully, facing Zak as he looks out through the window. He glances down at you and you realize how close the two of you are standing together.

He has his glasses on, which you always thought made him look cuter than usual. You blink the thought away as you brush past him, seating yourself on the bed.

"At least it's queen-sized," Zak remarks, kneeling down beside his suitcase. He unzips it, rummaging through his things.

"Yeah," you agree, half distracted by the way his jaw clenches.

"I won't give you a hard time, I promise," Zak says with an apologetic smile.

"Likewise," you reply.

The two of you fall into silence for a few seconds. Zak makes a face and you can't help the laugh that escapes you.

"Did we ever figure out why we're so weird with each other?" Zak asks, pulling himself up to his knees so he's level with you as you continue to perch at the edge of the bed.

If you reach out now, you'll be able to touch him. His hands hover awkwardly in front of him as if he's deciding whether to lay them on your thighs or not.

You shake your head, pulling yourself further up the bed before rolling off of it completely.

"Don't know what you're talking about," you brush off, heading straight for the door.

-

You sigh as the cool air of the room hits your freshly showered skin, the faint scent of body wash reaching your nose as you scan the room.

Zak is nowhere to be found and you fight against the twinge of disappointment that pokes through your chest.

He'd been weird with you the whole day. More so than usual. Or, at least you think he was.

The group decided to spend the rest of the daylight hours on the beach, splashing around and sitting out in the afternoon sun. You were having trouble with your sunscreen, particularly reaching over your shoulder to your back. Zak just so happened to see you and offered to do it for you.

"Move your hair a bit, yeah?" He said when your reply came as stunned silence, brushing some of your hair away over your shoulder.

You felt his hand move over your upper back, traveling lower with each swipe of the product. You flinched when you felt him brush against the small of your back.

"Thanks," you said, in a hurry to pull away. You've just spotted the others watching you two like a bunch of vultures, happily taking in every interaction you and Zak had.

It also didn't escape your notice the way he'd help you out of the water each time, the sand weighing your bare feet down.

"Talk about a change of heart," Marta had whispered to you as you were entering the villa just after sunset.

"He was watching you and not the sun when it was going down," Marta added, elbowing you playfully.

And now, you're looking for him, though subconsciously, but you're aware enough to know that something had indeed shifted today.

"Hey."

You turn to see Zak in the doorway, hair still damp, and a fresh set of clothes on.

"Where were you? I thought I'd let you shower first," Zak asks, leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed.

"I showered in Marta and Doriane's room," you reply. "Thought I'd let you have a moment alone."

Zak's eyebrows furrow. "I'd like a moment with you, though?"

Your eyes widen and you laugh, all nerves and uncertainty.

"You have all night with me, Zak, seeing as we're sharing a bed," you remind, patting his shoulder goodnaturedly as you scurry past him into the hallway.

"Sounds great!" Zak calls out from behind you, your lips spreading into a smile.

-

Dinner was a fun affair, with the food prepared mainly by Marta and Paul. The drinks came out not too long after.

And now, some bottles of beer later (mixed with whatever cocktail Ollie came up with), you're stumbling into your room, trying to walk in a straight line. Keyword is trying.

You nearly jump right out of your skin when you hear the door close behind you.

"Whoa, sorry, it's just me," Zak says with a chuckle, holding his hands out toward you as if scared you're gonna topple forward.

"I need to sleep," you mumble, words slurring around the edges.

You climb onto the mattress, burrowing yourself under the fluffy covers. You watch with bleary eyes as Zak moves to the other side of the bed, sliding in beside you.

The bed shifts under his weight and you close your eyes trying to will yourself to sleep, but despite the alcohol, your heart beats wildly in your chest, more so when Zak's arm momentarily brushes against yours.

"I'll turn the light off," Zak announces. You merely hum in return.

The room is plunged into darkness as the lamp goes off, the room filled only with the steady hum of the air conditioning. Neither you nor Zak move, but you're nearly a hundred percent sure that he's still awake.

The minutes tick by but you're still lucid, watching as the moonlight filters in through the window. Zak finally rolls over and you assume that he's fallen asleep by now.

That is until you feel his hand reach for yours under the cover.

"Zak," comes your hushed whisper.

"Hm?" Zak questions.

He threads his fingers through yours but you feel a slight tremble in his hand, like he's waiting for you to reject him and pull away. You make no indication of doing so, running your thumb over his skin.

"Why are we weird with each other?"

Your question hangs in the air for a few seconds. Zak shifts even closer and you let him, finally looking over to his side of the bed.

You can see the faint outlines of his features, his eyes wide and looking straight at you. Turning over to your side, you notice just how close your faces are.

"I thought you would have figured it out by now," Zak says, voice low.

You hear the blood rushing in your ears. Your heart hammering against your ribcage. Your hand shaking as you bring it up to rest against Zak's cheek.

He closes his eyes at the contact, expression softening as if finally letting himself feel you. Really feel you.

You push yourself up on your elbow, hovering over Zak as your hair falls, curtain-like around your face. He tucks it behind your ear, hand resting on the back of your neck after.

Before you can second-guess yourself, you lean down to kiss Zak, catching him by surprise as he freezes for a moment. He quickly springs into action and parts his lips against yours, sighing into the kiss.

You swing your leg over his torso, situating yourself on him, giggling as his hands fly down to grip your waist.

"You like me," you whisper, breath fanning against Zak's face.

Zak laughs, palms smoothing down your sides before stopping at your ass, fingers squeezing at your flesh.

You gasp, swatting Zak in the chest.

"Yes, I fucking like you, I have for years now," Zak confirms, leaning up to peck you on your lips.

You kiss him fully once more, your own hands creeping up under his shirt.

"Worth it?" You ask.

Zak bites his lip as you rake your nails over the bare skin of his abdomen.

"Definitely."

-

"The walls are very thin, you know." Paul points an accusatory finger at you and Zak as you walk into the kitchen the next day.

"We had a 'no partners' rule for this trip! How come they get to fu–"

Doriane smacks Gabriele's arm to shut him up and it's at this moment you feel the heat rising in your cheeks.

"They're free on a technicality," Marta says matter-of-factly. "They weren't partners when this trip started.

"You owe me a hundred euros," Arthur says, nudging Ollie.

"A hundred? We said fifty!" Ollie protests, still clearly hungover.

"Yes, but we said fifty if they kiss and get together on this trip, they clearly did more than that," Arthur points out, giving you a knowing smile.

You meet Zak's eyes and he shrugs sheepishly, leaning down to kiss the top of your head.

You see the whole group physically recoil, averting their eyes as if they've just intruded on an intimate moment.

"Gross! Have some decency, you guys."

[cloudy-em]

Hi, that's me again😅

So... my other idea for Lip is: (again with relatively shy reader, because I love the thrope a lot) the reader and Lip are already in a relationship, one day someone teases her a little too much on the sexual theme (they haven't had sex yet so she's a bit insecure about it) he notices, he defends her, and once they're alone he starts to joke around, teases her in a sweet way, to make her feel more comfortable to talk about it. (She is not a virgin, she's just not that experienced)

Hope you like this one, if not. It's okay, I promise😂

another great idea! <3

personally i don't celebrate thanksgiving but i remember an episode from one of the earlier seasons of them doing a thanksgiving meal which is very convenient for this so it's loosely based on that

warnings: sexual comments, innuendos, Mickey's kinda being an ass but his comments aren't ill-intended

xxxxxxxxxx

The Gallagher household was bustling with activity. Fiona and V were in the kitchen, finishing up some last minute food preparations while Kevin was entertaining Carl and some of his friends in the yard with games. Ian was fixing drinks for everyone, desperately trying to find Debbie to figure out what she wanted (she was in her room, Mandy braiding her hair for her so she could impress Little Hank). Lip was finishing up a project for some sophomore who'd offered to pay him $100, and Liam was sitting patiently in his high chair. Y/N did her best to help out by setting the table, ensuring there were enough chairs and that everyone had all the proper utensils.

Mickey walked in the front door, beer in hand and flopped down, watching as Y/N reached across to the other side of the table to put a fork next to the plate. Mickey whistled like a boy in a 60s tv show.

"Damn, I bet you're used to that position," he quipped, taking another swig or his beer. Y/N looked at him, furrowing her eyebrows.

Mickey shrugged. "You know, cause I'm sure Philip bends you over pretty often." Y/N realized his implications, blushing and looking away. Mickey laughed, much more comfortable on the subject of sex than she was. "I'm sure Fiona's had to schedule time out of the house with the rest of the kids just to give you two some 'alone time'!"

Y/N grew increasingly uncomfortable. She wasn't a virgin or a puritan, but she and Lip hadn't had sex yet. They hadn't had a conversation about it or anything, but she wanted to wait a while and Lip had never brought it up with her.

Mickey laughed, "Look, kid, don't have to hide anything, we've all walked in on Lip with one of his hookups before." He paused for dramatic effect.

"Besides, it's always the shy one's who are the kinkiest!"

Y/N looked away, trying not to pay him any more mind and focus on her task. Lip walked down the stairs having finished with the sophomore's project, and immediately noticed something was off. His girlfriend was shy, sure, but she never bowed her head as low as she had.

"Hey, Lip!" Mickey called, teasing. Lip looked at him, eyebrows raised in expectation. "Maybe you should go out back and have quickie with your girl, get 'er to stop bein' such a priss." Lip realized what was wrong, walking over to his blushing girlfriend and placing his arm around her waist.

"Fuck off," Lip sighed. "Y/N isn't a priss, she just doesn't think the whole world needs to know about her sex life like you and Ian seem to."

Mickey raised his arms in surrender, "'Kay, fuck, Gallagher, it was all teasing, no harm meant!" He got up from his seat and went to the kitchen, presumably to grab another beer.

"C'mon, baby," Lip said softly, squeezing Y/N's waist and guiding her up to his room. He sat with her on the edge of Ian's bed, holding her hand and rubbing his calloused thumb on the back of it.

"I'm sorry he was messin' with you, baby," he whispered. "I'll make sure it doesn't happen again. Anything I can do for you?" He emphasized his apology by pressing a soft kiss to her temple.

"No, just," she paused, thinking about how she wanted to phrase her next sentence. "Do you ever, I don't know, feel like I'm holding you back?"

Lip had a puzzled look on his face. "Whatd'ya mean, hon?"

"Well with like, you know," she sighed, pulling her hand away from Lip to hide her face. "We haven't had sex and I feel like that's my fault." She heard him chuckle quietly, her embarrassment seeping into her soul even more.

"Baby," he cooed, wrapping his arms around her in a hug as she continued to hide her face. "It's nobody's fault. We haven't talked about it yet! That's the most important part of any relationship, and that's taken me a while to learn. I figured you'd bring it up when you were ready. I didn't want you to feel pressured."

She looked up at him, eyes wide and glazed over, on the verge of tears because of her embarrassment. "Really?" she asked.

"Really," he nodded like he had given an order to the universe.

"I thought that maybe you weren't attracted to me or that you thought I wasn't good enough," she whispered.

"Me? Not attracted to you? Aw babe!" he laughed, nose touching hers in a loving exchange. "A pretty thing like you deserves to be worshipped. When we have sex, I'm takin' my time with you."

She giggled at his compliment, rolling her eyes in disbelief.

"Oh, what you don't believe me? I've wanted to sleep with pretty girl forever, I just wanted to make sure she's ready for me," he smiled at her. The more he complimented her, easing in sex references, the more comfortable she felt on the subject. He had waited for her! He didn't think she was a prude or anything, he just had respect for her; he cared for her. She felt warmth in her chest as she processed the conversation. Lip kissed her nose briefly, helping her stand up from the bed.

"And try not to let Mickey get you down. He's just like that and assumes everyone else is comfortable talking about their sex life the way he does. I'll warn him to dial it down when he's around you, though," Lip told her, looking into her eyes to make sure she knew he was serious.

"Thanks, Lip. I love you," she told him, hugging him again.

"I love you, too, Y/N. Now, we'll talk more about us and our boundaries and moving forward later," he told her, trying to help her be more comfortable discussing sex with him. "But right now I think we've got a dinner to be at."

xxxxxx

thanks for reading! sorry about me projecting a lil bit in lip and reader's conversation lol, i just think it's really important to have these conversations with your partners and i think lip, despite being all tough and "not sappy" (but he totally is) really cares about discussing boundaries with his partner

have a great day!

[gingergofastboatsmojito]

Escalation

This keeps escalating and I'm sooooo here for it!

Carmy:

S1 → Carmy gave her a job and his trust.

S2 → Carmy gave her a restaurant and a jacket.

S3 → Carmy gave her an agreement to share his family business and possibly an award, (although that would be shared, because if he gets it, they actually get it together, not just him because she's also busting her ass at that restaurant) which we haven't seen yet bc S3's time span was only 3 months, and a year's run is required to even be considered. So, the awards are most likely gonna start coming in next season as I anticipated → here. That being said, he wants to give it to her, that's why he leaves her out of everything and she resents him.

Syd:

S1 → Her patience, forgiveness, and trust.

S2 → Her patience, work, forgiveness, and trust.

S3 → Her PATIENCE, work, and we are not so sure about whether she will continue putting her trust in him and therefore forgive him and stay by his side till he changes for her. Well, actually I am.

So there's a pattern here. An escalation.

He keeps giving her more and more as time goes by. Maybe it's not what she wants from him... Wait, it sure isn't. But it's definitely more and more every time, that's undeniable, whether she appreciates it or not.

We all know by now that this is how Carmy expresses how he feels because words are not his forte. After all, he's avoidant and transferring his undealt-with feelings for Syd to a more attainable prospect, or at least that's what he tried to do last season, and failed and it's quite clear why. More about that failure → here.

Now, what's next for both?

Is he gonna keep on giving her more until he has nothing left to give -and if so: what does that look like?- or will the star be the limit?

Will he be able to give her that star before she has enough of him giving her what he thinks she wants but not what she really wants?

Will she be able to actually clarify for him exactly what is it that she wants from him?

Does she know that herself by now?

Is she willing to admit it?

Or will she just give up on him, on them?

If so: Does that really solve anything for both?

The answer to ALL those questions was given by Storer already in:

The loop:

Bonus track: There is a chance the review is not exactly what the montage shows, maybe it's actually good. We know this because Carmy's perception is altered. His mental space tends to alter reality, we saw that → here. So we shouldn't 100% trust everything we think we see through his eyes. Those missed calls and texts could be congratulations because the review was not bad or not that bad, or good enough for Cicero to continue funding the restaurant, etc. Carmy's “motherfucker!” could be his overachiever talking, maybe he focused on the one word that wasn't amazing and disregarded the rest, and in his head, he actually read a terrible review. Which is common in people with the mental disorders he has. It wouldn't be totally farfetched.

Even if the review was as "mixed" as the montage shows, right after that we see the L.

We're looping back.

Hopefully to a more Sydcarmy-friendly place. Because this was rock bottom. Now we gotta bounce back.

This means that Carmy's escalation will continue.

He will keep on giving her more, better, bigger, more meaningful, deeper, and more intense in both a bad and a good way because the change will not be clean, it will be messy, till all he can give her is the one thing he hasn't yet.

The truth.

Either because she stayed and signed the agreement (my money is here) or because she left and he got her back WITH A BIGGER DEMONSTRATION OF HOW HE FEELS, WHICH MIGHT INCLUDE WORDS AT THAT POINT BECAUSE HE HAD ALREADY TRIED PRETTY MUCH EVERY OTHER NON-VERBAL ALTERNATIVE (then she'll sign the agreement anyway). The breaking point they got to already is not just emotional → The crying game. It's also practical. None of them can go on like this much longer and if this keeps escalating like their pattern indicates it will, the next logical progression is to admit and uncover what has been covered for 3 seasons now. It's time. Maybe Luca will be one of the catalysts too for this to happen. Most likely, actually. But that's not necessarily a bad thing if we take into account Carmy's escalation tendencies.

Remember to follow my tag #Gingerpovs 💋

[deiastormborn]

Arcane Act 3 Theories (and my take on Caitlyn so far)

Just finished watching the Act 2 and, good Lord, this was... something. I've been talking with my friend a lot about it and possible future of the show, so I thought to share it here for people to discuss it with me.

OBVIOUSLY, SPOILER WARNINGS! If you didn't watch the act 2 yet, do NOT read.

A few things I want to focus on here:

Vander

Cait & Vi & Jinx trio

Viktor

Let's start with Vander. Man, this whole thing broke me. I wasn't expecting a good outcome considering we know now that he is Warwick, and the current state of Warwick is no longer human. I assume he is not completely dead, I'm sure Singed had some fucked up idea on how to transfer the mind of Vander to another beast. I do imagine, however, that either Viktor's death, or the blast done by Isha, might have removed anything human that was left of him. Singed has spoken about Vander's strong resilience and will to live, so some part of him was still alive - after that explosion, my theory is, the Vander we know is gone now. I suppose next act we will see Warwick in it's pure beast form.

Next point: have you guys noticed anything about the scene between Silco, Vander and Vi/Jinx's mom?

Silco is an obvious representation of Jinx, it was obvious from the first season, even his hairstyle is somewhat similar to hers.

Vander is Vi, in its purest form, he even ironically gave her name.

Their mother, Felicia, is... oddly so similar to Caitlyn.

We know that Silco and Vander haven't been getting along too much, even before the betrayal we know of in season 1. Felicia even happens to scold them a bit before the scene starts. However, they all seem united together, in peace and harmony, especially with the news that Felicia was pregnant. You can see that Silco came closer when he heard the news, and the whole 'Blisters and Bedrock'... I might start using that one. My theory is, what if Caitlyn somehow plays a part in bringing Jinx and Vi closer? While I know that in League of Legends, Vi and Jinx are not allies at all, however, it's not the first story line that was different in Arcane to the lore of League. They were already getting along in order to help Vander, and you can see how much Vi started to soften up when she saw the interactions between Isha and Jinx. Now that Isha is dead, and I think we don't need to argue that she is most definitely dead, Jinx will need Vi. Question is, of course, whether Caitlyn will be able to get over her grief and hatred towards Jinx due to her mother's death, but she did manage to control herself when she met her (yes, she was angry at first, cut her some slack though, you don't just get over stuff like that).

Something tells me, due to the trailer of Act 3, that Jinx might help protect both Zaun and Piltover from Ambessa and Viktor. What if Caitlyn plays the same role as Felicia played for Silco and Vander before she died? Who knows, if she was still alive, maybe Silco and Vander wouldn't get into the mess they got.

(I also want to take a moment and defend Caitlyn here: while you guys were angry at her, please take a moment and transfer that anger on Ambessa instead. Caitlyn was in a grief, blaming herself for everything that went down with Jinx, because she could have stopped her and she didn't, leading to many deaths, including her mom's. She also was thrown into being a head of her family, having to accept the legacy. AND she didn't have a moment to sit down and work with her grief, due to the whole Enforcer role she is playing. While what she said to Vi, about her being 'just as bad' as Jinx, wasn't good, but it was also justified from her eyes. In her eyes, Vi wasn't defending Isha from being shot, she was defending Jinx, and i'm pretty sure we all saw, including Caitlyn, that Vi hesitated killing Jinx even before Isha jumped in to save her. Ambessa used Caitlyn in an unstable position, but AS SOON as Caitlyn saw Vi, and Caitlyn told her about Vander, she SNAPPED BACK. Caitlyn was never evil. She was broken. And her romance with Maddie - please remember there is an obvious time skip between act 1 and act 2, and act 3 also seems to be happening after some time passed. She was allowed for a new relationship, considering that her relationship with Vi lasted... 1 episode anyway.)

Now for my biggest theory with everything that happened to Viktor. I think we can all agree that Viktor is not dead. And while everyone is hating Jayce now, let me just say this: did you see in what state he was? All of the PTSD flashbacks and hallucinations? He has seen something TERRIBLE. While you like Viktor, so do I, please understand that Jayce wasn't acting like this for nothing. My theory is, since Jayce is either from the future, or some alternative reality he travelled to, and, before he killed Viktor, we heard a flashback of him talking to someone and 'I promise I won't fail this time', I assume that this is all Ekko's doing. Since Ekko and Heimer are not in the picture yet, something tells me that Ekko finally became stronger and learned to craft his trinkets for time travel better than before. I think he sent Jayce back to stop Viktor, either from the future or from that alternative reality. Additionally, I think this is all a big mistake on Ekko's part, too. Viktor talked to Singed about fate, and if we know of fate, Jayce and Ekko did not stop the events they were trying to stop. By killing Viktor, and him coming back to life somehow, this sort of betrayal probably removed his last hope in humanity, which will lead to the 'glorious evolution' and Viktor becoming a full cult leader with machine-like ideology. While Viktor seems to be good, he did still start a cult, and shreded people he healed from actual humanity. They were acting in the way Viktor wanted them to act, he could connect his mind to theirs like puppets. His intentions were pure, but the outcome was already bad. We can only imagine how bad it got in the future or that reality. And with Jayce hurting Viktor's 'human body', Viktor will completely loose his mind and turn to metal as he did in the League of Legends lore. I assume he will be the reason Piltover is getting attacked as well. And, since we all saw Oriana's picture, but not her in her current state, something tells me that Viktor will help Singed create Oriana the way we know her - a full robot with some resemblance to her real self.

Here's a thing though:

I think Jayce saw the future, but not how it happened. I think him, and possibly Ekko, decided that, by killing Viktor, they can stop this future from happening, but I actually think they made it worse. I think the whole reason Viktor went insane is because of this event. It's a Greek Tragedy. While they thought killing Viktor will stop him, they actually created a monster instead.

I'll be sad to see Viktor be evil, but, in a way, it all makes sense. In a very tragic way, but it does.

What if the Hextech is actually something from the Void? It's purple.

Alternative theory would be that, while Jayce and Heimer and Ekko were trapped in the core, and while Viktor was actively messing around with it, Jayce witnessed what it does to people that Viktor has been 'fixing'. He does hallucinate some kind of zombies when he looks at the people that Viktor interracted with. Though, then I would not know how Jayce was the only person who got out. Maybe that rune in Jayce's wrist will explain all of it.

This was all of my theories for now.

[anonymouscheeses]

more obvious shit I wanted to point out but it's more than last time uhhh pt.2 (spoilers for dad beat dad and maybe welcome to heaven. Maybe?)

I love that Charlie just randomly goes into demon form sometimes like here ehhehehe. Also can I just say I love Charlie so much?? She is my favorite and I love her especially in this episode because it feels like the same optimistic Charlie but she was just put in a bad situation. I relate to her a bit TOO much, almost down to every detail like wow. You'll understand later once I get there. But just wow...

LOOK AT THIS FUNNY LITTLE MAN. SPOODER DUST <3 also. Live [image] reaction. Someone make that into a reaction image 🙏🙏

HONEY!!! NEW MEME TEMPLATE JUST DROPPED. (Aka the one guy going crazy trying to explain the stuff on the board iykyk)

OMG... THAT CANT BE CHARLIE... NOT CHARLIE'S EMO PHASE PLEASE BAHAHAHHAHAHA (also love that Lucifer has kept it all these years, if Charlie knew I think she'd be extremely embarrassed. Vaggie would love it probably xd)

HE IS SO GOOFY I CANT- I LOVE HIM SO MUCH ALREADY!!! NEED.

Broskie got character development and is NICE?!? I LOVE THAT SMMM YALL.... LOOK AT HIM!! I am very delusional yes, but I will take this over ass development(cough. Vaggie's "story" in ep 3. Cough).

Imagine this. *holds your hand carefully to help you calm down while talking to your father you haven't really wanted to talk to.* lesbian type stuff ngl 🤯 (relatable)

Angel looking at the gays while being a gay too. HE'S BEING SO KIND TO CHARLIE UGGHH I CANTTT!!(POS) NODDING HIS HEAD, SMILING TO HER, ALSO TRYING TO HELP CALM HER DOWN. I MAY BE ASS AT SOCIAL CUES BUT I NOTICED THIS ONE!! YAA

*SHE IS STILL HOLDING HER HAND. CHARLIE'S ALSO SWINGING IT AROUND NERVOUSLY. I can never get tired of them and will make art soon just you wait.*

COMMANDER VAGGIE! I love that she acts like this is a camp full of tiny kids and honestly? That's not too far off. Sir pentious is at the ready! (glad he's here more often in the episode, thought he would just get sidelined after his first episode but gladly no!) Angel is just surprised. Husk spilled his drink, ON WHITE FUR NO LESS! Niffty of course is on the floor face first. Charlie is just happy to be there yippee!

What is this?? I have no idea what the hell it is at all. Bro is just peepin- it doesn't look like Alastor, even in demon form. And... I can't think of anyone else who could be this. Anyone have ideas or maybe it's foreshadowing? Maybe it was revealed in the 6th episode I don't know I haven't watched it yet. (I am a freak. I don't binge I give myself a day to watch a single episode. Most of the time uhhh.)

WE LOVE A SHORT KING. I LOVE THAT. I LOVE HIM. THE EVERYTHING. HE IS EVERYTHING. LET ME STRANGLE HIM PLEASE. (Lillith and Lucifer's dynamic is 100% Gomez and Morticia but a little more silly short man)

"OH WOW! AN OLDER MAN WHO GIVES ME FATHERLY CARE!" *STARTS TO FUCKING CRY*

I FEEL YOU CHARLIE WAAAGHHH

Oh and there goes the silly guy again! Atp I'm thinking it may be the gal some people been talking about that they've been hinting since the pilot. I forgot her name but she's said to be the big bad of season 1 or probably 2. Not sure if that's what it's trying to imply but here's my little no-thought idea

Lucifer, no...

LUCIFER NO!! THIS IS SUCH AN ADORABLE RESPONSE TO CHARLIE DATING A WOMAN. (ADOPT ME)

AND THEN THE HUG! I GET IM LOOKING TOO MUCH INTO THIS ONE SILLY SCENE BUT I JUST LOVE IT SO MUCH AND WANT THIS SO BAD IN MY LIFE.

Niffty really said, "Yes, I do the cleaning."

Get yourself a taller king who is a short king but compared to you is a tall king

Say what you will, but I genuinely want more dad Alastor, someone make an au before I do plsss and @ me 🙏🙏

alright.. now this is where it starts to be relatable and hurt my heart... yayy.... needing any sort of parent figure that actually cares about you than the actual parent who is rarely there? WOWZA! SAME CHARLIE <3 <3 (SO FAR VERY ACCURATE FROM SOMEONE THAT IS IN THE SAME SITUATION)

Alastor is letting her off kindly, atleast in his way. He may be pissed off she brought a shark gang to the hotel and put it on fire, but they were still close friends. With anyone else he would absolutely either murder them or have severely traumatized the person. She's the exception, although I don't think he'd let it off the hook so easily if there were a next time.

A father-daughter embrace! :,)

(This is gonna be messy asf) He wants to know who she is as a person. He always has, and that's definitely obvious, but from a person inside this, they may not know themselves what the other is thinking. To Charlie it was like he never cared and just wanted an excuse to not see her again, acting like he was truly busy as in the start where he made the rubber duck that breathed fire. Sure. But Charlie saw it as him finding ways to not interact with her again. The only times they talk was when it was related to business stuff or other things of the sort. Let me just say this song... is by far my favorite, including the episode. Sure, it's got problems it's own, but this extremely accurate portrayal of what my own situation with one of my parents just stole my entire soul. Yeah I got a bit of tears about to come out, BUT NOPE! NOT TODAY! I don't ever cry during shows or movies so if I ever get teary-eyed, YOU DID SOMETHING. THAT SOMETHING BEING GOOD. This episode was emotional and connected with me on a deep level that I dont think any film has ever done to me, which is weird because I've been actively trying to find one, any one that does. Then to find it in an indie company from a creator who has achieved the dreams that I myself want to one day? That's fucking amazing.

FORESHADOWING! FROESHADOWING! FORESHADOWING! VAGGIE EX-ANGEL THEORY MUST BE CANON AND IF ITS NOT I WILL TEAR MYSELF LIMB FROM LIMB WITH A CROWBAR. LETS GO TO HEAVENNN!!! TOMORROW! BECAUSE THE DAY I PUBLISH THIS WILL BE TOMORROW(FOR YOU TODAY) BUT TOMORROW FOR YOU ILL POST THE NEXT WHAT I CAUGHT SHENANIGANS AGAIN! SEE YA!

[ineffable-endearments]

Hello, everyone!

In light of Neil Gaiman's comment that Amazon is close to officially renewing Good Omens but hasn't done so yet, I think those of us who can should start sending physical postcards to Amazon Studios!

The TL;DR of this post is that you can easily send a postcard from MyPostcard.com for about $3 (USD, I'm sure other currencies can vary). The Web site will print and mail it for you, so you don't have to do any printing or mailing yourself. The postage is included in the $3.

If you don't already have an image or card you want to use, you can just use one of mine above. Some of them are small because of small source images, but the site seems to resize them appropriately for the card. There are bigger versions in a Google Drive folder that you shouldn't have to be logged in to see.

You can send the postcards asking for a third season of Good Omens addressed to Jennifer Salke and Vernon Sanders, co-heads of Amazon Studios, at:

AMAZON STUDIOS 1620 26TH STREET, SUITE 4000N SANTA MONICA, CA 90404 USA

@fuckyeahgoodomens was the first to post this contact information for Amazon, so thank you, Ixi.

If it's something you don't mind, I would very deeply appreciate reblogs on this, since it works better if lots of people see it! No pressure if you don't want to, though.

And if you have Questions, click through below for my reasoning on all this.

Why should we send postcards to Amazon Studios?

We've made lots of noise online about renewal, and we've done a lot of streaming Good Omens. But I haven't seen much discussion of sending physical mail or, specifically, postcards.

Mail takes up space in the real world. It's slightly harder to ignore than email. It's way more attention-grabbing than posts on X or Tumblr or any other social media site. Because postage is required, physical mail can also appear more "committed."

Postcards specifically are great because of their convenience for the recipient. No one has to open them to read them. All it takes is a quick glance to see what we're asking for, and realistically, a quick glance is the best we can ask for in a corporate office. That's why I'm emphasizing postcards over regular letters (although really, anything helps).

Is sending postcards really going to motivate Amazon to make more Good Omens?

Postcard and letter-writing campaigns have helped get shows renewed in the past. Star Trek: The Original Series is a good example of a series that got another season after a letter-writing campaign. This article has more examples.

We don't actually know what's going on in Good Omens's case. Maybe postcards would make a difference; maybe they wouldn't. We can only make our most determined effort at making sure we're heard, and sending mail is part of that.

The cost of sending a postcard is too much for me.

I understand that sending a postcard will not be an option for many of us. This post isn't intended to try to push you into spending money you don't have. If you still want to find a way to participate, you can also send an email to cs-reply@amazon.com with your comments about wanting Good Omens 3. It's not physical mail, but it is still a personal message from a customer.

In fact, people who are sending postcards might want to follow up with an email, too.

Do we have to use your postcard designs?

No! Not necessarily! You can use anything.

As long as the message you write includes how much you want Good Omens 3, your postcard's image doesn't necessarily have to relate. You could send a souvenir postcard that says "Greetings from Los Angeles, CA / Tadfield, England / etc" from your local post office and just write your message on the back.

Technically, even a plain index card should be thick enough to mail as a postcard, at least by USPS standards. Just write your desire for Good Omens 3 on it, put a stamp and Amazon's address on it, and make sure it's at least 90mm x 127mm (3.5in x 5in).

Isn't Amazon Studios going to notice a bunch of postcards being mailed from the same Web site?

I'm sure they will. But the messages will each be unique, and again, they'll know each card represents a person who had to order the card and postage themselves.

Speaking of unique messages, what should I write?

One sentence is enough. Definitely indicate that you want Season 3 of Good Omens. If you want to add more, you could also write a sentence or two about how much you love the series so far.

Above all, be polite and straightforward! Remember that sarcasm and jokes often do not come across well in print, so it may be best to stick with simple statements that can be taken at face value.

What address should the cards go to?

The co-heads of Amazon Studios appear to be Vernon Sanders and Jennifer Salke; you can address them by name, although I'm guessing it will be someone else who does the reading/glancing.

Amazon Studios's address is:

AMAZON STUDIOS 1620 26TH STREET, SUITE 4000N SANTA MONICA, CA 90404 USA

Where did you get these images?

The images for the nightingale postcard and the Crowley postcard are screencaps from directedbypiper.

The Please Do Not Lick the Walls and Fell the Marvelous posters were downloads from the Amazon X-Ray feature.

The Nice and Accurate Prophecies postcard was adapted from cover art I did for A Nice and Interpretive Fanzine. Most of it is my own, although the mottled background is an extremely blurred version of a free stock texture from Pixabay, users chrisfiedler and/or humusak.

The bookshop postcard is a promotional image from Amazon used in a Den of Geek article.