#I also have already seen it??? and I swear I already have been pinged by it?

[inuyashaluver]

Hi!!! How are things? Idk if you saw the picture of Leah in the black pinstripe suit… suffice to say I’ve been having thoughts… and a request pinged through my mind: Leah meeting reader while wearing the suit (first time meeting; connection at first glance) and Leah stays by reader’s side throughout the evening. Heavy flirting, touchy, more dominant bf Leah who brings reader into her arms (basically takes control😩) and suring conti cup celebrations, Leah sees reader wearing her suit jacket and gets cocky. I’m thinking reader is the mysterious hot babe who everyone is wondering about

Love your work and thank you for the Jenni and Misa fics❤️❤️

suit and tie - leah williamson

leah williamson x reader

description: in which a pretty blonde steals your heart with her suit and tie

warnings: flirty, flirty, flirty, swearing, suggestive

a/n: IVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS ONE, TURN IT UP - you guys can’t expect me to react normally about this picture, come on! thank you for the love, gorgeous, enjoyyyyy xx

⋆ ★ ⋆ ★ ⋆ ★ ⋆ ★ ⋆

you and leah never believed in love at first sight until you both laid eyes on each other. the instant attraction was obvious for the both of you, hence why as soon as your eyes made contact, you knew you needed to have each other.

—

leah wasn’t really much of a party person. sure, she had fun at parties, but if you were to ask her how she wanted to spend a rare saturday she had off, it most definitely was not at a party.

but because leah values loyalty, when her best friend, alex, begged her to come to a british vogue party, full of the uk’s best in 2022, who was she to decline the puppy dog eyes?

and so, with effective convincing, leah shrugged on her best suit, resisting the eye roll when her best friend assured her this party would be fantastic.

you also weren’t really much of a party person ever, but because of your field of work, you always got dragged to them.

you’re a sports journalist and interviewer. one that was extremely valued not only in the football community, but other sports also.

you took great pride in actually taking time to do your research, to know about your athletes and asked them the questions that actually mattered.

at this time, you were quite new, not really having the opportunity to meet a lot of athletes, including leah.

it took you a while to get to leah’s side of the pitch, and before you had met, you weren’t even doing anything on the field, rather being the one on the television talking about stats and predictions for the games.

—

when leah walked in the room that night, the atmosphere was bustling and she was already regretting coming.

though she held herself well, posture up right with a confident smile present as she walked through the crowds, exchanging polite conversation with familiar faces.

she found a name card with her name on it settled on a table near the back of the room, dimly lit with candlelight amongst the chatter and clinking glasses amongst the room.

she settled, adjusting her suit jacket, slightly tousling her hair in frustration at realising alex wasn’t even sitting on the table with her.

she didn’t know anyone here, about to pull out her phone until she heard a gentle “excuse me, sorry, could i just get through?” sounding from behind her, someone came up next to her and leaned forward to examine the name card next to hers.

a dizzying scent of vanilla flooded her senses, her eyes subconsciously following the smell to look up at the most beautiful girl she’d ever seen in her life. it wasn’t even an exaggeration.

her mouth slightly hung open as she met the person’s eyes, this person being you. you were slightly shocked when you and leah made eye contact, feeling your breath hitch at how gorgeous she was.

everything in the room faded as leah looked at you, there was just something irresistible about you that leah couldn’t comprehend, she hadn’t even said a word to you yet.

after what felt like an eternity, you send a quick smile, pulling out the chair and sitting next to her, nervously fiddling with your fingers.

leah gave herself an internal pep talk, turning slightly to you, her hand extending to yours, “hi, i’m leah” she pronounces, making you look over at her with a surprised smile, a little giggle escaping your mouth, sent straight to leah’s heart which felt like was hammering out of her chest.

you place your hand in hers, shaking it gently with a charming smile, you were so nervous, the girl’s gaze not helping you at all. “(y/n)” you share, enjoying how soft her hands felt against yours,

“it’s lovely to meet you” she grins, “likewise” an electric current passed between you before you reluctantly returned your hands to your laps.

you stayed silent for a moment, before nudging her shoulder with yours softly, “did you get dragged to this as well?” you whisper, leah chuckles.

you don’t think you’ve ever been more attracted to someone in your life and you’ve just met her. leah was feeling the exact same, wanting to impress you and really hoping she doesn’t fuck this up.

“i did actually” she laughs, “don’t tell me you were as well?” she smiles at you, you nod with a grin, “indeed i was” you sigh, taking a swig of the complementary cocktail on the table, wincing when you took a sip.

“what the fuck is that?” you cough, leah looks over at you in surprise, “that bad?” she says with a laugh, watching as you take a sip of some water,

“disgusting, haven’t you tried it?” you grimace, she shakes her head, “if i had it, so do you” you demand, making the blonde laugh in disbelief.

“who made up that rule?” she challenges amusingly, you grab her glass, lifting her hand and directing her fingers over it, pressing your hand over hers for a moment and she swears her body was on fire.

“i did, drink up then, go on” you smile sweetly, leah offers you another smile, shaking her head with a little laugh before she took a little sip of the drink, matching your wince with how bad it was.

you laugh brightly at her expression, making her heart swell with pride, wanting to make you laugh like that again.

“that’s awful” she affirms, “i can’t believe you made me drink that, i thought we had something going here” she flirts, you smirk knowingly, understanding that both of you caught each other’s drift.

leah just exuded confidence, now leaning her head on her hand resting on the table, adjusting so she could face you. you offer her an amused expression, angling your body to mirror her position.

“we can suffer together?” you say cheekily, leah huffs out a laugh, “come to the bar with me?” she offers, you nod instantly, watching as she stood first, her hand held out to you.

you accepted it gratefully, letting her pull you out of your seat, and once you were upright, her hand made its way to the small of your back, directing you through the crowded room.

when you both reached the bar, she made you stand in front of her slightly in a protective nature, leaning down to speak into your ear directly,

“what would you like, gorgeous?” you swallowed the lump in your throat, telling her what you wanted and watching as she ordered for you and her without hesitation.

you turn around to face her as you both waited for the drinks to be prepared, seemingly busy. she offered you a charming smile as you met her gaze head on, feeling a little nervous at the intensity of her stare.

your eyes trail to her suit and back up to her face, apparently exposing yourself leah could clearly tell you were adorning her attire.

she silently challenges you with a cheeky grin, “you alright, pretty girl?” you return her smirk, feeling a little confident yourself, feeling comfortable with leah.

“just appreciating a good suit” you shrug, your hand extending slightly to trace the lapel of it with your finger, leah watched your movement with sharp eyes, barely breathing at your proximity.

“or maybe i’m appreciating the woman in it?” you say innocently, leah flatlined right there. she chuckled lowly, moving closer to you slightly,

“well you’re a sight for sore eyes” leah drawled, hand resting on your hip for a moment before her head nodded towards the drinks now placed on the bar behind you.

her hand seeks refuge on your lower back again, effectively weaving through the room to your seats again. leah only got rid of the contact to pull out your chair, offering you a sweet smile while she gestured you to sit.

when she sat down next to you, her chair was essentially pressed up against yours, her thigh slightly brushing yours, sending a shiver up both of your spine’s.

“so, leah, tell me about yourself” leah and you both share a little giggle, flirting shamelessly as she talked about her, you listened to her intently, she fell for you a little more at seeing you actively listening to her.

you were asking her questions to clarify when you didn’t understand, sharing your own words but not in an overbearing way, adding to the conversation in a way that made things fluid. easy. familiar.

when the blonde directed her own interrogation on you, she listened to each word with extreme focus, smiling when she’d catch your gaze, both of you somehow managing eye contact.

it was like a first date, the way you both shared parts of your lives, it certainly felt like one.

it was clear there was a spark there, the amount of things you had in common was uncanny. both of your hearts raced a little faster when you thought about where this could potentially go, you two were perfect for each other.

the air between the two of you was thickened with anticipation and attraction, the flirting making both of your stomach’s absolutely flip. there was just something so magnetising about the two of you, irresistible like a moth to a light.

her laugh was infectious and so was yours, a smile cracking between the two of you that had your cheeks hurting. each exchanged glance and playful piece of banter made the tension simmer, both of you slowly drawing each other in.

“do you want to dance?” you said with kind eyes, leah nods without hesitation, letting you drag her to the dance floor.

the two of you danced with shared giggles, lingering touches as your bodies moved together. and even though leah and you had obviously skipped multiple steps with each other, she remained respectful, not pushing any boundaries as she danced with you.

you appreciated it, appreciated her and she most definitely appreciated you. the thought of her fucking this up eating her alive and it hadn’t even happened.

“i wasn’t going to come tonight but i’m happy i did” leah said next to your ear, goosebumps rising on your skin when her breath gently grazed it. you smile at her, “me too” your hand moving to gently squeeze her bicep.

you both made way to the table once more after you both got tired, basically sitting on top of each other at this point. you continued to chat and laugh together, feeling like you’d known each other all your lives.

as the night progressed, your hands went over your arms due to a little chill suddenly being present in the room. leah was extremely observant, shrugging off her jacket and slipping it over your shoulders.

you open your mouth to protest but leah fixes you with a little glare, making you roll your eyes slightly before you let her direct your arms into the jacket, her scent making you smile as it surrounded you, more than it already was.

the party was slowly filtering out and you and leah prolonged it as much as you could until essentially getting kicked out.

she walks you out with your arm around her bicep, smiling at people as you walked past. you were both outside and gave each other slightly sad smiles, the thought of the night ending leaving a little crack in both of your hearts.

“i had a lot of fun with you tonight” you smile at her, “so did i, a lot of fun” she smiles back, her eyes trailing all over your face as you looked at each other.

“so, williamson, can i have your number?” you say cheekily, your cheeks a little pink as you asked, leah smiles fondly, nodding and fishing her phone out of her bag, prompting you to do the same. “beat me to it, cheeky”

you exchanged numbers, hands brushing against each other’s as you gave back one another’s phone.

“i have to say, you suit that jacket a lot better than me” she smirks, you shake your head, “thank you, but you’re otherworldly in this” you flirt, making her cheeks burn as she avoided your gaze for a moment.

her tongue pokes the inside of her cheek for a moment with a chuckle, taking the leap and pulling you closer so her lips were ghosting yours.

her eyes bore into yours, glancing down at your lips as her breath fanned them gently, your heart spiked, feeling incredibly warm.

your eyes flicker down at hers before she closed the gap, her lips moving softly with yours. you sigh against her as she pulls you closer by your hips, your hand gently holding the side of her neck as you kissed her.

she pulls away with a sharp breath, her breath mingling with yours as her forehead resting against yours. “let me take you out, tomorrow?” she says almost a little desperately, but you both were honestly.

“okay” you breathe out, she smiles before pressing a tender kiss to your mouth, her thumbs rubbing gently over your waist as she pulled away at arms length.

you smile at her sheepishly, her sporting her own shy smile as she looked at you. the two of you giggle again, not really believing the circumstances of kissing your dream girl and going on a date the next day.

she waits until you get picked up by your taxi, pulling you into a warm hug, the embrace soft and gentle, contrasting the insufferable flirting you’d been torturing each other with all night.

“i’ll give you back your jacket on our date” you say cheesily, leah laughs, brushing a stray hair away from your face before she cradles your cheek, her thumb brushing over your cheekbone affectionately.

she presses a parting kiss to your lips, “can’t wait, baby” she whispers against you, pecking your mouth again quickly before she ushered you to go home, not wanting you to linger out in the cold.

you texted all night, sleeping at an ungodly time but it was all worth it. leah took you on that date and you both fell in love, suddenly claiming yourselves as party people.

—

you’d now been dating for a little over two years, infatuated an understatement for your relationship. you moved in together, both of you flourishing with each other in your respective careers but also with one another.

people knew the two of you were dating, you were the definition of private but not a secret. your social media for each other was essentially a shrine.

—

it was the continental cup final, arsenal vs chelsea. you and alex were the main journalists covering the match that leah was extremely excited about.

during warm ups, she threw you a cocky grin with a wink as she saw you getting mic’d up, only growing when she realised what you were wearing.

the blazer from the night she swept you off your feet all those years ago. you wave at her when she blows you a kiss with a wave, grinning as alex teased the both of you while you both prepared.

when the final whistle blew and leah got dragged into a group hug, she bounded over to you.

“arsenal have won the continental cup!” you exclaim, feeling a body attach to you from behind, strong arms wrapped around your middle while multiple kisses were pressed to your cheeks.

you lean back into the body, already knowing it was your girlfriend’s. “leah williamson is clearly happy about the win” alex teases, making leah smile against your cheek,

her hand moves over yours holding the microphone, “very happy” she chuckles, moving to stand next to you with her hand on your hips, staying for a short interview conducted by alex.

you gave her heart eyes the whole time, buzzing with excitement to congratulate her properly off camera. if you weren’t confirmed officially with the blonde, you definitely were now.

as soon as the staff yelled ‘cut’, leah pulled you into a kiss, your arms wound around her neck as her arms went around your waist again.

“hi, gorgeous” she mumbles against your lips, “hey, champion” you grin proudly, pecking her lips a couple of times while she smiles down at you.

“congratulations, my winner” you pinch her cheek softly, she moves her head quickly to jokingly bite your finger, relishing in the giggle she elicited from you. “thank you, my girl” she winks,

“this is a nice blazer, where’d you get this?” she teases, you can’t help but smile at her, “oh, it’s my girlfriend’s” you kiss her again, her hands move to squeeze your hips.

“you look absolutely gorgeous” she breathes out, “so sweet, my love, so do you” you grin, leah smirks, “i prefer you with nothing on but that’s for my eyes only” she says lowly in your ear, you gasp and slap her shoulder lightly,

“you can’t be sweet for two seconds-” you scold, cut off with her lips against yours again in a gentle kiss, making you hum against her before you ushered her to get her medal and lift the trophy.

after the trophy was lifted, she made a quick effort to grab a bottle of champagne and chase you around with it, threatening to spray it on you. you both laugh loudly as you ran around the pitch, your hearts full of affection for each other.

⋆ ★ ⋆ ★ ⋆ ★ ⋆ ★ ⋆

you know the drill - pretend it’s yours and leah’s blazer 🫠! ily alex x

liked by alexscott2 and 44,232 others

leahwilliamsonn: double win if you ask me

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yourname: so cheesyyyyyy

↳ leahwilliamsonn: you love it

↳ yourname: do i?

↳ leahwilliamsonn: oh you definitely do

↳ yourname: don’t be so sure of yourself, williamson

↳ leahwilliamsonn: extremely. thin. ice.

[lcriedlastnight]

Enemies to lovers with Lando: "you want me?" "you know i do"

thank you so much for your request, anon!

tw: fem!reader, swears, wee bit angsty, she's a big one, dickhead!lando. lmk if you want me to add anything.

w/c: 2.8k

this weekend had gone horrible for lando so far, and of course as his assistant you had gotten the brunt of it. on days like this you don't know why you didn't just quit your job. lando clearly didn't like you, in fact you would go as far to say that he hated you and wouldn't everything go much more smoothly if you both liked each other? you lay awake in bed at night - especially after a rough day of running around like a headless chicken after lando - thinking about having a job where your boss didn't curse the ground you walked on.

you had been working overtime this weekend, making sure that lando had everything he needed all weekend for press conferences, meetings with zak and andrea and even when he needed a second alone to himself in his drivers room, you would make sure to tell anyone who was looking for him that he was busy, just so he could get a break. you had decided when lando was in looking at data after both free practise rounds on friday to grab a bite to eat. you hadn't eaten since breakfast, it was now a little past five. it wasn't an exaggeration to say you were starving.

you head towards some tables next to the cafeteria and pull what you had brought for lunch out of your bag. you pull out your phone, scrolling through your texts, one catching your eye. it was the groupchat you had with all your friends, baring in mind there was only four of you.

'it's like a double date but for the four of us!" lara, had said. the other girls seemed to disagree with whatever her idea was. you scroll down further to see the newer messages.

'what if we set her up? i'm sure her boss will give her the saturday off to go on a date with him." again it was lara who suggested it, but it caught your eye because she was talking about you. who was she trying to set you up with and why was she even doing it in the first place? there was also no way lando would be giving you saturday off, never mind during a race weekend.

you tell them so before hearing the distinct voices of lando and zak chatting away as they make their way down the hall. you sigh and pack away your half eaten lunch. you could've finished it, you were sure lando wasn't that much of a dick that he would deny you of food but you didn't want him to hold it over your head. you knew for certain he would do that. you shove the lunch bag into the bigger bag then sling it over your shoulder. your phone pings, a message from the groupchat.

'too late it's already set up, ask your boss and we'll go shopping on monday when you're home.' lara says. you could kill her. you don't respond, just shoving your phone into your pocket and walking over to lando and zak.

"hey, great to see you again!" zak greets you with a cheery smile. it's easy to happy around zak, the only time you've seen him annoyed or upset has been on bad race days. you're sort of surprised he is so because lando has not been performing so far this weekend. you bite your tongue on that one, instead giving him a smile back and returning his polite words.

"well look, as i said before, this is only friday, the only day where what you drive like matters is sunday. that's when we get the points. although i'm sure you will be back on your game tomorrow. we all have off days." zak tells lando, a comforting hand on his shoulder before he walks off in the direction he came in. you spot oscar too, so there is no doubt that it is oscar's turn for his driving this weekend to be analysed. oscar's weekend comapred to lando's has been pretty good.

"that's you for today. nothing else you're needed for." you tell lando, triple checking his calandar, making sure you were looking friday. the time where you were accidentally looking at his saturday schedule instead stays at the forefront of your mind whenever you look at his calandar.

"i know. you told me that before." lando remarks, his voice blunt and a little nasty. its like your presence just pisses lando off. you remember the date your friends set you up with and will courage to fill your veins before asking him.

"what are you still doing standing there?" lando asks, not genuinely asking, just wanting you to leave him alone. he hates seeing you outside of work and although you were in the paddock, he deems this outside of work.

you take a deep breath before just directly asking him. "can i have next saturday off?". lando stops untying his fireproofs. he looks up at you.

"why? why are you making plans on a race weekend?" he condescends, like you were stupid.

"i didn't. my friends set me up on a date without asking." you explain. you hated explaining yourself to him but you knew if there was any chance you were getting saturday off then you had to do what he asked.

lando pauses for a second, staring at you then returns to undoing his fireproofs. "no. i need you here." he declares.

you shouldn't be shocked he said no, you really should have seen it coming but it still surprises you nonetheless.

"you can't go without me for just one day?" you ask, as if you were desperate to go on this date. now it was more about him not giving you the day off than it was about actually going on the date.

lando's brows crinkle. "no. if i give you the saturday off then you'll need the sunday off too as i'm guessing it's not here so unless you're planning on flying over straight after your date?" he spits out the end of the sentence. you had not thought about that. you are quiet as you take in his words.

"that's what i thought. tell your friends to cancel the date, you're coming with me all weekend." lando basically demands.

"i'm not sure why you even want me here. you hate me, i don't know why you haven't just fired me and found a new assistant. this would work a lot better for you if you actually liked the person you need to spend the whole weekend with." you grumble, annoyed at his attitude and how he felt like he could just go around telling you what you could and couldn't do with your life. it seriously felt like you were cutting off you social life for this job. you storm past lando and straight out of the paddock into the uber waiting for you, it stands out against the rich, fancy cars surrounding it in the carpark.

you drive back to the hotel in silence, in one of those moods where everything was annoying you. you hate the fact that you had to stay in the same hotel as him. you had never been this mad at your job before. you try to unwind once you are back at the hotel by jumping into the shower but it does not help.

once you have gotten yourself dry and have gotten changed for bed, you eat the rest of your ruined lunch/dinner and text your friends back letting them know that lando was in fact, not giving you the day off for the date. you then throw yourself into bed. you put the tv on but the only channel that spoke english was the news channel and you seriously couldn't care less about the way people make tea. how did stuff like this even make the news anyway?

you scroll through all your social media apps then decide to download a job app. you enter your qualifications, cv and a description about yourself and your current job. you apply to a few then feel yourself getting tired so you set your alarms and head to sleep, dreading having to see lando tomorrow. you hope he's in a good mood because even though it doesn't matter what mood lando is in, he's still a dick to you, he's a little bit nicer when he's in a better mood.

you go over everything in the morning before you leave, making sure you have everything. as you make your way to the uber waiting outside the hotel, you check the job app but you have no new notifications. you usually only uber back to the hotels and lando drives you there seeing as you both have to arrive at the same time but there was no way you were spending more time than what you had to with him today. you seen him in the hotel carpark getting into his car when your uber was pulling away, so at least you knew he would be on time.

you and lando arrive at the paddock at the same time, you know you would have to wait for him before going in because andrea wanted to have a quick meeting with the three drivers ahead of the practise session and qualifying.

lando sees you waiting and eventually catches up to you. "andrea wants to see you guys before free practise today. i don't know how long for but it might be long 'cause he wants to talk about quali too." you don't look up from your phone as you read out what had been added to his calendar late last night.

"alright." lando replies. there's no nasty comments, no bluntness and no condescension. you are completely shocked but don't let it show on your face as you both walk inside the mclaren motor home together.

you spot oscar in the corner, eating some sort or energy bar? or maybe some kind of breakfast bar. either way it reminded you that lando probably hasn't eaten yet today, so as he and oscar head towards the meeting room you try to find something lando can eat. oscar has told you many times that making sure lando eats is not in the assistants job responsibilities and yet you feel yourself compelled to make sure he is taking care of himself.

you grab a few of the same bars you seen oscar eating earlier before heading towards the meeting room. you hate walking into the meeting room when there was meetings going on so you try your best not to do it. you have only had to do it once and it was the worst thing you've ever had to do. you were so embarrassed.

everyone is surprised at your interruption but you give them a shy smile and head towards lando. you don't say anything just setting the three bars down on the table in front of him. lando locks eyes with you. "thank you." he says.

this time you can't hide your shock as it's written plainly on your face. it's hidden from the others in the room except lando. you only smile in response then rush out the room. what is going on with him today? you sit on the same table you tried to take your break on yesterday as you respond to emails of lando's behalf and it hits you. lando is clearly feeling bad. you'll talk to him before qualifying.

the meeting ends ends and both mclaren boys are quick to get ready for free practise. from the looks of it, zak was right. lando was back in the game today. he came in third on the time sheets. you hoped this would mean a good qualifying, if not for lando and mclaren but for you. this good mood and lando treating you nicer would definitely go down in flames if lando didn't place in the top five for qualifying. you have never been religious, but you prayed then for it to happen.

you stood at the back of the garage, talking to one of lando's engineers when the man himself came over and dragged you away from him. you didn't even get a chance to apologise for lando's rude behaviour before you were both standing in the hallway to the driver rooms.

lando doesn't speak he just leans forward, pressing his lips to yours in a hesitant and light, kiss. when you didn't react he kissed you again with a little more force. every single thing in you was telling you to kiss him back but there was a single thought in your brain that reminded you who he was and how had treated you the past year. you end up pulling away and asking "what are you doing?".

lando looks at you confused. "you know what i'm doing." he utters, voice laced with confusion, like he seriously didn't understand what the problem with kissing you out of nowhere was.

"uh i don't think i do." you cross your arms, waiting for an expantation.

"i want you." lando tried to say confidently, but it comes out a little weaker than what he expected. he puffs out his chest and stands a bit taller, trying to see more confident.

"you want me?" you repeat back to him. surely he wasn't being serious.

"you know i do." lando responds, hand flying up to cup your cheek. you look at him confused. there is no way he has been living the same year that you have. what the fuck does he mean 'i want you'? you have literally never felt more confused in your life.

"do i? last time we spoke you wouldn't let me have a day off?" you remind him. you want to remind him of a lot of things right now, like every single moment he made you go home or even back to your hotel room and cry. his hand moves from your cheek.

"yeah and why do you think that was? because you were going on a date. with some guy. i don't want you going on dates with random guys i want you going on dates with me." lando tries, desperate to explain himself to you.

"i don't think you have a right to tell me who i can and can't go out with, lando." you are seething. who does he think he is messing around in your life like this? "you're abusing your position as my employer."

"fine. you want the weekend off to go on a date? you can have it off then." lando says, firm and a little sad. before you can say anything back to him, he storms away into his drivers room. you don't know why you just did that. you don't even want to go on the date, you would love to go on the date with lando instead, just like he proposed but you were still annoyed at the way he treated you. you know why he did it now but it still doesn't make it right.

you don't see lando for hours until there are people crowding around his driver room telling him it's time to come out for qualifying. you guess from the noise that lando eventually comes out. zak is there telling him information about the car. you suddenly feel that you need to tell him you do like him. right now. you just felt like he had to know. so you squeeze through the people making their way to his car with him. you find lando's hand and give it a tight squeeze to get his attention.

you pull him closer before you whisper into ear, not wanting all the people surrounding him to hear. "i want you too, but you hurt me. apologise and we can maybe work something out." you reveal. lando's eyes widen, with what you can clearly tell is happiness. he doesn't even have any time to answer you so all he gets to do is nod as he's told to get into the car.

you watch the qualifying with eager eyes, this is the fiirst time since you started that you were actually excited to watch lando race, even though it was just qualifying. he really does put the 'flying' into the flying laps. after a very long hour, lando qualifies in second.

"front row for lando!" the garage exclaims in joy. you can't help but join in. you all wait for lando's car to return to the garage before people are patting him on the shoulder in congradualations.

lando speaks to a few people before he spots you through the crowd, he wades through it to get to you. "hi. i'm so fucking sorry for being a dick to you for the past year. i don't know how to cope with my feelings and i ended up turning positive feeling into negative ones and taking it out on you. i'm so fucking sorry, please let me make it up to you." lando begs. you don't know how he knew that you didn't want anything big as an apology, just lando admitting he was wrong was enough for you.

you nod with a smile to his question and lando seals it with a kiss, not caring that the garage was filled with people and most importantly cameras. he could deal with that later. for right now he had you.

[simplyraeblue]

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ALL CHARACTERS AGED UP !femreader x !virginshoto you've had a crush on your friend shoto for a long time, and unbeknownst to you he's been crushing as well. not only that, he wants you to be his first time; for everything WARNINGS/TAGS: swearing, fluff, suggestive, shoto is kind of a simp word count: 2,707 A/N: oopsy daisy real quick short post because I couldn't help myself and the idea of sweet shoto wouldn't leave my brain... little cutesy filler part before they hit home base (˵ •̀ ᴗ - ˵ ) ✧ also I was listening to The Archer x Not Strong Enough while writing this... linked here if you want to listen while you read!

part one | part two | part three |

part four | part five

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you were desperate to ignore the incessant barrage of notifications from Mina. just moments ago, you had dragged yourself off your feet, finally collapsing onto the couch after a grueling day. the minute you sank into the cushions, your phone erupted with a flood of calls and text messages. exhaustion weighed on you heavily, and each buzz and ping felt like an assault on your already depleted energy. it wasn’t until the hundredth call that you finally gave in and answered.

“what do you want, Mina? I’m absolutely wiped out,” you groaned, trying to inject a note of humor into your voice despite how drained you felt.

Mina’s voice came through the receiver with an overly enthusiastic tone, almost too cheerful for your weary brain to handle. “get dressed up; we’re going to a fancy restaurant!”

you sighed heavily, rubbing your eyes in frustration. “did you not just hear me say I’m exhausted? I have zero energy left, and honestly, I’d rather not spend any more money right now.”

Mina’s response was an impatient tsk, filled with exasperation. “I don’t care how tired you are or what you want. put on something fancy and forget about the cost. be ready by seven-thirty, or I’m coming over there to drag you out myself.”

you wanted to argue more, but the stubborn resolve in Mina's voice told you this was a battle you wouldn’t win. plus, deep down, you knew she was right. maybe a change of scenery and some good company was exactly what you needed to recharge. with a resigned sigh, you checked the time on your phone—it was already past six.

“fine, fine. I’ll be ready,” you grumbled, hoping your tone conveyed the minimal enthusiasm you felt.

“great!” Mina replied with an exaggerated cheerfulness. “see you soon!”

you hung up and stared at your reflection in the darkened screen of your phone. despite your fatigue, you found a sliver of motivation. you stood up, stretched, and began to rummage through your closet. picking out a sleek dress and a pair of heels that hadn’t seen the light of day in months, you couldn’t help but feel a small spark of excitement. maybe this would be a good distraction after all.

as you prepared yourself, you tried to push aside the lingering thoughts of your long day. you opted for minimal makeup and a quick hairstyle, focusing on just enough to look presentable without draining what little energy you had left. by the time you checked the clock again, it was nearly seven-thirty.

just as you were about to head out the door, you heard an unexpected knock. you’d assumed Mina would just text you the address and meet you there. curious and a bit puzzled, you opened the door and started to say, “Mina, I promise I’m ready—”

but it wasn’t Mina standing there. instead, Shoto was at your doorstep, impeccably dressed in a sharp black suit. he held a bouquet of flowers, the rich colors and delicate petals contrasting with his formal attire.

“apologies for letting mina trick you,” Shoto said, his voice gentle and warm as he offered you a reassuring smile. “I wanted this to be a surprise.”

“Shoto, what’s going on?” you asked, your confusion mingling with a touch of excitement as you accepted the flowers, your cheeks flushing at the unexpected and thoughtful gesture.

“I’m taking you on a proper date,” Shoto replied, his eyes meeting yours with a sincerity that made your heart skip a beat. he extended his arm toward you, a subtle invitation. “I figured it was about time, especially considering the… less conventional things we’ve been up to.”

you stared at Shoto for a moment, your mind racing to process what was happening. the bouquet in your hands felt surprisingly heavy, its fragrance filling the air with a sweetness that contrasted with the formal setting.

“a proper date?” you echoed, trying to reconcile this unexpected turn of events with the casual plans you had made with mina.

“yes,” Shoto affirmed, his tone steady and sincere. “I wanted to do something special, something more meaningful. and mina kindly agreed to help with the surprise.”

you took a deep breath, a mix of nervousness and excitement bubbling up inside you. “this is… really unexpected. but also, kind of amazing.”

Shoto’s smile widened, and he gently took your hand, guiding you out the door. “I’m glad you think so. I’ve been looking forward to this. let’s make it a night to remember.”

as you walked down the stairs and into the cool evening air, you glanced back at your apartment, feeling a mix of disbelief and anticipation. Shoto’s presence was reassuring, his calm demeanor helping to ease your lingering fatigue. he led you to a sleek, black car parked by the curb, its polished surface reflecting the city lights.

“where are we going?” you asked as he opened the car door for you, his touch lingering just a moment longer than necessary.

“it’s a surprise,” he said with a playful glint in his eye. “but trust me, it’ll be worth it.”

you settled into the plush leather seat, watching as Shoto got in beside you and started the engine. the car glided smoothly through the city streets, and you found yourself enjoying the rare luxury of simply being present in the moment.

Shoto made small talk as he drove, his voice soothing and easy to listen to. he talked about the restaurant he had chosen, the dishes they were famous for, and the ambiance he hoped you would appreciate. the conversation flowed effortlessly, and you could feel the genuine interest and care behind his words.

when you finally arrived at the restaurant, it was even more beautiful than you had imagined. the elegant exterior was bathed in soft, warm light, and the interior exuded an atmosphere of refined sophistication. Shoto guided you inside, where you were greeted by a host and shown to a private table with a stunning view of the city skyline.

“Shoto, this is insane,” you gasped, your voice barely above a whisper as you gazed out the window. the city below sparkled like a sea of stars, the lights stretching out as far as the eye could see. the extent of it all hit you suddenly, making you acutely aware of just how much effort and expense this must have entailed. “you didn’t have to go all out like this. I would’ve been perfectly happy with something more… quaint.”

Shoto extended his hand across the table, his touch gentle yet reassuring as he clasped yours. his smile was soft and genuine, a look of quiet pride in his eyes. “I wanted to do this. for you.”

throughout the evening, Shoto’s attentiveness and thoughtfulness made you feel cherished and valued. the meal was exquisite, each course a culinary delight, and the conversation never faltered. as the night progressed, you realized that Shoto’s surprise was not just about the setting or the food but about the effort he had put into making this night special for you.

by the end of the evening, as you sat back and savored the last of your dessert, you felt a deep sense of contentment. Shoto reached across the table, taking your hand in his once more.

“there’s actually another reason I planned this night with you, y/n,” Shoto said, his voice a bit hesitant. he lifted your hand gently, pressing a soft kiss to your knuckles. as he pulled away, you noticed a faint pink hue spreading across his cheeks, a blush that made him even more endearing.

“okay, now you’re gonna make me worry,” you joked lightly, trying to ease the tension with a playful laugh. but his nervous gulp made your own anxiety spike, and a flutter of unease began to settle in your stomach.

“I… shit, I don’t know how to put this,” Shoto murmured, his gaze dropping to the floor as he struggled to find the right words. he turned his eyes to the sprawling cityscape outside, and you felt a pang of anxiety, your heart racing in your chest. “I care about you, quite a lot.”

“I care a lot about you too, Sho,” you responded softly, hoping to reassure him. his eyes met yours again, filled with a mix of vulnerability and hope.

“I’m sure this might feel very sudden, and maybe a tad rushed,” Shoto continued, his voice trembling slightly. he squeezed your hand with a tenderness that sent butterflies fluttering in your stomach. “but, after all these years of having a crush on you, and the past few weeks of growing closer, I think… no, I know I’m falling in love with you, y/n.”

the room seemed to hold its breath as Shoto’s words hung in the air. you could feel the weight of his confession pressing gently against your heart, and the enormity of the moment made your mind swirl with a mix of emotions.

for a moment, you were silent, processing the depth of what he had just shared. Shoto’s fingers still rested lightly around yours, his gaze searching yours with a blend of hope and trepidation.

“I… wow,” you finally said, your voice soft and trembling with emotion. “I had no idea you felt this way.”

Shoto’s cheeks reddened further, and he shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “I didn’t want to rush things or make you feel pressured. I just needed you to know how I really feel.”

you took a deep breath, feeling a surge of warmth and affection for him. the realization that he had been holding these feelings for so long, and that he had chosen this special evening to reveal them, made your heart swell.

“I’ve been feeling the same way,” you confessed, your voice gaining strength. “I didn’t know how to say it either, but I’ve been falling for you too, Shoto.”

a look of pure relief and joy spread across his face, and he squeezed your hand once more, his eyes sparkling. “really? you mean that?”

“yes,” you nodded, smiling through the tears that had formed in your eyes. “I mean it. I’ve been feeling this way for a while, but I didn’t want to rush things either.”

Shoto’s expression softened into a tender smile, and he leaned forward, his forehead resting gently against yours. “I’m so glad we’re on the same page,” he murmured. “I want to take things at a pace that feels right for both of us. I just wanted you to know how much you mean to me.”

you closed your eyes, savoring the closeness and the sincerity of the moment. “I want that too,” you whispered, your heart full of hope and happiness. “let’s see where this takes us.”

as you both leaned across the table, your lips yearning to mold against his, Shoto suddenly smirked and broke the moment. “hopefully to home base,” he joked, the playful glint in his eyes causing you to snort with laughter. his smirk widened as he heard your reaction, and he leaned back in his chair, letting out a hearty laugh that was both infectious and endearing.

as Shoto continued laughing, you felt a wave of boldness and excitement. standing up from your chair, you made your way around the table, feeling a sense of exhilaration that made you disregard the curious glances from other diners. with a determined stride, you leaned in close to his ear, your breath warm and tickling his skin. “let’s take this special evening home, shall we?” you whispered, and you could almost sense the shiver of anticipation that ran through his body.

Shoto’s reaction was immediate—his face flushed with a deep, embarrassed pink. this wasn’t the end goal for him tonight, not by any measure. he wanted you to understand that his confession was heartfelt and sincere, and he hoped you knew that it wasn’t just a pretext to move things forward physically.

“I—seriously?” Shoto asked, his voice dropping to a low, almost incredulous murmur. you could see the nervousness flickering in his eyes, and it only made you more determined. reaching out, you offered him your hand with a reassuring smile, trying to convey your genuine affection and support.

“unless you don’t want to make a home run?” you teased, raising an eyebrow playfully. Shoto’s reaction was immediate and comical��he stood up from his chair with such urgency that he almost knocked it over. “wow there, eager are we?” you laughed, watching as he fumbled slightly, trying to regain his composure.

“if you keep teasing me, we’re not making it back to your apartment,” Shoto groaned, his voice tinged with frustration and amusement. he pulled you gently towards him, placing a tender kiss on your cheek. as he lingered there for a moment, you could feel the warmth of his breath against your skin, making your heart race. “I’d hate to have to take you in my car,” he added with a playful edge, clearly struggling to keep his own excitement in check.

his warning tease almost came true, because when you two made it to the car he nudged you against the side of the vehicle, letting his hands roam a little too much for the public as he kissed you fervently.

you would’ve let him take you in the car, white hot desire burning inside of you so quickly that you felt like you’d die if you didn’t have him on top of you.

even when you made it back to your apartment, you both barely made it in the door as he started pawing at your dress. Shoto had to restrain himself from ripping the tight fabric that fit so well around your ass, thinking he needed to try and remain as gentlemanly as possible.

you became a tangle of limbs as his lips met yours, hungry and needy, the two of you stumbling your bedroom. you guided him to sit on the edge of the bed before you started to work on the buttons of his shirt, sliding it over his shoulders and discarding it on the floor.

Shoto could only watch in awe as you stepped back, slowly working on the zipper of your dress (thank god you chose one with a side zipper), before letting it drop to the ground.

“you’re so beautiful, y/n,” Shoto whispered, his voice barely more than a breath. his gaze remained locked on yours, though he clearly wanted to let his eyes wander over your now exposed skin. he had seen you like this before, sure, but it never failed to take his breath away, each time more intense than the last.

you settled yourself on his lap, your body fitting comfortably against his. a soft, tender smile played on your lips as you leaned in to place a gentle kiss on his mouth. “you make me breathless, Sho,” you murmured, your lips brushing against his as you spoke. “absolutely, and utterly, starstruck.”

Shoto’s eyes fluttered closed for a moment, savoring the kiss before pulling away slightly. his gaze was dreamy, half-lidded with a wide, affectionate grin spreading across his face. “will you be mine?” he asked, his voice filled with earnest desire. “call me your boyfriend, and I’ll call you my girlfriend. we’ll make our friends sick with pda, go on dates all the time, and I promise I’ll treat you like a princess. we can cook together, sleep together, do everything you want to do. I’ll follow you, I’d follow you anywhere.”

your heart swelled with emotion at his heartfelt words. overwhelmed by the depth of his promise, you kissed him deeply, pouring all your passion into the embrace. the kiss was intense, a shared declaration of the love and commitment you both felt. “that sounds perfect to me, boyfriend,” you whispered, the term feeling both exhilarating and right as it fell from your lips.

the moment you said the words, shoto’s arms wrapped around you tightly and flipped the two of you so that you laid bare underneath him.

“can I make love to you, girlfriend?” Shoto’s face was pink with lust and emotions, and his gaze was filled with a deep desire that made you feel like the only girl in the world.

“yes, Shoto.”

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Link to Bakugo x reader here

(word count: 2,328)

Link to Kirishima x reader here

(word count: 902)

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ taglist: @ellielover69 thank you so much for all your support! if you'd like to be added to the taglist send a request in my inbox! ◝(ᵔᵕᵔ)◜ ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

[happistar]

why the hell did I get the notification for this now

is it healthy to be emotionally attached to a squip? Asking for a friend

Are you referring to acute squipdependence?

@the-squiptionary should have an answer for you.

[waffledforbreakfast]

Too Many Beds - [Yandere!Reo x F!Reader]

Tw: Yandere, female reader, long hair, unestablished relationship, brief mentions of injury, suggestive (NO smut), swearing, cringe, etc.

[Bllk Oneshot Masterlist] [Bllk Headcannon Masterlist]

inspired by the reverse tropes

You sat on Reo’s bed, having been invited by the boy for a simple hangout to catch up since you missed class that day due to your leg injury.

“No wayyy seriously!?”

You looked at Reo with wide eyes and an excited smile as he told you about the fight that occurred early at school that morning

“Yea. There was blood everywheree, I think the girl got her nose broken… and she just got her nose job too!”

Reo laughed along with you, never losing focus on the happy glint in your eyes

It’s a shame you weren’t there to see it. Reo worked so hard to get the two to fight. So many hours he spent on call with the both of them, pressing lies and threats to get them both to snap at each other. He wished you could’ve seen it happen in front of your very eyes, his great masterpiece for the day. Would you be proud of him? Praise him? He wishes he could’ve found out. Oh well, there’s always next time.

“HA! Serves her right! She pushed me down the stairs yesterday!"

Reo nodded. He couldn’t agree more. The f[/]cking b[/]tch shouldn’t have even laid eyes on you. No one deserves that pleasure but him. And especially not someone like her. People who don’t acknowledge your grace don’t deserve to walk this earth.

But he also hated himself for not being there for you. He should’ve caught you in his arms, he should’ve never let you get injured. He'll kill the girl for doing something like that to you

Your phone rang; your mother was calling.

“Hm? Oh yea I’m doing good, having fun!”

Reo smiled. He was glad you were enjoying everything he so carefully set up. As you checked in with your mother, he also went through his own notifications, texting a few people.

“Ah, Reo, I think I should get going… It’s already 9pm after all”

WHAT. No- right now? Why? WHY? WHAT WAS HE DOING WRONG?

“Are you sure? It’s raining really badly outside…”

Reo glanced out the window. Rain droplets were flying at and crazy fast speed, loud ping-panging was heard both the roof (since you two were on the top floor) and the windows

“Was it always raining?”

Thank lord the assistants got the text in time. 

You tilted your head, covering your phone with your hand

“I uh- think so, we must’ve been to caught up in conversation lol…Actually- Why don’t you just stay the night? Tomorrows a weekend after all! Plus it wouldn’t be wise for you to go home this late. I just want you to be safe.”

You hesitated, before turning back to your phone, asking your mother if it’d be okay to stay over

“Honey, are you sure? Do you really trust this guy? Where are you going to sleep, do you have extra clothing, tooth brushes, towels, are you sure about this?”

Reo nodded frantically at you with a plastered smile

“We have multiple beds on this floor, a guest bathroom that comes with everything you’ll need, and extra clean clothes. I promise you’ll be safe with me.”

Reo spoke loudly, to make sure your mother picked up on what he said.

You relayed it to your mom, asking her again for permission. After a half minute, your face lit up and quickly threw out multiple thank-yous. You shot Reo a quick "👌" and he smiled as he put his hands together 

“Great! I’ll get everything setup then” 

He tried to keep his voice as stable as possible, but he felt like he was going to die from happiness.

Reo’s heart was beating out of his chest, he could feel his entire body pulse with excitement. You were staying the night, with him. Reo couldn’t stop smiling, he felt like rolling on the floor giggling with excitement, he was ready to die after this night for all he cared.

But he had to keep himself composed in front of you. He could freak out after you left.

“Do you need to shower? I can show you the way”

You nodded as you stood up, leaving your phone on his desk

“The guest bathroom is a bit far… My bathroom’s closer! Would you prefer that?” “Sure, I really don’t mind”

The guest bathroom was really only a room or two down from his.

Reo showed you the way, and grabbed a few of his T-shirts and shorts and handed them to you.

“Pick whatevers most comfortable with you! I hope you don’t mind wearing something that’s mine…” “It’s fine really. No need to be so uptight”

You smiled and waved it off

Reo nearly exploded. He burst into a smile as he tried to squash it down. You didn’t mind wearing something he wore. You didn’t mind. What if he gave you his hoodie? Would you wear that? Oh, he’d give you his skin if you so wanted.

As you showered, Reo headed back to his room. He sat down at the desk where your phone was. And with shaking hands, he picked up your phone and flipped it around in his hands.

You touch your phone everyday. We wished you’d touch him even once. Your fingertips tracing his jawline the same way they’d trace the edge of your phone. Poke his checks the same way you’d pressed the buttons. Decorate and dress him the same way you’d change your phone case and phone charm. Oh how he wished he could be around you as often as your phone was.

Hell, even throw him across the room the same way you do to it. Throw him on the bed like you do to your phone after a long day. Then check that it wasn’t cracked afterwards from the impact. Turn to him anytime you have a question like you would to your phone. Was it possible to be jealous of an inanimate object?

"Are you snooping through my phone?”

You playfully glared at Reo with an irritated smile

“No no no- See? I haven’t even bothered trying to unlock it!”

He showed you your phone, still on the black screen having not been turned on

“I just wanted to see your lock screen- I swear-”

Reo laughed, a tone of panic and desperation in his voice. Please believe him. He doesn’t know what he’d do if you didn’t trust him…

You looked at him skeptically, but let him off with a shrug.

“Do you have a hair dryer or anything?” “Oh yea! Let me help you”

Fuck, you looked amazing. the way you looked in his clothing, your hair dripping wet, leaving stains on his shirt. God he loved you

Reo reached under the bed and pulled it out, unwrapping the cord and plugging it in. He smiled and signaled for you to sit on the bed in front of you

He hummed contently, running his fingers through your hair as he held the hairdryer. 

"Your hair is beautiful. Would you ever consider doing a shampoo ad or something? You’d look amazing on the cover of a magazine” 

Ah, this caught you off guard- but you thanked him as you smiled to yourself at the complement 

“Think this is the best I can do… Is it okay?”

He turned the hair dryer off, and ruffled your hair lightly

You nodding, running your hands through your hair. Most of it was dry, but the tips were still a bit wet, though that wasn’t a problem.

“You said you have extra rooms?” “Oh… Yea, I guess so…”

Why don’t you stay in my room? What’s wrong with staying with me? I cleaned everything just for you, everything's hidden- THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH MY ROOM. STAY HERE. PLEASE.

“but they’re all supper small- I don’t think you’ll like them” “That’s alright, anything will work for the night” “Well- my bed’s bigger than all the other ones…" “Didn’t you say there were multiple guest rooms…?” “...But- I really don’t mind you staying in my bed…”

Shit. What was he going to say to get you to stay? He should’ve never said there were other rooms. What if he told you the other rooms had rat infestations- no, you’d be disgusted by him….

Bam!

The loudest strike of thunder sounded. It was so loud it was almost unnatural…

“You know what- nevermind. I think I’ll stay with you tonight…”

You laughed awkwardly, body shaking a bit from the sudden bang. You hated thunder.

Reo smiled he’d be sure to give the assistants a raise after tonight

He set everything up. Gave you a cute plushie and brought over extra blankets in case you got cold, a cup of water, and charged your phone. Whatever you wanted, really.

“You gonna come to bed yet? It’s almost 11….”

You yawned, rubbing your eyes half asleep 

Reo wished he could see this sight every night. He swore in that moment on his heart that he’d marry you

“Yup, just turning off the lights.”

He flicked a few switches and the room blacked out. A few moments after Reo joined you under the blankets

“Goodnight, Reo.” ��Goodnigh, my love” “Mh?” “I said Goodnight, [Y/N].”

BONUS He may or may not have set a quiet alarm (to no wake you) so he could stare at your face for a few hours... and to preorder breakfast!

A/N: Played around with the formatting here... AND I STILL SUCK AT WRITING SO FORGIVE ME [SOBSOBSOB] anyway i love reo 💜

[rafferty3207]

omg I'm the anon who requested the jamie x reader neighbours fic and boy you delivered! fucking love it! can't wait for part 2

This is so lovely anon, I'm so glad you liked it!!! For you, I will deliver a part two with the caveat that I'm so sorry I got carried away and now it will be in three parts (sorry again), but the last part will be the finale!!! Anyway I present to you:

Too Good to Be True (part two)

read part one here

warnings: allusions to abuse, mention of anxiety/panic attack, daddy issues, two hopeless idiots flirting, a bit of angst at the end but worth it (sorry again)

A/N: I have nothing to add except this gif is not mine and has turned me feral

It’s been several days since you left your phone number and you are nervous. 

You don’t get why you care so much.

It’s just Jamie, your annoying neighbour. Your annoying, but also extremely handsome neighbour. Your annoying, handsome neighbour who massaged your feet, and your legs, and almost your thighs and god you couldn’t think straight. You’d been able to get nothing done as you had spent the last few days just constantly replaying that evening in your head. And to make things worse, it turns out Annoying Handsome Jamie was in fact a very famous Premier League footballer. Who has also been caught having sex on TV. (Yes, you had binged the entirety of his Lust Conquers All series since that night, but that was neither her nor there.) 

After almost a week you had given up. The exhibition was just under two weeks away and you hadn’t seen him in the garden or outside the house at all. He had probably come to the conclusion that you were both too weird and too normal for him and the only conclusion was move on with your life and forget his stupid sexy face ever existed, when you got a text. 

u free tonight

Jxoxo

Of course, you wanted to play it cool. After all, you had spent the entirety of the week waiting for this message.

29 minutes and 59 seconds later.

I might be.

The phone immediately pings.

do u not know??

xoxo

Depends, what are you thinking?

thought u wanted a model

Xoxo

Of course, he was thinking about the painting. As you also definitely were. You were a professional artist. Almost.

What time?

ill come after the match

You spend your evening preparing and also perhaps figuring out an outfit that says 'casual bohemian artist that definitely doesn't care' while redoing your makeup twice. However, as the hours stretch on and on and on you are at the point of giving up and going to bed, when the doorbell finally rings.

You race down, before waiting a minute, quickly checking yourself in the mirror and pulling out your phone to pretend you had already been looking at something when you open the door.

But before you can pull the casual act, he walks right past you.

“Hello to you too, Jamie.”

He strides into your living room where the canvas is set up and immediately starts taking his clothes off.

“Woah, what do you think you’re doing there?”

“Er, I thought you were painting nudes?”

“Er no-”  At this point his shirt has already come off and he’s starting to unbutton his trousers. Of course he is very toned, with tanned arms and neck where his football shirt has been. You feel the breath knocked out of your body, glimpsing the very top of his boxers as you struggle for words.. He looks at you confused. Eventually you stutter an answer. "K-Keep the trousers on, okay?” 

“What should I do then?”

“What do you mean?”

“How do I pose, like?” You shrug.

“However you want to, Jamie.”

“I dunno what I want.” You sigh.

“You just need to stand there and look pretty.”

“Well I do that all the time, so.”

“Great. So just…keep doing that.”

Jamie smiles to himself.

“What is it?”

“So you do think I’m pretty?” He smirks at you. You fold your arms.

“What are you, a sixteen year old girl Jamie?” You start sketching. “Besides, you know what you look like.” You go back to drawing in silence. You swear you see his cheeks dust pink for a second before he ouffs his chest back out and smiles.

“Aren’t you going to ask if I think you’re pretty?”

You freeze.

“No, because if you haven’t noticed, I’m not sixteen. I am an adult woman and I don’t need random men for unsolicited affirmation, no matter how pretty they are.”

Jamie opens his mouth, before closing it again. Maybe that was a bit harsh, but what else could you say? Tell me how pretty you think I am Jamie. Or better yet, show me. I’m dying to know. You could practically feel the feminism leaving your body.

You dismiss these thoughts and get back to sketching. You can see Jamie is looking down and acting fidgety, swinging his arms.

“Oh, for Christ’s sake.” You walk over and plant your arms on his shoulders. He is surprisingly warm and firm to the touch, and you try not to blush. “Is it okay if I move you?”

He nods, surprisingly quiet. You turn him ever so slightly, before gently pushing him down onto your stool. As you move one of his (very muscly) arms, you swear you feel a slight tremor. Was he shaking? You step a little closer, a hand on his back. 

“We don’t have to do this if you don’t want to, Jamie.”

His face hardens.

“But I said I will, so I will.”

“But you don’t have to. Only do this if you want to.” You smile at him, and his face softens again.

“I do want to, trust me. It’s just been a long day.”

“Okay, but if you need to stop or take a break, just say the word.”

You step back to your canvas. You try to focus solely on the drawing, but every time he looks at you, you find your whole body heating up. Despite this, you steal glances anyway. He stares at you constantly, in a way that makes you feel stupid and giggly. Observing all the soft and hard lines of his body, you eventually start to notice small scars all over his body until you reach his hands. You don’t know why it took you so long to notice, but his knuckles are slightly bruised.

“Jamie?”

“Yeah?” 

“Tell me about your day.”

“Why? It was dead boring.”

“I don’t know. I find it helps me find the right mood.” You prepare your brushes. “You know, it tells me what colours to use.”

“Oh. I mean, nothing much happened.” He looks down at his feet. “I got up, went to play football, came here.”

“But why did you text me? Why today?”

“I dunno.” You sit in silence for a moment, as you mix the colours. “I mean, my dad came to the match.”

“Right.”

“Pulled his usual shit.”

“Usual shit?”

“Just being a complete dickhead.” You start painting. 

“In what way?”

“Saying stuff.”

“What kind of stuff?”

“Just the usual stuff.”

“You keep saying “usual” Jamie. I don’t think whatever he said is usual for most people.”

“What about your dad? He said that thing about you being a teacher right? Because you couldn’t paint or summat?” You put your brush down. 

“Yeah he did say that. He says a lot of shit, none of which I would consider usual. Or at least it shouldn’t be.” You step off your chair and towards Jamie, reaching gently for his hand. “We don’t just have to take this shit, you know.”

“I don’t fucking take it!” He pulls away. You flinch back. He looks alarmed as he realises. “I should go.” He starts to walk out.

“Jamie, I didn’t mean to upset you -” You walk after him as he paces towards the door. He halts at the entrance.

“I’m not upset,  I just - I came here because I didn’t want to think about my dad. When I’m with you, I never think about him. Or anything else, really.” He pauses. “I’m sorry.” Before you can reply, he runs off. 

The next few days pass by. You send a few texts to Jamie, but no reply. The exhibition is only a couple of days away now, so you try to keep yourself busy. But his words won’t stop swirling in your head to the point you struggle to sleep. So you do what you always do: paint. 

It’s not until one of these nights when you're up late at the canvas that you glance out of the window. Your heart stops. Someone is lying in Jamie's garden, very still. You dare to look closer. Is that..Jamie? He looks glassy eyed. He can't have...Without thinking, you run down.

"Jamie! Jamie!" Your heart is thumping in your ears so loudly you can't hear anything else. "Jamie are you okay?" You ask as you scramble to climb the fence. However just as you are almost over, you catch your foot, spectacularly falling over it into the bushes.  You hear that trademark laugh.

"Why are you laughing? I thought you were dead, dipshit!" You say, crawling out of the shrubbery. 

He remains lying down but he’s smiling at you now.

"Why would you think I was dead?"

"Why are you lying in your garden on your back completely still at 2am? Let's not pretend this is normal." You crawl down next to him.

“You’re going to think I’m stupid.”

“No I won’t.”

He looks away from you.

“I mean everyone else does, why wouldn’t you?”

“I don’t think they do.”

“There’s my dad. Plus, I’ve read Twitter.”

“You know how I feel about your dad and Twitter is full of very stupid people. But never mind them. I can promise you I don’t. And let’s be honest, I’m the only opinion that matters.” He scoffs as you offer him a pinky. But, he puts his pinky in yours before looking back up at the night sky.

"I can't get up."

"What? Are you injured?"

“No…I dunno, I told you it was stupid."

“It's clearly not that stupid. Are you okay Jamie?”

"I dunno. I was thinking about the other night with you and my dad and then I came outside because I needed some fresh air and then I lay down and started thinking about everything and now it feels like I'm stuck here. It's stupid -"

“Stop saying that.” You lie down and grab his hand. “Sometimes when you've gone through some shit, it comes out of your body in weird ways. But you're okay. We can stay here for as long as you like, but when we get up, you will be able to.”

He nods, and the two of you lie there holding hands in silence. You take some deep breaths and he follows. Eventually a small voice pipes up.

“I think I can go in now.”

You sit up and slowly pull him.

"See?"

He smiles at you gingerly before he looks down.

“You’re bleeding.”

“Huh?”

You look down. Both your knees are cut, along with one of your palms and your wrist.

“Yeah, that makes sense.” 

He gently holds your wrist up to the light. He looks sad.

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. I need to work on my graceful dismount. Either that or just walk around to the back door.”

“I mean, I dunno, I think you could give Simone Biles a run for her money.” You swat him.

“Oi, you cheeky shit! Next time I’ll just leave you for dead.”

“I think the blood loss is going to your head, we should treat that ASAP.” He leads you into his house. “I think I’ve got a first aid kit upstairs.”

He starts walking up and you follow him. He seems surprised. You realise your error.

“Oh, I can wait downstairs if you like.”

“Er, no, it’s fine.” He steps into a bedroom and starts rummaging around in what is clearly an ensuite bathroom. You sit on the edge of his bed and look around. There’s pictures of him and his mum, as well as some pictures with the team and one with a slightly older moustachioed man.

“Is that your dad?”

He pokes his head out and laughs. 

“No, that’s our coach Ted.” You look up at him. “He’s a nice guy though. Annoyingly nice. Almost too nice, if you know what I mean.”

“Right.” It was clear Jamie was soft on this man, but you wouldn’t push it today. He sits down and starts gently wiping the cuts. It is the same tenderness he held your foot, and it is the same tenderness that is slowly melting your heart. If you didn’t know any better, you would think you were starting to fall for Jamie Tartt.

You yawn as he applies the final plaster. “Right, you need to go to sleep.” He says, through his own yawn.

"I could say the same for you"

You sit up to leave, but hesitate. YOu feel Jamie’s about to say something.

“Hey, I don’t suppose.. You’d maybe fancy…”

You turn around.

“Staying around?”

Jamie looks at you pleadingly.

“No funny business I promise.” He looks up and offers you a pinky.

“What if I want funny business?”

“Eh?”

“I’m just messing with you Jamie. Besides, I’ve already stolen your knickers anyway.”

“Someone told me that’s a weird thing to say to people.”

“Well, that person sounds very wise.” You look around. “Can I use your bathroom?”

He gestures towards it and you go in. Looking at yourself in the mirror, you think: what the fuck is going on here? You splash some water on your face and tell yourself to get a grip.

“There’s a spare toothbrush in the blue pot if you need it.” Jamie calls through the door.

“Ew gross Jamie, I don’t want to use one of your many girlfriend’s toothbrushes!”

“I’ll have you know that’s brand new as I don’t have any girlfriends at the moment. Although there are sanitary towels if you need them love.”

“Piss off you patronising git!”

“‘Ey, I was trying to be nice and a good feminist and that.”

You brush your teeth before coming out and leaning against the doorframe.

“No girlfriends? What happened to the Island’s top scorer?”

He groans before flopping back onto the bed.

“I thought you didn’t know who I was.”

“I’ve been doing my research.” You get into the bed next to him. He flashes you a dirty grin.

“Bet you have, you little perv.”

“Me? The perv? What you did in that jacuzzi was a crime to my eyes, and probably in several countries.”  

“Woah, you have been doing your research - that was like episode 42? 43?”

“What can I say, you make good television?”

Jamie pulls the duvet back before hovering for a moment. 

“You don’t have to do this, you know.” He gestures to the bed.

“I know. But I’ve been in your position before, and I really needed a friend back then. And I think you would do the same.”

“Any time.”

You squeeze his hand.

“Now go to sleep, you menace.”

“Aye aye captain.”

____

You wake up and find yourself once again not in your own bedroom. In fact, not only are you not in your own bedroom, but you appear to be cuddling Jamie Tartt. You panic silently. Your leg is swung over his, while his arm is draped over you. You try to move, but still asleep, he squeezes you a little tighter. And then something really surprising happens.

He kisses you. Just a little kiss on the forehead, but your chest is fluttering.  You hate to admit it but, it feels just so natural. You’re so content and relaxed in his arms then…

Fuck. You fell back asleep. You’re in the exact same problem as before.

This time however, you are both awoken by Jamie’s phone going off. He reaches to switch it off, eyes still closed, but then it rings again. And again. The third time his eyes shoot open.

“Shit!”

“What is it?” You ask from behind bleary eyes.

“The match!”

You slowly sit up and watch him run around and get dressed, silently handing him things on occasion. He runs downstairs and you plod along after him, still half asleep. He runs out of the door, before abruptly stopping and turning around.

“Aren’t you going to wish me good luck or something?”

You wrinkle your nose at him in confusion.

“I don’t need to. You’re going to smash it anyway.”

“How do you know that?”

You shrug and smile. 

“I just know.”

At this point, he strides right up to you, before cupping your face in both his hands. 

“Jamie what are -” Before you can finish, he kisses you, hard. Your eyes flutter closed and you melt into the kiss, before he pulls away, but only just. His arm reaches around the small of your back and his forehead touching yours, he whispers.

“Wait for me.”

He runs off to his car, and you stroke your bottom lip, where you trace the swell of where he used to be.

Your heart is still pounding and you are unsure what to do with yourself, so you try to make yourself at home. You take a very long, hot shower before getting changed. Of course, you didn’t have any clothes here, so you find some pyjama shorts along with one of Jamie’s old jerseys.

You sit down to watch the match. You had never really gotten into football, but now you were glued to the screen. You couldn’t believe that the little Jamie on screen was the same one who shared a bed with you last night. And the same Jamie that kissed you…

The game is electric, and Jamie in particular is the standout player. Even the commentators remark on his zest this match as he keeps skilfully weaving through the players to lead Richmond into not one, not two but three goals.

Once the match is done, you watch, still glued to your seat when Jamie is invited to an interview.

“Jamie the way you played today was extraordinary, against Man City too. If you don’t mind us asking, what happened?”

“Ah well, I was really inspired by Simone Biles. She’s honestly changed my life.” At that moment, he turns straight to the camera, grins and winks, and you feel like he’s somehow winking right at you. Your heart skips a beat. You were really in trouble.

You look at your phone and Jamie Tartt is trending. Simone Biles herself has already tweeted reminding everyone she is a married woman and has never met Jamie. There are plenty of other women, including some famous other gymnasts and celebrities offering their Biles-like services to Jamie in some rather explicit tweets. You wonder if Jamie reads these ones too.

You walk to the kitchen to make yourself a cup of tea and as you wait for the kettle to boil, you look at Jamie’s calendar. There’s all sorts of notes, primarily training and matchs but you notice your exhibit is there too, with a little heart drawn around it. Jamie never stopped surprising you. But then a cold shock goes down your spine. You remembered today’s date. You are meant to be going to the gallery this evening to plan the exhibition. Shit. You check the time. You’ve still got three hours left, but you need to get back into your flat ASAP. You scramble around before realising that you had left your phone in the flat last night in the chaos to get out. But you also remembered Jamie and what he had said.

Wait for me.

You write a little note and stick it on the fridge.

____

Jamie comes back way later than he planned. Of course, after the match, there were drinks and celebrations but he couldn’t concentrate on them, just trying to leave to get back to you. He finally manages to break away, but when he gets home, he finds the living room empty. He searches around the rest of the house, and you are nowhere to be found. He checks his phone. No messages. He gets a message through from Keeley about how he’s trending online. 

Of course he sees all the Simone Biles stuff and smiles to himself. He made a note to send Simone Biles a message in future, if this all worked out. Then he sees all the stuff other women are saying online. A lot of it is quite graphic and he wondered what you’d think. He imagined the two of you laughing together at them. Then he sees. The tabloids are already speculating. Not only do they actually think he’s having an affair with Simone Biles, but they have already posted some paparazzi shot of him with Keeley, along with long extensive timelines of his tumultuous dating history. His stomach drops. Anyone would run away if they saw this much baggage.

He tries to ring you. Once, twice, three times, No pick up. He’s desperate and pacing, until he realises he can just walk over to your front door. He rings the bell several times, before loudly knocking. Still nothing.

He can’t believe how much he’s fucked it. He knew he shouldn’t have kissed you, but he couldn't help it. No one had made him feel like this, like he was going crazy but also that he was calmer than he had ever been, like riding a lifeboat in the centre of the storm. As he walks back into his flat and into his kitchen, he doesn’t see the small corner of a note that has fallen under the fridge. He checks his phone again. 

Still nothing. What could he do?

____

Sorry for the angst kids, hope it was worth it and the finale will be juicy!! lmk if you want to be tagged in the final part!! Not sure if I've done these tags right, apols if not!!

@skewedcherries @e-mmygrey @reading-blogs @alex-sulli @cameoutstruggling93 @sqrlgrl22 @maydayfigment @aiyaiy @alipap3 @okkkkkkksure @city-of-cards

[shinynewboots]

Beer Pong: Adam x Lute

AN: Hello friends, a day late and a dollar short! Lol I wrote this in honor of my birthday and the fact that my newly minted 25-year-old self thought I could challenge my husband to beer pong because I "used to be good in college". I lost terribly but had a fun time ringing in my birthday lol So I hope you all enjoy this wonderful alcohol-induced crack story that I have written for our two favs lol

Human AU, pure crack

Warnings: Alcohol, cursing, Adam being Adam

"Hey bitch, what did I say about watching the elbows?" Adam exclaimed as Lute took her latest shot with the ping pong ball at the beer-filled solo cups. The ball missed and bounced from the table, leaving Adam to chase after it. Lute took a sip of her beer and tried to form a strategy.

Adam had somehow convinced her to play beer pong while they waited at his apartment for the rest of their going-out crew. Lute had almost scoffed at the idea (she was long past the age of college drinking games plus she didn't even know how to play) but Adam's excited expression and the long-time crush she had been carrying lead to an overly enthusiastic (and out of character) 'yes' on her part.

Adam had set up the cups on his kitchen island, 10 cups on each side in a triangle. He had already managed to make two of her cups, leading to her quickly chugging the contents. She was normally great at most sports and games but there was something about tonight that made her feel a little off her game. Maybe it was the way Adam had smiled at her; or maybe it had been her decision to wear a low-cut crop top (something she normally would never choose to be seen in).

Adam got himself into position to throw the ping pong ball, dramatically making a point about how his elbows did not cross the table. Lute rolled her eyes, to which Adam sent her a boyish wink. He threw the first ball, which flew past Lute.

"Fuck," Adam said, shaking his head and getting ready to throw the second. The next one landed dead center in one of the cups.

"Ha, drink up bitch." Lute grabbed the cup, removed the ball, and chugged. Time to get your shit together, Lute.

Lute grabbed the balls and got herself in position. She even made a point to show Adam where her elbows were in relation to the edge of the table. She threw the first one so that it landed square in the center cup.

"Fuck yeah!" Adam exclaimed. "Now you're getting the hang of it!"

Lute smirked to herself as Adam grabbed the solo cup and chugged the beer. Emboldened, Lute threw the second ball which landed in one of the back outer cups.

"Dude, that's fucking awesome! Balls back," Adam said, grabbing the second beer to chug and the ping pong balls and walking them over to Lute. He handed her the balls and then held out his fist as he chugged the beer. Lute fist-bumped him back before quickly retaking her spot. No need to get too cocky too soon.

The game continued until Adam had one cup remaining on his side and Lute had two. She could feel a pleasant and social buzz had taken over her senses due to the copious amounts of beer she had chugged in such little time.

Adam had also started to feel the effects of the beer, as he had gotten louder and more liberal with his swearing.

Lute eyed the cup with a poised stance. She smirked at Adam. "Any last words before I end the game?"

"Dude that's hot as fuck," Adam chuckled, taking a swig of his beer. He also got in position to catch the ball in case she missed. However, he knew Lute was skilled in most things, and once she had gotten warmed up he knew he didn't stand a chance. He couldn't let her know that, though. Lute would never take him seriously again if she thought he was going easy on her.

Lute shot the ball and it felt like an eternity had passed in a blink of an eye. The ball landed in the final cup, splashing beer on the counter like victory fireworks.

"Hell yeah!" Adam exclaimed. Before Lute could even process her victory, Adam had come over and scooped her up in his arms, throwing her in the air as though she had won an important victory. Lute could feel a blush come to her cheeks but fuck, blame it on the alcohol.

Adam grinned, his golden eyes shining down at her and she couldn't help but do the same. The pair suddenly seemed to process their proximity and the way Lute's crop top had dangerously slid up in the excitement to just below her breast line. Adam coughed and tried to look anywhere else (respect, you know. Not because the thought of Lute's breasts would leave him with a boner that would be very difficult to just explain away or hide. Definitely the respect thing.).

Adam put Lute down and scratched his head.

"Don't you still get another chance to shoot?" Lute asked, trying to break the awkward tension that had set in.

"I mean, yeah, but fuck I'm not making that. You win fair and square." Adam laughed, grabbing the final cup Lute had made and chugging it.

The doorbell rang out and the pair looked at the door, matching disappointed expressions on their faces. "I guess it's time to go."

"We don't have to if you want to play again," Adam offered, wiping away some beer that dribbled down his chin.

"And have to explain to Emily why we're bailing? Absolutely not," Lute replied. "But I would be happy to come back over some time to kick your ass again."

"Oh you're fucking on, bitch."

[praetorqueenreyna]

For our little ACOTAR gift exchange! This is a gift fic for @taymartiart, who is one of the BEST artists I've ever met! When asked what she wanted me to write, she said "accidental dick pic." This was so much fun, I love silly modern AUs! Enjoy!

Read here on AO3, or continue reading below:

Rhysand was about ready to silence his phone for the evening. It had been pinging non-stop as war raged on in the group chat. It had started with Mor saying she was craving a sparkling water, and Cassian replying to ask why she liked drinking raw sewage. That had been two hours ago, long past the point that Rhysand thought it was funny. He had also found Amren’s threat to murder Cassian by replacing his blood with sparkling water a little alarming.

There were a few minutes of peace where his phone made no noise at all. The reprieve was interrupted by a lone ding. Rhysand sighed, fully expecting the barrage to begin once again. When it didn’t, he risked actually checking his phone. The text was not from the group chat (ironically named “The Inner Circle” after Mor got way too into mafia movies, and Rhysand didn’t know how to change it), but was from Tamlin. It was a welcome distraction. Tamlin was a little weird, but Rhysand liked him. They had both started off as their fathers’ proteges, expected to take on the family business. Rhysand had fulfilled his end of the bargain, and Tamlin had run off to play guitar in coffee shops around town. An absolutely ridiculous career move, but it was endearing, in its own way.

It didn’t hurt that Tamlin was super hot and also into guys. Rhysand wasn’t too proud to admit that. He had tested the waters, putting on his most seductive voice to tease Tamlin, always just on the edge of outright flirtation. Every time, Tamlin turned a splotchy red and adorably ducked his head, which only made Rhysand want to do it again.

There was no text preview for the message; it only had an attached image. Rhysand opened it and blinked. He had worked a long day, and surely he was hallucinating. Staring at his phone didn’t change anything, and he finally accepted that Tamlin had sent him a picture of his dick.

It was nice, both the dick itself and the picture. Good size, good lighting, good angle. The photo captured his well-defined abs and a small tattoo on his hip bone. Rhysand zoomed in on the picture to see that the tattoo was a name. Alex, maybe? Or Alec? He had no idea why Tamlin had sent him this. The last text exchanged between them was from a week ago, when Rhysand had asked if he was playing this weekend. Nothing to indicate that the next step would be dick pics.

More curious than upset, Rhysand quickly typed out a message.

”Nice tattoo. Ex boyfriend?”

Tamlin began replying right away, in a series of rapid fire messages.

”What?”

“Oh.”

“Oh no.”

“Oh no no no no no.”

“I am SO sorry!!!! I didn’t mean to send that to you!!! I’d never do something like that!!!”

The overuse of exclamation points aside, Rhysand felt bad for him.

”It’s all good, I swear. Not the first dick I’ve seen.”

The reply was instantaneous.

”Oh good!! Not that you’ve seen dicks, that you’re not mad. I’m really sorry.

He probably could have ended it there, but Rhysand was intrigued.

”Who was it for?”

Tamlin didn’t respond for a bit, and Rhysand worried he had overstepped. It was an unexpected relief when another message came in.

”Some guy from Grindr. A friend signed me up for it because I haven’t gone on a date in a while. His name also begins with an R.”

The thought of Tamlin and his awkward demeanor cruising on Grindr was honestly hilarious. This friend had to have been fucking with him. Then again, he never would have expected Tamlin to send a dick pic to a random guy on a dating app, and here they were.

”Already at the dick pic stage? Seems like it's getting serious.”

This time, the reply was faster.

”Ha ha. I actually haven’t even met him yet. We were just talking and he asked for a picture. I’ve never done that before and thought what the hell. And then immediately fucked it up.”

Tamlin was way too sweet and sincere for the guys on Grindr. Thinking fast, Rhysand searched for and downloaded a photo of the Washington Monument. Before he could let Tamlin stew in his self pity for too long, he sent:

”We’ve all fucked up. I’ll send you a pic too, so we’re even.”

He attached the downloaded photo, only thinking to question the joke after he had sent it. It was familiar, bordering on flirtatious. The kind of thing he’d usually only send to Azriel or Cassian. His phone pinged.

”No wonder your ego is huge.”

Another text came in, this time a photo of a male mallard with the title “duck pic.” Rhysand actually laughed. He shot back something about the head of the duck being bright green, and maybe he should get that looked at. Tamlin coyly asked if he knew any good doctors. Holy shit, was Tamlin hitting on him? He knew that Rhysand was a doctor; more accurately a surgeon, working in his father’s clinic.

Rhysand found himself draped over the couch, texting with Tamlin for over an hour. The mortifying start to their conversation seemed to loosen something in him. He was funnier and more charming than Rhysand had ever seen. It felt special, to have Tamlin be so open with him. The thought of Tamlin being like this with “random guy from Grindr who’s name begins with R” filled Rhysand with a seething hot emotion that he eventually identified as jealousy.

When the conversation seemed like it was drifting to an end, Rhysand made his move. He selected one of his own pictures from a hidden folder on his phone (yes he had his own dick pics saved for occasions like this) and sent it. He waited a few seconds, then wrote:

”If you want to keep going, give me a call.”

The urge to throw his phone across the room overwhelmed him. He resorted to putting it face down on the coffee table and staring pointedly at the ceiling. The next minute was the longest of his life. But then, like a miracle, his phone began to ring.

*****************************

One month later

“You owe me a thank you drink.”

“What did you do now?” Tamlin asked, only giving half of his attention to the giant man sitting on the floor. His roommate was supposed to be helping him set up, which mostly just involved finding a stool for Tamlin to sit on. Mission accomplished, Andras sat back on his hands, watching as Tamlin fiddled with his guitar. The coffee shop was almost empty, but it would start to fill up as Tamlin’s set started. He was a regular here.

“Don’t try that innocent act on me, I know all your secrets.” Andras pointed an accusing finger. “You found a hookup on Grindr. You’re welcome.”

“What? No I didn’t.”

“Yes you did. I know all the signs. Lucien and I barely see you anymore, you haven’t brooded in weeks, and I found this in your backpack.” For his final exhibit, Andras brandished a small foil packet that revealed itself to be a condom when he stopped shaking it around.

“Stop that!” Blushing, Tamlin snatched the condom out of Andras’s hand. “Why were you going through my backpack anyway?”

“Don’t change the subject. Who is it? That guy with the blue hair? What was his name, Ryan?”

“What are you guys talking about?” Tamlin’s second roommate, Lucien, asked, appearing as if summoned by an omniscient being that wanted to ruin Tamlin’s life.

“Tamlin’s new boy toy,” Andras answered before Tamlin could.

“Ooooooh. Is it that guy with the septum piercing? Rowan?”

Tamlin was about to tell them that he was moving out and they were never allowed to talk to him again when his gaze caught a familiar dark-haired figure swagger into the coffee shop. His heart stuttered, his breath caught in his throat. Rhys sat down at a table near his little stage, leaning back in the seat. He saw Tamlin staring and grinned, waggling his fingers obnoxiously in greeting.

Of course, Rhys had known where he was going. Tamlin had come here straight from Rhys’s apartment, having barely escaped from the lean arms that had grabbed at him, inviting him back into the comforting warmth of Rhys’s bed. Tamlin just hadn’t thought that Rhys would actually show up.

Too late, he remembered that he was in public, being scrutinized by the two people who knew him better than they knew themselves. He watched in horror as Andras and Lucien looked back and forth between Tamlin and Rhysand. Recognition dawned on their faces. At the same time, they said,

“No fucking way.”

[theflyingfeeling]

I literally explained the most unhinged fic to you, you don't get to do this. We like ridiculous and thrive in unhinged. Please do share this royal/ballet dancer au idea

as if I could actually shut up about my fic ideas on main 🤧 ping @mosvu and also @goth-automaton @sparfloxacin @cosmicfire 🖤

(still hiding it behind a readmore though lol)

Starting off with a disclaimer: I don't think there's anything revolutionary about this fic idea, it sounds very familiar to me and I swear I've read/seen something similar but I can't pinpoint it... In any case, it's not my intetion to copy anyone!

Then I'm just quickly gonna give you some pictures for aesthetic reasons / to illustrate what I'm imagining them to look like in this AU (clean-shaven and twinky for Olli, comfy-casual and twinky for Aleksi 🥰)

(pretend they're drinking tea lol)

And as I said, this is absolutely ridiculous lol, but I've been watching a lot of The Crown recently and this is not inspired by that per se, apart from the fact that Aleksi is some sort of royalty, a prince maybe but spare instead of direct heir to the throne, because I cannot imagine even a modern-day monarchy that wouldn't be sort of home-of-phobic lol. Anyway, Prince Alex is super lonely because he doesn't really go out much because he's an introvert and doesn't know how to handle all the attention, so he rather stays at home most of the time, trying to avoid any sort of public appearances if he only can help it.

The only place he goes to willingly and often is the Royal Ballet. There could be some sorta backstory to this actually 🤔 Maybe he had an aunt/uncle who he really liked as a child and would always take him to the ballet (this aunt/uncle was obviously queer and only years after their passing when Aleksi's already a grown-up he realises this).

One day Aleksi notices a new soloist, and even from the royal booth he can tell this new dancer is the most beautiful person Aleksi has ever seen 😭 He goes to watch the same ballet again literally the next day because he can't get the beautiful male dancer out of his mind and becomes so enamored with the man that he sends him flowers the next time he goes to see the show 💐

Meanwhile Olli is dumbfounded by his new admirer and can't really believe his luck after being handed the comically huge bouquet of flowers backstage after the show 😳 His fellow dancers all tease him and maybe also make fun of poor Prince Alex, who's always presented in the tabloids as this socially clumsy simpleton or something along those lines. Eventually Olli laughs along and decides it must be some sort of practical joke from his friends or whatever, because WHY would Prince Alex be sending flowers to him, of all the dancers in the Royal Ballet?

A couple of shows (and pompous flower deliveries) later, Olli is fetched by a fellow dancer again, telling him some important looking men are asking for him, and so he's taken to some kinda secluded room where Prince Alex is waiting to speak to him 😨 It's awkward more than anything else, and they're both uncomfortable because Olli doesn't know how to act around a member of the fucking royal family and poor Aleksi is desperately trying to appear casual and "normal" but he just doesn't know how 😭 He does manage to invite Olli "for tea" in the palace though, and obviously Olli agrees even though he's not entirely sure what he's agreeing to, because he can't say no to an invitation from the bloody prince now can he?! Prince Alex then leaves and Olli is freaking out and his colleagues keep asking what the prince wants with him and he doesn't know and later in the evening he rants the ears off his roommate Joonas about it 😩

At this point I need to give you some background info about Olli: he's bi and has a sort-of-girlfriend (another ballet dancer); I say 'sort of' because they're mostly just having sex instead of actually dating. Olli also occasionally hooks up with Joonas when they're both horny enough. This is relevant later on 😏

The day of Olli's "tea party" with Prince Alex comes and he's picked up from his apartment by a black car and driven straight to the palace where he's taken to the prince's personal chambers (this is already starting to sound kinky lol). They do drink tea but nothing much else happens because Aleksi is just too goddamn nervous in front of this beautiful human being to think of much to say (relatable af eh? 😭), and Olli feels sorry for him but he can't really come up with anything to talk about either because he's still not quite sure what's going on and why he's even there in the first place and what could a commoner like him even say to an actualy real-life prince? 😬

I mean, I haven't quite figured out myself what Aleksi's intentions here are lol, only that it's not as creepy as it may sound. I guess he just wanted to get to know this beautiful ballet dancer better and couldn't think of any other way to do it other than having him driven to the palace 🙈 I need you to imagine him tossing and turning in his bed unable to sleep because he just can't stop thinking about this ballet dancer, and maybe his brother the crown prince fished enough information out of him to learn his little bro is lusting after some ballet dancer and, thinking it's a female dancer, tells him to just "have them come over for 'some tea' lol, you know grandpa used to do that all the time with dancers from the Royal Ballet" (🙃), and jokes on the crown prince, Aleksi does exactly that, because it's not like he'd ever be able to hang out with this person in public 😶 And just to clarify, he did NOT invite Olli over for the same reason his grandfather may have been inviting those dancers (🙃🙃🙃), he just wanted a friend to talk to other than his brother and maybe the occasional entitled af cousin 😭

After the first meeting Olli tells all about it to Joonas who cackles all through the story as he imagines Olli and the prince just sitting in silence and sipping tea and Olli even spilling some on a very expensive-looking royal rug. Olli doesn't think it's quite as funny at first until they're both laughing about it, because he might as well, since the prince won't definitely be inviting him over for tea again, right?

Wrong! Some days later he receives a similar invitation which he simply doesn't know how to turn down (this time the invitation is delivered just from a royal security dude at the door of the backstage room at the ballet, before the show so that Olli almost trips on his own feet stressing about it on stage). The next day he's fetched from his apartment again, and this time the prince seems a tiny bit more relaxed and asks Olli all sorts of questions about his dancer career to have him relax too. It then occurs to Olli that the prince must just be incredibly lonely and in need of a conversation partner, although he still can't figure out why he was the one chosen for the purpose.

Time passes and Olli starts visiting the prince more regularly, so that he can no longer hide it from his sort-of-girlfriend, who is just as curious as Olli is to find out why the prince has taken such a liking to Olli. Olli wishes he knew, especially because the more he spends time with the prince, the more he begins to like him; his sense of humour and his kind, calm nature and, of course, his looks, both with and without glasses. He curses his horny bisexual ass for beginning to fantasize about the prince, because what chance would he ever have with someone so above him in the class hierarchy? And even if he would, he's a prince for fuck's sake, so it would be doomed before it would even begin.

He talks about prince Alex to his roommate Joonas aaaaaaall the time, enough for Joonas to get the gist eventually, although he says nothing of it, because he reckons he should let Olli have that realisation by himself 🤭

I don't think I'm ever actually going to write this (the perfectionist in me would not want to half-ass any ballet nor royalty-related details), but if I did, it would be so incredibly slow burn that Olli and Prince Alex wouldn't even kiss until chapter 12 or something lol. But when they do, it quickly escalates from there, because they're just so into each other and it just feels so nice 😭 so that eventually they start making out the second Olli enters Aleksi's chambers lol, and maybe there's also some dry humping on a very old and expensive satin sofa 🥰

And I hope you hadn't forgotten about the 'anal fingering' tag I talked about lol, because oh my oh my 😌 So Olli is still seeing that girl from his ballet company, mostly just to hook up because he doesn't really know how to say no to people (and the sex is still pretty good tbf). One day while blowing/wanking him, the girl sneaks a finger up his bum. Olli sort of freaks out, mostly because he's caught off guard but also because it felt surprisingly good, even though he asked the girl to stop (he's a top and has never been penetrated before; btw this is low-key inspired by a scene in the latest season of Sex Education lol). He becomes curious though and later asks Joonas about how it feels. Joonas, the good fuck-buddy he is, offers to finger Olli, and......... yeah. Imagine Olli arching his back in pleasure as Joonas fingers him 🥵

So the next time he visits the prince and they get all hot and bothered, he instructs Aleksi to finger him and 🥴🥴🥴🥴🥴 (now imagine Aleksi sitting on that royal sofa and Olli straddling him, sort of 'riding' his fingers until he cums 😳🫠

Aaaaaaaand that's about how far I've gotten with this as of yet, I sort of got stuck with the visual image of Olli being fingered 🙈 obviously this has a happy ending, although not without drama, but I'm yet to figure out the rest of this. I'll keep you updated? 😇 One scene that I have imagined that would take place way after Olli and Prince Alex are deep in their secret relationship is one of Olli helping Aleksi put on some black eyeliner and other cool make-up to make him unrecognizable (at least at first glance) and oh-so-hot so that they can hit the club together and make out on the dance floor without no one batting an eye 🥰 (obviously this would eventually end up on the tabloids when someone recognizes him but sshhhhh let's not talk about that 😭)

The others will be there too, of course, even though I haven't really given that much thought. I was thinking Tommi could be Joonas new-found fuck buddy since Olli is now too busy fucking the prince. I was also first thinking Joonas could be a ballet dancer as well, but I think I'd prefer him to be doing something else (or maybe he used to be a dancer and that's how he and Olli met but he had to retire because of an injury or smth). Joel could also be their more grumpy roommate, a catwalk model maybe. Niko? No clue. Any ideas? 👀

[peanut-tyrug]

Pink City AU: Hunt for the Boxman

Chapter 1 - Unboxing the Meat and Potatoes

Hoonis, Elain, and Dento discover that a particular actress of old has returned to the Pink City. The trio sets out to look for her, although, a peculiar threat appears to be dangling over them like hung up meat slabs…

—

NOTICE: This AU is partially based on my ideas/interpretation. If anything appears to be inaccurate, I apologize. I tried to work with what little I had to make smth. I also took a few artistic liberties.

Another thing: THE PINK CITY AND IT’S CHARACTERS DO NOT BELONG TO ME!! IT BELONGS TO GOOSEWORX!! Some canon lore for The Pink City has also been implemented in this story. This is just an AU/story I made based on it. If you’d like to check out The Pink City series itself, check it out here!

—

TRIGGER WARNING: This fic contains mentions of murder/cannibalism, drugs/mentions of drugs (laced food), mentions of psychological episodes, swearing, and trauma. If you aren’t comfortable with these things, don’t read this.



Hoonis drags Elain along as he runs, Dento quickly following behind. Elain can barely keep up with the drag as she almost trips. Dento lags behind a bit.

Many twists and turns are made. Elain has no idea where Hoonis is taking them. After a bit, Hoonis eventually stops by a small apartment complex. The show host rushes up the stairs to an upper level and screeches to a halt. He approaches his room door.

Elain puts her hands to her knees, catching her breath… she felt as if she could vomit. They went that fast, turned that quickly. Dento eventually catches up, out of breath, and storms over to Hoonis. He taps the man’s shoulder and looks at him angrily, as if to ask 'What was that!?'

Hoonis looks back to Dento, slightly confused, until he looks over to Elain, who is still trying catch her breath and not regurgitate.

“Oh! I’m sorry!” Says Hoonis. “I suppose I went too quick.”

Dento questions what the hell that even means. He supposes he went to quick? He and Elain could barely keep up! …Dento is beginning to regret agreeing with Elain to join this man…

Hoonis eventually opens the door to a small rickety apartment. Elain and Dento peek inside… it doesn’t look terrible. Just unkempt.

“Ignore the mess.” Says Hoonis as he steps in. He approaches another room in apartment as Elain and Dento follow. Hoonis opens the door to the room. Elain and Dento take a peek.

Their eyes widen.

The duo takes sight of a small, dimly lit room. Papers and small notes are scattered on the ground. Against one wall is a desk. On another wall is a bulletin board, full of sticky notes hanged up by thumbtacks. Red thread connects some of the notes together.

Hoonis enters the room. Elain and Dento, hesitantly, enter after him. Dento shuts the door.

Hoonis turns to face the pair. “This is where I’ve done all of my research on Darles Nemeni!” He says. “I’ve searched for years and years, yet I haven’t been able to get anywhere! I’m hoping you two have what it takes to help me?”

The pair nod. Elain even grabs a small blank note on the ground… she needs something to write with…

“Oh!” Says Hoonis. He goes to his desk and grabs a pencil. He hands it to Elain.

Elain begins writing something on the note. She shows Hoonis. 'We’re Bounty Hunters'

“Bounty Hunters?” Hoonis asks. “You work in law enforcement?”

Both nod.

“Wonderful! Just what I needed!” Says Hoonis. “Do you need a rundown?” He asks as he steps toward his bulletin board.

The pair nods and steps by Hoonis.

“Good!” Says Hoonis. He prepares to monologue. “I’ve already informed you of who Darles is. I’ve went around asking many to see if anyone had seen him, but, I had no luck. I’ve talked to as many former workers of his I could find, and got nowhere… I’ve looked at interviews, I’ve looked at various investigations, and yet, nothing! …I only wish I had more to interrogate…”

Suddenly, Hoonis’ phone pings. He takes out his phone and opens it up.

His suddenly go wide. He dramatically gasps.

Elain and Dento look on in confusion at the man.

“Oh, my God!” Hoonis shouts. “She’s coming! She’s coming back to the city!”

The Bounty Hunting pair looks on at the gushing man. Dento then approaches the man and taps his shoulder.

Hoonis stops gushing and looks to Dento, confused, before realizing what he wants.

“Oh! An actress who worked with Darles is returning to the Pink City!” Says Hoonis. “She had left the city to get back with family. But now, she’s returning for old time’s sake! If we can find her, then we can speak with her about Darles! Look!”

Hoonis turns his phone screen to show a recent social media post from a woman named Thlouretta Gudds, her big and blue head taking up her profile picture.

Elain’s eyes light up. Dento looks on in confusion. He taps Hoonis’ shoulder again and looks up at the man. A look that asks 'But how do we find her?'

“Oh! Uhh…” Hoonis pauses. “…I’m not sure… do you both have any Bounty Hunting equipment to track her down with?”

Elain nods. Dento looks to Hoonis and picks up a blank note. He goes over to Elain and she hands him the pencil. He writes and shows to Hoonis: 'I don’t want to use our equipment like that'

“Oh.” Says Hoonis. “…Sure. It won’t be as practical, but it’s better than getting arrested.”

Dento writes again and shows Hoonis: 'It wouldn’t hurt if we retrieved our gear, though. We could be prepared for threats'

“You have a point there!” Says Hoonis. “You two can head home if you like. You don’t mind me tagging along, do you? I want to make sure none of us gets lost. I’ll wait outside, if you don’t mind.”

Elain nods. So does Dento, although hesitantly.

The trio exit the small apartment and the Bounty Hunting duo heads to their apartment, a fair distance away from Hoonis’.

As they walk, Elain and Dento can’t help but feel they’re being watched…

The duo turn their heads to face some shrubs nearby. They stare into the darkness behind the small plants…

The leaves rustle.

The duo quickly jumps in front of Hoonis, ready to defend him in case something pops out from the shrubs.

“Huh?” Hoonis exclaims. “What’s wrong?”

Dento turns back and shushes him. Hoonis stays quiet.

They wait…

Nothing.

The duo begins to relax…

Until, as they turn and continue to walk, something… or someone, taps Elain’s shoulder.

Elain jumps and moves back, bumping into Dento a bit. Hoonis moves back from sheer shock.

Elain and Dento recognize whose stepped up. Hoonis however, is confused out of his mind.

The figure is a 'pointy-nosed' man dressed in a long black trench coat and small hat bearing a skull and crossbones.

“Whose that?” Hoonis asks. “Do you know him? Is he a Bounty Hunter?” Hoonis asks.

The man looks caught off guard by Hoonis’ question. He then looks to Elain and Dento, wondering how this stranger knows that about his coworkers…

Shivers travel up the duo’s backs.

The man pulls out a small phone from his trench coat. He’s texting someone…

Dento’s phone buzzes. A text from the man.

'Who is this? Why is he with you? Why does he know your occupation?' The text reads.

‘He’s looking for a lost man' Dento responds. ‘We’re helping him'

'And he has to know things he should not, why?' The man asks.

'He asked' Dento responds. 'He’s no harm to us'

'Affirmative?'

'Yes'

The man nods. He shows Hoonis his ID so he can get his name.

“…Vondu.” Hoonis reads. Vondu nods. He then pulls out a tablet, a Target Buddy. Elain and Dento look intently, while Hoonis remains curious.

Vondu scrolls down to a yet to be caught bounty, The Hot Dog Brothers. Twins wanted for murder and cannibalism, acquiring whatever meat they can, completely regardless of the process, and making food of it to serve… including meat from people. Vondu taps at the screen, asking if the duo had seen them anywhere.

Dento texts Vondu: 'We haven’t seen them. We’ve been on a break. Sorry'

Elain then takes her phone out to text the fellow Hunter. Dento takes a peek to see what she says. 'We heard rustling in the shrubs nearby' She says. 'Maybe look there?'

'That was me, miss' Responds Vondu.

'Oh' Elain responds. 'Sorry'

‘You’re fine' Texts Vondu. ‘Let me know if you find those brothers'

Dento and Elain nod. Vondu steps steps past them. The trio continues down their own path.

—

Elain and Dento remain in their apartment, looking for their gear. Hoonis remains outside, trying not to look suspicious to anyone who may pass by.

As the pair prepares to head out, Elain’s phone buzzes. She sees a text from Dento.

'You think we can find that lady?' The text reads.

'I hope so' Elain responds. 'I wanna find that man I saw'

'I think we should keep watch for those brothers too' Dento responds. 'We may be on a break but we can still help'

'Yea' Elain responds.

'You still doing okay?' Dento asks.

Elain had been doing fine… she hadn’t been focused on all that happened to her… best not to focus on it now.

You’ll be fine.

'I’m good'

'K' Dento responds. 'Let me know if you need to step down or anything'

'I will' Elain responds.

Elain and Dento eventually leave their apartment, all dressed in their Bounty Hunting gear. Hoonis turns, his eyes go wide.

“Wow!” Says Hoonis. “Very authoritative! Now, let’s get a move on! We’ve got an actress to look for!”

The trio sets off back into the city, ready to find Thlouretta.

Regardless of the fact that they don’t have a lead on where in the city she is.

—

The trio walks about on the street. The city is still covered in violet hue. The sky is still dark… not many citizens are out on the streets either. It’s quiet. It’s creepy.

Hoonis leads the trio, strutting forward. Elain and Dento walk behind him.

Hoonis then comes to halt in front a small grocery shop. The lights are stilll on, and the sign on the door shows it’s open, but no one is inside.

“…Why don’t we give here a shot?” Hoonis asks, looking back to the Bounty Hunters. “You never know, you know!”

Elain and Dento nod.

“Great!” Says Hoonis. “Follow me!”

The trio enters the shop. Around the premises are a few check out stations and isles filling the capacity of the building.

…Also among the area is the lingering scent of—

“Hello!” Says an unknown voice.

The trio turns. They see an oddly cheery store worker.

“Welcome!” Says the worker. “How can I be of service to you? We get it if you may not know the layout, we’ve recently opened.”

“Uh…” Hoonis stammers. “We aren’t really here to—!”

Elain and Dento drag Hoonis over to the side. The worker watches as they suddenly leave.

“Let me or my associate know if you need anything!” Says the worker.

“What’s wrong?” Hoonis asks. “He appears innocent.”

Dento pulls out his Target Buddy and shows Hoonis a picture of the bounty Vondu was after, the Hot Dog Brothers. He then points to the worker they had met. Indicating the possibility that it’s a disguise.

“…Are you sure?” Hoonis asks.

Dento appears to have been offended.

“…Oh.” Says Hoonis. “Sorry. You are the Bounty Hunters here.”

Dento nods.

“…I think I have a proposition.” Says Hoonis. “Why don’t I look for Thlouretta, and you two take care of the brothers?”

Elain and Dento nod.

“It’s settled!” Hoonis exclaims.

Elain and Dento quickly hush Hoonis.

“…Sorry.” He whispers.

The trio seperates. Hoonis sets off on his own while Elain and Dento head off together.

Dento then texts Elain. 'I think we should stick together' He says. 'Either one of them could suddenly strike us. It could quickly become two against one if we aren’t careful'

'Yea' Elain responds.

'Try not to get distracted or smth' Says Dento. 'Stay focused'

'I will' Elain responds.

Elain’s phone buzzes again. This time though, it’s not a text from Dento. Dento looks to the screen.

It’s from Vondu.

'I thought you were on a break' Reads the text.

'How do you know we’re here?' Elain asks.

'I peeked over an isle and saw you two and that other man' Texts Vondu.

'Even if we’re not working right now, we still want to help' Texts Elain.

'I see' Texts Vondu.

As Elain and Dento look at the new message, footsteps are heard. They look up.

Vondu stands at the end of the desolate isle. A floating hand hovers up. He gestures for the Bounty Hunters to approach. They head off to where they can’t be seen to devise a plan.

—

Hoonis walks down an isle, glancing around. He doesn’t see anyone that looks like who he’s looking for.

…He’s beginning to lose hope. What if Thlouretta isn’t here? What if they never find her?

He’ll just be back at a dead end again. Back where he was before he went around asking for help. Where he was after he had spoken with Bep… what was he going to do when all of his attempts to find Darles were unsuccessful…?

“Hello, sir!” Says a voice.

Hoonis snaps out of his depressing thinking. “AH!” He yelps. “I’m sorry! I didn’t see you there! Who are you?”

“I’m a worker here! My brother’s associate!” Says the associate. “Are you alright? You appear to be down.”

“Oh, uh…” Hoonis hesitates. “I’ve just been—“

As he recalls his thoughts, he remembers Dento’s suspensions.

They are the Bounty Hunters here, after all.

“A-actually, I’m alright!” Says Hoonis. “No need to worry!”

“Are you sure?” Asks the associate. “I feel otherwise! You looked down, so I thought I’d help!”

“I’m fine, really!” Says Hoonis.

“Brother!” Calls the approaching worker. “Is something the matter?”

“I think we got a liar on our hands!” Says the associate, pointing to Hoonis.

“What? No!” Says Hoonis. “Whoever said anything about a liar? I’m no liar!”

“You suuuure?” Asks the associate.

“Give him some space, brother!” Says the worker. He then suddenly pulls out a small sample tray from seemingly nowhere. “How about a sample to calm your nerves?”

“I don’t need one! Honest!” Says Hoonis.

“Oh, come on, sir!” Says the worker. “You’ll regret iiiit!”

'It couldn’t be that bad, could it?' Hoonis thinks to himself.

…If only he knew…

Hoonis takes a sample off the tray. It’s a small little meat cube. The worker and associate watch as the show host ingests the small cube.

Hoonis begins to bubble with glee. “Oh, I like this!” He says. “What’s in it?”

“Oh! That’s a secret, sir!” Says the associate.

“Family recipe!” Says the worker. “Would you like another?”

“Sorry, but no thank you!” Says Hoonis. “I’m a busy celebrity, and I’ve got things to do!”

“Ah, we get it.” Says the worker. “Let us know if you want another sample!”

“I will!” Says Hoonis. “I should let the others try those!” He says to himself as he passes down another nearby isle.

As Hoonis treads, he begins to feel… oddly weak… his vision blurs and his movements sag. As he limps, he quickly falls to the ground, completely out cold.

The brothers slowly approach the passed out host. The worker picks him up and carries him to another part of the shop, the associate following. A small cooler room next to a frozen section. The worker tucks Hoonis’ unconscious body next to a counter. The worker exits and shuts the door. The brothers quietly step away and their cheery demeanors return.

—

The Bounty Hunters are huddled in a small spot underneath a counter, barely visible to whoever may be around. The three discuss what they could do. They’ve made a small group chat to discuss their plot.

'Keep your eyes peeled. Check behind doors. They could be anywhere' Reads a text from Vondu.

'Likely' Texts Dento. 'This place reeks of meat'

'A calling card?' Elain questions. 'The meat smell, I mean'

'Kind of?' Dento texts.

'I would imagine so' Texts Vondu. 'Their whole thing is meat'

'Should we separate?' Dento asks.

'Yes' Vondu responds. 'You and Elain go together, I go alone'

'Got it' Dento and Elain respond.

The trio the begins to exit the counter. As they separate, a familiar face walks up to Elain and Dento.

“Hello!” Says the worker. “What were you doing behind the counter?”

Elain and Dento scour for an answer. Before they can respond however…

“Oh, it’s fine! Don’t mind it!” Says the worker. “We do have samples, by the way! If you want those!” He steps away.

As the worker heads off, Elain takes notice of something toward the man’s lower waist.

A zipper.

A zipper on his back.

Elain wants to unzip it, but Dento stops her. The two progress forward, looking for any clues.

—

Vondu wanders through the freezer section against the back wall, looking for any doors that could lead to some kind locked off room. As we walks, he spots a door to small freezer room. The window on the door has a layer of frost on it, making it difficult to see inside.

Vondu slowly steps over to the door, trying to look inconspicuous. As he scoots to the door, he slowly reaches a hand to the doors lock.

“Excuse me!” A voice calls.

Vondu jolts at the sound. He turns to see the associate.

“Customers aren’t allowed in there!” Says the associate. “I’d imagine you know that.”

Vondu nods and moves away from the door. He stands in place, completely still.

“Good!” Says the associate. “Keep away from that door, now! Or you’re banned!” He begins to turn away.

As he turns, Vondu notices something on the man’s lower waist gleaming in the store lights.

A zipper.

As the man walks off, Vondu tries to sneak a hand toward the zipper. The hand slowly approaches it, trying not to be noticed. The hand gently places itself onto the zipper and begins to slowly zip upward. As the man turns, the hand continues to rise. Vondu quietly follows the man as he walks, not paying attention.

As the zipper moves up, more of what’s underneath can be seen.

…Overalls. The kind a hillbilly would wear…

The zipper then reaches the top of the man’s head. Vondu removes his hand and watches at the costumes slowly sags and falls to the ground.

What is underneath shocks the Bounty Hunter.

Underneath that costume is a pinkish mass of flesh and muscle. The fat on the man flops, like the man had sucked it up to fit in the costume. The top of the head resembles that of a… hot dog…

It’s a Hot Dog Brother.

The brother stops walking and slowly turns his head to face the Bounty Hunter.

Vondu quickly pulls back his coat to reveal a stash of guns, which protrude from the coat’s darkness. They all point toward the bounty.

Before any of them can fire however…

The brother slams his fist into Vondu’s face, getting him down to the ground.

“…You’ve made a grave mistake there, partner.” The brother says in a thick country accent.

Vondu struggles to get up to his feet as the brother hovers over Vondu, pinning him to the ground. Popping out from a nearby isle is the worker, approaching the bounty and Hunter.

“You seem to be in a pickle!” Says the worker. “How about a sample?”

The worker pulls out the sample tray and shoves a sample down Vondu’s throat. As Vondu struggles to get back up and breathe, his vision begins to blur and he slowly stops moving. All before falling unconscious.

The brother carries Vondu over to the freezer room where he’s placed. He exits to face the worker.

“You’d best get your costume back on.” Says the worker. “I think we got Bounty Hunters among us. I’ll handle the other two, you get your costume back on.”

The brother nods and heads for his costume. The worker heads off the find the no good do-gooders.

—

Elain and Dento exit another room. No sight of anything out of the ordinary. As they exit, the worker approaches them again.

“Hello again!” Says the worker “If you don’t mind me asking, would you like a sample?” He pulls out a sample tray with little meat cubes on it.

Elain and Dento shake their heads. They aren’t in the mood, nor do they trust the workers.

“Come on! You’re missing out!” Says the worker. “Your friends really liked them! They wanted you to try them!”

The duo doubts the statement.

…Matter of fact…

…Where were Hoonis and Vondu…?

The duo had been around the entire store, and hadn’t seen either of them…

“I need an answer now, please!” Says the worker.

The duo glance at each other. They then try to walk past the worker.

“Hey!” Says the worker. He catches up to them. “Not even a nibble?” He shoves a meat cube in Elain’s face. She slaps it away. Her and Dento begin scurrying off.

New objective: Look for Hoonis and Vondu.

“Oh, dear.” Says the worker. He pulls out a walkie-talkie from his side. “Brother? You got your costume back on? They’re onto us.”

Elain and Dento scurry toward the wall, looking for any door they can find.

Suddenly, the associate approaches.

“Excuse me!” Says the associate. “I’ve heard you’ve been causing a ruckus! Please quit that behavior, or you’re out!”

Elain and Dento ignore the threat. They both draw their guns.

“Drawing a gun on me?” Says the associate. “That’s a criminal offense!”

As they’re about to shoot, quick footsteps are heard.

The worker.

Dento quickly turns. He shoots the worker in the leg. He falls.

“Ack!” The worker shouts in anguish. He grips his injured leg.

“Brother!” The associate shouts.

Elain then hands Dento her gun. She hurries to the associate while he’s off guard and tackles him. He’s brought to the ground. As Elain pushes the man to his back, Dento draws his guns at the injured man.

Elain gets to associate on his back and spots the zipper. She zips up the zipper, the body under it slowly being revealed. The Hot Dog Brother pushes Elain off of him. The suit slowly flops the ground.

Elain receives her gun from Dento. Both turn to face an individual brother.

“Oh, dear.” Says the worker. “It appears the jig’s up.”

The worker then begins to unzip his suit. It falls to the ground, revealing the brother underneath. The two now revealed Hot Dog Brothers stare the Bounty Hunters down, the Hunters still holding out their guns.

The Hunters waste no time. They immediately start shooting at both of them. Bullets go flying, hitting through the walls. The brothers quickly dodge. They separate, going after an individual brother, being careful with their shots.

“Can’t catch me, miss lady!” Says the brother Elain’s chasing.

Elain is offended by the name. She begins to shoot at him even more.

The two brothers cross paths pass an isle, Elain and Dento on each end. Elain on the right, Dento on the left. Their individual targets in the same respective directions.

The left brother hands the right brother the sample tray. They stand, waiting…

Dento glances over to Elain, she glances back. Indicating to be careful, since they have that platter. Those little meats are likely laced…

Elain nods.

Then it pops in her head.

…Laced.

Don’t think about it. Don’t think about it. Don’t think about it…

Focus.

Elain focuses hard on her target, eyes wide and face stern. Her gun trembling slightly in her grip.

“One of y’all better move.” Says a brother. “We ain’t movin' til you do!”

Elain then tries to shoot.

*Click*

Nothing.

Elain stares at her gun, confused.

She pulls the trigger again.

*Click*

Nothing again.

*Click Click Click*

…Out of bullets…

…Shit.

Before she can even think to reload, the right brother tackles Elain and wraps his free arm around her waist, still holding the platter. Elain is unable to move. He sets the platter on a small isle shelf and takes her gun. He chucks it away.

Dento tries to shoot the brother holding his friend, but fails, as he’s also quickly ambushed by the other brother before he can shoot.

The brother carrying Dento steps over to the other. Both Hunters squirm in their grasps, but are unable to find a weak spot in their grips. Despite their meek arms, they’ve got strength.

“Look at 'em.” Says one brother. “Squirming like babies!”

The Hunters continue to struggle. Each time they think they can get through, their pushed back into brothers’ stomachs, keeping them in place.

The two brothers then grab a meat cube from the platter. They struggle, but they eventually shove the cubes down the Hunter’s throats.

With time, the Hunters’ movements begin to slow. They fall unconscious.

The two brothers carry the Hunters to the freezer room. As they leave, one brother looks to the other. “I think it’s time we close up shop.” He says. The other nods.

They bring down metal doors to cover the windows. Flipping the small sign to say 'Closed'.

—

It’s quiet…

…And extremely cold…

Hoonis slowly comes to. “…Eugh…” He groans.

Then it hits him.

…That sample… it must’ve been laced with something…

Hoonis looks around.

…Others are with him. Also knocked out cold.

Elain, Dento, and Vondu. All of them sit on the ground, not moving, but still breathing.

“…Dear, G-God…” Says Hoonis, shivering.

“E-excuse me?” Asks a feminine voice, speaking through a text box. She sounds like she’s shivering.

Hoonis looks over to the source of the sound.

His eyes widen. He sharply gasps.

Right there. Right next to him. Right by his side, Thlouretta Gudds, the actress of Mimlimim from 'The Darly Boxman Show', standing right there.

“…S-sorry if I’m bothering you, but do you know how to get out of here?” She shivers. “Oh, j-j-jeepers… it’s cold in here…”

Hoonis slowly rises, staring at Thlouretta intently. “I-I’m not dreaming a-am I?” He asks.

“…H-huh?” Thlouretta questions.

“…You’re who’ve I-I-I’ve been looking f-for!” Says Hoonis. “T-T-T-Thlouretta G-Gudds!” His excitement not keeping his stuttering back from being cold.

“Y-yes.” Says Thlouretta. “W-what were you l-looking for m-me for?”

“D-do y-you remember someone by t-the name of—” Hoonis speaks.

Suddenly, before Hoonis can finish his question, footsteps are heard. The two duck and hide under a counter as one of the Hot Dog brothers enters the room and heads deeper within.

“O-oh my…” Whispers Thlouretta. “Who w-was that?”

As Hoonis prepares to answer as best as he can, Vondu suddenly peers underneath the counter the duo was hiding in.

“G-golly!” Thlouretta exclaims quietly. “You s-scared me, s-s-sir! Who’re y-you?”

“H-he’s a man o-of the l-law!” Whispers Hoonis. “He’s s-s-safe.”

“O-oh.” Says Thlouretta. “A-anyway, do e-either of you k-know a-a-a way o-out?”

Vondu glances around before going to the door leading out into the store. He tries to open it, but it doesn’t budge.

“…O-oh, dear…” Says Thlouretta.

“We’ll f-find a way out o-of h-here.” Says Hoonis. “I p-p-promise.”

“T-thank you, sir.” Says Thlouretta.

“Oh, c-call me H-Hoonis.” Says Hoonis.

“T-that’s a nice n-name.” Says Thlouretta.

As Vondu continues to struggle with the door, approaching footsteps are heard. He quickly huddles with Thlouretta and Hoonis. They watch as a Hot Dog Brother emerges from the darkness.

“…Shoot.” He says. “This’ll do, I guess.”

He bends down and picks the still unconscious Elain and Dento from the ground and carries them into the darkness. As he walks, Elain’s fedora falls from her head.

“…Oh, d-dear…” Says Thlouretta.

“What’re w-we g-gonna do?” Hoonis asks, turned to Vondu.

Vondu then sneaks out from the counter. He takes Elain’s fedora and stuffs it in his coat. He turns back to the actress and show host and gestures to them to approach. They group together as Vondu slowly leads them down the dark hallway.

The small hallway leads into another small yet warmer room. The trio huddles into a darker part of the hallway.

They watch as Elain and Dento are hung up by a rope above grinders.

Not just any grinders, however.

Meat grinders.

The trio stares in horror. Vondu moves ever so slightly closer when the twins aren’t around and gets a look at the room. He then goes back to the freezer. The others follow.

He’s got an idea.

—

The Hot Dog Brothers prepare their grinders to be used on the captured Bounty Hunters. As they prepare the contraption, they boast on about their new meat type.

“I think it’ll be quite good, Bounty Hunter meat.” Says one brother.

“Heh, exactly!” Says the other brother. “I think it’ll finally get our sales back up!”

As the brothers finish their preparations, a loud clang is heard from nearby.

“What was that?” One brother questions.

“…Probably rats.” Says the other. “C'mon, we got little pieces of shit to get rid off.”

As the brothers enter the room, they turn.

Leaving the trio unnoticed.

Hoonis and Vondu exit out of the freezer and into the grinding room, while Thlouretta silently follows the brothers deeper into the freezer. Vondu helps Hoonis up to reach the Bounty Hunters and get them untied. Vondu keeps a close eye on the entrance to the grinding room, making sure the brothers are kept at bay.

As he watches, he hears another few clangs.

“Damn it!” Exclaims one brother. “Where the hell is that rat!?”

Hoonis struggles a bit to get the Hunters untied. “…It’s a tight knot.” He says.

Hoonis continues to pry at the knot until it eventually comes loose. The Hunters quickly begin to plummet. Before they can hit the grinder, floating hands hover from Vondu’s coat, barely catching them, before plopping them onto the ground.

The thud is louder than expected.

…But no one seems to notice.

Vondu sets Hoonis down and the two pick up the unconscious Hunters. Vondu takes Elain, Hoonis takes Dento. They slowly return to the freezer and glance around as they reenter.

The coast is clear.

Vondu then sets Elain to the side. He moves back and unravels his coat, revealing multiple guns underneath. He quickly shoots at the metal door, causing it to fly off its hinges.

Vondu hastily grabs hold of Elain and he and Hoonis sprint forward. Hoonis lags behind a bit, as Dento is head to carry. He isn’t exactly strong.

As they approach the exit, Vondu’s floating hands open up his coat. His guns begin shooting at the door, completely breaking it.

As the duo finally reaches the exit, they realize something…

…Where’s Thlouretta…?

She was supposed to run out with them when she heard the gun shots…

“Stop right there, meat thieves.” Demands a voice.

Vondu and Hoonis turn.

They see the Hot Dog Brothers, along with Thlouretta, who is caught in a brother’s grip.

“I’m sorry.” Says Thlouretta. “I wasn’t very quick on my feet.”

“You give us back the Bounty Hunters, we let you all go, including your little rat friend.” Says one brother. “You don’t, we will do everything in our power to get you on our menu. You got that?”

“What’s it gonna be?” The other brother asks in a teasing tone.

Vondu scrambles to think of something… he can’t just shoot at them, he could get Thlouretta killed…

…Suddenly, gun shots are heard.

Two separate bullets go through each of the brothers’ heads. They fall to the ground, so does Thlourertta, although she’s left unharmed.

Hoonis and Vondu turn back.

They see another Bounty Hunter. A small and petit star shaped man. His face… is oddly realistic. In his small hand, he’s wielding a gun.

“…Who’re you?” Hoonis asks.

The small Hunter pulls out a tiny ID. His name is Kug.

“…Hello, Kug.” Says Hoonis.

Kug doesn’t respond with a single word.

Thlouretta approaches Vondu and Hoonis. “…What about the bodies, Vondu, sir?” She asks.

Vondu turns to the actress and shakes his hand, indicating the brothers will be taken care of. Two floating hands then pull out two glass jars. That’s how he catches bounties when they’re struck down.

Pairs of free hands hover to the bounties and shove them in the jars. The hands float back to Vondu.

Thlouretta doesn’t question it. She isn’t sure if she wants to know the purpose of the jars.

“…What about the wall?” Thlouretta asks, looking back through the shot down door.

Vondu turns. A building has been covered in bullet holes.

“I’d imagine you’ll be paying for that.” Says Hoonis.

Vondu turns to the show host and gives him a thumbs up with a free hand. He will be paying.

“And them?” Thlouretta asks, referring to the people he and Hoonis are holding. “Are they alright?”

“…I’d imagine they’re fine.” Says Hoonis. “They were likely drugged too. They’ll wake up, I bet.”

Just as he says that, Dento appears to slowly be coming to, moving slightly.

“Oh!” Says Hoonis. “See? I was right!”

Dento, aggravated, puts his hand up to Hoonis’ face, as of to shut him up. He’s groggy.

“…Sorry.” Says Hoonis. Dento doesn’t really respond, and instead leans his head against Hoonis’ chest tiredly.

Hoonis turns to face Vondu. “Is Elain okay?” He asks.

Vondu looks to the young Bounty Hunter. She doesn’t seem to be waking up yet.

…Until she lifts her head up a bit. She tilts her head to Vondu and looks at him. It’s hard for her to focus, as she’s just woken up. A free hand then flies out of Vondu’s coat and places Elain’s fedora on her head.

“…Good, she’s okay.” Says Hoonis.

“I apologize for suddenly butting in, but,” Thlouretta begins. “Hoonis, right? Why were you looking for me? You never got to finish your question.”

“Oh!” Says Hoonis. “Do you remember a man by the name of Darles Nemeni?”

As Thlouretta processes the question, and her eyes light up. “Oh, Darles?” She asks. “I haven’t heard that name in years! Has he been found yet!?” She asks excitedly.

“…No, that’s why we were trying to look for you.” Says Hoonis. “My companions, Elain and Dento, and I, wanted to see if you knew anything about Darles to see if it would help us get anywhere.”

“Oh…” Says Thlouretta, disappointed. “I thought you had found him… But, I can hopefully help you find your way to him! I’d be glad to help! I could let you lot walk home with me, then we can talk.”

“Great!” Says Hoonis. He turns to Vondu. “I can carry Dento if he wishes, can Elain stand?”

Vondu tries to set Elain down. Although still groggy, she’s able to balance. Dento looks up to Hoonis, he wants to be put down. Hoonis sets the man down, allowing him to slowly balance himself.

“And what about you, Vondu?” Hoonis asks.

Vondu points to the jars. The bounties need to be taken care of. So does the shop. He and Kug will take care of the matter.

“Ah, I see.” Says Hoonis. “We’ll be heading off now. I wish you two well!”

Hoonis and the other Bounty Hunters take their leave. Thlouretta eventually begins to lead. Vondu waves a bit as the quartet heads off.

—

Thlouretta has lead the trio to her small home just outside the Pink City. Each of them sit at a small wooden table.

“Okay.” Says Hoonis sternly. “Tell us, what do you know about Darles?”

“…Oh, a lot.” Says Thlouretta. “Or, at least, what may be important.”

Thlouretta prepares to monologue. “Darles wasn’t anywhere near like he was when he went missing.” Says Thlouretta. “He was kind, caring. Charming even… it wasn’t until we started working on Darly Boxman that he started to lose it…”

“Really?” Hoonis asks.

“Yes.” Says Thlouretta. “…Oh, gee, it was so odd… the way he acted… he’d occasionally stare into space during presentations or filming. He’d just pause and… stare. He’d even have… episodes…”

“…Episodes?” Hoonis questions. The Bounty Hunters lean in, wanting to listen.

Thlouretta nods. “They didn’t happen often, but there were times where he’d just… snap.” She says. “It wasn’t like him at all. Nothing he did down the show’s run… it just wasn’t the Darles I knew…”

“…Anything else?” Hoonis asks.

“…He spoke of these Gods whenever he’d space out.” Says Thlouretta. “Oh, jeepers— something about eyes? Elders? I can only recall one time I actually saw them… they— they were just there when a wall fell—.”

“Those beings staring him down?” Hoonis asks. “I remember that episode clearly.”

“Yes! Those!” Says Thlouretta. “…No one remembered seeing them before we started filming that day. I tried to ask Darles about them, but he didn’t want to say. He avoided any question involving them… that wasn’t even our darkest moment in the show… As it went on, the episodes got progressively more disturbing. When he’d write, we’d hear him mutter things about Gods and other things that just… didn’t make sense to any of us. We were all worried for him. Especially on the night he went missing.”

As Thlouretta finishes, Elain remembers something…

…The Elders…

“How was he then?” Hoonis asks.

“He— he just didn’t look well. He looked exhausted.” Says Thlouretta. “We decided to check on him that night, but only his daughter opened the door. We her asked where he was, and she didn’t know… she didn’t even seem all that dismayed… we scoured his home, but never found him. Not a single trace of him. No one knew where he went. I tried giving him a call as a last ditch effort, but no answer… not only were we stressed about him being missing, though. We had an episode to shoot that next day and we were missing our lead. We eventually ended up canceling the show, since it seemed like Darles wasn’t going to show up.”

Before Hoonis can speak again, Elain gets up from her seat to get everyone’s attention.

“Do you have something to say?” Thlouretta asks.

Elain then spots a stack of papers on a desk beside the small kitchen. She takes a sheet and the pencil nearby the stack and begins to write something. She shows it to Thlouretta.

The sheet reads: I think I’ve seen those Gods you’re talking about.

“…Really?” Thlouretta asks.

Hoonis and Dento rise from their seats to take a peek at the writing. Hoonis looks to Elain, slightly shocked.

“…How?” Is all Hoonis can muster.

Elain then begins to draw on the sheet. Long, shadowy pillars covered in eyes. She shows off the drawing.

“…I’m sorry, but those don’t look anything like the ones I saw.” Says Thlouretta.

“I can draw what they looked like.” Says Hoonis. He takes the pencil from Elain and begins to draw what he and Thlouretta had seen. Long, shadowy creatures with one pair of eyes.

“Yes!” Says Thlouretta. “That’s it!”

“…Could he have been taken by these… beings?” Hoonis questions.

“…O-oh, dear…” Says Thlouretta. “If he was… oh, poor Darles…”

“If he was taken by these creatures…” Hoonis begins. “How do we get to them…?”

…Elain may have a way…

…No. No, no, no… don’t think about it…

Dento looks to Elain, slightly concerned.

Are you okay?

You’ll be fine. You’re going to be okay… all that Elain wants to think.

She nods.

I’ll be okay.

I’ll be fine.

“Do either of you have a way we could find these beings?” Hoonis asks.

The Hunters shake theirs heads. No.

“…They may exist outside of our own existence.” Says Thlouretta. “…Is travel like that even a thing?”

“…I’m not sure.” Says Hoonis. “We could try to find some way to escape this plane.”

“…Maybe. It’s worth a shot.” Says Thlouretta. “…I just want to see Darles again. It’s been ages… I miss him.”

Dento walks up to Thlouretta and pats her shoulder, promising that they’ll find Darles and get him back.

“…Thanks. I very much appreciate it.” Says Thlouretta.

“I suppose we best be on our way now.” Says Hoonis. “We’ve got unfathomable and all powerful nightmares to find!”

Thlouretta chuckles a bit… Hoonis’ nature reminds her of Darles. “I wish you three luck in finding him.” She says. “Safe travels!”

“You have a good night, Miss Gudds!” Says Hoonis as the trio steps to the exit.

“I don’t mind being called Thlouretta.” Says Thlouretta as she approaches the exit to let the trio go. “And you too!”

Thlouretta watches as the trio sets out. She looks up to the sky, hoping a certain someone may hear her…

“…Please be okay, Darles…” Says Thlouretta.

…She can’t help but think he’s somewhere up there, wanting to come back down, but being unable to. The powers that be holding him up above her like a cat toy.

He’s there.

…Somewhere...

- END -

Next Chapter:

Previous Chapter:

[clericofshadows]

late night conversations

Description: Up late at night and unable to sleep, Regis runs into Ashley, and they have a conversation about many things.

Context: Takes place sometime after something to look forward to but probably can be read without reading it beforehand.  It gives context to some of the conversations in the fic.  Picture mostly here for flavor.  I was going to reinstall my flycam mod to get a picture of them in conversation... but I misplaced my edited Coalesced so here’s this instead.

Pairing: Kaidan Alenko/Regis Shepard

Warnings: None, although Regis does not have a high opinion of Vakarian, and discusses why he chose not to recruit him.

“Can’t sleep?” Ashley asked as she joined him at the mess table, sitting across from him.

“Side effects of my L2 implants.  Kaidan gets debilitating migraines, and while I do as well, I also get bouts of insomnia.” Regis sighed, tapping his fingers on the table.  “What has you up late?”

She turned away from him.  “Nightmares.”  She didn’t elaborate, nor did Regis ask her to.  If she wanted to talk, Regis would gladly oblige, but he could tell by her curt tone she was done talking about it.

Regis nodded.  “We’ve seen some shit these past few missions.  I’m here if you need me.”

“I know.  You are a damn good CO, Shepard.”

“Thank you.”  He cleared his throat, not really knowing how to respond to the compliment.  “Want some tea?” He gestured over to the kitchenette.  “It helps me.”

She shrugged.  “Sure.  I’ve never been much of a tea drinker but who am I to pass up an opportunity for you to do something for me.”

Regis rolled his eyes as he stood up from the table.  “Well, you’ve never had my tea before, so maybe I’ll change your mind.”

He leaned against the counter after grabbing and preparing his preferred blend for nighttime relaxation, waiting for the water to boil.  She joined him, crossing her arms against her chest.  “I’m surprised Alenko didn’t come out with you.”

Regis smiled, setting out two mugs.  “He’s a heavy sleeper, but if I don’t come back to bed in a bit, I wouldn’t be surprised if he pings my omni tool.” “Probably wondering why you didn’t just wake him up in the first place.”

“Yeah, well, I hate to disturb his rest.  It’s a point we agree to disagree on.”

“I swear you two act like newlyweds, but haven’t you been together for a long time?” Ashley asked.

“Ten years, give or take, but this is the first time in a while we’ve been together for an extended period of time,” Regis said, taking the kettle and pouring the water in the mugs.  “Got together a few years after biotic training, joined the Alliance together, and now we’re here.”

“Damn.  I’ll get the full story out of you eventually.” She whistled.  

“Maybe after I’ve gotten some sleep.” Regis huffed out a laugh.  “We’ve been there for each other for so long, and while the Alliance definitely complicated things, we were able to power through it.”

“And now you’re here, abusing your Spectre benefits so you two can share a bed together,” she echoed, nudging his arm.  “I would offer to go ring shopping with you, but something tells me you already have that figured out.”

Regis pulled out his dog tags from underneath his sweater.  “I do.”

A black tungsten band with tree branch engravings rested next to his dog tags on the chain.  Originally belonging to his father, it was one of the few things Regis had of his.  

Atlas Shepard died in a freak shuttle accident before Regis was born, and he mourned the loss of what could’ve been.  His father was earthborn, something Regis wished he was able to claim.

Instead, he was born in space on his mother’s ship, and rarely was able to spend time on Earth with his father’s family.

He took off the chain and handed it to her.  “It’s beautiful,” she said.  “I think it would fit him well.”

“Thank you.  It belonged to my father,” Regis explained, taking the chain back from her.  “He died before I was born, but my mother gave me his ring when I turned eighteen.  He always kept his actual ring safe with her, even when they were apart, going for the tattooed option instead.  I’ve worn it on me ever since.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” she said.  “I didn’t know.”

He shrugged, moving to remove the tea bags from the mugs.  “It’s not something I talk about much, so don’t worry about it.  Even the scarves that Kaidan and I wear are because of him, something he put on his own armor to set himself apart.”

He held out a mug to her.  She took it with a smile.

“I would offer to give you a hug, but I’m not sure it’s something you want.”

Regis pulled her into a side hug.  “I appreciate the thought, now try your tea.”

She took a sip after squeezing him back.  “Not bad, Skipper.”

“Thank you.” He replied, taking a long sip of his.  Just what he needed.  A warm drink with a friend.

“You can tell me to fuck off if I’m overstepping, but are those tattoos on your right arm because of that ring?” She asked after a moment of silence.

He nodded.  “Yeah.  Based on the Yggdrasil tree.  Makes me feel like I’m connected to Earth and to him.”

“Just like the scarf, so you could connect yourself to LT and to your dad,” She observed.  “Making him part of your family.”

“And one day I’ll order you a scarf and make you a part of it officially,” he said, smirking at how she nearly choked on her tea.

“Seriously?” She asked, hesitant, after clearing her throat and setting down the mug.  

“Of course.  You are part of my crew, and I’d like to consider you a friend.” 

“You really do care,” she smiled.  If he looked closely, perhaps he could see a little wetness gathering around her eyes.  He chose to ignore it.

“Black and blue would look good,” he continued.  “I’ll see to it after this mission is done.  Maybe even get you a nice, requisitioned set of gear since I’m also recommending you for the N program.”

She blinked a few times in surprise.  “I need to sit down,” she said, walking back over to the table.  “Why?  Why all this for me?”

“Because you are a damn good soldier who doesn’t deserve the shit you’ve been given.  If my word can help you climb out of the hole, then why shouldn’t I give you that chance?  Your marksman scores rival my own, you work excellent under pressure, and you’ve grown to work well with a diverse team.  As your CO, it’s an obvious decision,” Regis explained, rejoining her at the table.  “I don’t do this lightly, as I’m sure you’ve heard the stories of my teaching days.  You’ve earned it.”

She took a deep, shuddering breath.  “God, Shepard, you really know how to catch someone off guard.  And in the middle of the night?  I’ll be more coherent about this after I’ve slept on it.”

“But do you accept it?” Regis asked.  “I am sorry for springing this on you, but it’s something I’ve been preparing for a while.  Anderson is also backing me on this.”

She blinked a few times before breaking out into a smile.  “Hell yeah I accept, but give me time to really think about it, y’know?”

“As much time as you need.”

Ashley finished off her tea, pushing the mug to the side.  “This was not how I expected this conversation to go.”

Regis chuckled.  “Well, how did you think it was going to go?”

“Thought I was going to get more juicy Shepard secrets out of you, but instead you render me speechless.”

“Well, I’ll let you ask another question.  Maybe two.” He winked, finishing his tea.  “It’s only fair since I’ve learned a lot about you and your family.  Ask away.”

She glanced down at the dog tags still resting against his sweater. "You know, I'm curious.  Why didn't you recruit that C-Sec officer, Vakarian?"

With the way she kept glancing at his dog tags, he didn't expect her to go down that route, but it was a valid question.  “I had a hunch about him that I didn’t like.  Way too insistent he was right about Saren but had fuck all to prove it.  After gaining my status and grabbing Tali and Wrex, I realized I never followed through on his lead.  So, I used my status to access his file, see what kind of officer he was.”

“I’m guessing you didn’t like what you saw.”

“No.  Evidence tampering, witness coercion.  Hell, even assault, among other things. A loose cannon like that on my crew?  He would see justice as a means to an end, any way necessary,” Regis explained, shaking his head.  “Disappointing, but ultimately, I saw him as a liability. If he can’t handle the rules of C-Sec, I doubt he would have followed my orders in the end.”

“He probably just heard ‘Butcher of Torfan’ and thought you would be all for it,” she said. 

“I never made that decision lightly.” He looked away.  “I embraced it, but it has pinned me as someone who will get the job done, no matter the cost.  While that may be true sometimes, it’s something I try to avoid.”  He sighed.  “Yes, I imagine he had a certain image of me.”

“I gave the order knowing damn well it was the only way out.  I took the fall so everyone else would survive, while I became the monster.  The demon.  The Butcher.  But the families of the dead know what I did for them, what I sacrificed to make sure they got what they deserved, to ensure their loved ones died with honor and not the shame of my order.  The thing is?  I wasn’t the only one in support of it, but I made damn sure that the Alliance thought it was only me.  And look what it gave me.  Scars, a path to N7, and a title that makes my mother hate me even more.”

Regis ranted to Kaidan after the events and trials of Torfan, hoping the other man would understand why he did what he did.  What it did to him.  Kaidan listened and continued to support him, despite everything.

The promise to have each other’s back was not about to be broken that day.

“You’re a good man, Shepard.  Don’t let that title force you into being something else.  I’ve seen the way you think, and I can tell you weigh all the options before jumping in.  It’s what I respect about you,” she said, finishing off her tea.  “Sorry for bringing it up.”  More surprised she hadn’t already brought it up, he waved it off.

“Go on, ask what you really wanted to ask.  Don’t think I didn’t see you looking at my tags,” Regis said, teasing a little.

She rolled her eyes.  “Fine, but you asked for it.  Do you ever worry about losing that ring if something were to happen?” 

He raised an eyebrow, surprised she went there of all places, but he obliged.  “Sometimes.  I don’t like the idea of dying somewhere I cannot be retrieved, but once I had this ring, I didn’t want to part with it.  Then, once Kaidan and I made it official, I knew I wanted to give it to him one day.  Either way, if something does happen, he’s the one that ends up with everything of mine.  I just hope it never comes to that.”

“Thank you for telling me that, I guess I was just wondering how you thought about the ‘what ifs.’ Not sure what came over me there.” She rubbed at her neck, looking a little embarrassed. 

Regis took a stab at it.  “Might it have something to do with your nightmare?”

“Maybe.” She sighed and stood up from the table.  “I really need to try and get some more sleep.  You should too.”

He could guess about what it was really about.  She’s the sole survivor of her squad on Eden Prime.  No time to give them the respect they deserved.  Some even put into research to find out what the geth were capable of and how to defend against it.

Regis did not want that to be his fate.  An experiment.  He remembered the look Ashley gave him when he ensured Bhatia got his wife’s body back.  One of surprise and respect, probably thinking he would’ve instead denied the man’s request.

Would it have helped the Alliance?  Likely.

At that moment?  Regis did not care for what the Alliance wanted.

“Yes, he definitely should.  Love, get your ass back to bed, please.” Kaidan emerged from his quarters, his hair mussed up and curling, looking more than a little annoyed.

Oops.

Ashley laughed.  “Told you so!  Good talk, Shepard.  Next time, let’s do it at a more reasonable time.”

“I make no promises,” he said, moving to put the mugs in the sink to be dealt with later.  “Good night, Ash.”

She nodded and headed back to the crew quarters.

Kaidan stood outside the door with his arms crossed.  “Told you to wake me.”

“And you know I never will, Kaidan.” Regis yawned.  “Shit, it’s going to be a long day tomorrow.”

“Whose fault is that?” Kaidan reentered their quarters; Regis followed behind him.  

“My damn implant’s.” Regis muttered, removing his sweater and his fatigues, leaving him in his boxers.  

Kaidan rolled his eyes, deftly removing his uniform and crawling back under the covers.  “In any case, did you have a good talk with Ashley?”

Regis settled in next to him, putting Kaidan’s arm around him, snuggling in close.  “Yeah.  Told her about the N recommendation, among other things.”

“Hmm. How did she take it?” Kaidan asked, holding Regis tightly.  Clingy bastard.

“Shocked but well overall.  I really do think she has the potential to succeed in the program.”

“I agree.  Now, go to sleep, Regis.”

“You do too, you know.”

“Yes, love.”

“You’re ignoring me, aren’t you.”

“Because I want you to get some sleep.  Need me to grab your meds?” Kaidan turned around to face him, cupping Regis’s face in his hand.  “I just worry about you.”

A part of Regis wanted to go ahead and just give Kaidan the ring right then and there, wrapped up in his love and support, but he wanted to do it in front of their family, surrounded by their friends and loved ones.

Regis leaned into the touch.  “I know.  I’ll be fine.”

“Right.  Next time, wake me.”

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.  That’s not a yes.”

“It’s not a no!”  Regis smiled and yawned once again.  “Alright fine, I’ll get some sleep.”  He leaned in and pecked Kaidan on the lips.  

They wrapped their arms around each other, and soon Regis fell asleep listening to his lover’s breathing, content within his arms.

[beestypos]

Ping Pong

a/n: I just associate Geto with ping pong for some reason and had this idea. I would also like to mention that I have not been up to date with the manga and some information may be wrong.

Warnings: MANGA SPOILERS, swearing, mention of bruises, mention of killing, teeny bit of fluff with pretty angsty ending, ‘love’ is used as a nickname for reader

Wordcount: 3438

Characters: Geto Suguru x gn! reader

First Year at Jujutsu Tech

Geto was the one to find you, underneath all the rubble of the freshly destroyed warehouse – a direct consequence of a fight between several curses and the shaman trio composed of Shoko, Geto, and Gojo. You were only barely breathing when they finally arrived at the high school, the only reason you were still alive was due to your cursed energy protecting you. It would take you three weeks for all your major wounds to heal, the process sped up by the doctor and Shoko’s reverse cursed techniques.

You had nearly been pulled out of the high school by your parents, after all it was only the beginning of the school year, and you had already almost died. However, after some lengthy discussions, Yaga managed to convince your parents to keep you at the school. You were still weak both physically and cursed energy wise, which is why you were excused from doing any serious training. The only times you would interact with your classmates would be when they came back from missions or training. Over the next couple of days, you would get closer with Shoko and Gojo; however, Geto, who normally always was stuck with the white-haired sorcerer and who you had been getting along with, seemed to want to have the least to do with you. Which was a problem as you wished to thank the young sorcerer who had saved you.

Almost a month and a half passed since you were saved, and the doctor finally gave you permission to start doing some basic training even though one of your arms was still in a cast – it wasn’t much of an issue as it was your non-dominant arm. That day, Gojo and Shoko were out, most likely on a mission, and although you did not see Geto leave with them, you assumed he was out too.

Sick of having done nothing for the past month and a half, you decided that you wanted to go to the gym and start getting back into shape and to rebuild some of the muscle you had lost when in recovery. The gym was empty as you had expected, pop music playing from the speakers softly. You were about to start your warmup when you noticed a door you hadn’t seen before. As you looked into the room, you saw that there was a ping pong table, already half-folded. A racket placed, almost as if it was just waiting for you, on top of a round, white ball. You hesitated – the last time you had played ping pong was at your cousins house when you were nine. However, the set up just seemed so tempting, and anyways, you had been wondering how exactly you were going to work out with an arm in a cast.

Although this sport seemed easy when you first picked up the racket, it made you realise how out of shape you were. Your reflexes were terrible, and your agility and balance had gotten worse, though you blamed the cast for that. After what must have been the 13th time in the 15 minutes you had been playing, the ball once again flew off past you.

“You’re not very good at this, are you?”

The soft voice caused you to jump – apparently you also needed to work on staying on your guard as well – resulting in a chuckle from the raven-haired boy who had moved from the doorway, where he had been observing you for the past minute, to pick up the white ball.

“You try and play with a cast,” you grumble, unhappy with having been caught by surprise.

This only results in another laugh from the boy who had been avoiding you for a month and a half.

“I wouldn’t blame the cast,” he said, “Mind if I join?” You simply nodded, glad to have him back. He pulled down the other side of the table and grabbed another racket.

“I’m going to be honest with you,” you start, “I don’t know the rules of ping pong.”

Once again, he chuckled, and briefly explained the rules to you before starting the game. For some reason, playing against someone else was even harder than playing alone and resulting in you often having to chase after the ball as it bounced around you while he just smiled. Except for the rhythmic pattern of ping and pong, no other sound could be heard.

As you slowly got the hang of the movement of the ball, you broke the silence.

“Thank you,” you say, not looking at him, only at the ball, coming towards your side of the court, “for saving me, I mean.”

“It’s nothing.” The gruff tone of his voice causes you to look up. He looks concentrated as he hits the ball back towards you.

“It is something. I mean it is my life.”

He doesn’t respond, instead receiving the ball, and sending it back towards you.

“Why have you been avoiding me?” You ask.

Yet again, he doesn’t respond and sends back the ball towards you.

This time, you catch the ball between your hand and the racket, causing him to look at you.

“Why, Geto?” You ask again. He seems to hesitate, turning the racket over and over in his hand.

“I… I got scared. I mean, we were supposed to be partners on this mission. I was supposed to stick by your side and I… I didn’t do that.” His voice was barely a whisper, and you almost didn’t hear the last sentence.

“And so, you have been avoiding me because you feel what? Unworthy?”

“I just didn’t think that you would want the person who abandoned you near you.” His face was grim and his words bitter. He’s really beating himself up about this, huh…

You hesitate to go around the table to comfort him, but instead you just say, “You still saved my life, Geto.”

The boy tries to interject, and so, you quickly add, “No, I don’t want to hear about how I wouldn’t have needed to have been saved if you hadn’t left me. I don’t care, Geto. If you had actually abandoned me, I would have been left underneath that pile of rubble and died.”

With that you hit the ball and started a new match, signalling that the conversation was over and that he should leave it at that.

For a while neither of you say anything, until he asks you about your family. After that you spend the next 20 minutes talking to each other, getting to know each other. And as you were talking, you could feel your heart thump rapidly, matching the rhythm of the little, white ball.

Ping

Second Year at Jujutsu Tech

Pong

You had just come back from a mission and had rushed to the ping pong room. Sure enough, Geto was there, already playing, waiting for you.

The two of you had grown over the year and a half that had gone by and earned some new scars as trophies from the curses and battles you fought. However, due to said battles and curses, the two of you rarely had enough time to see each other which is why after every mission or at any moment you had some free time (that was too short for you to do anything else), you would hurry to the hidden room in the gym. You had improved significantly, the two of you would hit the ball rapidly – if anyone else were to watch a game between the two of you, they would not even be able to see the ball. However, there was one single rule you had to follow: no cursed energy as this was the only time where you weren’t obliged to use it, it was your break between missions and schoolwork.  

However, with all of that, you never defined your relationship. Some days, you would play in silence, and on other days, you would talk about Gojo’s latest – and annoying – prank or your plans for the coming holidays. And although you wanted to be so much more than Geto’s friend, you couldn’t risk destroying the bond that you had created. And so, you were content just playing ping pong, and being friends with the raven-haired boy who had saved your life.

“How was your mission?” He asked, seeing you watch him as he continued playing.

“I can tell you that that neighbourhood is now curse free.” You said cheerfully, trying to prove to him non-verbally that you were fine, even though you could tell he had noticed the bruises on your arm and cheek. You brought down the other side of the table, before grabbing a racket, thus commencing the usual game that started between you.

“You should try and be more careful,”

“I would expect Nanami telling me that, not you.” You chuckle as your hitting the ball back towards him, before adding, “And anyways, these are just bruises, I won’t die from them.”

He shakes his head, “Still, take care… I wouldn’t want me saving your life to have been for nothing, love.”

That was something else that had happened over the course of the past couple of months. One day, he had just called you ‘love’ and since then he hasn’t stopped, meaning that Gojo’s mocking hasn’t stopped either. But you couldn’t care less, because the way he said it would make butterflies flutter in your stomach and it would make you feel as though he also felt the same way about you. Truly, you would never do anything to change this, whatever this is, in the world. Because you loved him.

Third Year at Jujutsu Tech

The ball bounced against the folded up pane of the table. It had been two months since the mission involving the Star Plasma Vessel had failed, due to some guy named Toji.

You weren’t present then and only heard of the event afterwards through a phone call. 

“Yes?” You said as you picked up the phone. Although calls in the middle of the night weren’t uncharacteristic for Shoko, you could immediately tell that something was wrong. And as she slowly told you the story of the failed mission of the Star Plasma Vessel, you understood why.

You immediately started to pack your bags – you had been sent on a mission overseas as you were the only one available at the time, and you had been begging to be sent overseas once you learned that that was something you could do in 3rd year. Although the mission was only supposed to last three days, it lasted almost an entire week due to the window posted there not investigating properly and not telling you the full details of the mission. If that idiot had actually done his job, you wouldn’t have rushed to the airport with tears of stress in your eyes, hoping for a flight back to Tokyo. No, instead, you would have been present at the high school and could have helped with the attack and prevented the next few months from happening.

The ball flew back towards you, and you just barely missed it.

Ever since the incident, Geto had been staying longer and longer in his room. When he would come out, he looked tired, and thin. When he came back from missions, he would go shower, and would go back to his dorm. At first you figured that it had to be expected. This event was deeply traumatising for the two boys, and so you left Geto alone. Figuring this is how he coped. That he wanted to be alone.

But as days turned into weeks, you started to worry. Worry that you were losing him. You would go knocking at his door every morning when you woke up, asking him if he wanted to come with you to get some pastries and some coffee for breakfast. When you came back from missions, you would wait for him to come play ping pong. You would wait half an hour, before you would start playing by yourself and wait for another hour. And another hour. After a while, you would just go knocking to his door, asking him if he wanted to play, even if it was just in silence. It had you almost feeling like Anna knocking at Elsa’s door to build a snowman.

You had no one to talk to during these months. Shoko was busy as she would go between the two schools, healing people left and right. Gojo was sent on missions every day, and he honestly looked just as tired and thin as Geto did when you did manage to see him. Nanami was the only available one that you were close to, but he wasn’t the right person to talk about this sort of thing, and some months later, he would end up losing his partner himself, so there was no point in troubling him then. In the end, the only person that you did want to talk to was Geto himself.

But he never came out of his room, so you left him notes that you slipped under his door and food that you left in the fridge with his name on it. No matter what you did, you could continue to feel him slipping away from you.

And so, you spent your time playing ping pong. Geto’s racket waiting on the counter behind you, the door slightly ajar, so that he would feel welcome. But as time went on, you would have to clean the racket from the dust that started to accumulate on it, and the door never moved. You stopped playing music just so that you could hear the hinges squeak if someone opened it.

Then one day, you did hear the hinges squeak and the door was moving – it was being pushed open slowly. But instead of Geto, it was Gojo. You were about to greet him with a smile, but you stopped when you saw the look on his face. Gojo’s face was grim and tired and sad. And this worried you, because even after the accident he had still carried on with a slight smile on his face. Immediately, your thoughts went to the darkest places. To keep yourself calm, you continued to play ping pong, hitting the ball softly, to make less noise, as you waited for the white-haired sorcerer to tell you the worst news of your life.

And when he did, his voice was just a croak, “Geto’s gone.”

The words hit you like you were being punched by Black Flash mixed with Gojo’s “Blue”.

You stood there in shock, waiting, and hoping, that this was another of Gojo’s bad pranks, even though you knew it wasn’t.  And when he didn’t say anything for a while and he just looked at you with that sad expression on his face, something inside of you broke.      

That is when you broke the number one rule of ping pong – you didn’t even realise that your cursed energy had accumulated into your hand. It was only when you hit the ball with the racket and saw the ball fly through the folded table and through the wall, that you realised you had used it.

Gojo then told you about his last conversation with Geto and what the raven-haired boy hoped to achieve and how he was going to achieve it.

That was when you fell to the floor and broke down. You do not remember what you did – whether you cried and yelled at the unfairness of it all or were completely silent with the shock and anger – you just remember Gojo looking at you with his sad, broken, blue eyes.

12 Years Later – Phantom Parade

You were sitting in the ping pong room. The wall had been fixed and the table replaced for many years now. But it wasn’t the same. Maybe it was the fact that the walls were painted a different colour or the table being different from the one you had been played with for three consecutive years or maybe it was just that once Geto left, it had never been the same again.

You had continued playing by yourself in the hopes that one day, Geto would come back to his senses and come back. The elders would forgive him and Geto would be allowed back on campus and he would play ping pong with you – just like before.

But throughout the years, you followed his tracks, seeing the victims he left behind – mainly non-sorcerers. You heard rumours of the raven-haired shaman, who used to be so funny, so kind, and who was now apparently a cult leader. Throughout the past years, you got over your crush for him, even though you had been heartbroken and a wreck for the two years that followed his departure, and with 12 years between you, you only had soft, lingering feelings for him. You would always love him, but with the time that had passed and the distance that separated you, it had diminished. After all, he had changed. He was no longer the 15-year-old boy who had saved your life from being crushed underneath a pile of rubble. He was different. He was cold and calculated and remorseless.

The past day was proof of that. You had spent the whole afternoon and evening killing curses and jujutsu sorcerers who had changed sides. Although you did not see him, you knew that Geto was behind all of it. And you also knew of the order that the higher ups had issued to Gojo.

Deep down, you hoped that Gojo had ignored these orders, just like he had ignored so many in the past. And so that is what you are doing now. Waiting and hoping. Waiting for Gojo to come and hoping that he had not done what had been asked of him.

He knew where to find you when he got back. And when you saw him and the tears coming from his bloodshot eyes, you knew that your hopes had failed you. He sat down next to you and placed his head on your shoulder.

“I killed him...” His voice and cracked and faltered, and you knew that he would need more comfort than you. Because even though you both loved Geto the same, you knew that you could never be angry at him for taking away your Geto. You had had to live with the guilt of not having been there enough for Geto, and Gojo would have to live with the guilt of having killed his best friend.

A Year Later – Culling Games Era

You entered the ping pong room – it had become a secret haven for you and the remaining sorcerers at the high school – and there he was.

You had heard from the other sorcerers about a raven-haired man being controlled by Kenjaku, but you had hoped foolishly once again that it wasn’t your raven-haired boy. Your heart had hoped that the others were mistaken or that they had lied for some reason or the other. Your brain had repeatedly told you that they were right after all what else could have stopped the great Gojo Satoru? But you had preferred to listen to your heart.

He had let his hair down, though he still kept some of it in a bun with those strands framing what used to be his perfect face. His skin was paler, you suppose that that is a side effect from being brought back from the dead, and his eyes no longer had that beautiful light they once had. But most of all, what made your heart shatter in a thousand pieces was the scar that ran along his forehead. In that moment, you wanted to rip open his skull and take out Kenjaku and destroy that curse over and over.

“Hello, love,” was all he said. There was a sad twinge to it and it sounded like Geto, but you knew that it was not really him. You knew that Kenjaku was in his brain and that he could see everything.

You knew what had to be done – after all, you would not let Gojo have to face and kill his best friend again. No, this time, it had to be you. It was the only way.

But you couldn’t help but hesitate. You had felt all kind of despair when he left and then resented him for it. You couldn’t just kill him like that even though you have to.

Because he had saved you…

… and you had failed to save him.   

[electrasev5nwrites]

The date, when it came, was a fuckin surprise to Jason. He was minding his own business compiling a report on everything the Two-Facers had done last week (there was a surprising amount of bureaucratic process involved in making yourself judge, jury, and executioner of people who sucked).

And then there was a violently green hole in his wall. "Huh," Jason said, leaning back in his chair. He pulled the handgun out of his desk drawer and cocked it at the portal. "Not sure I care for that."

"Thanks, Wolf," came a warbled and nonsensical reply. Jason turned off the safety.

"What?"

The portal flashed white and closed. He was lifting his arm to point at the man standing in his apartment before he really processed that someone had come through it.

"This is where you live?" The other man was peering around Jason's apartment. He seemed politely interested at best and, Jason felt, much less concerned by the gun than he really should have been. "I heard bats. I thought there would be more bats." He looked at Jason and put his palms up as if he thought this might have been misconstrued as rude. "Not that you need bats! Or that I'm disappointed by the lack of bats. In fact you have uh, wonderful curtains." He very obviously named the first object he saw. He pretended to be fascinated by them. "The red sure is a choice. A great choice! I'm not criticizing your decor."

Jason realized that if he didn't say anything, Danny was going to ramble himself into a corner and slink out of the dimension to escape his obvious embarrassment. "...Your hair looks just like in the picture you drew," Jason said. He put the safety back on. "Hello, Danny." The name tasted odd in his mouth. It was just a little pedestrian for the other man- no, teenager, the other teenager. Danny looked young. No wonder he'd thrown Dick back like the wrong fish. Jason felt a little less smug about having been the one chosen. Maybe he was just the most age appropriate candidate.

Danny turned away from Jason's window and beamed up at him like that was the greatest compliment he could have ever received. "I don't actually have your name!"

God help him, Danny was cute. Jason reached out a hand. "Jason."

Danny looked at his outstretched hand. He blinked. "Are- oh!" He flushed green and his hand shot out to meet Jason's in what was very clearly the first handshake of his life. It was a struggle not to laugh. There was a distraction in that Danny was unique to the touch. It didn't feel like touching a human hand. First off, it was about the temperature as something out of the fridge and it made Jason somehow taste mint. Secondly, it just... it didn't feel like human skin. There was a raised line from a scar, but the texture was as if all the wrinkles and pores of human skin had been polished off.

Jason pulled his hand away before he could wonder if that supernatural smoothness extended elsewhere, even though pretty much the only exposed skin was Danny's hands and face. He flushed a little red anyways. "So you're here to uh, set up a date?" He offered.

Danny blinked at him. "Are you busy now?"

... Jason closed his notebooks, only now concerned that Danny might have seen extremely sensitive information. "Nope," he lied, trying to pin down why something about Danny's freckles was pinging as relevant. Were they fake? Were they a replication of someone else's freckles?

Danny beamed and - he floated up a few inches. Holy hell that was cute. "Great!" He enthused. "Should we go to yours or mine?"

Jason turned violently red. "We are already in my place." His voice came out tight.

It took a few seconds for the penny to drop. "Go out in your city or go to the Ghost zone!" Danny waved his hands frantically. "I'm not being a creep I swear! I mean we are kind of magically engaged but I'm also engaged to-- are those people your friends and family? Oh my GOD I'm-"

"I would love to take you out around town, but you'll stand out," Jason interrupted. He couldn't hold back the smile. "We can make it work, though. Thoughts on hats and glowing less?"

"Oh, that's easy." Danny twitched his hands outward in a motion he probably didn't even know he was doing. There was another flash of white light.

And Danny one was gone. Danny two stood in Jason's apartment with dark hair, jeans and a t-shirt that hid the musculature his jumpsuit had displayed, and a full palette switch of his eyes and skin tone.

"Useful," Jason said, and tugged at his snow-white forelock. "Think you could teach me?"

"No, but doctor Frostbite might be able to sort that out for you," Danny responded absently.

Jason made a face. "Doctor Frostbite seems like the name for a B tier villain with blue hair."

Danny paused. "That's Ember, actually," which made no branding sense because the word ember evoked warm colors. "Lead the way!"

Jason cleared his throat. "I uh, am gonna want to change."

For the first time, Danny really looked him up and down. Jason waited patiently as Danny went through all the stages of grief cataloging that he had walked into Jason's living room when the man had been wearing black boxer briefs and a white sleeveless undershirt.

"I'm going to go drown myself," Danny said, now violently pink. Huh, even blushing got a color change. "Can I borrow your bathroom?"

"Stay alive enough to pick between Korean or Mexican," Jason advised. "I'll be right back. Should I find you a coat? I'm gonna find you a coat," he decided, already on the way to his bedroom. "It's freezing out."

Wrote both parts on the train today, to and from work. I'm starting to get concerned that this is gonna stay on my mind until I write a full fic tbh. I guess if I do I'll put a link here.

Halloween prompts year 2 day 4

Typical "sacrificed to the ghost king" scenario except thier technically being sacrificed to the "endless green of the void" aka the Ghost Zone itself and it just dgaf so when these guys land in Dannys front yard in the gz he sends them home immediately

Just

Batman: *gets sacrificed and thrown into the void*

Batfam: *were too late to stop it* Noooooo!

Batman: returns literally a moment later confused and with a post it note saying "✨ no ✨" complete with hand drawn sparkles ✨ stuck to his forehead.

The bats lose it a little as they finished beating up the bad guys.

Somehow it turns into the bats "sacrificing" themselves to the void just to see what kind of rejection they get.

Nightwing got sent back with a note that said "lol" and nothing else

Black bat got a note saying "No, thank you"

Red Hood got a "Tempting, but no"

Spoiler got a talking Barney the Dinosaur toy but the only sounds it would make were very accurate explosions

Red Robin was sent back with like, 12 flavors of lip balm in black metal tubes. No one recognized what brand they might be from and with a bit of reverse engineering Red discovered there were hidden laser blasters inside of each of them that would be used discretely. He got freaking secret agent gear wtf.

Robin got sent back with a uno reverse card taped to his back and a glowing green bunny with blank red eyes in his arms. He has no idea where the bunny came from but wasn't complaining. It was very fluffy and loved to give him kisses.

For some reason it freaked out both Drake and Todd though.

Phantom was just wondering why so many people were sacrificing themselves to him via the "sacrificial bride" ritual. He wasn't even anyone important so why send them to his territory in the Ghost Zone???

After this happened several more times Danny decided the next time one of the cute superheros his age got sent here he would ask them out on a date. Via ghostly "check yes or no" letter style of course. Thier date will be the first time they meet.

[goosewriting]

Just a little tipsy, I swear (rottmnt x reader)

summary: the turtles discover how clingy you get after drinking one too many.

relationship: Rise Leo, Raph, Mikey, Donnie x GN reader (separate)

warnings: mentions of alcohol, fluff, maybe secondhand embarrassment? lol please read the reader and turtles as aged up to what the legal drinking age is where you live! F/n = friend’s name.

word count: 3.2k

A/N: tysm for the request! hope i made it justice :) also sorry Leo’s is longer than everyone else’s,, can you tell who my fave is? sdfsdf

(english is not my first language. constructive criticism and grammar corrections are very appreciated!)

– – –

It had been a while since the turtle had heard from you; the last couple text messages you had left on read. He knew you were at a party with your friends, and had insisted you tell him when you went home so he could accompany you. It was 3am already and still no news from you. He was starting to get a little worried.

Just as he took out his phone to message you again, the device rang in his hand, your name appearing on the screen.

🔵 Leo

“Y/n! What’s up, you having fun?” Leo greeted you after picking up the call.

He didn’t get an answer however; he just heard you giggling and some shuffling sounds.

“..Hello, you okay?” he tried again.

“‘m ready for pick-up” you slurred. He snorted at how wasted you sounded.

“On my way, send me your location. You still at the party?”

“Yessir” you answered, blinking at your phone, trying to find the option to share your current location. Instead you turned on your front camera.

Leo laughed at your face, how you squinted at the screen, not quite comprehending why you were seeing yourself.

“How much did you drink?” he laughed.

You counted on your fingers, thinking hard, but lost count at 7 and just shrugged at him.

“Just stay there okay? I’ll be right there!” Leo grabbed swords, ending the call.

Within seconds a portal opened a couple metres behind you, and through came your favourite turtle.

You hadn't seen him yet, and as he was approaching you, his phone pinged: it was you texting him, saying how much you missed him, and that you needed cuddles, and he should hurry.

On one side he found it very cute how clingy you seemed; it was the first time he saw you this drunk.

On the other side a mischievous grin formed on his face as he was already planning how to get the most out of it, probably take some pics or videos to embarrass you tomorrow with.

You were waiting outside your friend’s house where the party was still going hard. Music and flashing lights could be seen and heard from the street.

You were waiting leaning onto a tall planter by the sidewalk.

Leo approached you, greeting you with a peck to the cheek. You leaned into his touch.

“I missed youu~” you whined and hugged him. “Next time we gotta ‘ave a biiig party in the lair”.

“Yeah yeah, we can have a one next time” he said, patting your head.

“This party doesn’t seem over though? Were you not feeling well?” he said, pointing at the house still in full rave mode.

“It wasn’t fun without you there” you mumbled into his plastron. “Wanted to see your face”.

He blushed at the loving smile you were giving him. How could you still look this good in such an alcoholised state?

“Well, here I am” he finally said and tried to separate you from him, but you only hugged him tighter. “We gotta get you home tho. You’re pretty wasted.”

“I am not” you scoffed, taking a step forward to prove how sober you were, and immediately losing your balance.

If it weren’t for Leo who effortlessly caught you mid-air, you’d have landed face-first into the ground.

You grabbed onto him for dear life, and he wasn’t really complaining.

Since you were kinda not really able to walk, he picked you up bridal style as he made a portal leading just outside of your place.

You didn't even notice you were already home; holding onto him you kept telling him how much you loved him, how good he looked, how strong he was, etc etc

He soaked it all up like a freaking sponge. His ego was through the roof, and he even encouraged you to shower him with more compliments with “You really think so?”s and “How come?”s.

After some minutes, he tried to set you down so you could both climb through the window, but you didn’t let go.

“Y/n please, we can’t both fit through at the same time. Can you stand?”

But you were in full koala mode, shaking your head and holding on tighter.

He sighed; you’d really be the death of him.

Making yet another portal, he got both of you inside.

Finally arriving at your bedroom he gently set you down onto the bed with a grunt.

Leo had to fight you for a couple seconds to pry your arms from his shoulders. Had you always been this strong?

“Noo, don’t go” you whined, holding his hand.

“I’ll just get you some water, I’ll be right back”. Picking out your PJs from the dresser, he set them next to you on the bed. “Meanwhile change into these.”

Leo left to get you your water; he brought a pitcher and a glass, as well as some aspirins.

As he set everything down on your nightstand, he saw you had managed to change but your shirt was on backwards, the tag sticking out under your chin.

You were lying with your legs to the side, dangling off the bed, your torso contorted in an angle that could not have been comfortable, your hair and arms sprawled all over.

Leo took a couple pics from different angles, holding in his laugh. The idea came to him to get a marker and scribble something on your face, but you suddenly shot up, sitting on the bed.

“What is it? Do- Do you need a bucket or something?” he feared you were gonna be sick, already standing up.

But you only exhaled in relief when hearing his voice.

“No, ‘s okay. Thought you were gone” you lied down on your back again and scooted over, patting the space beside you.

“Will you stay with me a while?” you asked, your voice no louder than a whisper, and Leo felt like he combusted on the spot.

The way you looked so enticing right now, all he wanted was to devour you whole. But you were in no state for that.

Getting comfortable next to you, you tucked your face into the crook of his neck.

“I really did miss you. Wish we could hang outside more. There’s so much to see and do”.

“Really, like what?” he tucked a strand of hair behind your ear.

“Like, hot dogs. And Pretzels. Deep dish pizza.”

“I think there’s more to New York than food. Are you hungry?” he chuckled softly, but you didn’t answer. You were already fast asleep, your even breathing fanning over his plastron.

“Good night Y/N” Leo kissed the top of your head and pulled up the covers over you both. He made a mental note to take you out on a picnic date sometime soon.

🔴 Raph

“Y/n! Is everything okay?” Raph asked, his voice laced with worry.

“Hey big guy~” you slurred. He blushed at the unexpected tone. “‘m ready to go home.”

“On my way! Just stay where you are okay? I’ll be there in 15 minutes.”

Instead of a response he heard an “Oof!” followed by a crash and your groaning.

“Y/n! Are you okay? What happened?”

“…Fell.”

“Are you hurt? Just- Stay where you are and don’t move. Got it?”

“Aye aye captain” you saluted, forgetting that he couldn't see you.

Before heading out, Raph quickly grabbed the first aid kit.

He was so worried it only took him 10 minutes to get where you were.

He found you on the front lawn of your friend’s house where the party was still going loud.

You had taken the “don’t move” to heart: there you lied, face-down in the grass, a broken vase next to you.

“Why are you on the ground, you’ll get a cold!” he scolded you as he picked you up.

Turning you around he saw your tears streaming down your cheeks, to which he panicked.

“Are you hurt somewhere?” he frantically checked over your body, looking for any injuries. “Please say something?”

“It isn’t the fall that hurt” you finally whined. He tilted his head in confusion.

“Was it your pride?” he asked sympathetically, but also with a chuckle.

“Nooo” you whined again, wriggling in his hold. God, you looked so cute right now.

Raph wiped some mud off your cheeks, asking “Where then?”

“Here” you answered, hitting your chest twice with your fist over where your heart would be.

“Huh? Did someone say something?” Raph questioned, 100% ready to storm into that house and throw hands.

“My friends don’t believe me you exist” you said and wiped your dirty sleeve over your face in an attempt to dry your tears, instead spreading more grass and mud over your face.

“You know I can’t exactly waltz into a room of humans” Raph said sheepishly and rubbed his neck, but deep inside he knew what you meant. He also wished he could take you out to ‘normal’ dates and places like restaurants, and not just ones in the Hidden City.

“I knooow, but sill” you continued whining, this time lightly hitting his plastron with your fists.

“I just wish I could show them what an amazing, thoughtful, strong and handsome boyfriend I have! Who cares if you’re a giant turtle? I don’t!” you explained, trying to stand on your own but failing, falling right back into Raph’s chest.

His gaze softened and he chuckled, endeared at how open you were being about him. Maybe he’d have to get you to drink more often, just in a safer space.

“Alright, let’s get you home then.”

He picked you up effortlessly and carried you all the way home.

All the while you kept holding onto him and peppering his face in kisses here and there.

Once you both arrived, you climbed through your window first, stumbling to your living room, where you opened the balcony door for him.

You kept whining about how he was the best boyfriend and no one believed you because they hadn’t seen him.

Meanwhile he was wiping the dirt off of you, answering with “Uh-huh”s and “I know”s here and there.

When he finally managed to get you changed and tucked you into your bed, he got you something to drink.

You gulped down the glass of water, and intently looked at him with half asleep eyes.

“What is it Y/n? Do you need anything else?” he asked, and you took his big hand in yours.

“Stay the night.” you finally said, it was more of an order rather than a question.

Still you were giving him the most adorable puppy eyes he had seen you make yet.

Engraving this moment into his memory, Raph chuckled.

“I’ll shred your bed to pieces if I get in there with you” he admitted sadly.

“Let’s make a fort then.”

And with that you hopped out of bed, losing your balance once or twice on your way to the living room.

You dragged some blankets and all the pillows you could find in front of the couch.

It looked more like a nest than a fort but it still looked inviting.

You got in there, cosying up, and patted the space next to you.

Raph lied down behind you. You liked being the small spoon; it made you feel safe and warm in his arms.

Turning around one last time you kissed him tenderly.

“Thanks for always putting up with me” you whispered and wished him a good night.

“Anytime, sweetheart” he responded, and you were both quickly pulled into dreamland, lulled into sleep by each other’s heartbeats.

🟠 Mikey

“Yellow~?” Mike answered the phone.

“Mikeyyy~” you whined.

“Yes Y/n?”

No response. Just some giggling.

Then some shuffling sounds and laughter in the background.

“Is this Y/n’s S/O?” an unknown voice asked.

“Yeah, what’s going on? Are they ok?” Mikey started to panic a bit.

“They’re fine, just wasted. Can’t even walk in a straight line.”

“I’m not! Just a lil’ tipsy is all” he could hear you retort in the background.

“They’re more than a ‘little tipsy’. I’ve never seen them this drunk, it’s kinda hilarious to be honest- No! Y/n! Get out of the aquarium!” Mikey heard some laughing and splashing. Just what was going on?!

“I’ll be there in 15 minutes! Just, keep an eye out for them please? Thank you!” Mikey said and your friend agreed to have them at the door by the time he arrived.

He hurried to get to the house the party was at, it was probably the place of the person on the phone.

Hiding behind some bushes first, he saw you coming out the door. You spotted him and waved, saying your goodbyes to your friends.

Once they were out of sight he walked towards you, and just in time, because you very non-elegantly fell down the few steps on the porch.

He caught you by your waist, and you let him hold your whole weight, because your legs had just decided to stop working.

“Hmm” you hugged him and talked like you were telling him a secret. “I don’t think I can walk.”

“Yeah, you don’t say” Mikey laughed and picked you up.

That’s when he noticed your left arm and leg were wet up to your elbow and knee.

“So, I take it you had fun?” he asked as he started the trip to your home.

“Yiiiis” you giggled. “F/n has an aquarium! With a turtle, I swear it looks just like you, it’s so cute”.

You started crying remembering just how adorable the little reptile was.

“But not as cute as me, right?” Mikey asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

When you didn’t answer, he gasped in mock offense.

You laughed through your tears. “Of course you’re the cutest. The handsomest. The bestest.” Between every wrongly declined adjective, you gave Mikey a kiss on the tip of his snout. “But the other turtle’s a close second.”

He giggled and kissed your nose as well.

You were especially cute when drunk, he noted.

Having arrived at your place he considered if he should stay a bit longer to make sure you didn’t hurt yourself.

“Can you walk now?” he asked, setting you down. Your bones were jelly and you just crouched on the ground.

“Yes” you said confidently, when clearly you could not.

“Alright” he laughed and helped you climb through the window.

He turned on the small lamp on your desk, at which you hissed and covered your face.

“Let’s get you ready for bed” he said and guided you to the bathroom to change into something dry, and to clean yourself from the faint aquarium smell you had.

Once you were in your PJs he took you to your bed, but you didn’t let go.

“Y/n, you need to sleep” he said, tugging at your arms, but you were holding onto him for dear life.

“Noo” you whined. “Stay the night. I’ll be lonely without you.”

You were looking up at him with so much love, your cheeks adorned with a blush. How could he say no?

“Scoot over” he finally gave in and you giggled in glee, making room for him.

But being next to Mikey wasn’t close enough for you, so you climbed on top of him.

“You comfortable up there?” he chuckled, to which you nodded your head and sighed contentedly.

Mikey’s arms snaked around your waist and he kissed the top of your head.

“Good night Y/n~” he whispered, but you were already fast asleep.

🟣 Donnie

“Well, look who finally decided to pick up the phone” Donnie said in mock offense; he was clearly glad you finally gave some life signal.

“I- I think ’m lost” you slurred your words.

“Wha- Wait. Did you leave without me? I told you to wait at your friend’s until I came to pick you up” Donnie scolded you, earning a whine from you, as he was typing frantically into his computer.

“Can you describe where you are or what you see?” he asked, but he was already pulling up your location on his screen. He could both track your phone and the subcutaneous tracker he had put on you, just as on his brothers, because better safe than sorry, right?

“Uhm- I’m in the United States. I think. Everything is spinning around, wee~” you giggled.

Donnie groaned as his GPS triangulated your location. It beeped and showed where you were standing: behind him.

“What-“ he started and spun around, only to see you wobbling into the lair.

Donnie hung up the phone and walked towards you.

“Hello? Hellooo~?” you spoke into the phone.

Seeing he had hung up, you started wailing softly.

“I’m right here” he sighed and gently grabbed you by the shoulders, stabilising you.

“I thought you ‘ere gonna leave me” you cried, holding back your sobs.

“Why would you think that? I would never- oomph!” you let your phone and bag/purse fall to the ground, hugging him tightly.

“Y/n, work with me, please” Donnie said, noticing how you were kinda just hanging from his neck, letting him support your whole weight.

He tapped your thigh, indicating for you to lift your legs, and picked you up.

Your legs went around his hips, and he held you by your thighs.

Donnie carried you to his room while you sniffled into his bandana, staining it in tears and probably a bit of snot.

“How much did you drink anyways?” he asked you, trying to set you down onto his bed, but you weren’t letting go.

“Jus’ a lil’ bit”, you lied, remembering the beers and shots you took one after another, your memories becoming fuzzy after your friend had brought a huge bottle of a mysterious blue-greenish liquid.

“Can you please let go Y/n” he sighed. “You need to sleep, and I need to work.”

You shook your head, making you slightly dizzy.

“I wanna stay with you” you said into his plastron.

Donnie took a deep breath and exhaled, readjusting your weight in his hold.

“Fine. But you better not complain over how hungover you’re tomorrow, you hear me?”

“Promise~” you happily said and kissed his cheek.

He entered his lab, you immediately hissing at the bright lights.

“You sure you wanna stay?” he smirked. You only nodded your head, hiding your face in the crook of his neck.

Donnie sat down at his table, with you straddling him, and adjusted your body so his arms were under yours, and he could look over your shoulder. It wouldn’t be easy but he’d be lying if he didn’t like feeling your weight and warmth on him like this.

“I’ll try to finish quickly so we can go to bed okay?” he pecked the side of your face and went back to work.

You sighed happily into his neck and mumbled sweet nothings to him.

He couldn't make out everything but he did catch some “I love you”s and “You’re the best boyfriend”.

With a light blush and a soft smile adorning his face, he finished up his work quickly, leaving most of it for tomorrow, so he could have you cuddle him to sleep.

[kryptonitejelly]

Flyboy (Part 4) | Jake Seresin x Reader  Top Gun: Maverick - Jake Seresin x Reader  Genre: romance; fluff; angst; best friends to lovers Warnings: tw: sex (penetrative, fingering, oral sex); general hangman being hangman; sexual tension; general cursing; will contain mentions of a break up / previous relationship; general use of pet names; fem!reader; pining; general naval / flying inaccuracies; football inaccuracies. Length: Mini-series, chaptered - Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Epilogue

Summary: Jake gets called back to TOPGUN the same time you’ve been granted a sabbatical from work. He invites you, his purely platonic best friend of years, to live with him for 6 months and you accept. Just two best friends kicking it back for 6 months in San Diego, Fightertown USA, right?

A/N: They are a bit angsty here, but I swear guys it’s all the tension that’s been building, can you blame them? We are more than half way through, just two more parts and the epilogue. I have the exact end of Part 6 written out already 🫣 just not yknow 5, the rest of 6 and the epilogue.

Again thank you for the love - all your reblog, tags, comments and likes are much appreciated <3 i love reading them, please please leave them! This chapter has smut, and I’m not good at writing it, so you have been warned. MINORS DNI.

Flyboy | Mini-Series Masterlist

(If you haven’t already seen them - blurbs and asks (one-shots coming soon) are also listed on the Flyboy masterlist!)

Flyboy - Part 4

PART 3 <<

Approximately 7.0 k words

J: Come to the beach just outside The Hard Deck. 3pm.

You had been in the gym when you had received his text, his name flashing across the smart watch on your wrist as you re-racked a pair of dumbbells. You had responded by snapping a sweaty selfie of yourself, brow raised in question, your hair pulled back, face glowing with a sheen of sweat and post work out adrenaline.

He had responded with a picture of Rooster standing in the middle of the rec room, one of his trademark Hawaiian shirts hanging open around his body, football in hand.

Rooster coming through with the abs.

Your lip twists up in amusement as you send out your text, knowing that it would get him fired up. Your phone dings not even a minute later, and you swipe the message open to reveal a close- up picture, taken from top down of nothing but a set of chiseled muscle. The shade of skin tells you that it’s Jake’s, but his next message confirms it for you.

J: He isn’t the only one.

It makes you chortle as you sink down onto a workout bench. You feel your phone ping again, and you unlock it to a text from Pheonix.

Tash: You won’t happen to know why Hangman is lifting his shirt to take a picture of his abs in the middle of the rec room would you?

It makes your nose wrinkle up in amusement, a peel of laughter dropping from your lips.

The past week and a half since you had both returned from New York had been strange, with both you and Jake existing in a kind of limbo. Training had kicked up a notch for him again, with Cyclone and Warlock demanding an increased level of intensity of the programme. They weren’t the ones being trained this time around, but from the faces of the group that filtered into your house each night for dinner, it didn’t matter. It was obvious from their faces that they were all beat from the earlier mornings, ramped up physical exercises, and increased flight time. As much as they loved being airborne, it was an intensely physically demanding activity. Between his increased workload, and you having taken on tutoring Amelia on weeknights for her upcoming exams, you both hardly had a moment alone to yourselves, much less together.

It was not to say that there hadn’t been a shift between you both, because that much was undeniable. You and Jake remained you and Jake, but with an added layer of nuance to your relationship. It was something that you both felt - when his hand brushed against yours in the kitchen while the group was gathering up the dishes for dinner, when your knee bumped into his under the table at dinner and stayed leaning against his leg, the look in his eyes when he bade you goodnight midway through your session with Amelia, dragging himself off to bed in preparation for an early morning - but hadn’t had the chance to figure out.

-

“Sandwiches from Joe’s Deli.” You raise your hand, brown paper bag dangling from your fingers as you saunter up to the picnic benches facing the beach outside of The Hard Deck.

“Which ones?” Penny asks you, as she gathers hair hair into a ponytail behind her.

“Cuban and roast chicken, figured we could take a half of each.” You slide into onto the bench, pushing your shades up onto your head before you pull the contents of the bag out.

“So what’s the beach about, any idea?” You ask as you unwrap your half of sandwich before biting in.

“Dogfight football,” she explains in between bites of her own. “Something Pete had them do the last time around to bond them. You run offense and defense at the same time. It’s hard to explain, but you’ll see.”

You nod slowly, trying to grasp the idea as you brush crumbs off the front of the oversized shirt you had swapped your sweaty gym top for.

“Or, it’s basically a fancy term for bunch of half naked aviators running around getting sweaty and sandy while tossing around a ball.” She throws a wink in your direction.

“Does seeing Mav sweaty and sandy do it for you?” You tease.

“Honey,” she say looks at you point blank, unfazed, with a sly grin on her face “seeing that man in anything does it for me.”

-

The rumble of engines pulling up into the parking lot of The Hard Deck signals the group’s arrival. You have your back facing the parking lot, but the wide smile that breaks across Penny’s face lets you know that they have walked into view, Pete at the helm. You prop your chin up on your palm as the Captain walks up beside Penny, greeting her with a kiss to the lips to a round of whistles from the trainees who are filtering past the bench onto the sand.

“Hey Mav.” You offer a smile as they pull apart, turning their attention to you.

“Joining us for football?” He tilts his head towards the sand. “We’re severely underrepresented on the female front.” He pauses as he sees Jake walk into view, “and Hangman said you’ve got a mean arm.”

“I have brothers,” you explain, “they were really into football growing up. Got forced to pick it up.”

“You have to join,” Phoenix's voice cuts in as she pushes past Jake on their way towards the bench, to come up from behind, sliding into the seat beside you. “I’m sick of being around all these testosterone monkeys.” Her comment makes you eyeball the predominantly male crowd, picking out just another two female trainees.

“Don’t see you being sick of Rooster.” You don’t turn, but you can feel Jake’s presence behind you before he even speaks.

“Fuck off.” Phoenix glares daggers towards Jake.

“You’re the number one testosterone monkey she’s sick off.” Rooster chimes in, coming to join the group surrounding the table. He lowers his shades to look at you. “I don’t know how you live with him.”

“He’s insufferable.” Phoenix agrees. “Doesn’t it get tiring sharing a space with all that?” She gestures towards Jake a mock grimace on her face. “All that male bravado.”

“You’ll get used to it once he forces you to spend enough years tolerating him.” You deadpan, managing to keep the smile that threatens to curl around your lips off your face.

“Ya’ll are just haters.” Jake scoffs, tossing the football in his hands into the crowd on the beach, trusting that someone would catch it, before letting his elbow hang loosely from one your shoulders.

“You’re playing.” Phoenix grabs your arm as she stands and you sigh in defeat.

“There is no way I’m getting out of this am I?”

“None.” The chorus of voices from Phoenix, Rooster, Penny, Mav and Jake ring out in unison and you push yourself to a stand. It makes Jake move his arm off from your shoulder, fingers brushing against your lower back as it drops. “Fine, I’ll join.”

It earns a whoop from Phoenix who slaps Rooster’s hand in a high-five, the two running off towards the sand.

“You’re on my team.” Phoenix calls back to you, just as Maverick squeezes Penny’s shoulder, before following, a chuckle on his lips.

“I’m guessing you aren’t on their team?” You ask as you reach for the bottom of your shirt, tugging it over your head to reveal a sports bra and a pair of sports shorts, not keen on getting your clean shirt wet and sandy. You bend to stuff your shirt and sunglasses into your bag before hoisting it onto the table, your wordless request to Penny to keep on eye on your bag met with a nod from her.

“Any team with me is the winning team sweetheart.” Jake says, letting his gaze drop, trailing along your body, before coming back up lazily to meet your eyes. He is unbothered by Penny’s presence and the curious, yet knowing look she is giving you both. You feel a rush of heat burn it’s way along your core, watching his gaze as it travels over you.

“We’ll see about that,” you reach to put your hair up, throwing him a smirk before walking towards the group, his gaze burning into you as you walk away.

-

“Oh Lieutenant.”

The grating sound of the blonde female trainee, Becca’s voice makes you roll your eyes as you throw a glance towards her. You grit your teeth, causing your jaw to clench down as you see her throw her head back in a laugh, one of her hands coming to rest on Jake’s bare bicep.

You don’t hear what he says in quick response, but Jake doesn’t engage, choosing instead to turn his head towards Coyote, both men steeped in conversation.

“She’s noisy.” You grumble as you flop down on the sand in between Bob and Fanboy.

“She’s…. chatty.” Bob responds, as the three of look over to Becca whose fingers are still resting on Jake’s bicep.

“She’s been trying to get his attention since day one,” Fanboy says, tilting his chin towards both her and Jake.

“Not that he seems to care.” Bob adds, before shooting a subtly timed glance at you.

You make a non-committal grunt as a response, shoulders going upward in a shrug as you tear your gaze away from the blonde pair, focusing it instead on the aviators running around in front of you.

-

“Tash.” You shout, arms outstretched as you duck past two of the trainees on the opposing team. Phoenix looks to you, faking left before tossing the ball right towards you. You catch it in midair, before pivoting on your heels, feet sprinting past Payback towards the touchdown line marked out by a line in the sand. The line is meters within your reach when you feel a body collide with your legs, hands pulling you around your waist down to the sand. The ball rolls out of your hands on impact and you swear, sitting up to dust sand off from your hands to find yourself face to face with twinkling green eyes.

“You’ve always been mouthy on the field.” He says, between short breaths of air, only to have you mumble another curse under your breath.

“Yeah, well at least I’m focused on the game Lieutenant.” You grumble, biting out the last part of your sentence in imitation of what you had heard earlier as you push your hands and feet against the sand, staggering upright.

There is a hint of initial confusion on Jake’s face at the start of your sentence, but it instantly shifts to understanding at the last word.

“Are you,” he says while pushing himself into a more graceful stand so that he towers over you, “jealous?”

You squint upwards only to find his features etched into a smug, wide grin that is barely visible due to the sunlight fanning out from behind him.

“No.” You attempt at nonchalance is thwarted by the hard edge to your voice.

“Darlin,” he starts to say, but you choose to glare at him, mouth opening to cut him off.

“No.” You enunciate the single word clearly, loudly, as you flip yourself around, bending swiftly to pick up the ball before launching it at Jake. “Your ball Seresin.”

You had thrown it hard, but Jake catches it with ease, absorbing the impact in his hands and with his body as he watches you stalk away, the smug grin now a small smile furling out at the corners of his lips.

-

You are running across the sand, your eyes trained on the ball like a hawk, your frustration translating into hyper-focus.

“Pass it,” you yell to one of the trainees on your team. He throws it in your direction while on the run and you stretch out to catch the ball which shoots a bit past your reach, only for a flash of blonde hair and pale skin to lunge past you. Becca catches the ball on the fly and you find swear loudly, your legs picking up speed. You follow as she zips past Fanboy, propelling yourself in a small spin so that you are facing her, before you lunge forward with a jump off the sand. Your hands grab her hips, fingers pushing into her flesh for grip as your shoulder collides into her chest. You push forward and let the weight of your body and momentum slam her into the sand.

The ball rolls out of her hands, and you let yourself roll off her, the force from the sudden burst of energy behind your tackle causing your chest to heave up and down in exertion.

“My god,” you hear Becca’s whine as she clambers into an upright position to glare at you, “did you have to be so brutal?”

“It’s football, get over it.” You say as push yourself up into a seated position, fully intending to right yourself into a stand when you feel her fingers digging into your forearm.

“The force was uncalled for,” she says again, and you look to find her eyes narrowed at you. “Who the heck are you anyway? You aren’t one of us.” Her last question leaves you smarting, as you tear your hand forcefully out of her grip, your legs moving you away from her.

“Hey,” she rushes herself to a stand, following after you, “you just some rando who decided to join our game?”

You exhale loudly, your eyes rolling upwards to the sky in a mixture of both anger and exasperation.

“I-” You brace yourself, turning around to come nose to nose with Becca.

“Williams.” Tash voice breaks in, her tone icy. “Watch your tone.”

“M’am, I-” Becca pales, slipping into a tone of address that showcases her slightly lower rank, and place on the totem pole that is TOPGUN.

“She’s my friend and here at my invitation.” You watch as Tash comes to stand beside you, her feet squaring as she stares Becca down. “I think that makes her as much of one of us as you are, don’t you?”

Your brain fogs with admiration for Tash in the moment, her steely but calm demeanour reminding you just why she is where she is.

“Yes M’am.” Becca stammers, as Tash shoots her a dismissive look, indicating that the conversation had ended.

“You okay?” Tash turns to you, friendly concern on her features. “They get a bit too big for their britches just because they get called here.” She explains, and you offer a tired smile.

“Fine Tash.” You nod, “thanks for that.”

“Just stepping in to save her,” she winks at you, “pretty sure you would have been the more lethal poison.”

“Hey, what happened?” You feel Jake’s fingers touch your elbow lightly, right as he jogs up to both of you, brows knitted slightly, genuine concern on his face. He had been standing on the sidelines, but his eye had been on you the whole time. He had watched the interaction, not thinking much of it, apart from that it was a tackle. But them moment he had seen your body language shift and you tense up, he had started to weave his way towards you. And, the moment he had seen Phoenix cut in, he was jogging across the sand towards you.

“Williams,” Tash explains with a shrug, not delving into detail.

“I’m going to sit out for a while, sub me.” You tell Tash and she nods, jogging back towards the group on the sand.

-

“Something is on your mind.” Jake says pointedly as he follows you back to the picnic bench you had vacated earlier. You see Penny two benches away, phone pressed to her ear in conversation and you and Jake each raise a hand in greeting which she acknowledges with a nod.

“Go back to football Lieutenant.” You say as you pull your phone from your bag, clicking through your notifications.

Jake plans himself down on the bench, his gaze fixed on you as you flick through the notification banners on your phone. He wasn’t used to seeing you like this, uncharacteristically closed off, and uncommunicative.

“What?” You ask, feeling his gaze on you, but refusing to look up at him.

“Talk to me.” He says, the surprising amount of patience in his voice being the thing that finally makes you look at him and straight into greens which implore you to tell him what is on your mind. Perhaps it was the unspoken words, unsorted feelings, and unresolved tension that had been building since the day of Annie’s wedding, but you feel it - a crackle of electricity between you both as he stared straight into your eyes.

“I’m going to get some water.” You mumble, dumping your phone onto the table with a clatter, your eyes shying away from the intensity of the look he has directed at you.

-

Your phone rings, as soon as you step into The Hard Deck. Jake glances down at the unknown number flashing across your screen. He picks it up, swiping across the screen to answer without much thought.

“Hello?” He says, only to hear a voice he recognises calling out your name in confusion.

“Dan.” Jake’s lips press into a firm line, distaste on his voice.

“Jake.” Dan says, tone equally cool. “Look just get her to call me back alright? I’m returning her calls from last night.”

The sentence makes Jake’s mind whirl, an uncomfortable feeling balling in his chest. His stomach feels like it has dropped a million feet below ground. He doesn’t respond to Dan, choosing instead to end the call. He keeps your phone clutched in his hand, knuckles whitening from the force with which he is gripping the device.

He sees you exit The Hard Deck, glass of water in your hand.

“You called Dan?” He spits out, voice loud as he whips his head around to focus on you.

You eye your phone on the table. The heat of his gaze feels like it could burn through you.

“No one asked you to answer my phone.” You shoot back, your own eyes flashing with rage. Normally, Jake answering or even using your phone unsanctioned wouldn’t have bothered you in the slightest, but your irritation from your earlier interaction with Becca rises up, bubbling into an anger.

“You called Dan.” He says again, maintaining his volume, repeating his accusation.

You had called Dan the night before that much was true. However, you had called him solely at the behest of another one of your colleagues, to sort of work related matters which were best and more quickly dealt with over the phone.

“And?” You walk up to the picnic table, placing your glass down with more force than necessary, causing water to slosh out from the side. You tilt your head down slightly to stare straight at Jake, arms folded tightly across your chest, refusing to explain in the moment in the face of his aggression and your original irritation.

“And?” He throws his hands in the air, rising to full height, forcing you to tilt your head upwards instead. “Why the fuck are you still calling Dan?”

You want to wince at his words, his anger, but you steel yourself, your fingers gripping the side of your own arm instead. Jake fights like anyone would expect Jake to fight, he is aggressive, brusque, words harsh and cutting. He would never lay a hand on a woman, much less you, but the lack of physicality manifests itself in waves of anger and extreme hostility that roll off him.

“Why the fuck is that any of your business?” You counter back, seething.

“Why the fuck, is that any of my fucking business?” You see his jaw clench and the vein in his neck strain. You both fall silent, staring at each other for what seems like an uncomfortable eternity, before he throws his hands in the air. “Maybe it’s none of my fucking business.” He finally says, voice thin, dropping back to a normal decibel. You see the intensity in his features falter slightly, doubt flooding his eyes, but his jaw remains clenched tightly.

Jake turns, and you stand, frozen, watch him walk back onto the sand, grabbing up his shirt and shades before heading back towards the parking lots.

“Jake.” You call, your body shifting to face his vanishing back. He doesn’t respond. “Jake.” You try again, louder this time, but he continues walking away. He disappears around the corner, and you hear the faint sounds of a car door slamming and the engine of his truck starting up. He hasn’t said anything more, hasn’t done anything, hasn’t laid a hand on you, but there a pain blistering through your chest.

“Hey,” you feel a gentle hand come to rest on your arm, pulling you back into the now, “are you okay?” Penny asks.

“I don’t know,” you find yourself admitting, as you continue to stare at the corner Jake had disappeared around despite him being long gone by now.

-

You end at at Penny’s that night, tutoring Amelia from Penny’s dining table instead of your own. Penny had invited you over, insisting that you take a shower while she made you dinner, with no obligation on you to help Amelia out with her school work that night. You had accepted the invitation, showered, changed into a set of Penny’s clothes, sat through dinner, letting the conversation between the mother and daughter duo distract you. You had smiled and laughed your way through dinner, but Penny had noticed how your smile didn’t hit your eyes the way it usually did.

“You know, you both could take a day off.” Penny says, as she wipes her hands against a dishcloth as she eyes you and Amelia, both hunched over in the corner of the dining room table, Amelia’s school work spread across the dark mahogany of her table.

“I can handle it myself today.” Amelia offers to you, her eyes glancing up as the tip of her pen pauses over paper.

“Nah, I’m good.” You offer both a small smile before you turn back to the words in front of you. The words on the page blur, as your eyes un-focus, your memory clouding instead with the image of Jake walking away, burning through your mind, playing on repeat. Jake had never, in your years of friendship walked away from you once before - not once. You had both fought, shouted it out at each other before, but he had never walked away from you. Jake had always stuck around, walked you home, you both bristling in anger and silence, even after you both fought tooth and nail, tearing at each others throats. You had never had to call out to him twice, much less watch him walk away.

“Do you want to stay here for the night?” Penny asks you as she walks over to the table, placing a hand on the backs of each yours and Amelia’s chairs.

“Please?” You ask, and she nods, giving your shoulder a reassuring squeeze. Not being here, meant being back home with Jake, or worse, without him.

“Of course, I’ll grab some clean sheets for the guest room.” Penny walks towards the back of the house as the doorbell rings. “Can you get that, I think it’s Pete.” She calls out to you.

“Sure.” You push your chair back to a stand and make your way to the front door, pulling it open to reveal two different sets of green eyes staring back at you.

“Found him in the gym at the base abusing a punching bag.” Pete says before either you or Jake can speak.

Pete offers you a smile, clapping you gently on the shoulder before making his way past you and into the house. It leaves you to look at Jake, hair damp from a shower which you assumed Pete must have forced him to take as a literal and figurative cooldown before dragging him over, dressed in a white tee and grey sweatpants. His knuckles are red, the skin on them looking raw and battered.

Jake takes you in, your hand still on the door handle, dressed not too dissimilarly from him in a pair of Penny’s old sweatpants and a dark plain tee. He had regretted walking away from you the moment he did, regretted it even more each time you had called his name, but his legs had kept moving forward, rage masking fear clawing through him. The thought of you calling Dan had sent his thoughts straight into a tailspin. You both hadn’t had the time to tackle the issue properly post Annie’s wedding, but Jake had thought, assumed that it was clear that you both meant more to each other even without words. Hearing Dan’s voice on the phone, hearing that you had called him, and you not providing an explanation immediately, had made him think the worst.

“Can we go,” he speaks first, both your gazes locked firmly onto each other, each assessing the other silently, “home?” he asks, almost afraid to. Jake’s jaw is still tense. His earlier feelings of rage and fear are still stewing in him, circling his belly, running through his veins, but Jake knows that in spite of everything, he doesn’t want to go back alone to a house that doesn’t have you.

-

You both end up driving back separately, you pulling up onto the driveway before him. Neither of you speaks as you walk up to the house, as you unlock the front door and Jake shuts it behind you as you tug your shoes off. He follows suit, tugging his own shoes off before following you as you enter the kitchen.

“I called Dan last night for work.” You finally speak up as you enter the house, dumping your bag down on the table in the dining room. You turn to lean against the table, arms folded defensively across your body to face Jake who stands a short distance away. You watch as he drags his hand across his forehand only to rake it through his hair, before you continue with your explanation, one that you should have given hours ago. “It was at the request of someone who is handling something I was working on, and it was faster to pick up the phone and give him a call.”

You eye Jake as he continues to stare straight at you.

“I didn’t want to send him a text and draw out the conversation,” you shrug, your shoulder lifting slightly, “didn’t want to have to open my work laptop either.”

Jake takes a step towards you, the knot of rage and fear swirling through his veins undoing itself almost instantly.

“I thought…” he starts, and you loosen the fold of your arms across your chest slightly, unknowingly as he nears.

“No.” You cut him off, without needing him to finish his sentence. You knew his question, knew what he thought. “I’ve told you before Jake,” you reference your conversation from the other night, enunciating each word clearly so that your intention is clear, “no.”

He comes to a stop in front of you and you unfold your arms, palms coming to grip the sides of the dining table. He is close enough that you can see the first signs of sunburn which has started to bloom across his face, cheeks, the bridge of his nose, the faint pink mixing in with his tan, standing out against the greens of his eyes. You can hear the sound of his breathing, clear against the silence of the night. He moves, just an inch closer to you, and you hold his gaze.

“No.” He murmurs, and his face moves an inch down, and closer to yours.

“No.” You respond, a sudden, slight rasp to your voice as your eyes flicker to his mouth, remembering the feeling of his lips against yours.

He slots his hands onto the dining table, in the small space between your own palms which are against the wood, and your body, looking at you once more, searching, giving you a chance to move away, but you don’t, the pace of your heartbeat quickening. The tension between you both is thick, heavy, palpable.

“Jake?” You ask, your voice low, soft.

“Yeah.” He says, not a question, and you can feel him stepping in between your legs.

“Just fucking kiss me already.”

It’s all he need, and Jake obliges, his lips come crashing down against yours, both your teeth clinking together. Jake slides his hands around your hips, lifting you onto the edge of the table, and your hands go straight onto the back of his head, gripping his hair, pulling him urgently towards you. It’s messy, desperate, urgent, unlike the first kiss you had shared at Annie’s wedding, weeks, or even years of tension build up between you both exploding at once. You were friends, just best friends, and this shouldn’t have felt so right, but it did.

You feel Jake’s tongue swipe against your bottom lip, asking, and you grant him access. His hands move under your shirt and up your body. You feel his fingers run up your sides, gripping your ribs, and you take it as an invitation to move your hands down and under his shirt, palms placed flat against his abdomen, feeling the lines and ridges of his body. His hand moves up, finger’s finding their way along the curve of your bare breasts.

“You aren’t wearing a bra.” He manages to groan through the kiss.

“Penny didn’t have one for me.” You gasp as he tears away from your, his lips coming to graze your neck instead. His fingers work their way to across the pebbled skin of your nipples, rolling each bud and it makes you grip his waist to press your clothed hips into his. You grab the bottom of his shirt, pushing it upwards. He reads your cue, and pulls away momentarily to yank his tee across his head, tossing it behind him.

“All you had to do was ask.” He tells you. Jake’s eyes are dark with arousal, but the smug, mischievous uptick of his lips let’s you know that despite this, despite the fact that your hips are pressed against his, despite the fact that he had your breast in his hands, lips against your neck moments ago, despite the fact that you can feel the hardening bulge in his sweatpants - he is still Jake, the Jake that you know, your Jake even in this moment.

“Shut up,” you growl, putting your hands on the bottom of your own shirt, pulling it over your head and dropping it onto the table behind you. Jake takes in the sight, the look on his face sending a shot of fire straight down to your core. His hands are on the waistband of your sweatpants almost immediately, tugging them down. “Eager?”

“Very.” He responds, the register of his voice deeper, coated with lust as his lips crash into yours once more.

“She didn’t have underwear for me either.” You mutter against the kiss as you lift your hips, letting him slide the garment off you. It makes him groan again, loudly this time against your mouth. Jake grips each of your thighs with his hands and pulls away, allowing his eyes to travel across your body, to drink you in.

“Like what you see?” You ask in imitation of him from the other morning, clad in nothing but his towel. You had expected yourself to be shy, for there to be an undercurrent of awkwardness between you both, but it was clear that you both wanted, needed each other as much as the other and seeing Jake in front of you, knowing that it was Jake in front of you made you forget any notion of that. He was Jake, and you were you, and you could be you.

“Baby,” he says, unfazed at your imitation, the term from his lips making you weak, as he grips the flesh of your thighs harder, “you have no idea.” Jake punctuates his sentence by trailing his hand up your inner thigh to draw a finger across your already dripping slit. The contact makes you moan as you throw your head backwards, arching your back.

“You’re so wet,” he mumbles, as he drops to his knees. He doesn’t give you a chance to think, pulling you to the edge of the table, leaving a track of your arousal on the wood as he pulls you forward, before spreading your knees wider apart.

“Jake,” you breathe and he throws you a smirk before bringing his mouth to your cunt, tongue licking a long flat strip against your slit, before swirling around your clit. His eyes are locked onto yourself, and you find yourself staring at him with his mouth fixed on your cunt. It makes you moan, loud, needy, desperate, and your hands grip into his hair. “Fuck.”

Jake eats you out like a man starved, his lips suckling, tongue moving against you, and all you can do is buck your hips against his mouth, and hook your legs around his shoulders. Jake notices your hips that have begun to circle his tongue and he raises a hand to slide his fingers, one first, and then two, into you, his tongue not stopping it’s work against you. You feel your head begin to cloud, belly start to clench as he pumps his fingers in and out of you, the pads of his fingertips massaging in a come hither gesture against your walls. You gather yourself enough through your haze to look down at him, his lips, chin, nose covered in a mixture of your slick and his own saliva.

“Cum for me.” He rasps against you, and as if on command, your body obeys, unfurling itself around his fingers which don’t stop moving, fucking you through the waves of your orgasm. You find yourself reaching for him blindly, as your body comes down from it’s high, your orgasm ebbing away, to pull his face back up towards yours. You kiss him, eager, sloppily, tasting the scent of yourself against his lips.

“Jake,” you say, his name slowly becoming a habit, almost a litany. He is about to respond, but you don’t let him, your hands going straight to his sweatpants, palming his cock through the soft cotton. Your first orgasm should have left you satiated, but instead it leaves you even more desperate, more needing, wanting more, wanting Jake. “Fuck me, please.”

Your ask, Jake decides, is all he has ever needed.

“I’m not fucking you for the first time on the table.” He hoists you up, his arms holding you by the waist, lips crashing against yours to become tangled with yours once again. You find yourself winding your hands around his neck and legs around his body, your cunt, still dripping, pressed up against his abs as he moves you both to his bedroom.

He drops you onto the bed in a seated position. Jake’s hands hands having barely pulled down his sweatpants and boxers before he feels your hands on his cock. He can’t help the hiss that escape him as he observes you take him in visually, your hand moving up and down the sheath of his cock, your thumb swirling around the tip, spreading the pearl of pre-cum around it’s angry red head.

“Do we need a-” He barely manages to gasp, losing focus for a second, as your hands pump against his cock.

“I’m clean and on birth control.” He trusts you.

“I’m clean,” he confirms and you trust him equally.

“Then fuck me.” You drop the please and run your thumb across the head of his cock and he moans, claiming your lips with his once again, pushing your back onto the bed. You spread your legs open, knees bent at an angle and in the sky, and Jake lines his cock up with your entrance before pushing in.

“Oh god.. fuck.” You cry out as your body adjusts to him, around him.

“Not god baby, Jake.” He says, his hands coming to land palms down on the mattress on either side of your head. Jake observes your face, giving you a moment to adjust.

“Move.” You implore him, your legs capturing him around the waist, pulling him closer into you, hands hooking themselves under his arms and on his shoulders.

“I’ve got you,” he says, as he begins to thrust in and out of you, each stroke hitting you deeper, harder, than the last. He can feel your nipples, hard and moving against his bare chest as the impact from each thrust of his cock into your causing your body to move in and up down motion together with him. The sounds of your arousal is obscene, wet and slick against him.

He drops his head onto the crook of his neck, his body continuing it’s pace as he fucks into you, his public bone hitting your clit each time he thrusts in. Jake feels your teeth bite down on his shoulder and it shoots straight down to his cock, causing him to shudder.

“I’m close.” You hear his voice in your hear, destabilised, unlike his usual smooth drawl. “Are you..” He begins to ask, not wanting to finish only to leave you hanging.

“Faster.” You demand, your hand moving in between the both of you to rub against your clit. He catches your hand, replacing it with is own as he picks up the pace, slamming into you harder, faster, his fingers rubbing at your clit with a matched pace.

Jake feels your orgasm before you do, from the way your walls clench around him, the same way they had clenched around his fingers earlier, and he thrusts into you, long, pace jerky and off balance, a tell tale sign of his own incoming orgasm. He sees your head roll back, hears the cry that comes from your mouth, feels your finger nails digging into his back, and Jake let’s himself go, hitting his orgasm as loudly as you had met your own.

Jake lets himself sag down on top of you, himself still buried deep in you. It takes you both more than a few moments to reorientate yourself.

“That was,” you start, your words coming out in short, wispy pants, and Jake rolls you both over so that you are on his chest. He takes the sight of you in, hair messy, strands sticking to the side of your face and neck with a sheen of sweat, eyes still slightly glazed in your post orgasm high, lips swollen, He brings a hand up to run through the side of your hair, his fingertips scratching at the top of your scalp gently, before finishing your sentence.

“Amazing.”

-

The clean up is quick, efficient, with you both darting into the shower together. There are touches, kisses, jokes, smiles, but it’s fast, with you both more keen to get out and back into bed. Jake pulls on a clean pair of sweatpants, and you steal one of his tees before you both climb back into his bed.

Neither of you have talked about what happened, but you both know don’t have to, not when you both feel the same, feel like this. You hadn’t spoken about it in the days after Annie’s wedding and the tension build up had caused undeniable friction, but now - this was different, there were no words, no discussion, but even without you were both now clear on each other. He opens his arms, and you tuck yourself into his side, against one of his biceps, both of you laying back against the pillow.

“So Lieutenant,” you shift to prop your head up on the back of your palms which you now have flat on his bare chest, your words light and teasing, but clearly bringing up the earlier events of the day. The transition back to you and Jake being well, you and Jake was easy, seamless, as if nothing had changed despite the fact that he had been balls deep in you, fucking your brains out just minutes ago.

“Jake.” He corrects as he stares down at you, his chin backing into his neck slightly from his position against the pillows of his bed.

“You don’t like Lieutenant?” You ask innocently. “Heard someone else calling you Lieutenant this afternoon.” You mock, as Jake watches you from his position against the pillow.

Jake eyes your for a good second before he flips you over easily in one fluid motion so that you are on your back, his body pressing into yours, chest flattening your breasts which are hidden by his shirt, either arm caging you in onto his bed, Jake’s head just above your own.

“I only ever want to be Jake to you.” There is no witty come back, no sexualised innuendo. His tone of voice is genuine, his features serious, and the simplicity of it, so different from his usual demeanour knocks the wind from your system.

He might not have minded the term Lieutenant with other women, but Jake didn’t care about other women - they were not you. He had known you long before he had become Naval Aviator: Jake “Hangman” Seresin, and he intended to continue to know you long after the day, if ever, he stopped being Naval Aviator: Jake “Hangman” Seresin. Being Lieutenant Jake “Hangman” Seresin had become an important part of him, but before that he had just been Jake, the Jake that had met you while running around the block, the Jake you had done high school and college with, the Jake that you dropped a text to when you had something funny to share, the Jake that you called when there is something to celebrate, the Jake that you reached out to when something bad had happened, the Jake that was as much a part of your life as you were in his, your Jake, something he would never stop being.

Your eyes search his, and all you see is Jake. You respond in the best way you know how, by reaching up, tugging him down and letting your lips connect with his.

>> PART 5

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[nocturne-overtures]

Tiger Lily (C.SC, K. MG)

✦ Paring: (Chubby/Plus Sized) Female Reader x Choi Seungcheol x Kim Mingyu

✦ Genre: Humor, Smut, Romance, Very Small Hint of Angst

✦ AU: Established Poly Relationship (MMF), Erotic Model Reader, Photographer + Model Seungcheol & Mingyu, Non-Idol

✦ Rating: Explicit (18+)

WC: 5.5k+

Tw: Swearing, Brief Instances of Fatphobia,

Sw: Sexual Photos/Videos, Praise Kink, Lingerie, Semi-Public, Unprotected Sex, Creampie, Body Worship, Thigh Grinding, Hair Pulling, Nipple Play (Reader has pierced nipples), Exhibitionism (if you squint), Multiple Orgasms, Hint of Switch Mingyu and Reader, Light Spanking, Blowjobs, Fingering, Threesome, Handjobs, Teasing, Dirty Talk, Hints of Choking Kink

©nocturne-overtures 2022. do not repost, translate, or use my works.

✦A/N: The following is a paid commission for my Dazzberry @atiny-dazzlinglight​ thank you so much for supporting me and being so paitient as I worked this out! Also big shoutout to Gaia for helping me pin down a scenerio I wanted to go with love you too aa

✦Also, If you have filled out my taglist before and have since changed urls, I ask that you make sure to refill out my form if you haven’t already! I think I’m losing people in the sauce sometimes because of url changes or blog moving and after and it’s a bit easier for me if you refill out the form if you’d like to be tagged still. Thank you!

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Network Pings; @kdiarynet​ | @kwritersworld​ | @k-vanity​ |

“Hey, you got a package today.”

You look up from your spot near your mirror, glancing at the box in Seungcheol’s hands. You squint, trying to wrack your brain on what you’d ordered recently.

Bathroom curtains? No, that was custom ordered, it wouldn't be in the country for a long time...Shoes? No...you got them two days ago. New lens for Seungcheol's camera? No, that was on back order-

The moment it clicked for you, you come over to him, grabbing the box excitedly and plopping onto the bed. Seungcheol peeked curiously, watching as you open the box with a pair of scissors, pulling out plastic bags with multi-colored articles of clothing inside.

"I ordered from Caratland a bit ago and it finally came!"

Seungcheol takes a seat beside you, curiously looking at the bags. He didn't open any of them, instead waiting for you to do it first, since it was your order, anyway.

The moment you do, his lips part, eyes widening as you pull out a see-through white crop top. It was knotted in the front, a blue plaid pattern adorning the collar, knot, and the end of the sleeves. You pull out the skirt that came with it, excited as you feel the soft material between your fingers.

You feel Seungcheol’s eyes on you and look up, smiling at the telltale blush on his cheeks.

"I bought some lingerie…I wanted a small self-confidence booster, so a friend suggested I buy some clothes. The website makes clothes in my size too so I didn’t have to settle.” your voice is excited as you explain, taking more outfits out. Seungcheol watched you more than the clothes on the bed, smiling softly at how excited you were.

“Gyu should be out of the shower soon. Do you want to show him as well?” He inquired, rubbing your thigh gently. You smile and nod, taking out more clothes and laying them across the bed so the outfits could be seen clearly.

By the time Mingyu came out of the shower, a towel tied low around his waist, all of your clothes had been laid out on your bed.

“What’s going on?”

“I bought some lingerie.”

Mingyu’s brows go up in interest, coming over to the bed, kneeling as you begin pointing at each lingerie, tilting your cheek up to accept a kiss from Gyu before you did so.

“I showed Cheol this one but it’s got this mini skirt look I’ve always wanted to try. I haven’t actually tried any of these on yet because I wanted to wait for you, but I’m sure my ass will be out.”

Mingyu perked at the notion, but didn’t say anything until he pointed at one of several black outfits.

“What's this one?”

“Oh, this is a succubus one, look!” The men listened as you showed off each one, exchanging kisses and the occasional dirty comment here and there. You feel pride bubble in your chest as you try some of the outfits on, grateful for the website’s plus sizes actually being accurate and fitting you just right.

By the time you’re done, Mingyu looks like he’s hatching a plan in his head, tapping his chin as he glanced between some of the outfits. You wrap your arms around his shoulders, pressing against his back as you tilt your head.

“What? Don’t like these?”

“No, these are my favorite, actually. I was wondering if we could do a shoot with you in them.”

Seungcheol nearly chokes on the water he was drinking while you feel butterflies flutter in your chest at the notion.

“In these? You’d want to?”

“You look fantastic in them. I’m thinking about a few props that could look good with some of these and I bet it would be a fantastic shoot.”

You send him a teasing look, poking his cheek.

“You just want to see me posed in the lingerie. Joshua said he would kill us if he caught us fucking in the studio again, y’know?”

“He and Jeonghan are away for a wedding photo shoot on Jeju. They won’t be back this week.” Seungcheol helpfully informed you. You blink and look at him before looking at the desk calendar at your bedside table.

Sure enough, ‘Josh is out, keep the studio clean’ was sprawled across this week’s days, starting today. You can't help but to notice the small 'Don't fuck in the studio' sprawled in small handwriting beside it. It was clear who wrote what.

You feel yourself smile, hugging Mingyu tighter as you set your head above his.

“What are we waiting for?”

-xoxo-

“You are a work of art, you know that?”

Goosebumps rise on your skin, your eyes closed and your head tilted up towards the sound of Seungcheol’s voice. Fingers ghost over your shoulders before you feel your breasts being cupped from behind and kneaded gently.

“Stay still, that’s perfect.”

You feel his lips on your throat, kissing above your pulse as Mingyu takes pictures.

There are a pair of pointed fantasy ears adhered to your own, painted to match your skin tone. It almost makes you giggle as you feel them brush against Seungcheol’s head before he grabs your jaw, thumb against your chin, and tilts your head, his free hand reaching between your legs to rub your clit.

“Y/N, look this way, baby.”

You follow Mingyu’s direction, opening your eyes and looking in his direction, your breath hitching as you feel Seungcheol’s fingers rubbing in small circles. You’d all decided to go with a succubus look for this shoot, with Seungcheol sitting you in his lap to do your makeup beforehand, stealing small kisses from you.

Mingyu had dressed you, picking one of the more latex-looking lingerie you’d bought, one that hugged your stomach, not in a way to hide your body shape, but to accent it. Your love handles were out, a spiked garter high up on your thigh holding up a pair of intentionally ripped fishnets. The body suit was formfitting, your nipple piercings leaving flower-shaped imprints on the top.

“Baby, are you spacing out?”

You realize your gaze had drifted to the floor as your mind wandered, looking at Mingyu with the smolder he probably had been looking for. He smiled, snapping a few pictures from different angles before nodding at Seungcheol.

You miss the contact he had with you as he moved away from your body, but he wasn’t gone for long, coming back with lubed fingers and once more kneeling behind you on the couch you’d been posing on. He once more grabbed your chin, this time tilting your face towards his, smiling as he hovered over your lips, pushing his middle finger into you slowly.

A gasp leaves your lips, and you almost miss the quick ‘that’s good ’ from Mingyu followed by camera clicks as you slowly take in Seungcheol’s features.

Staring into his eyes, you feel your mind wander ever so slightly.

It took a while before you could convince him to come from behind the camera to join in on shoots with you and Mingyu.

-xoxo-

You yourself were an erotic model, and you’d be lying if you said it was easy to get where you were now. You’d seen it all, photographers refusing to take you because they didn’t like the shape of your body, photographers clearly showing more…problematic views on models with larger body types…but you remained unshaken.

You know your worth. Big and beautiful and if some asshole wouldn’t add you to their portfolio, that was their loss.

You’d actually met Seungcheol at one of those turned-down shoots, back when he was studying the technique of some asshole who made you sit in your robes in the corner of the room for nearly three hours waiting to be photographed. All while he very clearly focused on the girls who’d stumbled in late as hell, spilled Starbucks on some of the props, and made one of the makeup artists cry.

Seungcheol approached you, then, offered you a bottle of cold water while a camera dangled around his neck.

“If it’s alright…I’d like to do a shoot with you. It’s becoming more obvious this guy doesn’t have any respect for his models or his craft but I’d like to keep you from wasting any more time here waiting on him.”

It was kind, and you finished half of your bottle before you nodded, moving out of the way of the other crew members and actually taking your pictures up on the roof. There were fairy lights adorning the outdoor set and you felt pride in your chest at the audible gasp Seungcheol let out as you dropped your robe for the first time.

Your shoot was nothing short of professional the first time. The next dozen, as well, once you’d taken your talents to Joshua’s studio thanks to Seungcheol’s word.

It was when Mingyu came in that things got more interesting.

Both a model and photographer, Mingyu was the first person you’d ever posed with.

It was a BDSM shoot, all latex and leather, collars and leashes, and hands-on intimacy that made your heart flutter. Again, things were professional at first, even after you found out Mingyu was dating Seungcheol, you three kept things in the studio focused and on task, creating varied shoots that did well for you all and the studio itself.

To the surprise of both of you, it was Mingyu who had asked you out on a date, smiling as Seungcheol nearly dropped his camera somewhere behind him.

You blink in surprise, looking at Seungcheol before looking at Mingyu.

“A date? Like a platonic one?”

“I mean…it could be platonic if you want it to be, I meant more romantic….did Hyung not tell you he liked you?”

You feel the distant sound of a windows shutdown noise play in your head as Seungcheol, mortified, pushes Mingyu out of the door, eyes wide and face flushed.

“D-Don’t w-worry about it, we're leaving early, I can't believe you, Gyu!"

You hear Mingyu getting scolded all the way down the hall and smile to yourself.

The next time, a month later, it's you to ask, laughing at the shocked look on both of their faces.

"You didn't let me respond, yknow." You teased as both of them became ecstatic.

Who knew that one date, three years ago, would start this beautiful relationship you all have now-

"Baby, if you keep spacing out, I may have to change tactics."

You blink back into focus again as Seungcheol slides a second finger into you, slowly pushing it in and out as he closed the gap between you, kissing you.

It was slow, with Seungcheol claiming every corner of your mouth as his other hand groped and kneaded your breast, fingers curling around the piercing.

"Cheol- " you gasp his name, clenching around his fingers as he works them faster in and out of you. Your hand drifts down between his legs, squeezing his cock and smiling as he let out his own gasp, tucking his face into your neck as you stroke him through the pants he's wearing.

You don't hear the sound of the camera clicking anymore, but before you have the chance to inspect why, Mingyu approached, kissing the nape of Seungcheol’s neck before he pulled his pants down.  

Seungcheol’s cock is hot and heavy in your hand as you stroke him, smiling up at him through your lashes. His breath hitches as Mingyu quickly darts back behind the camera.

You hear him praising you both, but you only focus on Seungcheol’s expression. His jaw is tight as he tried to keep his face in check, but you can see he wants to break.

Hold you by the back of your neck, purr praise, and close his eyes as he lets his cock slide in and out of your mouth.

Technically he could do that and still not ruin the shots, in your opinion, but Seungcheol liked to keep himself in check while you three had your photoshoots.

Part of you is waiting for him to realize this is just for the three of you and just a shameless excuse for you to show off your new clothes to them and possibly ruin another studio couch by fooling around but you'd let him continue to hold back.

For now.

He really was so handsome when he was concentrating.

You wrap your lips around his cock, slowly bobbing your head as you stroke him at the base, smiling to yourself at the shudder you feel running through his body.

"Perk your ass up, Y/n. Good girl, just like that."

You hope Mingyu’s getting some good POV shots with all of his instructions, but you've already checked out, wanting more out of Seungcheol.

You let your hips sway, fondling his balls as you look into his eyes once more.

Seungcheol was big on that, the eye contact.

It had to grow on you a bit, but the intimacy definitely spiked the more you looked into his eyes, taking in every gasp, groan breathless chuckle.

Seungcheol’s fingers twitch ever so slightly as he watched you and you idly wish you'd used a lower quality lipstick so it would smudge as you blew him.

Finding out Seungcheol and Mingyu enjoyed lipstick blowjobs and the mess was a very interesting anniversary surprise.

Maybe next time.

For now, you close your eyes, feeling his fingers kneading the back of your neck as you bob your head. You can’t help the moan that left your throat as he worked out the tension from your neck.

Your hips move on their own, swaying as you spread your knees apart, pressing your tongue along the thick underside vein of his cock.  

You're not sure how long it takes from the beginning of the shoot for Seungcheol to lose his patience, but it becomes apparent when he pulls himself from your throat, picking you up easily and setting you in his lap for a kiss.

You smile, grabbing him by the collar, keeping him close as you shifted about, straddling his thigh. Seungcheol noticed and let out a muffled chuckle, lifting his thigh so you could grind down onto it.

Your fingers find their way into his hair, pulling lightly as you moan, rolling your hips and moaning as you feel your clit rub against him through your bodysuit.

You faintly catch movement out of the corner of your eye until suddenly your kiss is being interrupted by Mingyu moving behind you, cupping your jaw and tilting your neck up to kiss you. Seungcheol took the distraction as the opportunity to move your body suit in a way for your breasts to be out for him. He took a moment to admire the tiger lily piercings adorning your nipples. It was a gift for you from Mingyu on your second anniversary and truth be told, it was one of his favorite piercings you liked to wear.

As you kiss Mingyu and rut against Seungcheol’s thigh, you feel Cheol’s fingers pinch and roll one of your nipples while his lips wrap against the other.

You moan sweetly, arching up more and hugging his head closer to your chest as Mingyu ran his hands all over your body.

“What about the..mm…the photoshoot?” You tease, nipping Mingyu’s lip. He let out a smile, looking into your eyes for a moment before sending you a wink.

“I switched it to the video mode. I’ll just go back and take stills for the edits later.” He explained.

Seungcheol chuckled.

“In other words, he got impatient.”

“Both of my partners are feeling each other up right in front of me, looking absolutely delicious and you think I’m gonna sit behind a camera for two more hours?”

You smile and send Mingyu a fake pout.

“D’aw, only two hours? We can go longer than that.”

You feel a pleasant shudder roll up and down your spine as both of them let out a growl and after a bit more shuffling about, you find yourself on your back, your legs spread with your heels on the couch as both Mingyu and Seungcheol work their fingers in and out of you.

“You’re doing so good, baby. Thank you.” Seunghcheol always took the time to praise you during your intimate moments like this, his fingers working you slowly even now, despite him clearly being hard and throbbing for more. Mingyu matched his pace, his fingers just a bit longer than Seungcheol’s as he curled them.

You can hear them kissing just above your head, your back arching suddenly as Mingyu’s fingers brush over your G spot. One of them lets out a pleased growl that makes you shudder as they both slowly press their fingers in deeper, rolling them against that sensitive bundle while they claimed each other’s lips.

Your thighs shake from the stimuli, but you feel the urge to do more than sit and do nothing so you lean towards Mingyu, nails scratching over one of his ass cheeks before you grab a handful, your lips trailing over his abs as you left kisses and bites in your wake. For Seungcheol, you drag your nails up his thigh, moving inward until you could cup and fondle his balls, smiling against Mingyu’s tan skin as you feel Seungcheol buck.

After a bit more teasing, you give him what he wants, grabbing him at the base and stroking as you continued to leave little bites along Mingyu’s flexing abdominal region.

You alternate your teasing, moving to leave bites along Seungcheol’s paler body, as well. Both of your bites take in different, contrasting ways on the men, and you have half a mind to remind them both to let you have the camera when you’re done having sex so you can photograph the bites.

You feel a coil in yourself, winding tight as both of them slowly increase their pace, feeling your body relax and loosen the more they prepped you. A whimper left your throat as you mouthed along the tip of Mingyu’s cock, your thighs twitching and nearly closing.

As keen as ever, both of them grab the knee closest to themselves, keeping your thighs open as they broke their kiss, lips kiss swollen as they looked down at you with matching smiles on their faces.

“Oh? Are you gonna cum already? Does this feel good?”

“You’re gonna make a mess, aren’t you? Go ahead baby, you’re so beautiful.”

They’re talking at the same time and you can barely tell who’s saying what over your own moans as your knees involuntarily try to close again, hips raising off of the couch ever so slightly.

“Ah, sit down baby.” Seungcheol’s tone is gentle, but it’s an order nonetheless and you feel yourself sit down, shaking in their hands as you glance down.

Sure enough, both of their fingers are glistening already, alternating tempos as they finger you, and the sight alone is enough to push you over, a gasp catching itself in your own throat as you cum.

Your lips fall open, and you feel someone set their hand around your throat, not to squeeze, but more than likely for the photo op. Regardless, it comes as an intimate comfort, your eyes fluttering half-closed as you looked up at them, pleasantly surprised that you’d already cum from fingering alone.

You find that it’s Mingyu’s hand around your throat when you meet his eyes. He doesn’t move for a full minute after your orgasm, just meeting your gaze with a quiet affection that made you smile, his thumb rubbing over your throat gently.

Once you catch your breath, both men pull their fingers out of your pussy, sitting beside you and making a show out of licking them clean. You watch with your eyes still half-lidded, licking your own lips before you push yourself closer, kissing Seungcheol, and then Mingyu, purring at your taste lingering on their tongues.

They give you a moment to calm down, helping you stretch your legs and back before Seungcheol beckoned you closer to him. You find yourself crawling into his lap, accepting a tender kiss from him as you put your knees at either side of his hips.

You pause only long enough to see if Mingyu wanted to move the camera before you feel Seungcheol, in a rare moment of impatience, pull you down, grinding his cock between your folds.

“Fuck that camera.”

It brought an unexpected laugh out of both you and Mingyu somewhere behind you as you reach between your legs, holding his cock up so you could sink down at your own pace.

Both of you let out a breath you hadn’t realized you were holding, and slowly, inch by inch, you sit on Seungcheol’s cock. He held your ass in both hands, caressing and kneading them as he waited for you to get comfortable, letting out a small groan as you give your hips a small wiggle.

“A perfect fit as always~”You tease, knowing he wanted to move his own hips. Seungcheol’s brow twitched ever so slightly before he looked up at you, one of his hands roaming up the side of your body, from your thigh, up to your waist and abdomen, all the way up to your face. You lean into his palm, cupping one of your hands over it as you smile down at him.

“Are you okay?” His voice is quiet, calm despite the fact you can feel him throbbing inside of you. You send him a smile, leaning down until your lips brush over his forehead, his cheeks, down to his nose, and stopping at his lips.

“You really are a softie, you know that?” You giggle. Seungcheol opened his mouth to say something, but it catches on his own breath as you begin to roll your hips, pressing your hands to the couch behind his head to steady yourself.

Seungcheol’s eyes drift down your body, and his hands once again follow suit, caressing and touching every part of you he can get to, moaning your name in deep purrs that make you teasingly clench up every time you bring your hips up.

You hear a moan off to the side somewhere and lift your head, finding Mingyu stroking himself as he sits on a prop chair, spread out with his legs wide apart. You smile to yourself, a hard-to-describe, yet powerful feeling rolling in your chest.

You loved both of your boyfriends to death, and it was evident they loved you just as much. Times like these when you drove them wild in your own way did wonders for your confidence, if you were being honest.

As you ride Seungcheol, you curl your finger, beckoning Mingyu over. His hand paused halfway up his cock as he met your gaze, running his tongue over his bottom lip before he stood, making his way over to you and Seungcheol, his cock hard, the veins prominent along the shaft. You lean over Seungcheol as best you can, glad he understood what you were trying to do as he grabs your hips to steady you, planting his feet onto the couch and thrusting up into you.

You grab Mingyu’s cock, stroking slowly, knowing he was a lot more impatient than Seungcheol and smiling at the telltale frustrated groan he let out the moment you begin to tease him.

“Is something-ah fuck-wrong, Gyu?” You can barely keep the playful taunting tone in your voice as Seungcheol’s teeth find their way to your piercing, tugging lightly as he snapped his hips up.

“My girlfriend is dressed as a succubus and our boyfriend is fucking her and my cock is currently hard and in your hand. Do I have to say anything else?”

You send him a devilish smile, squeezing his cock as you tilt your head. His hips buck the moment you do, a surprised groan leaving his lips as he looked at you with his teeth between his lips.

“Yes, actually.” is your reply, grabbing his balls with your free hand and stroking him at an antagonizingly slow pace with the other. Mingyu’s thighs tremble for a moment before a whimper fell from his lips.

“Y/N, please.”

“Beg, Mingyu.”

You hear even Seungcheol let out a breathless ‘ fuck’ from beneath you as Mingyu groaned in surprise.

“Y/N, please, can I have your mouth? I’m aching and I can’t take it-”

You squeeze him at the base again, dragging your tongue up the underside, cutting him off.

“Can’t? Are you sure?” You mewl, hearing Seungcheol’s thrusts get louder from how wet you were. Part of you felt bad for teasing Mingyu, but if the throbbing in your hand and the expression on his face was anything to go by, you knew he liked this type of bullying quite a bit.

“P-Please, I promise I won’t even cum without permission I just-”

Oh, uh oh~

Mingyu noticed the devilish look that crossed your face and stopped mid-sentence. Seungcheol let out a chuckle from beneath you as you hold Mingyu’s gaze, slowly taking him into your mouth, letting your hand fall away from his base. He let out a sigh of relief, looking at you with adoration in his eyes as you continue to fondle his balls.

Despite your own pleasure, you were hell-bent on making sure Mingyu came undone without permission just so you could punish him.

Maybe putting on this outfit gave you a lot more confidence than usual.

Perhaps you’d get more soon.

You feel your back arch as Seungcheol’s cock curved just right, your thighs tightening around his waist as the pace of his hips took over the tempo completely. He hugged your waist tight, picking up on the muffled gag from your moan and the way you clenched around him. You feel warmth bloom all throughout your body, your blowjob getting messier the longer it went on.

To his credit, Mingyu kept his hips still and his hands to himself until you shakily reach for one of them, setting it at the back of your head and looking up at him. He let out a breathy chuckle.

“You’re trying to make me cum aren’t you?”

You arch a brow coyly before you feel your eyes roll ever so slightly as Seungcheol hit your sweet spot hard. Mingyu waited until you were ready before he moved his own hips, both of them setting a much different tempo than the other.

It’s as messy as it is intimate, with Seungcheol murmuring words of love and praise against your skin as Mingyu’s cock hits the back of your throat, his fingers moving down to the back of your neck. You wonder if both of them realize it’s a sensitive zone for you or something, since both of them have this thing for massaging it. Every time they do, it made pleasant jolts run up and down your spine, and now was no different as you swallow hard around Mingyu’s cock.

“B-Baby, I’m-”

Seungcheol’s hips are stuttering below you, and you finally begin to move your own once more in response, clenching every time he nearly pulled out, enticing him to sink back in. Seungcheol growled out a string of curses, planting a hard spank to your ass that makes you jolt in surprise, gagging once more on Mingyu’s cock.

“Are you o-okay- fuck ” Mingyu barely finished speaking before you adamantly sink down fully, nose against his pelvic region as you looked up at him. He cupped your face, holding your gaze and wiping away any overstimulated tears that rolled down your cheek as Seungcheol alternated kneading your sore cheek, spanking the other, and rubbing your clit.

It didn’t take much more for you to clench tight, thighs shaking as you came first, nails leaving scratches against the leather couch as you scrambled for purchase on something. Mingyu’s hips twitched themselves as he kept still, biting back his own urge to cum as he watched Seungcheol hug you close, cumming inside of you as he kissed the valley between your breasts, mumbling something neither you or Mingyu could hear.

Once both you and Seungcheol’s orgasms had subsided, you noticed a distinct lack of something and looked up at Mingyu, who stood over you with a (barely) triumphant look on his face.

“I didn’t cum without permission.”

Seungcheol laughed from beneath you as you slowly pull off of Mingyu’s cock, a spark of chaos and challenge in your eyes.

“I noticed. Come over here, then.”

A few minutes of repositioning, handsy grabbing and intimate butterfly kisses that quickly turned into more, and you were on your hands and knees, ass arched high in the air and a poor couch pillow being squeezed to hell and back as Mingyu thrust into you from behind. He held your shoulder down with one hand, the other on your waist to keep you in place as he thrust in deep, the cum Seungcheol left behind making a mess of both of you and the poor couch below as he watched his cock sink in and out of you.

You’re unsure of the words leaving your lips by this point, if they’re even words at all or just unintelligible sounds of ecstasy as Mingyu fucked you.

“Your hips are moving on their own again, my love? Are you gonna milk my cock like you did Hyung’s?”

You moan in response, glancing at him over your shoulder, rolling your hips in circles to meet him halfway. His thrusts are still powerful and nearly stop you in your tracks from how good it felt. Seungcheol isn’t too far from the two of you, stopping to give Mingyu a kiss that doesn’t shake the younger man’s tempo in the slightest before he circles around to you, kneeling on the floor in front of you and tilting your chin up so you can look into his eyes.

“Absolutely beautiful. Do you want to cum again? Can Mingyu cum, baby? He’s been working so hard~” he caressed your cheek, smiling as you once again press into his palm, nodding. He stole a kiss and shook his head.

“Ah, you made him say it. What do you want Mingyu to do?”

“C-Cum inside! Please cum inside of me I n-need it please-” You once again roll your hips, moaning in bliss as Mingyu rewards your efforts by going faster himself, hooking both of his hands over your thighs and pulling you back into his thrusts. Seungcheol continued to compliment and praise both of you, his voice raising only when both of yours did from your own groans.

“Go ahead, Mingyu. Give our love what she wants.”

You feel tears of pleasure roll down your cheeks as you cum again, thankful for Mingyu’s tight grip on your thighs, since you’re sure you would have fallen without it. You bury your face into Seungcheol’s neck and cry out something, though you’re not too sure of what since your mind blanked. Heat flooded between your legs as Mingyu came inside of you, groaning as he held you tight, slowing his wild pace to a slow grind.

You shudder, fingers leaving indents on Seungcheol’s skin as you held onto his shoulders, needing a moment to catch your breath before you pull away, heart hammering in your chest.

“Hey there, baby. You okay?” He inquired. You smile and nod without a word, giving him a kiss. He chuckled and happily kissed you back, caressing your cheeks with both thumbs before you broke it to try and lean back and kiss Mingyu. He bent over your body, making it easier for you as he leaned most of the way in.

Seungcheol watched the two of you for a moment before moving himself to turn the camera off, grabbing a robe for all three of you and coming back.

Once you broke the kiss, you pout as you feel Mingyu pull out of you. It’s immediately gone the moment he wrapped you up in the robe, picking you up effortlessly and smiling at Seungcheol.

“It’s a good thing the studio has showers.”

The three of you laugh as Mingyu led the way to the showers.

“We should probably change that couch, though,” Seungcheol commented.

“Oh, yeah, definitely.” You nod, putting your head against Mingyu’s chest.

-xoxox-

“YOU FUCKED IN THE STUDIO AGAIN?”

Mingyu dodged the couch pillow being hurled at him by Joshua while you sit and watch with Jeonghan. The man looked amused by the entire thing, going through the photos Mingyu, Seungcheol, and you had cleaned up and edited.

“Oh, that is a cute outfit on you, Y/N.” He commented, ignoring Seungcheol trying to play peacekeeper.

“We bought a new couch!”

“YOU USED MY CARD TO DO IT!”

You bring a cup of tea up to your lips, watching Josh lob a plushie that definitely belonged to Hosi across the room, nailing Seungcheol in the face. You glance back at Jeonghan, pointing to one of the pictures that was taken towards the beginning of your ‘shoot’. You, Mingyu, and Seungcheol looked like a trio of love-sick idiots, and it made you smile as you pointed it out.

“This one is my favorite, I think.”

Jeonghan nodded, sipping his own tea.

“I think it captures a lot.”

You smile and nod before you feel a dinosaur plushie belonging to Chan collide with your own head.

“DON’T SIT THERE LAUGHING, YOU’RE IN TROUBLE, TOO!”

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