#I did get a lot of meal prep done though

[solardee]

Ah... Ya know, my roomies have been back for only a day now and already I'm missing the peace and quiet my solitude brought me.

I love them but goodness wouldn't it be nice to make enough money to live completely on my own LOL

[angel-of-the-moons]

hi!! i’ve recently been struggling with my eating disorder, and i was wondering if you could do a hobie x gf!reader where reader is having a really hard time eating and he comforts her and helps her eat? lots of physical touch and words of affirmation if possible - and if this req is uncomfy i get it !!

Awww hon I hope this helps you feel a bit better!

Let Them Eat Cake (Or Something)

Soft!Hobie x Fem!Reader

TW/CW: Eating Disorders/Anorexia, hints of depression, bullying, some mental trauma, back at it again with the fluffy bullshit (Hobie also makes an inappropriate promise but nothing is detailed lol)

A/N: I myself struggle with eating disorders brought on by financial strains and mental issues (still do) so I totally understand this kinda thing!

🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸

It was the little things Hobie did to take care of you that most people probably couldn't imagine someone of his niche to do.

Things like peeling off the nutrition labels to things you'd buy at the grocery store so you couldn't stress over the calories (or lack thereof), buying those meal replacer shakes for you to try when you didn't want to eat; hovering over (respectfully) when you prepared your meals, saying little things to encourage you to fill your plate more.

"Ay, you should try this. Saw it online and heard it tastes pretty good with that, yeah?"

"Jus' a bit more, I can still see some on ya plate there. Almost done and it's less stuff wasted, right?"

He would even call or text you to eat one of the little snack baggies he'd prepped you full of healthy snacks. Even if it wasn't a full meal, helping you eat throughout the day brought him peace of mind so he wouldn't worry about you wasting away.

He'd read up on eating disorders and didn't like it one bit, so he devoted half his time with you around meals more focusing on you, even while he scarfed down his own portions.

Hobie had an insane metabolism, it was like he was constantly eating something in some way or another to keep himself going, and at some point you'd joked he had a black hole for a gullet.

But still, he would watch you out of the corner of his eye, taking your little mouse nibbles here and there, sipping your drink...

He knew that bringing it up front would only upset you, so he'd do little things to distract you from your thoughts of your food. He'd play little games with you. Like 20 questions. If you got one wrong, you'd have to eat another bite of your food. It would continue like that until your food was gone and you didn't realize it.

A punk with a heart of gold, Hobie Brown was. Though he'd never admit it out loud, even the members of his band would snort and laugh at how soft he was with you; though they understood completely why.

Today, you and Hobie went out for lunch, and you two attracted more than a few curious glances at your contrast in styles when you sat down to order. People just loved to stare, didn't they?

You idly played with your chips, pushing them around on your plate, your chicken sandwich sitting with just a few bites taken out of it.

"Ay, luv. Eyes bigger than your stomach, again?" Hobie asked, sipping his pop.

"Yeah... I just didn't think there'd be so much of it. I just..." You sigh, feeling defeated.

You'd had this problem since you were barely a teenager, and it only got worse after time. At least you stopped making yourself vomit up all your food.

You remember how badly it went when your mother caught you doing that.

In truth, you only started starving because... well. In school you were always insulted by the "prettier" girls. You'd always assumed you were pretty too, that's what your parents and relatives would always say. But being in the face of a gaggle of obnoxiously made-up girls rag on you in the lavatory, in gym class, or lunch... the pressure to be "thin" was hammered into you. If you looked like them, they would leave you alone.

And from there it went. You'd tried dating before, but none of your partners ever took care of you. Hell, one of them practically encouraged it and showed you diet pills online. You broke it off pretty quick after that.

Hobie was honestly the first to not automatically suggest you get locked in a mental ward, or just force yourself to scarf portions that were too much for your shrunken stomach to handle. Hobie was gentle and sweet, understanding with you.

Like he was right now.

"Well we can box it up and you can toast it up for later, alright?" He suggested.

His own plate was empty and your still practically full one wasn't lost on him. But he knew that directly pointing at the elephant in the room would only upset you.

His boot nudged your foot under the table and he gave you a smile, his eyes lighting up.

"Yeah.... yeah I can do that." You smile back sheepishly, letting Hobie flag down the server so he could pay (his treat, after all) and get you a to-go box.

🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸

Later that night, Hobie had reheated some leftovers from the night previous and toasted your chips and sandwich for you to finish off again; because ugh, nobody enjoyed soggy microwaved chicken and chips. And if they did they were a complete loon.

You sat snuggled up on the sofa, your food in your lap as Hobie's characteristically empty plate lay on the coffee table next to his propped up feet as the program droned on the television in front of you.

His hand rubbed your arm lazily up and down in a soothing motion as his eyes flicked down to your plate.

"You gon'a finish that, luv?" He hummed softly, kissing the top of your head.

"I..." You sighed down at the plate in your hands.

"'S all right." He mumbled into your hair. "But ya do worry me, baby. How about this... if you finish your food.... hm."

He looked at the ceiling and you could tell that he was faking thinking of something serious.

You knew it especially when he gave you a cocky smirk.

"If you finish your food, I'll do that thing you really like, for you, eh?"

"Hobie!" You snort, rolling your eyes at him.

"Oh? Not what you want, hm? How about..." He tapped his chin with his free hand, once again making a grand gesture of "deep" thought.

"Fine fine... how about we go to that li'le art museum you've been goin' on about?"

Your eyes light up and you look at him.

"Really?"

"Yep! Really. But only if you finish your food." He put a finger under your chin and kissed your nose.

"And eat breakfast tomorrow."

"Deal!"

Hobie smiled to himself as you tore into your food with motivation.

Being Spider-Man didn't always mean fighting the oppressive regime they were stuck with. It wasn't always about thwarting criminals in the streets.

Sometimes it was about coming home and making sure his girlfriend had enough to eat.

And that was plenty for him.

[coalswriting]

domestic / dating headcanons - natalie scatorccio

(approx. 900 words)

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you and natalie started dating after you met her at a party.

you were with your friends, and you had spotted her from across the room, talking with travis.

you were way too many drinks in, and feeling confident, so without thinking, you abruptly ended your conversation with your friends by walking over to natalie.

travis looked irritated the moment you started talking to nat. she did not; you could see underlying relief in the sparkle of her eyes and she listened to you intently as you told her some random fun fact you had heard in biology.

one thing led to another, and you woke up with her in bed with you the next morning.

you panicked, thinking you had done something regrettable with someone you barely knew but she reassured you that the two of you simply came back to yours because you wanted her to paint your nails black and watch a movie.

cool. cool.

natalie didn’t end up leaving for ages that day, and when you saw her in school the following monday, she stuck around you.

you were pretty much glued together and she felt like your other half.

you watched her practices, went to her games, packed her a nutritious lunch every morning (because let’s face it; school lunches suck), and even helped her study.

it didn’t take long for the two of you to start dating; maybe two months of talking consistently every day.

and damn, did she move into your house fast.

your parents weren’t around too much due to work, but they really liked natalie based on the few interactions they had with her, so she was basically free to stay whenever.

your wardrobe instantly became better as natalie let you borrow her clothes, and you even would go shopping together with money you had earned from your part time job as a cinema worker.

speaking of cinema work, you always snuck natalie into movies for free with you when your shift would end. most of the movies, you two would just whisper through and joke around, but when it came to horror movies, natalie was honed and focused. she really loved them, and you loved seeing her enjoyment even though you’d freak out at any sight of gore.

natalie started looking a lot healthier when she moved into your house; she was used to eating shitty oven meals at home due her not having much cooking space nor ingredients, and when you both started cooking together, she loved it too much – you’d say she hasn’t had an oven pizza in months after you had started to date.

you do most of the meal prep whereas natalie cooks. somehow, she’s a natural! you oftentimes come home from work to the kitchen smelling like brownies or whatever delicious dinner she’s decided to make for you. and then, yknow, she leaves you with a sink full of dishes.

natalie isn’t a super affectionate person. she won’t outwardly kiss you or hug you often, but she shows it in different ways. maybe she’ll brush your hair, do your makeup, help you decide an outfit, make you a playlist, or link your pinkies together when youre watching tv.

however, if she gets drunk? that’s a whole different story. she’ll pull you away to make out with you every chance she gets. she would almost escalate it anywhere if it weren’t for you being reasonable and stopping her before things get too hot and heavy.

she’s also a little spoon. i will die on this hill. she’ll sleep facing away from you, but during the night, will push herself towards you until you’re holding her and breathing in the smell of her shampoo. she doesn’t care if it gets too hot, she will literally sleep through the night like a corpse – and then take a shower the next day because she’s all sweaty.  

she’s almost too over-protective at times, literally glaring at anyone that even looks at you wrong. once a guy catcalled the two of you in the hall at school and she literally kicked his locker shut onto his wrist.

his face was worth the detention that you both had to sit through.  

natalie stopped smoking for you. it’s not that you necessarily complained that you didn’t want her to smoke, but you made an off-hand comment once about how you’d love for her to take care of her health more.

and she took that personally. she literally went cold turkey, and you stayed with her the entire time while she was moody, sick, and tired from withdrawal.

natalie’s favourite thing to do is shower. she didn’t have the liberty to shower every day when she lived with her parents, so she basically showers daily at yours, if not twice a day. you don’t mind though; you’re not the one paying for the water.

you’ll oftentimes just sit outside on the toilet while she’s showering and talking to you about a new album she wants to buy or some drama she heard while in the changing rooms for soccer.

speaking of soccer, the yellowjackets think you two are such a weird couple. natalie is so rough, whereas you’re so sweet and caring. you’ll literally come to their practices with bottles of water for everyone and natalie will say some comment along the lines of “she’s mine, all of you find your own fucking girlfriend.”

meanwhile, everyone else is just blinking blankly, not even doing anything to insinuate that they’re trying to steal you.

[agentplutonium]

David/Angel cooking for your prompt practice ^^

Okay, so we're about to make a deal. I will write this BUT you can't be too mean /j. Actually /hj because I don't really write this pairing and ur like THE David/Angel enjoyer in my head. But I will try for the sake of science (practice). Plus I always like expanding my abilities and this will be a fun challenge.

Pairing: David/Angel

WC: 897

Rating: Gen.

Aether is talking about this post.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: .☽ . :☆ﾟ. ───

David won't admit it, but he does enjoy cooking with Angel. Occasionally.

They're a pain to deal with, but there's something about seeing them focus on something that they're both working on that gets to him. Not to mention that during these times he was grateful for the help.

It was another solstice. The pack was coming over for their usual party, and Angel had insisted on helping out this time, claiming that David would need it since they were bulk-making a lot of food (completely ignoring the fact that he's done it previously.) David, having seen what they could do by themselves when he was bringing over Asher, Milo, Tank, and their mates, decided that they'll give it a try this year. He warned them that things had to happen a certain way though, since he was used to doing it like that. Angel said that they could handle it. They've watched him before, they knew the drill.

So, they got to work.

Angel wasn't good at cooking for themselves, but when it came to bigger meals they suddenly became a five-star chef. David didn't even have to delegate tasks, it was like the two of them were performing a dance that only they knew. There was only occasionally he would have to ask for something, but it was always at the ready. The two were done prep in no time, and the only thing left was to supervise the cooking. David leaned against the counter, drying dishes as Angel washed them. He couldn't stop watching them for some reason.

"Take a picture it will last longer," Angel teased, a small grin flitting their lips.

"Why now?" David asked suddenly.

"Why now... what?" Angel giggled.

"Why help now? Why let me cook for you all these years?"

Angel's smile softened a bit. They shrugged in that way that always (affectionately) irked him, looking up to him. "Wanted to."

"Wanted to?" David repeated.

"Yeah. There was never really anyone that... did that for me. I was always so used to making big meals with my mom, and then when I moved out it was... hard to adjust. Does that make sense? I was on my own, and I never made anything more than a simple dish for myself before when I got peckish. So, those habits stuck around. And then you came along, and..." Angel looked away, smile widening even more. They distracted themself with the dishes. "And here we are."

David didn't have an answer right away. He was expecting some witty, light-hearted, hell even flirty answer. Not this. He didn't mind this, not in the slightest, but--

"And not to mention that you look sexy while you're cooking."

He spoke too soon.

"You liked watching me cook," David clarified.

"Partly, yes. It was also partly because it made me feel loved. It's also partly because I know its how you show love, so..." They trailed off, shrugging again before handing him the next dish. "Win-win."

"Win-win," David light-heartedly mocked, rolling his eyes.

Angel flicked water at him in retaliation, giggling. "It is! You like cooking, I like watching you cook, we both get a meal out of it--both metaphorically and physically--there's love in every aspect. There's not much more I could ask for, Davey."

David thought about the ring that was currently sitting in his nightstand. He was sure there was something more they could ask for. He shook his head to clear it, refocusing as another dish was handed to him.

"Maybe I should get you doing dishes more if it has you like this," he said. "You're actually romantic right now."

Angel scoffed in mock offence. "What does that mean? I'm always romantic!"

"With a lot of innuendos, and flirty comments, and--"

"Well, I'm sorry," Angel interrupted, "It is not everyday I am able to flirt to my heart's content with probably the hottest guy I've ever dated."

"Not the hottest guy you've ever seen?"

"No. Because you are not Tom Hiddleston. Unfortunetly."

"Unfortunately?" David asked with a chuckle.

Angel sighed dreamily. "I'd probably leave you in a heartbeat if that man asked," They teased.

David laughed. "Uh-huh. Okay."

Angel giggled. "You laugh now, but it's a possibility. You might wake up one day with a note beside you. It would say," they put on a dramatic voice, "'eloped with Tom. You were a great fuck, but I can't deny my true desires. Sucks to suck, I guess.' Except the 'I guess' would just be the letters I-G."

David shook his head in amusement, grinning. "Would you really leave me for him?"

Angel pulled the plug from the sink, rinsing off their hands, with another sigh. "No. Probably not. You're too good to me to do that."

David put the last dish away. "Right. That's reassuring."

"You think I'm hot enough to pull Tom?"

David pulled them into a kiss when the tap turned off. "I think you're hot enough to pull anybody you wanted, Angel. It's why I'm lucky you decided to keep me around."

Angel smiled at him, eyes crinkling a bit. David went to kiss them again but got stopped by their wet hands running through his hair and over his face. He leaned back to the sound of Angel's giggles.

"Why you--"

They wiggled out of his grip, taking off. David started after them, chuckling himself as he went.

-END-

[blackholemojis]

(not a request)

Hai! As someone trying to experiment with AACs, I can't find an optimal and conveniently organized word list, can you please share any tips for that?

Unfortunately I've had the same problem when trying to make my own AAC boards, as well as with running this blog. There are some general essentials though, I've made some of them and tagged them with #blackholemojis basics, if you want to look through those.

Other than that, I can really only share the types of words I put into my own AAC boards first. I haven't found a convenient and well organized word list anywhere :(

Under the cut though I'll put a lot more words you could include in your AAC, if you want to check that out! I'll update it as I think of more

Basic words

Yes, no, maybe, I don't know, something else, probably, stop, go, I consent, I don't consent

What, when, who, where, why, how

Good, bad, better, worse, best, worst, same, different, alright

Basic activities of daily living

Hygiene: bathe, clean teeth, style hair, wash face, etc

Dressing: get dressed, get undressed, clothing, tops, bottoms

Eating: eat, drink, swallow, chew, breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack

Bathroom: use the bathroom, pee, poop, wipe off, wash hands

Transferring/mobility: walk, stand up, sit down, lay down, transfer to mobility aid, transfer out of mobility aid

Instrumental activities of daily living

Communication: speak, text/message, computer, phone, email, video call, write, call

Transportation: picked up, dropped off, drive, ride, bike, walk, take the bus, take the train, carpool

Meal prep: cook, bake, heat up, prepare food, plan meals, clean up kitchen, put away food

Shopping/finances: shop, buy, sell, donate, pay, write a check, manage balance, wallet, bank account, make a deposit, budget, pay bills, pay insurance, pay mortgage

Housework: do laundry, do dishes, dust, vacuum, sweep, mop, clean, fold, organize, take out the garbage

Medication: take meds, refill meds, order meds refill

Short words

Hello, goodbye, please, thank you, you're welcome, sorry, I forgive you

Do, don't, done, did, will, won't, could, can, can't, should, shouldn't, is, isn't, was, wasn't, were, weren't, want, like, dislike,

Now, later, soon, earlier, today, tomorrow, yesterday

And, a, an, the, or, which, if, so, then, because

Leave, come, walk, run, give, take, throw, catch, move, stay, find, lose, say, mean, think, let, need, want, help, belong, start, finish

I/me/myself, mine, you/yours/yourself, this person, she/her/hers, he/him/his, they/them/theirs, it/its/itself

Essential activities

Eat, sleep, wake up, use the bathroom, drink

Major senses

See, touch, taste, smell, hear, sense, feel

Places

Home, work, school, house, apartment, trailer, park, grocery store, clothing store, daycare, college, religious center

Health

Sick/ill, fever, nauseous, stuffy nose, runny nose

Scratch, burn, cut, bruise, broken bone, concussion

Hospital, doctor's office, dentist's office

Any other specific conditions or symptoms you have, physically or mentally

Any mobility aids you use

Other descriptor groups

Colors, temperature, size, amount, directions/location, time, body parts, family/friend names, relations (grandma, neighbor), emotions, pets, objects/belongings, weather

[cliickermiller]

Could I request a Joelxreader where the reader moves to Jackson and is super sweet and loves to bake things for everyone in town as a thank you for allowing her in and at first Joel rejects their offerings because they’re suspicious of them which makes the reader continue to try and bake things for him, finally he accepts and starts opening up to them and offering to help reader with any labor they need done which leads to them sharing a kiss and maybe starting a relationship

mean spirits and bread cakes - Joel Miller x Reader

A/n: Woohoo first request, I was a little hesitant at first because I want to make sure my requests are written like my stories, with feeling and detail and I hope I accomplished that by the end of this story so just let me know how i did :)

Whenever you were brought into Jackson you were met with guns in your face, mainly by two men but one of them was a lot more lenient with you staying there, You believed that his name was Tommy, he welcomed you after the initial questions and tests and set you up with you own little room, it wasn't big or much but he said it was temporary until another unit opened up. For now you made due, using your time mainly in the kitchen helping the others prep meals for the town and other things, once Tommy helped move you into your new home, which just needed repaired, you quickly made to work making a little farming area outside.

It had been a couple weeks since you finally got your own home, you hadn't really baked since you moved in, trying to help the others out as much as you could, while still maintaining your food source in your backyard. Over the weeks you had met somebody named Joel, who you learned was the other man holding the gun in your face. He was closed off, at least to you, you always say him talking with Tommy and laughing with a teenage girl who you assumed was his daughter. You learned later that her name was Ellie, she was sweet and always came over first thing in the morning to help you bake for the other residents of Jackson, props she didn't really help baking but she watched you and learned how to do it while keeping you company and being a taste tester for you different treats.

"Y/nnnn! What're we bakin today?" Ellie cheered walking into your kitchen smiling brightly "We are making a strawberry bread cake with freshly grown ingredients and I finally made the perfect flour substitute so now maybe your grump of a father will accept them" You proudly stated smiling at the girl, watching as she giggled loudly "Joel is-.." She stopped, what was Joel to her? A father? A father figure? or just some guy who takes care of her? "Yea..yea Joel is a tough cookie to crack" She smiled using your phrasing from the other day "Alright, now, let's get started on mixing dry ingredients, I wanna make sure all these cakes are done by the time the patrols get back" You smiled watching as she took her usual seat on the counter next to your sink to watch you bake. You house was nice, you could tell whoever built it and the other houses knew what they were doing, you never thought you'd live with water or electric again but whenever you found Jackson that was the first thing you noticed.

After almost six hours of baking you were done, you liked doing it though, it gave you time to talk with Ellie, the first child you spoke with since the fall, and considering you were a middle school teacher it pained you seeing all the kids that turned infected; plus it helped feed the community, you weren't taking out of their found resources either, you grew it all and happily contributed it throughout the town, it was the only real way you knew how to pay them back for letting you stay, there weren't many kids, you weren't physically capable of going and fighting clickers like the others, so you stuck with helping them build/setup new cabins and cook little treats for everybody. Ellie filled the time with telling you the story of how she met Joel and how she wishes he was actually her father, how she always longed to have an adult go out their way to protect her, so she didn't have to learn at such a young age. You felt bad for her, Ellie was a sweet but stubborn girl, she reminded you of your younger sister. "Well....I'm happy you've made to here, Ellie, And I'm glad through your journey you found somebody like Joel..He sounds like an amazing man" You smiled placing the small cakes into separate containers, Deep down you know Joel had to of had someone before Ellie that he cared about that much, considering this was the first group of men you found that weren't ravaging assholes and that fact he went across the country and only kept Ellie's best interest in mind really showed his true colors.

Ellie shrugged a bit shoving some containers into her bookbag ready to help you pass them out, "I guess I kinda owe it to him? He helped me get this far I probably would've died by now" She mumbled, you offered her a kind smile wrapping an arm around hers to lead her outside to start your rounds. It probably took another hour to hand them out and you and Ellie still have 4 more containers together to pass out, splitting down the main road you stopped at the house you knew would be a problem, you didn't know why you still tried giving things to Joel, he always declined and acted like you were carrying the next world ruining virus and were ready to kill all. Looking up on the porch you saw him sitting in a rocking chair with his guitar propped on his lap "Hi.." You mumbled slowly stepping up on the porch "What're you doing here, y/n?" He grumbled, you frowned "I uh..-um.." You were stuttering, after hearing Ellie's stories about him you felt nervous under his watch, flustered. "Spit it out. I gotta start lookin for Ellie soon" He huffed sitting up straighter "Oh! E-Ellie she helped out today again..I wanted to drop off a strawberry- uh- bread cake" You stuttered watching him furrow his eyebrows "Don't you know flower started this entire damn mess?" He snapped standing up "N-No! I uh, I've been finding other things, not containing wheat t-to make a substitute for the flour.." You rambled, a little worried by the tone and body language, He looked around, catching eye of Ellie talking to Tommy stealing a piece from his food container and walking towards the cabin. "I don't want it" He huffed before going back inside, leaving you on the porch alone, you huffed, not letting his mean spirit get you down to happily pranced to Ellie "I'll see you later alright, hun? You need anything you know where to find me"

You woke up the next morning to Ellie pounding on your bedroom door, what the fuck? Getting up in a rush you swung the door open looking at her "You weren't awake whenever I knocked on the door and I got worried you left in the night a-and when the door was locked I-I thought you got infected or died" She rambled before hugging you tightly, you hugged her back tired and confused, the moment that really woke you up was Joel standing in your hallway peeking through the doorway "S-Sorry..Whenever you didn't answer I got Joel..." she whispered "N-no hun that's okay, no reason to be sorry, you were worried" You said rubbing her back before pulling away wrapping the blanket you had around your body before leading them both back out to your living room. "Ellie...you gotta help Maria today..better get on that" Joel said lowly, motioning her out of the cabin before closing your door sighing. "She cares about you" He said finally, turning around to look at you, you still had horriendous bed head and you looked like you just climbed out from under a rock (In your defense it was the best sleep you've ever had)

"I care about her..She's a sweet girl..one of the only people left her age that actually care about what's left in humanity" You whispered calmly going to the kitchen to get a bottle of water "She's cared about a lot of people..most em have died..so..whenever she cares about...un-infected she cares alot" Joel said, you nodded understanding what he was saying "I've noticed..I've seen kids deal with loss and grief...most grow resentment towards others..-" Joel cut you off "-But she's different" You agreed with him picking at your covers "Tried that..damn..strawberry? what the fuck did you call it?" He asked running a hand over his facial scruff "Strawberry bread cake" You whispered trying not to crack a smile, he sat down on the edge of your coffee table sighing "it was good..real good..Was kickin myself most of the night for not trying it sooner" He chuckled embarrassed rubbing the back of his neck "Ellie made you try it didn't she?" You chuckled watching him huff "Damnit she's right you can read people like a damn book" He grumbled before readjusting his sitting position "If..If you keep bringin them little cakes and other things over..I'll be happy to take em..." He smiled softly, You smiled back at him, maybe all Joel needed was an okay from Ellie to be friendly "Mmm..I dunno..I might need compensation now" You teased playfully, Joel laughed shaking his head a bit "How bout this..whenever I'm not on patrols..any hard labor you need done..I'm there" He offered, you smiled nodding "Sounds like a pretty good deal to me" you smiled softly, he smiled looking at you "Ellie..told me about how you guys met..and how you saved her..gotta admit Joel..You are one hell of a man" You smiled softly, he coughed a bit looking down now flustered, you giggled a bit resting a hand on his knee "I'm serious..alot of other men...sadly probably wouldn't of ever left your old QZ with her..you a good man" You whispered, nudging his knee a bit with your hand.

That night would start a landfill of good nights with Joel and Ellie, leading you to one night imparticular. You were standing on Joel's porch, waiting for him to answer the door "Hellooo?" You called sighing softly, almost then the door opened and there stood Joel in a towel with wet hair, panting like he rushed to the door "S-Sorry I can come back another time" You whispered nervously, he ran a hand through his hair "N-No just got a bit worried thinking something bad happened" He said smiling at you in relief "N-No I was gonna see if you were still coming over?...That broken window is bringing in a cold chill" You whispered nervously "oh! oh yea of course, let me...get dressed, come in" He said pulling you inside of his cabin gently before disappearing into his bedroom. You wandered, peeking into his kitchen "Mr. Miller! are you getting a second helping from me after Ellie gives you one?" You called seeing the extra containers in his sink "Totally not! I'm a good man remember?" He asked as he walked out, now dressed with his hair now maintained and under control. "Mmm You can be a good man and still be taking extras" You giggled as he walked closer to you standing by the sink, You didn't realize till now how close the two of you actually were until then, you could feel his breath on your face, not that you were complaining, somehow the man still had minty smelling breath in the end of mankind. "You gonna charge me extra for it?" He asked raising an eyebrow, you looked at him tightening your lips into a pursed line before resting a hand on his shoulder "Maybe...or maybe we could work out a deal?" You teased, trying to keep an upset face, Joel gasped playfully before chuckling "Gonna charge me extra? My little girl is the one who helps pass em out" He laughed leaning closer to you "Oh! So you're taking Ellie's serving" You teased giggling louder, he placed his hands on your waist, causing both of your giggles and chuckles subdue leaving you looking at each other. Joel couldn't help it, After losing Sara's mom, he was convinced he'd never meet anybody as amazing as her, as sweet or kind and yet here you were, and you were breathtaking.

"Joel.." Your voice pulled him out of his thoughts, he cleared his throat placing a hand on your cheek before kissing you, if it were anybody else you would've pulled away, knocked the dude the hell out for kissing you, but instead you kissed him back, running your hands through his damp hair, he moved his hands back down to your waist picking you up and putting you up on the counter. "How bout..you..start usin my kitchen..give me a chance to see ya everyday" He panted looking at you "Then we don't gotta do the walkin to each others houses and knockin" He continued as you pecked his lips gently "Are you asking me to move in with you sir?" you teased smiling resting your hands on his shoulder "Maybe I am.." He whispered, both of you jumped as the door slammed and Ellie cheered loudly "FUCKING FINALLY!" She yelled jumping up and down in excitement towards her bedroom.

---

soooo how'd i do?

[purplemarshal]

Tooth-rotting sweetness

Mitsuri x GN reader (KNY)

The love Hashira, Mitsuri Kanjori was well known for her immense beauty and tooth-rooting sweet personality. But those who spend more time with the girl would know about her impressive strength, and to some, even more impressive eating habits. 

To say Y/N didn’t fall head over heels in love with her would be nothing but a lie. The fear of working for One of the Hashirs, the strongest of the demon slayer corps, faded the instant they were tasked with finding the girl and serving her meal. Mitsuri was training by herself when Y/N found her, and couldn’t help but watch for a few moments at how her muscles flexed with each swing of her bendy sword, a truly mesmerizing sight to behold for their tired eyes that were used to the same strong men and weak girls. Mitsuri soon noticed their presence and after assuring her that they weren’t at all weirded out by her, she invited them to eat with her.

“Meals are best when shared with a friend.” 

She said, and from them on you ate together whenever possible, those were always their favorite meals. 

Time passed and what started as a crush, erupted into full love sickness. They would follow her around like a lost puppy, and when she needed anything, Y/N would be on it with no hesitation. Both retrieved and returned more attention from the other more than anyone else in their lives, and neither minded that fact.

Tonight however Mitsuri was coming back from a long mission and Y/N was going to make sure everything went perfect for their love. Without any hesitation the Hashira jumped into a big hug that the ladder wasn’t surprised by but also wasn’t quite ready for, hands hovering in the air awkwardly for a moment before returning to her embrace, feeling her comforting warmth for a hug that would have been too long if it were anyone else. 

Y/N then escorted her inside, trying to dodge as many people as possible before they made it to Mitsuris room, which Y/N made sure was prepped with a comfortable Yukata and plenty of her favorite snacks. After she changed, during which she was adamant that her arms were sore so she had Y/N assist her, they sat down on the mat on the floor, enjoying eachothers company as she talked about new food she tried and they talked about what needed to be done while she was gone. The snacks were long gone very shortly into the talk, and soon enough, it was time for dinner. Y/N started walking to retrieve the meal when Mitsuri stopped them.

“Come here for a second.” She said, voice stern but still incredibly sweet. Her face however had a hint of mischief that they didn’t quite trust, but nonetheless they still did as she commanded. The girl made grabby hands and her suspicious face made sense, without much fuss, they walked back in front of her. She started making grabby hands and as soon as they took hers, they were dragged back down, now on top of her. Y/N tried to express how startled they were but the sound got stuck in their throat, instead coming out as a gasp rather than something cooler. Mitsuri giggles and repositions them so they're sitting on her lap, legs wrapped around her waist as their arms just froze in the air yet again, helpless without their love's guidance.  The female on the other hand wasted no time with bringing them closer, running a finger down the other spine, causing a shiver, but no attempt to escape. So she continued, moving her hands with grace and gentle care to Y/Ns hair, feeling how soft it was.

Y/N finally relaxed, giving in and slowly migrating down resting just above their legs as they simultaneously nuzzled their face into the crook of her neck. She smelt like honey, peaches,  dango and everything sweet and good in the world. 

“I missed you a lot, I was worried we wouldn’t get to eat together anymore.”

Mitsuri breathed as though if she were too loud Y/N would run away like a scared kitten. Y/N could barely even manage a hum of acknowledgement, their brain short circuiting. The girl sighed with a mix of both sadness and love, pressing a soft kiss against the top of their head.

The two stayed in that position in silence for a long moment until Y/N seemingly regained their mental capability and tried to squirm away, a signal they had reached their limit. Mitsuri obliged, looking them in their eyes before releasing them from her hold. Shakily they stood up, the girl following their movements almost exactly except she wasn’t 1/8th as frazzled as them. 

“The, the-uh food. I'm going to get, for you.”

They managed out, quickly turning around and moving stiffly. 

“Uh-huh,” The Hashira giggled. “One last thing, honey.”

Grabbing them from behind she smoothly made her way to their neck, holding their waist as she pressed her lips to their neck. Y/N paused, not even breathing. Y/N could feel Mitsuri smirking against their skin, and a visible shiver took their whole body as they softly whined. Taking the hint and respecting her love, Mitsuri left one peck on their cheek and sat back down, proud of what she had accomplished without them completely disintegrating or something.

Y/N slid the door shut behind them, leaning against it for a moment to regain their composure before going out in front of the other people around them.

(Drops this here gives you a forehead kiss then goes back into my hole)

[iaus]

DIRECTOR’s CUT PT 2: ⭐ for good measure. Or you can talk abt the use of devil’s honey in the last ch? The one before the final lol. Sorry I’m not picking something more specific. Feel free to go off from the baseline. Or do the star and devil’s honey. Anyway. Congrats on finishing! It was so good!

YESSSS i can.

i'm crying i was on call when i got some comments for chapter 14 and i was (to my very indulgent cishet friend who has to hear me go on about yaoi chronicles) like. my unreliable narrator he was too unreliable......

and he just laughed because he's a prick but.

so. i had wanted to do something with the devil's honey/baklava for a while and was kind of just spinning ideas on how to get it done. but then i looked at the chapters with briar (who i was originally not even going to name, but typing the tabaxi over and over pissed me OFF) and was like.

the way jace goes about this is not going to work. and i don't think HE would think it's going to work.

so i looked at my darling unreliable narrator and was like. well. we have an in-canon way for him to easily lie to himself. and he has a situationship that would DEFINITELY meal prep and freeze extra food. even his devil's honey baklava.

while writing with the devil's honey stuff i actually pulled up modify memory and based it on that. which i'm gonna put here since. modify memory became such a huge thing for jace anyway (haha. fucker.)

You attempt to reshape another creature’s memories. One creature that you can see must make a Wisdom saving throw. If you are fighting the creature, it has advantage on the saving throw. On a failed save, the target becomes charmed by you for the duration. The cha⁠rmed target is incapacitated and unaware of its surroundings, though it can still hear you. If it takes any damage or is targeted by another spell, this spell ends, and none of the target’s memories are modified. While this charm lasts, you can affect the target’s memory of an event that it experienced within the last 24 hours and that lasted no more than 10 minutes. You can permanently eliminate all memory of the event, allow the target to recall the event with perfect clarity and exacting detail, change its memory of the details of the event, or create a memory of some other event. You must speak to the target to describe how its memories are affected, and it must be able to understand your language for the modified memories to take root. Its mind fills in any gaps in the details of your description. If the spell ends before you have finished describing the modified memories, the creature’s memory isn’t altered. Otherwise, the modified memories take hold when the spell ends. At Higher Levels. If you cast this spell using a spell slot of 6th level or higher, you can alter the target’s memories of an event that took place up to 7 days ago (6th level), 30 days ago (7th level), 1 year ago (8th level), or any time in the creature’s past (9th level).

so i basically looked at this, decided that devil's honey would likely be like a temporary 9th level cast of modify memory (i mean. if you're fooling a GOD in PRAYER... i would hope its 9th level equivalent). and i mentioned jace's forging kit and forgery of a "certificate" because in my estimations epilogue jace is so commitmentphobic that it would take so much to convince him he actually married porter.

now let's get into a few different lines.

i did play fast and loose with a lot of rules-as-written in this fic but i DID want to base it on some mechanics... but since we don't have a lot of info on devil's honey other than 1) it's used in prayer 2) porter had probably made baklava of it i went a little wild.

so jace spends his time in chapter 12 forging stuff we have this line:

It takes a few tries to get the penmanship right—to duplicate the signature he’s staring at on his crystal. Porter’s signature was easier to forge.

where jace is forging porter's signature on the marriage certificate. then...

He eyes the certificate again, then the baklava he found digging through Porter’s freezer that’s thawing on the counter. He’d briefly entertained the thought of giving himself a different first name on the certificate, but he already has his doubts about the lie inscribed on certificate.

so, jace is not disclosing to the reader what he's doing. but it involves lying, he also is not sure if HE'LL believe it. because at this point in time, even though he's been having his face shoved in it, he does not believe he is really anything more than a tool for porter.

he then, of course, finds more proof that no. he did have some sort of care for you and has to go throw up about it. (me too man.)

then we learn in chapter 13 that jace has never taken porter's "personal supply" of baklava while cutting to him acting like a pissed off cat when porter's praying. so without outright saying it he is laying it on about the lie. we just don't know what fucking lie he's talking about yet.

and then we cut into chapter 14. i don't think i succeeded, but i tried to make it a little disjointed? but at the same time it had to be believable to jace. like. of course he finally agreed to marrying porter mid blowjob. of course porter had asked repeatedly (this is the filling in the memory part of modify memory).

but then there are a few... oddities (which do purposefully match up with jace's weird brain-fog haze that he's been experiencing this entire story) but:

The ceremony itself is a blur in his memory—short, sweet, just the two of them and their state provided witness. He can’t even remember what the government chapel looked like—can’t remember what their vows had been.

and then

Strange to think that he was happy—he doesn’t remember being happy after the shatterstar.

even under the effects of devil's honey/baklava he still has trouble with some of these memories.

and...

Jace thumbs at the marriage certificate, the license. It’s like new.

maybe like... it was made yesterday.... this is also a little nod to the fact that epilogue jace is quite a hand at forging (he's forged new schedules that weren't approved by parents or teachers y'know!)

and then we get our nail in the coffin:

He takes another bite of baklava—the thick honey sweet of it almost unbearable on his tongue—and another sip of black coffee before he grabs his keys.

he's eating baklava, porter's personal supply, before he goes to collect porter from the morgue. he is COMMITTING to.... playing house. because he's taking a page from what he's learned: he doesn't get a second shot at this so he has to be believable. he'll construct new memories for himself to be able to claim porter is his. (he had a line earlier back where he was like. we didn't do HR papers. i'm literally just his coworker.)

but then of course we see that the medical examiner's office is really not on the ball and he did all this extra shit for nothing really.

BUT UH. TL;DR jace used devil's honey for the sole purpose of tricking himself into thinking he and porter were married so he could steal his corpse. he did not have to do all of that be we love him anyway.

[jacksprostate]

So what advice WOULD you have for people who might suspect themselves to be autistic, especially those who can’t get an official diagnosis? /gen

Yeah sure, under the cut!

My philosophy focuses around problem solving and improving circumstances rather than focusing on getting or following the path of a diagnosis. So the first thing I recommend if you feel you're struggling, is start actually writing down things you struggle with. Big or small. And then for each, start making a plan on how to mitigate or remove your struggles. Obviously, easier said than done. Lord knows it takes a lot of time, effort, and discipline. However, the biggest thing, is keeping a mindset where it is: you have struggles with x. But this is not a permanent thing, this is something you can work on. You may not be as naturally adept as some people, but this is a challenge and you can face it and improve how it affects your life. This is something that has to be done whether you follow the whole diagnosis route or not, because it's the requirement for living, lol.

I will give an example from my own life.

Firstly, I have always very much struggled with food intake. Eating is something of a chore to me, a lot of food is repulsive (less so than before, thankfully), cooking is a lot of energy. Eating healthily is even more of an issue since you have to make and eat so much more of less calorically dense foods. Over the past 4 years, I've improved a lot though, though it has been trying at times. First, I catelogued my issues. My biggest issue is due to eating little, I wasn't getting enough calories, and I was always tired and weak. I was often sleepy, struggled to concentrate. I was on the verge of being underweight but considered not — yet, I had pretty life impacting symptoms. It was actually thought that I had more severe problems due to all the deficiencies I had. So, the first thing I did was seek out high calorie food that I could use to at least increase my energy. Preferably avoiding outright junk food, but basically, I started routinely trying to eat a meal with lots of carbs once a day. As my energy slowly increased, I started trying to fit in healthier snacks and whatnot, but ultimately (even now!) my goal, 100% is just making sure I get enough calories that I'm not tired tomorrow. It was difficult, especially since my appetite was so surpressed hunger didn't really come back until like 6 months in. Nowadays I do get hundry but still find it unfortunately easy to ignore, though I'm a lot better with it. Anyway, focused on high calorie foods. Once I had more energy, I worked on *cooking* high calorie meals. Literally, just like pasta. Noodles with poor man's pesto (garlic, basil, parm, salt). Ramen. I still eat that like once a day lol. My new challenge is shifting that a bit but it's a work in progress. Anyway, while I regressed some sometimes, I started regularly cooking a very very low effort meal once a day, and eating smth that made sure I had energy for the next day. A lot of my symptoms improved even though my diet was still essentially shit. Then, I also worked on taking a multivitamin. I am very bad at sticking with medications so frankly this is still on and off for me, but I'm planning on incorporating it into my morning routine before work and that should help. I did do this consistently for a while, and this helped. All this happened over 2-3 years. If I ever ate out, I made sure to get something with meat and vegetables since I knew I wasn't getting it at home. Now, my most recent success is I've started managing to meal prep and bring lucnhes to work. I do really simple air fryer chicken and rice/couscous, or fried rice (good for veggies). So far I've managed to consistently bring food, which is a goal I've never dreamed I'd be able to manage on my own! Super awesome. I also found 'drinking' my meals is easier sometimes, so I found smoothie mixes I can tolerate that have more nutritious things. And I do that sometimes. Anyway, I'm finally at the point where the struggle is less eating, and now more expanding my consistent cooking and making myself a better diet. But that is SIGNIFICANT success compared to where I was originally, when I wasn't cooking and I was barely eating and it was physically impacting my life in a way that made it much harder to claw my way out of. But, despite it taking a long time and having a lot of backsliding, I was able to significantly improve.

This sort of thing can be applied to mental health stuff, social stuff, etc. Basically, identify your issues, identify solutions — long term goals but also specific short term steps that will get you there. And then keep trying. Even when you fail. Even when you give up for a long while. Even when it feels like it isn't working. Keep trying. And eventually you'll have made progress even without realizing.

I also applied something similar to trying to work out how to socialize well. Which may be applicable for you. The best thing you can do in my experience is watch people, be confident, and try to pay attention and learn how to interpret people's comfort levels and what's common casual topics of conversation and what's not. Yes, it's hard, and it's usually not intuitive, and that's a big part of why you may feel you are autistic, because this seems entirely foreign in a way it's not to other people. But it is a skill you can learn. At this point, I can hold a conversation with my coworkers, even if we don't have much in common or if we have differing opinions or whatnot, I can have a good lunch conversation and come off as 'intense, but nice'. Which is a good thing to aim for. Like with the eating, I recommend a lot of reflection and efforts to catelogue and identify areas of struggle and how you can observe and practice improvement. The more you do all this, the more it will genuinely become less manual and more automatic, like driving a car. There's a lot you think about when you first start driving, that you aren't consciously thinking about 5 years later. It's the same way. And also, try not to take your fuckups too personally. And some people just won't like you. It is what it is. Just keep chugging.

I know, it is easy to sit here and be like "why should I have to figure out and stick with common topics of conversation? I'm not into those :/" Lord knows, I always felt dumb and out of place whenever people bonded over sports. But what these common topics are, their purpose is essentially like a little olive branch, a thing the person is offering to try and make it easier to chat by commiserating over a common thing, whether it's a issue, a thing yall like, or something else. I'll probably never manage to follow sports teams and I don't want to, but I will nod along as some guys talk and commiserate when they express feelings about wins or losses. The point is to bond. That's why the weather is such a huge topic. Small talk serves a huge purpose! The more you become familiar with how to casually hold a conversation with someone you don't know well over one of these topics, the easier it'll be, and most social stuff develops from that sort of thing. As you bond over the olive branch topics, you can flesh out anecdotes and experiences and personal stuff as you become better friends with people, rather than throwing it all at someone at once and hoping they catch and like you. It lets you sort of get a feel for people, and you can keep it at the small talk level instead of just not talking at all or immediately proceeding to best friends mode. It's a comfortable middle.

I also really recommend, for anyone, engaging and developing a fondness for the world around you, and practicing having appreciation for everything. It has helped my mindset and capability to keep trying. I really recommend learning to identify some category of things in nature in your area, because you'll feel more grounded in the world, you'll see more detail, and the world will feel less threatening.

[workingforthewidow]

“Find someone who grows flowers in the darkest parts of you”

—

Happy birthday Bo and Vincent!

Welcome to the party of the year! And by part I mean an 11K kinda angst at times story. Welcome to part 5! Read part 4 here!

This story is NSFW and not for minors- if you are under 18 go ask your legal guardian if you can watch the movie.

Warnings: kidnapping, forced marriage, dub-con, attempted non-con, abuse, Stockholm syndrome, age gap (15 years- K&C are 19 Sinclairs are 33 soon to be 34 yes we will have a birthday party for them). Don’t like it don’t read it,

THIS CHAPTER HAS VERY DARK SCENES! This chapter contains abuse and twisted emotions. This is a work of fiction.

It had been a week since Caroline had seen her sister. A week where the only person she saw was Bo. After their day spent at home he started taking her to the shop with him and taking her for walks in the mornings. And in the evenings after dinner they would lay on the couch and watch whatever show was on. Bo will never forget the way her eyes lit up when an old western called “Maverick” came through.

“Katie, Daddy, and I watched this together. Daddy loved this show. Though I prefer Brett episodes, this one is a Bart.” She then talked over the entire episode explaining the shows background to him but he didn’t mind. She could tell him about watching paint dry and he would be hooked to every word.

Finally on the eighth day she mustered up the courage to ask him about Katie. She had been good, she had deep cleaned the living room, their bedroom, the hallways, and had even gone over the kitchen again. He had left her alone that day too. Telling her he trusted her.

“You’ve been a good girl all week babygirl. Why don’t we try to see if you can be good and follow the rules while I’m at work?” He asked her over breakfast and she nodded happily. “I’ll try to be back for lunch but don’t stress over making something. Focus on dinner. And don’t forget what to do when I get home, probably around 6.”

He stood up and she followed him to the door, “Have a nice day, Bo.” She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him sweetly. He pulled away and placed one more kiss to her forehead before heading out to the shop.

She spent the day tidying up the already clean house. Then she inventoried the kitchen. She hoped Katie would fall into the routine she made- no she can’t think like that. They were getting out of here. They weren’t staying here. Once she reminded herself of this she started looking closer at the house. Looking for any place they could escape or anything that could be used as a weapon. Bo and Vincent were a lot bigger then the girls so taking them down won’t be easy. She spent the rest of the day making a list in her head to share with Katie when she had the chance. At 5 o’clock she made it back to the kitchen and started prepping their dinner. She started really missing Katie so she made one of their favorite meals- chicken Alfredo with broccoli and garlic bread.

Earlier that week she had cooked meatloaf and a side of green beans and carrots. She thought Bo’s eyes were going to fall out of his head. It took a lot of begging for him to try the vegetables but he finally did and begrudgingly said they were good.

When the clock chimed 6 o’clock she heard tired crunching over the gravel in front of the house. Luckily she was at a good pausing point in the recipe. Everything was done she was just mixing the chicken into the sauce. She opened the fridge and got a beer, quickly opening it before walking to the front door.

She waited for him to open it and when he did he was smiling at her. She kissed him and gave him his beer.

“Knew you’d be a good girl, baby. Dinner smells good.”

“Thank you. I haven’t made it in a long time. So I hope it taste good too.” She took his hand and they walked into the kitchen. He sat at the table and she plated their food sitting it on the table and getting herself a glass of water. She sat down and they started eating. Bo told her about his day, the most exciting part being the fox that got locked in his shop during the night. She smiled and nodded along with his stories building her courage to ask.

“You want something. I can tell by the look on your pretty face. Tell me.” He took her hand and smiled at her.

“Umm, well, umm. It’s just been a week since I saw Katie and I was wondering if maybe tomorrow we could have breakfast as a family again. You and me and Vincent and Katie, Lester if he’s in town. Or… or dinner if you have to be up early for work. I promise I’ll be good. I know better now. I know how to be good for you. Please, Bo.” She squeezed his hand and gave him a pitiful pleading look.

He squeezed her hand back and smiled at her, “I’ll talk to Vincent baby. I have more things to clean up in the shop from that damn fox but family dinner does sound nice.”

“I can help you. I can come help clean up the shop. I’ve sorta cleaned the whole house already and then cleaned it again. I’m kinda bored now. And I got lonely today without you. Even took a shower earlier than usual just for something to do.” She continued to hold his hand. She had gotten so use to seeing him all day everyday the last week.

“I missed you too babygirl. Why don’t you go get ready for bed while I shower then we can go to bed?” He asked her putting the dishes in the sink. She stood up and went to wash up the dishes before answering but he took her hand. “Take a break from it baby for tonight. Go upset and wait for me. Put on your cute little pajamas and get in bed.” She just nodded and followed him up the stairs.

She put on a cotton pajama tank top and shorts set and waited for him. She went over her list she had made earlier of ways out or things to use against them. Once her and Katie could cook together they could put bleach in their food maybe. Or some other chemical. Once they were trusted wit the knives they could stab them. None of the windows looked like they could open and the doors were too obvious.

She was lost in her head and didn’t see Bo come into the room. It wasn’t until his hand was on her thigh that she snapped back to reality. His hand ran up and down her thigh as he started kissing her neck. “Damn baby, you could be wearing a potato sack and I think I’d get a hard on.” His hand traveled higher up her thigh, his fingers brushed against the edge of her panties. She tensed and her breathing shallowed. “Sweet girl, daddy’s gonna make you feel so good.” His voice was lower as he whispered in her ear and his eyes were dark with lust. She bit her lip and put her hand over his in an attempt to stop him.

“Bo, can… can we just…” His head snapped up from her neck and he smirked.

“Oh babygirl, don’t tell me you’re a virgin. Pretty little thing like you never had someone going after her? Or were you being a good girl and waiting for your husband?”

Her mother’s words rang through her mind and she repeated them aloud, going into a trance, “Good men want good pure girls with their ring on her finger in their marriage beds.”

He laughed and kissed her next again, “Is that the problem baby? I didn’t put a pretty little diamond on your finger before calling ya my wife? I’ll get you a ring. Take ya out tomorrow to pick whichever you want.” His hand went back to her legs trying to open them.

Her mind started racing and her breathing was shaking, “Please Bo. I’ll do something else for you just not this. Not now. Please.” She begged. She didn’t want to lose her innocence to her kidnapper.

He rolled his eyes and huffed, “Fine babygirl. But tomorrow you’re getting that ring and then giving me what I want. Or I’ll take it.”

“Thank you. That means a lot to me.” Maybe he wasn’t so bad. If he really was going to take her by force he would just do it now. But he was waiting, sure he had made the threat but that was just to scare her. Maybe he could be kind.

“Whatever makes you happy babygirl.” He kissed her and laid down pulling her to his chest. He brushed his fingers through her hair until she fell asleep. Tomorrow night he’d have his fun, no matter how much she begged.

—

Vincent started taking Katie on walks around the town in the evenings before he got their dinner from Caroline. Ambrose really wasn’t that big of a town. And he even explained the plans to her (he withheld the dead people part though, couldn’t give her too much at once). She thought the idea was amazing. She actually said that. She liked Mama’s idea. They had walked the whole town and ended at the old antique store. Her eyes widen, she loved antique stores. She tried looking in the windows but it was hard to see. She turned to Vincent and was about to ask if she could go in, but he already had the key in hand to open the door. She smiled and clapped happily nearly skipping inside.

He pulled his small notebook from his pocket and wrote for her.

~I have to turn on the lights in the basement. You can stay here.~

She could fell the unspoken, well unwritten, ‘be good, follow the rules’. “Okay but be quick or I might just start feeling around with my hands.” She teased with a wide smile. He nodded and made his way down to the basement where the control panel was held.

While she waited she used what little like was seeping in to look at the jewelry counter that was placed under the windows. She assumed when the windows were clean and the sun shined on them the diamonds would shine. She squinted to try and look at the jewels then heard the sound of old lights flicker on. It took a moment but the lights made their way on lighting up the room. She was able to fully see the counter now.

She had always loved jewelry. That was one of the few things she and Caroline had in common. There were necklaces, bracelets, rings, and other items. All somehow still shiny and pretty. She saw the opening to enter behind the counter and moved to it. The cabinets weren’t locked and she was able to pull out a tray of rings. She picked over them pulling out a few she liked and tried them on. She had just pulled out a shining deep blue sapphire oval held in white gold when she heard footsteps and looked up to see Vincent.

“They’re so beautiful.” She admired the ring under the lights. “This one is my favorite.” She showed him the sapphire ring she was holding. He took it from her and held it in under the light himself. She was right, it was beautiful. As beautiful as her.

An idea formed in his head and he took her left hand in his. He slowly took the ring and slid it over her ring finger. He looked up to gauge her reaction. She smiled, one of his new favorite sights.

She put her hand next to his face, close to his eye, “The same color. Oh, you need one too.” She took his hand and looked back to where she had seen the more masculine jewelry. She took out a tray of white gold bands and took his hand trying to find one in his size. She found one she thought fit well and looked to him, “Does that fit? Not tight or loose?” He moved his fingers around and nodded at her. She smiled again and took his hand as they walked through the rest of the store. An hour or so later they were walking back to the house hand in hand.

“Vincent, um could maybe I see Caroline again soon? Please.” She asked him as while when they made it to their bedroom. He took both her hands in his and nodded. “Thank you darlin’.” He swore he died at that moment. The way her accent flared a bit at the pet name and the shine in her eyes made his hear skip a beat.

She pulled out of her oversized shirts and changed into it for bed. She crawled up the bed and watched him as he too changed for bed into clean boxers. Just as he was about to lay down next to her a knock came from the door.

“Vinny, come here. Gotta talk for a minute.” Bo’s voice rang through. In the dim lamp light she could barely see Vincent roll his eye. He patted her cheek and went out the door.

Bo went down stairs with Vincent following.

“Told Caroline we could have family dinner tomorrow if you agreed.”

Vincent nodded, glad Bo had brought it up instead of him having to do it.

“They are doing good. I think soon we can trust them alone.” Again Vincent nodded in agreement. He jerked his head upstairs. He had a pretty girl waiting for him. It was Bo’s turn to nod and follow his brother upstairs.

“I missed you.” Katie said as soon as he was back in the room closing the door. He smiled under his mask, which he slowly took off before laying in bed next to her. He carefully kissed her forehead and moved down to her lips. She returned his kiss with a little more passion.

Things started to heat up, her hands went to his hair and his went to her lower back. Before he knew it she had thrown her leg over him to straddle him. The kiss continued until she pulled away and started kissing his neck, nipping in some places, and licking in others. He moved his hands to her hips and stated rubbing circles on her thighs.

She felt him growing hard under her and she started to move her hips just a bit to tease him. Without warning he flipped them so he was on her. His hands roamed her body under her shirt and she sat up letting him remove it from her, tossing it to the floor. His hands moved up her again going to her breast. He stared kneading each breast sometime pinching a hardening nipple. His mouth went to her neck and traveled down towards her breast. His lips replaced one of his hands freeing it to go down her body to her thighs. She moaned as his hand danced along her thigh.

Her hands went to his hair and she raked her fingers through it, “Vincent, I should probably tell you, I’ve never done anything like this before. Mama raised good girls.”

Of course his angel was pure. His sweet pure angel who had saved herself for her husband, for him. He almost regretted not waiting for her. But there had been a few nights when he would go to Bo’s underground room to use one of the girls there.

He smile against her neck before moved to press a sweet kiss to her ear, whispering in his low rough voice, “I’ll take care of you angel. Be good for me.”

Just that alone made heat spreading to core. “Of course. Always good for you.”

He went back to kissing her neck and let his fingers go back to her thighs. She parted her legs and moved himself in between. His mouth moved back to her breast and he sucked one of her nipples into his mouth biting gently while his hand finally brushed against her core. Oh she was enjoying this, enjoying him. Her panties were soaked, his pride swell at the thought that he had done this to her. She was letting him do this to her. He released her nippled before going to the next one. He bit down the same time he allowed a finger to slip into her folds coating himself in her before slipping inside. She was tight, and he couldn’t even imagine how she would squeeze his cock.

She threw her head back and moaned loudly at the foreign feeling. His free hand flew up to cover her mouth. He really didn’t need Bo to hear them. Once she had recovered he moved his hand and sat up. His fingers hooked into her panties and she lifted her hips to let him pulled them down. Blood rushed to her cheeks as she watched him look at her most intimate area. He kissed between her breast and made a trail down until his face was level with her pussy. Her hands automatically went to his hair. Without warning he licked up her folds and flicked her clit with the tip of his tongue. One of her hands went to her mouth to hide her moans.

He started pumping his finger and slowly added a second trying to get her ready for him. He continued to finger her and flick her clit with his tongue until she was a morning begging mess beneath him.

He finally moved up to her face when she begged, “Please Vincent. Please I need you. Take me please.”

Vincent Sinclair was not one to deny his angel. He kicked his boxers off and rubbed himself through her folds wetting himself in her juices. Finally he lined himself up at her entrance and entered slowly, trying to allow enough time for her to adjust to his size. Even with her hand over her mouth she screamed loudly at first but he shushed her and calmed her, peppering kisses all over her face. Eventually her breathing even outed and he slowly stated to rock his hips into her.

She couldn’t describe the feeling of sex with Vincent. The only word that came to light was ‘right’. This was right, this was how things were suppose to be. But a part of her was telling herself this was wrong. He had taken her, he had hurt her. He wasn’t a good man. She should be running from him. She shouldn’t be doing this with him.

Yet she didn’t tell him to stop. In fact she begged him for more. It got to the point she could only speak his name in a plea as his lips pressed kisses to her neck and shoulders. Occasionally he would bite down making her moan and run her nails down his back or bite at his neck in return. She felt a coil in her belly start to tighten getting close to her release. Seeming as if he could read her mind his hand moved to play with her clit. She was over after that, darkness filled her vision and she saw stars as the tidal wave ran through her. Just as she was coming down from her own high she felt him tense as his release came sending hot ropes of cum into her. He pulled out slowly and she whined at the loss.

For a fleeting moment the haze cleared and she thought about what the consequences of this could be. But the moment he pressed his forehead to hers their breaths matching in gasps, the haze returned and all her thoughts pointed to him.

She raised a shaking hand to his face looking into his eye. She kissed him sweetly savoring this moment. She felt his fingers tracing on her hip and she realized he was ‘writing’ to her on her skin.

~Okay?~

“Yes, yes. More than okay, wonderful.” She could see him smile through her still blurred vision.

~Stay, be back.~

He kissed her forehead and stood pulling clothes on before leaving the room. He returned seconds later and she felt a warm wet rag cleaning her thighs. She hissed at the overstimulating feeling but he shushed her again. His other hand traced calming circles on her legs. Once he was satisfied he pulled her up into his lap, throwing the rag on the floor. She rested her head on his shoulder pushing her face into his neck. His fingers traced letters on her back.

~Shower?~

She nodded slowly against his skin, still coming back to reality. He sat her back on the bed and pulled her shirt over her head before taking her to the shower. He let her stand under the water and brushed his fingers in her hair. His hands moved down her body in soft caresses. They stay silent enjoying each other’s presence.

She let her mind drift off again. To a place where they could be happy. Where they had met under normal circumstances and could be normal. But then she probably wouldn’t have given him a second glance. Even if she did when she found out their age difference she would have shut everything down quickly. Yet here she was losing her innocence to a man nearly twice her age, who had kidnapped her, beat her, kept her away from her twin, and who had threatened her. A man who was currently looking into her eyes with love and admiration like she was a fragile doll and if he took his eyes of her she would shatter.

She didn’t even notice when he cut the water off. Or even the warm towel being wrapped around her, her arms moving on their own to secure it to her body. She felt like she was in a trance, going through the motions. He pulled her shirt back on her and gently pulled her to the bed. Once her head hit the soft pillow it was like all the emotions caved in on her at once.

She gulped air and started shaking. Everything, the good emotions, the bad emotions, her whirlwind thoughts. moved through her body. Tears poured down her cheeks and she saw no end in sight. She was so confused, not knowing what she wanted. She had been stuck in this town for barely a month and so much had happened. He was awful, beating her, separating her from Caroline, threats to her life. But he was also wonderful, showing her love in a way she had never felt before. This wasn’t right. This wasn’t okay. But sometimes maybe things didn’t have to be right or okay. Somethings could just be, her and Vincent could just be. It’s not anyone was waiting for her on the coast. They didn’t have plans made in stone. Just drive from Georgia to California and figure it out when they got there. No guarantees of finding a good life. They had money from their parents life insurance and the settlement from the train company. But that wasn’t always enough.

But he was here, here in this ghost town in Louisiana. In Ambrose, a town that wasn’t even on the map anymore, was Vincent. He made sure she had food, a home, and he would love her. And she would love him. And they would be happy.

Vincent took her in his arms and rocked her. Whispering in her ear with his low rough voice that she was okay and he would protect her. She stopped shaking and wiped her tears away. She looked up to him and held his face in her hands, he had gotten use to baring his face to her. And oh was it a beautiful face. Her beautiful demon. Because yes he was still the villain, but he was hers.

“Vincent,” her voice was soft and he looked to her, “I love you.” She kissed him gently, savoring him, loving him. She belonged to him now. He owned her heart.

—

“Looks like Vinny already brought your sister in here.” Bo said motioning to the lights being on in the abandoned antique store. He took her to the jewelry counter and let her play with different rings.

She tried several and finally narrowed it down to 2 choices.

“I don’t know. I like both of these. Which do you like?” She held up her hand where she had two rings stacked on her finger. Bo slipped them off and held them in his hands.

“Close your eyes.” He ordered and she obeyed. He took her hand and slipped the ring he liked back on her finger. “Open, baby.”

Her eyes flickered opened and looked at the gem on her finger. Her finger was wrapped in yellow gold and a bright shining blue sapphire stared back at her.

“Matches your eyes.” She said as she smiled at him and fiddled with the ring. She then took his hand and looked back to the jewelry counter. “Gotta find you one now. Gotta let everyone know you’re a married man. Let ‘em know you’re mine.”

The words falling from her lips were sweeter than any candy he’d ever eaten. His babygirl wanting to show others they belonged together. He smiled back to her and let her play with rings on his fingers until she was happy with a gold band.

She looked up at him with her big eyes, “Is this okay?”

“It’s perfect babygirl.” He pulled her to him and kissed her. His mind was wrapped in his thoughts of her when a thought randomly came to the forefront. “It’s Friday.” It wasn’t a question.

Caroline tilted her head in confusion, “Umm I guess. I don’t really know what day it is anymore.” She shrugged and tried to peak over his shoulder to look around the antique store.

“Gotta visit Mama. Haven’t seen her since you came home.” It was like he was on autopilot. Taking her hand walking her to the church, a place he hadn’t let her go before.

“Bo? Where are we going? To her grave?” Caroline asked as she tried to keep up with his long strides.

Bo didn’t answer but kept walking until they made it to the church. She could hear music playing. Was someone there? Vincent or Lester maybe? Did they do this every Friday?

Bo pushed open the door and dragged her into the simple sanctuary doorway. He dropped her hand and walked forward. Caroline on the other hand gasped. The room was full but not of people, there was a priest but his eyes never blinked, and in the center was the casket where Bo was kneeling. She took a closer look to the ‘person’ nearest her. Wax, they were wax figures.

She felt in her gut now was not the time to question anything. She simply tiptoed to Bo and knelt next to him. He took her hand and kissed her knuckles giving her one of the sweetest smiles shes ever seen.

“Mama, this is Caroline. You’d love her. Only had her a month and I can’t imagine life without her. Perfect woman for me. I bet ya picked her out for me. Sent her out to Ambrose for me to find.” Tears pricked at his eyes and he spoke to the wax figure of his mother. It was like he forgot Caroline was there, the way he was talking about her. “Real good girl too. Learning so fast. She’s perfect Mama. Inside and out. Heart of gold, sweetest little thing. And she’s beautiful. I can tell she’s gonna be a good little mama. Raise more Sinclairs to help finish what you started. I love her so much Mama. Never loved anyone the way I love her. Thank you for sending her to me, I love you Mama.”

He turned to Caroline and she gently wiped the tears from his cheeks. She left her hands on his face and smiled at him. “I really wanna kiss you right now but I don’t know how your Mama would feel about that?” The slight giggle in her voice made him smile and lean closer to her until their lips brushed.

“I don’t think she’d mind too much.” He kissed her pulling her as close as possible. Her hands found his hair and his ran up the back of her dress. He started to trail down her neck, nipping and kissing. She pulled his hair gently trying to stop him.

“Bo, love, take me home.” Her eyes lit up and he stood pulling her into his arms kissing her again. She jumped up wrapping her arms around him. He walked them out of the church, never once stopping their kiss. He put her in the truck and climbed in himself. Before he even started the truck he pulled her into another searing kiss.

The drive home only took 5 minutes but to Caroline it felt like a lifetime. Her body was heating up in both excitement and nerves. What if she disappointed him? What if he changes his mind about her? Thoughts blew around her brain but suddenly stopped at the feeling of his hand traveling up her thigh.

“You okay baby? Shaking like a leaf. Don’t worry babygirl I’ll treat you real nice.” He took her hand and kissed it before pulling her from the truck. She wrapped her legs around his waist and kissed him again in an effort to ground herself. Finally making it to the bedroom he tossed her on the bed and took his shirt off.

His hands ran up her legs and over her shorts to the button. The entire time his eyes were locked on hers full of love. He pulled off her shorts and panties in one go, her shirt following soon after. She felt her body getting hot as his hands and lips trailed her body.

He put his lips to her ear and shushed her softly, “Relax babygirl. You’ll be okay. My sweet good little wife. Gonna be so pretty when you’re all round with my baby.” He continued to whisper sweet things in her ear as he moved to get his jeans off.

He let his lips kiss down her neck, biting, kissing, and blowing cold air to her to make her shiver. His hand went to her folds and he ran a finger through her wetness again making her shiver against him. Slowly he slipped a finger inside of her and he marveled at how tight she was and how her pussy tighten around his finger.

“Damn baby. Gonna feel so good to fuck you. Make you feel so good.” All he got in response from her was a moan. He added another finger getting her ready for him. He almost thought he would break her, she was so tiny.

She moaned and whimpered, bucking her hips up trying to get friction. “Bo, please more. So good.” Her eyes had already glazed over in a trance under his control.

He kissed her neck and moved his fingers faster, “Gotta get you ready for me babygirl. Don’t wanna break my little wife, yet.” He smirked as she tightened around him again. His thumb went to her clit and he knew she was close. Right as she reached the edge he pulled his hand away making her cry out.

“Wh…why…” She tried to speak but he shoved his fingers in her mouth the moment her mouth was open. “Shh baby, if you’re gonna cum its gonna be on my cock. All that baby, thats from me. Only I can make you feel this good. No other man, no one, not even yourself.” He lined his tip up to her entrance and slowly pushed in. “This pussy is mine. I own your body. I give you pleasure and I take my pleasure from you. You’ll be a good wife won’t ya? Giving yourself to your husband.” He started to move and her eyes went wide as he continued to speak, “Tell me Caroline, tell me you’re mine.”

“Yours Bo. I’m yours. Belong to you. Only you.” The words were slurred as she stayed in the trance he had put her in.

“Good girl. Good girl.” He praised her and he continued to rock his body into her.

She had always heard the first time hurt, some even said unbearable pain. But she didn’t feel anything but pleasure and happiness. It’s like she was made for him. He kept a steady pace and left multiple bite marks on her neck and chest. She in turn nipped at his neck and raked her nails down his shoulders causing him to groan.

“Fuck babygirl. Let go for me baby. Cum on my cock.” He threw his head back as releasing into her just as her eyes squeezed shut. Her mouth falling open as she screamed his name. He rode out his orgasm until he had pumped her full of his cum. He flipped them so she laid on his chest while he was still inside her.

She started shaking again, the aftershocks of such an intense organism effecting her. Bo kissed her and ran his hands down her back whispering praises to her.

“Good girl. You did so good babygirl. Make me so happy. Perfect little wife. Gonna be such a good mama to our babies.” The praise made blood rush to her cheeks as her breathing finally slowed and she came out of the trance he had put her in. “I love you babygirl.”

She lifted the upper half of her body and looked at him, putting her forehead against his letting their noses touch. She smiled and kissed him, “I love you too, Bo.” The words came out slow as she yawned.

He finally slid out of her and wrapped his arms around her. “Take a nap baby. We’ll shower when you wake up. You’re safe.”

—

The next day passed like a blur. It seemed once Vincent got a taste of his angel it became a drug. They spent the whole day in bed. Hours went by and it got to a point where it seemed the only words in the English language that Katie could even mumble were ‘more’, ‘please’, ‘love you’, and his name. That one she screamed. He would have tried to silence her if not for the fact the walls in the house were thin and he could Bo’s name screamed in similar fashion from Caroline.

He didn’t think Katie noticed her sisters voice at all. He was her everything at the moment. Nothing in the world mattered to her in that moment but Vincent. By evening he had enough clarity to realize they hadn’t eaten at all. He was about to ask for her if she wanted food when a soft knock came from the door.

“Katie? Vincent? I’m almost done with dinner. It’ll probably be another 10 minutes. Just wanted to let you know.” Carolines soft voice was made even softer when muffled by the wooden door before her footsteps were heard down the stairs.

Katie’s eyes lit up at her sister’s voice and she looked up to Vincent from her spot on his chest. He smiled and kissed her forehead before moving her off him and sitting up. She rolled over and let her feet touch the cold ground. In a comfortable silence they got dressed and met at the door.

Katie touched Vincent’s mask, “I almost forgot about the mask. I like being able to really see you.” The last bit came out quietly, sadness in her tone. He brushed his own hand across her cheek gently before taking her hand. They walked down the stairs together. Things felt right like this was how it was suppose to be. Maybe Mama was right. Maybe you just have to trust the path and have faith and things will line up. Maybe Dad was right too, and everyone did have a soulmate. Maybe Vincent was always meant to be in her life. Maybe they were made for each other, their souls the missing piece from each others lives.

They made it downstairs, Vincent sat down in the living room where Bo was sitting, sipping a beer. Katie immediately ran to Caroline hugging her tight each whispering an “I missed you” in each others ear.

Both went to raise their hands to start signing but froze in unison.

Bo’s head snapped up to them, “Baby, show her around the kitchen and have her help you. We’ll call this a practice round. Don’t mess up.”

Katie and Caroline gave each other a glance and went to the kitchen.

“Here you can carry the potatoes and green beans. I’ll get the chicken.” Caroline smiled at her and handed her the bowls of side dishes. “Their Mama didn’t really know what spices were, weird since they live in the Cajun capital of the world. So I had to play around with adding the spice, hopefully it taste okay.”

“If it taste as good as it smells. It’ll be amazing. Maybe soon I’ll get to help you.” Katie smiled and took her sisters hand. They pulled each other into a hug again. This was the longest time they had ever been apart.

Caroline started to laugh quietly and poked Katie in the neck, “Nice bruise, what you do get into a fight with a vacuum cleaner?” Katie’s hand flew to her neck but Caroline smiled at her sheepishly. “It’s okay, so did I.” She adjusted the collar of her shirt to show the teeth mark on her neck. She got closer to Katie and whispered in her ear, “I want to talk to you about all this but not in front of them. We will have to wait until they trust us.”

“Baby you don’t quit that whispering I’ll have you over my knees again.” Bo’s voice carried from the living room to the kitchen.

Caroline grimaced but moved away from Katie, “Yes, Bo, I’m sorry. Just girl talk, didn’t want to bother you.” It wasn’t a complete lie.

Bo just nodded from his spot on the recliner and turned his attention back to the TV. Tonight they were able to pick up a channel that played movies.

“The TV has a good signal tonight. It’s got a movie channel. In an hour they are gonna play Friday the 13th! Since you know it’s Friday the 13th! I wanna see if they’ll let us watch it together like we use to do with Dad. Les even got us popcorn after I told him it was a favorite snack of ours.” Caroline smiled and Katie nodded along happy to think of a movie night featuring one of their favorite movies.

They moved to the living room each going to their partner.

“Dinner’s ready.” Caroline announced before they made way to the dining table. Luckily this time each girl got her own seat.

For a while they ate and made small talk, well as much small talk as you could with people you saw every second of everyday. Eventually Caroline got the nerve to ask her request.

“Bo, love?” Her hand found its way to his thigh under the table and she made sure to bat her eyelashes. Bo put his fork down and turned to her.

“I have a feeling you’re about to ask for something. Pick your words carefully babygirl.”

Caroline nodded before speaking, “Um, so you remember the tv said in an hour they’re gonna play Friday the 13th?” Bo nodded and she continued, “Well, that’s actually one of mine and Katie’s favorite movies. So I was thinking, since tomorrow is Saturday and you don’t have to work, maybe we could watch it together. The four of us, like a family movie night. We even have popcorn. Lester got some last time he got supplies. If that’s okay with you and Vincent.”

Her eyes flickered to Katie for a moment before going back to Bo who looked to his brother.

Vincent turned his face to Katie who was giving him a pleading look, “Please, it’ll be fun.” She took his hands and squeezed it gently, the still pleading look in her eye.

Vincent thought for a moment, his sweet little angel loved a gory, bloody movie? No no she should be watching a romance, Breakfast at Tiffany’s or Gone with the Wind. But the way she was looking at him with big eyes and her bright smile, he couldn’t deny her. Vincent made eye contact with Bo and nodded.

“Okay fine. You get nightmares though I ain’t doing this shit again.” Bo grumbled and started eating again. Katie and Caroline looked to each other and smiled wide.

Maybe tonight would be the start of a new beginning for them.

—

“Comin’ with me to the station day, baby. Get dressed.” Bo ordered, giving her a dress for the day. They had spent most of the morning continuing what was started last night. They didn’t roll out of bed until 9:00. Four hours later than Bo normally woke up.

Caroline hummed and slipped into her dress, “Okay, is there a reason?”

Her innocent eyes made him smirk he almost didn’t want to tell her but in another twisted day he wanted to see her face glow red with a blush.

“Because baby I ain’t got earplugs for you and I don’t see your sister and Vinny being done anytime soon.” She cocked her head confused and he couldn’t help but kiss her confused pout. “You probably couldn’t hear her screaming his name all night because you were too loud screaming mine.” He whispered it in her ear and pulled back to see her face red as a tomato. He chuckled a bit and told her to finish getting ready and to meet him at the truck.

They made it to the shop and Bo set her to work cleaning the lobby while he went into the garage to work on one of the cars. He just finished changing the oil in the tow truck and went to move out from under it. He misjudged the distance and sat up too soon hitting his forehead.

Caroline heard a bang and Bo screaming every swear under the sun. She stopped wiping down the counter and went to him. She gasps when she saw the cut on his head dripping down his face.

“Med kits under the register.” He gritted out pressing a rag to his head. She followed the directions and came back med kit in hand. He tried to grab it from her but she pulled it back.

“Let me do it. Mama made me and Katie do all sorts of first aid lessons, she was a nurse. Gave us two options in life- become good housewives to rich men or nurses. She wasn’t too happy when Katie and I made our career choices.” She took out the needed supplies and kneeled, starting to tend to his wound.

“Well I ain’t the riches man in the world but I think you make the best little housewife. You’re perfect to me baby.” He winced when she touched the cut with cleaning fluid.

“Must of hit your head pretty hard. I’m not perfect. Mama was perfect.” Her eyes dimmed thinking back to her Mama. Besides Katie, Mama was her best friend.

“Wanna talk about it? Vinny told me a little of what Catherine told him.” Bo put his hand on her thigh. He could tell she was about to make a comment on the name, “Vinny likes to call her Catherine, says it fits her better.”

“Oh, yeah I guess but she’ll always be Katie to me.” She kept working at his wound cleaning and apply pressure. “Mama was my best friend, besides Katie. She was a nurse and part of all the societies. Her mama, my granny, was all sort of high society true southern belle. I mean I guess that happens when you grow up in Savannah, Georgia. Everyone was surprised when she married Dad. He was poor and didn’t have a degree. But he was the nicest man in all of Georgia. And he loved Mama and he loved us. He was a tattoo artist like Katie. That’s how she learned. Him and Mama had gone to Alaska for a train tour. Katie and I were suppose to go but we got chickenpox. Can you believe getting chickenpox at 19? Everyone at school got it when we were in 3 grade. Except me and Katie. We got it from a little girl at church. Mama wanted to stay but we convinced her to go and enjoy it. The mother of the girl from church felt so bad she and her daughter stayed with us while we got better. The day Mama and Dad were suppose to come home came and went and they never showed. Two days later we get a knock on the door. It was the sheriff, Carl, him and dad were good buddies. He had to break the news to us. Turns out the two people working the train had gotten drunk and caused a crash on purpose. It was a suicide pack. They found the letters. So we got a big settlement. Only about half the people died, of course Mama and Dad had to be part of that. That’s why Katie and I were leaving, we were gonna drive to California and start a new life. But I guess a new life in Louisiana is better.” The tears had started half way through but she was smiling at the end trying to make sure self better. She finished tending his wound and kissed the bandage, “There all better.”

“Thank you baby. I’m sorry all that happened to ya. But I know it’s selfish, but I’m glad it lead you to me. Can’t imagine life without you now.” He stood and helped her up, “Let’s go home and get cleaned up. Family dinner is tonight.”

Dinner went by quickly once the boys agreed to family movie night. She tried to talk Bo into letting her have a beer but that was shut down quickly, “No ma’am. You ain’t old enough besides stuff will kill ya, don’t need it.” Hypocrite and he knew it but she didn’t push. In an act of compromise he did give her a bottle of Coke.

The popcorn was made and they made themselves fit on the couch. It helped that the girls were just sitting in the boys laps.

Katie smiled and held Vincent’s hand on her lap, “I’d say you can protect me from the scary bits but honestly its not that scary. I think we laugh at it more than we scream nowadays.” Caroline nodded in agreement but Bo laughed.

“I’ll believe that when I see it sugar.”

The movie ended and true to her word, Katie and Caroline had laughed through half the movie. It was clear they had seen it a number of times seeing as they had a habit of started to laugh before the kill even happened. After the credits the channel announced that on Sunday they would be playing Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

“THAT’S OUR FAVORITE FAVORITE MOVIE EVER!” Both girls shouted.

“Love, you gotta try to get this channel Sunday so we can watch it! Please.” Caroline twisted so she was straddling Bo looking deep in his eyes. In the corner of his eye he could see Katie was nodded with her.

“I’ll do my best baby. No promises. Now it’s late, time for pretty little girls to go to bed.”

—

“You’re the best Lester!” Katie whispered in glee as she, Caroline, and Lester quietly brought everything into the house. It was 4:30am on September 18, Bo and Vincent’s 34 birthday. The girls conspired with Lester to get decorations and the supplies needed to make not only the pot roast but also a cake. Katie had been able to get Vincent to admit they both had a sweet tooth for vanilla cake with chocolate frosting.

“Ain’t nothing sis. It’s nice to actually celebrate for once. Can’t remember last time we did this.” Lester smiled and placed more items on the table. “Dinner’s at 6 right? I’ll make sure to be back by then.”

Caroline nodded and hugged him before he left, “Don’t forget to bring Jonesy.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it!”

The girls got to work making a big breakfast, pancakes, omelets, bacon, sausage, toast, fresh coffee, orange juice, and even homemade butter. Once everything was ready they tied balloons to anything they could wrap a string around and hung up the “Happy Birthday” banner.

By 5:30am footsteps were heard upstairs along with muffled voices. The girls told them to sleep in for their birthday. They reasoned 30 minutes could count.

“They always wake up this early, didn’t you know that?” Bo’s voice carried down the stairs. Vincent must have asked where Katie was after not finding her in bed.

The girls practically sprinted to the bottom of the stairs, bouncing on their feet in excitement. They had actually woke up 30 minutes early today to have time to dress up for the occasion. Caroline had curled her hair leaving it down, while Katie also curled hers but braid her bangs out of her face. Maybe after this they can convince the boys to let them go to town with Lester and get their hair done. They each put on the dresses they wore the first day with the boys. Caroline in pink and Katie in purple, each had flawless makeup to match.

Finally two pairs legs made their way down the staircase.

“Well damn babygirl. It’s like I’m still in a dream.” Bo let out a whistle and twirled Caroline around. Vincent doing the same for Katie.

“Happy birthday!” Both girls shouted once they were back to standing still. They took the boys hands brought them to the kitchen.

“Lester helped by the way. He’ll be back for dinner.” Katie made sure to mention their brother’s part in the surprise.

Vincent pulled Katie tight against his chest his fingers spelling out Thank you on her back. She smiled at home wrapping her arms around his neck.

“Told you, we love birthdays. Especially my favorite husband.”

“Foods gonna get cold and we didn’t spend all morning making this for it to be cold.” Caroline pulled the two apart and made everyone sit down. Bo and the girls ate while Vincent made his plate of food to take to the studio.

After breakfast the boys went off to ‘work’ leaving the girls to their chores. They had sent them off with packed lunch so the girls would have time to make their special dinner. They had everything prepped and just had to be put in the oven closer to dinner time.

Katie ended up staying with Vincent the rest of the day, he wanted to take her out to one of his favorite spots in Ambrose. Hidden in the woods was a small creek that had a bridge over it and it had a beautiful view. In the late summer into early fall the flowers grew tenfold and he knew Katie would love it.

She quickly told Caroline she would make it up to her the next day by doing the chores while Caroline spent time with Bo. Leaving Caroline alone in the house for the rest of the day until Bo came home.

It was getting late, dinner was in the oven, the pot roast the girls had promised to make that thankfully Katie had helped prep before she left, and Caroline was in the hall cleaning the baseboards along the floor. At this point they had pretty much cleaned the whole house and now were just getting the final details squared away. Soon the deep cleaning could end and they would have a perfect house.

Once finished she took off the cleaning gloves to put them over the water bucket when she heard the ping of metal hitting the hardwood. She looked down and saw her ring rolling under a closed door. She tried to grab it but it slipped under before she could get it. She peaked under the door trying to wiggle her fingers under to grab it but it was just out of reach. She stood going to open the door without thinking just wanting her ring back. Bo’s rule about leaving closed doors closed falling to the back of her mind, even more so the threat of what would happen if she opened the door labeled “Dr. Victor Sinclair”. She opened the door and got her ring slipping it back on her finger when hands grabbed her waist and shoved her back against the wall a hand on her neck.

—

Bo was having a shitty birthday. Besides the surprise his babygirl did for him at breakfast everything was shit. He was close to getting one of the cars in the garage fixed but the part he had Lester order and picked up for him was the wrong size. It wasn’t Lester’s fault the company had sent the wrong one but he was still pissed. He went to town to work on some of the machinery for the museum and found an animal had chewed through the wires.

He was angry and finding problems everywhere. He had enough and decided to call it a day. He was gonna go home early and spend time some time with his wife. Maybe he could get her into the bedroom for some midday birthday sex.

He made his way home and started looking for Caroline. He walked up the stairs and immediately saw red. The biggest rule he had given her and she went and broke it. Poking her head into places they didn’t belong. He stormed up behind her and grabbed her by the waist throwing her back against the wall and slamming the door shut next to her.

“What did I tell you little girl? What was the fucking rule?” His face was red and spit flew from his mouth into her face. “Tell me the fucking rules bitch.”

Tears welled up in her eyes and she started sobbing, “Don’t… don’t go into this room. I’m sorry I didn’t… my ring slipped under the door. I didn’t see anything I promise I opened the door and got my ring. I’m sorry Bo I should have waited for you.”

“Fucking lies. You knew what you were doing. You are in so much fucking trouble now. Breaking rules and now lying.” He threw her over his shoulder and out of the house. She wanted to scream but fear kept her quiet. She hadn’t seen him this mad since the day he punished for her talking to Katie. But this was worse, she worried this might be it for her, he was actually going to kill her this time.

Time seemed to go by in a blur, one minute he had her over his shoulder the next he had her strapped back to the chair under his garage.

“Bo please I’m sorry. Please let me explain. I promise I’m not lying.” She shrieked when he slapped her across the face. He gripped her chin in his hand and she saw a bottle of what she assumed was superglue in his other. He ripped the cap off with his teeth and held it to her lips.

“This outta shut you up for a while.” He spread it on her lips like it was her lipgloss he loved to see her wear. He pressed her lips close and leaned in close almost like he was going to kiss her but instead he blew on her lips making the glue dry faster.

Tears continued to fall and she shook in the chair. He ripped off his belt and folded it in half before slapping it against her legs.

“Couldn’t even act right on my birthday could you baby? Just had to cause trouble. You’re gonna get it now little girl. Don’t forget who owns you. Don’t forget who holds not only your life in his hands but your sister’s too. Sure Vinny would be mad for a little bit but he could move on. Just like I will.” He got back in her face and she could feel the heated anger rolling off of him.

“Let me tell you what’s gonna happen now little slut. I’m gonna throw you on that mattress, you’re gonna give me that sweet ass to fuck, then when I’m done with you I’m gonna take this knife and cut right through that pretty little neck of yours. Body should stay warm for a while and I can keep having my fun.” He ripped the tape off her wrists bits of skin coming off with it and pin pricks of blood bubbled over her flesh.

He did as he said and threw her against the mattress making her knees hit hard. She winced in pain and felt him grab her waist pulling her so ass was raised to him. She felt the blade of his knife cut off her panties, the baby pink ones that were his favorite and she had worn today just for his birthday. She heard him spit and felt his hot salvia drip down on her back. He smeared it over her puckered hole and she screamed as much as she could with the glue on her lips. His thumb pressed inside and she felt like she was on fire. That was all the prep he gave her within seconds his cock was forcing its way into her. Stretching her ways she didn’t know her body could stretch.

She continued sobbing as he used her. Her body was a blaze, between the forceful fucking and the slaps he was delivering to her cheeks. If by some mercy she survived this she knew she’d never be the same. She tried to put herself in a better headspace. She thought about the good times with Bo. When he showed her what lovemaking was rather than just fucking. Sure they did that too but he always made sure to love her when she needed it. He had started to be able to read her body better than she could. He seemed to know when she wanted it hard and fast or when she needed it soft and slow. When they were done and he was hold her in the shower telling her how good she was for him and how she made him the happiest man on earth. Or the best times when he talked about the kids they would have, he wanted a boy and a girl. He didn’t have a name for a boy but he said he always wanted a little daddy’s girl named Chevrolet, Chevy, like his favorite cars. He talked about how she would look like Caroline. He kept saying his two perfect girls. That’s what he wanted, his perfect girls.

In a call back to the first time he had punished her, she passed out from the pain. As she felt herself slip away she wondered how Katie would react to her death. Would she run from Vincent or would he talk her into staying? Would he go with her somewhere? It almost hurt to think about.

But the last thought on her mind was the one that told her she really was messed in the head. No one in their right mind would have this thought as the man who had kidnapped them, forced marriage on them, and now was forcing himself on them in the most shameful way. But she couldn’t help but think it. She couldn’t stop herself from thinking that if she lived through this, that if the anger cleared from his mind, and he stopped hurting her, that she would forgive him. He would apologize and tell her he loved her. She would stay with him. She would be his good perfect little wife and give him his perfect little daughter. But that thought faded to black as his hand went to throat and the air was taken from her lungs. Because she had fallen in love with the demon named Beauregard Sinclair and not even the devil himself could separate them.

—

“Do you smell that?” Katie looked over to Vincent from her seat on the floor where she had been drafting a new sketch based on the creek had taken her to see. “It smells like something’s burn… oh my god dinner.” She jumped up and beelined for the stairs Vincent on her heels. They got to the kitchen and could only see a cloud of black smoke. Katie ran to the oven and shut it off while Vincent worked out open the doors and windows letting the smoke blow out of the house. Once it had cleared katie opened the oven and saw the roast was ruined.

“What the hell Caroline?” She yelled hoping to see her sister run into the room. “Caroline?” She called again but she got no call back. “Where is she? She promised to finish dinner.” She turned to see the clock on the wall, 5:45, Bo should be home by now too. She looked to Vincent who shrugged and pointed up the stairs. They made the trek up and Katie noticed the cleaning supplies on the floor. That was unlike Caroline. She always put her things away when she was done. Even before living her, Caroline hated having things clutter the floor. Fear started to creep in to Katie’s soul.

“What if something happened? This isn’t like her. Vincent…” He took her hand and squeezed it trying to calm her.

The door downstairs slammed open hitting the wall.

“Vincent get your freak ass down her and bring that slut with you.” Bo’s voice was full of venom. Katie started shaking and Vincent saw her shrink in on herself. He took her hand again and led her downstairs keep her behind him. Bo was fuming at the bottom of the stairs. Even Vincent had never seen him this angry. Vincent stopped on the bottom step Katie placed behind him.

“Fucking little bitch broke the damn rules. Got what she fucking deserved. I’m going to Lester’s you can figure out what to fucking do. I don’t care. Have both of them if you want.” Bo yelled grabbing his wallet and keys, storming out of the house again.

“Vincent…” Katie’s voice was barely a whisper tears springing to her eyes.

“The door opposite the work bench. She’s probably in there. I will go with him.” His voice was rough as usual and he sent her down the stairs while he ran after Bo hoping to talk to him.

Katie ran down the stairs and flung open the door Vincent told her about, she had wondered where it lead. Inside she saw the chair and in the corner her sister’s crumpled body.

“Caroline!” She ran over and breathed a sigh of relief when she felt a pulse.

“Katie?” It was barely a whisper, her eyes fluttering open. Her lips bloodyfrom ripping the glue. “Katie we have to get out of here. I have to go.”

Katie could see in Caroline’s eyes she was at war with herself. Similar to how Katie was feeling. She didn’t want to leave Vincent but she had to protect Caroline.

“Can you walk?” She asked helping Caroline stand up. She took a few stumbling steps before getting her bearings. “We’re gonna have to walk through the woods to find that main road again. Come on, I got you.”

Silent tears fell down Katie’s face at the thought of leaving Vincent, how hurt he would be when he saw her gone. But she had to do this for Caroline.

They were able to get out and start trekking through the woods. They had no idea what way they were walking or how long eventually they both got tired and had to lay down. The sun had set so it had to have been at least 8 at night and they could hear thunder coming in. They huddled together trying to get some warmth and hoped that the wolves they could hear wouldn’t be hungry tonight. As they drifted to sleep shivering in the cold rain Caroline told Katie what happened leaving out the part where she still loved him.

—

“Come on wake up. Please please wake up.” Lester had never been so scared in his life while he shook Katie willing her to wake up.

When Bo showed up to his trailer that evening bottle of bourbon already half gone, guzzling down the other off walking through the door. Moments later Vincent showed up as well. Bo started mouthing off about Caroline calling her every name under the sun. Lester just stood there as Vincent grabbed Bo by the shoulder and punched in square in the face. Bo staggered but then fell onto the couch, knocked out. Vincent tried to explain to the best he could what happened.

They let Bo sleep off his anger while they went to look for the girls. They went to Bo’s basement and found no one there. They looked all over town but the girls were gone. By the time they made it back to Lester’s on the edge of Ambrose, Bo had woken up. He seemed calmer and a bit hungover, the pain from Vincent’s punch not helping. He was cursing himself for what he did before explaining what he did.

“Mama was right. I’m a monster ain’t no one that can love a fuck up like me. Fucking hell. I… I just saw red. I was having a shitty day and then her standing there, the one place I told her not to go. But I was wrong. I messed up and now I lost her.”

September 18, 2004 was the first time Lester Sinclair had ever seen one of his big brothers cry.

The brothers stayed together that night at Lester’s place. When morning came Vincent and Lester went looking for the girls again. Bo had been ordered home with instructions to not fuck anything up. He did as told, he went home and he tried his best to clean the kitchen. The dinner the girls had made still sat burned in the oven. Mama’s Pot Roast, just like they had every birthday. Caroline had been so excited to make it for him. She had been so excited for his birthday. To celebrate him. Someone had been excited to celebrate him and spend time with him and he ruined it. Once the kitchen had been cleaned spotless he sat on the couch and waited for a sign of life. He knew she would never forgive him but he still wanted to apologize, get on his knees and beg for her forgiveness. He would do anything to have his girl back. Hell he’d move out of Ambrose if that made her happy, take her to California that she had blamed. Beauregard Sinclair started crying for the third time in his life.

“Vincent! I found ‘em!” Lester yelled from where he had found the girls curled together under a fallen tree. They were soaked to the bone. It had started raining that night after the boys finally went to bed. They tried one more time to find the girls but the darkness of the woods plus the added rain made it impossible.

Vincent ran to where Lester was and took Katie from him. He brushed her hair out of her face and felt how cold her skin was, it felt like ice.

“Oh my god. What did Bo do to her?” Lester held Caroline up to his chest and brushed his finger over her lips. “Glued her mouth shut. Like he did the other girls.” Lester’s heart broke. Caroline had been a little ray of sunshine in Ambrose, he hadn’t seen Bo that happy in years. He looked down her body and noticed the bruises, maybe his brother really was a monster.

“Gotta get them warmed up.” Lester stood and picked up Caroline while Vincent took Katie. They carried the girls to Lester’s truck and drove them to his trailer. He ran a warm bath for them but not too hot. He remembered from his Boy Scout days that you don’t stick someone with hypothermia in hot water it’ll send them into shock. “Should, should we take their clothes off?” Lester didn’t want to embarrass them. Vincent shook his head and put Katie in the water making room for Lester to put Caroline. The tub wasn’t really big enough for both of them but they made it work.

They took cups and pour water down their hair and faces, while also wiping them down with rags to clean the mud off.

Finally after minutes of this routine Katie moved, “Vincent?” He took her hand and rubbed it as she started to cry. “Vincent, he hurt her. Hurt her real bad. I had to try to get her away. I’m sorry. I didn’t want to leave you but I had…” He put a finger to her lips and nodded telling her it was okay. He helped her out of the tub leaving Caroline in Lester’s care.

“She can have some clothes from my room.” Lester said as Vincent took her to get dry. They went to Lesters room and she found some sweatpants and flannels. She put some on and then took another set to Lester for Caroline. When they got back to the bathroom Caroline was starting to stir awake.

“Caroline, Caroline its Katie. You’re safe. Vincent and Lester found us.”

“Bo, where’s Bo?” Caroline’s voice was slurred as she tried to open her eyes.

“He ain’t here sugarplum, you’re okay.” Lester tried to take her hand but she slapped him away.

“Bo. I want Bo. I need Bo.” She started shaking and crying. “Need Bo. Gotta find Bo.”

Katie looked to Vincent and down to Caroline, “Can y’all give us a minute? Let me talk to her alone. Try and calm her down.”

“Yeah yeah, I’ll make some coffee. Try to help warm ya up more.” Lester nodded and Vincent followed him out of the room.

“Caroline, it’s Katie. Calm down okay I’m here. We are safe.”

“No, only safe with Bo. I want Bo.”

“But he…”

“I know what he did. And I know I shouldn’t want him but I do. I want him. He’ll apologize and we can talk. I want him Catherine. I love him.”

Caroline took her hand and squeezed three times. “Please let’s go home. I just want forget this happened.”

Katie closed her eyes and sent a prayer asking for what to do. But if this is what Caroline wanted this is what she would get. “Okay. Les gave us some of his clothes. Put these on I’ll tell them to take us home.”

Caroline nodded and stood grabbing the clothes.

Katie stepped out and told Vincent and Lester what Caroline side. They were against it at first but she convinced them to take them home, “Just let her do this. Something happens again well we will cross that bridge when we get there. Please Vincent, lets go home.”

[karlyboyyy]

Meant To Happen All Along

Pairing: Kazuki x Rei, KazuRei Rating: Explicit/NSFW* Fic Tags: Fluff, Smut, Explicit Sexual Content (oral sex, fingering, penetration), Dirty Talk, Playful Sex, Romantic Gestures, Feelings Realization Wordcount: 10.7k

(*This preview does not contain any of the explicit content, only some spicy stuff. Might still be NSFW though. Link to the full fic on ao3 at the bottom!)

Rei couldn’t sleep. Normally he had no problems with falling asleep, especially ever since he stopped sleeping in the bathtub and instead started sleeping in his actual bed. But tonight, he had a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach that just would not go away. Honestly, the more he focused on the strange feeling, the more he realized that it wasn’t localized to just his stomach. It was like something was swirling around deep in his lower abdomen, mixed with a weird tingling up his spine and down through his thighs, accompanied by a warmth radiating from his entire body. And because he was having such a hard time falling asleep, he was forced to think about why he had this strange feeling. Nothing specifically came to mind as to what was causing it, but he did know that he’s been getting this feeling a lot lately, and at such random times, too.

Like the other day, he noticed the feeling for just a brief moment. It was around lunchtime; he was cleaning up around the living room while Kazuki and Miri were in the kitchen prepping the ingredients for their meal. Miri laughed about something Kazuki had said, which caused Rei to glance up at them. It’s not like what he saw was anything spectacular. It was just Kazuki stirring a pot of soup. His sleeves were rolled up to his elbow, exposing his forearms. He had a stain of something (probably the soup) on his apron. He had a big goofy grin on his face and was laughing along with Miri. And when he noticed Rei looking at them, his eyes lit up as he called out, “Oh hey, food’s almost done. So go wash your hands and get your butt at the table!” See? Nothing spectacular. These were all things that Rei had seen and heard nearly every single day. But for some reason, his stomach fluttered and his face felt hot.

The feeling came again the night before last. Rei was sitting on the couch, playing Morio Kart with Miri, while Kazuki folded laundry. When he was done, Kazuki sat down next to Rei close enough so that their knees were touching. “Hey, how ‘bout you guys let me play for once?”

“Whaaa! Kazu papa wants to play, too?? Yaay!! I wanna play with Kazu papa!” Miri was ecstatic.

“But there’s only two controllers…” Rei said matter-of-factly.

“Then gimme yours!” Kazuki reached over, placing his left hand on Rei’s thigh to steady himself and grabbed the controller from Rei using his right hand. “Here, show me which buttons to use.” Kazuki held out the controller and leaned in closer to Rei.

“Ah… well, X is the gas and Square is the brake. Right trigger is reverse and Circle is used to throw out banana peels and stuff to trip up the other racers.”

“Okay, I think I got it!” Kazuki exclaimed.

He did not get it. Kazuki was terrible at the game and came in dead last every single time. But whenever Rei would look over at Kazuki in the middle of a race, he saw how focused Kazuki was. He had this determined look in his eye that made him look incredibly serious, but it was offset by the fact that he also had his tongue sticking out. Rei thought, “Is that his concentration face?” and laughed to himself. That’s the moment he felt that strange tingling feeling again.

Then, it happened again this morning. Only this time, the feeling was much more intense. Rei was walking around the house gathering clothes for a load of laundry, and figured he should probably stop by Kazuki’s room to see if he had anything to add. The door was open, so Rei walked right in without even thinking. “Kazuki. I’m doing some laundry, got anything-,” Rei stopped mid-sentence, surprised to have found Kazuki wearing nothing but his boxers.

“Oh, hey! Perfect timing! On my way back from the daycare, some bus drove right through a puddle in the street, and it splattered all over my clothes! Ugh, they’re filthy now! Mind if I toss these in?” Kazuki placed the wad of dirty clothes in the basket that Rei was holding, doing so with a big smile on his face. Rei couldn’t stop himself from looking Kazuki up and down. He’d seen him shirtless countless times before but couldn’t recall a time when he’d seen him in his underwear. It was… interesting, to say the least. Rei then realized that he was feeling that strange tingling warmth again, and quickly turned around to walk away before Kazuki could see the redness in his face.

So as Rei lie there in his bed, thinking back on all the times he’d felt this feeling before, he realized there was a common trigger. It was Kazuki. No matter what was happening in those situations, Kazuki was always involved. And now, as he replayed each of those events in his mind over and over again, the feeling just kept getting stronger and stronger. His entire body felt like it was on fire, and his heart was about to beat out of his chest. “What the heck is this?!”

Having the type of upbringing that Rei had, he was unfortunately not very experienced in this department, so it took him longer than the average person to realize what was going on. But the moment he tried to shift his weight and roll over to his side, he felt a stiffness in between his legs and the subsequent pain from being pressed against the mattress. And it dawned on him. “…Oh.”

Rei honestly didn’t feel very surprised. He’d been living with Kazuki for years now, and already sort of knew that the feelings he had toward him were a bit complicated. He’d always felt close to him but was too embarrassed to really show it. But after Miri came along, the feelings he had for Kazuki only grew stronger. He considered Kazuki his partner and his family. He liked seeing him smile. He liked spending time with him. He liked how he started to show physical affection like hugs and the occasional kiss. He liked it all. So it was only a matter of time before Rei would crave even more from Kazuki. “I’m such an idiot for not realizing it sooner…”

Now Rei was definitely not falling asleep. Instead of lying there and continuing to let his thoughts run wild with Kazuki, he decided to get up and head to the kitchen for a glass of water. He paced back and forth in the kitchen for a few minutes, hoping to tire himself out a bit. But he unexpectedly found himself staring at Kazuki’s bedroom door. And his mind was flooded by various thoughts of what might happen if he were to go in there. “Maybe… we can just cuddle,” he whispered to himself. “Yeah, that might help me fall asleep.” But even his own words didn’t sound very convincing.

Standing outside of Kazuki’s bedroom door, Rei took a deep breath before gently knocking. Aware that Kazuki was probably asleep and didn’t hear the knock, he took the liberty of opening the door and walking into the room, carefully closing the door behind him. He tiptoed over to the bed and cast his gaze down on the sleeping Kazuki. “Pfft! His mouth is wide open.”

Rei stood there for a few minutes longer just admiring the sight before him – Kazuki was lying on his back, with one arm raised above his head and the other draped across his stomach. His mouth hung open as he quietly snored. The longer Rei stared, the more he could feel the blood rushing to his cheeks. Finally, he called out in a whisper, “Psst. Hey, Kazuki? Kazukiii. Wake up.”

Kazuki jerked his head, turning toward the quiet voice calling out to him. “Mmm-hm? Rei? What is it, what’s wrong?” He still had his eyes closed but sat up slightly as he spoke.

“I, uh… I can’t sleep.” That was an understatement…

“Hm, you wanna crawl in? C’mere.” Kazuki still had his eyes half shut, but scooted over and lifted the blankets, allowing plenty of room for Rei to climb into bed next to him.

Rei’s eyes widened in surprise; he wasn’t expecting this to be so easy! He carefully sat down on the bed, but before he could fully lie down, Kazuki wrapped his arm around Rei’s waist and pulled him close. Rei’s face was now nearly pressed against Kazuki’s chest.

“Wan’ me to rub your back?” Kazuki’s voice was low and groggy, and Rei could feel his hot breath on the top of his ear. This did not help Rei’s… current predicament.

“…Sure.”

Kazuki’s hand slowly wandered down to Rei’s lower back and he gently tugged at Rei’s shirt. “Here. Lift it up a bit.”

Rei did as he was told and pulled the bottom hem of the shirt up a few inches. His stomach and lower back were now exposed to the drafty air around them.

Kazuki’s fingertips began to lightly trace swirling patterns on Rei’s skin. He went up along Rei’s spine and gently rubbed around his shoulder blades before sliding back down to his lower back. “Hey, Rei,” Kazuki said in a hushed voice. “You’re really warm.”

Rei wondered if he could also hear how loud his heart was beating in the moment. “Sorry. Is it too hot?”

“No. I’m comfy.” Kazuki continued to delicately glide his fingertips across Rei’s back and side, every so often grazing his fingernails along Rei’s flesh. He then inched toward Rei’s stomach.

“Ah, Kazuki… that tickles.” Rei was starting to get goosebumps. Although it did tickle, it also felt insanely good. He didn’t want Kazuki to stop.

“Hmm oh yeah? How about here?” Kazuki’s fingertips were now tracing along Rei’s hip near the waistband of his pants.

Rei shuddered and pressed his face further into Kazuki’s chest to stifle the slight moan he made. He now had a hard time believing that Kazuki was still half asleep; he had to be doing this on purpose.

Kazuki definitely took notice of Rei’s reaction… and he was instantly on full alert. He continued to graze Rei’s lower stomach with his fingers as he leaned his head down and whispered into his ear, “Rei. Can I kiss you?”

Instead of using words to answer the question, Rei tilted his head up, reached his hand up to clasp the back of Kazuki’s neck, and pulled him close so that their lips pressed together. Kazuki let out a deep Hmmph, which made Rei even more desperate.

Kazuki placed his hand on the small of Rei’s lower back and abruptly pulled him closer. By doing so, he could feel something solid pressing into his thigh and let out a quiet chuckle. Pulling out of the kiss, he said in a teasing voice, “Rei~, is this why you came in here?” As he said the words, he shifted his leg upward, nudging the hard bulge in Rei’s pants.

Rei jolted, letting a gasp escape from his lips. He looked up to see a sly grin on Kazuki’s face, which only added fuel to the fire that raged inside him. “So what if I did?” Rei then used one hand to pull Kazuki’s face back to his for another deep kiss, and used his other arm to prop himself up. He leaned into Kazuki, leading him to lie on his back as he swung one of his own legs over Kazuki’s waist, landing himself in a straddling position on top of Kazuki. He pulled away from the kiss but remained hovering only an inch or two from his face. “Is that a problem?” he asked, while staring deep into Kazuki’s eyes.

“Holy shit,” Kazuki thought to himself, as he stared back at the man sitting on top of him. Although it was dark in the bedroom, Kazuki could tell that Rei’s face was flushed red. He also felt the incredible warmth in his groin right where Rei was sitting, and knew that Rei would soon be able to feel just how excited he actually was about this turn of events. “I’m not complaining. I just hope you’re prepared,” Kazuki taunted.

“For what, exactly?”

“For the consequences of your actions. Rei, did you really expect me to hold myself back after you’ve climbed on top of me like this?” Kazuki reached for Rei’s upper thighs and gripped tightly, holding Rei in place as he thrusted his own lower half upward, pressing into Rei even more. Rei immediately reacted by dropping his head slightly and letting out a hushed moan, making Kazuki grin even wider.

Rei re-focused his gaze on Kazuki and hesitated for only a moment before finally giving his reply. “Like I’d expect anything less from you. So, come on, Kazuki.” Rei then leaned down, pressed his lips against Kazuki’s ear, and whispered, “Show me the consequences of my actions.”

Continue reading on AO3!

[ocdelecterble]

Air Fryer/Toaster Oven Huevos Rancheros (medium spoons)

I'll start by saying that I got the Ranchero sauce and refried beans with dinner from a Mexican restaurant. I'll also say that I'm very, very white. I love Mexican food, and I've been blessed with Mexican friends willing to share authentic recipes with me, but I'm not gonna claim this as an authentic recipe. It is fucking delicious though. Also, it's naturally gluten free! Corn tortillas shouldn't have gluten, and you don't have to spend extra for the gf label!

I only have a toaster oven/air fryer (not the kind of air fryer with the basket) and a microwave to work with, and limited energy that's been getting worse. I had eggs to use, so here we go.

Some methods like foil lining is optional. If you wanna wash a baking sheet, I ain't gonna stop you. My eggs leaked and got a little stuck. Foil made cleanup easy. I'm just trying to survive. I use a lot of disposable things for meal prep because washing just takes too much out of me. My plumbing don't even work properly and I have to wash in a trickle of water. You do you. The idea is the same, and if you're like me, it'll save you some spoons by giving you ideas, I hope. Good luck and enjoy.

Ingredients:

Corn tortillas

Eggs

Refried beans

Ranchero sauce

Jalapeño slices (optional. I used these bc the Ranchero sauce was very thin. And I really love jalapeños.)

Cotija/queso fresco

Tajin (optional, to taste)

Directions:

Toast the tortillas on a foil lined and honestly probably greased baking sheet (don't overdo it like I accidentally did. I got distracted for a whole 5 seconds 😡 just crisp them a little, on both sides.)

Spread your beans on the tortillas. Don't ask how much. Feel it with your heart. I put a thin layer, but made sure there was enough bean to taste it without making the tortillas mushy. You can add your jalapeños now if you want them!

Crack your clean eggs (yep, I wash them! People have been touching them) on top of your bean painted tortillas. Sprinkle some tajin if you wanna.

Bake/air fry at 325⁰ until your eggs meet your doneness. Keep a close watch. It goes fast. I think mine were done in 5 min. I also think I let them rest, just to ensure the white wasn't snotty 🤢

Take out carefully, pour on your Ranchero sauce, to taste.

Sprinkle on your cheese, and maybe some extra tajin.

Don't burn yourself as you inhale these because they taste so good.

[saintseed-family]

“I think I’ve outgrown these as well,” Janus sighed, trying his best to lace up the front of his trousers.

He had gotten by so far in this experience with his already baggy and large clothing, but he had to admit he was much larger now in the belly and chest and things were beginning to get snug.

“We’ll have to get you some new clothes then,” Thorn replied.  “My mother might still have some of her maternity robes that may fit.”

Janus frowned.  “That’s fine and all, but I’d rather have some clothes of my own,” said Janus, “Your mother is a lovely lady, but I ain’t walking around town wearing her clothes.”

He knew Thorn didn’t fully get this.  Firbolgs didn’t really have a concept of “men’s clothes” or “woman’s clothes” - clothes were clothes, and they were handed down regardless of gender.  Normally this was refreshing, but when Janus has been feeling a bit like a bloated beast with wide hips and a swollen chest, he craved a bit of the normalcy of wearing his own clothes.

In his infinite wisdom, Thorn didn’t push the issue.  “You’re absolutely right,” agreed Thorn.  “Perhaps we can ask Dale to do some modifications to your clothes?  They were always quite good with sewing.”

“If they aren’t too busy,” Janus grumbled.  “I don’t want to bother ‘em too much.”

“Janus, you know my siblings have been dying for an opportunity to help us, my darling,” laughed Thorn. “Dale would be delighted we asked, if you’re comfortable with that.”

Thorn was the eldest of four children.  There was his identical twin sister, Thistlefont, his younger sibling Ferndale, and his youngest brother Mossimo.  Ever since finding out Janus was pregnant, they all had been constantly stopping by his home to offer their assistance with everything: meal prep and laundry, and of course the newly started construction of the second story of their house for the baby’s room.

 Janus was overwhelmed by it, and sometimes it even felt like they were underestimating him.  Learning to accept the help had been difficult, but as the pregnancy went on Janus found himself more and more exhausted.  Thorn’s daily spell helped a lot, but it didn’t change the fact that he still had a baby growing inside him, and it took a lot out of him.  

Thorn assured him that Thistle, Dale and Moss knew Janus could take care of himself, but they wanted to help because they were happy for the two of them and excited about the baby.  Janus figured this was a sibling thing, which he just didn’t understand having been alone his whole childhood.

“A’ight, Dale can help,” Janus sighed.  “As long as they don’t do anything too wild with m’ clothes.”

A week later, Janus found himself sitting on a chair in the living room while Dale rummaged through a bag of the modified clothing they had worked on.

Dale looked very much like Thorn with dark gray long hair and pale soft gray fur, but they wore their hair in a more loose and dramatic style that framed their face with long, messy bangs.  They also had more piercings than Thorn, including a nose ring with a long chain attached to one of their ears.  Janus couldn’t see much of the work they had done while the clothes were in the bag, but he could see lots of colorful patterns that he did not recognize.

“I added extra fabric to some of your looser tops,” they explained, handing Janus one of the tunics.  The side seams had been split, and a wide piece of fabric had been sewn in between with large stitches.  “Added lacing to some of these as well.  You’ll have to do without the leathers for a while for anything but chest support, but the rest of this should be comfortable and functional.”  They pointed at the large stitches.  “These will be easy to remove once your pregnancy is over, and we’ll be able to restitch your tunics to their old size.”

“Thank ya kindly, Dale,” Janus said, taking the offered tunic.  Even though they didn’t quite match, the added fabric was sewn in well enough that someone looking casually might not realize they’d been altered.  He removed the robe he had been wearing and pulled the tunic over his head.  It was loose, but it did not feel too much different than his old clothes had been.

“Mama sent this as well,” Dale said, digging in the bag to pull out a long piece of bright red fabric with yellow stars.  Janus recognized it as some of the specially dyed patterned fabric this village was known for. “She says it’s to help with your back.” 

Janus thought of the wraps he had seen expecting mothers in the village wear.  Long, bright scarves that they wound around the underside of the belly, and then cross their back and around their shoulders.  He hadn’t thought much of it, but it made sense that the scarf was helping support the mothers as they carried such a heavy load.

He took the scarf in both hands, and tried with futility to figure out how to wrap it in a way that would let the fabric actually stay on his rounded body.

“Damn it,” Janus muttered, and he heard Thorn laugh.  “How the hell do they tie these things?”

“Allow me to help, my lovely peapod.”  That was his newest nickname for Janus - the cub was their pea.  The fond laugh Janus found himself giving offset the mild irritation he was feeling about not being able to tie the sash.

Taking the scarf, Thorn got behind Janus and carefully wrapped it around him.  He couldn’t quite see how Thorn was doing it, but he could feel the fabric crossing his back and looping around his shoulders, and that provided just a touch more support than he had before as it lifted his belly, taking some weight off his back.

“Wow that… that feels pretty good!” Janus said as he felt Thorn tying off the scarf.

“You’ll have to practice putting this on without me,” Thorn chuckled.  “I believe these can also be used as a baby sling, so we’ll definitely be getting a lot of use out of it.”

Janus had the fleeting impression of himself with a tiny baby strapped to his back with the bright and colorful scarf, and he suddenly started to tear up.

“Oh no darling, are you alright?” Thorn asked, taking his hand.

“I-I’m fine,” sniffed Janus, doing his best to keep the tears back.  “Just thinking… about the cub.  I know we’re still a ways off, but I just can’t wait to meet them.”

[seth-shitposts]

Near the beginning of Tua and Him working together, it's just the two of them traveling between systems and doing small one-offs here and there. Small work.

They're hungry & without credits, and He suggests that they could just steal from the market place, but Tua refuses. At this point He is getting A Bit Bitchy because He's hungry.

🐟🐟🐟

"Fine, then what do you suggest, Maketh?"

"There's a large river on the outskirts of town."

"Oh, so suddenly you fish?"

"Don't try to sound so impressed." *glares slightly at him*

"If I weren't starving I would think the prospect of you trying to catch a fish with your bare hands and failing would be most amusing."

Tua rolls her eyes before leaving to barter a local fishermen into allowing her to borrow a cast net, with the promise of bringing him back fish.

Him: "so not only do you 'know' how to fish, but you also have the strength to use *that*, *and* You're already promising what you haven't even caught?"

Tua, getting very done with this: "you know what, you're right. How about you use the cast net first. I don't know what I was thinking. I'm too dainty to do anything other than forage and even then I wouldn't know what I would even be looking for."

He squints at her before accepting the cast net, as she was Very Serious about Him trying first.

The first toss is a very shitty throw; the net twists in on itself before it even hits the water.

Tua resets the net and genuinely encourages Him to try again, her irritation dying down. When she gives Him a few tips on throwing it, He actually listens, which helps the annoyance fade away from both of them.

He struggles bringing the net in, the water causing a lot of resistance. But when the net is drawn out, He searches for what had gotten caught in it. Tua points out three or four fish that are barely the size of commlinks.

He just glares at them.

"Well, it's not terrible for a first throw."

"Don't do that."

"Maybe you could snack on them while I catch you a meal?"

"These are minnows."

"That they are."

"I'm allergic."

"... well," Tua searches for anything to say to try and make Him feel better because she has never seen someone go from arrogant bastard to 'put me out of my misery' within a matter of less than five minutes. "They're good bait fish."

"I'm done here."

He walks away from the net to watch Tua from the shade, being in the sun for too long beginning to irritate His skin.

Tua releases the minnows back into the water and preps the net again. She goes a bit more upstream.

When she walks the net back to Him, He's just gaping at her. At least a dozen carps from a single throw.

"How did... where did *you* of all people learn..."

Tua gets to work on gutting the largest carp, skinning it, cleaning it. "I come from a big family. Extended family. One uncle that I spent fishing seasons with back on lothal when I took breaks from my studies and work taught me. Though, honestly, I got most of my experience with cast net last year when I was fishing to feed the community that took me in."

After cutting up the fillet, she plates half for Him and hands it to Him.

He looks from her to the food and back, taking the plate but not eating it yet. "You're... fine with me eating raw meat around you?"

It's in reference to how back in the empire, Tua would always cringe when she saw Him eating, as pau'an eat their meat raw.

"Yes, I've learned better. I'm sorry that I made you uncomfortable before."

"Well, there goes that amusement too." He rolls His eyes and places one of the bite-size cuts on His tongue.

"What do you mean?" Tua takes out a hot plate to start cooking her half of the fish.

"Those times you would just happen to walk by on me eating wasn't on accident. Not after the first time."

She looks up at Him, trying to find the annoyance in her bones at the wicked grin He bares, but can't. "Are you telling me that-"

"I was never even hungry. I just loved how uncomfortable it always made you." He smirks as He plays with another small cut, making an overdramatized show of it just as He used to.

She scoffs, turning her fillet over as she shakes her head. "I can't even be upset over it. It was my own ignorance that made me uncomfortable."

[addierose444]

My Kitchen Essentials 

One of my favorite things about having my own apartment has been having my own kitchen. Furnishing the rest of my apartment was an expensive and sort of stressful process. The kitchen however has been a lot more fun because I inherently find kitchen gear more interesting and had enough of the basics to get started without breaking the bank. Because I keep my meals simple and only work with ingredients that I enjoy, I genuinely love cooking for myself. I shared my peanut butter overnight oats and tofu rice bowl recipes in a post about Sunday meal prep a few months ago, but am hoping to share more of my go-to meals in a proper recipe format. 

The core essentials that I brought from home include a 10-inch cast iron pan, a 1.5-quart stainless steel pot, a small wooden cutting board, a pairing knife, a chef's knife, and a pair of scissors. I also brought a basic set of dry measuring cups (¼ cup, ⅓ cup, and ½ cup) and measuring spoons. While I haven’t done any baking here and don’t follow recipes when cooking for myself, the measuring cups have been really useful for cooking various grains. A few items that I brought but haven’t used include a lemon juicer, a garlic press, and a silicone pastry brush. As for non-cooking kitchen basics, I was fortunate enough to be handed down a set of both dishes and silverware and to be gifted a nice wooden salad bowl. I also brought a utensil crock, a mini teapot, two mugs, two glasses, and a few food storage containers from home. 

To further round out my setup, I picked up a sieve (which I use for rinsing rice), half and quarter-rimmed sheet pans (which I currently primarily use for baking tofu and green beans for my rice bowls), a wooden spatula, and a potholder. I love cheese, so a personal essential of mine is a grater. I use it to grate cheddar for my cheesy polenta (which I serve with chicken apple sausage and peppers), pecorino romano for carbonara, and parmesan for Caesar salads among other things. I may eventually add a box grater to my setup, but have thus far been happy with this paddle-style grater that I picked up on my first full day in Washington State. Another item that I bought immediately, but have not personally used is a pair of kitchen tongs. (They did come in handy though for a work picnic). While I don’t regret the purchase per se, this just goes to show the true value of starting with the bare minimum and slowly building out your setup as you discover the limitations through experience. Other kitchen essentials that I picked up but that aren’t directly used for cooking include an airtight container for my rice, a glass food storage container for my lunch, a dish drying mat, sponges, and dish soap. 

It’s not essential, but one fun recent addition to my kitchen is the rice cooker I got for Christmas. The resulting rice is notably better than my stovetop rice, but I will note that it doesn’t exactly save time as the rice is supposed to soak for 30 minutes, cook for 15, and steam for another 15. Another important note is that the measuring cup that comes with the cooker is only about ¾ cup. Thus, when I made my first batch of rice I was a bit thrown off and only had enough rice for three rice bowls instead of my usual four. I made a double batch the second time around which allowed me to create five rice bowls instead. 

While I’m not set up for baking or cooking for a crowd, I truly do have all that I need to cook for myself. Nonetheless, I’m excited to continue building out my kitchen! A few items that I’m considering adding at some point in the future include a kitchen scale, a larger pot, a mixing bowl, a meat thermometer, an immersion blender, and an ice cream maker. We’ll see though because I’m not yet convinced that these items would get regular enough use to justify the cost and space they’d take up in my small kitchen. 

[ejzah]

In Miss Blye’s Class, Part 20

***

Since neither of them had planned on spending the whole day together, Kensi and Deeks decided to part ways for a few hours. Kensi knew she needed to finish some prep for next week, just in case they ended up spending tomorrow together too.

As she walked back into her apartment, her phone buzzed with a text from Nell.

Hey KayKay, wanna grab lunch?

Sorry, I already ate.

Rude.

I know, I’m a terrible friend. I was with Deeks.

Oh, then say no more. Actually, say lots more!

Kensi rolled her eyes at the winking and kissing emojis Nell added to her response.

Seriously, I feel bad I’ve barely spent any time with you recently.

Hey, a good friend never steps in the way of true love. Besides, you can pay me back by giving me all the dirty little details.

You’re awful.

And you love me for it. So when will my best friend be available again?

Kensi dipped ducked her head sheepishly, even though she was all alone, debating what to type back.

Um, maybe tomorrow evening? Caleb’s visiting with his grandma so we’re probably spending most of the weekend together.

Kensi Marie Blye! Nell responded and Kensi could almost hear her delighted shock through the screen.

Not like that.

Well why the hell not? Climb that gorgeous lawyer like a tree.

Nell Jones! That’s it. You’re out of control.

You know you want toooo!

Ok I’m putting you on silent.

Shaking her head, Kensi grabbed the binder of paperwork she brought home with her yesterday, and started in on the most intense grading session of her career.

***

While Deeks did had a few contracts to finalize, the real reason he’d suggested taking some time at home to prepare for their dinner. Given the late notice, he knew there was no way he’d get a reservation for one of the nicer restaurants.

Kensi wouldn’t care where they ate, he was almost certain, but he wanted their first real dinner together, alone, to be special. He’d decided on cooking dinner, but that required a trip for supplies.

When he got back three stores later—the first two were all out of bed tips—he started prepping potatoes, carrots, and onions and seared the beef tips. He hadn’t made this recipe in quite a while. Probably at least a couple years, so he had to actually pull out the stained cookbook his mom had passed down to him when he moved to college (the particular page he needed had actually fallen out years ago). He probably should have preserved all the recipes on index cards, but there was something special, almost sentimental, about squinting at the faded type and trying to interpret his mom’s handwritten notes.

Singing under his breath, he peeled several cloves of garlic, imagining Caleb’s reaction if he found out he’d missed out on one of his favorite meals. Of course, Grandma Deeks would almost certainly be filling him with a combination of her own home cooked delights and his favorite junk food, so he’d call it even.

He got into the flow of the things, chopping and sautéing that by the time he looked up from dumping a pot of perfectly boiled potatoes into a colander, it was almost seven, which gave him a little over an hour to finish everything up.

The beef tips were just about done, so he covered them with foil, setting them off to the side in the oven, and hurried out back to set up a table with the blue dishes head bought on a whim a few weeks ago because they reminded him of the ocean. Maybe surrounding the perimeter of the patio with lights and miniature lanterns was a tiny bit overkill, but he didn’t believe in doing things by halves.

Decorations and table set, he returned to the kitchen for the finishing touches. The doorbell rang just as he was tasting the gravy he just made.

“Oh yeah, you still got it, Marty,” he muttered to himself, then called over his shoulder, “Be there in a minute!”

He stashed a few dirty pans he hadn’t gotten around to cleaning in the dishwasher and glanced around to make sure there weren’t unsightly messes he’d missed. Though at this point, Kensi had probably seen worse and it didn’t seem to faze her in the least.

Kensi was patiently waiting on the front porch when he opened the door. She wore a red sundress, this one with a halter neck that displayed the defined muscles and lines of her shoulders and collar bones to perfection. Deeks didn’t know if she’d chosen it with him in mind, but the color suited her perfectly.

“Hey.” He kissed her briefly as she stepped over the threshold. “You look amazing.”

“Hi. And thank you.” Her eyes drifted over him approvingly, though she didn’t comment on his appearance. She inhaled deeply, closing her eyes. “What smells so delicious?”

“Dinner.”

“Wait, you cooked for me? I thought we were going out,” Kensi said, turning in the direction of the kitchen, though she couldn’t see from here.

“Yeah. I, uh, wanted to surprise you.” He shrugged, suddenly overcome with the rare bout of uncertainty that Kensi. “I hope you don’t mind.”

“Are you kidding? I’ve loved everything you’ve made.” Kensi clapped her hands together, her enthusiasm making Deeks grin. “Ok, so I’m ready to be dazzled with your cooking expertise.”

“Follow me,” Deeks said, holding out his hand. She took it without question, letting him lead her out to patio.

“Oh my god, Deeks, this is beautiful!” Kensi exclaimed, turning in a circle to take in the twinkle lights strung around the patio and the table decorated with candles. “You did all this yourself?”

“Yeah, I told you my mom’s a caterer. I used to help her set up when I was a kid. I can turn a napkin into a swan in 20 seconds,” he responded, making Kensi giggle.

“Impressive.” She spun around in a circle, bringing her within reach of Deeks. Settling her hands on his shoulders, she covered his mouth with hers for a brief but sweet kiss. “Seriously though, this is amazing. Thank you, again.”

He smiled, pleased by her reaction. “Here for all your party planning needs,” he joked.

Kensi tipped her head to the side, her expression shifting slightly.

“What are you thinking about?” Deeks prompted, giving her hand a shake.

“Oh, all of this. You. How much my life has changed,” she said, moving her hand around to encompass Deeks and their surroundings. “I didn’t realize how much I was…missing until I met you Deeks. I mean, I was happy enough, but not like this. A few months ago, I would have never taken a day off like this. You’ve made everything brighter, and fun. Carefree. You and Caleb. You’ve changed my life without even knowing it.”

“Kens—” Deeks shook his head, overwhelmed by everything Kensi had just attributed to his influence. It was heady and a little scary.

She leaned up and kissed him, lingering for several moments. When their lips parted, she brushed his hair back from his temple with her knuckles. “Thank you.”

“You know you’ve changed my life just as much, maybe more,” Deeks told her, laughing breathily. “I mean, I was kind of prepared to become a hermit and spend the rest of my life alone. Then this really hot kindergarten teacher walked into my life.”

“Oh my god, you’re ridiculous.” Kensi rolled her eyes, but couldn’t hold back a chuckle. “I meant it, you have changed my life, Marty Deeks.”

***

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this little mix of fluff, romance, and humor.

I’m sorry if it’s unrealistic, but I can’t bear to write in text jargon.