#All I had was access to the humble slide whistle

[holofizz]

A very simple but important edit to my favourite Shran moment

Thankyou @fleshpark for putting this idea in my head

[royallyprincesslilly]

can i get uhUhHHhhH more jason momoa smut headcanons

You got it Anon.

Warning: Language, SMUTTT

Words: 1.8k

~~~~~~~~

You’re in Hawaii with Jason enjoying some much needed time away from LA, the land of dreams and fakeness. When you’re in Hawaii with him things make sense. They’re normal, routine and so humbling. 

Yeah, people recognize him and he’s such a sweetheart that he always stops for autographs and photos but on the island of chill, everyone lives by going with the flow and taking it easy. This means that he’s never hounded for long. Secretly he still loves it. 

Jason’s idea for the day was the beach. The man loved the beach. He didn’t do normal things people did like relaxed. No Jason was always active. He was surfing, boogie boarding, even snorkeling. You name it and he’s probably done it. 

You didn’t mind. If you weren’t out there with him snorkeling or swimming you were watching his incredible athleticism in action. The man was built to be shirtless and in the water. Hell, even the water loved his body. Your mouth always watered as you watched the droplets slide down his body and drip from the ends of his long hair that he always left loose. He knew he was a Hawaiian God and that you loved to watch him and he used it as a weapon. Today was no different.

You were sitting on the blanket watching him dominate every wave that came in. You loved seeing him like this. There was nothing like his smile when he was doing something he truly loved. He zipped over the water and cut it with ease and expertise. He looked like he was going to make it. You leaped to your feet and rushed to the shore then squat down to the sand and watched as he barely made it out the tunnel before it crashed.

Jason threw his hands up and looked for you at the spot he left you and when he saw you at the shore, he looked like the epitome of joy. you jumped up and down cheering him on. Your mother always said to be your man’s biggest cheerleader and the way everyone was looking at you said you’d accomplished it.

You watched him dive off the board into the water knowing he was going to be swimming in. You ran into the water ready for when he got to the shore. As he approached you went deeper until the water caught you a little above your waist. Once he got there you bounced into his arms.

“You looked so good out there baby,” you compliment. Jason’s chuckle was adorable.

“I looked good out here and you looked incredible over there. So damn distracting.”

“Oh yeah? How distracting because you sure rode that wave like I was nothing but a blip in the landscape.”

As if to dissuade you Jason kissed you stopping whatever words that were coming next. His tongue curled around yours before he sucked it. He tasted like sea salt, beer, and pineapples. It was your favorite taste thanks to him.

The way he kissed you said he was hungry. Pulling away from him you shake your head.

“Nope.”

“What?” His wide guilty smile was all the evidence you needed to his train of thought.

“Nope. You know what. There’s no way,” you reiterated.

Jason continues to chuckle. It was like he knew you were going to be whistling a different tune in a few minutes. You were such a weak woman when it came to him.

“Come on. You can’t let me walk out there with this.” Jason allows your body to slip a little lower so you could feel the weapon of uterus destruction he was barely concealing in those swim trunks.

You gasped. “Jason. Oh my god. How?”

“How? You’re kidding. All I have to do is look at you and this is the end result,” Jason confessed before he kissed your neck and trailed those kisses down to your shoulder only to bring his lips back up to suck your skin into his mouth. He knew what he was doing where he was doing it.

You got lost in his kisses in seconds. The way his wet beard tickled your face only enhanced how badly you wanted him. You could also feel him growing even bigger. Moaning you tore your lips away.

“Jason, we’re on the beach. There are people everywhere. Kids.”

“They’re not my kids. I’m trying to plant some.”

You couldn’t not laugh as you looked at him incredulously. You thought he couldn’t be serious but you had a sneaking feeling he was dead serious.

“Jason,” you whined again. He turned your body so your back was out greeting the ocean before you knew it he’d placed you on his surfboard and was standing between your spread legs. “We can’t do this here.”

“No one will know. Trust me.”

“I trust you with everything, but baby everyone will know.”

He wasn’t hearing any of your protests. His large hands slowly slid across your wet thighs until they made it to the ties of your bathing suit bottom. He didn’t untie them he simply toyed with the dangling strings.

“I can read your mind Jason,” you informed. Jason smiled then yanked you off the board and to him. His lips were pressed to your a second later and again he kissed you dizzy. 

You don’t even realize when he turned you so you were looking at the ocean horizon. For as far as the eye could see it was all blue water and blue sky. “Watch that horizon, Ko’u aloha,” Jason whispered. You loved it when he spoke Hawaiian to you. You’d gotten better at understanding some of it. Every time he called you my love it made your belly do backflips.

Jason’s hands caressed your stomach before his hand dipped into your bikini bottom. Your head dropped back to rest on his chest giving him full access to your neck which he took full advantage of. He licked and sucked a hypnotizing pattern that distracted you from what he was about to do but when you felt his fingers swirl around your clit you sank back onto him. Jason’s arms were there to hold you. 

You couldn’t stop any of your moans. He knew just what to do to make your body ebb on the edge of complete hysteria. After a few swirls, he dipped two digits into your channel making you take a deep breath, emitting an audible hiss.

Jason slowly dipped and retreated his fingers stating a slow pace then he added a third finger which had a grunt strangled in your throat.

“Jesus Y/N, you’re so tight. I need you.”

“Right--here?”

“Right here,” he repeated.

“Right--right--now?”

“Now!” It was gruff and filled with urgency. You couldn’t stop yourself from rubbing against his hard length that was poking into your back. When you tipped your head back even more Jason dipped his down to meet your lips for an upside-down kiss. 

Not noticing the water height raise you focused on his lips and the sinful things his fingers were doing to you under the water. When he tore his lips from yours he gently pushed your back down so you were resting over the surfboard that was in front of you. The water had your body like a buoy, Jason’s hand gripped your hip keeping your lower half submerged so the beach patrons would be none the wiser. 

In seconds he’d pulled your bikini to the side and slammed his hips forward sending his solid, thick love into you. A wave of water washed over your back from the force of his thrust. To prevent yourself from shrieking out you clamped your hand over your mouth. It barely contained it. Jason continued his thrusts never missing a beat. Every connection had you whimpering and panting his name.

Soon his hand replaced yours while the other remained squeezing your hop keeping you from floating to the surface. The sheer strength he possessed in his body only turned you on even more. Jason thrust forward filling you completely then rotated his hips. His hand contained your muffled curse.

“Just watch that horizon. Watch it as I make your body feel good baby.”

Jason’s thrusts sped and not even his hand could stop a moan from escaping. You couldn’t be bothered to look around everything he was doing felt so good--too good.

Jason’s hand moved from your mouth to over your chest right above your breasts. He lifted you and pulled your back against his chest and changed the angle to which he plunged into you.

“Be quiet for me, Ko’u aloha.”

The man had to be crazy, you thought. There was no way and he knew it. With every connection, you whimpered and with every whimper, he heard he rotated his hips so you felt every single inch of him. 

“Fuck me, Ko’u aloha,” you breathlessly murmured. 

Just as you loved hearing it, he loved it even more. The force of his movements increased and that delicious pressure that signified your oncoming release buzzed through you. His pants brushed against your ear making you clench him tighter.

Jason grunted and tightened his grip right before he fucked you as if you weren’t in the middle of the ocean with the beach filled.

“Jason.”

“I fucking love you so much!” His voice was impossibly deep and just like that, you were coming. The tightness of your drenched cavern had him grunting and staggering his thrusts until you felt his release.

It took a few moments for both of you to come down enough for either of you to move. You just stayed still staring at the horizon at the sun that was beginning to set. It was beautiful and made even more perfect by Jason behind you nestled tightly between your folds.

“Mmmm,” Jason began as he pulled from you and turned you in his arms so you were facing him. You wrapped your legs back around him as you scoped out around you to see if you’d been caught. Thankfully you didn’t have an audience.

“I can’t believe we just did that here,” you whispered.

“I’m sure countless have done the same.” His voice was lethargic. It was the voice of a sated man.

“Glad that you’re no longer hungry, Ko’u aloha,” you said before you kissed his shoulder and neck.

“I wasn’t until you said that. It’s time to go,” Jason abruptly announced as he turned you both and headed back to shore with you giggling. The man was insatiable.

Hawaii would forever hold a special place in your heart.

Glossary: According to Google Translate

Ko’u aloha: My Love.

~~~~~~~~

Hey Anon, I hope you liked this!

I’m so sorry it’s so late. 

[thewhumperinwhite]

WKW: Presentable

Previous: Teaser 1 and Teaser 2.

Casually tagging @luminouswhump​, please enjoy some prince whump ~<3

TW for: Forced stripping, though it’s not sexualized; nonconsensual touching; noncon isn’t explicitly threatened but Andry worries about it; dissociation; amputation.

----

Andry is still upright. And Asher is alive, with the tacit understanding that he will remain so in the short term, pending Andry’s cooperation. That means the current situation is survivable. So Andry will survive.

By the time Andry is seated beside a washbasin in one of the guest suites, he is genuinely not certain how he arrived there. He remembers a string of images and sensations— twelve years of fencing lessons spinning away from him in a gout of blood; the sharp pain of scissors slicing carelessly through the shell of his left ear; Asher sitting stiffly on their mother’s bed, surrounded by soldiers in black armor— but cannot arrange them into any meaningful order.

The man who has brought him here seems to be Crane’s personal servant. He cannot be much older than Andry himself, though he is slightly larger; his skin is the light warm brown Andry understands is common among Leisevans, but his hair is a dull silver, and his eyes are an improbable bright gold. He has not told Andry his name. 

Crane’s servant gives the room a cursory examination, sets down a bucket of clean water and a set of clean clothes, locates a pile of drying cloths. Then he turns his faery eyes on Andry with the same thoughtful frown.

“What a mess,” the man mutters, in Leisevan.

There have been a variety of hands on Andry today. They have tangled in his hair, torn off the overshirt bearing his father’s colors, clamped a modified set of manacles marked with a strange rune over his severed wrist. They have been, to a one, rough and impersonal, and painful more than not. Whatever is coming now is... more intimate, in a way that makes Andry’s chest slightly tight, but ultimately only more of the same. Survivable.

Crane’s servant sighs, and then he drops to his knees in front of Andry and dips a cloth in the water bucket. Where Andry is seated, on a low stool beside the washbasin, the man is now looking up at him; Andry cannot pinpoint why that startles him the way it does.

Andry has not had access to a looking glass in over twenty-four hours, so he knows little except that his face and back are tacky with blood, his hair matted with it. The man frowns up into Andry’s face, and Andry stares numbly back, and then the man reaches up and presses the cloth to the cut at Andry’s hairline where the soldier’s armored fist struck him to the floor.

 Andry draws in a sharp breath before he can stop himself, and then tenses for the answering blow he knows must be coming— but the servant just hums mildly in response, and cups his other hand around Andry’s jaw to steady his head, still with that thoughtful frown on his face. The cloth stings against the cut, but the man does not dig it in, only wipes the blood from his forehead, his touch businesslike but not rough.

The man cleans the blood from Andry’s forehead and then his lips and chin, and when his warm hands work their way into Andry’s uneven, blood-matted hair, Andry feels his eyes slide shut and lets out a long breath without really meaning to.

When the cloth presses against Andry’s damaged ear, he holds on to the sharp sting of the soap against the cut and forces himself all the way back to awareness, and opens his eyes halfway to look at Crane’s servant, whose face is very close to his.

“What is your name?” Andry asks him, his voice coming out low and husky. 

The man pauses in his ministrations, meets Andry’s eyes with some suspicion. “It’s Thorne,” he says after a moment. Then he moves on to scrubbing blood from the side of Andry’s throat, eye contact lost. “And you’re Andry Fourshield, the Summer Prince.” He smirks, a shadow of Morden’s vicious grin, and Andry can’t hold back a small shiver. “Shall I address you as ‘Your Highness’?”

It’s obvious he expects Andry to straighten and demand respect. Andry drops his eyes humbly instead. “Just Andry, please,” he says quietly.

Thorne laughs quietly, squeezing the bloody rag over the bucket. “They didn’t tell me you were so modest, Your Highness,” he says, and then he pulls a delicate silver key from his pocket and unlocks the iron cover Crane has clamped over the stump of Andry’s wrist. 

Thorne looks down at Andry’s ruined sword arm with frank curiosity, loosely holding Andry’s wrists in his lap. The stump is largely closed over, a mass of scar tissue where a working hand used to be. Andry looks down at it too, ignoring the low buzzing that has begin in his ears.

Thorne lets out a low whistle. “Heron knows his shit,” he says— and he says it in Craetan, like he’s addressing it to Andry. He even looks up at Andry, interested for apparently the first time. “Does it even still hurt?”

Andry stares at him. What answer does the man expect?

“Better without the cover,” he says honestly. “The cold air helps.”

Thorne’s brief open expression slams shut like a castle drawbridge. Andry curses himself.

“I’m sure,” Thorne says flatly, dropping Andry’s hands. “Don’t get any ideas, those cuffs are going back on the second you’re presentable.” Thorne gets to his feet, and nods curtly at Andry. “Stand up.”

Andry looks at him, feeling like he’s failed a test without knowing the questions. But the moment has passed, now; he pulls himself up, unsteadily, using the washbasin for support. 

When Andry is upright, Thorne tosses him a wet cloth. “Alright, Your Highness. Strip down and clean yourself up.”

Andry stares at him, his ears ringing. “And—what, you’re just going to stand there and stare at me?”

Thorne snorts, unimpressed. “Yes.”

Andry frowns. “I have no reason to run. Your soldiers have filled this place to the rafters; where would I go?”

Thorne shakes his head, amused. “Nowhere, Your Highness. Because I’ll be watching you.”

Andry looks at him. The man is his own age, and handsome in a sharp-toothed, yellow-eyed way. Andry is far too tired to decide if this makes stripping in front of him better or worse. He—does not want to, either way. But, depending on this man’s rank, any goodwill he can earn with compliance is worth far more than the negligible chance of escape offered by one moment of reduced supervision in a castle full of enemy soldiers. And far more than any lingering self-respect he might still have, Andry reminds himself firmly. He tugs his undershirt off over his head.

Thorne eyes Andry’s bared chest with interest, but his expression is more curious than lascivious. Andry can see him taking note of the pattern of bruises along his side where a booted soldier kicked him when he was already on the floor, and the prominence of his ribcage after three weeks of siege rations. 

Andry is— annoyed at his own relief. It would be useful if Crane’s servant wanted him, he tells himself. He still turns his back when he tugs down his breeches.

Andry half-expects Thorne to ask about the scars across his back and leave him to reconcile his need to earn the man’s sympathy with his deep desire not to answer, but Thorne just watches him silently until he has wiped as much blood and grime from his body as he is likely to without a full soak in the washtub, and then tosses him the clean set of clothes without a word. That shouldn’t be a relief either, and he certainly shouldn’t feel grateful, but in his bone-deep exhaustion, Andry is willing to allow himself the easy out, this one last time.

[x1musings]

wicked games ☆ one

masterlist // <<previous | next>>

☆word count: 2.4k

☆a/n: i need help making a decision about this story, so could you please help me by completing this 1 question poll? i can’t tell you what it’s about, but you will be helping me a lot. thanks in advance :)) let me know what you think of this chapter.

“y/n, are you in position?”

you could barely hear seungwoo’s voice over the hustle and bustle of the café you were standing in. as you stared at the office workers and university students around you, you thanked your lucky stars that you weren’t like them. it was a regular monday morning and most of the patrons looked just about ready to die. you couldn’t help but listen to their constant complaints about everything from their never-ending workload and annoying bosses or lecturers to their less than stellar personal lives, all while chugging coffee like it was water. if zombies were real, you figured they would look quite similar to the people around you.

you continued to look around until you zeroed in on your target. as you take him in, it amazed you that you had missed him before. unlike the rest of the patrons, he looked incredibly put together, his black hair perfectly styled back without a single strand of hair out of place. he donned an expensive suit and an easy-going smile that confirmed your suspicions that he was the man in charge. you had chosen a middle-level manager as your target, knowing that he could get you where you needed to be, without raising too many red flags.

you touched your earpiece, subtly talking into it without drawing attention from the patrons around you. “yes. is hangyul in position?”

there was a beat of silence before hangyul answered. “yup, waiting for your cue.”

you pushed your glasses up in acknowledgement, shaking the camera imbedded in it in the process. you waited for the target to walk by, taking your time to gather your coffee and books as he walked closer to you. when he got to the position you needed him to be in, you pretended to be preoccupied with your phone and walked straight into him. your books dropped from your arms, as the coffee spilt over both of you, drawing the attention of the people around you.

“oh my god, i’m so sorry.” the apologies slipped through your lips over and over again as you grabbed some serviettes and wiped the coffee on his shirt. you looked at him with your practiced guilty puppy expression, watching as he fell for it like putty in your hand.

hook, line and sinker, you thought to yourself, resisting the urge to smirk.

he smiled, “let me get that for you.” he reached for the book you had dropped, as you gathered the documents he had dropped. you tucked a piece of hair behind your ear, giving hangyul the signal he was waiting for.

while the target was preoccupied with helping you, hangyul sneaked by and pulled the access card that was hooked on the pocket of his slacks. you kept talking to the man, smiling with practiced innocence and shyly giggling every so often, as you waited for hangyul’s confirmation that he was a safe distance away.  the man was openly flirting with you, clearly not bothered by the annoyed glances his associates were giving him. he had to be in his mid-30’s at least, and from the few minutes you had been interacting with him, you could tell that he believed he was a smooth talker. but the way he tried to get your name and contact details was sloppy and awkward at best. you barely had to do anything to keep his attention on you.

“ok, i’m good. you can get out now, y/n.”

you looked down at your watch, and gasped. “i’m so sorry. i have a lecture in 10 minutes, i have to go. i’m really sorry about the coffee.” you gave him puppy dog eyes for good measure, and he smiled at you as you brushed past him.

you ran out of the café, weaving between the patrons, and slowed to a walk once you got outside. after making sure you weren’t followed by anyone, you turned into the alleyway a couple of blocks past the café. there was a white van parked in the shadows of the building next to it, hiding from the view of the people walking past. no one could see it unless they knew it was there or if they were looking really carefully, but who nowadays paid attention to their surroundings? you walked up to the van and knocked on the door. tap, tap, tap-tap-tap, tap. it barely took as second for the door to slide open, revealing a smiling seungwoo behind it.

he didn’t bother to greet you, getting straight to business. “hangyul’s outside the CK Group’s building, waiting for the signal.”

you smiled as you got into the van and closed the door, taking a seat next to seungwoo. you swung your chair around, taking in the monitors in front of you. there was one monitor that seungwoo worked on, and there were five other monitors surrounding it, each showing footage from different camera angles. one of the monitors showcased the footage from the camera in your glasses, another from the camera in hangyul’s glasses, and the other three monitors from different cameras inside and outside the CK Group’s main building.

“ok, let’s go over the plan once more, so that we don’t have anyone deviating from it like last time.” you spoke into your earpiece, directing the last part towards hangyul.

even without seeing him, you knew he was rolling his eyes. “it’s not my fault that your brilliant plan didn’t account for extra security guards.”

“regardless, we’re going over it again. you enter the building and get through security as a delivery man. seungwoo will cut the cameras before you enter each area of the building, so there won’t be any photographic evidence that you were there. once you’re in the elevator, we’ll give M the signal that you’re on the way, and he’ll get you to the server room. you use the access card to get in and you will have ten minutes to find the right server and plug in the usb-”

“i should be the one doing it, not hangyul. he won’t be able to tell which one is the right one, even if there was a massive sign in front of him.”

“dohyon, not now,” you said at the same time that hangyul said, “don’t start this again, dohyon.”

here we go again. you shared a look with seungwoo, who laughs under his breath. dohyon, your team’s intern, was stuck back at the headquarters, due to hangyul’s overprotectiveness, and dohyon took every chance he had to complain about how unfair it was.

you could hear dohyon grumbling over the comms, but you pushed on. “as i was saying, once you plugged the usb in and seungwoo’s done with the extraction, you need to get out. use the back entrance to leave, and under no circumstance do you start a fight. copy?”

“it was one time,” hangyul complained under his breath.

“hangyul…” you warned.

“fine, i copy. i won’t start a fight even if i’m getting attacked to death.”

you smiled at his sulky tone. “good boy. is everyone clear on the plan? any questions?”

“what exactly am i doing?” dohyon asked, his tone just as sulky as hangyul’s. you shook your head at how similar the two were.

seungwoo spoke up for you. “dohyon, you have the most important job. you’re coordinating the mission from the headquarters. if anything goes wrong here, we’re going to need you to back us up. and you need to update us if there’s anything happening over there.”

dohyon sighed, clearly not liking being stuck in the office and away from the action. “fine.”

“any other questions?” you asked, preparing to help seungwoo and hangyul out in any way you could.

you heard a chorus of ‘no’ before giving the signal to go. you watched as hangyul entered the building, and once he got through security, you checked each of the other screens to make sure that the coast was clear. you weren’t used to being in the backseat, giving directions and watching as someone else steered the mission. but since you had revealed your face to the manager, you couldn’t risk running into him and blowing the mission just because you wanted to be in control. so, you were stuck in the backseat, hoping and praying that nothing went wrong, especially since there was no one to back hangyul up.

seungwoo glanced at your leg unconsciously shaking against the table, and placed a hand over it, making you realise what you were doing. he pulled the earpiece out of his ear and turned to you.

“he’s going to be ok. we trained him well.”

you pulled out your earpiece too, so that dohyon and hangyul couldn’t hear what you were going to say. “i know, i just don’t like that he’s out there alone.” you closed your eyes for a second, trying to push the anxiety out of your mind. “it’s times like this that i think we need another person in our team. if only hangyul wasn’t so overprotective, we could have sent dohyon with him.”

seungwoo raised his eyebrow at you. “you realise he’s only 17, right?”

“hey, the boss started training me when i was 16 and look how i turned out. QL Protective Services’ best agent.” you stuck your chin out at seungwoo and brushed the non-existent dirt off your shoulders, making him laugh at your antics.

“i see he didn’t teach you to be humble.”

“did i lie, though?”

seungwoo scoffed, shaking his head as he turned back to the monitors and put the earpiece back into his ear. you followed suit, checking each monitor to make sure nothing suspicious happened as hangyul entered the elevator. you sent a quick text to your informant, telling him that your teammate was on his way up. 

you watched as hangyul got off the elevator and walked around the corner to meet with your informant. you had never met m, since he only ever communicated with you over email. you knew close to nothing about him, but the fact that he volunteered to help take down a big, powerful corporation like the CK Group made you respect him. it took a lot of courage for anyone to go up against their own employer, especially with the risk of getting caught and outed as a whistle-blower. so, you took every precaution you could to make sure none of this could be traced back to him.

before long, hangyul opened the door to the staircase, and you got your first glimpse of the informant. he was younger than you expected - he had to be at least around your age - and you could feel the nervous energy flowing from him through the screen. he squirmed, running his hand through his brown hair over and over again until it was a complete mess.

“hangyul, you need to talk to him,” you said as you caught the tell-tale signs of an oncoming panic attack. “get him to calm down.”

“how do i do that?” hangyul whispered into his earpiece.

you turned to seungwoo, signalling for him to answer hangyul’s question. out of the three of you, seungwoo had the most experience calming down and talking sense into people, since he had to do it with both you and hangyul, more times than you could count.

“tell him that he can back out if he wants.” you shoot a ‘are you kidding me right now?’ look towards seungwoo, but he waved you off. “tell him that this will be the quickest way to get all the information we need, but if he can’t go through with it, i can access it remotely. it will take a lot more time, but at the end of the day it’s up to him.”

hangyul relayed the message to the man, word for word. your breath was caught in your throat as you waited for his response. the plan hinged on him getting hangyul to the server room, undetected. if you didn’t get the information now, there may not be another chance to access their server and database. sure, if he backed out, you could make a new plan, but you didn’t want to when you were so close to accomplishing your mission. 

M closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “i’ll do it,” he said, opening his eyes, which showed his new-found determination.

you let out the breath you were holding, and with it any doubts and anxiety on your mind. you were focused entirely on completing the mission. from the corner of the screen, you could see hangyul taking off his black jacket and looping a lanyard around his neck, over the crisp white button-up shirt he wore. he pushed the clothes and accessories he used as his deliveryman disguise into his backpack and nodded towards M, signalling for them to go.

they walked out and headed straight for the server room. you could see m trying to act natural, giving nods of greeting to the few people he passed. all of the 3 people that passed by the two of them stared at hangyul for a second too long, but you chalked that up to his striking appearance rather than them being suspicious about him.

seungwoo seemed to notice the same thing. “looks like hangyul just gained 3 more fans,” seungwoo said, smirking as he caught sight of the woman openly gawking at hangyul.

“we really need to get better disguises for him. preferably one that covers up his face.”

hangyul ignored the both of you as you two teased him. when you focused back on the screens, you noticed that he had arrived at the server room. M entered first, taking a few minutes to check if the coast was clear. when he’s sure that no one was in there, he ushered hangyul into the room, and stood guard outside. you focused on the screen that showed the footage of the hallway outside of the server room, while seungwoo directed hangyul to the right server. you were hopeless when it came to the tech stuff, almost always zoning out when seungwoo tried to teach you about it. so, you did what you did best, you kept an eye on each of the other security cameras, keeping track of the people that walked by the server room and the security office, to see if they were onto your team yet.

“ok the usb is in. give me a second.” seungwoo’s long fingers flew over the keyboard. “it’ll be done in about 5 minutes.”

“guys, sorry to interrupt, but the boss wants you back in the office now.”

you shared a look with seungwoo, the confusion on his face reflected on yours. “dohyon, what are you talking about? we just started getting the data. this isn’t the time for jokes.”

you heard a shuffle over the comms, before hearing your boss’ voice come through. “this isn’t a joke. come back now.”

[littlerayofsebastian]

Unafraid of Being Me CHAPTER ONE Sebastain Stan & daughter ficlet

SUMMARY: Sebastian Stan has always had big dreams and hopes of becoming a father, but had never thought it to be achievable. True, it would’ve been easy to knock some girl up, but he wasn’t that kind of man. He wanted to fall in love, get married, start a family- do it the old fashioned way. But that’s not easy, with him being a famous actor with famous credentials to his name and high demanding roles in movies. But one day, he gets a phone call that changes his life forever…

         “Hey.”

         I glanced at my boyfriend from the corner of my eye, my posture straight, hands resting in front of me on the handrail.

         “You nervous?” Matt, my boyfriend since freshman year of high school asked me, his hand rubbing comforting circles into the back of my neck. I nodded, unable to speak, partly due to the muzzle- like mask that I wore as a part of my cosplay. “Do you need help getting that off?” He tapped the half mask that covered the bottom half of my face, going from underneath my chin and to midway up my nose. I nodded, turning my head so that he would have better access to the Velcro, snaps and buttons that kept the mask from sliding down my face.

The two of us didn’t have much time to stop by the hotel that we were staying at to get changed into normal, everyday clothes, so here we stood, with Matt dressed as Captain America and me dressed as the Winter Soldier.

“Thanks,” I smiled softly before turning back to face the sunset. He leaned on the railing so that we were more on level with each other- I was pushing four foot nine inches in height while Matt was six foot two inches. The two of us made a hysterical duo- the mouse sized girlfriend and her giant of a boyfriend. “What if I not he expect? What if he thinks I fake? What if-”

         “Okay, stop right there.” Matt wrapped a protective arm around my shoulders and pulled me in closer to his side in a comforting and loving hug. “If he doesn’t like you, then I swear on my life, I will personally kick his ass for you.”

         I barely cracked a smile as I leaned into his familiar body. We both stood there, in pensive thought until we heard the door behind us open. I grabbed a hold of Matt’s hand as we both turned around to face my biological dad.

         Matt turned me to face him and wrapped his arms around me in a comforting hug before pulling away to give me a loving kiss on the forehead. I stared up at him, terror on my face as I silently told him that I changed my mind- I didn’t want to meet my biological dad.

“Go on- I’ll be right here,” he told me, giving me a gentle push towards him. I took three or four hesitant steps towards him before stopping to glance over my shoulder. Matt smiled encouragingly at me and I took in a deep breath of air, and turned to take the remaining steps towards where he stood, seemingly in shock.

 Sebastian Stan stared at me, examining my face for any similarities. I closed my eyes, taking off the wraparound sunglasses that I had been wearing. His eyes widened- I had inherited his baby blue eyes and thick eyelashes that wrapped them; I had spent hours looking at pictures of him that I scrounged from online, comparing everything about us.

 Suddenly, he enveloped me in a bear hug, and I felt…

 Safe.

 The same kind of safe that I felt in Matt’s arms.

 “You have my eyes,” he mumbled from my shoulder. He pulled away and took my face into his hands. I then realized that he was on a knee, crouching down so that he was more at level with me. “You’re so beautiful.”

 My felt my face heat up- the only person to call me beautiful was Matt and my parents- everyone else called me pretty or cute.

 “You look so much like Stella,” he whispered. “How is she?”

 “Gave up adoption- hours old,” I scoffed, looking away- I hated seeing people’s reactions to hearing me talk for the first time. It was something that I was extremely self conscious of. “Researched- now porn actress.”

 He gently gripped my chin and pulled it towards him. I saw a gentle smile on his face.

 “Tell me when you’re ready,” he murmured softly. “I don’t need to know about your speech patterns right now.” He kissed me on the forehead before wrapping me in another hug.

 At that very moment, the Avengers theme song began to play and I pulled away from Sebastian to look on as Matt answered his phone.

“Hello? Hey, man… okay, okay, okay, text me the address? Okay cool- that’s to be determined. I’ll text you with an update, okay? Yeah, cool. See you.” He turned to face us, removing his cowl to scratch at his head. “That was Tony- wants to know if we can meet up with everyone for pizza in about forty five minutes.”

 I turned to face Sebastian. “Want come?” I loosely held his hand, swinging my arm.

 “I don’t want to intrude- I mean, they’re your friends-” he started to protest.

 I rolled my eyes.

 “Wrong answer- correct answer, yes,” I deadpanned, sending him a glare.

 “Okay, okay- on second thought, yes, I would love to join you,” he quickly corrected himself. “Do you need to change?”

 “Nah, we generally go out dressed up,” Matt answered causally. “It’s really cool- we get people that stop us for pictures, ask us about the numerous charities we partake in, etc.”

 “Much fun,” I piped in, shrugging my backpack up further onto my shoulders. “Make smiles, meet kids.”

 “What is it that you do professionally?” Sebastian asked, leading the way inside.

 “I work as a barista at Starbucks,” Matt answered, taking place on my other side and taking my hand and giving it a gentle squeeze.

 I leaning my head into Matt’s side. Out of the side of my eyes, I could see Sebastian’s eyes were on me as we made our way out to the front of the hotel where Matt, our mutual friends and I were staying while in New York.

 “In city, 5K, hospital visits, charity events,” I piped in shyly, burying my face into Matt’s side and he wrapped an arm around me, protectively pulling me in closer to him. “Much fun.”

 “Excuse me, but can we please get a picture?” a gentleman asked us, holding a little boy’s hand. He suckled on his hand as Matt gave the go ahead and the three of us quickly got into position.

 “Thank you!” the child squealed, giving the two of us big hugs around our knees before running off back to his father.

 “Love little kids,” I told Matt and Sebastian, a small smile on my face. We soon reached my boyfriend’s motorcycle- an exact replica of the one that Captain Rogers rides in First Avenger.

  Sebastian whistled softly as he walked around my boyfriend’s bike a couple of times, inspecting everything closely, but not touching.

 “You make all the modifications yourself?” he asked, turning to face Matt, who still had an arm wrapped protectively around me.

 “I can’t claim all the credit, sir,” Matt humbly responded, squeezing me gently. “Julianna here did the paint job and close up detail work, found a compatible engine and worked the oil.”

 “Work bike shop- mostly motorcycles and vintage cars,” I piped in, doing my best not to talk Sebastian’s ear off about Mustangs and Fords.

 Sebastian gave me an odd look as I awkwardly stood underneath Matt’s arm.

 “We go now?” I finally asked, drawing in the two men’s attention. I fitted my head with the 1940’s inspired helmet that Matt had commissioned for me three years ago, when he got his motorcycle license. Over my eyes I placed goggles, also custom made, though by me and my handy 3D printer.

  “Do you want to ride with me or Matt?” Sebastian asked me gently. In response, I jumped onto the back of Matt’s motorcycle, wrapping my arms around his waist and leaning my cheek in between his shoulder blades.

 “I’ll go get a taxi and follow you guys there, okay?” I could hear the slight tone of hurt in his voice as Matt’s started up the engine. We both sat there as Sebastian hailed a taxi before the three of us took off.

  TAGLIST

@sinner-as-saint​

@howaboutleeches1​

@panicfobmychem20171998-blog​

[josiesimblr]

Manny growls: I’d fuck you up for talking to my wife like that. But I need your help so I’m gonna let it slide.

Dorian: I’m not trying to be rude. You aren’t forward thinking, Manny. Your family- especially your uncle Nico? He’s going to be very angry you married someone from outside our - circle.

Manny stubborn: My uncle grew up humble, all my family did.

Dorian impatient: Yeah yeah yeah. A million and one years ago. They’re not humble now. Far from it. You married Ava with no prenuptial agreement, I’m assuming. And no high school diploma. And you’re out here with no security detail-so now you’re at risk for abduction, for ransom. Your family is going to be very upset. 

Manny serious: They’ll have to understand.

Ava closes her eyes- wishing she knew what to say. All their plans centered around accessing Manny’s money-but they hadn’t fully realized how impossible it would be without his family’s support. Lucas and Nicky couldn’t even help-not without giving them away. Dorian’s frankness made it all too real-they were on their own entirely.

Dorian: You both look so tragic. *sighs*  I guess I can help. Unlike you, Manny? I am forward thinking. So- here’s what I’ll do for you and what you do for me and then you and Juliet can ride on out of my apartment so I can pretend I never saw you.

Manny whistles: Damn, Dorian. You want the name of my uncle’s private money manager? What the fuck. No way.

Dorian: Yes. I need that kind of financial management-so I know what risks to take when I come into my first maturity. I’ll be eighteen soon.

Manny uncomfortable: I can’t give that information. I bet my Aunt Allie herself doesn’t know it- my uncle is super secretive about his wealth management.  I can tell you who manages mine and my siblings? It’s close enough. But they only manage via private referral.

Dorian: Refer me then! I promise I’ll keep your secret and help you out if you refer me. I want in on the top dogs, not these middle men my family’s been working with.

The conversation steered into topics Ava had never heard of. Topics she’d never ever heard Manny discuss. Capital preservation, volatile bonds, debt and deficits... the Manny she knew talked about working out and weed and orange soda. 

It was like a stranger sitting beside her. 

Manny: I give you the information and you loan me. I’ll pay you back as soon as I can.

Dorian: Fine. You two can stay at my godmother’s apartment for now? She’ll be gone for two months, and she left it vacant. It’s by the waterfront, just like you planned anyway.

Manny relieved: Thanks, Dorian. You don’t even know how grateful I am.

Dorian waves his hand: I don’t want gratitude. I want information. 

[seekandsekkle]

Happy Full Moon in Sagittarius Family.

The Moon: This energy is like walking into a ratchet reality tv episode. We got this Sag Moon lounging around complaining and worrying while doing nothing and everything is due. Then Gemini walks in doing so much talking without looking and gets knocked head first into a wall. While the Sag Moon looks on and laughs then the Eclipse slides in and steals the show with some knock down drag out display of fuckery that won't allow you to do anything else but get tight and right so your life is not this shit show episode. Lunar Eclipses bring chaos into the universe. The purpose of that chaos is to shake you out of the complacency you tend to fall into when you get too comfortable with the bullshit. We ain't got time for that so that means we get this all star lineup. Sag the Archer is getting its bow and arrow ready to deal with all the old shit showing up due to the retrograde, then you have Gemini the grand communicator cooking up conversations that need to be had so healing can occur or freedom can be obtained. Mr. Eclipse is pulling you and your emotions to the darkside so you can get to the roots of some of your core issues...or at least look at them....acknowledge them at the very least cause you could easily get dragged for taking your shit out on everybody because you refuse to do the work on yourself. All funny bits aside we gotta pay attention to the feeling coming up but wait to react. Some of these feelings are parts of old stories we created about ourselves that are not true or they are old paradigms that have shifted on their side but you are still on the previous page. You will never know what people are currently thinking or feeling if you haven't asked. Assumptions get us in a lot of trouble. This is a rough time for everyone in some way or a challenging time. You have no idea what someone is struggling with so be mindful and compassionate about that. Hell be compassionate to ya' got damn self. You've been struggling too, sad too, fucked up in some way too. How would you want folks to respond, how would you like to be cared for?

The Ritual: This Moon and Eclipse ask us to honor the divine feminine. We are still in the mode of honoring the sacred mother, the mothership, the portal of life, the vagina, the womb, the creatrix that gives us access to this world. She is divine and she is worthy of honor and praise. If you are bleeding we honor you and thank you . If you are ovulating we honor you and thank you. If you are deeply emotional we honor you and thank you. If you are activated and excited we honor you and thank you, If you are conceiving we honor you and thank you. If you are in the middle of birth we honor you and thank you. We honor the divine feminine within us regardless of identity. It is the energy of this earth and we must recognize ourselves in her and honor what is sacred. Light a white or pink candle for her, state what you want to release. Breathe in and exhale deeply holding your womb or your belly and feel the energy of the great mother. Thank her humbly.

The Tea: (read the sign for your sun, moon and rising to get the most out of this tea)

Aries - You ready for something new...life, job, career, path, religion, teacher...something ain't been working and you are finally ready to make it happen. You wanna feel good, feel like you are progressing at something. Now is the time. The Eclipse is casting its shadow on your fears,especially when it comes to your fame or lack thereof. You are afraid to get under that spotlight due to the past. Just know things can be different this time, believe in yourself.

Taurus - Being avoidant won't make the things go away, it just makes a bigger mess to clean up later. Lets get ahead of the shit this time and just face it all head on. I know this ain't how you like it but trust me its better this way. The Eclipse is casting its shadow on beliefs. Everything you have understood to this point could be actually different and you may begin to see the truth for the first time on some things and this may shake you up a bit. You will really see how truth can set you free on ideas and beliefs that no longer serve you.

Gemini - You have been everything for everybody and now you need the care you give, the love you give, the service you provide. You are gonna sit this one out and go inward yet again. Have several seats and get your list of boundaries so you are not overdoing and hurting yourself in the process. This Eclipse is casting its shadow on personal power or lack of thereof. Somewhere in there you forgot who the fuck you are. It's time to remember you are a dynamic, divine being. Accept your greatness and move on.

Cancer - This moon energy has thrown a wrench in all of your plans. The goal was to help you see that you can be your biggest enemy. You make choices sometimes that pull you away from all the blessings you have in your hands. You may lose some things so that you may learn to appreciate some things. I know it feels frustrating because everything was going so well and then it all derailed....Let this be looked at as divine intervention umkay. This Eclipse is casting its shadow on your relationships how you manage them and who you have them with. You may have a hard time listening to your gut during this cycle. Get some guidance for once you could gain some insight that gets you back on track to winning.

Leo - Trying to create with others is not the way to go this moon cycle. You will have miscommunications and misunderstandings and who knows what else. You got some good ideas but at the wrong time. Wait it out and once Mercury goes direct try again. This Eclipse is casting its light on ya mouth. Watch what you say and to whom. Don't get caught up in drama or gossip it will backfire yo ass so swift you will think you got hit,

Virgo - The world is trying to tell you to slow and steady wins the race but you ain't been listening. Do you okay but just know that this tendency to think you know better will show you exactly where you went wrong when it's too late. The Eclipse is casting its shadow on the details. Make sure you check your mail, email, messages, schedules so you don't overbook, underbook or double book ya self. Be extra Virgo about all this stuff so you don't have too many "Doh" moments

Libra - You trying to fly out the nest but you need to settle for a Staycation cause this retrograde energy will mess up all your plans. This Eclipse is casting its shadow on your temper. This is a great time for breathwork, grounding and following the way of the peaceful warrior cause you aint gon' win none of the fights you find yourself in.

Scorpio - Hold on to ya coins. This ain't the time to sign the deal. This retrograde energy will have you regretting all the decisions you make right now, While you wait you can use this time dreaming, creating, or making money instead of spending money. This Eclipse is casting its shadow on your feelings. Ima tell this heaux to leave you alone and let you be. It's too much for you anyway. This is not a time when I'm gonna tell you to go deep into that scary darkness. This time ima let you turn a night light on while you focus on some unexpected blessing falling out the sky for you.

Sagittarius - Out with the old in with the new. New you boo boo. Since you are changing and growing, so are your needs, hopes and dreams. This could also factor in your need to change you who fucking with.  Everybody can't come where you are growing, they won't fit in the car nor the life you are dreaming to have. It's ok you won't miss them when you're happy doing something or someone else. This Eclipse is casting its shadow on your communication especially with people you're romantically connected to. If you are booed up check in on thangs so you stay that way.

Capricorn - Hey Cappy this moon will have all your shit fucked up...ok that was dramatic as hell and you didn't deserve that but if I said it nicely you wouldn't take me seriously.  You can be practical and go over all meeting details 100 times. I say surrender to the bitch and just blame everything on the retrograde. This Eclipse is casting its shadow on your transformation. You've been doing some work on yourself, now it is a good time to do an assessment of these changes and chart your progress. Shift somethings if its needed

Aquarius - Your path is the way of the solo wanderer. Your best magic is done in the privacy of your own space, cooking up a good meal and spending time with the emotions no one knows you have.  The Eclipse is casting its shadow on the drama brewing with the comrades. Your job is to whistle and walk on by when the bullshit starts flying around. You can try some comic relief to lighten up the mood or you can simply let the bomb go off after you have left the building of course.

Pisces - Playing small won't get you nothing at all. You are a Boss so embrace it. This is a great time to release some old feelings of worthiness, imposter syndrome of just lack of confidence. You got this, believe me. This Eclipse is casting its shadow on your homegirl/boy crew.  Some people aint gon' make it on your new team and let that be ok. We tend to grow apart from folks when we start doing the work. Misery wants company but evolution wants the light.

Extra Tea 

Weed Strains for your sign. Puff Good

Make yourself some good ass Moon Water. Set a full jar of spring water (lid on) in the Moon light and let this energy charge it up. Harvest before daybreak. Drink it for a charge, bath in it for a cleanse, give it to your plants for a blessing.

This is a Super Moon and this Eclipse has taken the energy to another level. We could use some help so I recommend charging up your Blue Lace Agate. This stone will help you manage the Geminis Sun and Sagittarius Moon energy since together they could have you combobulated. Blue Lace Agate is good for helping you get your thoughts together, it will help you pull those repressed feelings to the surface so you can release them. I appreciate the way it helps me stand firm in my truth...whatever truth that is in the moment. This is a perfect stone to use when you need help activating your throat chakra. If you don't already have some now would be a good time to getchoo some.

Created for Moon Tes Subscribers. Get the tea in your inbox twice a month. Send me a message and ill sign you up.

Bushmama Africa

Multidisciplinary Artist, Curator, Workshop Facilitator

Spiritual Life Coach, Intuitive Astrologist

Culture Preservationist, Sex Trafficking Abolitionist

[jodyedgarus]

Why Kevin Durant’s Shoes Keep Falling Off

IT’S DEC. 6 in Charlotte, North Carolina, and a sold-out crowd files into the Spectrum Center. The world champion Golden State Warriors are in town for their lone trip to the Tar Heel State this season. And though Queen City native Stephen Curry isn’t in uniform, due to a right ankle injury he sustained just two days prior, Kevin Durant is doing his best to make up for whatever gap in enthusiasm might exist. Durant is drilling one rainbow jumper after the next while piecing together what will ultimately become a 35-point, 11-rebound, 10-assist triple-double on the way to a wire-to-wire 101-87 road win.

But for how easy Durant makes it all look, on this night, he manages to dominate while overcoming the greatest on-court obstacle he’s ever known.

Kevin Durant loses his shoes more than any player in NBA history.

Indeed, if one could identify an Achilles’ heel in Durant’s game, it might be the feckless nature of the shoes that swaddle his Achilles’ heel. Just after halftime, with Golden State up 55-43, Durant backpedals in transition following a Warriors’ turnover, then successfully contests a Michael Kidd-Gilchrist layup. And then, as he grabs the rebound and begins a fast break going the other way, Kidd-Gilchrist steps on the back of his foot, causing Durant’s black-and-white, yellow-swooshed KD10 to briefly soar into the air.

And nine minutes later, it happens again — this time as Durant launches a baseline fadeaway over Nicolas Batum, who also comes down on the back of Durant’s right shoe. After the whistle, Durant bends his 7-foot-tall, Gumby-like frame, reaches down, and slides the shoe back on his foot without as much as re-tying it.

It’s almost as if it’s something that happens so much, it hardly merits notice. Which is exactly the case.

THE 2017-18 CAMPAIGN had just begun, but Kevin Durant was already in midseason, shoe-shedding form.

Immediately after halftime on Oct. 20 in New Orleans, with Golden State down by 13 points, Durant finished a tough layup off the wrong foot after Tony Allen stepped on the back of his left heel, losing the sneaker in the process. Durant hustled to grab the shoe as the Pelicans pushed the ball back down the floor, but then — after realizing he wouldn’t have enough time during the play to put it back on his foot — opted to fling it toward the sideline. The choice to free up his right hand ended up being a wise one: After a New Orleans misfire and offensive rebound, Durant swatted not one, but two of Allen’s shots at the rim with just a single sneaker.

Three nights later in Dallas, as Durant was going up for a defensive rebound in the second period, he lost his left shoe and could only watch as future Hall of Famer Dirk Nowitzki put back a Mavericks’ miss. Fast forward six days, back home at Oracle Arena against the Pistons, and Durant lost the left shoe again during an awkward first-quarter fall while trying to swat an Andre Drummond layup. He managed to shed a sneaker on consecutive nights in March, too, jumping out of his right shoe while jostling with San Antonio’s LaMarcus Aldridge for a rebound, then losing a shoe on that same foot the next game after getting stepped on by teammate JaVale McGee while guarding Moe Harkless in Portland.

It’s happened in blowouts, like the 21- and 24-point laughers against the Mavs and Nuggets on back-to-back nights last season. And just as often, it’s happened in some of the biggest, most scrutinized games of Durant’s pro career.

His shoes ran away from his feet twice during that epic 2016 Thunder-Warriors Western Conference finals, in which Oklahoma City lost a 3-1 lead and set the stage for Durant to join Golden State in free agency two months later. He blew a tire two times during the Olympic Games in Rio that summer, including once in the middle of the gold-medal game against Serbia. Durant’s right shoe came off during his wildly hyped, highly contentious first game back in OKC. The right kick also went flying last June during Game 5 of the NBA Finals — the same night he would go on to win his first NBA championship and be crowned Finals MVP.

And then, in Game 5 of the just-completed Western Conference Finals, it happened not once … but twice: The first time, Durant’s right shoe came loose with a minute left in the first quarter as he finished a layup. The second came just 30 minutes of game-time later, when the same right shoe came all the way unglued after biting on an Eric Gordon head-fake at the 3-point line — a foul that gave Houston three free throws — and an 84-80 lead — with just under seven minutes left in the game.

https://fivethirtyeight.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/kdshoe_2017-18_final.mp4

All told, an extensive video analysis of Durant’s games from the past three regular seasons and postseasons reveals that the four-time scoring champ has come out of his shoe at least 31 times since the beginning of the 2015-16 campaign. That number, compiled against 20 different NBA teams, equates to losing a sneaker roughly every eight games or so — a mind-bogglingly high figure considering that Durant has had his own signature Nike shoe, designed to fit the unique contours of his feet, dating back to 2008.

“His shoe comes off more than anyone I’ve ever seen,” says teammate Draymond Green.

The question, of course, is why.

THE THEORIES FLY as fast and as far as the footwear that flings from the forward’s feet.

Perhaps it’s the shoes? With all due respect to Spike Lee, it’s gotta be the shoes, right?

It is, for sure, worth considering the changes that have been made to Durant’s signature sneaker in recent years. Leo Chang, the designer behind Durant’s shoes for more than a decade, told ESPN sneaker expert Nick DePaula that he loosened the bootie — the part of the shoe you slide your foot in through — to make them easier to put on and take off. The push to make the shoe more accessible with a tongueless design happened with the release of the KD9, which came out in 2016 — timing that meshes with when Durant began conspicuously losing his shoe at a noticeable clip. (A Nike spokesman declined comment for this piece.)

Or maybe it’s the feet?

Indeed, Kevin Durant somewhat famously possesses some of the longest, narrowest feet that anyone who’s witnessed them has ever seen — ones that, when paired with his chicken legs, look a lot like the blades at the ends of hockey sticks.

“My feet are so weird, man. I’ve got flat feet. I’ve got all sorts of calluses and corns on my feet,” says Durant, who wears orthotics and two pairs of socks during games in hopes of reducing friction.

But longtime Warriors equipment manager Eric Housen, who, despite being in his mid-40s, has worked 29 years with the team, has an altogether different theory.

Having seen everything that Durant is asked to do for Golden State — be a primary scorer who can attack at all three levels, a switchy perimeter defender capable of handling the opposing club’s No. 1 option and occasionally even a rim protector who cleans up back-end mistakes — Housen feels the superstar’s versatility is a factor in the shoes coming off so frequently. No player, aside from perhaps Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo, is called upon to do as much.

https://fivethirtyeight.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/kdshoe_2016-17_final.mp4

“He constantly has to change direction because of the different roles he plays,” says Housen, who’s taken a rather keen interest in this subject, which sometimes makes extra work for him. Housen recalls racing through the arena in New Orleans during the play where Durant tossed his sneaker toward the Pelicans’ sideline because Housen wanted to ensure no one disadvantaged the Warriors forward by playing Keep Away with his shoe as action on the court continued.

Like countless other young basketballers, Durant developed a fascination with sneakers at a young age. But getting new pairs of shoes on a regular basis wasn’t realistic at times for the superstar forward, who’s spoken openly about his humble beginnings in Seat Pleasant, Maryland.

“We couldn’t afford the Pennys, the Pippens, the Jordans,” Durant told The Oklahoman in 2011. “I had one pair of Team Jordans and I wore them everywhere. I hooped in them, played football in them. I had some Shaqs from K-Mart and a pair of Tim Duncans. But I couldn’t get a bunch of different ones like I wanted.” He was an Eastbay magazine die-hard, but the only size-11s his mother could get him from the catalogue were Lisa Leslie’s and Sheryl Swoopes’s Nike models.

It’s perhaps not unrelated, Housen notes, that for a star player — one who’s literally provided an endless supply of sneakers by Nike, and could wear new kicks every game if he truly wanted to — Durant very rarely moves on to a different pair compared to other NBA players.

Thunder star Paul George said he prefers the feeling of a new shoe when he steps out on the court. “Fresh out of the box,” he says. Ex-Warriors guard Larry Hughes was the same way during his time in Golden State. Dwyane Wade used to go through as many as three pairs in the same game, citing how sweaty his feet would get in certain sneakers. Durant is the opposite.

“Kevin really hates wearing a pair that’s brand new. He likes them boys worn, and then he’ll stick with them consistently, for a long time,” Housen says, adding that he even prefers to use the same pair for both practice and games. “He doesn’t care if they match the uniform that night. He’s just, ‘Those are my shoes — the shoes I practice in, the shoes I play in.’ So I just bring them back and forth for him, and he lets me know when he’s ready to start over with a new pair.” (One indication of all this: Durant’s brand-new sneaker, the KD 11, is available for him to wear now. And Nike’s initial plan was for him to market the shoe to the basketball world by playing in them during the high-profile Western Conference Finals against Houston. But true to form, Durant has yet to wear the shoe, which is slated to be released to the public in June.)

For as long as he uses the same pair of shoes now, Durant actually used to wear them for even longer stretches during his first few years in the league. Chang, the Nike designer, has said that Durant used to only switch out his shoes three or four times per season, the equivalent of once every 23 games. So perhaps, instead, Durant is not giving himself enough time to break in the sneakers — a premise that seems more plausible given that almost 40 percent of his shoe-shed incidents have taken place during the first month of a season, when he’s still getting used to wearing them.

Durant’s explanation for this is simple. “If I feel something is right, I just like to stay in it,” he said. Asked how long he’ll stay in the same pair, Durant thought for a second. “Usually about three weeks — maybe every eight games?”

Here’s a fun fact: That’s the exact frequency with which he sheds a shoe out on the court.

There is one other possible explanation, though.

NEARLY EVERY VETERAN teammate of Durant’s who’s played with him at least a few months — after initially wondering why the hell he loses a shoe so often — has busted his chops over the habit. (Well, nearly every teammate, save for Steph Curry. “I give him shit all the time about stuff, but no, I don’t go there — it’s … a sensitive subject,” Curry says, an apparent reference to the rival sneaker brands that the players promote.)

And while there’s evidence that he lost a shoe during a game as early as 2010, most all observers of this streak of sole-baring agree that it wasn’t always this bad. Those who played with Durant prior to him becoming NBA royalty express genuine bewilderment over how he suddenly began losing his sneakers so often these past few years.

“It never happened at all when we were in school,” says Orlando Magic guard D.J. Augustin, who starred at the University of Texas with Durant before becoming a lottery pick in 2008. “The funny thing is, I never realized exactly how much it happened until I played with him in Oklahoma City his last year there. And there it felt like it just kept happening every few games.”

Nick Collison, Durant’s teammate for nine seasons in Seattle and Oklahoma City, says he and others stayed on him about it constantly. “The funny thing is, I know it’s not the shoes, because I wore the KDs for years, laced them up tight, and literally never had a problem with them,” says Collison, who recently announced his retirement. “But we were constantly telling him to tie his shoes. All the time.”

And still: Durant continues to opt against re-tying his shoe whenever one falls off. Instead, he simply stuffs his foot back in and continues playing as if nothing happened.

Every now and then, if a student of the subject studies hard enough, they might see a look of frustration cross Shoeless Kevin’s face. Review the video from that last season he spent with the Thunder, and they’ll find an instance of him losing both shoes — on his left foot, and then his right — within the same minute or so of action during a November game in Houston. Upon collecting the second shoe, he stands straight up and briefly stares into space before grabbing the right sneaker as if it’s somehow betrayed him.

https://fivethirtyeight.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/kdshoe_2015-16_final.mp4

On a chilly April morning in Indianapolis, after months of studying the phenomenon, I finally got around to asking Durant about all this. Upon hearing the question — basically, how can anyone’s shoes fall off as often as yours do? — he laughed before unfolding an enormous ear-to-ear grin. Then came the moment of sole-searching truth; the reason he finds himself picking up left-behind sneakers more frequently than a Payless Shoes store associate.

“Anything too tight on my body as I play, I feel like it restricts me a little bit. I don’t wear the arm sleeves, the undershirts, the finger tape, the wristbands, or none of that stuff,” he said. “I’m already skinny as it is, and I don’t need anything else weighing me down. I want to be aerodynamic out there, and I guess that’s how I think of my shoes as well.”

And so it is, that to achieve that featherweight feeling, Durant wears a size-18 while on the court — one full size bigger than what he wears when in casual settings.

“These are like slippers, man, and I just try to be as efficient as I can when I create what I want out there. I don’t want something that’s too bulky. So, sometimes they may come off, but the good thing is, I can slip them back on and keep playing.”

All of which seems like a slightly crazy notion — and one that would benefit the opposition — until you realize the extent to which it’s the opposite.

On a per-100 possession basis, Kevin Durant has averaged 114 points when occupying the court without a shoe1 — more than triple the 36 points per 100 possessions he posted this past season. Looping in his other stats, he logged five dimes and five turnovers per 100 possessions sans a shoe, while shooting 9-for-12, or 75 percent.

So perhaps there’s really little mystery at all to why Durant sees little need for both his sneakers. If you could morph into the next coming of Wilt Chamberlain, you might not find it vital to tighten your shoes up, either.

from News About Sports https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/why-kevin-durants-shoes-keep-falling-off/