#I like to schedule my commissions a month in advance so I can try and plan ahead aaa

[saiivia]

Commissions are closed now!! I plan to reopen (with a new option) in August (for september commissions) Thank you!!

[msmk11]

Marauders Head Cannons: Jet Lag

My inspo while fighting jet lag

James Potter

- sorry, baby can’t handle jet lag at all

- he has his sleep schedule down to a science, so any straying from it is bad news

- I also don’t think he could ever sleep much on a plane cuz he’s just so big and the seats are so cramped

- 100% is either dead asleep at like 8 p.m. cuz it’s way later at home, or just lies awake for hours cuz it’s earlier at home

- if you try to keep him up, he’s probably still falling asleep, including standing up

- if he can’t sleep, he’ll go find a gym

Sirius Black

- not affected at all

- his sleep schedule is fucked as is, so he can adjust super easily

- he can also sleep anywhere

- doesn’t mind being up for hours straight to adjust to the schedule

- he’s the one keeping you awake or trying to put you to sleep

- he probably needs to see a sleep specialist

Remus Lupin

- can adjust, but doesn’t handle time change well

- it makes him more tired, cranky, restless, etc.

- travel is also really hard on his body so I think he already has some help in the sleep department

- will deny you his prescription sleep meds no matter how much you beg

- hates jet lag a lot and will complain about it frequently

- not a napper either, so he’s really screwed

Peter Pettigrew

- handles it okay

- doesn’t mind staying up even if it’s late back home or going to bed even though it’s early at home because he’ll find a way to stay entertained or fall asleep

- 100% naps all the time which does him a lot of favors

- probably sleeps the entire plane ride, even though he’ll take the worst seat so u don’t have to

- pillow for you at any time

- will get cranky though because I think Pete likes routine

Lily Evans

- handled it poorly but is too proud to admit it

- baby girl tries so so so hard to stay awake or go to bed based on the location, but she really struggles cuz she needs proper sleep

- will be fine for while until it suddenly catches up to her and then she’s a mess

- May cry or be snippy when she’s really tired

- feels bad about it after she adjusts and reluctantly apologizes to you

- anti-napper which doesn’t help either

Marlene McKinnon

- jet lag fears her

- need to stay awake? Caffeine

- need to fall asleep? Running herself ragged (literally)

- honestly too overeager to sleep much anyways so any jet lag is inconsequential

- Queen of the Power Nap- on the bus, in a cab, while you’re using the bathroom, etc.

- 100% out of commission for a few days when she gets home

Dorcas Meadowes

- jet lag also fears her

- she has perfected jet lag prevention to perfection. Probs starts sleep training herself like a month in advance

- refuses to use caffeine, melatonin, etc.

- does so much research on jet lag

- tool kit for prevention in her carry-on: sleep mask, headphones, books, etc.; makes one for you too

- never had it

Mary MacDonald

- screws her up bad

- if she can’t sleep she’s reading with her book light and if she’s exhausted she’s falling asleep at dinner

- only sleeps cuddled up to you, so she doesn’t sleep on the plane

- whiny af

- will give you kisses to apologize

- always thinks she’ll be fine but never is

Regulus Black

- honestly jet lag affects him really bad and he makes it your problem

- will bitch on the flight, if he’s tired, and if he can’t sleep

- would never step on an airplane by choice, that’s for sure

- will brood in his diary about it

- might blame you for the jet lag because the trip “was your idea”

- then he’ll feel bad about it once he recovers and lavish you in love and gifts and cuddles

[hachiibun]

A money and family-related vent kinda thing because I need to scream about it somewhere—

I'm just barely getting by money-wise rn. Like I had a little over 3 USD in my bank account and while I'm fortunate enough that I have an emergency set of vouchers for food if I really need to get it, it means I have to hold off on stuff like laundry for ages at a time — and makes traveling around the city almost impossible unless I prepare in advance.

And that's why it's so frustrating to me when my family pops in with a spontaneous "I'm visiting for a few days! Let's do something!" I love my family, but I have to try as hard as I can to conceal how bad my financial situation is so they don't— whatever. You know how families get.

And I thought that a couple weeks ago was the last of it. I had time to myself, no keeping schedules open for them, just time for me to catch up to my bills and commissions that have been waiting for so long and start earning properly again — I even paid the rent I've been missing for the past 2 months — but nope! Someone had to pop back in with a "Have an exhibit in 2 days! Hope to see you there!" It's so, so hard to say no because they have to fly here for a chance to say hello but holy shit does it take a toll on me.

And now I'm here over an hour late on the way to the event because I had a breakdown over having to scrounge around for loose change to be able to travel.

Anyway, if you've read all this — I don't really know what to say. If I owe you a drawing for a commission, I do have progress in all of them and will get to you hopefully sooner rather than later, and also thank you so very much for being patient with me.

I have a lot on my plate. I'm part of the staff for a zine too and we got caught up in a convention whose organizing team all but forced us to move our schedule up (honestly, they're making us look incompetent or worse like scammers) but hey, at least we're close to printing — which does mean more work for me. I'm a mess. Thanks for bearing with me and supporting me. Fuck, I hope I can get my shit together.

[odvunir]

physical/mental health update

quick rundown of how things have been from november til now

everything was going mostly normal until

my dad passed away very suddenly and i needed funds getting down there for his celebration of life

i converted several large donations into large commissions because i wanted to show appreciation

i ended up spending more and more on the ticket due to schedule conflicts with several people

i had a mixed time but overall i was in an unhealthy environment physically and mentally the whole time

both bus trips exhausted me. in every way imaginable. i was up 30+ hours each time and greyhound buses are genuinely the most uncomfortable cramped shit ive ever encountered in my life.

i got home and was still recovering from the stress and exhaustion when i caught covid for the first time, and was obviously unable to function or get proper rest for several days.

as soon as i started to feel better i took a small edible (fairly normal for me, im dependent on weed) and experienced an anxiety attack that mimicked a heart attack (which was what my dad passed from at 56 so i couldn't stop thinking about him and panicking more, my heart rate was 165 when the paramedics got there, my limbs were weak, i couldn't stop shaking and my chest felt like someone smeared menthol all over it)

i went to the ER and spent 20 minutes with 4 different nurses trying to get blood / IV, i was dehydrated the whole time and they wanted me to get fluids via IV (so you know.) they actually blew a vein in my hand and it still hurts

i was given temporary anti anxiety meds which for a few days actually helped me sleep

i got my period, which for me includes a LOT of pain and fatigue and mental erraticism

i woke up one night directly into an anxiety attack and had to call my boyfriend for several hours until the physical symptoms faded. this put my sleeping schedule off course

i continued to have difficulty sleeping bc i was so afraid of laying down to sleep and getting an anxiety attack that it would end up being a self fulfilling prophecy. i usually smoke a bit of weed to help me sleep - that went out the window as it also gave me massive anxiety attacks

i finally calmed down my anxiety and i have a new culprit keeping me awake - snoring. i have snored myself awake 5 times at least, just in the 6 hours i was able to sleep just now.

on top of all this, getting commissions to pay rent and bills has been more difficult than ever before and i'm terrified i'll have to ask for help or go further into debt just to be able to pay rent. an anonymous user gifted me enough money to go see a doctor about my anxiety and i still haven't gone - because i still have a couple hundred to go before i can even pay rent and bills, which all tend to hit me at the same time.

i continue to be behind on commissions because, well gestures to all of the above. which stresses me out more because i have always prided myself on delivering commissions in a timely manner and having to bump people week after week and book comms a full month and a half in advance is grating on my psyche.

so yeah

does a silly little pose

[designsfromtime]

WANT TO LEARN TO SEW YOUR OWN COSTUME?

After a decade of back-to-back commissions, I’m shifting my focus from creating costumes to teaching my techniques and walking students through step-by-step on-line courses that will be available through Teachable.com.

I’ve been working without any substantial time off since 2013! The only time off during the year I took was the month of August to participate as a cast member at the Washington Midsummer Renaissance faire each year. That’s not really a vacation ya’ll! I direct a fiber arts demonstration group so while I wasn’t sewing, I was still working as an entertainer!

While I am SOOO grateful for the success I’ve had with a full commission schedule booked out one to two years in advance, I need to free myself to travel, finish writing my historical based novels and FINALLY publish them, and sew for the passion of it again! – Hell, sew for myself and my family again because I “want to” rather than have to! Americans are notorious for taking their passion and torturing it until you end up hating what used to bring you joy. So, I’m changing that!

At 63 It’s time for me to take my 50 years of experience sewing, and my 20+ years of historical costume construction, and pay it forward to a new generation! My courses will be very detailed, with step-by-step videos, printed handouts, and a private Facebook page for my paying students. I will be able to answer questions, post videos to answer questions when necessary, and my students can post pictures of their work and support each other.

While I’m not closing down my Etsy store, I have drastically pared back my listings and will only be taking commissions for projects that inspire my creativity.

I am currently booked out to January 2025, but after that I’m closing my commission books for a year or so to concentrate on teaching and writing. Once my courses are filmed and uploaded, I will open my books again but will only take a limited number of commissions every year - or not at all if my sewing courses take off. I’m leaving my options open!

I’m hoping to have the first course available by January 2024. If you’re interested in taking my courses, I recommend following me on Facebook. I will be posting information there as well as my TicToc and Instagram. I’m not on Tumblr very often but will ‘TRY’ to keep ya’ll posted.

My first class will be a 16th century kirtle (bodice and skirt) like you see in the picture above. I will be offering my students a custom drafted pattern for their kirtle bodice at a cost of $30. The listing is available on my Etsy store. 

Other classes will include:

-        18th century stays

-        16th Century men’s doublets

-        16th century children’s clothing

-        16th century smocks

-        And more!  - - Tell me what YOU want to learn sew!

I will also be offering blackwork cuff and collars to my students, and I’m kicking around the idea of offering to embroider your fabrics for noble gowns - just the skirt facings, bodice front, sleeves and “maybe” the forepart (under skirt) - of course for a fee. Embroidery fees can be rather pricy, but I charge the industry standard of $1.00 to $1.50 per 1000 stitches. 

So, stay tuned for more information and thank you for all your support!

[yifftwiceplz]

ooc physical / mental health update

quick rundown of how things have been from november til now

everything was going mostly normal until

my dad passed away very suddenly and i needed funds getting down there for his celebration of life

i converted several large donations into large commissions because i wanted to show appreciation

i ended up spending more and more on the ticket due to schedule conflicts with several people

i had a mixed time but overall i was in an unhealthy environment physically and mentally the whole time

both bus trips exhausted me. in every way imaginable. i was up 30+ hours each time and greyhound buses are genuinely the most uncomfortable cramped shit ive ever encountered in my life.

i got home and was still recovering from the stress and exhaustion when i caught covid for the first time, and was obviously unable to function or get proper rest for several days.

as soon as i started to feel better i took a small edible (fairly normal for me, im dependent on weed) and experienced an anxiety attack that mimicked a heart attack (which was what my dad passed from at 56 so i couldn't stop thinking about him and panicking more, my heart rate was 165 when the paramedics got there, my limbs were weak, i couldn't stop shaking and my chest felt like someone smeared menthol all over it)

i went to the ER and spent 20 minutes with 4 different nurses trying to get blood / IV, i was dehydrated the whole time and they wanted me to get fluids via IV (so you know.) they actually blew a vein in my hand and it still hurts

i was given temporary anti anxiety meds which for a few days actually helped me sleep

i got my period, which for me includes a LOT of pain and fatigue and mental erraticism

i woke up one night directly into an anxiety attack and had to call my boyfriend for several hours until the physical symptoms faded. this put my sleeping schedule off course

i continued to have difficulty sleeping bc i was so afraid of laying down to sleep and getting an anxiety attack that it would end up being a self fulfilling prophecy. i usually smoke a bit of weed to help me sleep - that went out the window as it also gave me massive anxiety attacks

i finally calmed down my anxiety and i have a new culprit keeping me awake - snoring. i have snored myself awake 5 times at least, just in the 6 hours i was able to sleep just now.

on top of all this, getting commissions to pay rent and bills has been more difficult than ever before and i'm terrified i'll have to ask for help or go further into debt just to be able to pay rent. an anonymous user gifted me enough money to go see a doctor about my anxiety and i still haven't gone - because i still have a couple hundred to go before i can even pay rent and bills, which all tend to hit me at the same time.

i continue to be behind on commissions because, well gestures to all of the above. which stresses me out more because i have always prided myself on delivering commissions in a timely manner and having to bump people week after week and book comms a full month and a half in advance is grating on my psyche.

so yeah

does a silly little pose

[hecate-help-me]

Hello Tumblr

You are a Void and I like to hang out with you. Inside of you, Tumblr, there are a Gazillions of Others just like Me. Some of them are funny, some of them are geeky, some of them are poor, some are dying. You contain Multitudes. I cannot help them all, but oh, I just hope I can be... Goodness I don't know...

I don't know what I will be by the time you find this. That's because I am playing with the Schedule Feature. I'm too anxious at present to let anyone interact with my content at all. So I am scheduling it out a year in advance. I just hope I have the foresight to edit things before it's too late.

I do. In 6 months I begin doing a post and an edit every night minimum. If I do more than that that's just vacation time. For now I just want to do a post every day, scheduled out a year, for 6 months. I will put a bottle in this post underneath the read more, and you will find it out here in the Void, where you stopped to read. I will try to leave a trail of these for you to follow every day.

You are either here because you like my Art or you like my Writing, or Both. At present time of writing, I am doing extremely poorly. I am today trying to fix my sleep schedule so I have elected to spend today Streaming on Picarto and listening to Lofi on YouTube. I hope I still have the same streamer identity by the time you read this, stranger.

For now, I'm just going to stream and draw. I'll take commissions when they come and I'll do my best. I hope I can make this work. If not, I'll have to put this down and get a job somewhere else. I'd honestly prefer to do A Bottle A Day. I might include snippets of music I'm writing or poetry or something helpful from My Grimoire (basically a diary but we all know why we're here)

These Bottles might move if I find another server that appeals more to my style of content. Scheduled out, a Year in Advanced. Very Personal. Spellchecked. With a cute little bottle I drew on Stream a Year ago.

Today I'm going to stream to draw a Bottle. Shenanigans can also Ensue. Today I'm putting a Mermaid in the bottle. I'm going to give myself 2 hours to make the image as best as I can. After I stream for 2 hours I'm going to go walk the dog. The Stream is a Work in Progress at this point. Hopefully I will add more features to my streams.

Well, it was nice to write this. I hope you enjoyed this little bottle in the void.

[vampireantihero]

Happy Spring Equinox!

Hello changelings, I hope you had a fantastic week last week! Last week was a bit of a wash for me as I wound up feeling unwell most of the week, but I’m feeling better now and I have quite a schedule of things to tackle in order to hit my goals this week!

Here’s this week’s schedule:

As you can see, I set the Twitch streams up to be wildcards, because I don’t want to put pressure on myself to come up with a theme if I have other work that needs to get done. I have 17 illustrations to finish this week; that’s a lot of work to do in one week, but a lot of them are in various stages of completion. I’m hoping to be done with the artwork for the mood and composition class by the end of the day on Wednesday; we’ll see how far I get with that or if I need to add more time to my timeline.

Classes

After the mood and composition class is done, I think I may take a break from doing some of these long-form classes. I still want to teach, and I’d love to be able to continue doing them. These take a lot of work to put together, and I’m also trying to focus on updating my portfolio and improving my skills further. I’m not quite comfortable enough with my own skills yet to teach someone more advanced topics, which is why I’ve been sticking to these fundamental ideas. Don’t worry, I’ll still be doing tip videos and smaller topics! I’ll likely be talking about my decisions for my portfolio as well throughout the next several months, both as a vlog and as tips to keep in mind while you’re compiling your portfolio.

Portfolio

My portfolio currently is only a series of illustrations. Right now, I’m trying to redraw my portfolio and make a cohesive thing that shows my range of abilities, how I approach design work, and what I’m trying to accomplish with my career. I realized that I love creature design, but I rarely draw creatures. I also really enjoy architecture and landscape, so I’m building my portfolio with these focuses in mind. This is going to take me a while, and I’d like to take you all on this journey with me.

Commissions

After this week, I’ll likely be tackling my commission structure to make it easier to follow. I’ll also be adding limited commissions to my website shop in order to cut out the middle man of having to reach out to me, you’ll just need to fill out what you want for the commission and adhere to the rules that I do my work with. I’ll also be re-adding my commission terms to Ko-Fi in order to make the list more shareable. I’m hoping that this makes my commission structure less convoluted and easier to understand.

So, I’m a little brief this week, but these are the plans for the week and coming up in the 2nd quarter of the year! As always, I hope that you take care of yourselves this week. Drink your water, and do what you can. I love you all. (Friendly reminder that if you’d like this newsletter directly in your mailbox, you can sign up here.)

[marq-lynch]

Hey! So one of the promises the Biden administration has actually followed through on is prosecuting the HELL out of monopolistic and anti-competitive behaviors in mega-corporations, specifically calling out Google, Microsoft, Apple, Tickemaster, Visa, etc. They've been filing lawsuits, winning them, and blocking mergers successfully for the last couple of years, and companies are Sweating! Isn't that nice?

Anyways, it's really easy now to file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission and get it passed along to the Bureau of Competition to up the numbers in a case file anonymously on any particular company.

You just fill out This Form and they email you if they need more information, but they don't let you know if they're doing anything about it like opening an investigation.

It's two 'select option(s) questions and then a free-form space where you can write anything about any old company. I messed around with it and wrote this:

Category: Single Firm Conduct

WWE became the dominant purveyor of professional wrestling events at a 'pro' level after merging with, purchasing, or out-competing all others in the early 2000s. It operated for years as a multi-media empire monopoly, with a few small local independent wrestling companies able to emerge with the internet era, but no other American direct competitors until 2019 with the founding of AEW. WWE has maintained their control as the dominant purveyor of professional wrestling through anti-competitive tactics, including contract restrictions with exclusivity terms that severely limit competition from foreign or other wrestling promotions. A 2023 contract between the city of San Antonio and the WWE shows that no other professional wrestling performance, competitions, exhibitions, or events may scheduled, promoted, advertised, etc for a five month period including 90 days before and 60 days after any date of residency. In any traveling show / entertainment business, the lack of ability to book for 5 months out of the year is devastating. WWE also maintains multiple shows that run concurrently at different stadiums, doubling their potential coverage. This effectively prevents even a more established competitor like AEW, with a televised presence, from developing a broader and more stable fan base with in-person house shows in new cities, and from stabilizing their base in existing towns with well-planned, months-in-advance schedules like the WWE is able to provide instead of sporadic updated cities announced as available. For smaller promotions the hurdles must be even more insurmountable. Madison Square Garden has an exclusivity clause with the WWE, and in 2019 Ring of Honor / New Japan Pro-Wrestling were only able to run a single show after legal action. Madison Square is still WWE exclusive. These are just short examples of one form of market manipulation, preventing myself as a fan and a consumer from purchasing tickets to multiple events. I have personal doubts and frustrations about the fact that Ring of Honor ran events in a local smaller venue in one of my local stadiums, only to have WWE book that stadium for an event that was then cancelled. Despite the event being cancelled, no other promotion will be able to use that stadium for a five month period. I would love a full investigation into their anti-competitive practices if one is not already under way.

But I like to get wordy, it was a fun journaling exercise! It takes less than 5 minutes if you don't. You guys should bookmark the link and try it on your favorite monopolistic or anti-competitive megacorp!

Really telling info in the contract WWE had with San Antonio. We complain endlessly that we never know where AEW is going to be in the future and they are shit at marketing it - and this is why! Any area WWE goes to gets essentially locked out for half a year, which explains SO MUCH about why AEW has no real venues to market shows if they are trying to get anywhere near the same place. The cities won't even allow them to book or advertise within these "exclusivity" periods. WWE goes to a ton of places and has multiple promotions running at a time, and now we're starting to see how tough it's been for AEW to work around this absolutely absurd clause in these contracts. Jesus. This is insane.

[cubur]

Don't let me go…【part2】 I won't let you go！

Well… hi all！ Firstly, I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy out there！🙏 And secondly, as you guys know, i've been quiet for a while. I had to deal with some of my real life problems… albeit unintentionally… And it was a period that seriously hurt me emotionally. So if you remember, when I was at the beginning of everything, I posted an art about it, also mentioned that I will share the rest of that art depending on the situation. And according to this result, it would end as a good or bad ending…

So today, this problem finally came to a conclusion！

What do you see when you look at these pieces? It feels like a bit of a bad ending, right!? But it's not！Yes, the result is really the good ending one！！！I'm just happy to be back with good news after such a long wait！And guys, half of these results are thanks to you, i know！'Cause you all sent so many positive comments and wishes that things turned out well (y'know I have some superstitions like good wishes)！So I can't thank each and every one of you enough！

I really thought for a moment that I had reached the end of the road… And I don't know if I can use the right words about my feelings during this period… That's why i'm not even going to start that "feelings" part. Just… I guess I'm a little old-fashioned. I mean I can't get used to the changes easily. Ofcourse one day I'll say that I'm done！(I can't draw these two boys until i die). But I can only accept this if it is a situation under my control. And since I don't feel like saying I'm done yet, this just damaged my emotional state indescribably. Many days when I was quiet and inactive, I kept telling myself "be patient, be strong, be patient, be strong" and I didn't tell anyone how hard it was for me because didn't want to bother any of you with my *constant* emotional breakdowns. So, special thanks to the few people who didn't turn down my request for help to avoid a panic attack (they know themselves)！

Honestly, this problem is about a topic I'm uncomfortable talking about. That's why I won't talk too much about it. (But even so, I was going to tell you all what this is about, if this had ended with a bad ending. Because if i had to leave i think you guys have the right to know why…) So for now, it's just enough to know that this is about a serious legal issue. I may be just a simple fanartist that you all see here but there are some serious issues going on in my real life and can't have fun with. And it was an issue that would hinder my entire artist career, not just about my fanarts. That's why I asked all of you for help (normally i hate asking for help but…) And the bad ending one is still in my documents, but i will never share this. Because I'm still afraid of something and maybe this will cause things to go bad in the future, idk… But mmh for those who are still wondering, I can explain a little, i guess. So it was the same beginning but a different ending, something like Sasuke leaving without looking back, and he couldn't even hear Naruto's voice and what he was saying behind his back… like an unstoppable farewell…… So I still feel lucky that I didn't have to post this one！

But, after this period that I lived for almost two months, I cannot say that everything is over now… unfortunately. 'Cause from now on it seems like another period awaits me. A period when I will be much busier and not even have time to talk much… But i'm not complaining, because I can still stay around. So i haven't planned it yet but i will try to prepare a monthly schedule for myself. And nothing is finalized but for now it looks like I can only spend two weeks a month on fanarts/commissions. Sorry in advance for being less active from now on！

But HEY i'm still happy！！！

I'm happy to be able to continue what I love to do, happy to be able to stay here with you all and happy that I don't have to leave my accounts. So, endless thanks to everyone who spoke up or stayed silent but never stopped supporting me！I never asked you to do, but y'all just don't know how much strength you give me with your words and support！

Hope the future brings more fun and happiness to all of us！Let's have fun doing the things we love！And don't also forget to take care of yourself！！

(Uhm… Ok I won't be writing such long articles for a long time, don't worry, I won't have time for that ^^;！So just, thank you if you've read this far) ！

See you guys around！❤️❤️

[bucci-cookies]

Jealousy - Bruno Bucciarati x Reader

This was a commission I did a couple months ago!

If you'd like to support me, please consider leaving a donation on Ko-Fi or commissioning me👉🏿👈🏿

Wc: 13,098

Ao3 version

Enjoy!

“You should be more considerate of the weather.”

You looked up at Bruno with a raised eyebrow. He simply sighed and pointed to your legs.

“Your skirt is too short, didn’t you hear the weather forecast today?” He shot you a disappointed look as he adjusted his deep red turtleneck. “You should have at least worn some tights.” He turned back to face the street ahead.

Yeah, he was right, maybe a short tennis skirt that cut quite high above your knees wasn’t the best option for such a windy day.

The wind blew harshly, causing the leaves of the large birch trees lining the pavement to shake and rustle against each other, adding a second layer to the bustling noises of the people around you. The working day was drawing to a close, cafe chairs were being folded and packed inside while various store owners locked up for the evening. Across the street you saw a flock of people, each holding the hand of a little kid, presumably coming from some sort of extracurricular club or birthday party.

In Bruno's hand was a white bag with several little tubs of ice cream, each with a unique flavour. Some were fruity mixes of various berries, while others were more classic, sweet flavours like toffee and caramel. They were for the rest of the team as the two of you had already had your fill at the dessert shop, indulging in dark chocolate cake and thick, soft pieces of cheesecake. Once a week, you would try to get together as a group to watch a movie, have dinner, or just sit and talk and both of you were usually on dessert duty.

The wind blew once more, pulling the hem of your skirt up slightly.

“Ah, but I have a sweater on at least!” You tugged on the pastel pink woollen sweater that shielded your upper body from the cold and shot him a wide grin, to which he shook his head and smirked.

“I guess it's better than nothing.” He pinched your cheek sharply with his free hand.

“But Brunooo,” You sang as you wrapped your hands around his arm, feeling his muscles flex under his thick clothing as you held onto his biceps. “I thought you said you liked my outfit.” You pressed up against his body as you looked up at him.

“I can like your outfit and also think it's very impractical for this weather.” He patted the back of your hands, not reacting to the way you hugged his arm and pushed yourself up against him.

But what did you expect?

For years you had been trying to get his attention, but every attempt just solidified the platonic relationship between the two of you. Even with all the hints, the advances, the not-so-subtle trip to the dessert shop where you sat so close to him that the scents of your perfume and his cologne mixed; he still didn’t so much as reciprocate an inkling of what you felt towards him. He was sweet to you, of course, you talked frequently, you knew each other like the back of your hands. But he seemed to treat you no different to how he treated everyone else. That busy schedule of his didn’t make it easier, he had cancelled more plans than fulfilled recently, but you couldn’t blame him. The higher his rank in this organisation, the more was expected of him and the tighter his free time became. Across the three years that you had been affiliated with the group, Bruno was always a hard and consistent worker, something that both impressed and infatuated you.

Any normal person would give up after the first few months of failed attempts, not wanting to still keep giving their time to someone who wouldn't see them as they wish to be seen.

But you liked Bucciarati so much, too much for your own good. He was just so beautiful, so sweet, so breathtaking, like the colours of the ocean that sparkled with a tempting allure that captivated everyone, but could never be physically touched. The first day you met him, he already caught your eye. The way he carried his lean body under the open-chested suit he wore, his perfectly trimmed hair that framed his jawline. His deep blue eyes were mesmerising, though not as hypnotic as that deep voice of his or that laugh that made your heart flutter. There was a perfect blend of playful youthfulness and maturity about him, he was 28, but the smoothness of his skin and the brightness of his eyes made him look no older than 23.

A sharp flick to your forehead snapped you out of your thoughts.

“Hey?!” You exclaimed, slapping Bruno’s fingers away.

He scoffed in response and opened up the passenger door to his car. “Would you rather walk all the way back?” You realised that you had been standing in front of his car absentmindedly for the past few minutes.

You smiled awkwardly and slid into the passenger seat, taking the bag from Bruno’s hand and placing it on your lap while Bruno closed the door behind you and made his way to the driver’s side. He placed a hand on the back of your seat and looked behind you as he backed out of the parking space. The car felt smaller as his arm brushed yours and the proximity made you nervous every time he reached to change gears.

You wanted to say something…anything…maybe just tell him that you have feelings for him, now was as good a time as any. Maybe invite him out again tomorrow?

"So I heard Mista saying that there's going to be a week-long fair next week." You said, fiddling with the hem of your skirt. "Something to do with donations for the Children's hospital I think." Bruno hummed in response as he kept his eyes focused on the road ahead. "You wanna go check it out on Monday? See if there's anything cool?" You said, as nonchalantly as you could while you stared out of the window by your side, watching the kids cycling down the street.

Bruno clicked his tongue and hummed. "Ah, I’d love to…” A ‘but’ was coming . “But,” bingo “Giorno wanted me to oversee something.”

“Oh, that’s fine.” You sighed. Bruno told you he would be free this week, so this must have been a recent development. However, a big part of you already knew he would be too busy. “Maybe I’ll ask one of the others to go with me.”

The rest of the journey continued in silence as Bruno remained focused on the road while you focused on him in the corner of your eye. His large hands gripped the steering wheel as he tapped on it lightly with his index fingers. He tucked a lock of his hair behind his ear and hummed to himself absentmindedly.

Red suits him. You thought to yourself.

The deep scarlet turtleneck contrasted his cerulean eyes perfectly and brought out the tan of his skin. The thick material clung to his broad chest, curving around his defined pecs and cinching at his small waist. He shifted slightly in his seat which made it twist around his torso and reveal a mere glimpse of his abdomen in a way that made your face go warm. You looked away shyly and cleared your throat, choosing to focus on the birds flying between the trees that lined the street of your home.

It almost annoyed you how flustered he made you, especially without knowing. You were confident, articulate, beautiful, someone who knew how to grab the attention of a room with a glowing aura and a charming outfit. You weren’t a stranger to flirting or receiving compliments from other people. In fact, with the playfulness of some members of your team, it wasn’t unusual to innocently flirt back and forth with the others. But to think that one man, one excessively handsome, generous man, could make your knees weak and cause your stomach to flip inside out with so much as a hand on your shoulder, was embarrassing to you.

He pulled into your driveway, parking right by your door. You both got out of the car and made your way into your home, stopping off at the kitchen to put the slightly melted ice cream away in the freezer.

Like almost perfect timing, there were several raps on the door, the rhythm instantly letting you know it was Abbacchio. Bruno walked over to the door, swinging it open to reveal none other than the man himself.

“I brought drinks.” He raised a white plastic bag, the clear outline of a wine bottle poking through.

“Awh no cakes?” You pouted. Abbacchio always made the most amazing baked goods, they were always so light and fluffy with such sweet icing and creamy filling. They would almost melt in your mouth, especially when he paired them with a serving of warm custard or chocolate sauce.

“You know I’m not your personal baker right?” He said as he placed his shoes on the rack. “You should at least pay me for my services.” His purple lips curved into a proud smirk. Abbacchio wore a tightly fitted white shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbow, revealing the prominent veins on his forearms. The top few buttons were undone, exposing his muscular chest, while his long hair flowed just past his shoulders.

He made his way to your fridge, placing the drinks in his bag on the bottom shelf, before pouring himself a glass of whiskey from your cabinet.

“Oh sure, help yourself.” You rolled your eyes as he sat down on your kitchen island, facing you.

“You barely drink it anyways, at this point, it's just for me.” He sipped his drink and leaned back into the chair. He was technically right, the bottle (and others) had been a present from a civilian you helped a few weeks ago, as you weren’t an avid drinker of whiskey, it sat at the back of your cabinet gathering dust. Abbacchio, on the other hand, immediately jumped to open it the first time he saw it.

The room was suddenly filled with the sound of Bruno’s ringtone coming from his pocket. He looked down at the name and sighed loudly. “Please excuse me.” He walked out of the room, presumably sitting on your staircase, to answer the call.

“So…” Abbacchio turned to face you, leaning on his hand with a playful grin on his face, you groaned internally, already knowing what he was going to ask. “How was your little date with Bucciarati?” Abbacchio asked, rotating his glass in his hand, making the drink swirl around the edge.

You poured yourself a glass of water. “It wasn’t a date.”

“But you wore this?” He said, eyeing your tennis skirt as you moved to sit on the island opposite him. “In the wind? Were you hoping to seduce him with your legs?” Abbacchio teased before drinking the last of his beverage and placing the glass on a coaster.

“Shut up.” You rolled your eyes, clearly a little irritated by him bluntly pointing out your outfit, before taking a sip from your glass.

He placed both hands on the marble surface of the island and pushed himself to lean towards you. “Ooh, you did more make-up today.” He pointed at your eyes. “I like your eyeshadow, it compliments your outfit.” He laughed and sat back down on the stool. Your eyelids were a soft shade of pink that matched your sweater. Your eyes were lined neatly with bold black eyeliner and your lips were coated with a glossy layer. While it wasn’t unusual for you to have a light layer of make-up, this was a slightly flashier version of you, one that Abbacchio knew was reserved for Bucciarati’s attention.

You sighed heavily, not even bothering to play along and give an excuse or come back. Instead, you gave a brief smile and a slightly soured “thanks”.

Leone groaned and stood up, causing the stool to be pushed back with a scraping sound. “You should just tell him you like him, don’t beat around the bush.” He washed up his empty glass in the sink. “Bucciarati is too dense to know when someone’s interested in him.” He dried his hands and sat back down. “Don’t waste sex appeal on him.”

“And who are you to tell me how to deal with Bucciarati?” You snapped back, sharper than you expected, and placed a hand on your hip with a raised eyebrow.

“Okay sheesh.” He raised his hands in defence. “Didn’t mean to strike a chord.”

You let out a deep breath  “No, it's fine. Maybe I’m just not his type?” You leaned onto the island, a dejected expression on your face.

A large hand patted your head before ruffling your hair lightly. “Oh come on…everyone loves a good femme fatale. You're very attractive, you're smart, good at packing a punch." You snickered at the last comment. "I think Bucciarati is crazy for not reciprocating those feelings back."

"If you say so…" You exhaled again. "I asked him to go to the fair with me next week." 

"As a date?" Abbacchio’s voice perked up as he took his hand off your head.

You waved your hand. "He said no, he was too busy.”

“Ah, I’m sorry.” Abbacchio patted your head once more. “I would go with you, but Bucciarati asked me to help him out with some stuff tomorrow.”

You sat up properly again and smiled. “No worries, I’ll ask Mista.”

Bruno returned shortly from his call and the three of you conversed, with Bruno sitting by your side. Not long after, another set of knocks on your door was heard, this time, it was Mista.

“Hey!” Mista hugged you from the side, placing a kiss on your cheek while he held the side of your face. “We got snacks.” He lifted a large green bag stuffed to the brim with a bag of popcorn poking out of the top.

“Hey, guys.” You kissed Mista on the cheek back. “No Giorno or Fugo?” You looked around for the blondes, expecting them to come in after Mista and Narancia.

“They couldn’t make it.” Narancia took off his shoes and placed them next to Mista’s. “Giorno said something family related, came up. Fugo was helping him.”

“I see,” You locked the door behind them. “Oh, Narancia!” He turned to face you. “I got you that ice cream you like, bubblegum and mango right?” Your words were followed by a loud ‘thank you’ from the kitchen as Narancia rummaged through the fridge looking for the tub.

Once everyone was settled and the lights were dimmed, the CD was placed in the player and everyone gathered around the coffee table. Today’s pick was “Cujo”, as suggested by none other than Leone Abbacchio. The man was an avid Stephen King fan, of course, he wouldn’t waste the opportunity to show the cinematic rendition of one of his favourites.

The sounds of the family screaming as the dog barked violently outside the door flooded the room, sending chills down everyone’s spines, sucking up everyone’s attention.

“Hey, Mista?” You leaned in slightly towards the male and whispered.

His eyes remained locked on the screen as he tilted his head up slightly to listen to you. “Hm?” He asked, reaching his hand into the bowl of popcorn.

“You free tomorrow?”

His head snapped round to look at you, before pulling a puppy dog face. “Are you inviting me on a date?” He pouted, placing his hands on either side of his cheeks.

“No silly,” You scoffed and ruffled his loose brown curls. “The fair, I would rather go with someone than go alone.”

He furrowed his eyebrows and cocked his head to the side. “I thought you wanted to go with Bucciarati?” When you and Mista talked about the fair, it was under the impression that you and Bruno would go together, Mista was merely suggesting as he knew him better than you did.

“He can’t make it.” You said through gritted teeth, emphasising the “t” at the end.

“Oh…” He paused and frowned before giving you an empathetic smile and patting the back of your hand. “I’d love to go with you.” He grinned widely. “I’ll pick you up at noon?”

“Mhm!” You smiled back before leaning back into the sofa as you were before.

The movie ended but the lights remained dimmed as you talked to fill the time. The bottles of wine were exchanged between everyone as its volume quickly diminished. Jokes were shared with light giggles, playful teases, and the occasional flush of the cheeks. Narancia’s head found its way to your lap as he sat on the floor and hiccuped under the influence of what seemed to be his 100th glass. Ordinarily, the idea of your home being littered with wrappers and crumbs would drive you insane, but the relaxing aura of being with your friends, especially with the stress of your work, made you forget about the mess.

You turned to the side and noticed that Bruno’s hair was tied up in a small ponytail with two locks on either side of his face.

Ah…he’s just so cute.

His lips were pouted in a cute expression as he pressed the rim of his cup against them. He turned to face you with a wide smile, before wrapping an arm around your shoulder and pulling you in close. You steadied yourself against him with a hand on his chest. The scent of alcohol in his breath would have bothered you slightly, if not for how flustered you felt against him.

“Cara…” His deep voice hummed in your ear as he buried his face in your neck. Bruno was quite a touchy person when intoxicated, not just with you, but with everyone, but of course, you were the only one to get so worked up. “I’m very drunk, I don’t think I should drive home, can I stay here tonight?” He moved to cup your face and pressed his face against yours. “Pleaseee?” He asked with such a babyish voice.

“Of course, you can, Bruno.” You patted his back. He gave you a long kiss on the cheek before standing up and wobbling over to the sink for a glass of water.

Abbacchio left first, planning on taking the bus back home as he was the least drunk and able to make his way to the station. Narancia and Mista followed soon after, they lived together, just a couple of streets away from you and were able to walk back.

That left you and Bruno alone. Of course, he had been in your home before, and you in his, but something felt different. You stood up and began picking up the bags of snacks, throwing away the empty packets, while clipping and folding the ones that weren’t.

Bruno joined you later as he helped discard the empty bottles and cans, leaving the last full bottle on the coffee table.

“You don’t have to clean up Bruno!”

He smiled sweetly at you as he brought the glasses to the sink. “It’s the least I can do to say thanks.” He turned on the tap and began washing up the glasses while you packed up the rest of the leftover snacks.

The two of you worked quietly as whatever soap opera played in the background and filled in the gaps. Once your living room was back to being spotless, the two of you settled on either side of your L-shaped couch, light glasses of wine in hand as you cleaned up the rest of the bottle.

Bruno swirled the deep red liquid in his glass, occasionally taking a sip. His right leg lay across his form with his ankle on his left leg. His arm stretched out across the back of the couch, fingers stroking the material and occasionally rubbing it with his hand as his eyes focussed on the television screen.

For what felt like the millionth time this day, your focus lay with Bruno. His hair was still tied in the same small ponytail as before and you suspected he forgot to take it down. Just a slight change in hair made him look different, he looked cute, sweet even. It brought emphasis to his soft cheeks that had started to flush a soft shade of pink as he poured himself another glass.

“What did Giorno want you to oversee?” You said, trying to initiate a conversation before the butterflies in your stomach drove you insane.

He paused. “A couple of guys were caught selling to kids,” Bruno replied with a slight frown, his voice less chirpy than usual.

“Ah, I see.” You knew how much the drug abuse epidemic bothered Bruno, especially when it extended towards those most vulnerable, like children and people who were just scraping by. You didn’t mean to dampen his mood and you tried to turn the conversation around. “I think it's great that you care a lot about things like this, you’re a really good person.” You shot him a smile as you topped up your glass.

He let out a short breath. “You’re flattering me too much.” He looked up at you with a soft expression as his thumb grazed the rim of his glass. You released a mental sigh, thankful that you managed to pull up the conversation before it spiralled into an awkward moment.

“I’m just being honest.”

He placed his glass on the coffee table and leaned towards you. “Well, you’re a better person than I am.”

“What do you mean?” You tilted your head to the side.

He nodded with a wide smile. “You care a lot about other people, especially the people in our team. It’s nice that you also remember people’s interests a lot.” He remembered how you specifically chose flavours that everyone on the team liked. “I like that you have a big heart. It also means that you stand firm when people cross boundaries.” He looked down and played with his fingers. “You know how to make your presence take over a room and get others to listen to you.” He recalled how even the way you carried yourself, your walk, your expressions, could gather the attention of even the rowdiest people. “You’re confident in yourself and what you believe in, I think that’s very admirable.”

These words flowed out of Bruno’s mouth smoothly and naturally, as if it was nothing, but they had such an impact on you that you could feel them in the depths of your chest. 

Of course, you would expect him to say something nice, you had been friends for years, but the idea of Bruno analysing and pointing out these specific sides of you was on a whole different level. Receiving such a spread of praise from someone as wonderfully put-together and admired as Bruno Bucciarati felt like the highest honour.

But a tiny part of you was hurt, upset at the fact that Bruno saw you in such a way and didn’t have feelings for you. Almost like it proved that despite how much you tried, Bruno may never have a romantic interest in you. He wasn’t misinterpreting you, nor was he viewing you just from the surface, he knew how you wanted to be seen, but that wasn’t what he was attracted to. 

“And you say that I’m flattering you?” You scoffed as you felt your cheeks heat up and your stomach twist even more.

“I’m just being honest.” He gave a teasing smile as he mimicked your earlier phrase. He took a final swig from his glass and placed it back on the table. “Did Mista say he’ll take you to the fair?”

“Yeah, he did, though I’m sure the free doughnuts tomorrow are what’s making him go.”

The corners of his lips turned upward before flattening into a frown. “I felt bad about not going with you.” He exhaled.

“You shouldn’t, you’re just busy.”

“Well, I’m always busy…Does it not bother you sometimes that I have to cancel plans a lot?” Bruno leaned towards you.

“No.” You said earnestly. “You have duties to fulfil and those should come first.” You exchanged an understanding nod between the two of you.

Bruno looked up at the clock above your TV, realising it was already past 3 am.

“I should head to bed.” He stood up and stretched, making the bottom of his turtleneck ride up his body slightly. You nodded in agreement, before standing up and making your way to the kitchen to wash your glasses and dispose of the empty bottle. You switched off all the lights and made your way upstairs together before bidding each other goodnight.

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

You stirred your coffee idly, mixing in the two sugar cubes you added, as today’s weather report was read on the radio. Thankfully it was expected to be a relatively warm, sunny day, perfect for the summer dress you wore. It was a simple white dress with tiny black polka dots and puffed sleeves. The front was cut a little low, giving space for the pearl necklace you wore and you paired the dress with a pair of black platforms and a small purse.

“Good morning,” Bruno whispered as he walked into the kitchen, rubbing his head slightly.

“Morning!” You pointed to the coffee machine. “Care for a drink?”

He shook his head and sat by the island. “I’ll have one when I go home, thank you.” He looked up at you as you drank from your mug. “You look lovely by the way.”

You paused with the mug up to your mouth, slightly shocked by his sudden compliment. “Thank you.” You put your mug down and smoothed the sides of your dress.

“You have a very exquisite taste, your clothing and colour palettes always fit you so well.” He beamed, his eyes not leaving yours.

“Bruno…” You placed your hands on your cheeks. “You know, you can be a tease sometimes.” You waved a hand at him and resumed drinking your coffee.

“A tease?” Bruno tilted his head to the side and raised an eyebrow. “Is it teasing to compliment someone for being glamorous?” He chuckled, pushing the seat back and standing up. It was times like this that you felt like Bruno just gave you mixed feelings, his words dangerously trod the line between playful flirting/compliments and genuine attraction. 

“I need to head home now, so I’m not late.” You didn’t notice when he walked over to stand beside you. “Thank you for letting me stay,” He kissed the back of your hand and cupped the side of your face.

“It’s no problem, what are friends for?” You smiled back at him.

With a wave at the door, he was off.

A heavy sigh escaped your lips as you slumped onto one of the island chairs, the feeling of Bruno’s lips lingering on the back of your hand as you tried to finish your coffee. Once the white mug was empty, you walked over to the sink and washed it up.

The sudden loud honking of Mista’s car horn startled you slightly, making you jerk and drop the mug in the sink. You cursed out loud as the water splashed on your dress.

“Hey, beautiful!” Mista shot you a toothy grin as you walked towards his car.

You slid into the sleek black vehicle, taking in the overpowering scent of his cologne. “Beautiful?” You raised an eyebrow quizzically as you put on your seatbelt.  “Since when were you so polite?” You and Mista’s relationship was built on anything but pleasantries like that, while he had joked around and called you things like “hot” or “smoking”, something as innocent as the word “beautiful” felt suspicious.

“This is how I am to all the girls,” He said with a proud tone as he pulled out of the parking space. “You should have faith in me.”

You pouted and put on a fake sad voice. “Oh, so I’m just like one of your other girls Mista?” You placed a hand on your chest and looked at him with puppy eyes. “And here I thought I was special.” The dramatic tilt of your head with the back of your hand on your forehead made him smirk.

“No no bella, you’re very special.” He pinched your cheek harshly with no regard for your pain. “You’re one of my favourite people.” He patted your cheek before returning his hand to the steering wheel.

“So does that mean I get to see what Guido Mista is like on a fake date?” You tapped your bottom lip.

“Maybe,” He turned to face you as he stopped at the red traffic light. “But I don't want you to fall in love with me. It might make it hard to work together, my charisma is too strong.” He patted your thigh and gave you an apologetic look. In as much as you were playing around, Mista genuinely wanted you to enjoy today as much as you could as he knew how badly you wanted to go with Bucciarati.

“Ha!” You snickered. “We’ll see about that.” You leaned back into the seat and watched the street pass by as Mista drove towards the coast where the fair was set.

The wind blew a little as you stepped out of the car. Mista held your hand in his, clearly going through with the idea of a fake date, and led you towards the entrance.

The sound of kids running around, enjoying the first day of summer as they pushed and tugged each other and ran from one attraction to another. Behind each set of children was a group of adults, hands full with various snacks, drinks and toys for the kids.

Mista pulled you over to a massive ride that swung the riders in circles on swings. It was currently in motion, causing the sound of screaming kids to spread through the air as it began to tilt side to side. “We have to go on this!” Mista shook your shoulders violently, more energetic than the kids around you.

You laughed at his enthusiasm and nodded in agreement. Once the current cycle was over, you rushed to get seats next to each other, close to the edge. Your hair blew in the wind as you spun around, the height of the ride giving you a view of the entire fair. Mista, on the other hand, was screaming throughout with a massive grin on his face.

You went on that ride 3 more times before Mista had enough and pulled you towards another ride, and another, and another. Somewhere during the House of Mirrors, you grew tired of walking around and latched onto Mista’s arm.

“Let’s get something to eat.”

Hand in hand, you walked through the various food stalls before settling on a food truck selling takeaway kebabs. You took a seat on one of the benches overlooking the sea as you ate side by side.

“I think I should give up on Bruno.” You sighed, picking at the salad in the box.

“Why?”

“I don’t think he likes me, or that he will anytime soon.” You took a sip of your drink. “I can’t keep getting hung up on him. But it's so annoying because I really do like him, he’s amazing.”

You found yourself venting to Mista, explaining all your feelings towards Bruno and how he acts in response. Mista sat quietly and listened to everything you said, occasionally nodding or giving a short response to let you know he was paying attention. Before you knew it, you had gotten everything off your chest.

“Urgh I’m sorry, you didn’t need to hear all of that.” You groaned, embarrassed by what you said.

“Don’t be.” He patted your back and hugged you. “I’m not that good with things like this, but I know that anyone would be lucky to have you, and even IF Bucciarati isn’t interested, maybe it's for the better. There are so many people out there and you never know your options unless you look for them. You are one of my dearest friends, the last thing I would want is for you to beat yourself up over this.” He cupped your face. “You can hang out with me, call me, text me whenever, I’ll always be free for you.”

“Mista…” You hugged him tightly. “When did you get so mature with words?” You mumbled into his shoulder. Mista was known for being nonchalant and high-spirited, you rarely saw this calmer, more mature side of him.

“Hey hey, don’t tell me you’re already in love with me, I warned you!” He teased and poked your back.

“Shut up.” You rolled your eyes. You looked at your phone and saw that it was almost closing time for today. The brightness of the summer evening had masked how late it actually was. You looked around and saw that the area was almost empty and stalls had begun to close.

“We should get going.” Mista nudged you and stood up. “Actually, I have one thing I want to do.” He took you to a stall with bows and arrows and a row of targets along the back wall.

“ € 2.50 to play. Hit a target, pick a prize.” The owner stated, handing Mista a bow and arrow. “Three tries.”

To the shock of the owner, Mista not only hit the target three times, but one of his arrows managed to shoot right through the other. The owner’s jaw dropped as he watched Mista pick out three items from the stall, a stuffed octopus, a goldfish and a toy boat. He handed the octopus to you with a bow, to which you graciously accepted with a kiss on his cheek.

“Who’s the goldfish for?” You asked as you walked to the car.

“Been thinking about getting a pet.” He handed it to you as you got into the car. “Relax, I’ll take care of it, I’ll get it a nice tank and everything.”

“And the toy boat?”

“That’s just for the bath.”

You both laughed as Mista pulled out of the car park and drove you back home. You pressed your head against the window, reminiscing on today’s adventure. Excluding the talk with Mista, you hadn’t thought about Bruno all day…it felt… nice . Mista was a sweet person to you, you had been good friends for over a year, but something about today felt different, a good type of different. A feeling that you wanted to experience more of.

Mista took you to the market again the next day, and the next, each more fun-filled than the previous. Mista was good at getting you to relax and enjoy the day, washing your mind clean of stress and worry. The two of you had developed a routine. Thursday evenings were your trips to Rhode Island Coffee, a quaint cafe not far from Mista’s home, while Friday afternoons were for brunch at a large bed and breakfast with a surprisingly high-quality buffet for a very low price.

You and Mista had always been friends, he was the first person you met on the team, even before Bruno. He helped you loosen up, and you helped him calm down, perfectly complementing each other in the middle. But you felt like you were getting to know each other all over again, especially now that you found yourself with Bruno less and less.

Everyone had noticed that your time was slowly shifting from Bruno to Mista, but no one thought much of it.

Well,

Everyone but Bruno.

He laid on his back in bed, staring at his phone, the lack of activity making him frown.

She hasn’t said anything to me.

He thought to himself. Not just today, but in days . Usually, the two of you would talk every day, small talk at the minimum, but he hadn’t received as much as a “hi” from you. It left an uncomfortable taste in his mouth and a sort of discomfort he couldn’t pinpoint.

It wasn’t just the texting, it was everything. You would no longer hold onto his arm when you walked together, you stopped sitting next to him in Libeccio (now choosing to sit between Mista and Narancia). You never really seemed to want to hang around him, as much as you did with Mista. Of course, you weren’t Bruno’s pet, you had no obligation to be by his side 24/7, but the less you were around, the more Bruno realised how much of his routine consisted of you.

It felt like he was losing you and he didn’t know why.

Though it's normal to feel sad if two people drift apart isn’t it? He was getting worked up over nothing, this was natural.

She must be busy, she must be working on something.

He reassured himself, standing up from his bed and putting his phone aside. In fact, why was he waiting for you to message him, he should say something first. He was free today, all day, maybe you could visit that dessert place you liked again?

Hey, would you like to visit Brambilla’s today?

One minute passed, two, ten. No response.

His eyebrows furrowed, your profile said you were online. Maybe you left your phone online? 

Or maybe you were just ignoring him, too busy having fun with Mista.

No, no.

Bruno shook his head, confused as to why Mista came into his mind. You were friends, you wouldn’t ignore each other out of the blue, he would hope that you would feel comfortable talking to him if you were going through a stressful time.

He locked his phone and attempted to continue with his day, helping himself to a nice lunch downstairs. His phone rang, just as he put a forkful of carbonara in his mouth, immediately he scrambled for the device and checked the name.

Oh.

It was Mista.

“Hey, Bucciarati!” He chirped in a completely different mood compared to Bruno.

“Mista…” Bruno felt a weird twinge in his side while talking to him, he ignored it and swallowed his food. “Can I help you?”

“Just wondering if you’re coming out tonight.”

“Tonight?”

The sound of Mista’s bed creaking was heard in the background. “Mhm…that club that guy…what was his name again?” Mista rubbed his chin and hummed.

“Puddu?”

“Yes, Puddu!” Mista exclaimed. “He invited us to that club, the VIP section.”

Clubs weren’t Bruno’s scene, he didn’t like the eardrum-bursting, migraine-inducing music, or the waves of drunk people cutting off the air and humidifying it with sweat. He was about to decline the offer until Mista spoke up.

“Y/n is so excited, it's cute.” He laughed. “She’s been dying for an opportunity to enjoy a VIP lounge.”

Bruno paused when Mista called you cute…it felt weird, it rubbed him the wrong way.

“So she’s going?”

“Yep, planned an outfit a week ago.”

“I’ll come too, just text me the time and address.”

“Sweet, see you later!” Mista said in a cheery tone.

Bruno hung up without a response and scratched the back of his head. There was an unusual…almost burning feeling, just below his chest that made him squirm in his seat. Maybe it was the regret of agreeing to go to the club.

Why did he even agree? Maybe because they would be in a separate VIP section? Away from the large crowds and in an area more enjoyable?

He shrugged his shoulders and accepted his fate as he tucked back into his food.

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

Evening rolled by, as did the event Bruno dreaded. He could just say no, change his mind and stay inside. But something in his heart told him he had to go.

Mista had sent the address and Bruno was already on his way. As it was summer, the streets were more crowded than usual, even for a Friday night, as more people decided to indulge in more late-night…activities.

The building was quite large and modern looking, sticking out in the modest neighbourhood. By the entrance was a large crowd, filled with various people dressed in a range of clothes, from casual clothing to more seductive outfits. Among the crowd were a few people donning high-end designer items, stepping out of luxury cars. Bruno assumed they too were guests invited by Puddu, the man was trying to rub shoulders with as many influential and powerful people as he could after all.

“Ah Bucciarati, right this way.” A woman in a low cut, sparkling dress held his arm, guiding him towards a room on the second floor. He noticed that this floor had its own bar and mingling space, smaller than the general area downstairs. She opened it to reveal the rest of his teammates sitting around a round table, small plates scattered across it. This room had its own stereo system set up, at least he wouldn’t have to listen to the trashy music being played downstairs.

“Surprised you came.” Abbacchio nodded at him, pointing towards an empty chair next to him.

“Well, I might as well see what he has to offer.” Bruno accepted the seat and looked at the drinks menu in front of him.

He scanned the list of cocktails, thumb pressed against his lips as he pondered what to order. He didn’t even notice the presence next to him.

“Narancia…how many of those have you had already?” You said softly, your voice catching Bruno’s attention. He looked up and saw you standing right next to him, leaning on the table slightly with one hand.

You wore a silk dress that hugged your body tightly, cutting low on your chest and held up with thin straps. The hot pink paired perfectly with your skin tone and eyeshadow. Your neck was adorned with a gorgeous gold necklace, and your wrists with matching bracelets. There was a certain allure about you, something he couldn’t quite put his finger on. Maybe it had to do with how he hadn’t properly seen nor spoken to you in a while. Bruno’s face turned a warm shade of pink as he realised that your cleavage was clearly in his view from this angle.

Bruno didn’t know what it was, but you looked different, there was something new about you.

It wasn’t unusual for you to dress in a way that caught everyone’s attention, nor was this the first time you wore anything revealing, but something about what you wore today made his throat close slightly as he tugged on the collar of his shirt.

“I haven’t had that many!” Narancia slurred, waving his hands in the air.

“When you’re able to separate your words, I’ll believe you.” You shook your head. You sat down next to Bruno, the only other spare seat. Bruno was about to turn and say something to you before Mista cut him off.

“Where’s the guy you were talking to? Did you leave him at the bar to wallow?” Mista leaned into you. Your conversation was unheard by everyone else as the music covered up any dialogue.

Everyone except Bruno that is.

“He’s charming…but I don’t know…he’s rubbing me the wrong way.” You folded your arms over your chest as you recalled the man that came up to you while you sat at the bar. He appeared slightly older than you, long black hair tied back, dark eyes, muscular build. He bought you a drink and took a seat next to you, revealing that he too was part of the organisation. You were usually quite good at spotting another person’s intentions just by looking at them, you explained to Mista that the look in his eyes made you feel unsettled, like he was hiding something from you behind that charismatic presentation. “But anyway, he went to the bathroom.”

Bruno felt that burning sensation in his body again, this time it spread up into his chest and neck, making his leg bounce under the table.

“Oh well.” Mista draped an arm across your shoulders and pulled you close. “Plenty more fish in the sea, might as well enjoy yourself.” He stood up and held out a hand to you. “Let’s go dance!”

You took Mista’s hand without hesitation, letting him lead you out of the room.

Bruno didn’t notice how much he was staring as you left until Abbacchio slapped his back.

“Jealous much?” The older male scoffed before eating the piece of scallop on his fork.

“What do you mean?”

Abbacchio huffed and turned back to his plate. “No one stares at someone like that, with such an expression unless they’re jealous.” Bruno didn’t answer, instead, he poured himself a glass of water as Abbacchio kept talking. “Y/n this, y/n that.” The older male sighed. “Oh she hasn’t messaged me, she hasn’t spoken to me, she’s always with Mista, has she said anything about me to you?” Abbacchio mocked Bruno’s voice, much to his dislike. “Go tell her you like her.”

“I said I’m not jealous.” Bruno pushed back his seat loudly and stood up, an angered expression on his face as he exited the room.

“Bucciarati, I was only playing!” Abbacchio yelled back.

Well only partially playing. Abbacchio had known Bruno for 7 years, he could read Bruno’s expression like a book.

The private bar was busier now, more people gathered, ordering drinks and mingling. Bruno managed to squeeze himself onto a chair and ordered a drink from the bartender, trying to wash the sour taste Abbacchio’s words left in his mouth. 

“Mista don’t!” Your laugh caught Bruno’s attention, just down the table, blocked slightly by the crowd of people, you were sitting next to Mista, grinning at whatever he said to you. His arm was draped once more over your shoulders, while his free hand held a dry glass with ice cubes in it.

Something in Bruno’s mind wanted to know what you were talking about. What was so funny that you had to give Mista that starry-eyed look you usually gave Bruno?

You rest your head on Mista’s shoulder, ordering a drink while you hugged his waist.

Bruno looked away, clicking his tongue. It dawned on him that this was probably the first time in a long time you had been at an event like this and the two of you had been separated. Normally, you would be sitting next to Bruno, arm in arm while you talked, making even an unbearable situation feel more hospitable.

“I’ll be right back!” Bruno heard Mista’s voice and turned towards you, watching him leave down a hallway. Without thinking, Bruno walked over to you, taking Mista’s seat.

“Oh hey…” You smiled, a little confused as to when Bruno appeared by your side.

“Hey.” He beamed, an expression that would usually leave you flustered and embarrassed. But this time it didn’t, the lack of time you spent around Bruno made it better to deal with your feelings towards him. You simply turned back to your drink and took a sip.

“I sent you a message this morning….but um…no reply.” Bruno cringed heavily on the inside, mentally face-palming himself. It made him sound so petty and needy to bring it up.

“You did?” You checked your phone, he was right. There was an unopened message from him. “Ah, I’m sorry, Mista and I were-”

“I get it.” Bruno cut you off and cleared his throat. “No problem.” The burning came back again, this time he could feel it in the tips of his fingers as he stared down at you. Was he angry with you? Upset? He couldn’t tell, nor could he fathom why he felt that way.

It was probably something in his drink.

Yes, of course. The drink. Bruno had ordered something called a “Poison Dart”, not knowing the ingredients.

Well, at least the name was fitting.

You were taken aback slightly by Bruno’s sharp response, the tone rubbing you the wrong way even though he maintained his usual outward composure.

“So you and Mista…” Bruno swirled his drink in his glass. “You guys seem really close.”

Your eyes lit up, making Bruno grit his teeth. “Yep! I’ve known him for so long, but it's nice getting to know him better. I think I understand why Narancia likes living with him so much!” You snickered.

“That’s…nice,” Bruno mumbled behind his glass, setting it down rather loudly on the bar table. “Though it seems that we haven’t had a chance to hang out in a while.” He tried to play it off as a light-hearted comment, but he could feel an unintentional weight to his words.

He should probably get rid of this drink.

“Yeah, I guess we haven’t.” You sighed, running your index finger around the rim of your glass. You weren’t ignoring Bruno, not at all, but after your conversation with Mista at the fair a few weeks back, you felt like you couldn’t force yourself to catch his eye anymore. While your feelings towards Bruno were still strong, it wasn’t fair to continue this one-sided charade.

You hoped that if he did have feelings for you, he would make them a little more obvious.

“Maybe we should-”

“Oh hey, Bucciarati!” Bruno looked up to see Mista standing behind you, placing his hands on your shoulders.

“Hey.” Bruno’s eyes remained locked on Mista’s hands, how they stroked your bare skin and how you didn’t so much as flinch under his touch. “I’ll leave you two be.”

“You’re leaving? At least stay and have a couple more drinks.” Mista tugged the sleeve of Bruno’s shirt. He would have left if he didn’t notice you looking up at him.

Maybe he should stay, after all, he was complaining about not being able to see you.

He sat back down and ordered another drink, making sure to avoid the Poison Dart and anything that appeared similar.

“I got tickets to that horror movie by the way.” Mista resumed his seat next to you, gathering your attention once more. “Previews!”

You grabbed his shoulders enthusiastically, making Bruno squeeze his glass. “Mista, how did you get these?!” Bruno raised an eyebrow, he never knew you liked those types of movies, you had never once shown any interest in them around him.

But somehow Mista knew all about you, knew everything about what you liked all of a sudden.

Suddenly Mista’s the one you like to share things with.

“Had to pull some strings, but it was worth it!” Mista’s words snapped Bruno out of his thoughts. He looked up to see the proud expression spread across his face. “I got them for everyone.”

“Ah but…” You turned to look at Bruno briefly before looking back at Mista. “Bruno doesn’t like horror fi-”

“No, I do!” Once more without thinking, Bruno cut you off.  “I do like them!” He cleared his throat and sunk into his drink. He squirmed internally, realising he knew barely anything about the genre.

“Oh?” You looked back round at Bruno, tilting your head to the side. “You always told me you hated them, that they were all so unrealistic and had too much convenient plot armour.”

Ah shit.

Bruno nearly choked on his drink.

“That was before…I like them now!” He gave a wide smile, hoping, no, BEGGING for no further questions.

“Fair enough.” Mista shrugged before poking your cheek. “I’ve been making y/n watch all my favourites, I guess they’re rubbing off on her a little. You should come along then.” Mista returned the expression to him.

Though Bruno wasn’t looking at Mista…rather he was looking at how your fingers laced through Mista’s brown curls.

Bruno never liked people touching his hair, though, for some reason, it never bothered him when you did it.

The conversation faded into the back of Bruno’s mind as he watched the two of you engrossed in whatever movie you talked about. Mista said something to you that made you giggle and lightly slap his shoulder. He could tell from here that you were tipsy, not too much, but enough to make you more exuberant.

Ordinarily, this would be when Bruno would hold you up and take you home, letting you rest on his arm and lie in the back of his car as he drove you home. You would tug on his clothes and slur on every other word, in a way he thought was somewhat…endearing.

“Brunoooo.”

“Yes y/n.” Bruno smiled, moving you towards your bed.

You grabbed the collar of his shirt, almost pulling him on top of you. “Yourereallypretty.” Your words rolled as one, making Bruno laugh.

“Well thank you, you’re very pretty too.” He pulled your hands off his clothes and kissed your knuckles. “But you should get some sleep now, you’ve had way too much to drink.” He ruffled your hair and tucked you into bed before leaving.

The memory brought a warmth that spread across his chest, a familiar fondness that made his lips curve upwards.

Too bad that warmth was quickly replaced with a numbing cold that spread to his head as he looked once more at you and Mista.

He didn’t like how closely Mista sat next to you or how focused you were on him. In his gut, he wanted to join in the conversation, say something so you could finally pry your eyes away from Mista. But he had absolutely no idea what he could possibly say.

Abbacchio’s earlier words returned to his mind, this time with a bitter taste.

He wasn’t jealous, absolutely no way. He wasn’t a teenager anymore, he wouldn’t be so petty over jealousy.

To Mista of all people, absolutely not.

As he said, he just felt a little off because he hadn’t seen or spoken to you in a while. You were both adults, he was 28, you 26 (the same age as Mista - though that didn’t matter), you were allowed to live your own life, as was he.

Did he particularly like the fact that you hadn’t been around each other as much? No.

Did he like the fact that Mista seemed to be everywhere like a leech? No.

But did that mean that Bruno had suddenly become jealous and had romantic feelings towards you? Definitely not.

Bruno dropped his glass with a loud bang on the table, you didn’t notice, not that he was trying to make you. He left silently for the bathroom, swatting out the guys smoking there. He turned the tap to cold and splashed water on his face, trying to get his head together. His brain was causing him confusion over nothing.

He rubbed his cheek slowly, fingers digging into his skin as water dripped onto his shirt. After a long, heavy sigh, left the bathroom, making his way back to the bar.

“Mista…”

The music was loud, but Bruno could still make out your voice, though softer than usual, and of course, you were whispering Mista’s name. He clenched his fists, and walked into the bar, stopping in his tracks when he saw you and Mista.

Mista’s hands were on you, one on your thigh, the other cupping your face, while both of yours were on his chest. But that wasn’t what caught Bruno’s eye.

No, what caught Bruno’s eye was your lips, your plush lips were pressed against Mista’s. Somehow in the few minutes Bruno took to clear his head in the bathrooms, you and Mista had started making out.

Bruno didn’t know what he felt, or how he should. It was a sting to his chest, the kind of sensation one would get from a stinging nettle. He didn’t say anything, and neither did he watch the two of you anymore. He silently walked past you and made his way back to the private room, only Abbacchio was there now.

“Bucciarati!” Abbacchio waved him over as he slumped over the table. Bruno pulled up a seat next to him and immediately Abbacchio poured him a drink of whatever it was he had been drinking.

“No, I think I’ve had more than enough to drink today,” Bruno said with a bitter tone through gritted teeth.

The tone didn’t go unnoticed by Abbacchio. “Have you accepted that you were in fact jealous?”

“No, because there is nothing to accept.” Bruno contradicted his word and chugged the glass in front of him. “I don’t know where you get these silly ideas from, you’re 29, not 19.”

“Ouch, no need to bring up my age.” Abbacchio placed a hand on his chest in a dramatic display of hurt making Bruno roll his eyes. “Besides, this has nothing to do with age.” Abbacchio picked up a piece of garlic bread from the centre table. “It’s to do with you being all mopey because y/n spends all her time with Mista and not you and now you’re regretting not saying anything sooner.”

“That’s absurd.”

“But is it a lie?”

Bruno paused and clicked his tongue before scoffing. “Whatever happened to two people just appreciating each other platonically? Everything has to be labelled as romantic.”

“Oh, there’s nothing wrong with close platonic relationships.” The older male shrugged as he leaned into his seat. “But that isn’t really what’s happening though is it?”

“I think you’ve had too much to drink.” Bruno stood up, pulling Abbacchio’s arm simultaneously and dragging him out of the room. He made sure to not look towards the bar, in case you and Mista were still there.

“Hey look, y/n is a very beautiful woman, and the two of you are very close, there’s nothing wrong with having feelings here and there.”

Bruno completely ignored him as he waved down a taxi, neither of them was sober enough to drive all the way home.

The pair sat at the back, keeping the barrier between them and the driver up and the windows rolled down.

Abbacchio made it his personal goal to ensure Bruno accepted his jealousy towards you and Mista, hoping to play matchmaker and finally get the two of you together. He was well aware that you and Mista were platonic, but it was fun watching Bruno squirm and try to keep his cool.

He figured out Bruno’s true feelings just a week ago when Bruno complained yet again about you being with Mista. Everyone had gathered at a restaurant for dinner and when it was time to leave, you found out that your car had a fault and would need to be fixed the next day, meaning you couldn’t get home. When Bruno realised this, he jumped to your aid, offering to drive you home, but you told him that you were going to leave with Mista.

Now that was purely coincidental, Mista happened to approach you first. But Bruno didn’t know that, to him, you had chosen Mista over him.

He stared at you the whole time, watching you converse with Mista and get into his car, disappearing into the dark streets, with that pensive look on his face. From then, Abbacchio noticed more and more things about Bruno’s demeanour towards you and Mista.

Like how he had a scowl every time you hung out with Mista, and the irritated look on his face every time his name was brought up. Or the way Bruno’s eyes lit up when it was just the two of you together, his hands itching to hold yours and how he started copying Mista by giving you kisses on your forehead and cheek instead of the hand.

Bruno most definitely had feelings towards you, but Abbacchio couldn’t tell if he was being stubborn, or just plain dense.

Though the irritation on Bruno’s face from Abbacchio’s comments implied the former.

It would have been a lot easier if Abbacchio told Bruno that you had feelings for him and not Mista. But a. it wasn’t Abbacchio’s place to tell Bruno that and b. Bruno should be able to understand his own feelings by himself.

The taxi pulled up in front of Bruno’s home, but before he could leave, Abbacchio tugged on his arm. “If you want to keep lying to yourself, no sweat, but don’t complain if she and Mista get in a relationship.”

That ought to do it!

Bruno stood in his driveway, his back facing the taxi as it continued its route to Abbacchio’s home, and his fists clenched tightly. First, he sees you and Mista kiss and now Abbacchio plants the idea of you and Mista in a relationship in his head.

He sighed heavily, dragging his feet into his home and up to his bedroom. He lay defeated on the covers, too tired to take a shower or change. He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and pulled it out, the bright light blurred his eyes before focussing on the caller ID.

It was you.

Bruno answered without hesitation, putting his phone to his ear.

“Bruno!” You sounded relieved.

“Yes y/n?” He cleared his throat and answered.

“Ah I was worried, you left without saying anything, you’re okay right?”

He smiled to himself. You were worried about him? It made his lips curve into a wide smile. “I’m fine bella, Abbacchio and I took a taxi home.”

“Ah okay!” You exhaled loudly. “I’m glad you got home safe, sleep well Bruno.”

“You too.”

You hung up and he dropped his phone on his bed.

His head felt slightly clearer now as he pushed himself off his bed and changed his clothes. He found a cosy black sweater stuffed in the back of his wardrobe and tucked himself into his sheets.

Despite the comfortable sheets around him, Bruno lay awake in bed that night against his will. His mind was clouded by the conversation he had with Abbacchio.

He’s crazy

He thought to himself, turning over under the sheets.

He didn’t have feelings for you, you were his friend! You had known him for years, it was natural to want to be around each other.

You were friend material! You were nice to him, fun to talk to, adorable.

Adorable?

Well, that’s a harmless compliment, nothing wrong with being adorable. There are a lot of normal things that are adorable, animals, babies, clothes, it didn’t mean anything.

Bruno just thought you were cute, sweet, pretty, that’s all. Friends see the good in other friends, no?

You were stylish, confident, polite, all just admirable attributes. Nothing to do with feelings.

Yes, you had a lovely laugh that made Bruno smile, and there was a way you held his arm that made him feel calm and stable.

His mind drifted to the time he spent the night in your house, how generous you were for letting him stay with no sign of grudge or inconvenience, your generosity and hospitality towards the people you cared for was something Bruno noticed about you. It was then that he realised that it hurt him a little when you said you didn’t mind that he cancelled plans. It seemed that a part of him wanted you to care, wanted you to miss him, wanted you to enjoy his presence.

Ah, shit.

He pulled a pillow over his head in shame.

Abbacchio was right.

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

“Y/n this is amazing!” Narancia shouted, stuffing his mouth with a large forkful of cake.

“Really?” You smiled, a toothy grin lined with red lipstick. You gave a relieved sigh as you cut yourself a slice of cake. “I was so worried I added too much sugar.”

It was Giorno’s birthday, and while it was expected that the young Don of such a large organisation would throw a lavish party, he instead wanted something quiet, a day with friends having good food and pleasant conversation.

Part of your gift to Giorno, alongside a set of luxury, handwoven, silk neckties, was his birthday cake. He kept telling you not to make anything fancy, you of course ignored that and applied all the baking lessons Abbacchio had offered you to create an extravagant 3 tier cake covered in sky blue and lavender icing, decorated with edible gold balls and flowers. On the very top was the number “23” in large gold writing.

“No no, it's just perfect!” Giorno smiled, a pink blush on his cheeks as you pinched them. “But you really didn’t have to do this.”

You pouted and took your seat next to him. “Anything for you Giorno.”

Bruno sat opposite you that day, squirming in his seat because every time he looked at you he felt his cheeks flush.

Recognising his feelings for you should have made things easier, but instead, it just meant he got flustered anytime you were around him. He would trip over his tongue, his voice would crack, his palms would get sweaty and he would overthink any interaction with you. Having you sit directly opposite him, wedged between Giorno and Mista, wearing that fitted, long-sleeved black shirt and that short plaid skirt made him want to stare at you longer. Your jewellery was subtle, pulling more focus to your outfit itself and the way your hair was styled.

Bruno felt a nudge in his side, he looked over to see Abbacchio giving him a sly smirk.

“Don’t.” Bruno mumbled, bringing his glass to his lips.

Abbacchio snickered, stirring his glass of tea. “Well, I’m glad you’ve finally accepted it.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “So when are you telling her?”

“I…” Bruno hadn’t thought about that, telling you his feelings. “I don’t know.”

“Well do it soon, don’t let Mista steal your thunder.” He said in a sing-song voice.

“Guido, you got icing on your cheek.” You sighed as you wiped his face with a napkin.

“Guido?” Fugo raised an eyebrow, looking over at you. “When did Mista start going by ‘Guido’?”

Bruno didn’t even listen to your explanation.

You called him Guido ?

No no no, that was the only thing left that was special between you and Bruno. No one else called him by his first name, and you didn’t have a special name for anyone else.

Abbacchio was Abbacchio.

Narancia was Narancia.

Fugo was Fugo.

Bucciarati was Bruno to you.

And Mista was Mista not Guido.

Bruno ignored the conversation around him as he stood up and left the dining room, heading to the upstairs balcony of the Don’s home.

He sighed and pushed himself against the bar, groaning loudly at the knot in his stomach. Did this mean that you liked Mista? That the two of you were a couple?

He and Mista were complete opposites.

Mista was extroverted, Bruno was introverted.

Mista had curly hair, Bruno’s was straight.

Mista was hairier than Bruno was.

Mista was more nonchalant.

More playful.

Funnier.

Maybe that was just what you liked. He couldn’t fault you for having a type, after all, you can’t always control who you’re attracted to.

He rubbed his head, annoyed by just everything, embarrassed by how he overreacted over a simple word. He turned around and paused, surprised to see you behind him.

You smiled, waving at him. “Hey.” 

“Hey.” He swallowed, watching you move to stand next to him.

“Are you okay? You slipped away without saying anything.” You asked, your fingers brushing against his hand.

He pulled away sharply, already feeling tense from being so close to you. “I’m fine, just needed some air, I think I ate a bit too much.” He joked.

“Ah okay.” You laughed awkwardly. “Guido-”

“Are you and Mista dating?” Bruno cut you off as soon as Mista’s name left your lips.

You were taken aback, stunned by why Bruno would even ask such a thing. Lately, your friendship seemed to be unstable, somedays it would be like Bruno didn’t want anything to do with you, other days, it would be like all he wanted was to be around you. He had been giving you mixed signals and that only made you more confused with the feelings you had towards him.

“Bruno, why would you ask that?”

He didn’t face you, instead, he scoffed and pushed himself up on the balcony bars and looked at the view.

“Maybe because you can’t help putting your hands on him and letting him touch you as you please.” Bruno would never say something like this to you, but there was a pain in his abdomen that gave him the confidence to do so. “Or maybe because you had his tongue down your throat the other day.” Your eyes widened and your jaw dropped at the comment.

“You saw that?”

“Everyone probably saw that.”

A chill went down your spine as you lowered your head in humiliation at the condescending tone in his voice. Bruno saw you and Mista kiss…

Ah, now he would never want to be with you.

He thought less of you.

If any of the other guys said this to you, you’d shut them down in an instant.

But this was different…this was Bruno for goodness sake. The guy you were head over heels for, the guy you looked up to the most.

Yes, you and Mista had kissed, but it was a drunken mistake, something the two of you laughed at and brushed under the carpet. It didn’t mean anything other than give evidence of what happens after you pass your limit of drinking. Mista was chill about it, he knew you liked Bruno and that you wished it was Bruno you kissed instead of him. There was no confusion, nor any mixed feelings regarding that night.

Is this why he had been acting weird around you recently, why he had that scowl on his face at the nightclub? Why he would swing from one extreme to the other? Because of Mista?

“Bruno,” You furrowed your eyebrows and looked up at him. “It’s none of your business what happened that day and I see no reason for you to hold it over my head and look down on me!” You said through gritted teeth, not wanting the conversation to be heard downstairs. “We are adults Bruno! Shit like this doesn’t need to be a big deal and it isn’t, it meant nothing to either of us, there is nothing between us! I didn’t think my life would turn into petty gossip.”

Before he could answer, you left the balcony and went back downstairs. Bruno couldn’t hear anything from the dining room, but it didn’t take long for you to come out from the entrance and drive off.

Bruno cursed to himself, a hollow abyss forming in his gut as his ribs became heavy.

What is wrong with me?

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

Bruno had tried for 5 days in a row to contact you, phone calls, texts, hell, even emails!

But no response, nothing.

He didn’t blame you, not in the slightest, he would avoid himself too. But he would be lying if he said it didn’t hurt. Seeing someone he grew such feelings towards, completely cut him out like that, do everything in their power to not be around him.

But he deserved it, he had no right to speak to you that way and all he wanted to do was apologise. Today was his only chance to do so.

“Hey.” He waved at you as he stood by the booth. He noticed you sitting in at the back of a cafe as he ran errands. You were alone, which gave him an opening to talk to you.

You looked up at him briefly, not uttering a word.

Your heart was heavy, his words rang in your head and you felt a knot form in your stomach.

When you didn’t respond, Bruno decided to make the next move and sat opposite you, both hands on the table with tense shoulders.

She won’t even look at me.

The silence from your table managed to drown out the sound of the cafe as customers chatted away over cups of coffee and cakes.

“Y/n.” He mumbled, letting out a deep breath. “I’m so sorry.” His hands tightened into fists as he looked down with a dejected expression. “It wasn’t my place to act that way about you and Mista, it was none of my business, I apologise for how I acted and for hurting you.”

You poked your slice of cake with your fork, nodding at his words. “Well, I’m glad you realised that.” You looked up at him. “But that’s not all, is it Bruno? Why did it bother you so much that I was hanging around with Mista?”

Ah…he was hoping that you wouldn’t bring this up. Bruno was still ashamed of his jealousy and how it made him lash out. It made him feel childish.

Well, he was childish.

“I talk to everyone here, but you only got annoyed when I was spending time with Mista.” You stirred your cup of tea with a spoon, prodding the teabag. “You’re meant to be my friend Bruno…I would like to think that you would be the last person to judge me.” You looked deep into his eyes. “You know I would never judge you.”

Bruno swallowed the lump in his throat, dropping his hands to his lap.

“The least you could do is offer an explanation.” You bit your lip, almost regretting what you were about to say. “Is it because you…had feelings for me?”

“How did you know?”

So it was true. Bruno did develop feelings for you.

“Well, you always told me I was good at spotting people’s intentions.” You scoffed, taking a sip of your drink. In reality, Abbacchio was the one that exposed Bruno. The day after Giorno’s birthday, you told him about the argument with Bruno and he explained how Bruno felt towards you. You were…shocked…to say the least. “Why didn’t you ever say anything to me?” Your voice cracked a little.

“I didn’t know how I felt until recently.” Somehow his honesty just made you feel worse.

“But you know how that looks right? To me?” You dropped your mug on the table. “It makes it seem like you only started seeing me that way when I was around other people, like you just liked the attention I gave you.”

While all you wanted was for Bruno to see you as you saw him, if it was simply because he liked the attention from you, and not because of you as a person, you would rather you remained platonic.

“No no!” Bruno leaned forward, instinctively holding your hand in his. “That wasn’t my intention…I swear.” He squeezed them, trying to convince you that he wasn’t like that.

You could tell he was being sincere, there was a certain glint in his eyes. “Did you know how I felt about you?”

“How you felt?” His face morphed into a slightly bewildered expression.

“Jeez Bruno…” You rolled your eyes, slipping your hand out of his and covering your face. “I’ve liked you for years .”

“Oh.” Bruno’s jaw hung open, completely stunned by this news.

You liked him? For years?

Bruno’s mind drifted to times when it had just been the two of you. Times where you would hold his arm, play with his hair, and jump to sit next to him whenever the group met.

How could I be so stupid and not think there was anything there?

“Just ‘oh’?” 

Bruno was snapped out of his thoughts. “I don’t know what to say.”

“Two years and you didn’t know I liked you?” You gave a weak smile as you dropped your hands.

“I’m not that good at interpreting feelings like that.” Bruno returned the same look. “Everyone thinks I am…but I’m really not, I’m horrible without direct approaches. I didn’t intentionally ignore your feelings, I wouldn’t do that.”

That glint returned, the one that assured you that Bruno was being open and truthful.

You snickered to yourself. “Abbacchio was right.”

“Hm?” Bruno cocked his head to the side.

“That you’re too dense to notice things like this.” You gave a teasing smile as you ate a forkful of the strawberry cake in front of you.

So Abbacchio knew you liked me? Does that mean everyone else knew too?

It made more sense now, why Abbacchio kept trying to get Bruno to admit his feelings. The tips of his ears turned pink at the idea of him being the only one out of the loop about this.

“I’m sorry for making you feel strung along.” Bruno rubbed the back of his neck.

“It's okay.” You wrapped your hands around your mug, the two of you staring into each other's eyes. Bruno’s finger moved to stroke the back of your hand, watching you let go of the mug and let him hold your hand in his.

“I really am sorry, I can’t imagine how you felt all this while, especially when I-”

“Stop apologising.” You squeezed his hand reassuringly. “But Bruno…can you promise me that something like that won’t happen again? I would like to think that you’re the kind of person that can be upfront about things like this and won’t lash out...I will also uphold the same standard.”

“I won’t let it happen again, I promise.” He meant it, he didn’t like that side of him, he found it ugly. If he ever felt that jealous or that annoyed, he would make sure to talk to you about it before it got too bad.

You nodded with a grin as the two of you sat in silence, Bruno’s body edging closer to the table. Your eyes closed slowly as his lips pressed against yours softly.

Once.

Twice.

Before his hands moved to cup your face, pulling you forward slightly. It was a tender kiss, one that only touched the surface yet made your heart race.

He pulled away, not forgetting to kiss your hand before leaning back into his seat. His nose and cheeks were a light shade of red. He looked away shyly, an endearing expression on his face that you just wanted to see again and again.

“Bruno…” You sighed, knowing that this would be as good a time as any. You knew how you really felt for a while now and kept it secret from anyone, wanting Bruno to know first. “I love you, Bruno.”

His cerulean eyes widened, and the blush darkened and spread from his nose to his cheeks while his heart felt like it was on the brink of explosion.

“I love you too bella.”

[shankss-magnificent-ass]

🌟Welcome🌟

WIPs Coming soon Request Rules Alphabet Requests

About me and this blog:

Hi, I'm Zephyr, I'm a 28-year-old artist and writer. I started this blog in 2018, I think, that's the date of my earliest post. It started out as a Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit blog and has morphed into a One Piece blog in the last year. This blog is really just a place for me to post stuff about my latest favorite show(s) and to make friends. So if there's anything you want to know about me go ahead and drop whatever questions you have in my ask box.

I queue up most of my posts about a month in advance, except for my imagines which I do the week before, but I'm moving to post them on Patreon once I have finished writing them. Imagines are released at noon pacific standard time.

I'm also actually pretty shy about interacting with others, I'm usually worried I'm bothering people, so I just don't try. But if you want to be friends, that's cool, you'll have to make the first move though. Also, be aware, that I'm bad with small talk and social cues and tone.

Master list

Rules

I don't have too many rules, they're very simple.

Be nice, if it's not something you'd like someone to say to you, don't say it to me.

You can only be mean to me if you become a diamond patron on my Patreon

please be over 18 when viewing my blog, minors looking at my content makes me uncomfortable due to the adult nature of some of my content

These are the only things that come to mind at the moment, if you have something specific you want written drop it in my ask box, and we'll see where it goes from there.

Commissions

Support

I release most my work on Patreon as soon as I'm done writing it for patrons, and it becomes accessible to everyone on Patreon the same day it gets posted here

my Kofi

how to support me at no cost

subscribe and come to my streams

Stream Schedule

You can also follow me and interact with me on Twitter or Instagram and ao3

[xoxoemynn]

Transcribing the full thread for those without Twitter:

I've debated sharing this, but I got a 2nd trusted source last night, so it feels right to share now: Folks keep asking me how close it came to being greenlit. WAY Closer than you can imagine. In late Dec posting for preproduction hires in NZ went live. May-Sept shoot listed.

As is industry standard, the production name was not listed in the postings, but it was indicated as a queer/pirate/Max production. In NZ. Everyone knew what it was for. This was just how these job posting were listed for S2. The postings were live until at least Dec 28.

When we put this together with other info we have gotten: scripts or outlines had been commissioned, NZ tax and cultural teams had been active in prep for s3, the coy SM posts, the fact that key cast members were scheduled for FYC interviews up through late Dec...

A clearer picture of at least the timeline emerges. That timeline still doesn't make sense to me. Yes, a core issue became the viability of the IP beyond a 3rd season with the leads, but EVERYTHING I heard for 2 solid months from Max & industry folk was CONFIDENT

I didn't hear much over Christmas, but well, it was Christmas and I had COVID and also, the last intel I had heard was that we were now firmly in "when" not "if" territory. More press was going to be scheduled after the holidays. Great. That lined up with my late January forecast

I didn't ever even consider the fact that the little industry trickles dried up between Christmas and New Years because 1. What more was there to say? The analytics were superlative. Everyone was game. I didn't have any concerns that the line went dead around that week. Holidays!

What now appears clear is that something fairly significant happened during advanced talks and negotiations. I don't know for sure which side walked, but also I do not see a plausible scenario where it wasn't Max & likely Zaz himself that bailed. Bloys & others FOUGHT for Flag.

I've said this before and I'll say this again: I have ragged on Casey Bloys before in the context of other things he has done in the industry, but one thing that has emerged this week is a portrait of a man trying to save Max from the madman that is David Zazslav.

Speculative: I think Casey was the most high level, high enthusiasm advocate for getting Flag a third and final season. I think Zaz only wants properties he can milk years of profit out of. I know Zaz is still pissed about Succession ending early & leaving cash on the table.

Things were in much more advanced stages for renewal than has been publicly reported. The data analytics for Flag are OUTSTANDING. Other streamers should know this. Other streamers should be cutting a check, even if they say they are belt tightening

The fact SO much work had been done on a 3rd season is an EXCELLENT signifier in the overall confidence in the property. Zaz's bad math on long term profitability might have been what sank the ship, but that doesn't mean she's not seaworthy. It just means he's bad at his job.

I’m so mad I’m shaking. WE WERE SO CLOSE! Our clownery wasn’t unfounded. We really were getting an announcement. And they just let it fucking drop.

https://x.com/thecozypirate/status/1745641563403771912?s=46&t=hlyEMD5zVK_HL1eoyYeONA

[nishinoyawn]

{ELECTRIC FEEL}

[MINORS DNI. 18+ ONLY.]

— Genre: nsfw (minors dni or ill bite ur head off <33), slight fluff littered throughout

— Scoville scale: spicy ramen, slight soft soba

— Word count: 3168

— Warnings: fem!reader, use of petnames (angel and princess), exhibitionism, handjob, cursing, unprotected sex (wrap it before you tap it!), creampie, slight dubcon if you squint, awful electric puns because I can’t stop myself </3

— A/N: my Secret Santa fic for the planet oshun server for the very lovely @keizos !! I had more planned but my computer went out of commission right before the holidays and threw everything out the door 😵‍💫 hope you enjoy this !! You deserve nothing but the best so here you go! Love you and Merry Christmas beloved 💗

Being pro-hero Chargebolt’s secretary is a difficult job.

You arrange his hectic schedule everyday while working around conflicts.You take hundreds of phone calls which means taking the brunt of angry callers. You write up his tedious paperwork while still chasing him around to sign last week’s. You fetch him his morning coffee: a medium iced coffee with almond milk, liquid sugar, and 4 pumps of hazelnut. On top of that, you even have become his pet sitter, checking up on his two black cats when he’s away on a long mission.

Every night, you come home exhausted and tired trying to keep everything afloat without falling apart. But despite all of that, the most difficult task is trying to ignore his flirty comments and more-than-friendly actions.

Chargebolt, or Denki as he lets you call him, is a known ladies man among all the heroes. It’s easy enough to find him cozying up with an interviewer or flirting with his fans. He’s just a charismatic and cheeky person so it’s no surprise at all.

However, that is what made you skeptical of his advances at first. Sure, he’s attractive, witty, hilarious, and one of the top ten heroes in Japan but you just didn’t want to be another one of the people he flirted with causally. You didn’t need to be toyed with, especially not with your own boss.

But try as you might to ignore him, it’s too hard when he’s always trying to grab your attention, no matter how subtle.

It started off with small compliments and even pickup lines like, “Looking good, doll!” or, “I lost my number. Can I have yours?” which you just rolled your eyes at ignoring completely.

Then, it grew into closing the space between you two whenever you’re near. He’s always chalked it up to being unable to hear you properly even in the quiet of his office.

Now it’s quickly evolved into lingering touches whether that’s a hand on your back as he scooted around you in the elevator or his hands slowly running down your arms after he pulls away from a hug.

Every single touch sets your skin ablaze as your cheeks burn and your heart catches in your throat, leaving you almost on a high every time.

However, you refuse to be the only one suffering, which is how you’ve found yourself rubbing his cock through his pants under the table during the yearly holiday party.

It wasn’t supposed to escalate this quickly; it was just going to be flirting back with him and maybe ‘innocent’ touches across his chest and thighs. If you were feeling bold, maybe press up against him while you both danced. Nothing too crazy considering you were at the biggest event where everyone was invited and showed up.

Your plan was meant to be a slow build up of driving him crazy over the next few months. But, all that got thrown out the window when you told him you finished up everything on your to-do list before the holidays. Denki thought the best response was to lean over into your ear, his hand resting on your inner thigh and whisper, “That’s my good girl.”

You had sat frozen in your seat as he pulled away, the biggest grin plastered on his face. You felt your body warm up, your mind hazing over at his words and actions. He had pushed the envelope a few times but this ripped right through it, his praise and touch eliminating all rational thought.

So, that’s how you ended up with your hand pressed against your boss’ straining cock at the farthest table at the party.

Denki clears his throat as he shifts in his seat with his hands folded on top. His knuckles look stark white against the red velvet tablecloth as he tries to keep it together.

Your eyes scan the crowd as your hand works him through his clothes, trying to make sure you both don’t get caught or your coworkers would never let you live this down.

“Shit,” he mutters when you rub particularly hard against the tip. “Just couldn’t wait, huh?” You could imagine his smirk clearly in your mind, fighting the urge to roll your eyes.

“That’s cause somebody couldn’t keep it in their pants.”

He snorts quietly, laughing a little to himself. You couldn’t help but find it endearing despite the situation you were in. “I did and I still am. Can’t say the same for you.”

Now, it’s your turn to laugh, leaning on your free hand as you finally look at him. You can barely make out his features in the dimly lit room but you can always recognize his big, goofy grin.

Honestly, you’re a little pissed he shows no signs of distress except for the small beads of sweat forming on his forehead. It was taking everything in you to not press your legs together and slightly relieve the tension there. Yet, he stays all calm and collected like the big-shot hero he is.

If only you could wipe off that stupid grin.

You hum quietly, your finger tracing the outline of his hardening cock when an idea pops into your head. His body jerks slightly at the sudden change in pace, his leg shaking with anticipation. “Last I checked, I still had my clothes on sir,” Your eyes lock on with his, a smirk playing at your lips. “But you, on the other hand—“

His eyes widen as your hand slides up to the waistband of his slacks. You feel your heart nearly beat out your chest as you start to unbutton them. Butterflies fill your stomach as all the pent up energy for the past few months finally releases in an explosive flurry. Before you could even think about where you were, your hand slips underneath, your fingers wrapping gently around him.

You swallow hard, mouth falling open at the realization of how thick, how heavy he feels. Your mind starts to wonder at how he’d feel inside you, feeling yourself clench at the thought. Though, your thoughts are interrupted when you hear him grumble out a small ‘fuck’.

Your eyes snap to his face to see his once cool, cocky demeanor gone and replaced with a disheveled expression. His eyes shut tight, his breathing labored and quick, and his voice trembling as he speaks, “Please.”

A surge of confidence rises inside you, the corner of your mouth tilting upwards as you watch him stumble to catch his breath. “Please what, hmm?”

“Please move— fuck.” He hisses out as you start to stroke him, his head falling forward slightly. You know you should be watching out for anyone coming up to the table but you can’t take your eyes off him. Not with the way his eyebrows furrow, his gaze fixating on a spot on the table. You could tell he was trying so hard to not give away what you both were doing right now. That in itself made something inside you bubble, made you want to push him even more.

You lean in closer to him, your breath mingling with his. “Huh, not so talkative now? Where’d all that bravado go?” Your thumb presses against his head, your ego swelling as you watch him fall apart. “The big bad Chargebolt taken down by just a measly handjob? Who would have thought?”

Surprisingly, he snickers at that, his eyes snapping to yours. All the confidence you acquired vanishes as the intensity of his gaze overwhelms you, forcing you to pull back from him.

You had only seen this look a couple of times, mostly during his fights you’d seen on film. He’d be hunched over, nearly beaten black and blue, his chest heaving. In these situations, it always felt like the odds were stacked against him. It had seemed that no matter what he did, he would always be on the losing end.

Yet, he’d stare down the villain with this look as if to say, “You think you’ve won? Got another thing coming for you.” And now, as you’re on the receiving end of this same look, a chill runs through your spine as you realize this is a battle you were never going to win.

You were so hypnotized by his eyes you didn’t even realize he had removed your hand and buttoned himself back up, brushing off his pants.

“Alright, let’s get outta here.” His words bring you back to your senses, your eyes blinking to readjust to whatever the hell just happened. You look up to see him standing with his hand extended, the same intense glare smoldering behind his eyes.

Unable to form words as you’re still too stunned to speak, you nod wordlessly and take his hand.

However as you start to walk towards the exit, he pulls you back to stand in front of him. His eyes peer at you, his gaze far softer than before. “As much as I’ve been waiting for this moment to happen,” Concern etches itself on his eyebrows as he squeezes your hand. “I need to hear your consent, verbally. I need to know you’re okay with this.”

A small smile spreads across your face, your heart fluttering at his words. Even when you had your hand wrapped around his dick, he still made sure you were comfortable and that you wanted this.

You bring the back of his hand to your lips, pressing gently, “Yes, I’m all good. No need to worry, Denki.”

He lets out a sigh of relief, kissing your own hand before prompting you to grab your belongings. Once you’ve gathered your purse and sweater, you both speedily walk to the door hand in hand, exiting out into the hallway.

You trail behind him, the music from the party fading as you both move farther down the hall. The sounds of your heels clicking against the tile fill the silence between you two, your mind racing through everything that has just happened.

You’re so lost in your thoughts that you don’t realize you’re standing in a dark and oddly familiar room. When you’re about to ask where you are, Denki appears before you in a flash, pressing you against the cool wooden door. Your breath is knocked out of you as he cages you in, your skin warming at how close he is.

The high of earlier had worn off, leaving you completely vulnerable to him. He’s so magnetizing, the way he draws you to him, leaving you speechless. You think he can hear your heartbeat as his signature playful stretches across his face, the tilt of his head pissing you off, “Let’s finish this where we started, yeah?”

The confusion must have been clear on your face as he steps back a little, finally showing off the dim room. His trophy case glints in the moonlight, shiny and clean as ever, while the bubbling of his aquarium covers the sound of the loud AC.

You can’t help but laugh at the cheesy gesture, despite everything leading up to it had been anything but cheesy. The butterflies in your stomach buzz around once more, engulfing your body in an electric current of sorts. Your skin is so hot, so sensitive that you can’t wait any longer.

“Cheesy little shit,” you mumble as you tug on his shirt, pulling him towards you and slotting your mouth over his.

He tastes like the peppermint mocha frappuccino from the party, a cooling relief to your feverish state. Though, the refreshing feeling lets for a second before his hands slide up your body, leaving behind trails of fire in its wake.

He overwhelms you almost instantaneously as his hands touch every part of your skin, moaning into his mouth when he cups your tits. Your nerves and senses are sent into overdrive and you are nothing but putty in his hands when he pulls down the straps of your dress as far as they can go.

A squeal rips from your throat when he rolls your nipples between his fingers, feeling the dampness between your legs grow. “Ah, shit, ‘m sensitive,” you mumble against him, your body arching towards his touch.

You try to rub your legs together, trying to relieve the pressure but his leg is quick to block the action. He chuckles as you whine in protest, his mouth pulling away from yours to kiss the exposed skin of your neck.

“Not so fast, princess,” his teeth graze your pulse before sucking gently. His tongue laps at the bruised spot, your whimpers filling the empty room. “Or you’re already boutta cum, hmm?”

You’re about to tell him to shut the hell up when his mouth latches onto your breast, the words dying at the back of your throat. Your hand laces through his hair, pulling him closer to your chest as your head falls back against the door. His tongue circles around your nipple and carefully sucks on your soft, fleshy mound, your brain nearly short-circuiting.

With everything building up from months ago to the events of the past hour, also including the fact you hadn’t had a decent fuck in months, you were super sensitive, body and mind working separately as he continues to give the needed attention to your tits. Before you can process the tightening in your stomach, you cry out his name as you cum hard, your nails digging into his skin.

You don’t even realize you’re grinding down against his leg until he stills your ministrations, your mind still dizzy from the high. It was intoxicating, something your body was already craving, addicted to the feeling, and he was the only one who could fulfill it.

As if working autonomously, your lips move to his ear, nearly mewling, “Please, want you inside, now.”

All you can recall is his slight snicker before you find yourself laid down on his desk, the cold metal chilling your burning body. In a flash, he’s removed both his pants and your underwear, tossing them aside to somewhere on the floor.

The moonlight spilling from the window casts some light onto Denki’s features, allowing you to finally see him. You’re sure he reflects the way you look under him: crumpled clothes, mouth slightly ajar, pupils dilated, and sweat dripping down.

He appears just as overwhelmed as you, something that pleasantly surprises you. You thought maybe he had just been flirting with you just because you were the closest person to him. You thought it was just surface level feelings, nothing more than sexual tension he needed to get rid of. But seeing him like this, looking at you with much more than lust in his eyes has you pulling him down to taste him once again.

All you want to do right now is just to feel him, to have him fill in every sense of the word, to have him engulf and submerge you in everything that he is.

As if noticing your desperation, his hand moves down to grasp himself, his tip rubbing up against your folds. Your breath hitches as your nerves come alive, buzzing through your body when he slowly pushes in.

You pull away as your eyes drop down to where he had pushed your dress past your hips, watching the way he stretched you out. You knew he was thick when you held him earlier but nothing could prepare you as you saw your pussy trying to accommodate all of him. The ridges of his cock press against your walls, your mind nearly numb and empty at the feeling.

When he finally bottoms out, you both release a loud sigh. You have never felt so full, so stuffed, already clenching around him as you didn’t want it to end.

As you finally adjust to him, loosening your muscles, you nod to give him the go ahead.

He breathes on one last time before pulling back and pushing in again, his eyebrows furrowing in concentration. You could tell he was holding back as he rocked against you, his muscles tight as his grip nearly bruises your skin. Your heart warms at the gesture but now is not the time for that.

As if reading your mind, he picks up speed in a matter of seconds, the sounds of skin on skin and the desk scraping against the floor drowning out any other noise.

You claw at his back, moaning, when his thumb frantically circles your clit. “Fucking- shit. You’re so good, you’re doing so good,” the praise fogging up your brain as the words spill out of his mouth. “Clenching around me so nice, fuck. So good.”

The familiar coiling knot in your stomach resurfaces already, whimpering out his name. “C-close already.”

He chuckles as he watches the way your eyes glass over, mouth open with drooling dripping down your chin. The sight could have almost made him cum but he holds himself back, wanting you to come first as his priority.

His pace and ministrations nearly become erratic, sloppy almost he tries to help you reach your high. He leans down to press a quick kiss to the corner of your mouth, “C’mon, cum for me again. Cum all over my cock. Just like you wanted.”

The flick of your clit, his deep, raspy voice, his praise, and his fat cock overpower you, exploding your nerves and frying all your functions.

You cry out his name once more as you cum for a second time, the feeling washing over you like a tsunami and hitting you square in the chest as stars formed in your eyes. Denki follows soon after, moaning out your name and something else you couldn’t catch as he shoots his load into you.

He continues his pace to help you ride out your high before you whimper out that you’re sensitive.

Your eyes finally go back into focus when he gently cups your face, his thumb stroking your cheek. He stares back at you with delicate eyes, something hidden behind his hazel eyes. Was it adoration? Was it fondness?

Was it love?

Before you could even try to decipher his expression, his words break your concentration, “You good, angel?”

You heave out a slow sigh, nodding your head. As you slowly come down from your high, the reality of the situation hits you.

You try to pull away from him but he’s already crushing you into a hug, “I hope this isn’t a one time thing.”

His words sink into your mind, not fully processing until he pulls back, his eyebrows drawn together. Nervousness creeps into his voice, “I mean unless you want it—“

“God, you talk too much,” You laugh out as you kiss him. This time it was more tender, that softer feeling mixed into it. You pull back, leaning your forehead against his. You don’t know where this is going to go but you’re just here along for the ride, for this electric feeling.

Silence surrounds you two as he settles on top of you, his arms tightening around you. You hear him let out a snort, feeling his laugh vibrate against your chest, “Man, you really could say I decked your halls.”

“Denki!”

[risingshards]

My web novel writing process!

I was asked by a friend to share my writing process with them and I figure it'd be good to share here too if anyone is curious about how I handle web novels! For non web novels...I'm still working on a process for that 😅 My webnovels are here for Rising Shards and here for Rising Shards: Evy & Stella.

Before starting web novel:

Prototyping

Setup

During web novel publishing:

Note taking

Early scene writing

Outline

Roughs writing

Second draft

Before starting web novel:

Prototyping:

Basically me tinkering around with stuff to figure out what I want to write, what I'm able to write, what I have the most fun writing, because with a web novel a lot of content is needed to keep up with releases so I have to make sure what I write is something I can actually like *write* without it being a drain on me or something I get bored a few chapters into and give up. I try to build characters or at least start to around here to figure out how they "sound." I like to study the stories I like the most and ask myself what exactly I liked about them, what I'd change, and stuff I could be inspired from for my own stories. RS is kind of hard to say how long I was in prototype phase since it started as a tradpub thing but after working at a publisher and then the pandemic happened, I reallllyy took some soul searching on how to best release it and if I wanted to keep struggling against the woes of traditional publishing.

Set up:

This part is a bit out of order for the pre-web novel process because I want to have some stuff written before I start uploading; so with that in mind when I have a chunk of writing that I'm satisfied with that's at least a few months ahead to start up, then I think about an upload schedule, get a cover mockup or commission one, then tinker around with like the aesthetic I want for banners and such.

Note taking:

This one I do daily pretty much no matter what, basically just jotting every random idea down in a notebook, google doc, or a note app. My notes can be fairly incoherent from my handwriting to the ideas jotted down but I figure it out lol.

Early scene writing:

Sometimes part of note taking, this is usually me just trying random scenes which sometimes become something and sometimes don't, but are good practice for character voice. They're kind of like sketches but in writing form.

Outline:

I outline my stories a bit ahead, but also know vague points way ahead. I like to think of it as a hybrid of TV season, manga, and anime structure versus a print novel structure (though I suppose print novels could very well have this structure, tradpub is just more unforgiving to anything outside the beat sheet for debuts from what I've seen. I don't go too far ahead as the story can change in the writing (I too am gardener/plantser and plantser works well for web novel). Since I use a more TV season like format, I like to get a list of my episode titles in advance and move things around as I go, knowing where like the season premiere and season finales go. I find outlining that way is a lot easier for my brain than just the three act structure, and allows for me to play around more with how things happen. For example, an episode list of the first batch of Rising Shards:

Sometimes I'll have to adjust the episodes a lot if I move one way later to earlier for continuity, but doing them episodically let's me finish my thoughts a lot more easily and it allows for the best pace for my characters. My episodes are between 5 chapters and 12, but I think most are around 8-9.

Roughs writing:

This is where the bulk of my writing gets done. I set up a daily goal like "finish chapter 34.1" and map out my targets for a month, then get rolling and try to get around 1k words in a daily session, but not stopping if I get more chapters done, or getting too bent out of shape if I'm not feeling it that day. I'm a big "talk to your characters" writer, so I get kind of trancelike and just let them tell me where a story is headed when I'm in roughs writing. I mostly write chronologically but things that are tougher like big fantasy episodes, action sequences, and now...sex scenes *gasp* I try to write in advance so I can spend more time polishing them. 

Uploads:

Once the roughs are finished, I upload them to my site Tapas, schedule their dates, and then make the banners, thumbnails, etc. I usually wait on descriptions because when I upload chapters at this point my descriptions are very "Character goes somewhere." and that's it lol

Second draft:

This is where I fix up the drafts and polish them to a more readable state, I tinker with chapters up to their upload date and then after too (I'm not full George Lucas special edition I swear I just catch typos and weird phrasings like a year later). Then after that I start outlining the next chunk of episodes, get excited about people reading scenes I really liked and also panic about the ones that are scarier (aka big twists I fear won't land, sex scenes *gasp*, really weird stuff I don't know how people will react to, etc.)

The whole process loops around so I'll be doing roughs on some main episodes, outlines on others, polish on others all going at once. I try to have at least a month ahead on uploads so I don't fall behind as well. 

—Chiral

[queen0fkingss]

(over-abuses my new header because I just think it’s neat)

Hey guys! So I’ve been giving it a lot of thought, and decided that I should make a Patreon. It’s given me a much needed kick in the rear and will hopefully get me inspired to do more creative things such as art, writing, and more!

My first tier is $5USD, and gives you access to bonus exclusive content that won’t be posted anywhere else! As well as access to work-in-progress, Q&A, and commission livestream schedules.

My second tier is $10USD, and gives you all the perks of the first tier, as well as a week of “first call” to commissions slots when they open, a 25% discount on all commissions while pledged, as well as your name in credits of my videos and shoutouts from the ones that are voiced.

If you’re interested, Pledge to my Patreon here!

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With the important stuff out of the way, I wanted to give you guys a big Thank You in advance. My current mental health situation dictates that I’m not likely to work full time at my job (gotta love retail). I do work anywhere between 30-35 hours, but even on that, my paychecks aren’t very high, and on top of that, I’m hardcore apartment hunting with my Girlfriend and a couple friends. Needless to say, I’d like to have another form of money coming in to help make up for what I can’t make.

I can’t promise it’s going to be very busy these first few months, but I do promise that I’m going to try to get stuff out - and regularly pause monthly payments if I don’t. I’m not one to accept rewards if I feel like I haven’t earned it.

That said, I’m excited to have a reason to get creative again, so I can finally start some projects that have been in my head for, honestly years at this point. There’s a lot I want to do, and I can’t wait to get started! <3