#Chasing Butterflies 4 series

[a-reader-and-a-writer]

Sweeter Than Revenge Part 4

Fandom: Twisters, Tyler Owens, f!reader, Scott's Sister!reader Summary: The next morning, you get to learn a little more about Tyler's past and what makes him the way he is. But after he introduces you to his crew, you find out some things that have you second-guessing your connection with him... Word Count: 3847 TW: Fluff, Flirting, Doubt, Developing Feelings, Unrequited Feelings (or are they...), Description of Reader's Clothes Notes: A massive thank you to @blue-aconite and @green-socks for reading this over for me and for all the constant support! And to @mayhem24-7forever for always answering my late-night panicked messages

Divider created by me (please ask/credit before using)

Series Masterlist

The next morning, Tyler knocked on your door at exactly 7:30. You were actually pretty sure you heard him walk up a few minutes before, but you hadn’t peeked out because you wanted to see how long he would stand there before announcing himself. However, the second he knocked, you swung open the door with your bag slung over your shoulder and your sunglasses snuggly settled on your face. Tyler’s hand was still raised, leaning forward to knock again, and he was taken off guard. You bit your lip to hide your smile as he quickly caught himself and straightened up. 

He was wearing what appeared to be the same boots and jeans from the night before (you had noticed a small oil stain on his right thigh when he was driving), but he had exchanged his flannel shirt for a dark maroon long-sleeved denim button-down, his sunglasses tucked into the collar. And of course, his off-white cowboy hat was proudly perched on top of his head.

You, on the other hand, had opted for an outfit rather different from the one you wore the previous night. Gone was the plunging, sheer top and itty-bitty cut-offs. Instead, you chose a comfortably fitting faded band shirt and mid-thigh cargo shorts. You had spent way too long considering your attire for the day and what Tyler may think of each option, but you finally settled on something less impressive but more yourself. It still made you feel attractive, yet comfortable.

And based on the way his eyes roamed across your body, Tyler approved of this decision. “Good morning, sweetheart. You look as beautiful as ever.”

“Thank you,” you said, stepping out into the hall and using the fact you had to lock the door as a reason to hide your face for a moment. “I wasn’t sure what one was supposed to wear to go tornado wranglin’ but this seemed like a safe choice.”

“Unlike your brother’s team, we don’t do uniforms or dress codes so whatever you wanted to wear would have been fine. In fact, just for the hell of it, Boone and I have gone on a few chases wearing nothing at all. But you won’t see those videos on our YouTube channel.” He winked at you before sliding your backpack off your shoulder and placing it on his own. Then he added, “Don’t get me wrong, I loved what you were wearing last night too, but this just…it feels more you.”

The butterflies that had laid dormant since last night once again sprang to life in your stomach. “Seems you’ve got me figured out pretty quickly there, Mr. Owens. Anything else you’ve noticed about me?”

“Let’s see…” Placing his arm over your shoulder, he began to steer you towards the stairs as he thought. “You have a sarcastic, confident shell you hide behind so people don’t see how vulnerable you feel. You know how to use your looks to your advantage in certain situations, but otherwise seem to forget how breathtaking you are. And—” you had started to turn at his last comment, but he placed his finger under your chin and tilted your head towards him “—you like to hide your face when someone compliments you, though I’m not sure yet if it’s because you don’t want them to see how their words affect you or if you don’t think you deserve the praise. Maybe a bit of both.”

You shifted under the weight of his sage-green gaze. “You make me sound like I’m heading into a battle with my armor, my weapon, and my shield.” 

“Maybe you are. Is that how it feels to you?”

In fact, it sometimes was, though you weren’t going to admit that. You rolled your eyes instead, trying to hide how rattled you were by his spot-on assessment. “Geez, and here I thought you were a tornado wrangler, not a therapist.” Shifting the topic off of yourself, you asked, “When did you learn to read people so well?”

Now it was Tyler’s turn to become uncomfortable. His eyes flickered away for the first time and he muttered, “...I’d rather not say.”

If he had seemed hurt or sad or uneasy as the two of you made your way down to the first floor, you would have dropped it immediately. However, the way he avoided eye contact now after just staring at you so intently, plus the slight redness spreading up his neck and face, told you he was hiding it for a very different reason. And after all the times you had been embarrassed in front of him, you weren’t going to let this opportunity go. 

You slipped from under his arm and turned to face him as you reached the top of the stairs. “Well, now you have to tell me! You can’t just tease me with something like that and expect me to drop it! Besides, all we’ve done since we met is talk about me and my messed up life. Let me learn something about you for once.”

He sighed, chewing on the inside of his lip, then said, “Okay, you asked.” As the two of you began walking down to the ground floor, he said, “Back before I got into storm chasing, I used to compete in the rodeo circuit.”

“Really?” you asked. “I didn’t know that. Have you ever mentioned that on your channel?”

“Nah. It was another life. But, one of the things you learn when you’re left staring down a 2,000-pound bull is how to be observant. You gotta notice every little shift or twitch he makes to predict what he’s gonna do and how to stay outta his way. And after a while, it just becomes a habit you do with everyone you meet.”

You raised one eyebrow. “Oh, so you noticed all those things about me because you were examining me like a bull about to charge you?”

“Pretty much, yeah,” he chuckled. “Which is why I didn’t want to tell you. Most girls don’t tend to like it when you compare them to a cow.” 

“Well, I’m not most girls,” you said as you reached the bottom of the stairs and faced him once more.

He smiled, his eyes sparkling in the morning light. “I’ve noticed. You’re definitely keeping me on my toes.”

“Oh?” you asked, taking a step closer to him. “Afraid you won’t get out of my way in time?”

He leaned over until the brim of his hat just grazed the top of your head. “I haven’t decided if I want to yet.”

Staring into his eyes, you felt that same zap of electricity from the night before zooming through your body. You watched his tongue peek out, slowly wet his lips, and, without meaning to, you leaned in closer until—

Slam!

Jumping at the loud noise to your left, you and Tyler both turned to see Scott glaring at the two of you as the Storm PAR team swarmed around their vehicles, loading up their gear. Scott had just slammed the sliding door on the van marked “Wizard” and, after spitting his gum on the ground and popping in a new piece, eyes trained on you the entire time, he climbed into the front seat of Scarecrow and started the engine. You saw Javi approaching Lion and he lifted his hand, giving you a small, apologetic smile that you returned. Then he climbed into the truck and the Storm PAR team pulled out of the lot. 

Whatever spell you and Tyler had been under now broken, you resumed walking towards the cluster of Wranglers’ vehicles. There was an awkward tension in the air you had never felt around him before and, in an attempt to break it, you asked, “So, is that how you read tornados so well? You approach them the same way you approached a bull?”

He shrugged, seemingly as happy to get back to the earlier conversation as you were. “More or less. There’s more science that goes into it but you just have to make careful observations and then, ultimately, go with your gut. Even if that means ignoring what all the data is telling you.”

“And that works?”

“Most of the time.”

“And when it doesn’t?”

He grinned as he approached the side of an old, beat-up camper van. “Then you better hope you have a great team watching your back.” With that, he banged twice on the side of the van.

The doors flew open and four people jumped out. You recognized them all from their YouTube videos as the other members of Tyler’s crew, but you couldn’t remember any of their names except for Boone. He was the other man you had seen with Tyler in the diner parking lot when you first arrived and he always manned the handheld camera in the videos, making commentary and jokes as Tyler drove them into a storm.

Tyler quickly introduced you to everyone. He had already filled them in on who you were and that you would be riding with them for the next week or so. You had been slightly worried about how they would feel about you tagging along given how Scott had responded to the idea of you going on a chase. However, they swarmed around you excitedly and immediately began to chat about how much you were going to love your first storm as if you had known them for ages.

It was such a stark difference from your brother’s reaction. Where he was instantly dismissive and challenged your bravery, each and every one of the Wranglers welcomed you with open arms, giving you heads-ups about what it would be like out there and assuring you it was fine to react in different ways. They even shared their various first storm chases and how they had responded (it was comforting to know that even Boone, who seemed as reckless and wild—if not more so—as Tyler, had torn a vocal chord “screaming like a little girl” the first time Tyler had planted the truck in the middle of a storm).

Your head was on a constant swivel as each of your four new friends talked over one another, and as you moved to turn from Dexter explaining the different tracking equipment the crew used to monitor storms to Dani explaining the upgrades that had been made to Tyler’s truck, you caught sight of Tyler. He was several feet away from the mob surrounding you, leaning his shoulder against the van with his arms folded across his chest, amusement gleaming in his eyes as he watched the chaos around you. Seeing the slight panic in your eyes, he chuckled softly to himself before pushing off the side of the van and clapping his hands to get everyone’s attention.

“All right guys, give her room to breathe. She’ll be here for at least a week so no need to tell her your whole life stories in the first five minutes. She’s still getting used to things around here and we don’t wanna scare her off.” As they all apologized and backed away, you tried to assure them you were fine but Tyler came over and placed his hands on your shoulders. “It’s alright, sweetheart, we’re just all a little excited to have some fresh blood around here. Now, Dexter, is there any breakfast left? I’m starved and I doubt she’s eaten either.”

You tried to insist you were fine, but the words died in your throat as Dexter opened the door to the camper van and the sticky sweet smell of freshly syruped pancakes hit your nose, eliciting a loud growl from your stomach. Tyler must have heard it because he chuckled and began directing you towards the van, walking behind you as he steered you by your shoulders. 

As you ate, it was decided that today you would ride in the camper van with Dani and Dexter so you could get close to the storms, yet not have to immediately dive into one. At first, you wanted to object, thinking they meant that figuratively. But then you remembered the videos you had seen of Tyler and Boone driving straight into the center of a tornado, and, realizing they meant that literally, you agreed it was probably for the best. Part of you wanted to impress Tyler and jump into his truck anyway, but Scott’s comment that you would get too scared and force his team to end the chase early echoed in your mind. 

You were still a little disappointed Tyler’s “embarrassing secret” he had tried to keep hidden this morning was not embarrassing at all. Instead, you had just prodded him into sharing something that made him seem infinitely cooler than he already had. And, once again, you were reminded of the fact that since you two had met, you had spent the majority of the time either complaining about how much of a jerk your brother was, how shitty of a person you used to be, or crying into his shoulder. Meanwhile, here he was, this daredevil tornado wrangler who learned how to read people by staring down deadly bulls for a living and looked like most women’s cowboy wet dream come to life. 

You wanted to prove to him that you were more than what he had seen so far—that you were worthy of all the time and attention he was giving you. If you told Tyler you wanted to ride with him, you had no doubt he would let you. But what if Scott was right and you freaked out as soon as you neared a tornado? What if you had a panic attack or somehow caused the Wranglers to turn back instead of diving into the storm? They made their money—money they used to help others—from their videos. A video they would not be able to post if they couldn’t record a storm because you were having a complete meltdown. 

So, at least for today, you climbed into the back of the camper van as everyone got ready to chase their first storm of the day.

Dani and Dexter were an interesting pair. Dani was brash and loud, riding with her boots propped up on the dashboard as she slouched in her seat, all the while telling you jokes and poking fun at the other Wranglers. Dexter was more reserved at first, but the longer Dani talked, the more comfortable he seemed and he began joining in. You could tell by how they interacted, often speaking over the other or laughing at a joke before it got to the punchline, that they spent a lot of time together and had a close bond. It was really nice to see. You thought about how stiff and professional the members of Storm PAR seemed and you found yet another reason to be thankful Scott had turned you away. There was no way you would be having this much fun with his team.

As time went on and the clouds above you began to darken, Dexter began to explain how storms were formed, what kinds of conditions were necessary for them, the destruction they could cause, and how much scientists still didn’t know about them. Dani rested her head in her hand, looking half-asleep as she struggled to listen to information you were sure she had heard a million times before, but you were captivated.

Just as Dexter began telling you how the radar in the center console worked, the radio crackled to life and Tyler’s voice, distorted slightly through the ancient speaker, came through. “You okay back there, sweetheart?” Dani picked up the receiver and passed it back to you. “Dani and Dexter aren’t just bickering the whole time, are they?”

You laughed as both Dani and Dexter objected to that statement. “No, they’re great. Dexter’s been teaching me all about the science behind the storms. It’s been much more interesting than those dry reports Scotty left behind.” You saw Dexter beaming in the rearview mirror and you smiled back at him.

“Well, just don’t let him get started on funnel formation or you might change your mind.” Dexter shot a stern glance at the radio as Dani looked out the window, swallowing a laugh. Then, lowering his voice slightly so it felt like he was speaking to you and you alone, Tyler said, “I can’t wait to get you up here with me so I can show you the storm through my eyes.”

Clutching the radio closer to your face, you smiled softly. “That sounds amazing. I can’t wait. And Tyler, I—” You wanted to thank him again for everything he was doing for you. For welcoming you into his life without a second thought and introducing you to these other people who were already starting to feel more like family than your own flesh-in-blood. But, more than that, you wanted to thank him for the way he always made you feel as if he was actually excited you were there—that you were wanted. But just as you were trying to find the words to express those feelings, you remembered the rest of the team could hear you and you quickly cleared your throat. “Um, just be safe up there. You can’t show me anything tomorrow if you do something stupid today.”

“You heard the lady, Boone. Guess we’re taking it easy today.” You heard Boone muttering his objection and you could almost see his pout through the radio. “Cell should be coming up on our left. Y’all enjoy the show.”

The radio clicked off, but you continued staring at the receiver, cupping it close to your chest as you thought about all the things you wished you had been able to say to him.

Glancing back at you, Dani and Dexter exchanged a look before chuckling to themselves. Looking up, you asked, “What?”

“Oh, nothing,” Dani said, examining her nails. “Just seems that someone’s already fallen under the spell of the ol’ Owens charm.”

You raised an eyebrow. “‘The ol’ Owens charm’?”

“You know exactly what I mean. Believe it or not, he doesn’t do it on purpose, it’s just who he is and he can’t turn it off if he tried—not that he even realizes he’s doing it. He’s just naturally one smooth SOB that anyone could find hard to resist.”

A vice suddenly tightened around your heart making it hard to breathe. Was…was that all this was? Did Tyler treat everyone he met with the same kind of attention and kindness? Were you reading into his actions more than you should? 

Trying to maintain a blank expression, you shook your head. “Well, it’s not like that. He’s just letting me hang out with you guys to piss off my brother.”

“That’s what he said…but I’ve seen that look before,” Dani said smugly. 

“Dani…” Dexter muttered, giving her a pointed glance.

“What look?” you asked.

“The one you had when Tyler was talking to you. Like you were soaring on cloud nine and he was the only other person up there with you. Happens all the time.”

“Dani,” Dexter said a little louder.

But she either didn’t hear him or ignored him as she continued, “It doesn’t help that he’s so damn noble on top of everything. You should see the things he does when we stop by a town that has just been hit. He’s almost been crushed in more destroyed houses than I can count trying to go back for a kid’s teddy bear or a family’s photo album. The guy just can’t say no to someone in need.”

“Dani!”

“What?” She glanced at her friend then back to you and her smile faded. She must have noticed the way you had folded in on yourself, your arms wrapped tightly around your middle as you tried to process everything she had said. 

Stuttering slightly, Dani tried to backtrack. “Hey, listen, I didn’t mean…” She sighed and ran her hand through her dark hair. “I might be wrong. Tyler’s never invited someone to join the team outta nowhere like this. And he’s seemed different since he came back from your date yesterday.”

“It wasn’t a dat—” you mumbled, but she cut you off.

“Whatever it was. He’s had even more swagger in his step than usual and, this morning, he checked his watch like a million times to make sure he wasn’t late meeting you at your room. And Tyler never gets wound up like that for anyone. Right, Dexter?” The man nodded, and Dani smiled as if to say “see? I told you”. But then her smile dimmed slightly. “Just…just be careful. You seem like a really nice girl and none of us want to see you get hurt. So maybe know where you stand with him before you let yourself fall too hard.”

“Thanks,” you said, letting your arms unfold slightly. You were still questioning every interaction you had had with Tyler, but knowing you might have had some effect on him did make you feel a little better.

“Plus, you’ve been a lot of fun to have around and I’d hate for you to leave because Tyler can’t see what a catch he has in front of him.” Dani winked at you, and you gave her a small smile. 

You lean forward and hand her the radio. In an attempt to break some of the tension that has now filled the camper van, you asked Dexter to resume what he was saying when Tyler called. But as he happily returns to explaining the radar monitor, the excitement you had previously had listening to his lessons had evaporated. Instead, all you could think about was Tyler.

You thought about the way he held you close to his chest last night, his arms wrapped around you as you cried. You thought about the way he defended you to Scott, how he said you had found someone willing to give you their “attention and love”. You thought about that spark of electricity flowing between you as he pressed his lips to the back of your hand, and how that same spark seemed to gleam in his eyes before he left. You thought about this morning as you had leaned in to kiss Tyler, and how for just a brief moment before Scott’s slamming truck door ruined the moment, you swore you saw Tyler begin to lean in too.

Were you just seeing what your smitten heart wanted to see? 

The more you thought about it, the more you realized Dani was right. You needed to know for sure how Tyler felt before your feelings for him grew any stronger. If he was just being nice and that was all, that was fine. You were supposed to be here to get revenge on Scott, not to fall in love. So if that was the case, you would stuff down these developing feelings and try your best to forget them. But if Tyler really did feel this same magnetic pull that you did, well…that would be great to know too.

Part 5 coming 9/9!

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[a-reader-and-a-writer-for-all]

Sweeter Than Revenge Part 4

Fandom: Twisters, Tyler Owens, f!reader, Scott's Sister!reader Summary: The next morning, you get to learn a little more about Tyler's past and what makes him the way he is. But after he introduces you to his crew, you find out some things that have you second-guessing your connection with him... Word Count: 3847 TW: Fluff, Flirting, Doubt, Developing Feelings, Unrequited Feelings (or are they...), Description of Reader's Clothes Notes: A massive thank you to @blue-aconite and @green-socks for reading this over for me and for all the constant support! And to @mayhem24-7forever for always answering my late-night panicked messages

Divider created by me (please ask/credit before using)

Series Masterlist

The next morning, Tyler knocked on your door at exactly 7:30. You were actually pretty sure you heard him walk up a few minutes before, but you hadn’t peeked out because you wanted to see how long he would stand there before announcing himself. However, the second he knocked, you swung open the door with your bag slung over your shoulder and your sunglasses snuggly settled on your face. Tyler’s hand was still raised, leaning forward to knock again, and he was taken off guard. You bit your lip to hide your smile as he quickly caught himself and straightened up. 

He was wearing what appeared to be the same boots and jeans from the night before (you had noticed a small oil stain on his right thigh when he was driving), but he had exchanged his flannel shirt for a dark maroon long-sleeved denim button-down, his sunglasses tucked into the collar. And of course, his off-white cowboy hat was proudly perched on top of his head.

You, on the other hand, had opted for an outfit rather different from the one you wore the previous night. Gone was the plunging, sheer top and itty-bitty cut-offs. Instead, you chose a comfortably fitting faded band shirt and mid-thigh cargo shorts. You had spent way too long considering your attire for the day and what Tyler may think of each option, but you finally settled on something less impressive but more yourself. It still made you feel attractive, yet comfortable.

And based on the way his eyes roamed across your body, Tyler approved of this decision. “Good morning, sweetheart. You look as beautiful as ever.”

“Thank you,” you said, stepping out into the hall and using the fact you had to lock the door as a reason to hide your face for a moment. “I wasn’t sure what one was supposed to wear to go tornado wranglin’ but this seemed like a safe choice.”

“Unlike your brother’s team, we don’t do uniforms or dress codes so whatever you wanted to wear would have been fine. In fact, just for the hell of it, Boone and I have gone on a few chases wearing nothing at all. But you won’t see those videos on our YouTube channel.” He winked at you before sliding your backpack off your shoulder and placing it on his own. Then he added, “Don’t get me wrong, I loved what you were wearing last night too, but this just…it feels more you.”

The butterflies that had laid dormant since last night once again sprang to life in your stomach. “Seems you’ve got me figured out pretty quickly there, Mr. Owens. Anything else you’ve noticed about me?”

“Let’s see…” Placing his arm over your shoulder, he began to steer you towards the stairs as he thought. “You have a sarcastic, confident shell you hide behind so people don’t see how vulnerable you feel. You know how to use your looks to your advantage in certain situations, but otherwise seem to forget how breathtaking you are. And—” you had started to turn at his last comment, but he placed his finger under your chin and tilted your head towards him “—you like to hide your face when someone compliments you, though I’m not sure yet if it’s because you don’t want them to see how their words affect you or if you don’t think you deserve the praise. Maybe a bit of both.”

You shifted under the weight of his sage-green gaze. “You make me sound like I’m heading into a battle with my armor, my weapon, and my shield.” 

“Maybe you are. Is that how it feels to you?”

In fact, it sometimes was, though you weren’t going to admit that. You rolled your eyes instead, trying to hide how rattled you were by his spot-on assessment. “Geez, and here I thought you were a tornado wrangler, not a therapist.” Shifting the topic off of yourself, you asked, “When did you learn to read people so well?”

Now it was Tyler’s turn to become uncomfortable. His eyes flickered away for the first time and he muttered, “...I’d rather not say.”

If he had seemed hurt or sad or uneasy as the two of you made your way down to the first floor, you would have dropped it immediately. However, the way he avoided eye contact now after just staring at you so intently, plus the slight redness spreading up his neck and face, told you he was hiding it for a very different reason. And after all the times you had been embarrassed in front of him, you weren’t going to let this opportunity go. 

You slipped from under his arm and turned to face him as you reached the top of the stairs. “Well, now you have to tell me! You can’t just tease me with something like that and expect me to drop it! Besides, all we’ve done since we met is talk about me and my messed up life. Let me learn something about you for once.”

He sighed, chewing on the inside of his lip, then said, “Okay, you asked.” As the two of you began walking down to the ground floor, he said, “Back before I got into storm chasing, I used to compete in the rodeo circuit.”

“Really?” you asked. “I didn’t know that. Have you ever mentioned that on your channel?”

“Nah. It was another life. But, one of the things you learn when you’re left staring down a 2,000-pound bull is how to be observant. You gotta notice every little shift or twitch he makes to predict what he’s gonna do and how to stay outta his way. And after a while, it just becomes a habit you do with everyone you meet.”

You raised one eyebrow. “Oh, so you noticed all those things about me because you were examining me like a bull about to charge you?”

“Pretty much, yeah,” he chuckled. “Which is why I didn’t want to tell you. Most girls don’t tend to like it when you compare them to a cow.” 

“Well, I’m not most girls,” you said as you reached the bottom of the stairs and faced him once more.

He smiled, his eyes sparkling in the morning light. “I’ve noticed. You’re definitely keeping me on my toes.”

“Oh?” you asked, taking a step closer to him. “Afraid you won’t get out of my way in time?”

He leaned over until the brim of his hat just grazed the top of your head. “I haven’t decided if I want to yet.”

Staring into his eyes, you felt that same zap of electricity from the night before zooming through your body. You watched his tongue peek out, slowly wet his lips, and, without meaning to, you leaned in closer until—

Slam!

Jumping at the loud noise to your left, you and Tyler both turned to see Scott glaring at the two of you as the Storm PAR team swarmed around their vehicles, loading up their gear. Scott had just slammed the sliding door on the van marked “Wizard” and, after spitting his gum on the ground and popping in a new piece, eyes trained on you the entire time, he climbed into the front seat of Scarecrow and started the engine. You saw Javi approaching Lion and he lifted his hand, giving you a small, apologetic smile that you returned. Then he climbed into the truck and the Storm PAR team pulled out of the lot. 

Whatever spell you and Tyler had been under now broken, you resumed walking towards the cluster of Wranglers’ vehicles. There was an awkward tension in the air you had never felt around him before and, in an attempt to break it, you asked, “So, is that how you read tornados so well? You approach them the same way you approached a bull?”

He shrugged, seemingly as happy to get back to the earlier conversation as you were. “More or less. There’s more science that goes into it but you just have to make careful observations and then, ultimately, go with your gut. Even if that means ignoring what all the data is telling you.”

“And that works?”

“Most of the time.”

“And when it doesn’t?”

He grinned as he approached the side of an old, beat-up camper van. “Then you better hope you have a great team watching your back.” With that, he banged twice on the side of the van.

The doors flew open and four people jumped out. You recognized them all from their YouTube videos as the other members of Tyler’s crew, but you couldn’t remember any of their names except for Boone. He was the other man you had seen with Tyler in the diner parking lot when you first arrived and he always manned the handheld camera in the videos, making commentary and jokes as Tyler drove them into a storm.

Tyler quickly introduced you to everyone. He had already filled them in on who you were and that you would be riding with them for the next week or so. You had been slightly worried about how they would feel about you tagging along given how Scott had responded to the idea of you going on a chase. However, they swarmed around you excitedly and immediately began to chat about how much you were going to love your first storm as if you had known them for ages.

It was such a stark difference from your brother’s reaction. Where he was instantly dismissive and challenged your bravery, each and every one of the Wranglers welcomed you with open arms, giving you heads-ups about what it would be like out there and assuring you it was fine to react in different ways. They even shared their various first storm chases and how they had responded (it was comforting to know that even Boone, who seemed as reckless and wild—if not more so—as Tyler, had torn a vocal chord “screaming like a little girl” the first time Tyler had planted the truck in the middle of a storm).

Your head was on a constant swivel as each of your four new friends talked over one another, and as you moved to turn from Dexter explaining the different tracking equipment the crew used to monitor storms to Dani explaining the upgrades that had been made to Tyler’s truck, you caught sight of Tyler. He was several feet away from the mob surrounding you, leaning his shoulder against the van with his arms folded across his chest, amusement gleaming in his eyes as he watched the chaos around you. Seeing the slight panic in your eyes, he chuckled softly to himself before pushing off the side of the van and clapping his hands to get everyone’s attention.

“All right guys, give her room to breathe. She’ll be here for at least a week so no need to tell her your whole life stories in the first five minutes. She’s still getting used to things around here and we don’t wanna scare her off.” As they all apologized and backed away, you tried to assure them you were fine but Tyler came over and placed his hands on your shoulders. “It’s alright, sweetheart, we’re just all a little excited to have some fresh blood around here. Now, Dexter, is there any breakfast left? I’m starved and I doubt she’s eaten either.”

You tried to insist you were fine, but the words died in your throat as Dexter opened the door to the camper van and the sticky sweet smell of freshly syruped pancakes hit your nose, eliciting a loud growl from your stomach. Tyler must have heard it because he chuckled and began directing you towards the van, walking behind you as he steered you by your shoulders. 

As you ate, it was decided that today you would ride in the camper van with Dani and Dexter so you could get close to the storms, yet not have to immediately dive into one. At first, you wanted to object, thinking they meant that figuratively. But then you remembered the videos you had seen of Tyler and Boone driving straight into the center of a tornado, and, realizing they meant that literally, you agreed it was probably for the best. Part of you wanted to impress Tyler and jump into his truck anyway, but Scott’s comment that you would get too scared and force his team to end the chase early echoed in your mind. 

You were still a little disappointed Tyler’s “embarrassing secret” he had tried to keep hidden this morning was not embarrassing at all. Instead, you had just prodded him into sharing something that made him seem infinitely cooler than he already had. And, once again, you were reminded of the fact that since you two had met, you had spent the majority of the time either complaining about how much of a jerk your brother was, how shitty of a person you used to be, or crying into his shoulder. Meanwhile, here he was, this daredevil tornado wrangler who learned how to read people by staring down deadly bulls for a living and looked like most women’s cowboy wet dream come to life. 

You wanted to prove to him that you were more than what he had seen so far—that you were worthy of all the time and attention he was giving you. If you told Tyler you wanted to ride with him, you had no doubt he would let you. But what if Scott was right and you freaked out as soon as you neared a tornado? What if you had a panic attack or somehow caused the Wranglers to turn back instead of diving into the storm? They made their money—money they used to help others—from their videos. A video they would not be able to post if they couldn’t record a storm because you were having a complete meltdown. 

So, at least for today, you climbed into the back of the camper van as everyone got ready to chase their first storm of the day.

Dani and Dexter were an interesting pair. Dani was brash and loud, riding with her boots propped up on the dashboard as she slouched in her seat, all the while telling you jokes and poking fun at the other Wranglers. Dexter was more reserved at first, but the longer Dani talked, the more comfortable he seemed and he began joining in. You could tell by how they interacted, often speaking over the other or laughing at a joke before it got to the punchline, that they spent a lot of time together and had a close bond. It was really nice to see. You thought about how stiff and professional the members of Storm PAR seemed and you found yet another reason to be thankful Scott had turned you away. There was no way you would be having this much fun with his team.

As time went on and the clouds above you began to darken, Dexter began to explain how storms were formed, what kinds of conditions were necessary for them, the destruction they could cause, and how much scientists still didn’t know about them. Dani rested her head in her hand, looking half-asleep as she struggled to listen to information you were sure she had heard a million times before, but you were captivated.

Just as Dexter began telling you how the radar in the center console worked, the radio crackled to life and Tyler’s voice, distorted slightly through the ancient speaker, came through. “You okay back there, sweetheart?” Dani picked up the receiver and passed it back to you. “Dani and Dexter aren’t just bickering the whole time, are they?”

You laughed as both Dani and Dexter objected to that statement. “No, they’re great. Dexter’s been teaching me all about the science behind the storms. It’s been much more interesting than those dry reports Scotty left behind.” You saw Dexter beaming in the rearview mirror and you smiled back at him.

“Well, just don’t let him get started on funnel formation or you might change your mind.” Dexter shot a stern glance at the radio as Dani looked out the window, swallowing a laugh. Then, lowering his voice slightly so it felt like he was speaking to you and you alone, Tyler said, “I can’t wait to get you up here with me so I can show you the storm through my eyes.”

Clutching the radio closer to your face, you smiled softly. “That sounds amazing. I can’t wait. And Tyler, I—” You wanted to thank him again for everything he was doing for you. For welcoming you into his life without a second thought and introducing you to these other people who were already starting to feel more like family than your own flesh-in-blood. But, more than that, you wanted to thank him for the way he always made you feel as if he was actually excited you were there—that you were wanted. But just as you were trying to find the words to express those feelings, you remembered the rest of the team could hear you and you quickly cleared your throat. “Um, just be safe up there. You can’t show me anything tomorrow if you do something stupid today.”

“You heard the lady, Boone. Guess we’re taking it easy today.” You heard Boone muttering his objection and you could almost see his pout through the radio. “Cell should be coming up on our left. Y’all enjoy the show.”

The radio clicked off, but you continued staring at the receiver, cupping it close to your chest as you thought about all the things you wished you had been able to say to him.

Glancing back at you, Dani and Dexter exchanged a look before chuckling to themselves. Looking up, you asked, “What?”

“Oh, nothing,” Dani said, examining her nails. “Just seems that someone’s already fallen under the spell of the ol’ Owens charm.”

You raised an eyebrow. “‘The ol’ Owens charm’?”

“You know exactly what I mean. Believe it or not, he doesn’t do it on purpose, it’s just who he is and he can’t turn it off if he tried—not that he even realizes he’s doing it. He’s just naturally one smooth SOB that anyone could find hard to resist.”

A vice suddenly tightened around your heart making it hard to breathe. Was…was that all this was? Did Tyler treat everyone he met with the same kind of attention and kindness? Were you reading into his actions more than you should? 

Trying to maintain a blank expression, you shook your head. “Well, it’s not like that. He’s just letting me hang out with you guys to piss off my brother.”

“That’s what he said…but I’ve seen that look before,” Dani said smugly. 

“Dani…” Dexter muttered, giving her a pointed glance.

“What look?” you asked.

“The one you had when Tyler was talking to you. Like you were soaring on cloud nine and he was the only other person up there with you. Happens all the time.”

“Dani,” Dexter said a little louder.

But she either didn’t hear him or ignored him as she continued, “It doesn’t help that he’s so damn noble on top of everything. You should see the things he does when we stop by a town that has just been hit. He’s almost been crushed in more destroyed houses than I can count trying to go back for a kid’s teddy bear or a family’s photo album. The guy just can’t say no to someone in need.”

“Dani!”

“What?” She glanced at her friend then back to you and her smile faded. She must have noticed the way you had folded in on yourself, your arms wrapped tightly around your middle as you tried to process everything she had said. 

Stuttering slightly, Dani tried to backtrack. “Hey, listen, I didn’t mean…” She sighed and ran her hand through her dark hair. “I might be wrong. Tyler’s never invited someone to join the team outta nowhere like this. And he’s seemed different since he came back from your date yesterday.”

“It wasn’t a dat—” you mumbled, but she cut you off.

“Whatever it was. He’s had even more swagger in his step than usual and, this morning, he checked his watch like a million times to make sure he wasn’t late meeting you at your room. And Tyler never gets wound up like that for anyone. Right, Dexter?” The man nodded, and Dani smiled as if to say “see? I told you”. But then her smile dimmed slightly. “Just…just be careful. You seem like a really nice girl and none of us want to see you get hurt. So maybe know where you stand with him before you let yourself fall too hard.”

“Thanks,” you said, letting your arms unfold slightly. You were still questioning every interaction you had had with Tyler, but knowing you might have had some effect on him did make you feel a little better.

“Plus, you’ve been a lot of fun to have around and I’d hate for you to leave because Tyler can’t see what a catch he has in front of him.” Dani winked at you, and you gave her a small smile. 

You lean forward and hand her the radio. In an attempt to break some of the tension that has now filled the camper van, you asked Dexter to resume what he was saying when Tyler called. But as he happily returns to explaining the radar monitor, the excitement you had previously had listening to his lessons had evaporated. Instead, all you could think about was Tyler.

You thought about the way he held you close to his chest last night, his arms wrapped around you as you cried. You thought about the way he defended you to Scott, how he said you had found someone willing to give you their “attention and love”. You thought about that spark of electricity flowing between you as he pressed his lips to the back of your hand, and how that same spark seemed to gleam in his eyes before he left. You thought about this morning as you had leaned in to kiss Tyler, and how for just a brief moment before Scott’s slamming truck door ruined the moment, you swore you saw Tyler begin to lean in too.

Were you just seeing what your smitten heart wanted to see? 

The more you thought about it, the more you realized Dani was right. You needed to know for sure how Tyler felt before your feelings for him grew any stronger. If he was just being nice and that was all, that was fine. You were supposed to be here to get revenge on Scott, not to fall in love. So if that was the case, you would stuff down these developing feelings and try your best to forget them. But if Tyler really did feel this same magnetic pull that you did, well…that would be great to know too.

Part 5 coming 9/9!

[mikkaeus]

house md hilson fic rec - medium to long fics (10k+)

Other house rec lists: short fics | episode tags | postcanon | infidelity trope (all of these are mutually exclusive apart from the infidelity one) // Edit: I added the longer postcanon fics to this reclist as well because this one got the most traction!

These are all House/Wilson unless otherwise stated. Before we get into the fics, here are some of my fave authors that have written several house fics.

fourteencandles: im literally in love with them . 10/10 writing no notes. also long fics?? hello???

ictus: this author has the range! from emotional to fluff to funny. very smooth writing. all of their fics have different vibes which was fun to read. they’re all very good. 

Transformatron: fics that are transcendent and porny, all featuring a d/s undertone or theme (wilson as the dom)

Namaste (livejournal / ff.net): Some short fics, some much longer ones. Mostly gen focussing on H&W friendship, with some fics on canon pairings. Interesting character studies and discerning prose.

In order of length. *faves, ***underrated faves

*Brain Damage by fourteencandles (8k) (Ok I know this isn’t over 10k but I wanted all of their fics on one post and it’s close enough so.) This was brilliant. Like a real episode of House, with Wilson as the unfortunate patient-of-the-week, with bonus House/Wilson. Characterisation was bang on, and the plot was original and engaging and had a satisfying conclusion. Love to see House taking care of Wilson.

Down to the Water + Bound for Home by blackmare (~10k) Aftermath of season 4. House and Wilson go on a road trip. Quiet and sad and fragile, with excellent writing. This fic appears to have been fairly well known in lj days but I don't think a lot of newer people know about it.

*A Smaller World by fourteencandles (10k) The thing between them works, if Wilson doesn't push for more. God I’m so soft. I have so many feelings!!! In love with this established relationship hilson, still a little precarious, but with Wilson adapting, and House willing to put in effort.

*What's Past by fourteencandles (10k) The guy who used to have Wilson's job comes back for a visit, and it turns out they have more in common than Wilson ever knew.

*Touch Therapy by nomad (10k) It's not that House needs the human contact. It's just that when you're sharing an apartment, these things happen sometimes. Light hearted and funny, canon divergence from when Wilson’s staying on House's couch in s2. This is pretty much the homosexual waters have started flowing in House's direction post. Excellent dialogue.

***not another medical drama series (10k) by captainharkness Retelling of season 1 with House and Wilson as an established relationship. Great slice of life stories! Ongoing. The first is H/W POV, the second is Cameron, and the third is Chase. My favourite is definitely the second one (someone else’s story). I adore seeing H/W through the ducklings’ eyes. 

Synchronicity by copperbadge (10k) Dead patients, car wrecks, drug overdoses, journalists, Comatose Charlie, and orange chicken. Must be love.

systemic by ictus (10k) Ever since Wilson moved in, House has presented with some inexplicable symptoms. Fortunately, he has a team of talented doctors to aid him with his diagnosis. Season 2 fic! This one is funny and sweet and overall a great read.

Rush Down Darkness by Starlingthefool (10k) House MD/World War Z crossover. Told mainly through interview dialogue from house’s pov. Engaging story. House/Wilson definitely takes a backseat to the plot — there’s no grand getting together or anything. That's not to say it's not about them though, because there were still lots of good moments (good in the sense that my heart hurts). More succinctly, it has the vibes of an established relationship fic., although it isn't technically one.

Defensive Strategies by Milkshake Butterfly (~10k) (lj) In which Wilson is tired of being asked out by women when he's not ready to date again, and naturally House proposes a simple solution: pretend to be together. An enjoyable read.

******Commonplace and True by celestialskiff (11k) It would be a simple story--House and Wilson meet at a medical conference, have sex, and enjoy each other's company--but nothing is ever easy, or simple. Explores Wilson's relationship with House, with women, and with himself. House and Wilson throughout the years — with the version of canon where Wilson has cheated on every wife and girlfriend with House. When I tell you I am FROTHING!!! Pining while fucking?? The way it’s never the right time?? The greed of wanting to have your cake and eat it too? (That one’s specifically for Wilson, our beloved three-wives guy.) The vibes are immaculate. The prose is elegant verging on poetic. I’m eating this fic whole and it will be on my mind always. It is THE hilson fic for me. It is criminal that this fic has been up since 2012 and it only has 200 kudos. Go read it immediately & give the author some love.

***Declarations of Independence by Namaste (ff.net, also on livejournal) (11k) House and winter, throughout the years. I really enjoyed this. Excellent writing. Copy pasting a part of a comment by bedawyn which articulates why this fic is unique better than I can: “So far, I've seen a lot of focus in the fanfic (and the eps) on the pain and the Vicodin, but very little awareness of the practical aspects of limited mobility and the emotional impact of those even apart from the pain. So this was a very nice change.”

***Rule of Three by Transformatron (11k) (House/Wilson/Foreman) Foreman sees something he shouldn't have. And, maybe, wants something he shouldn't have, too. This was well written and super hot, with fun dialogue and descriptions that do justice to the excellent writing of the show itself. Foreman is faithfully characterised in a way that made me sympathetic. Also H/W outsider perspective as a third is such a treat to read. Lower me into my grave!!!!

*Warning Signs by out_there (12k) Excerpt: House looked to the left, staring down at the open box. Wilson knew that expression on his face: House was torn between denying it all and gleefully acknowledging his schemes. Normally, his ego won out and, like a comic super villain, he'd explain all. Wilson just needed to stay quiet and wait. This fic was fantastic. I am disgustingly fond. Superb characterisation. Light hearted and funny.

The Oncologist Trap by zulu (13k) (2007) House subtly seduces Wilson. Somehow.

The Line of Thought by tevinterimperium (13k) House and Wilson pretend to be together to play a prank on the ducklings, which is an extremely plausible scenario. From the perspective of the ducklings. Set sometime after 3x15: Half-Wit.

hail mary by ictus (13k) A post-canon fix it! In the weeks since finishing the show and reading this fic there are times I forgot that this wasn’t canon. It’s such a believable (and well-researched) alternate ending that feels like an actual episode.

Son of Mine by simoneallen (14k) Sherlock is House’s long-lost kid. Usually I’m not a fan of cross-over fics but I enjoyed this one. Established relationship on the johnlock side, getting together on the hilson side.

***hearts turn red by ictus (14k) In my head this is the counterpoint to Commonplace and True. When I found it after reading that one it really was a holy shit two fucking cakes?? moment. The delicious infidelity vibes are similar, but the vibes of the writing are pretty different -- whereas the above fic has a more quiet, subdued atmosphere, this one has more snappy prose and it’s more light-hearted with funny moments as well as emotional ones. It’s not just the infidelity theme that makes me crazy about both of them though; it’s how they play on the great tragedy of House and Wilson. In the author’s own words: In a way they do feel a little bit doomed to never quite be on the same page with each other until the very end of the series and by then it's too late. Of course, in these fics, they’re rescued earlier than the end, but the wretched vibes remain. Also, I’m obsessed with this line: By Wilson’s read, House is somehow simultaneously joking and sincere: Schrödinger’s sexual advance. That is the entire fucking show.

An Inconvenient Truth by annathaema (15k) Wilson helps out Cuddy and reveals something about himself in the process. House freaks out accordingly. Also features banana-colored babies, the men's room, and Skee-Ball.

*at the rind by ShanaStoryteller (19k) An AU where Wilson experiences all the near death moments House has in the show as a series of nightmares. Set between 1.19 and 2.05, but spoilers for the whole show. Protective Wilson!! We love to see it. I also like Wilson’s characterisation here - you can very much see how not-normal he is. We love unhealthy co-dependency.

***Esopus Creek by shaycat (24k) An eighty-year-old widower by the name of Eugene Skinner ventures out one September day in upstate New York for his usual morning activity - fly fishing. His leisurely hobby is interrupted by a bickering pair nearby in the river. That chance encounter with Greg House and James Wilson changes the course of his life. Told from the perspective of the last friend the boys make on their final road trip. This was the perfect post season 8, Wilson-still-dies fic. A sad fic but not a depressing one. It’s quiet and heartwarming, in a bittersweet way. Highly recommend. It has great use of outsider POV — I’m always a sucker for it but it worked particularly well in this case to have the angst but not be drowning in it. Also I just really liked the OC.

***Howler Tone by baffledbear (25k) The calls always happen late at night, and they're extremely sporadic, with weeks, sometimes months bridging between them. They talk on the phone otherwise, of course; about patients, or dinner plans, or carpooling. Typical stuff. But the calls that always end a certain way always start a certain way. Wilson is so repressed but so attracted to House. House is taking as much as he can get while still remaining in relative safety. Together they push a platonic relationship to the absolute limits of plausible deniability. Overall totally realistic within the canon of the show — the natural step up from the gay chicken already depicted. It’s just such a perfect scenario for them! That combined with silky smooth prose, faithful characterisation and accurate dialogue makes this fic is a definite hilson favourite and also a hilson-thesis fic.

*The Open Road by Pun (25k) A fandom classic. Road trip fic set in the earlier seasons. It's good; read it.

*He Won't Tell You That He Loves You by hellshandbasket (25k) [In which Nolan pulls at the Wilson thread, and House can't stop it all from unraveling. Repression is a hell of a drug.] Early s6. Another fandom classic that is worth its salt.

no need to worry (making up your mind) by scribespirare (25k) House makes the mistake of telling his mother he can't join her for Christmas because of his new boyfriend. Somehow, this becomes Wilson's problem. Cute and fun. I put off reading fake-dating fics because I was worried about them being OOC but this one definitely wasn’t!

***Sticks and Stones by Transformatron (25k) (WIP) House has an innovative new idea for managing his chronic pain. Wilson’s not sure he approves - but when has House ever asked for permission? This is such a great concept I am climbing the walls!!! D/s with House as the sub. The story is currently still at pre-relationship stage, with House experimenting with BDSM and Wilson being unhappy with the proceedings (for some unknown reason /s). Also the writing is nice and snappy with some great figurative language that manages to incorporate medical themes impressively well. 

Fresh Feeling by justkeeptrekkin (30k) House is tricked into going on a team-building trip with his colleagues. He does far more bonding with Wilson than anyone else. Funny and well written. The team interactions are very cute.

***Tracking Time by Namaste (37k) (ff.net) A look at House and Wilson's friendship over the years and how it has changed from their meeting through the end of the first season. I don’t usually read long genfics but this one was exceptional. I like Namaste’s take on House and Wilson’s characters. And they are a very good storyteller — one thing that you don’t tend to see as much of in fanfiction is the old adage of ‘show not tell’. The writing in this fic is careful and subtle, and lets you read between the lines, making it so that no part of the 37k words is a drag to read.

*The Body Found by fourteencandles (46k) Wilson's missing. When I tell you I cried... Premium angst & hurt/comfort. Excellent dialogue with some alternating POV (House mainly, but you also get the three ducklings & Cuddy).

You Already Know How This Will End by fourteencandles (46k) What if House had gone to rehab right after/around "Merry Little Christmas"? (3.10) This fic was interesting. It’s told in a series of short vignettes with a variety of different perspectives. It’s not really a hilson fic (or a fic for any ship). It just explores the characters. I did wish for more hilson but it’s a good read (I mean, it’s fourteencandles). The one hilson scene near the end where they hire a hooker in Atlantic City lives in my head rent free. Warning that the ending is rather abrupt and I didn’t find it satisfying, but I think it works for this kind of story, in a way. Messy people and their complicated relationships, with a lot of loose ends left untied, because that’s just what life is. 

***For Every Closed Door by starlingthefool (around 50k?) (lj) Overview of the chapters (14 with 4 interludes and an epilogue) is on the author’s lj (scroll down).  House MD/Dead Like Me crossover.  I love this fic a lot! It’s canon divergence from Season 3. House gets killed in a freak accident and becomes a reaper, remaining in the mortal world to harvest souls, able to interact with people but not be recognisable to those that know him. As the author says, this is an Afterlife!Fic and therefore a deathfic. They also said it’s not depressing — which is true, because it’s more plotty than an angstfest, and there are lots of light-hearted parts, but it is definitely heartbreaking at points. I literally cried all the way through the last chapter. Happy ending though!!! Don’t worry about the cross-over aspects. I haven’t seen Dead Like Me, and as far as I can tell, it just takes the premise of the show. I’m glad I found this fic whilst trawling 2000s livejournal because it’s really a hidden gem. Great plot, dialogue, compelling OCs — the whole package! I got so emotionally invested in the story. I think there were maybe a few parts that were a little unpolished but just keep reading. It’s really worth it. 

*A Modest Proposal and Involuntary Commitment series by ignaz (98k) The one where House and Wilson get married so Wilson can’t testify against House in the Tritter arc.  I have an unfortunate habit of downloading fics and then forgetting to bookmark & comment once I’m done, so I don’t have anything detailed to say about this one, but it’s a classic and a favourite of mine.

Twenty Years of Stealing My Food by hwshipper (100k) A backstory taking place over twenty years, from how House and Wilson met all the way to canon. A reimagining of their fucked up, magnetic relationship, with a straightforward writing style. They get together nearly as soon as they meet and maintain a steady open relationship whilst cheating on their various girlfriends and wives throughout the years. 

[eastsideofthemoon]

Celebrating Black History Month

Captain on the Bridge: CAPTAIN MICHAEL BURNHAM

Seasons 4 was our first full season of Michael as captain (finally)! So I'm reflecting on things she did that stood out to me. Also, it's Black History Month! She's our first Black female lead in a Star Trek Series and our first Black female lead captain, played brilliantly by Sonequa Martin-Green.

1. The Queen of Chaotic Ingenuity

Michael is a master of thinking on her feet. If a plan goes awry, she can course correct on the fly (bars). Honestly, we've seen her do this throughout Disco, but as captain, we especially see it in the season opener, Kobayashi Maru, with the Alshain (aka The Butterfly People). When their re-contact mission goes sideways, Michael is able to identify that there is an issue with their navigation and work with her crew to come up with a solution while being chased and shot at.

The Alshain did not report the problem, but by providing them a solution - no strings attached - Captain Burnham was able to win over their trust with the Federation.

2. Collaborator

I love how Michael respects the expertise of her crew and encourages their involvement with problem-solving. Having personally been on teams where collaboration was encouraged, it does a great deal in boosting team morale, building teamwork, and communicating through action that the individual team members' skills and ideas are valued. This is seen best in Anamoly and Stormy Weather. It's also seen with how she suggested to Book that he talk to Dr. Culbert. As a counselor, he's more equipped to manage Book's mental and emotional state after losing Kwejian.

3. Recognizing the needs of her crew

"All In" was one of my favorite episodes this season. The fun, the action, and Owosekun getting to shine. One of my favorite scenes was seeing how Michael responded to Owosekun's outburst with Saru from a previous episode. Instead of choosing to double down with additional punishment or verbal reprimand, she saw an opportunity to allow Owosekun to do more in her service to the mission at hand.

O: Why bring me?

M: Saru told me about what happened at the subspace rift. How you didn't want to stand down when he told you to.

O: I was totally out of bounds. I apologized to him.

M: I know. I also know how it feels to want to do something. Anything. And how it feels when you can't.

Michael recognized Owosekun's actions didn't come from a place of rebellion but a place of wanting to do more to help. Michael found an opportunity to allow her the space to fulfill that desire and utilize that drive.

Also, allowing a place on her ship that provides mental and emotional support for the crew via Dr. Culbert becoming the ship's councilor is the sign of a leader that cares about the whole health of her crew. Yes, I know other captains have had a ship’s counselor. The point it Captain Burnham does too and it deserves recognition.

4. Balancing her heart and duty

Captain Burnham had the challenge of being the supporting partner to the man she loved, who lost his entire home planet while maintaining her commitment to Starfleet. And she did a stellar job. Yes, she loves Book deeply and was willing to do all she could to help him. But when he went rogue, she chose to stay committed to the course of a peaceful first contact, despite it putting her at odds with the love of her life. Furthermore, when she thought Book died (Sonequa gave one of the best performances in Star Trek), she was still able to see the mission through, despite her heartbreak.

5. How she handled the Magistrate

Although empathetic to their plight, Captain Burnham still set clear boundaries with the magistrate about WHO has the authority, what WILL happen while on HER ship, and some food for thought when they arrive to wherever they find refuge. And she didn't have to raise her voice to do it. One's ability to yell at subordinates is not a true show of power and authority.

6. The Beginnings of a Diplomat?

Now we know Michael is a Kirk-type captain. And this season, she does not like politics or politicians. But during season 4, as much as she can’t stand it, we are shown that Captain MB may have the makings of a Diplomat as shown best in All Is Possible and But To Connect.

7. Leading a successful First Contact

Captain Burnham led a first contact like none other. A true first contact with serious stakes riding on its success or failure. After successfully getting through the Galatic Barrier (shout out to Detmer's immaculate piloting) and utilizing her (Michael’s) xenoanthropologic skills to investigate the 10-C's home planet, she along with some of the Federation's best had to figure out how to connect with the 10-C. A truly alien species, where universal translators failed to help with communication and who Starfleet had 0 records of. What makes Captain Burnham stand out is her willingness to step out on faith. She led her team on a mission on the 10-C's home planet to find some form of culture context to aid in their ability to communicate with them. It paid off. It laid the foundation for the first contact team and the USS Discovery crew to help understand how to communicate with the 10-C. Also, it should be noted that Michael admitted to President Rillak that she was angry, but we don't see her anger and frustration run her emotions or hinder her ability to command. I've seen people accuse her of being emotional. There's a difference between emotional intelligence and being emotional.

Also, I admire her recognizing when to take the lead and when to be a team player. As already stated, her calm demeanor and unwavering trust in the crew were excellent in helping them get across the Galatic Barrier. But she also recognized that it was President Rillak's voice that needed to be heard when informing everyone that the DMA moved to the Alpha Quadrant. It takes maturity to know when someone else need to lead and humility to let them lead. All of these actions lead to a successful first contact.

Conclusion:

In closing, Captain Michael Burnham is not the same Michael Burnham we met in season 1. In season 4, she has inner peace. She has a balance with human emotions and her Vulcan-trained logic. She knows who she is and has confidence in herself. Her duty to Starfleet and the Federation is matched with joy in what she's fighting for. Captain Michael Burnham is THE captain of the USS Discovery. No one else.

I want to end with this. There's plenty of room for more than one Black Starfleet captain. We can celebrate Sisko, Burnham, and Freeman in a way that respects them all. There's no need to pit them against each other. They all matter and are important in representing Black people in the future.

Happy Black History Month

[enretrogue]

𝗗𝗘𝗖𝗘𝗠𝗕𝗘𝗥 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯 𝗙𝗜𝗖 𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗦 (𝟭)

.���︎ ݁˖ = BLACK/POC WORKS | 23' FIC REC M.LIST

PEAKY BLINDERS

ALFIE SOLOMONS

Destiny — @butterfly-lies-chase-them-away

A Brother For Cyril ⎢ Part Two — @muneca-lemon-steppa

You Love Is Enough — @muneca-lemon-steppa

Evenings At Home — @muneca-lemon-steppa

Good Girl — @ukrainianmotherfucker

Interviews For New Beginnings ⎢ Part 2 ⎢ Part 3 ⎢ Part 4 ⎢ Part 5 ⎢ Part 6 — @muneca-lemon-steppa

Kisses For Bad Days — @muneca-lemon-steppa

Change Of Plans — @muneca-lemon-steppa

Married Life w/ Alfie Solomons HCs — @muneca-lemon-steppa

All Kinds of Trouble — @muneca-lemon-steppa

Overstimulation + Praise Kink — @fandom-puff

Rum and Soap — @dearshleby

Always — @muneca-lemon-steppa

MICHAEL GRAY

Show You How Much I Love You — @roguerogerss

I Can Imagine — @xoxoavenger

THOMAS SHELBY

At the End of the Day — @lis-likes-fics

The Complaint — @look-at-the-soul

Midnight Interlude — @awritesthings1

Gone with the Leaves — @awritesthings1

Numbers — @mrkdvidal1989

Train Left - Moments Passed — @mrkdvidal1989

Ignoble Sins — @cillmequick

Empty Promises — @fallatyourfeet

You Have More To Lose Than You Take — @mrkdvidal1989

Bloodstained Hands — @mrkdvidal1989

Look At Me — @simplyundeniable98

Time After Time Chapter 13 — @all-mirth-no-matter

A Moment of Happiness — @gypsy-girl-08

Christmas Lights — @mrkdvidal1989

First Christmas — @acewritesfics

Eye Fucking Each Other — @mrkdvidal1989

All I Need — @gypsy-girl-08

Promotion — @acewritesfics

No Man Works Alone — @muneca-lemon-steppa

TRIPLE FRONTIER

BENNY MILLER

The Best One — @theewokingdead

Are You On Mute? ⎢ Part Two — @rhoorl

Ask Prompt — @bullet-prooflove

Are You Going To Be Quiet? — @rhoorl

FRANCISCO “FRANKIE” “CATFISH” MORALES

Bluffing Season — @beskarandblasters

Mesmerized — @endlessthxxghts

New Year’s Day — @hellishjoel

My Home Is You — @chronically-ghosted

Stars — @trulybetty

Need You — @endlessthxxghts

Cravings ⎢ Crash ⎢ Insatiable — @pedge-page

Merry Christmas Cariño — @joelsflannel

All I Want For Christmas — @morallyinept

WILL MILLER

When Sleep Comes Easy — @laurfilijames

Just A Little Push — @missdictatorme

Kinktober 2023: Sexual Exhaustion — @gosmigenergy

Clusterfuck — @velicibeewords

All I Want — @laurfilijames

TRIPLE FRONTIER BOYS

Company — @pimosworld

The Story of Us Masterlist — @pimosworld

TSOU AU ⎢ Never Have I Ever ⎢ Down The Rabbit Hole ⎢ Santa’s A Homewrecker — @pimosworld

What Benny Doesn’t Know Masterlist — @backtothefanfiction

THE GRAY MAN

SIERRA SIX/COURT GENTRY

The Nurse Series ⎢ 2 ⎢ 3 ⎢ 4 ⎢ 5 ⎢ 6 ⎢ 7 — @heresthestorymorningglory

The Spy Next Door — @renren-006

Homework Problems — @renren-006

Wide Open Spaces — @elusivewildflower

Hurt You — @j4desblurbs

Bodyguard!Sierra Six — @wiidvw .☘︎ ݁˖

Safe Hands — @hollandstrophyhusband

Bodyguard!Sierra Six — @wiidvw .☘︎ ݁˖

Aftercare w. Sierra Six — @ken-dom

Bodyguard!Sierra Six — @wiidvw .☘︎ ݁˖

DC

BATMOM

See You Soon (+ Jason Todd) — @reveluving

Batmom’s Biggest Fan — @silly-thinkings

The Bat in the Shadows ⎢ Part 2 ⎢ Part 3 — @ynscrazylife

Long Overdue Masterlist — @apocalypse-shuffle

Love Thorns All Over This Rose ⎢ Part Two — @youreobsessedwithtoomanyfandoms

Harmony (+Dick Grayson) — @soriseerakyra

Batprank ⎢ Part Two — @ciaraswritings

Unexpected — @ciaraswritings

Ballet (ft. Cass Cain) — @reveluving

I Want To See My Little Boy (ft. Damian Wayne) — @dragon-chica 

BRUCE WAYNE/BATMAN

Gossip and Galas — @ciaraswritings

DICK GRAYSON/NIGHTWING

The Graysons — @hannibals-favourite-meal

BATSIS

Alleviate The Pain (Platonic!Dick Grayson) — @pugh-pugh-pugh-pugh

[hayatheauthor]

Crafting Authentic Child Characters: From Toddlers to Tweens

When it comes to writing captivating stories, it's not just about the plot or setting—it's about the characters that bring your narrative to life. Among those characters, child characters hold a special place. 

Child characters, when done right, can hold a special place in your readers’ hearts. Think of YA series like Harry Potter or Percy Jackson- these books featured eleven and twelve year olds but their captivating tales and realistic characteristics drew us in. However, when done wrong, child characters can often ruin immersion and make readers feel annoyed due to their unrealistic representation. 

In this guide, I’ve decided to explore the different pubescent age groups you often see in literature alongside tips to help you craft authentic child characters. 

Understanding Toddler Characters

The toddler years—a phase characterized by tiny tots exploring the world with wide-eyed wonder. Writing toddler characters can be a delightful yet challenging task. These pint-sized adventurers, typically aged 1 to 3 years, are bundles of curiosity and emotion.

Characterizing Toddlers

Toddlers are known for their limited communication skills. Their vocabulary might consist of a few words or adorable gibberish. They often express themselves through gestures, facial expressions, and body language. Embracing their simplicity is key when bringing them to life on the page. Toddlers view the world with fresh eyes and uncomplicated hearts, finding joy in the little things like chasing butterflies or playing with bubbles.

Portraying Toddler Dialogue

When writing dialogue for toddler characters, simplicity is the name of the game. Toddler speech is basic and straightforward, often composed of short sentences or one-word responses. Capturing their enthusiasm is essential. Toddlers can be highly expressive, so use exclamation marks and enthusiastic language to convey their excitement. It's all about experiencing life's wonders, one small step at a time.

Writing toddler characters offers an opportunity to explore the world through innocent eyes and infuse your story with their unique brand of wonder and emotion.

Toddlers In Flashbacks 

I would like to quickly mention that people don’t retain most of their memories from their toddler years, so if you’re trying to create a plot point surrounding a situation your character witnessed as a toddler it is important to consider whether a child that age would realistically even remember such an event. 

Capturing the Essence of Children (4-7 years)

Children aged 4-7 are often brimming with creativity, curiosity, and a penchant for storytelling. Think back to times when you used to mix up shampoos in the bathroom to make ‘potions’ or create weirdly intricate plots for your ‘house’ games. 

Characterizing Young Children

At this stage, children are developing rapidly, both physically and cognitively. They have an eagerness to understand the world around them, which often leads to a vivid imagination. Their capacity to believe in the extraordinary—whether it's magical creatures, talking animals, or hidden treasures—creates a wonderful opportunity for storytelling.

Young children are naturally curious and possess a boundless well of energy. Their interests can be diverse, ranging from dinosaurs and superheroes to fairies and space exploration. To capture their essence:

Highlighting Imaginative Play: Young children often engage in elaborate make-believe games. These imaginative adventures can be a goldmine for character development.

Embracing Curiosity: Encourage their inquisitiveness about the world. Show characters asking questions, seeking answers, and discovering new things.

Crafting Dialogues and Actions

When crafting dialogues and actions for children aged 4 to 7, it's important to consider their evolving language skills. Unlike toddlers, who may struggle with pronunciation, characters in this age group can typically speak properly. This means they won't say "sowwy" for "sorry" or "wuv" for "love."

Embracing Storytelling: Children this age love to narrate their adventures and dreams. Use storytelling within your story to reflect their imaginative nature.

Curious Questioning: Show characters exploring, asking "why," and expressing wide-eyed wonder. Utilize their questions and observations to drive the plot or reveal new information.

Navigating the World of Pre-Teens (8-12 years)

Many captivating young adult series begin with characters in their pre-teen years, allowing readers to witness their growth and development throughout the books. This is because writing characters in this age group, typically aged 8 to 12, offers a unique exploration of budding independence and the influence of peer relationships.

Your characters are no longer seen as little kids but at the same time don’t have the freedom associated with adolescence. 

Characterizing Pre-Teens

Pre-teen characters are in the process of discovering their identity. They're developing a sense of self and often begin to assert their independence from parents or caregivers. While their childlike innocence remains, they're also exposed to a wider range of experiences and emotions.

These characters may show an increased interest in friendships, hobbies, and their expanding world. To capture the essence of pre-teens:

Embrace Growing Independence: Pre-teens may want more autonomy in decision-making. Explore their budding independence as they take small steps toward self-reliance.

Peer Relationships: Friendships become more critical during this stage. Show characters navigating the challenges and joys of making and maintaining friendships.

Crafting Dialogues and Actions

When crafting dialogues and actions for pre-teen characters, consider their evolving perspectives and emerging voices:

Balancing Childlike Wonder: While they're growing up, pre-teens still retain their childlike curiosity and wonder. Don't shy away from showcasing these traits.

Beginning Adolescence: Pre-teens may start experiencing pre-adolescent changes. This could include minor mood swings, increased self-awareness, and curiosity about the world's complexities.

Tweens: Balancing Innocence and Growing Up (13-14 years)

As we move forward into the world of tweens, we encounter characters aged 13 to 14—the age where innocence meets the beginnings of adolescence. Crafting characters in this age group offers an exciting opportunity to explore the challenges and interests of this transitional stage.

Characterizing Tweens

Tweens are on the cusp of adolescence, and their experiences reflect this delicate balance between childhood and growing up. They're often navigating the complexities of middle school, peer dynamics, and a burgeoning sense of self.

Tweens may still possess a childlike wonder, but they're increasingly exposed to more mature themes. To capture the essence of tweens:

Emerging Independence: Tweens may desire more autonomy and may challenge authority figures as they assert their individuality.

Peer Influence: Friendships take on even greater significance. Characters in this age group may grapple with peer pressure and the need to fit in.

Crafting Dialogues and Actions

When crafting dialogues and actions for tween characters, consider the delicate balance they strike:

Retaining Childlike Charm: Tweens often have endearing quirks and moments of innocence. Don't lose sight of these traits.

Exploring Pre-Adolescence: As they begin to encounter the complexities of growing up, characters in this age group may exhibit curiosity about more mature topics while still experiencing occasional moments of youthful naivety.

Writing tween characters allows for a captivating exploration of the liminal space between childhood and adolescence, where they teeter on the brink of exciting self-discovery.

Creating Memorable Child Characters

Now that we've explored the unique characteristics and development stages of child characters, it's time to discuss how to craft memorable and well-rounded child characters, regardless of their age.

Developing Distinct Personalities

Each child character you create should have a distinct personality, just like any adult character. Think about their likes, dislikes, fears, and dreams. Are they adventurous, introverted, mischievous, or kind-hearted? Consider how their personalities align with their age group.

Character Growth and Development

While child characters start with a certain set of traits, they should also experience growth and change throughout your story. Whether it's learning important life lessons or maturing in their outlook, character arcs are just as relevant for children as they are for adults.

Examples from Literature

To better understand how to create memorable child characters, let's turn to some examples from literature. Take, for instance, Scout Finch from "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee. She's curious, brave, and compassionate, making her a beloved child character who evolves throughout the novel.

Or consider the character of Matilda from Roald Dahl's "Matilda." She's an exceptionally bright and resilient child character who learns to harness her unique abilities.

These examples show how well-crafted child characters can leave a lasting impact on readers.

Crafting Authentic Child Dialogue: Dos and Don'ts

Writing dialogue for child characters can be both challenging and rewarding. It's important to strike the right balance between authenticity and readability. Here are some dos and don'ts to keep in mind:

Dos:

Capture Their Perspective: Remember that children see the world differently. Describe events and surroundings through their eyes. Use simple language when necessary to reflect their understanding.

Embrace Authenticity: Children may use slang, colloquialisms, or unique phrases. Incorporate these sparingly to add authenticity to their speech.

Show Growth: As your child characters mature throughout the story, their speech should evolve too. Gradually introduce more complex vocabulary and sentence structures.

Reflect Emotions: Children express emotions openly. Use dialogue to convey their feelings, whether it's unbridled enthusiasm, innocent curiosity, or the occasional temper tantrum.

Don'ts:

Avoid Stereotypes: While children may display certain traits based on their age, avoid falling into clichéd stereotypes. Each child is unique, so give your characters depth beyond typical traits.

Steer Clear of Exaggeration: While child characters can be quirky and funny, be cautious not to make their dialogue overly cute or exaggerated, which can become grating to readers.

Limit 'Baby Talk': Especially for older child characters, avoid excessive use of baby talk or mispronunciations unless it's essential to the story.

Don't Oversimplify: While simplicity is key, don't underestimate your young readers. Children can understand complex emotions and ideas if presented in a relatable way.

By keeping these dos and don'ts in mind, you can create dialogue that feels authentic, engages young readers, and adds depth to your child characters.

Crafting authentic child characters can be a fulfilling journey for writers. Whether you're depicting the innocence of a toddler, the imaginative spirit of a young child, the evolving personality of a tween, or the budding independence of a pre-teen, these characters can add depth and heart to your stories.

Remember, each child character is a unique individual with their own quirks, dreams, and potential for growth.

I hope this blog on Crafting Authentic Child Characters: From Toddlers to Tweens will help you in your writing journey. Be sure to comment any tips of your own to help your fellow authors prosper, and follow my blog for new blog updates every Monday and Thursday.  

Looking For More Writing Tips And Tricks? 

Are you an author looking for writing tips and tricks to better your manuscript? Or do you want to learn about how to get a literary agent, get published and properly market your book? Consider checking out the rest of Haya’s book blog where I post writing and publishing tips for authors every Monday and Thursday! And don’t forget to head over to my TikTok and Instagram profiles @hayatheauthor to learn more about my WIP and writing journey! 

[writersundersiege]

The New Girl In Town Pt. 4

Rafe Cameron x F! Reader

Summary: Rafe gets a surprise visit from someone special who invites him to come to spend time hunkered down for the hurricane; what happens when things don’t go as planned? What will Rafe do when he can’t seem to get to you?

To read any other parts of this series, click here:

The New Girl in Town - Masterlist

MDNI 18+

Warnings: Grief, drug use, swearing, the insinuation of sexual themes

a/n: this is mostly fluff and some more character development; I promise you there is a significant Rafe x Reader chapter coming up if you know you know :) Things are going to start getting mixed up. I hope you guys enjoy it; please feel free to comment or send any requests, etc.

————————————————————————

The evening went as planned on the account you had planned the event. Rafe wasn’t going to allow any mishaps simply for you. Other than Rafe and Ethan evil-eyeing each other the entire evening without speaking to each other. Jason stood between them, with Ally next to Ethan, and to Jason’s right was Kiara and Kayla; on the other side of them, Rafe stood handing out shirts to boys and girls with their parents. Rafe and Jason paid no mind to the kid, who was trying to pull the conversation and attention to him to no avail; he only attracted Sarah and Topper's attention. By the end of the evening, and when the clothes were almost all gone, Jason gathered what was left to bring back to the country club donations box. The group sounded small goodbyes and separated from each other to the cars they drove in.

Halfway to the jeep, Jason asks Rafe a weird question for someone you’ve barely known: “What is it about my sister, man?” Rafe's head perked up at this question, looking at him, wide eyes shaking his head. “I don’t know what you mean…” Jason looked down, flipping the keys around his fingers till he reached the car trunk. “I was trying so hard to tune Ethan out, but one thing he said while we worked out there that track it was that no matter where (F/N) went back home or around the world, guys chase her; they always want her affection and attention, they expect so much of my sister, and she expects nothing in return, same with girls; girls think so little or think so much of her I can’t imagine how she doesn’t feel like a butterfly behind a glass” he looks down into the box of jeans “My sister is worth so much more then what all these people want from her and the worst part is-“ Jason looks up at Rafe water welled eyes “I don’t know if she’ll ever stop chasing the wave Luca rides, with him she looked his way and never looked back.”

Rafe looks at Jason and doesn’t know what to say to this level of emotion, but he says the only thing he thinks will click; he hopes he doesn’t come off as an ingenue. “She’s still young; eventually, she’ll know. We all ride our waves of life, and I think she knows that more than you give her credit for.” Jason nods, the brightness seeping back into the boy across from him.

As they hop into the car and Jason starts to drive them back to the country club, he says to try and lighten the mood more, “So strike out at all?” Jason chuckles with a devilish smirk, shaking his head in triumph. “two snap chats added and the one Ally she already asked when I’ll be back again from college.” Rafe laughs, knowing he’s about to play the run around with two kooks.

Jason drops Rafe by his bike, and Rafe quickly heads back home for the first time. Rafe is exhausted from social interaction with others as well; on top of that, community service was not standardized practice for Rafe, so the nice guy act drained him. As soon as he enters his front door, Ward is rounding the corner at him, already jumping his case. “Where were you? I told you that we needed to place sandbags, and you need to set up generators; there is supposed to be a hurricane tomorrow evening.”

Rafe quickly satiates his father's anger by saying, “I was helping with the clothing drive at the country club; it’ll be done tomorrow morning.” Ward looked pleased but turned back towards the kitchen, saying nothing but, “Don’t forget Rafe, I'm serious, or we’ll be as good as none on power tomorrow.” He’s rolling his eyes behind his dad's back, heading up the stairs, and it slowly hits him

Rafe's heart dropped, remembering you asked him to surf with you tomorrow; indeed, you had to know that was happening; it’s been all over the local news. Most of the beach will be dead, but there will be people preparing for flooding near there; he makes it to his room and throws himself on his bed, thinking maybe you didn’t want actually to hang out, and you were just the giving the type of person your brother described you as. It was just for pity, he thought to himself, a conversation filler.

Rafe removes all those thoughts from his head and hops in the shower, washing his body and hair quickly before jumping out and drying off, throwing on some pajama pants, and hopping into bed. Rafe turned on some alarms and laid down and closed his eyes, ready to sleep, and he heard a ping on his phone; he groaned and leaned over to grab it, opening his eyes to see you had messaged him

F/N🌊💕: You said Tannyhill anytime, right?

Rafe's eyes went wide, wondering and trying to formulate any reason you would be texting him this at nearly 11:45 pm the night before you; one was supposed to be sick, two were supposed to hang out later, and three had not formally had a sit-down conversation, but Rafe doesn’t think twice sending you his location and replying

Rafe: Anytime Angel

You immediately responded with a picture of the front of Tannyhill, which makes Rafe sit up in his bed pin straight, and jump out of bed like the sheets were on fire; he threw on a shirt and bounded down the stairs, not caring if anyone woke up he threw open the front door and there you were just like the first time he saw you except albeit a little paler

You waved at him and started walking towards stopping just at the edge of the front patio stairs quietly and shyly, saying, “Hello, Rafe, this is quite a magnificent house you have here.” He chuckles at you, thinking it’s so admirable not only the words you choose but that you are as shy as you are around when he feels like he’s known you forever. He leans in the door frame, looking down at you like he was looking out at the stars earlier that night in the car window. “ It’s alright, it’s home for now.”

This comment makes you look down, twisting your shoe in the dirt and looking at your hand clasped before you. Rafe doesn’t talk; he stands and watches; you almost seem to run a marathon of thoughts through your head before you finally say, “ So I’m technically supposed to be on best rest; they think I have the flu, but I'm not sure” You’re still looking down at your feet “So I realized last minute my idea is shit and I mean there is the storm and my family we do these things we’re like—-“ she cuts herself off again huffing in annoyance.

Rafe chuckles and takes a step closer on the porch, not close enough to touch her but enough that he can make out every single little mark and crease on your face when your face frowns; he smiles and says, “Did you come up with a better idea, angel, because I said tell me where and I’ll be there.” it seems like this sentence gave you confidence “come to my house tomorrow my family does what we call a storm watch and id love to have dad will take you home and pick up no trouble or you can hang with josh, either way, I want you there if you want to be?”

You immediately look at your feet again. Rafe grins from ear to ear, saying, “Sound good,” and your head shoots up. “Um, great, so come over tomorrow around three; let me know if you need Dad to come get you.” With that, Rafe watches as you scurry halfway back to your car before he sees your back turn and your bright, smiling face bounding towards him.

Once you finally make it to where you stood, just a moment before you hurry up the steps right in front of Rafe, throwing your arms around his neck in a hug, he slowly wraps his arms around your petite frame, scared that he touches you too hard right now, you may dissolve into dust. You nuzzle your head into his shoulder, almost whispering, “Thank you for being there this time, Rafe. I needed it.” Rafe smiles down at you in his arms, shaking his head. “You never need to thank me (F/N); you call me there.” You smile, nestling yourself further into Rafe; he wraps his arms tighter around you.

Finally, after what felt like only a sliver of a moment for Rafe, you pulled away and reached up on your tiptoes, placing a soft kiss on the apple of his cheek, immediately making Rafe's neck burn red hot. You smiled shyly, which this time made Rafe shake. Knowing you, of all people, the girl the whole island knew in less than a week as the bubbly Cali girl who is highly wanted by many, not just Kooks, but you have people back home who won’t let you go, and you are nervous around Rafe; the town no good, heartbreaking, psycho, and you’re shy. Are you scared of him? Have you heard around town what people say?

All of these thoughts were wiped from Rafe's mind when you looked up at him with the same wide eyes and bright look he saw on your face the day at Toppers' house when you moved in; you looked at him like he was a giant wave on the coastline coming in and you’re ready for the colliding of the two trying to decide; will you ride the wave or will it wipe you out and drag you down throwing you back and forth while you try and claw back to the surface.

You clear your throat and say, “See you tomorrow, Reef. Sleep well.” Rafe chuckles at the nickname you’ve called him twice; he hates to admit it’s clever, and he thinks he likes it when you say but only cause it fits you; he says, “Yeah, see you tomorrow.” Watching as you jog back over to your Blue Jeep when Rafe squints his eyes slightly past the glow from lights in Tannyhill, he sees a figure sitting in the passenger taking a few steps on the porch, watching you as you climb in and the person points at Rafe you close the door quickly and put your hands up like you’re approaching a wounded animal. The person seems to calm by whatever you say to them, and the face turns back to Rafe, and he can see the curls and scowl that he memorized the other night.

Ethan is sitting in the front seat, face turned to him, but he traces your figure with your hand on his cheek, similar to how your mom reacted to Rafe at the country club. The boy in the car looks back at you, shaking his head and smiling, turning his face to try and kiss your palm. Still, you quickly remove it and ruffle his hair, saying something to make him smile at you, then you turn on the car and look up, and that’s when Rafe waves not at him but only at you; you smile and wave quickly and reverse out of the drive of Tannyhill making your way towards town instead of back to your house.

Rafe stands a moment, thinking of following you; what he knows about Ethan is unnerving, but he knows the kid is leaving soon, so he wants to hope that if something is wrong, Jason will tell him, or maybe you would. You’re also stronger now than back then; with that, he turns back into the house with your Jeep nowhere in his view.

On Rafe's way up the stairs, he heard Ward yell, “Be more mindful of people sleeping; you woke up Rose with all the running on the stairs.” This makes the boy roll his eyes and close his door, throwing himself back in bed and staring at the ceiling, thinking about you and your adventures and the mystery that seems to be you.

Rafe didn’t sleep any that night; he stayed up trying to see if maybe your brother or you would message him, and he didn’t receive anything until 8 o’clock the following day, and it was from you.

(F/N)🌊💕: Don’t Forget Today! 3 pm; let me know if you need a ride; it’s pretty windy already, and we’ll be storm prepping at The Hut and Wreck! Let me know

Rafe 🪸: Yeah, that’s fine. I wouldn’t mind riding with your dad; keep my bike out of the water. I’ll see you at three; I have to storm prep here; see you soon, angel ❤️

Rafe lays his phone down with alarms set for two just in case, closing his eyes and finally sleeping for the first time in nearly a whole day, knowing that you’re okay and things are set for today.

By two o’clock that day, Rafe was waking up from the alarm he set to get ready; this had him yanking himself from bed and dragging himself to the shower. He turns on the shower, lets the water get hot, and gets in washing his body to wake himself up, enabling the water to run down his chest and back; he stands there for about 15 to 25 minutes till the water starts losing heat. He turns off the shower, throws a towel around himself, and heads to his closet; as soon as he’s finished putting on a pair of sweatpants and a softer t-shirt, he heads to his room, grabbing his other essentials when he hears someone clear their throat behind them.

Sarah stands leaning on the door, a devilish smirk on her face, staring back at Rafe, eyebrow raised in question. “First thing I want to say is you’re pathetic. The only reason you were oh-so-helpful last night is cause you want that girl. What happened to the, and I quote it, playing a dumb philanthropist act, which leads to the second thing I want to say is, you know she’s too good for you, right?” This makes Rafe so annoyed. Sarah constantly demeans Rafe; he walks over, saying, “Shut the fuck up, Sarah, at least I don’t play nice when I’m not; people know how I am; that is no secret, but who are you really behind the surface Sarah.” he says pointing to her and slightly nudging her out of his door frame as he grabs the handle “And for your information I went yesterday for her, and I know she’s too good for me, but maybe I’m exactly what she needs.” That being said, Rafe closes the door on Sarah’s face, locks the door, finishes fixing his hair, and prepares to leave.

Suddenly, his phone is buzzing, and it’s another Unknown number; he assumes it is your dad; he quickly answers, saying, “Rafe Cameron speaking?” he hears your dads chuckling through the phone. “I’m in front of your giant white house, as my daughter described it.”

Rafe looks out the window and sees your dad's happy face sticking out the side of the car. Rafe runs down the stairs and out the front door of Tannyhill, running to the side of a gorgeously renovated 1965 Chevy Impala; your dad was stepping out of the driver's side. “Rafe, hello, nice to see you again, my boy,” he pats Rafe on the back while shaking his hand. Rafe replies with a smile. “Always good to see you, sir, and this is a beautiful car you have here.” pointing to the car behind them, your dad started to smile from ear to ear.

Charlie runs his hand on the hood and looks at Rafe. “This was the car that we kept at Lenny’s house; that was Luca's dad; his parents moved here after everything Lenny, me, and all the boys renovated; this beauty was meant to be for the boys to share; it'll be Jason’s one day” your dad looks longingly at the car “I’m sorry sir I didn’t mean—“ your dad puts his hand up “no it’s all happy memories my boy, here” your dad tosses the keys in the air which Rafe catches like a crystalline glass that was about to shatter they key landing gently in his palm “you drive,” your dad says with a smirk.

Rafe's eyes go wide immediately, looking back and forth between your dad and the keys. “a-are you sure, sir?” your dad laughs a deep, hardy laugh, shaking his head, saying once again, “Rafe call me Charlie and of course my boy you were the first one to show my sweet, sweet girl the kindness here so this is the kindness I will show you to enjoy the drive, and I will sit back and enjoy the ride.” 

Before Rafe can say anything else, your dad walks around and climbs into the passenger seat with his arm out the window, ready for the ride, just like he said.

Rafe scurries around to the other side and hops in the driver's seat, gently turning on the car and starting to reverse down the drive. Once on the road, Rafe was going exactly the speed limit using his blinkers, trying to drive as safely as possible. All of sudden, your dad mock yawns and says, “C’mon Rafe, where’s all this fire I hear about? You seem a prolonged driver here.” he bumps him in the shoulder with a smile that makes Rafe smile back cause he can tell he’s trying to get him to let loose he chuckles a little and says “would you like me to drive as I would normally Charlie?” your dad looks forward relaxing back like he’s in a tanning chair “Whatever floats your goat there Rafe and maybe whatever will get us to the wife’s three-layer queso quicker” the man in the passenger seat looks up humming in delight thinking about his wife’s cooking.

Rafe laughs and proceeds to press the gas a little quicker and drive like he would just by himself; he thinks about how smooth the acceleration is and how the turns are quick and easy to take. Before he knows it, he sees Topper’s balconies and basketball hoop, and all of a sudden, he sees your blue two-story house with an indoor wrap-around porch. He pulls into the driveway and sees your Jeep; he parks behind it and turns the ignition off.

Rafe and your dad hop out, and your dad starts heading to the garage door, waving Rafe his way. “C’mom, the girls have been making snacks all day for annual storm watch, and let me tell you (F/N) makes some mean homemade granola bars; you’ll just have to see them and the queso, oh the queso always the queso,” your dad cries out at the end.

By this point, they're in the kitchen, Rafe trailing behind Charlie, heading straight to a crockpot. Rafe stops at the end of the island to see tons of snacks: dried fruit, a stack of, like your dad said, homemade granola bars that looked like they had nuts, tiny little chocolate chips, and what looked like some kettle chips and popcorn that were yet to be opened.

Your mom came around the corner almost to appear from thin air, scolding your dad, “Charlie, that is not for you. I'm dropping that off at the school tonight for families staying in shelter from the storms.” Charlie leans against the counter with a smile, eating out of the small bowl he made; your mom rolls her eyes with a smile, pointing at him. “No more.”

Her eyes scan the kitchen, catching a glimpse of Rafe. “Rafe, oh hello,” she rushes over, patting him like he was her child and checking if he had any afflictions with someone since the last time she saw him, finally resting her hand on his cheek, smiling at him, looking at him “We are so happy you came to spend time with us,” he smiles back before he can say anything your mom is turning and waking to the stairs calling up to you “(F/N) Rafes here” all of a sudden they all here scuffling from upstairs like someone was running.

Then, after a few moments of waiting and nothing happened, she called again, “Jason, (F/N) Rafes here.” There was no response, and then they heard the thumping and bumping of feet down the stairs, but multiple sets of footsteps down the stairs as faces emerged instead of bubbling with happiness; you looked wholly petrified. Still perfect, but scared like you’ve seen a ghost, following not far behind you is Jason with an ear to the phone, words scrambling to the person on the other side. “don’t worry, we’ll be there in no time. Try to keep her calm. “ he hands the phone back to you, and you start to hyperventilate slightly, which causes Rafe to take a step towards you; your mother puts her hand on his shoulder to stop him because your brothers are already there his hands rubbing your shoulders and consoling you, Rafe hears you say in a small voice, “Just let her know I love her, and I’ll be there soon.” you hand the phone back to your brother and look up at your dad

“Lenny just called,” you said in a small voice; they almost couldn’t hear you over waves starting to crash behind your house; they were getting more prominent as the storm grew. “Diannas at the pier. She won’t leave. She says she swears she saw them..in the waves. We have to take her home before the storm gets bigger. “

You’re looking down at your shoes, strolling towards the door, and looking back to where Rafe is standing in the kitchen. “I’m so sorry, Rafe, I have to go, “before he knew it, the look shattered his heart and made his bones cold like you were in danger of something; he frowned, watching your back. You jog out the door, and Jason trailed behind you quickly.

Andrea and Charlie stand dumbfounded momentarily in the kitchen, staring at Rafe, who looks angry at what happened. Before anybody can say anything, Rafe tells your parents, “I just forgot I have somewhere to be. I’ll see you guys later.” Your parents try to stop him, but he is out and over into Topper's house quicker than they can catch him; your mom stands watching him go in Topper's garage door before turning around and returning inside.

Rafe only stays at Toppers long enough to sit on his bed. At the same time, he plays some game on his PlayStation while Rafe sits and waits for an Uber back to Tannyhill; when he eventually arrives home, first he quickly runs upstairs and checks his dad isn’t home and grabs some of the little bit of cash left from the generators, he quickly grabs his bike and heads straight to Barry’s house to get a fix.

If anything can ruin his day, it is the fact that he always seems to have you right in front of him, and just like a bird set out for a migration flight, you were gone before anyone noticed you were there. It doesn’t matter what he does; he feels as though he can’t get close to you, and when he does, something else seems to come in the way, like when you’re trying to climb a tall rock wall, and you’re right at the top. The second you make it there, your arms give out because of how far you’ve come; he doesn’t want to give up and let his arms weigh him down. He wants you so bad that it nearly kills him.

Pulling up to Barry’s house, he bangs on the trailer door, hitting it hard. It shakes the door frame until Barry swings the door open, saying, “What the fuck, Country Clu—“Looking up, seeing rich boy Rafe with eyes red-rimmed, hair messy, and slightly wet from the drizzle that started. He looks him up and down, looking at how disheveled he looks, and says, “What do you need, bro?”

Rafe looks at him and grunts in a lowly voice that seems like he’s been screaming at a concert, gruff and almost gone. “Same as usual.” Barry leaves the door open and runs back, grabbing a baggie with a few grams and taking it back. “Here it’s going to be—“ Rafe puts the cash in his hand, taking the baggie, not listening to anything, heading straight home.

When Rafe got home, he spent the rest of the night listening to music and getting nigh watching as the storm raged on until he got a message from Emma, a girl he was hooking up with in the fall, who said she was at her friend Ambers who happened to live next to Tannyhill and asked if he wanted her to hang out a bit he typed sure and in less then an hour Rafe laid with a girl halfway on top of him kissing his next. At the same time, he stares at the ceiling, thinking about how wrong today went to what he planned.

By the following day, Emma was gone as Rafe asked her to be when he woke up; it was the arrangement: they sleep with him, and they leave before he’s awake; when he checked his phone, he saw a message from you that made him forget anything that happened yesterday.

(F/N)🌊💕: I am sorry I ran out on you; Mom said she wanted to ask you to stay for dinner, and when we returned with Dianna and Lenny, they said you had to go. I hope I didn’t disappoint you and also, Sarah invited me to the Kegger at the boneyard tonight. Hopefully, I’ll see you there?!

As he sat and thought, he decided it would be best to play the chase with you; if he can’t get a chance to be near you, maybe he can get you to seek him out on your own like the other night.

Rafe 🪸: Wish I could, angel. I have things I need to do tonight. I’ll see you soon, I promise 😉

Guilt slowly starts to bubble within Rafe; he should have never hooked up with Emma; you could hear about it, but at this point, he has to play the complex game; he needs you to notice him and want him. All of these thoughts die down when he receives a message with a picture of you smiling from ear to ear, holding your hand up in the shaka hand gesture, and Jason standing behind the same bright smile as you, doing the same thing with a message saying

(F/N)🌊💕: Good, the (L/N) family is holding you to it. Be safe, and see you soon, Reef 🪸🫡❤️

Rafe smiles at the picture in front of him, looking at how happy you look and just yearning to feel your joy and encase himself in the brightness you seem to emit.

————————————————————————

All rights belong to the owners of Netflix and the Outer Banks. I do not own any characters except OC characters. The fiction is simply for fun. All copyrights belong to the original owners.

[bullet-prooflove]

can i request prompt #30: You don't have to run, I know what you've been through with frank castle please? <3

References to upcoming BlackIce!Series

It’s a few months after the night Lou Beretti sent three men to your home that Frank drops by to check in. You haven’t seen or heard from him since a bouquet of brightly coloured daisies arrived in your hospital room with the message ‘Rest Easy, -F’.

You know it’s him when you hear the light rap of knuckles against the window in the living room. He’s the only one that would dare climb the rusted fire escape. The profile of his face is highlighted by the glow from the streetlamp outside as you unlock the window. He moves with the grace of a large feline, slinking through the gap.

He’s been on patrol tonight, taken a few dings. There’s a cut above his left eyebrow that’s leaking blood down the side of his face.

“Wanted to check in.” He says gruffly as he sits down at your kitchen table. He watches as you remove the medi-kit from under your sink before setting it down. “The arm's looking good, any stiffness?”

They’d broken your left arm that night, a spiral fracture. He knows you rehabbed after; he’s kept an eye on you, he couldn’t help himself. What had happened that night had terrified him; he just couldn’t bring himself to admit it. It’s why he’s stayed away for so long. You make him feel something he hasn’t felt in years, and it scares him.

“It aches when it rains.” You tell him as you lean in close, your attention focused on cleaning up the wound above his eyebrow. “Which feels like it’s all the fucking time since we live in New York.”

He smiles at that, it’s a gravelly chuckle that surprises him. He hasn’t laughed since before Beretti, since the morning you’d shared breakfast in the diner down the block.

It’s when you finish up with the butterfly stitches that it happens. He finds himself looking into your eyes as your fingertips grace his cheek.

“I never said thank you.” You say softly, your forehead coming to rest upon his.

“You don’t ever have to thank me.” He tells you, his voice a little rough as his nose trails down the length of yours.

A world without you frightens him, it’s lonely and barren. You were the first person he connected with after what happened to his family, his first step back to humanity and he cherishes that, he cherishes you.

He doesn’t intend to kiss you, but he has that feeling in his chest, the one he always gets when he’s around you. His lips brush over yours, tender and soft and he gets that rush, it’s like a drug flooding through his system as his thumb chases along the line of your jaw.

This moment, it’s everything to him. It’s the sunshine blessing his skin after a thousand months of rain, the first blush of warmth after a harsh winter. His breathing is ragged when he draws away, his palm coming to rest on the nape of your neck.

You’re the first woman he’s kissed since Maria, and he feels overwrought and overwhelmed. He thinks you must see it in his eyes because you give him that sad smile of yours.

“It’s too much for you isn’t it?” You say quietly and he clears his throat and looks away.

“Ok.” You say as you pull away and he knows that this is your way of protecting yourself. He forgets it’s not just him putting himself out there, it’s you too. He’s not the only one that’s been burned by the world, scarred by it.

His hand cups your chin, guiding your gaze up to meet his and he sees a future in those eyes, the rest of his life stretching ahead of him if he wants it.

“Slow.” He says, his voice raw with emotion. “I need to take it slow.”

@purrrrfect @juliannatryon @beardedbarba @crazy4chickennuggets @wooshwastaken @justreblogginfics @anime-weeb-4-life @pleasurebuttonwrites @annetje @adaydreamaway08 @est1887 @multiflixshelves @thanossexual @bonsaijoons @spookyboogyuniverse @ankhmutes @spaghettificationandpretzels @trublu2u @nu1freakshow @thebaileybugle @skyesthebomb @viridianphtalo @yezzyyae @casa-boiardi @lulawantmula @vermillionwinter

[seancekitsch]

Wow, I can get sexual, too: an Adrian Chase x Reader fic- chapter 4

series masterlist here

warnings: eventual smut, masturbation, twitter nude culture, the very slightest dub con but not really just saying this to be safe, mutual pining, idiots in love, perv!reader but also perv!adrian

a/n: its gonna be five chapters!!!!! and maybe an epilogue, but ugh there's so much thats gonna happen in this chapter thats STILL somehow not reader and adrian shmangin

You find yourself making uncomfortable eye contact with the little plastic rabbit superglued to the dashboard of Adrian’s car while Blondie drifts through the speakers. Adrian’s been on a women of rock kick lately. Something about Women’s History Month even though that month has come and gone. 

“Every Obstacle is an Opportunity!” his little sign reads. Yeah, right. 

But maybe the weird little rabbit is bright. Maybe he knows better. Totally, the little plastic rabbit is telling you that your borderline creepy crush on Adrian is simply an opportunity! And that this is his way of communicating that sign to you from the universe. 

“Is that a different perfume?” Adrian asks, and you whip your head to the side to look at him. 

Is he really that perceptive? 

“Yeah, actually. Good catch. It’s a bottle called Alien?”

You’re not sure why you told him the name, it’s not like he would know the designer brands.

“Did you buy that because of those alien birds we fought?”

“Butterflies aren’t—,” You pause, and smooth your skirt, “No, I just liked it.”

“I like it too. It’s better than the one you usually wear. It’s sexy. I think I smell Jasmine? Is that it?”

You just stare wide eyed at the fact that he said you smelled sexy, and all you can do is nod. It is jasmine. Adrian is convinced butterflies are birds and you cannot tell him otherwise but somehow he can pick up on exact scents expertly like it’s some kind of superpower.

“Thank you, Adrian,” you say, and you just let the moment sit between you. You have recently had your hand between your legs over the mere sight of him and now he’s here letting you play passenger princess and telling you that you smell sexy. You think of your underwear, now knowing he possesses the other half of the set you feel wildly insecure.

Granted, if he actually does see the set tonight, he’ll know why is doesn't match and rip it off you eagerly regardless, but another more neurotic part of you thinks that the underwear is make or break. That part of your brain says that if your underwear set doesn't match he’s literally going to reject you and either kick you out of his place or leave your place.

You smooth your skirt again even though it absolutely doesn't need it. 

Adrian turns the volume up on the radio, gleefully singing along to the Kylie Minogue song that started playing. His smile and his attempt to act the lyrics pry you momentarily out of your nerves and you join in, singing your heart out trying to harmonize with him.

At a particularly high note, you get bold and grab his shoulder while you both belt the lyric, not unlike how bold you were when you leaned on him during Fargo. Aridan leans into the touch, and even momentarily looks away from the road to meet the intensity of the popstar moment. You smile as you hold the note, eyes meeting his and god, his eyes are so pretty. Your hand stays on his shoulder until the end of the song, and then he returns to mainly focus on the road.

It's easy to take in his features under the streetlights this way, while his eyes scan the road and he now much more quietly sings along to a Taylor Swift song. He knows you're not a Swiftie, but you've told him more than enough times you'd never shame him. He could sing it loud if he wants, you'd be his audience of one.  His smile still tugs at his face, barely dimpled and rising to meet his strong cheekbones. Even with his big aviator glasses you can see the way his eyes wrinkle a little at the corner when he laughs.

Its when your eyes drift down to his jawline that makes you stop. Stubble dusts his jawline, not anything strong enough to be the beginnings of a beard, but not nothing. 

Just enough to give the insides of your thighs a rash if he…

Girl, get your mind out of the gutter! 

The stubble surprises you because Adrian’s usually so put together, at least in this sense. He’s almost always clean shaven, he gets his haircut on routine, and he never bites his nails. Physically, he’s well put together. The stubble makes it almost seem like he was rushing, like he put off his routine for something else. Come to think of it, he seemed kind of in a rush to leave headquarters today, and then he made that video. Did he have enough time to…? No, he couldn't have. Could he?

“Hey, want me to find a classic rock station or something? I know you don't like Taylor, and I shouldn't, Dorian says she’s for whiny girls that cant get a date but I don't agree, I think she's actually really talented,” Adrian stops when he notices you’re just watching him talk. He does that a lot around you, you’ve noticed. Maybe it’s because you actually don’t tell him to shut the fuck up whenever he gets a little excited. 

“Oh, but I don’t mean you think like Dorian. I’m sure your reason is…. nuanced,” he pauses, as if he was searching for the word, “You’re way smarter than my brother.”

“This is fine, Adrian. I can use this little dance you're doing as blackmail sometime when I want  you to do something for me,” you throw that joke out totally expecting it to just go over his head, or for him to say something about the morality of blackmail. 

“Well that’s dumb,” He replies seriously, “You don’t need to blackmail me. I would do anything for you.”

Your hand moves to brush the sleeve of his jacket, moving almost on its own accord. 

“I— thank you. Same, uh, same for you,” you’re a little dumb struck by the earnest response, but Adrian has a habit of doing this to you, whether he knows it or not.

The rest of the ride to the bar is relatively easier on your nerves, his comment giving you confidence to form up a little more firm of a plan. You’ll get him alone, maybe asking for a favor. Maybe you’re worried to get a drink alone in this short little skirt and oh no, you’d hate for someone to get skewered because they touched something that didn’t belong to them, right? 

That’ll have to work, you figure as he pulls into the parking lot of the bar. It’s nothing special, the bar you always go to for hang out nights, but tonight it feels imposing, the building itself feeling like a threat while he puts the Sebring into park and basically jumps out of the drivers seat. You hurriedly do the same and he grabs your hand to pull you into the entrance of the dive, the only sports bar in Evergreen your crew hasn’t been kicked out of yet, but you’re well on your way to being there too. The contact of his hand in yours is warm, so much so that your forearm even burns, you feel his touch radiate all the way up your arm and into your torso. It’s thrilling, walking into this little dive with Adrian holding your hand, like for a moment you can pretend you’re actually his and you’re just a normal couple coming for some beers and a round of pool or two.

But he drops your hand the second you spot the others. You try not to feel completely butthurt about it, but a certain coldness starts to grow within you.

You greet everyone with a smile, hugs and banter and everything normal, and if they sense your nerves towards Adrian, none of them mention it.

It’s easy to get your drinks and settle in at your regular stool at the bar, seated turned away from the bartender next to Emilia while Adrian and Chris stand in front of the both of you. It strategically shook out that way a while ago. Chris was close to Emilia and Leota if standing in the middle, you could lean behind Emilia to speak to Leota, Adrian and you got along best outside of him and Chris, and John could shout if he had something to add to what you were saying and you’d listen even if the other men wouldn’t.

Tonight’s soundtrack is a mystery. That is, whoever has control of the touchtunes for the bar tonight is a mystery. Its routine that at least one of your group throws twenty or so dollars onto the touchtunes app and torments the others with their music tastes for the whole night when you go out. 

Usually you can tell who it is. Adrian goes for eighties pop or top 40 hits, John goes for indie rock or european metal, Chris is all power metal, Leota is blues or early hip-hop, Emilia is early country, and you’re usually the classic rock or nineties pop. Tonight is a weird mix of a little of it all with some pop punk thrown in the mix. Knowing you didn’t touch the app before coming here, it has to be your group fighting for dominance not only with each other but with another patron.

A Front Bottoms song about being emotionally stunted plays while you order your first margarita of the night, extra salt on the rim, and Adrian moves protectively behind you so no one can shimmy their way in next to your seat while you order. He always does this, as he says, so no one butts in and orders when it should be your turn.

That’s fair, you think. 

The bartender puts extra salt on the rim just the way you like it, and you take a long sip before calling Adrian off of his attack dog routine. 

Conversation flows easily from there as the booze keeps flowing. Good natured banter and ribbing sprinkled in with non sequiturs from Adrian that are met with mixed results but it's something you've come to find comfort in. You've almost completely forgotten the annoyance over the fact that your underwear doesn't match.

It gets to the point after your second margarita that you finally feel confident enough to try to get Adrian alone. No better time than the present and you've clocked that he keeps pausing his sentences to openly watch you lick the salt off the rim of your glass. 

You all laugh at something Economos says about a date he’d recently been on- the fact that he’s finally stopped dying his beard seems to be doing wonders for his dating profile, and thankfully Chris doesn't make any comments about that. At least none that you can catch, but you turn your attention back to your drink.  

You take another sip, and then dart your tongue out again to get a little bit more of the salt, your eyes meeting Adrian’s again and you know it's time to pull the trigger on this plan. 

“Can I ask you something?” you ask, adding, “Over there? I don’t want to spoil Fargo for Adebayo, she just started watching.”

“I did not—,” Leota starts, and then stops herself. She realizes that she wasn’t supposed to hear you using her as your excuse to get him alone, and is a real one for that. You’ll have to buy a hat for her Keeya’s dogs the next time you get one of those weird targeted ads. 

“Are you sure we can’t just text? I know that's bad friend etiquette, but…”

You don’t know where the fuck he picked something like that up, seeing as this team and your surrounding friends are not typical in any way.

“I want to have a discussion real quick, I promise it’ll be easier than texting,” you shoot him a smile and his concern melts into a smile and he agrees. 

He helps you off of your barstool and you lead him to the other side of the bar, taking advantage of the L-shape that you can still see your friends but theyre far enough that this can be a private moment. You sit in a new barstool, feeling weirdly cold that its not your usual seat and Adrian parks himself on the stool next to yours. 

“So what’d you wanna ask, Cowgirl?” 

There's that damn nickname again, and his tweet from the other night flashes through your mind to shake your composure, but you soldier on. He casually sips his beer and the anticipation is clear on his face. He must be so happy to have someone else to talk about his favorite show with him, and you're just happy you have friends with things to talk to them about again. 

“Do you think Satchel and Rabbi will make it out?” You ask, and maybe you should have thought of a question when you came up with this plan instead of winging it. With five more episodes left of the season, you know the bloodshed isn’t over. 

“I hope so! I don't want the Fadda’s to win the turf war,” Adrian answers, enthusiastic to talk about his favorite show. 

“Do you think anyone’s going to die in the next episode?” you ask, wanting him to just keep talking. You could listen to him talk for weeks and not get tired of it.

“Oh I think Gaetano’s gonna get it next. His brother’s tired of him and wants to take the power for himself! It’ll just be interesting to see if that happens, what kind of a power vacuum that would cause in a crime syndicate like that. I mean, I’ve never seen it. I just kill them all. Get rid of a flower at the root, right?” 

“I think you mean getting rid of a weed at the root.”

“No, it's definitely a flower. What else would gardeners be doing so often to change out flowers?”

You don't know how to argue against that, so you just nod towards him and clink your glass on his bottle.

“Guess we’ll just have to see at the next sleepover, huh?” he asks, and there's pure glee on his face. If you didn't know any better, you'd say your agreeing to a Fargo sleepover was the highlight of his week.

“Guess so, speaking of, should I bring any snacks, or wine?”

“No! No definitely not,” Adrian assures you, “I have a picture of your favorite wine bottle saved in my phone, I’ll make sure you have some for the episode.”

Heat rises in your cheeks and you find yourself nervously smoothing your skirt from where it's ridden up on the stool again. 

“Are you trying to get me drunk next week?” You joke, winking and hoping he picks up on your tone.

“No, I’d never do that. Unless you wanted me to. It's your choice, because you're a strong woman and I’m a feminist.”

You laugh, but not at him. That was… the cutest fucking thing.

“Should we go back to the group?” Adrian asks, but whether it's his actual tone or just your margarita fueled hope, he sounds like he’s asking that question more because it's something he's seen as socially acceptable and not because he wants to.

“Maybe in a bit, I like getting to talk to you alone,” you admit, your hand drifting closer to his on the counter, almost close enough to touch. 

“Okay, I might be wrong, and if I am you can just punch me or call me a creep but…”

You lift your margarita up to your lips, eyebrows arched at him and silently urging him to continue.

“Are we flirting?” Confusion is evident on his face, but there's something else there too… enthusiasm? Excitement?

But yes, yes, God fucking dammit yes you want to say the moment youre done with this sip, you want to scream for the entire bar to know you are in fact hitting on Adrian Chase.

But just as your fingertips brush his knuckles, you're interrupted. 

“Hey,” Chris slides into the space to stand between yours and Adrian’s barstools, “You seeing anyone?”

You look confused between Chris and Adrian until you start to see Adrian’s brows furrow behind the wire rims of his aviator glasses. 

When you realize the question is directed at you, you splutter into your margarita, some of it splashing up into your nose. Holy fuck, that stings. 

“Dude, what the fuck…” you hear Adrian mumble, but all you see is red. Chris is playing a dangerous game, with Emilia in the room and you wanting to be able to explode him with your mind right now. You had Adrian right there, you were about to make the move, you were about to do it and then he had to come and ruin it. Cockblocker of the century in all his muscled glory. 

“No, I am not seeing anyone,” you confirm not at all trying to hide the venom in your voice, and then add, “Emilia is right over there dude, what kind of fucking game are you playing?”

Emilia and Chris have been sniffing around each other for months now, not unlike… well, not unlike the way you and Adrian have lately. What on earth could his stupid reasoning be for hitting on you in front of her? Of course, he has the audacity of looking shocked at your questions, as if you’re the ridiculous one in this situation.

“You know, I just figured if I bought you a drink and she got jealous she would finally want to… you know…” Chris verbalizes, slowing down when he hears how this plan sounds once it's out of his mouth. 

“Oh.”

“Uh huh. You think that’ll work on someone like Harcourt? I mean, where did you even get that plan, a Disney Channel Original Movie?” 

Even if Harcourt wasn’t exactly in shape to murder him right now between physical therapy appointments and 'taking it easy', you know she would emotionally eviscerate him. You look over his shoulder to try to get Adrian’s attention, only to see him ordering another Miller Lite and fully ignoring what’s going on between you and Chris. Fuck, shit. You can see your window of opportunity closing in on you.

“Listen, some of those DCOMs are solid movies. Camp Rock? Lemonade Mouth?”

Chris is wildly serious about this.

“I’m literally going to kill you,” you seethe, before downing your drink. 

“Oh my god,” Chris exclaims, and then looks between the two of you.

“Oh my god,” he repeats, “Did I interrupt something?”

The people on the stools in front of him paint a story: you about to jump off of your stool to strangle him, and Adrian, equally and uncharacteristically agitated sipping his beer and refusing to make eye contact with either of you. 

“Oh, I definitely did. You and him? Really? Are you—“

“Get out of here!” you shout, and he finally gets the hint to head back to his not-girlfriend. He nods and tips the neck of his beer towards you in salute and you slam your glass down onto the counter so hard you could have broken it. 

Chris walks awkwardly back, not quite a run but not a walk either— he knows you and Emilia are going to have a chat about this later and he knows he’ll hear all about it. You and Emilia are funny that way, you don’t judge her for being into Chris, and she doesn’t judge that you’ve hooked up with two guys named Adrian even though you’ve sworn to her that you totally don’t like Adrian and there’s nothing there. The two of you only text about it at least twice a week.

Adebayo shoots you a weird look from her place next to Emilia at the L-shaped bar, one that has you confused until you realize she’s looking just past you.

Adrian is seething, curled lip like a bad Elvis impersonation and all. You’ve actually never seen him angry, you realize. 

You've seen him annoyed, dejected, worried, that kicked puppy look, but never angry. He’s angry at Chris and there isn't much of a way to interpret this other than he wanted to hear your answer to his question. But would he even want it now? 

“Adrian?” you ask, hand reaching again for him but finding the space on the counter it once inhabited empty.

“Adrian?” you repeat a little more sharply, and he finally looks at you, his gaze instantly softening. The anger is still there, but his face shows it's not directed at you.

“If your drink was empty would you have let him buy you one?” his tone is low and even, and you recognize this as a tone he’s only donned when he’s in Vigilante mode.

“No, are you kidding?” you ask, exasperated by all of this interruption in your plan.

“No?” the confusion is evident in his voice. 

“No,” you clarify, “I don't want Chris to buy me a drink. Ever. Ew.”

“Is it because of Emilia?” he asks innocently, either choosing not to read your signals or just trying to figure out friend-code.

“No. I mean, yes I wouldn't do that to her. But I wouldn't want Chris no matter what.”

He nods, and seems to understand. 

Your answer hangs in the air, though. As if he doesn't know how to parse this territory. You've eased his obvious worries but maybe he needs you to be a bit obvious with making the first move. 

Here goes nothing.

You turn your glass up, tilting your head back as you finish it and immediately slam it back on the counter. You look to Adrian expectantly, crossing your legs as your skirt rides up even higher on your thighs. You don't miss the way his eyes dart downward.

“Buy me a drink, Adrian?”

His eyes snap back up to your face.

“You want another one?”

“I want you to buy me a drink,” you assert, “And yes, we were flirting before Chris interrupted.”

There's no way he could misinterpret that. His face contorts in a few different ways, at first in a twinge of anger, then confusion, then realization before settling in an easy smile, wide and he nods at you. 

“Cool, I was hoping we were. I’ve been wanting to flirt with you for a while,” he admits trying to sound calm, while wildly waving his hand to get the bartenders attention.

The bartender comes over quickly, knowing your team and how they act, that’s probably in his best interest. 

“This lovely lady that I’m flirting with would like a third and final margarita please! And put her other two drinks on my tab too, that’s what actual nice guys do,” he asserts, and watches carefully as the bartender makes your drink, his typical guarding of your drinks not changing even though he doesn’t get up off of his barstool to physically shield you and your drink.

“My other drinks too? Oh my, are you trying to get lucky tonight?” you joke, but god are you flattered. The margaritas here are not super cheap, and your wifi bill is due. 

“Yes?” He confirms it, but frames it like a question.

“You sure?” You ask.

“Yes, I’m sure. I want to get lucky,” he confirms, then realizes what he’s said, “With you. I want to get lucky with you.”

“Good, me too,” you agree, taking a sip of your last margarita. 

“Hashtag me too,” you hear him mumble, a weird little habit you've noticed he picked up. You lick the salt from the rim again, and this time he audibly groans. You arch your eyebrow and do it again, this time taking your time to flatten your tongue along the rim of the glass to get the margarita salt. He digs his fingers into the material of his jeans covering his thigh, and you watch his knuckles turn white. God, if only that was his hand around your neck and…

“It makes me so hard when you do that, you have to stop doing that. Or at least stop doing that in public,” Adrian admits through gritted teeth, and you take pity on him, grabbing his hand from off of his leg and entwining it in your own. 

“Good to know, I’ll only order margaritas when you're about to take me home from now on.”

His hand squeezes yours.

“I don't know if you're joking but every time you order a margarita I want to take you home,” his tone is deadly serious, and his eyes don't even hide the way they rake up and down your body anymore.

“I’ll keep that in mind and use it to my advantage,” you say, taking the initiative to sip your drink a little faster than the others tonight. Not to get drunk, but so that you can get into his Sebring faster and get actually alone with him. 

“I love this outfit,” Adrian says, and it's awkward, but honest. Flirting is… not his thing as far as you can tell, but damn if it is not working on you anyway. 

“Yeah?” you ask, a coy smile as you finish off what you're going to drink of the margarita.

Adrian leans in close, so close you can smell his deodorant.

“Love how easy it’ll be to take off,” he clarifies, whispering in your ear.

What do you even say to that? You don't know, how he manganese so often to leave you speechless, so you just dip your head down to rest your forehead on his shoulder and hum.

His other hand releases his now empty Miller bottle and pulls you back gently by the shoulder. 

“Hey, why are you pouting?”

You hadn't even realized you were.

“Take me home, Adrian.”

You don't have to tell him twice. He slides himself off the barstool before literally lifting you off of yours, being careful not to lift you too high so your skirt wouldn't flash anyone before putting you back down. 

“Bye guys!” Adrian shouts, “We’re going to go back home to our own homes! I’m not going to kiss her once were outside!”

You can’t even feel embarrassed at how Adrian announces your departure because once again his hand is in yours and guiding you. You wave bye to everyone with your free hand, heat rising in your cheeks as you try to hide the fact that you want to smile until your face aches.

He barely gets the door open before hes grabbing you close and kissing you, his arms wrapping around your waist tightly.

It's better than you could have ever imagined. In the many times youve thought about kissing Adrian, you've imagined him eager, enthusiastic, sloppy, fast, but never so achingly desperate. He kisses slowly, like how time moves during a car crash, lips moving hard and deliberate against your own to pull more, more, more, from you. 

When he retreats, your lips follow his before you come back down to earth.

“Wow,” you gasp, “I've been wanting to do that for a while.”

“Not as long as I have,” he retorts, that seriousness still evident in his tone. Holy shit.

“Let's get the fuck out of here, please.”

He wastes no further time bringing you back to where you parked earlier, opening the door for you before trotting around the car to the driver’s side and basically jamming his key into the ignition. 

He gets out of the parking lot and onto the main road before your heart drops. Fuck. Your underwear. Your awkward ugly mismatched set. The bra that's his uniform colors but the basic black panties that match okay but not enough to be sexy.

“Hey, can I be honest with you?” you blurt out before you can really think about what you're saying.

Adrian tenses up, and hits the brakes a little too sudden for the light changing ahead of you. 

“Were you not being honest with me before?”

Fuck, shit, fuck wrong wording.

“No! I mean yes, I was being honest before. It's just…” You try to parse the right words, “I had this planned, to make a move on you. I wanted to impress you.”

“Everything you do impresses me,” he interrupts, and you quickly thank him before you continue.

“But I had this whole outfit, and then a very specific underwear set I wanted to wear in case I was, you know, successful,” you sigh, “But the underwear I was going to wear that matched with the bra went missing, so if you want to like, ignore all this you can.”

You gesture to your outfit and your body awkwardly, not used to feeling so unsure of yourself, but Adrian makes you feel like a schoolgirl with a weird crush again. 

He's silent for a bit, focusing on the road and making his way to his apartment building as fast as he can while still following all of the traffic laws.

“Was it the black and teal set?” he finally cuts the silence, and your blood runs cold. You knew he had the underwear, but you weren't about to call him out about his tweet further than the comment about them missing. 

“Uh, yeah,” you admit quietly, now trying to look anywhere but at the profile of his handsome face. 

“Do you want them back? I can like, hand them back to you and you can go change if you want when we get back to my place?” he asks like it's a normal situation you find yourselves in. Not a ‘coworkers that make weird moves on each other on twitter through nude videos and strategic likes' situation.

“Hey, look at me,” he commands gently, noticing your silence.

You turn to him, and there's this blissful little smile on his face; he’s looking at you like you hang the moon and stars.

“You're not as discreet on twitter as you think you are, but I’m really glad you didnt find it gross,” his voice is wavering a little, like he’s nervous to be saying this. Fuck, you knew you werent as fast on that scroll past his video the other morning. You're just glad he’s not disgusted by you, the fact that he knows, that you're both a little perverted and he accepts it. If he can accept it so can you.

“I’m glad you didnt find me gross either,” you admit, a little less bold than you had been. 

Adrian scoffs.

“Are you kidding? A hot woman like you liking videos of me? Did you get off to me?” he asks eagerly.

“Maybe…” you admit, a little coy, a little more confident again. 

“Maybe?”

“Okay yes,” you admit, finding the courage to reach out and touch his forearm, “I did. More than a little.”

“Good!” his arm slides from where it’s on the wheel to place his hand very carefully on your bare thigh, ‘I definitely got off knowing you were watching.”

You feel hot all over knowing that, the confirmation that the tweets were about you even though you knew they were. That there was no possibility they were about that new hostess at Fennel Fields, and that he was getting off at the thought of you seeing them.

“Can I ask how you knew they were me?” you ask, you hand enveloping his and pushing it up your thigh to flirt with the hem of your skirt.

“That was easy,” he says, not even looking at you as he squeezes your thigh, before dipping his fingertips closer to the inside of your thigh, “Your twitter name was a Fargo reference. You're my Fargo buddy.”

You really should have been more subtle with that, but you don't find yourself giving a shit when his calloused fingers are running themselves up and down your inner thigh and he pulls the car into his apartment’s parking lot.

“Fuck,” you whisper, his pinky just barely brushing under the hem of your skirt. 

“I know, you should have been more sneaky,” he agrees, even though that's not what you were reacting to. 

“Shut up,” you laugh, “Just get me upstairs, Adrian.”

He throws the car in park and gets out as hastily as possible. 

He jogs around to your side of the car and this time you actually open the door yourself. 

“You don't actually want me to shut up, right?” he asks as you climb out of the car, legs a little shaky from nerves and arousal.

“Of course not,” you say, wrapping your arms around his neck, “I dont want you to hold back in any way.”

[atlasthegreatest]

- Atlas Masterlist - [Requests are open]

▪️Male reader

▫️Female reader

🔲 Gender neutral

🔳 Male/ Female Oc

Avatar: The Legend Of Korra/ The Last Airbender:

Asami Sato:

🔳 - War of Hearts- I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, XI, X , XI

Avatar Korra:

Butterfly Effect

Lin Beifong

Katara

Suyin Beifong

Mako

Bolin

Azula

Senna

Kya

Kuvira

Percy Jackson:

Annabeth Chase:

🔲- Strategic Minds and Wild Hearts

Percy Jackson

Jason Grace

Thalia Grace

Piper McLean

Hazel Levesque

Nico DiAngelo

Sally Jackson

Silena Beauregard

Drew Tanaka

Harry Potter :

Hermione Granger

Harry Potter

Narcissa Black

Lily Evans

Daphne Greengrass

Narcissa Black

Ginny Weasley

Fleur Delacour

Penny Haywood :

- Baby Problems

Cassandra Vole:

▪️- Unexpected Surprises

▪️- Tme Wrap: Bizarrely Adventures!

Scream:

Sidney Prescott :

- ▪️ Flight or Figth

Tara Carpenter:

▪️ A Nigth Out

Gale Weathers

Sam Carpenter:

▪️A Nigth to Remember

Fairy Tail:

Erza Scarlet:

🔲- A Taste of Love

Natsu Dragneel

Grey Fullbuster

Lucy Heartfilia :

🔲 - Friends…? Friends.

Mirajane Strauss

Juvia Lockser

Irene Belserion

Attack On Titan:

Mikasa Ackerman:

-▫️ Fake It ‘Till You Break It - I

Eren Yeager

Historia Reiss

Annie Leonheart

Pieck Finger

Jean Kriestean

Sasha Braus

Hange Zoe

Marvel Universe:

Natasha Romanoff:

▫️A Hero’s First Flight

▪️Breaking the Chains

Laura Kinney:

▪️Into the Wild

▪️Into the Void

Jean Grey

Emma Frost

Wanda Maximoff

Maria Hill:

▫️A Hero’s First Flight

Cindy Moon:

▪️ The Bat, The Spider, and The Mutant

Gwen Stacy:

▪️ Tangled in the Web

Felicia Hardy

Mary-Jane Watson

Ororo Monroe

DC Universe:

Cassandra Cain:

▪️The Bat, The Spider, and The Mutant

▪️The Super’s Bats

🔲- Silent Glances and Secret Smiles

🔲- Shadows of the Past — Birds of a Feather pt.2 — Weight of Memories pt.3 — Weight of the Past pt.4

▪️Shadows of Grief

🔲- A New Begining

▫️ Quiet Echoes of Love

▫️ Cracks in the Shell

Helena Bertinelli:

▫️Under the Spotlight

Barbara Gordon:

▫️- Cards on the Table

Dick Grayson

Poison Ivy

Kara Zor-El:

▫️The Flight of the Owl

Wonder Woman:

▪️The Wonder and the Guardian of Themyscira

▫️Unseen Bonds

Cassandra Sandsmark

Zatanna Zatara

Talia al Ghul:

▫️Duty and Devotion

▫️ A Not-So-Quiet Visit

Lady Shiva

Starfire

The Vampire Diaries/ The Originals:

Caroline Forbes:

▪️ Late Night Talking

Katherine Pierce:

🔲- Blood Ties

Rebekah Mikaelson

Hayley Marshal

Bonnie Bennett

Hope Mikaelson:

🔲- Bound by Blood

Davina Clare

Freya Mikaelson

The Witcher:

Cirilla of Cintra

Geralt of Rivia

Yennefer of Vengerberg

Acotar:

Feyre Archeron

Nesta Archeron

Morrigan

Elain Archeron

K-pop/K-drama girls (to add more):

Aespa:

Yu Jimin:

▪️ Where it Begins

Red Velvet:

Bae Joohyun:

▫️ Nobody Knows

Park Sooyoung:

🔲- The Way You Make Me Feel

Ive:

Ahn Yujin:

🔲- Bound by The Distance Between Us

Twice:

Sana Minatozaki:

🔲- Operation: Sweet Serenade

Katseye

Le Sserafim

Girls Generation

All of us are dead

Doona

Manhwa/comics ( to add more):

Navier Trovi :

- 🔳 Honor me of this dance

Penelope Eckart

Samantha Wilkins/ Atom Eve

Mark Grayson /Invincible

Video game girls ( to add more):

Laura Croft:

🔲- Between Adventures — Beneath the Surface pt.2

▪️ Treasures of the Heart

▪️ A Game of Hearts and Ruins

Jill Valentine:

▪️Through Fire and Ruin Against the Clock pt.2

Haley Carter (Stadew Valley):

🔲- Daylight

Sadie Adler (Red Dead Redemption)

Sam Giddings (Until Dawn)

Kitanna (Mortal Kombat)

Sonya Blade (Mortal Kombat)

Claire Redfield

Ada Wong

TV Shows/ Series (to add more):

Miraculous Ladybug:

Marinette Dupain- Cheng/ Ladybug

Kagami

Chlöe Bourgeois

Arcane/League of Legends:

Caitlyn Kiramman:

▫️The Edge of Loyalty

Mel Merdada:

▪️ Alchemy of Minds

Luxanna (Lux)

KD/A

Got/HotD:

Rhaenyra Targaryen

Daenerys Targaryen

Alicent Hightower

Teen Wolf:

Lydia Martin

Kira Yukimura

Allison Argent

Bridgerton:

Daphne Bridgerton

Francesca Bridgerton

Kate Sharma

Fate: The Winx Saga:

Bloom

Stella

Flora

Scooby-Doo: Mysteries S.A:

Daphne Blake

Power Rangers:

Rpm:

▪️Reunion Amid the Chaos

Naruto ( to add more):

Hinata Hyuga

Sakura Haruno:

▫️A New Tide

Tsunade Senju:

▫️Quiet Storm

Kushina Uzumaki

[xuchiya]

"Chapter 5: The Chase" || kang yeosang [a mini-series]

|| next: chapter 6 || if you haven't read the previous chapter, here's the masterlist.

genre: non!idol yeosang. fluff. angst. violence. mentions: gun. knives. attempt murder/kidnapping. blood. anxiety attack.

"my lady as much as I want to drive that ... chariot as our runaway vehicle ... you're on your own."

"KANG YEOSANG?!"

The carnival lights twinkled in the distance as you and Yeosang made your way back to the motorbike, you hum as you felt your body in a less stressful state looking at Yeosang, “I can’t thank you enough for doing this Yeo.” He bumps his shoulders to yours with a boyish grin, “Just because my duty is to protect you in general doesn’t mean I cannot protect you from things that can hurt you from the naked eye.” 

Your heart flutters and nod— feeling that intense butterflies flying around your stomach. Yeosang rev the motorbike to life and hands you the helmet. The night had been a delightful escape from the stress that had consumed you. You felt lighter, more at ease, thanks to Yeosang's thoughtful gesture. The drive back home was quiet at first, the peaceful silence a comforting backdrop to your thoughts.

The muffler silence as you approached a red light, you noticed Yeosang's eyes narrowing slightly as he glanced at the side mirrors. You took notice as he pull up his visors,  "Something wrong?" you asked, sensing his tension. You pull away, doing the same thing but Yeosang grab your wrist and pulls down your visor, “Don’t baby.”

If it wasn’t for the other car on your right, a little too close, you would have been blushing mess from the other nickname he gave you. "Keep the visor down okay?" he said and you nodded, but his tone was cautious. "Just a car that's been a little too close for my liking."

You glanced back, seeing a black Mercedes idling behind you. The light turned green, and you continued on your way, but Yeosang kept a close eye on the mirror. After a few more red lights, Yeosang's suspicion grew. "Hold on," he said, his voice low and serious.

"What's going on?" you asked, feeling a knot of anxiety form in your stomach.

"I'm going to confirm something," he replied, taking an unexpected turn down a side street and braking on a side of the street. The Mercedes followed, shutting down the engine and exactly 4 men came out of the car, you watch them approach you two and Yeosang calmly took the situation, raising his visor, “Is there a problem?”

The first guy did not answer Yeosang but instead looked at you. You felt your heart stop and drop on the pit of your stomach when you notice the scar that was above the eyebrow. Your grip on Yeosang tightens.

“It’s her. Get her!” The first guy shouted, his voiced laced with menace. Without hesitation, Yeosang rev the motorbike loudly before launching off, “Hold on tight baby!” 

You screech down the street. Yeosang's jaw tightened, looking back then front. "Just as I thought. They're following us."

Your heart rate quickened as Yeosang navigated through different areas, trying to lose the tail. But the Mercedes stayed with you, matching every turn. "Hang on tight," he instructed, his voice calm but firm. Yeosang changed gear, and the motorbike sped up. The Mercedes did the same, closing the distance. "They're not giving up," you said, glancing back nervously.

"Then neither are we," Yeosang replied, his eyes focused ahead. He maneuvered the motorbike skillfully through the narrow streets, weaving in and out of traffic. The city lights blurred as you raced through intersections, the tires screeching with each sharp turn. 

The chase intensified, the Mercedes relentless in its pursuit. Yeosang took another sharp turn, heading towards a less crowded area. "We're going to have to lose them," he said, determination in his voice.

As you sped through an industrial area, Yeosang spotted an alleyway up ahead. " Are you ready my lady?!" he warned.

“Let’s just get over it gahd damnit!” He swerved the car into the narrow passage. The Mercedes followed, but the tight space worked to your advantage. Yeosang navigated the twists and turns with precision, creating a bit of distance between you and the pursuers. Suddenly, the alley opened up into a wider street. Yeosang revs up the accelerator, and the motorbike shoots forward. The Mercedes emerged from the alley, struggling to keep up with your sudden burst of speed. "We're almost there," Yeosang said, glancing at you to make sure you were okay. His other hand, holding on to your hands that were tightly holding on to him.

As the speedometer climbed, you could see the outskirts of the city up ahead. Yeosang took a final sharp turn onto a highway, pushing the car to its limits. The Mercedes was still behind, but the distance was growing.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Yeosang spotted an off-ramp leading to a secluded area. He took it, and the Mercedes hesitated for a moment before following. That hesitation was all Yeosang needed. He took another sharp turn, heading into a forested area, the dense trees providing cover. He pulled the motorbike into a hidden driveway, shutting off the engine and killing the lights. "They won’t know," he whispered. You both watched as the Mercedes sped past, missing your hiding spot entirely.

After a tense few minutes, Yeosang let out a breath he had been holding. "I think we lost them." Your heart was still pounding, but relief washed over you. "What was that about?" you asked, trying to calm your racing thoughts.

"I'm not sure," Yeosang admitted. "But they seem to recognize you, do you know them?” You shook your head, the image of the first guy still vivid in your thoughts, “No. Not that I remember something like that.”

He nodded, slightly out of breath, probably from the adrenaline, “I’ll have to report this one but for now, let's get you home." He started the engine again, and this time the drive was uneventful. You arrived back at the manor, still shaken but grateful for Yeosang's quick thinking and expertise. As you stepped off of the , you looked at Yeosang. "Thank you," you said sincerely.

"Always," he replied, his eyes reflecting the seriousness of his promise to protect you.

As you were about to leave the parking lot, a black sleek car— similar to the ones you use whenever you got to a meeting or such— pulled up and you instantly recognized who it was. Yeosang took the helmet and placed it on the seat and stood tall beside you.

“What are you doing here, honey? Aren’t you supposed to be in a meeting?” You watch as your father approaches you, two of his bodyguards trailing behind him. You exhale, looking at him “Few of my schedules today are cancelled or move to next month, dad.” 

You saw his eyes flickered to you then to Yeosang then on the motorbike at the back then his eyes returned to you, “Did you go somewhere?” You look behind you then to your father, “I—”

“Sir!” A voice roared, capturing everyone's attention. A male—probably one of your dad’s bodyguards—approached your father with urgency. “The SPD is here for some interrogations.” Confusion rippled through the room as everyone wondered why the Seoul Police Department had shown up suddenly. Then, it clicked in your mind, and you glanced at Yeosang, who remained stoic and stood tall beside you.

“Why? What do they need?” your dad asked, his voice tight with controlled anger. Your heart stopped when the bodyguard replied, “KYS 61599 is being tracked down for overspeeding.” Your dad slowly turned to Yeosang with a deep frown on his face, his knuckles suddenly tight at his side. You immediately stepped forward. “Dad, I can explain.”

Your dad’s eyes did not waver, “Take her upstairs and put this man in a confined house.” Your breath hitch when all of his bodyguards move, taking your arms in their hands as your head snaps towards Yeosang who is being dragged rather harshly towards the confined house, “Dad no! Wait!”

Your dad looks at you with an intense look in his eyes, “And as for you, I’m disappointed that you would go behind my back just like that and use Yeosang as a way to escape from your duties and responsibilities.” Those words hit you like a punch to the gut. Every ounce of effort, every sleepless night, every sacrifice felt meaningless in that moment. “Dad, that’s not fair!” you yelled, your voice breaking. “I did not use Yeosang to escape! I did it because I needed a break! I’m suffocating under all this pressure!”

Your father’s eyes were cold, unmoved by your outburst. “You are the heir to De Villalobos Corporates. You have responsibilities. You cannot simply run away whenever you feel overwhelmed.”

Tears welled up in your eyes, blurring your vision. “I never asked for this! I never wanted to be the heir! I never wanted to take care of the family business! All I wanted was to live a normal life, to pursue my own dreams, to have friends, to be free!”

He stepped closer, his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. “You think you’re the only one who had dreams? Your grandfather worked his entire life to build this empire, and he chose you to continue his legacy. This is bigger than your personal desires.”

Your heart shattered at his words. “But what about my life, Dad? What about my happiness? You’re confining both me and my sister to a life we didn’t choose. And using Yeosang? That’s beyond my dignity. He saved me. He’s the only reason I’m still standing here!”

Your father’s face hardened, the lines around his mouth deepening. “Your happiness is secondary to your duty. You were born into this family, and with that comes sacrifices. You will fulfill your role, and that is final.”

Despair turned into anger, hot and fierce. “I refuse! I refuse to be your puppet! I refuse to be confined to this gilded cage! I will not let you or anyone else dictate my life!”

The room fell silent, the weight of your words hanging heavily in the air. Your father looked at you with a mix of anger and disappointment. “Take her to her room. She is not to leave until I say so.” As the bodyguards led you away, you looked back at Yeosang, who was being pulled in the opposite direction. Your heart ached with a pain you couldn’t describe. “I’m sorry,” you whispered, knowing he couldn’t hear you.

Back in your room, the door closed behind you with a finality that echoed through your soul. You collapsed onto the bed, sobbing uncontrollably. All your hard work, all your efforts to balance the demands of your family and your own dreams, felt in vain. The weight of your father's harsh words and the reality of your situation crushed you, leaving you feeling more trapped and hopeless than ever.

Then thinking of Yeosang. Your tears continue to fall out of your eyes as you think of that man who did nothing but be kind to you, treating you not like royalty or an heir but rather a person and friend. 

Pulling your knees close to your chest, “I’m sorry.”

taglist: @yeosangsbabygirlsblog, @hi-kariii,@ateez-atiny380

[benzjr]

The 2024 reboot no one was expecting...

Those of you who have been around for a while might just remember back when I did fanfiction, and if you do, you might remember the story of my Supernoobs OC Josh Carter, the aspiring social butterfly, future superstar and reluctant superhero whose life was getting way more complicated these days...

Back towards the end of 2019, I was really starting to lose steam with him; the inspiration I had for him was really starting to wane, especially given the fandom seemed to peter out and my previous partner-in-angst-crime Pumpkin (@whynotzoidbergdotorg) moved on to other creations. I've definitely missed creating fandom work over the past few years, but between not really finding anything to grab my attention in the same way and a series of setbacks in my life (not to mention the grind of growing my YouTube channel), things just happened to fall by the wayside.

But it seems I wasn't posting into the void after all! Josh and his story left a huge impact on the small but surprisingly resilient Supernoobs fandom, and over the past few months I've been pulled back in, thanks especially to @ghostlyapivorous' @superastral-official and @jaspydunks' @noobs-rewritten. So much so, that I've been re-motivated to return and at least continue (I don't think I should be presumptuous and suggest "finish") Josh's story. In addition to a few unreleased chapters from the original run, I've been working on continuing the story, and I've almost gotten to the end of Dancefest, where we originally left off.

We'll be picking up from there soon, but it didn't seem fully right to go back to using the old 2016 designs of our main cast — my artistic workflow has completely changed since then. So, it was time to give them all a glow-up. The primary goal was mainly to get them looking closer to the show's style, though I've also taken the opportunity to resolve a few longstanding annoyances with some of the characters and change some things up. Despite not being part of the main cast, I also decided to do an image for Zoey, given she's a pretty recurrent character in the series. Just like the first time around, expect to see new art of these kids in the future (though I don't think I'll spin up @joshcartersblog again).

Look out for the continuation of Josh's story very soon, but in the meantime, catch up on how Josh got here:

A Future Super-Something, the first story: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Perfect Disasters, the second story: 1 2 3 4 5 6

Over and Out, the third story: 1 & 2 3 4 5

Diamonds on the Rebound, the fourth story

Reminiscence, the fifth story

A Hero’s Prelude, the sixth story: 1 2 3

Dancefest, the seventh story (so far)

Text versions of everyone's descriptions under the cut.

Josh Carter

Josh Carter has only one goal in mind: becoming one of the popular kids. Enamored with fame and starry-eyed about celebrity, he's chasing the top of the Cornbury Middle School food chain with the help of his friends. Clever, ambitious, and seemingly carefree, he'll stop at nothing in his quest to rise to the top without losing himself, while making plenty of buzz along the way.

…But will something bigger and more destructive than the current popular clique or a mortifying social mishap stop him in his tracks?

Dreams of a social media-perfect lifestyle

Friends with Jock Jockerson despite not being a jock

His "walk-in closet" is practically a department store for one

The Yellow Superdude

As elusive as he is mysterious, the Yellow Superdude is the newest addition to Cornbury's local team of intergalactic virus warriors. But he doesn't seem too happy about having the opportunity of a lifetime; honestly, it seems like he doesn't get along with the other four at all. With the heroes already building local recognition and facing even bigger battles, can he ever become the hero the Earth needs — and does he even want to?

Alias: ???

Powers: Energy blasts, stretchy body, shapeshifting, possibly more if he ever actually went to training

Always has messy hair for some reason

Simon Parker

Josh's best friend since forever, Simon is the realist of the group. As much an inventive strategist as an easygoing wingman, Simon's a true ride-or-die in Josh's popularity adventures, turbocharging their social game while keeping his starstruck bro down-to-earth. They've been there for each other even in their lowest moments, including Simon's brutally public one last year. It's a trust that makes Simon unafraid to be honest with Josh. But despite all this, is Josh keeping a super-sized secret from him?

Enjoys the outdoors with his parents

Still recovering from a 7th-grade incident where he was dubbed "The Whale"

Maintains countless inside jokes and references with Josh

Rebecca Hewitt

Rebecca is a punchy wildcard who's garnered her own notoriety. Since stumbling into Josh's high-flying life in sixth grade, she's been looking to find herself somewhere in the many aesthetics Josh's influencer adventures bring into her world. Rough around the edges but fun at heart, she's not one to mess with, but worth having in your corner.

Recovering horse girl

Still throwing out Mini-Horse Friendship Force merchandise

Best dodgeball player in the class

Zoey Miller

Zoey is the intrepid reporter behind The Cornbury Hound Dog, Cornbury Middle School's unofficial school news blog. Zoey can be eager and persistent to a fault, the perfect attitude for hunting the next big story. She keeps up on all the gossip around the halls — especially Josh's ambitious search for teenage stardom. Totally not because she has a crush on him or anything…

An ace at alliteration

Has a venerable collection of visor hats

Elaborately daydreams of meet-cutes with Josh

[simp-ly-writes]

Meet the Doctor pt.8

Pairing: Stardew Valley Harvey x Reader

Summary: The year is going by and what does Harvey think about the reader throughout it all?

Warnings: angst, mentions of drinking, implied personal relations.

A/N: almost there people, almost there I swear.

Masterlist | Taglist | edited.

Meet the Doctor Series (pt.1) (pt.2) (pt.3) (pt.4) (pt.5) (pt.6) (pt.7) (pt.8) (pt.9) (pt.10) you are here

The smell of coffee excites Harvey more than ever, allowing himself to get up every morning and start his day, it also reminds him of his farmer. He has noticed all your little marks of help throughout the clinic thanks to your green thumb, from your work on the plants both inside and outside of the clinic never had they looked healthier in the medical facility. 

Maru had seemed to be showing up less and less during the early mornings to help him prepare for the day since you started to come by, but anytime you had the chance to spend time together, Harvey would never complain about it. Though Maru compensated by sharing the later evenings taking virtual calls from neighbouring communities in order to get more income running through the clinic with the Doctor who was struggling to make ends meet. 

Yet as the weeks went by with coffee and muffins, he couldn’t help but feel that he and the farmer were becoming more colleagues than friends or the most valued something more that would never happen. He would never see you in the saloon throughout the weeknights and even barely on the weekend, your evening self seemingly disappearing into the depths of the Valley. This made Harveys imagination kick into hyperdrive as he thought of all the possibilities while twirling the wineglass he held at the bar. Maru by his side chatting to him like usual. 

Looking around he noticed that Elliot began to never show up at the Saloon as well, and that is all Harvey needed to think to even know what was going on between the two of you. Taking another sip of his drink, Maru and the Doctor fell into old habits. 

--

Weeks rolled into months; the schedule you and Harvey made never differing, at eight o’clock you would show up to help the clinic and chat to leave back to your farm at noon, if he was lucky he would find you at Pierre’s during the early evenings before rushing back to the farmhouse. 

Holidays rolled through the slows in time throughout this schedule and Elliot was always seated beside you at every communal gathering. Harvey saw you in that white flowy shirt paired with a flower crown that bloomed with the colours of your cheeks in the sun during your birthday at the saloon. He felt his heart flutter with the fake butterflies that flew and landed on your crown and painted atop your fingernails as he put that white dress to memory. He later sees Elliot looking at you fondly and seemingly doing the same while taking a quick glance to Mayor Lewis.

The fall scavenger hunt organized by Penny has the kids running and screaming, the noise echoing through Harveys apartment window as he looks down to see everyone setting up for the event. You wear a pair of embroidered overalls and a toque, he watches as Elliot snaps photos of you chasing after the kids, you all falling over into a stack of hay as he picks the pieces out of your hair and watches as your eyes close in the motions. Harvey finds himself ringing his fingers through his own hair and heading downstairs to talk with the community members, doing his best to keep his back toward you. 

Next comes the dance of the moonlight jellies, you wear an all too familiar red jacket that night on the pier as Maru huddles closer to him as they sit on the edge of the pier, feet swimming back and forth off the docks ledge. He can feel himself being transported back to the bar all those nights ago, and wonders to himself where all the time has gone, the wind wizzing past his ears; it screams. 

Soon the fall fair rolls around and you are walking with a large stuffed bear on your back as Elliot carries a basket of goodies from vendors far and wide, smiling ear to ear at your candy covered lips and sugar-hyped self to only change gears during the spirits eve maze as he hears you and Elliot go off into the distance of the spirits eve maze.  And the Doctor vividly remembers your soft smile to Elliots small but expensive gift on last years feast of the winter star, as he looks down at his own for you in his hands.

--

The smell of coffee breaks Harvey’s heart every morning more than ever, he struggles to get out of bed and ready for the morning, the smells reminds him of you and seeing you in that jacket that smells of the sea and green tea. 

As Harvey walks around downtown, underneath all the multi-coloured holiday lights that frame the tops of roofs and wrap themselves around every lamppost on his way to the museum; the holiday season in full once again. He thought that the resolve within himself would be grand enough to withstand this moment, but how wrong would he be…

This novel is dedicated to my love, Y/N and our shared writing nights that have ultimately made this book and me a better man. Elliot read the most personal of thoughts into a sea of people and here Harvey was, drowning.

--

The door chimes and the cold nips away at Harveys wet cheeks, fresh falling snow crunches underneath his boots as he wraps his green jacket tighter around his frame. Flashes back to that red coat cloud his mind as he makes his way back downtown and into the clinic as he prepares for appointments later that day in the room he met you all those months ago; tears falling and meeting his reflection in the clear tiles. 

To be continued.

Meet the Doctor Series (pt.1) (pt.2) (pt.3) (pt.4) (pt.5) (pt.6) (pt.7) (pt.8) (pt.9) (pt.10) you are here

[hrefna-the-raven]

LoKi Masterlist

Masterlist

Enjoy and feel free to reblog :)

TVA Loki x reader:

Summary:

This is a different take on the Loki series. He will meet a slightly different version of Sylvie that will be you, the reader ;)

Chapter 1.1 - Glorious purpose

Chapter 1.2 - Glorious purpose

Chapter 1.3 - Glorious purpose

Alligator Loki x reader:

Chasing butterflies

Mischief and fever

Alligator Loki x dark fey reader:

Imagine

Jotun Loki x female reader:

Tome of Fate (series)

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5 (18+)

Tome of Fate - Vol. 2 (series)

Chapter 1

Chapter 2 (18+ kind of)

Chapter 3

Chapter 4 (18+)

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Bonus chapter

[naoko-world]

10 Characters/10 Fandoms/10 Tags

Thanks for the tag @butterfly-lies-chase-them-away! I appreciate so much!

So 10 characters I adore from 10 fandoms... That'll be hard!

1. Bruno Madrigal (Encanto)

Like of course... I love him so much it's not like I try to hide it!

2. Luigi (Super Mario Bros series)

3. Leo Valdez (Heroes of Olympus/The trials of Apollo)

(credits to @viria for this art of the character)

4. Franziska Von Karma (Ace Attorney)

5. Pretty (Kaeloo)

6. Amity (The owl house)

7. Donna Noble (Doctor Who)

8. Perceval (Kaamelott)

9. Wonder Woman (DC)

10. Iroh (Avatar The last Airbender)

I tried to avoid adding too many characters from Characters from Disney since it's a fandom in itself so I added characters from things that is considered as a fandom by themselves.

As for the tags...

@omgcheez @immabethehero @rosellacwrites @bitsy83 @thecrazyashley-blog @hectic-hector @tiredlvna @redcookies-bestcookies @thisismisogynoir

(of course you're not obligated to do it)

[ningningsdream]

✧ nini's library ✧

a/n: making a new recs post because the other was so messy and old, lot of links don't work anymore.

i don't read as much anymore because i don't have a lot of time and would rather write than read lately so i don't know if this is going to be updated frequently.

(reblogs > ningningsdreamisreading)

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ─── ✧ scenarios ─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

↳ RENJUN

all’s fair (on the silver screen and the red carpet) | @cherryeoniis

pairings; soloist!renjun x actress!reader

genre; strangers to lovers, romantic-comedy, fluff, angst

summary;  when you get involved in a paparazzi shitstorm, the last person you expect to save your image is huang renjun.

walls, brawls, & sudden rainfalls | @jishyucks

pairings; renjun x fem!reader

genre; enemies-to-friends-to-lovers, fluff!, slow burn (!), college au

summary; your first impression of huang renjun wasn’t the greatest. in fact, the first two encounters you did have with him were enough for you to conclude that he was just some cold-blooded boy who genuinely didn’t care about anyone else but himself. that was, of course, before the (damn) universe brings you both together to work on the local daycare’s mural.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

↳ HAECHAN

all is fair in love and war | @ahgase55g7

pairings; co-worker!haechan x fem!reader

genre; fluff, college!au, (sort of)  coworkers!au

summary; none

the deal. | @cannedapricot

pairings; neighbor!donghyuck x fem!reader

genre; fluff at the end, smidge of angst, slice of life, neighbor!au, high school!au, one sided enemies to lovers, mistaking admiration for love, very romcom movie there's a kiss in the rain scene somewhere in here (mark lee is in the same grade as the 00s for plot purposes)

summary; in which you never wanted to ask your stupid neighbor for help in chasing your dream man - but desperate times call for desperate measures - even if that meant giving lee donghyuck the satisfaction of parking his car in your spot.

free trial wedding style | @liliansun

pairings; fake bf/new neighbor!haechan x fem!reader

genre; fluff, comedy, fake dating au, slice of life (?), wedding au

summary; when a random, cute, guy comes up to you and practically asks for you to follow along, you do so without much thought. that is until you get home and see he’s your new neighbor who just might need your help a little more than you expected.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

↳ JENO

pussy blocked. | @luvdsc

pairings; fuckboy!jeno x fuckgirl!reader

genre; angst, comedy, fluff, college au

summary; y/n’s unofficial guide on how to be a heartbreaker:

1. have fun. 2. never stay the night. 3. always be the first one to leave. 4. never hook up with the same person twice. 5. don’t fall in love with boys like lee jeno.

the perks of having a hot best friend | @jaeyunverse

pairings; bff!jeno x fem!reader

genre; fluff, crack, mild angst, best friends to lovers, college au

summary; having a hot best friend is nice until you start getting butterflies in your stomach every single time you look at them.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

↳ JAEMIN

take the stairs | @rrxnjun

pairings; neurophysiology student!jaemin x fem!literature student! reader

genre; college au, strangers to lovers. fluff, comedy, suggestive.

summary; after having an unexpected guest witness the neverending quarrels with your roommate, na jaemin starts to practically live at your place— or— where yizhuo’s flegmatic project partner starts to put a suspicious amout of effort into their assignment. [part of simplify romance series]

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

✧ smaus ─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

↳ RENJUN

crush culture | @suhnshinehaos

pairings; renjun x gn!reader

genre; university!au, student council!au, fluff, angst, pining, humor, slice of life

summary; ln which yn has always flirted with huang renjun. but they do that with literally everyone else too, they couldn’t possibly be serious about pursuing him, right? on their final year of university, yn is determined to show that they are. with all the walls that renjun has built around himself, will they be strong enough to succeed in tearing them down?

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

↳ HAECHAN

manifesting mayhem | @suhnshinehaos

pairings; haechan x gn!reader

genre; mini smau, university au, mostly fluff, a little bit of angst, humor

summary; the one where all of haechan's friends is in a relationship and yn just happens to know how to manifest romance

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───