#I haven't written in a week so we had to get the ball rolling somehow

[amethystpath-writes]

Burning Puppets

NOT A PR0MPT

******

Brushing her teeth, Hero readied herself for bed. Her music was on, her tea was ready for sipping -despite the steam rising from just below the rim, and now it was time for lip balm.

She laid down in bed, grabbed the tube of lip balm, and twisted the bottom of it until the surface of the balm peeked from the top, all glossy and shiny from the lamp across the room. The buttery product slid easily across her lips, but putting it back on her nightstand was less swift. She dropped it, and, of course, it rolled.

No matter where Hero touched, no matter how far she reached, it was impossible to find the tube which fell to the floor. Eventually, miraculously- given the small space between her bedframe and her beside table, she bent over enough to see the tube rolled halfway across the floor beneath her bed.

With her hair acting a shield, and with a flashlight in front of her eyes, Hero didn't notice the light in her room going out until she sat up. The hairs on her arms stood and a chill ran down her spine.

Someone was here.

And it was Villain.

"This is the closest I've gotten without you noticing me. What gave me away?"

Hero heard him chuckle in the dark, and her shoulders fell from their stressed position.

Villain was still by her lamp by the sound of it, which meant his question was rhetorical. He knew what he was doing; he always did.

"What do you want this time?"

There was always a meaning to his visits, and they always ran the same way. He would break in sometime in the night, taunt Hero, kiss her, then ask something of her: a piece of information, a deal with Leader, a betrayal of a teammate.

"You think I would cut straight to the case?"

"Turn the light on."

Villain took this as a dare, Hero knew, because she heard him walking closer to her bed.

"The light," she repeated, and she attempted at a voice of malice. "Turn it on."

"But we always have fun in the dark."

"You have fun in the dark, but I don't want to do this anymore." Hero put her lip balm away on her nightstand, then laid down, and pulled the sheets over her stomach. Maybe if she ignored Villain, then he'd get the message. She wasn't interested anymore.

"You think you're any more valuable to Leader than you are to me? You're her puppet."

"And that's not what I am to you?" Already, she'd forgotten she didn’t want to respond. But he was fuelling her fire, fuelling an anger she was failing to see for so long. Could it have been the lip balm falling that sent her over the edge after a long day of work, or was she simply- and finally- seeing reason?

Hero could feel Villain’s figure at the foot of her bed- could see his silhouette if she focused hard enough. It was imposing, but she kept her sheets firmly below her chest. She didn't clutch it. She didn't let it loose.

"What am I to you, Villain?"

His silhouette moved to the side of the bed, closer to her. She held her breath. Villain would never hurt her; she knew that, but his proximity worried her regardless. She deserved better than to be played by two people in her life.

Leader gave out commands like she was a dog, and Villain thought he could have anything he wanted if he only gave her a few small pecks on the lips.

"You're sweet. You're...I don't know, Hero. You're asking me a question that-"

"That what? You have to think about?" Hero rolled her eyes. "Get out."

"Come on- don't be like that."

Villain's feet shuffled away and before Hero knew it, the light snapped on. She squinted to adjust.

"I'm serious, Villain. Give me one good reason not to call Leader."

Hero didn't like the way his face changed. He smiled- and it wasn't in his usual romantically suave way. His smile resembled something that made Hero regret every last word she spoke.

"I don’t suppose Leader told you about our partnership, did she?”

“You’re lying.”

Villain was still. Still in frame, still smiling, still empowered by deception.

“How long?”

He shrugged. “Long enough.”

After the faintest moment, Hero shook her head and licked her lips. “This doesn’t change anything-”

“-Doesn’t it?”

“I know how you are with your dignity. Why don’t you go ahead and excuse yourself before I have to call the agency?” Hero worried the agency was as involved with Villain as she was. If Villain was being honest, and Leader really was partnering with him…what hope did anyone have?

Witch a gentle mock-surrender, Villain said, “Alright, alright. I’ll leave. But remember, Hero”- he smiled- “I have connections everywhere. I’m not afraid to burn one puppet if I have to.”

“I’m sure.” Hero smiled sweetly back. “Tell me what you want, or I call for help. Those are your options.”

“Banquet- tomorrow, at midnight. Be dressed in something fancy by eleven. Silver accessories.”

“You think you can dictate what I-”

“If you want what happens in this bedroom to stay in this bedroom, you’ll wear silver.”

“And if you did that, I’d get to tell the world how much I had to accommodate for beneath these silky sheets.” Hero liked moments like these- when her control was shaking and she got to grip it in her fists. “Dignity, remember? I have cards to play, too.” Before Villain could make some offhanded comment, Hero continued, “Black ballgown with gold hoops, and you don’t get to complain.”

Villain huffed. This had happened many times in the past; Villain would smile coyly, only to be let down by Hero’s oppositional blackmails. “Red lipstick, at least?”

“If you buy me a corsage with red roses.”

“It’s a banquet- not an American prom.”

Hero brought her thumb and first finger together into a near pinch, then looked between her fingers at Villain. “The world won’t care that we slept together if they thought-”

“You’d be lying.”

“They wouldn’t know that.”

His huff became a sigh, became a pinched brow. “Fine. Fine, I’ll get you your dumb rose corsage.”

“And you’ll smile when you give it to me- treat me nicely.”

Without another word, Villain flicked Hero’s lamp off, and he was gone.

******

[maxlarens]

pairing(s): lando norris x driver!reader

okay haven't teased this anywhere but i needed a little warm up to get back into writing as i basically haven't written a full sentence in a week. it has felt like so much longer tbh😭 (hmm also this is a driver!reader AU? like rb driver!reader)

Lucky. Lucky.

You’re supposed to feel lucky that you’ve been accepted into this apparently exclusive boys club. That’s what people tell you (unprompted) at least. You’re supposed to be glad that Mad Max Verstappen has accepted you as one of his own. Hasn’t shunted you to the side in favour of a more experienced teammate.

You’re supposed to be glad that he’s also accepted you into his social circle. This place you were never supposed to be, that no one ever expected you to be.

And you are. You are.

Max is a good friend. Charles, Alex, George too. You’re a fairly fresh rookie, you’re a girl, and it’s nice to be accepted so readily into this space. It’s not all smooth sailing, but they’re kind, supportive, always ready to offer advice, for the most part.

It’s just—

well, Lando.

You’d not quite realised the depth of his friendship with Max. The amount of stuff he’d also be invited to. Nights out, dinners, Discord calls, late night iRacing sessions, pádel—

Always pádel,

and here’s the thing. You have to go.

It’s competitive, you’re keeping score. You’ve never ever been any good at backing down from a fight. It’s simply not an option to flake or give up entirely just because you hate Lando Norris’ guts. That would be showing weakness, that would basically be rolling over and showing your fucking belly.

You’re not weak. You’re not a coward.

So you’re here.

Knees bent, chest heaving as you try to catch your breath. Padel racket discarded on the court next to you. Lando and his Max have won. You’re tired and you’re sweaty and you’re pissed. Honestly, you’d rather not have your Max as a teammate. He sucks. Plain and simple. He’s four lanky limbs bouncing around the court with utterly no coordination. He’s too focused on the ball, so much that he forgets about the walls and the net and you. You’d taken at least two tumbles after he’d knocked into you today. No harm no foul, but you’re too competitive to be happy with him currently.

If you had to pick anyone as a teammate it would honestly have to be

Lando.

You can see his sneakers, somehow McLaren branded, in your peripheral vision. You sigh, tip your head back to look up at him, trying to stymie the scowl on your lips.

“Good game,” he holds a hand out to help you up, a tight little smirk on his face because he knows how you feel about losing.

You roll your eyes, take the hand anyway. Not bothering to wipe your hand free of sweat and letting him heave as much of your weight as possible.

“Yeah,” you bite, “Might’ve won if playing with Verstappen wasn’t like dragging dead weight.”

He lets out a laugh, rare from him when he’s around you. Looks at you, almost through his dark eyelashes, green eyes bright, reflective in the light, like he’s—

You stifle that thought before it can bloom into anything that might get away from you.

His particularly long canine pokes out from his upper lip, you watch him suppress a smile. Think for a moment about how you might not mind if one of his smiles were directed at you. You bite down on your tongue, curl a hand into a fist, your fingernails digging into your palm.

“Y’know,” he says, shoulders rolling with a kind of nervous energy, his face betraying nothing of it, “I reckon we’d be a good team. Especially against the Maxes’. We’d thrash ‘em I bet.”

You raise an eyebrow, stare at him a little dumbfounded for a little too long. So long that he opens his mouth to backtrack, to make a snide remark, something.

You shake your head, shrug, “Yeah. I guess. Might work if we didn’t hate each other.”

“Dunno,” he answers, rubbing his chin, “Might work anyway. Wouldn’t hate you so much if you made me a winner.”

You feel like something sharp hits you in the chest, leaves you a little winded. You try to let it roll off your back, hum evenly in response, “Mm, touché, Norris.”

He sends you another smirk, a punchy thing that makes you feel like your insides are on fire. Leaves you burning.

short i know! but it was just a warm up😭 hope u guys enjoyed anyway, i’ll def write more of them one day!!! rivals to lovers is delish🥰 also ugh it felt so good to write something ive been missing it