#Ezra x ofc

[artemiseamoon]

😍 this is so lovely! Thank you so much 💕💕💕

Preview: A light at the end of the tunnel

Ezra x ofc , ft Cee

Words: 3,140

December entry for Artes’s Year of Whump ( and fluff) @yearofcreation2023

Summary: As Ezra struggles post recovery, Cee plays cupid and finds his lost love.

Warnings: recovery, depression, loss of a limb

An: This is the official end of Arte’s Year of Whump. It was so fun, thank you yearofcreation! I know I missed some months, but glad I could close out December. I love this story so much, it’s open for later expansion. More notes at the end…

Preview below, read in full on A03 (account holders)

Sunlight peeked through the curtains, sending rays of light across the bedroom. This might be the first time he’s woken up before sunset in weeks.

His eyes settled on his new arm. It was still a strange feeling, having a robotic limb. But it did provide a small comfort as the loss of his arm, on top of everything else, sent him into the darkest place he’d been in years. Ezra told himself, he didn’t need a replacement, he would learn his way with one arm, and be just fine. He’s a man who weathered many storms. But he found his phantom arm haunted him. His mood, his self-esteem, and his sense of purpose all plummeted.

Ezra sat up with a groan and followed the scar on his torso with his eyes. Sometimes he could still feel that jab, sometimes he woke up in a sweat thinking it was happening all over again. He’s endured worse, he’s gone toe to toe with no hesitation with some of the meanest, more dangerous men and beasts one could face. Still, the events on the Green haunted him the most. Sometimes he could still hear that disturbing music in his ears.

Ezra died twice on that noxious moon; when he lost his arm, and when he was stabbed. But he was revived too. Cee, bless her heart, dragged back some version of him to civilization, a shell of him he didn’t recognize. The price of that job was the highest he’s ever paid; one he was still paying for now.

Ezra coughed as he rummaged the surface of the nearby table, then he found it, the recent letter from Cee.

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More Ezra

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About this year long challenge:

Works from this challenge that have more to come:

1. Is this how it ends? Turned into a full fic, we are on chapter 4 or 5 now and it's ongoing.(TF, dark Santi, ofc)

2. Dial up the Jack, Dim the Whiskey will have a part two. (Agent Whiskey, ofc)

3. The thing about second chances will have a part two.

Stay tuned by subscribing to those fics.

[leslie-lyman]

Kinktober in June: Focus (Ezra x f!reader)

Summary: It’s hypnokink with Ezra. That’s it, that’s the fic.

Pairing: Ezra x f!reader/nameless!OFC (can be read either way, reader is referred to only as she/her/Birdie; no physical descriptions other than her having a vulva)

Rating: E 🚨 (absolutely no minors!!)

Warnings: hypnokink, duh; hypnodom!Ezra and sub!reader; Ezra and reader have limits and a safe word and all that good stuff negotiated but I don’t go into it here, I wrote this from the perspective of everything being consensual and you should read it that way too, okay?; dirty talk out the fucking wahzoo; coming untouched

Word count: 991

A/n: So uh, remember when I said I was gonna write one (1) story for Kinktober last year? This is it and we are not gonna talk about the fact that it’s now June. Also reminder that this is fiction, not a manual on how to engage in this kink.

Masterlist.

———

Let us begin, Birdie

Ezra watches her eyes instantly glaze over. He always starts their sessions this way, the trigger phrase immediately starting to pull her under.

Feel your breath move

As the tide upon the shore

In and out

In and out

The Green had taken many things from him: years of his life and much of his capacity for compassion. It had come dangerously close to stealing his humanity. But no loss does he feel more acutely than that of his arm.

His right arm, no less. Without his dominant hand, even one-handed activities now involve an embarrassing amount of awkward, shaky fumbling as he learns to do the most basic of tasks - writing his name, using a fork, unzipping his trousers - with the fine motor skills of a toddler.

But that was before her. Before this.

Breathe for me, Birdie

In and out

In and out

Let everything start to drift away

All the tension in your body

All the thoughts in your mind

In and out

In and out

Let them all go

Let them all go

Let your body go soft

Let your mind go blank

Until there are no worries

Until there are no thoughts

Until there is

Only

Me

It’s an exercise in control - controlling her, yes, her body, her mind, her pleasure, but also in controlling himself. The lips of her cunt glisten with slick, a delicious honeyed treat with which he aches to slake his thirst. His cock is diamond-hard, straining against the material of his pants. It would be the work of mere moments to be buried inside her in any number of ways, with her taste on his tongue or her walls clamped tight and hot around his fingers or his cock.

But he resists, because as they’ve both discovered, playing with her this way is so much sweeter in the end.

In and out, Birdie

In and out

Feel yourself letting go

Sinking down

Down, down, down

Into a warm, blank place

Feel your body grow heavy

As it sinks, sinks, sinks

Into that warm, blank place for me

He watches her naked body slacken on the bed, her arms over her head, her legs falling open. He holds her gaze from where he sits near the bed, not close enough to touch her, enjoying watching her struggle to keep looking at him.

I know you want to drop for me, Birdie

It’s so hard to keep your eyes open, isn’t it?

It would be so easy to let them fall closed

To give in

To succumb

You want to, Birdie

I know you do

Sink just a little deeper

Fall just a little further

In and out

In and out

To drop and be completely under my control

Won’t that be so nice?

To just sink, sink, sink

All the way down

To drop in

Three

Two

One

He snaps his fingers and her eyes roll back, lids fluttering closed. It had taken them so long, so long to build this trust, to find and push and expand the limits of how they could play like this. And still, every time it fills him with a perverse mixture of awe and pride to watch her fall under his spell.

That’s it, Birdie

Sinking all the way down now

Down, down, down

As you breathe

In and out

In and out

Now feel that warmth start to grow between your legs

Let that slow, warm pleasure roll down your spine

Let it all

Sink, sink, sink

Down into your most special place

Feel how it already drips for me, Birdie

Feel it grow swollen and needy

Feel how it aches to be touched

And how much better it feels

The further down you drop

All the way

Down, down, down

Knowing that if you sink just a little further

Drop just a little deeper

The more pleasure you’ll find

A bead of wetness falls from the lips of her cunt onto the bed. Ezra is sure there’s a matching dark patch near his waistband where the head of his cock is now steadily leaking. He could keep her here like this for hours, flushed and docile with arousal without letting her cum, guiding her right to the edge before backing her away, as many times as he wants. But he decides to fall on the side of the merciful today.

Now feel the pleasure start to grow

More, more, more

Let it keep building

Up, up, up

The more you sink

Down, down, down

Feel how much you want to cum

How your little pussy gets

Closer, closer, closer

And wants to cum for me

He watches her chest rise and fall as her breathing picks up, a subtle tremor in her leg and the ever-growing wet spot beneath her the only other signs that her body is following his every command.

I think you’re ready, Birdie

Your body is so, so ready to cum

No thoughts in your head

Just pleasure

Pure pleasure

It’s going to feel so good, isn’t it?

Here we go

Let the pleasure swell

More, more, more

Ready

And

Cum

He snaps his fingers again and her body arches off the bed. Her drooly pussy pulses and clenches around nothing as she cums completely untouched, compelled to do so by his words alone. The only sound she makes is a soft little moan, but Ezra feels it in every bone and sinew in his body. Kevva be damned, he thinks, for surely this is the power of gods.

My sweet, good girl

My soft little pet

Breathe through it

In and out

In and out

That was such a good first one

Let’s see how many more we can find

Keep sinking down into the pleasure, Birdie

Down, down, down…

The Green took so much from him, but it did not take his voice.

He speaks, and she listens.

He speaks, and she obeys.

[nerdieforpedro]

The Lake between Us Masterlist

Summary: You can't sleep and often retreat to you back porch with some alcohol, juice and a candle. You've tried everything to make yourself sleep. One night you see your neighbor across the lake between your homes. It seems he can't sleep either. Watching each other drink grows into silent company in the early hours of the morning.

Is there more to this beyond the gazes? Could the two of you cross over the lake and embrace the sweet relief of someone who understands what prevents you from truly resting?

AO3 Link (updated along with Tumblr)

Ezra AU x Seraphina plus size OFC (Nickname is Moonbeam/Sundrop)

Part One - The Nurse who’s frayed at the seams (03/03/2024)

Part Two - The Solitary Captain’s Circumstances (03/10/2024)

Part Three - I see you over there (03/17/2024)

Part Four - What you look like during the day (03/24/2024)

Part Five - Closing the distance (03/31/2024)

Interlude One - A Negative into a Positive (04/03/2023)

Part Six - Gravitational Pull (04/07/2024)

Interlude Two - Tell me about her (04/11/2024)

Part Seven - Merging the Star Clusters (04/14/2024)

Part Eight - Binary Stars (04/21/2024)

*This series is complete as of 04/21/2024* 🥰

Taste-testers of Ezra’s gumbo 🍤: @rav3n-pascal22 @maggiemayhemnj @morallyinept @survivingandenduring @bonezone44 @magpiepillsjunior @yorksgirl @gemmahale @missredherring @missladym1981 @alltheglitterandtheroar @megamindsecretlair @readingiskeepingmegoing @pedroshotwifey @tinytinymenace @inept-the-magnificent @vivian-pascal @jessthebaker

Ezra Masterlist

Main Masterlist

[guess-my-next-obsession]

Starlight — Prologue

pairing: fae!ezra x princess!oc (Marigold)

rating: M (first person POV, split second mention of death, strained paternal relationship, arranged marriage, fantasy elements, i literally created a world and lore for this so if none of it makes any sense that is why, this chapter is just meant to build the world—we meet Ezra in the next chapter)

wc: 1.2k

a/n: hi everybody!! i’m well aware this book will not be one of my more popular series, but i really just wanted to write something fantastical, and even if i’m the only soul who reads this, it’s fine! we love a bit of self indulgence every now and again! anyways, hope you guys like this little prologue. i’m hoping to have the next chapter out within the week 🤍

series masterlist

All I’ve ever known is summer.

In my world, Etos, there are five kingdoms: Heims, Oceanus, Florere, Ember, Nox, and Solis. Anywhere else is far too dangerous for a mortal to step foot into, even if they could manage crossing the sea that separates us from the Fae lands and beyond.

The furthest land from my own is Heims, a frosty wonderland full of people hardened by the perpetually cold weather. Most of our coal comes directly from Heims, as well as my father’s toughest soldiers. My eldest sister, Wilhelmina, or Mina, as far as our family is concerned, married the charming Prince of Heims, Kristofer, and currently resides in the castle made of crystal so clear it almost looked like ice, setting the standard for the rest of my sisters.

Oceanus, too, was an important ally to have—their land producing the entirety of our fish as well as guarding the coast from those who seek to take back Etos. My father knew this well, and soon arranged for my second eldest sister, Peregrine, or Peri, to be married off to the King’s highest ranking emissary, Lord Titus, assuring the alliance between our lands. Luckily for soft-natured Peri, Titus seemed to be a gentleman and truly in love with my sister. I would have never allowed my father to marry her off if he wasn’t. Her gentle and kind spirit was far too precious to me to allow some man to ruin it.

Ember, a land of constant autumn, was where the academics went to study the arts and the sciences. My sister, Wilhelmina, was the actually the very first woman to be admitted into the university. I always admired her tenacity in the face of adversity, but even in my admiration, I feared her intellect and drive, just as my father must have after breaking down and allowing her to leave Solis.

The softer lands—at least in the minds of the northerners—were Florere, a land of eternal spring, and Solis, my land, the eternal summer. Octavia, the sister closest in age to me and by far the only one I couldn’t bring myself to enjoy due to her mean-nature and competitiveness, had recently left Solis to be with her betrothed, the Prince of Florere, Ignacio. I didn’t bother to vet her partner, but from what I could see by his solid gold carriage and fine regalia, he seemed to be just as pretentious as she was. A perfect match as far as I was concerned.

Even in all the beauty of Etos, all the varying climates and scenes, I never wanted to live anywhere else but my home. Solis.

Here there was no reason to be cruel and cold. Here, we appreciated the arts, and believed that leisure itself was an artform. We worshipped the sun, we worshipped our gardens, and when it came to love, we worshipped one another.

My father, his mother, and her father before her all wore the golden crown of Solis. Warmth and sunlight was woven into my bones, tanned my skin, softened my heart. My mother once told me, long before she passed, that my sisters and I were all born beneath a blazing sun at her request. I suppose she believed a warm birth meant we’d all live warm lives and die warm deaths.

As I wandered through the garden contemplating my newly revealed fate, I couldn’t help but wonder if her efforts were in vain.

My father, a once-loving, soft man I cherished more than the sun itself, had changed since my mother’s shocking and violent death after she was mauled by an injured wolf while attempting to remove an arrow from its side in the very forest I now padded my feet into. He grew cruel and hateful towards me, his youngest of five girls. I suppose I understand why, if I truly think about it.

Unlike my four older sisters, I took after my mother so much that even I found myself shocked at the resemblance. And even if I didn’t have her shimmering, gold eyes, or her caramel-brown head of long curls, or the same dimple in my left cheek, I had her heart. Soft, curious, and empathetic. Everything my father once loved about my mother, he now hated about me.

Of course he found it hard to look at me, to talk to me. I was his grief personified.

But even in all his iciness and hatred, I never expected that he’d sign my life away to the coldest, darkest realm in the world. To Nox. To marry the infamously insufferable King Kaius and become the future queen of the starland.

Whether I wanted to or not.

It felt personal, his choice in my betrothed. A daughter of the sun being forced to never see it again. It almost felt like another death to endure. Everything I have ever known and loved gone overnight.

As I found my place underneath my favorite elm tree, the one me and my mother used to sneak off to with our stolen bundle of sweets from the kitchen, I couldn’t bring myself to loathe him the way I wanted to.

Perhaps the distance would chill the warmth I still held in my heart for him.

Perhaps then, I could hate him the way he deserves.

My sister, Cosabella—the most cautious and maternal out of the five of us, happily married to the head of our father’s King’s Guard—and my father stood in front of our palace, its white marble and green grass beckoning me to stay. To fight for my right to live here in the sun, just as my mother had. But one look at my father’s cold and emotionless face and I knew there was no point.

This was how he wanted it.

“Take care of yourself,” Cosabella warned, slipping me a golden dagger. “Do not trust anyone. Write when you can. I will see you…” She trailed off, but I knew why. She didn’t know when we’d see each other next, if at all. “Just…be careful. Remember that just because the sun is gone, does not mean mother isn’t right there with you. She lives in you, Mari—“

“Enough,” my father shouted, gesturing behind me at the carriage waiting with two footmen and two Kingsguards. “Off you go.”

“Yes, father,” I replied, my voice as small as a child as I gave Cosabella one final hug, memorizing the citrus of her perfume.

“Go on, now,” she smiled as she pulled away, wiping the tear from my cheek. “Go introduce Solis to Nox. Bring them a little light.”

“I love you,” I managed, nodding my head at her command. “I will see you.”

“I love you too.”

I knew she wouldn’t promise me anything she couldn’t assure, but it didn’t help my cracking heart as I climbed into the carriage, leaving everything I’d ever known behind.

I placed my hand upon the glass window and watched as she lifted her own, waving at me before resting it over her equally breaking heart.

“Make yourself comfortable, Princess,” the footman that I’d known since I was a child called back into the carriage. “It’s a long ride to Nox.”

To the eternal darkness.

I wasn’t sure how they managed any of it. How cold they must be, not only their bodies but their hearts and minds. I couldn’t imagine any beauty in a black sky.

I’d heard about stars in my astronomy courses, learned that the sun itself was a star, but it never seemed to make any sense to me to spend time contemplating a billion little specks of light when I could lay beneath the biggest. A light bright enough to shine over the entirety of the world—except for Nox.

My father had said it was cursed by the fae Kings and Queens who once ruled over these lands, a punishment for the mortal revolution. And based on the description he gave of his own visits, I was inclined to believe him then. But now…

Curse or no curse, this was my fate. I could either accept the cards dealt to me and make something of them, or I could fold.

My mother taught me to never fold.

[tessa-quayle]

spotlight on the OFC

(fanfiction recommendations) :)

the reader insert, the second person, the y/l/n convention (which, for me, can disrupt the text and i haven’t gotten used to it - not criticizing those who do it - i'm the problem, it’s me 🤪) are all the rage in fanfiction.  i get the immersive appeal, and many of the fics i love and enjoy employ the second person.  

richly drawn original characters draw me in and capture my attention. I appreciate how creative folks get with their OFCs, the headcanons, and how they have fun showing off these OFC’s quirks and strengths and interior lives and histories.  it’s a joy to read.

here are a few great OFCs in the Pedro Pascal Character universe.  the stories are engaging and this is a fairly diverse list of OFCs (by that I mean race/ethnicity, life experience, nationality, disability).  as always, each author issues their own warnings.

listed in alphabetical order by writer:

@iamskyereads - Ezra (Prospect) x OFC Beatrice 

ongoing series (Compulsion).  love the sci-fi world-building in the first chapter. Beatrice is a sharp and compelling protagonist who’s suffered a traumatic brain injury and has PTSD.  

@intheorangebedroom - Frankie (Triple Frontier) x OFC Gabrielle 

complete series (Pleased to Meet You).  angsty intercontinental love story between everyone’s favorite pilot and a cool French woman.  the descriptions of different cities are vivid.

@jazzelsaur - Frankie (Triple Frontier) x OFC Ellie

complete series (Between the Raindrops).  the slow burn here is a smolder in the best sense.  Elliot (Ellie) is a widow who lives next door to Frankie.  the weight of grief and angst in this series is remarkable. 

@jomiddlemarch - Joel (The Last of Us) x OFC Grace

loose-fit series (On Call for the Apocalypse).  crossover with Ted Lasso.  set in Jackson WY between seasons 1 and 2, Grace is a snarky doctor (scratch a cynic, find a romantic) hanging out with Joel and Ellie  (format better on AO3)

@julesonrecord and @lunapascal ( @stardustandskycrystals) - Dieter (the Bubble) x OFC Andie 

ongoing series (Curls).  we’re rooting for Dieter and Andie amid all the drama and shenanigans surrounding a pregnancy and a wedding.  this reads like a novel you finish in one sitting.  

@ladamedusoif - Mr Ben (SNL) x OFC Lydia 

ongoing series (Visiting).  Lydia is a European art historian who goes to teach at an East Coast liberal arts college and meets the dashing Mr Ben.  delightful and smart (and I'm not just describing Mr Ben).

@radiowallet - Marcus (We Can Be Heroes) x OFC Amy

ongoing series (Eyes Open).  Single parents Marcus and Amy find love in the workplace, HR be damned.  Amy contains multitudes and the portrait of her as a mother is especially real and sweet.

@whatsnewalycat - Din (Mandalorian) x OFC Charlie

ongoing series (Passenger).  Gritty, dark, cool AU where Din Djarin is a trucker/bounty hunter and Charlie is making her way west.  this fic has a lot of postmodern energy.

@yespolkadotkitty - Pero (Great Wall) x OFC Jade

complete series (Fighting Blind).  Fun, winsome adventure between a museum curator and our favorite Spanish warrior.  Love the time-travel element, the nod to the Asian diaspora, and the rich world-building.  This series is stay-up-past-your-bedtime reading.

feel free to share your fic recs and favorite OCs/OFCs (your own and/or others)!  ❤️

[all-the-things-2020]

All Our Future Prospects Masterlist

Summary: A corporate scientist meets a one armed prospector named Ezra while fleeing a planet that will soon be too dangerous to stay on, and her life is changed forever. So is his.

Total Word Count: 55,250+

Rating: Mostly PG-13 (some mildly graphic sexual content, but those chapters will be noted)

Characters: Ezra, Cee, original female character (Claire)

Notes: My take on the world of Prospect is a somewhat dystopian version of the future. None of my three main characters has a last name, since Ezra and Cee do not have canon last names. Claire is vaguely described but does have hair long enough to fall into her face when it’s loose and she leans forward. Otherwise, she looks like you or anyone else you want her to.

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight - contains sexual content

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

[artemiseamoon-ficart]

Queen of Poisons

Moodboards 3

Fic info

[imtryingmybeskar]

Happy happy 1K!!! 🥳🎇💕 How about some Starman Ezra (I mean, it's me, duh, I'll never be over him) and either of these which jumped out at me: "This feels better than I could have ever imagined," or "This is better than I've ever imagined" or something similar. Or literally anything you feel inspired to write with him! ♥️♥️

My loveeee thank you so much for the chance to revisit Starman. You know I always love to write for these two, especially when it's the fluffier kind of fluff!

Starman - Midnight

Word count: 448

The moon dazzles white upon the blackness of the ocean, touching the top of the gentle waves and causing shattered shards of broken light to glint softly upon it. Ezra inhales softly. Cool, clean air fills his lungs and passes gently over his skin, goosepimples breaking out on his arms. She shifts closer behind him, her legs bracketing his and her chest pressed against his back until there is not a breath between them. She had wisely thought to bring her cardigan on this impromptu midnight excursion, and she holds him close, caging his arms with her own and sharing the warmth of her body. He feels her nose against the nape of his neck, eschewing the sea air for the comfort of his scent and she nuzzles her face against his skin, bestowing kisses in a trail until her chin hooks over his shoulder. He presses the side of his head against her, now and at every moment wanting to be as close to her as he could possibly be.

She huffs a soft laugh as she resumes the featherlight touches of her lips against the scruffy hair at his jaw.

“What amuses you, my love?” he asks.

“I just don’t think I’ll ever get over this. Seeing what happens to your markings when our skin touches.”

He glances down, not wanting to move his head too much lest she take it as an invitation to stop what she was doing. The markings on his arm are writhing, colours rippling across them and looking all the more bright for being bathed in moonlight.

“I love them,” she confesses. “And I love you.”

This time he does turn his head, unable to resist the lure of his lips upon her any longer. But she is pressed so tight against him that he can only brush the tip of her nose. She giggles again at his attempts and he grins at the sound, the love he feels for her swelling from his heart and cascading warmly throughout his whole body.

“I am eternally thankful that I found you,” he whispers. “All the times I indulged my sorrow, wondering what was so wrong with me that I could not find what others seemed to so readily. And now I know that it was merely a question of time. Of waiting, so I could be with you. Vive. And it feels better than I could have ever imagined, even in my wildest dreamings.”

She wraps her arms around him tighter, clasping her hands around his middle, her thumb stroking softly over his midriff. Cheek to cheek they sit on the beach in a silence borne of joyful serentity – warm, complete, whole.

[for-a-longlongtime]

I really needed something soft to read these past two days, and this was exactly it. Such a beautiful beautiful story series - everything fit just right and the image of Ezra and Cee running a bookshop named The Queen’s Lair is now gonna stay with me forever. 💜 Check out this awesome fic by @oonajaeadira!

A GIRL WALKS INTO A BOOKSHOP (Ezra x f!reader) Masterlist

(moodboard by @writeforfandoms)

FANDOM: Prospect / Ezra

READER: Adult female. An inventor/fixer/finisher. No other descriptors; no use of y/n.

RATING: Teen (Interlude chapter is Explicit)

No Minors Please: My work is 18+. I will respectfully ask minors to turn away to protect themselves and me. Thank you.

SUMMARY: Set a couple of years after the events of the film. Ezra owns a bookshop. You walk in.

NOTES: The coziest, softest romance. They do work up to intimacy, but it is sequestered in it’s own chapter–the “Interlude”–which can be skipped without losing any of the story. This series is complete. A GIRL LIVES IN A BOOKSHOP is an ongoing, set of continuation one shots set after the series end.

___

A GIRL WALKS INTO A BOOKSHOP

Chapter 1: Something Tender Inside Chapter 2: Has a Glow in It Chapter 3: And It All Just Tumbles Out Chapter 4: The Opposite of Hurt Chapter 5: Been Waiting For You Chapter 6: A Damn Fine Fit Chapter 7: Someone Who Handles You Gently Interlude: Ezra’s Room Chapter 8: Whose Heart is a Home for Keeps

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A GIRL LIVES IN A BOOKSHOP

Quiet Within - A little quiet moment in the bookshop on a windy day. Love Looks Good On You - A quiet, cozy morning; Arlo comes to visit. What’s Ezra Up to These Days? - An ask answered with “well, obviously he’s trying to adopt a feral cat.” Ezra Adopts A Kitten When? - A tag answered with “it’s complicated, but mostly she’s Tinker’s.” Where’d you come from, little pyewackett? - A quick drabble based on a set of photos of a cat in a bookshop.

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EXTRAS

You Have Kind Eyes - A Cee and Kinkaid six-sentence ficlet written as part of a follower celebration.

You Make Me Feel Like I’m Worthy - An Ezra x Tinker six-sentence ficlet written as part of a follower celebration.

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PLAYLIST INSPIRED BY A GIRL WALKS INTO A BOOKSHOP

queen’s lair by @amb-am

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ARTWORK INSPIRED BY A GIRL WALKS INTO A BOOKSHOP

“Welcome to The Queen’s Lair - Ezra is here to help you find the perfect book.”  by @mjpens inspired by Chapter 1 

“You truly are a clever one, tinker girl”  - by @mjpens inspired by Chapter 3

“He’s quietly running his hand through the fillianweed tufts…” - by @mjpens inspired by Chapter 7

“Congratulations. You are now a co-owner of The Queen’s Lair. Welcome home.” - by @mjpens inspired by Chapter 8

Glowfly Patch - by @rook-on-bough inspired by A Girl Walks Into a Bookshop

Ezra and Cee, posing for a pic, before she leaves for school - by @rook-on-bough inspired by A Girl Walks Into a Bookshop

Tinker Girl and Ezra before closing time - by @mjpens inspired by A Girl Walks Into A Bookshop

Moodboard by @writeforfandoms inspired by A Girl Walks Into a Bookshop (above)

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COMMISSIONED ARTWORK

Ezra and Tinker by @miranhas-art based on Chapter 5

PLEASE NOTE: I write my stories with myself in mind, but I try to keep them as reader characters as inclusive as possible. This art is not meant to represent all readers. Your reader is you. My reader is me, and when I commission artwork, I usually do so with myself as reference. I write what I yearn and yearn to see what I write, and I can’t do it myself, so I choose to support fanart artists. They do beautiful work and there’s no way I’m not going to share it with you!!! 

MASTERLIST

[artemiseamoon]

Elysian

A prospect au fic

Status: complete

Summary: Chasing the biggest payday of her life, Kalei heads to the Green to dig the famous Queens Lair. Once they land, the plan goes to shit and she’s met with a shady yet attractive prospector who makes an offer.

Warnings: base material stuff like killing, theft, injury, sexual and lusty feelings and content. Ezra comes with his own warning. There is some reluctance and denial about the soulmate thing.

✨ previews on tumblr✨ read chapters in full on A03 only (artemiseamoon) ✨

Chapters

One: The bullseye - preview - A03

Two: Pegasus - preview - A03

Three: Anomaly - preview - A03

Four: Fate - preview - A03

Moodboards

My very first prospect fic here, this is my love, I want everyone to give it a chance and check it out 💕 Both ocs meet Ezra on the green but they are separate stories, in separate universes.

No tags | @artemiseamoon-updates | A03

[nerdieforpedro]

The Lake Between Us - Part Two

The Solitary Captain’s Circumstances

Ezra AU x plus size OFC (Nickname Moonbeam - has a name in later parts)

This fic is for those 18+ MDNI

Word Count: 945

Warnings: crime, heist, police involved shooting, death, Ezra being cute also disturbed, anxiety, PTSD, alcohol, fire, nightmares, voyeurism,

Notes: We’re continuing to introduce our lovely pair. It’s Ezra side of things. How he got to where he is now and what he may be dealing with. My bad Ezra, he is a very haunted pookie. I left him his other arm so something had to go. 👀 I might be a tad deranged.

Main Masterlist/ Ezra Masterlist/ The Lake Between Us Series

Ezra used to be able to sleep anywhere. It was a necessity of maybe having a life that was outside of the conventions of society. He needed adequate rest to be able to plan, scheme and think. That period of his life is over, he’s had his large paydays and invested the money in his home, his airboat which he does some tours occasionally and in his charge Cee. She was an unforeseen variable at the end of a heist fifteen years ago with her father Damon. The dim-witted sod hadn’t fully grasped the escape plan that was gone over thrice in detail leading to him being on the wrong end of the police’s overzealous shooting. The man’s light was snuffed out in a violent instant.

His death allowed for the crew’s escape and for them to sort out which of their band of scoundrels would care for a wee human of four years old. Arguments ensued so Ezra suggested a completely diplomatic and fair way would be to draw straws. “The smallest straw gets the short stack.” He recalled stating. He always overestimated his luck in these situations and had the shortest straw. Since he had proposed the idea, he couldn’t back out. Thus began his journey with the child Cee.

Things were tenuous at first but they worked out she’s to call him ‘Uncle’ or Mr. Ezra. It worked better in social situations and she became his little ‘Birdie.’ Scaling down the jobs he took on to mitigate risk was a challenge and were worth less but he had to live not only for himself now. The pair moved around some before he enrolled her in school in Louisiana but ensured that he taught her when she came home in the evenings and on the weekends. The child hated the extra lesions, but it enabled her to be leagues ahead of her peers as far as studies went. Ezra was determined not to suffer another fool and would do what he could so that Cee wouldn’t follow in her father’s steps of idiocy. The results of his care, diligence and support was realized at both her high school graduation which he had never imagined attending anyone’s graduation except his own and to travel with his charge to see the college she’d chosen.

Cee was away studying at Columbia University as she’d gotten a full scholarship with room and board on her own merits. Ezra did not have much to hang any pride on as he viewed it a way to a quick death but he couldn’t help but feel well pleased that he’d had some part in her success.

His charge would write and call, which he’d accept, not letting on how happy he was that she’d call. On the last break, Cee visited with her girlfriend Zora and they stayed at his home. The young woman he’d raised expressed concern about the circles under his eyes and his unfocused eyes. Ezra denied her claims stating, “I am fine my sweet Bird. It’s something you’ll encounter when you reach the privilege of middle age Birdie. This weariness of life. I will find my way through it and gallop to the other side.” She shook her head and laughed him off as the three spent time together and Ezra drove them to the airport. It was rare that they embraced but it felt appropriate as he knew it would be a while yet before he saw his little Bird again.

It was roughly a month ago that he first saw the striking vision that was across his lake.

He’s come out to his porch after spraying on some bug repellent. He brought out his whiskey and glass. He had closed his eyes and was confronted with the scars that remained on his soul. He’d long thought that he rationalized them away. It was part of the life he once lived but not now. The still eyes and distorted features that he saw through the fire… “Dammit to hell. The shit’s still there. It was for a reason, there were reasons behind all of it, why must I recall that now?” His fingers massaged his temple as he poured his first glass of the night. He quickly swallowed the alcoholic elixir and peered up at the moon. It was full tonight and dancing across the small waves on the lake’s surface.

A moonbeam. It’s the first thing he thought of when he saw her. She was wearing a white nightgown - if he had to guess cotton with a thin robe about her shoulders that she decided to slip off. That’s a good choice, it’s a bit warm out tonight. Her hair is under a purple bonnet which she removes as well and sets it on top of the robe, both are on the back of her rocking chair. Black voluminous hair fell around her shoulders, it looked pillowy to the touch like the rest of its owner. Her substantial legs carried her to a small table beside her where she lit a candle. The minimal light makes her face glow. He can make out full lips, round cheeks and bright eyes behind her glasses. She eases down into her rocking chair and pours herself a brown liquid that looks similar to his and orange juice maybe? Well she could be one for mixed drinks. He wonders why she would be up at this ungodly hour drinking? She couldn’t have similar demons to him could she? Maybe some unknown or known fears? Could she be separating herself from someone inside the home?

Ezra is left with many questions and no answers. This does not please him.

Part One Part Three

Taste-testers of Ezra’s gumbo 🍤: @rav3n-pascal22 @maggiemayhemnj @morallyinept @survivingandenduring @bonezone44 @magpiepillsjunior @yorksgirl @gemmahale @missredherring @missladym1981 @alltheglitterandtheroar @megamindsecretlair @readingiskeepingmegoing @pedroshotwifey @tinytinymenace @inept-the-magnificent @vivian-pascal

[psychedelic-ink]

oh man I adored this. I loved the backstory and how you even added Cee into it, loved the references to prospect and the struggle he's having to adapt to society once more. It felt like I was reading a book and believe me I did not want it to end fgbgfb

I adored Sam and the scene where Ezra forgets about his arm and the glass shatters was probably my favorite, if I had to pick that is because this entire thing was amazing, the emotions felt so raw and I could feel his pain through my phone screen

And the smut was just *chefs kiss* as always, the ending warmed my heart with the plants and the watering and just UGH-- I love them so much 😭😭💜💜

Bekväm

Pairing: Modern!Ezra x named OFC

Rating: E (smut, 18+ only)

Word Count: 10k

Warnings: touch starved!Ezra, short!OFC, large size difference, 1 angry smol + 1 dirty large, oral sex (m & f receiving), excessive amount of rimming, Ezra LOVES eating ass don’t @ me, PIV sex (unprotected)

Summary: Ezra may have a nefarious past, but after escaping a long imprisonment (minus one appendage), he wants to rebuild and start over. Literally. Having no belongings of his own, he orders an apartment’s worth of flat-pack IKEA furniture. Unable to put it together himself, he searches Craigslist for someone to assemble it for him, and gets more than he bargained for.

A/N: This is a named OFC because I needed her to have a gender-neutral name for story purposes. I know the views on reader inserts vs. OC’s is kind of a mixed bag, so I’m sorry if this alienates people. This story has been in the works since October, no joke. I wrote the long, complicated backstory and then wasn’t quite sure what to do with it. I finally forced myself to finish it and I’m SO HAPPY. PLEASE LET ME KNOW HOW I DID THIS IS MY FIRST STAB AT EZRA!!!

Main Masterlist

Bekväm: Swedish, providing comfort and ease; also, the name of an IKEA stepping stool

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

IKEA FURNITURE ASSEMBLER

Did you order something from IKEA and can't figure out how to put it together? Do you fight with your partner over which screw goes where? Do you hate assembling flat-pack furniture?

Contact Sam Nolan for all your IKEA furniture assembling needs. I will provide my own tools, you provide the furniture. Please TEXT 555-7728 for pricing and details. I will not answer any unknown callers. Thanks for understanding.

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

Ezra re-read the advert on Craigslist with a frown. Truly, it seemed like the 'gig economy' had endless opportunities for innovation (or desperation, he supposed). Still, it appeared as if the perfect solution to his current conundrum was to be found right here in these two paragraphs.

He had arrived at this small apartment just outside of Chicago feeling like a man out of time. The world had passed him by as he had been trapped–at first by his own actions, and then by circumstance–in what amounted to indentured servitude at a diamond mine in Siberia.

Ezra made no apologies for the mistakes of his youth and garnered no regrets from that time despite where it had eventually brought him. He had been, by all accounts, a right scoundrel who had willingly kept nefarious company until it became his downfall.

Growing up where Ezra did, there were scant opportunities that were profitable and above-board. Ezra, being the practical sort, had decided early on that he would rather make lots of money very quickly than struggle through thirty years at a rundown factory making minimum wage. And thus he had eagerly catapulted himself into a life of crime, working in the slimy underbelly of the city and gaining a number of detestable associates along the way.

His reputation had ultimately awarded himself a mid-level rank in one of the most infamous crime syndicates of that time. The work was vile, but paid handsomely, and Ezra felt nearly untouchable with notoriety, running with some of the city's most monstrous criminals and crime bosses.

Until it all came crashing down.

The FBI had successfully planted a mole within their ranks, and they ratted out every single ranking member of the syndicate, Ezra included. Many of the highest-ranking bosses were able to throw their weight (a.k.a. money) around and were sent into exile in tropical locations in the Caribbean.

Ezra, unfortunately, had no such bargaining power when it came to the US government, and was sent to exile in Siberia.

The year was 1996.

In an effort to gain back what he had lost and hopefully get out quickly, Ezra again chose to make his way in Russia in the same manner as he had in his own city–getting involved with the various degenerates, criminals, and mobsters that controlled Russia's own dark underbelly.

If the definition of insanity is doing the same thing twice and expecting different results, Ezra thought–now, in his little apartment with all the power of hindsight–then he may as well be committed.

A miscreant will always be a miscreant, and Ezra's swindling eventually came back to bite him. He crossed the wrong people one too many times, and there are worse things than exile when you piss off the Russian mob. He found himself in a diamond mine to "work off" his sentence. He spent nearly a decade "working it off," although they always seemed to find reasons that his debt had increased. Finally, he could take it no longer and formulated a plan to escape–managing to quietly pocket a fortune’s worth of raw diamonds to fund his hasty departure.

It would have worked perfectly, too, had he not run into another wretched soul, quite possibly the one person in that damned mine who might have been having a worse time than he. He remembered thinking as he stood off with a man who claimed to be her father, ‘What rapscallion brings a young girl to this salted earth?’ It became clear the moment the man opened his mouth that he was of no relation to the child, and was likely involved in some sort of child trafficking bullshit–something that made Ezra see red.

He acted without thinking, moving to shoot the man, but he hesitated just long enough to get himself shot in the arm instead. Now that it had turned into a matter of life or death, Ezra had no choice but to surge forward to grapple with the man and disarm him before he could shoot Ezra somewhere more fatal. He pushed the man back onto some mining equipment, crushing him almost instantly with a sickening crunch, but the man had managed to keep his grip on Ezra's wounded arm, and he was unable to dislodge it in time to escape the gears.

He supposed it was a blessing that it all happened so rapidly that he could barely feel it.

The feeling, unfortunately, came later when he and Cee–for that was the girl’s name–hobbled into a dingy hospital somewhere in Belarus. What remained of his arm was amputated cleanly there, and he started on the long road to recovery and his self-proclaimed rehabilitation into polite society. Cee, for her part, had simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time on a gap year trek through Europe, and had not been out of touch for as long as Ezra had–which was, all told, nearly twenty-five years of isolation in the Siberian tundra.

Cee had said she had distant family in Chicago that she wanted to stay with, and Ezra, having no better ideas, bartered a few of his stolen diamonds to book two one-way tickets to O’Hare as soon as he had healed enough to leave his hospital bed.

The remainder of the diamonds awarded Ezra a small fortune that he was determined not to squander. He found a modest apartment–small, but not cramped or dingy–and still had plenty of cash left over to live comfortably for quite some time while he continued to rest and mend himself physically and mentally.

Cee offered to help him “move,” which merely involved carrying a ratty duffel bag, knapsack, and bedroll up the stairs to his new dwelling. He had no other belongings. He pondered this as he stood in the doorway, taking in the space. There was plenty of light, which he saw as a must after spending most of his time underground for the last decade or so. The windows in the small living room were spacious and faced east so that the sun’s rays could stream inside them every morning. He envisioned buying lots of greenery, perhaps, and setting them around the room and on the fire escape that served as a small balcony. He could sit and sip coffee in the morning and watch something grow for once. That thought brought him back to his original musings–that he was going to need not only furniture, but plates, cups, bowls, a coffee pot, and silverware just to make this one little image of sitting and enjoying his coffee in the morning sun come to fruition.

He considered his money situation again for a moment. The amount he had managed to steal would be more than enough to purchase all the necessary furniture, appliances, and implements he would need to live comfortably and happily here. If he could find inexpensive options for all the basic necessities, he would still have plenty of cushion to allow him to relax and rebuild before the need to find stable work arose.

He turned to Cee, who had been watching him stand there in silence with her eyebrows raised.

"Where might I secure all the furnishings and trappings one might need when starting over?" he asked her.

"I dunno, I would try IKEA, I guess," she replied, popping the piece of gum she was chewing.

"IKEA? This is the name of a store?"

"Yeah–you can shop online if you'd prefer, since you don't have a vehicle." Cee proceeded to demonstrate, opening up the website on Ezra's new smart phone (his first), and showing him how to browse and select items to add to his cart.

"This is dangerously easy," he remarked as he carefully scrolled through an assortment of bedroom furniture.

"Oh yeah, welcome to the world of online shopping." Cee said lightly. "Don't have too much fun, Ezra."

"I shall endeavor not to," he mumbled, distracted by the seemingly endless collection of kitchen implements. "At least this should outfit the entire domicile in one sweep."

He didn't see Cee make her exit, still frowning down at the little screen.

His eyebrows raised with surprised approval, he started pressing 'Add to Cart.'

"The things I've missed in my exile," he whispered to himself as he examined a strange hanging lamp that resembled the enemy's space station in a movie he remembered from his childhood. He pursed his lips and muttered, "Mmhmm, 'Add. To. Cart.'"

Ezra pondered the large pile of long, flat boxes on his doorstep. He had been receiving regular-shaped boxes filled with things such as kitchen towels, cutlery, plates, and small appliances for a few days now, but these were new, and he frowned as he considered them. He wasn't sure what he was expecting–an entire kitchen table arriving at his doorstep?–but it wasn't these flat packages.

He wrestled one of them inside and opened it and realized that all the furniture had arrived disassembled, in pieces, with hardware in a neat little bag and an accompanying book of incomprehensible instructions. Ezra's jaw twitched. His missing arm ached with an almost deafening absence. Here he was, trying to start over and building something nice for himself for once, and he'd been stopped before he could even begin on account of his inability to build anything.

"Heaven confound it, Cee, you didn't mention anything about the parcels arriving with some assembly to be required," he groused over the phone.

"Oh shit, I should have mentioned you can pay for someone to assemble them upon delivery. Fuck, Ezra, I'm sorry–"

"Don't trouble yourself, little bird, t'was my mistake to be made. You wouldn't have any inkling of how to get them assembled after the fact?" Ezra asked.

"You could probably hire someone to do it, there are people who do that as a side hustle," she replied.

"Where might I contract such an individual as this?"

"I dunno… Craigslist?"

And so here he was, having input the term "IKEA" in the search box and reading the advert that seemed as if it had been put there just for him. Sam Nolan. As requested, he sent an inquiry text to the number provided and scheduled an appointment in two days' time.

In the meantime there was plenty to do setting up the new apartment. He stocked and organized his cabinets with the new plates and cups that had arrived, hung the artwork he had purchased, and put the new clothing he bought on hangers in the closet.

He was still trying to navigate this new world of having one less appendage than he was used to, so even the simple task of hanging a shirt took some time. He paced himself, spreading out the work to be done with copious breaks to ease the soreness in his still-healing wound. On one such intermission, Ezra located the nearest library and checked out as many books as he could carry, ravenous at the idea of new literature to read besides the pile of worn, dog-eared paperback novels in his rucksack.

He was thumbing his way through one of his selections when the buzzer sounded. Must be the handyman, Ezra thought as he pressed the little button to let them into the building. A few moments later, when he heard the knock at the door and opened it, he was at a loss for words.

He wasn't sure what he was expecting, but it wasn't the pretty young thing standing on his doorstep with a toolbox in one tiny hand with chipped blue polish on the fingernails. He took in her faded blue overalls (with holes at the knees), her tight-fitting t-shirt covered in sunflowers, the various piercings on her face and ears, and lastly, the defiant expression on her cute lips.

"Sam," she stated flatly, when Ezra didn't say anything. "IKEA furniture?"

Ezra realized he had been staring in silence, and shook himself. Had he really been removed from polite society so long as to forget himself and stare at the first appealing human to grace his doorway?

"My apologies, Sam, you had me at a disadvantage for the briefest of moments. I thank you in advance for your assistance with the furniture."

"Expecting a man, were you?" she stuck out her chin, her obstinance increasing. "'S'why I advertise under 'Sam.' Too many people are unwilling to hire a 'Samantha' to use a damn screwdriver."

"I assure you, Sunflower, I bear no such prejudices. Just took me by surprise is all." Ezra spread his arms–well, arm–in demonstration as he said, "Your hands are far more capable than mine, no matter who they happen to be attached to."

Sam's eyes widened just a fraction and the angry furrow in her brow retreated just a little. He stuck out his hand in greeting. "Ezra." She took it, gripping his hand firmly, almost aggressively, despite the difference in the size of her palm compared to his. He redoubled his efforts for politeness. "I'm pleased to make your acquaintance, Sam. Come on in; I'll show you the, erhm, the extent of the endeavor." He stepped back, inviting her in.

Sam's eyes widened again upon seeing the mass of boxes he had managed to drag into the living room. She pursed her lips. "That's a lot."

"Indeed it is,” Ezra agreed. “Now you see why I'm so incredibly grateful for your aid, Sunflower."

“If you want all of this put together, it’s probably going to take me a couple of days to complete this,” Sam cautioned, looking over the piles of boxes with a small frown, taking note of the boxes that were still full of the various home necessities he had ordered at the same time. “You buy everything from IKEA or something?”

“Take as long as you need, and I will happily pay you the agreed-upon rate for as many hours as this takes.” He cleared his throat. "I find myself with the unique opportunity to begin again with a blank slate after…" he frowned. "After a–a long absence, if you will."

Sam nodded slowly, her tongue sticking out between her lips–an unconscious habit, Ezra assumed. She still appeared skeptical, suspicious of his predicament. He imagined she figured he was some sort of criminal, and he supposed she wouldn't be far off-base with that assumption. He didn't wish to regale her with his many misdeeds, but he wanted to give her reason to trust him, something that she clearly did not do at the moment.

"I've been… away, overseas, for quite some time and I had few worldly possessions when I returned," he offered, "with not much else to my name but a sack full of clothing and old books, and those do not a home make.

"I had attempted to remedy the lack myself, but was stopped short with the need for at least two hands, at minimum, although some of these instructions seem complicated enough to require the use for more than that."

Sam laughed at that, her face morphing into a mirthful expression for the first time upon her arrival. The sound of her joy made Ezra's heart stutter just a moment. Smiling transformed her face completely; all worry lines and suspicious gazing absent from her visage for one splendorous moment. The corners of Ezra's mouth couldn't help but turn upward for a moment, basking in the idea that she might find him funny.

"The good news is, once you’ve been reading them for a while, all the little quirks of IKEA instructions start to make sense," she said with a little smile still gracing her face. "You start to figure out all the nonsense."

Ezra spread his arms–fuck! Arm!–out again. "I'll leave it in your capable hands, Sunflower. I do appreciate the help. Can I offer you any refreshment before I give you some space to work?"

"It's Sam," she corrected. Her frown was back, her tone brusque. "No thanks, I'm fine."

Ezra cursed himself. "Sam, I apologize. Force of habit." He rarely learned anyone's name in the mines–there was rarely any use for them, and most who were there were reluctant to give any information away. He spent his days toiling with the likes of 'Beardo,' 'Sloth,' and 'Texas,' little monikers chosen from physical attributes, personality traits, or place of origin. Ezra had been sometimes known as 'Worm,' and that may have been the politest nickname he had. The original bestower had explained it was short for 'Bookworm,' although after enough time, the original intent had been lost.

He retreated to his bedroom to resume putting some of his recently-purchased toiletries away. He listened to the sound of cardboard ripping and particle board pieces being sorted and stacked from the living room as he worked, but he did not want to peek in and risk making her nervous. Even when he quickly finished his task, he remained where he was for some time, wishing he had thought to grab his book from the kitchen counter where he had left it.

Finally, he could tolerate his idleness no longer and ventured back out into the living area. He stopped short, surprised at the amount of furniture already standing in such a short time. He had been hiding in his room for hardly even an hour, but Sam had already constructed a dresser, bookshelf, and the beginnings of what looked like the coffee table.

She looked up at the sound of Ezra's reappearance and offered a little congenial nod, which he returned graciously with a smile. Lukewarm cordiality was far better than outright distrust, at least.

"You are certainly expedient, Sam," he said, with a little wink. "I may be inclined to suspect sorcery given the incomprehensibility of those manuals."

Sam let out a little giggle in spite of herself. "Told you, they make sense after a while. Plus, I've put together this model of dresser what must be twenty times already." She rapped her knuckles on the fake wood. "I've almost got that one memorized." She wiped her brow and Ezra couldn't help but track the movement with his eyes, swallowing. "I think I'll take you up on that drink, though, if you don't mind."

He jumped into motion, heading to the fridge and opening it. "Any preference?" he asked.

"Water is fine, or iced tea, if you have any? I don't want to trouble y-"

"No trouble, Sam. Iced tea you shall have." Ezra reached for one of the new cups and filled it, then walked over to where she was sitting, on his living room floor surrounded by boards and various hardware.

She accepted it gratefully and gave him another rare smile. He wanted to collect every expression she made, curate each smile into neat and tidy categories in his mind based on shape, duration, and reason. He studied her surreptitiously as she worked–such a short little thing, he thought, even more apparent when she sat cross-legged next to the top of his new coffee table. As she bent over a small rectangular piece, he noticed a tattoo peeking out of the top of her shirt in the back, but he couldn't make out what it was.

He was still watching as she flipped one of the larger assembled pieces over on its side, moving it easily despite the fact that it was nearly as long as she was tall. This was what had surprised him at first–not any doubts over whether she could correctly assemble the items, but how someone with such a height disadvantage could manipulate the larger pieces. Watching her for just a short time, however, gave him the answer: she used leverage and her low center of gravity to her advantage, expertly involving all her body in service of not only lifting, but holding pieces aloft and setting them down where they belonged. She balanced the heavy top of the coffee table with one shoulder, letting her easily settle it down over the pegs sticking out from the rest of the assembly despite its weight.

There was a lesson here somewhere about taking advantage of what your body did have, rather than lamenting what it didn't.

Ezra's wound suddenly throbbed and he moved into the kitchen for some more aspirin. He filled a small glass with water as he glanced back into the living room to see Sam laying on her back, tightening the screws on the underside of the table. He couldn't help but smile at the way her legs were all akimbo in her ripped overalls. The shirt, the one with the sunflowers, had ridden up a little, baring a sliver of her midriff on either side. He swallowed.

Distracted, Ezra transferred the glass of water into his right hand to reach for the aspirin bottle.

He even had the nerve to be shocked when the glass crashed to the floor and shattered into pieces around his bare feet.

"Fuck! God damn it!" he roared. Of all the idiotic things to do, trying to hold a glass with a hand that was no longer there.

A flurry of movement caught his eye and he suddenly realized how his outburst must have looked from the outside. Sam was on her feet across the living room, having jumped up and backed away the moment he shouted. The distrustful expression was back, and Ezra didn't blame her.

He brought his hand to his face, and rasped out, "I'm sorry." He was unable to meet her eyes. "The loss of my arm was a recent happenstance. I'm still quite guilty of forgetting it's no longer there." He sighed and began to attempt to step around the broken glass.

"Wait!"

His eyes snapped to Sam at the far end of the room. She was still regarding him warily, but there was something like concern in her eyes.

"You're going to slice your foot open. Do you have a broom I could get you?" She took a small step toward the kitchen.

She was regarding him in a way that reminded him of how one might attempt to approach a feral beast, and it made him burn with shame.

"In the closet just there." He indicated a small closet in the hallway. "Thank you. Again, I apologize for the… disruption." He looked down again and cleared his throat awkwardly, rather than watch Sam retrieve the broom.

“I-I’m sorry about your arm,” she mumbled to a spot on the floor near his feet. She held the broom out to him at an angle, keeping her distance. Ezra pretended that she was doing it to avoid the broken glass.

"It’s nothing you need be concerned about. I hope you won’t judge my outburst too harshly and ne’er return to this madman’s abode,” Ezra said sardonically as he began to sweep up the glass, his chin up, trying to appear far less foolish than he felt at that moment.

Sam hadn’t retreated, still standing hesitantly in the kitchen as Ezra swept. In an emphatic voice, she said, “I don’t leave jobs unfinished,” and walked back to her spot in the living room as if to demonstrate that fact.

Ezra hummed in assent. “You don’t know how much I appreciate that.” He dumped the broken glass into the waste bin, then straightened and turned to face Sam. “I’ve disturbed the peace enough, I believe. I’ll go cause trouble elsewhere.” He grabbed his novel and paced quickly down the hallway toward his bedroom, stopping only to return the broom to its rightful spot in the closet.

He nearly collapsed on his bed–which was just a mattress on the floor and would remain so until Sam happened to get to the box with the bed frame–having nowhere else to sit. He put his head in his hand and took a few deep breaths, his heart pounding. It happened to him a lot now, upon his departure from Siberia. It was as if his brain, starved of outside stimuli for so long, was unable to tolerate any sort of information or sensory overload without short-circuiting. Interacting with people, especially, was proving to be incredibly draining.

There were so many social mores that seemed to be unconscious for other people that he had apparently forgotten. In any interaction, his brain would be working overtime, not only trying to carry on the thread of conversation, but also dithering over what amount of eye contact was just right or if his body language was both correct and unthreatening. These were all things he generally didn’t need to worry about, working in the diamond mine either in complete solitude or sometimes with a handful of other degenerates such as himself. In fact, the more aggressive and beastly he had made himself appear, the better he fared.

Now, however, he was struggling to undo all of that ridiculous posturing. He would rather cut off his remaining arm than have Sam (or any other person, really, but at the moment he was especially concerned with her opinion) fear him. He listened to the gentle clatter of her moving hardware around in the other room as he opened his novel and tried to focus on the words on the page.

Ezra wasn’t sure how much time had passed when he heard a little taptaptap on his door frame, and he looked up.

“Ezra?” Sam stood, still somewhat cautiously, at the entrance to his bedroom, taking in his sparse accommodations.

“Sam,” he returned, discarding the book and hopping to his feet off of his makeshift bed.

“I need to go, I’ve got my other job to go to. I can… come back tomorrow?” she offered.

Ezra nodded. “By all means, Sam. Thank you, for today. I must say I–I’m glad I didn’t frighten you off.”

“It can’t be easy, getting used to… well, everything,” Sam said carefully. “It sounds like you’ve had a rough go of things.”

“You can certainly say that again. What’s–what’s your other vocation, if I may inquire?” Ezra asked, eager for any morsel of information she was willing to give him.

“Bartender.”

He found he was grateful even for a one-word response as she turned to go make her way back to the front door. He stopped in the living room and whistled when he took in Sam’s progress. In addition to the dresser, bookshelf, and coffee table, she had assembled the bar stools for the kitchen island, his small dining set, and the living room couch.

“I’ll make sure to start with the bed frame tomorrow,” Sam said with a little smile from the doorway.

Ezra grinned too, and for the first time that day, their eyes met without one of them immediately dropping their gaze.

"Much appreciated, Sam. You stay safe out there."

The moment the door snapped shut, Ezra brought his palm to his forehead and let out a shuddering breath.

Idiot.

The next day, when Ezra opened the door to Sam for the second time, he was freshly showered, had trimmed his beard, and was wearing some of his new clothes rather than the stained pants and threadbare shirt he had on the day before.

Not that he was trying to impress her, per se, just… attempting to come across as less of a madman, he told himself.

As promised, Sam immediately set to assembling the bedroom furniture, starting with the bed frame. Like the day before, Ezra mainly made himself scarce, although he was quickly running out of things to make him look busy. He puttered around the living room picking up the empty hardware bags and cardboard and taking them out to the dumpsters.

He had just returned from one of those trips when he heard Sam calling his name from the bedroom.

He was startled when he entered the room and saw her trying to prop up the king-sized mattress that had conveniently come delivered in a box, attempting to muscle the thing onto the newly assembled bed frame.

"Heavier than I thought," she grunted hastily as Ezra quickly moved to take the other corner, bracing it under his arm and lifting it.

The aim was to get the thing on the bed frame, but instead, the damn thing started to tip over, causing Sam to squeak in indignation.

"Other way!"

"I'm–fuck–unbalanced here, I–" Ezra began, then somehow managed to bounce it on his shoulder so that the majority of the weight was on the right side and the mattress was again moving in the correct direction.

They set it down–a little harder than it probably should have been–on the frame. Sam collapsed on it with a groan, and Ezra sagged against the wall with an aching shoulder.

They looked at each other for a few beats. Ezra wasn't sure who started chuckling first, but soon they were both laughing, giddy with the light rush of adrenaline.

"Sorry about that," Sam said, still grinning. "Thank you."

"No apology needed, just pleased to be able to help in some way," Ezra confessed.

After that experience, Ezra did not retreat back to the living room.

Something subtle had shifted as he and Sam had giggled at each other from opposite ends of a mattress, and Ezra now found himself involved in helping–handing her pieces and various hardware or helping her lift a partially constructed dresser or end table right-side-up.

And all the while, he talked, unable to help himself–it had been ages since he'd had anyone to talk to, and Sam was an attentive listener. Or maybe she was simply a captive audience, but either way, Ezra couldn't seem to stop talking now that he'd started. Before long, the idle chatter turned into stories about his past, as he shared with her the circumstances surrounding his return to the states. He told her everything, hardly missing a single detail, as he passed her various screws and hardware for the closet shelves they were currently building.

"I couldn't, in good conscience, let the man pass–God knows what was going to happen to that poor girl–but the fight, well, it took a lot out of me," Ezra joked wryly, shrugging the shoulder on his wounded side. "The damned sonafabitch met the wrong end of some mining equipment, and good riddance, but I do wish he had let go of me a little sooner,” Ezra finished.

Sam’s task of assembling furniture was long-abandoned as she stared at Ezra with a combination of concern and amazement. Ezra was suddenly discomfited. He had just disclosed his life’s story–even the unsavory parts–for the first time to any living soul, and he fully expected Sam to shake herself, recoil, and leave Ezra to his apartment and his half-constructed furnishings purchased with stolen diamonds.

“So you’ve been in what amounts to indentured servitude for, like, ten years?” Sam asked, her eyes narrowed.

Ezra pursed his lips and frowned. “I suppose I have,” he said cautiously.

“And then you saved that girl,” Sam replied. “And got both of you out of Siberia, with a pocket full of the Russian mob’s diamonds?”

Ezra’s frown deepened with confusion. “I suppose I did.”

He waited for the other shoe to drop, for Sam to declare that he was a hopeless criminal, incapable of rehabilitation, and a danger to society.

Instead, she started… laughing?

“Ezra, that’s incredible! What a fucking story,” Sam exclaimed, staring at him in disbelief.

Ezra didn’t know how to respond, so he just sat there, holding the little metal doodads he was supposed to be handing to Sam, watching her with a suspicious expression.

“That was really selfless, helping her when you were trying to escape your own situation,” Sam said matter-of-factly. Like it was the ultimate truth, and she’d hear no other argument.

“I don’t believe I’ve ever heard anyone describe me as ‘selfless’ before,” Ezra huffed, looking down at his hand awkwardly.

“First time for everything,” Sam shrugged, shooting him a crooked grin. “First you’re ordering flatpack furniture online, then suddenly someone comes over and calls you selfless.”

Ezra scoffed and handed her one of the silver thingies, mostly just to have something to do with his hands. He jumped when, instead of reaching for the hardware, Sam enclosed his calloused fingers in hers and squeezed gently.

“I’m glad you’re okay,” she said quietly, meeting his eyes with a kind stare. “You’ve been through a lot.”

For once in his life, Ezra didn’t know what to say. He gulped.

“Thank you, Sunflow–Sam, sorry,” he said, his voice raspy and thick.

Sam smiled, widely enough that the bridge of her nose crinkled sweetly. “It’s okay. It’s kind of… cute, actually.”

She was still holding his hand. Ezra couldn't remember the last time someone had touched him like this and his first instinct was to surge forward, cover her smaller body with his own and take and take and take and take until his thirst was slaked.

Instead, he cleared his throat awkwardly, gave her a little half-smile, and squeezed her fingers where they curled around his own.

She was just being nice.

She squeezed back, then plucked one of the silver pieces from Ezra's hand and twisted into the corresponding hole in the wood.

"I… I'm afraid it's been some time since I’ve–” had someone touch me kindly “–had anyone willing to listen to my ramblings,” Ezra murmured.

“I don’t mind,” Sam said with a little crooked smile. “I just–oh, shit!” She pulled out her phone to check the time. “Fuck, I’m supposed to be opening today.” She sighed. “I’m not gonna make it on time.”

“Best go, then,” Ezra responded with a soft, slightly melancholy smile.

“I’m so sorry,” Sam apologized, “I don’t like to leave stuff in pieces like this.” She gestured at the half-assembled shelving scattered across the bedroom floor.

Ezra looked down at the metal pieces in his hand. “Nothing that can’t be remedied the next time you’re able to come.”

“It’ll be the day after tomorrow, hope that’s okay,” Sam said as she bustled about, grabbing her belongings.

“Any time you are able,” Ezra agreed.

Sam paused at the door, then looked back at him. Suddenly, she lunged forward and threw her arms around his neck, standing on the very tips of her toes to reach him. Ezra stiffened, then returned the surprise hug in kind, wrapping his arm around her back and bowing his head so that his nose was buried in her hair. He wondered if she could feel how hard his heart was pounding.

It was over as soon as it began, Sam backing up hastily and retreating to the door. “Bye, Ezra,” she said quietly.

“Bye, Sunflower.”

Ezra didn't know what to expect when she knocked on his door in two days' time. He hated himself for how affected he had been by those two simple touches–her hand on his hand, the hug by the door… It was all he had been able to think about since she gently closed his front door on her way out.

He wasn't sure if he could handle more affection without being completely overwhelmed. He was afraid that if Sam showed him just one more kindness, he wouldn't be able to stop himself from kissing her, touching her, dropping to his knees and begging to drink from her sweet cunt.

It had been so long.

So long since he had felt even the simplest touch from another, let alone lose himself in the pleasure of a woman's body.

Ezra shook himself. There was no way she'd ever return his affections. Hell, he wasn't entirely sure if they were affections or if it was just a bone-deep, desperate loneliness that made him yearn for the first pretty face in his general proximity.

He needed to pull it together before she arrived, lest he make an utter fool of himself. At least there were only a couple boxes left. She'd be done within the span of an hour or so, and then leave before he could do something truly regretful.

His heart still started to hammer when the knock at the door came, and he cursed under his breath at his own foolishness.

His smile was strained when he opened the door. He simultaneously wanted her here and wanted her gone forever. To cease his inner torment.

Sam, it seemed, had no such turmoil– her smile was as luminous as the sunflowers she had worn on the first day he had met her.

"Hi Ezra," she said, her voice almost… soft, unsure. Nothing like the brash, no-nonsense tone she usually took with him. "Not too much left, huh?"

"A fact you must be truly thankful for," Ezra said with a wry grin. "To finally see the end of me."

"I–heh–yeah," Sam returned with a little laugh. "Guess so."

She returned to the shelves they had left unfinished two days' prior and made quick work of assembling the rest of the piece and getting it in place in Ezra's closet.

The last few pieces were a kitchen table and some chairs. He chatted with her as she worked, re-hashing his position as the "doodad hander" as an excuse to remain near, to soak up these last few minutes of her presence.

Every time Ezra extended his hand with the correct hardware, her fingers brushed his– almost as if it were intentional, and for increasingly longer durations. He couldn't take this much torment, was thankful that the work was almost complete, because it was getting harder and harder not to take her fingers into his mouth and suck all the salt off of them like some sort of depraved man.

Ezra finally helped her right the small table, setting it down gently and stepping back to admire her handiwork.

"I think that was it," Sam said quietly beside him.

"Believe so," Ezra confirmed. "Thank you, Sunflower. I realize this was quite an undertaking."

"Eh, it started out a bit overwhelming, but that's the way it goes isn’t it?" she said. "Hard at first, but gets easier as you go along."

Ezra felt himself smile. "So I've heard."

He turned to look at her and found she was already facing him. He stared at her in awkward silence for a few seconds, not really knowing what else to say.

"I've got, um, I can give you the invoice," Sam broke the silence. "I take PayPal, Venmo, checks, cash, stolen diamonds…"

Ezra barked out a surprised laugh. He was going to miss her easy banter. "I can do cash," he offered. "I imagine that it's a little easier to spend."

Sam chuckled, too. "Cash is fine." She handed him the invoice and Ezra pulled out his wallet for the proper amount, and handed it to her, once again letting their fingers drag against each other.

Another awkward silence passed between them.

"Okay, cool," Sam suddenly blurted. "I, uhhhh… gotta go." She turned on her heel and damn-near fled the apartment, leaving Ezra standing with his hand outstretched, fingers reaching toward something that was no longer there.

He looked around, taking in the nice, modest furnishings. A home. He had a home. There were, as he had originally planned, lots of little tables for plants and growing things to nurture.

But as he surveyed the rooms, he suddenly couldn't appreciate them the way he thought he would. The apartment felt unbearably large, and too small at the same time. And so, so, so quiet.

As his eyes wandered from item to item, he suddenly caught sight of the battered red toolbox that Sam always brought, laying forgotten in the corner. He pursed his lips.

As Ezra was still debating with himself which course of action to take to remedy the situation, there was a knock at the door, and he strode over to open it.

"I forgot my–"

Those were the only words managed to get out before Ezra's lips were on hers. He let out a groan of relief when she kissed him back fervently, and his singular hand came up to grasp her jaw as he slanted his mouth and deepened the kiss.

"S-sunflower, why don't we–take this somewhere where we won't get arrested for i-indecent ex-posure–" Ezra stammered out between nips of her upper, lower, upper lip.

"We're only kissing," Sam returned, a glint in her eye.

"I'd be a fool to think I could stop at mere kissing if given the opportunity," Ezra murmured. "Say you'll accompany me inside so that I might have that… opportunity."

Sam grabbed his hand and dragged him back into his own home, kicking the door shut before surging up to kiss him again.

This time, he let his hand travel down to explore more of her–squeezing her hip, pinching her side to make her jump slightly, palming her ass and letting his fingers trail just slightly in the little crevasse between her cheeks. She let out a sweet little sound at that, which he swallowed eagerly. His. His sounds.

"Sunflower, as much as I'd like to show you my appreciation right here against the front door, I'm afraid I may not have the required–"

"Stop talking and come here, then," Sam said with a wink, and then flounced down the hall to his bedroom, not waiting for him to follow.

"Vexing little sprite," Ezra growled playfully, as he made chase, bounding into the bedroom himself and tumbling onto the large, soft mattress with her. He lost his balance slightly as he came to lay on her, but she wrapped her arms around him to steady him. "You would run from a man with only one arm?"

"Looks like everything else still works just fine," she replied coolly, canting her hips up to press against his growing bulge.

"I'm not sure if I can manage in this posit–" Ezra began hesitantly.

"We'll figure it out," Sam interrupted, not unkindly. "I kind of had something in mind."

"Do share, Sunflower," Ezra rasped.

"You're gonna have to let me up."

Ezra reluctantly rose up and sat on the bed, as Sam sat up too, giving him a kiss on the cheek before sliding off of the bed and onto her knees in front of him.

"Oh–oh! Sunflower t-there's no need–"

But she was already fumbling with the button on his pants and staring up at him with this fucking expression that managed to be hopeful and filthy at the same time.

And Ezra decided now would be a good time to shut up.

He let her take his pants and boxers off, standing up briefly to let her slide them down his hips and legs. He was already trembling when she gently slid her hands up his thighs, not quite touching his cock but framing it with her hands and fuck, he was already broken before she ever even touched him.

Sam leaned forward and took the tip of his cock into her mouth and he keened as if it were the sweetest, most overwhelming thing he'd ever experienced. And, he supposed, it was. The last time he had this, he had paid for it, and Sam–fuck–she was so soft, so gentle. Her mouth was so fucking hot and wet and he could feel her tongue swirling around his length and how the fuck was she doing that and–

“Sam–Sam, it’s been a long time, this might be–oh Christ–m-might be over far too quickly if–if–”

Fuck, this was embarrassing, he was going to cum after she’d barely slid her mouth up and down his shaft for less than a minute, but despite his weak protestations, Sam was not stopping–in fact, his stammering seemed only to spur her on. She took him deeper, trying to fit the whole of him in her pretty little mouth, and it gave Ezra quite a bit of satisfaction when she gagged on him repeatedly and ended up giving up and using her hand to cover what her mouth could not.

“F-fuck, such a p-perfect little mouth… Sunflower–shit–that feels too good, oh, perfect, lovely thing–” Ezra continued to spew nonsense, hardly aware of what he was saying, trying desperately to force his impending orgasm back down to save face.

Then Sam brought her other hand to press right behind his balls and fuck, oh fuck that was it–he spilled down her throat with hardly enough time to warn her all all, just a broken groan of her name just before he did.

The world went hazy for a minute. The next thing he knew, Sam was sitting back on her heels, looking up at him with a smile that was part shy, part amused.

“I did warn you,” Ezra rumbled. “Been too long since anyone’s–”

“Figured that should take the edge off,” Sam returned with a smirk. “You seemed a little… pent up.”

“Get your ass up on the bed, you little hellion,” Ezra commanded, with a fond smile and absolutely no conviction in his voice. “I’m going to get my revenge.”

Sam hopped up and playfully bounced back on to the mattress beside him and attempted to crawl up to the pillows, but Ezra was planning for that. He grabbed her ankle and gave her a gentle yank, pulling her back to the edge of the bed with a salacious grin.

“If you don’t mind, I’d like you right here,” he told her with a teasing growl. His hand went to her jeans and flicked open the button. Sam automatically helped, wiggling her hips as she removed them and cast them aside, leaving her in her underwear.

Ezra dropped to his knees, an acolyte before her altar, seeing the damp patch at her core and breathing her in and shuddering at the smell of her wet cunt. He curled his fingertips below the waistband and pulled down, taking away his last remaining barrier.

He looked up, making sure Sam was still staring at him with desire in her eyes (she was).

“My little Sunflower,” he murmured, breath ghosting across the little thatch of hair above her clit, “I’d like very much to drink from you.”

Sam laughed breathlessly. “That’s a weird way of putting it, Ezra.”

“As a bee might drink nectar from a real sunflower,” he said with a crooked grin, letting his lips graze her little bud as he spoke.

"You're so strange," she whispered, eyes closed, a blissful smile already on her face.

"Let us see if you still think me strange after this."

Ezra flicked out his tongue to taste her, and, finding her absolutely delectable as he'd imagined, practically dove into her pussy, licking her, taking her, alternating between lathing her clit with his tongue and burying his tongue as deep into her channel as he could while he teased her clit with his nose. He wanted to consume her, touch every bit of her that he could–he wondered if she’d allow him to travel further down and dip his tongue in there, too.

Sam was crying out on the bed–gasps, whimpers, whines, cries of his name–and Ezra smiled. He hasn’t lost his touch. She draped her legs over his shoulders and started to rock her hips subtly upward and Ezra knew that he had her, then. A few more well-placed flicks of his tongue against her little bud ought to send her over the edge.

She let go with another whine and Ezra could feel her pulsing, contracting against his tongue as he licked her over, and over and over, trying to prolong her orgasm as much as possible. It wasn’t enough. He wanted more, needed more.

“E-Ezra, I–oh! I–” Sam cried out, as Ezra dove back into her cunt and licked.

“Seems I’m still thirsty, little flower,” he mumbled as he came up for air. “I hope you’ll indulge my appetite.”

“I mean, fuck, if you–yeah…” Sam sighed.

Ezra smirked. At a loss for words. That’s more like it. He kept going, sating his hunger for her but still wanting more, more, more. He gave into temptation and licked a path downwards, taking his time and leaving a sloppy trail on his way to her little puckered hole.

“Ohhhhh, shit, oh…. fuck! Ezra–oh God–” Sam’s speech was even more pleasure-soaked, sounding completely wrecked by his ears, at the feel of his tongue swirling around her ass. Good. He kept it up, licking, then darting his tongue inside, trying to see how much he could open her up, how deep he could get, as Sam fucking sobbed above him on the bed. Next time, he thought–oh please let there be a next time–he’ll open her up first, stretching her open on as many fingers as she’ll allow him, holding her open for his curious, insatiable tongue.

Ezra brought his hand to her clit and started to draw gentle circles with his thumb as he fucked her tight little ass with his tongue. He could feel her starting to relax, could feel her opening up to him already, letting him go deeper, deeper, deeper. God, she was perfect. He wondered how long she’d let him stay here, patiently stretching her with just his tongue. Would she let him make her cum like this twice? Three times? He’d never get tired as long as he could stay here, his nose sliding through her folds and his tongue buried as deep as he could get it in her ass.

Sam was hardly even forming words now–just a steady stream of whimpers interspersed with what he assumed was his name. His hand sped up on her clit and she shook as she fell apart again. Ezra moaned as he felt the little clenches of her muscles with his tongue still trying to work its way deeper.

He was achingly hard again, throbbing, with precum leaking from the tip of his cock as he indulged in her. He wasn’t planning on letting up, until–

“Please, fuck, please, Ezra, fuck me,” Sam was pleading, her eyes clenched shut as she drowned in pleasure.

Ezra sat back on his heels and looked at her. She was positively wrecked–eyes dark, hair askew, breathing heavily as she stared back at him.

“That was… wow,” she breathed.

“You liked that?” Ezra murmured with a little smirk.

“Seems you did,” Sam replied, her eyes on his cock.

“Would have stayed down there for several more little deaths of yours, but the lady asked for me to please fuck her and–” he rose to his feet and crawled onto the bed, “I cannot refuse such an earnest request.”

Sam smiled and kissed him deeply. Ezra licked into her mouth, giving some of her delectable taste back to her. His hand came to the hem of her shirt and slipped underneath.

“You’ll have to help me a bit with this.”

She obliged and pulled off her shirt and bra and Ezra was greeted by her beautiful naked form for the first time.

“Beautiful creature,” he breathed. He brought his hand to her breast and pressed lightly on the nipple, and she squirmed and gave out another pretty little whine.

Sam reached for his shirt and helped him out of it and he was suddenly very aware of the angry wound that took the place of his arm.

“I’m afraid it’s rather ugly, still. If you’d rather not look at it, I can–”

Ezra was silenced by a gentle hand on the skin just above. She held his eyes as she delicately stroked his upper arm, her touch so careful, so reverent–

“Is this okay? I don’t want to hurt–”

“S’fine,” Ezra croaked. “I–oh, fuck.” His eyes fluttered shut as she traced the reddened skin. It was so tender, the wound, each sensation like a live-wire directly down his spine. It felt as if she was scratching some kind of itch on a limb that was no longer there.

He felt–oh, fuck–he felt her lips press a gentle kiss to his arm and he couldn’t bite back the sob quick enough.

“It’s okay,” Sam whispered. “I’ve got you.”

Ezra’s eyes opened again to see her kneeling on the bed before him, with such a tender expression in her eyes.

“You pick the menu, little Sunflower,” he said lowly, his voice hoarse with desire. “Would you rather I fuck you, or you fuck yourself on my cock?”

Sam’s tongue darted out to wet her lips.

“Both.”

Ezra smiled widely, showing his teeth. “I like where your mind is, pretty girl,” he drawled.

He moved up to sit at the head of the bed. “Why don’t we start like this, then?” He patted his thigh. “Come up here and take your rightful place, Sunflower.”

Sam giggled breathlessly as she straddled him.

“Oh! Um, condom?” she asked. “I’m–I’m on birth control, I dunno if you want–”

“Clean bill of health at the last hospital visit,” Ezra said, nodding at his missing arm. "Minus one appendage."

Sam rolled her eyes playfully. Biting her lip, she slowly started sinking down on his girth.

"T-tight," Ezra hissed. Fuck, she was so small. He could tell she was struggling to take him, a little crease on her brow indicating her discomfort, so he brought his hand to palm to caress her cheek and murmured quietly, "It's okay, little Sunflower, just relax."

It was apparently the right thing to say, because she moaned loudly at his words and sank down until he was fully seated within her.

Ezra moved his hand from her cheek to the back of her neck and pulled her in for a kiss, and Sam started to rock her hips experimentally.

"Oh wow," she whispered into his mouth. "Wow, Ezra."

"Yeah," he whispered back, too overcome to say anything more, and too unwilling for his lips to leave hers for any stretch of time.

The kiss turned sloppy as she started to move more, bouncing on his cock, taking her pleasure. Ezra kept his grip on the back of her neck as he kissed her and kissed her and kissed her–as if he'd never be sated. He supposed he probably wouldn't, would always crave her like this.

Sam was starting to tremble again, he could feel her thighs shaking slightly, could feel her tightening as she rode him, panting into his mouth as he continued to slide his lips against hers.

"Cum for me again," Ezra rasped. "I felt you fluttering so prettily on my tongue, let me feel it on my cock."

Their mouths were still connected when she fell apart again. Ezra swallowed her cries greedily, giving her a groan of his own when he felt her tight channel squeezing his cock.

“Beautiful,” he praised her, as she whined and continued to grind her hips on him, chasing that feeling of oversensitivity after a good orgasm. “Shall we move on to the next course, Sunflower?”

Sam laughed breathlessly and nodded.

“Best get on your knees, then,” Ezra said with a sly grin.

Sam rose up, slipping off of his cock with a sweet little whimper and took her place on her knees, wiggling her hips back and forth as she waited for him. Ezra slid behind her, reverently tracing the swell of her ass with his palm before lining himself up and sinking back into her heat.

“Fuck, still so tight, little thing,” he exhaled as he entered her again. He bit his lip. He hadn’t done this, yet–try to fuck someone without the use of one of his arms. He felt a little off-balance, without having that extra hand to hold and grip and grab, but he took hold of Sam’s hip firmly, squeezing it, letting his fingers dimple the skin there, and started to thrust.

The effect on Sam was immediate–she dropped down to her elbows and sobbed out his name as he slowly fucked her, dragging along her walls–delicious friction, oh Christ–

“More,” Sam whimpered quietly.

“More?” Ezra repeated. “My little Sunflower wants more? Wants it hard?”

“Please.” The word was barely audible, tumbling down from Sam’s lips as he continued to slide leisurely in and out of her.

“More than happy to indulge such a kind request,” Ezra teased, and he tightened his grip on her hip and started to snap his hips roughly into her.

Fuck, it felt good to let go, to lose himself a little, and from the sounds Sam was making and by the way her arms had given out and her hands were uselessly grasping at the blankets, she didn’t mind it, either. His end was approaching fast–he’d been too keyed up, gone too long between indulgences that even after cumming in her mouth, he was already ready to spill into her again.

Just the thought of filling her twice makes his balls start to draw up.

“F-fuck, Sunflower, ca-can I—” Ezra began nonsensically.

Sam took his meaning. “Yeah, inside. Please.”

Ezra finished with a groan, slamming his hips into hers once more and then holding there, pushing himself as deep as possible as he filled her and filled her and filled her. He was breathing heavily, overcome with emotion at the intimacy of the moment.

“Would you come lay with me?” he asked quietly, wondering if Sam saw this as an itch to be scratched, or if perhaps she’d be willing to see him again. The word “dating” felt odd as it bounced around his brain, as did the word “girlfriend,” but he didn’t know what else to name his desires.

“Please,” Sam murmured again, and Ezra pulled out with a groan and collapsed, a bit inelegantly, on the bed.

“Fuck, Sunflower, that was decadent,” he sighed, and Sam nestled into the crook of his good shoulder with a sigh of her own. He might be biased, but it felt as if she fit perfectly there, as if perhaps he had been missing a piece to a puzzle and was not aware until just now.

“Will you stay?” Ezra asked, not knowing if he meant for a few hours, for the night, for the weekend, or–

“Yes.”

6 Months Later

Ezra hummed some unknown tune under his breath as he filled the little blue watering can at the sink for the second time. The morning sun filtered through the many houseplants–each with their own silly name tag, now, care of the apartment’s new occupant–bathing the living room and kitchenette in a pleasant green glow. He had also hung a few little crystal suncatchers that sent little rainbows chasing each other around the room when the sun hit them. Morning was a beautiful time in his apartment, although some days it was hard to leave the warmth of his bed–and the even warmer body still laying in it as he went about his task.

As Ezra gave ‘Sergeant Bojangles’ the fern its water, an orange blur streaked past him and pounced on one of the many rainbows.

“I don’t know how many times I have to tell you, damnable creature, you’re never going to be able to catch those,” he said, in a mock-stern voice to the excessively fluffy cat that was still pawing at the refracted light.

“Leave Purrnest Hemmingway alone,” came another, softer voice from the direction of the bedroom. Ezra turned to see Sam, dressed in one of his shirts (which hung damn-near to her knees), rubbing the sleep out of her eyes as she stumbled forward. Not a morning person, his Sunflower.

“I’m not calling it that,” Ezra grumbled for the fiftieth time. “The thing hates me, anyway.”

“He doesn’t like you because he doesn’t answer to ‘Creature’ or ‘Gremlin,’” Sam said with an amused smile. “You sweet-talk the plants more than you sweet-talk the cat.”

“It’s a popular notion that plants will grow lusher if they are given adequate stimulation, such as music or poetry,” Ezra said thoughtfully. “I am simply giving them their nourishment for the day.”

Sam wound her arms around his middle and pressed her cheek to his chest with a happy sigh. Ezra noted that her hands could barely touch each other, now. Rest and relaxation looked good on Ezra–he had filled out quite a bit, sporting a softer tummy and fuller cheeks now that he had proper nourishment and a comfortable environment–much like the plants, he supposed. His new vocation was peaceful and fulfilling, and quite the opposite of what he was used to. He worked the register at a small plant nursery, and spent just as much time fussing over those plants as he did the ones he chose to bring home (and my goodness, there were starting to be a lot of them). It was simple, honest work, and he found he didn’t mind it one bit, humming to himself as he worked, and giving customers advice on plant care.

“Or maybe you’re just a crazy, one-armed man who talks to his plants,” she teased.

“I didn’t think that was ever in doubt, my Sunflower.”

-

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Ezra Taglist: @empress-ofdesire @anaaaispunk @jediknight122

[pebblesmustard]

WIP Wednesday

Thank you for tagging me darling @radiowallet 💛

I haven't done much writing lately but here is one of the excerpts I wrote looong ago for my Ezra WIP "As It Was" that is still mostly made up of no context scenes, inspo pics, and a playlist 😂

The ease with which she had found herself tangled all around him had scared her at first. Maude was never concerned with the feelings of it all. Sometimes a nightly affair was just that. An exchange of good feelings. A "scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours and we’ll see if we’re having enough fun to do it five more times" type of thing. And then came Ezra. As small as a storm, as quiet as a hurricane, he had caught her in the air, never allowing her to be sucked into the eye of the storm, grip loose enough to make sure she enjoyed the ride, firm enough to remind her that he had her. He had had her. Until his hands left her so quickly, she wondered if she ever had them around her at all.

Tagging whoever wants to play and YOU reading this!

[all-the-things-2020]

For this badge, I humbly offer All Our Future Prospects, which starts out with some forced proximity. Imagine if you will being stuck in a small shuttle pod with Ezra …

[hopeamarsu]

Holy shit.

Holy. Shit.

Omg.

I have no words. Only pleasure.

This is so Ezra, I can’t even. He has his voice and he knows exactly how to use it. I can see this so clearly, oh wowza.

Kinktober in June: Focus (Ezra x f!reader)

Summary: It’s hypnokink with Ezra. That’s it, that’s the fic.

Pairing: Ezra x f!reader/nameless!OFC (can be read either way, reader is referred to only as she/her/Birdie; no physical descriptions other than her having a vulva)

Rating: E 🚨 (absolutely no minors!!)

Warnings: hypnokink, duh; hypnodom!Ezra and sub!reader; Ezra and reader have limits and a safe word and all that good stuff negotiated but I don’t go into it here, I wrote this from the perspective of everything being consensual and you should read it that way too, okay?; dirty talk out the fucking wahzoo; coming untouched

Word count: 991

A/n: So uh, remember when I said I was gonna write one (1) story for Kinktober last year? This is it and we are not gonna talk about the fact that it’s now June. Also reminder that this is fiction, not a manual on how to engage in this kink.

Masterlist.

———

Let us begin, Birdie

Ezra watches her eyes instantly glaze over. He always starts their sessions this way, the trigger phrase immediately starting to pull her under.

Feel your breath move

As the tide upon the shore

In and out

In and out

The Green had taken many things from him: years of his life and much of his capacity for compassion. It had come dangerously close to stealing his humanity. But no loss does he feel more acutely than that of his arm.

His right arm, no less. Without his dominant hand, even one-handed activities now involve an embarrassing amount of awkward, shaky fumbling as he learns to do the most basic of tasks - writing his name, using a fork, unzipping his trousers - with the fine motor skills of a toddler.

But that was before her. Before this.

Breathe for me, Birdie

In and out

In and out

Let everything start to drift away

All the tension in your body

All the thoughts in your mind

In and out

In and out

Let them all go

Let them all go

Let your body go soft

Let your mind go blank

Until there are no worries

Until there are no thoughts

Until there is

Only

Me

It’s an exercise in control - controlling her, yes, her body, her mind, her pleasure, but also in controlling himself. The lips of her cunt glisten with slick, a delicious honeyed treat with which he aches to slake his thirst. His cock is diamond-hard, straining against the material of his pants. It would be the work of mere moments to be buried inside her in any number of ways, with her taste on his tongue or her walls clamped tight and hot around his fingers or his cock.

But he resists, because as they’ve both discovered, playing with her this way is so much sweeter in the end.

In and out, Birdie

In and out

Feel yourself letting go

Sinking down

Down, down, down

Into a warm, blank place

Feel your body grow heavy

As it sinks, sinks, sinks

Into that warm, blank place for me

He watches her naked body slacken on the bed, her arms over her head, her legs falling open. He holds her gaze from where he sits near the bed, not close enough to touch her, enjoying watching her struggle to keep looking at him.

I know you want to drop for me, Birdie

It’s so hard to keep your eyes open, isn’t it?

It would be so easy to let them fall closed

To give in

To succumb

You want to, Birdie

I know you do

Sink just a little deeper

Fall just a little further

In and out

In and out

To drop and be completely under my control

Won’t that be so nice?

To just sink, sink, sink

All the way down

To drop in

Three

Two

One

He snaps his fingers and her eyes roll back, lids fluttering closed. It had taken them so long, so long to build this trust, to find and push and expand the limits of how they could play like this. And still, every time it fills him with a perverse mixture of awe and pride to watch her fall under his spell.

That’s it, Birdie

Sinking all the way down now

Down, down, down

As you breathe

In and out

In and out

Now feel that warmth start to grow between your legs

Let that slow, warm pleasure roll down your spine

Let it all

Sink, sink, sink

Down into your most special place

Feel how it already drips for me, Birdie

Feel it grow swollen and needy

Feel how it aches to be touched

And how much better it feels

The further down you drop

All the way

Down, down, down

Knowing that if you sink just a little further

Drop just a little deeper

The more pleasure you’ll find

A bead of wetness falls from the lips of her cunt onto the bed. Ezra is sure there’s a matching dark patch near his waistband where the head of his cock is now steadily leaking. He could keep her here like this for hours, flushed and docile with arousal without letting her cum, guiding her right to the edge before backing her away, as many times as he wants. But he decides to fall on the side of the merciful today.

Now feel the pleasure start to grow

More, more, more

Let it keep building

Up, up, up

The more you sink

Down, down, down

Feel how much you want to cum

How your little pussy gets

Closer, closer, closer

And wants to cum for me

He watches her chest rise and fall as her breathing picks up, a subtle tremor in her leg and the ever-growing wet spot beneath her the only other signs that her body is following his every command.

I think you’re ready, Birdie

Your body is so, so ready to cum

No thoughts in your head

Just pleasure

Pure pleasure

It’s going to feel so good, isn’t it?

Here we go

Let the pleasure swell

More, more, more

Ready

And

Cum

He snaps his fingers again and her body arches off the bed. Her drooly pussy pulses and clenches around nothing as she cums completely untouched, compelled to do so by his words alone. The only sound she makes is a soft little moan, but Ezra feels it in every bone and sinew in his body. Kevva be damned, he thinks, for surely this is the power of gods.

My sweet, good girl

My soft little pet

Breathe through it

In and out

In and out

That was such a good first one

Let’s see how many more we can find

Keep sinking down into the pleasure, Birdie

Down, down, down…

The Green took so much from him, but it did not take his voice.

He speaks, and she listens.

He speaks, and she obeys.

[artemiseamoon]

Divinity

Ezra x Evangeline (Luna Astra) Ofc | Cee mentioned

Words: 3,722

Warnings: loss of an arm, almost dying, depression

💫 draft released into the void💫

AN: a 2+ year old draft now released to the void | below is a preview of the full oneshot | read in full on A03

The purple and green flashing lights caught his attention first. Ezra was on his way to a Cantina when the flashy neon sign demanded his observation. Coming to a full stop, he stood across the street and let himself be hypnotized by the letters and colors.

Psychic Reader

Tarot * Crystal

Palm* Aura

The dark glass was littered with an assortment of purple hearts and stars, and just behind it, he could see some kind of foliage, a large indoor plant. It’s a curious sight really, a shop such as this and it wasn’t a common one on planets like this.

But this isn’t Ezra’s first time here, and he wasn’t really headed to the Cantina; this is what he was looking for.

Evangeline does it all, Ezra thought to himself.

The last time he was here was three years ago, one month before the cursed second venture to The Green.

An ill-starred and greed-driven trip that paid him back with one year and two months stranded on its dense landscape. 14 cursed months bookend between a mutiny and being saved by a young girl he now loves as his own child.

The sign in the window wasn’t always like this. Before, it was green and orange neon, Ezra can still recall what it said.

Tarot Readings

Luck, Love & Money

In the middle of the words were a green star, tarot cards with a question mark in the center, and a crescent moon.

As he stood there, his mind went back to before, his thoughts, his motivations, and why he was about to do what he was going to do.

At that time, Ezra was drawn to the quaint shop out of pure curiosity. After coasting off a decent-paying job for a couple of months, he was out of money and back in a state he knew well, desperation.

That's when he saw a job on The Green, a group of prospectors were heading back to dig, and hopefully uncover the myth- the legend - the Queen's Lair. Ezra scoffed when he read the posting, it wasn’t real - but somewhere in the back of his mind, he hoped-

If it was, he’d never have to work again.

The Green wasn’t a place for the faint of heart, but it's a place he’d been before, and with success. He figured a trip back would be easy as pie, even if the jackpot didn’t exist. He could still make a nice living off some sizable gems, like the ones he saved from the first venture, his rainy-day fund.

But he wasn’t prone to tapping into that, he rather get another job and keep holding on to that case. The way things were going, Aurelac was soon to be one the most valuable finds in the galaxy and once it’s overharvested, there would be no more.

Ezra could have lived off what he had left, instead, he took the risk and went back.

It’s a decision that still brings him much reflection and undertones of regret. One thing he doesn’t regret is meeting Cee, even for all the bad luck they hit, the girl has enriched his life in so many ways and reminded him of his humanity, he’ll always be grateful to her for that. The Green may have taken a lot from him, mind, body, and soul, but he got a daughter out of it.

With a heavy sigh, Ezra took a step back into the shadows and leaned against a building. He wants to go in, but can’t do it yet. In his mind's eyes, the first time he walked through those doors replayed in his mind.

Read in full on A03

Pedro Masterlist (More Ezra & Pedro on the list)

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A03: artemiseamoon

A pt 2 possible :)