#Chinese Stair Lifts

[killiaia]

AESPA TAKING CARE OF YOU AFTER BEING HURT/SICK

Karina

Karina was surprised to see you come home wounded. An arm in plaster after a fall. 

Karina already takes care of you, but when the young woman was behind you on the stairs, she tripped. 

Your first instinct was to catch her with your arm. Bad idea, because it was the wrong arm. 

Karina was so angry with herself . You reassured her, but nothing helped. 

So now you're lying down and Karina's straddling you dressed as a maid.

"I'm so sorry master. You must punish me with your cock. " 

With your good arm, you grab her hip. 

"Jump on my cock baby. " 

Karina doesn't hesitate. 

----

WINTER

You've had one of the worst nights of your life. You must have caught some virus lying around. You only managed to fall asleep late at night.

But you're feeling good this morning. You also hear noises coming from under your blanket.

Gently, you lift your blanket and meet Winter's gaze, your cock in her mouth.

"Hi baby. I'm going to take care of you today. " 

"Please do. "

"I'm going to suck you off and then make you something to eat. " 

You're very lucky to have her.

----

GISELLE

Giselle arrives at the hospital. She finds your room and enters, but stops short.

You're standing in front of her, shirtless with a bandage across your chest. You're standing on the phone and hang up. Giselle is excited by the sight.

You want to say something but Giselle stops you short with a gesture. The Japanese woman has just removed her thong. 

Hypnotized by the sight, you watch Giselle go into the bathroom and bend over the sink.

"Fuck me. " 

You've never taken your pants off so fast.

----

NINGNING

You're in the shower, enraged. Your team needed you and you got hurt on a harmless play. 

You hear the door open and you're ready to scream at the person to get out of the way. 

But then you recognize the scent. You turn around and face a naked Ningning.

"I know you must be upset. So you're going to put all that rage inside me and fuck me. " 

Ningning grabs your face and kisses you.

"Can you carry me? " 

You nod and carry the Chinese girl.  You press her gently against the wall and penetrate her pussy.

"Go on Daddy.

[queer-irritator]

Roomies | Roommate!Wade Wilson x Roomate! GN! Reader

Inspo for this fic came from @lunasblunt via this post <3

CW: All the things that go along with Deadpool <3, hint at stalking

Word count: 3,107

You trudged up concrete steps to reach your front door. It had been a long, frustrating day at work so you hadn’t bothered to lift your head from your phone where you were currently placing an order for Chinese food. It wasn’t until your key refused to slide into the lock that your attention was torn from the delicious food on your phone. 

After one more failed attempt to insert your key, you noticed a paper stapled to your door with the word ‘EVICTION’ typed in large red print. 

“What the fuck?” You mumbled to yourself, eyebrows knit together in confusion. 

You began to read the notice, apparently your piece of shit roommate hadn’t been paying their half of the rent the last few months. Sighing, you turned to face the street and sat on the cold steps and ran your hands down your face. This night really couldn’t get much worse. 

After taking a few minutes to wallow in self pity, you got up and located your belongings that had been thrown in a disorganized pile next to the steps. There was no doubt in your mind some items had been stolen if they were outside all day. You rummaged through your belongings and packed up what you needed, now you just needed somewhere to crash. 

Unlocking your phone, you scrolled through your contacts list hoping someone would be kind enough to accommodate you for the night. 

‘Althea S.’

The name brought a smile to your lips, Al was a long time family friend and always was there for you in your hardest moments. You clicked on her contact information and gave her a call. 

-

Of course, Al was happy to offer up her couch for as long as you needed. So, you were now stepping off the bus that dropped you off in front of her apartment. Rummaging through your bag for a spare key Al had given to you a few years ago, a gruff, low voice sounded besides you.

“You heading inside?”

Startled, you jumped slightly and placed your hand over your chest, “Oh, you scared me! I didn’t see you there.” 

“I tend to have that effect on people.” the man replied, putting out a cigar he had been smoking. 

“Oh, no, I didn’t mean that you were scary, I just…” You paused, it would probably be better to just move on, “But, yes. I am heading inside. Can’t find my key.” 

The man was pretty tall. He had dark hair and quite an interesting facial hair style choice going on. And although he was wearing jeans and a flannel, it was obvious he was incredibly muscular and fit. 

The man moved in front of you and unlocked the door and held it open. 

You thanked him as you walked inside and he followed behind you. You started to make your way up the stairs to the third floor. Although the mysterious man wasn’t speaking, you still heard his footsteps behind you. You were telling yourself it had to be just a coincidence. That was, until he continued to follow you to Al’s door. 

You had began to shake slightly from anxiety, this man has been following you and there was no way you could put up a fight with him. But you could sure as hell try. You turned around quickly, gripping your pepper spray in one hand.

“Can you please stop following me??” Your tone came out aggressive and confrontational, just as you had hoped. 

“I’m not following you.” He said simply. 

God, he was a bad liar. He wasn’t even trying to think of an excuse!

You used your thumb to slide open your pepper spray as you continued to try to get him to leave you alone, “Yes, you are. I know who lives in this apartment, so if you don’t leave I’m going to scream and then you’ll go to jail for being a fucking creep.” 

“First of all, you can’t go to jail just for “being a creep”. Second of all, I live here!” He began to raise his voice.

You gave him two chances, so you quickly lifted your pepper sprays to his face and sprayed him in the eyes and began to bang on the door.

“What the fuck!?” The man squeezed his eyes shut and put his hands over his eyes.

“Al!! Open the door! I need help!!” You yelled while banging on the door. 

The man was groaning in pain and trying to get his bearings when you heard a click and the door open. Without even looking, you ran inside and locked the door behind you. 

“What the fuck is going on?” You heard Al’s voice behind you.

Panting, you dropped your bag and frantically began to explain the situation. 

Al began to comfort you and rubbed your shoulder, “Wade, go see what the hell is going on.”

You hadn’t noticed before that there was a man sitting on the couch, eating popcorn and holding a hairless dog. 

He groaned before getting up dramatically. He was only wearing a white t-shirt, blue and white striped boxers and white fluffy bunny slippers as he poked his head into the hall.

“Come here, sugar.” Al lead you to the couch and got you a glass of water and offered you some hits from the bong sitting on the table, which you gladly took. 

While you were calming down, you heard muffled voices from the hallway. There was only two things you heard clearly. 

It was the same voice as before, yelling again, “They fucking pepper sprayed me!” followed by who you assume is Wade, laughing hysterically. 

The door opened and Wade walked in, but the man that had been following you also came inside. 

“What are you doing?? That’s the guy that was following me!” You shot up from the couch, ready to become defensive. 

“Well, obviously, a certain blind old lady has neglected to tell you that she has 3 roommates.” Wade explained. 

“What?” You looked to Al, confused.

“Oh shit.” Al murmured, “Yeah, I guess I forgot a thing or two. Meet Logan and Wade.” She said, gesturing to the door, where the men no longer stood. 

“Oh my god.” You brought a hand up to cover your mouth as guilt began to come over you.

Al had mentioned Wade and Logan in passing, but never told you they lived with her, or that they would be around tonight.

Logan was still wiping his eyes, but Wade had returned to his position on the couch.

You gingerly stepped closer to Logan, “I am so sorry, Logan… Is there anything I can do? I’ll get you some water.” You didn’t give him a chance to answer before you were in the kitchen filling up a glass of water and also wetting a dish cloth.

“Oh, don’t be sorry.” Wade piped up, “You’re my new favorite person now!” 

Logan ignored him, “It’s fine… I can’t say I blame you.” He took the wet cloth from you when you returned and wiped his eyes and face with it.

“Well, I’m going to bed. Don’t pepper spray anyone else.” Al announced before heading to her room. 

“Yeah, I think I’m gonna do the same…” Logan said before disappearing into the second bedroom.

Now you were left alone with Wade. You sat on the opposite end of the couch without saying another word. The only sounds filling the room were coming from the television and the crunch of popcorn. 

Feeling awkwardness creep in, you decided to take another hit on the bong.  

“Evicted? Yeeesh, that sucks.” The man beside you spoke. 

You whipped your head toward him to see him rummaging through your bag, tossing your eviction notice over his shoulder and continuing his snooping. 

“Uhm… could you maybe not go through my stuff?” You were aghast by the audacity of this man. 

“I could, but I’m nosy. And you did just pepper spray my best friend.” He defended his actions as he examined a pair of your underwear. 

You snatched the underwear and your bag from him, stuffing the garment back inside and zipping it up. 

“Which I apologized for. And you didn’t seem too concerned for him earlier.” You tucked your bag next to you on the couch. 

Wade shrugged and continued eating his popcorn, but just then a pink hello kitty watch he wore on his wrist went off. 

“Oh, duty calls!” He set the bowl of half eaten popcorn aside and stood up. 

You carefully watched him as he picked up a clump of red clothing from the floor and gave it a sniff. It must have passed the smell test because he kicked off his bunny slippers and got dressed in a red and black suit. After he equipped copious amounts of weapons to his holsters, he put on a mask and opened the door. 

“See you later, sweet cheeks.” He winked at you before leaving. 

After the night you had, you decided to just go to bed while you had some peace and quiet.

-

You had been staying at Al’s for about two weeks now. You got to know the boys better, and it only made you feel worse about pepper spraying Logan. He had insisted that you take the bedroom and he would put up with sleeping on the couch. Despite how many times you said no and refused, it was to no avail. He had practically forced you to take his room. Wade on the other hand was always coming and going at odd hours. You learned that he and Logan were mutants and hunted down criminals once in a while together, they called themselves Deadpool and Wolverine. Wade did most of his work on his own though, he described it as “beating up assholes”. You had only seen him a handful of times, but he was seeming to stick around a bit longer after returning from one of his adventures last night. 

It was morning and you were cooking breakfast with Logan. The two of you had actually been getting along, despite the circumstances which you met. He was giving you a tip on knowing when bacon was done cooking when Wade had inserted himself in between the two of you.

“Hey! Glad to see my two peanuts are getting along!” He said, slinging his arms over yours and Logan’s shoulders. 

Logan was quick to shrug his arm off, “Go feed your rat dog, Wilson.” 

Wade did a theatrical gasp, “Don’t you EVER call her that again! She is a beautiful angel!” He walked over to pick up Dogpool and cuddle her. 

“That’s my good girl! Yes, you love your Papa, don’t you?” He cooed and baby-talked Dogpool as she licked his face. 

You had been watching him and chuckled to yourself. Logan glanced at you out of the corner of his eye. He saw the way you looked at Wade. At first he thought it was you pitying him, but the more he observed, the more he could tell you definitely had a crush. 

“I’m gonna finish this up, it’ll be ready in 10 minutes.” Logan said as he began to cook some pancakes.

You nodded at him and headed to your room, giving a big smile to Wade and Dogpool as you passed them. You sat on your bed and pulled out your computer, continuing your daily search for a new apartment. 

It only took about two minutes until Wade had appeared in your doorway. You glanced up and acknowledged him with a quick ‘Hi’. You tried to focus on your task at hand, but Wade was a hard person to ignore. 

He looked around the room and took a few steps inside. He picked up one of the stuffed animals you had displayed in a net and played with it for a few seconds before putting it back. Coming further into the room, he swung his arms by his side and blew a raspberry into the air. He looked at a few more of your things strewn about the room before he was at the edge of your bed, looking over your shoulder.

“Getting tired of us already?” He commented, sitting next to you. 

You looked over at him and chuckled, “I’m just staying here until I get a new place. Remember the eviction notice you found snooping in my bag?” 

“Ohhh yeah, I almost forgot about that!” He thought back fondly on the night you met. 

His presence being so close to you made your heart beat pick up speed and breath shake slightly. You couldn’t deny your attraction to Wade. Especially when he would get home late, sweaty, beaten, and bloody, still in his suit. God, that suit. It made him look so damn good. 

“What about that one?” He lifted his arm to point at your screen, arm brushing against yours in the process.

You clicked on the listing, “Well, if you have $6,000 laying around every month for rent, we could get it.” You chuckled. 

“We?” Wade repeated your words, looking at you. 

You felt your cheeks heat up, “Well, I can’t afford it…” 

Before Wade could make a snide comment, Logan knocked on your open door. 

“Breakfast is ready.” 

You took the excuse to close your laptop and quickly get up and get some food. 

Wade trailed behind you, but stopped when his phone rang. He dug his hand into his pocket and answered the call. You couldn’t help but listen in as you began to eat. 

“Okay! Don’t get your nipples in a twist, I’ll be there in ten minutes.” Wade groaned and hung up, leaving to go change into his suit. 

It was starting to piss Wade off how much he had been working the past few weeks. He had barely had any time to get to know you. When he re-emerged, ready to take out some bad guys, minus the mask, he grabbed a piece of bacon. 

“It’s like no one wants to kill evil masterminds themselves these days!” He commented, mouth full of food. He picked up a pancake and shoved it in his mouth before pulling on his mask. 

“Thanks for breakfast, peanut.” He said, ruffling Logan’s hair.

He was greeted with adamantium claws in his side, “Don’t fucking touch me.” 

Wade groaned in pain but quickly laughed it off, “Someone woke up on the wrong side of the Outback today.”

You grimaced, the squelching sound of blood dampening your appetite. You were just glad the Deadpool suit’s colors hid the blood stains. 

Logan’s claws retracted and Wade walked to the door, “You don’t have to play hard to get in front of company, pookie bear.” He winked and blew a kiss towards you and Logan before leaving. 

“I swear, one day I’m going to find a way to kill him.” Logan muttered before continuing to eat. 

You chuckled and drank some coffee, the dynamic Wade and Logan had never failed to make you laugh. 

-

Later that night Logan and Al had gone out to a bar, but you elected to stay in. It was around 10:30 when Wade came home. When we walked through the door he looked a little worse for wear, more than usual. 

His posture was hunched forward and his shoulders were hanging low. You could also see multiple bullet holes in his suit. You got up from where you had been sitting on the couch with Dogpool. 

“Wade? Did you have a rough day?” You questioned, voice laced with concern.

“You could say that.” He replied, flopping onto the couch with a sigh. 

“What happened?” You noticed a bullet hole in the middle of his forehead on his mask which he just started to take off. 

“Just- God dammit.” He muttered to himself, struggling to find the seam of velcro to peel off his mask. 

“Let me help.” You said, scooting closer to him so your thighs were brushing together. 

Wade set his hands down on his lap as yours gently removed his mask and placed it on the coffee table. You gave him a sweet, sympathetic smile when you saw the defeated look on his face. 

“You can talk to me.” You gently encouraged him, placing a hand on his knee. He looked down at your hand and then back to your eyes. He leaned back against the couch, “The asshole got away today.”

“I”m sorry.” You mirrored his movements and removed your hand from his knee. 

Wade immediately missed the warmth of your body heat on him. He closed his eyes as he silently cursed himself. He wasn’t supposed to feel like this again, a dull ache in his chest and a pit in his stomach whenever you looked his way or touched him in passing. After Vanessa left, he didn’t want to love someone ever again. But then you just had to walk into his apartment. 

You had been staring at Wade the entire time, your heart breaking for him. While you sat in silence you were racking your brain for a way to cheer him up. 

“Oh, I got a really cute picture of Dogpool earlier!” You chimed up, grabbing your phone off the table and searching for the photo. 

Wade stared at your face while you scrolled through your phone. When you presented the photo to him, he didn’t move his head to look at it. 

“Can I kiss you?” He questioned, voice lower and more serious than you’ve heard it before. 

His question left you stunned, “...Huh?” You were still holding up your phone displaying a picture of Dogpool asleep on her back, tongue hanging out as always. 

“Can I kiss you?” Wade repeated himself. Your heart fluttered and you lowered your phone, “Uhm… yes.” You nodded. 

Wade leaned forward and captured your lips, placing one of his hands on the couch on the other side of you. 

You closed your eyes and leaned into his kiss. His lips were surprisingly soft as you gently moved against them. Wade let go first, leaning away from you to gauge your reaction. 

You looked at him, slightly puzzled, “Why did you stop?” 

“Just making sure I don’t scare you away.” He smirked, but you could tell there was truth hidden in his words. 

You sat up and swung a leg over Wade and straddled his hips and rested your hands on his shoulders.

“You could never.” You whispered to him, inching closer to his face. 

That must have been all he needed to hear, because Wade was grabbing the side of your face and crashing his lips together with yours once again. 

[mvltisstuff]

you found me - e.b

summary: coming home with buck after a long 24-hour shift on your first day back post injury.

evan buckley x reader

the tightness in her sore leg ricocheted up her side. her strength had been built up daily for months. the physical therapy, the doctors appointments, the surgeries, the casts, had all led up to an exhausting day.

for some reason, she still felt better than ever. being surrounded by her true family, in her true home. station 118 was her happy place, and she fought these past few months in recovery to be back with buck in their home.

after several calls filled with chaos and lifting, her head was ready to roll off her neck and leg about to snap off. it had felt good all day, but toward the end of the night, the day had caught up with her. the adrenaline of the calls keeps her up.

everyone was ready to go home after a long day and a party for y/n at the beginning. they got her a cake and watched in awe as she and buck stood close to each other all day. the banner, the friends, the family.

buck had been the real crutch through the whole process. from finding her stiff body on the ground, to helping her get from room to room. every headache, every painkiller, and every bandage was dealt with out of pure love and affection.

he handled her like a wilted flower, ready to fall over. she was like glass in his hand, and he was the glue that put her back together. since the day she first arrived at work, he didn’t leave her side. as things progressed, he knew nothing was going to change. they knew the rules, forbidden relationships among first responders. but when has buck ever been known to follow a rule?

he was her siren and her knight in shining armor. he fought her battles alongside her every night in her dreams. waking up, screaming in pain and fear, his burning eyes from tiredness barely crossing his mind. his hands holding onto hers as his forehead touched her damp one.

“y/n, glad to have you back.” bobby stops her from running into the locker rooms. “always tough not having you around.

a thin smile grew up on her face, pinking her cheeks. “thanks, bobby. i’m really excited to be back to work.”

“if you need anything, please ask.”

“i will, always.”

“alright. now go home, get some rest.” he smiles. “enjoy the day off tomorrow.” he shuffles back up the stairs and y/n walks into the glass room.

the whole team was lurking near their lockers, tired and hungry. y/n noticed a discomfort in her leg, as she sits down and runs her hand down it.

“you doing ok, y/l/n?” eddie asks.

“yeah, i’m good. just a little sore here and there.” she replies, not making a big deal out of anything.

“we can get going soon,” buck plants a soft kiss on her forehead, bending over. hen and chimney exchange a playful look, smiling at the two. “little bit of buck 2.0 magic and you’ll be good as new.”

“gross, buck.” henrietta says. “i’m heading out, karen’s waiting. nice to have you back, y/n.” she gives a soothing smile and a hug before grabbing the rest of her things. chimney and eddie walk out soon after, leaving the couple alone.

y/n sighs out, rubbing her eyes. “hurts.”

“i know, baby.” buck sits down next to her, pulling her in. “but it’s the first day back, it’ll get better.”

“i know, it’s just hard. but at least we have the day off tomorrow.” she smiles, looking up at his softened eyes.

“cmon, let’s get you comfy at home.”

buck unlocks the front door of their shared apartment building, her hand draped in his. he leads her into the building, holding her hand up the stairs and sitting on the bed. “i’m gonna go start a warm shower for you since i showered at the station.”

the warm water engulfs y/n’s soreness and eases her pain of the day a bit, washing it away with each droplet. meanwhile, while she scrubs her day off, buck is cheffing away in the kitchen, preheating a singular box of rice from y/n’s favorite chinese restaurant.

y/n pulls on the clothing buck left on their shared countertop in the bathroom. an oversized LAFD tshirt of bucks and a pair of shorts. she slides on a pair of socks and places a heating patch on her leg. “alright, patient 0, here are your gourmet leftovers, and lovely medications.” bucks sets them down in front of her, leaving a wide grin on both their faces.

they ate their food together, refilling their abandoned stomachs due to the business of the day. “you know you can take a few more weeks, if you’re not up to it yet. you can’t rush a recovery.”

“says the guy who practically sued the city for not letting him back.” y/n retorted back.

“ouch, ok, not my best moment, i’ll admit. however, maybe the new buck would take the advice i’m giving you.”

“it was just a long day, i need to rebuild my schedule and get back out there. i’m just tired, buck. it’s scary going back out there. i could’ve died on that call and it’s a lot being out there.” y/n admits to her only. “but there’s nowhere else i want to be.”

he smiles, finding a glimpse of himself in her. that’s probably why he’s so attracted to her. they say opposites attract, but buck was instantly attached to a woman he felt really understood him. she was his other half, his lifeline, the flame to his fire.

“well, we should get you to bed. your chariot awaits, my love!” he scoops her up in a bridal style and carries her up the stairs like royalty. he places her down on their bed and hands her the remote. “your pick, tonight.” she smiles and pulls the blankets over her.

she scrolls through the episodes of their shows, landing on a comforting finale of the office. something easy for them to sleep to, since she doesn’t like the silence anymore.

“i’m never leaving your side, babe.” he says, pulling her onto him. “i love you, more than anything.”

his arm wraps around her back, draped on her waist and her legs interwoven together with his. his other hand rubs her face, tucking her hair behind her ears.

“i love you so much, ev.” he lets out a goofy smile at the nickname that he acts like he’s never heard. “i’m so lucky i found you.” she laughs out.

“go to sleep, sweet girl.” He holds her tight, making sure she doesn’t go anywhere, and in his grasp, her pain stops existing. as long as he’s with her, the only thing she feels is pure admiration.

[n1ghtfurys]

Google translate

More könig fluff just because

You're sitting on your sofa, watching a shitty hallmark movie and eating a chinese take-away. You're so engrossed in this shitty movie; this girl has just missed her flight and ends up running into her crush from highschool. Typical hallmark but sometimes you just need something silly and mindless. 

König on the other hand doesn't care, even a little bit about the movie. Not when you're sitting next to him, looking so perfect. So angelic. You're not even doing anything, just eating and watching a movie. You're not wearing anything special, just one of his old t-shirts and a pair of shorts he can't see because of how big his top is on you. The situation is so mundane but he can't drag his eyes back to the screen. (Looking back on it you imagine he had little pink hearts in his eyes.)

“Ich liebe dich.” He says it before he even processes it, you've been seeing each other for three months but he's still so thankful he said it in German and not English.

“Hm?” You turn to him and tilt your head to one side but he just smiles and shakes his head. You don't think much of it so you shuffle until you're comfortably nestled into his side before you go back to the movie. The smile on his face grows less forced as he traces his fingers up and down your arm. Even if you didn't understand what he said, it's true. He does love you.

Years later you decide to learn German. For many reasons, most of them being if you ever did have kids you want to be able to understand them when they speak to König.

König originally thought nothing of it, encouraged it even because how cute would you be speaking to him in German. 

That is until you come barreling down the stairs shouting for him like he'd done something terrible.

When he sees you round the corner it looks like you're on a mission for his head. “I can't believe you!” You jab your finger into your chest as you speak. “You never told me!” 

He looks so confused as you repeatedly jab him in the chest. 

You realise he might not be getting that you're not all that upset with him, not really, so you figure you should tell him the phrase you just learnt. “Ich liebe dich.” Saying it doesn't seem to make him any less confused but he takes hold of your hand the next time too go to jab him. 

“You said it to me. Ages ago, but I didn't hear properly.” You smile watching him fidget with your engagement ring.

“You let me believe that I told you I loved you first.” You jab him once more for good measure. “But you just said it in a language I didn't know.” Your mock serious face dissolves into a goofy smile as you see him relax.

“I can't believe you didn't tell me.” You whisper to him as he lifts you off the ground. A habit he's developed since he prefers not having to lean down so far for a kiss but you've gone quite fond of it so you don't mind.

“I can tell you now.” He smiles as he says it. “Ich liebe dich.”

You can't help but pull him in and kiss him. You feel him smiling against your lips. 

“You're so fucking sneaky.” You try and fail to sound serious, not that either of you mind. He never really expected you to remember it but knowing you did makes his cheeks warm, even after all this time.

And now you're gonna be his wife.

[forpiratereasons]

stede coming home one night to ed already in bed, curtains left open, still mostly dressed, like he couldn’t stand to be upright a moment longer. stede knowing that ed’s had a long day and a longer week, and making sure to be loud when he comes in - shutting the door loudly, tinkering around in the kitchen opening the fridge, the drawers, coming up the stairs as heavily as socked feet can manage - so ed knows he’s there. 

i’m coming, darling. 

stede slipping into their room, slipping into their bed, still in his oxford shirt, his belt, his socks. like he can’t stand to be away from ed a moment longer. slipping close up behind ed where he’s curled on his side, slipping a hand around his waist to haul him closer. slipping a hand up under ed’s shirt, skin to skin, heat to heat, to feel ed’s chest rising and falling. to help ed’s breath slow and match his own. 

i have you, darling. 

he lays with ed for a long time. the daylight coming in through the open curtains fades, spilling honey slow through the room. ed lets stede hold onto him, but he stays curled up on his side, barely more than a cloud of silvered curls and an uneven breath in their sheets. it’s all right. stede knows how to wait with him. how to slow time down.

you’re here, darling. with me. 

when ed finally exhales, relaxes fully into stede’s hold, stede can start to bring him back. he can start small, tracing a circle into ed’s belly with his thumb. he can press a little closer, let ed feel that he’s there, in palms around him and knees tucked behind his and the buttons of stede’s shirt along his spine. when ed’s hand finds his, clasping their fingers together, stede can reach up, pull all that hair to the side, find the vulnerable stretch of neck beneath his mouth. the hinge of a jaw, the shell of an ear. he can find the words to whisper. 

breathe in. breathe out. come back to me, darling. 

it takes ed some time, sometimes. to feel safe in their shared bed, in the warmth of their reality. to lift the weight of what’s crushing him down long enough to inhale, breathe in, breathe out. stede whispers to him about breath and heartbeats, about ordering chinese food for dinner, about the scent of their laundry detergent. the colour of the light, fading from honey to rust. the sound of their furnace kicking on. 

you’ve got your hand in mine, darling. i’m going to give it a squeeze. 

ed squeezes back. 

[velaryqns]

hiya! just wondering if you’d be able to take a request for House? if you aren’t feel free to ignore this but i was thinking something along the lines of House has a bad pain day but so does the reader (knee issues because i have them, it’s hell and with the colder weather they’ve severally worsened) They both come back from work and make an attempt to help each other get through it? Thank you for taking the time to read this!

Weather Pain

PAIRINGS: Gregory House x Fem!reader

SONG: not applicable

WARNINGS: it’s house md, I feel like depending on the context that’s a warning on its own. mentions of pain, mentions of House’s addiction

—-

I silently cursed the cold as I held my coat tighter and walked through the doors of the hospital. I held my keys tightly, unlocking them and watching for where my car was parked. It was hell as I trudged toward the vehicle and tried to ignore the growing pain in my knee.

With recent weather, my knee had been absolute hell to deal with. But I didn’t tell anyone and just continued on through my days, taking pain reliever as when it would help and keeping my leg up when I got home.

I opened the car door and quickly climbed in, slamming the door shut. I sat in silence for a moment, eyes squeezed shut as I tried to deal with the pain before starting the engine. I rubbed at my knee for a few seconds, letting the vehicle warm up before I pulled away and out of the parking lot.

With my long day behind me, I made way for my apartment. Relief washed over me when the building came into sight, but it was soon washed over with dread upon remembering the stairs I’d have to climb. I grabbed my things from the passenger seat and walked to the front door of the complex.

Reluctantly, I climbed the apartment stairs to my floor, thankfully it was only the next one up. I unlocked the front door to my apartment and stepped inside, setting my things by the door and going straight to the couch.

Should I have figured out supper? Probably.

Was I going to? No.

I groaned, lifting my leg to rest on the coffee table and throwing my head on the back of the couch. My apartment reeked of Greg, reminding me that he’d stayed the night before and would probably come over again tonight.

I dozed off, only to be woken up by the apartment door being opened and slammed shut. I could hear rustling bags and could smell the Chinese food being brought in. I forced myself to open one of my eyes, breathing deeply when I saw Greg. I knew he was struggling with his own pain as well, but since he had his ways to care for it he would usually try to focus on helping me.

“You gonna wake up?” He called out, dropping on the couch beside me and resting a hand on my knee, “I’ve still got the Vicodin…”

“No,” I said firmly, sitting up and grabbing for the food. He watched closely as I picked what I wanted, “How’s your leg?”

“The same as usual,” he admitted, grabbing his food while I side eyed him.

“You’re oddly calm,” I pointed out, he remained silent, staring at his food as he ate. I set my food aside and eyed him, “How much did you take today?”

“I needed the relief-“

“Greg I could’ve helped you,” I took his food out of his hands and put one of my own in them in its place. I used my other hand to force him to look at me. I furrowed my brows, watching his face for any sort of reaction, “I don’t want to go over this again.”

My voice was soft but he knew what I was talking about, and gave a small nod, “I knew you were dealing with your knee…”

“Is Greg House getting soft on me?” I asked with a teasing smile, but that was the case. Greg scoffed and pulled away, getting up and hobbling to the kitchen with his cane. He came back with the heating pad and some pain relievers, struggling to carry both as he limped back into the room.

“Sit back,” he instructed, I raised a brow in response as he came to a stop in front of the couch, “Don’t make me repeat myself.”

“Yes, Doctor House,” I complied and shifted on the couch, sitting back and elevating my leg once more. He set the heating pad on my knee and passed the pain relievers to me. He disappeared to the kitchen again and came back with water, passing it in my direction and then grabbing my food for me, “You’re too good to me.”

“Don’t push it,” he grumbled, reaching for the remote and sitting beside me with his food while turning on the tv. I smiled in his direction as he flipped through channels, not impressed with any of the shows since his soap opera wasn’t on.

“Thank you,” I told him, eyes still on the screen as I ate my meal. I leaned into his side, sighing in content while he watched me.

He counted down the minutes until I’d finished my food and fell asleep, it gave him good reason to spend the night again.

[opiumkitten]

A Special Delivery

It is Christmas Eve, and there's no better way than to bring in Christmas than with the Boss himself. Sett is one of my favorite characters and I'd just been complaining about not having a Santa Settrigh when the Winterblessed line refreshed, this amazing artist created this masterpiece (which i own no rights to, but this man is truly amazing) and he wasn't included. Whether it's due to lore that he remains a Chinese New Year Skin or not, I'd prefer to sit on his lap more than Gragas or Braum...

There isn't much Sett smut, and I aim to change that little by little.

Anyway. Enjoy this Modern Delivery Man AU with our favorite Honey Badger/Wolverine!

The Collection

Word Count: 2760

MINORS DNI MINORS DNI MINORS DNI MINORS DNI MINORS DNI

*Note: My works are written from the eyes of POC. There will be descriptions as such in my works. If that makes you uncomfortable, please replace the words in your head ok?) Also I'm thinking of maybe adding a part 2 where they explore further? I'll let you know.*

Warning: Smut, Oral: Sett Receiving, Ass Eating (Reader Receiving, Yeah. I went there.)(There's more surprises...but you'll just have to read and find out.)

*knock*knock*

Shuffling down the stairs, I hurriedly tied the robe around me as I tried to focus-

“Hi!”

“Hey, packages for Y/FN Y/LN?”

“Y-yes, that me..” Sighing through the-

“Ok, let me just pull up the signature page.” Silence filled the doorway…or…actually there was a…buzz..?

Drumming her fingers on the door seemed to drown it out, her chest leaning against the frame. Her eyes seemed a bit lazy-

“Settrigh, is it?” She was looking at his name tag, biting her lip as she took in just how big he was.

Not that she had any other choice, everyone was tiny in comparison to him.

The smell of hot cocoa wafted through, making him shiver. This was his last delivery of the night. It’d been freezing all day, what’d he do to have some.

“Yeah, um…?”

“Your nose is really red…” Peaking down at her, her robe fell from her shoulder, catching on the swell of her breast…a peak of her areola showing-

“And your face seems windswept…are you ok?”

“Just…really cold out today. This uh…a gift for your boyfriend?”

Chuckling, he handed her the device-

Her hands were shaky, her dominant hand clenching the E-pen to steady her grip.

“No…best friend…we spoil each other.” She stopped signing, closing her eyes as she breathed deep.

“You ok?”

“Ye..yes…”

“I’ll take these inside for you.”

“No, its ok I can-“

“-Ma’am, let me help. My ma would give me hell if she’d knew I let a pretty woman lift something like this on her own.”

The compliment had her biting her lip and scissoring her thighs together.

Which far exceeded what's he'd expected.

Though.. she already looked flustered-…?

The buzzing came back. Low and a bit closer as he got his hands around the box-

Pulling open the door she pressed behind it as she pulled the robe down while shivering.

The chocolate smell was much stronger, making him hum as he came in.

“Where do you want me?” Y/n's eyes became hooded, but she hid her reaction as she pointed to the elegantly decorated tree. Sett did as told-

“Ah!”

The clatter of the pen hitting the ground brought his head around.

And he finally found out what the buzzing was.

A light…in the center of her ass as she bent over illuminated the robe…and droplets of arousal peaked from under the lapel. So…this is why she was so shaky, hm?

“You a holiday kinda girl?”

“…sort of…” Getting to her knees, the cheeky reply was an understatement as the red and green tinkled proudly, her round ass on display as she reached under the shoe rack.

“It looks great in here. This was my last one for the day, was thinking about getting a hot chocolate on the way home, and you definitely convinced me now.” She chuckled anxiously, collecting the pen as she stood slowly while he walked pass.

Collecting the second box, she bit her lip as he set it down, flicking the ornament-

A sharp breath brought his head around, her nervous smile as she tried slowing down her breathing.

“Thank you, Settrigh.”

“Sett is fine. I’ll be on this route permanently now, so you'll see me more often, Ms. Y/N.”

“You didn't have to bring these in. As thank you and a welcome…can I interest you in a cup of hot chocolate?”

Sett raised an eyebrow, he was sure of what he saw.

Could she really hold her bluff-

Panting, she leaned against the sofa.

“You sure? You don’t seem to be feeling well…”

“I-I’m ok…just need to do something before i-“

Cum?

Sett didn’t finish the sentence however, watching her claw at the arm.

“-Make it.”

“…Then let me go lock up the truck.”

“You can wait in here. I’ll be back down.”

He didn’t raise suspicion about it, going a bit slower to lock up everything before closing the door behind him and taking off his shoes. As he settled onto the couch, the coziness of the place sunk into his bones, knocking off the chill-

A muffled airy moan peaked through the quiet drone of the house before silence was heard again.

Sett couldn’t help but laugh, taking out his phone as he clocked in his hour break before ending the day.

When she finally came back down, she seemed a bit better, leaning against the threshold to the kitchen as she crossed her arms.

He looked so good, draped across her couch like that.

“Comfy?”

“Yeah, thank you again for this.”

“Of course, how do you want it?” Sett took a moment, watching her hips sway as she disappeared into the kitchen.

“Creamy. With milk. If you don’t mind.”

Hearing her rummage through, he waited before-

Peaking around the corner she held up vanilla almond milk.

“Do you mind?”

“No, I prefer that one. It’s what I use anyway."

Smiling, she went back in.

“In that case, do you like peppermint?”

“You reading my mind or something?”

“Califia has a peppermint mocha almond creamer. I'll need you to show me how much you want, though.”

He watched her set things up, turning on the stove before his footfalls met her ears, bringing her glance towards him as she reached for the cabinet-

“Can you pick your mug? They’re in there.”

Grabbing a large mug with cat ears, she put in the powder before making a divot.

“I usually do half milk, half creamer…”

Watching her pour in the half cup, she looked to him as she picked up the creamer.

“Show me?”

Grabbing her hands, he got in close. The crisp outdoorsy scent filled her nose, the slight smell of his pheromones a pleasant aroma she welcomed.

Y/n didn’t pull away as he poured in the liquid, and then a bit extra-

Her robe slipped from her shoulder, revealing her caramel skin.

The smell of jasmine danced through the blooming chocolate aroma.

“That should do it.” A faint hum answered him, her weight shifting back as he rested his chin on her head. In the quiet droning, their heartbeats drummed loudly before she picked up a spoon.

The soft scrape and tacking only made him realize just how close he was. His hand had found purchase on her hip, the other on the counter as he thumbed over her belt.

His first day on his new route, and he was getting cozy with one of the residents.

But what could he do?

She was so cute.

And she wanted him too.

He could tell by the fact that she’d pressed into him more, the round of her ass plush against him-

Taking the measuring cup, she put a bit of the warm milk in the powder before stirring, making sure it dissolved without making air pockets before repeating the process-

Her vigorous stirring brought Sett’s attention south, her ass jiggling as the robe slowly shifted.

By the time she finished, the beautiful umber of her nipple was teasing him again.

“There." Sett leaned into her neck, breathing deep as he tried to calm himself. Only, his senses were intoxicated by her lovely scent, making him crank down on her waist.

“Smells good. Thank you.” She didn’t move till he did, turning around as she rested against the counter. Watching as he took a sip, warmth greeted her as he smiled.

“It’s so smooth.”

“When you slowly add the milk and stir it quickly, it ends up like that. It’s the only way I make it.”

“You spoil all your delivery drivers like this?”

“You hug all you residents like this?”

Sett laughed as she made her way to the living room, fixing her rob as she smirked over her shoulder. Following after her, he to res in his previous position as she put down a coaster, placing the cup on top as she tucked her knees under.

“No, actually. You’re the first one I’ve ever taken up on being invited in.”

“Hm? That wasn’t what I asked you though.” Stretching her leg, Sett allowed Y/n into his lap, rubbing her calf as she leaned on her hand.

“I asked if you’d ‘hugged’ anyone else…” Smirking, he took his time sipping from the mug.

“If the answer is no, will you let me hug you?”

“I find it hard a guy like you hasn’t.”

“Why? Think that just cause I’m handsome I take every invitation for a bit of warmth?”

“You telling me I’m the first one you just couldn’t turn down?”

Taking another drink, he hummed as the chocolate settled just right.

“You got a lot of questions for someone who answered the door with a buttplug inside them." Sett caught Y/n’s leg before she could pull away.

“Let alone have a full conversation while it’s going…and even inviting me in while you finish. It’s not as quiet as you think.”

Pressing into her calf, he pulled her a bit closer, getting a good look at the flustered look on her face.

“Plus, with the lightshow it was giving off? I’d say you were planning this-“

“-I wasn’t…but you’d caught me at a bad time…and I didn’t want to wrestle with it and risk missing you.” She didn't meet his gaze as she chewed on her lip, his hand flitting higher as he gripped her knee.

“Getting redelivers around this time of year is a hassle.”

“So, do you spoil all your delivery drivers like this?” Rubbing at her thigh, he felt her jolt-

Her eyes finally met his, glazed over with curiosity and desire.

“No…but it’s the holidays, right? If a gift like you shows up, why wouldn’t I want to unwrap it?”

Thoughts of her climbing into his lap as she undid his shirt flitted through his mind. She’d be so tiny, her hands trying to work him inside as she straddled him.

She’d probably feel like heaven, warm, wet and so fucking tight around him-

“As good as that sounds, I’ve been working all day and-“

“-I know we just met…but you don’t…I like your scent. So let me decide if I want this or not.”

Of course…she did want it.

But he didn’t think she’d want this.

Growling out a sigh, his head fell back as a loud slurp rang through his ears. Her tongue wrapped around him as she suckled harder-

The groan he was holding in was forced up his throat as the plush underside of her tongue slowly massaged his head. Her robe was just didn't want to do it's job today, her full breasts peaking at him as those pretty eyes met his.

The wet chirapsia of her grip slowly eased the stress of his day up his shaft as she moaned over his length. One of her hands disappeared-

The dull drumbeat was heard again before her moans became awry, her hand slowly matching the rhythm of her mouth.

“Y/N…you didn’t…oh fuck…” As she swallowed around him, he sucked in a breath-

Her moaning pitched higher, her thrusts going deeper.

“Shit…I’m gonna cum-!” Gripping her hair hard, he tried pulling her off- her throat was so warm and tight as she drank him down, her tongue still snaked around him.

His husky whimper only egged her on, her eyes pleading as she pushed on his hand in her hair…

Begging him to push harder.

Sett tried to be gentle, but the pressure was not helping as she went faster, he went deeper, rougher till his hips started-

“Y/N-! Fuck!”

Her erratic moans were cut off as he thrusted hard into her throat, every inch of him being devoured by her plush lips.

Y/N milked every drop and moan from him as she swallowed around his length, her hand wringing him dry before lightly squeezing his heavy sac-

Slowly easing off, she suckled hard at his head, her shallow thrusts making his tense body tremble as his broad chest struggled to breathe.

“Y/N-! I already-!” The loud pop of release made him moan loud, kitten licks catching on his sensitive spots before she laid on his thigh, marveling at his manhood as she held it.

“Finished already? For someone so big I expected you to take a bit longer to cum. But you’re so sensitive, Settrigh.”

“Just had a long day at work…is all.” A happy little coo met her-…but Sett wasn’t going soft.

At all.

“Are you satisfied…?” Sett finally caught her gaze as she slowly became flustered again.

“Oh? You scared now?”

“No…” The lie made him smirk as Y/N pried her paws off of him, the thick slap on his abs only making her more anxious.

His phone went off, signaling his 15 minute warning as he silenced it.

“Don’t worry. I don’t have enough time to get you used to it. So do me a favor and get up here.”

He didn’t wait for her to reply as he pulled her up, kissing her before resting her on the arm of the couch as he pushed her ass in the air.

“I’m sorry I have to rush, Doll, but I got about 15 minutes to make you cum. So be good and don’t hold back, ok?”

He was raised to be a gentleman, and he never left a woman unsatisfied.

Ever.

So undoing the robe quickly,  he lifted the lapel as he kissed her thighs, licking over her spilled arousal as he hummed.

“You taste so good. Fuck…” Kissing her clit, he sucked hard at the nub, making her jolt as she grabbed a fist full of his hair.

“I’d love to eat you out. But I just had that cocoa. And my hands are dirty. So I’ll be eating this instead…”

Pressing the plug in further, he pulled at it slowly, her taught hole unwavering as she bit down to keep it inside.

“Your ass is so fucking needy. Come on pretty girl. Let it go so I can put my tongue inside-“ The pop as she finally released it made her moan hard, Sett marveling at the length and girth-

“Y/N, I’m so fucking happy you answered the door with this in.” Truly, he never enjoyed work as much as he did today. He took a moment to take in the pretty hues of her asshole, the beautiful contrast of the pink and sepia as he massaged her soft ass made him hum with excitement.

Diving in deeper, he hugged her thighs closer as he pulled her up into him, making Y/N pull him in by his hair as she tried to steady herself.

His tongue was thick and long as he dove into her, the wet muscle undulating inside before he pulled out and spread her wider.

This was definitely moving up on the list of best Christmas' too.

Her hips moved on their own, Sett following as he allowed her to use his face anyway she saw fit. Her ass bounced and cut off his air, his hot pants tickling her flower-

Smacking her ass with both hands, he gripped her open before tongue fucking her hard and fast, making her still as she clawed at the couch.

Thanks to the toy, she was already close. And Sett being so good and hungry for her she was-

“Gonna-please-!” Just as quickly as the words left her, she tightened down on his tongue as she came. Keeping his tongue deep, he rode her through till she couldn't take it anymore-

He didn’t stop, rubbing his face in her warm slick. He knew he shouldn’t but he couldn’t waste his reward.

Especially when she tasted so fucking good.

Y/N allowed him to lick up every drop, even as her sensitive spots fluttered for reprieve and the tingle of the mint started tickling her till his kissed over his handprints, the reddening marks still stinging as he worshipped her.

“And you say I come quick?” He watched as her pretty holes winked happily at him.

He wanted to fill them so fucking badly.

“You…had a head start…” Ragged breaths left her as she tried to steady herself.

“Hmmm…how about next time we see who can do it faster?”

The alarm blared loudly, making him tisk as his fun ended. He had to return the truck before ending the day, and that meant he had to get in gear.

“Next time?”

“I don’t have work on the weekends. I’ll drop off more than head then. Deal?” Y/N smiled at he kissed her asshole, making her bite her lip as she looked back at him.

“Only if it comes with this special delivery.”

“For you? This is just the basics. I got something that'll keep on giving for naughty girls like you.”

2023 Copywritten and Owned by @opiumkitten

Do not claim or repost anywhere. If you see any works on any other site claimed by anyone else but @opiumkitten please report it to me and report it to the site. Thank you

[jerzwriter]

The way I screamed when I saw this commission! The artwork is by the simply lovely, delightful & talented @rosefuckinggenius. If you have never commissioned her, you should! Rose, you're the absolute best, my dear! Thank you for bringing my babies to life this holiday season!

All is Merry & Bright

Book: Open Heart (Post Series) Pairing: Tobias Carrick x F!MC (Casey Carrick) Other Characters: Bryce Lahela, Vivian Carrick (F!OC), Jordan Carrick (M!OC) Words/Rating: 1,200 / Teen Summary: It's their second Christmas with little Samantha, and the Carricks are getting ready to take their Christmas card photo. As Uncle Jordan sets up the perfect shot, Grandma Vivian and Bryce provide the commentary. A/N: In my timeline, this would be taking place during the Christmas 2024 season.

With their coffee orders securely in hand, Tobias stepped into the vestibule of his townhome, careful to make sure ‘Hurricane Samantha’ wasn’t underfoot. A year ago, he and Casey wondered what it would be like when she began to walk and talk; now they knew it only added to the joyful chaos they had come to know and love. It was as familiar as the warm vanilla cinnamon scent that had filled the air ever since Casey moved in and as welcoming as his wife’s loving embrace or his daughter’s smile at the end of the day.

He smiled as he placed the snowflake bedecked cups on their dining room table. The last four years of his life bore no resemblance to the thirty-six that had preceded it, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

He was pulled from his thoughts when he heard his brother's desperate pleas from the next room. He was doing his best to keep Samantha occupied, but she was quicker than he thought, and the bowl of red, silver, and green-wrapped Hershey kisses was too tempting. As the toddler's tiny hand reached up to grab the bowl, Jordan started to unravel.

“No, Sammy! No! I know Mommy and Daddy don't want you on a sugar high while before taking your Christmas pictures!”

But Samantha was undeterred.  “Yum-YUMS!” She yelled. The bowl was about to topple on her just as Tobias lifted her from behind, placing her high atop his shoulders in one swoop.

“Uncle Jordan’s right, pumpkin. Let’s save the sugaring up for after, OK?”

“Wow!” Jordan was astonished. “You said I was right!”

Tobias shot his brother a smirk. “Yeah, well, even a broken clock is right twice a day! Where is Casey, anyway.”

“Upstairs, finishing her makeup.”

“Still?”

“She was all done,” Jordan shrugged. “But then Ma had... opinions... so she's upstairs touching up.”

“Oh, shit!” Tobias laughed. “Then we’re safer down here with this little firecracker.”

“My thoughts exactly.”

But Casey and Vivian were descending the stairs at that very moment, and Mrs. Carrick was all happy to interrupt her sons.

“Hate to disappoint you, boys. But we smelled that delicious coffee the moment you came in. There’s no keeping us away.”

“Gam-mah!” Samanta squirmed excitedly, throwing her arms her grandmother's way, and that's how Vivian instantly forgot about her coffee.

“Oh, come here, my little angel!" She cooed, retrieving her from Tobias's arms. "That’s right! Tell Daddy that Grandma’s here. His services are no longer needed!”

“Really?” Tobias sneered. “Because with all your complaints of wanting another grandchild, I think my services are most certainly needed.”

Bryce dropped his coffee cup to the table with a thud. His eyes rose to the ceiling as he let out a sigh. “I don't know if putting up with you two is worth the free coffee.”

“Maybe not,” Tobias said, pointing to a few bags on the table. “But there are also cookies from Parziale’s, and I’m ordering in Chinese after the photo. Would that make it worthwhile?” Bryce may have answered if he weren't too rushing for the cookies.

Tobias let out a slow whistle as he walked toward Casey, making a show of looking her over as he did.

“No mistletoe needed here!" Casey laughed. "You can just kiss me."

Tobias studied Casey's face, then kissed her forehead. “Not bad! Not bad at all!”

“Jordan told Vivian he didn't like it,” Casey smiled. “He wanted something a little edgier. That a little punk edge four our family Christmas portrait would go a long way.”

“And I made it clear that my foot would go a long way...” Vivian interjected. “A long way up his ass if he thought I would allow that to happen.”

“ASS!” Samantha hollered, and everyone but Vivian broke into a fit of laughter.

“See what you make me do!” Vivian scolded as she whisked Sammy into the living room. “Making me say bad words in front of my grandbaby.”

“There is a swear jar in the kitchen," Bryce noted.

“Yeah," Casey added. "Between all of us, her college education will be funded before she turns two.”

“Amen to that,” Tobias laughed.

“All right, guys, as fun as this is, do you think we can start taking the pictures?” Jordan requested. “I do have a date tonight.”

“Oh, do you?” Casey teased.

“Yep,” Jordan grinned, playfully smacking his brother. “Someone’s gotta keep the Carrick rep going since this one has gone all domestic.”

“That’s not our rep!” Vivian shouted. “You’re not getting any younger either, Jordan! Who is this person? Do I know them?"

"I think I know him," Casey winked. "Make it quick; Vivian is itching to plan another wedding!"

“Oh! Trust!” Tobias laughed heartily. “Trust! She is!”  

“All fun aside," Casey segued. " We should start the photos before it gets too close to Sammy’s naptime.”

“Yeah, we want to do it before my naptime, too,” Bryce added.

“You’re not in the photo,” Tobias reminded. “You can go nap now if you want."

“You know, I’m still insulted by that," Bryce complained. "Why am I not in the family photo?”

“Because you’re not their stepson, no matter how much you may act like it," Vivian advised. "Now, if you want a family portrait, I suggest you get mar...”

“Annnnd on that note, it's photo time!" Jordan grinned.

“Sammy, come here, baby,” Casey beamed as her giggling little toddler wobbled over to her. “Let Mommy fix your sweater so we are all pretty for our picture!”

“I’ll admit,” Vivian observed. “Those sweaters wouldn't have been my first pick, but they're definitely you two! They will make an adorable family Christmas card.”

Casey stopped what she was doing, exhaling as she snuggled under her husband’s arm. “Family Christmas card... our second already. Can you believe it?”

“Oh, do I hear disappointment there?” Tobias teased.

“Not even a little. But sometimes, I’m still astonished. How did we end up here?”

“Do I really have to explain how this came to be, Mrs. Carrick,” Tobias winked. "See, when a man and a woman fall in love, sometimes, they do this thing together...."

“OK, No!" Jordan insisted. “I don’t need to hear about how Sammy was conceived.”

“No, we don’t,” Vivian agreed. “But I do need you two to keep at it - in private! Because I sure would love a second grandbaby on next year’s card.”

“I think that’s her way of offering to babysit for us tonight,” Casey winked. 

Tobias pulled his wife and Sammy closer. “Then, that's our queue! Come on, let's get this picture over with."

@choicesficwriterscreations @openheartfanfics

@choicesholidays It fits a few, but let's go with ... it's a tradition. .

Tagging the rest separately.

[punchdrunkdoc]

Part 3, Chapter 5

Summary: After the events of S3, Matt Murdock is trying to once again balance life as a lawyer and a vigilante. But he’s been scarred by loss and betrayal - will a mysterious new neighbour help him heal? Or will her secrets drag him back into the darkness?

Notes: This is a slow burn romance with an original female character, told in 3 (maybe 4??) parts. There is mystery, intrigue, action/violence and angst - all the good stuff!

Also available on AO3 and Wattpad

Masterlist

Reference pics

————–

PART 3

Chapter 5

Calina's next opportunity to see Matt came a few days later.

She was in Manhattan picking up a few extra firearms with Katya. The other Widow had a contact that had sourced the unregistered weapons from the black market. He charged a fortune, but it was worth the additional cost to keep their purchases under the radar.

After stashing the bag of guns in the trunk of their car, Calina handed Katya the keys. “You go on ahead. I have an errand to run.”

Katya rolled her eyes. “I wonder what ‘errand’ you could possibly need to run in this part of the city?”

Calina shrugged and smiled. “I have a delivery to make.”

It was the truth. One of Matt’s favourite Chinese restaurants was around the corner, so she planned to grab him lunch and deliver it to his office.

She was taking a gamble that he would a) be in his office, and b) not be with a client, but she couldn’t pass up the chance to see him again.

Twenty minutes later, arms laden with enough kung pao chicken and Szechuan Beef to feed an army, she skipped up the stairs leading to Nelson, Murdock & Page.

----------

Matt leaned back in his chair and stretched his arms out in front of him. He laced his fingers together, twisted his forearms and felt the satisfying crack of his knuckles. The tenant dispute case that Foggy had ‘assigned’ to him had turned into a class action lawsuit against one of the most despicable slumlords in the city, and he’d spent the last three hours reading through pages and pages of evidence.

‘Nightmare’ didn’t even cover it.

The three of them were now spending all their time and efforts trying to win the suit. Time and effort that could have been used to follow up on Calina’s lead and track down the mysterious pheromone manufacturer…

But this cause was just as worthy. Dozens of families had been taken advantage of, and were now trapped in tenancy contracts for mould-invested apartments. They were losing money, and their kids were getting sick. It was exactly the kind of case Nelson, Murdock & Page was created for - getting justice for the most deprived and powerless in the city.

And if they failed the legal way, Matt had a backup plan. Daredevil had been out at night gathering dirt on the landlord and his company, and he wouldn’t hesitate to hand it over to the cops and get the guy put away for decades. But for the families to see some compensation, they needed to win in the courts first. So Matt shook out his tired hands and went back to reading.

But just ten minutes later, his concentration started to wane. He’d been successfully ignoring his hunger pangs all morning - it was his own fault for skipping breakfast and only having a light meal before patrolling last night - but the faint scent of Chinese food filtering in from the street outside was making that task almost impossible.

He took a deep breath, inhaling the delicious aroma of chilli, garlic and ginger, and his stomach let out a loud rumble in response.

He breathed again, and the smell became stronger - it was in the building now, no longer on the street. Matt lifted his head, tracking the scent as it travelled up the stairs, figuring one of the other offices must have ordered takeout.

Which was a very good idea.

Matt took out his phone and started punching in the number to his favourite restaurant, having memorised the contact information years ago. He could blame that on being blind - it was easier to memorise numbers than to search for them - but, really, he just ordered too much takeout.

He’d lived off the stuff for years. Sure, he could cook, and he liked being able to cook for others. But when it was just him, it was easier to order in. He’d only really had consistent home-cooked meals when Calina had lived with him. She used to enjoy finding recipes and trying them out - with him as her willing taste-tester.

“I don’t know why I was so wary of cooking for myself when I came to New York,” she’d told him one night as she diced a carrot and added it to the stew she was preparing. “Its just a lot of knife skills, and the application of physics and chemistry. And I know about all of those things.”

Matt grabbed a left over slice of carrot from the chopping board and popped it in his mouth. “I think a lot of chefs would disagree with you there. They regard it as more of an art than a science.”

“I don’t see the distinction,” she’d argued. “Art and science are too entwined to be separated like that. They’re just two sides to the same coin.”

“How so?” Matt asked, leaning back against the counter top, settling in to enjoy the conversation. He loved to hear Calina’s thoughts on the world, and the surprising way she often viewed it. He wondered whether it was because she’d been so alienated from it for so long, or whether it was just her. Her unique and fascinating brain that gave her these insights.

“People tend to separate art into the creative realm, and science is relegated to the rational,” she explained. “But an artist needs an element of rationality. They can really only succeed if they know the science underpinning their creations - how colours mix together, how perspective informs composition, how language can convey an idea. And scientists use imagination and creativity to explore nature. The greatest discoveries in physics came from someone imagining the world beyond what they could see and feel.”

Matt smiled remembering that conversation. They’d spent all of dinner debating the topic and all the tangential topics that had branched from it. And they’d spent night after night like that, learning about each other over dinner, finding out about their differing opinions and the similar ways they thought, until he became just as infatuated with her mind as he was with her smell and the softness of her skin.

God, he missed talking to her.

The two brief encounters they’d had since Christmas has been just that - brief. Too quick to do more than say hello and goodbye, and assure themselves that the other was whole and unharmed. Too quick to really say anything of substance. 

Matt shook off those thoughts. If he went down that path - of wondering what she was doing, of remembering that kiss on the rooftop last weekend, of imagining a future where they were free to be together and talk for hours on end - he would never get any work done. He’d learned over the past few months that to be effective at anything in his life - being a lawyer, or a vigilante, or even a decent friend - he needed to stash thoughts of Calina to the back of his mind.

He resumed typing in the number for the Chinese restaurant, then called out to Foggy and Karen before pressing the dial button. “Do you guys want Chinese for lunch? I’m gonna order something.”

“Um, I thought you already had,” Foggy responded, sounding confused.

Matt listened to what was happening beyond his desk and realised that while he’d been distracted thinking of Calina, someone had come to the office door - with the Chinese food he’d been smelling.

He got to his feet and ambled out to the main reception area. Foggy was rummaging in his wallet for cash, while Karen was taking bags of food off the delivery person. “Are you sure its for this address?” Foggy asked.

“Yep. Nelson, Murdock and Page. The most prestigious law firm on West 49th street.”

Foggy paused, and Matt could sense his friend frowning. “Right,” he said slowly.

But Matt just smiled and strode forward. Because he recognised that voice. Despite the drop in pitch and the strange accent she was putting on, he recognised Calina’s beautiful voice.

He would know it anywhere.   

He slipped between Karen and Foggy, took Calina’s hand and pressed a kiss to the back of it. “Hey, sweetheart.”

“Calina?” Foggy spluttered.

“Hi, Foggy. Nice to see you again.”

“I- I didn’t recognise you. Sorry. Hi.”

“That’s kind of the point of a disguise.” She smiled up at Matt. “Although I knew I’d never fool this guy.”

“Disguise?” Matt asked. He’d noticed straightaway the ball-cap pulled low over her face, but there must be more to her get-up if Foggy hadn’t recognised her. He plucked the hat from her head and ran his hand through the loose waves of her hair. It felt shorter. And styled differently. “New haircut?” he guessed.

“Yes…”

He rubbed a strand between his fingers, feeling the strange new texture. “And dyed?”

“Very good, Counsellor. Now that I’m spending time in the city again, I thought I should try to be more incognito.

“What colo-” He caught himself before he could finish, remembering the conversation they’d had months ago. The one in which she spoke of her looks and how she liked the fact that he didn’t know anything about the superficial aspects of her beauty.

So as much as he was curious about her new hair colour, he dropped the question. “Nevermind.”

He sensed her smile widening, and she squeezed his hand in gratitude - as if she knew what he wanted to ask, and why he changed his mind.

She probably did. It was proof of the connection they shared - this ability to silently communicate, to be on the same page, thinking the same thoughts…it was proof of how right they were together.

Matt kissed the back of her hand again then stepped back, allowing the real world to intrude on their little bubble.

“Sorry, Foggy, what did you say?” he asked, knowing his friend had asked something while he’d been concentrating on Calina.

“I asked if you guys wanted to be alone. Karen and I can head out for lunch and give you some privacy.”

Calina shook her head before Matt could answer. “No, I brought enough for everyone.”

She took the bags back from Karen and headed for the conference table, where she started unpacking the cartons.

“Any occasion in particular?” Foggy asked, helping her spread out the food. “You got another thumb drive full of revelations to drop off?”

Calina smiled. “Not this time. I just wanted to hang out with you guys for a while. The last time we tried…it didn’t really go to plan.”

Matt winced at the reminder of that night - the night Calina had tried to kiss him, and his stupid fears had ruined it. In a way, it had been the catalyst for everything that had changed between them. But he still hated the way he’d behaved that night.

Matt squeezed Calina’s knee as she sat beside him, a silent apology.

She bumped her shoulder against his, telling him they were all good.

More silent communication.

More connection.

Matt smiled as he reached for the carton of wontons, then paused as he realised his friends were watching him - with matching big, goofy smiles on their faces. “What?”

Karen shrugged. “You two are cute together.”

“All we’ve gotten for months is angst and drama,” Foggy explained. “‘Oh no, she left and won’t pick up her phone’ and ‘Oh no, we have to be apart, how can I possibly survive?’. It’s just refreshing to see the lighter side of the Matt and Calina story.”

Matt rolled his eyes and chucked a spare pair of chopsticks at his friend. “Very funny.”

“Ignore him,” Karen advised Calina. “Tell us what’s been going on with you? Matt said you’re close to bringing down this Volkov guy.”

Calina nodded. “Close, but we’re not there yet. We’re kind of in a holding pattern, just waiting for our moment. So we’ve been spending our time prepping and training.”

Matt brushed his thumb gently over a bruise he could sense across Calina’s upper arm. “Is that how you got this?”

She rolled her shoulder, as if it was stiff. “Yeah. You remember Inessa?”

Matt nodded and held a hand out at shoulder level. “The petite one.”

“She may be petite, but she kicks like a mule.”

Matt laughed. “I learned pretty quickly not to underestimate her.”

Calina laughed. “That’s right - she took you down.”

“Wait, what?” Foggy chimed in. “When did this happen?”

“It was when Yelena kidnapped me to take me to the cabin Calina was staying at. And in my defence, it was Inessa and Katya together, and they had a tranquilliser gun.”

“Excuses, excuses,” Foggy teased.

“Speaking of excuses,” Calina said, resting her fingers against the black eye only partially hidden by his glasses. “What’s yours for this?”

“Just an over-enthusiastic car-jacker who got lucky.”

“Nothing to do with the pheromone case?” she asked. “How’s that going, by the way?”

A collective groan sounded out in the room.

“That good, huh?” 

Karen wiped off her fingers and got to her feet. Then she spun the whiteboard in the corner of the room around to show a complicated collage of documents, photographs and notes. “We’ve been looking into the buyers of Arsonium bromide - who they are, how much they’re purchasing and their stated reasons. Unfortunately, there are a lot of buyers.”

“Its been slow-going and tedious,” Matt growled.

Foggy sighed, used to hearing Matt’s complaints about their chosen methodology. “It’s slow-going and thorough. And for good reason. We’ve had experience investigating rich, powerful and well-connected people before. We need to do this carefully.”

Matt nodded, reluctantly. He understood the reasons for caution - their firm didn’t need to be on the radar of another Wilson Fisk-type character - but it had been months since the explosion in the lab, and weeks since Calina had gifted them with this lead and they were still nowhere.

Calina stroked her thumb against his cheek. “You’re getting frustrated.”

He nodded, cupping her hand against his skin. “Understatement.”

“You’ll figure it out. I know you will.”

“Thanks.” He turned his head to press a kiss to her palm. “And thanks for lunch.”

He sensed her frown. “I’ll have to do it more often. You look a little thin.”

He shrugged. “It’s just been busy around here.”

“But you’re taking care of yourself?”

He nodded, warming at the concern and caring in her voice. “I miss your cooking though. I miss our evenings together.”

“Me too.”

“And our nights. And the mornings.”

She laughed softly, and tipped forward to rest her forehead against his. “Me too.”

A text alert from her phone broke the quiet intimacy of the moment. Calina sighed as she read the message.

“Time to go?” he guessed.

“Yeah.” She lifted her head to look around the room, and seemed to notice for the first time that they were alone.

“They slipped out to give us some privacy,” Matt explained.

She smiled. “You have good friends.”

“They’re your friends too.”

“I hope so.”

She gathered her stuff then leaned over to kiss him. He held her against him, his hand locked on the back of her head as he tried to prolong the moment.

Then she left.

Again.

He toyed with the fortune cookie in front of him as he listened to her say goodbye to Foggy and Karen. As he heard her jog down the stairs. As she stepped onto the street and started walking away. He crumbled the wafer, crushing the pieces into dust between his fingers as her footsteps receded into the distance, taking her further and further away from him.

“You okay, man?” Foggy asked.

Matt shrugged, getting used to the bittersweet nature of Calina’s brief visits. “I’ll be fine.”

Foggy patted him on the shoulder, then leaned over to pluck the slip of paper out of the destroyed cookie. He read the ‘fortune’ then huffed out a laugh.

“What does it say?” Matt asked.

Foggy didn’t answer, just handed the note to Karen.

She laughed as well.

“Guys?”

“Sorry, Matt. It’s just too on the nose. ‘The love of your life will appear in front of you unexpectedly.’”

Matt joined in the laughter.

------------

The love of his life appeared unexpectedly several more times over the next couple of weeks.

She was in a darkened corner at the back of Josie’s one night. Alerted by her scent, he tracked her through the Happy Hour crowd, then pulled her further into the shadows where they spent several hot, sweaty minutes pressed against each other. She slipped out the back door and he returned to Foggy and Karen with his hair rumpled and his smiling lips stained with her lipstick.

A few days later, she was in the public gallery of the courtroom, watching as he entered a plea for one of his clients. Her gaze was a warm caress on his back as he stood before the judge, and her calm, soothing heartbeat filled his senses. But when he turned to leave at the end of the session she was gone.

There was another sky-high kiss after she summoned him to the roof of a dimly lit multi-storey car lot.  He raced across the city, following the sound of the clanging dashes and dots of his now-familiar code, lured like a sailor by a siren.

And just as he was starting to grow frustrated by those brief encounters - those stolen moments in which they could do little more than kiss - she crept into his bedroom one early morning and they made love for hours. He arrived to work that day bleary-eyed, but languidly sated.

Her unpredictable appearances turned their separation into a game. A secret pastime, where she tried to surprise him, and where he tracked her through crowds and down winding alleyways. Where there were no losers, only winners, and their shared victory was celebrated with passion-filled kisses and tender embraces.

It broke their time apart into days instead of weeks. Manageable fragments of time, spent in anticipation, not loneliness and despair.

It brought much-needed moments of levity to both of their lives…

Until everything went horribly, horribly wrong.

————–

Uh oh...What could this mean?!

Find out in Chapter 6...

Tag list: @hollandorks @chezagnes @stilldreaming666 @yanna-banana @tearoseart-blog @acharliecoxedfan @freckledbabyyy

If you’d like to be added - let me know!

[agirlwithbigdreamsforher]

THE PLANNING

THE NANNY: ONE SHOT

THE PLANNING

Pairing: Andy Barber x Annie Johnson (OFC)

Summary: The wedding is coming soon and Andy doesn’t seem very interested in the planning of the event.

Warnings: NONE. Some cursing words, that’s it.

A/N:  none.

Word count: 2008

Disclaimer: I do not give permission for any of my works to be copied, used, translated nor reposted anywhere else but here on this blog. Do not steal what you didn’t work for. Minors and ageless blank blogs don’t interact with me or my works. Reblogs and likes are always welcome. Thank you for reading this work of fiction.

GIF’s not mine, you can find the credits in it:) 

                                     ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

“Now what was his excuse?” Sharon said as she walked into de restaurant of the Hotel were the wedding was going to take place.

“Ammm, he is just busy.”

“Right,” Sharon rolled her eyes, “Just because he is a lawyer doesn’t mean he shouldn’t be helping you with the wedding. He is getting married too!”

That was this morning and now Annie was sitting in the dining room after dinner surrounded by a bunch of magazines, folders, ring binders, pictures, color samples, while Andy was scrolling through his phone.

“So, I was thinking maybe everything inside should be silver with light blue or maybe lilac.”

“Sure, honey.”

“And for the center pieces maybe we could use peonies.”

“Yeah, those are good.”

Annie lifted her gaze to see Andy was not paying attention at all.

“And then we could hire a clown to marry us.”

“That sounds perfect.”

“Yeah?” Andy nodded, “and I would only wear a red thong and no bra for our wedding and we will have Chinese for the guest.”

“You always have the best ideas, honey!

“How about if I made Laurie my maid of honor?”

“It’s an excellent idea.”

Annie grabbed one of the many binders she had on the table and slammed it hard making Andy to jump, his phone falling from his grip.

“What’s wrong?!”

“You are not paying attention to me!”

“Yes, I am.”

“Really? Repeat something I said?”

“Ammm well, you said, you wanted to have a band for the wedding?”

“I wasn’t even talking about music!!!!!! Andy the wedding is coming, I’m so stressed out and you are not helping me!”

“Honey, it’s not a big deal.”

“Not a big…fine! We are not getting married.”

“What?!”

“We will cancel the whole thing!”

“Why?!”

“You just said it, it’s not a big deal, so there will be no wedding!”

“Honey, that’s not what I meant!”

“Then, what is it?!”

“Well, I’ve already got married once.”

“You don’t care.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“You don’t need to say it! You are not paying attention to me. This is important to me. I want our wedding to be perfect, I am marrying the man of my fucking dreams and you don’t care!”

“Honey,” Andy walked towards her and she took a step back and crossed her arms.

“No, I don’t wanna see you or talk to you right now. Excuse me.”

Andy saw Annie go upstairs, and then turned to see everything that was on the table. He sat down and took one of the binders. There were many pictures and all of them had little notes with Annie’s handwriting. No lemon cake, Andy hates it. Blue is Andy’s favorite color.  He saw a picture of some empty chairs with the pictures of love one who had passed away. Find a picture of Andy’s mom. Another one: Song for the first dance: ____________.  The line was empty, she hasn’t really thought in a song for them to dance.

He then took a yellow post-it: Cake taste appointment: Friday, at noon.

Yes, he got married once, but since Laurie and he were just out of college and expecting they only went to the town hall and did it. No ceremony, no party, no nothing.

Andy walked up the stairs and to their room. Annie was watching T.V, she didn’t seem angry.

“Honey?” no answer, “May I come in?”

“It’s your room too.”

“I do care.”

“No, you don’t, it’s fine. Don’t worry. I’ll do it, you just need to show up. That’s it if you don’t forget it.”

“I don’t forget things.”

“We had an appointment today to see the menu and you didn’t show up.” Andy remained silent, he didn’t know they had that appointment. “The food was good. I chose beef. I was told by the catering people most people choose chicken, but I know you like beef better.”

“You never told me we had to see that.”

“Yes, I did. I told you 3 times.” Andy was confused as hell, he couldn’t remember her saying anything about that.

“I’m sorry, I forgot.” Annie nodded and turned her gaze to the T.V. “I’m sorry you had to go by yourself.”

“I wasn’t alone. Sharon went with me.”

“I’m sorry, I…”

“Look, I’m not interested in your apologies. Just let me know if you wanna continue with the wedding or not. We still have time to cancel. I’m going to shower.”

Andy was left alone in the dimmed room, Annie was disappointed and that hurt him more than when she was angry or sad.

Andy took his phone and texted Sharon.

A: “Hi, so I have a question, and be honest with me.”

S: “Sure! What’s up?”

A: “How many wedding appointments have I missed?”

S: “Oh my god! You can’t be serious!”

A: “I am! Answer the damn question!”

S: “5, the appointment to choose a wedding planner, by the way she doesn’t have one, she’s doing everything on her own.  The appointment to choose the venue, the appointment for the flower arrangements, the appointment for the music and today was time to choose the menu.”

Andy look at the phone, he had fucked up big time.

S: “Oh! And she went to see some suits for Jake. No offense but Jake is your kid, even though she loves him as his own.”

A: “Thanks for the input.”  

He looked at the bathroom closed door, the water was still running. He went back downstairs and sat where Annie was before. He took a deep breath and grabbed one of the magazines.

He went through a few pages of the magazine when he saw another post-it: Still no dress. Better hurry.  And another one said:  Still waiting for a spot with Melissa Benedict.

“Who is Melissa Benedict?!” Andy ran his hand through his face. “I better make coffee.”

----------- (     ) ------------

Annie was walking towards the bakery for the cake taste. Andy wasn’t home when she woke up, and hasn’t texted her or called her. The bakery was full with people, another appointment without Andy. She let out a sigh, holding back her tears and walked into the bakery.

“Miss Johnson!” The teenager behind the counter smiled at her, “We are ready with your samples. If you follow me, please. This way.”

Andy was running down the street, he couldn’t be late, he couldn’t not show up. He pushed the door open and everyone turned to see him.

“Good day, sir. May I help you?”

“Yes, I’m the groom.”

The girl laughed a bit, “I’m sorry, but whose groom?”

“Annie’s.”

“Oh! You’re looking for Miss Johnson! Right, this way.”

Andy went through the door and to the back of the bakery, Annie was standing next to a woman as they looked to some pictures.

“I’ll bring the samples. Have a sit.”

“Hi, honey.”

“Andy?” He was standing there, his cheeks were a bit flushed and his tie was misplaced.

“Am I late?”

Annie shook her head and they sat down waiting for the cake to arrive. The baker came back with a single sample of each cake.

“Oh! We have company, who is this?” Annie was about to answer but Andy was faster.

“I’m the groom!” Full smile on display.

“The groom! What a wonderful surprise. Your fiancé was telling me you were busy at court.”

“Yeah, I cancel everything so I could be here.” Andy took Annie’s hand and squeezed it.

“Then I should bring your sample too.”

“No, we could share. Right honey?”

“Right…”

“Very well, we choose our most popular flavors for wedding cakes. So we have chocolate, I know is not the common but it’s been popular lately.” She put the sample on the table, “We have red velvet.” Another small cake was placed in front of them, “Vanilla, a classic! We also have carrot cake and last but not least, lemon. I leave you two to it, I’ll be back in a moment. Enjoy!” All the small cakes were decorated the same, cover with white frosting and golden bits on the edges.

The baker left them alone. None of them said a word. Until Andy spoke.

“These shoes are not made for running.”

“You ran?”

“I didn’t want to be late.” Annie nodded, “I’m sorry.”

“What for?”

“Missing all the other appointments. Not helping you with the planning.”

“It’s ok.”

“No, it’s not, honey.” He took a deep breath, “I care, I do. I want to marry you; and I’m sorry I wasn’t paying attention to you.”

“I understand you’re busy.”

“But I wasn’t busy, I was being an ass! You don’t deserve that.” Annie smiled.

“You were an ass.”

“Yes, I was. By the way. I think peonies are perfect for the center pieces. We should go with silver and lilac. Also,” Andy opened his jacket and took out a picture. “I like this picture of my mom.”

Annie smiled, “You went through my binders.”

“I had to.” Andy leaned in and kissed her softly on the lips, “I saw one of your notes, and you haven’t chosen a song for us to dance.” Annie shook her head, “Why not?”

“I just, none of the classic wedding songs seem to fit.”

“I have a song.”

“You do?”

“Yeap. Every time I listen to that song you just,” Andy made the sound of pop with his lips, “Right in my head, all smiley.”

“What song it is?”

“I want that to be a surprise.”

“You know I don’t like surprises, they…”

“Make you anxious, I know. Just trust me, ok? I promise I won’t forget about it and I know it’s the perfect song.”

“I trust you, Andy.” She gave him a peck on the lips.

“One more thing.”

“What?”

“I got you an appointment with Melissa Benedict for next week.”

“WHAT?! HOW?!!!!”

“I know some people, and when I finally could reach her, I told her I had fucked up and wanted to make it up to you, so she said yes.”

“Oh my god!” Annie hugged Andy tight, “Thank you!”

“Anything so my baby can have her dream wedding.”

“Our wedding.” Annie said smiling.

“Our dream wedding!” They kissed again, “Alright! Let’s tastes these cakes!” Andy reached for one, took a piece and shove it in his mouth.

“Andy, wait!”

Andy spit the cake in the napkin.

“Fucking lemon cake! Why is this even an option?!” Annie laughed, “Oh! You think this is funny?”

“Yes, maybe it was a bit of karma.”

“Fine, I deserve it.”

After tasting all of the samples the baker came back.

“So, which flavor do you want for your wedding?”

“Chocolate!” Andy said

“Vanilla” Annie said at the same time.

“Oh! Hehehe” the baker saw with amusement to each of the pair.

“Andy, we can’t have chocolate cake at our wedding.”

“Why not? It’s delicious!”

“Cuz it’s a wedding.”

“But, you love chocolate cake.”

“Well,” The baker said, “As I told you before it has been very popular these days, because people want something different for the event.”

“See, we should go with chocolate.”

“I think we should stick with vanilla.”

“I can make a cake with both flavors, half vanilla, half chocolate. You know a marble cake.” Andy and Annie looked at each other. “Be right back.”

The baker went to the front of the bakery and came back with a slice of cake, the bread was a mixture of chocolate and vanilla, with chocolate frosting and bronze sugar spheres on top of it.

“We can always change the decorations, ok? Just try it.”

They took their forks and cut a small piece of the slice and taste it.

“Oh my god,” Annie licked her lips, “this is it.”

“It’s perfect.” Andy said as he cut another piece of the cake.

“So, it’s settle. Marble cake for the Barbers.”

“The Barbers has a nice tune, don’t you think, honey?”

“It sounds good.”

“Yes, it does!” Andy leaned in and gave a small kiss.

“I love weddings!” The baker said and the couple laughed. “Sorry, I always get excited.”

[biggervisions]

Chapter 2 part 1

An hour in and things were starting to take flight. Once I’d gotten back down stairs I got the buckeyes from the freezer (each with a little special something to boost what was in the brownies), and turned on the tv for something to be on in the background, turning a movie on that I’d had specially made, with subliminal images and prompts placed within unbeknownst to my guests. I sat with the boys and we all began to just eat, drink, and enjoy ourselves. Laughs came aplenty, and belly rubs began to pass around as mouths were filled with treats. I watched, my hard on growing under what I now was realizing was a bigger fatpad than I’d had two days ago, as Mike swallowed down slice after slice of pizza, his long tongue snaking to get every bit of cheese that slide off the side of the crust, so hot and tasty. You could see on his face he was euphoric with each bite, I could almost notice something beginning to bulge up in his shorts. Morris was gobbling down ding dongs, one after the other. Chocolate smeared his lips and he would pause and shiver when the cream hit his tongue. He would shift every now and again and I knew that it was him moving so that his cock was jostled around some in his fatpad. Dave was eating Chinese food... and he was in heaven. It was something to behold. He had a determination I’d never seen before, he had gone through three takeout containers of food, devoured all of the rice and the appetizers were demolished in what felt like seconds. He had sweat pouring down his head to his chins, his eyes almost in the back of his head with hungry lust... until he looked up at the tee vee. “Is...is there a filter or something on the screen?” he inquired, looking at the screen. I looked at him and shook my head. “The television has 3D qualities that can fuck with you a bit.” He stared at me for a minute. “Do you want me to take your bowl?” I asked. He looked at me as if he’d snapped out of a trance and said “Y-yeah. Yeah sure. Would you, uh...” “I’m bringing dessert now for everyone!” He smiled at me and sat back, his belly peeking out from under his shirt, looking back to the tee vee. Mike and Morris had also joined in to watch tv, finishing their food off. I stood in the kitchen watching them. “Before I get dessert I’m gonna have a smoke, boys. It’ll be just a couple o’ seconds, okay?” I heard mumbles between food stuffing into chubby faces. I raced (not really, it took a few...the stairs creaked a bit more) up the stairs and got to the top, going into the main bedroom to have my smoke. He’s still there, he’s calm. Headphones are in place over the mask, letting him hear nothing but the sounds of fatboys having sex, the sounds of fat flesh on fat flesh, slapping together, the moans and grunts and sounds of frustration of trying to penetrate but failing because there so much fatass in the way. He’s still leaking precum, it’s like a river. I walk up, lighting my smoke, and I pull a headphone from his ear. “Are you good, slut?” He nods. I take a nipple between my finger and thumb and pinch it. He jiggles and shakes, belly rumbling with a low groan. “Okay, you fat pig... relax. Your time is coming.” He whines lightly. I put the headphone back and lift his mask, letting me see his bearded mouth. I lean down and kiss him. He pushes his tongue into my mouth and he tastes like oranges. I grunt and the kiss ends, as I put the mask back. He breathes heavy but relaxes back, getting into place, arms and legs still changed to the bed like a good slave. He knows what he’s there for. He’s ready for what is to come. I finish my smoke and walk to the door. I open it and as I exit, there stood Dave. “You were gone for a bit so I thought I’d come check up on you.” I chuckled. “You must’ve started to get off the couch as soon as I got up here...” I reached out and rubbed his belly. It’s bigger..and softer... than I remember. “Murrrrrr” he moans the moment my hand begins rubbing. He leans lightly against the post of the stairs and I run my hand under the underside of his belly. It’s wet with sweat.

[metanoianmayhem]

My dad is whittling down to nothing. For those of you unaware (like most of us remember who is who on our mutuals. This anciente hellscape) (yes, the extra e is pronounced) dad has early onset alzheimers and vascular dementia.

He's had one big stroke and near as the imaging shows, is continuing to have minihemmorhages.

My dad was a man of science. He grew tall in his field - helped develop new techniques and a new field. Founded a convention that is ongoing.

He spoke Chinese because he fell in love with Chinese poetry as a teen hiding in the library in Texas.

Wooed my mother by quoting Tom Bombadil about Goldberry. (goddamn you, autocorrect, let me type).

He used to go on all fours and have us (sometimes two at a time!) as little kids ride up him on the stairs. Dad, my dad, would grab the railings and shake them making elephant noises. At the top of them, he'd use one arm as a trunk.

That was how he took us to bed. Taught me how to make scones and cookies. To get up when I scrape my knee. How to kick a soccer ball. Check another player with my shoulder.

We painstakingly kicked and screamed our ways thru every math class I ever had - and he still sat down to help. We both hated it, but we knew I needed the help.

Telling my first boyfriend that what I decided about my body went after he spent the night.

Came and held me and cried with me everytime a cat died or a family member.

We weren't- and still aren't- allowed to sit next to each other at dinner because we stir up trouble.

Perpetually pulled pranks. Woke us up one cranky morning on our drive to school - by shrieking "Aliens!" and lifting them off the wheel. We both came to mighty fast at that point.

There's so many more things I could talk about on and on and on like this.

He is not that anymore. Every day he becomes a little less - like a stone worn away by the stream it's in.

He loves me still. Even when he's struggling to track, he remembers my name and calls me his boy as well as his girl.

And I get to wonder how long until we lose that.

Until he doesn't know who we are.

I wish I had something wise to say, or kind to say. But mostly I am hurting very badly and weeping because God, I miss my dad.

[final-girl96]

Firefly Chapter Twenty-Two

After Tess' Death 2023

"What do we do now?" Ellie asked. We had walked a few blocks before stopping and taking a break. "I think we're going to need to take the subway again," I said, looking around the city. "I'm not going back down there! Are you crazy? What if there's more infected down there?" I sighed and looked at Ellie. "Well, it's either that or we figure out how to climb down there…" I pointed to the gigantic hole in the middle of the city where one of the bombs had been dropped.

"Or we go climb up that building that looks like it's going to fall over any fucking second and definitely has infected inside. Or the third option is we venture to that part or the city…" I pointed in the direction I was talking about. "Which is basically the outskirts of the city but full of raiders and hunters. And when I say hunters I mean people hunters. And we would need to still get around that gigantic hole that leads into the dark fucking obyss of only God knows what."

"Subway it is," Ellie said. I nodded my head and looked at Joel. He hasn't said anything since we left the State Building. "Joel?" He didn't look up from where he was sitting on a bench in front of an old Chinese Palace Restaurant. "Joel!" His head slowly raised to look at me. "Are you even listening?" I asked. "Subway. Yeah. Let's go." He stood up and walked to the stairs that led down the subway. Ellie and I followed after him.

Halfway down we had to jump because the stairs had collapsed in. Joel helped both Ellie and I after he jumped down, grunting when he landed. Once we got the toll gates we climbed over and turned on our flashlights. Joel's arm shot out, stopping me from going any further before we got to the platform. "Spores. You got your mask?" I pulled my backpack off, knelt down, and pulled my mask out. After adjusting it I zipped my bag and put it back on as I stood up.

"I don't have one of those." I looked at Ellie with a raised eyebrow. "You don't need to worry about spores. You're immune." Her mouth made an O shape and she slowly nodded. "Let's go," Joel grumbled and walked down the hall past lockers and to the platform. We made our way around the few seats that were left and to the stairs that would bring us out on the other side of the building that looked like it was going to fall. "Shit, now what?" Ellie asked.

The stairs were gone. Just a pile of concrete and rebar. "Guess we have to go to the end of the tunnel?" I asked and Joel hummed. We turned back around and walked back to the platform and into the train car. We walked the length of it until it ended and we had to jump down onto the tracks. The further we got the darker it got and water flooded the tunnel. "I can't swim," Ellie said. "Do you think we can get up on top of the cars and walk across that way?" I asked Joel.

He looked up and then turned around so his back was to the side of the train car. "Guess we'll find out." He bent his knees slightly and laced his fingers together. "Come on." I stepped over to him and put my right foot into the palms of his hands. While he lifted me I pushed off with my left foot and grabbed the edge of the car and pulled myself up. I walked down the length of it and crossed over to the next, walking down that one and looking to see if we could use them to get across.

"Okay, we can walk across the top of these train cars but we will need to jump over to the platform at the last one." Joel helped Ellie up and then he jumped and I helped him pull himself up next. When we got to the last train Joel jumped to the platform first. "Alright, Ellie, come on." She looked at him and then at me and back at him. "You're going to catch me?" She asked. "He's going to catch you. Trust me."

She hesitated for a few seconds before she took a few steps back and then jumped. Joel caught her and they moved out of the way so I could jump across. As soon as my feet landed on the platform we walked through the open doorway and around the corner to the stairs. Once outside Joel and I took off our masks and put them away. "Now what?" Ellie asked. "Now we start making our way to Bill and Frank's."

We had made it out of the city but we were still at risk of running into raiders and hunters. "Come on, we can follow the river for a little while to get past that section of buildings." Joel started to walk down a hill towards a main road. There was a residential area about a mile or so up the road. The rare times that Joel and I would come out here to make our way to spend a day at Bill and Frank's we would stop there for a night.

After walking for a few hours we stopped for a break by the river. The sun was starting to set, turning the sky orange in the distance. Sitting against a tree the only sound being the river and the chirping of the birds, I kept replaying what Tess said to me.

"it's always been you. It will always be you. I've tried to get him to move on. To move on with me. But he wouldn't. He never wanted me. He's never felt that way about me. No matter how hard I tried. You've always and will always have his heart. Forgive him and take care of him. All he's ever wanted to do was keep you safe."

I saw Joel walking back up the small hit from the river. He had been down there for a little while. Ellie was sitting against a different tree, knees to her chest, pushing a stick in the dirt in front of her. I watched as she looked up at Joel as he got closer. "Joel?" He stopped when she said his name and she stood up.

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry about Tess." He spun on her and pointed his finger at her. "Don't talk about her! Don't ever say her name again!" I stood up and walked over to him. "Hey!" I put my hand on his shoulder and turned him to look at me. Ellie's eyes were slightly wide and switched from shock to anger in a matter of seconds.

"Don't talk to her like that. What happened to Tess is not her fault! It's nobody's fault. I'm sorry your…girlfriend…" I struggled a little with getting out that word. I know what Tess said but I honestly don't know if I can believe it or not. "Is dead but don't blame it on her! You want to yell at someone because you're angry and hurt then yell at me but never…and I never yell at her! Now, we should go. It's getting dark. We can check the house and stay there if everything is clear."

We walked into the neighborhood and to the white house with green shutters at the very end of the cul-de-sac. We checked the outside before heading inside through the basement. The basement was an open space and no place to hide so it was easy to clear. Heading up the stairs to the main floor Joel slowly opened the door and checked to make sure there wasn't anyone or anything on the other side before we headed into the living space.

The windows were still all boarded up from the inside and outside and the stairs to the second floor were blocked by the dining table and chairs. Joel climbed around them and checked the upstairs making sure it was clear and I checked the dining room, kitchen, and downstairs office. "So, you guys been here before?" I looked over at Ellie and nodded my head.

"Yeah, it was a place we'd stop on the rare occasions that we went to Bill and Frank's instead of meeting them halfway." I sat down on the once plush chair. The ring about this house was that when the owners had left they covered everything in sheets. When Joel and I first found the neighborhood this was one of the only houses that hadn't been destroyed by raiders or the total chaos that happened when everyone was trying to get out in the beginning when people were being evaluated.

But after twenty years the colors of paint have faded, wallpaper has started to peel, the temperature changes have caused dampness which has caused some surfaces to mold. The smell of decaying wood filled the air. Joel came back down and sat his bag down beside mine, leaning the rifle against the arm of the couch where Ellie had settled. "The upstairs is clear. Did you check the garage?"

Shit. I forgot about the garage like always. I looked up at him and he sighed, picked the rifle back up and walked into the kitchen. I stood up, grabbed my flashlight and followed him. "Sorry, I always forget about the garage." He didn't reply and opened the door. I shined the light into the dark space and Joel slowly descended the few steps with me closer behind. I shined the light around the two car garage, stopping on a red pickup.

"When was the last time you were here?" Joel asked from beside me. "Um…the last time we went to Bill and Frank's together so, like ten years ago. When were you here last?" I asked. "Maybe about eight years ago. Tess and I met Bill here." We moved closer to the truck slowly. "Was this here when you were here?" I asked him.

He shook his head, gently taking the flashlight from my hand and shined it through the windows. "No. But this truck hasn't been sitting here for that long, someone must have been here recently, look." He pointed at where there were fingerprints in the dust that coated the workbench beside the truck on the driver's side. "Do you think it runs?" I asked.

Joel shrugged, "maybe. Depends on how much and how old the gas is and if the battery works if it even has one," he said, handing me the flashlight back. He reached for the handle and lucky for us it was unlocked. "Let's hope the keys are in it." He got inside, keeping one leg outside the door. I held the flashlight for him as he pulled the visor down then looked in the center console. "Check the glove box." He leaned over and popped it open but still no keys.

"I could hotwire it if need be," he popped the hood of the truck, got out and walked around to the front of it to look under the hood. I leaned inside the truck and started looking in the pockets of the doors and on the back of the driver and passenger seats. Then I check under the seats. I groaned when I didn't come up with anything. "Well, oil is good in it. Whoever left it here has been taking good care of it."

I didn't listen too much to what he was saying after that because it occurred to me that whoever did leave this truck here might have put the keys either inside the house or attached to the tire well. I checked the tire wells first and came up with nothing. "Hey, guys." We both looked up at Ellie as she walked into the garage. "Wow. Does it run?" She walked up beside Joel who just sighed.

"We don't know. We can't find the keys, so whoever left here will probably be back for it," I said. "And they'll probably be back soon," Joel said, closing the hood as quietly as he could. "So what do we do?" Ellie asked, looking between Joel and I. "We'll stay until dawn, then get the hell out of here. I'll keep watch. You two get some sleep." Joel walked past us and back into the house. I nodded my head towards the door for Ellie to follow and made sure it was closed when we got back into the house.

[sheerfreesia007]

Finding Love In Legacy Oaks pt. 27

Title: Finding Love In Legacy Oaks pt. 27

Fandom: Kingsman

Pairing: Agent Whiskey x OFC!

Author: @sheerfreesia007​

Words: 3,803

Warnings: Fighting, violence, guns, death

Permanent Tag List: @paintballkid711, @fioccodineveautunnale, @phoenixhalliwell, @linkpk88, @weirdowithnobeardo, @athalien

Gif Credit: @pedroispunk

Jack sits in the back of a nondescript van across the street from a two story building, on the outside it’s a Chinese restaurant on the bottom floor and the top floor is what’s supposed to be a large apartment home with multiple rooms. What it really is, is the headquarters for Kingpin’s operations. Statesman had always had its location and just didn’t have enough backing to be able to infiltrate it and take out Kingpin, but now since he’s kidnapped Esme and Bunny they’ve been given the green light to do what they do best.

Jack feels antsy as he waits with Tequila to hear the final headcount of who’s downstairs and who’s upstairs. The tech surveillance crew had deployed drones with specialized infrared cameras that were able to identify the heat signatures of everyone in the building. Jack was hoping to find out where Esme and Bunny were being held and making sure that they were okay before he moved in on the building.

“Alright looks like there’s at least seven cooks in the kitchen, six waiters, three busboys, one hostess at the front and four tables of couples dining on the first floor with one table full of five larger men, most likely guards. Upstairs we’ve got Kingpin in the main room with ten goons. There’s a smaller room at the back of the building that has one guard and our two hostages. They’ve got normal heat signatures so they should be okay, probably bruised up but nothing seriously wrong with them.” informed the surveillance leader and Jack silently seethed with rage at the injustice that was probably delivered to Esme and Bunny. “Easiest entrance looks like the back door into the kitchen, there’s no guards there. You’ll have the element of surprise on the guards in the restaurant area before being able to move up the stairs at the back of the restaurant to the second floor. We just have to either get all of the customers out somehow or wait until the restaurant closes.”

Jack frowned as he listened to the words of the surveillance leader. He didn’t want to wait until the restaurant closed; he was worried about what the guard was doing to Esme and Bunny. He didn’t know what shape they were in or if the guard had harmed them at all or if Kingpin was planning on harming them either. But he knew that it was the safest option right now for the customers of the restaurant, plus the damage he was needing to do to these men would traumatize anyone if they saw it happening. Jack could feel his rage simmering low in his stomach as he watched the computer screens show all the heat signatures in the restaurant.

“Is there a way to assess any injuries to the two hostages?” Jack asked darkly and Tequila looked at him surprised. Jack knew he was holding in his normal type of reaction but he figured it warranted for this type of situation since it was his daughter who was being held hostage. Tequila’s eyes took him in for a quiet moment before nodding his head slightly and turned back to the surveillance leader.

“We can try to deploy nano drones but that’s a call from up top, we can’t just deploy them.” said the surveillance leader as he looked over at Jack sympathetically. Jack nodded his head before pulling his cell phone out and pressing the number 1 on the screen. He lifted the phone to his ear and heard the line connect almost immediately.

“What do you need?” Champ asked gravely.

“Approval to send out nano drones to get on the injuries of the hostages.” Jack informed him darkly and there was no hesitation in Champ’s answer.

“Put the leader on the line.” he answered and Jack held his cellphone out to the leader who looked wide eyed at him.

“Yes sir.” The leader greeted Champ after taking the phone and raising it to his ear. There were only a few moments where the leader was quiet while he listened to Champ’s instructions. “Yes sir, I understand.” the leader responded while nodding his head and handed the phone back to Jack. Jack took the phone and watched as the leader turned to the surveillance member next to him. “Deploy the nano drone to the second floor where the two heat signatures are in the back of the building.” he instructed the member who nodded quickly and began typing on the keyboard in front of him.

“Thanks Champ.” Jack said with relief as he watched a new video recording screen pop up on the computer with live feed as the drone flew up to the second floor. They were all quiet while they watched the screen and Jack could hear Champ on the phone opening up his own laptop to watch the footage as well.

The drone flew through the air towards the back of the building where it rounded the corner and then climbed higher up into the air where it was able to slip into the building through an open window. The drone was in the stairwell of the building and it quietly moved through the area into a long hallway that had at least four doorways, two on each side. Suddenly one door opened up at the end of the hallway on the left and they all heard a toilet flushing while watching one of the large men from the abduction walk out of the bathroom. The man didn’t see the drone as he passed by it in the hallway and Jack was amazed at how small this drone must be to be missed when it was slow close to the man.

The drone turned so that it could see where the man went and they all watched him enter the first door on the left. When the door opened they could all hear the voice of the Kingpin and his lackeys talking while music played in the background. Jack feels rage seize his body and he stiffens in his stature while Tequila places a hand on his shoulder gently. Jack relaxes slowly before nodding his head to Tequila signaling that he was okay now.

They all watched as the drone turned to the doorway that the man had walked into just as he was closing it and they could see that it was a large gaming room setup with expensive looking card tables. At least five of Kingpin’s goons were at one of the card tables while the others were spaced around the room. They didn’t get a clear view of Kingpin in the room but Jack assumed that he would be sitting at the end of the room either at a large desk or table if it was in the room. But the door shut and they were cut off from their view.

The drone then turned to the first door on the right and lowered down to the floor before slipping under the door and into the room. Jack was amazed as he watched the room come into view as the drone climbed up into the air, his breath left him when his eyes focused on Esme and Bunny tied up to two chairs with their backs to each other. Bunny had her head steadily watching the guard who was slowly pacing the room with a menacing scowl on his face. The drone moved to the nearest corner of the room and Jack was able to see a clear shot of Esme’s face as she looked around the room curiously. Tequila snorted softly from his spot next to Jack and Jack smiled softly as he shook his head at his little girl.

“Leave it to Es to be uncaring that she’s abducted.” Tequila joked softly and Jack chuckled softly before shaking his head. They all watched in amazement as Esme began to kick her legs slightly with as much room as her binds gave her.

“Stay here.” said the guard gruffly before he walked to the door and stepped out of the room while closing the door behind him.

“Like we can go anyway asshole?!” snapped Bunny angrily as she whipped her head towards his retreating form. Tequila burst out in laughter before shaking his head at Bunny’s words.

“Those two are perfect together. Can’t believe you almost fucked that up.” Tequila said softly to Jack and Jack nodded his head quickly in agreement while his eyes stayed glued to the screen. The drone began to move around the room slowly after Jack had detected no marks on Esme. 

“Sorry Es, don’ mean ‘o cuss in fron’ of you.” Bunny said, sounding like she had slurred speech. Jack frowned before he gasped loudly when the drone got a clear view of Bunny. Her face was swollen on her left side, her left eye looked like it might be blackened and her bottom lip was split open too. Jack’s heart breaks as he sees all of her injuries and knows that she was protecting Esme. 

“It’s okay Bunny. Hey did you know that there are sea bunnies in the ocean?” Esme asked. Jack nearly snorted as he watched Bunny flinch backwards and furrowed her eyebrows.

“Shea bunnies?” she asked confused and Esme nodded her head before realizing her mistake.

“Yeah they’re actually sea slugs and their official name is Jorunna parva. They’re itty bitty little things and they look like underwater fluffy bunnies. They’re so cute!” Esme begins to tell her and Jack can see the confusion on Bunny’s face while Tequila laughs quietly next to him.

“You’re ‘rying ‘o dis’rac me aren’ you?” Bunny asked suddenly and soft chuckles rang through the van as Bunny figured out what Esme was trying to do.

“Well yeah. They beat you up pretty good and these chairs aren’t comfy.” Esme said without any candor. Jack gritted his teeth at the confirmation that the goons had beaten up Bunny and he vowed to cause them more pain than they caused her. “You think my Dad’s coming to save us?” Esme asked suddenly and Jack watched as Bunny shifted in her chair listlessly.

“I don’ know. Probably.” Bunny said, sounding almost defeated as she looked around the room once again.

“I think he is. And then when he rescues us he can tell you that he loves you finally!” Esme said excitedly and Bunny chuckled softly at her excitement. Just then the man from earlier that was guarding them came back into the room and the drone flew up to the ceiling before making its way back around the room to the door and slipping back out. 

Jack looked at the large digital clock hung up in the van and saw that they had fifteen minutes until the restaurant closed. He began to gather all his equipment and weapons that he liked to have on him while on mission. Tequila began to get ready as well making sure all of his tech was working and in the right places for him. It only took them minutes to get ready before they were exiting the van and walking along the sidewalk to the restaurant. They cut into the alleyway and headed to the back of the building, peering around the corner. 

“How do you want to do this?” Tequila asked softly from his spot next to Jack along the brick wall of the building. 

“You know we’re never subtle so why bother trying to be subtle now.” Jack said quietly and Tequila chuckled softly before nodding his head. Jack peered around the corner and spotted the back door and saw that it was propped open. Shaking his head at their mistake he signaled to Tequila to follow him.

The restaurant was dimly lit as they both entered the building as they pulled out their firearms of choice, they passed the staircase on their way into the restaurant and could see through the open doorway that one of the five men that worked for Kingpin was ushering everyone out of the restaurant. Jack waited in the shadows watching as the man locked the front door and then turned back to the table where the rest of them were.

“Whiskey, Tequila; you have full authority for kill shots.” Champ’s voice came over the communication devices that both Jack and Tequila had in their ears.

“Copy that.” Jack said softly back to Champ and held his hand up in a fist at the side of his head and Tequila held steady right behind him. Jack then moved into the room swiftly raising his revolvers and began firing off shots. With the element of surprise they made quick work of the room and all their bullets landed on their aim. Within minutes of entering the room all five men who had sat at the table were now on the floor lifeless. 

“Room cleared.” Tequila said loud enough for the communication device he had in his ear to pick up. “We’ll need a clean up crew.” Tequila informed them before turning to Jack who was already walking towards the stairs, he was eager to get this all over with and get his girls back.

The second floor was eerily quiet as they both made their way up the stairs, Jack was in the front with his revolvers raised and Tequila was at the back holding his shotgun pointed at the floor. Jack’s eyes were trained on the long hallway as he came to the top of the stairs, he knew that on one side was Kingpin while on the other side was Esme and Bunny. Each side had someone waiting for Jack to arrive, one side good the other bad. Jack had a decision to make on where to go first and he always knew where he’d go first. He’d always choose to eliminate the bad before relishing in the good in his life, it had always been like that and he wouldn’t change now.

So Jack began walking towards the left side of the hallway and placed his hand on the doorknob. Taking in a deep breath Jack steadied himself as he felt Tequila move close to his back. Then Jack opened the door slowly and nearly lost his breath when his eyes spotted Bunny standing on one side of Kingpin and Esme standing on the other side of him.

Rage immediately filled Jack and he ground his teeth together trying to curb the litany of curse words that wanted to fall out of his mouth. His eyes quickly swept around the room and his rage grew as he spotted Tim McCall standing not too far from Bunny with an arrogant smirk on his face. Jack glared at the man as he stepped closer to Bunny who flinched away from him while keeping her eyes darting between Jack and Esme. From his spot in the middle of the room Jack could feel all eyes were on him and Tequila as they mentally prepared for a fight.

“Good to see you again, Whiskey.” Kingpin said as he raised his head to regard him with disdain filling his eyes.

“Can’t say the same for you Kingpin.” Jack responded through gritted teeth as his eyes darted over to Esme who was watching him steadily with a determined look on her face. Jack was worried that she’d do something that could jeopardize her safety, he knew without a doubt that she was too brave for her own good. Jack shook his head slightly at Esme who widened her eyes in response before she stood still in her spot on Kingpin’s left side.

“Aw, what’s the matter, didn't you miss me? I certainly missed you. Kept thinking about every way I’m going to crush you like a bug under my shoe.” Kingpin said with a wicked grin on his face as he slowly danced his fingers along the large wooden desk he sat behind. Jack watched as his large meaty fingers danced over to Esme’s side and felt his body begin to prepare to pounce, but before he could even move Bunny lunged forward across the desk grabbing onto his hand.

Jack watched as Kingpin grabbed onto the back of Bunny’s neck and slammed her into the desk face first. Esme cried out in surprise and moved away from the desk as Bunny groaned in pain but stayed upright when Kingpin let her go. Jack felt a sense of predatory calm come over him as he watched everyone in the room around him shift to attention, Tequila just watched quietly as his hand slowly shifted down the barrel of his shotgun. Bunny staggered on her feet and Kingpin flicked his hand in a dismissive gesture, Tim moved to grab hold of Bunny and began to drag her back with him as he had a salacious grin on his face. Jack knew they were now in for a fight and he was prepared for the first move.

Suddenly one of the men to the left side of Jack moved and Jack sprung into action whirling on his heel while aiming his revolver at the man’s face and pulling the trigger. Chaos encompassed the room as the men all descended on Jack and Tequila, the two men moving with a grace of able bodied predators striking down their prey easily. Tequila fired his shotgun at each man who approached him and even used the butt of the shotgun to incapacitate a few of them before going in for the kill shot. The fight was stacked higher on Jack and Tequila’s side as they moved so fluidly with their firearms as if they were an extension of themselves. All their shots found their homes and soon the room was emptied of the goons except for Tim and Kingpin.

Kingpin had grabbed Esme and dragged her in front of himself and Jack was seething as he glared at the cowardly man. Tequila slowly stalked around the room to the closer side of Esme who watched them both with wide worried eyes. Bunny was still struggling valiantly against Tim trying to get to Esme to help her.

“It’s alright Es. Look at me.” Jack said calmly in the deathly quiet room. Esme’s eyes focused on him and he nodded his head in praise. “Everything’s going to be okay. Nothing to worry about.” Jack said calmly and Esme nodded her head at his words.

“You think too highly of yourself and your skill.” Kingpin said with a scoff as he repositioned his hold on Esme. “Not to mention I’ve got two of your loved-” Kingpin began to explain when suddenly Jack moved and shot him in the forehead as Esme broke away from him running towards Tequila who easily caught her. Jack exhaled a breath as relief flooded his body as he watched Kingpin’s slump forward onto the desk. He turned his head to Esme and saw that she was glaring angrily at the opposite corner as Tequila held her securely in his arms. 

Jack then turned and saw Tim positioning Bunny in front of him while holding a knife against her neck. Bunny’s face was littered with dark marks and half of it was still swollen from the last hit they laid on her. She had blood trickling down from her nose and both her top and bottom lips were split, there was a wild look in her wide eyes as she tried to stay as still as possible with the knife pressed to her neck.

“Stay back or I’ll slit her throat!” shouted Tim as he watched Jack while keeping Bunny in front of him.

“You’re not gonna do anything of the sort.” Jack said calmly as he gestured his hands out in a faux peaceful move. Tim was still wary of him as he kept Bunny in her place in front of him while trying to side step towards the door. Jack stared into Bunny’s worried eyes and watched as her eyes focused and grew determined as you understood his meaning.

“Who are you to stop me?!” shouted Tim angrily as he grabbed a hold of Bunny’s hair and began to push the knife harder against her neck. Jack reacted instantly as he swung his hand holding his revolver in a large arc and fired one bullet, meanwhile Bunny went limp and fell to the floor as Tim let go of her in surprise. With her movement the bullet penetrated Tim’s shoulder and knocked him backwards with the force, Jack didn’t let him have any time to react as he lunged at the man and began to pummel him with his fists.

Jack was in a completely different world as rage exploded from his body through his fists as each collided with Tim’s body. All the pent up frustration and aggravation that Tim and Cynthia had caused him and Bunny these past few months came out of him with each strike he landed on Tim. Every instance that Bunny told him about Tim putting his hands on her while they were married was all the driving force of Jack’s punches.

“Whiskey! Whiskey stop! He’s dead! He’s dead!” Shouted Tequila as he tried to pull Jack off the unmoving man. Nothing penetrated Jack’s mind as he continued to lay blow after blow on the man. It was only when Bunny’s smaller hand came up to cup his cheek that Jack was jolted back from his rage. He flinched at her touch and swiftly turned his head to her, his wild eyes darting around her bruised and marred face until he understood where he was.

“It’s done Jack. We’re okay.” she said softly to him and Jack instantly wrapped her up in his arms as gently as he could while burying his face in her neck.

“I’m so sorry.” he pleaded with her before throwing one of his arms open as Esme ran into his side. “I’m so sorry you two. I wasn’t able to protect you.” Jack sobbed as Bunny and Esme wrapped their arms around him and hugged him tightly.

“We’re okay, Jack.” Bunny said softly to him as she held him and rested her head on top of his while Esme cuddled in between the two of them. Tequila sighs softly as he stands to the side letting the three of them have their moment together. 

“Status of mission.” came the voice of Champagne over the communications devices and Tequila turned away from the reunited trio before answering.

“Success. The girls are okay, just a little roughed up.” Tequila responds before turning back to see Jack still being engulfed by Esme and Bunny.

“Good now let’s get y’all back to HQ asap.” Champ responded happily and Tequila heard his device go quiet as he watched Esme smile widely while Jack and Bunny hugged her tightly.

[magicalgirlfumiko]

Lady Higanbana

A solitary figure stood before a device that looked like a fountain that continued to flow with a mysterious goopy substance. It smelled of cheap candy. Every once and awhile a pair of black beady eyes would glare at the white haired woman.

".....Shut up. You got what you deserved Nanami. Everything you could have ever wanted. A city without your father's gangs. Yuko sent to the flames of the Deep. Yet all you do is stare at me like your punishment for trying to kill me after the explosion is too cruel. You're still just an asshole."

The white haired witch moved aside and stepped to the balcony of her Tower of the Sun. Everything around once was Furuzeki, was nothing but ruins with massive fields of flowers growing around it. In the distance, an old looking Japanese city had sprung up.

Lady Higabana then turned to face the molten Nanami. "I did the right thing. The only way to lift curses is to purify the land with fire. Don't act like I didn't move the population away before I let the city get destroyed in a flash of light. The world has been reborn...Just not what I was expecting."

The witch then flipped Nanami the bird and walked down a flight of stairs to wander around the fields of flowers she now tended. She then took notice of the strange blonde maid staring off into the distance. The now head of the defunct Perfection had been sitting there for days. Lady Higabana didn't want to listen to her anymore.

When Higabana walked past Alice, the girl stared into the distance. Her mind was broken and no longer composed like a proper British lady. She mumbled and muttered a lot these days.

"There's no one around for miles. Do you really consider this to be Perfection? That's the purpose of magical girls...to create the perfect world under the eyes of Her..." Alice asked.

"Maybe you should have thought more about what Perfection means to a human, Alice. I rooted out all the evil and created my perfect world. One without people to hurt my peers and laws to control the vices of magical girls." The witch stated.

"This place is so boring. At least Camelia made something out of her flower kingdom. You're nothing but a gas station bargain bin version of my mentor. Nothing about your "world" is perfection. It is just an isolated kingdom in the middle of nowhere."

A kitsune dressed in red appeared. Her golden eyes staring at Alice. This was Guāng Liang, a Chinese fox spirit. She was Higabana's guard but often acted on her own will.

"Do not insult, Lady Higanbana."

With one single swipe of her assassin's knife, Alice's neck had been sliced. The maid gasped for air. She lifted her hand up, before she collapsed.

"The deed is done, my Lady. She was annoying anyways. Not shutting up about the flower witch that tried to eat you." Guāng Liang said..

"You really...Nevermind. You're a bandit. Sigh. I do wonder sometimes... Am I really cut out to be a queen for all spirits that wander the world? All I did was bring magic out and into the open. I never expected my flare to change the world...So much....I've heard that what remains of Tokyo is also asking me to govern them. Is this really the right path forward?"

Guāng Liang smiled. "You over think, mistress. You made the world safe for magical beings. Not just magical girls. You deserve some credit. Don't let a past mistake haunt you forever. It ain't good for your health."

[pokemonleagueofficial]

can you post a bedtime story I’m tired

The chair has been used since antiquity, although for many centuries it was a symbolic article of state and dignity rather than an article for ordinary use. "The chair" is still used as the emblem of authority in the House of Commons in Galar[6] and Canada,[7] and in many other settings. In keeping with this historical connotation of the "chair" as the symbol of authority, committees, boards of directors, and academic departments all have a 'chairman' or 'chair'.[8] Endowed professorships are referred to as chairs.[9] It was not until the 16th century that chairs became common.[10] Until then, people sat on chests, benches, and stools, which were the ordinary seats of everyday life. The number of chairs which have survived from an earlier date is exceedingly limited; most examples are of ecclesiastical, seigneurial or feudal origin.[citation needed]

Chairs were in existence since at least the Early Dynastic Period of Egypt (c. 3100 BC). They were covered with cloth or leather, were made of carved wood, and were much lower than today's chairs – chair seats were sometimes only 10 inches (25 cm) high.[11] In ancient Egypt, chairs appear to have been of great richness and splendor. Fashioned of ebony and ivory, or of carved and gilded wood, they were covered with costly materials, magnificent patterns and supported upon representations of the legs of Pokemon or the figures of captives. Generally speaking, the higher ranked an individual was, the taller and more sumptuous was the chair he sat on and the greater the honor. On state occasions, the pharaoh sat on a throne, often with a little footstool in front of it.[11]

The average Egyptian family seldom had chairs, and if they did, it was usually only the master of the household who sat on a chair. Among the better off, the chairs might be painted to look like the ornate inlaid and carved chairs of the rich, but the craftsmanship was usually poor.[11]

The earliest images of chairs in China are from 6th-century Buddhist murals and stele, but the practice of sitting in chairs at that time was rare. It was not until the 12th century that chairs became widespread in China. Scholars disagree on the reasons for the adoption of the chair. The most common theories are that the chair was an outgrowth of indigenous Chinese furniture, that it evolved from a camp stool imported from Central Asia, that it was introduced to China by The Original One missionaries in the 7th century, and that the chair came to China from India as a form of Buddhist monastic furniture. In modern China, unlike Korea or Kanto, it is no longer common to sit at floor level.[12]

In Europe, it was owing in great measure to the Renaissance that the chair ceased to be a privilege of state and became a standard item of furniture for anyone who could afford to buy it. Once the idea of privilege faded the chair speedily came into general use. Almost at once the chair began to change every few years to reflect the fashions of the day.[13]

Thomas Edward Bowdich visited the main Palace of the Ashanti Empire in 1819, and observed chairs engrossed with gold in the empire.[14] In the 1880s, chairs became more common in Unovan households and usually there was a chair provided for every family member to sit down to dinner. By the 1830s, factory-manufactured “fancy chairs” like those by Sears, Roesawsbuck, and Co. allowed families to purchase machined sets. With the Industrial Revolution, chairs became much more available.[15]

The 20th century saw an increasing use of technology in chair construction with such things as all-metal folding chairs, metal-legged chairs, the Slumber Chair,[citation needed] moulded plastic chairs and ergonomic chairs.[16] The recliner became a popular form, at least in part due to radio and television. In the 1930s, stair lifts were commercially available to help people suffering from Polio and other diseases to navigate stairs.[17]

The modern movement of the 1960s produced new forms of chairs: the butterfree chair (originally called the Hardoy chair), bean bags, and the egg-shaped pod chair that turns. It also introduced the first mass-produced plastic chairs such as the Bofinger chair in 1966.[18] Technological advances led to molded plywood and wood laminate chairs, as well as chairs made of leather or polymers. Mechanical technology incorporated into the chair enabled adjustable chairs, especially for office use. Motors embedded in the chair resulted in massage chairs.[19]