#Guess brown square sunglasses

[thestylesplash]

Rust Shirt Dress + Style With a Smile Link Up

In the run up to my holiday in July, I had been on a mission to find a summer maxi dress in this colour. I trawled eBay and Vinted, as well as retail websites, but I couldn’t find exactly what I wanted. (I did buy a lovely chocolate brown max dress on Vinted which I took with me though.) However, when I saw this rust shirt dress in TK Maxx I was instantly drawn to it, even though it wasn’t the…

[whatsnewalycat]

“do you believe in aliens?”

Pairing: Dieter Bravo x GN Person

Summary: Meeting DB in a furniture store.

Prompt: “Do you believe in aliens?”

Trope: Meet-cute

Words: 1.4k+ (sorry can’t shut the fuck up)

Rating: Teen (because swearing)

Notes: For the @dieterbravobrainrotclub May Drabble Challege! Also slightly inspired by Broad City when Lincoln said he met Ilana in a foot locker in Times Square and she was just chillin’. First person POV.

—

It was one of those weeks.

The kind of week where you seem to have no patience for anyone or anything. The kind where extra heavy traffic adds an hour to your commute each way. When you find yourself picking fights and reaching for comfort foods and maybe smoking twice as much as you normally do.

You know the kind of week where you come home on Friday after a long day of suffering under capitalism, only to discover that your live-in boyfriend up-and-left with all of his belongings?

Maybe that last one is just a me problem.

Anyways.

After the first sleepless night on the floor of my apartment, I decided I should get a mattress. Maybe even a bed frame if I could find a good deal.

I went to this nearby furniture outlet, and right away I could tell the place was understaffed. The employees wore these bright sunshine yellow polos that made them easy to spot across the open air of the warehouse. They were outnumbered four to one, easy.

This was gonna take up my whole day. I didn’t mind, though. The way I looked at it, I could either go back to my half-empty apartment and cry about the fact that I didn’t have a bed or a tv or a boyfriend, or I could wait my turn to buy a goddamn bed.

I found the cheapest mattress/bedframe combo available, then laid down on the starch-stiff comforter and gave it a few test bounces before deciding it was good enough.

I walked up and down the aisles of sad-looking bedroom furniture sets, trying to catch the attention of a sunshine polo to no avail.

That’s when I heard him.

“They said it might be an hour wait.”

Following the voice, I turned around and saw this guy all stretched out on a king-sized sleigh bed. He radiated the same energy as a sulking teenager waiting for his parents to pick him up, scrolling on his phone with one arm tucked behind his head.

I checked over my shoulders, then asked, “Are you talking to me?”

He looked up from his phone, dark eyes peeking over the rim of his sunglasses, “You’re trying to get a sales person, right?”

“Yeah.”

He shrugged, sitting up to bend his legs criss-cross applesauce, “Might as well make yourself at home.”

“Well, what can ya do,” I sighed and looked across the warehouse, confirming the sunshine polos were neck deep in annoyed customers.

“Hey, uhhh… since you’re waiting, would you do me a favor?”

“What’s that?”

“Tell me what you think about this bed.”

I turned to face the furniture in question, tilting my head as I studied the thing, “I don’t know, it’s big, I guess. Looks… sturdy,” I kicked the leg and nodded in approval, “Yeah, that frame is solid as fuck. Is it comfy?”

“Pretty comfy,” he took off his sunglasses, hooking them on the collar of his worn-out shirt before patting the bed beside him, “See for yourself.”

“You know, normally I make a guy buy me a drink before hopping into bed with him,” I teased, raising an eyebrow at him.

He gave me this charming, dimpled smile, big brown eyes all sparkling warm when he shrugged, “I’ll buy you one after, how’s that sound?”

Heat clung to my stomach and I couldn’t even bear to look at him wearing that devilish grin.

Shaking my head, I climbed onto the mattress, “I’m just giving you shit.” I laid back on the pillow and sank down into the plush bedspread, “This is so much better than the one I’m getting, oh my god.”

“Yeah?” He chuckled and laid down beside me, crossing his ankles as he stretched out, “I’ve been trying to find one that’ll put me right to sleep. I keep having these weird fuckin’ dreams and—”

He cut himself off with a sigh, then looked over at me, “Do you believe in aliens?”

The ludicrous question took me by surprise. This big bubbly laugh escaped my throat and I turned to him, lost for words. All I could do was repeat the question: “Do I believe in aliens?”

“Yeah.”

I couldn’t tell if he was joking or not.

Searching his face, I smirked, “Who are you?”

“Dieter,” he rolled on his side to make eye contact with me, “What’s your name?”

So I gave him my name and then I told him, “You know, when I was a teenager I lived out in the country. I’d always see things in the sky I couldn’t quite explain. These lights that would stay static in one place for minutes before zooming off into the stars, and… and, yeah, Dieter, I do believe in aliens. Why do you ask?”

“Well, ok,” he propped his head up on the heel of his hand, “See, the person I bought my bed from told me they were abducted by aliens. And I keep having these dreams where I’m in some kind of a spacecraft and these little gray fuckers won’t stop doing experiments on me. I dunno if it’s my subconscious or if I’m being abducted, but I gotta get a new fuckin’ bed either way.”

“Why would the bed make them abduct you?”

He frowned as he considered this, looking around before returning back to me, “Maybe they have a tracking device on it. I don’t know how it works. Probably not even real.”

“But just in case, you’re getting a new bed?”

“Yeah.”

I shrugged, “Doesn’t hurt to try, huh?”

He nodded, eyes flicking around my face, then rolled onto his back. We laid there staring up at the steel support beams and ugly lights fixed to the warehouse ceiling. For a little while I wondered whether or not he would think it was strange for me to bring up my own grievances. Then I decided fuck it, why not?

“Yesterday I came home and half my apartment was missing. My boyfriend moved out while I was at work, took the bed and everything.”

“Doesn’t sound like he’s your boyfriend anymore.”

“No, I guess not.”

“You don’t seem too broken up about it.”

“It was a long time coming,” I shrugged, “It’s… I don’t know, I’ll be fine. Right now I’m mostly upset about the bed. I set up camp on the living room floor last night and could barely sleep.”

He hummed in acknowledgment, then asked, “Are you gonna get this one?”

“I fucking wish. The one I have picked out feels like a cement slab compared to this.”

“Do you want my old one?”

“The one with the alien tracking device?”

“Oh yeah,” he giggled, “I forgot about that.”

Laughter rumbled up from my belly and his, thick and genuine, the kind that can’t be contained no matter how hard you try. It vibrated through my limbs and welled in my eyes as I choked out, “I—I thought we were gonna be friends, but now you’re trying to get me abducted by aliens? What the fuck, man?”

He doubled over on his side, whole body shaking with these gasping giggles that spread like a contagion to me until I could barely breathe.

Once the laughter died down, I looked over at him wiping the tears from his eyes and felt something rare and beautiful spark in my chest.

“I can’t remember the last time I laughed that hard,” I admitted, rolling on my side to face him, unable to wipe the smile from my aching face.

“Me neither.”

From just an arms length away, I met his gaze and the most inexplicable compulsion overtook me. I wanted to kiss him, I realized, and that was truly insane.

His eyes dropped to my lips as though the same thought occurred to him.

“Do you wanna get out of here? Go get a drink?” he asked.

The question bubbled up my spine and made my stomach flip.

I nodded, “I do, but my bed—”

“I’ll take care of it,” he smirked, that devilish smirk that I knew would be trouble, and shrugged, “I’ll have my PA get two of these. Deliver one to your place, how’s that sound?”

“You can do that?”

“Absolutely.”

“How?”

“I’ll explain later,” he sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed, looking back at me, “You coming?”

Unmistakably, this was a leap of faith. It was insanity. He could have turned out to be any number of terrible things, but he wasn’t. He was a breath of fresh air. A clean break from the funk smothering the light from my life. He was the weirdest and best thing that ever happened to me.

[rashoumon-homo]

Fic preview!

NSFW CONTENT AHEAD - ONLY INTERACT IF 18+

Featuring fem!Dazai and fem!Chuuya. I have no clue how long this is going to be but I’m guessing close to the length of the omegaverse fic I wrote where they got stuck in a safe house together. That one was 6k I believe? Anyway here’s a little preview. Lmk if I should do these things more often!

Link to the full fic

Dazai had never gotten quite so many stares when she bought sex toys in a male body. But now, as she unloaded her cart at the register, the cashier’s eyes flicked up and down her body as though sizing her up.

A vibrator was followed by a pink dildo on the conveyor belt. “Got a fun weekend planned?” he asked, beginning to scan the price tags.

Dazai didn’t miss the way he attempted to discreetly check the size tag on a lacy bra as he scanned it. 32B, though she wished it was a C. It was really no fair Chuuya got double D’s— they looked ridiculous on her petite frame. But the ability user the ADA hired claimed they had no control over how the new feminine characteristics manifested, just that they would last 72 hours.

“I’m shooting a porno tomorrow,” Dazai lied. She squeezed her tits through the white blouse she wore— braless, since she’d never had a use for such an undergarment until today. “Think it’ll fit me?” she asked, nodding her head towards the bra in the cashier’s hands.

He gulped and started scanning the items faster.

“Can you not harass random men for five seconds or are you too much of a goddamn whore for that?” Chuuya growled. She stood behind Dazai in line, seriously wishing she’d pushed her way in front of her. Her cart only had a few basic clothing items and grooming supplies, while Dazai was apparently buying the whole damn store. She drew her coat tighter around her and huffed. It was technically Dazai’s— she’d lent it to her after she’d punched a guy square in the nose for whistling at her on the way to the store. The ill-fitting coat at least prevented as many rude stares and comments, though the man’s blood on her shirt might have helped in that regard.

The cashier scanned the last of Dazai’s things. “That’ll be $526.25,” he said.

“Ugh, why is being a woman so expensive?” Dazai whined.

“It’s not, you just don’t know how to budget,” Chuuya snorted. She moved up to the register and started unloading her items.

“Oh yeah? I bet your total is still over a hundred, miss budget.” Dazai smirked and leaned on the counter.

Chuuya rolled her eyes and watched the cashier ring her up. “That much for tampons?!” she exclaimed as the numbers flashed by. “Yknow what’s free? Bleeding out everywhere.”

The cashier warily eyed the blood on her shirt.

“Oh, shove it. It’s not mine,” she snapped. That shut him up for the rest of the transaction.

“$103.98,” he said a minute later.

“Yesss!” Dazai pumped her fist.

“What’re you celebrating?” Chuuya grumbled. “You’re still over $500 down the drain.”

Dazai grinned and held the credit card between her fingers. “Company card,” she said.

“Of course,” Chuuya scoffed.

They headed out of the store, arms loaded down with bags.

“Chuuya, you’re grumpier than usual as a woman. Are you PMSing?”

Chuuya narrowed her eyes. “Cute. Misogyny. Ask me again and you’ll wish I was.”

Dazai laughed, a light, airy thing. Her long brown hair shone in the sunlight, held back by heart shaped sunglasses perched atop her head. She lowered them onto her nose and smiled. “You think I’m cute?”

Chuuya chose not to answer that one, and elbowed her instead. She wasn’t in the mood to face that question today.

Tag List: @little-miss-chaoss @sakui1 @flxtter523

[floaroma-sanctuary]

[[Hope it's okay to start it like this. XS I wasn't sure how to really start an rp post if it should be in messages or not.]]

A woman with long, curly, reddish brown hair, wearing a floral sundress, sunhat, sandals, sunglasses with flower shaped frames, and silver hoop earrings looks through the door window then tries the handle and steps inside; a young girl wearing a simple short sleeve top and medium length skirt, trailing behind her.

The woman makes her way towards the front desk.

"Good morning, I'm guessing you're Mister Rosalba? Name's Lorelai Solstice, we talked last night? Don't think i gave you my name yet. Sorry about that. Said you could help my daughter wit' findin' her a support Pokemon?" She gently pushes the girl forward, as she removes her sunglasses.

"Hello Sir. My name's Reena. It's uhm, pronounced Renae. Nice to meet you. This is my mom." She looks at Lorelai then back at the man and curtsies.

@familial-recollections

The brunette man behind the desk slides his square glasses onto his face and turns to them with a smile. "Hello, you two. Welcome to Floaroma Sanctuary. Yes, I'm Beaumont Rosalba, but you can just call me Beau."

He stands up and offers them both a hand to shake. There's an excited Spinda in the front chest pocket of his green apron and a sound asleep Poochyena strapped to his back like a baby. "It's a pleasure to meet you both. Let's start heading out, and we can talk as we walk."

[101flavoursofweird]

If you're still doing requests, can I request “You know, you can stay if you want to.” for Rook and Bishop? Thank you.

((Sorry for the wait, but thank you for the prompt! It’s always so much fun to write about Rook and Bishop. Your blog is such a great resource for their characters, and I included some headcanons from your Hastings family au It’s canon in my heart. I also included a small OC cameo :D))

-

Set: After Azran Legacy and after Rook and Bishops’ bonus episode.

Spoilers: Vaguely for Miracle Mask and AL, concerning Targent, Rook and Bishop

Warnings: Short discussions about guns I don’t know

Description: Rook and Bishop go to join Scotland Yard, but Bishop isn’t sure he’s cut out for the job. (Rook is Macaw and Bishop is Robin, in the US version of the game.)

-

If you asked Bishop, the stone steps leading up to Scotland Yard seemed to go higher than the Nest. Bishop had never been scared of heights, but something about those steps, the authoritative blue doors, and the venerable red building made his limbs turn to jelly.

He pressed his knees together and straightened his back, standing to attention— just like they had trained him in Targent. 

This was something Bishop had seen police officers do as well, along with a salute. Maybe working at Scotland Yard wouldn’t be too different from Targent…?

Bishop wasn’t sure whether he found that reassuring or not.

It didn’t matter— as long as he had Rook beside him!

Stealing a glance at his partner, Bishop saw that Rook’s face was set with resolve as he stared up at the police headquarters. 

(It was still odd seeing Rook’s dark brown eyes…)

Rook, like Bishop, had removed his black sunglasses.

Rook, unlike Bishop, had adopted a stance of cool determination, like he was meant to be here.

Gritting his teeth, Bishop glanced around. There was a constable posted outside  Scotland Yard’s front door, and a man in a blue hoodie inspecting the bus timetable, but other than that, no one else was near them.

To any observers, Rook and Bishop must have looked like innocent civilians visiting Scotland Yard. (Right?) 

After dumping their… borrowed Zeppelin in a park, the pair had ditched their Targent uniforms in favour of plain outfits from a charity shop. Rook had chosen a green coat and maroon trousers (A colour combination that really suited him!) while Bishop had gone with a sky blue jacket and jeans. (Blue was still his favourite!) 

Using their last dregs of loose change, they had paid for the clothes, fair and square.

Now they were completely broke, but they were going to get new careers at Scotland Yard, so it was fine. Rook had said they would be fine.

…Unless someone in the police force recognised them— or a stray agent from Targent!

‘Detective Inspector’ Bloom had been arrested, along with Tommy’s gang of hitmen, but that didn’t mean Rook and Bishop were safe! Targent still had loads of assassins in their employ… 

“Chill, Bishop,” Rook breathed.

“Don’t call me that,” Bishop gasped, casting his gaze around again. “We should come up with new code names…”

“Normal people don’t have code names,” Rook reminded him.

“Shhh!”

Was Blue Hoodie Man looking their way? How long did it take to check a bus timetable? Bishop observed the man from the corner of his eye. (Something was familiar about him…)

“Your new name could be Sketchy,” Rook said.

Bishop elbowed him in the side. “That’s not funny!”

“Heh…” Rook snickered. When Bishop kept scowling at him, Rook suggested, “Alright— what about Mr. Hastings?”

Bishop hummed. He was always rushing around… and Rook was always rushing after him. 

Smiling, Bishop nodded. “I like it! You should be Hastings too.”

“I…” Rook’s face reddened. He reached for his forehead, only to remember he’d lost his cap. “I guess…”

“Aren’t we going to need some new ID?” Bishop wondered. “They won’t let us work at Scotland Yard without it, will they?”

Rook slapped his head. “You’re right…”

The man in the blue hoodie finally strolled off.

“Ah, well!” Bishop sighed with relief, slouching. “We’ll just have to find a job that gives cash in hand…” He turned away from the steps, but Rook stayed right where he was. “Rook?”

Rook kept gazing up at Scotland Yard. “I really thought… we could make a difference,” Rook mumbled. “That we could be different…”

“We still can be!” Bishop tugged on Rook’s arm. “Just not here…”

The constable guarding the front door glanced down at them. Bishop lowered his voice.

“Even if we did have some ID, I don’t think Scotland Yard would accept us—“

“Why not?” Rook grumbled. “What’s Leonard Bloom got that we haven’t?”

Bishop listed, “A university degree… a fancy suit… endless charisma… and he’s incredibly crafty…” (Second only to Professor Layton!)

“Yeah, like a weasel. We won’t let the police down!” Rook clenched his fists, squared his shoulders and held his head high. He looked ready to march in and sell himself to Scotland Yard. 

Reluctantly, Bishop released Rook’s arm. “You won’t let them down.”

Bishop started to trudge away from the steps— away from Rook— but Rook threw his arm out like a barrier, stopping him.

“Don’t tell me you’re getting cold feet now, Bishop!”

“I never was cut out for this,” Bishop quietly admitted.

Back at the Nest, when Rook had suggested they should leave Targent, Bishop had been so excited at the prospect of them starting a new life together that he hadn’t put much consideration into Rook’s plan to join Scotland Yard.

Yes, Bishop still wanted to be a good person, but the thought of chasing after criminals (potentially their former colleagues) and being bossed around by police higher-ups… wasn’t very appealing, honestly.

Life would never be easy, but Bishop had hoped they would find some freedom.

If Rook truly wished to be a part of Scotland Yard, though… Bishop had to let him go.

Bishop smiled weakly at Rook. “You know, you can stay if you want to,” Bishop whispered. “Scotland Yard would be lucky to have you. You’re way smarter than me— smarter than Bloom, even— and you’re a thousand times more loyal—“

“You’re loyal too!” Rook took him by the shoulders. “You’re diligent and positive and— and you’re a good person! The best person I know!” 

Bishop shook his head dejectedly. “Good people don’t threaten animals and— and other people with guns.” 

Rook gaped at him.

The constable on the stairs was scribbling something in his notebook. Maybe he was writing down Bishop’s confession.

“But… but you didn’t,” Rook breathed. His hands were digging into Bishop’s shoulders now. “Did you?”

“The big dog in Torrido?” Bishop recalled.

“He was going to rip our heads off!”

Bishop winced. “In— in Froenborg, I pointed my gun at Professor Layton and his friends—“

“So did I! So every other agent following Bronev’s orders!” Rook growled.

“But you never— shot at anyone,” Bishop argued. He swallowed. “I shot at Jean Descole, back at Akbadain—“

“Jean Descole?” Rook snorted. “Wanted Criminal— Jean Descole?”

Bishop shrugged.

Rook went on, “As far as I’m aware, Descole escaped from Akbadain— almost like you and the rest of the army missed him on purpose.”

“It wasn’t on purpose,” Bishop murmured. “I just… hadn’t fired at anyone before…”

“Or since,” Rook said firmly. 

Bishop nodded. Rook patted him on the cheek.

“You are a good person, Bishop,” Rook repeated. He looked up at Scotland Yard once more. “But maybe you’re right— I don’t think you’d cope with police work. Not sure if I would either, actually…”

Hope stirred within Bishop. “C-Could we think on it?”

Rook nodded. “We’ll leave it for a little while— find a place to lay low and get some new ID—“

“We can stay with my mum,” Bishop said, brightening up even more. “She lives in Surrey— that’s not too far from London!”

He grabbed Rook by the arm again.

“If you say so,” Rook chuckled. He got one last glimpse of Scotland Yard before Bishop dragged him towards the nearest train station. 

-

Dear Sirs,

Please find enclosed two passports, a marriage certificate and other relevant identity documents for Mr. B Hastings and Mr. R Hastings. 

You will find that your minimal criminal records have been wiped clean from all systems. 

Should you wish to apply for a position within the police force, you will not face any opposition…

However, might I suggest a career in the entertainment industry instead? I believe you two have comedic potential. If you are interested, please see below the contact details for a trusted agent…

Rook’s eyes narrowed as he read the letter Bishop had just handed him. As promised, the letter came with all the identification documents Rook and Bishop could ever need to start their new lives.

“So… What do you think?” Bishop asked when Rook was finished.

Rook hummed. The sender hadn’t included their name or a return address, but there was a phone number, apparently belonging to an agent.

Not a Targent agent, but casting agency, for actors.

“If someone is setting a trap for us,” they’re going about it in a very roundabout way,” Rook reasoned.

And if the letter-writer wanted them dead… well, they already knew where Rook, Bishop and Bishop’s mum lived. Why bother going through the trouble of securing Rook and Bishop their new identities, just to kill them off?

Would the letter-writer expect them to return the favour years down the line? Were they hoping Rook and Bishop would make it big as actors one day?

The two of them could take the chance. Acting was a far less dangerous profession than being a police office… and Bishop would probably be happier too. 

“Um, Rook…”

Rook looked at Bishop, who was beaming.

His partner said, “Are we, like, actually married now?”

[the-red-mafia]

The Carnival

The Carnival Post Information: The Red Mafia's on a new mission to rescue some people who had gone missing at a nearby carnival. When Mad is quickly separated from the group, shortly followed by Maroon and Thorn, will Velvet and Solana be able to find them and make it out alive? Also available on Wattpad: https://www.wattpad.com/user/TheRedMafia Next Update: [Updated] Word Count: 5075

6 days after "The Haircut" “Get your tickets here! Over here folks!” Velvet scoffed as the Red Mafia walked into the square. The area was packed with people as small children ran around with their parents chasing after them. Giant carnival tents and rides towered in the distance. Maroon pulled the sleeves of their brown mushroom sweater as they walked next to Thorn. 

“Alright, I’ll go get the tickets,” Solana began, “Mad, you wanna come with? Not sure what language they speak here.” A smile appeared on the robot’s T.V. screen. 

“Right behind you, Solana,” it said, turning to look at the three teenagers behind them, “We’ll be right back, don’t cause any trouble.” Velvet rolled her eyes. 

“We’re not little kids, Mad.”

“Had me fooled,” Thorn muttered, letting out a quiet laugh. The assassin turned and glared at him before sighing. 

“Whatever, go get the tickets.” Velvet plopped down on a metal bench and quickly pulled their phone out of their back pocket. Thorn sat down on the bench as well, followed by Maroon. The three teens sat in silence for a few moments. 

“Well, this is an interesting way to experience a carnival for the first time,” Thorn joked, smirking at Maroon. They returned a small smile.

“Yeah, I guess,” they said, “The rides look cool.” 

“We’re not here to have fun, Maroon,” Velvet stated, locking her phone, “We have a job to do.” Maroon looked towards the ground.

“Right…” Thorn rolled aer eyes and leaned closer to Maroon.

“We can sneak off and ride some rides later,” he mumbled, causing Maroon to chuckle.

“I heard that,” Velvet said, glaring at Thorn.

“Heard what? I didn’t say anything.”

“Don’t gaslight me, frūx.”

“I’m not lighting any gas, Velvet. You feeling ok?”

“Oh my gods-” Thorn broke out in a fit of laughter. Maroon looked up at their friend but stayed quiet.

“You are so fucking stupid, mihi deōs,” Velvet mumbled, standing up, “I’m going to talk to the others.”

“Tell them to hurry up!” Thorn called out as they walked away. 

“No!” 

“Mad, Solana! Thorn’s trying to gaslight me!” 

“I- What?” Velvet stopped in front of the two of them and crossed their arms. Solana broke out into laughter at the teen’s serious expression.

“Thorn’s trying to gaslight me so I came over here.” 

“...ok?” 

“Phew, Velvet, you are too funny,” Solana mumbled, wiping a fake tear out of their eye. The teen lightly punched his arm but he put his hands up. 

“Hey, I’m sorry, I’m-” the elf broke out into laughter again. Mad chuckled as the line slowly moved forward. Mad watched as the two jokingly argued (or, Mad hoped they were joking) and Velvet adjusted the strap on their side bag. They had slightly adjusted their usual style, ditching the hoodie for a simple black t-shirt and blue jeans. A red beaded bracelet sat on her right wrist, near a cluster of faded scars on her arms. 

She almost looked like a normal teenager, if it weren’t for the dagger stashed underneath her pant leg and throwing knives in her black bag. A pair of tinted sunglasses sat on her face, a precaution to prevent a repeat of the shopping trip incident. Solana had a pair too, pairing it with green cargo shorts and a white t-shirt. The elf, however, strapped a small handgun to her belt and covered it with the slightly-oversized shirt. 

A loud cough echoed from behind the three of them, cutting off Velvet and Solana’s conversation. They turned around to see a boy around Velvet’s age, with bright blonde hair and icy blue eyes. He smirked at them, glancing at Mad and Solana before locking eyes on Velvet. 

“Why hello there.”

“Hello,” she replied, “Can I help you?” The boy was slightly taller than them, almost as if he was looking down at them. 

“I was wondering if I could get your number?” Solana stifled a laugh, covering their mouth with their hand. Velvet closed their eyes for a moment. 

“No.” The boy chuckled. 

“Sure, sweetheart. How about I-”

“No thanks.”

“Aww, come on. No harm in it!” Velvet’s right hand fell to their bag. Solana quickly batted her hand away and Mad quickly grabbed her right arm.

“Come on, it’s time to get our tickets!” the robot said, pulling them away. Velvet followed along, letting out a groan. 

“I’ll kill them.” 

“They’re a kid, leave them alone.”

“Fuck off, Mad.”

Children screamed excitedly as the carnival staff opened the entry gate. Hundreds of people flooded in and quickly scattered around into the various tents. In front of the closest tent, a man stood on a platform juggling lit torches.

“Woah…” Maroon mumbled, “That’s really cool.” Velvet scoffed. 

“Please, it’s fake,” the teen replied sarcastically. Maroon’s face dropped slightly, causing Thorn to glare at Velvet. 

“No need to be such a buzzkill, Velvet,” Solana said, lightly elbowing the teen. Velvet rolled her eyes. 

“Whatever. Let’s just find a staff room and look around.” The group slowly made their way through the crowds of people. Velvet kept a firm grip on their bag as they moved through the crowd. The group followed close behind, using the path Velvet left behind them. Eventually, Velvet took a left towards a blue, unmarked building. As they approached they noticed a sign on the door that read “Authorised Personnel Only”. 

“Perfect,” the teen said under their breath. One try of the doorknob revealed that the building was unlocked and the lights on. Thorn smirked and lightly elbowed Maroon’s arm. 

“Well look at that, mushroom,” he said, “This mission should be easy. We’ll have plenty of time to ride the rides.”

“You two do realise this mission will probably result in the carnival getting shut down, right?” Mad said as Velvet examined the doorway. Thorn groaned. 

“Damn, really?”

“We are solving multiple missing person cases,” Solana replied, “Of course they’re going to shut it down.” 

“Bummer. We should go to another carnival after this.”

“You are a fucking child,” Velvet said, turning around, “Now walk through the doorway.” Thorn raised an eyebrow and Solana facepalmed.

“Why me?”

“Because I don’t want to get stabbed if it's trapped.”

“Oh, and I do?”

“You probably don’t, but I don’t really care what you think right now.” Mad sighed and walked in front of Velvet. 

“How about I go through the door first so no one gets stabbed?” The droid said. 

“Where’s the fun in that?” Velvet asked, smirking, “But sure, be my guest.” Mad stepped into the building, looking around for people. Velvet watched the doorway closely as Mad went down the entrance hallway. 

“No traps?” Velvet wondered out loud, “This is too easy.”

“Hey, at least we’ll get it done quicker?” Maroon said. Velvet shook their head. 

“No, something’s wrong. Mad, come back here.” Before the teen could react, the door slammed shut. The remaining mafia members jumped at the noise, causing a laugh to echo from behind them. 

“What the fuck…” Thorn mumbled, looking around. Velvet quickly tried to open the door again, but found it had been locked. 

“Shit,” they breathed, “Mad! Are you there?” When their question was answered with silence, they turned to look at their teammates.

“Maroon, Thorn. Go check the left side. Solana, you’re with me.”

Mad banged on the door again and was met with no response.

“They can’t hear me,” the robot mumbled, “Great.” They turned around to get another look at the building’s interior. There was a central, grey hallway that seemed to stretch on forever. Every so often, a green door broke the grey monotone. 

The droid began walking down the hallway, looking at the signs on the doors. Most had been scratched out, as if someone was trying to erase them completely. A few were labelled as typical workplace things: bathrooms, a break room, etc. Every single door was locked, well, with the exception of the oddly shaped blue one at the end of the hall. 

When Mad got to that door, they quickly noticed it wasn’t labelled at all. The doorknob was bright gold, or at least a material that gave that illusion. Mad reached out and twisted the doorknob, surprise washing over them when the door didn’t fight it.

“Huh…” the droid mumbled, opening the door fully. The room behind the door seemed to be some kind of computer room, with a giant monitor in the middle. It was powered off, despite the hundreds of wires connecting it to various pieces of machinery around the room. The room itself was dark, almost pitch black. If it wasn’t for Mad’s night vision and the light from the hallway that the door let in, they wouldn’t be able to see. The robot took a step forward towards the monitor.

“Mad?” a familiar voice called out, causing the robot to turn around. In the doorway stood Rhyme Reuter, dressed in a pair of jeans and a tie-dye coloured jean jacket. Mad’s screen featured an exclamation mark as they stared at her. 

“Rhyme? What are you doing here?” Rhyme walked up to Mad, crossing his arms.

“Not important. What are you doing here? I didn’t think Velvet would let you all take a vacation day to a carnival. Also, why wouldn’t you invite me?” the thief joked, a smirk on her face.

“She didn’t, we’re on a mission.” Rhyme raised an eyebrow. 

“A mission? At a carnival?”

“Yeah. Apparently, a lot of people have gone missing here recently so we’re checking it out.”

“Huh, interesting. Say, could you help me with something?” A smile emoticon appeared on the droid's face.

“Sure, what’s up?” Rhyme took a step forward and grabbed Mad’s wrist. 

“Follow me, I’ve gotta show you.”

Thorn carefully looked around the corner of the building, scanning the walkway that went past it. A few of the patrons gave him weird looks, but he ignored them. Maroon walked up next to them and looked down the walkway as well. 

“It’s all clear,” Thorn said, walking forward, “You see any doors?” Maroon looked at the blue wall.

“Nope, nothing.”

“Huh. Maybe that’s the only door in. Think we should try to break it down?” 

“Maybe…” Maroon mumbled, “Let’s check the back first.” Thorn turned and saluted them, causing them to chuckle. The duo continued down the wall and turned to the back of the building. There wasn’t much space due to a hedge wall about a metre behind. Thorn stopped in front of an air vent that sat in the middle of the back wall. 

“There’s a vent back here,” he said. Maroon popped up next to aer and leaned closer to the vent. 

“Velvet uses vents, right? They could get through here as a last resort.”

“I’m not sure Velvet would fit through there, it’s pretty small.”

“True. Maybe-”

“Someone help!” a voice screamed, cutting off Maroon’s sentence. The teens turned towards the noise, which was coming from down the path. Suddenly, a little girl came into view, tears streaming down her face. She had light red hair that was pinned back with a flower crown made of pink roses. 

She couldn’t have been over the age of 10, considering her shortness and childlike structure. She wore what appeared to be a uniform of a black and white plaid skirt with a pink blazer. The kid quickly looked around before locking eyes with the duo. Her eyes quickly lit up and she ran up to them. 

“Thorn!” the kid shouted, wrapping her arms around the older teen, “Where have you been? I’ve been looking for you everywhere!” Thorn stared down at the kid, their eyes as wide as saucers. 

“...Iris?” The little girl wiped the tears out of her eyes and smiled. 

“Who else would it be, brother?”

Velvet kicked the wooden door again, but it refused to budge. They groaned and put their foot down on the ground. Solana stood next to them, arms crossed.

“All of them are locked?” the elf mumbled, “Weird, considering-” Velvet cut them off, throwing their side bag onto the concrete and looking around. The teen quickly spotted a fallen sign, which had detached from the metal pole next to it. She ran over and picked up the pole, returning to the door. 

“Oh Gazra,” Solana mumbled, watching as they placed it in between the door and the doorframe. 

“Gazra can fuck off,” Velvet replied, putting a foot on the pole. Before they could apply pressure, the door quickly opened from the inside. Velvet stumbled forward before Solana grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

“Velvet, what are you doing?” A robotic voice asked. Velvet quickly stood up and threw the pole into the grassy area next to the path. They looked at Mad as Rhyme walked out next to them. His hair had changed since Velvet saw him last, now featuring ice-blue tips instead of pink.

“Well, I was trying to save you,” Velvet answered, gesturing to Rhyme, “But clearly you didn’t need me.” Rhyme smirked. 

“Gotta be faster next time, Bolton.”

“Call me that again, see what fucking happens-”

“Chill, drama queen,” Solana said, letting go of their arm, “Who’s this?” Rhyme smirked and gave Solana a small bow. 

“Diamonds, world-renowned thief and criminal extraordinaire. Which one of the newbies are you?”

“Solana. It’s nice to meet you, Mad’s talked about you quite a lot.” Rhyme raised an eyebrow at Mad.

“All good things, I hope.”

“As good as they could get about you,” Velvet mumbled, crossing her arms. Rhyme laughed. 

“Sensing some hostility there, Bolton,” he said, “Don’t worry, the feeling’s mutual.” 

“What are you even doing here, Diamonds?” 

“None of your business. I just need to borrow Mad here for a few, won’t take long.” Velvet forced out a fake laugh. 

“That’s hilarious, Diamonds. And 100% not happening.”

“Velvet-” Mad began, but Rhyme interrupted it. 

“I just saved them from being locked in the building for who knows how long. It’s the least you can do.”

“Why, so you can steal some pocket money and a few chocolate bars? That’s rich.”

“Yeah, I will be rich when I finish this. Which is why I really need their help.”

“Just go back to your original plan without it, asinus.”

“Considering things have changed and I was about to call it anyway, no.” Mad sighed and grabbed Rhyme’s arm, stepping in front of him. 

“Velvet, it won’t take very long. This’ll let Thorn and Maroon try some of the rides like they wanted to before we end it.” Velvet glared at Mad

“We have a fucking job to do-” Solana quickly covered Velvet’s mouth.

“Go for it, Mad,” the elf began, pinning Velvet’s arms to their side so they couldn’t fight against them, “We’ll handle the mission. Just let us know when you’re done.” A smile emoticon appeared on Mad’s screen.

“Thanks, Solana.”

“No problem. Have fun.” Rhyme quickly grabbed Mad’s arm and pulled it forward. She ran deeper into the park with Mad barely being able to keep up. Once they got out of sight, Solana let go of Velvet.

“What the hell, Solana?” He looked at Velvet and sighed. 

“Sometimes, you’ve gotta let them do their own thing. The four of us can handle the mission just fine on our own.” 

“I’m going to tell you that when we fucking die.”

“How? You’ll be dead.”

“I- Shut up.”

“Brother?” Maroon asked, staring down at the small girl. She turned to them before letting out a quiet squeak. She jumped behind Thorn, who was staring at her with a few tears forming in aer eyes. She grabbed aer legs and stuck her tongue out at Maroon. 

“Go away!” She shouted. Maroon blinked a few times before looking at Thorn. 

“Thorn…?” they began, “Are you ok?”

“I-” Thorn mumbled, “What…”

“Thorn! We should go. Mom will be expecting us any time now!” Iris said, grabbing Thorn’s hand and attempting to pull him forward. Thorn knelt down and pulled the girl into a hug. 

“I’m…I’m so sorry,” Thorn choked out, “I’m so sorry.” Iris looked at it with a confused look. 

“What? Why?” Thorn closed aer eyes tightly but didn’t answer. 

“Thorn, why are you crying?” Iris asked, looking up at her brother, “Did I do something wrong?” 

“No,” Thorn stumbled over aer words, “You…you didn’t.” 

“Then why are you crying?” 

“I just missed you so much, bumblebee.” 

“I was only gone for a few hours.” Thorn shook his head. 

“No, Iris, you’ve been gone for a lot longer than that. How…how did you even get here?”

“Mommy brought me? Didn’t she bring you too?” 

“Mom’s here?” Thorn breathed, their body freezing. Iris nodded. 

“Of course she is, she and Papa would never let us go to a carnival on our own!”

“Iris, I need you to take me to her. Now.” Iris laughed and grabbed aer hand. 

“That’s what I’ve been trying to do, silly!” 

“What’s happening?” Maroon finally asked. Thorn looked up at them and stood, still hanging onto Iris’s significantly smaller hand. 

“It’s…hard to explain,” he mumbled, looking at the ground. Maroon took a step forward and pulled their friend into a hug. 

“It’s ok, you can tell me when you’re ready.” Thorn nodded, slightly resting their head on their shoulder. When they broke apart, Iris was staring right at Maroon. 

“Are you my brother’s boyfriend?” she asked, tilting her head slightly. The two teens went bright red, Maroon burying their head in their hands. 

“Iris, no-” Thorn said quickly, “We’re just friends.” The little girl frowned. 

“Aww, so no brother-in-law?” 

“Iris!” She laughed, gripping Thorn’s hand harder. 

“Come on, momma’s waiting!” Iris pulled Thorn behind her as she ran forward. Thorn almost fell over, grabbing Maroon’s hand. Maroon pulled him upwards, steadying him as Iris kept pulling them along through the park.

Zaeor’s phone buzzed as the god was about to take a bite of his turkey sandwich. He sighed, setting the food down and grabbing his phone off the table. He sighed as he read the notification.

“How does this always seem to happen?” he mumbled, unlocking the phone and dialling a number. It rang once before the other line picked up. 

“You couldn’t let me eat my sandwich, huh?” he joked. 

“Fuck your sandwich,” Velvet said from the other side, “Can you do a magic scan of this place?” 

“I already did, didn’t I tell you?”

“You did, but I want you to do another one.” Zaeor raised an eyebrow. 

“Another one? What are you looking for?” 

“She thinks there’s an illusionist running around,” he heard Solana say from the other side of the phone. 

“Hello, Solana.”

“Hey, Zaeor.”

“Anyways, Velvet, an illusionist? Do you know-” 

“Yeah, they’re extremely rare, blah blah blah. But hear me out.” Zaeor let out a sigh. 

“Alright, go,” he said, standing up from his chair.

“We’ve searched every place in this damned park,” Velvet began, “There’s nothing. Absolutely fucking nothing. No leads, no slip-ups, nothing. There’s been no suspicious activity the entire two hours we’ve been here. All the staff have no previous criminal record, not even any school disciplinary action!”

“Why did you check their school records?-”

“Anything can be evidence.”

“I’m not sure that’s a solid legal argument.”

“Tried telling her that,” Solana added before letting out an “ow”, no doubt from Velvet elbowing her.

“Not to mention Thorn and Maroon have…vanished or something.” The god’s eyes widened. 

“Wait, Thorn and Maroon are missing?”

“Presumably, yeah.”

“And you didn’t lead with that?”

“It’s not why I’m calling you so, no.”

“I-” Zaeor stopped mid-sentence, letting out a sigh, “Continue.”

“Anyways,” Velvet stated, “Unless it’s an outside party, which is unlikely due to the carnival's lack of reaction to the kidnappings, there’s some kind of magic going on.”

“That’s fair, but why an illusionist as opposed to just a normal magician?”

“Think about it, Zaeor. How could a normal magician hide a kidnapping?” 

“Mind manipulation?” Velvet groaned.

“You just love talking about mind manipulation.”

“Hey, it’s a cool power!” Zaeor chuckled, going up the pitch-black stairs that lead to the second floor of his home.

“A ‘cool’ power that would’ve showed up on the initial magic scan.” Zaeor stopped in front of one of the doors at the top of the stairs. 

“Oh, you’re right.” Velvet sighed.

“Everyone loves doubting me recently,” she mumbled. Zaeor sighed. 

“That’s not true, I just wanted to hear your reasoning-”

“It’s not important now,” the teen interrupted, causing the god to shake his head. 

“So you think an illusionist is kidnapping people and using illusions to hide it? But why?”

“To fulfil some sick desire, I don’t know.”

“Experiments maybe?” Solana chimed in.

“Maybe, seems weird though,” Zaeor said, opening the door, “Well, I’ll run an illusion scan and call you back. Stay hidden and blend in.”

“Alright-”

“And find Maroon and Thorn! Where’s Mad?” Velvet groaned. 

“We’re just. Not gonna touch on Mad right now,” Solana interrupted, “We know where they are and they’re fine. Just…not here.” Zaeor raised an eyebrow.

“That’s…ominous.”

“Yeah, I’m realising that.”

“But, whatever. If this really is an illusionist, you’re definitely going to need Maroon and Thorn.”

“Yeah yeah, I know. Call me when you find something.”

“Alright, I will. Good luck and don’t be stupid.”

“I’m never stupid.”

“That’s just a fucking lie,” Solana mumbled. 

“Solana-”

“And don’t kill Solana!” Zaeor added. Velvet groaned again. 

“Fucking fine! Alright, we’re going.” Zaeor groaned as he hit the end-call button on the phone. The god sat down on the large office chair in front of several different monitors around the room. He didn’t move for a few moments but eventually waved his hand. The turkey sandwich appeared in his hand as he booted up the device.

Alright, let’s see what’s going on.

Rhyme laughed as the pair slowed in front of a chain link fence. In front of them, a gate stood far above Mad’s TV. There were no signs on the fence, but beyond it stood a huge pink and blue circus tent. Mad looked up and down the fence but saw no gate. 

“What is this place?” the droid asked. 

“It’s the V.I.P. section.”

“The carnival has a V.I.P. section?” Rhyme shrugged. 

“Yeah, it has like, special arcade games or something. All I know is that there’s a lot of money in there.”

“So what do you need my help with?”

“You see,” Rhyme began, walking towards the fence, “The fence has something on it. I thought it was electrified at first.”

“At first?” Rhyme slowly bent down and picked up a fallen branch from a nearby tree and chucked it at the fence. As soon as it made contact with the metal, the wood burst into flames. Mad took a step back in shock. 

“I…don’t think an electric fence could do that.” Rhyme laughed. 

“Yeah, I think you’re right.”

“So it’s magic then? Mad said, turning towards him, “Why does that mean you need my help? I’m not exactly known for magic.”

“True,” Rhyme mumbled, turning away, “But I think there’s some kind of control panel to it. Think you can find it?” Mad looked at her before looking back at the fence. 

“Maybe…” the robot took a few steps forward, “Are there any wires?” 

“It’s magic, I don’t think it would be controlled through wires.” 

“I don’t know, then,” Mad mumbled, “Did you see another control room?” Rhyme crossed his arms and looked at it. 

“Hm,” she mumbled, tapping her foot, “Oh! Yeah, there’s one nearby.” Mad turned around, a smile on their TV. 

“Well then, Diamonds, lead the way.”

“Didn’t I tell you to call me Rhyme?”

Velvet kicked a rock down the sidewalk. People streamed past her, down the path towards the kiddie rides. The aroma of freshly popped popcorn and funnel cakes filled the air. Children screeched happily while their parents chatted behind them. Velvet took a step forward, only to find a piece of chewed gum had attached itself to the bottom of her combat boots. They let out a loud groan and ripped the gum in half. 

“Stupid fucking place,” they mumbled, “I can’t wait for this to be fucking over.”

“Vel, no need to be such a downer,” a familiar voice called out. Velvet’s eyes widened and she quickly spun around. There stood a boy about 13 years old, a big smile on his face. His bright emerald green eyes looked warmly at them, something they hadn’t seen in a long, long time. 

“Here,” he said, holding a pretzel out to her, “I got one for you. No need to be an edge lord.” Velvet stared at him, causing him to raise an eyebrow. 

“Vel? You ok?” 

“...Caran?” 

“Yeah? You feeling alright?” Velvet stepped towards him. The boy smiled, holding the pretzel out to them. Velvet ignored it, however, swinging a punch at the boy's head. He stumbled backwards, the pretzel falling to the ground with a loud thud. His bright blonde hair covered his face as he winced in pain. People stopped walking to stare at the developing scene, some parents even ushering their small ones behind them. Caran placed a hand on his face and looked back at Velvet, who kept her composure and crossed her arms. 

“That’s about all the proof I need,” they mumbled, shaking their head, “Next time, illusionist, pick someone who’s still alive.” Caran’s eyes widened as Velvet took a few steps forward and kneeled down next to him. 

“W-what are you talking about, Vel? O-of course I’m alive, I’m right here.”

“Now listen very carefully, illusion,” they whispered, glaring at the boy, “I can’t dissolve you here, that would make me look suspicious. However, if I see you again, in this form or any other, I will dissolve you on sight regardless of the consequences. Am I clear?” The illusion nodded fearfully, causing Velvet to frown. 

“That looks wrong,” they mumbled, standing up.

“Velvet, what on Gazra are you doing?” Velvet turned to see Solana pushing through the crowd, who were whispering as the scene unfolded. 

“I know we’re dealing with an illusionist now.” 

“What? How?” Velvet stepped to the side as she stopped and gestured to the illusion on the ground. 

“Take a look.” Solana’s eyes drifted downwards to the boy, who had tears streaming down his face. Their hands clasped over their mouth and they quickly dropped to their knees.

“...Caran!”

“Sol!” He jumped forward and pulled the elf into a hug. It took a few seconds for Solana to process what was happening but he quickly returned the gesture.

“Oh my gods,” she breathed, “You’re…alive!” 

“Oh you’ve got to be kidding,” Velvet breathed.

“Sol! I-I don’t know what I did but I-I tried to give Velvet a pretzel a-and-” the illusion stopped to take a breath, “S-she just punched me!” Solana turned to glare at Velvet, but the teen just looked confused. 

“Velvet-”

“Solana, are you serious right now? This-” Velvet gestured towards the illusion, “can’t be real. Caran is dead.” 

“Or, he could be standing right in front of you,” the elf mumbled, turning back toward the illusion, “How did you escape Unor?” The illusion paused for several seconds before sniffling.

“H-he almost killed me. But I ran. I’ve been wandering the wilderness for- I don’t even know how long it’s been now.”

“See!” Solana exclaimed, pulling him into another hug, “I knew you weren’t dead.” 

“You’re an idiot,” Velvet stated, running a hand through her hair, “Maybe there’s some mind manipulation going on after all.” Solana ignored them, instead focusing on the small boy in front of him. 

“I can’t believe-” the elf paused for a moment, “I’m so glad you’re ok.” Caran sniffled and buried his face in Solana’s shoulder. 

“I missed you,” he said, though it was muffled, “I thought I was seeing things when I saw you guys here and-”

“Shh, it’s ok. We can talk once we get somewhere else. Velvet-” The elf turned to talk to their friend, but she was already gone.

Eventually, Iris slowed down, allowing Maroon and Thorn to catch their breath. 

“She’s just over this fence, in that tent!” Maroon gave the child a confused look. 

“Why is she outside the park?” they asked. Iris turned back to look at them.

“She’s not outside the park,” she began, ���That’s the V.I.P. section!” 

“V.I.P. section?” Thorn asked, “I didn’t know carnivals had a V.I.P. section.” 

“And what’s with the fence?” Maroon questioned. Iris frowned at the duo. 

“I don’t know, how would I? All I know is that mom’s in there.” Thorn put a hand on Iris’s shoulder and smiled. 

“Right, sorry Iris.” Maroon looked at the little girl before sighing. 

“Sorry.”

“We just gotta find a way over the fence…” Iris mumbled, looking around. Thorn laughed and turned to their little sister.

“Don’t worry, bumblebee, I’ve got that covered.” It kneeled down and pulled her onto its back. Iris let out a small shriek but a big smile took over her face once Thorn stood back up.

“Piggy-back ride!” she screamed, throwing a hand in the air. The two teens both laughed, causing Iris to turn back to look at Maroon. 

“But what about Mar-Mar?” she asked, “I don’t think he’ll fit on your back.” Maroon’s eyes widened.

Mar-Mar? How-

“They,” Thorn corrected, snapping the teen out of their thoughts. Iris looked at him.

“Oh. They.” Maroon looked at the young girl.

“It’s okay. And I have my own ways. I’ll meet you guys over there, okay?” Iris’s smile returned and she nodded. 

“See you there, Mar-Mar,” Thorn said with a smirk. Plants quickly grew from the ground and propelled the two of them over the fence. Maroon heard Iris screaming as they flew but then- nothing. The two of them completely disappeared from view, as if they had vanished. There was only the sound of patrons behind them and the wind. Maroon’s eyes widened. 

“Thorn? Iris?” they called out. No response. The plants Thorn had grown quickly withered and died in front of their eyes, which sent a chill down the teen’s spine. Maroon grew a mushroom underneath them and looked over the fence. Nothing seemed out of place, just normal fake grass that was spread around the carnival. The tent still stood in the distance but no one seemed to come in or out of it. Maroon took a deep breath before looking at the ground once more and hopping over the fence.

[rjhamster]

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[carterthompson]

✦ EVAN MOCK, CIS MALE, HE/HIM ✦ CARTER THOMPSON the THIRTY year old has been in Hidehill for FIFTEEN YEARS and was a ACQUAINTANCE to Miyeon Kang, the murder victim. Whispers on the streets are that the FIREFIGHTER/EX MILITARY who lives in HIDE SQUARE are said to be EXTROVERTED and DIMWITTED but I guess we’ll find out for ourselves. [MADDI, 24, EST, SHE/HER]

CHARACTER BASICS

FULL NAME: Carter Phillip Thompson

AGE: Thirty

GENDER & PRONOUNS: Cis Male, He/Him

FACE CLAIM: Glen Powell

EYE COLOR: Brown

HAIR COLOR: Light Brown

HEIGHT: 6′0″

DATE OF BIRTH: October 20th, 1993

ZODIAC SIGN: Libra

OCCUPATION: Ex Military / Firefighter

HOMETOWN: Cleveland, Ohio

TATTOOS: TBD

LIKES

his dog, sunrises, the color green, digital cameras, the sound of rain in the morning, cooking meals, wearing old sweaters in the cold, aviator sunglasses, taking his car to the car wash, watching reality shows, poptarts

DISLIKES

doing laundry, soups, having to dress up formally, getting sand on wet feet, anything pumpkin flavored, when people bite their nails, driving when its snowing out, rock music

Carter Thompson grew up in Cleveland, Ohio to a middle class family of four. He was the oldest of two kids and the dumbest. He was favored by his mother and dismissed by his father. He found it hard to fit in at home, feeling like an outsider most days because he wasn’t the image of his father like his father had wanted in a son.

Carter was a toddler when his sibling entered the picture. His mother had always wanted to adopted a child and when his father finally agreed, the new baby was welcomed with open arms by both parents. Carter had a hard time adjusting, but finally did come around a few years later. Despite feeling like the newest addtion of the family was a replacement for him.

When he was 15 the family moved to Hidehill, Tennessee to be closer to family in Nashville. Carter hoped to find more acceptance from this side of his family, but was met with the same dismissive attitude his father showed for him. Everyone was always so much more interested in the younger brother of the two, eager to hear what the star child had been up to as opposed to the child who was falling behind.

While he didn’t excel in grades in high school, he did with his social life. Using school and friends as a place to escape his life at home. He was always found laughing about something with his friends or making new ones in class. He was probably one of the only kids upset when graduation came around.

Unsure of what to do with him, he let his father talk him into joining the military. Wanting to do something to please his dad for once in his life, he went through it. Carter served 8 years in the army before coming back home. He thought he would finally be met with the love and acceptance he wanted now that he had done something to be proud of, but his father just shrugged him off again while his mother was happy to see him.

Three years ago, his parents moved out to Nashville to retire while Carter and his sibling stayed behind in Hidehill. Finally feeling like he could breathe and do what he wanted with his life, he became a firefighter and adopted a sweet puppy that he treats like his own kid. 

QUICK FACTS

Has a miniature poodle named Sugar

Loves hot chocolate

Hobbies are photography and thrifting old sweaters

Favorite movie is Wolf of Wall Street

Drive a white Toyota Corolla 

CONNECTIONS | PINTEREST

[poppy-metal]

okay heres a concept that was on my mind:

friend/secret mutual feelings w (soft) frat boy steve? kinda s1 steve vibes, but college aged. youre at a party and get a bit too drunk, he sees a guy trying to make moves on you while you can’t even hold your head upright. he comes over & has his back faced to the guy as he looks at you all soft & concerned like “everything alright over here princess? he bothering you?”

anyways i would love to be 🕊 if its not taken? i love your stuff & wanna interact more :)

protective steve 😵‍💫😵‍💫 his cologne hits you first. the sharp spicy scent undeniably expensive and recognizable. then you feel his arm slide around your shoulder smooth and warm, the easy tug of you into his side, the click in your head the moment you fit against him perfectly.

he has his sunglasses on but his head is tipped down towards you as he speaks. and you can guess his expression anyway, eyes honey soft. maybe some green splashed in there if you stared hard and long enough.

you say, "steve." his name like a sigh on your lips, slipping between your lips like sweet alcohol. his head inclines a little more, listening. "its fine. but. can you take me somewhere? s'getting loud in here."

you dont want him to get confrontational on your account, though you appreciate that he totally would.

"uh huh." hes already guiding you away, hand at the small of your back. doesn't even spare the other guy another glance. neither do you, to be fair. you're focused on the outline of his palm through your blouse. "come with me."

he takes you somewhere quiet in the house. a room no ones using. the music is muffled when he closes the door. leans against it and just. looks at you. he takes his sunglasses off and pushed a hand through his hair, and bites his lip. "better?" he asks.

you nod. shuffle back until the backs of your knees hit the bed and you sit. it is better. you'd been getting overwhelmed by it all. the loudness. the man flirting with you. he wasn't being an asshole persay, he just. wasn't steve.

"thank you." you smile at him. "my hero."

his eyes flash with something you cant figure out in the dim light of the room. he pushes off from the door and walks to you, until hes standing over you and you have to look up at him from where you're sitting.

hes a dream. that brown hair, styled and soft and floppy. his face is somehow boyish and manly at the same time, with his square jaw and angelicly soft face. full lips and big eyes. so pretty and so big. hes like a prince from a fairytale. you always tell him so.

when he cups your cheek, you lean into it like a cat. his thumb rubs over your cheek, back and forth. "i didn't like that." he says quietly, like hes telling you a secret. you blink up at him. "i didn't like seeing you with him. it made me feel-" he chews his lip, eyebrows squeezing like hes pained.

you fist his shirt in one hand. "made you feel what?" did it make him feel the way you did when you saw girls hanging off him? twisted and ugly inside?

his thumb moves so it's tracing your bottom lip. "no ones good enough for you." your mouth parts naturally and his eyes darken noticeably. his thumb hovers on your lip, on the precipice of dipping inside. you consider moving forward, wrapping him between your lips. "not even me."

instead of arguing about it- you'd had this argument too many times- you give into temptation. moving forward just enough to seal your mouth around the digit. lashes fluttering at the salt of his skin on your tongue. steve. any part of him filling you is heady.

his breath hitches. you feel his thumb twitch in your mouth. hear him swallow.

you let yourself suck around him, hear the shuddering way he whispers your name, like it hurts him to say it. like you're torturing him.

you hold his wrist as you let his thumb pop free, look up at him with big eyes.

"i think you're the best thing that could happen to me."

maybe he would argue. maybe its the alcohol from earlier in both your veins, maybe its the jealousy of seeing another man make you smile tonight, maybe hes just tired of beating himself up, maybe hes just too fucking weak to push away what he wants, but he doesn't deny it. because what the fuck was that stunt? sucking his thumb? you're evil. and he doesn't stop himself from exhaling a quick "fuck." before he leans down to kiss you.

[althememelord]

Hawaiian RollerCoaster Ride

Mirabel knew her powers were oddly timed at best, erratic at worst. There was no rhyme or rhythm as to how it came or went, it was not linked to her emotions like Tia Pepa’s gift nor was it like Luisa’s whose gift was simply a part of her being. It wasn’t like Dolores’s gift, which never had an off switch, bless her prima’s soul, the things she must have heard. 

The closest one in the family who could understand her plight was her Tio Bruno with his involuntary visions. The more he suppressed the visions the more it affected his health. Luckily due to the therapist version of herself, which became known to the family early on, the family was able to express themselves better thereby lessening the worst parts of having their gift. That is for everyone besides Mirabel who had to, more often than not, deal with the fallout of one of her portals such as the time the genie version of herself popped into their world and caused havoc for 24 hours before getting bored and going home. 

Yeah........Mirabel got several chancla’s thrown at her for that one. But it wasn’t her fault her gift didn’t come naturally !! There was no manual as to how to deal with a gift given to a person from a magic forever burning candle. 

Nonetheless, here Mirabel stood, in front of a portal that found itself in the middle of the town square spinning as if portals to a parallel universe has always been there. 

“Anything yet mija?” Julieta asked as she wiped her hands on her apron on her way back from her food stand just a few paces away. 

Mirabel shook her head, “nothing. It’s hard to tell when anyone comes out and the portal itself is still solid to my touch.” 

Mirabel places her hand onto the swirling vortex to prove her point. Over the years Mirabel had learned that despite the erratic nature of her gift, there were a few things that one could expect. 1) The portals could be moved but only by Mirabel. 2) The portal will only be moveable once a version of her has gone through it. 3) If the other version of herself was not touching the portal on their side then no one would be able to pass through, which included Mirabel herself. 4) Mirabel and the different versions of herself were not the only ones who could go through the portal but a version of Mirabel must be near the portal in order for others to pass. 

A light glow broke Mirabel from her thoughts as she told Dolores to call the familia over to the town square as backup just in case. 

“What type of Mirabel do you think will come through this time Mira?” Antonio asked, eyes shining in curiosity. 

“I’m not sure juagarcito, I just hope this one is nice.” 

“Don’t worry, we have your back” Camilo added, slapping her back good naturedly, the rest of the Madrigals smiling and nodding in agreement even Bruno who had slowly but surely come out of his shell. 

The portal grew brighter still until a brilliant flash covered the portal momentarily blinding everyone and out popped well........a Mirabel. A mirabel wearing a floral printed short sleeved shirt and shorts with her hair tied into a ponytail and sunglasses on her face instead of the usual green glasses. Strapped to her body was a brown guitar that looked well loved with colorful strings attached. 

“Woooah, where is this ~” the other Mirabel said in a distinctly chilled way.

“.......uh hi there,” Mirabel said waving to her counterpart. 

The other Mirabel lazily slipped her sunglasses down and said “yooooo, you look like me now that’s real ʻano ʻē (weird).” 

“Riiiiight -uh well, you might have guessed this is another world and I am your other self. My gift is controlling portals to parallel universes......sort of.” 

“Ooooh a superpower, ainokea (it’s cool/no worries).” 

“Sorry to step in but don’t seem worried at all, surely your family should be worried about your disappearance,” Julieta said looking at the sunglass wearing Mirabel in concern. 

The other Mirabel waved her hand in the air nonchalantly, “it’s all good, you saved my butt actually. I was late for practice but surely now tutu (short child version of grandparent) will not lecture me for falling into another universe.” 

“Tutu?” 

“Ae, tutu my -ah grandmother. She’s really strict about practice since we have an interstate hula competition coming up and I'm Isa’s backup guitarist.” 

“Hula?” Isabela asked. 

“We need to get you back as soon as possible then” Mirabel said to her other self. 

“It’s a traditional dance and don’t worry too much it’s all good.” 

“No no, we have to get you back. You clearly have important things to be doing and I don’t want to be affecting my other self’s life in the pur-” 

“Woooah slow down there hoa (friend) , you need to breathe. Just let things go, you have to flow to the motion of the ocean you know.” 

“I don’t- what do- I mean si, yo entiendo pero falling into another dimension would freak most people out don’t you think.” 

“But i’m you!!” 

“Well technically -” 

“And you’re me.” 

“That’s half true but still...” 

“Then it’s fine. We’ll just go with whatever happens ~” 

For some reason, Mirabel felt a headache come along from how relaxed her counterpart acted as they went off to say hello to the rest of her family. Mirabel couldn’t put her finger on it, but she feels like things shouldn’t be this easy. None of her counterparts ever made life easy. Well, no that was wrong, they could make her life easier in the long run but during their short stays in her world something always happened. Something was bound to happen. 

And as if the divine had heard her musings, a large vine short through the portal grabbing Mirabel from where she stood. 

“oh fu-” 

“Aaaiii, I thought it would take her longer to find me,” the other Mirabel said as she slinked on closer to the portal where Mirabel was hovered in the grasp of a large vine. 

Her own Isabela quickly cut the vine off, catching Mirabel in a bed of flowers, “are you okay hermanita” Isabela asked checking the younger for any bruises. 

“Yeah no i’m good, I think i just bruised my ego is all.” 

“Mirabel !! What did I tell you about going surfing before practice” another Isabela shouted as she walked through the portal, wearing a floral two-piece dress that was far more tight fitting than Mirabel’s older sister had ever worn. In the other Isabela’s hair was a blue hibiscus. 

Before the other Isabela could continue her rant, Mirabel exclaimed to her counterpart “wait you guys have gifts?” 

“Eeeeh gifts, we call them superpowers you know like in DC and Marvel.” 

“Marvel?” 

“Oh yeah, it’s about these people who have superpowers right and they get their powers from like radioactive -” 

“Not the point right now Bel !! I told you to be at the practice hall by 9 and what time do you think it is now.” 

“Time is a human construct.” 

“Its midday. You are more than just a little late, we have two weeks until the big competition and you’re out surfing all day.” 

“Ssssh Isa breathe, we’ve run through the performance dozens of times even tutu has approved. Why don’t we just enjoy a small break, I mean its not everyday we are in another universe right.” 

“I........” 

It was at that point that the other Isabela actually took her time to look at her surroundings and not only see her family dressed in foreign clothes but to see another version of herself and her sister looking at them with wide eyes. 

“WHAT THE F**K”

For more click the infinity au tag and for other stories click here 

[l-wannabe-l]

Short Circuit

Chapter 1: First Impressions

During the events of T2 John's half-sister, Aria catches the attention of the T-1000. Having failed a second time Skynet starts targeting the people who will one day fight beside John.

T-1000/Austin x OC

This first chapter will follow the movie but it will start diverging soon. I'm still new to fanfic writing so feel free to leave a comment.

It was gone.

Not in my closet or my drawers or under the bed.

It was gone.

The little money maker that I made and the little brat took it. I grab my cardigan and make my way out into the hallway. He's probably made it to the mall already (and he didn't even think to invite me), spending money that's not his. I mean it's not mine either but that's not the part I'm upset about. Knowing the way he drives on his bike I'll be lucky if the atm card is still working when I get it back. As I looked for my keys, they were RIGHT HERE I SWEAR, the doorbell rings. Seeing as it's not my house I don't go to answer. I hear the door open accompanied by a tired sigh.

Todd must've gotten it.

"Are you the legal guardian of John Connor?'

That's never a good question. I take a peek around the corner to glance at the man at the door. The first thing I notice is that he's wearing a police uniform. Yup, not good.

"That's right, officer. What's he done now?" A very valid question that the officer ignores as he seems to scan the house, pausing briefly as he spots me before turning his attention back to Todd.

"Could I speak with him please?"

"Could if he were here. Took off on his bike this morning so he could be anywhere." Todd answers with a shrug, clearly not giving two shits as Janelle joins him at the door.

"Do you have a photograph of John?"

"Yeah sure, hold on." She turns to grab her wallet and sees me hiding behind the corner. She looks at me expectedly probably thinking I know what's going on. I just shake my head. Like I would tell her even if I did know.

"You gonna tell me what this is about?" Todd tries asking again as Janelle rejoins them, handing off the picture.

"Just need to ask him a few questions. He's a good-looking boy. Do you mind if I keep this picture?" He asks as he studies the image.

"No, go on. There was a guy here this morning looking for him too." Janelle offers. This gets the officer's attention as I see him still and look back up. This surprises me too as I wasn't here in the morning and my foster parents apparently didn't think to tell me about some stranger looking for my little brother.

"Yeah, a big guy on a bike. That got something to do with this?" Todd adds. Dear God John, who are you getting involved with? The officer pauses for a moment before responding.

"No. I wouldn't worry about him. Thanks for your cooperation." He takes one last glance up in my direction. Our eyes meet. Only for a second before he's gone. But it's long enough to send a chill down my spine. Police officer or not that man is dangerous and he's heading straight for John. When John fails to answer his phone, that I got him by the way, I hurry to find my keys and make my way outside. The cop had left. He'll have to ask around to find John which should buy me some time.

It's a bit of a distance to get to the mall and the traffic of a Saturday afternoon doesn't help but I make it. I head towards the arcade on the second floor but have to backtrack around a corner when I spot the officer from earlier talking to some kids.

Christ, he works fast. This man really takes his job seriously.

The kids seem not to know anything as the man continues on and out of sight… in the direction of the arcade. DAMN IT. I hurry after hoping he'd walk past it which he does. I slow down to look through the windows hoping to catch a glimpse of John.

"Excuse me, have you seen…"

Stopped by the entrance I turn to look at the speaker realizing too late my mistake as I'm face to face with the very man I was avoiding. Because of the close proximity, I notice he's tall, and with a square jaw, bright blue eyes, and soft-looking light brown hair, he's handsome too. This is bad for me, because tall and handsome have gotten me in trouble before and I will not let it do so again. But he's staring, obviously recognizing me from not even an hour ago, so I blurt out the first thing that comes to mind.

"Lo siento señor no hablo ingles."

His brow furrowed in confusion which I take as my cue to leave. So with an "Adios!" I duck into the arcade, send a quick thank you to my high school Spanish classes, and hide behind the first big machine I find. From there I see him enter the arcade looking left and right, scanning as he did earlier, before turning to a pair of girls by a pinball machine. I turn away to go find John eventually finding him playing Afterburner.

"JOHN!"

"AAHH!"

"A cop is looking for you, what did you do?" He spares me a glance before returning to his game.

"... Is this because I took the card machine? Listen Aria, I'm sorry but mine broke."

"I am pissed about that but no."

"Is it cause I didn't invite you? In my defense, you weren't home."

"John..." I begin when Tim, John's buddy, slides up to us.

"John, hey there's this cop scoping for you, check it out." That got his attention, and let me be upset for a second as he takes a look around Tim and the machine to see the officer questioning another kid who points in our direction. John grabs his backpack, I grab John and we both head towards the employee door briefly looking back to see the officer pushing kids aside to catch up. I open the door and push John ahead of me, both of us running.

"So you'll listen to Tim but not to me?"

"Tim never messed with me about surprise police inspections." Ever since we were young mom drilled into us that the police were bad news and, like the caring and protective big sister that I am, I decided to add to this training. Suffice to say John tends to double guess me now and then.

"That's fair." Turning the corner we surprise a worker who yells at us and who we ignore as we push through the exit doors. That's when we turn to see a large man in a leather jacket and sunglasses and I freeze up as he opens the box to pull out a shotgun the roses he was carrying crushed beneath him as he advances. John pulls me back the way we came, the man following as we try the other doors.

Locked.

Trapped.

I chance a glance back to see he’s caught up with us. Another look forward reveals the officer appearing through the doorway, with a glare almost as menacing as the gun. I hear a click and a look back shows the shotgun has been leveled at us.

“Get down.”

What?

"ARIA!"

Lucky for me John has the good sense to listen to the man as he ducks down pulling me with him. I cover him as gunshots ring above us. I look up to see the officer blasted back a few inches, silver wounds appearing where red ones should be. The man in leather grabs us, spinning to cover us as the cop starts emptying his clip at us. I hear the poor employee from earlier scream in pain as he gets caught in the crossfire.

John and I scream, fear gripping us.

The bullet fire pauses for a moment giving our (definitely not) human shield the opportunity to bust open the door to our left and push us in. He turns away just in time for the officer to finish reloading but is undeterred by the bullets finding a home in his torso as he continues his march forward. He levels his own gun, shotgun shells flying as he blasts one after another pushing the smaller man back until he falls and our savior is allowed to reload. As he does so the silver gaps fill in and the man rises from where he lay grabbing the gun and catching the bigger man off guard as he tries and fails to gain back control. So instead he moves to grab the cop but is instead thrown into one wall then another. Cement and plaster alike collapsing in their struggle until they both disappear through a wall.

Despite the obvious difference in size, the larger man is the one being thrown around like a ragdoll which spells bad news for us. So I grab John again, pulling him behind me as I head towards the door that leads to a staircase. We head down until we reach ground level, the parking lot, we run over to John’s bike, an old thing that was mine before I handed it down when I got a new one. Trying to start it up now I remember why I upgraded.

“John, your bike is a hunk of junk!”

“It was your bike first! Just start it already!” The engine finally starts running just as the doors burst open. The cop racing after us on foot as we speed off.

[thestylesplash]

Tropical Print Trouser Co-ord + Style With a Smile Link Up

Bom dia from a very warm Madeira! I hear the weather is pretty warm back home too. We took these photos a couple of days ago when it was quite overcast, although still hot and muggy. Obviously I had to visit my favourite shop, Dona Hortensia, while we were walking around Funchal. Actually, I’d already popped in quickly a few days prior to that and bought this co-ord. It was ideal for a cloudy day…

[boop-le-snoot]

masterpost ☀️ main masterlist ☀️ taglist

previously on...

This chapter is very dialogue heavy. Stephen Strange being a little bit of a dick and Tony being a sweetheart. No warnings here, just plot and worldbuilding. I think Tony is his own warning to be honest... Do we want fun facts before each chapter like before or nah?

Sorcerer Strange stared at me with the heat of a plasma beam after I finished stuttering throughout my story, one accurate eyebrow raised and sharp cheekbones painting him displeased and dangerous in the yellow light of the store lamps. The whole experience shook me more than I would have liked to admit to myself and his mute reaction wasn't helping matters at all.

"Hmph," he finally cleared his throat, taking a step back and casting a thoughtful look over the shelves in the store. "You did all you could. Perhaps, we owe you gratitude," his tone was far kinder than his face. "How long have you been doing... This?" He vaguely gestured with a gloved hand.

"Long enough," I replied without thinking. My stress levels urgently rose above acceptable and the feelings needed to be let out now; Wong's dismissive attitude and Strange's half-assed apology for the attitude was still fresh in my mind.

The sorcerer sighed, briefly touching the bridge of his nose. "I won't pretend to understand the reason for your hostility but I'd like to remind you we're on the same side here," his steely blue eyes attempted to peer into my soul.

"There are no sides here," whatever he was selling, I wasn't buying it. "There are just people who get hurt, either because of unstable maniacs with superpowers or aliens who think Earth is an all-you-can-kill buffet," I stuck my dirty, bloody hands in my pockets. "You do your part in mitigating the damage, I do mine. That's all there is."

"And you would be making my job expotentionally harder if you get in the way and slow down professionals, even if you mean well," the man's temper had, evidently, won over and he immediately got on the defensive, crossing his arms and trying to glare me down.

Odette's words rang true, starting a storm of hollow anger in the pit of my skull. "Now listen here, you privileged prick," the damn burst at the seams as I squared up to give him a piece of my mind. "You and your Hogwarts rejects and the merry band of billionaires may have the opportunity to 24/7 healthcare and near-instant compensation for any damages the villain of the week decides to bestow upon your shallow little heads," I advanced half a step towards Strange, hands bailed into tight fists, internally rejoicing at the way he leaned back. My blood sang with adrenaline as I breathed the exhilaration.

"But how many people do you overlook? How many children never make it because your super secret organisation gives their parents an ultimatum just because they are different? This is a safe space for the ones you pretend not to see until it's convenient and it will stay that way, over my fucking dead body, if need be," I stared at the tall man, almost physically feeling his brain halt and pause with the cartoony sound of screeching tires. Whatever he was expecting, it wasn't this.

A pregnant pause hung in the air, both of us waiting for the other to explode.

"Don't you think I am aware," Strange finally seethed through gritted teeth, alarming golden sparks shining in his eyes. "The Avengers are not under the rule of SHIELD and I, personally, have no affiliation with either. I do not condone their barbaric methods," the man was struggling to form his sentences properly but even despite that, I understood his ideas.

I desperately wanted to believe his words to be true, I really did, but... "Then do your fucking job and let me do mine. I do not go out there and intervene, I merely clean up the mess you all leave. Something that nobody wants to do do, so unless you've got any takers, I'll keep helping those you deem unfit," in a fit of muted rage, I flew my arm to point at the abandoned cars and destroyed concrete outside of the window, the empty street and the clouds of dust rising into the moody skies.

The entrance door flew open suddenly, with a force strong enough to bang the heavy, old handle against something outside, letting in the stuffy air inside the bodega. Strange jumped at the sound of the screaming hinges, my own heart skipping a beat from the startling interruption.

Visibly composing himself, the man pierced me with a final stare before starting a dangerously quiet, "Very well, goodbye," and hightailing it out of Odette's before disappearing in a golden circle just outside the front porch.

I let my shoulders sag for a brief moment of respite, feeling the tension bleed out of me and penetrate every nook and cranny in the room. My protection charms were mostly destroyed, silver dull, glass and amber crackled. Tossing them into the appropriate recycling bin, I set to clean up the shop, flying through the motions in record time and wandering home through the damaged streets on autopilot.

My anger had cost me more than a fortune in my past but no matter how much I sought to reason with myself, I couldn't bring it to justify Strange's attitude towards my choices. The more I thought about it, the less rational my guesses became; I forced myself to stop thinking about it when my brain had unhelpfully supplied an absurd notion of him being jealous of my lifestyle: he knew next to nothing of my skills and his opinion was based solely on seeing me work the store front and one cleansing spell I'd performed on Bucky. There was simply no rational explanation for his behaviour.

NYC life wasn't affected by the battle in the slightest, it seemed; a day and a half later, I was back at Jeremy's, serving overpriced hot beverages to the rich and the busy. I'd slept on the Bucky and Strange situation, got a handle on my feelings and decided to simply put it away. There were other, more pressing things to worry about than a couple of men.

I didn't expect the flood of anxiety that turned my hands to lead upon seeing Tony Stark's signature suit-and-sunglasses wearing ass waltz into the café. He flashed me his usual easy grin but didn't remove his glasses, eyes eerily blank behind them, as he motioned for his usual order before leaning on the countertop with the entirety of his upper body. "So, Starshine, what is it exactly that you do?" Came the question I was dreading. "Are you, like, a witch? The broomstick and cauldron kind?"

"Mr. Stark, I am serving you coffee and a muffin as we speak," I replied curtly, raising an eyebrow.

"Drop the act, honeybuns. I thought we were friends," if I squinted, I could see that he was genuinely hurt by my lack of desire to communicate. Or, perhaps, he simply was unused to not satisfying his curiosities immediately.

Either way, I stood no chance against Stark patented puppy eyes. "I clock out at two," a sigh of epic magnitude left my mouth against my will. "You can interrogate me then. Until that, it's lattes and cheesecakes only."

Tony narrowed his eyes, smile warming up by a smidgen. "Interrogate you? Never," he pocketed the napkin with Dr. Banner's scribbles the doc had forgotten last time. "I'm merely curious." Another flash of his teeth and he was gone, taking what little peace I had left along with him.

The hands on the clock made their hurried rounds over and over. My chest had grown it's own set of ticking, grinding, mismatched gears as the endless possibilities coursed a steady stream through my head. Tony Stark was a wild card, his struggles with authority a widely known fact, as frequent as his strange habits in just about anything. And while I doubted I would get ambushed and locked up, I had no qualms of him berating me for telling off his boyfriend. He seemed like the possessive, overprotective type, anyways.

As soon as I exited the café, surrounded by the smells of flour and coffee grounds, my eyes immediately landed on the shiny, brand new Audi illegally parked right in front of the establishment, it's owner leisurely leaning against the hood with a face of contented boredom as passerby pedestrians shamelessly ogled him and his ride. His face lit up as he noticed me, immediately rushing to hold the passenger side door open for my comfort. "M'lady," the dorky remark didn't fail to summon a smile to my face even if it was a weak shadow of my usual camaraderie.

"Mr. Stark," I greeted him as soon as he peeled off the crowded sidewalk.

The lack of joy on my face didn't go unnoticed by him and every now and then, he snuck a glance at my face. "Relax, Starshine, I won't bite."

"Well," I mumbled, remembering the vicious way I had torn into his boyfriend. "Good to know."

Seeing as that didn't do much for my nerves, he suddenly swerved right, rushing into a busy intersection with the ease of a practiced manic driver. "I'm feeling like a cheeseburger," he announced unceremoniously, pulling into a parking lot of some place I never noticed.

I doubted that I could swallow anything at all but relented, sitting down opposite him in the furthest booth from the entrance. I ordered the biggest milkshake they had as Tony grinned big at the waitress, finally taking off his sunglasses when she left for the kitchen.

I rested my elbows on the table under the scrutiny of his gaze. He kept quiet. I couldn't hold back my curiosity any more. "So?"

His sharp, clever brown eyes captured and held mine for the longest second in my life. I struggled not to break eye contact until he relented, focusing on the shine of my rings instead. "RoboCop almost died from the shit that happened to him," Tony's words were curt. I inhaled sharply, assuming he was talking about Barnes. The engineer's fingers began to fiddle with his glasses. "We couldn't figure out how you helped him. Not the medical, not Banner, not me and and not even Steph," he paused to run a hand through his hair. "Barnes was hit with a poisoned arrow. There were no toxins left in his body, not even a single inflammation marker showed up on the tests." With that, Tony expectantly turned to me.

I chewed on my lip in contemplation. "Magic," I simply answered, figuring Strange had already briefed him about my occupation.

Tony shook his head with a snort. "Magic that the Sorcerer Supreme doesn't recognize or cannot detect?" The question was saved in nature.

Stephen Strange was Sorcerer Supreme and I had pissed him off and remained alive. I couldn't believe my luck, if Odette's stories were anything to go by. Inwardly rejoicing, I nonetheless resigned to answer truthfully. "Because there is nothing to detect, no foreign energy," I tried to phrase it in a way a scientist could understand. "What I use to heal, it is given me by nature and willingly. Think of me as a... Conductor. I merely store the energy short-term and direct it where it is needed."

That sparked a visible interest in Tony. He leaned forward, running my whole form, over and over, with his sharp eyes, searching for something I knew he wouldn't find. "Like... Making a blood transfusion?" It was obvious that he was thinking hard about the subject. "Like a successful organ transplant?"

"Something like that," I agreed amicably, seeing as he was talking at himself rather than engaging in a conversation with me.

"But it doesn't come from nothing, the first law of thermodynamics..." He started off in slight confusion.

"Yes, the total amount of energy remains constant," I interrupted him, making his eyes widen. "It's all around us, Mr. Stark. You cannot see it, and most people even cannot feel it, but mother Earth supports her creations. More than we like to think," the corner of my mouth tilted upward at the memories. Working with Gaia directly was like being briefly submersed in a cocoon of pure, warm sunshine; like being held in mother's arms as a babe. "She is kind and she is merciful, especially to the ones whose suffering is unjust," I let the man mull over my words.

The waitress brought our orders; my throat was parched, I took a few haste gulps of the chocolate milkshake. Tony's burger, however, remained unnoticed and untouched.

"Earth is a sentient organism?"

The question made my eyebrows rise; I coughed slightly, meeting his confused eyes with a smirk. "Mr. Stark, keep your science headcanons to yourself," the banter came easily now that the status quo was established.

He rolled his eyes, fitfully resisting the smile tugging at his mouth. "I'm telling on you to Mean Green," there was no malice behind his words.

I doubted the shy scientist would do much more than stutter out two jumbled questions but let the topic slide in favour of closing up on the issue. "Would you call a wolf sentient? No," I shook my head. "But it is autonomous, it has free will. Think of it like that," I wasn't really up to par on explaining Tony all the ins and outs of my craft. The more I spoke, the more questions danced in his eyes. It was charming but not something I wanted to spend most of my day on.

"I won't pretend to be anything but sceptical but as it is, I happen to be dating a wizard," the engineer finally chortled, making hands for his burger. He made a vague gesture with his fork, expression still not-quite out of the thinking place.

"They say opposites attract," I shrugged.

"Romanoff keeps saying we're two sides of the same coin, so," he non-commitally shrugged in return. "Can't help but wonder what the fuck did you tell him that day. He was seething," Tony raised an eyebrow, tone teasing.

"Oh lord," I briefly palmed my face. "Here comes the shovel talk."

"No, no," a fry landed on the table in front of me. I snatched it right from under Tony's hand. He pouted. "He probably deserved it. I mean, you saved the Terminator and, honestly," he paused. "I heard about one third of his rant and I distinctly remember something about 'girls way over their heads' and whatnot," he did a poor imitation of his boyfriend's deep voice. "Now, I consider myself a feminist so, respectfully, I disagree," he finished with a self-satisfied smirk.

I blanked, trying to process the avalanche of information. "That's a lot to unpack," I acquiesced.

"It means he likes you. I would know," the man had the audacity to wink at me. And that, ladies and gentlemen, was Tony Stark.

"Are you hitting on me for your boyfriend?" I couldn't resist snarking back, briefly catching his eyes as I polished off my milkshake.

Tony looked at me through his thick, long lashes, a picture perfect visage of surprised innocence. "Maybe," his tone a little too south of friendly, the direction of his eyes a bit lower than my face.

The snort escaped me before I could put a stop to it. The banter - it was easy, comforting in this situation where I found myself to be akin a fish out of water. Like I was a slightly socially awkward witch, Tony was a genius engineer and a notorious flirt. He toed the lines of appropriate with practiced gusto and I hadn't had the heart to do anything but indulge in a little bit of harmless fun ever since he first stepped foot in the café, seeing right through his stone cold facade of an alleged womaniser. Call it a hunch, if you will.

Say what you want about Tony Stark but one thing was definite: he was a gentleman. I thoroughly enjoyed my ride home in his expensive, fast, latest model car. As the city streets zoomed by in a flurry of blurred lines and flashing colorful lights, I allowed my mind to finally calm and resume it's usual even wandering pace.

A hand loosely thrown over the steering wheel, Tony quietly hummed along to the music, playing with the hem of his tee whenever it wasn't occupied with driving the car. He looked so peaceful like that.

The sound system played some contemporary rock that blended in with the moderately busy afternoon of the NYC streets, submerging the surroundings in catharsis. Grey everything with the occasional burst of colour from a traffic light; the brief car ride lulled me into a state almost drowsy.

"You with me, Salem?" Tony's voice quietly took me out of my stupor.

I blinked, seeing the front door of my apartment building. "Yeah, yeah, thanks," I didn't resist the big, wide smile of relief and rejoiced upon seeing his face return to his normal expression, sparkling and mischievous. "That's my stop," I motioned lamely.

Something hung in the air, something unsaid. It leaked through the gaps between Tony's smile and his eyes, it filled up the car with something thick and foggy. I was powerless to stop its influence on me; the daze remained just as it was when we zoomed through city streets.

Tony's fingers twitched on the steering wheel as I exited the vehicle, giving him a short wave before he put pedal to the metal, quickly disappearing into the twilight. I watched his tail lights glow red amongst the flat blacks and greys and beiges of my surroundings, blinking away the dryness in my eyes only when the car disappeared from my view completely.

My apartment was just as I'd left it, warm and slightly messy- but a new feeling had crawled up from the very gutter of me, foreign and impending. The walls didn't breathe the comfort I had hoped I would finally find: if anything, none of what I encountered on my rapid beeline towards the couch felt real.

I'd grown accustomed to the comforts of my solitude and routine, to attached to the simplest task of being. Sorting through my dirty laundry had never been a favourable ordeal for me, I'd much rather lived in a relatively wide bubble- rationally, I knew that sooner or later, change had have to come, but there was nothing ever rational about having feelings on one matter or another.

My spirit was trying to tell me big things were coming and I had no choice but to listen and let the currents of fate and happenstance snatch me up and take me whichever way they pleased.

Taglist: @couldntbedamned @mikariell95 @letsby @sleep-i-ness @toomanyrobins @mostly-marvel-musings @persephonehemingway @schemefrenzy @lillsxd @bluecrazedandbeautiful @slothspaghettiwrites @xoxabs88xox

[symphonic-scream]

Digimon au Group 3: Juleka, Rose, Chloe, and Sabrina

Yeah they get pulled into this whole mess too. Juleka and Rose were watching a livestream of a concert with Luka when the portal opens, and Chloe and Sabrina were doing some online shopping in Chloe's room

Juleka and Rose are not quite dating, but they're at that point where like, they just have to say it to make it real? Like they're dating but neither will admit it and they just continue on like that until one breaks

Sabrina and Chloe are pretty close to how they are in canon I guess. Not a very healthy friendship, Sabrina thinking she only has value if she can do stuff for Chloe, and Chloe trying to emulate her mother in hope of making her proud for once

They start off in a mountain range, all four waking up on a little rocky plateau in the centre of the ring of mountains. Chloe starts to get a little panicked right off the bat, with Sabrina trying to calm her down, while Juleka is more concerned about where her brother is. He was with them before this happened, shouldn't he be there too?

She goes to take out her phone to call him and yep that's the tablet digivice things the others had too. When they hold them for the first time, the symbol on the back glows on their hand. Chloe is the only character that has the symbol on her left hand, since I just make her left handed in general now

In terms on colours, Rose got gold, Juleka a vibrant fuchsia, Sabrina navy, and sky blue for Chloe. With them all out they start to glow, and their Training stage digimon partners appear

For Juleka, Bukamon

Rose gets a Kokomon

Chloé's is a Puroromon

And Sabrina has Babydmon

They all freak out, go through the same explanation thing as the others and all that jazz. Rose, once over the shock, just marvels over how adorable they all are, giving her Kokomon and Juleka's Bukamon a big ol hug

Chloe is still tapping away at the little screen on her device trying to call home, when two bigger bird digimon, fighting each other, get too close to the group. One of them crashes into the rock near them, and turns it's eyes on them once it pulls itself up

Rather than continue fighting the two bigger birds start trying to catch/kill them instead, so their partners square up to digivolve as the screens glow white

Juleka's Bukamon turns into Betamon

Rose gets Lopmon

I couldn't help myself, Chloé's is FanBeemon

And Sabrina gets Dracomon

They manage to escape by getting the two birds fighting again, and duck into a cave. Juleka wants to go look for Luka, fearing he could be in danger out there on his own, and Rose convinces Sabrina and Chloe that it's safer if they stick together, so that's their goal

Rose gets the crest of Hope. She's treading the fine line between keeping Juleka's spirits up about finding Luka and getting home, and not giving her false hope. She has faith in their partners to protect them, but she worries that by doing so, she might be putting too much pressure on them to save them

For Juleka, hers is Compassion. She is so worried about Luka and Rose and Betamon, and even Sabrina and Chloe, that she has no left over concern for herself. She spends so much energy trying to comfort and protect her friends that she completely ignores her own needs, even taking less food to make sure someone else gets more. She's gonna learn that meeting her own needs isn't selfish, and that she can look out for others and still care for herself

Sabrina, she got Pride. She's starting in a place where she has no faith in herself or her abilities at all. She believes she's the weakest link, and has to work extra hard to compensate. Girl's gotta learn to respect herself, and have a sense of self pride without going too far the opposite direction,

And lastly, Chloe with Forgiveness. She was raised in a system where she could only do wrong in her mother's eyes, no matter how much she said she was sorry, Audrey wouldn't hear it. Chloe has spent years forgiving her mother again and again, believing she has to. She's gonna grow and learn about letting go of the weight seeking her mother:s forgiveness presses on her, and turn her sight to people who have the capacity to grant it to her

Oh boy designs time

Rose has this pink sundress, one of those big summer hats? Like, big brim, sun hat kinda thing, and her Kokomon loves to sit on it. Also, she's totally still got sandals on. If her feet start hurting from walking, oh no, a big tall goth might just have to carry her oh no-

Speaking of a big tall goth, a black tank/muscle shirt with some rock band logo on the front, maybe a homemade Kitty Section one Rose designed for them (since they don't know Marinette), and over that is like a sheer dark purple shirt? Full sleeves, the kind you can see right through. Gotta keep the classic hair dye, and she's got ripped black jeans and black boots, coincidentally perfect for traversing that mountain they're on

Sabrina Sabrina Sabrina~ white collared shirt under a pale teal knit sweater, high waisted brown shorts with a belt she probably got from Chloe. Long black socks, and hightop shoes, a nice mellow purple colour. Maybe a little simple silver chain necklace, and I like her glasses so keeping those the same

And lastly, Chloe. Black long sleeve shirt, paired with a yellow and white plaid skirt, I think the style is called pleated? Yeah, pleated. She's got some tall, black boots, with a little heel on em. Hair in a ponytail for sure, but a little curlier than canon. Probably has some big sunglasses with her too

--

Wooaaaah, we're half way there. WOOOOAHHH Squidward with a pear~

3/6 groups done. Yes I'm still going with this au that next to no one wants, this is a treat for myself. The remaining groups are all smaller, 2-3 people, so they'll be shorter.

Once more, if you have any comments or questions I'm all ears, or eyes in this case, cause, reading

[jamesmarriottistrilingual]

FIRST CHAPTER OF MY FANFIC

rest is https://www.wattpad.com/story/305719747-wanna-make-out

“Alex.”

Alex wasn’t listening. His ears were busy listening to some random song playing on his spotify.

“Alex.”,his mate George shouted. “Please come tonight. It will be fun”

“Do I have to?”,he asked.

“Yes.”,George replied.

“Ugh. Fine I guess I go.”,Alex replied.

“Cool. See ya there.”,he shouted,running down the hallway.

Then,in came tutor time.

The whole class seemed to arrive at once,with the tutor coming in 5 minutes later. Alex looked around to see who was there. A nerd wearing a green hoodie speaking to a blue zip coat boy wearing sunglasses and another boy looking at himself in the mirror. A young boy wearing a red hoodie,playing with what seemed to be a lone bullet. Square head boy looking at the ceiling. Ginger kid writing in a journal sitting next to a bearded man speaking in spanish. Near the bearded boy,there was another ginger reading a book in japanese. Next to him,there was a kid on his phone,looking at some music. There was a thud. Two kids were fighting. A pink haired boy and a purple haired girl screaming at each other and punching each other over some random comment.

“You fucking insult Nikki again and I’ll slaughter you.”,the purpled haired girl screamed at the top of her voice.

“She’s just some stupid whore.Get over yourself.”,the pink hair yelled.

“Guys. Stop. Why can’t you two just get along?”,the pink-haired girl shouted.

“LEWIS! MINX!”,the tutor shouted. “QUIT IT NOW!”. The two stopped and sat down in their respective seats.

“Thank you.”,he continued. “Right. My name is Eduardo and I hate my job. Tell me your name. Your course and one fact about yourself.”

“You. Boy with green coat.”

“Hey I’m Edd. I’m doing a Media and Art A-Level and I do comics.”,the nerd replied.

“Sad. Next to Edd then.”

“Hey.I’m Tom and I do an animation course and I like a girl I just met.”,the discord mod replied,looking at some random girl with short hair and brown eyes.

Alex learned a lot about these new people:

-Matt. Does an drama course and is vain

-Tord. Does an animation course and loves guns

-Will. Repeating the year. Does an sport media course and is never sober

-Stephen. Also repeating the year. Does a media course and always swears.

-James. Trilingual. Won’t bloody shut up about it. Does 3x A-Levels

-Fraser. Weeb. Does an art course.Probably fatherless is what Alex thought.

-Lewis. Angry twat. Does a sport media course.

Then there was Minx and Nikki,childhood best friends doing a music course. Wilbur,an indie kid doing a music course. Sapnap,who is doing a bricklaying course with Dream because they like bricks. Karl,the lonely boy doing a hair and beauty course.

The bell rings and everyone pisses off to wherever they need to be. This meant that Alex and George had to be in the library doing nothing.

Edd walked in with Matt and Tom.

“Hey. Alex and George right.”Edd asked.

“Sup.”Matt shouted. The librarian shouted ssshhhh.

“Yup. We’re Alex and George.”George replied.

“An Art and Computer Science group lmao”,Matt replied.

The bell rang again and they all walked out of the library.

[angryschnauzer]

Superior Specimen - Chapter 8

Summary: One night when you are following the Archaeology tag on instagram you stumbled across a fun looking dig… and an even more interesting Paleontologist who soon follows you back. Over the following weeks you start chatting and a friendship soon grows.

Relationship: AU Henry Cavill x Female Reader (No race or body shape mentioned)

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7

Warnings: Slow Burn, NSFW, 18+, Mutual Masturbation, Phone Sex, Drunken Piggy Back Rides, Oral Sex (Female Recieving), Drama, Theft, Amateur Heroics, Hospital Visit, Shower Sex, Oral Sex (Male Receiving), Blow Job, Fingering, Lavish lifestyle, Henry is loaded, The Shard, Expensive Gifts, Sixty nine, Unprotected Sex, Multiple Orgasms, Public Sex, Exhibitionism, Angst, Argument, Jealousy, Talk of car crashes, heroics, rough sex, use of safe words, Anal play,

I do not operate a tag list, but please follow @angryschnauzerwrites​ and put that blog onto notifications, as you will then be notified whenever i post something new.

I don’t have a masterlist, but all my works are on AO3, link here. Usually i post oneshots to Tumblr and AO3, and multichapters exclusively to AO3, but as this is my first henry story and its going to be a short series, i’ll post to both places.

Chapter 8

 On the tube an old woman had offered you a tissue and had whispered quietly;

 “He’s not worth crying over my dear”

 You swallowed and smiled weakly at her;

 “Unfortunately he was… he was just an idiot too”

 “They all are my dear, they all are”

 She got off at the next stop, giving you a pat on the arm before leaving the carriage, leaving you ride the rest of the way to Fulham Broadway on your own.

 You were on autopilot when you arrived, walking through the small shopping mall that had grown around the tube station, grabbing a pair of overpriced knock-off designer sunglasses from the concession stand to hide your puffy and red eyes, swollen from crying. As you stood in the crowd at the lights to cross the road, a stream of Ambulances and Police cars screamed past, lights and sirens blasting, but it was London, every day there was a crisis or accident and you were used to them. 

 The walk to your flat was quick, just a few roads from the tube, and you were thankful you’d brought your small clutch bag from the hotel room that had your phone, wallet, and keys in. Once inside you pulled off your clothing, everything Henry had bought for you, tossing it into a heap on the floor before you climbed into bed and curled into a ball, sobbing into the pillow.

 -

 You woke to the sound of a metal on plastic crunch from the street outside, familiar with the sound and you knew it was vehicle vs wheelie bin, an all too familiar occurrence when collection day was on a Friday and people went out that night, so the street would still be littered with bins the following day. Staring up at the ceiling you heard the doorbell ring, glaring at the ceiling but refusing to move. You didn’t care if your bin that had ended up a casualty of a car not looking where it was going, so when the bell finally timed out you closed your eyes… only to be rudely disturbed by a loud knocking on the door a minute later, a muffled voice from the other side;

 “Princess… it’s me; Henry… please, just tell me you’re ok… I’ve got to know you’re ok…”

 You could feel your emotions rising within you; a heat, an anger, and as the knocking continued you grabbed the dressing gown hanging on the back of the door and was still tying it as you pulled the door open, but surprised to see state of Henry, his clothes a mess and his face blotchy;

 “What the hell happe…”

 Your words were cut short as he pulled you into his arms, hugging you tight;

 “You’re alright… my god, you’re ok…”

 “Henry, what is going on?”

 He let you go and started pacing;

 “I was an ass, I didn’t follow you, I was stupid… I tried calling you but you never picked up…”

 “I had it on silent… I didn’t want anyone to disturb our date”

 “And then the accident, I’d gone back to the hotel, I knew it was the closest tube to where we were...”

 “Accident?”

 “There was an accident, on the road outside the London Bridge Tube, a bus and council truck collided and ran into the queue… I stayed and helped the emergency services; I was trying to find you… but you weren’t there…”

 Your hand was over your mouth, tears pooling on your lashes as you looked at him, and realised he cared so much for you that he had literally pulled people out of the wreckage of an major accident because he thought he had lost you. Wrapping your arms around his shoulders you cradled the back of his head as he slumped to the floor, sobbing into your shoulder and the softness of your dressing gown. 

 Finally he pulled his head back, a weak smile on his face as he looked into your eyes, and you saw a different Henry, one that was fragile, one that needed you as much as you needed him.

 “C’mon, let me put the kettle on”

 -

 Sipping on sweet tea as you both sat at the kitchen table, dunking Digestive biscuits in the deep brown steaming mugs, you looked him up and down;

 “You are a mess”

 He glanced down and realised his shirt and jeans were covered in dirt, grime, and in some places blood;

 “You’re right” he paused before looking back to you; “Look, I’ve got a suggestion… pack a bag. Comfy clothing, overnight things. We’ll head back to the hotel and collect our things, then head back to my place. I’ll cook dinner and we can talk… ask all those things we’ve both wanted to ask since we met, yeah?”

 He looked at you like a hopeful puppy, his deep blue eyes watery where he feared you would say no, but as you nodded he let out the breath he had been holding, and a genuine smile spread over his face.

 -

 Henry opened the door to his place and stepped aside, letting you enter and look around as he shut the door, resting all the bags from the hotel room on the shiny white tiles that covered the floor. 

 “This is your place?”

 “It’s home for the next few months” he shut the door and wrapped his arm around you; “I gave up on having a permanent place about five years ago. I would always come back to a dust filled nightmare and a fridge that was a biohazard. I keep a PO box for any mail and a storage unit for my things that I don’t need when I’m away”

 You looked at him;

 “It sounds very… lonely…”

 He paused, considering your words;

 “I’ve never thought about it that way… but, you’re right” he wrapped his arms around you, his gaze intense; “I’m sorry I over-reacted earlier… about your flatmate. I was just… I don’t know, so focused I guess on this amazing thing we have now, and what we were talking about last night… how those I fall for push me away when I have to leave… I could only think ‘this guy will be around when I’m not’...”

 You reached up and cupped his cheek with your hand, realising in that moment that for all the bravado and confidence, beneath that Henry was just like you, like anyone else, and feared losing those he cared for;

 “I would wait… I will wait…”

 You pressed a kiss to his lips, and the pair of you just held each other for the longest time, before he pulled away;

 “What kind of host am I? I haven’t even offered you a cup of tea!”

 Laughing you followed him into the kitchen, looking around at the sparse worktops, all the cupboards pristine white. Even the appliances were just plain brushed aluminium. As the kettle bubbled away you pushed yourself up onto the central island, sitting on the marble countertop as you watched Henry move around the kitchen, opening the fridge and pulling out the carton of milk, sniffing it and cringing;

 “Okay, tea may be off the menu… the milk’s off”

 Pausing he opened the cupboard, shoulders slumping when he saw the empty tea caddy;

 “No tea either…”

 Leaning back you pulled your phone from your pocket and opened google maps;

 “This is Warwick Square, right?”

 “Yes”

 You pinched the screen and zoomed out, jumping off the counter;

 “C’mon, there’s a Tesco Express just around the corner”

 -

 Walking hand in hand around Pimlico with Henry, it dawned on you that you had never visited this part of London, the sights and sounds much like most of the city, but where each little borough had its own character. Once you reached the supermarket he grabbed a basket and picked up the few things he needed, before his hand hovered over the selection of biscuits;

 “Ok, make or break time to find out if we are truly compatible” his voice had an element of mischief in it as he spoke; “Milk or Dark Chocolate Digestives?”

 You looked at the selection before you set your hand down on the bright blue packet;

 “Trick question, we both know the true answer is Milk Chocolate Hobnobs”

 He laughed as you dropped the packet into the basket, wrapping his massive arm around your shoulders and pulling you into his chest;

 “I knew there was a reason I loved you” he turned to the row of refrigerators on the other side of the isle, unaware of what he’d said, and how your eyes were a little wider as you took in his admission; “Shall I make some burnt offerings for you tonight? I have somewhat limited culinary skills, but I can rustle up something with meat or fish…”

 Nodding you were still a little stunned, finally finding your voice;

 “Yeah, I’ll eat anything”

 He cocked an eyebrow and you playfully batted at his arm;

 “Oh shut up” you laughed

-

 Dinner had been nice. An easy dish of roasted pork, Henry had thrown in some potatoes and had let them roast with alongside, and a simple salad. The one thing he did have readily stocked in his place was alcohol, and between the two of you an entire bottle of vintage Pinot Noir had been sunk over the course of dinner, and as you watched him stack the dishwasher you spread out on the massive white sofa that dominated the open plan space. You couldn’t help yourself but you popped the button of your jeans, letting out a sigh of relief. 

 Checking your phone you reopened your roommates’ email and read it again, before hitting reply. You knew deep down you wouldn’t be able to get a mortgage, but asked that you be kept in the loop and would start looking for another place come Monday. Having hit send you saw another email, this time from your Manager, requesting that you attend a review on Monday morning;

 “Huh, so much for giving me a week off” you muttered to yourself, before looking up and seeing Henry approaching you, two full glasses of red wind in hand.

 “Everything ok?”

 Taking the glass you smiled;

 “Yeah, work want me to go in for a review on Monday morning”

 “Did they say what it was about?”

 “No, but I’m guessing ‘playing heroics and injuring yourself on the job isn’t in your job description, please don’t sue us’ is probably on the agenda”

 Settling next to you he rested a hand on your thigh, giving it a squeeze;

 “I’m sure you’re right” he sipped at the wine before setting it on the small table at the side; “Hey I meant to ask, does your roommate have an Instagram account or Facebook page?”

 “Yeah, I’ll pull it up. Its where he’s trying to do more serious photography”

 He nodded and tapped at his phone for a few seconds before setting it aside, raising his glass again and clinking it against yours;

 “Cheers”

 -

 By the time the last dregs of the 2nd bottle of wine were drained from your glasses you were drunk as skunks and just an amorous. You were draped over Henry’s lap, his hand was attempting to sneak under your t-shirt as you curled one hand in his hair, wrapping a deep brown strand around your finger as you kissed him lazily. When his hand finally found your breast you moaned at his touch, his lips brushing against your neck;

 “I think we should take this to the bedroom”

 You giggled;

 “With the amount of wine we’ve had? Can you still get it up?”

 He pushed his crotch up against you;

 “Princess I’m already ‘up’, now I need to be in, and I don’t care which hole, I just want to feel you around my dick as we have some nasty drunk sex”

 You attempted to slide off his lap and land on your feet, but what really happened was you tumbled into a heap on the soft white rug, one leg still on the sofa as the other hit the coffee table and your ass in the air;

 “Help!” you cried out, giggling as Henry stood and swayed, before wrapping his arm around your waist and carrying you under his arm to the bedroom like a misbehaving poodle in Harrods.

 He dropped you onto the bed and in the light from the lounge you watched as he yanked his t-shirt over his head, and started to unfasten his jeans, letting out a sigh of relief when the massive bulge in his boxers was allowed more room to grow. With a growl be bent over you and pulled your jeans down your legs, your panties following suit, before flipping you over so you were on your front. He went to reach for your ass but had forgotten his jeans were still around his thighs, and he proceeded to trip-tumble onto the bed beside you. You couldn’t help but to giggle into the soft duvet, and it earned you a single spank on your ass that make you squeal.

 Rolling onto your back you looked at Henry as he huffed and puffed to take his jeans and boxers off, and you spread your legs as your hands strayed to your pussy;

 “Are you doing to fuck me, or shall I just get myself started?” you said with more sass than needed, but it earned you a low groan and you could have sworn you heard seams ripping as he finally rid himself of his clothes.

 “Cheeky wench!” Henry pounced on you, pulling your top over your head before fumbling with your bra, finally getting you out of it as he flung it across the room and you heard it hit something in the darkness; “I’ll show you, gonna fuck you so good you’ll have to sit on a cushion when you go into work on Monday”

 He flipped you over and pulled your ass up, and you instinctively arched your back and bared yourself to him, prone and ready, begging for attention. You felt his hands smooth over your ass before dipping between your legs;

 “Already so wet for me, you need me to fuck this cunt Princess? Fill you up with my cum? Or should I cum over your beautiful tits, so you can watch me as I spray my load on you, huh?”

 He slid two fingers into your soaked hole, stretching you as his thumb found your clit and he rubbed harshly at it, the wine making him lose his finesse but up his pressure. When he pulled his fingers out you let out a needy whine, only to feel him press his dick against you, rutting into your crease and smearing your juices over himself. 

 The friction was delicious, and you found yourself pressing back and eager for more, earning a low chuckle to rumble up from Henry’s chest;

 “You like that Princess? Like me rubbing my dick against your asshole?”

 “Oh fuck… fuck… more…”

 You felt him spit on your ass as he lowered his dick and slowly but firmly filled your pussy. As you were getting used to be filled so deep you felt his thumb press against your asshole;

 “NERD!”

 Suddenly Henry stopped;

 “Princess?”

 You turned, looking over your shoulder;

 “Look Hen, I may be up for some anal play, but lube… you gotta use lube…”

 You saw him look back and forth between your ass and his bedside drawers, as if trying to work out whether to forget the ass play and just fuck your pussy, or to give up your pussy for just a few seconds and get the lube. In the end the lube won, and he quickly slid out of you, leaning across the bed and yanking the drawer open, before pulling out a small bottle of Durex Lube. You saw it and grinned;

 “Ooh nice one. Make sure there’s enough for a tit-wank in the morning”

 Henry paused and looked at you, and you could almost see his brain short circuiting at what you’d said as it fought through the wine haze;

 “Fuck, if I didn’t want to fuck you doggy style quite so much I’d say let’s do that now…”

 He settled behind you and rammed his dick straight back into you, making you squeal as he filled you. You heard the quiet squeeze of the pump on the bottle before the cool gel fell on the crease of your ass and his fingers started to massage against your back door. He ran his finger around and around your brown rose, and you could feel yourself relaxing and trying to push back to get him to go further, making you whine;

 “Please Hen… do something…”

 He ran his thumb over your asshole and rested it on it before finally pushing in, holding the digit inside just up to the first knuckle, and that’s when he started to move in your pussy.

 “So. Fucking. Good. My dirty little Princess…”

 You whined for more, for him to go harder, deeper, and he did so with glee;

 “You want more? Fuck yes, take my dick, can feel your insides parting for me, you like my thumb in your ass? Like being double stuffed?”

 “Fuck…” your head was swimming, your chest resting against the bed as you snuck your hand between your legs and started to strum at your clit, urging your orgasm on as Henry turned into a feral beast behind you, fucking you raw and dirty, you pushing back for each thrust to feel him deeper and split you wider.

 Your orgasm happened without warning, screaming out his name as you came so hard he was sure if he hadn’t pulled his thumb out your muscles would have broken the bones in it. Your knees gave way and you slumped down onto the bed, Henry still deep inside you, fucking you as you lay spent on the bed;

 “So close… almost there…

 “Cum on my ass Hen…” you muttered as he railed into you, and you heard a groan as he pulled out of you, seconds later the splash of his hot seed landing on your naked ass, back and thighs.

 For a moment everything went quiet before you felt him wiping his cum from you, and he moved you in the bed until you were curled up in his arms, the little spoon to his big;

 “You’re fucking amazing Princess, I fucking love you so much” he slurred, before the two of you feel asleep in drunken stupors.

Chapter 9 >>>