#- _ - like... y'all can split my two days off you know? put one earlier in the week?

[tenebriism]

// Happy Thanksgiving! :) I'm at work and it's nice and quiet today, so I'm hoping to get at least SOMETHING done here ( and do a little shopping on the side ).

[prelovednikaidou]

corrupt; draken, ken ryuguji [01]

Summary:

In which you met the man of your past, but he didn't come back to remind you of the bitter break-up. Draken had one thing in mind and it was to never let you leave his side ever again. Distance made the heart grow fonder but he'd rather let you spend the rest of your life hating him if it meant you'd never leave his sight.

"I don't wish you well when you ain't with me, I want you crying."

Warning:

mention of suicide, oral receiving (reader),

a/n: taglist are open up to 10 users! comment '☁️'

Word count: 2.1k

series masterlist

[01: jealousy]

Draken wanted to take you away.

The curves of your spine, flowing down to the slope of your well-rounded bottom flesh, he watched the symmetrical dimple right above your butt - mocking him that those precious intimate spots were no longer his possession to own.

It wasn't only him who shared the same thought; everyone in this crowded room had their eyes glued on you. As if you were holding those guests captive, you felt immense pressure on your feet and thighs, quivered before you wrapped your leg around the shining pole.

Spinning, spinning, spinning.

Those blinding lights showered your sweating figure in all fairness, the sound of Abel's voice had long dimmed down, it meant that your show was done. It was silent in a minute,

lifting your face - your lips curled into a hunting smile and the room soared with cheers, crumpled money tossed across the stage, but your sense of content was suppressed by the overwhelming tension.

A pair of black pupils were starring at you - pinning you to where you stood. He was among the crowd, all in his glory without care but you. You felt something burst inside your chest, unable to tear your focus from him.

This longing for him is toxic.

Flashes of memories where those sober eyes bore into yours when he pumped his fat cock into your tight cunt until his thick cum over spilled, the same eyes that once shone with so much love but turned cold.

"Dollface!"

A shout from backstage startled you from your daze, another coworker came up and escorted you down, assisting you to take off the painful high heels.

"What's with you?" She threw a curious stare your way.

You still couldn't wrap your mind. He was there. Flesh and soul, presented in front of you. It was a brief eye contact but it was enough. Enough to tell you that he was coming back for you.

It had been years since the two of you chose to split up, making your paths without each other's companion.

"I, I've got to go. I forgot that I locked the windows, my cat's probably waiting for me. He's been out for 3 days so he's starving I think. Y'all can continue without me,"

You stood but your knees turned weak at the sudden arrival of him, standing by the door. A few steps taken back, you lost all rationality to stay calm because your heart thumped loudly.

Standing tall on his 6' ft, athletic and young Draken was nowhere to be seen but replaced - with a mature adult man that induced everything he carried into lust.

The robust body looked incredibly fit, lean, and you could see the strong outlines of his defined chest and abdominal muscles from the black shirt. If it was years ago, those leather jackets wouldn't suit him - he'd look like those up-start wannabe gangsters.

But it was different now. It clung to his broad shoulders perfectly, he wasn't as cheap as those local pranksters. The dark jeans also did little job in hiding his long legs. He was indeed a member of a gang; eerie and cruel - but he had never look this good that you want to fuck.

Draken's presence was enough to brush away every man in the room that you belonged to him. Your little admirers couldn't even look at him in the eyes, let alone make up a fight.

They left with a strong sense of defeat; no wonder you never once accept any confessions, turned out you have such a man waiting.

"Why is he here? This area is off-limits. Only staff is allowed. Naoki, guide him out." You forced yourself to mutter those words, uncaring to look at him with your back facing him.

Naoki sighed, this man literally slipped $750 under the table just to meet you. Those incompetent flies who claimed to love you didn't even spare this much effort. She only signaled him to step in before she whispered to you,

"Remember the guy I told you? The one that booked a whole session for your private room? He's that guy. It's just that he arrived a little early than the arranged meeting but it'll be great if you can build a connection with him."

You glared back, "Then send him back. We still have a week before that, right? I'm tired. I can't keep up with this," You pushed off her hand from your shoulder, began to take off your wig. His eyes were still the same; always undressing you naked.

Naoki could only grit her teeth, the money already landed in her pocket. What if he asked it back? She can't let such a great deal slip so she greeted him,

"She's a bit tired from the recent show. How about we push this to tomorrow? She's got free time on her hand to rest too." At least, this would do, right?

"If I have so much time on my hands, I wouldn't have come a week early. So you guess it yourself." His voice has changed too. It was an octave lower, you immediately rubbed your thighs together before you waved a hand.

"Haaa... leave us, Naoki. But I need you to go to my house. I wasn't joking about what I said earlier."

Naoki hurriedly nodded, clutching to her pocket before her eyes warily darted from Draken to you. Is this a couple feud? She noted in her head that she'd help this guy soon in the future - who doesn't want easy money?

"Okay, I will. Sir...? Err.. hope you have a pleasant chat with Dollface. I will excuse myself then ." The hindrance in Draken's eyes finally left the room, the door closed in a thump and the subtle tension thickened.

He didn't say anything, only leaned his body by the door as he watched you wiped off your makeup. This was his morning view back when you were still wet behind ears about pole dancing. You'd come back at the crack of drawn and he'd already been out to his workshop.

"Dollface."

Stubborn like a little cat, your doe eyes didn't look up from your make-up bag and he could see through your act to be so busy. He loved how feisty you've become after years. It eased his heart that you could chase off those little shit.

"It suits you, [Y/N]. Face so pretty like a doll. Make one's heart itch to keep around. But I wonder why the name sounds so familiar."

"State your business. I'm heading home straight after this so don't expect a lap dance or something."

"Then that's the plan. I'll drive you home, eh?"

That damn 'eh'. He picked up your habit too well that the time he spent with you shaped him into copying your habit. It sounded cute but your heart still couldn't forgive him. Let him suffer a little.

"Don't need to. My boyfriend is great at doing his job. So do me a favor and let me rest quickly, how about that?"

Now, you were looking at him through the mirror. It was just too hard for you to muster yourself to face him directly. Draken didn't seem shaken. He stood straightly, you clenched your thighs tighter.

"Have I ever been quick in everything when I'm with you, [Y/N]?" His towering figure gawked over your smaller frame - casting his shadow over you as his sharp facial features caught your attention.

"Can't remember. Maybe? Because I said it just now almost like a reflex." You replied, not backing down but instead, squaring up to him that your ample breasts brushed against his torso.

His cologne didn't smell like the tacky, cheap body spray he used to own. This one smelled so expensive, alienated your memory of his familiar scent.

"Now you're getting older, your memory is getting rusty, dollface. Should I put on a play and see if you can call anything in mind?" You felt your breath became heavier but he didn't let you lose your focus yet.

Your chin was tugged upwards, the shadow of his cap cast upon his face and you remembered now; it was his eyes. Because he wasn't vocal about his feelings, you could understand everything from his eyes.

"You've grown softer, Draken. I almost threw up listening to you talk like this. What, are you changing jobs now? Don't tell me you went from a gangster to a con artist."

No, you were lying to yourself. Draken didn't change but improved. Change can be something bad but he never did anything that would bring him down. He just got better.

And it was true when the velvety touch on your beating pulse suddenly moved to your lips before he squished your cheeks in his hand.

"Fucking hot as hell but so damn annoying." He laughed, the light from his eyes never return, only replaced by a wicked glint.

He wanted to take you to his place, fuck you in his bed until you couldn't walk properly so he'd have more reasons to keep you at his place. He wanted to swallow you whole and he barely even started but why was it so damn hard to have you?

"Don't dare to think of anything nasty. You might not care about commitment in a relationship, but I do. So take your hands off me, Draken."

"Kenie. It's Kenie for you."

Your lips were so plump and wet, his other arm wrapped around your waist - hoisting you up to his body before he leaned by the dresser.

You shrieked when his scalding hot palm touched your naked back and as he untied the strings of your bra, he smiled at your face as he said,

"Do you think I'm going to believe that, dollface? Do you really think I don't know that this pussy hasn't been fucked well for months? I have eyes across this ward. You don't get to fool me."

Heat rose to your face, your small hands pushed on his shoulders, "You're still up in my business? Sounds like someone can't fucking move on."

He nodded, ripping off your lacey bralette and his big hands began to palm your heavy breast - carelessly rubbing your nipple with his thumb. You fought the urge to moan, you hold onto his shoulder for dear strength.

"You're right. I can't move on." Your breath hitched, he nuzzled his face to the column of your neck, inhaling so deep, and wrapped his arms tightly around your body. He missed you so much. So much that if you ran away again, he'd just kill himself.

"I fucked my fist thinking of you. I got this hard just by thinking of you. I'm not ashamed of it."

"That's your problem, Draken. I'm not you. I'm living my best life right now, and sorry that I can still cum just with my fingers."

"That's my girl," He pushed you until your back met the concrete wall, your eyes widened when he took off his cap and put it on you before he dropped to his knees.

"I am aware of your appetite, [Y/N]. You won't be happy with such a small meal. You always keep coming back to have your tight pussy stuffed. Even when we were living together, you couldn't stop begging my dick every night."

"What the hell are you talking about-" You pushed his forehead away from your private part, one hand covering your pussy but he gripped the side of your hips - bringing you straight to his mouth.

"I don't care if you use me as your favorite Cherry Twins. But don't deny that I made you cummed the hardest when I was in your life, dollface."

Your eyes became misty, his words just flew through your head - empty when his mouth latched on your clothed crotch, lapping on the small fabric that the nudge of his tongue probed on your budding clit.

Cherry Twins were the name he gave to your vibrators. Since he was always out when you were at home, he'd make you use them to your greedy cunt - even made a video call so he could jerk off in the public restroom.

You were wild, but he taught you to live even wilder.

Next page: chapter [02] ��

a/n : next chapter is full smut bcs thats the only thing my brain's capable of. Taglist are open up to 10 users! Comment '☁️’.

Taglist: @hanmascult @q-the-rockaholic @hikkarins

[fanimesenseiwrites]

What All the Boys and MC would do for Valentine's Day:

Lucifer:

He's a private man, his pride is on the line okay???

He'll take you out for a nice dinner, but other than that he won't make any huge public displays of affection

But as soon as you get back to the privacy of his bedroom.........

It's like Valentines Day threw up in his room... but in a classy way

There's red roses and rose petals everywhere, candles and fireplace are lit, champagne chilling, chocolates out

Holy shit, color you impressed

Lucifer will put on some music and slow dance with you, it's really romantic

Of course, he’ll want to do... other things with you too ;)

Mammon:

You know this boy forgot until like the day before...

He went out that night to buy you some stuff and sneaks it into your room while you're sleeping

So you wake up the next morning surrounded by flowers and candy and balloons and you're pretty sure that that Teddy bear in the corner is bigger than three of you combined...

(That boy really doesn't know anything about being subtle)

You feel a little bad because you only got him some chocolates and made him a card

But you put so much work in this card and you wrote down all your feelings for him and...

NO! He's not crying! There's just something in his eye of course

He'll want you all to himself for the rest of the day. He doesn't care what you do, just let him be greedy with you

Leviathan:

Levi celebrate valentine's day? That's such a normie thing, he'd never do that...

But then you presented him with a hand-drawn card of Ruri-Chan telling him how wonderful he is and homemade treats that look exactly like the ones from My Science Lab Partner Thinks I'm An Idiot Because I Like To Bake, But Then I Showed Him That Baking Is Science And Now I Think He's In Love With Me???

Levi loves them so much and he can tell how much effort you put into them, what kind of a True Friend would he be if he didn't at least reciprocate?

So he immediately researches what he can do for you that's Valentine's Day appropriate

He decides to take you to the aquarium.

He's a little nervous about it until you get there and he sees how excited you are

You just wanna hold his hand and look at the fish and of course Levi is a blushing mess

He'll be an even bigger mess when you kiss him but once he gets over the initial shock, he's happy to kiss you too

Satan:

He's not really into Valentine's Day like that, but he is romantic and he loves you so...

If you make plans, he's happy to just do that with you but if you don't...

He'll make up a nice lunch for you two and take you for a picnic in a nice, secluded area

He's a fairly private man too, he gets it from his brother

He'll recite poetry to you while you eat and it's probably the most romantic thing you've ever experienced

When you're both done eating, he presents you with a small book of poetry that he wrote himself

A quick flip through the book and it's really apparent that all the poetry is about you

You were wrong earlier, THIS is the most romantic thing you've experienced

You practically attack Satan with a kiss and he's more than happy to kiss back

Things get heated quickly and, well... there's a reason Satan chose such a secluded spot for your picnic 😏

Asmodeus:

This boy is so fucking stoked for Valentine's Day.

He's always enjoyed it because he always gets so much attention from his adoring fans, but this is year is special because he gets to spend it with you

He bought you two coordinating outfits to wear for the day, you're going to be the cutest, hottest couple out there

He's going to take you to brunch, and shopping, and to get manicures, to get dinner. He just wants to show you how much he loves you and show the rest of the Devildom how much he loves you too

When you get back to the House of Lamentation, he'll whisk you away to his room which is where you'll spend the rest of the night

Beelzebub:

Of course he knows it's Valentine's Day, his favourite treat shops have been putting out special Valentine's treats for about a week now and he's been buying them up in preparation for today

He'll start with breakfast in bed, a full spread just for you

Then he'll present you with all the treats he bought for you. Unsurprisingly, it's way more than you could ever eat so you're happy to share with him of course

He'll prepare a nice lunch for you two eat in the garden, but otherwise you'll spend the rest of the day snuggled together, watching romcoms, and eating Valentine's treats

If you're in the mood, Beel will be nibbling on more than chocolate... 😏

Belphegor:

He's not really into Valentine's Day either, too much effort

But you want to celebrate and if he doesn't then you'll get all sad and pouty then one of his brothers will swoop in and celebrate with you and he can't have that

So he'll take you to the botanical gardens. They're pretty and romantic and fairly chill.

You enjoy it but you'll want to do something else afterwards, but Belphie will want to take a nap of course

You split the difference and go home to snuggle and watch a movie

Belphie is the big spoon so that he can whisper sweet things in your ear until he falls asleep

Diavolo:

This man goes ALL OUT. Subtlety? He doesn't know the meaning of the word.

What do you expect from the crown prince though? He can get anything he wants, and what he wants is to get you anything you want

He'll buy you everything: flowers, chocolates, balloons, stuffed animals, clothes, lingerie...

He'll rent out the entirety of Ristorante Six for just the two of you (he didn't wanna make Barbatos cook that night)

After he wines and dines you, he'll take you back to the palace where he has some of the royal musicians play for you so you two can dance until your feet hurt

Then he'll take you upstairs for a nice hot bath... with him if you want 😉

Barbatos:

Diavolo told him that he'd give him the day off to spend with you, but then he suddenly really needed him to go run a errand for him

Of course Barbatos would not refuse him

Diavolo insists that you go with Barbatos actually, so you can learn something or something...

You're not stoked about running errands, but you're happy to go and be with Barbatos

Diavolo just gives you an address and says you'll know what to do when you get there

You two arrive at the address and it's a hotel...?

You're both confused so you go in and Barbatos speaks to the front desk clerk

They're expecting you and they give you a room key

You try to argue but Barbatos just takes the key and takes you to the room. When you walk in there's music playing and there's flowers and chocolates and champagne, and a note that reads "Happy Valentine's Day! Enjoy your time alone"

Barbatos chuckles and shakes his head before kissing you

Y'all definitely take advantage of the hotel room

Solomon:

He will pretend to not know what today is just to fuck with you

Once he's had his fill of you being frustrated, he'll reveal his actually really amazing plans

He takes you around the world, like actually. He'll take you back to the human world just to take you to all the romantic spots of the world

Top of the Eiffel Tower, Niagara Falls, Trevi Fountain, the Grand Canyon, you name it, he takes you there.

Thankfully, he's tired after all of that so he takes you out to dinner instead of trying to cook

He tries to kiss you when he takes you back to the House of Lamentation, but the brothers pull you inside before he can and demand to know everything you did together

Solomon will text you later, suggesting you two just stay in the human realm next time

Simeon:

He writes you a story about the two of you

But he gives it to you in pieces and as part of a scavenger hunt

He has Levi give you the first envelope in the morning and in each bit of story is a hint to where the next bit of story is

With some of the envelopes is a single rose, and you'll eventually have a full bouquet

The envelopes eventually lead you to Purgatory Hall where Simeon is waiting for you with a dinner he prepared himself just for you two

You greet him with a kiss, this is definitely the most fun you've ever had on Valentine's Day

Luke:

Much to many of the brother's dismay, Luke asks to spend Valentine's Day with you first

He wants to spend the day making chocolate candies and new cake recipes and he wants you to help him

And really, who would complain about getting to try Luke's sweets?

You two have a nice time together making sweets and dancing in the kitchen

(Simeon is invited too of course)

[royallyprincesslilly]

Title: Healthy Competition***

Regé-Jean Page x Reader x Trevor Noah

Warning: Cursing. SMUT. Threesome. NSFW AT ALL. DP. Oral.

Words: 5k

Summary: Non-Covid world. End of Summary.

Note: I cannot be stopped. This is my first dip into either of these two on here. I tried to talk myself out of this, but I have no self-control. This is probably an acquired taste, but fuck it, I wrote this for my sanity.

Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoy this.

If you enjoyed this, please, LIKE, COMMENT, REBLOG ❤️❤️

 **Loosely Edited/Proofread**

 **Slightly Interactive**

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

 “A toast to Regé, our good friend who we’re out celebrating tonight. Every guy should hide their girlfriends tonight because Mr. Steal your girl has arrived,” Trevor teased.

 Regé snorted and dropped his head back, laughing at his friend of almost ten years. He was absolutely ridiculous.

“Mate, you think you’re hilarious, don’t you?”

 Trevor shrugged, “I mean, I am the comedian here, so--.”

 He shook his head. “You’re not a very good one,” he teased back.

 “Well, your tastes are slightly askew than the rest of the world. You are British after all,” Trevor quipped, making him and their shared friends bust out laughing.

 “Oh, shut up. You’re the only one who has a problem with me being British, though we all know my Zimbabwean side would outperform your watered-down South African any day. The ladies prefer full strength over all else,” he slid home.

 Trevor laughed loudly, slinking to the side as he snickered. He knew he had him but knew Trevor would have some comeback. This was their usual banter.

 “Why do I smell a wager coming on? I feel like you’re saying you can get any woman in here to choose you over me.”

 He knocked back his drink with a smile. “Maybe I am saying it.”

 He watched Trevor gulp down his drink as their friends looked at each other with a cautious eye.

 “All right, enough. Y'all remember the last time this happened,” Adam interjected.

 “The last time? How about every time,” Marcus added before he took a sip from his glass.

 “Remember that girl in Brazil, that one we met on Ipanema Beach, she owned the beach shack,” Adam reminded.

 He remembered, and a few seconds after he did, he saw when Trevor did. His snickers returned.

 “There was nothing wrong there,” Trevor pointed out.

 “Yeah, because you won, proceeded to rub it in all night.”

 “You couldn’t even bother to close the door of the shack. You just wanted me to hear her,” he said, shaking his head as the memory washed over him.

 They’d gone back and forth with her all night. Each of them laid their game out, charmed her, put in their best work. He went to grab them all another round of beers and came back, and her small shack was shaking as her moans filled the night sky. Trevor’s laugh brought him out of his thoughts, making him roll his eyes.

 “See, that’s why we’re not doing this,” Marcus finished.

 “You’re not still salty about that, Regé, are you?”

 He shook his head and raised his hands. “Not at all. you win some, and lose some.”

 “One day, the two of you are going to pull this on someone who will make you two the competition,” Adam professed, making he and Trevor laugh.

 “It’s not like we swindle anyone, there is consent, and everyone knows what to expect and not expect,” he threw out as he stood.

 “Where you going?”

 “Refill,” he said, holding his glass up to show its empty state.

He walked out of their section of the VIP area toward the VIP bar slipping through the crowd, making sure to not bump into anyone. When he was mere steps from the bar, someone bumped him from behind, sending him lunging forward, knocking into the back of someone else. He heard a gasp and automatically thought he’d spilled someone’s drink. Sliding beside the stranger, he leaned closer.

 “I’m so sorry.”

 You turned to him, pulling an oversized candy cane from your mouth. Instantly his eyes dropped to your mouth and that candy cane that slowly revealed itself to be several inches long. When he clocked that it was about seven inches or so that you’d pulled out of your mouth, he lost every single thing he was thinking, even his bloody name.

 “Mmm, almost went too far,” you said, with a smile before you put the tip of the candy cane into your mouth. He instantly wanted to put something too far.

 He watched you raise your glass to your lips before you put it back to the bar’s surface, and in went the candy cane. He was speechless, and it was something that rarely happened.

 “Uh—I’m—sorry.”

 You smirked and swiveled the stool to face him again and perched the candy cane to the side of your plump painted lips, and spoke. “You said that already.”

 The way the red, white, and green colors of the candy cane looked with your lipstick made him wonder how other things looked with it. Clearing his throat, he looked away to behind the bar where all the bottles of liquor rested. He wasn’t trying to decide on what he wanted to drink. He was trying to gain some composure.

 He heard your snort beside him. “Cat got your tongue?”

 He looked to you, zeroed in on your eyes, and rose a brow. “What’s got your tongue?”

 You smiled slowly, then pulled out that damned candy cane making your lips make that juicy puckered kiss sound.

 “This candy cane at the moment.”

 You stared at him as if silently daring him to say something to it. He smiled and nodded his head. “You brought a candy cane to a club?”

 “It came with the drink,” you said, bringing the confection to the red-tinted liquid before you.

 He watched you stir the liquid and return the candy cane to its rightful place—against your tongue for you to lick it slowly. He didn’t know what the hell was wrong with him. It was a damn candy cane.

 “What can I get you?”

 Before he could speak, you did.

 “You look like a fun guy no matter what that crisp accent says. May I?”

 He studied you for a few moments, then shrugged before he motioned for you to go ahead. You trailed the candy cane along your bottom lip as you looked over the bottles that lined the wall. You looked like you were in deep thought, and he made a note of how adorable you looked with your perfectly crinkled eyebrows, pursed lips, and fist resting on your jaw.

 “Okay, I just need to know two things,” you began.

 He smirked and sat on the stool next to you. “And what is that?”

 You turned to him again. The crossing of your legs brought his eyes down to see the tempting split in the dress you wore. The luster of your skin raised the temptation he was feeling. He imagined how his hand looked on your body. It was the wrong thought at the wrong time because it made it impossible for him to look into your eyes again. He did, though, and when he did, he saw the mischievous glint in your eyes. He knew then, you were dangerous.

 “Your name and favorite color.”

 “Why my favorite color?”

 “If you tell me red, chances are you like strawberry undertones. If blue, maybe a blueberry or blackberry.”

 “What if it’s orange?”

 “Then we should end this conversation now and go our separate ways because no one can pull off orange anything.”

 He snorted and laughed. He liked you.

 “Safe to say red is yours?” he nodded to your drink as his clue.

 “Wrong, but this is about you. So tell me.”

 “Regé and grey.”

 Your eyes widened. “Regé as in reggae music?”

 He nodded but didn’t speak.

 “Wow, nice. I thought it was something stuffy like Albert.”

 “Just ’cause I’m British?”

 You smiled and shrugged. “And your favorite color, Regé, is grey.” I’m tempted to say grey isn’t a color, but okay. He’ll have that fifty shades of grey cocktail you tried to give me earlier.”

 “Uh-oh, something fruity, huh.”

 “Let’s add an extra shot for Mr. adventurous,” you added.

 Turning his attention to you, he licked his lips and watched you devour that candy cane.

 “What’s your name?”

 You smiled and pulled the candy out of your mouth. “Y/N.”

 He held his hand out for yours and waited for you to take it. Once you did, he shook it, never taking his eyes off of yours.

 “You’re beautiful,” he said.

 You didn’t speak for several moments, and he wondered if he should have kept that to himself.

 “Yes,” you said.

 “Yes? Yes, what?”

 You sucked the candy cane back into your mouth and took a sip of your drink. “Yes, I’ll let you buy me another drink.”

 Ten minutes came and went, then fifteen, and he was in no hurry to go back to his friends. Your conversation was entertaining and titillating. You held his attention easier than any other had. Not to mention everything you did had his heart pounding. Once you’d finished that damn candy cane, your glass was what brought his attention to your mouth. When the drinks were finished, his eyes roamed your exposed shoulders, cleavage, and thigh until his palms itched to touch.

 “I see what’s been holding you hostage, over here.” Trevor’s hand rested on his shoulder as he stood to there to his left.

 “Hostage? Hardly,” you responded with a smile.

 “I’m Trevor,” he said, holding his hand out to you.

 After a few seconds, you took it and let him shake it.

 “Trev here is a good friend of mine,” he began before taking a sip of his third drink. “Meet Y/N.”

 Trevor smiled again. “What a beautiful name for a beautiful woman.”

 He couldn’t help but smile. He knew the game had begun. However, he’d had a twenty-minute head start. He watched Trevor order you another drink before suggesting you moved from the bar to go back to their section. You didn’t answer right away, and he didn’t know what you’d decide.

 “I’ll meet you there. I have to freshen up,” you said, pointing toward where the restrooms were.

 He pointed to where their section was before you walked off.

 “May the best African win,” Trevor said, holding out his hand, making him roll his.

  ~~~~~~~

 -Y/N-

You made sure to reapply your lipstick and rearrange your hair as you inspected your face. Pleased that your products were holding up, you stood there just staring at yourself, making a plan. They thought they were slick, you thought to yourself.

 MSG Fifi: He looked hooked.

 You smirked.

 MSG: He’s hot.

MSG Fifi: So is his friend. What’s the plan?

 You thought for a few moments because you hadn’t decided yet.  

 MSG: I’m going to go have a little fun. I’ll let you know.

 You adjusted your dress then walked out of the bathroom. In the loud club again, you looked around, trying to remember when they’d pointed. You didn’t remember. Suddenly you felt a body behind you and a hand on your hip.

 “Lost?”

 The sexy British accent told you just who it was. Smiling, you bit your bottom lip, deciding you liked how he felt pressed up on you.

 “What if I said I was?”

 You could feel his breath at your ear and smell the hint of grape and vodka.

 “I’ll find anything you want me to,” Regé groaned, making you tilt your head back to look at him over your shoulder.

 “Anything?”

 He smirked then licked his lips. “I’m not if not a gentleman. Anything, Y/N.”

 The look in his eyes had you frozen in place, wishing he’d bring his large hand lower. You scoffed and got yourself under control

 “Good to know,” you said before walking away, leaving him to follow behind you.

 Once Regé led you to the VIP section, Trevor stood holding your drink to you. Having not been born yesterday, you asked a passing waitress for a fresh drink. Neither of them took offense. When you sat, you were in the middle of both men and able to appreciate the beauty that you both were. They could have passed for brothers, and when they assured you that they weren’t, you relaxed a little more.

 After an hour, you’d learned quite a few things about both men. You leaned that while Regé had this overwhelming sensual vibing coming off him, he tended to hang back physically, but his eyes were all intensity, and you could tell he preferred words. When it came to Trevor, he approached things differently. He was a flirt through and through, and you could tell he preferred touch.

 They were both like opposite sides of a coin, and you couldn’t decide which side you preferred. Some days called for heads and others tails. One thing was sure; they were both feeling you, and neither of them could hide it. It was in the way Trevor touched you with sly touches and in the way Regé reacted when you went close to him to whisper something or bit your bottom lip.

 Two hours and countless drinks later, you still sat there with the two men, and you’d all but made up your mind. Regé leaned to you and whispered in your ear before he met your eyes. Nodding, you took his hand and let him lead you to the dance floor. Once you got to a semi-secluded spot, the song changed to Teyana Taylor’s new school version of Tell me what you Want, and you watched him bop to the beat while keeping on point. You were impressed.

Regé spun you around, so your back pressed to his chest and his hands wrapped around you. he smelled incredible, almost as incredible as he felt. That was when your movements synced together and slowed. You were now swaying from side to side. You began circling your hips against him and let him hold your hands in the air as you got into it. Regé came to your ear and whispered.

 “Tell me what you want.”

 Your panties were instantly wet. Fuck, you thought. In front of you, you watched Trevor approach the two of you. Once he was in front of you, the song changed again, and the slowest, sexiest tune came on. The lights in the club changed to a deeper hue of red. Trevor came so close that his face was just inches from yours. His hand wrapped around the small of your back, pulling you against him.

 Goddamn, you thought as he moved your body how he wanted it. Your eyes met, and Trevor’s hand clasped your jaw in his large but soft hand. Slowly he slid his hand across your skin before you felt a hand on your hip spin you around. Your back was now pressed to Trevor’s chest while Regé was the one who was now inches from your lips.

 The two men sandwiched you between them, each focusing on different parts of you. Trevor’s hand was wrapped around your abdomen, searing absentminded circles on the material of the dress you wore, while Regé’s was squeezing your hip, sinking in his fingertips, so they marked you. Trevor’s jaw pressed to your ear, which Regé’s was resting against your cheek on the other side of your face. You doubted anyone could tell where you began and either of them stopped. When you felt a pair of lips press against your right ear, your breath hitched in your throat.

 Pulling back slightly, you gazed into Regé’s sultry almond-shaped eyes, and your hand balled the fabric of his shirt at his waist, hoping to control yourself.

 “Tell me what you want,” Regé repeated.

 Fuck it; you thought as you brought your lips to his kissing him with the scorching energy that was between the three of you. Regé delved his tongue into your mouth, wrapping it around yours, and it was then his hand slid lower on your hip and snaked back to your ass. As he cupped it, you released a moan unable to contain it any longer. When he sucked your tongue, you pulled back and nibbled his bottom lip. His moan caught you off guard and only fueled your steadily uncapping desire.

 You felt Trevor behind you begin to pull away from you, no doubt feeling like the loser of their masculine competition of the night. That was when you pulled from Regé’s lips and pulled him back to close the space he’d created. You had both men’s undivided attention, and the power you felt was unmatched. Bringing your lips to Trevor’s, you kissed him with the same fire you had Regé seconds ago.

 Again, you held control of this kiss. Trevor allowed you to decide just what you wanted to do, and it was probably going to be his downfall for the night. You bit his bottom lip, and his moan swam in your mouth, making you eat it like a succubus taking his life force. The decision was made.

 You pulled away and found their eyes on you. Smirking, you turned with their hands in yours and led them through the crowd. You were thankful you’d decided on the club inside the hotel rather than the other one you and Fifi were thinking of. Once in the hotel’s lobby, you beelined it to the elevator bank and wondered if they were at this hotel too. As the elevator doors opened, you stepped on and waited for either of them to press a button. This was their turn to make a decision.

 You pretended not to notice them give each other a look before Regé stepped forward and pressed nineteen. You smirked and rode up in silence. Interestingly enough, the elevator made no stops until it came to the nineteenth floor. You let them lead you, this time keeping a few feet behind them. You could feel their angst as they exchanged looks every few steps, no doubt trying to formulate a plan. It’s funny they still thought they were in control.

 The two stopped at the door at the end of the hall then opened it. Regé was the one holding the door open, and Trevor stood on the other side, letting you walk in. You glanced at both men, smirked then walked inside. You walked toward the bar you saw in the corner, then took up two bottles before you continued walking through the suite. You knew the layout was similar to yours, so you just walked where you expected the bedroom to be.

 Finding it easily, you walked in and found some music on the bedside table system, another easy feat thanks to apple music coming with every room. You pulled two chairs in front of the large window of the bedroom. You then walked to both of them and led them each to a seat.

 “Are you sure you want to do this?”

 You smiled at Regé’s sweetness and went toward him to sit on his lap.

 “Would you like me to leave?”

 He shook his head.

 “Then tell me what you want.”

 His lip quirked up at the side. He had to remember his words to you a little while ago.

 “Will you give it to me?”

 You kissed him again. as soon as your lips touched, his hands were cupping your ass, pulling you closer onto his lap. You felt the strain of his manhood against his jeans, and the anticipation had your sex quivering. Groaning, you pulled away and walked to the window. You put the bottles you held on the floor and turned to them.

 “Since you like competitions so much, the first one to move loses.”

 Trevor and Regé looked at each other quizzically. They didn’t get it yet. You untied the neck of the dress and slowly brought the straps down, careful not to allow it to fall from your body yet. Though the light in the room was scarce, you could tell the desire in both men’s eyes. You walked to Regé then turned your back to him.

 You swayed your hips from side to side to the rhythm of the music bringing yourself down to the floor before coming back up to bend in front of his face. Peeking behind you, Regé’s jaw was clenched so tightly that you thought it had to hurt. You stood and swayed again to the sounds of Sabrina Claudio. In no time, you were lost in the music bringing your hands to the back of your neck, letting the straps hang around your waist.

 Turning to them, you heard both audibly exclaim.

 “Fuck.”

 The accents were entirely different but sexy nonetheless.

 “Something wrong?”

 You stood between Trevor’s legs, topless, and circled your hips while doing your best snake charmer dance. You deemed it was acceptable because neither of them gave any indication otherwise.

 “You’re gorgeous,” Trevor whispered.

 You could see his hands clenching the arm of the chair and wondered just how much control he had in him. You pushed the dress off your hips and stood there in your thong.

 “Fucking hell,” Regé uttered when you turned your back to them. Using the strong knees you were blessed with, you brought yourself low and popped a baby twerk, not wanting to give either of them a heart attack. Every time you changed the direction of your hips, you looked over a shoulder to watch them watch you. They looked absolutely tortured.

 You walked to Trevor and stood there but stared at Regé. You motioned for him to come to you, and in seconds, he was by your side. You kissed him, taking the time to tease him with each passing second while noting he was a great kisser.

 “Lay right there,” you said, pointing to the spot between your feet. Regé obeyed, then you dipped down to your knees, your sex hovering over Regé’s mouth. You were about to speak, but shock cut you off.

 Regé wrapped his arms around your hips where your thighs met them and buried his face between your legs.

 “Oh fuck!”

 That was not the end of your shock because seconds later, you felt a wet velvety tip brush against your lips. You opened your eyes and came face to face with the impressiveness that was Trevor’s dick. You opened your mouth to speak, but a sharp stab of pleasure between your legs prohibited it. Your mouth fell open, and Trevor pushed himself into your mouth.

 You almost laughed. They were the dream tag team. The room quickly filled with moans and groans as you pleased Trevor and Regé pleased you. The way his tongue flicked against your clit was quickly bringing you closer and closer to your first orgasm of the night. You knew if they had anything to say about it, you’d have more.

 “Shit, your mouth—it’s—incredible,” Trevor panted, rolling his head back.

 Not relenting, you bobbed your head faster on Trevor’s cock, taking him as far as you could. He grabbed your head and held it in place, then fucked your mouth, making you gag every so often.

 “Uuuug!”

 When he released your head you continued the pace and moaned on his flesh from the pleasure Regé was giving you but also the pleasure you got from giving it to Trevor. When you felt gentle nibbles, you pulled back and gasped, then began using your hands.

 “Oh, fuck, yes! Right there, mmmm!”

 Regé sucked your clit into his mouth as he reached up to one of your breasts to pinch your nipple. Following suit, Trevor did the same to the other, and that pushed you over the edge. Your screech was loud as it filled the room and probably the hall outside. Bucking your hips against his mouth, you rode his face as it was meant to be ridden.

 When you rolled off of Regé and collapsed to the floor, the men stood and surrounded you. Regé went to your head while Trevor between your legs. You watched him sheath himself with a condom before he met your eyes.

 “Are you sure?”

 You nodded before you reached to palm Regé’s pulsating and impressive member. As your mouth slid along Regé’s length, Trevor’s slid inside your heated core, stretching you deliciously before filling you perfectly with his thickness.

 “Good god,” Trevor whispered, hovering over you to catch his breath.

 “You’re so tight, Y/N,” Trevor moaned, beginning to circle his hips.

With a full mouth, you were unable to speak and instead used the pleasure you felt to return it tenfold to Regé. His head lulled back while his jaw dropped, and he grunted, sending the last few inches of his need into your throat. You fought your gag the best you could. Trevor then sped his thrusts. Each time he connected your bodies, your breasts swung, and your sex clenched around him, gripping him like a vise.

 Soon your moans and mumbles made it almost impossible to properly enjoy what Regé had to offer, so your hands to make up for the job your mouth couldn’t do. Trevor’s thrusts got rougher, and in seconds you’d come for the second time. Using your feet to push him off, you stood and crawled onto the bed. While lying there, you watched both men slowly approach you. Regé was the one between your legs this time while Trevor was beside you.

 Trevor wrapped his lips around a pert nipple, then sucked, licked, and nibbled it. As your mewls spilled from your lips, Regé still had yet to move an inch. He kneeled there, rubbing the tip of his cock across your soaking slit.

 “You’re so wet. Show me, Y/N.”

 You slinked your fingers between your legs and dipped one inside to show him the evidence of your overwhelming arousal. He smiled, then sucked your finger into his mouth before he thrust forward in one powerful move.

 “Fuck!”

 The men ravaged you, one with their mouth and the other with their skillful appendage. Where Trevor was girthy and nicely proportioned, Regé had been blessed with girth and an overabundance of length. It didn’t take much for you to come again and again and again. When you rolled onto Regé to take control, you took your time crippling Trevor as he stood in front of you.

 The room was sweltering, and your bodies were slick with sweat, so every move the three of you made, the sound of bodies rubbing together echoed throughout. If it wasn’t the slickness of skin, it was the squelching of your wetness as they plowed into you or you rode them into oblivion.

 “Fuck, fuck, fuck!”

 The feel of both men nestled snugly in your tight trove was close to have to see stars. You crashed your lips to Regé, who was underneath you while Trevor was behind. He pumped more vigorously into you, making you pant and whine with each connection. Trevor, not being the one to be outdone, slammed into you, coaxing that spot in you that you knew would soon have you combust into a million specks of dust as you floated the galaxy.

 “I’m coming,” Regé and Trevor both shouted as if competing for who could say it louder. You rocked your hips against Regé while slamming back onto Trevor. You intended to bring both men to their knees, but after a few movements, you realized that you’d come undone just as ferociously.

 “Come for me, Y/N!”

  Shivering, you tried to ignore the command as you repeated your actions over and over. Underneath you, Regé bit your nipple, and behind you, Trevor your shoulder. Either way, these men intended to sear their marks into your flesh. Something about that was so fucking hot. You sped your movements, and that was when your body shook.

 “Fuck!”

 Both men shook with you and released such loud grunts and groans that rivaled your own whining. Your orgasm was expected but what was not expected was how long it continued. After a minute, you were still coming with both men still trying to secure themselves as deeply into you as possible. Both thrust into you once more, and that was all you could handle before stars erupted behind your eyelids, making you clench around both of them.

 Trevor and Regé gasped and hissed before the three of you dropped onto the bed. You were between them as all three of you tried to catch your breaths.

 Your eyelids were heavy, your limbs tense, muscles tight, and between your legs sore. You couldn’t move even if you wanted to. So you didn’t.

 ~~~~~~~

-The Next Morning-

When you opened your eyes, the sun had yet to rise from behind the high rise next to the hotel. It took several moments for your vision to return clearly. When it did, you looked around, recognizing you were not alone. You felt a body nestled to your back and one in front of you. You froze, not wanting to stir anyone awake. You didn’t want a whole morning after thing. This was not what this was. It took you some time to slither from the clutches of the gorgeous men you’d spent the night with.

 Once free you stood there for a few moments and took them in. Trevor was on his side back to the window completely bare assed. It was a nice one too. His arm was thrown over his head leaving only part of his face visible. He looked adorable asleep. Regé was on his back, one arm over his head tucked underneath the pillow he rested his head-on. That was where your head had laid, right on his chest as if it belonged there.

 You shook off any attachment that was trying to creep its way in. You didn’t often do things like this, matter of fact, this was downright as rare as a blue moon. However, you hated the cliché of women who got attached after clear one night stands. You never wanted to be one of them because you knew for a fact men always laughed at them. You wouldn’t be that cliché, you thought to yourself. You gave the men one last look, then turned to gather your things.

 Once dressed and inside the elevator, you smiled to yourself. They really thought they picked you up when in fact, you’d heard their friendly competitive banter and decided a little fun was in order. Seeing how the night went, it was safe to say you were the real winner.

 MSG Fifi: Everything okay?

 You smiled to yourself.

 MSG: Pussy put their ass to sleep. Call me, NyQuil.

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

TagList:

@chaneajoyyy​ @caramara3​ @night-of-the-living-shred​ @mauvecherie​ @areubeingserved​ @queenoftheworldisdead​ @ramp-it-up​ @i-just-like-fanfics​ @give-me-a-million-dollars-pls​ @wondersofdreaming​ @koko-michelle 

[siriushxney]

* . PAPER RINGS !

pairing — lando norris x reader

rating — fluff

wordcount — 2.3k

warnings — cursing (it's me who are we kidding)

song — taylor swift | paper rings

note ! — before y'all jump down my throat about "what the hell is a toque” — it's a hat. us canadians call it a toque. also this is long overdue, but I hope you like it!

when the light of day melted into the dark of night, and long, tiring shifts slowly came to an end, it wasn't an odd sight to see large groups of people piling into bars for a drink or several. with an extra hour and a half added onto your normal shift time due to your bosses inability to do what he was supposed to do — leaving stacks of paperwork you had to go through, along with a few of your other colleagues.

now walking into the packed bar — bags long forgotten in your cars, you couldn't find it in yourself to cringe at the strong smell of alcohol that burned your nose as you walked through the door, nor did you care for the way the heels of your feet stuck to the ground with every step you took.

after a day like today, you weren't sure if you'd mind anything.

sheila — one of your colleagues raised a stiff hand and slammed it down on the counter, gaining the attention of the bartender. “we need like, fifteen shots stat!” the bartender immediately got to work, pouring glass after glass — sliding them in front of the five of you, before turning to serve another guest.

“that asshole gonna get my foot down his throat if he dumps that much paperwork on us again,” she downed her first shot and reached for another one, “all of that should have been sorted out in the morning, not thrown onto us as we were packing up,” the rest of you agreed, downing a shot quickly as you tried to keep up with the loud mouthed girl.

you turned your head away from the conversation that had started between the others, choosing to stare curiously at the screen in the corner displaying reruns of a race that took place today.

feeling a body skim yours as a group of men slid into the barspace to the left of you — a majority of them sporting an orange and blue item of clothing, something you had connected quickly to the orange and blue car that had been on screen moments earlier.

looking back to the tv hanging from the ceiling, you tried to wrap your head around what all the numbers meant — a small bump caused you to look down, a younger man of the bunch staring at the tv proudly, “do you watch f1?” he turned his head to look at you as he finished asking his question.

f1... Is that what this was called?

“no, but I'd rather watch that then the football game that's on,” the boy looked at you with wide eyes, slightly in awe of how blunt you were. he nodded slightly before turning his attention back to the tv. “ I assume you do. you're wearing the colours of one of the cars,” you felt bad as you watched the boy curl into himself slightly.

ha looked over to you once again — “you can say that,” his eyes glinted a little bit as he spoke, a proud smirk coming across his face as he leaned in closer, not close enough to make you uncomfortable, but close enough that he could speak without the bar hearing. “I race for them — see that orange and blue mclaren? thats me.”

that was definitely more interesting than the news.

“so what might that mclaren driver's name be?” his head turned back to you, a slight red tint covering his cheeks, and climbing to the tips of his ears.

with a single hand outstretched to you, he introduced himself, “I’m lando norris — and who might you be?”

“Y/N.”

—

that day had happened a few months ago — and in that time, your friendship with the young driver had only progressed.

days you used to spend simply reading in the comfort of your own home, was now spent bouncing from bookshop from book shop — lando recommending you all the books that he had been in love with at the moment.

you had to refrain from telling him you had already read them, having looked him up on instagram a day or two after the initial meet — the photo of him cozy and comfortable in his bed with the stack of books perfectly visible to his side.

the types of books a person read could tell you a lot about their character — and with lando, it was all good things.

“okay, and then this one is semi based on a true story — like half true but has a lot of action and drama sprinkled in there-” he rambled on about the book he held in his hands, his eyes darting between you and it as his hands ran over the spine and pages of the book.

even knowing the writer, plot, and ending — you couldn't bring yourself to put an end to his ramblings. instead, you stood to his side and nodded eagerly as he spoke words with such excitement.

for any other person, you would have cut them off and told them that you had read it — but for some reason, cutting lando off was the last thing you wanted to do. he wasn't the famous young driver for mclaren who was always eager for a challenge on the track. he was just lando.

the boy who had a mini library growing in his room, filled with books from every genre. he was the boy with the odd affinity for milk. he was just normal.

and for the first time in your life — normal felt nice.

—

“lando, you're insane.”

“maybe a little bit, but insane is fun sometimes.”

when lando said he had something fun in mind for the two of you to do, the last place you expected to end up was on the shore of an ice cold lake — the wind blowing harshly against your body, making it sway slightly with the force.

lando had already taken off his jacket, now standing in just his shirt and bottoms.

“I’m not going in that,” you backed away from the boy as he stripped more and more of his clothes off, dropping them in a neat pile on the ground.

he shrugged, pausing in his action of removing his jeans, “are you not going in because its cold, or are you not going in because you don't have a swim suit?” while the lake technically was still warm enough for swimming, the thought of the water 's temperature that was lowering daily paired with the strong winds, didn’t exactly spark excitement in you.

“both.”

“it’s either your coming in by your own will, or I’m dragging you in.”

“you touch me and I’ll hurt you — that’s a promise.”

a mischievous glint appears in lando’s eyes — he knew what he was about to do was going to get him in trouble, and most likely hurt in the end, but the thought of doing it overpowered his thoughts about what would happen after.

there was no going back.

in a split second lando had his arms wrapped around your waist as he dragged you closer to the lake — despite the heels of your feet digging into the ground, he had still succeeded in getting you close enough that if he threw his body weight towards the water, you would soon follow.

and that’s exactly what he did.

a laugh from lando, a squeal from you, and the whooshing of the air rushing past your ears was all you could hear before you found yourself submerged under the cold water.

you clawed your way back to the surface with the help of lando’s arms, which were still wrapped around your waist — as soon as you felt the coldness of the air reach your face, you were turning in his arms and swinging.

“I’m fully clothed you asshole!” you brought a fist down lightly on the top of his head — the water squishing out at the action.

“stop- don’t- stop hitting me!” lando laughed as he let you go, swimming backwards slightly as a way to get away from your violent swings. “I know that you're fully clothed- that's what makes it so funny,” the curly haired boy couldn't contain his laughter at the end — his voice railing into the squeaky laugher that you had come to love.

without the support of lando, paired with the additional weight of your heavy winter coat and soaked wool toque and mittens, you began to struggle slightly to stay afloat. “lando-” the water climbed its way up your face before washing back down as you kicked harder.

his laugher stopped as he kicked his way over to you — grabbing around your waist once more and holding you to his body.

with the distance closed between the two of you, the feeling of his warm breath against your face was unavoidable — as well as the feeling of the heat radiating from his body, even through the layers you had on. neither of you spoke, both trying not to move — for every movement brought a wave of discomfort with your muscles tensed up from the cold. but as time started to tick slower, and all you could feel was the other — the last thing on both of your minds was the temperature of the water.

“you’re turning blue, lando,” as much as you wished you would've stayed in that position forever, the sight of lando’s cheeks and lips draining of its naturally pink colour concerned you. even with layers upon layers of clothes on, you found yourself shivering — and with lando in nothing but his boxers, you doubted he was doing much better than you. “I think right now is a good time to get out,” lando didnt reply, only bringing the two of you closer to the shore.

with chattering teeth, bodies curled in, and fast feet, lando and you made your way to his car — both jumping in the minute you could get your hands on the door handle. neither of you cared for the seats wetting as you sat down.

“I think I have some towels in the back from my training — can you grab them? I’ll get the heat and everything going,” you leaned into the back of the car to the best of your ability, pulling two towels out of an orange gym bag, and bringing them to the front where lando and you sat.

lando wrapped the towel around his shoulders — the shaking constant and harsh, rocking his body violently.

“I would say I told you so, but I feel too bad to even insult you,” with your jacket, toque, and mittens stippped off and thrown onto the floor, you wrapped your towel around your shoulders much like lando had.

“awe, youre so considerate — I didn’t think it through.”

“trust me — I can tell.”

the sound of the heaters on blast and the clattering of teeth was all that filled the car. lando had seemed aggravated at your comment — the way his body turned slightly away from your own, his eyes never meeting yours, and the fact that there was no laugh following or during his words.

what had you said or done that pissed him off?

“are you mad at me?”

lando turned slowly, his eyes still not fully meeting yours — but he looked like he was less angry and more conflicted. “I’m not mad, I’m just- just,” the words were on the tip of his tongue, but for some reason he couldn't bring himself to say them. “forget it.”

“no, I wanna know what's wrong — please tell me?”

he angled his body to face yours after a few moments of no response, making it so him and you looked at eachother with ease. “back out there on the lake- did you… did you feel anything?” your body tensed at his question — it was the last thing that you thought would come out of his mouth, so it took you by surprise. “because I know I did — and that scares me.”

you struggled to find a string of words that made sense to you, “I mean, yeah I guess I did — what did you feel? just so I can make sure that I felt the same thing.”

“I felt like I wanted to stay in that position forever — like I wanted to kiss you,” the words he spoke were soft and genuine. “all I felt was you.”

it had taken months for you to put a name to the feelings you had when you were around the british boy, but now, more than ever, did you finally know what they were.

they were love.

“I felt the same thing — all that I could feel was you and your stupidly perfect body against mine,” both of you giggled slightly at that. “and all that was running through my head was that if you had asked me to do anything with you, I would have done it — hell you could have asked me to marry you with paper rings and I would’ve said yes.”

lando stared at you with a calm look on his face — his eyes drinking you and all of your features in. “I’m glad — because I was thinking the same thing,” his hand fell on top of yours, bringing a warmth to the back of it. “and no need for paper rings when I can promise you the real deal when the time comes.”

“like I said before, I would marry you with paper rings lando,” you leaned in slightly, your voice barely above a whisper. “now kiss me you goof.”

he didn’t have to be asked twice.

[pedropascallovebot]

Let's Kill Tonight

summary: You're a bit out of practice, but being entrusted with the retrieval and return of Helmut Zemo shouldn't be too hard, right? Even if he is your old sorta-boss and you still are nursing unfortunate loyalty towards the team. You can manage. And him being... slightly more attractive than how you last left him won't be a problem.

Right?

warnings and a/n: i have.... no clue what this is if not a complete rewrite of mcu canon purely for self-indulgence. reader has a kinda shady past and in result will talk graphically about violence in later chapters and there's lots of gun action in this one. very fun, very cool! alright. i hope y'all enjoy teehee

—

The weather where you're at doesn’t usually vary much from a sunny sky, but alas, you’re absolutely drenched by the time you step inside the diner. You hadn’t expected the rain. Your usual five minute walk to work turned into a hike through muddy sidewalks and water droplets that kept hitting your eyes, and by the time you tied your apron around your waist the day felt over before it even started. Your boss gives you a closed-lip smile and glances at your empty section of tables, and you just know you’re going to be late on rent again.

For what it’s worth, Lüleburgaz isn’t the worst place to slip under the radar. It’s not underpopulated by any means, but it makes it perfect to blend in with the crowd as best you can. Honestly, you're just trying to make it a day without a proper therapist. Your roommates are great listeners, don't get it twisted- but all they really know about you is you're Sokovian and they don't really need to hear about the stuff that happened before your country was crushed by some guys in tights and iron suits. They don't ask you much, and you're grateful.  After an unfortunate five-year gap in employment (which isn’t your fault- it’s kinda hard to find jobs when you’re reduced to dust unexpectedly) you were lucky to find somewhere that was willing to hire you without a legally issued identification card and that was also willing to pay in cash under the table. You broke out the books and attempted to learn the language as best as you can, and while you're struggling a bit, you can at least understand the menu and what a customer is ordering. It was far from ideal- ideal would be completely erasing any trace of memory regarding you and your… history, so to speak, from anybody who has the potential to be a threat to you. Ideal could also be an island somewhere, maybe Praslin or Nassau, where you could swim in clear waters and drink copious amounts of fancy fruity drinks instead of whatever liquor your roomies had hiding under the counter. But until that happens, being on the sorta-run for some questionable past career choices seems to stick.

Said questionable career choices led you to be introduced to a network of interesting people, some less horrible than others, but all of them carried the same unmistakable signal of danger displayed in flashing lights above their heads. When you hear the bell to the restaurant door jingle, signaling the arrival of someone new, that weird gut feeling activates and your eyes flicker up to see a pair of high heels and sunglasses, even though the sun hasn’t been out all day. Everyone else eating their food don’t even spare a glance to the door. This should comfort you, it should tell you that you're fine and that there's nothing to worry about, but it absolutely doesn’t and suddenly you’re inconspicuously making your way to the back, muttering something to your boss about taking your break early. Ripping off your apron, you throw it to the side and let it land on the ground next to you, and you lean your head against the brick wall behind you. Your fingers are twitching as the pressing issue of impending doom continues to rise in your gut. You barely register the creaking sound of the back gate opening.

“Do you want a cigarette?” Suddenly, you’re in fighting stance as an unfamiliar voice speaks less than a foot away from your ear. You don’t recognize this new face, but she looks expensive and entirely too out of place for a diner that receives in its eggs already prepared and frozen.

“I’ll take that as a no, then,” she continues, and fishes a lighter and pack out of her coat pocket. “Good choice. These things will kill you- and so will this godawful food you serve here. What a relief that after today you won’t step foot in this place ever again, huh?”

Your mouth opens to say something, but you decide against it. Instead, you slightly lower your fists, keeping your eyes trained on her seemingly unbothered expression. She takes a long drag of her cigarette before giving you any more information. The silence is deafening, and you mentally take note of the clear path you have through the open fence and towards the street if you chose to run. Something tells you this lady didn’t arrive here on foot though, and she probably had an expensive vehicle waiting out front waiting to catch up to you if you chose to make a break for it.

“You’re jumpy- probably a little bit out of practice from the whole ex-assassin thing, right? I can work with that. I have to applaud you: as far as hide and seek spots go, this wasn’t horrible. We’ll have to improve your people skills, but-“

“Who are you?”

You grow increasingly frustrated as it starts to sprinkle again, leaving you cold and wet as your company opens an umbrella she had previously stored away in her coat.

“I don’t like being interrupted, so let’s not make it a habit, hm? My name is Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, and you’ve become annoyingly important to my cause. Come on, we’re leaving.”

She begins to walk towards the gate, but you stay put, beginning to toy with the idea of unsheathing the knife stored in your boot.

“I’m not going anywhere with you, lady.”

This makes her turn around and sigh in frustration.

“The way I see it, you have two choices. Go back and finish bussing tables so you can make an extra couple dollars, or come with me so we can talk real business. As far as I’m concerned, you’re the only one between the two of us that poses a threat. I’m not the one with weapons hidden in my clothes, am I?”

Your eyes narrow, but you don’t argue. Instead, you hesitantly join her in her path towards a gaudy car (you knew it) that looks way too out of place to be in this parking lot. For a split second you consider going back and giving your manager somewhat of a notice of your absence, but Valentina’s walking so fast that you don’t really have time to continue considering.

“By the way, I distinctively said my name is Valentina Allegra de Fontaine- I don’t like to repeat myself, don’t make me do it again.”

-

You barely have time to sit down before Valentina is barking directions at her driver and scolding you for getting rain water in her backseat. You remain silent, and a little bit uncomfortable as Val finishes her cigarette completely before bothering to inform you of whatever the hell she’s got going on.

“Tell me what you know about super soldiers,” she finally gives, crossing her legs and glances at you expectantly.

You search her face for any kind of indication that she’s kidding, but she seems serious. It kinda feels like your soul is being stared into and you want to look away but you can’t. What does she not know about super soldiers that she can learn from you and not from literally anywhere else? Admittedly, all you know is what clips of newspapers would give you. Something about rogue experimentation, something-something Winter Soldier, and then, most recently, the Flag-Smashers and the rumors flying around that they've got some serum floating around. All of this seemed to be public knowledge though. Nothing a woman who’s willing to corner people in the backlots of their jobs couldn’t find out from a simple Google search.

“I asked you a question, didn’t I?”

“I can’t say I know much.”

For what feels like the millionth time in the span of twenty minutes, she sighs, bringing out her cell phone and starts punching some buttons.

“And what about this man? Does he ring a bell?”

You do your absolute best to not look as tense as you feel when out of the corner of your eye you see a familiar face in a tiny, grainy picture. She shoves the device in your hands, and right there center of the screen is-

“Zemo, right? That was a trick question. Hard to forget the face of your old boss, I’d assume.”

Suddenly, you’re upright in your seat, the earlier feeling of danger settling right back into place. Valentina, of course, just lets out a laugh, while you’re planning on swan-diving out the damn window.

“The Colonel isn’t my boss,” you protest, and a burning sensation makes its way to your throat.

“Isn’t he though?” Valentina is now fully turned towards you, her hand reaching to grab the phone back. More buttons are pressed, and she’s reading your name from an official looking online database. “It says here you’re wanted in a lot of countries, huh? I wonder why that is- oh, look at this, would you? Seems like your name and EKO Scorpion are mentioned in the same sentence at least three times just on this page.”

Your eyes narrow, and you waste no more time in grabbing your gun from your coat pocket, and Valentina seems to have the same idea, the phone  in her hands is now replaced with a much newer and nicer pistol than you’re carrying. It’s silent in the car for a few seconds, and the driver in the front dares not move a muscle. Val is the first to break, and she lowers her weapon with a shit-eating grin you’re growing tired of seeing.

“Let’s start over. You’re associated with an elite death squad assigned to defend the interests of a country that’s no more than a pile of rubble and dead memorial flowers on the ground. You never had an official invitation, but they paid you good enough money for you to get your hands dirty for them. Too bad that without a leader, your little syndicate fell apart, didn’t it? Unfortunate, what happened to him really. And how inconvenient it must have been for you- I’m sure the law doesn’t usually side with individuals associated with terrorists. Luckily for you, you had a five-year break from being on the run.”

The urge to fall back into old form and pull the trigger at the slightest sign of trouble starts to rear its ugly head, but you take a deep breath and try to align your focus to your current situation. This doesn’t have to be deadly. She knows your history, she knows your name. She could just be blackmailing you. Easy fix, offer her better information on individuals that are far, far away from you. You’re sure you can think of something juicy enough to entertain her and fray her interest in you. This doesn’t have to end in a gunshot. She has access to all of the shit you’ve done. You don’t know what she knows. She could be from the American government. Kill her, and lessen the risk of being thrown in a prison cell to rot.You’re desperate, and you’re scared, and it’s making you vulnerable. You take another deep breath in, and lower your gun.

“What do you want?” Valentina falls back into her seat, clearly very amused by the entire situation now that guns weren’t drawn.

“The Flag-Smashers are becoming increasingly difficult as they’re forming alliances with seemingly every gang of mercenaries for hire. The serum belongs in the hands of someone who knows what to do with it, don’t you think?”

This lady is clearly out of her mind, but you’re too far in now and you don’t feel like questioning her on her morals or the ethics of this situation.

“I don’t want any business with Morganthau, and I don’t care about super soldiers. If that’s all you need me for, you might as well find someone else.”

“Who said anything about you dealing with Flag-Smashers? No, for you,” she starts, grabbing the phone once more and resuming that annoying clicking as she searches through various links, “I have a slightly less… hazardous task. No killing involved, sadly. I’m sure your lovely skillset will keep until it’s needed, but you will be finding Zemo for me, where I can pay him far too much money so he’ll kill the Flag-Smashers for me.”

It’s your turn to laugh, now. “In case you haven’t heard, Helmut Zemo is rotting away in prison for the rest of his life. How is he going to be of any help to you?”

Valentina doesn’t bother giving you a verbal response, just shoves that damn phone in your face again. You glare at her before your eyes skim over the article. Breakout. Zemo. The Falcon. Prison. You curse internally, and she lets her arm fall back to her side. You realize you haven’t been paying too much attention to where the driver was taking you both until you feel the vehicle holt to a stop, and you look up to realize you’re in a parking garage, and the faint sounds of airplanes fly overhead.

“As of now, you and I are a two-man team, but this won’t be the case for long. Zemo is with Sam Wilson and James Barnes in a safehouse in Riga. You and I aren’t the only ones looking for him, however, which makes your job a little tricky, but I don’t have much faith in the guy assigned in returning him to Berlin.”

“Who is he?”

“I assume the name John Walker doesn’t need an explanation?”

You shake your head.

“Walker can be of use to us, and we’re gonna need him- just not yet. What I need from you at the current moment is to make sure you get to these coordinates,” the driver is suddenly handing you a slip of paper with numbers scribbled on it, and you take it, “before Walker gets Zemo.”

You inhale, and Valentina gives you a look.

“I assume you have a question?”

“Wouldn’t it be easier to get Walker on your side sooner? Maybe if you could say the right thing, persuade him to bring Zemo to us-"

Valentina cuts you off with a scoff. “What? That if we tell Captain America to hand over an international prisoner so we can extract information and hire him to kill for us he’ll do it? Walker wants one thing right now: he wants that serum. Coincidentally, your friend Zemo wants that serum gone. IF we get to him first, which you will, he’ll be more than happy to oblige. Walker is at a tipping point, but he’s not useful to us. Yet. We just have to wait until he's vulnerable.”

She takes your silence as an okay to continue. “Get to Latvia, find Zemo. Use that pretty face of yours to charm him into coming with you, maybe share some war stories around the campfire. I don’t give a damn how you get it done. Walker’s already halfway there by now.”

You are really starting to question how Valentina is getting her information, but before you can say anything else, she’s motioning for her driver to slide another piece of paper in your hand. Your eyes go wide at the numbers listed after a dollar sign.

“I assume this would be enough to cover your services?”

You look up at her, nodding your head slightly.

“Half now, half when you bring him to me,” she finishes, and the driver is unlocking your side of the car. “It looks like we’re in business then.”

[justsmilestuffhappens]

Prompt: everyone always assumes that Buck is the impulsive one, but when it comes to their first kiss, it’s actually Eddie that makes the first move and Buck is left flabbergasted which Eddie finds adorable

Life Comes at You Fast

They were just leaving from their call of helping a woman who got a lawn dart stuck in her husband's leg. 

One second buck was talking to chim about maddie's birthday party which was a semi surprise. Buck agreed surprises were fine as long as they weren't drastic.

The next minute chim turned to hen and Eddie putting up their supplies before he looked back and buck was gone.

The sound of screeching tires was heard as all eyes gravitated toward it.

"What the-" "buck!"

The team were running after they saw the sight before them. Lying on the side of the pavement was buck who had something wrapped in his arms. 

No it wasn't a something but someone. A kid that couldn't even probably be in school yet and was huddled in his arms crying and squirming. 

"Willy! What did he do to you?" A man came barreling down his driveway towards them.

The kid was wailing as he was pulled by his dad up into his arms. 

"Buck are you okay?" Bobby asked as the others were already on him. 

Rubber marks were all that was left of the car.

"I'm sorry. I was trying to move him. It was gonna-"

"You traumatized my kid you sicko, what the fuck," the man shouted.

"I didn't mean to. He was gonna get hit by a car. Where were you?!" Buck shot back hissing as Hen inspected his torn pants. 

"Buck this is gonna bruise and your starting to bleed a little too." She said.

"Did you leave him outside?!" Now Eddie was silently holding back screaming as the guy looked offended.

"Sir. Can I see your son? We just want to make sure he's okay." Chimney said while moving closer with his hands up trying to show he wasn't a treat.

He was blocking most of their view while not doing much in consoling the kid outside of holding him out of their reach.

"Willy is smart enough to know better than to go in the street. How do I know he wasn't trying to abduct him." The man said looking at Buck past Eddie where he was still on the ground with Hen.

"That's bu- b.s., I'm sorry kid, I was-"

"Sir with all due respect I've know this young man for years. There's not a malicious bone in his body. Is it true that your left Billy unattended, mister?" Bobby inquired.

"Trevor. I could see him from the front door. I'm not a bad parent. It's his fault." 

"I saw- he was trying to chase a bug or something. The driver was going too fast." Buck butted in.

"He ain't that stupid. Tell us the truth, he was trying to take you away wasn't he?" Trevor asked his son as if the treads weren't visible to him also.

Willy stuttered as he shook his head. 

Buck looked between them as the guy looked like he was getting more angry.

"Sir, I'm going to have to report this to child services. If Buck hadn't stepped in or couldn't reach Willy fast enough he could very well be more hurt than he is now." Bobby was already radioing dispatch for officers to file a report.

"No. I'm sorry. Stop. Look, I'll just take him inside and we can all forget this happened."

"How can you just forget you almost lost your kid? How many times have you done this? If that happens again it could be worse." Buck was up on a bad leg now despite Hen's protests.

Willy looked confused and scared. "I'm sorry dad." From where he was put on the ground behind his dad.

"Trevor-" Bobby stopped as the guy got closer looking to do something to buck when he smelled it. "Have you been drinking?" His tone dead serious as his arm and Eddie were between the two. 

Chim has taken the opportunity to see that the kids shirt was torn but he didn't have any scrapes only a little dirt probably from their tumble more shaken up from that.

As a cruiser pulled up and evaluated the situation Chim and Hen took to moving Buck to the ambulance as Bobby and Eddie explained what had happened since Eddie had a clear view of everything.

With much protesting and bargaining Buck managed to avoid the hospital as he promised he'd go if things felt weird, he didn't want to ruin maddie's party.

"Her party would suck if you weren't able to go" hen got through his hard head as they changed into their civilian clothes.

"Hen's right, like usual." Chim nodded.

Buck was being babysat even if chim said he was just making sure Eddie would take him home on his way since he was closer.

"And now I'm free." He joked patting buck's shoulder. "Remember your promise, anything feels off you call us to go get you checked up. You're off for a few till that legs looking and walking better."

Eddie and Bobby split up. He went to the locker room as Bobby went to finish paperwork for the incident as the father was now in custody while Willy was with his grandparents.

Buck sat using his phone as he let Eddie change. Carla had sent a picture of them at the park earlier. He turned to the call of his name.

Sudden lips met his as he was startled and Eddie had to keep him from falling off the bench.

"Wh- ju-? Why did you kiss me? Do I get a kiss for being heroic?" Buck asked. Eddie grinned at his parted lips and pleased expression.

"No. This is for jumping into the street for that kid." Eddie lightly shoved buck barely moving him. "That was for you still being here to kiss. I couldn't risk any more."

"And y'all call me impulsive." Buck laughed.

"I guess maybe we both can be sometimes but I'll pull you back like you said you'd do for me, just gotta try harder and quicker." Eddie said sitting besides buck.

"Well. I, uh, I liked it. Would you want to do that again, maybe?"

"Sure. During your couple of days off, at my house. You're not going to stay at your place alone. And Christopher will like keeping you comfortable with movies and games when you're awake." Eddie got up and offered his hand. 

"I'll take your place over the hospital any day." Buck took his hand.

[thebrotherssalvatore321]

Keeping Secrets Ch. 12

Keeping Secrets Masterlist

Pairing: DamonxOc, TylerxOc, ElijahxOc, KlausxOc endgame. Warnings: None for this chapter.

Over the next three weeks Katie kept her head down and focused on work and school. To keep her hands even more occupied she bought a guitar and started teaching herself how to play. She didn’t get to spend much time with her friends because Bonnie was still at her aunt’s house, Elena was wrapped up in Stefan and Caroline was wrapped up in Matt.

She was working after school and was picking up the tip that Tyler had left behind on her table when Matt walked up to clear it. "Is it just me or has he been coming here a lot more than usual?" she asked him.

"Yeah and he's tipping you more than the other girls." Matt said as she split the money then handed him his half. "I think someone has a crush."

"Is Tyler Lockwood even capable of crushing on someone?" Katie asked with an eye roll.

"I don't know, but he’s only human so...maybe." he said with a shrug then started clearing the table.

Katie brushed the conversation off and got back to work.

The next day Katie was working after school when Tyler came in and sat down in her section. So she grabbed her notepad and pen and walked over. Seeing Damon sitting at the bar Katie made her voice sound more cheerful. "Hey, Tyler, what can I get you?" She asked with a smile.

"A coke and some curly fries." He told her with a smile back.

"Alright. I'll put that order in and be right back with your drink." She told him then walked to the bar finding the ice scoop and coke sprayer to be faster than the soda machine in the back.

"You're not seriously flirting with the dimwit football player are you?" Damon asked, clearly having been listening.

"Screw you, Damon." She told him then turned to see the order of curly fries be slid into the order window. She carried them and the drink over to Tyler and set them down in front of him. "Is there anything else I can get you?"

"Your phone number." He said with his jockish smirk.

Katie gave him a questioning side eye. "Did you seriously just ask for my number?"

"Yes. I seriously just asked for your number."

She pursed her lips to the side as she thought about it. "Okay." She bit her lip and smiled at him as she pulled her note pad out of her apron pocket and wrote her number down. She tore the paper out, put it on the table then slid it to him.

"I'm kind of surprised that worked." He told her with a suspicious smile. "You gave me a fake number didn't you?"

"There's only one way to find out." She told him with a playful smile then got back to work.

That night she got a text from an unknown number. "I swear if this is a fake number..."

"Hi, Tyler." she texted back.

"Well what do you know. Katie Finnegan actually gave me her number." After she got the text her phone started ringing so she answered it.

"Hi."

"Hey." He answered back a little awkwardly.

"Why wouldn't I give you my number?" She asked as she walked over to her bed and sat down on it cross legged.

"I don’t know. You've been kind of…off, here lately." he answered. "You don’t smile anymore."

Kate made sure her hair looked okay and her glasses were straight then snapped a pic of herself with a too big, cheesy smile on her face. She typed "I do too." then hit send.

She heard a noise on the other end of the line as Tyler opened the message then laughed. "I've known you long enough to know that smile is fake." He replied.

"Eh, well, I tried." Katie replied.

"So I heard you and Damon broke up."

"Yep." She answered.

"I also heard you're living with him and Stefan."

"My grandpa kicked me out. I had no where else to go." She replied with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Must be a pain in the ass living with your ex." He commented.

"Pain in the ass isn't a strong enough expression." She replied as she fell back putting her head on her pillow.

"What would you say if I asked you out?" He asked making Katie's heart jump up into her throat.

"Um that depends, are you asking me out?" She asked avoiding his question.

"Yes." He answered not missing a beat.

"How's your mom going to feel about you goin' out a piece of trash like me?" She asked remembering what his mother had said when she had given him a ride home.

"You heard that huh?" He asked and she could hear a hint of how bad he felt about it in his voice.

"Yeah she wasn't exactly quiet about it." Katie answered trying to keep how much she hated his parents out of her voice.

"Sorry." He told her sounding like he didn't say the word much to other people who weren't his dad.

"You don’t have to apologize. You didn't say it." She told him.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it." He told her and things got quiet for a few seconds so to break the silence he asked, "So what are you wearing?"

Katie actually laughed. "You did not just ask me that."

"I did." She could hear a smile in his voice. "Am I gonna get an answer?"

"Only if you answer first." She told him with a smile still in her voice.

"Just some grey lounge pants." He answered and Katie instantly pictured him shirtless. It wasn't like she hadn't seen him shirtless before. Tyler was proud of his body and had no problem showing it off. But it was the first time she gave how hot he was more than a fleeting thought and actually found herself attracted to him. "You're picturing me shirtless aren't you?" He asked when she didn't say anything.

"No." Katie drawled sounding a little embarrassed. "Why would I do that? You're repulsive." She joked to smooth over how obvious she had been.

"Uh huh, sure." She could practically hear him rolling his eyes. "So..." he drawled, "What are you wearing?"

Katie looked down at her maroon, Timber wolf cheer sweat pants and overly worn t shirt with a faded ‘Three Days Grace’ logo on the front. "My red cheer shorts and a black spaghetti strap tanktop." She lied but used clothes from her wardrobe to do so.

"The ones you wear to practice all the time?" He asked and Katie blushed as she hummed a positive answer. "Nice."

"I wasn't aware you even noticed me at practice." She replied without thinking.

"You really don’t see it do you?" He asked.

"See what?" She asked completely oblivious.

"Practically the whole football team has had the hots for you since you joined the cheer squad." He explained and Katie felt like her head was going to explode. "I mean we've all whistled at you."

"I always thought y'all were whistling at the squad as a whole." She replied as she rolled over and sat up.

"If you paid attention you would've realized that we were looking at you." He answered.

Katie's stomach growled making her realize that she hadn't had dinner. "Okay if that's true then why are you the only one that's asked me out?" She asked as she headed down stairs to the kitchen.

"We all assumed you were a lesbian." He answered.

"Seriously? A girl doesn't flirt back so guys automatically think she's just not into them?" She asked as she walked into the kitchen and saw Damon getting a bag of blood out of the fridge.

She hadn't been shopping and knew that there wouldn't be anything in the icebox for her. So she grabbed a cup of noodles out of the cabinet next to the fridge. "Yeah." He answered as if it were the obvious one. "But then you showed up at my house with that Damon guy and proved us wrong."

"That Damon guy, seriously?" Damon asked loud enough for Tyler to hear.

"Is he there right now?" Tyler asked.

"I had to leave the solitude of my room to find food." She answered as she put a pot of water on the stove to boil.

"Do you have me on speaker?" He asked curious as to how Damon could hear him.

"No. He just has really good hearing." She said then pulled herself up to sit on the kitchen counter. She glared at Damon as she kept talking to Tyler. "So I'll ask again. Why are you the only one that's asked me out?"

"I think I'm the only one who noticed you and Damon broke up." He answered.

"I broke up with her." Damon chimed in.

"Don’t you have somewhere to be?" she popped off at Damon not caring if Tyler heard. "Or sorority girls to exploit?"

"Nope." He answered with a smart ass smile.

She shot him the finger. "Do I need to call you back later?" Tyler asked as the water in the pot started boiling.

"Nope." Katie answered as she peeled back the seal on the cup and poured the water in to the fill line. "I'm going to eat in my bedroom." She grabbed a fork out of the drawer and closed it with her hip as she held the phone with her shoulder and the cup in both hands to keep from spilling hot water on herself. "Okay I'm back in my room. No more interruptions." She sighed as she kicked the door closed behind her and set the cup of noodles on top of her dresser.

"Right, so are you going anywhere for Christmas break?" He asked knowing that tomorrow was the last day of school before the two week break.

"Nope. My schedule is wide open other than the winter festival that the gang usually drags me to." She told him as she waited for her noodles to be ready.

"You wanna get some dinner and catch a movie this weekend?" He asked making Katie realize that she'd never been on an actual date before.

"Sounds fun." She told him feeling nervous.

"Alright, cool." She smiled at the smile she could hear in Tyler's voice. "Well it's getting late. I'll see you tomorrow?" She hummed a positive answer. "G'night."

"Night." She replied then hung up.

She was in the kitchen when Stefan walked in wearing a pair of black pajama pants. "Hey." He greeted her where she stood with her back turned to him washing her dishes.

"Oh, hey." She replied with a look over her shoulder at him.

"Did I hear you talking to Tyler Lockwood earlier?" He asked as he grabbed a glass out of the cabinet.

"Is privacy not a thing when you live with vampires?" She asked as she put the pot and fork in the draining board and turned to see him making a glass of ice water.

"Sorry." He said with a tight lipped smile even though he wasn't really sorry. "Isn’t he kind of a hot head?"

"Yeah." Katie answered as she leaned her hips against the cabinet. "But I broke my grandfather’s nose and stabbed Damon in the hand. So who am I to judge?"

"Point taken." He replied then took a drink of his water. "I just don’t want you to rush into anything just because you want to get over Damon."

"I appreciate your concern, but if I'm being honest I've kind of had a small crush on Tyler since, like, junior high. So I kind of feel like it'd be a missed opportunity if I turn him down." She admitted as she walked over to the island that he was standing on the other side of. "Is that stupid?" She asked sheepishly.

"Nope. It makes total sense." He told her with a shake of his head then finished off his water and set the glass in the sink. "Goodnight." Katie hummed back at him.

TVDTVDTVD

Katie and Tyler were standing at her locker after school when Caroline and Bonnie came over. "Hey, are you going to help us set up for the festival?" Caroline asked Katie with a smile.

"Hey, you're back." She greeted Bonnie with a hug.

"Just for the winter festival then it's back to my aunts." She said as Katie let her go.

"Well, I'm glad your here. Christmas would suck if we weren't all together." She told Bonnie then looked at Caroline. "Yes, I will help with the festival." She then looked at Tyler.

His eyes got big and he held up his hands. "No. You're not roping me into helping."

"Awe come on you don't want to string up popcorn with me?" Katie asked with a laugh. "I usually end up eating half of it anyway."

"No eating the popcorn." Caroline scolded pointing at both of them.

"Yeah I'm gonna pass." Tyler told her with a no nonsense face. "I will see you later though." He gave her a quick smile then left the group of girls.

"So what's up with you two?" Caroline asked.

"We’re… going out." Katie answered watching him walk out the double doors at the end of the hallway as they followed slower behind him.

"What?" Bonnie asked. "When did that happen and why didn't you tell us?"

"When did you and Damon break up?" Caroline asked looking at her across Bonnie.

"Damon dumped me two weeks ago. I assumed Elena or Bonnie told you." Katie answered Caroline first. "Tyler called last night and asked me out. So I haven't had a chance to tell you guys."

"How'd he even get your number?" Bonnie asked curiously.

"He asked me for it." She answered with a shrug.

"Is Tyler even your type?" Caroline asked as they pushed the doors open and headed out into the cool air.

"I don't think I really have a type." Katie answered.

"So are you guys going on a date or something?" Bonnie asked as they walked up to the table that held two bowls of popcorn, string and needles.

"Yeah. Dinner and a movie this weekend." Katie answered.

"That's predictable." Caroline laughed.

"After being with Damon, predictable sounds nice." Katie argued and Bonnie made a face that said she understood.

Hours later after the festival started Elena, Stefan, Caroline, Matt, Katie and Bonnie all gathered around one of the picnic tables. "Nobody open their gift until every one has exchanged. Okay first off who picked who?" Caroline, who had arranged everything, ran the show.

"I got Stefan." Elena started and handed him his gift.

"I got Caroline." Stefan said as he handed Caroline her gift.

"And I got Bonnie." Caroline said with a cheery smile. "That means Matt and Katie got each other." Caroline finished and Matte and Katie switched gifts. "Okay open."

Katie was surprised when she unwrapped a silver jewelry box and opened it to find a black leather wrap bracelet with silver letters on it that spelled out her name. "Thanks, Matt, I really like it."

"Thank Caroline. I had no clue what to get you." He told her with an ashamed look then started un-wrapping his gift.

"I kind of had no clue what to get you either." Katie said as he tore the paper off of the Nerf football. "Figured I couldn’t go wrong with a football."

"You figured right." He said with a laugh then tore the cardboard packaging off of it and started tossing it in the air.

"Boys are so easily amused." Caroline said with an eye roll as she walked up.

"Thank you for the bracelet." Katie told her with a hug.

"He wasn't supposed to tell you." Caroline complained. Katie just laughed and shook her head. "He wanted to buy you a cheap bath set."

"I would've been fine with that." Katie shrugged.

"Even if it smelled like old feet and flowers?" Caroline asked with a grossed out look.

"Ew, no. Thank you for saving me from that disaster." Katie thanked her again. "What did you get from Stefan?"

Caroline pouted and held up her hand and the mini snow glob of Mystic Falls that dangled off the key ring on her finger. "We're not including the boys in secret Santa next year."

Katie just laughed at the pathetic excuse of a Christmas gift. "Hey, Tyler, catch!" She heard Matt say and she looked up in time to see Tyler catch the ball.

"You're man is here." Caroline smiled and bumped Katie's shoulder with hers then walked over to Matt.

"What is she talking about?" Elena asked with a look between the blushing Katie and Caroline.

"Katie and Tyler are going out now." Stefan answered for her.

"You knew?" Elena asked with a look up at Stefan who was hugging her from behind.

"We live in the same house and I have good hearing." Stefan pointed out.

"Wait you live with the Salvatore’s now?" Caroline asked turning away from Matt who took the football from Tyler. Katie just nodded. "Why?"

"My grandpa kicked me out." Katie answered with a shrug as she took the jewelry box out of her pocket and opened it.

"Why?" Caroline asked not letting the subject drop.

Katie didn't look at her and instead focused on putting on her new bracelet. "Can we talk about this later?"

"No, why do I feel like I missing something?" She asked getting mad as she looked around at her friends who were giving her warning looks.

Katie looked around at all the people. "Okay," she sighed and walked over to Caroline and grabbed her hand, pulling her out of earshot of her friends. "I've been trying to find the right time to tell you this, but you're always so cheerful I didn't want to bring you down with sad stuff."

"What are you talking about?" Caroline asked quietly, her super sweet voice making it harder on Katie. They came to a stop on the sidewalk.

"For the last seven years, up until I started dating Damon, my grandfather abused me. Physically and emotionally." Katie put it all out on the table.

"You're not really clumsy are you?" She asked, the light bulb going off in her head. Katie shook her head. "Oh my god, I should've realized..."

"I was really good at hiding it." Katie shrugged. "Damon caught Grandpa in the middle of beating me and stood up to him. He stopped physically hurting me, but not emotionally." Katie explained while Caroline stared at her with a furrowed brow. "I spent the night at the boarding house for a couple of nights and when I came home and told Grandpa where I had been he accused me of sleeping with both of the Salvatore brothers. I saw red and broke his nose. He kicked me out and Damon and Stefan offered me a room at the boarding house."

"I am so sorry." Caroline said with a shake of her head.

"No I'm sorry. I should've told you about all this sooner." Katie argued. "Are you mad at me?"

"No." Caroline said with a shake of her head.

"Hey," Tyler called as he ran over to them. "I hate to interrupt, but they're about to light the tree."

"Oh, we can't miss it." Caroline perked up and headed over to the big tree that was set up in the middle of the decorated parking lot.

"You okay?" Tyler asked with a curious head tilt.

"Yeah I'm good." Katie answered.

"I got you hot coco." He said as he held up a to-go coffee cup.

Katie tried not to cringe at the thought of drinking hot chocolate, but she managed a small smile as she took the cup from him. "Thanks."

They all stood amongst the crowd as Sheriff Forbs gave a speech. Katie noticed Elena standing next to Stefan, leaning into his side while he had his arm wrapped around her side and Matt hugging Caroline from behind. When she looked across her shoulder at Tyler he rolled his eyes with a smile and put his arm around her shoulders.

"You don't have to just because they are." Katie told him considering she had never seen Tyler be lovey dovey with Vicki. He was handsy, but he never came off as the type to hold hands.

"I want to." He told her with a look that suggested she was being ridicules.

"Okay." Katie answered skeptically.

"You don’t believe me?" He asked with raise brows.

"You never really came off as the romantic, hand holding type." Katie shrugged.

"I'm not." He shrugged. "But that doesn't mean I don't want to be."

"Okay." She told him with a small smile.

The tree being lit caught their attention so they both watched as the lights came on going up the tall decorated tree. When it was completely lit everyone started cheering and clapping. Katie just smiled.

TVDTVDTVD

Katie kept her outfit for her date with Tyler simple and wore a plain white t-shirt, dark wash skinny jeans, black wedge heeled ankle boots and her black leather jacket. She was sitting on her bed putting on her boots when Damon walked up and leaned against her door frame with a bottle of alcohol in his hand. "Your boyfriend’s here."

She looked at her watch to see that it was twenty till five. "He's early."

"I was talking about me." He told her with a smirk. Katie rolled here eyes and went to her bathroom to put the finishing touches on her eye makeup. "You're seriously going on a date with that guy?" He asked as he stumbled into the bathroom and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"That guy has a name and yes I am." She answered as she finished lining her eyes.

"He’s a stupid jock." He told her with scoff.

She turned around in his arms and took them off of her. "I'll take a hot jock over a murderous ass hole any day." She walked around him to her room.w

"A murderous asshole that you love." He pointed out and she turned to see him standing in the middle of her room.

"Yeah and what did you do with my love Damon?" Katie asked as she walked over and grabbed the bottle out of his hand. "You flushed it down the toilet like you do everything else good in your life." She took a swig of whatever dark liquid was in the bottle.

"I miss you Katie." He said giving her his sad eyes. A big part of her wanted to give in to them, but another part of her just as big, and more logical, told her that she couldn’t stay on the emotional rollercoaster that was Damon Salvatore.

"You miss me?" She asked with pissed off wide eyes. "That's why you keep dragging whole sorority houses of girls here and partying all night?" She asked and he just blinked at her. "I told you if you pushed me away I wouldn’t come back and you pushed anyway." She told him with an exhausted shake of her head. "You know, Elena once told me I was like a fish on a hook that you kept throwing out then reeling back in..." she took another drink of the alcohol then slammed the bottle into his chest. "I'm cutting the line."

"It’s that simple for you to give up on us?" He asked and she was pretty sure she saw tears welling in his eyes.

"Simple?" She scoffed with a sarcastic laugh. "There is nothing simple about this. A part of me will always love you, but I can't keep letting you push me away then pull me back in. It's not right and it’s eventually going to rip me apart. It's not fair for you to expect me to be happy with only half your heart." She watched him take a drink from the bottle. "So I'm going out with Tyler and if, slash when, he kisses me I won't feel guilty. Hell, I might even sleep with him on the first date, who knows."

She was halfway down the stairs when she heard glass shattering. She flinched as she stopped and looked back, fighting the urge to go to him. "Katie." She looked to the bottom of the stairs to see Stefan looking at her with sympathetic eyes. "Tyler's waiting for you in the living room."

"Did I just make a big mistake, not going back to him?" Katie whispered as quietly as she could.

"No." Stefan told her with pursed lips and a shake of his head. "I don’t think so."

Katie walked down the stairs and stopped in front of Stefan. "How am I supposed to get through tonight after that?" Katie asked.

"Easy." He said as he grabbed her shoulders and looked her in the eyes. "Take a deep breath." She did as she was told. "Let it out." When she did Stefan made a face. "Now just remember to relax and smile, but first go brush your teeth." He let go of her shoulders. "You reek of alcohol and no one wants to kiss that on their first date."

Katie let out a tense laugh. "Will you let Tyler know I'll be down in a few?" She asked and he nodded so she turned around and went back to her room. Damon was still standing where she had left him. They ignored each other as she went to her bathroom, brushed her teeth then headed out of her room, but she stopped when she saw the broken glass and alcohol all over the floor. "Please clean that up before I get back." She said not looking at Damon then walked out.

When she got to the living room she saw Tyler talking to Stefan and when Tyler saw her he gave her smile. She smiled back at him where he stood with his hands in his pockets. "You ready?" He asked as she walked over to him.

"Yeah." She answered then turned her eyes to Stefan who gave her a nod of encouragement. "Let's go."

They made small talk on the way to the movie discovering that they had similar taste in music and movies. After calling to see what was playing they decided on Avatar.

Thirty minutes into the movie and halfway through a large container of popcorn Tyler took his eyes off the movie to look at Katie. One of her legs was crossed over the other and one hand was tucked in the bend of her knee while the other rested on the arm rest that she shared with him.

Katie, feeling like she was being watched, glanced over at Tyler to see him looking at her hand. So she turned her eyes back to the screen and flipped her hand over. A few minutes later he placed his hand over it, slipping his fingers between hers. She looked at him and smiled. She was almost positive that there was a bit of a blush on his cheeks as he gave her a closed lipped smile back, but it was hard to be sure in the dim lighting.

They held hands for the rest of the movie and until they walked to his car and he opened her door for her. "So what do you feel like eating?" He asked as he started the car.

"Umm, you chose. I'm not picky." She told him with a shrug.

"Is this one of those trick questions where you tell me to choose just to see if I get it right?" He asked with a playful glare making Katie laugh.

"No, I promise, I really don't care. You could bring me to McDonald's and I'd be happy."

"Ew, really?" He asked and she nodded. "Well, we're not going to McDonald's." He put the car into drive.

"So where are we going?" Katie asked curiously.

"You'll see." He told her as he pulled out onto the highway. "And if you complain when we get there I'm throwing you out of the car." he told her making her smile.

A few minutes later he pulled up in front of the Mystic Grill. "You brought me to the place I work?"

"I brought you to where we both were when I decided I was finally going to ask you out." Katie felt her cheeks warm as she gave him an almost bashful smile. "I was aiming for romantic. Did I completely miss and land in cheesy?"

"No." Katie laughed out the word and shook her head.

Her heart dropped when they walked in and her eyes landed on Damon sitting at the bar. "Do you wanna go somewhere else?" Tyler asked when he saw him too.

"Nope." She told him as she forced a smile onto her face.

"Okay." Tyler guided her to the table he had been sitting at when he asked her for her number and they sat down. "So, what do you do for fun?" Tyler asked trying to get to know her better.

"No one knows this, but I actually write poetry." She answered. "I kinda think some of my poems could be songs, but I have zero knowledge of music so..." she shrugged. "What about you?"

"I draw." He answered while playing with the square cardboard coaster in his hands.

"Are you any good?" She asked as their food was sat down in front of them.

"The art teacher thinks so." He answered with a shrug. "If you want to go to my place when were done here I'll show you some of my sketches."

Katie grabbed his left hand and looked at the watch on his wrist. "Won't your parents be mad if you bring me to your place this late?" She let go of his wrist.

"They're gone for the weekend." He answered.

"Then sure." She answered then they started eating.

Somewhere in the middle of their dinner Damon left and Katie didn't notice. When they were done Tyler paid the bill then drove to his house.

"So was it just me or were there big brother vibes coming off of Stefan when I picked you up?" Tyler asked as he unlocked his front door the walked inside.

"It wasn't just you." She answered as she followed him inside and he turned on the lights.

"Every girl in school went gaga over that guy when he showed up." He said as she followed him up the stairs then stopped and looked at her when they got to his bedroom door. "And you live in the same house as him."

"Are you afraid you might have competition?" She asked challengingly.

He rolled his eyes and pursed his lips. "No."

"Good, because you don't." She replied with a smile and he opened his bedroom door. "I'm one of the few who didn't take one look at him and instantly want to jump into his pants." She didn't know what she thought his room would look like, but it definitely wasn't what she expected.

She always thought most teen aged guys would have messy, cluttered rooms, but Tyler's was neat and clean. Just like her room in the Salvatore house his had a fireplace that looked like it hadn't been used in years. Sports trophies and a signed baseball sat along its white mantel. White nightstands with lamps on them sat on each side of his queen sized bed that was made with a simple thin white bedspread and goldish yellow pillow cases.

Tyler pulled a drawing pad off of the book shelf in the room and walked over to her as he flipped through a couple pages. He flipped the pad around and handed it to her. "Whoa." She commented when her eyes landed on a drawing of a guy crouched down in what she thought of as superhero landing. "I'm no artist, but this is really good." She said as she flipped to the next page revealing a sketch of a woman in short shorts and a tank top with gun holsters on each thigh and a gun in each hand.

"Oh that’s-"

"Lara Croft." Katie finished for him. "The video game one, not the Angelina Jolie one."

"You play video games?" He asked with raised brows.

"Nope, but Jeremy does. I've picked up on a few things over the years." She shrugged and handed him the pad. "You plan on doing anything with your art or is it just something you do for fun?" She asked.

"It's just for fun." He answered as he put the book away then walked over to his bed and sat down. He looked at her like he wanted her to sit down next to him.

She just walked over and leaned on the post of his four poster bed and turned her eyes to the floor with a frown. She hadn't thought things through and didn't even think about what was going to happen after he showed her his drawings. "Can I ask you something without you possibly getting offended?" She asked looking up from the floor to him.

"Sure." He answered giving her a curious look.

"Did you bring me here just to see if I would sleep with you?" She asked already kicking herself for being so blunt.

"No?" He asked more than answered.

"Because I'm not one of those girls that's going to go further than first base on the first date and I don't want you to get pissed when I don't put out. I know that I'm a cheerleader and cheerleaders are supposedly easy and-"

Tyler stood up and put his hand over her mouth. "I never thought I would say this to you because you're so quiet at school, but shut up." Katie rolled her eyes at him. "If I move my hand are you going to keep freaking out on me?" He asked looking at her with a playful smile on his face as he looked at her through his lashes. As she looked down at his hand over her mouth she decided to be mean. She nodded her head yes. “Then I guess my hands going to stay here all night.” As soon as he finished talking Katie licked his palm making him pull it back with a disgusted face and she started laughing. “Oh, you are so going to pay for that.” He told her as he tried to wipe her spit on her face. She laughed and tried to dodge him, but he managed to wipe it on her neck instead.

She yelped when he tackled her to his bed and started trying to lick her face. “No.” she laughed and attempted hold him back, but failed miserably. He managed to grab her hands and pin them to the bed then licked her from chin to cheekbone. “Okay. Okay we’re even.” She laughed as he pulled back and they both realized the position their wrestling had put them in. He still had her hands pinned down and was straddling one of her legs, both of them breathing a little harder than normal after their playful tiff. “Can I have one of my hands please?” she asked and he let go of her hand.

She wiped his spit off of her face then smiled deviously as she wiped it on his cheek. He closed his eyes and wrinkled his nose. “Really?” he opened his eyes when Katie laughed.

“Mhmm.” Katie hummed then hooked her pointer finger into the collar of his button up shirt. She was thankful he couldn’t hear the rapid beating of her heart as she looked up into his milk chocolate brown eyes. She let her eyes slip down to his naturally pouty lips then back to his eyes. He took the hint and leaned down, pressing his lips gently to hers. Katie always thought a kiss was a kiss, they’d all feel the same, but that wasn’t the case. Kissing Tyler felt nothing like kissing Damon, but she found that she liked it all the same.

He kept the first kiss short and simple and pulled back after a few seconds. She sucked her bottom lip into her mouth and bit it as she gave him a closed lipped smile. “You are so not a lesbian.” He said with a goofy smile.

“Shut up.” She laughed. “I can’t believe you guys thought I was a lesbian.” She said with a shake of her head.

“I never really believed it.” he told her with a tilt of his head.

“So should I keep proving to you how straight I am?” she asked.

“Hey I won’t stop you.” he said making her smile as she started unbuttoning his shirt. Once she had all the buttons undone he took it off then rolled them over so that she was on top and both sat up so that she was in his lap. He cupped her face in his hand as he kissed her and started pushing her jacket off of her shoulders. She took it off and let it fall to the floor behind her then pulled back from him long enough to grab the hem of her shirt, take it off and toss it to the side.

His eyes glazed over when they landed on her cleavage, pushed up by her white bra with black pinstripes and black lace trim. She was going to take it off, but the hardness she could feel against her butt told her he liked it, a lot. So she kept in on and slid her hands up his chest to cross her wrists behind his neck. When he still didn’t look up from her chest she smiled. “Tyler.” she sing songed his name. When he still didn't take his eyes off her chest she grabbed his hand off her hip and brought it to her lips. He watched with lustful eyes as she kissed the tips of his fingers starting with his pinky. When she got to his pointer finger she swirled her tongue around the tip then sucked it into her mouth. Her teeth grazed it as she pulled her head back then let go of his hand.

A quiet laugh left her lips as his other hand flew to the side of her neck and pulled her into him. Any restraint either of them had left was thrown out the window as he moved them around to be on top of her. Her legs wrapped around his hips as his lips attacked hers and their hands roamed each other.

After thirty minutes of making out things started to cool off. He was leaning back against his headboard with Katie straddling his lap, his hands gripping her jean covered thighs while she kissed his neck when she pulled back and grabbed his wrist to look at his watch. "Whoa, it's late." She showed him his watch.

"Time flies when you're having fun." He commented. "We should probably get you home huh?"

"Unfortunately." she answered as she moved off of him and slid to the edge of the bed. "Have you seen my shirt?" She asked as she scooped her jacket up off the floor.

"I think you threw it over there." He pointed to the foot of the bed. She stood up and walked around the bed to see her shirt on the floor. "You know my parents won't be home until tomorrow night. If you don’t want to go to the boarding house you can stay here." Katie pulled her shirt over her head and bit her lip thinking about it. "You can use the guest bedroom if you want." He added thinking it might help convince her to stay with him instead of going back to the house with Damon.

"I'll stay.” She answered as she put her jacket on the back of the chair that sat in front of his tv then crawled onto the bed and laid down next to him where he still sat leaning against the head board, “but not in the guest room.” he slid down to lay next to her and she rolled onto her side, putting her head on his shoulder as she placed her hand on his chest.

As much as she liked Tyler and how much he made her laugh, in that moment all she could think about was how she should be lying like this with Damon in his bed. Then she remembered all the crap he’d put her through and looked up at Tyler who was looking up at the ceiling. “Thank you.”

“For what?” he asked looking into her eyes.

“Everything. Asking me out, taking me on a classic date, making me laugh, giving me a place to stay for the night where I don’t feel like murdering anyone.” She said with all seriousness.

“You’re welcome.” He cupped her face in his hand and slid his thumb over her bottom lip. She smiled and bit it. “Damn woman.” He smiled and rolled over pinning her hands to the bed beside her head.

“What?” she smiled at him innocently.

“You know what.” He told her with lust back in his eyes.

“Tell me anyway.” She said then bit her lip.

“You’re a tease.” He told her then started kissing her neck.

“Yeah, but you like it.” she sighed tilting her head to the side as she slid her hands over his still nude back.

They messed around until neither of them could keep their eyes open. She fell asleep on top of the blankets while Tyler slept under them. He asked her to get under the covers with him but she lied and said that she doesn’t sleep covered up.

TVDTVDTVD

Katie thought she heard someone clearing their throat, but being half asleep she didn’t pay it much attention and just snuggled into Tyler’s side. That was until some one clapped their hands and yelled “Tyler!”

They both shot straight up in bed and looked at his open bedroom door to see his mom. “Crap.” Katie sighed and felt herself wanting to sink into the mattress and disappear.

“Yeah, crap.” Mrs. Lockwood snapped as she crossed her arms over her chest then looked at her son. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Nothing, were weren’t doing anything I swear.” He answered as he got out of bed showing his mom that he still had his pants on.

Katie stood up and grabbed her jacket. “Mrs. Lockwood, I-”

“You, don’t get to talk.” She pointed at finger at Katie who closed her mouth and held her jacket in her hands in front of herself. “You, explain yourself.” She said with a point at Tyler where he stood on his side of the bed while Katie stood at the foot of it.

“We went on a date then came back here to hang out. We watched tv and ended up falling asleep.” He lied, but it didn’t really matter because his parents wouldn’t believe them anyway.

Mrs. Lockwood stared at him looking like she was considering believing what he was telling her, but then she looked at Katie and said, “Leave.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Katie answered quietly then headed for the door with her eyes down cast. When she was out of the door she turned back to Tyler and said, “Thanks, again.” then headed downstairs.

She ran into the mayor on the way to the front door. “Katie, what are you doing here?” he asked looking confused.

“Tyler and I fell asleep watching tv last night.” She answered making the mayor frown. “Your wife wouldn’t let me talk, but maybe you will?” she asked and he nodded and motioned for her to speak. “I know coming home and finding your son with a girl in his bed doesn’t look good, but I promise we didn’t do anything last night.”

“Okay, time for you to go.” He told her and put his hand on her shoulder to push her toward the door.

“Please let me finish?” she asked as he opened the front door. He gave her a tight lipped nod and she saw Mrs. Lockwood walk down the stairs and look at her husband talking to Katie. “Tyler knows my home life sucks, as I’m sure you well know, and I didn’t want to go home. He’s a good guy, please don’t punish him for my mistake.”

“Have a good day Katie.” He told her then shut the door in her face.

“Way to get on the parent’s good side Katie.” She scoffed and looked around as she pulled her phone out of her pocket and started walking. She knew she should call someone, her ankle boots weren’t made for walking, but she didn’t know who to call. If she called Caroline or Elena she’d get a judgmental lecture on how she shouldn’t have stayed the night with Tyler. So she called the one person she knew might possibly understand, Stefan.

He picked up after a few rings. “Hello?” he asked sounding sleepy.

“I am so sorry if I woke you up or if you’re with Elena,” She started and she heard him grunt as he sat up. “and I don’t mean to bother you-”

“No, no, it’s fine. Elena’s not staying at the boarding house until Damon calms down.” He explained. “Are you okay? You didn’t come home last night.” He asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I fell asleep at Tyler’s.” she said then tripped when her heel landed on a rock and she twisted her ankle. “His parents came home early and found us asleep in his bed.”

“Oh, that sucks.” He said and she could hear humor in his voice.

“I know, way to make a good impression on the boyfriend’s parent’s huh?” she asked then tripped over another rock. Stefan laughed. “So I hate to ask, but do you think you could come pick me up? Because I’m currently doing the walk of shame down a rock road in heels when I don’t even really have anything to be ashamed of.”

“Okay, stop walking before you twist and ankle. I’ve heard you trip twice already.” He said and she could hear the rustle of him putting on clothes.

“You could hear that?” she asked a little surprised that he could figure that out over the phone.

“Super hearing applies to phones too.” He answered. “I’ll steal Damon’s key’s and come get you.”

“Thank you, Stefan.”

“Hang tight.” He answered back then hung up. Despite what he told her Katie kept walking, kicking rocks as she did so that she wouldn’t trip over them. Soon she saw Damon’s car headed her way so she stopped walking and uncrossed her arms from her chest. He stopped and rolled down the window even though the top was down. “Hey stranger need a ride?” he asked jokingly and Katie just rolled her eyes with a small smile and walked around the car as he rolled the window up.

“Why don’t you have your own car?” Katie asked as she climbed inside.

“I do, I just don’t drive it.” he answered.

“Why not?” she asked tying to keep the conversation off of her and her recent mistakes.

“It’s too showy, draws too much attention.” He answered and the conversation fell for a few minutes. “Why did you call me instead of one of your friends?” he asked with a look at her across his shoulder.

“Because I knew that if I called them I would get all kinds of questions and judgmental comments and possibly a lecture. I didn’t feel like hearing that today.” She said with a shrug.

“How do you know I’m not going to lecture you or judge you?” he asked and she looked at him to see his eyes on the road.

“I don’t know. I guess because you don’t seem the type.” She shrugged. “And out of all of my friends I figured you would understand why I didn’t want to come home.” She admitted.

“You just celled me your friend.” He pointed out.

“That’s because you are.” She pointed out. “I wouldn’t have called you otherwise.” The conversation fell again and after a few more minutes he pulled into the boarding house driveway.

They headed into the house without another word to each other and when Katie got to her room the first thing she noticed was her journal sitting on her bed and not where she had left it on her desk. Cautiously she walked over to it and picked it up and opened it. Damon’s handwriting in red ink marred every page with notes in the margins. She didn’t even read what he had written all she cared about was the fact that he had read her whole journal. With shaking hands Katie sat down at her desk and took all of her poems out of the back pocket of the spiral book to see that he had written and doodled on those too. She sighed and placed her head in her hands, willing herself not to cry. It worked, but sadness turned to anger.

She got up and locked her bedroom door to keep anyone from coming in. Then went to her bathroom and showered. After she got dressed she grabbed her keys and purse and left her room. She was halfway down the stairs when Damon zipped in front of her. "Where are you going?" He asked with a smirk.

"If you must know I'm going to by a new journal since you vandalized mine." She answered flatly.

"Why didn't you tell me you wrote poetry and songs?" He asked tilting his head to the side.

"Because you never asked what I did for fun." She told him already tired of the conversation. "Just like you never took me on a date." He opened his mouth to argue but she didn't give him the chance. "Founder's parties and school dances don't count as dates." He closed his mouth and frowned. "Now will you please get out of my way?" She asked and it surprised her when he stepped aside and let her pass.

TVDTVDTVD

Katie sat down and put her new, green faux leather journal with a combination lock on the desk and opened it. She knew the lock wouldn’t stand a chance if Damon really wanted to read her journal again, but it gave her a feeling of security anyway. After writing her old poems in the back she turned to fresh back page and started writing a song when it was done, she titled it, “Kissing Other People.”

[spectraspecs-writes]

Leviathan - Chapter 105

Link to the masterpost. Chapter 104. Chapter 106

A/N: I've got a bunch of chapters typed but I can't post most of them just yet because I need to do a thing on my home computer, and work just started summer hours so I have less time at home than usual. So y'all are just gonna have to go with this one for a bit. Also, cool, tumblr's beta editor keeps the italics so I don't have to go in later and put them back.

@averruncusho @ceruleanrainblues @chubbsmomma @strangepostmiracle thank you for reading, you get a tag. @skelelexiunderlord thank you for support, you get a tag.

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Deep breaths, deep breaths, deep breaths. Walking through space was nerve-wracking, anxiety inducing. I am so glad to get the space suit off on the other end. To be someplace safe where I won’t end up in deep space if I fall.

Honestly? I’m not afraid of much, like I will throw myself into so many situations without batting an eye - caves, krayt dragon dens, spider pits, tombs, all that, it’s easy. But if I had to name one thing I am absolutely terrified of, it’s being in space. I’m fine in a ship, I’m fine looking out ship windows, but the idea of being in space not in a ship is my worst nightmare. It has been for as long as I can remember - I guess I read something as a kid about what the vacuum of space can do to a body and that was it. I can deal with all manner of creatures without losing my cool, but that spacewalk was one of the most horrifying moments of my life. Yet another way today has been the worst day of my life. And I’m beyond relieved that I won’t have to do it again on the way back to the hangar.

Carth can tell I’m not okay the moment I take my helmet off, but when he gives me an inquiring look, I just shake my head. Did I want to go out there? No. But we didn’t really have an option. I’m just glad, again, that we don’t have to do it a second time. I’d rather face Malak alone than walk through space again. I’ll be fine, I just need to take a moment before we go back to fighting things. Just to breathe.

Okay. Okay. Let’s go.

Five Sith troopers beyond the inner door. Spread out. And these guys mean business. They have heavy armor that I can’t just cut through with my lightsaber. I have to work my way through it, inch by grueling inch. Bastila whisks two of them into a Force whirlwind, which makes it all the easier to wear them down. But even then that leaves at least one that can strike at me from behind. Can’t I catch a break? Can I just catch one break today? Carth sees me struggling and distracts the one behind me while I take out the two dizzy ones. And when they’re down, I turn around to face the bastard who tried to get me while my back was turned.

I’m done. I am just so done with today. I’ve been tortured, I’m hungry, I’m tired, I’m a rolling ball of fear from the spacewalk, my entire body is sore. When all this is over with I am just going to fall asleep. The Star Map on Manaan will have to wait until tomorrow. With one swoop, I take off a trooper’s head. It is disgusting. Whatever. I’m done.

And that’s all fine. On to the Bridge.

Saul is standing there, waiting for us. Of course he could hear the commotion before we came in. He grins at us. Go to hell. “Very resourceful,” he says, and he looks at Carth, “I assume you had some part in this; you learned your lessons well from me.”

“The only thing you taught me was betrayal and death, Saul,” Carth says coldly.

I’m done. I’m just so done. “Look, if you’re going to fight us, can we skip the talking and just do it?”

“Don't be a fool,” Saul says, “I am giving you and your companions a chance to surrender. A chance to live.” Shut up. “Darth Malak himself is on his way, he will be arriving any moment.”

“He speaks the truth,” Bastila says, “I can feel the Dark Lord's presence approaching.”

“Malak will destroy you,” Saul says, “but if you throw down your weapons now I will ask my Master to be merciful.”

“I’ve seen enough of Sith mercy!” Carth shouts.

“You always did like to do things the hard way,” Saul says, shaking his head, “Lord Malak would have preferred live prisoners, but corpses will have to do.”

A long time ago, someone told me that intuition is just our unconscious mind processing things more quickly than our conscious mind. All the evidence we need to realize something is there all the time, we just aren’t always aware of it. Any hunch we have about something, any reads on a person or situation, all those feelings we can’t explain, that we dub as intuition or reading a room or whatever, is just our minds going faster than we realize. On the Bridge of the Leviathan, there are two Dark Jedi, four elite Sith troopers like the five earlier, and the admiral. Two of the troopers stick to laying down blaster fire, while the other two take on Bastila. Carth has all his focus on the admiral, as expected. The two Dark Jedi come for me. And I feel like somehow, I know them. Beneath the masks on their faces is a person that, somehow, I know. I don’t know how. Maybe I saw them for a moment on Dantooine, they had fallen while I was training. Maybe I saw them on Korriban, there were plenty of Dark Jedi coming and going from the Academy. Maybe I encountered them briefly as a scout. I don’t recall seeing any Jedi out there, but like I said, the unconscious mind picks up things the conscious mind just doesn’t. For a split second as they approach me, I feel a deep seated anger and resentment, but that fades quickly and is replaced by specific weaknesses. The one on the left has a glass shoulder. The one on the right favors his left side. I move quicker than I even realize at first. I use the Force to push the one on the left away, focusing the energy on his shoulder. As the second approaches, I swing out my leg and slam it into his left side. His lightsaber falls from his hand and hits the deck. I stab with mine before he hits the ground. The first Dark Jedi falls into the computer pit, and makes no movements to get up. I doubt he’s dead, but either way he’s not my problem anymore.

I have no idea how I knew any of that. No idea what I saw that told me that. But I guess there’s no time to think about that now. One of the elite troopers is behind me. I throw my lightsaber and it cuts through the armor on his side. He throws a plasma grenade. I grab it with the Force in midair and send it back to him. Flames from the explosion hit him through the gash in his armor. I bring both lightsabers down on him like an X. That’s one down.

As I turn back around another body hits the floor. Admiral Karath is dead. Carth’s revenge is complete. And yet, reading him, it’s like… it hasn’t done anything. Healing is never so simple as revenge. It never could be. It’s pretty basic Jedi stuff - hate only begets more hate. After taking a moment to breathe, to understand, Carth pivots on his heel and shoots the other elite trooper on the other side of the Bridge. I throw my lightsaber at the trooper and jump across to face him. Strike at the weak spot at the neck. Two down. Bastila pushes the last two away with a strong burst of the Force. They fall into the computer pit and don’t get up. All four down. We’re almost done.

The bridge computer is off to the side and unlocked. Just a few simple commands open the hangar doors and release the bridge lockout. The hard part is over.

“Carth…” Admiral Karath? “Carth…”

“The Admiral’s still alive!” Bastila says.

Carth doesn’t miss a beat. “It’s time to finish this.”

I won’t stop him. It’s not my place to tell Carth how to heal, even if I disagree with it. It wasn’t my planet, it wasn’t my family. But Bastila feels otherwise. “No, Carth! Do not give in to your hatred!”

“Bastila, it’s not your place,” I say, “And it’s not mine.”

“Don't you understand what this man has done to my life?” Carth says to her, “Do you know the pain he's brought me?”

“Killing him won't ease the pain, Carth,” she says, “Do not become what you despise.”

Saul coughs. “Carth… must tell you… must tell you something…” He doesn’t have long. “…come closer…” Carth considers it. Thinks about just stepping away and leaving him to die. But curiosity gets the better of him, and he leans down to hear what Saul has to say. Saul whispers in his ear. And whatever he says, something on Carth’s face changes. Like everything he knew just crumbled to dust. “You didn’t know, did you?” Saul coughs again, laughs weakly. “Remember my dying words… Remember them whenever… whenever you look at those you thought were your friends!” And then, he dies. Utterly. Finally. And bringing not an ounce of peace.

“He’s gone,” Carth says. Like he’s trying to process it. Like he’s in shock. “He said… he… it can't be true, can it?” Must be something serious, he looks very shaken up. He looks from Saul, to me, to Bastila, back to me, to Saul, to me again, and back to Saul. “No. No… no - it can't!” Back between the three of us, then finally at Saul. “Damn you, Saul! Damn you!”

“Carth, what did he say?”

But he doesn’t answer me. He looks at Bastila. “Bastila, it is true, isn't it?” She looks confused but he doesn’t believe her. “And… and you knew! You and the whole damn Jedi Council. You knew the whole time!”

“Carth, it’s not what you think,” she says, “We had no other choice! Please, you don't understand…”

He points his blaster at her. “So make me understand!”

“Whoa, whoa, guys!” I say, trying to calm the situation, “Whatever’s going on it can’t be that serious!”

“Not here, Carth, please…” Bastila pleads, “There's no time. Malak is coming. This isn't the place. Please, Carth, I'm asking you to trust me. For just a little while longer.”

“Really?” he says skeptically, “You expect me to trust you after this? After everything?”

“Carth, whatever this is about,” I say, “if Malak is coming we don’t have time. We can get into this when we’re back on the Hawk.”

He doesn’t lower his blaster right away. Glances at me. Thinking. Then he lowers it. “As soon as we’re off this ship I expect some answers!”

“Of course, Carth,” she says, “As soon as we get to the Ebon Hawk, I’ll explain everything. To both of you. I promise.”

We have to work our way back to the elevator, and even though we can take the direct route, I doubt it’ll be as easy as it was going the other way. There’s a lot of Dark Side energy between us and the elevator. I don’t like it at all.

My comm unit buzzes as we step off the Bridge. “It's Canderous. We took care of the guards. We're inside the Ebon Hawk and all systems are go. As soon as you guys join us we can get out of here.”

“We’re on our way to you,” I say, “but it feels like we’ll be fighting the whole way. Have Mission sit tight in the gun turret, we’re going to need it.”

“She’s on her way. Good luck.” And it clicks off.

My feeling was right. Dark Jedi in the corridors. And Sith troopers with grenades. But fighting them is… odd. Every fight I’ve been in with Carth behind me, I could always tell where his focus was. He tended to cover me a lot - not to the exclusion of anyone else, but more often than not he would be shooting the same guy I was fighting. But now he’s not. And he’s not covering Bastila, either. His focus is completely elsewhere. What changed? What did Saul tell him? But also… even if he was acting normally, these Sith aren’t. They aren’t giving it their all. It’s almost like they’re trying to waste our time, to keep us here long enough for Malak to get here. I don’t like it, I don’t trust it. And I’m not going to fall for it. I don’t hold back. As much as it physically hurts, I fight with my full strength, I push with my whole weight. I push myself to my limits. And when we get to the elevator I practically fall into it.

Nobody says anything. Bastila wordlessly heals us. Carth doesn’t even look at me. Almost like he can’t. I can’t even read him. Like he is actively blocking me out. And I could push past it, sure, but I’ve never had to. I just want to know he’s okay. What did Saul tell him? What does Bastila know? And why has it changed everything?

[jq37]

[obligatory recap ask]

**spoilers for subway skirmish and borough of dreams**

@kickmuncher3 and @galfast: ty for your asks, I’ll use them for the next two recaps. this is probably the least efficient way for me to handle this but I want to keep all of these visually consistent dammit. 

One of the funniest things about this season of D20 is most if not all of the cast has lived in NYC which manifests as very specific references and in character complaints that you just know come from a place of truth and experience. Which is to say we got a lot of that in these episodes.  

Also, this has nothing to do with anything but living in NY update: On Sunday, I saw a man hanging upside-down from a tree--by his feet--and playing the flute. And barely anyone registered it at all. So I really cannot stress enough how much New York is Like That.

Pete opening the fight by blasting a fireball and then telepathically calling out Kingston is--como se dice--a Power Move.

Brennan *immediately* channels the opposite of whatever energy Emily's on and goes right for Ricky's dog to the horror of everyone at the table and his absolute delight. Like, it's a spectral dog but still. Bro. Dog. 

Kingston taking the heat metal damage to get Epona to drop him is so raw. But then, for the rest of the fight, he doesn't say a single thing except for his Command spells which is a very different kind of raw. 

Question: Is Riz's mom the only good cop that exists in D20?

I know this was an RP ep and I know they knew it was gonna be an RP ep but I wonder what would have happened if they had pretended to cooperate with Epona to get more info. Probably just an extended RP ep that would have segued into this same fight eventually. But I'm curious about what information they let get eaten by a swarm of rats.

Misty's Irresistible Dance spell is very clutch. 

The gators from the last fight are back in the form of Kug's summons and one of them still has a grudge against Misty. Misty is all, "send me your resume!" because she appreciates the spunk. I was starting a sentence about what the hell play this sentient gator is going to be in but as soon as I hypothetically asked it my brain was like, "Peter Pan. Next question."

Y'all, this really was Kug's fight. Between calling the roaches, crocs, and gators, channeling Moonshine to call lightning, and killing Epona within 40 mins of the ep, he truly was on fire. Good for him. He also turns into a bear but specifically a bear that would have escaped from the zoo. It's the little details that make this show great. 

Brennan putting his foot down on tying rats together not being acrobatics is the eternal DM mood. 

Back to Epona for a second, do we think she was working for Robert directly? Someone connected to him? Something else? When her shadow split after Ricky's attack was that meaningful or just flavor? Where did that badge come from? Has it always existed? What does destroying it mean? It didn't seem to help. The bad cop ghosts were still around, just no one could control them at that point. If they had yoinked that badge, could they have had a summoning item that hey could use? Or is it bad karma to use something like that? Is it still bad if you're forcing the bad cops to do good stuff? Did Brennan anticipate this or is the Coach Daybreak 2: Electric Boogaloo? Lots of questions.

Misty's cutting words to the cop (saving Ricky) making the Law and Order "DUN DUN" noise is great. 

Emily ends up not needing to roll to make rat nunchucks because her health goes low enough that her magic ring activates but I feel like she low key wanted rat nunchucks. 

Wild that Kingston went down for just long enough for it to be cinematic before being revived by Misty ("Get up, old man,")

Also wild that this whole fight only took about 45 seconds of in game time. It makes sense if you think about it the way you would a movie and that's how most D&D fights are but that's so much play time for so little game time and it hit me this ep because I was actually keeping track of rounds. 

Anyway, I have not mentioned up until this point that the whole crux of this fight is to last long enough for Alejandro to roll high enough to summon the train to Nod but, long story short, Pizza Rat shows up to save the day. Does that make more sense in context? Marginally. 

I like that the train to Nod shows up on the wrong side of the tracks. Like I said, man. Details. 

Oh and to my above point about the cast making comments about NY as people who have lived in NY, I loved Brennan looking directly at the camera when he was going off on people who just stand at the door like idiots while you're trying to get in and then Siobhan pokes like half her head into frame so she can also stare directly into the camera. Mood.

When Ally said Pete shoots Kingston I half believed it for a good couple of seconds. I was right there with Lou. 

OK, so I don't know how many of you have watched Sharkboy and Lavagirl (and, if you haven't feel free to skip this bullet) but no movie has brought me more enjoyment overall than SB&LG. Not because it's good because it's not. But it's so insane that it's amazing. It's right in the sweet spot. I always say, if it was any better, it would be Spy Kids 3 and, therefore, unwatchable (SK 1 + 2 are dope as hell though, for the record). I bring it up because the way Brennan describes Nod reminds me a lot of Drool in SB&LG. Like, the rollercoaster subway car def could be in the same universe as the Train of Thought. This is all to say that I think Brennan could have written a version of SB&LG that was better without being worse. Idk if that comes across as complimentary, but it is, and to both parties actually. 

From the way Nod (the kid) is being framed (in this ep and the next) I know we're not supposed to mistrust him but, put in that situation, there is no way I would trust the gray faced, black eyed, creepily gliding dream child. 

Post fight, Kingston wants to offer an apology for what he said about Pete and Nod wants to apologize for putting Pete in his current situation. Also, the group decides to be more open in general. Kug, as most of us guessed, got beauty and the beasted for white collar crime by his business partner (Gabby) who is Esther's mom and a witch (also, Ricky thinks his crush on Esther is a secret which is just adorable and completely incorrect).  

Brennan cuts sharing time off because this is the combat episode dammit! Save it for next session. But, because I'm behind, next session is now! Let's get into The Borough of Dreams.

Misty, as a faerie, is instinctively mistrustful of vising other magical worlds and eating the food or taking things at face value. I love that she's playing a character where she can ask these questions and not be meta-gaming because I had some of the same concerns. 

Wildly, WALLY walks out of the train as he just happened to be on it (as conductor) at the time. Kug bursts out with the fact that he's his dad and Wally takes this to mean that Rat Jesus is his bio dad but, even after being left alone for so many years, he claims Bruce as his real dad. He's wrong but he's sweet. 

"I thought you were mad at me." Brennan, you didn't have to do that.

Murph clearly trying to not accidentally call Wally a piece of shit because that's his go to Kug way to describe things is so funny.

"We could turn me into a rat." WALLY

Kingston and Misty looking at each other like, "These absolute children," while Pete and Soph are making Brittney Spears references. 

So we find out what all of the magic stuff they picked up does. Misty's mirror can see invisibility. Pete's grill helps with persuasion. The thousand hour energy makes you immune to sleep for 42 days(!) The bagel can be used for divination or to essentially kill a person but spread their essence throughout the universe  (which low key sounds like a sacrifice someone might make to help cancel the spread of say an undead presence or a money virus). 

I want Ricky and Wally to be friends forever. 

Kingston's lack of connection to the dream world is so sad. Like, he's no nonsense but he's like NO NONSENSE. Like no nonsense possible. So he's just walking around like Eddie Valiant in Toontown. 

And, at the same time, the rest of the party is doing the MOST nonsense. Mary Poppins-ing into the sky. Misty is making out with the moon. Wild. 

SOBER SALAD

Ally drops the ketamine on the tomatoes line and Brennan fully breaks

Very sweet for Pete to bring Kingston a salad, even though that's such a random food to just have in your pocket(???). Why does salad keep coming up on this show? One more time and it's officially a motif.

So the dream world basically works on Sharkboy and Lavagirl/Xanth/Phantom Tollbooth/Wonderland/Toontown logic. If you've seen/read any of those, you basically have it down. 

"Only people with Sprint have service."/"Oh, amazing!" Brennan threw that softball out for anyone who wanted it and Emily, as usual, hit it out of the park.

Brennan very clearly knows his NY history. The mob boss (lucky Luciano, no not that one) that he mentioned during the sleeping with the fishes bit is a real dude and basically the dude who brought organized crime to the US (in the form we know it now). 

Ricky and the mints. Lord.

Anyway, the one item I didn't mention earlier is the holy grail detergent which can literally clean souls. Which sounds mighty interesting considering some of the other stuff that's come up this campaign. 

(Also, I wonder if you could use the bagel as spell components since it contains everything in the universe in microcosm).

I can't believe Pete was the one saying, "At least eat before you shotgun that 1000 hour energy." By the by, the 42 hour span of the energy drink makes me suspicious. Is that just for humor (and accurate math) or it this a Chekov's Gun kind of an item indicating some kind of time jump at some point? Ricky drinks it later in this ep so, if there's a clock attached to that, it's ticking. I'm prob reading into this but I assume if you're still reading these, this is what you're here for. 

Ally making sawing motions before being told an egg creme has nothing to do with eggs and is in fact a drink.

Pete! OK, so Pete has made some good steps in this ep, starting with promising to start reining in the drug usage. Later he works on his magic and also gets over Priya. This is the most endeared I've been to him all season. Especially his, "I try to do a good job," line. I felt that. 

"It's still open to you." Aw.

Brennan clearly saw the chance for a lore drop this ep and boy did it drop. Let's run through the highlights.

Nod dumped all this on Pete the way they did because it's super super hard to contact a Vox Phantasmus beforehand due the the natural, waking world inclination to brush off dreams. You have to have the job before you can talk to the boss. Cruddy system but that's how it goes. 

When Sophie said the thing about Robert Moses creating spaces that can't be accessed she meant by magic but it's an interesting way to phrase it because the irl Robert Moses is known for (allegedly, but like, it tracks) trying to keep black people out of certain spaces. 

Robert Moses sold his soul to Hell and Faerie which is why he's still alive it seems. No one wants to collect on his soul and anger the other party.

Whoever predicted that the golden door for Emma Laz's poem was the rectangle from episode one, collect your prize because it's confirmed in this ep. 

We learn about the ephemeral axiom which basically says, a dream can be all things but once it manifests, it's a single thing. (you might even say, "it is what it is".)

So another big thing we learn is that if a dream gets so big that manifesting them in the real world would break the game, it's called a Paragon. There are four total: Heaven, Hell, Faerie, and The American Dream. (Wild that The American Dream is the only country specific one that exists. Like, I rep my home team of course but the U.S. is a pretty latecomer to the country party. You'd think someone else might have gotten Paragon status at some point.)

"Was one of them the Grand Canyon?"

Anyway, dragging the American Dream into the waking world would fix the American Dream to mean one thing--I assume making tons of money if Robert Moses has his way. I'll admit, I was a  little fuzzy on the mechanics of this on my first watch-through because pulling the American Dream into the real world sounds like it should be a good thing. But I think, at the most basic level, it's a matter of you shouldn't put magic that shouldn't be in a box in a box. I'm still wondering about the exact implications for the waking world if he succeeds though. Like, how would that manifest? Would everyone suddenly become money hungry (lol, how would you tell)? Would people still want what they want but the American Dream would just be understood to mean making stacks and none of the good Superman-y stuff?

"It's not Protestant work ethic is it?"

Robert Moses is undead and can't get into Nod, so those are good things to note. 

I was so ready for Wally is get dispelled and for him to be a figment of Kug’s imagination or a dream or something. I braced myself so much. I was ready to set up a firing squad for Brennan for doing that to Kug.  

Who tipped the bugsters off to where Pete was gonna be? As far as I can tell, the only people that knew were the gang plus Alejandro and Esther. Maybe someone was scrying on them and that’s what the roll Zac failed during the wedding ep was. 

As soon as Brennan mentions locking the door, Ally immediately makes the connection and goes, "Key to the city." Nod "locks" the American Dream and gets rid of the lock which seems to mean the American Dream is temporarily unavailable. Which seems not good and like it's gonna have collateral damage for sure but I guess you bad is a matter of degrees and Robert getting in would be worse. But still, imagine your immigration papers get declined because some random kid decided to close down the American Dream for a couple of days. 

So, we get some backstory of Misty. She apparently just was straight up not having a good time in Faerie so she stole Titania's shoes (allowing her to be in iron-filled NYC without triggering her fairy vulnerability) and peaced out. 

"She's gonna kill you."/"Only if she can get here and I have her Goddamn shoes." (**A million airhorns in the distance**)

I love that Emily is still on the souls thing. Emily doesn't believe in Occam's Razor. In fact, I'd like to propose a corollary called the Axford Axiom: The coolest path between two points probably isn't the correct one, but it should be! I want her to run a campaign so bad so I can see her be in a game where her crazy endgame is what's going on because she's the one who wrote it. 

Misty: Let's go to hell!

So much like a videogame, the map has opened up and we have three places to check out. The former locations in the dream world of Faerie (Carnagie Hall), Heaven (JFK airport), and Hell (where do you think? Hell's Kitchen). The gang splits up to look for clues (and drinks, in Misty's case). Actually, make that four places: Pete goes to the Met Museum of Memories to basically Avatar mind meld with the other Voxes and get a handle on his magic to a degree (thank God--Nod?). We'll take these in order of appearance, which means we're off to Hell with Kug and Ricky (plus Ox and Wally).

(Focus on the Pizza, baby!)

At first I wanted Ricky, the good boy, to go to Heaven, but the idea of a firefighter in Hell also has appeal. 

Re The rat holding his guts: Gross. 

Ricky holding his axe like a cell phone.

So we and Kug learn that the rat-spell that was cast on him wasn't actually a rat-spell. It was a spell that would make his outsides reflect his insides and his insides happened to suck. I'm wondering if that means that it's a static spell that reflects his outsides at the time it was cast and it would need to be recast to reflect any moral progress made or if it will just revert him once he's made enough progress. 

I'm also wondering (partially bc one of my players asked to do this last session) can a Druid wildshape into a person? I feel like no, but like, did any of you ever read Animorphs? You know how in book 1 Tobias gets stuck as a red-tailed-hawk but then later her gets his morphing ability back and then he can turn back into his human form for 2 hours at a time? What if Kug just started doing that? Just being a rat who is sometimes a dude. 

They also go to the statue of liberty (which has a French accent, natch) who shows them that there's, like, a money/greed virus infecting the Dreaming and the American Dream. Ricky smells undeath again. They think vampires. That's plausible but I'm not sure. 

OK, Heaven. 

WHOOOO, strap in y'all

(Sidenote: I wonder what would have happened if Soph hadn't chose to go to heaven. I feel like she could have easily run into you know who in hell had she chose to go there, but I'm getting ahead of myself).

Brennan actually tries to lead Emily into the thinking about Dale mindset but Emily, having reached a note of closure in Soph's character arc, pushes back on that.

honeyougotastormcoming.gif

Brennan,about to wreck her entire life: Cool.

I and the cast keep saying heaven a lot but it's like an all roads lead to Rome situation. It's heaven, Valhalla, Elysium, nirvana. Like, whatever Good Place you believe in. It's the Good Place. 

Sophie, upon being told that if she jumps into the fight at the Pearly Gates she knows nothing about, she might literally die: And what about it?

Emily's face when Brennan says, "And you see Dale," is so much. You can see the entire range of human emotion in her eyes in that moment.

Sidenote: I wonder how much of her backstory Emily planned and how much Brennan dropped on her. Like, she knew Isabella was part of her backstory obv. Did Brennan come up with all of this whole-cloth or did she say she wanted there to be something supernatural and and let him fill in the details. Very curious about the collaborative process.  

 When Dale's character art comes up, it says "Sophie's Angel" for Dale's descriptor so where I thought we were going was that Dale was Sophie's Guardian Angel who wasn't supposed to be romantically involved with her and the reason he was gone is that he was forcibly brought back to heaven. But that may be because I recently watched this.

Dale, is upsettingly sweet with Sophie, calls her "sweetie" the entire time they're together, fights a ton of angels to get to her, and says he got her text message. Emily is about to cry. *I'm* about to cry. I'm sure the only reason Brennan isn't fistpumping is because he needs to stay in character. 

Dale gives this cryptic piece of advice before he is dragged off by angel guards: When you get to the top, I know what it'll seem like, but there is someone there.

Emily, of course: I fight the angels.

The angels, hilariously, don't take it personally that she's fighting them--and very well, but not well enough to beat a nat 20. Sometimes the dice are spooky in tune with the story.

"He's got a job to do here. Who's gonna watch the deer?"

Dale also tells Soph to tell Jackson he said hi which is interesting to say the least. 

Emily gets two very dope lines in a row:

"Let me hold your hand through this Alejandro."

"I'm gonna kill her. And I don't think she's going to the great big airport in Brooklyn."

That's it for her for now, but let's put a pin in that for now and come back to it after we check in with the others. 

Siobhan and Kingston are at the former spot of Faerie, the Glamour Bar.

Zac jokingly (I think) guessing Dr. Doolittle as the thing Siobhan can't remember when she says Eliza Doolittle is so funny. 

Also, her terrible cockney British accent on top of her actual British accent is great.

I love that the two actual Real Adults are the ones who go and get wasted mid-mission. 

Brennan introduces "Bobby Goodfellow" and it takes Siobhan exactly four seconds after Brennan finishes the word "Goodfellow" to be like, "It's Puck." She knew and she knew her character would know it and she hardcore pounced.  

I meant to mention this before but it's super funny that Kingston has been around the magical block but there's still so much he doesn't know. He was surprised by a bunch of stuff in this ep that I'd think he would know about (like the Midsummer's faeries being real) but nah. He's like, "This is my specific brand of magic nonsense. That's what I know about. I don't mess around with any of *that* stuff. I stay in my lane. I stay in my city."

Ty Brennan for teaching me how to pronounce sláinte. This is the first time I'm hearing it out loud. 

I love his Puck voice. Like, the little British street urchin voice.  

No big surprise, Puck sent the mirror on the order of Oberon and Titania (who are not back together but are knocking boots according to him). 

Puck warns Misty, "The world of mortals is not long for this world," and follows it up with a seemingly sincere, "Come home. We miss you," which is an interesting thing to say after announcing that Titania is gunning for her. Who is this we, Puck? Your boss wants to bodyslam her!

Also, what do the faeries know that they're not saying? All of them in the bar seemed to know something was off but none of them said anything and Puck didn't elaborate. 

I've always liked the trope of the person from the otherworldly, magical or super advanced being like, "Idk what you're talking about. Humans are great!" because it's the opposite of the snooty elf/vulcan/whatever trope that I really can't stand. Misty showed shades of that in this conversation but I feel like there's still so much that we're missing in her backstory and I wanna know what it is.  

(Also, this is prob just me being a little pepe silvia but I would be very unsurprised if Misty got an opportunity to betray the party at some point. Don't @ me. It's just something I could see myself offering to a player for the drama of it all). 

Anyway, Kingston is extremely uncomfortable in the bar and makes a hasty exit so let's go to the museum with Pete and Nod.

Ally jumps onto the, "Suggested donations are for suckers" train w/ Siobhan. 

Turns out, Pete f'd up Robert up so much that he has kind of a brain link with him. I wonder how long that's gonna last. 

Pete gets proficiency in arcana and a choice between lesseing wild magic surges or gaining some control over them (2 wild magic rolls on a fail and ally gets to choose which effect takes place). Obv the second one is more fun rp-wise so that's what Ally picks.

It's a memory museum so OF COURSE he gets a chance to look at the memories of the rest of the party. But it's getting late so he only has a chance to check on one person's memories. He, naturally, picks Kingston. Makes perfect sense from an RP perspective but out of character I feel like Misty is the most closed book of the party. 

Pete sees Kingston's life from his childhood to the present (Brennan puts Lou on the spot to do some improv...I mean beyond the improv they're already doing) and it's about what you would expect based on what we know about Kingston but it's very beautifully described (sidenote: did any of y'all ever watch the life and times of juniper lee? where she can't leave the city bc she's like the buffy of that world? I really felt shades of that, except more self imposed).

During that montage, a character is like, "You could make hundreds of millions of dollars--I mean, I'm exaggerating," (s/t like that) and I'm not gonna go back and check but I feel like Brennan (or maybe Lou) made almost exactly the same comment in the first ep of this season in a very similar context.

Oh, also, Kingston gets dubbed Vox Populi by a dragon on Bleecker Street in case you were wondering about logistics. 

Again, Nod says that inviting Liz into his life was basically dooming Liz to be stuck dealing with the Unsleeping City but I feel like unless you have a Vox position or something similar you should be able to, like, opt out. So what you need to ignore some weird stuff day to day? May I direct you to my earlier anecdote about the flute dude in the tree. New Yorkers are good at that. And if she moved away, would it even be an issue?

Actually, that raises another question. Is NY the only place where magic is happening? It can't be because Santa is doing his thing at the North Pole. And NY has the Umbral Arcana which shields magic from muggles. Does that mean that elsewhere, magic just isn't hidden? I'm guessing that works because the bulk of magical happenings are happening in NY. Which, again, if so, couldn't Liz just move if she really wanted to? Or is she actually being *kept* there? 

Ahhhhh, that argument scene with Kingston and Liz. Ow. 

Robert's subconscious is heckling Kingston's memories the entire time. 

The party gets back together, Pete immediately lets Kingston know he was memory spying on him and hugs him (while Misty is drunk a singing over him). Their rift literally caused a kind of rift in NYC which is now healed (which causes Sophie to see the Unsleeping City/Dreaming Yin-Yang sign over their heads).

 Ricky drinks the 1000 hr energy so start the clock I guess. 

Misty, upon hearing that Dale is dead basically does that John Mulaney bit: Hey, do you want me to kill that guy for you? Because it sounds like [s]he sucks and I will totally kill that guy for you. 

It's the day of Priya's art show which I totally forgot was happening. Before that, Sophie finally goes to see her brother and we can return back to that pin I mentioned earlier.

(Also, it’s the 20th which means we’re getting really close to Christmas)

He says that their family got mixed up with the Confettis and they've been helping to launder magical items that Confetti is paying some rep from Hell (an associate of Robert's).

And by, "Some rep from hell," I mean Isabella Infierno specifically.

Emily, hilariously riffs for a while about how small it was of her to call Isabella a succubus even though she clearly knows at this point that Isabella is some kind of demon. I mean...Infierno. Come on. 

Sidenote: Which demon actually trying to be subtle would pick the last name Infierno? You wanna blow your cover for the aesthetic that bad?

Emily goes, "Oh my (beat) Nod," which I think is the exact way she dropped the first, "Oh Melora," in one of the first eps of Naddpod. 

Anyway, it turns out that Soph's family knew that Isabella was gunning for Dale (he was getting close to realizing something shady was going on) and, while they didn't call the shot, they let it happen.

Oh! He also says Dale was a chosen one from "some monastery" which, of course, fits in with Dale's comment about saying hi to Jackson. Now I'm wondering if his other comment--about there seeming like there's nothing at the top--is about whatever chosen one test he had to take to get the position to begin with. And maybe he was giving a clue to Sophie so that when she takes it, she'll for sure pass and get whatever dope powers or weapons or privileges come with the position. 

"The only reason I'm not going to go after you right now is because I'm not organized enough to give you the fucking revenge you deserve." Soph is cold as ice after hearing about what her family did. 

"Maybe you should have said that to Isabella before she went after me." Another mic drop line from Emily. This really was her episode. You can really see Emily channeling hr genuine emotional reactions into her character.  

La Gran Gata shows up to let Soph know she has her back to hunt down Isabella. The only other warlocks really seen played are Fjord on CritRole and Leiland on Bloodkeep so it's wild to see a character with such a chill relationship with their patron.

So, Priya's art show. They show up (to a distressingly unsafe building from Ricky's perspective) and it turns out, not only is it performance art (the worst kind) Pete *is* the art.

"I present to all of you: cruelty, a exploration of a relationship. Peter, take my hand."

major barf.

Pete goes OFF

Kingston: Picasso is art, this is bullshit!

Siobhan: Her last name is Danger? I hate this bitch.

Pete gets over Priya instantly which totally tracks because, like I said, barf. 

Sophie stealing Ricky's thing and rooftop jumping. Zac narrows his eyes when she says that.

I love Isabella's title card. It says, "Literal Succubus". It reminds me of the funniest scene in Bedazzled when the Devil (Liz Hurley) gives Brendan Frasier her business card and it just says, "The Devil".

But she's here and she's here to fight! I'm so excited for this one y'all! Unsafe building. Lots of civilians. Sophie (and Emily) going totally feral. I haven’t looked forward to a fight this much since Adaine went for Aelwen. Let's gooooo!

[ashitpos-t]

I’ve Got You Under My Skin

Chapter 4 of my Husk x Fem!Reader on my AO3 account.

CW: Murder, Suggestive Themes, and Alcohol

(original chapter notes) This chapter has a song sung entirely in Scotts gaelic, I'll leave a translation at the end of the chapter, and I recommend you listen to the original!  http://www.canasg.com/zgaol.shtml  also!! to keep the integrity of the song, all parts where reader sings will be written in bold.

You all finished your meal relatively quickly, Alastor sporting a grin of fulfillment on his gray skin.

"Sheesh," Charlie spoke, "that was really good, Al," he smiled even wider, "I'm glad you think so!"

Vaggie merely huffed, communicating she felt the same, while Angel and Niffty nodded along in agreement, both a bit more enthusiastic than the moth demon.  You and Husk on the other hand, were more like Vaggie, neither of you liked the deer demon much, and more or less, had little to no trust for him, all for very good reasons, too.

"Well," Angel started, pushing away from the table to stand, fixing his hair, "I'm gonna split, see ya" he finished, trotting away presumably to his room.

Husk already started for the bar, and Niffty had begun to put away the dishes, while Alastor snapped away, seemingly to his room, or something of the other.

You merely waved at Charlie and Vaggie, mouthing a small goodnight before heading to your room as well for a good nights sleep, hell knew you needed it.

 ---

 You sighed into your palm, applying a think layer of mascara to your lashes, fluttering them when you finished, slightly adjusting your freshly curled hair with your hand.  Smiling, you brushed lip gloss onto your lips, quickly popping them together to set the look.

You never much liked prettying yourself up for work, but thankfully, today was a more, chill, day.  You only had to do minimal makeup, and put on semi formal wear, it's not like the guys cared much, if anything, they encouraged it, they thought it made you sing better, or something like that.  Honestly, you didn't care much either way, all you knew was that you wanted the money, and whatever they wanted, you complied with, and didn't exactly have a second thought about it, they were good people after all.

Grabbing a hairband, you tied your hair up into a bun, admiring you semi formal wear on your body through the vanity's mirror, softly smoothing down your black pencil skirt when your hair was done up.  You smiled, gripping the collar of your white button down shirt and laying it flat before swiftly checking the time on your hell phone, noting you should leave in a little under an hour.

With little determination, you set out of your room, locking the door behind you, and slipping into the elevator, eager on eating some kind of breakfast before going to the studio, not too keen on singing in an empty stomach. You clicked the elevator's lobby button with your manicured nails, feeling the jolt, before the descent of the boxy machine to the floors below.

With a snap, you walked through the jittery doors when you met your destination, swiftly being met with the arrays of reds and blacks of the hotel, a stark contrast to your white and gold room, a few quick blinks of your eyes were needed to adjust to the bright colors.  You glanced around the room, noting that you were the only demon awake, you smiled at the solitude, a bit happy that you didn't really have to interact with anyone, especially in the early hours of the morning.

As your feet carried you with swift steps, you trotted over to the fridge, squatting down to grab a red apple from one of the bins, chomping right into it for a speedy breakfast.

 ---

 The door opened with little effort from your finger tips, the old door squeaking to an open as you blinked into the dimly lit studio, immediately spotting your two agents, their faces brightening when they saw you, right on time, as always.

"y/n, y/n!" the reddish imp demon greeted you, walking over to your tall form with arms outstretched, you chuckled, embracing him, "yer right on time!  Alright, yer singin dat' marry ban song er whateva?"

You nodded at him, a weak smile on your face, "uh, thats close enough."

He smiled up at you, trotting over to his stool at the mixing board, slapping a big chunky pair of headphones onto his ears, adjusting his horns to fit.

The short imp demon's name was Gus, he had met you near the start of your career in hell, saw you in one of your earlier gigs and thought you had potential, ever since then you had been working with him and his new record label.  The other demon was already at their station, they simply nodded at you when you walked in, not caring much for greetings.  Their name was August, and being an owl demon, they liked the dimly lit studio rather than a brightly lit one, you had met them shortly after you met Gus.

You smiled at the two of them, walking with a small pep in your step as you opened the door to the foam lined walls, sliding a specialized headset for your animal like ears onto your head.

Looking over at the two demons, Gus gave you a thumbs up, a rusty smile lining his lips as he adjusted a few notches on the board in front of him.

You swallowed due to nervousness, looking over to the microphone in front of you, you cleared your throat, and prepared to let your heart out.

Gaol mo chrìdh-sa Màiri Bhàn,

Màiri bhòidheach, sgeul mo dhàin;

'S i mo ghaol-sa Màiri Bhàn,

'S tha mi 'dol ga pòsadh.

You began, singing softly into the microphone.

Thuit mi ann an gaol a-raoir,

Tha mo chrìdh-sa shuas air beinn,

Màiri Bhàn rim' thaobh a'seinn,

'S tha mi 'dol ga pòsadh.

Your voice quickened and strengthened, your eyes fluttering to a close as you continued.

Cuailean òir is suilean tlàth,

Mala chaol is gruaidh an àigh,

Beul as binne sheinneas dàn,

'S tha mi 'dol ga pòsadh

You nearly listened to rest of the chorus repeating your words as you sung, a smile landing on your features before you gripped the microphone, adjusting your hold carefully.

'S ann aig ceilidh aig a' Mhòd

Fhuair mi eòlas air an òigh —

'S ise choisinn am bonn òir,

'S tha mi 'dol ga pòsadh.

Taking a deep breath in, you glanced to the boys, seeing giddy smiles on their faces at your performance.

Bidh mo ghaol do Màiri Bhàn

Dìleas, dùrachdach gu bràth;

Seinnidh sinn da chèil' ar gràdh,

'S tha mi 'dol ga pòsadh.

Releasing the breath you had been holding, you were interrupted with Gus throwing himself onto your stool to hug you, nearly sending you flying.

"Jesus girl!  Why'd ya never tell me you can sing that good in Scottish?" he jokingly questioned, adjusting his trucker hat atop his head.

While taking your headset off, you replied, "I just never thought it'd be all that good," you shook your head, "but it sounds like I should be singing like that more," you hummed, a grin on your face.

The imp curtly nodded to you, before skidding his way back into his old chair, a smile on his face as he urged you to your next song, August doing the same.

You smiled at the two of them, adjusting yourself onto the seat and the headphones you had just taken off.

 ---

 "Hey Gus?" you mumbled through a full mouth of food.

"uh, yeah?" he replied, taking a gulp of water just after.

You took another bite of the roast beef sandwich in your hands, "why do you always bring us sandwiches?"

"well ya see-"

August cut him off, "Better question!  Why do y'all always eat with yer mouths full!  It's frankly digustin'!"  The owl demon enthused, gesturing to the two of you.

You and Gus stared at them for a moment, before bursting into a fit of laughter, August quickly following along.

The three of you eventually quieted, Gus piping up after he finished his lunch, "I just thought you guys would like a home made lunch," he seemed a bit chipper, obvious he had begun to think it would cheer you all up, especially so if you considered where the lot of you lived.

You flashed him a genuine smile, your eyes alone telling him how grateful you were.  The three of you were never that close, and you had only just started recording songs to be put on live radio, before you got more serious, the two of them merely helped you to plan gigs out at bars.

You quickly said your goodbyes to your agents just before you took your leave, and just after you finished recording your final song.  Singing was one of your favorite things to do in the entirety of hell, but it also killed your voice, and the best thing you could do for a shot throat, would be to relax with a couple of cold beers.  You didn't even hesitate to lick your lips at the thought of some fresh alcohol, or some fast food, really, anything would do just about now.

Snapping a look to your hellphone, you take a note of the time, making your brisk walk back to the hotel ever more eager, hell's sunset telling you the need of arriving as soon as possible, lest you stay in the dark for long.  

The clack of your shoes against the grime of the worn sidewalk felt hurried and rushed, and the sense of acute fear drenched your shoulders and gut, but that may have been due to the fact you had skipped dinner, and breakfast to some account.

A sigh wavered just in the pit of your throat, and only left when you had finally reached the hotel's door step, and with a swing of the handle, you swiftly stepped in, delighted to see the sparseness of the lobby, just in time for-

"Thank Satan!" a familiar voice exclaimed, a pair of arms wrapped around your waist that accompanied the voice, and a quick look down to see platinum blonde hair told you all you needed to know.

A hesitant hand laid on her head, and a weak smile crossed your lips, "Oh, Charlie," your voice wavered and croaked, singing always did a number on you.

"Where in all of hell were you?" she ripped her head from your chest, her brows knit into a feigned expression of anger, "and what happened to your voice?" she cooed, features softening.

You resisted the reaction of growing cold and rigid to the girl, instead, you forced a smile onto your lips, "I was just at my job," you pet her hair, "nothing more."

Her face told you she was unconvinced, but never wanting to pry, she decided against on pushing further, instead gesturing to the kitchen, "Well, you did miss dinner, why don't you go get your plate?  I made sure to set one aside for you." she smiled.

You returned the gesture and said a quick thank you, trotting over to the kitchen just after Charlie had started to make her way up stairs and to her own room for the night.  Arriving in the kitchen, you scanned the area, quickly spotting a saran wrapped plate of broccoli, steak, and mashed potatoes, all together seeming like a relatively tame meal.  You picked it and its utensils up happily, slyly looking over your shoulder to see the bartender patiently waiting at his post, an expression you couldn't quite decipher resting on his fur.

Your upturned grin settled a bit, was he lonely?  Or was he just tired, did he want company?  You glanced out the window, noting the bustle of cars, and the dimmed, hellish, night sky.  You sighed, deciding to sit with him as you ate, it's not like you really wanted to sit anywhere else anyway.

With a grin, you wandered over to the bar, quickly catching Husk's attention with the click of your shoes and the aroma of food, your wide, sharp grin reeling him in the most, this making itself evident in his almost bored tone.

"Well now," he stares at your food, then your face, "aren't we in a chipper mood today?" his paw is scrunched on his cheek in order to hold his head up.

You give him a nod while taking a seat on a stool, setting the meal down just before you.  

Stabbing your fork into the steak, you cut a piece off, before quickly eating it in one bite, "So," you say while cutting up your next mouthful, "how was your day?"

He grunts, shrugging his shoulders a bit, "same as ever, nothing new," he looks off into the hotel, your grin quickly wipes off your face at the sight of his somber mood, but you make haste with taking another bite before he can notice.

You eat in silence for a moment, before deciding to make some kind of conversation by asking for a drink, "can I have a beer?" you say through a mouthful, eyeing the liquor in his hand, three empty bottles just beside it, you frown.

He sighs, grabbing a beer can from a cooler to pass to you, "how long have you been drinking?" you say, freezing him in place, the question obviously striking a cord, and guilt immediately pools in your gut.

He laughs an uncomfortable laugh, eyes veering down to his bottle, "as long as I can remember," his eyes shoot to yours, genuine curiosity painted on his features, "and what about you?"

You stiffen, not expecting the question either, a nervous laugh escapes your mouth while you respond with a hoarse, "It's the same for me."

He curtly nods, taking a long swig of his booze as the two of you sit in a somber silence, both of your eyes drawing to the floor, only catching each others gaze for a moment.

"uh," you laugh, "could you turn the radio on? I don't have a preference, whatever you'd like is fine."

complying with your request, he shuffles to the other end of the bar, messing with a few nobs and switches of the radio before settling on late 60's early 70's music, the volume low and smooth.  You smile at the slow music, it reminded you of a sweet time in hell.

Taking a long gulp of the can, you finish, "could you get me another one of these?" you grin, glancing at the demon's face before eyeing your empty booze, "I love this music," you mutter, trailing the rim of the can with your finger.

If you weren't mistaken, you could've sworn you saw that cat grin as he turned his back to you, "I do too, reminds me of when I was alive," your smile only grows at his reply.

When he turns to face you with your drink, hes shining a real, genuine smile, a smile that would've set your face on fire if you weren't sober.  You laugh, your cheeks heating up to join your growing embarrassment.  You didn't expect to see the man smile, ever.

Husk laughs, handing you the beer you had asked for, cracking open one for himself as did you.

The two of you sit in silence for what seems like a hour, but it isn't uncomfortable or weird, it's nice, it's calm, and it's easy to see that with the faint smiles on each of your faces.  You sigh into your drink, noticing that the bottle is now empty, and truth be told, you were a little disappointed it was.

You stand up abruptly, startling the half asleep bartender, "Husk," he looks up to you, a grunt in the back of his throat, "thanks for humoring me," you smile, only getting a small nod in return.  

"Goodnight, Husk," you mutter, your throat paining you to speak, "goodnight," he replies, a faint smile on his lips.

Turning around, you begin to trot to the kitchen and set your plate into the sink, giving it a good scrub before walking back to your room, content in being able to finally talk to someone like an equal, like someone that could actually understand you, like a friend.

   Translation of song here ---

The love of my heart, fair-haired Mairi, Beautiful Mairi, the story of my song; She is my true love, fair-haired Mairi, And I am going to marry her. I fell in love last night, My very heart is up on a mountain, Fair-haired Mairi beside me, singing, And I am going to marry her. Golden locks and gentle eyes, Narrow eyebrow and merry cheek, Sweetest mouth to sing a song, And I am going to marry her. It was at a ceilidh at the Mod I became aware of the young woman — It was she that won the gold medal And I am going to marry her. My love for fair-haired Mairi will be Faithful, sincere for ever; Together we will sing our love, And I am going to marry her.

[dngrdyke]

May The Best Bitch Win Part 2

"Let's go, bitches!" Dyke whooped. "Last one to the Hub has to clean up after the party!"

Poison rallied the engine. "I can't wait to beat your ass twice!"

Dee said nothing, and instead sped off without warning, making Faggot yelp and grab her waist tight.

A vague "motherfucker!" was heard and soon the Trans AM was catching up on her right. On her left, Ghoul and Cola were keeping pace, seemingly effortlessly.

Assholes.

The convoy made it to the Hub just as another gang pulled up. Dyke skidded to a stop in front of the leader of the pack, followed closely by Ghoul. Poison rocked up a split second behind and climbed out.

"I wanna rematch! You've less mass so you go faster!"

"I have better mass," she grinned, kicking down the stand and flicking her hair out of her face.

"Why'd I join a posse with a bike," Faggot mumbled as he climbed off shakily. Dyke killed the engine.

"The Fabulous Killjoys, huh?" one of the other gang scoffed. "Seems like a buncha kids to me."

"And who the fuck are you then?" Poison asked, coming over to stand beside Dyke with a hand on his hip.

"The Angels of Road Slaughter. I'm Roadkill. This is my second, Rock Machine. You gotta be Party Poison, or is it bootyshorts there beside ya?"

"The name's Dyke. Pretty sweet ride ya got there, Roadkill. What is it, a Chopper?"

"Yeah, got her from some Blind warehouse a while back. You don't have a bad bike yourself."

"Power cruiser, baby. I'm gonna smoke all you bitches outta here."

"Nobody's smokin' me out unless it's your little friend there," Roadkill said and winked at Poison.

"I think that's enough conversation for one day," Doctor D said, materialising out of nowhere. "At least while your old man is listening. The afterparty is a different story. Don't gotta pay attention to no-one at a party."

Dyke glanced at Poison, who was looking anywhere but at Roadkill, who was looking directly at Poison. You coulda cut the tension with a knife.

"Oh, hey, D, you'll never believe what happened earlier," Dyke said, seizing her chance to escape the awkward situation unfolding before her. "C'mon, let's get a soda and I'll tell you. Ya still got orange?"

He took the hint. "Sure do, DB. Come on in. I got a tape just about to hit replay so you can pick the next one."

He turned himself around and went back inside. Dyke took Faggot's arm and squeezed gently. He glanced at her and nodded.

"Jet, you wanna go over your battle plan?"

"I- yeah, good call." He silently thanked whatever god there was.

"I'm coming too!"

"Yeah, same here!"

Kobra and Ghoul followed, with Cola shaking his head and coming in the rear, saying nothing.

"Y'know, Roadie, a soda sounds pretty good right now," Rock Machine said. The rest of the gang murmured their agreement.

"Fine. We'll get some soda then. See ya later, prettyboy. You're gonna eat ass on the track."

Dyke bit her lip as she walked away, trying hard not to laugh. Doctor D looked back at her with a glint in his eye.

Poison ran up and draped his arms around Dyke and Jet. "Those are some hardass motherfuckers."

Dee snorted but covered it up with a cough. It was a talent of hers.

"Anyway, DB- you said you had some crazy story to tell us."

"That I do, Doctor D, that I do." She ducked out of Poison's grasp and lead the group walking backwards. "So I was headin' out to the Rendezvous- thanks for those supplies, Cola- and I saw these two assholes without any masks on takin' the kidneys outta some Drac. Y'all know I hate Blind as much as the next person, but you just gotta show some respect, ya know? Anyways, I pulled my guns on 'em and told 'em if they didn't scoot asap I'd shoot. They left together on a bike but they kept the kidneys for some reason. Dicks." Dyke turned back around and smacked her face into the beads that hung over D's doorway. She moved them out of her face and went straight to the kitchen- the only place with a working refrigerator. She took out an orange soda and cracked it open. Everyone else just stood, watching her.

"What? Somethin' on my face?"

"Dyke... Like, no offence or whatever, but how in the hell are you still alive?" Faggot asked. His eyes were huge, as if her head would explode at any second.

"DB my good friend, I'd bet my left arm that you just had a clap with Scarlet Ripper and the Mongoose," D said, running a hand through his hair.

"Those freaky-ass motherfuckers you were talkin' about earlier? Then why ain't I dead?"

"You musta got lucky," he sighed. "I gotta go tell the world to start showin' up. You gonna choose a tape?"

She chugged her soda and tossed the can into the trash. "I nearly died today. Of course I'm gonna choose the fuckin' tape."

"And it's Doctor Death-Defying back at you desert-dwellers with a whole new tape. But first, a drag race update from our very own DB."

Dyke's eyes widened and D motioned to the mic. Go crazy, he mouthed.

She grinned.

"Well hello there, desert kings, queens and everything in between. Tonight's gonna be a clear night with a high chance of road dust. Anyone willing to eat my shorts in the drag race better hurry up and get here, else someone'll take your spot. So far we have tension brewing 'tween the Killjoy squads and the Angels' racers. Who knows what's gonna happen next? Not me, but 'til then, here's Quiet Riot to keep ya kickin'."

D loaded the tape and set it playing.

"Not too bad for a first-timer."

She shrugged. "Sometimes you want the attention. I'm gonna go take a smoke break, see who else is here. We should get goin' soon."

Outside, the Angels were milling around on their bikes with some sodas.

"Hey! Dyke, wasn't it?" Roadkill jogged over to her.

"That's me," she said lighting a cigarette and taking a long drag. "You need somethin'?"

He scratched the top of his greasy, black hair. Roadkill sure lived up to his name.

"Party Poison he, uh... he knows I was just dicking around, right? Well, kinda, anyway. Mostly."

"Probably. He's not pissed or anything, if that's what you're worried about. He just hasn't had anyone 'cept the mirror flirt with him in a while."

"Ah," he said and nodded, then "can I bum a smoke?"

She said nothing, but instead drew out the pack and offered it to him.

"Hey, thanks. You know you look like him though, right?"

"Long story. Might tell you one day."

"Hey, Dee! Doc says we're ready to go!" Faggot yelled out a window.

"You two gonna come out and watch?"

Dee knew from experience that he had the Girl scooped up in his arms and was making faces at her.

"Be right there. Oh, and Jet says to meet him out back with the bike."

She stubbed out the cigarette under her foot. "You comin' to the afterparty?"

"Wouldn't miss it, DB."

Jet was standing with his arms crossed when Dyke rounded the corner, pushing the bike.

"Poison wanted me to ask you if Roadkill was being serious. He said he has a nice butt."

"Kinda serious. He would. It could happen."

"God-fucking-damn it."

"Racers!" the crackly sound of Doctor D's PA system came towards them. "If your bedazzled ass isn't at the starting line, go put it there or get it kicked out."

"My ass isn't even bedazzled..."

"C'mon, Jet. We got a race to win."

They took their places at the starting line, Jet with his lanky frame scrunched up behind Dee. She had the motor running and her legs on either side of the bike for balance. Doc had better start the party soon, she thought.

She scanned the crowds lining the track and saw Faggot with the Girl on his shoulders. He grinned and waved, then took the Girl's hand and waved with that.

She smiled.

"Alright racers, I want a nice clean match. No bashing, slashing or body flashing, ya hear? And that includes you audience members, too. We don't care how well God has made you- this is a road race. Save it for the afterparty! But I think that's all an old man like me's gotta say so... On your marks!"

Dyke snapped back into reality and tensed her legs. A few of the racers revved their engines. Road Kill caught her eye and winked.

"Get set!"

She flexed her fingers and tightened her grip on the handlebars. For her, driving gloves weren't just a fashion statement.

A foghorn sounded and Dyke kicked off. "Heads down, elbows tucked in, DB and Jet Star take an early lead," the Doc's voice came over the roar of engines. "But look's like Party Poison and the Kobra Kid are close behind. Damn! Road Kill and Rock Machine leading by a hair."

"We need more speed!" Jet shouted in her ear.

"No fuckin' shit!" She sped up, taking back her spot. No way was she losing to some short, ratty-ass clown. Or Poison either, for that matter.

"Nice view, Dyke! You steal Poison's ass, too?"

"Jet, honey?"

"Yeah?"

"You remind me to break his nose at the afterparty."

"Sure thing, Dee."

She pressed harder on the accelerator. "C'mon. Please. Carla, if you can hear me..." she mumbled.

The bike, against all odds, against all the laws of physics, went just that much faster.

"Holy shit!" Jet shouted. "Dee, we- Dee! We're gonna die!"

"No way, Jet Star! We're gonna win!"

They could still hear Doctor D's voice narrating the race, but quieter now as they sped further away. "And that's DB with Jet still in the lead! I didn't know her bike could even go that fast- but don't tell her that, else I'll lose the use of my remaining working limbs."

"We almost there, Jet?"

Dyke was trying to focus on keeping the bike going as fast as possible. Sure, she had here eyes on the road, but it was a kind of tunnel vision. She didn't care about anything that wasn't directly in front of her.

"Not sure... maybe- yes! I can see someone with a flag!"

Dee whooped. The engine whined.

"Shit, will we make it?"

"If we believe, Jet! Just pray and don't stop 'til we cross that line!"

Sure enough, Jet started to mumble something. Whether he was praying or cursing her, Dyke didn't know.

She couldn't speak Spanish.

She saw Road Kill out of the corner of her eye and her face hardened. They were so close. She could almost taste it.

A rush of colour. The flag was waved. They did it. They did it!

She screamed. "Jet! Jet! We did it! WE DID IT!" She gently lifted the accelerator and braked hard to skid to a stop. Down went the kickstand.

"Did we do it?" she asked doubtfully, looking between Jet's face and the person with the flag.

"Only one way to find out, Dee. We gotta wait for the rest of 'em."

The Trans Am and Road Kill's Chopper had come in neck and neck, while someone riding solo came in just before them. The only people the two had been keeping an eye on were Road Kill and Poison. Other than that- who knew?

The crowd at the starting line started to make their way to the finish. Some people had spread out along the track, but most had stayed at the start where they could see everything that was going on.

"Alright, alright, simmer down you folks."

Doctor D spoke through a megaphone. Where the hell was he getting all this stuff?

"After careful consultation with our flagboy V, it would appear that Dyke and Jet Star have stolen the scene and come in first place!" There was a mix of cheering and groaning from the crowd as accessories were exchanged. Faggot ran up with the girl on his hip and threw an arm around Dee.

"I knew you could do it, you old bitch!"

"Hey! Poison's older than I am!"

"Dee! Dee!" the Girl giggled, clapping.

"Now that first place is settled, in second place we have Maximum Voltage, riding solo."

The crowd clapped half-heartedly. Nobody knew who this Max guy was.

"Wait... Maximu-?" Dee started. She was cut off by the Doc shushing the crowd again. The flagboy whispered in his ear.

"And in an exciting turn of events, in third place is Party Poison and the Kobra Kid tied with Road Kill and Rock Machine!"

More accessories were exchanged. Dyke was even sure she saw masks being swapped.

"Yeah, yeah, all prizes will come in due time, but for now I think we all just need to party."

Dee and Jet were swarmed with people congratulating them, and all thoughts of Maximum Voltage were pushed from her mind.

"We did it, Dee. I can't believe we actually did it!"

"Fuck, me neither! Hey- careful, these pins are sharp. To the afterparty!"

[golbrocklovely]

only the lonely survive // colby brock - chapter twelve: my heart is beating out my chest

A/N: IMPORTANT PLZ READ - if you didn’t see the update i posted earlier today, i wanted to let you know that because of my schedule at the moment, i will be updating this story once every week, except this week. i’m gonna be posting this chapter and the next closer to each other because they are connected. the next chapter will be coming out on tuesday. alrighty, enjoy this chapter and see yall on tuesday ;)

description of the story

taglist:  @ajosieface , @localsleeper , @julyrubyrose

trigger warning: cursing, partying, drinking, dirty dancing, drunkenness 

word count: 2511

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

Arriving at the Trap House, we could hear slight thumping of music coming from it. Walking up to the front door, we opened it, only to be greeted by Brennen coming from upstairs. Everyone else was in the kitchen.

"Oh my god, look at you, baby!" Brennen exclaimed, looking at me.

He gave Casey a quick hug. She awkwardly left after, heading to the kitchen. He walked up to me, grabbing my hand and looking me up and down.

"You're really trying to make me your baby daddy tonight, huh?" He smirked, then gave me a tight hug.

I sighed. "You know we talked about this. You can't keep flirting with me if you like Casey."

"Well I don't think Casey likes me back so..." His voice falling to a mumble.

"How do you know that?" I doubted.

"I asked her out today and she never really responded." He stated, sliding his hands into his pockets.

I gasped. "What?!"

"She didn't tell you? While you were hanging out with Colby, I came over and we hung out. Then before I left I asked her out and she literally shut the door in my face." He replied.

"Ugh, she is so fucking stubborn. I know for a fact she likes you. She just doesn't want to admit it." I informed, the both of us slowly walking towards the kitchen.

"Hey Brennen, who were you yelling-" Colby's voice came from the steps as he walked down, only to stop when he saw me.

He was dressed in a red and black bomber jacket with a black t-shirt underneath. His jeans were also black, with a black and white striped patch on one of the knees. His shoes were checkered hi-top vans.

By the time my eyes reached his, he had already looked me over too. I couldn't understand the look on his face. It was one I never saw before.

Surprised... maybe?

"Uh, hey Skye. You look... really nice." Colby sputtered, finally stepping into the hallway.

I looked away, trying not to blush. "Oh, thank you. You look really nice too."

That's an understatement.

"Thanks. Uh..." Colby rubbed the back of his neck. I glanced around, expecting to see Brennen, but he was already in the kitchen with everyone else.

"C'mon, we're doing shots in here!" Corey yelled to us.

Colby and I smiled at each other. He pointed his hand to the kitchen, allowing me to go first in.

"Oh my god, Skye, you look pretty!" Devyn said.

Kat smiled widely "Yeah Skye. Look at you!"

Everyone passed shots around, until everyone had one in their hands.

"That's my future baby mama." Brennen nudged Casey, smirking.

Casey scoffed. "Your future baby mama is gonna get stolen by Colby."

I blushed hard at her statement. I looked down at the floor as Colby cleared his throat. "Can we just take the fucking shot already?"

Corey laughed. "Alright grumpy pants. Everyone: three, two, one!"

We all took our shots, gulping them down in an instant. It burned only for a moment, causing me to tense my face up.

Colby giggled down at me. He leaned close, his mouth right next to my ear. "Sorry about them."

I waved my hand at him. "It's fine. I'm okay."

/  /  /  /

"Oh honey, you best believe I wasn't fucking around with him anymore, honey. Oh honey, no." Tommy yelled over the music.

After the party started, Casey and I split up into different areas of the house. After a few drinks were in my system, I started to become more friendly with everyone. That's how I came across these two people. They had heard about this party from a friend of a friend of a friend.

Chels and Tommy were some of the weirdest, but nicest people at this house party. Tommy had started talking about the time he broke up with his boyfriend when he was cut off by the sound of Sean Paul's 'Temperature'.

"Holy shit this was my SONG back in the day!" Tommy screamed, grabbing my hand.

"Let's fucking dance, baby!" I yelled back, smiling.

We ran out onto the makeshift dance floor. The living room with the mini bar was so packed with people, the only area we could stand in to dance was close to the doorway across from the kitchen. Tommy grabbed my hands and started swaying me, bringing me close to him and laughing. I giggled along with him.

He spun me around and placed my back against his front. We started to grind on to each other, his hands low on my hips. Every so often, we would switch positions: Tommy bending all the way over when he would grind on me, causing me to bust out laughing.

When he switched me back over quickly, one of his hands slipped up my dress accidentally, brushing up against the top part of my thigh.

"Oh shit, sorry Skye!" He jumped back, putting his hands up.

"You're okay. It's no problem." I giggled and swatted my hand at him, missing his arm completely.

I slid my one arm around his neck, pulling him close and dancing with him again. He started to dance to the music again too, his hand lightly placed on my waist.

While we were spinning around, he stopped us, his eyes landing on someone behind me. "Who. Is. That?"

I turned my head to look, and I see none other than Colby, sitting on the counter and looking directly at us.

He looks pissed.

"That's Colby. He's one of the roommates in this house." I stated.

"Fuck he's hot." Tommy moaned.

I laughed. "I know right? I think I'm gonna try to get with him tonight."

What the fuck am I saying right now?!

"Shit, if you won't, I will." He replied.

I giggled, turning my head back to Tommy. We started to dance again, only to be stopped by Chels.

"Tommy help me find the bathroom." She croaked.

He rolled his eyes. "Chels, it is right over there."

"Okay... so? I need you to help make sure I don't pee on my shoes." She slurred, stumbling slightly.

"You're too fucking messy girl, I swear to God." He sighed, turning back to me as Chels started to pull him away. "Well it was nice dancing with you. Good luck with loverboy over there. If he shoots you down, make sure to give him my number."

I laughed. "Byeeee!"

After Tommy and Chels left, I realized I no longer had my drink with me. I went over to the kitchen and started making a new drink. Colby was still sitting on the counter still. His eyes had followed me, but they were not as intense as they once were.

"Hey Colbyyyy." I slurred, smiling.

He nodded his head. "Hi Skye. How's the party been treating ya?"

"Really good. The music is so good. I love all the old songs y'all have been playing. I swear I've been dancing all night." I replied, resting my head against his shoulder.

"It seems like it." He grunted, taking a long swig from his drink.

I furrowed my brow, pulling my head away from him, confused. "Is something wrong?"

"No. Why do you always ask me that?" He asked sharply.

I shrugged. "I don't know... You always seem like something is wrong."

"What does that mean?" He questioned.

"You always look a little pissed off, especially when I'm around. Am I doing something wrong?" I frowned.

"No. No, you're not." He sighed, continuing. "Who was that guy you were dancing with? I don't think I've ever seen him before."

"Tommy? He said he's a friend of a friend of a friend. Or something like that." I giggled.

"You guys had a lot of fun dancing." He noted.

"Yeah, he's a really fun dancer. No other guy has wanted to dance with me. Most just want to get grab-assy anyway." I laughed.

"And he doesn't?" He retorted

"Tommy? No." I shook my head.

"I saw him touch you though."

"What? When?"

Staring down at me, he said, "I saw his hand go up your dress."

"He didn't mean for it to happen. He just turned me around really quick and his hand slipped." I informed.

Colby squinted his eyes at me. "Are you sure?"

"He's gay, Colby." I deadpanned.

"...Oh." He mumbled.

I smiled drunkenly. "He literally said if I don't get with you to let you know he's available."

The fuck Skye?!?!

He cocked his head to the side, a soft smile on his lips. "If you don't get with me...?"

I could feel my face flush with heat, Colby's teasing getting the best of me.

"Heyyyy! How are my boyfriend and girlfriend doing?!" Brennen yelled drunkenly, his arms opened to the both of us.

I laughed, still blushing. "We're good Brennen. What's up?"

"I actually need you really quick. If you don't mind me pulling her away, Colby." Brennen mentioned, grabbing my wrist.

He shook his head. "No. Go ahead."

Brennen pulled me away from Colby, taking me into the hallway that led to the garage. "I need your help."

"What's up? What's wrong?" I asked.

He sighed. "I've been trying to talk to Casey all night, but she literally keeps ignoring me. I want her to dance with me, but she keeps saying no."

"What's this got to do with me?" I inquired.

"I want you to help me make her jealous." He confessed.

"By?"

"Dancing with me. But like sexually."

I crossed my arms. "Wouldn't that upset her? And Colby?"

"They are both pretty drunk. I just want her to see that if she doesn't act now, I'm not gonna stay around waiting for her." He continued, "Also, if you dance with me, Colby will probably get jealous too and maybe he will finally get with you."

I rolled my eyes. "I highly doubt that but whatever. Let's do this."

Brennen smirked and pulled me towards the living room, where everyone was for the most part. Glancing around the room, I could see Casey sitting in a corner talking to some random people. Colby had just walked in.

Brennen spun me around and then brought me close, my back hitting his chest lightly. We started grinding on each other, his hands cupping my hips.

"Colby's glaring at us." Brennen mumbled against my ear.

I glanced over at Colby. His brow furrowed slightly, his eyes dark. I turned myself around in Brennen's arms, wrapping mine around his neck, my one hand still holding my drink. I swayed to the music, looking over at Casey quickly.

Shit, she's coming over.

"I think your plan worked." I whispered in Brennen's ear.

His head cocked to the side just as Casey came over to us. She tapped his arm and he pulled away from me. I shimmied backwards as I watched the two of them start to dance with each other, Casey making most of the moves. Brennen looked over at me as he got closer to Casey. He mouthed 'thank you'.

I shot him a thumbs up, still walking backwards, only to bump into Colby as I turned around.

"Fuck! Sorry!" I exclaimed, turning right into him

"It's alright." He laughed, staring down at me.

"So... are you having fun?" I queried, glancing around the party, taking a sip of my drink.

"Not so much." His eyes never leaving my face.

I could feel my body getting tense, my nerves kicking back in. My face was flushed and I needed to calm down if I was going to make a move.

I downed the rest of my drink, my throat burning faintly from the alcohol. "Dance with me."

Colby smirked, shaking his head. "No, I don't wanna."

"I wasn't asking for your permission. Dance with me." I insisted, grabbing his hand and pulling him to the dance floor.

Our dancing at first was silly, causing us both to laugh. His hand then slid down to my wrist, grasping it. He pulled me closer, causing us to be chest-to-chest. I looked up into his eyes, my hand drifting to his neck. He stared down at me, his eyes gazing deep into mine.

I could feel myself getting hot. I backed away from him, only to have him spin me around. He brought me against him, his hands gently landing on my hips. We started to grind against each other to the rhythm of the music. I got lost in the sound and the feeling of him close to me. I could barely breathe, but I wanted more.

My left hand slid up his arm to his shoulder from behind, pulling him closer to me. His hands tightened their hold on my hips. He controlled my hips, making them sway with him the way he wanted. He buried his head into my neck. I could feel him press his lips against my skin, right below my ear.

Breathlessly, I put my drink to my mouth, only to realize it was empty.

I slowed my hips down, quickly turning around to Colby, who's eyes widen for a moment.

"I'm thirsty." I croaked, my voice lower than I expected.

He bit his lip, smirking. "Oh?"

Don't do that.

"Come get a drink with me." I smiled, still trying to catch my breath.

He nodded, and I laced my fingers with his. I walked to the kitchen with him, letting go of his hand as I grabbed a vodka bottle. I placed my cup on the counter, pouring some into it. Colby leaned against the counter, his arms crossed, as I went around the island to the fridge to grab a diet coke bottle. I stepped back over to my drink, filling up the rest of the cup with soda.

When I finished, Colby took the cup and drank from it, taking only a swig.

"Hey, that's mine." I pouted jokingly.

He shrugged, smiling softly. I grabbed the cup from Colby's hand, finally soothing my dry throat. I rested my back against the island, across from Colby. I glanced into the other room, seeing a bunch of people on the couch and chairs dancing and making out.

Lucky...

I felt eyes on me, making me bite my lip nervously. I turned towards the gaze, meeting Colby's eyes once again.

"What?" I asked.

Colby didn't reply. His lips slowly turned into a smile.

"What? Why are you staring at me?" I blushed.

"We're alone." He stated, finally speaking.

I swung my body to face the rest of the kitchen, realizing Colby was right. No one was in the kitchen anymore. Most people were either in the living rooms or hallway. I faced him again. He uncrossed his arms and stepped closer to me. I pushed my back up against the island, blood rushing to my cheeks immediately.

He rested one of his hands on the island, stepping even closer. I stared up at him, his eyes glancing at my lips.

"What are you..." I whispered.

His lips landed on mine, closing the space between us.

<< CHAPTER 11 || CHAPTER 13 >>

[robinrunsfiction]

The Fantastic Adventures of Glitter Ghost and Killer Lux - Chapter 4

Co Written with @mariawritesfanfic

When Novocaine and Phoenix came back that evening, they had more supplies and Glitter jumped at the opportunity to help unload after a long, uneventful afternoon.

"We don't know how long we will be together, but we needed them anyways," Phoenix explained.

 "You know we don't mean to stay this long, as soon as our car is ready, we will be out of y'all's hair."

Novocaine sighed, "I know this must be difficult for you and Lux." He set down the box of Power Pup he had been unloading and looked at Glitter. "Please know that we are all in this together, no one hates BLI more than us."

"Thanks, 'Caine. This has been an odd and stressful situation for sure."

"'Caine?" Novocaine gave Glitter an odd look. "I didn't know we were at the nickname stage already," he laughed.

"Well, I mean you did get me super drunk for the first time in years, I feel like we have a bond," Glitter laughed. She turned back to the boxes in front of her. "I don't know about Lux, but I know I wish I could do more around here besides clean, train, and feel like I'm in everyone's way." 

"You aren't in anyone's way. Your training also has really been helpful," Phoenix replied as he pulled Glitter in for a hug.

"Thanks," Glitter smiled at Phoenix when they pulled back.

"Well, if you are going to be sweet to Phoenix, where's my hug, Sweetness?" Novocaine laughed.

"'Sweetness'?" Glitter laughed as she gave Novocaine a hug. "I guess you could call me worse."

Later that night, Glitter was sitting on her cot, repairing a tear in the lining of Lux's jacket. "So, are you ready to talk about everything with Neon Princess?"

Lux was sitting on her cot, flipping through the newspapers that Kobra had given her. "Not really," she replied without looking up.

"Don't you lie to me. I know how you feel about Kobra." Glitter looked up suddenly as a realization struck her. "Wait, were you worried that Kobra would like her more than you?" 

When Lux didn't look up but pulled the paper higher to hide her face, Glitter came and sat next to her. "Lux, love, you can't be serious. Kobra wasn't going to go running off with her right there. He wouldn't give up all of this," Glitter motioned around to Lux and the diner. "He's a 'joy through and through and would never be seen with someone related to BLI."

Lux finally looked up at Glitter. "So, what was that thing with you, Phoenix and Novocaine earlier? The three of you looked very cozy." Lux wiggled her eyebrows at Glitter.

"What thing?" Glitter asked, very confused.

"I was walking past the supply room, and I saw you guys hugging."

"Pfft, that's nothing. We were talking about how I was feeling." Glitter could feel Lux staring intensely at her. "It really was nothing!" Glitter tossed Lux's coat at her. "There, it's all fixed. Maybe next time don't wait until it's large for me to fix it."

"You're the best… Sweetness," she said with a cocky grin.

~

It had been another quiet afternoon around the diner. Party and Jet had decided to take the day off from working on the car. The sun wasn't getting high in the sky as often, so it was comfortable to be outside most of the day. Suddenly the roar of an engine could be heard as Novocaine and Phoenix sped up to the diner in their Impala, kicking up dust and dirt as they got out of the car and hurried over to the group that assembled upon hearing the commotion.

"Have you heard Dr. D's report?" Phoenix asked breathlessly.

"We didn't know he was back up," Sandman replied. 

"He is, and you two are fucked," Novocaine said, pointing at Lux and Glitter and they looked at each other, confused and concerned. 

"What are you talking about?" Glitter asked, trying to keep her voice calm.

"You two are BLI's most wanted right now. They're gonna stop at nothing to get the 'two female Killjoys' that destroyed their research lab," Phoenix replied.

"But they don't know it's us, I mean, there are other girl gangs-" Lux started.

"They have your description," Novocaine cut her off. 

"Weren't you wearing your mask?" Party asked Lux. 

"I was trying to convince them I wanted to get away, why would I be wearing a Killjoy mask? Besides everything was destroyed!"

"The cameras probably have live feedback to a remote server," Jet said quietly. 

"Fuck," Lux muttered, suddenly feeling like she was going to be sick. She sat down at the nearest picnic table as her legs didn't feel like they were going to support her much longer. 

"We'll get the car running again, and go deep into hiding until this dies down," Glitter said.

"If BLI is looking for Lux, they're looking for you too," Sandman argued. "I have an idea that just might work, but you guys might not like it. What if we split you two up?"

"What?" Lux gasped as she looked to Glitter. She hadn't been apart from Glitter for more than a few hours at a time. 

"Glitter can come with us, our shelter isn't quite as good as the diner, but since they don't know they're looking for her, it will be ok," Sandman suggested. 

"We'll keep you safe here, Lux," Party said, putting his hand on her shoulder.

Lux wanted to argue, to say no, she didn't want this, but before she could open her mouth, Fun Ghoul rounded the corner of the building.

"Check this out!" He said, setting down what looked like a small bomb and running the safe distance to the assembled group. After a few moments, there was a loud bang, and through a cloud of smoke, Glitter began twinkling and shimmering across the sky.

"You're right, Glitter, that's fucking rad!" Ghoul laughed, not noticing the looks of concern and despair on the faces of everyone else.

~

Party stood outside the door of the supply closet with his ear pressed against the door. He could hear muffled voices inside, but not what was being said.

"Are they still in there?" Jet asked.

Party nodded. "Yea, but I don't know what they're doing."

Inside the tiny enclosed space sat Glitter and Lux. They had grabbed a lantern, a can of Power Pup and what was left of Novocaine's bottle of booze and had set up camp.

"Glitter will leave when I damn well say she can!" Lux had announced before slamming the door behind them. That had been some time before, and the Youngbloods were getting antsy to leave.

Glitter sat down and took a swig of the booze, "Lux, what are we gonna do? How are we gonna survive without each other?"

"I don't know, this isn't how I thought this would end. Not that I thought about how this would end, but... I don't know," Lux sighed, shaking her head. "I'm not ready."

"I'm not ready yet either. Like we barely know these guys, and yet we have to not only separate, but we have to trust that these guys will protect us," Glitter rubbed her temples. "This really wasn't our smartest idea."

"Maybe I'm an idiot, but I trust them. They're fighting against BLI like us, and they haven't been anything other than helpful so far," Lux offered. "If we weren't in this exact shitty situation, we wouldn't have any problem staying with either gang, right?"

"Man, fuck BLI. This whole situation is their fault." Glitter took another swig from the bottle. "But you are right if it wasn't for this," she motioned around, "I would gladly stay with either gang. Why did we have to meet them under these conditions?"

"If it wasn't for this damn conflict, you could get with Sandman," Lux winked.

Glitter laughed and grinned. "And you could be with Kobra. Life would be as good as it could be."

Lux rolled her eyes and kicked half-heartedly at her friend. "Shut up, they're probably on the other side of the door listening. Besides before this all went sideways you said no romance, so..." Lux shrugged.

"Even if they are sitting on the other side of the door and they do hear us," Glitter shrugged, "let them. Nothing is worse than us having to separate, to be honest."

"Yea!" Lux shouted; in case they were listening. "But who am I gonna talk to about every thought that pops into my head now? And what if a S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W Unit finds me and... and you never find out?" Lux's voice cracked.

Glitter could feel her eyes welling up, "I'm sure someone would tell me. I mean Phoenix and Novocaine have that network of contacts... I'm sure we will find a way to keep in touch." Glitter was trying very hard to avoid the idea of life without Lux out there. "Maybe we should try and plan something, so we have something to look forward too... and..." Glitter trailed off.

"We'll just have to beat BLI at their own game. I'll get the guys to get the car fixed, and then I'll come get you from the Youngbloods by spring. It will be settled down by then. Sound good?" Lux sniffled, rubbing her eyes.

"Spring, you got it" Glitter pulled Lux in for a hug.

"And you promise there's nothing you're not telling me about anybody else?" Lux asked with an eyebrow quirked and a smirk when she pulled back from the hug.

Glitter squinted at Lux. "Like what? Like that twinkle in your eye you had while watching Soul Punk play?" Glitter grinned.

"I'm impressed by pure talent when I see it. I mean like when you disappeared when Soul was playing, and Sandman surprisingly wasn't around either," Lux smirked. "Or the dozen other times you both disappeared at the same time? Party even said he caught you guys outside in the rain."

Glitter grinned and shrugged. "Kiss and tell, loose lips sink ships, ya know," Glitter tried to play it cool, but she could feel her face turning red.

Lux gasped and grinned at her friend. "I knew it! I fuckin knew it! That's why I kept pressing, I knew you were keeping something from me! Oh my god, tell me everything! I'm so jealous! Fill me in!"

Glitter grinned "Well, it's awesome. You know I was worried that it would be odd, but it just feels right." Glitter giggled. "Like we kissed the night that we had a bonfire. Sandman's lips are just so soft, and we just seem to understand each other, and it's just so easy, I guess is the right word. Almost like him and I are supposed to be together." Glitter hid her face in her hands. "You know, I bet if you asked, Kobra would let you kiss him," she said through her fingers trying to change the subject.

"Shut up," Lux said again, rolling her eyes. "Like I'm just supposed to go up and ask him to kiss me? Not happening. If, and I mean if, he was to be interested, which I doubt, it would need to be... an organic moment ya know?"

"You and your organic moments" Glitter rolled her eyes, "Sometimes you just gotta take things into your hands" Glitter grabbed Lux's face in her hands. "If you want to kiss him, find a moment and kiss him," Glitter laughed.

Just then there was a stern knock on the door, and it opened enough for Novocaine to look in at Glitter squishing Lux's face between her hands. "Umm, I hate to break up whatever this is, but Glitter, we really gotta go, it's getting dark."

Glitter turned to face Novocaine, pulling along Lux as well, who was still trapped between Glitter's hands. "Welp, I guess this is it," Glitter said as she turned to hug Lux tight.

"Fuck," Lux groaned as she squeezed her friend. "I don't wanna do this alone. I don't wanna," she muttered over and over as tears started to stream down her face.

Seeing Lux cry made Glitter start crying "You stop that right now. I don't wanna do this either, but it's for the best for everyone," Glitter cried.

Lux nodded, sniffling, and wiping away the tears. "I'm sorry I got us into this mess, Glitter."

"We both did this. We both are to blame for this." Glitter sighed, "Lux, you are my number one, my heterosexual life partner, my everything."

Lux just whined in response, never being one to express her feelings well, tears began to fall even harder. She hated this moment so much and was so mad that it was happening.

"Ready to go?" Phoenix called from the diner door with Soul Punk behind him.

"Come on Glitter," Sandman said quietly as he got up from the booth where he was sitting.

"I'll miss you," Lux was finally able to choke out.

Glitter stood up and looked between Sandman and Phoenix, "Are we sure this is the best idea?"

Phoenix nodded, and Glitter looked back at Lux. "Lux, I love you. Please be safe and kick ass."

Lux felt a hand on her shoulder and glanced back. Party nodded at her comfortingly, and she looked back at Glitter. "Same," she said voice barely above a whisper.

After one last hug to Lux, Glitter turned and walked over to Sandman and Phoenix, and took Sandman's hand. "Let's go, boys," she whispered. Sandman leading her and Phoenix out to the other Youngbloods. 

"Everyone ready?" Punk asked.

Novocaine pointed to Glitter and Sandman, "What's all this about?" 

Glitter looked down and realized that he was pointing to her holding hands with Sandman. "Oh..." she looked at Sandman, "I guess we should tell everyone? It's bound to come out eventually…"

Sandman nodded, "Well, Glitter and I are... involved, you could call it?" he looked at Glitter.

"Yeah, let's call it 'involved,''" Glitter said. "I think that's the safest thing to call it now that it's out in the open." 

"Well, this should make things interesting then," Phoenix said while opening the door, "We need to make sure that BLI doesn't find out and use that against us, or more specifically Sandman."

Glitter and Sandman just looked at each other with concern as they got into the car.

[spockuhurashipper]

“A Risk Worth Taking” - Chapter 9 - Voight/OC

Sorry it has taken so long for this chapter. Got stuck on it. Please let me know if you enjoy.

Also, here is the dress I imagined Layla wearing in this chapter. https://www.memorandum.com/30-dresses-in-30-days/wedding-guest-black-tie/

Previous chapters are on my tumblr page and the whole story is at FF.Net (https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13185182/1/A-Risk-Worth-Taking-Voight-OC)

Chapter 9

Layla was putting the finishing touches on her makeup when she heard a knock at her door the following Saturday night. Hank was right on time to pick her up for the mayor’s party.

“Just a second!” Layla called out, checking her lipstick in the mirror one more time while putting on her earrings and hurrying to get the door.

Hank stood on the other side, looking more handsome than ever. He was wearing a classic black suit, white shirt and black tie. The suit was tailored to perfection.

Before Layla could speak, Hank took a step inside and gestured to her dress.

“You look…”

Hank’s eyes took in the floor-length emerald green dress she was wearing. It complimented her auburn hair perfectly and the thin satin fell gracefully over her curves.

“...absolutely incredible.” He finished, lifting his eyes to meet hers.

Layla, feeling self-conscience, tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

“You think so? I feel a little out of my comfort zone.”

Hank stepped forward and kissed her softly. “Trust me, I’ll be the luckiest guy there tonight.”

Layla smiled up at him and then laughed.

“What?” Hank asked, confused by her expression.

Layla reached up and wiped her thumb across his lips. “You’ve got some lipstick...”

Hank nodded and watched her as she wiped it away for him. He couldn’t get over how beautiful she was.

“Okay, let me just grab my purse and we can go.” Layla told him.

As Hank watched her cut off the lights and grab her keys, he found himself wondering how he’d been lucky enough to meet this woman. She made him feel things he hadn’t felt in years. But most importantly, now that she was in his life, he felt a hope - a hope that helped him get out of bed every morning - something that had been becoming more and more difficult since Al’s death.

“Ready,” Layla told Hank and locked up her apartment before they headed downstairs to his SUV.

-----

When they pulled up to the event, Layla was surprised at the scale of the party. Men and women were pouring into the building in their finest clothes and jewelry. You could already hear jazz standards being played loudly inside.

Layla felt a little nervous about the night. Officially being Hank Voight’s date, she assumed there were probably a lot of people with opinions about that. Plus, she didn’t exactly fit in with the rich and influential crowd.

Hank came to stand beside her in front of the building after getting the valet ticket, and extended his arm to her.

“Ready?” He asked.

Hank smiled at her and just like that, all her nerves vanished. Wrapping her hands around his arm, she nodded and they went inside.

They immediately spotted the rest of the team at a large banquet table and went to join them.

As they approached the table, Antonio let out a whistle. “Wow. Layla, you look great.”

Hank pulled out her chair and Layla sat down.

“Yeah, you sure you’re here with the right guy?” Jay asked, sitting up and straightening his tie, as if he was volunteering for the job, a smirk on his lips.

Layla glanced over at Hank, who was busy grabbing them two glasses of champagne from the tray of a waiter walking past, and smiled.

“Absolutely.”

Jay nodded in defeat as Hank handed her a glass and sat down beside her.

“Okay,” Kevin said, leaning in towards the center of the table like he had a secret.

“Let me tell y'all what this fool did when we went to question Latoya the other day.” He nodded towards Adam.

“Kev, no. Come on, man.” Adam complained. Kevin was struggling to hold back his laughter.

Layla turned to Hank and asked, “Who’s Latoya?”

“She’s a hooker that Adam’s trying to turn into a C.I.” Hank told her, an amused expression on his face.

Layla raised an eyebrow and turned back to the story, interested to see where this was going.

As Kevin continued the story, Layla sat back in her chair and crossed her legs, taking a sip of champagne. When she did, the split in her dress fell to the side, exposing her well-toned upper thigh. Though the dress appeared to be conservative, this was the part that made it sexy. Or that’s what the boutique owner had told Layla, at least.

Layla felt a thrill of excitement when Hank leaned in, his lips almost touching her ear, and whispered, huskily, “Honey, you’re killing me.”

Layla watched as Hank lifted his gaze from her leg to her eyes. For a moment, it felt like they were the only two in the room. For a moment, Layla imagined his hand running up her thigh. Hank imagined more than that.

They were pulled back to the present when the table erupted into laughter, Adam’s face red as a beat.

“Look man, I didn’t know she had so many places she could hide the cash!” Adam said, putting his hands up in surrender.

The group enjoyed each other’s company for about half an hour before the mayor got on stage to officially welcome everyone and give a speech about his new gun control initiative.

After that, the party was in full swing. Hank, along with the rest of Intelligence, had been instructed to work the room by their deputy commissioner. The mayor wanted his campaign contributors to see how involved the Chicago PD was with his cause.

Over the next hour, Layla was introduced to so many people that they became a blur. A few seemed to genuinely be Hank’s friends, but the rest he simply talked to out of obligation.

Many couples who approached them to talk were Hank’s age. While the men talked, some of the wives would cast Layla judging looks. Hank, of course, noticed this early on and whispered in her ear, “Don’t worry about them.”

Layla smiled at him. “It doesn’t bother me,” she assured him, pressing herself closer to his side and rubbing her hand across his back.

As they continued their rounds, Layla spotted Kim across the room and they smiled at each other. The two women hadn’t had a chance lately to catch up so they had plans for brunch and pedicures the following day. Layla had also invited Trudy but she wasn’t sure yet if she was going to come.

When a man approached them and Hank hugged him fondly, Layla turned her attention back to him.

“Layla, this is Jamal Tyson.”

“Nice to meet you.” Layla smiled, shaking his hand.

“Jamal and I worked together when he was a rookie on the

cyber crimes unit,” Hank told Layla, smiling when her expression changed from bored to interested. “Now he’s running a Fortune 500 IT company.”

Jamal looked embarrassed. “Yeah, that seems like a lifetime ago doesn’t it?” Jamal asked Hank, who laughed and said, “You’re telling me.”

“Hank taught me a lot,” Jamal told Layla. “Helped me out of jam or two, if I recall.” The two men nodded at each other in recollection.

“So what do you do, Layla?” Jamal asked.

When Layla explained her role at the department, Jamal started asking her a million questions. Hank couldn’t follow most of it but he did enjoy the way Layla’s face lit up as they talked. He regretted that he hadn’t asked her more about her job earlier, and vowed to do so in the future.

“That’s amazing.” Jamal said. “Things sure have changed from when I was with the department.”

“Well look,” Jamal slipped his hand into his jacket pocket and handed Layla a business card, “if you ever want to see what’s available outside the department, please call me. I’m always looking for new talent.”

Then turning to Hank, Jamal said, “I never pictured you with a computer geek, Hank.”

Hank smiled and looked at Layla affectionately, “Things change, Jamal.”

Jamal smiled. “That they do. Listen, it was great to see you. Don’t be a stranger, okay?”

Hank agreed and the two men hugged.

“It was nice to meet you, Layla.” Jamal said, shaking her hand before he made his way across the room.

“I like him.” Layla said, turning to Hank now that they were alone.

Hank turned to her and smiled, an expression of contentment on his face.

“You’ve been incredible tonight.” He told her.

“Just don’t quiz me on anyone’s names cause I got nothing. Except Jamal.”

Hank nodded, amused.

Almost everyone was on the dance floor at this point, the night becoming more relaxed.

Layla thought it was strange when Hank checked his watch before asking, “Would you like to dance?”

She smiled at him suspiciously but took his hand, allowing him to lead her out onto the dancefloor. They ended up next to Antonio and Kim, who were laughing more than they were dancing.

Shortly after they stepped onto the dance floor, the recognizable opening rift of “Wonderful Tonight” by Eric Clapton poured out over the speaker system. The song was very different from what the DJ had been playing all night and many guests picked their heads up to look around.

Layla did too, confused, before her gaze landed on Hank’s face. He was smiling.

“Did you do this?” She asked, impressed.

Hank just shrugged and Layla felt her chest tighten with happiness. She couldn’t help the huge smile that spread across her face.

As they danced, Layla leaned in and whispered, “If you’re trying to get lucky tonight, Sergeant, your odds are looking really good.”

Hank raised his eyebrows in surprise and cleared his throat.

“What are you to whispering about?” Antonio asked, where he and Kim were still dancing a few feet away.

“Mind your own business, Dawson.” Hank told him.

When the song ended, Hank said, “I’m going to go to the bar and get us some real drinks. I’ll meet you back at the table in five.”

Before Hank could leave, Layla snaked her hand up his chest and pulled on his tie, bringing his face closer to hers. She kissed him once, smiled devilishly, then let him go.

Back at the table, Layla found herself alone. The rest of the team was still either on the dance floor or socializing.

Taking a moment to check her phone, Layla smiled when she saw a text from Cindy. It included a picture of a drawing from her niece, Annabelle. Cindy captioned it “A Portrait of Aunt Layla.”  It was just a bunch of squiggly crayon lines but it made Layla’s heart full.

Sensing someone approaching and, figuring it was Hank, Layla started talking before she looked up. “You have got to see this picture Annabelle drew, it is…”

Layla stopped once she looked up and realized it wasn’t Hank, but her boss, Jerry, who’d approached her.

“Oh. Jerry. Hi. I didn’t expect to see you here.”

“Hi Layla. Yeah, my cousin is an alderman who is pretty close with the mayor so…”

He said it with such ego that it made Layla want to roll her eyes. She resisted.

“So I see you’re here with Hank Voight.” Jerry stated. It wasn’t a question.

“Yes.” Layla said, wondering why it was any of his business.

“Hmm.” Jerry nodded, processing that. “So what is it you hope to gain by sleeping with the head of the Intelligence Unit? You want their ever-vacant IT spot? I think you have to be a cop for that but you never know… maybe you’re more talented than I imagine.” Jerry raised his eyebrows suggestively and looked her up and down, slowly.

Layla’s mouth fell open. For a moment, she couldn’t form words.

“Excuse me?” She asked.

“Well, I mean, I’ve asked you out a dozen times and you don’t want anything to do with me. I’m the one with connections.” Jerry gestured towards the mayor. “Voight is a dinosaur. So you must be after something.”

Layla stood up, getting angrier by the second and stepped closer to Jerry.

“I am not trying to sleep my way into anything. I like Hank.”

“Besides,” Layla said, looking Jerry up and down, “you never had a chance.”

At her words, Jerry looked like he’d been slapped and didn’t say anything for a moment. Layla’s heart was racing and she tried to still her shaking hands.

“Everything okay here?” Hank’s voice said as he approached them, coming to stand beside Layla. He had seen them from across the room and could tell something wasn’t right.

“Ah, here he is now. Hank Voight.” Jerry tried to regain his composure. “The man who got me kicked out of cyber crimes.”

Voight rolled his tongue and turned his head to one side. “Jerry. You not being able to keep it in your pants got you kicked off cyber crimes. I was just solving my case.”

Jerry nodded, clearly not agreeing with Hank’s version of the story.

Hank, tired of this prick, took a step forward, angling himself between Jerry and Layla.

“Jerry. Why don’t you walk away before this goes in a direction you’re not going to like.”

Jerry smirked, satisfied that he’d gotten a rise out of them both.

“Some things never change, Voight.” Then turning to Layla, he said, “See you Monday.”

As Jerry walked away, Layla let out a breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding.

“What happened?” Hank asked her, concern clouding his expression. Layla put her hands on his arms and he could feel them shaking.

“He said I was trying to sleep my way into Intelligence’s IT spot or something like that. Then he…”

Hank started to turn and go after Jerry, her words starting a fire of rage in his chest. But before he could follow him, Layla grabbed his arm.

“Hank, please… Don’t.”

Hank hesitated, but when he looked back and saw the apprehension in Layla’s eyes, his anger deflated.

“He said if I wanted to get ahead I shouldn’t have turned him down because he’s the one with connections.”

Hank scoffed.

“Should I be worried?” Layla asked him, feeling very unsettled.

Hank’s face hardened, pissed that Jerry had her feeling this way.

“Look, I’ll take care of it…”

“No. Hank, I’ve only been at this job for two months. I really like it. Maybe I can just file a complaint with HR and he’ll step back.”

Hank didn’t think so but he could see she didn’t want his help.

“Okay. Maybe. But if he does anything,” Hank put his hands on her shoulders and tilted his head down to make direct eye contact with Layla, “and I mean anything out of the way, you call me ASAP, you understand?”

Layla bit her lip and nodded, hoping that never happened.

“You want to get out of here?” Hank asked, sensing that Layla was done with the whole party scene.

“Yes, please.”

-------

Hank drove back to Layla’s apartment. Like the first night they’d kissed, the ride was mostly silent, but this time there was a peaceful feeling between them. Hank held her hand on the console between them as he drove.

When they got there, Hank walked her to the door. He’d ditched his jacket and tie as soon as they’d left the party, unbuttoning the top few buttons of his dress shirt and partly rolling up his sleeves.

He hesitated when she unlocked the door and started to go in. It was after midnight and he figured she’d want to call it a night, especially after what happened with Jerry.

Layla turned back when she realized he didn’t follow her in and walked over to where he stood in the doorway.

She stood close to him for a second, just looking into his eyes before her hands made their way to his chest. “Aren’t you coming inside, Sargeant?”

The playfulness he loved about her was back.

Deciding to play into the role, since she seemed to like calling him Sargeant when she was feeling flirty, Hank said, “Is there a crime you need to report, m’am?”

Layla threw her head back and laughed as they made their way further into the living room, delighted that he was playing along.

“Yes.” She said, walking towards another room and looking back at him over her shoulder.

“It’s a crime that I’m still wearing this dress, don’t you think?”

She winked at him before entering the bedroom and leaving his sight.

Hank stood there for a minute, an impressed grin on his face, before following her into the bedroom.

That night, Hank and Layla made love for the first time.

What started out as playful seduction turned into something tender and beautiful. They both felt a piece of themselves return that had been missing for a long time.

For the first time since Jake’s death, Layla felt whole. She felt comforted. She felt loved.

Hank kissed her tenderly as she climaxed, muffling her cries with his lips as she rode the wave of pleasure. Her urgent cries turned into satisfied whispers as she said his name over and over, her hands roaming his back and his sides. Hank came soon after.

As he laid beside her catching his breath, Layla rolled onto her side and trailed her fingers across his chest. They laid in bed like that, trading gentle kisses and whispers, until Layla fell asleep in Hank’s arms.

---

to be continued

[el-oh-her]

Thoughts on Writing out of Experience

*all commentary is stated under the assumption the writer approaches topics respectfully and with grace.

When people say, "Don't write about x group if you're not in that group" don't take it as never include those characters in your stories.

I've always interpreted it as "You can't know about our daily life and struggle as intimately as we do so perhaps a story where the central focus is this x group should be written by someone with more experience in with that group."

It's not that people don't want you writing about them (okay some might), but more of a precaution agaisnt bastardized depictions that do more harm than good. This type of trepidation has solid ground for existing. We've seen time and time again certain groups portrayed horribly on screen, in novels, and in video games. Split I think is the worst offender I've come across in a long time. Clearly, the writer had no fucking clue what they were doing.

I think that if you're a highly skilled enough writer, you could write any story from any group and get away with it. It would take dedication and insane amount of research, but it's possible. Stephen King wrote about a young high school girl once, so you can to if you do enough research so that she doesn't become some Hollywood stereotype that hurts more than helps.

I'm someone who just gets annoyed when people tell me what I can and can't write. If I'm dedicated and respectful and willing to pour hours upon hours into research, I could write anything. But, it's just kind of easier to write those types of stories in my hemispheres because it's less research. My advice would be, don't write about x group if you're not in it unless you're ready to commit to the levels of research it takes to pull it off. And if you think two Google searches and Wikipedia is enough, then you're not ready.

But keep practicing. You'll get there one day.

And here's what I mean when I say harm more than helps that I said earlier.

Any character can be flawed or an antagonist (black, white, male, genderless, gay, straight etc), but if a character is villianois only because they have a trait belonging to a certain group, then that's harming more than helping. No one is evil/villainous/antagonistic just because they're black or just because they're white. Giving them no story, just a handful of traits hurts more than it helps.

Because any writer knows a well written villain is not bad representation. Well written villian are just as memorable as well written heroes.

Back to my main point (oi I ramble so much). You don't need to write "life of x group" stories to have representation. You just need to write stories about characters who are these things without them being the plot, but also not put on the side completely.

A character can react to a situation differently than another if they have some of the cultural upbringing of being a part of this group. A part of being gay in today's society is, for example, that anxiety that at any moment someone could scream at/avoid/hurt you for being gay if they knew. This fact should not be ignored, as it is a part of their character. It just doesn't have to be the plot.

Idk if this is making sense. Like, I'm writing a story and the antagonist is half blind because she lost her eye in a coyote attack. But the story isn't about the trials of living half blind. It's about the fact she sold her God daughter for money to buy a storefront for her locksmithing business. Her half blindness isn't ignored. She hides half her face because she doesn't want people seeing the scars. She oriente herself so that people are on more on the left side than right so she can see more comfortably without having her right side peripheral vision. It's another layer of her character, but it isn't the plot.

Y'all it's 3am I have no idea if any of this makes any sense or if I sound like some crack theorist.