#I think the thing that threw me off the most was the host (my friend) kept texting me saying ‘hurry up! we’re waiting for you’

[rosicheeks]

👻🎃🫶

[wavelikewhat]

Bend It Like Mingyu

Pairing: Professional Soccer Player!Mingyu x reader (any pronouns)  Summary: It all started the day Mingyu ruined your picnic with his stupid soccer ball. Ever since then, he keeps showing up everywhere. Why won't he leave you alone?! Wordcount: 3.2k Content notes: extreme fluff, zero smut, Y/N's best friend is pregnant and later cares for the baby (baby is mentioned but not seen in the story) Genres/themes/appearances: enemies to lovers, super sweet and fluffy, Mingyu is very clumsy and very reliable, there's only one bed! (no smut), I am American so it is called soccer in the fic

"Watch out!" 

You looked up in alarm at the man's shouts, and not a moment too soon. A black and white ball was flying through the air aimed directly at your patch of sunshine. 

Reflexes kicking into action, you tossed your book aside and scrambled backwards just in time. The ball landed exactly where you had been sprawled across a blanket rereading your favorite book for the 26th time. 

You stood up and shook yourself off angrily, stalking over to where the book landed when you unceremoniously threw it from your hand. In your peripheral vision you noticed a man coming your way and you ignored him to let your rage build while you gathered your things to leave. He had officially killed the mood.

"I am so sorry!" a man's voice exclaimed from a few feet away. You spun on your heel, ready to unleash your anger, but instead you found yourself speechless as you gazed at the most beautiful man you had ever seen. The sunlight was shimmering all around him. 

Wait, no, the sunlight was reflecting off the sheen of sweat covering his bare arms and legs, visible beyond his loose tank and rather short shorts. He pushed his longish hair back from where it had covered his eyes. Your eyes tracked his hand as it moved.

You felt yourself start to lick your lips but you caught yourself. That's right, you were mad at this man! How dare he come to a public park and ruin a perfectly good day with an errant kick! Doesn't he know how to handle the ball?

"I'm really sorry," he apologized again.

You glared at him. For some reason your brain was having trouble forming a response. "Just try not to do that again," you said coldly before turning away to pick up your things.

…

"What did you end up doing yesterday?" your best friend Hani asked, taking a big sip of lemonade. She was craving a lot of lemonade these days.

"I went to the park," you replied, "but this annoying guy kicked a soccer ball right at me and totally ruined my vibe."

"That's so rude!"

"Thank you! That's what I thought!"

"Did he say anything?"

"He apologized. I think he was trying to say more but I just left."

Your friend laughed. "When we were seven years old you would have thrown a rock at him even if he apologized."

"You know what this is? Growth."

As you both giggled, you scanned the room with your eyes. Hani and her husband were hosting their baby shower, and all the friends and family crowding their house looked nearly as happy as the parents to be. You turned to look in the other direction and your jaw dropped.

"What is he doing here?!" you asked in shock.

Hani turned to look and a huge grin spread across her face. "Oh, it's Mingyu!" She waved enthusiastically and the man smiled as he walked toward them. Then he seemed to take in the person beside Hani… and he did a double take. You could only stare.

"That's right! You two haven't met!" Hani realized as she gave Mingyu as much of a hug as she could, given her belly. "Y/N, this is Mingyu. Mingyu, this is Y/N, my best friend who you have heard so many good things about!" 

She turned to look at you. "Mingyu is a professional soccer player, but he's been playing overseas for a few years. He just got traded to the team here in the city though! We're so excited to have him here," Hani added, giving him another hug. Who on earth was this man, and why was Hani so obsessed with him?! She was supposed to hate him in solidarity with you!

Fortunately, all that came out was "Professional soccer player?" in quite possibly the most skeptical voice you had used in your entire life. 

Mingyu at least had the decency to look sheepish. "It's true, you can look me up online!" he said defensively. Then he switched back to that infuriatingly warm smile. Two little canines popped out as he grinned. Ugh.

…

[Unknown Number] Y/N are you on the way to the hospital? [Y/N] who is this? [Unknown Number] Kim Mingyu [Unknown Number] Hani gave me your number in case of an emergency [Unknown Number] I guess that's what this is!

You scrunched your nose in annoyance. What was Hani doing giving your number to strange men?

You sighed and looked out the window of the taxi. You had to admit he wasn't a random man. He had really stepped up and helped out Hani and her husband over the last few months, even taking Hani to a few unexpected doctors appointments that her husband and you couldn't help with. You and her husband both worked on the other side of a bridge that was currently under construction, and traffic was getting crazier every day on the way back to the neighborhood where you all lived. Eventually he had started working from home because it was getting too close to Hani's due date. 

(By then, she was complaining to you every day that she felt like her baby might actually be a baby elephant. You didn't really think that part was a problem because baby elephants are super cute.)

Your phone buzzed again.

[Unknown Number] I'm waiting for you in the main lobby [Unknown Number] We can go up together when you arrive

You never even said if you were on your way to the hospital! You sighed. Ok, fine, he knew you were probably on the way to the hospital. Hani had texted you that they were on their way, and that she was turning her phone on do not disturb because she didn't want it to distract her. As soon as you saw the message, you got in a cab.

[Y/N] ok

Mingyu found you as soon as you walked in the hospital, just as he promised. He led you to the waiting room. You set down your things and stared at the chairs as if waiting for them to tell you what to do.

Mingyu interrupted your racing thoughts. "Should we sit down? Do you want a bottle of water? I have a couple here." He unzipped a gym bag, and you registered that he must have come directly from the gym because he was in loose sweatpants and a plain tee with a sheen of sweat giving him what could only be described as a beautiful natural glow. How unfair. When you went to the gym you did not look glowy.

He handed you a bottle of water and sat down opposite you, motioning with his hand that you should sit too. You did, opening the water and taking a sip for something to do.

For the next while, Mingyu kept up a mostly one sided conversation about a variety of topics you didn't follow at all. Your mind was on your friend.

"Are you okay?" Mingyu asked with concern.

You looked over at him. You didn't have any fight left in you. "I'm really nervous."

"I understand." He came to sit beside you. "My sister had a baby a few years ago. I was a nervous wreck. My mom had to hold my hand and calm me down!" He laughed a little, then he became serious again. "Is it okay if I hold your hand? It really helped me."

You gave him a small nod and he took your hand. Against all odds, his grip really was comforting. Then again, you had gotten to know him better over the last few months, and he seemed like a genuinely good guy who cared a lot for Hani and her husband and the baby.

He felt you leaning towards him, and he released your hand so he could wrap his arm around your shoulders and pull you against him. He moved his other hand to yours and squeezed. You felt yourself tearing up and closed your eyes. Suddenly you were relieved this man you barely heard about until recently was sitting next to you.

…

"Finally, we can have some adult time!" Hani whispered loudly as she shut the bedroom door and tiptoed towards you.

You and Mingyu shared a look on the couch. Hani had always been dramatic and theatrical, even as a kid, but she seemed sillier than ever to you now that she was supposedly a mature mother to an infant. Her husband finished washing dishes and joined her on the other couch.

The four of you agreed to put on a reality dating show with a ridiculous premise that kept going viral on social media. Might as well find out what the fuss was about! It was definitely entertaining, but before the second episode ended you drifted off and fell asleep.

When you woke up, you were lying down on the couch with your head on one of the fluffy pillows and a blanket draped across your body. You twisted to get comfortable and fall asleep again… and that's when you realized the pillow was in Mingyu's lap, and he was fast asleep with his head leaning back on the couch.

Doing your best not to wake him, you flew off the couch and grabbed your phone from the table. There was no way you could show your face in the morning knowing where you had just been. It was better not to think about it too much.

"Y/N!!" came a frantic whisper from behind you. You stopped and turned as Hani approached.

"Why are you up? Are you okay?" you asked, trying to change the subject before it was even broached.

"I was up to feed the baby. Every two hours, remember? Anyway, that's not the point. What is going on between you and Mingyu?!" she asked excitedly.

"Nothing! We just fell asleep. It was a long week."

"Fine. I believe you. But things seem different between you."

You couldn't help yourself. "How so?" you asked. The truth was, you felt like things were a little different, too. You and Mingyu had started texting after the baby was born, and sometimes you carpooled to hang out with Hani and her husband for a bit before they got tired. (Luckily you didn't carpool today.) 

The four of you had developed a special dynamic, but you would be lying if you said you didn't look forward to those car rides with Mingyu. Sometimes the two of you picked up takeout before going to see your friends, which meant spending twice as much time together as he picked you up from work or home before driving to a restaurant and Hani's place, then he drove you home afterwards. And sometimes you sat in the car chatting with him for quite a while instead of saying a simple goodbye and leaving.

"You and Mingyu seem like a good match for each other. I'm just saying… think about it. He's a great guy."

"I'll think about it," you replied, as if you weren't already going out of your mind wondering what he thought of you and if he thought things were different between you two and if he maybe just maybe was interested in spending some time with you on purpose instead of under the guise of hanging out with your friends during the precious 45 min after the baby falls asleep before the parents fell asleep too.

…

A few weeks after that conversation, you found yourself on the couch with Mingyu again as Hani and her husband checked on the baby. When Hani came out she spoke to the two of you. 

"Do you two want to use the guest room tonight? It's so rainy and I don't want you to drive in this weather. There's clean sheets on the bed and towels in the bathroom closet, and it's a king size bed so you won't even notice each other!"

It would be a miracle if you were in bed with Kim Mingyu and didn't notice him. That was simply impossible.

Before you had a chance to say anything, Mingyu spoke up. "Sure. Thanks, Hani."

"Excellent! We'll make you a big birthday breakfast, Mingyu!" Hani disappeared, claiming she was getting clothes for you and Mingyu to sleep in.

You looked at Mingyu in surprise, barely able to process the exchange. "It's your birthday tomorrow?"

"Yes," Mingyu admitted. "I've always been overseas so I didn't get to celebrate with anyone besides the team."

"We'll do something special for you," you said without thinking. Mingyu locked eyes with you, and his gaze felt heavy. It occurred to you that the two of you were about to share a not nearly large enough bed.

"Here you go!" Hani interrupted, dumping a pile of clothes into your arms. "Goodnight!" 

"Goodnight, Hani!" Mingyu said to her as she spun away with a mischievous glint in her eye. It was a good thing he had all his faculties available because you definitely did not. He led the way to the guest room, a room you had both clearly used many times, separately, but this was definitely going to be so different. You both knew where the spare toothbrushes were, and he offered the bathroom to you first. 

After you switched places between the bathroom and the bedroom, you slid into the side of the bed that didn't have his water bottle beside it. This was unreal. Now you know which side of the bed he preferred. It was the opposite of the side you liked. You prayed that the king size bed really was big enough not to notice him.

"Can I turn off the light?" Mingyu asked a few minutes later. He was in just a pair of gym shorts. You nodded in response. Your mouth had gone dry after seeing his bare chest, and arms, and stomach, and neck, and…

Mingyu slipped into the bed quietly and you heard him put his phone on the bedside table. You had turned on your side to face away from him. Out of sight, out of mind. Hopefully that strategy worked on his body. You thought of something else that could be on his body. (You.)

"Do you remember that day in the park?" Mingyu asked suddenly. 

You were so surprised to hear this that you turned toward him and opened your eyes in the dark. The two of you had never acknowledged the fact that you actually met one day before Hani introduced you to him.

"Of course I do," you replied. "Why?"

"I actually kicked my ball toward you on purpose," he admitted.

"WHAT!?" you exclaimed.

"Shh!" Mingyu whispered, and you felt his hand cover your mouth for a moment. Your breath caught in your throat until you were recovered enough to speak.

"I was so annoyed that day," you said, but more quietly. "That's why I was so stunned to learn you played professionally!"

"I meant to kick it to land near you, so I could strike up a conversation. A butterfly flew in front of my face while I was running up to the ball and it threw me off."

You giggled. You could picture his focused face converting to his excited face after he saw the butterfly, then it probably transformed to a look of fear after he realized the ball was not going to facilitate a meet cute.

Before you could comment, he went on. "You were so pretty that day, and I really wanted to know what you were reading that made you look so happy." He paused and you replayed his words in your mind.

"I think you're pretty every time I see you," he added. "And when I don't see you."

"Oh," you responded quietly. Even though this was a conversation you had been hoping for, it still caught you completely by surprise. Your mind was reeling.

"Could you tell me what you're thinking?" he asked. He sounded very close to you all of a sudden, but you didn't realize he had moved. He was speaking more softly than you had ever heard him.

"Me too," you said, which technically didn't make any sense at all given what he had revealed and what he just asked. He seemed to understand your meaning because he gathered you in his arms and gave you the sweetest, softest kiss. Then he turned to face away from you and drew your arm around him. You automatically tucked in close, against his back.

"Happy birthday," you whispered.

"Thank you," he replied, pulling your hand to rest on his heart.

[perseephoneee]

I would love to see secret santa with isaac lahey for ficmas!

secret santa (isaac lahey x f!reader) ficmas 2023

꒰ ࿁ ˙ ˖ ໑ happy day 4 of ficmas!

a/n: my special special boy isaac for the holiday season. dedicated to @mayfieldss for being my wifey.

↳ masterlist  ↳ ship exchange ↳ join my taglist ↳ ficmas 2023

“How did you convince Derek to let you host a Christmas party at his loft?” you questioned, laying on Stiles’ bed as you crocheted. Stiles spun around in his desk chair and occasionally put more red string on his “murder board.” 

“Because of my charm,” Stiles turned towards you, clicking a pen in one of his hands. You paused your crochet project to look at him with exasperation. “Okay, fine; I promised to leave him alone for a month and clean his car.”

“That sounds more accurate,” you chuckled, resuming your project. You let out a huff of annoyance as Stiles threw a paper ball at your head. “Why is this so important to you?”

“I thought you liked Christmas.”

“I love Christmas; I want to know what has got you in the overt Christmas spirit this year,” you asked pointedly. You started another row as Stiles let out a short breath. 

“We’re all graduating, and I’m worried that we’ll never spend another holiday together again,” Stiles admitted, scooting his chair back to slap a new magnet on his board. You dropped your project, scooting to the end of the bed so you could look at Stiles. He refused to make eye contact. 

“I’m not going anywhere,” you sighed, touching Stiles’ shoulder. “Even being friends with you couldn’t get me to leave this place behind.” Stiles smiled, covering his hand with your own. You knew Stiles was nervous that we would all go our separate ways and never speak again, especially with him attending the FBI academy in the fall. Even the people you knew Stiles would pretend not to miss (Liam, Isaac, etc.), as his friend, you were fully aware he would miss everyone. 

“Y/N…thanks for always being my friend,” Stiles sniffled. You jumped off the bed to hug him, Stiles laughing as you almost tackled him. 

“You’re my best friend, buddy boy– you can’t ditch me,” you collapsed on the ground at Stiles’ feet, a smile covering your face. “Now, what must we do to prepare for this party?”

“Well, Lydia has got most of it covered. I did manage to convince her to do one thing, though, as a gift for you,” Stiles held his hands in front of him like a movie villain, and you started to get very suspicious. You got back up on the bed, curling your legs into yourself as Stiles gave himself a drum roll. “I got Isaac to be your Secret Santa.”

“You what?” you screeched, eyes growing wide.

“Look, even though I think Isaac is the worst, I know you’ve had a crush on him for years. This is why he will be giving you a gift this year.”

“That’s not very secret.”

“I’m also setting up mistletoe all over the loft. There will be other casualties to my mistletoe plan, but I will happily sacrifice that for your happiness.”

“I…have no words,” you gulped. You liked Isaac since you first saw him, even before he became a wolf. And then he joined your pack, everyone started hanging out together, and your crush grew stronger. You jumped at the opportunity every time you got to do stakeouts or other missions with just Isaac. You didn’t believe that he liked you back, though. You were human, a lot quieter than the other pack members, and also prone to word vomit when feelings of awkwardness arose. 

“This way, you’ll have something he got specifically for you.”

“Unless he gives me a gag gift because he doesn’t care.”

“If he does that, then he’s not worth your time. I’m saying that as your friend with the knowledge that you are a great person,” Stiles grins. He turns back to his laptop, feet propped up on the corner of the table and fidget spinner in his other hand. You had a slight smile as you returned to your project, and that smile didn’t leave your face as you spent the rest of the night with Stiles. 

The party happened a week later. You, Kira, and Mason had spent time getting a bunch of decorations to make it look more festive and then left Lydia to boss Parrish around on where to put things up. Lydia had a vision; none of you dared ruin it. It gave you time to go home and get ready anyway. You dressed in a simple burgundy sweater with jeans and boots but bothered putting on more makeup than usual. You even clipped your hair back with some star clips you found in the back of your drawer. When you returned to the loft, your jaw almost dropped with how pretty it looked. Twinkly lights and tinsel covered the available surface area, and a tree was in the back with presents already stacked. There was a table with all the amuse bouches one could wish for, and the scent of cranberries and oranges filled the room. 

“Happy holidays, Y/N,” Peter said from right next to you, giving you a minor heart attack.

“Someone invited you?” you exclaimed, earning an eye roll from Peter. 

“I’ve been tasked with taking coats,” he sighed, already bored. You handed him your jacket and quickly left, not interested in being another meal. Malia was by the dining table eating all the different meats and cheeses. 

“Merry Christmas, Malia,” you said, grabbing an olive and popping it in your mouth. 

“Who knew food could be so fancy?” Malia mumbled, not taking a breather before eating more. She looked like a kid at a candy store, and it made you laugh. 

“Food is still food, just prepared differently,” you responded. You watched in slight admiration as she chugged a glass of champagne before eating half a block of cheese. You wished for her metabolism so you could eat so openly. 

“I like the pigs in a blanket the best,” a voice said behind you. You turned around and felt your heart catch as you saw Isaac, a slight grin on his face. He was dressed in a blue henley, and the lights reflected brilliantly off his eyes. “Although, I’m more a fan of the blanket.” He proceeded to suck off the bread part of the pig in a blanket, leaving you with a confused expression. 

“Did you seriously just suck the bread off?”

“I said I was more a fan of the blanket,” Isaac answered, finishing the rest of his snack with an expression that read duh. Before you could react to whatever that was, you were handed a holiday cracker by Lydia, who was running around and gifting them out. These were wrapped in a green and gold floral print and tied with red ribbon. You held your cracker to Isaac, looking at him with a raised eyebrow. He took the other end of the cracker, and you both pulled, the contents exploding from inside. You happily picked up your kazoo and paper crown before helping Isaac open his Christmas cracker. You traded your kazoo for his deck of cards before putting your crowns on. 

“Let me help,” Isaac said, positioning the paper crown on your head at the perfect angle. His fingers brushed down your hair as he stepped back, and you felt a blush coat your cheeks before you could stop it. “Look, now you’re a king.”

“Not a queen? Or a princess?” you asked cheekily. 

“Pretty sure you could be whomever you want,” Isaac replied, hands in his pockets as he looked down awkwardly. For a boy who wasn’t always the best with words and frequently struggled to pick up social cues, he somehow managed to find a way to flatter you. Before you could respond, Stiles clinked his glass to alert everyone to Secret Santa starting. You found a spot on one of the couches, curling up into the corner. Malia sat beside you, offering you a candy cane she stole from somewhere. 

“Thank you guys for bothering to show up today,” Stiles started, fingers anxiously tapping the side of his glass. “I’m happy to be included in this group of people, and…I don’t intend to lose you guys even when we graduate.”

It was one of the more severe things Stiles had ever said, and you could tell that it took a lot of willpower not to break into a joke. Everyone clapped and yelled kind things, though, and you knew it relieved some pressure from Stiles’ chest. 

“Alright, let's start this party as we trash Derek’s loft!” Stiles clapped as Derek glared from the back. “Chill out, big guy; I was kidding.”

You had to give your friends credit; they put together some perfect gifts this year. You were excited as you had Kira the crochet fingerless gloves you had made in pink and black yarn. 

“It has a mitten cover that you can button back,” you explained as Kira excitedly put them on and cooed over how soft the fabric was. Liam did try to steal them at one point before you promised to make him a pair. 

You were shoving a cookie in your mouth when Lydia announced that it was your turn to receive your gift. Avoiding Isaac’s gaze, you watched as Lydia brought over a small box wrapped in brown paper with a silky ribbon. You anxiously untied it, carefully peeling the paper away. You were greeted with an emerald green velvet case that you opened with a small gasp. Inside was a simple silver chain with three different charms on it. One of the charms was the Celtic ruin for protection, another a car with a Christmas tree on top, and finally a coffee pot. 

“I think I remembered that your family uses that sign for protection all over your home,” Isaac mumbled, a flush coating his cheeks as you finally looked up at him. “And the car is for when we were sent to get the Christmas tree, and you argued with the seller for trying to overcharge us. And the coffee pot is because of how you complain about needing coffee every time we hang out.”

You could feel your eyes tearing up as you looked at the thoughtful gift. Not only was it perfect, but Isaac gave it to you and put a lot of thought into it. You sat up, enveloping him in a hug that caught him off guard. Your face was buried in his shoulder as you inhaled the sweet vanilla scent that seemed to follow him. He tentatively hugged you back, bringing you in even closer. 

“Isaac,” you sniffled, pulling away. “It’s perfect, thank you.”

The smile that covered his face was infectious, and you knew that if you sat there any longer, you would combust into giggles and likely start screaming (something Stiles has witnessed you do whenever Isaac would do something personal and pleasant for you). You excused yourself, exiting to the kitchen to get some water. As you poured yourself a glass, you also went to the hot cocoa bar and stole a snowflake marshmallow to nibble on. 

“Are you okay?” you hear Isaac ask in the doorway. You turn to face him, softening at the look of concern coating his features. 

“I’m fine,” you reassure. “It was just a perfect gift; I didn’t want to get too emotional.”

“I’m glad you liked it,” Isaac whispered, looking down at an invisible spot on the floor. “I wanted to get you something that showed I cared.”

“I know you care,” you smiled, leaning against the counter. 

“I mean, like how I care about you,” Isaac breathed, slightly shaky. You furrowed your brows as your brain struggled to catch up. Isaac looked at you, waiting for realization to set in. When it finally did, your eyes widened to the size of saucers, and if the counter didn’t support you, you would’ve passed out. Instead of saying something, you glanced at the kitchen doorway's opening where Isaac was standing. 

“Mistletoe,” you whispered. 

“Huh?” Isaac looked confused, glancing around before finally glancing up. Conjuring courage you didn’t always have, you stepped right up to him and pulled him down for a kiss right under the mistletoe. He made a noise of surprise before finally placing his hands on your waist and kissing you back. 

“Happy holidays, Isaac,” you smiled, pulling away and looking up at him from under your lashes. His hand cradled your cheek before kissing you again, this time with the confidence of a boy who found his footing. You melted into his embrace, arms wrapping behind his neck and burying in his hair. One of his hands held the small of your back while he preserved your jaw, deepening the kiss. You let out a happy sigh as you let Isaac kiss the living daylights out of you as you thought to yourself:

This is the best Secret Santa ever.

[cillianhead]

Some sub!Neil Lewis would save my life right now I think 💋😋

Oh my gosh! Ask and you shall receive. I'm so excited this is my first request <3

(Also I'm so sorry if you didn't want this to be smutty, I'd be more than happy to also write some fluffy stuff!)

Pussy-Whipped || Sub!Neil Lewis x Reader

summary: When Gumshoe Video hosts a small Halloween party, Neil can't help but feel disappointed you're not there.

Warnings: SMUT!!! 18+ Minors DNI, pussy eating, vulgar language, possibly poor writing from me (barely edited.), let me know if there is anything else I'm missing!

Neil had gathered a decent sized group of people to have over at the store for Halloween night. It was nothing too major but it was definitely a good sized party. There was plenty of snacks and drinks, couples making out against walls, people debating on whether Christmas was better than Halloween. Really, it was a perfect little party, people were having a great time. Halloween music played, fake cobwebs lined the walls, fake spiders, you know, all that jazz. Later on at Gumshoe Video, there would be a couple of scary movies playing to really celebrate the occasion. Well unfortunately it was missing one key feature.

You.

It left Neil feeling easily irritated and whiny all night. He was all dressed up as Dracula from the 1931 film. The most important piece was missing to him of course. Lucien and Jonathan would tease him for being so grumpy.

"You'd probably give up this store just to see her again, huh?" Lucien was grinning at him, enjoying seeing Neil suffer.

"Shut up, man," Neil just smiled uncomfortably, sick of their teasing, nudging Jonathan with a huff.

"You're pussy-whipped." Jonathan said before Neil slipped into his office, which was strictly off limits during the party.

You had already made plans with some of your friends, weeks prior. Some halloween party that was also a birthday party for a good friend, you promised Neil though that you would show up to the store afterwards. He was starting to doubt you would.

Neil always worried you thought he was too lame or you were way too out of his league. You would roll your eyes every time and just give him a reassuring kiss.

Feeling down, he sat in his office chair, swivelling around and twiddling his thumbs. He missed you, it had been a few days since you had seen each other, both busy with work, he was shaking with anticipation at even the tiniest possibility of seeing you.

To be honest, Neil was a needy little thing. He struggled going even a day or two without seeing you. And oh how fucking his fist could never compare to fucking you. God, even just thinking about your pussy, he could feel his trousers tighten and he threw his head back with a groan.

A zip and a tug could be heard as he slipped his hand down his pants, teasing the tip of his pink cock with his thumb. Whining quietly, precum staining his cotton briefs. Fuck, he didn't expect to be walked in on, touching himself like a pervert.

"Neil?" Your voice. He quickly swivelled his chair back around, facing the doorway to look at you like a deer that had been caught in headlights. Neil just coughed, trying to act casual, trying to pretend he hadn't just been thinking about having your tits in his mouth. But he knew you knew.

"H-Hey!" He looked you up and down, a sheepish smile and flushed cheeks as he looked at what you were wearing. A white corset, laced up tightly, hugging the perfect curves of your body. A sorry excuse of a dress tightly clinging to your skin underneath it, your hair had been pulled down out of the hairdo you had it in previously so it fell messily over your shoulders and white stockings adorned your thighs. He could cum looking at you then and there. He wasn't really sure what you were supposed to be but he didn't really care at this point in time.

"What were you up to, my love?" Sauntering over to him and rounding the table to get closer to him. Neil looked up at you like a lost puppy as you sat down on the edge of the table. The smell of your perfume made him feel like he could pass out, you were intoxicating. "You miss me?" "Yeah... yeah... I did..." Neil nodded dumbly, looking at your pretty lips that he hadn't gotten the chance to taste in oh so long. "Missed you so much, you've all I've been thinking 'bout." You held onto his chin, smiling at him knowingly.

"Looked everywhere for you, thought you'd be out with the rest of the party, Neil baby."

"S-sorry... I just..." His head hung low, feeling embarrassed for being so needy. "I just really missed you... didn't feel like hanging out with any of those people..."

You just kept smiling at him sweetly and his eyes watched as you casually shimmied down your panties, sticky and wet as you tossed them behind you. The skirt of your dress didn't cover the sight of your bare cunt and as you leaned against his desk, spreading your legs for Neil to see better in the low light of his office, he didn't hesitate to dive right in, knowing what to do. Desperate to taste you, like a dog that hasn't eaten in weeks. He moaned at the taste, eyes rolling back in his skull as he was gifted with your wet pussy against his face.

"That's fuckin' it," You moaned, letting your head lean back as he made out with your pussy. "Show me how much you missed me, Neil..." Your mouth was agape, he always ate you out like his life depended on it.

Your fingers in his hair, pushing his face deeper into your soaking core only encouraged him further, causing him to groan into you. Your clit fit perfectly between his pretty lips as you desperately ground your cunt against his face, his nose just perfectly caressing you. His tongue poked inside you, flicking up to the spot where you needed him most.

"God! Fuck... you're such a good boy... so good for me...!" Gasping out. This was all Neil needed, he didn't care if he wasn't allowed to get off for the rest of his life, as long as he had you, to touch and to taste, he didn't care, you were all he needed. The sound of you whimpering loudly made his cock throb, he felt like he was close to cumming himself. Neil always described it as heaven on earth, when you came on his face, he felt like he had accomplished all he was good for. "Want me to cum on your face, pretty?" You let out, sensitive and so turned on seeing Neil down on his knees, looking so content with life as he sloppily ate you up.

"Please..." He mumbled obediently before letting you continue to fuck his face. His tongue was pressed flat against your clit as you came, further wetting his face, what makeup he had on for Dracula now smudged across his face and your inner thighs. He kept slurping your juices up until you tugged his face away. Glistening and a dumb dopey smile on Neil's face was the sight that met you.

"I missed you so much, baby," Still recovering, you leaned down and gave him a gentle loving kiss. His tongue flicked out to the corners of his mouth, licking the juices that were still on his face. "You did so good." He blushed at the praise. You always thought he could never look prettier, red cheeks, big blue eyes, and your cum dripping off of his nose and chin with that big satisfied smile.

"I love you..." He whispered, placing a small kiss on your clit before standing up and connecting your lips once again. "Love you so much..."

-

Hope you enjoyed :)

[quitealotofsodapop]

[Wukong: "Then we would have shared that furnace. And we'd be two idiots chained beneath the mountain together."]

Hmmm…I am not a hundred percent sure, but I think when SWK was in the furnace – he was reduced to ash, more than once, he just regenerated each time it happened. And considering he had to have been like 5 times immortal by then…I really doubt Macaque would have survived the furnace. SWK would just be trapped in there with the ashes of his friend/mate.

Although, now I have the image of SWK collecting the ashes and carrying them around in a jar/vase/something and still treating it like Macaque is alright – “Oh, look, Mihou, think we should try that?” – like something between a comfort item and a security blanket, but his mind not dealing with his LEMs death well to a point he’s just…like that. Still himself, but broken in a way.

Tripitaka thought he would be in over his head with the Monkey King being his protector – but the stone monkey clearly not coping well at all with a dead friend and treating their ashes as if still alive…Man’s praying for wisdom every chance he gets.

Referencing a line from my post about Wukong's stage fright.

Thats an extremely sad concept and a great idea for an angst au. It brings the idea of how Monkey (representing the Mind) handles legitimate grief. Him having a Mary Shelley-esque co-dependance on his past mate's ashes is 100% in character for SWK. He clings to the vessel containing Mac's ashes like Guanyin to her vase, rarely if ever putting it down.

I imagine the vase/vessel/urn resembles like those found in Chinese dig sites, but instead of the Imperial Palace, it is topped with a model of Flower Fruit Mountain.

Tripitaka/Tang Sanzang can sympathise with the pain of losing someone dear. In Journey to the West, he sets out to retrieve the scriptures after losing his mother + solving his dad's murder (and thats after being separated from them since and before birth). He's going through his own form of unhealthy grief, similar to his attitude in "The Great Tang Man"; he doesn't want to get close to anyone because he fears losing another loved one. But he sees that Monkey is refusing to accept that someone he cared for is gone, and wishes to find wisdom to help them both.

Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing are also sympathetic, but a little unnerved by Wukong's obsession. Bajie was a witness to Wukong's Havoc in Heaven, and knows that the Six Eared Macaque fell to the Furnace when his king did not. He's the one to yell at Wukong when he's annoyed by the monkey's chattering to the ash vessel. Wujing is the one to gently suggest ways to include Macaque's memory in healthier ways, and frequently helps Wukong with tasks when the monkey refuses to put down the vessel. Wujing knows how important those things are.

The one who understands the most though, is Ao Lie. He witnessed how his family went nuts in the aftermath of Ao Bing's death. The ones who grieved loudly and silently. The pain that rebounded onto Nezha and his family. Ao Lie was quite young when the death occurred, and always felt like he was on "the outside" of what was happening. He understands that this is the way Sun Wukong choses to process what has happened to Macaque. Ao Lie feels no place to correct him on it - and just understanding Wukong's pain is enough to help the monkey heal even if it takes years.

Wukong in this AU would be far more hesistant to kill his mortal opponents. He knows that even the strongest warrior may fall to ruin. And that the most hated Kings have someone who will mourn their loss. Sometimes his personality of an unhealthly-grieving widower is enough for some threats to back off. Even a demon knows that it is shameful to harass someone who is mourning.

I imagine the most shocked of their encounters would be the monkeys former allies...

Azure: "Sun Wukong? I thought you threw your lot in with the Heavenly Host. Following the beck and call of the Tang Monk." SWK: "I have. But I figured me and Mihou should pay you guys a visit." Peng: "The Six Eared Macaque? So he has survived the Furnace. No doubt he slunk away into the shadows once the lid rose. Where is that coward hiding now?" SWK: "He isn't hiding. He's been here the whole time." (SWK pats the vessel in his arms) The Brotherhood, all realising: "OH." ( ;O_O) (O_O;) ( `−ㅿ−´) Yellow Tusk: "...I believe the Six Eared Macaque has sacrificed the most for our cause. We should show him and Sun Wukong some hospitality, and listen to their tales of travel." Azure, creeped out: "Agreed."

Others like DBK and PIF would also be in mourning. But I could see them almost finding Wukong's behavior romantic. After all, they don't know what they would do if the other had died in battle.

I feel like instead of a "Macaque Chapter" where Wukong encounters his doppleganger while him and Tripitaka aren't on good terms; it's Wukong becoming frustrated with the others' worrying and comments and wanting to prove that theres a way Macaque still lives. And if it involves harassing the Heavens, the Underworld, or the Buddha himself then he'll try.

Perhaps the crux of his Journey is SWK deciding to let go and release Mac's ashes (likely at Flower Fruit Mountain) and learning healthier ways to honor Mac's memory. Or perhaps requesting that the Buddha reunite them - whether as a revival, in death, or in the next life...

BUT ALSO CONSIDER THIS:

Sun Wukong was only able to legitimately survive the Eight Trigrams Furnace (even with peaches, wines, and pills) because;

He's a manifestation of both Earth and the Mind. All the Furnace did was harden him like a piece of coal becoming a diamond.

Wukong isnt dumb. He knows enough about Taoist Alchemy to know that no matter how hot the crucible gets, it will always be its weakest in the Xun/Sun/Wind Trigram. The theory being that while Air feeds Fire, Wind supresses it - in science terms the increased pressure caused by the pure Wind element suffocated the hottest flames but created a lot of smoke; forever reddening Wukong's eyes.

Above: Two separate translations I got.

Macaque is associated with Wind, especially in LMK and other Jttw-inspo works that merge his character with the Macaque King/Great Sage Informing Wind. And as a Celestial Primate/Mystic Monkey, he holds powers unknown to Heaven and himself.

If in Taoist Alchemy; Wind supresses Fire, then there's a chance that instead of becoming refined like a earthy diamond like Sun Wukong - the Six Eared Macaque would cause a different unholy reaction within the Furnace. Like a pressure cooker ready to burst, the Wind within would only expand/quicken until breeched.

Lao Tzu/Laozi opens the Furnance after 49 days, expecting the two monkey demons to be reduced to a pile of ashes and pills. He's met by a pair of monsters that burst forth from the crucible like Pandora's box.

Heaven weeps.

Even if Macaque's physical body was lost to the Furnace, he could retain enough magic to manipulate his ashes into a smokey ghost-like form. The Buddha would be forced to contain Macaque for those 500 years by sealing him in an air-tight vessel.

Wukong carrying around his mate's ashes and the pilgrims thinking him mad with grief, only for Macaque to reveal at an awkward time that he's still technically "alive". Pluming forth from the vessel and ensaring their foes with his ribbon-like tendrils.

And if you wonder what a Furnaced!Macaque would look like? He's already shown us;

[hannahssimblr]

As hangovers go, it’s about a nine out of ten. I waste the morning drifting in and out of sweaty snoozes, my duvet coiled around my legs like cotton vines that want to bind me to the sheets, gritty with the sand I dragged in on my shoes. At some point I am startled briefly awake by my phone buzzing with such fury that it hops along the surface of the mattress. 

It's Michelle. I switch it off and roll over. 

Around midday when the sun is at the perfect angle to sear through the glass and scorch my sweat bathed body like a helpless insect under a magnifying glass, I finally roll out of bed and shuffle into the living room. 

The guys are playing something that’s wall to wall machine guns on the PlayStation. They invite me to join, but I tell them no. The percussive sounds of the bullets is enough to make my brain throb. I let myself outside in yesterday's clothes to escape the noise, grabbing my sunglasses on the way. 

I think a walk will be good, I think it’ll make me feel better. I avoid the beach, which is obnoxiously busy on sunny days like this one, in favour of a walk through the village in the vague direction of the boat club. I don’t intend to go that far. I spent the whole summer last year avoiding a certain waitress, and I have yet to decide if I’m going to do the same this year. Today is not a day for decisions, so I will just loop around the caravan park and come back. 

The walk is not a success. First I am confronted by the dead seagull and then it’s the bin overflowing with half eaten fish and chips in the beach car park. I make it about ten metres before my body takes over and I throw up neon green behind a family station wagon. I knew it was coming, but I would have rather it had happened in a more confidential place. 

“Oh God, foul.” A very pretty girl in a bikini says to her equally pretty friend as I wipe my chin with the back of my hand, and all I can hope is that either these sunglasses provide adequate disguise, or that I will never see them again. 

But once I’ve thrown up I feel better. Though a headache persists, I've heard the sea air holds some sort of magic. I suck it in in lungfuls hoping it can heal my stomach, my head, and whatever it is that is specifically wrong with boys like me who call their ex-girlfriends at two in the morning and say a whole host of things that are wholly unhelpful to both of you. 

After this walk I will go home and force myself to eat something. I'll just force myself around the caravan park one time. The moment I slip through the gates, I have to leap aside to allow a group of boys to pass on their bicycles. They shout something at me for being slow and in their way, and I laugh, even though it makes my skull throb. 

I’ve always quite liked this part of the village, it’s rough and ready. There is nothing fancy about the old concrete shower block, dropped smack bang in the middle of the place, the big sun bleached plastic bins and the sporadic blocks of concrete with weeds bursting from the cracks. I enjoy its chaos, the mismatched lawn furniture, thin summer clothes pegged to lines, the children running wild in unsupervised chaos. 

The management tried to ban me from this park when I was twelve over some incident with a tennis ball and an ice cream truck. They took my photo and all, and stuck it up in the office, but the next summer when I got my growth spurt they didn’t recognise me anymore. So I made my triumphant return, hung around, threw things out of trees to see what sounds they’d make, and kissed all the girls I could get my braces-filled mouth on. 

I peer over the rim of my glasses toward where three girls are hanging out on the tennis courts, two popping the ball over the net while the third lolls on the sideline. I try to figure out if I ever kissed any of them in my heyday. I don’t remember, but if they were here in 2005 then it's most likely. 

Except if that girl is Kelly Healy, which, I realise, as I get closer to the court that it is. She’s unmissable, really, red faced, her sweaty curls spring free of her ponytail as she swipes at the ball and misses. She lets out a cry of frustration, flings her racket onto the ground and whines loudly about how unfair it is that she should have to lose every single set. 

I think it’s fine to think about how much I never wanted to kiss Kelly Healy. It’s not offensive, because it’s not as though she would have wanted to either, in fact, the idea of it has to disgust her as much as it does me. I hope she doesn’t see me as I pass, but I doubt she will, she’s too busy laying into her friend, but the girl sitting on the ground does. 

She smiles at me. Does she come here every summer? Is she one of the girls I’ve kissed? I doubt it. I think I’d remember. 

I smile back tentatively and she shyly tucks a strand of silky blonde hair behind her ear. 

She’s pretty, but I look away, racked with guilt for thinking it. Amn’t I supposed to be heartbroken and devastated? Surely I owe at least three months of penance, languishing in misery, unable to even look another girl in the eye as punishment for my selfish crimes. I’ve only given it a measly six weeks. 

I think this walk was a bad idea. I wasn’t ready for it. I swerve down a path away from the court and turn back toward home.

Jen is hanging out on the outdoor furniture when I return. I don’t really want to talk. It seems somehow as though breathing the fresh air has made my headache worse, but she speaks to me anyway despite my attempts to non-verbally communicate a desire to be left alone. 

“You should delete her number,” she tells me, voice flat, and I just grunt something non committal.

“I’m serious, you really just can’t be trusted. You should just save yourself the angst and minimise the risk of any contact.”

“You spoke to her?”

“Yeah she called me,” then, incredulously, “why did you say all of that to her?”

“I don’t remember what I said.”

“I don’t believe that.”

“Well, don’t then. I don’t care.”

“Okay, grumpy.”

“Don’t talk to me right now.” I stalk up the stairs and into the house, then burst into my room while ignoring the boys who are still offering me a game of whatever they are playing. I kick the door shut and snatch my phone off the tangled mess that is my bed. I switch it on. 

It comes to life in my hand like a sentient being, buzzing and chiming with all of the messages and calls I missed, but I delete every single one of them without looking. Then I go straight to my phonebook.

SHELL <3 

Her name is stark, black text against white. She changed her own name on my phone a long time ago, adding that little heart onto the end of it as though I would ever forget exactly which Michelle this was, as though we didn’t text each other every second we spent apart. I swear, through the aura of my headache, now throbbing furiously behind one eye, it seems like those two little symbols are mocking me. 

DELETE?

My thumb twitches. 

YES SHELL<3 HAS BEEN DELETED

Beginning // Prev // Next

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

WIBTA if I didn’t let my friend bring their partner to social events?

We are all in our 30s and all trans/NB/queer. My friend (B) and I have known each other nearly 20 years, and over those years they’ve had a rough dating history. They’ve had several emotionally and mentally abusive or neglectful partners, further details about that I won’t give here. I’ve met most of them and they’ve always disliked me for various reasons (usually they were just jealous of the place I held in their life).

Recently though, B seems to have found someone who makes them happy (we’ll call them T) and T treats them better than their previous partners. Which is great! I’m happy for B. But I find T insufferable.

Granted, I don’t have to see T very often, but when I do its always uncomfortable.

The first time I met T they trauma dumped immediately. In the first half hour I knew all about their horrible family but couldn’t tell you any hobby or interest they had. We were in a very public place and I didn’t feel it was the most appropriate topic to get to know someone, but I tried to relate with my own stories all the same. However, T always had to “one up” every story I told. it felt like a “whose childhood was worse” competition.

The second time we all hung out T ignored me completely, really only hanging around and talking to B. Since it was B’s birthday I didn’t really mind at all. Plus, we were at a beercade so everyone was kinda off doing their own thing. But even when we all sat down they just kinda threw looks my way but didnt say a word to me.

But most recently I had hosted a halloween party (it was only 8 folks so tiny party) where B and T both showed up. When T asked me how work was going I started with what I felt was a normal “Ah yeah, it sucks but—” and before I could say anything else they spoke over me to say

“Yeah you’ve mentioned you hate your job every time I’ve seen you so thats sort of my only impression of you :/ ”

(a possibly important side note: B and T are both doing things that they enjoy but have to hustle a bit to make ends meet whereas I have a full time retail job through which i have insurance so leaving isnt as easy for me since I have more tied up in my job than just a paycheck)

This really pissed me off, as not only is being interrupted a huge pet peeve, but there are aspects of my job I enjoy. I just never got to talk about them because the conversation would either divert or we would just stop talking altogether. Also the way they came across felt pretty judgmental.

T then proceeded to spend the rest of the evening talking about everything from the movie to the snacks with therapy speak and trauma processing. (ex: I think I’m locked into this movie because it might’ve been a safe haven for me during my childhood and I just dont remember watching it but I can feel its importance to me) And only ever to B, never engaging with anyone else.

(another note: they are not the only one at the party with anxiety. two of my other friends have severe social anxiety and while maybe a little awkward were still able to hold casual conversations. no one was a stranger to anyone at the party)

This also meant that I didn’t get to spend any time with B during the party either, which was a shame cause I see them so rarely.

I understand that trauma processing is important and its great if you have someone in your life that can help you. It does not need to happen every where all the time. And I’m worried that B might be getting taken advantage of like they have in the past (in the sense that they have to do all the emotional legwork in the relationship and get very little of that effort back).

I’m tired of catering to this attitude and I don’t enjoy being around them, so I no longer want to involve them in group events I host.

would that make me an asshole?

What are these acronyms?

[wolfjackle-creates]

Two Ghost Motel Chapter 2

Summary:

Danny is tired. Endless ghost fights with too many responsibilities and too little time; he barely passed sophomore year. When Ember visits town for a bit of fun, she mentions the Two Ghost Motel, a place of peace and refuge for restless ghosts who aren't ready to cross over. “I’m fine, Ember.” Danny’s got a home and friends. He’s fine, really. But when his parents begin experimenting with electricity to destabilize ghosts, it’s too much for Danny. Unfortunately, neither Sam nor Tucker can host him for the night and he’s left wandering in the night, alone. Then he sees it: The Two Ghost Motel. He checks in. “Welcome.”

Word Count: 5k

Warnings: Minor Original Character Death

Fandom: DPxDC (though no knowledge of DC is necessary for this fic.)

AO3, Chapter 1

-----

The next morning, he woke up to pale sunlight shining through the blinds. Danny groaned and threw an arm over his eyes. He didn’t want to go home.

Something shifted next to him, and Danny jumped out of the bed, taking a defensive stance in the air above the bed. Only to relax when he saw Jay blinking blearily at him.

Danny laughed self-consciously as he set down on the floor.

“Your mask makes that sound so creepy,” said Jay through a yawn.

“Makes what sound creepy?”

“You laughing. I wish my mask did that.”

Danny cocked his head. “You don’t have a mask.”

“Yes I do.”

“Why aren’t you wearing it?”

Jay shrugged and rolled over so he was facing away from Danny. “Dunno. I don’t remember what it looked like, so I can’t wear it. Did you forget a lot of things when you died? I wasn’t like this in life. I know that much.”

Danny chewed the inside of his lip as he stared at his companion. “No,” he said eventually. “But my death was a bit weird. I wouldn’t recommend using me as an example of normal.”

That got Jay to turn around and look at him again. “Weird how?”

Danny just shrugged. “Just weird. I don’t want to talk about it.”

Something passed over Jay’s face and he nodded before getting out of bed. “Come on, it’s daytime. Let’s go outside. There’s a basketball hoop out back.”

Danny shook his head. “I should be getting back home. My parents will be expecting me.”

“There’s someone waiting for me, too. I can’t stay here long.”

Danny landed on the floor and began stuffing his few belongings back into his backpack. “Who do you want to get back to?”

Jay paused with his hand on the door handle. “I need to tell him it wasn’t his fault.”

Danny tossed his backpack onto his shoulders and threw and arm over Jay’s. “Well then, let’s check out. Where’re you from? I got here through Amity Park in Illinois.” He led them out of the room to the walkway.

“I’m from a Park, too. But I don’t remember more than that. We never called it Park, though. I think it was an alley? It was near the ocean.”

“You know, I’ve never seen the ocean. What’s it like?”

Danny felt more than saw Jay’s shrug. “It’s impossible to describe. Unimaginably big, though. When you’re on a boat and can’t see land anymore…” he trailed off and Danny didn’t force him to continue. None of the other ghosts he’d met seemed to have Jay’s issues with memories. But then, most of them weren’t as fixated on their past lives, either.

At the bottom of the stairs, one of the boys he’d met last night was still playing jacks, but his friend was no where to be seen.

“Hey, Matt. Where’s Alan this morning,” asked Danny.

It took a moment, but Matt eventually looked at him with a blank expression. “Alan?”

“Isn’t that your friend’s name? I thought it was. The boy you were playing with last night?”

Matt blinked at him. “I don’t have any friends. I play by myself.”

Danny and Jay exchanged a look and Jay walked over to sit opposite Matt. “I know how to play,” he said. “And jacks is way more fun with two players. Want to start over with me?”

A slight smile flashed across Matt’s face, though it was gone as soon as it appeared. “Fine. I go first.”

Jay shrugged. “Betcha I can beat you anyway.”

Danny joined them on the ground. “Mind explaining the rules to me as you go? I always wanted to learn.”

“Sure,” said Jay. “We’re gonna start with the onesies round. Matt, start whenever you’re ready.”

Matt tossed the jacks on the ground and tossed up a bouncy ball. It’d bounce once, he’d pick up a jack and catch the ball, then repeat the process. Jay explained the rules as they went.

Once Matt collected all the jacks, he spread them out again and handed the ball to Jay who began the process again.

“So how long have you been here, Matt?” asked Danny.

Matt shook his head. “Dunno. Ma’ll get me when it’s time to go home.” He was entirely focused on Jay’s hands and the ball.

“Are you afraid Jay’ll cheat?”

“You always cheat if you can get away with it. He’d be stupid not to.”

Danny laughed, “Got it. An unspoken rule?”

Jay picked up the last jack and caught the ball. “Not one I’ve heard.” He tossed the ball over to Matt. “Your turn, squirt.”

It was hard to get Matt to talk and even harder to get him to talk about anything other than the game. But Danny did manage to learn that he was born in New York City in the fifties and that he was waiting at the motel for his parents.

He didn’t seem to know he was dead, and he didn’t remember anything about Alan.

Jay won the first round and Matt was setting up another game before they could protest. This time, Matt won. When he set up the third game, Danny joined in. He failed miserably. His complete incompetence made Matt smile again, though, so he considered it a win and was happy to go for a fourth game.

By the time they finished, the sun was much higher in the sky.

“Oh, shit. I need to get home,” Danny said, once he noticed. He looked around and saw more ghosts were wandering around now that it was day.

Two men in suits were leaning against the wall smoking cigarettes, a woman in a floral dress was walking a dog. And leaning against a railing, looking over the drained pool, was Tom.

“Wait, I met that man last night. I’m gonna go say hi. I’ll check out after I talk to him.”

Jay waved him off as he set up another game with Matt.

Danny ran over to Tom and took up a space next to him. “What are you looking at, Mr. Tom.” The cement of the pool was cracked and ghostly plants like the ones in the parking lot grew through them.

“Doesn’t the water look nice? I remember swimming before. With a child? A boy, I think. And a woman. We had fun.”

Danny looked up at Tom sharply. “What are you talking about? The pool’s been drained. It’s just a cement hole right now.”

“They want me to join them.”

“Who wants you to join them? There’s no one there!”

But Tom merely stepped forward through the fence. Danny reached out to grab his arm, only for his hand to pass right through it. “What?” He’d never had a hard time grabbing a ghost before. “Tom! Wait, there’s nothing there.”

Tom ignored him and kept walking. Danny rushed after him, but the delay meant he was still several steps back when Tom lifted his hands and dove off the side of the pool into the empty hole.

As soon as the man was out of sight, Danny’s ghost sense lessened. He ran to the edge and looked down into an empty pool.

“What just happened?” he asked himself. Something about the pool made him uneasy and he backed away from the ledge. Tom must’ve turned intangible and dived below ground. Or invisible and was playing a prank on him.

His back hit the metal fence hard and he winced. He hadn’t realized how quickly he’d been moving. With a mental shake, he turned intangible and walked through it back to Jay and Matt.

“Jay,” said Danny.

His friend ignored him as he bounced the ball once more.

“Birdie!” Danny half-shouted this time.

Jay missed catching the ball and let out a curse. “What’d you do that for?” he demanded. “I was doing well!”

“I think there’s something strange about this place,” said Danny. “Tom— he just, he just disappeared.”

Jay rolled his eyes. “We’re all just here for a short rest before returning to where we came from. He probably just went home.”

“He thought the pool was filled with water and dove right into it. Said something about someone calling him to join them. And then I stopped sensing him!”

The panic in Danny’s voice was enough to get Jay standing. He placed a comforting hand on Danny’s shoulder. “Hey, Phantom. It’s okay. I’m sure he’s fine. Why don’t we ask the receptionist which room he’s in and see if he went back there?”

“I… Okay. Yeah. Let’s do that.” He looked down at Matt. “Want to join us, Matt? See more of the motel?”

He shook his head. “Mom told me to wait. She’ll come for me.”

Danny and Jay exchanged a look, but Danny just nodded. “All right, kiddo. But you come find me if you need anything, okay? I’m in room 214. And Jay’s in 215. Either one of us will help you if you need it.”

But Matt was back to ignoring them as he tossed the bouncy ball in the air and resumed his game.

Jay grabbed Danny’s hand and pulled him to the front office. “Come on, we’ll go find out what happened to Tom.”

The office didn’t look much different by light of day. The women on the couch had gone, replaced with a man and a boy. Both were dressed formally; the man was reading a newspaper while the boy had a comic book. Danny thought he recognized Spiderman on the cover, though it was hard to see with how the kid was holding it.

The same receptionist from the night before sat behind the desk and Jay hurried them through until they were standing opposite her.

She didn’t so much as twitch.

“Hey, lady,” demanded Jay, “we’ve a question for you.”

“Jay!” protested Danny. “Don’t be rude.” To the woman, he said, “I’m so sorry for my friend. I had a concern about another guest and I wanted to find out which room he was staying in so I could check on him. Can you give me that information?”

But she still sat there frozen as if she were a mannequin rather than a person or even a ghost.

Jay leaned forward and snapped his fingers in front of her face. When she still didn’t react, he shrugged and reached down to grab the log book from under her hand.

That, however, did cause a reaction.

The receptionist’s hand transformed into claws that wrapped around Jay’s wrist. As she stood, she grew until she was towering above them. Her hair transformed into flames that framed her face. The lights flickered and the shadows deepened.

Jay screamed in pain and Danny rushed forward. He shot an ectoblast at the receptionist, then another. She didn’t let go.

She let out a breath of fire. “Motel records are private!” she screeched.

With one hand, Danny threw up a shield to block the flames while he used his other hand to grab an ectoknife he had in a pocket in his suit. Maintaining the shield, he sliced at her arm. It got her to loosen her grip just enough for him to yank Jay free and get between them.

“We’re sorry!” he yelled. “We didn’t realize! We were just trying to find someone’s room number because I was worried about him.” He grit his teeth and braced himself against her attack. He felt himself pushed back a foot, but managed to keep the shield going.

The flames continued for another moment and Danny’s arm began shaking. But then she stopped. He lowered his arm, but remained ready to jump back into the fight at the slightest provocation.

She stood, so tall she had to stoop or her head would be through the ceiling. Her hair glowed fire red-yellow as it licked around her chin and shoulders. Her eyes were black and teeth pointed at she glared at them. Her injured hand to her chest was clutched to her chest, but the other one was poised protectively over the log book.

“Motel records are private,” she repeated.

“I understand,” said Danny. “We didn’t realize. Would you be able to tell me which room Tom is staying in? He was in the office last night when I checked in. We were talking this morning and he disappeared. I just want to make sure he’s okay.”

She seemed to shrink in on herself slightly, though her hair remained flames and her fingers claws. But she was no longer taller than the room. Danny felt Jay shift behind him and froze his feet to the floor to hopefully keep him from making things worse again. “Don’t you dare,” he hissed.

He ignored the whispered, “Hey!”

The receptionist lifted up her logbook and flipped through a few pages. “No Tom is currently a guest at the Motel.”

“Did he check out? Because I spoke to him just ten minutes ago. Actually, how do we check out? You didn’t react when we first came in and tried to talk to you. Only reason we touched the logbook to begin with.”

And suddenly she was back to looking like a normal, human woman. “Is something not to your liking?” she asked with her slight Southern accent. “Is the television not working? Do we not have your preferred snacks in the vending machine? We have coffee, as well. The pot is over there.” She pointed at a table that had two coffee pots and some mugs. Danny hadn’t noticed it last night—was it new?

“I— no. Everything has been great,” said Danny. It was only his experience with Dora’s and the Lunch Lady’s mood swings that kept him from taking a step back.

Behind him, he heard Jay let out a whispered, “The fuck?”

“I am glad to hear it! If you need more towels or anything, there is a tag you can put on your door handle—”

“It’s not that!” interrupted Danny. “I just want to know about Tom. You said there’s no Tom staying here, what about a Thomas? I’m afraid I never got to know his last name.” He was tense and ready to throw up another shield at a moment’s notice, though his hand shook. He felt exhausted already and he’d barely done anything. What was going on? He bit his cheek and locked his knees.

The receptionist just smiled at him. “No one by the name of Tom or Thomas is currently staying here as a guest.”

Danny hesitated and asked, “What about Alan? Or Matt?”

She flipped through her log again. “There is no Alan here, either. However a Matt has been assigned room 117.”

Danny nodded and smiled only to remember he was still in his ghost form and had the full mask. He bowed his head in acknowledgment of her information. “Thank you for your assistance. Just wanted to confirm, when is checkout due by? I need to leave today, but want to try and find Tom and Alan before I do.”

The woman smiled sweetly at him. “We do not have a checkout policy. And we have no guests named Tom or Alan at this time.”

“So I can checkout whenever? Great.”

She repeated herself. “We do not have a checkout policy.”

Jay snorted behind him. In a near-whisper he said, “I don’t trust her.”

Danny kicked his ankle to try and get him to shut up. “Oh, and one last question. How long has the pool been out of order?” Could Tom be from another time? If he was existing in a time when the pool was open, it could explain why he saw things Danny didn’t. Might also be the reason Danny couldn’t touch him.

“I apologize for the inconvenience, however the pool is out of commission at this time. We will inform guests as soon as it is operational.”

“I know it’s out of order, how long has it been out of order?”

All she did was repeat the same apology as before.

Danny let out a grunt of frustration. Behind him, Jay shifted and asked, “What else is off-limits to guests?”

“Guests have access to their rooms and all public areas. Public areas include the walkways to the rooms, the parking lot, the pool area, the basketball hoops, and the paved area behind the motel. The areas behind this desk, the door behind me, and any service areas such as the electrical and boiler rooms are off-limits. No guest is allowed to view any motel records or documents.”

“Good to know,” said Danny. “You’ve been very helpful, thank you for your assistance.”

“Of course. Please come to me with any questions you may have.” Then the woman settled back in her chair and froze in the position Danny had seen her in each time he’d entered.

Only now, there was a thin slice on her one wrist. It didn’t bleed, but the skin was damaged and a thin wisp of gray smoke seemed to rise from the wound.

Danny backed away, and grabbed Jay’s wrist. Only to let it go when his friend hissed in pain. “Sorry! Forgot you were injured there. Let’s get outside and I’ll take a look.” With a thought, the ice covering Jay’s feet disappeared.

“How’d you do that?” asked Jay as they exited the office.

Danny didn’t answer, just led them further from the door. Now that the danger appeared to be over, he felt the ache in his core that indicated he’d over-exerted himself. Which shouldn’t have been possible. He’d had much tougher fights than that one.

But his legs shook with every step and he gave up walking and sat down on the asphalt in the middle of the parking lot rather than near the sign like he’d been planning.

Jay sat across from him. “You okay?”

Danny waved off his concern. “Just a bit tired. She was stronger than she looked. Let me see your wrist.”

Jay held out his arm and Danny could see burn marks where the receptionist’s claws had grasped him.

Danny looked around, even kneeling to check under the cars, and confirmed no one was near them. He reached up and unclasped the mask of his hazmat suit, revealing his face to his new friend.

“Holy shit! You’re just a kid!”

Danny snorted. “Oh, come on. You look like you’re about my age, too.”

“Yeah, but I’m used to being the youngest. Thought you were older than me. Especially since you can do so much more than I can. Speaking of, how did you fight her off? Could I do that?”

“I’m sixteen. How old are you?”

“Fifteen.”

Danny nodded as he breathed in deeply. Then he blew out, freezing his breath into frost as he did so in a technique Frostbite taught him. The frost coated Jay’s burned wrist, soothing the angry burn and causing the other boy to sigh in relief.

“Damn, wish I could do that.”

“I’ve got an ice core. Means I can control ice and snow. My doctor taught me that trick. If you have an ice core, you could do it as well. But you should be able to make an ectoshield and shoot ectoblasts and stuff. Those are powers all ghosts have.”

“I’ve never seen anyone here do anything like that. Sometimes they’ll walk through walls or objects, but never anything more than that.”

“Huh, weird.”

“You’ll teach me, right?”

Danny shrugged. “Sure, I guess. Never had to teach someone before, so don’t blame me if I’m bad at it, though. But I want to focus on finding Tom and Alan.”

“Obviously.”

Danny couldn’t help but look back towards the motel. Only this time, instead of welcoming, all he could feel was foreboding. “Something’s wrong about this place.”

Jay looked over, too, but shrugged. “I haven’t noticed anything.”

“What movie did we watch last night?”

“What are you talking about?”

“You came to my room and we watched a movie. Your favorite. You told me all about it as we watched it and we fell asleep at some point which is why you were still in my room this morning. What movie was it?”

Jay looked down and scuffed his foot on the pavement. One of the plants tried to bite at it, but his shoe kept it from hurting him. “I… We did watch a movie, didn’t we. Why don’t I remember?”

Danny chewed his lip and wished he could soften his voice. “Birdie, how long have you been here?”

Jay frowned. “Just a night or two.”

The foreboding feeling grew at that response and Danny shook his head. “I’ve been here for one night. It’s mid-morning now. You are much more familiar with this place and the people here than I am.”

“No I’m not. No one has ever acknowledged me before. Not like Matt did when we played with him.”

“Matt and Alan. There were two of them, remember?”

Jay reached up and rubbed at his face before nodding. “Two, right.”

“Now, please answer the question: how long have you been here?”

“I—” Jay scowled as he glared at a crack in the pavement. “I don’t remember. I remember sleeping in my room more than once, though.”

“And once in mine. Jay, I think this place is messing with our heads. I can’t remember last night’s movie. It was new-to-me, but you were so excited about it. I remember you talking about it, I remember pausing it so you could go on rants. But I can’t remember what those rants were or what movie it was.”

Jay shook his head. “I need to go back; they’re waiting for me.”

“Who, Jay? Who’s waiting?”

Jay jumped to his feet and kicked a rock. “I don’t remember! They need me though!” He punched the air before squatting down and burying his face in his knees.

Danny moved so they were side-by-side and put an arm around his shoulders. “We’ll figure this out and get you home. But we can’t leave just yet. I won’t leave until I know what happened to Tom and Alan and can make sure Matt is safe.”

“His mom isn’t coming, is she?”

“I don’t think so, no.”

“I don’t think my mom was any good.”

“My parents try, but they’re too focused on their work to notice when my sister or I need anything.”

“Why do you want to go back? Can you remember?” Jay looked over at him and Danny pretended he didn’t notice the wetness on his cheeks.

“Yeah, I can.” Danny tilted his head back until he was looking up at the sky, it was overcast, a uniform gray that stretched from horizon to horizon. “I’m… needed back home. If I don’t go back, people will get hurt. Ghosts, too. I stop them from hurting each other. As much as I can as a high school kid.”

Jay hummed. “It’s a lot, isn’t it?” he asked, as if he understood. With a grunt, he pushed himself up and held out a hand to Danny. “Well, what do you say? Let’s see if anyone knows Alan or Tom. We’ll save some people, then get the hell outta Dodge.”

Danny grinned at him and took his hand. “Yeah. Let’s do it.” Once on his feet, Danny reattached his mask.

“Why do you wear that, anyway? Is that normal clothing where you come from?”

Danny looked at his glove-covered hands and shrugged. “Of course not. But it’s what I died in. Been wearing it ever since.”

Jay shuddered. “I’m glad I’m not stuck in the clothes I died in.”

Danny gave a wry smile Jay couldn’t see and shrugged. “It is what it is. I’m used to it by now.”

“So how do I know if I have an ice core or whatever?” asked Jay as they began walking back to the motel.

He was still tired, but the short rest had helped a little and he didn’t feel like he was going to fall over as he walked. “I’ve never tried to describe it before. Can you feel for your core?”

Jay’s brow furrowed. “How do I do that?”

“Ghosts really only have one organ and that’s their core. Think of it as, like, your soul. It’s your brain and heart in one. As long as their core is intact, a ghost can survive anything that happens to them. The body you have around it is just ectoplasm given shape by your own expectations and perception of yourself.”

Jay hummed. “Okay, so you want me to try and mentally connect to my core?”

“Yeah. That’s where ghosts get our powers from. If you have the strength and there’s enough ectoplasm around, you can shape it and use it in interesting ways. And that’s on top of the flight, invisibility, and intangibility that any ghost can do.”

“You’ll have to show me how to do that, too.”

“Frostbite—my doctor,” he clarified at Jay’s confused look. “He made it sound like this was instinctive for most ghosts.”

Jay shrugged. “Well it’s not for me. How do I know if I’ve connected to my core?”

Danny threw up his hands. “I don’t know! Mine feels like a ball of cold ice in my chest, only comforting. When I’m afraid, I feel it jolt. When I push myself too hard, it aches. When I’m happy, it pulses.”

Jay bit his lip and seemed to consider Danny’s words. Silence stretched between them as they walked. By unspoken agreement, the two avoided the main office and instead made their way towards one of the far ends of the motel.

A woman in a patched coat and skirts was sitting on a bench there with a sketch pad on her lap.

Right before they were about to reach her, Jay said, “I had magic when I was alive, you know.”

Danny’s steps faltered. “Humans don’t have magic.”

Jay rolled his eyes. “Some do. Look at the Justice League. But that’s not what I meant. I had a type of magic. Something that made me more than just a regular human. But I can’t remember what it was or how I got it. I wonder if that’s why I can’t find my core.”

Danny shrugged. “I don’t know. It could have to do with your memory issues, too. I don’t think most ghosts have problems like that.”

“All here do,” said the woman on the bench.

“Do you know what is going on here?” asked Danny.

She said nothing, just kept drawing on her sketchbook.

“What are you working on?” asked Jay.

She set her pencil down on the bench next to her and turned the notebook around. On the page was a swirling black mass, far too reminiscent of the portal in his basement.

But then he realized it wasn’t just a dark circle. Ghosts were drawn on top of ghosts. The ones on the edges, he could make out some features—a face or a hat. He thought he recognized the women from the office the night he’d checked in. But at the center, so many figures had been drawn on top of each other that no details could be made out and it looked like a solid drawing.

Instinctively, Danny took a step back. Jay, however, stepped closer.

“Is that me?” he asked, pointing to a figure near the edge. His face was clear, with only the faintest lines from other figures crossing it.

“It is all of us,” she replied. She pulled the book back and picked up her pencil once more to resume her work.

“You’re really talented,” said Jay. “It looks just like me.”

Like the rest of the people they’d met, she didn’t react to his statement. Jay didn’t seem to care, though, and moved until he was standing behind her and could watch what she was doing. Danny hesitated, but joined his friend when he was waved over.

They watched as she started adding a new figure to the mess. It wasn’t long before Danny’s core sunk in fear.

“Dude, I think that’s you,” said Jay.

Danny swallowed, mouth suddenly dry. The more detail she added, the more obvious it was.

“Why are you drawing me?” he asked.

“You’re here, now. One of us,” she said absently.

“I’m leaving. Once I find out what happened to Tom and Alan, I’m leaving.”

“No one leaves,” she said as she continued to draw.

Danny bit his lip, then asked, “Do you know a ghost by the name of Tom? Or Alan? I can’t find them and the receptionist said there weren’t any guests here by that name. But I met them, I know I did.”

“No one leaves,” she repeated.

“I’m gonna leave!” protested Jay. “There are people waiting for me.”

But it appeared the woman was done replying. She just kept drawing Danny, at the edge of the vortex of ghosts, one of his arms extended as if trying to escape. Then, once every detail was finished, she drew a crown over his head.

Danny’s brow furrowed. “Why’d you give me a crown?”

When they got no response, Danny and Jay exchanged glances.

“You’re definitely not wearing a crown,” said Jay with a shrug.

On the page, however, it was the clearest part of her drawing. Nothing crossed the path of the crown.

“Look, lets just go,” said Danny when it was clear the artist wasn’t going to say anything else. “Maybe one of the other ghosts can tell us something.” Danny grabbed Jay’s upper arm and led him away.

-----

Chapter 3

And this marks the halfway point of the fic! Hope you enjoy.

Couldn't resist the little nod at the end there to Ghost King Danny. And it's a trope @i-think-in-metaphors (my artist) likes, so I didn't even try.

[heresylog]

Hi! Anglican here (Episcopalian’s British cousins). Overall the services are very similar in basic structure- a thing that has thrown catholic friends of mine before is that we do have slight variations of some of the prayers (someplacesthe Lord’s Prayer ends in ‘for yours is the kingdom, the power and the glory’ rather than ‘deliver us from evil’ and I believe the creed is slightly different!) and in my own experience quite different hymnals. Idk if you’d want to take communion but probably a good idea to ask the vicar first- most churches are okay with it as long as you’re some kind of confirmed Christian. Usually you can take the pamphlet thing they give you up to the alter to indicate you just want a blessing! Keeping your arms down and if needs be asking also tend to work- most anglicans and Episcopalians I know tend to prefer having the host put in their hands. Most churches have near obligatory cake and coffee at the end, it’s either bad or the best thing you’ve had. Usually worth the gamble! There might be a lot of variation- our tradition focuses a lot on compromise so some low churches seem very ‘Protestant’ while others can be really high church so my apologies for the generality of the advice! I hope you have a good service and a lovely week!

Thank you for your response.

I just got done with the service today. It was extremely modern. All white walls and very minimalist decor. The art depicting the liturgical season was absolutely gorgeous.

The music was very….well, hippie Protestant. I’m glad there was a pamphlet with the order of the liturgy. The Nicene Creed is slightly different and threw me off quite a bit.

The deacon was so nice! I’m glad I got a chance to see her in her element and outside of a professional setting. The deacon is a former catholic I work with so it was nice chatting with her afterwards.

Other things I noticed:

Name tags! Each person puts their name on there. It’s a nice touch. They also asked me to put pronouns on, too. Which was different.

Coffee and tea before service. I’ve never been somewhere that served coffee before service, usually that’s for after. I also felt strange taking it with me to the pews.

No kneelers. I’ve been informed that kneelers are at some episcopal churches. They were not present at the one I attended.

Baptism free-for-all. A new member who had just shown up that day was asked if he’d like to get baptized after service. He asked if he needed to go to classes first and they said that was optional. That kinda made my brain go fritzy.

Holy Ghost vs Holy Spirit. I knew this from watching Call the Midwife but it was still strange to hear. It makes me think of Scooby Doo or Julie and the Phantoms.

Everything is The Great. There are lots of different things described as “the Great.” The Great Amen, The Great Silence, etc etc.

Overall, interesting experience.

[suchalonelysunflower]

You Are What You Love (l.h)

Pairing: Luke Hemmings x Fem! Reader

Requested? Yes! (requests are currently closed)

Summary: Based on the song "Daylight" By Taylor Swift. Luke's thinking about his perspective of love while he reminisces about when he first met you

Warnings: Fluff, language, mentions of alcohol and toxic relationships. Some grammatical errors (English is not my first language, im sorry)

Word Count: 2.4 k

Author's Note: I just really wanted to write this one and give it my own lil twist. Remember that REBLOGS are super IMPORTANT and so are COMMENTS AND INTERACTIONS. PLEASE SUPPORT YOUR WRITERS. Hope you like it and Happy Reading

My masterlist // tag list in bio!

The day was getting to him and they’d practically just started. Doing promos all day is something they all got used to when they first started, but it has become repetitive and unhealthy after years of being in the spotlight.

It’s not like Luke isn’t grateful for the opportunity he has of making music with his best friends, he loves what he does and why he’s doing it. But he has to admit priorities have changed for him lately, and being away from home for too long was making him angsty.

“Dude, cheer up!” Ashton would say, giving him a big smile and patting him on the shoulder as they waited for the next interviewer.

Luke would give him a half-hearted, tired smile that mimicked his feelings on the inside. He would see how Michael, Ash, and Calum would joke with each other a little bit, already getting in the mood for another seven minutes of answering questions - although everyone knew Ashton would be speaking the most again, thank you very much. And for a moment it was nice to see them slip from the personas they present in front of the camera and just let them be.

He also took this moment to check his phone and take it out from “do not disturb” when a text message showed up. After reading it his smile was for real this time.

“Is it Y/N?” Michael asked, noticing the grin on Luke’s face.

“Yeah, she says hi”

Quickly, Luke texted you back, noticing the interviewer was already making their way to them. Still, he couldn’t shake the smile off of his face.

* A few years ago.

The party was a success - or a mess if you’re the one cleaning afterward, which is pretty much what Luke promised to do if Ashton threw a party that weekend. This time it took more than ten minutes to convince the eldest of 5sos to throw a party, which is more than anyone would’ve expected coming from him.

“Luke, I already hosted a party three days ago” Ashton sighed while doing the dishes, giving his back to the youngest of the band.

“But Aaaash,” Luke pouted even though Ashton couldn’t see him “It’s the weekend!”

“Don’t you think you like partying too much?”

“Funny you’re saying it,” Luke rolled his eyes, but when he noticed Ashton stare once he turned back, he knew he was serious “C’mon, dude”

“Luke, you’re deflecting” Ashton crossed his arms in front of his chest “Don’t think we don’t notice how you use parties as an excuse to avoid the elephant in the room”

“I’m fine,” He scoffed, and the eldest raised an eyebrow at him.

“Oh? So you’re ready to tell me what happened the day you showed up at my house with your dog and a U-Haul filled with your things?” Ashton sighed again when noticing Luke’s eyes deflecting his gaze “Look, you know I love having you here, but it’s not fun to see you hurting, Luke. Whatever happened with her… you know we’ll support you, right?”

And Luke knew they would. Fuck, Luke loves his friends because of it, they will never leave him behind if the ship was sinking. But the ship was already at the bottom of the ocean and they were still looking for the remains of his broken heart, not knowing there was nothing left to save. Not even himself.

“Luke…”

“Fine, if you don’t want to have a party then forget it,” Luke said, turning around and going to his room.

Ashton groaned loudly and threw his head back before calling out “Okay! We’re having a stupid party! But you’re cleaning up the next day!”

And so came Saturday and the house was packed. Except for one lonely soul sitting outside against the wall, drinking a beer, and not being able to figure out what was so wrong with him. Ashton was right, he was deflecting. But what was wrong with wanting to have a little party to try and forget the past?

The lights were low, so no one could recognize him that easily as he slipped out. The loud noises of the party drowned the sounds of his mind telling him he was the one that fucked up and that he should go back to what he knew was an unhealthy environment. At least that’s a place familiar to him; the feeling of not being enough but still trying to make it up somehow; being the butt of the joke everyone and laughing along even though they never knew the struggle or the pain behind every word or comment he read on the internet.

He was in love, or at least he thought he was. Damn, there was his whole life ahead of him and he thought she’d be by his side through all of it. But love doesn’t have to be black and white, it doesn't have to make you doubt every single word or move or Instagram post. He never thought love could be so cruel… or maybe he didn’t know what love was after all.

What’s worst of it all is that he knew he hurt some people along the way. Fuck, he even made Ashton throw him a party every week to try and cheer him up even though everyone knew it was all a charade. After everything that he did wrong, his friends are still there for him when he least deserves it. All because he was too hung up to see the reality, or too scared to face it.

Still, at least he was sound of mind and heart and didn’t plan to go back to her, even if that meant waking up and facing the unknown future again.

“Cheers to that,” He mumbled as he brought the beer bottle he was nursing to his lips.

“Amen,” A voice said behind him, making him spill his drink all over his shirt “Oh shit! Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you”

Luke wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, counting to ten in his head so that he won’t curse this person out. But soon a hand was stretched out to him, offering some napkins to clean himself out.

Finally, his blue eyes were able to look at the person who so rudely interrupted his self-deprecating moment. And for a second there he was speechless.

“I’m truly sorry,” The girl gave him a shy, awkward smile, “I thought you heard me get out and- Well, that’s what I get for trying to be funny, I guess”

Luke blinked up at her, losing his train of thought when he noticed how cute she looked when blushing and the way her eyes sparkled before she looked down. He couldn’t help but chuckle as he accepted the napkins.

“It was funny,” He said, dabbing his shirt “I always hated this shirt anyways, so thank you for helping me get rid of her”

The girl smiled “I don’t know if you’re making fun of me… but, yeah, that shirt is very 2015”

Luke fake gasped in surprise “Are you saying I have bad taste?”

“I’m saying that maybe you did but are now repenting for your sins”

“So quick-witted”

“One of my many talents”

“What’s another one?”

“I can run faster than a wolf”

“Don’t you get tired?” He asked, scooting to his side so that she could sit beside him. She did.

“Maybe when I do I’ll finally find the place that makes me what to stay” She shrugged “Do you have a talent?”

“I can’t seem to differentiate heroes from villains”

She looked at him, resting her chin on her hand “What do you think I am, then?”

“I don’t know yet” He laughed, looking back at her and getting lost in her eyes for a second before asking “Should I be offended you'd rather be out here than at my party?”

“Should I be offended that the host of the party would rather sit outside in the cold than at his own party?” She challenged him “My friend dragged me here, but I’m not much of a social butterfly and I need a moment to charge my battery before she tries to set me up with another stranger”

“Ooff, tough crowd?”

“The toughest”

“Good.” Luke said, leaning back and looking up at the sky “Easiest way not to get hurt”

“Maybe,” She shrugged. “But if we don’t get hurt once in a while then why bother to feel anything at all?”

Luke turned to her, frowning as he examined her face. “Did Ashton send you here?”

The girl looked at him quizzically, “I literally have no idea who Ashton is, but if he’s like- I don’t know, your “guide” in the universe, then maybe?”

Luke laughed “He’s my co-host”

“Oh! The one singing “I will survive” in karaoke! Yeah, no, I haven’t talked to him. But if you want me to call him I could-”

“No!” Luke said way too quickly and she noticed that as well “I mean if he sees me he’ll know he’s right and I would rather eat another one of Calum’s veggie lasagnas than do that”

“Ouch, tough crowd?”

He groaned “You have no idea”

“I might, a little bit”

“Yeah?” He bumped her arm with his “What’s your story then?”

“Who wants to know?”

“Luke,” He said, extending a hand for her to shake.

“Y/N,” She took his hand in hers, shaking it firmly “Well, Luke, I’ll tell you mine if you tell me yours”

“And if we never want to see each other after we do?”

“Then that’s a risk we’ll both have to take”

*

The memory faded as he noticed all eyes were on him.

Shit.

At least there’ll be more elevator memes after this interview.

“Sorry, could you repeat the question, please?” Luke asked, ignoring Calum’s chuckle.

“Of course!” The interviewer smiled “I said that you were one of the main writers in almost every song of this album. What’s the inspiration behind it?”

“Oh,” It was an easy answer, of course, something he had rehearsed with the guys beforehand. But as the memory of your first encounter was still so fresh, another answer came to mind “Love,”

“Love?”

“Well, I guess that the right way to say it would be the feeling you get when you know you’re safe” He started, “When you feel safe around that special someone, no judgment nor fears or doubts. When that person means the world to you and you would do anything to give it to them just to see the smile on their face even for just a second. Or when you make a mistake and you’re willing to put everything on the line to try and make it right, just hoping the other one will forgive you when you think you least deserve it. “I had my doubts about love for quite some time. Thinking I was defined by it when we just create the context ourselves when we find the right person to share that love with. I always believed love would be…”

“Burning red?” Michael smiled, finding the words right out of Luke’s mouth.

“Yeah,” He smiled “But love is not supposed to burn or to hurt. Love is supposed to keep us warm and safe. Love is golden, like daylight”

“But not our old song Daylight,” Ashton said, making everyone laugh “That truly was a mistake”

“But it is part of our history,” Calum added.

“Like heartbreaks and hurt,” Luke chimed in, going back to the original question “But without them, is it even worth feeling anything at all? They’re just passing by until you find the place you want to stay, with the ones you love”

Luke watched with a smile as the other guys answered the rest of the questions, knowing full well that this is where he was meant to be. But there was someone missing.

*

The car dropped him off first, his friends all saying their goodbyes or see you tomorrow and saying I love you to him before he got out. He cracked his back before he grabbed his bag and made his way to the front door, waving one last time at the guys.

The moment he crossed the door he hung his keys and got rid of his boots. He was about to call your name when a faint mixture of sounds got to him. He frowned as he walked toward the living room, quickly finding you under a pile of blankets, wearing his hoodie and with an arm wrapped around a very sleepy Petunia whose snores were drowned out by the sounds on your phone.

Luke smiled as he shook his head, walking over to his two girls and sliding down next to you, wrapping you with his arms.

“What’ you doing?” He said, kissing you on the cheek “Are you- are you watching 5sos TikToks?”

“What can I say?” You said, turning into his embrace and facing him “You guys are very entertaining”

You ignored the rolling of his eyes as you leaned over to kiss him sweetly on the lips, feeling how he relaxed against you.

“Hi,” You mumbled once you pulled back just enough to have only your noses touching.

“Hi, darling” Luke smiled, kissing you briefly one more time.

“Long day?”

“The longest without you”

“Sap” You giggled, trying to scurry away before his hands found your waist and started to tickle it, but not being able to succeed.

This is what he meant about love. Coming home after a long day and having your laugh be music to his ears. Being able to touch you and kiss you like it was the first time every time. Just relaxing with you on the couch with your dog, watching hours and hours of tiktoks before any of your stomachs started to grumble. Talking about your respective days while you cook dinner together with Fleetwood Mac’s music surrounding the house, listening to all the good and the bad and the ugly, and just being there for each other.

The words “I love you” never made sense to him before you came along. But when you kiss him goodnight and whisper those words to him, he knows them to be true. And when he says them back, he knows he’s falling short. Because a love like that is impossible to describe.

A love like that is golden. A love like that is kind.

So every night he adds:

“Loving you is the best thing I have” * * tags: @iknowyouthinkimbulletproof @mystic-232 @talksoprettyjjx @theshyspy @hoodhoran @hoodharlow @littledrummeraussie @bubblegum183 @irwin-fletcher-ash @wiiildflowerrr @another-lonely-heart @aabc5sauce @in-superbloom @sadcupofcoffee @personalmuyverypersonal @vtte @as-hs-blog @himbohood @sofiaaraee @irwindoll @weasleytwinscumslut @fairytrice @colourfulcal @nibin0912 @hfkait @savagejane1 @youneedtocalumdown @ashtonsunflower @nicebasscalum @calumspupils @secretsicanthideanymore @alltimesos @wontlastimokwiththat @whywontyoulovemecami @theimpossiblehologramtree @perriexed @abiancajg @rewmuslupin @icelily13 @bookthingz @gracieboogirl @fastandtheformula1 @kingxnichole @wildflower98

[homoeroticgrappling]

Forgive me if this is self indulgent and sappy, but I just wanted to share some serious personal appreciation for RJ City, more under the cut. I got into wrestling by being invited by a close friend to watch AEW with them, and one of the first major reactions I had after thinking I could get heavily invested in it was to see RJ City and yell "GILDAR??" at an alarming volume.

At the All In welcome event in London, I chatted with people in the queue about how I wasn't allowed to watch wrestling when I was younger but I loved Splatalot and how excited I was to find out my favourite defender was the dashing host with the most for AEW. So many people in the wrestling community have fond memories of growing up watching the Hardys, Punk, Sting etc. For me I didn't have that but I did make sure I was sat in front of the TV for every episode of Splatalot and being around 13/14 it was one of the very last things I felt able to enjoy wholeheartedly in the way you love things before you're told you're "too old" to be so openly enthusiastic. At one point at a friend's house we tried to dress up as our favourite defenders, I may not have had the rippling muscles or quick wit but I had long dark hair and access to eyeliner so that was good enough for me to get my Gildar on, we threw tennis balls around her living room until we were forced to stop (sorry to Katie's mum and her Galileo thermometer, a casualty of our enthusiasm). Although it probably wasn't considered very cool to be doing that as a teenager, I remember laughing until we had stitches and talking about the previous day's episode on the hour long walk to school, I was thrilled to see a familiar face when I started my journey into being a wrestling fan. It was like showing up alone to a party where you expected not to know anyone and being terrified about if you'd fit in, then being pleasantly surprised and relieved to see an old acquaintance standing by the punch bowl.

Nostalgia goggles can make for disappointment when you revisit things through the eyes of an adult but watching RJ's work with AEW, he was even funnier and more engaging than I remembered, his hair more lustrous, and he had a magical ability to play off literally anyone you put him with. Watching Hey! EW became my favourite way to learn about the people on the roster as a new fan, and it became routine to tune in to RJ Makes Coffee In His Underwear. As I branched out further I found his work with Olde Wrestling was delightful, and if you haven't seen RJ City: Wrestling Raconteur I highly recommend it. The recently uploaded David Arquette Got Me A Talk Show is also a blast and well worth a watch! He's been a huge part of one of the most engaging storylines in AEW right now with Toni Storm and his increasingly frequent appearances on TV have been delighting me to no end.

I've had friends say to me that if RJ City was a real place, I'd own a vacation home there and I'm only half sure they were joking. When All In at Wembley was announced and discussion started about who'd be on the card, the first thing I said to a friend was "RJ better be there" and when I got to the All In welcome event I was more excited to see RJ on stage than anyone else at the event, I have the messages to friends to prove it:

When he mentioned Splatalot on stage at the welcome event I popped HARD and after getting back from All In, I decided to shoot my shot (not really expecting much because y'know maybe he doesn't want to be associated with a show he did years ago when he's got so many more current and impressive career things going on? He's currently crushing it with Hey! EW and Timeless Toni so maybe he doesn't want people messaging him about his stint as a handsome viking)

Not only was he willing to help, he really went above and beyond despite a (presumably) very busy schedule and was a total sweetheart about the whole thing and even threw in some stickers! I now have to get a frame to display this in a suitably prominent place on my wall

So thank you RJ City, for being even cooler than 14 year old Rowan thought you were (also I was right about you being the best defender, Gildar > Thorne my sister can go suck eggs)

[robotic-rin]

Be Still, My Indelible Friend

(Yes Man x Reader)

Summary: You’ve been in love with Yes Man for a long time. Like, an embarrassing amount of time. It doesn’t help that his assertiveness upgrade has made him an unbearable tease to you. All you know is, fighting for your Independent New Vegas together was hard, but redefining your ever-shifting relationship in the peace that follows might just be harder.

Word Count: 12,716

Rating: Explicit

Warnings/Tags: robot/human sex galore, praise kink, degradation kink, afab reader (no gendered terms are used), tried to limit my use of (y/n) but it is in there, subbing/bottoming for yes man’s character development, sorry for giving yes man a dick (no i am not), this is literally what happens after the wild card ending todd told me himself guys

Author’s Notes: shoutout to bill cipher for inadvertently providing me with a nickname for courier six that’s more cute and personable than just “courier” imo. anyways hope y’all enjoy fucking the robot. this was supposed to be pwp but i love yes man so much that it’s a genuine problem so there’s just a lot of feelings in here as well. also you canonically slept with benny in this one bc i think it’s hilarious and always do but it’s only mentioned briefly so you can just close your eyes to that aspect if you don’t like it. anyways y’all saw the tags, so if you’re down with all that stuff and are 18+, come on in!

So, it turns out that running an Independent New Vegas wasn’t nearly the full-time gig that you and Yes Man had been expecting when you threw General Oliver off of that dam. Sure, there were important meetings and heavy decisions to be made, but for the most part, the Strip ran itself, with the rest of New Vegas following suit. The two of you replacing Mr. House was showing to have its pros and cons, but it was at least preferable to being led by the corrupt alternatives. Only time would tell if your good intentions, instincts, and hatred of answering to any authority figures would be enough to keep New Vegas thriving, but for now, its leaders were left with plenty of extra time on their hands. One thing that you knew for certain was that Yes Man had been using his newfound time and personal freedom to upgrade himself, sometimes disappearing for days at a time on the hunt for some new part or informational chip that he would use to improve his capabilities. Mr. House’s network held more information on Securitron upgrades than you ever would’ve guessed, and Yes Man wasn’t going to let those resources go to waste. He’d already unlocked so many new and helpful abilities, but he was beginning to show the emerging quality of perfectionism as of late, so too much was never enough.

“You do know we have a Securitron army at our disposal, right?” you’d ask him teasingly on multiple occasions. “I think becoming the best version of yourself is great, but I don’t want you to burn yourself out over it.”

And in response, Yes Man would always bark out a mechanical laugh. “I really do appreciate the concern, but I think one day, you might be grateful that I’ve prepared myself for every possible situation, Sixer.” And that would be the end of that.

Things continue on in this way for awhile, and you often find yourself missing that big, silly Securitron when he’s not around. Realistically, you have plenty of companions to spend time with and keep you company at the Lucky 38 when Yes Man is out. And you do often busy yourself with hosting fun nights for all of them to attend, taking advantage of the current peaceful situation. Laughing with Veronica, drinking with Boone, getting dirty looks from Arcade when you two drink a bit too much, it’s always great fun. And while you do truly love and cherish the time you’re able to spend with your close friends, you always inexplicably find yourself longing to talk to Yes Man about your day, to feel the warmth of his processors and hear his mechanisms whirring beneath his metal exterior when you get close enough to him. Thinking about this for too long only ever seems to end in you feeling flushed and embarrassed, so you try to dismiss the thoughts whenever they manage to weasel themselves into your head. Unfortunately for you, this is starting to happen all too often.

You find yourself in this exact predicament now, as you relax in the private cocktail lounge level of your home at the Lucky 38. You’d just been on an exciting adventure with Cass earlier that day: getting into a shady deal, being double-crossed, fighting back for your lives. It was a pretty standard day as far as your life goes, but as you sit at the picturesque bar, you again find yourself yearning to share the tale with Yes Man. He’s such a good listener, always interested in how your escapades bring you so close to death, and yet always end with you finding a way out. You love hearing about his adventures through the Mojave as well, how his eyes will get extra big and his volume rises as he retells tales of how he was just rolling through the desert, minding his own business, and then suddenly had to whip out his missiles in a split second to stop the Powder Gangers that often try to jump out ambush him for spare parts. He’s an unexpectedly talented storyteller now that he can talk about his own experiences more, and you could listen to that sweet, energetic voice talk about anything for hours on end. Time spent with Yes Man was always precious to you, and the memory of it leaves you feeling incredibly lonely at the moment.

Sighing to yourself in the barstool, you continue to slouch as you swish the drink you’d just fixed around in its glass. The lights of New Vegas twinkle mesmerizingly against the evening sunset sky outside of your huge windows, but your mind is elsewhere. That big, goofy grin that he gets when he first sees me after we’ve been apart…that self-satisfied inflection that his voice gets when he knows he’s teasing me good…the faces he might make if I could get him all riled up and flustered. You slam your drink down on the counter after that last one, metaphorically severing the thread of that thought. Thinking like that led to dangerous places that had proven to result in you feeling simultaneously guilty and extremely aroused. After all, he was a Securitron, probably incapable of feeling whatever it is your brain wanted from him in a situation like that. Almost definitely incapable of experiencing sexual gratification. More than that, he was your friend, and thinking of him in that way made you feel bad. Would he assume you thought of him as no better than that mindless pleasure bot down at the Atomic Wrangler? You could never think so lowly of him, but it didn’t stop you from feeling bad for quietly desiring him. He would probably never speak to me again if he knew. Or worse, he would, and I’d have to hold a normal adult conversation with a Yes Man who knows how bad I want him. You swiftly down the rest of your drink.

As if on cue with your chugging, all of the lights in the bar area suddenly turned off, shrouding the entire visible lounge in near-darkness. Funny, I’ve never blacked out after one drink before, you muse to yourself. You may not have the best judgement to be calmly cracking jokes to yourself in your mind in this precarious position, but you don’t get to where you’re at in life without having a certain disregard for your own safety. If it’s an assassin, it’s an assassin. We’ll cross that bridge when it’s holding a knife to my throat.

You feel a heavy presence approach from behind your barstool, but make no move to spin around and catch them. You stay still, waiting to see how this shakes out on autopilot. They’re so close behind you that you swear you can feel their breath on your neck.

“Drinking without me, Sixer?” a familiar, attractive voice purrs directly behind you, causing a full-body shiver to swiftly wrack your frame.

You quickly conceal your initial reaction and whip around in your barstool with faux irritation. “Don’t do that, Yes Man!”

The large Securitron now directly in front of you has on a sheepish grin, towering over you and yet looking so innocent. “I’m sorry (Y/N), I really didn’t mean to scare you too bad. It’s just pretty tempting when you have full control of a casino and you see an opportunity! Plus, you seemed pretty lost in thought there.” The low lights slowly come back on at his invisible command.

“That assertiveness update has made you a real pain to me, y’know, your best friend in the whole Mojave!” You cross your arms and try to keep up your grumpy bit, but the involuntary grin on your face gives your true feelings away. He’s just too cute to actually be mad at, and you can’t blame him for using his newfound assertiveness to pull the occasional prank on you. If anything, it endears you to him even more to finally be able to see his playful, uninhibited personality. Before he’d self-updated, he’d had to grit his teeth and smile through your (occasional) poor decisions more than once, and you could only imagine it was torture. Your assumptions were reinforced when he completely tore you a new one right after his update when you suggested taming Deathclaws to help guard the Strip. You’d only meant that one as a joke (mostly), but you had simply sat there and let him rip your idea to shreds in stunned silence when it happened. With all that pent-up aggression, he seemed to have needed it. Besides, it was kinda helpful to have someone so grounded to reign in your…out-of-the-box ideas.

“Me, a pain? Aw, and I thought you were the big, bad Courier who ruled all of New Vegas with me? I guess I must be mistaken, since someone like that couldn’t possibly be this ruffled by some light ribbing.” His cheeky, cooing sarcasm and lidded eyes were gonna be the death of you one day, you knew it. Getting a fully animated face was one of his newer updates, and it made communication that much easier for him, but it simultaneously made holding conversations while looking at his adorable expressions that much harder for you. All he had to do now was flash you a lopsided grin and you would conveniently lose your entire train of thought.

You scrunch up your nose. “Watch out bud, I’m starting to feel a mysterious headache coming on. Top right side of my forehead, specifically.”

“I am never gonna live that one down, am I?”

You let out a snicker at his quick response. When you look back up, it’s with an unmistakably affectionate gaze. “I missed you, Yes Man.”

“I-“ You seem to catch him off-guard with that one after the back-and-forth teasing, as his screen display fills up with a simulated grey blush and his eyes dart away from your form. He straightens up from where he had been relaxing against the side of the bar, coming to a rest at his full height and with a shy smile on his face. “Oh gosh, you know I missed you too, Sixer. It’s lonely out there, rolling through miles of desert shrubbery by yourself. But hey, I can listen to the radio tunes while I think about New Vegas. And us.” He pauses briefly after adding that last bit, but resumes before you can interject. “I think I’m finally starting to get to a point where I can feel comfortable relaxing with you as a co-ruler of New Vegas. I’m very good at imagining every way things can go wrong, but it feels like I’ve reinforced our position with heavy steel at this point. It makes me really proud to think about!”

“I’m so glad to hear that, Yes Man!” You hop up from your barstool cheerily, standing in front of his chassis and only just coming up to the middle of his screen, eyes level with the bottom of it. Don’t think about how tall and powerful and imposing he is next to you. Don’t think about how he could just pick you up and do whatever he wanted to you with his big, strong robot arms. Don’t think about how you would never stop him in a million years and you’re thinking about it STOP STOP STOP. “…I, er, hope you can finally get to actually enjoy ruling New Vegas now. Not that there’s even too much to do! But it does come with its perks, and a wonderful sense of calm to boot.”

He cocks his head at this, which ends up just slightly rotating his entire upper half since he’s so rectangular. “Oh, really? What kind of perks have you been enjoying here on the Strip while I travel day and night through the desert to secure our power?”

You stick out your tongue at him like a child, causing him to giggle adorably. “Oh come on, you act like I haven’t been going out on missions too!” you huff indignantly. “I just know balance, unlike you, Mr. Workaholic.”

“Hey, I’m a planner! It’s a good quality, or so I’ve heard. Anyway, you were telling me about the perks?” He’s not gonna drop that one. You distantly wonder why, but can’t seem to come up with a satisfying answer.

“Well…since all of the major casinos answer to us, I’ve definitely gotten preferential treatment there. Like, the other day, I was winning so many caps at the Gomorrah Blackjack table, I would’ve totally been kicked out before! But the dealer just had to grit his teeth and offer me another drink. I eventually stopped because I didn’t wanna completely clean the Omertas out, but it was hilarious to see how far they let me go. Little stuff like that, I’ve noticed. Not to mention plenty of people trying to buy you drinks and chat you up everywhere you go. The allure of power, I guess.”

Yes Man has been uncharacteristically quiet and reserved as you were saying all of this, especially near the end, and it’s starting to freak you out a little bit. Not his usual quiet attentive listening, but staring off behind you, looking detached and almost…in turmoil? That didn’t seem right. “I mean, I know those perks probably don’t make a big difference to a Securitron like you,” you say, trying to subtly pinpoint the issue. “But maybe you could see if you could entice a bot maintenance expert into setting up shop on the Strip or Freeside? With all of the Securitrons we have now, it wouldn’t hurt. I know there’s definitely experts like that out there looking for work.” His face and body language remained static. You’re really getting worried that you’ve offended him somehow. Yes Man doesn’t have thin skin by any means, but his assertiveness now allows him to show his true feelings, and on more than one occasion, he’s had a sour expression on his face without even realizing. His programming used to monitor displays of negative emotions automatically, so he’s still getting used to having to manually choose to politely navigate scenarios if he so wishes.

Finally, he speaks up, still not meeting your gaze. “Did you…do anything else at Gomorrah?”

Your eyes widen in realization. This bot was not asking you for a play-by-play of your time at the sex casino. “Uh…I had a few drinks, played some slots? Nothing too wild.” You couldn’t, for the life of you, figure out where Yes Man was going with this.

He nods slowly, facial expression unmoving. “So…you don’t use their other services?” Ok, so he’s going there.

“Heh, uh, no, I don’t…”

“Not that I mean to pry or anything!” He finally turns back towards you, clicking his claws together nervously with a shy expression on his face. “I mean, I just know that when you first came to The Tops, well, you did kinda immediately have sex with the man who shot you in the head not even two weeks prior. It doesn’t quite make sense to me, but hey, what do I know about that sort of thing? But now that Benny’s out of the picture, I guess I was just curious if you…kept that sort of fast and loose activity up. With anyone.”

Your legs feel locked and immovable. You’re somewhere between a dream and a nightmare, what with Yes Man asking you such personal questions about your sex life. Before answering, you make sure to take a moment to compose yourself and reel in your fantasies before they run too wild. He’s probably just asking because he’s concerned about me. Just like Arcade chewing me out for sleeping with Benny like a moron. I could get stabbed in the back if I were to carelessly sleep around the Strip, so it makes sense that he’d wanna look out for me. He’s kind and pragmatic like that.

“If you’re asking me if I’m seeing anyone right now, I’m not. Casually or seriously. Benny was, ah- well, a fluke. I don’t usually do things like that, and I’m not dumb enough to have sex with just anyone that comes into New Vegas now that I’m one of its rulers. I only really trust you and my other close friends, but I feel totally platonically towards all of them anyways.”

“…And what about me?”

“I, uh, er- huh?”

Now it was your turn to be fully caught off-guard. Your head had whipped around at light speed to fully look at Yes Man, your eyes wide as discs as they scan his expression for clues. All you see are the nervous but determined eyes that you’ve come to feel so warmly towards.

“You said you feel platonically towards your companions. What do you feel when you look at me, Sixer?” Yes Man’s voice comes out almost a whisper, a far cry from his loud, chipper usual voice. Despite his current shy demeanor and soft voice, it seems as though Yes Man’s assertiveness upgrade also gave him the courage to push on with the subject, instead of quickly backpedaling like he might’ve done in the past.

His earnest eyes feel as though they’re painfully boring into your own as his words set into your brain fully. Your head was swimming as it tried to process the fact that Yes Man was very directly asking you if you liked him platonically or…not. This is what I get for pushing away thoughts of being with Yes Man. He’s literally asking me if I want to be with him romantically, and I have absolutely nothing prepared in my head to say about the idea. Damned if I had, damned if I hadn’t. This must be some sort of ironic punishment from the universe. You swallow the dryness in your throat and bring your hand gently up to his warm screen. You make the split-second decision to just speak kindly and platonically from the heart towards your beloved friend, say something assure him that you care about him just the same as your other companions.

“The truth is, I’ve been in love with you for a long time now, Yes Man. More than platonically. You’re the most important person in the world to me by far.” Awesome. That is not what I was supposed to say at all. Please tell me I did not just tell him that out loud with my voice and mouth.

By the look on Yes Man’s face, you did in fact say that out loud, and you also did not give him the answer that he was expecting. His face was looking at you slightly slack-jawed, with the biggest, roundest eyes you’d ever seen him make. From your personal island of extreme embarrassment, you send out a prayer that the emotion currently on his face is positive surprise and not delayed disgusted shock. Those emotions tend to look similar in their early stages. Your hand remains frozen in place, cupping his screen. You’re incapable of moving it at this point, but he hasn’t shaken it away yet, which you take as your one possible positive sign. Or he’s just in shock. That’s also possible.

“I…hm. Well…well, that was not what I thought you would say.” RED ALERT. RED ALERT. THAT DOES NOT SOUND LIKE THE START OF A LOVE CONFESSION. THIS WAS A TERRIBLE IDEA. GO HOLE UP IN AN VAULT FOR ETERNITY WHILE YOU STILL CAN.

Before he can continue, you pull your hand away and quickly squeak out your own interjection with a voice crack. “Actually, forget about it! Sorry, I must be talking silly from this drink. Let’s just forget I ever said anythi-“

“(Y/N).”

The sternness in Yes Man’s voice is jarring enough to pull you back into the moment. He had never spoken to you in that tone before, and to so roughly say your own name in it…he has your full attention and he knows it.

“(Y/N), you don’t have to take back anything,” he soothes softly, gaze softening. “You can say how you feel. I would never think lesser of you for it.” He lifts one of his robotic claws to cup your cheek, mirroring your moments from moments before. “Do you really love me like that, Sixer?”

It’s now or never. You could deny your true feelings to the death and return to a life of imagining Yes Man’s arms wrapped around you at night, or you could take the plunge and see where the two of you end up.

“I do,” you whisper. Down the rabbit hole I go.

“W-wow.” His entire frame seems to shake slightly at this revelation. “No one has ever said that to me before.”

“Well, I didn’t think Benny would be talking to you like that.” Your ability to joke at a time like this somehow takes you both by surprise simultaneously, and the two of you burst into shaky laughter at the absurdity of your current situation together. It’s sweet and cathartic to laugh and lean into each other after the thick tension that had been permeating the air just moments before. This is how you enjoy being with Yes Man.

“Ok, tell me the truth- do you only have feelings for me because I orchestrated your attempted murder? Be honest, because this seems to be turning into a recurring theme for you.”

You feel your face burn red hot at his ability to make fun of you so accurately at any time. “It is NOT!”

“Are you sure? Dangerous men seem to get you hot under the collar, Sixer. No shame in it, of course. It’s just kind of cute.”

The adorable shit-eating grin that is currently spreading across his face is not helping your blushing situation. He can get you flustered with just a single look, and that’s on days where you didn’t suddenly confess your undying love to him.

“You’d better stop teasing me! I just opened up my heart to you, jerk.” Your threats don’t hold much weight when you have one hand covering your mouth and cheeks in a pitiful attempt to hide the blush and embarrassed expression that are beginning to envelop your entire face.

Yes Man lets out a sharp laugh at your obvious predicament, and then seems to be struck with an idea that makes him look quite proud of himself. He leans down towards you, inches from your face.

“Why don’t you see if you can make me, Sixer?”

That was it. That was your last straw. He was getting too cocky for his own good, and you’re determined to knock him down a peg and make him feel as flustered as you are right now (not to mention, seeing Yes Man being so directly cocky and teasing you like this was getting you more hot and bothered by the second). You’d show him.

Before you can talk yourself out of it, you push yourself against his chassis and grab both sides of his boxy face roughly. With how close you are, you’re rewarded with a great view of his dominant expression immediately changing to one of wide-eyed surprise as you press your lips to his screen, right where his animated mouth is. You close your eyes after making contact, but hear a reassuring soft groan from Yes Man as you continue to softly kiss him. It feels wholly different from kissing a human, but still very pleasant. His screen is warm and gently shocks your lips at one point, causing you to make a slight squeak yourself. Not wanting to push him, you draw back after a moment and open your eyes to see the most beautiful sight that your eyes have ever been graced with.

Yes Man is leaning back against the bar, eyes half-lidded in love and lips slightly parted, as though you really had just been traditionally locking lips with him. His lidded gaze fixed directly on you is penetrating, and you feel something stir deep inside of you at the intensity of it. He’s so unbearably lovely, and he looks to be thinking the exact same of you.

“I’ve wanted to do that to you for a really long time,” you admit sheepishly, still catching your breath. You move back, allowing room for Yes Man to stop leaning against the bar, but he doesn’t seem capable of moving at this moment. “All joking aside, the reason I fell in love with you is that I got to know you and learned that you’re a good, charming, kind person. You’ve had to deal with some of the most insufferable people in the Mojave, but you still found a way to trust and open up to me. Now that you’ve become more assertive, I get to work with you as a fully equal partner and see what you’re like when you only have yourself to answer to. You’re smart, really funny, a fantastic strategist, a great listener, and you genuinely care for me even when I’m being stupid. You don’t need me and have the ability to rule New Vegas on your own if you felt like it, but I’ve never once been worried that you would drop me.”

“Hey, I do need you,” he reassures you, finally bringing himself fully upright and moving in to grip your shoulders lovingly. “Besides, what’s the point of ruling New Vegas if you don’t have someone to share it with?”

Your eyes practically sparkle as you look into his. “So…does that mean you really do feel the same way about me, then?”

“Oh, (Y/N)…how could I not fall in love with you?” He presses what you assume is a kiss to your forehead. “I mean, I didn’t realize that’s what it was at first. Like you said, I really can’t stand most of the humans I’ve had to meet out here. But you’ve been different from the beginning. I was so used to Benny, who treated me like an exploitable tool, not as a person. But from the moment I met you, you spoke to me differently. You listened to what I had to say, you supported me when I said I planned to upgrade myself to be more assertive, despite the fact that you would be losing a blindly obedient henchman. It didn’t matter to you, in fact, you were excited for me to become my own person. I was never a tool to you, ruling New Vegas was always a two-person job in your eyes. And you wanted the real me to rule with you. It was so impactful, I had to convince myself that you weren’t somehow getting ready to trick and betray me! Just how my silly mind works, I guess. Supporting me like that through my change, that was the kindest thing anyone’s ever done for me. And to this day, you’ve only been upstaging your own kindness. You really are my best friend in the world, Sixer, and…I’m in love with you too.”

Oh, you should’ve put a fainting couch in this lounge because you’re about to swoon. Never in your life would you have expected to get such an earnest love confession from Yes Man. And who’d have thought he’d have such a way with words? You wrap your arms around him wordlessly, tears threatening to spill over from an overabundance of emotion. Your arms can’t fully wrap around his wide body, but you’re still able to hold on tightly and bury your face into his chassis. You have a moment where you berate your past self for ever believing that robots were cold and lifeless, because right now, Yes Man is warm as a gentle sunbeam through the window on a cool day and more full of life than anyone you’ve ever met. After a moment of holding each other in silence, you finally speak up.

“I didn’t know robots could be so sappy,” you choke out, still overwhelmed.

Yes Man chuckles warmly at your usual silliness. “Only this robot, darling.” He pauses thoughtfully. “Oh, and on top of all of those sweet emotional reasons for loving you, I also find you incredibly attractive! So you’ve really excelled in all possible fields here by my parameters. Congratulations!”

“Oh, I honestly wasn’t sure if you were able to feel physical attraction, but I’m glad to hear it!”

Yes Man cocks an eyebrow. “Have you forgotten who originally programmed me? I can feel every kind of attraction. Strongly. Sometimes distractingly so.”

“Am I to assume that includes…sexual?” Might as well keep digging myself deeper with how my luck is going today.

“Distractingly so,” Yes Man repeats at a growl, ever so slightly tightening his affectionate grip on you. Oh boy.

“Huh.” You swallow. “Maybe you can show me how that works sometime. Since we’re both on the same page now. If you wanted to, that is.”

“Heh!” Yes Man’s blushy grin returns, then he pauses briefly, as if thinking. When he looks back up, he has a more concentrated look in his eye. “Well…I could always show you now. If you wanted.” He’s speaking again in that newly unlocked, low, almost sensual vocal register, which has already proven to do things to you without much effort on his part. You’re simultaneously worried and ecstatic to see what he could do to you if he actually started saying filthy things in that tone of voice. You accidentally spend so long getting lost in his sexy voice that you almost forget to check yes on his invitation to have sex.

“Well, if you’re ready to do it now, there’s nothing I’d love more. But it’s totally up to you, I don’t want you to ever feel pressured.” You know in your mind that Yes Man has the power to say no to anything ever since his update and he hasn’t been afraid to use it so far, but you still err on the side of caution when it comes to reminding him that he always has full autonomy, especially in a situation like this. You want this, but you want him to truly want it more.

At first, he looks almost taken aback in gentle surprise at your consideration, but immediately reverts to a sly smile. “Heh, good answer, Sixer. I’d love nothing more.” His voice shifts from deep and low to become a bit faster, like he can’t fully contain his feelings of excitement. “Boy, I can’t wait to show you what upgrades I’ve made. I was thinking of you when I did it, but I wasn’t sure I’d ever actually get to use it with you. On you. Whatever.”

You grin at his words, feeling your own excitement growing as well. “Oh, so not all of those mechanical upgrades you got were to reinforce our power over the Strip?” The two of you begin slowly heading to the lounge area of the bar level, closer to the windows and full of more open space.

Yes Man chuckles softly. “Well, most of them were! But I’m allowed a bit of…self-indulgence. Sometimes.” He looks at you hungrily again, his eyes moving up and down your body. You do wish you’d dressed better for this unexpected occasion, but you’re grateful that you at least got cleaned up well after today’s mission. Yes Man doesn’t seem to notice your insecurities about being underdressed though, eyeing you up like you’re one of those pre-war poster stars in their sexy little getups. His eyes trained so closely on your form are starting to make you feel funny again.

“You’re staring.” Your breath catches in your throat as you say it, daring him to do anything. You’re not even sure what.

“Sorry, is it too much?” Yes Man questions meekly, looking a little embarrassed for being called out, but not very sorry.

“No, it’s just…intense. I’ve always imagined you looking at me like that, but now that it’s happening, it’s like staring at the sun.” You never want to look at anything else again.

“I see. I wonder what else you’ve imagined me doing to you?” He cocks an animated brow at you, finding his boldness again now that he knows you’re comfortable. “Because if you’re anything like me, you’ve put a good amount of hours into those fantasies. I’ve wondered what fucking a human might feel like, how it would be to hold down your smaller, soft body. How we’d both be warm, but in different ways. I wanted to know, so bad. I wanted to know what it would be like to fuck you in particular. It’s been really eating me up inside, Sixer.”

“O-oh…” Hearing those words out of Yes Man’s mouth is gonna kill you, you’re sure of it. You feel yourself starting to shake with anticipation a bit. “Y-yeah, I’ve wondered the same thing. About Securitrons though, obviously, not humans. You, in particular. I wanna see the faces you make when you fuck me. And the nasty things you might say to me while you do it. I want you to make me feel small and weak, but in like, a good, sexy way. I like the idea of you having the power, at least the first time.” You lean in to give him another, briefer kiss on his screen, making him close his eyes and laugh lightly.

“Wow, I never took you as the type to hand your lover the reins so fast, heh. Not that I’m complaining.”

“That’s because I’m not, really. You’re the only one who’s brought this side out of me before, Yes Man. There’s no one else in the Wasteland that I’d feel completely safe giving all of the power to in sex. I trust you with all of me.” It felt so natural to heap all of this praise on him. You had already praised him plenty before in platonic settings, and you’d never lied to him. He deserved to feel in control, and special. After all his time spent being under the begrudging control of others, it seemed that letting him take the wheel during sex just felt right to you for your first time. There could always be time to shake things up later if you so wished.

“O-oh, I love you, (Y/N),” Yes Man stutters, looking as though he’s already seeing stars. Eyes practically sparking, he brings his arms roughly but lovingly around your body in a tight embrace. You hear his cooling fans kick on and giggle.

“Hm, feeling warm?”

“Mmph, not as warm as I’m gonna be making you feel.”

With those words, you hear a sound like air inside of a machine decompressing from his body. You draw your eyes downward, to the area below his chassis but above his wheel attachment. There, you see the source of the sound: a covering hatch of some sort has popped open, revealing a makeshift dick. It doesn’t look poorly made at all, and resembles the human equivalent pretty well, at least visually. Physically, you could tell that this would be a fully different experience. I am gonna be so sore tomorrow. Totally worth it, though.

Yes Man shifts uneasily. “Um, do you like it? I hope it’ll work for you, that is to say, I figured this setup would appeal to you and work best, and Mick and Ralph gave me the parts to assemble and program it to pleasure me too, it’s fully sanitized, made for comfort, and it has lots of features I can add if you-“ Yes Man halts his rambling to gasp as you begin running a finger down his cock, from tip to base. “Mmph…” He squirms under your touch as you explore his new attachment, as if committing the entire thing to your memory. It’s mostly white and silver and soft to the touch but holds firm with pressure, like silicone or something similar. It’s sizable, but not unreasonably so. It was just like Yes Man to pick out a dick by balancing his desire to please you with his natural pragmatism. It really suited him in every way. “W-well, I’m glad you seem to be enjoying yourself down there.” Yes Man’s voice, cut off by small whimpers, swiftly pulls you out of your dick-exploring mental rabbit hole. You hadn’t even realized how close your face had gotten to it as you’d run your fingers along its length.

“Sorry, it’s just…a great cock. Awesome work. For real.”

Yes Man manages to bark out a laugh through his barrage of soft moans. “The things you say never fail to hit me like a bus, but thank you.”

“Well, I live to serve.”

“Do you now?” Yes Man’s eyes seem to light up at this turn of phrase. “Why don’t you start by putting that pretty mouth to work on me then, Sixer? Go on.” He lightly thrusts his dick closer to your face as if to punctuate his command (request?).

You fully drop to your knees without another thought. “Yeah, I think I can do that.” Your voice comes out more wobbly than you’d prefer this early in the game, but you don’t have much more time to dwell on this before you’ve taken Yes Man’s cock into your mouth. You’re determined to give this bot the best and presumably first blowjob of his life, so you take it slow at the beginning. You swirl your tongue over the tip, then begin to lick slow and deliberate stripes up the sides of his length. It tastes like clean metal, despite being much more malleable in texture. It twitches in response to your tongue, a neat feature that you hadn’t expected it to have.

“Ahh…y-yeah, (Y/N), ough, just like that…oh jeez…” You’ve barely begun and Yes Man is already moaning your praises. He grabs at your hair with his big Securitron claws, purposefully gentle but also with a bit of pull to them. The poor guy was getting head and had no leverage at all, causing him to simply grip your hair tighter and rock his hips gently as you continued your slow tongue onslaught.

After you’ve decided he’s had enough, you try to bite the bullet and take his whole cock in your mouth. It’ll be a miracle if I can fit all of him in my mouth at once. Let’s start praying. You quickly bury your thumbs into your closed fists to try and turn off your gag reflex. You heard from a friend that this worked once, and you’re willing to try anything right now if it leads to you successfully deepthroating this charming robot. You bob up and down on his dick, challenging yourself to go a bit further down each time. Through your heavy concentration, you can tell that Yes Man is at least enjoying himself through the increased volume of his moans. He’s practically whining incoherent praise as you continue to push further down with each lift and fall of your head, and you’re getting most of him in your mouth with this method. Deciding to go for the gold, you hollow your cheeks and push your nose all the way down until his entire dick is within your mouth, feeling it ever-so-slightly touch the back of your throat and making you pop off of his length as you gag around him. So much for the thumb trick.

“Oh, Sixer, you did amazing. That was…wow. I’ve never felt anything like it. You really know what you’re doing, huh?” Yes Man’s strained voice makes you look up at him for the first time since you began sucking his cock. His pupils are so big as he looks down at you, face flushed with grayscale color and animated teeth gritted in overwhelming pleasure, heat coming off of him in waves as his body tries to ventilate. You’re grateful that he seemed to like your blowjob so much, it was far from perfect but he didn’t seem to notice at all. And pleasing him so much was starting to get you wet too, you noticed hazily.

“Glad you enjoyed, Yes Man. But I’m guessing you wanna wait to cum until you’re inside of me?” As you say this, his face somehow flushes even more than before, the same face he would always give you when you’d do something impulsive at a meeting with the Three Families of the Strip that you two hadn’t discussed beforehand. Shocked and somewhat scolding, but in a way that betrayed how endeared to you he had become. Looks like I hit the nail on the head there.

“Y-yeah, you read my mind, (Y/N). But c’mere, I wanna see you first. You were so good and selfless to me, after all…”

“Well I-“ Before you can fully respond, he’s picking you up with his claws by the waist as if you weigh nothing. He lifts your previously-crouched form until you’re right in front of him, feet dangling ever so slightly off the ground. Normally, you would look up at his face just a bit when standing right next to him, but right now, he’s holding you perfectly at his eye level and giving you a knowing smirk, like he knows something you don’t. If it weren’t for the fact that he’s making you insanely horny right now, you would describe him as “infuriatingly overconfident.”

“Wow, you sure look pretty trapped in the air like this. But I bet you’d look even better with less of these pesky clothes on!” He sets your feet on the ground so he can remove one of his claws to rub at the material of your top, the other claw resting reassuringly on your hip. “Say, you aren’t attached to this shirt, are you?” You shake your head no quickly, and Yes Man reacts immediately by tearing through the fabric with one fell swoop of his claw. You’re surprised with the gentleness in which it falls off of you, now in shreds on the floor. He looks up at your face with a glint in his eye. “Well, now it’s not attached to you, either.”

You groan out loud. “You’re one to make fun of me for badly-timed jokes.” You meant for this phrase to come across as playfully snarky, but your voice warbles as the cool air hits your chest and you become fully aware of how exposed you are. Yes Man is a Securitron who doesn’t wear clothes, so the only moment of bashfulness in regards to you seeing him “naked” was when his dick first appeared out of its casing. For you, however, it seems that Yes Man wouldn’t be content unless he unwraps all of you bit by bit like a Christmas present, and he’s in no rush at all. You silently curse and thank him for being such a gentleman in bed.

Yes Man leans in inquisitively, raking over your exposed torso with his eyes as if he’s committing it to his memory banks. Actually, he really might be doing that. After a moment of irreverent silence, he reaches a claw forward to stroke a particularly big scar on your chest, tracing it from start to finish. You shiver under his feather-light touch, almost ticklish with how careful he’s being.

“Oh, Sixer…you’re so beautiful. Seeing you here and now is better than anything I could’ve ever imagined.” You whimper at his praise, every word causing you to heat up even more, making you hardly notice the cool air anymore. “Hang on, I wanna try something. Let me know if you don’t like it, ok?” With that, he hoists you up so that you’re sitting on a medium-height center table, but only on the very edge. To keep you from sliding forwards and off of the table, Yes Man puts his entire body as a barricade in front of you, leaving you in the compromising position of sitting precariously on the edge of the table with Yes Man’s erect cock inches away from your own clothed crotch. As if to add to your predicament, he uses one claw to ensnare both of your wrists and hold your arms up above your head, stretching your torso out and leaving no way to hide or involuntarily scrunch up at his incoming touches. He smiles at his handiwork, and probably the view too. “Well? Comfortable?”

“Y-yeah, feels amazing…”

“Good. And hey, if I say or do something you don’t like, I want you to tell me right away. You made me happy, now I wanna make you happy. Green, yellow, red safeword system work for you?” His eyes meet yours without hesitation to show his concern for you, and the validity of his willingness to please you of his own accord.

“Yeah, yeah that sounds great.” Damn, looks like he really has done his research. Wonder what else he’s picked up from his learning.

Yes Man grins mischievously. “Fantastic. Now then, back to playing with your cute little trapped body. Where was I?”

“Well, last I remember, you-mm!” You cut yourself off with a whimper as his free claw grazes your nipple, cool metal against your hot skin. “Aah, hey, be careful, those are sensitive…”

Yes Man snorts at your flustered face. “Yeah, I know. I read that this can be a good way to…warm a human up. How about it? Warm yet?” As if to punctuate his question, he gently pinches your other nipple with his claw, careful to apply just the right amount of pressure to drive you wild. Delightfully unable to squirm away, your body elects to arch your back and moan instead. As soon as it comes out, you snap your jaw shut a bit too late to muffle the embarrassing sound. You immediately see Yes Man washed over with a visible mix of giddiness and lust at your strong reaction, so happy to be pleasing you and so needy himself. “Wow, sounds like my reading material was right. You really seem to be enjoying yourself. Well, let’s see what other sounds I can get you to make just from this.” He’s got your number now. With you still helpless in his grasp, he continues his movements, switching around his tactics to keep an air of unpredictability as he alternates between ghosting his claws across your chest and stomach, stroking your nipples, and surprising you with a rougher tug or twist every so often. Your body twitches and tries to involuntarily scrunch up against his light touches, but you quickly find that you truly are trapped in place for him to play with as he pleases. Between how wonderfully stuck you are in his strong robotic restraints and how good his touches feel, you’re in heaven. If Yes Man wants to hear what sounds you can make, you’ll give him enough to fill up his audio logs for a month.

“Mm, ah, Yes Man, please!” Every time his claw flicks over your nipples, it sends electric shocks of arousal down towards your pussy. If you weren’t wet before, you definitely are now. In a desperate search for friction, you move the only way you can and grind your clothed pussy against the only thing in your vicinity, his dick, causing the Securitron to shudder. His face moves quickly between shock, then lust, and then visibly switches gears to a new look entirely, one that’s much darker and almost experimental.

“Hmm. You…are impatient. Y’know, Six, I try to take my time pleasuring you, and you just grind up against me like a little whore. You gotta agree, that’s a bit pathetic, huh?” At his words alone, you let out another moan and grind against him again. You can’t decide which is better, Yes Man praising you or Yes Man degrading you. They both sound so good in his voice, so earnest and turned on that it doubles the obscenity of his words, and your body easily gives away how much it affects you. He lets a small triumphant smile slip through his disciplinary persona as he sees that his risky new approach paid off, then quickly shakes it off. “Golly, you’ve got such little self-control that you’ll just dry hump me for even a fraction of stimulation? You must be even more of a needy slut than I thought.” Now these are some words and phrases that could not have been spoken to you without that assertiveness upgrade, aka the best thing that’s ever happened to either of you as far as you’re concerned right now.

“I-I’m a slut for you, Yes Man.” You look up at him from the table with lidded eyes, hoping your provocative words and body language get the idea across that he needs to take off your pants right this second or you may just die.

Yes Man’s eyes are the size of saucers as his face contorts at your words as though he were in pain. “Sixer, if you say things like that, I’m gonna cum right here and now before we’ve even really gotten started.” His voice has an almost pleading tone to it; he’s being genuine, and it’s nice to know that you still have some power over him with just your words here. Maybe next time he’d think to gag you. Message received, he releases your arms and shimmies your pants and underwear off in a single pull, tossing them aside carelessly.

Now fully naked, you shiver under Yes Man’s gaze as he admires your newly-exposed bottom half, claw between your knees so that your legs are spread out fairly wide apart, leaving nothing to the imagination anymore. Strangely enough, you feel too aroused to really feel any ounce of self-consciousness, Yes Man’s kind praises shifting into teasing reprimands replaying in your head. It was such a quick switch that your head was practically spinning in the best way. In the beginning, a piece of you had been slightly worried that he’d feel awkward or not know what to do as the one in control, but that worry was hardly a memory anymore at this point. Yes Man was taking to his role naturally and loving every second of it, and so were you.

Not one to keep you waiting no matter how mean he played at being, Yes Man begins slowly stroking your hips and inner thigh, coaxing you to lay down across the table. “Alright, now be honest, how many times have you thought about calling yourself my whore like that while I fucked you?” One of his claws barely ghosts over your pussy, causing you to buck up in search of pressure that isn’t there to meet you. “I bet you touched yourself up in your penthouse and called out my name as you came. It’s a shock I never heard you, considering how loud and shameless you are.”

“F-fuck…” Your head drops down to lay back on the table, unable to look at the robot between your legs. His words alone were almost enough to get you off. You had, in fact, done exactly what he was saying before, and him calling you out on it causes your skin to prickle with horny embarrassment.

Yes Man chuckles from deep back in his voice box, and continues drawing teasing circles on your inner thighs as he speaks. “Hmm, I’ll take that as a yes, then. But y’know what? It’s ok, because I would constantly imagine fucking you, too. ‘Course, I couldn’t exactly touch myself back when I first started having these thoughts, so you left me a pretty sexually frustrated mess with no outlet whenever you did something attractive. Which you do a lot, by the way. It’s reeeally distracting.” He punctuates this by pressing his wandering claw right against your naked clit, causing you to gasp at the sudden pressure. “But things are different now, hm? Now we both get to feel good with each other. And watching you squirm is gonna make me feel soooo good…” With that, he begins moving his claw in small, light circles around your clit. His large Securitron claw certainly makes for a unique feeling, but he’s being so gentle and methodical that it’s a good kind of unique.

“Oh, Yes Man, y-yeah, yes…” You roll your hips in times with his touches, chasing the immensely pleasurable feeling that he’s so kindly giving to you and then some.

“H-heh, feels kinda great to have to crying out for me like this. It’s nice to be needed so badly, and by someone as lovely as you.” He’s looking at you so affectionately that there may as well be tiny hearts in his eyes, almost flustered more at seeing you receive pleasure than receiving it himself. “Hey, I’m gonna try something, so tell me if it’s too uncomfortable, ok?”

“Ok,” you whisper, barely a breath in your throat left to make words with. At this, he removes his claw from your clit and instead angles it at your entrance, cautiously pushing one big finger (claw?) into you. You bury your face in your hands and pant at the realization that this Securitron has his heart set on fingering you, even if he had to get creative to do it. It certainly wasn’t bad, but just one section of his claw was the equivalent of putting 2-3 human fingers in there, so it was quite a surprise to say the least. He moves it farther into you, and you realize that he was clever enough to angle it so that when he flexes his claw, the tip of it directly hits your G-spot just as it would if a human did the come-hither motion on you. As he hits that sensitive spot, you let out a shaky moan and your hips snap up towards the sensation of their own accord like a person possessed.

“Ah, by all means, I’d say that was a success. Going off just your reaction, at least.” Yes Man grins and continues to repeat the same motion that got him such a big reaction, making your head spin. “Oh gosh, you’re so pretty like this. Every moment, you outdo yourself without even trying and make me want you even more. O-oh, you drive me crazy, (Y/N).” Little animated sweat beads are gathering on his face as he rambles on, not letting up on his movements. “Heh, it’s times like this that really make you wish you had a tongue. ‘Course, if I did, I may not even end up fucking you. I’d be too wrapped up in tasting you to even remember myself, heh. I bet you taste so sweet dripping for me like this, I’d have to live between your legs. You’d never get me outta there.”

“Mm, I’d never try to…” You’re surprised that you’re even able to muster these words, considering how absolutely lost in the sauce you are right now. If someone broke into the Lucky 38 right now, they could probably steal everything in this room and you wouldn’t even notice until they tried to take the table you were laying on. You could feel pressure building in your lower stomach, causing your eyes to flutter closed and your upper body to stiffen. All at once, the pleasure is gone as Yes Man’s claw is abruptly removed from your pussy. Your eyes shoot open to investigate why he’s stopped, and you guess that your current expression must be very sad and pleading, as it causes Yes Man to chuckle darkly.

“Awww, Sixer, don’t look at me like that. You and I both know you were getting a bit too close there.” He grins, turning his attention to his now-drenched claw. He opens and closes them to spread out your wetness, paying attention to how it stretches and sticks to him. “Perks of being a robot, I am very…perceptive.” As he opens his claw, a line of your wetness interconnects his individual fingers, causing him to bite his animated lip to hold back a groan. “See, I never realized this part of you could be so…enticing. Nobody ever mentioned this. It’s kinda entrancing to have such a mess of you on my claws.”

You giggle, face red hot. “I could say the same for you, you seem to be leaking a bit.”

Instinctively, Yes Man looks down swiftly at this comment, only to realize that the part of him leaking is the tip of his dick, swollen and begging for attention. Because of his placement, it had spilled out onto your thigh, coating you with whatever Yes Man’s upgrade was using as his bodily fluids, clear and sticky and already messy. It seems that getting you off made him all the more insatiable, and it was honestly really hot to see how you affected him.

“Heh, hadn’t even noticed that, to be honest with ya!” He turns his full attention to your face, leaning forward to hang right above you and cupping your cheek with his clean claw. “Permission to fuck you til you can’t remember your own name?” He winks at his own cheeky comment.

You are awash with both arousal and pure fondness for Yes Man, an interesting combination, but not unwelcome. “Permission granted. Permission granted a million times over. Please, please fuck me, Yes Man.”

“Sixer…” You don’t have to tell him twice. In a flash, he had turned his body fully upright and was lining up his cock with your entrance. He glances at you seriously one more time. “Don’t forget, stoplight system. I want you to just enjoy yourself tonight.”

You smile and put a tender hand up to his screen. “Same to you, big guy.”

Affection in his eyes, Yes Man pushes his cock into you, slowly at first as he stretches you out. It’s not an uncomfortably tight fit, but you’re definitely filled well by him. He whimpers above you as he bottoms out, obviously holding back for your sake in the beginning. You shift a bit around his dick, adjusting to the feeling of having him inside you. After a moment, your breathing evens out and you begin rocking your hips against him, showing without words the pace you’d like to start at. Not too fast, you’d build up to that. For now, Yes Man seems to pick up on your silent speed request and takes the reins to begin moving carefully, dragging himself in and out of you at a steady rate.

“Mmph….you feel so so so good around me, Sixer…….fuck, you’re amazing,” Yes Man pants through his steady machinations. “S-so wet just for me…you’re everything I’ve ever fantasized about and more.”

There he goes with the praise again, he is gonna be the death of me. Spurned on by his words, you begin rocking your hips harder against the Securitron, pulling him all the way out before pushing him back in with a forceful squelching sound. The sound of Yes Man fucking you is obscene, which only makes you want it more and more.

“Fuck, Yes Man, I need more, please. Don’t stop, don’t stop…” Your soft moans fill the air every time his cock drags along your G-spot, every thrust bringing you a bit closer to where you had been before. “And don’t stop talking.” The last words were out of your mouth before you’d even realized what you were asking for. Apparently, your subconscious really enjoyed listening to Yes Man’s ramblings.

“Oho, so you like hearing me talk all about how perfect you are? How good your pussy feels? Or do you want me to call you my little whore again? Your call, Sixer.” He looks down at you with a mischievous glint in his eye, not slowing his thrusting at all as he grills you on your preferences. He probably loves watching you try to form coherent answers as he fucks you senseless. Bit of a cruel streak in this one, but not unwelcome. Maybe this is payback for the times I ignored his advice before he could tell me how foolish I was being. Well, if Yes Man was going to indulge the part of himself that wanted to watch you squirm, far be it from you to protest.

“Any. All. It’s all good, just please. Please keep talking.” Those are the only words you can pick out of your brain at the moment, hips rocking up harder to meet Yes Man’s. The sound of his metal chassis meeting your flesh with every thrust was certainly a new one, and definitely one that you’d be hearing in all of your sexual fantasies from here on out. It was just so unique to the experience of fucking him and him alone, bringing you extra pleasure in how delightfully different sex with Yes Man is compared to other humans.

Yes Man barks out a laugh at your utter inability to form more than basic commands, then does as he’s told. “Mm, it’s easy to talk about you when you’re doing so good for me. You’ve been practically gagging for my cock for weeks, and now here you are getting absolutely ruined and taking it soooo well. I wonder what everyone in New Vegas would think if they knew how desperate their ruler was for my dick. If they knew that their leaders of the Strip were absolutely fucking each other senseless up in their big casino. What would your companions think if they came in and saw me fucking you on the table out in the open like this?”

They probably wouldn’t be very surprised, a distant part of your brain chimes in helpfully. Instead of saying this, you simply whimper in response, his pace speeding up a bit as you do.

“Personally, I-I wouldn’t hate it if all of New Vegas knew you were mine like this. I bet you’d like it if everyone saw the faces I’ve gotten you to make for me, huh? They’re so lovely, they just deserve to be plastered across a billboard. Like this one right now…so needy, so pretty, so perfect…”

“Y-Yes Man…” With your face flushed, lips parted slightly, and chest rising and falling with heavy breaths, you imagine that you probably are making an extremely pornographic expression right now. Of course, you aren’t exactly alone on this, considering that Yes Man is towering over your smaller frame with blown-out pupils and his tongue starting to loll out from how hard he’s working. You could almost swear that you see little hearts in his eyes for real this time, but can’t be certain due to how fast he’s rocking your body. Well he’s one to talk, looking like he’s drunk on my pussy right now. Not that I mind. You’re getting close to the edge again with every thrust, and you can feel your orgasm rising in you, spreading out in tingles across your body as it prepares to overtake you. You close your eyes and practically squeal as you approach the precipice, but suddenly and without warning, you find yourself completely empty and lacking any stimulation at all. You whine desperately, confused as to why everything disappeared all at once, almost incoherent in your horny daze. Blinking, you look up into Yes Man’s intense gaze inches away from your own face. He has a look in his eye again, that look when he’s about to try something new that’s got him really excited, even as he tries to keep his cool.

“Beg for it.” Those three little words send a jolt of painful arousal through your pussy, and you practically wail pitifully in frustration. This damn robot was edging you and now trying to make you beg him for release, and you want to feel indignant but the thought of it was almost as good as actually being fucked. Yes Man’s face breaks out into what can only be described as an evil grin as he watches your face shift through various emotions. “Go on Sixer, beg for me to let you cum. I don’t think you really want to, but go ahead and try to prove me wrong. If you do it nicely, maybe I’ll think about letting you.” A mix of shame and need causes your face to burn hot at his explicit words as you consider your nonexistent options. There was no way out; if you want to cum, you’d better swallow your pride and beg him for it.

“F-fuck, Yes Man…please…please let me cum.” Embarrassment prickles on your skin, the humiliation of having to plead for release causing you arousal that you didn’t know your body would react with. Hey, new kink unlocked.

Yes Man leans upwards away from you, making a big show of looking down at his claws as though they’re much more interesting than the pleading horny mess lying in front of him (though the twitches of his dick give away his true feelings on the matter). “Oh come on now Sixer, I think you can do much better than that! I know you’re not one to beg often based on our time together, but this is me. You can do better for your favorite Securitron in the Mojave, I think. Try again. Unless, of course, you’re alright with me just leaving you here all worked up and with no outlet. Trust me, speaking from experience, it’s a bad time.” He punctuates this with a salacious grin at your predicament. It’s abundantly clear that he is absolutely loving every second of this, devouring your reactions and letting it fuel his mean streak even more.

Mentally stuck in a rut, you let out almost a growl in a mix of frustration and overwhelming lust at this command. He’s right that you can do better, but your stubbornness really doesn’t wanna cooperate on this one. Yes Man looks idly bemused above you, making it clear that he’ll wait as long as he needs for you to really grovel at his feet (wheel?) for your orgasm in earnest. If you weren’t so deeply into this, you’d be slightly shocked at how quickly his penchant for sadism popped up, and from him of all people. With the threat of being left to finish by yourself in the air, you prepare to swallow any self-respect and dignity you may have had left.

“Yes Man, please, I need it so bad, I need you inside me. You’re so big and fill me up so perfectly, you’re the only one who could fuck me this good, I’m begging you, pleasepleaseplease let me cum!” Just the act of begging for such filthy things so desperately is enough to make your hips buck up into the air, searching so hard for any friction. It’s all so much and not nearly enough at the same time, and you pray that your words were enough to convince him.

Yes Man is seems lost in irreverent silence for a moment, then finally responds by roughly grabbing your thighs, his eyes lidded and loving and starstruck in every way. “Good little courier.” Without wasting a moment, he begins pounding into you again at a pace that no human could ever hope to match, holding back nothing, or so you thought. As one last surprise, his dick begins to vibrate within you, sending pulses out through your cunt and up to your clit. You practically scream in pleasure, grabbing onto his back with nails on metal, searching for any sort of grip on him as he ruthlessly fucks you.

“I-I’m so close,” you manage to choke out, sweat making your hair begin to stick to your head from exertion.

“M-me too…” Yes Man’s voice begins glitching out, choppy and mechanical as his animated face looks beyond lost in pleasure. The lights begin flickering in the room, and you distantly remember that Yes Man is connected to the entire power grid of the casinos on the Strip due to one of his upgrades. His thrusts lose their mechanical precision and become erratic, snapping up and down sloppily but still with power as he begins to lose control of himself. But he apparently still has enough control to grab your chin with the claw that’s not bracing himself against the table and turn your face to look right at his. Once again, it’s like looking right into the hot Mojave sun, passionate enough to scald. His eyes are somehow both glazed over in lust and laser-focused on your facial features, looking at you as though you were his one and only. And you are. “Cum for me, darling.”

Fuck. With a sound in between a gasp and a whine, your body pulls you over the edge and sends you crashing into a powerful orgasm that wracks your entire body violently. Your pussy tightens around Yes Man’s cock, spasming in absolute pleasure and lasting for a good little while on its own as he continues to fuck you through it. In the middle of your own ecstasy, Yes Man snaps against you one final time and pushes himself all the way inside you with a glitched-out moan as he reaches his climax as well, releasing his robotic cum inside of you all at once, filling you up completely. At the exact same moment, all of the lights on the floor go out at once, leaving you with only the light of the newly-risen moon from outside. For just a moment, he holds right there, still fully inside of you, panting and shaking and feeling as warm as a heater despite his cooling fans being louder than you’ve ever heard them. The two of you just sit there together and bask in the feeling, for seconds or minutes or hours, you can’t tell anymore. But eventually, he pulls himself out, fluids leaking out of you as he does, and leans up against the table to steady himself. His dick slowly retracts back into its compartment and seals itself up as if it were never there.

He looks down to check on you, eyes full of contentment and concern. “Not to ruin the moment, Sixer, because that was fantastic, but I do think we may have blown the Strip’s power grid.”

Still recovering, you let out a wheeze of a laugh from where you lay still on the table, cunt pulsing with ebbing pleasure. “Well, shit.” Sure enough, you glance out the giant windows and realize why the moon is your only light source: the Strip has gone fully dark. I’m definitely gonna be hearing about this tomorrow.

“Oh, but don’t you worry about it too much, I should be able to reboot it remotely. And hey, if anything, take it as a boost to your ego. I mean, you felt so good at the end there that I nearly force restarted too, heh.” Yes Man blushes and clicks his claws together with a sheepish grin. He has some nerve to act so cutesy just minutes after making me beg for his cock.

You chuckle. “Well, I’m glad you didn’t collapse on top of me right before I came, but that does boost my ego a bit.”

Yes Man’s eyes glimmer. “Aw, I’m sure you could take it. You’ve taken worse, after all.”

Absentmindedly, you wonder whether he’s talking about his dick or the gunshot wound again. Either way, he ain’t wrong. You move to sit up, despite your body screaming at you to just keep ragdolling limply on the furniture.

“Wait, don’t move!” Before you can protest, Yes Man is right in front of you and quickly but gently scoops you up bridal style, encasing your tired body in his big arms. From your new vantage point, you see what he was so concerned about: the part of the table near one of the legs that he’d been gripping to brace himself had completely splintered and now looked just about ready to completely collapse. Yes Man gives you a bashful look, as if thinking he’ll be scolded by you for destroying the furniture with his superhuman strength in the heat of the moment. “Uh, we might need a new table.”

You laugh at the sight, leaning your forehead against his screen. “Ya think so?” You can’t resist giving him a few sweet little kisses all over his face, prompting him to snort and lean into the ruthless barrage. Suddenly, the lights flicker back on above you, as well as outside the window.

“Hey, looks like the power’s all fixed and back online! Well then, shall I…take you upstairs? You look a little tired after that one, not gonna lie to ya.”

“I would love that.” Without another word, Yes Man tightens his grip and whirs the two of you into the now-functional elevator, setting it to take you up to the penthouse where you sleep. Thankfully, it looks like nobody else is in right now to see you naked and looking absolutely fucked out by Yes Man, or question what happened to the power. You’re certain you can come up with a non-suspicious answer to that one by tomorrow, when your critical thinking skills eventually return to your brain.

Yes Man gently places you on top of your bed, carefully brushing some loose hair out of your face with his claw after you’re settled. “Feeling ok, Sixer?” He smiles softly at you from where he stands at your bedside.

“Yeah,” you breathe, meeting his doting gaze. “A bit sore, but I’ll live. Might just need a lil recovery time before we do this again.”

“Again?” Yes Man’s eyes widen, as though he had truly not considered the fact that this would be a repeatable event.

You giggle at his expression, putting your hand up to cup the very edge of his screen, where the smooth surface meets the harder metal of the rest of his face. “Yes Man, there is no way you could fuck me that well and not have me trying to jump your bones as soon as my body will physically allow me to.”

Yes Man’s frame erupts into laughter, unable to contain his full laughs at your words. “Boy, (Y/N), how did I manage to fall in love with such a dweeb? But also like, an alluring dweeb? You are a confusing little human, and God, do I love you, really I do.”

“I love you too, Yes Man.” You turn to press a kiss to the claw that had been resting on your shoulder. “And you love me because I’m the only one who can match your energy in the prestigious field of alluring dweebism, as it’s known professionally.” Your hand reaches up to playfully spin the little circular antenna on his head.

Yes Man snorts at your nonsense. “Hey, don’t spin me. I’m not your top.”

“Really? Could’ve fooled me.”

Once again, his laughter fills the air like an electronic melody. “Well, you got me there.” An uncertain silence falls over the room for a moment, him standing next to your boneless-feeling body on the bed, as if unsure where you want him to be after the change in your dynamic tonight. Before he can question himself, you speak first.

“Hey. Stay with me? I know you probably can’t actually lay on the bed without it breaking, but I’d love it if you stayed by me for a bit. I wanna be close to you.”

Yes Man lets out a soft mechanical sigh, looking so contented and loving that you feel butterflies again. “Of course I will. Anything for you, my darling.” As if to show an act of reassurance, he engages his brake and settles down in his frame, chassis pressed up against the edge of the bed right near your face, claw held comfortingly against your cheek. You never would’ve expected a metal Securitron claw to feel as tender as it did right now, but here you are, wanting nothing more than his robotic touch as you drift off into sleep from exhaustion. Yes Man has your back, now and forever, and not only that, but he loves you more than words can say, and the feeling is mutual. The mix of his protective presence and these thoughts is enough to lull you into a peaceful, dreamless sleep.

Author’s Notes: benny in hell watching you fuck yes man: ?!?!?! djdjfkd anyways i listened to a lotta hozier while writing this and have no idea if it will appeal to anyone except me. but if you did enjoy then i’m glad to hear it! this was the first fanfic i’ve written in years and also the first smut i’ve ever written and i’m pretty satisfied with how it turned out :D thanks for reading!

[bokutosmochi]

I'M LOOKING RIGHT AT THE OTHER HALF OF ME ♡ BOKUTO KOTARO

bokuto kotaro x fem!reader

"two orders of ice cream sandwich for bokuto kotaro and anon please!"

ingredients? you and bokuto take a stroll through the park and meet two teenagers leading to a heartwarming misunderstanding.

what's it? fluff

allergen warnings? n/a

sugar level? 1.1k

regulars? @tokyometronetwork @tahonet

parlor's note? i made bokuto into the biggest animal lover here because,,, he seems like he would be one

bon appetit!

as much as msby's ace player loved volleyball, there were things about off season that he has grew to appreciate too; he could visit his junior akaashi, their batch of fukurodani graduates would hold their reunion around that time, and most importantly, he had more time to hang out with you. besides, just because it was volleyball's off season doesn't mean he couldn't play the sport he was in love with, right? you and him spent many hours of your free time playing it.

"i'm so glad you have so much more free time now, kou." you hummed, leaning your head against his bicep. you had an arm around his as the both of you strolled through tennoji park in osaka.

"me too, angel!" he beamed at you, his signature grin on his face and warming up your heart. you could feel the way he loved you through the way he looked at you alone, and the thought made your heart flutter wildly in your chest.

the park you were in was so beautiful and there were so many things you could do.

they hosted the tennoji zoo which your boyfriend was too happy to indulge in. you were worried his smile would cut through the skin of his face when he caught sight of the various animals they had.

he waved countless times at the animals they had in their animals of the african savanna zone. you noticed that he seemed to be particularly fond of the egyptian goose, the lesser flamingos, the giraffe, and the red panda. he found the spotted hyena's cackles to be contagious too.

after that section was the animals of the asian tropical rainforest zone. at first, you didn't think that you've ever seen bokuto as lively as he was looking at the animals in that section such as the egyptian rousette, the japanese raccoon dog - "oh my god, baby! look at how chunky he is!" he exclaimed, tugging at the sleeve of your shirt -, the siamang, and the brown kiwi. odd as it was, he also seemed weirdly intimidated by the lion-tailed macaque.

after that, you proceeded to the section that you thought he would be the most excited for -- the aviary zone. despite the fact that they did not have any horned owls, bokuto still had a soft spot for birds. several of the birds he liked he saw in the zoo today such as the little egret which he kept on saying hello to, the common mallard, and the chinese spot-billed duck. in the surrounding section, they also had polar bears, laughing kookaburras - which he shared a quick hoot with -, and california sea lions.

but what the real highlight of bokuto's zoo experience was going to their petting zoo. remember when you thought that bokuto has never been livelier as when he was visiting the asian tropical rainforest zone? you were wrong. he was much livelier petting and making friends with the noma horses, the long earred goats, and his personal favorite, the rabbits.

bokuto was next to vibrating when you exited the tennoji zoo. glowing and with a sparkle in his sunshine toned eyes -- it matched his personality, you thought.

"gahhh!! all the animals there were so cute! i can't wait to go to another zoo! maybe we can get a dog together too?? after all, we already live together, it's gonna be so fun!" he threw his hands up in the air. "i want a big dog! and i want it to be a rescue too so we can give the doggie a second chance!"

he looked at you with wide, hopeful eyes and tilted his head to the side "what do you think?" but before you could get a word out, you were interrupted by a fan of his.

"oh my god! bokuto kotaro of msby black jackals!"

two teenage girls ran up to the both of you wearing msby jerseys. one of them was wearing atsumu's with a skirt, and the other was wearing sakusa's with a pair of pants.

"we're such big fans of you!" the exclaimed when they stopped in front of you. "my little brother even started playing volleyball because of you! he said he wanted to be as cool as you."

bokuto thanked them for their support, and ever the great role model, offered to give the girl's brother a video message; there really was a reason why your boyfriend was always the one to be chosen by msby black jackals' pr team whenever an interview or a promotional video had to be done. everyone naturally gravitated towards him and his cheerful personality, and he's just generally very likable.

you thought that you were just going to be in the background like you always were whenever bokuto was approached by fans, but you thought wrong. "hello," they greeted you. "you and bokuto are always so cute. the way you support each other? ugh!" she squealed. the person she was with laughed at her friend's behavior. "it's true! you're literally relationship goals. i'm glad bokuto put a ring on it, you seem so sweet and genuine."

immediately, your face heated up and your eyes widened. "n-no, he hasn't put a ring on it. we're not engaged or married." you laughed awkwardly, scratching the back of your head as the two girls simultaneously went ohhhh. "well, that's just another tale of online news reporters spreading untruths, i guess." she shrugged. "i'm sorry for the misunderstanding. i hope the two of you have a good rest of your day." she bowed deeply before they both walked away.

you were about to turn to bokuto to share a laugh with him because of what just happened, when you were crushed to his chest. he gave you the type of hugs you usually received whenever you take him to the airport for an away game, or the type gives you after away games that he couldn't bring you to. his signature bokuto bear hugs. "yet." he mumbled into your hair. "i haven't put a ring on it yet, but one day, you'll be mrs. bokuto! i swear you will!"

i get: reblog

you get: owl stuffed toy

[archive-of-queens]

good luck, babe! ~ jeon heejin

a/n: it's been a while, hasn't it? To be honest, it's totally my fault as I tend to delete the drafts I don't like rather than throwing them on here. I also tend to hold onto drafts that I don't plan on completing if I want to eventually pick up the project again. (glances over at my red velvet criminal minds au) anyways, this is the first draft from my most recent post on my blog, the one with the jeon heejin. I don't have any reason why I threw this draft out other than I didn't like it lol.

tw: reader is kind of a walking cliche, it's a jeon heejin fic without jeon heejin appearing in this snippet (typical Katie behavior iykyk), not grammar checked

“You shouldn’t be here. It’s not your kind of space.”

“How do you know what my space is?”

“I just know that you and I shouldn’t be in the same room, that’s all.”

~

You rip the flier off of the wall with ease before gasps ring out behind you. They’re not surprised by your actions, more so shocked by the time it took for you to react.

Jeon Heejin, Ms. Class President and Royal Pain-in-Your-Ass, was hosting a party. Little Miss Perfect held these extravagant parties after major exams and school events, and you hated it.

The people behind you thought it was because you hated her guts.

You just wanted people to know the real Jeon Heejin.

~

“What would people think if they saw you like this?”

“It’s a good thing no one will know about this, right?”

“Your secret’s safe with me… for now.”

~

You crumple up the flier and toss it into the trash can before entering class.

“Headphones.” 

Like a repeating alarm clock, your professor appears at your side as you attempt to walk to your seat.

“I pay you so I can be in this class. Why do you care if I’m paying attention or not?” You shrug before placing your bag down on the empty chair next to you.

The professor follows you as you sit down and pull out your laptop.

“I’ve seen your writing. You have amazing potential, and it’s being wasted by your inability to take action-”

You cut her off with a roll of your eyes as you pull your headphone off of your ears.

“Happy?”

“I am. It’s good to see that you’re finally willing to apply yourself to this subject. That Heejin girl seems to be rubbing off on you-”

“We’re not friends.” You roughly respond as you glare at the professor in front of you.

“I’ve heard differently, especially during my office hours.” Your professor’s gaze lands on the table behind you, and you don’t have to turn around before the culprits reveal themselves.

“Someone has a crush~” Jinsoul’s voice rings out from behind you, and two other girls start laughing along with her.

“Excuse me, Professor,” You give your professor the fakest smile ever before turning your chair around to face Jinsoul, “Do you enjoy meddling in my life?”

“On occasion, especially when it pisses you off.” You want to rip the cheerful smile off of her face, but you wait until the professor’s out of earshot.

“Shut the fuck up.” You grab a pencil from your bookbag before setting it next to your laptop.

“The bad girl attitude does not suit you.” Jinsoul bluntly says before the girl on her left, Jungeun, elbows her side.

“Hey, that’s my thing!” Jungeun teases you before looking at your laptop. “Hiding something from us? Perhaps a secret girlfriend?”

“It’s my Calc homework, if you’re interested in helping-”

“Hell no.” Jungeun scoffs before playing with the spine of her notebook. “I did my time with my math classes.”

“Me too, so don’t ask me.” Jinsoul looks to her left. “Choerry?”

“I’ll help you if you tell me when you’re seeing Heejin this weekend.” Cheorry absentmindedly says as she messes with the flash drive on her computer.

What the fuck.

You sigh.

“I hate you all.”

~

“Why do you put on this bad girl persona? Is it an act, or is it truly who you are?”

“I’m kind of hurt that you can’t see through my façade.”

“I guess we both don’t know each other as well as we thought, huh?”

~

[fanficfish]

a couple of persona 4 headcanons

Just a list of my Persona 4/affiliated media headcanons (I really hope this doesn’t get buried lmfao…also before you ask no I don’t normally post persona I kinda got hooked through the Honkai SR fandom. What can I say, Yu’s very relatable about not wanting to upset and needing to protect the cute kid calling you “big bro”)

I have no idea what’s going on with the whole “Teddie lives with Yosuke” thing because I have literally searched up everything (don’t ask about my youtube watch history please) and here’s my take on it: Yosuke basically came home with a Teddie in tow, presented him as a guy with nowhere to go who was willing to work for his keep, stuffed him in his closet because the “spare bedroom” is his dad’s home office or something, and at some point the Hanamuras just accepted they have two sons now because how can you not like sweet, innocent, naive-but helpful Teddie? Also Yosuke played Teddie’s disappearance off as him being at Yu’s or something. I have no idea how that man pulled this off but it worked. (yes I”m a sucker for hanabros)

I still can’t decide which i prefer: Yu x Yosuke or Yu x Rise (I do like the idea that RIse grabbed Yu, flung him over her shoulder, and marched off into the sunset, though like…have you seen the Persona 4 partner dances???)

I’m actually kinda surprised Yu just goes back to wherever he came from for his third year, like just stay in Inaba for your last year of highschool? You already stayed a whole year. And he canonically has parents who are away a lot on business. But to make sense of this, I propose: He goes back only because the school he’s going to gives him a leg up into the uni he wants to go to (which is understandable. Inaba is a tiny rural town in the middle of nowhere, he’ll probably get some better connections in a city school or something). He definitely comes back on every holidays possible, and messages his friends so often that his new friends at his other school are just like “bro….please at least wear the right uniform….”

RIse’s idol group starts flinging around wild theories on what she did during her year-long break. It ranges from everything from hooking up with three different guys (they spied on her while she was doing a video call with the others (FaceTime apparently existed in 2012, which I kinda forgot about. I think the flip phones kinda just threw me off.)

Yukiko and Chie definitely get together. Have you seen those two? They’re definitely roommates, at the last.

At some point someone asks about Teddie’s bear costume, and Yosuke covers up by saying Kanji made some alterations to it. Kanji does not approve, and Yosuke is seen later running through Inaba with an angry Kanji on his heels.

Also that new outfit Teddie wears in the epilogue of Golden? That’s just Yosuke’s old stuff - Teddie still wears the first human clothes he ever got for fancy occasions, but between Yosuke and Chie they manage to talk him into regular stuff. 

And they definitely have a running joke where they introduce Teddie as an exchange student from France (with that bright blond hair and Ouran Host Club-esque style choices, it was bound to happen) whenever they meet someone new. Yosuke knows Teddie will play along anyways, but buys him sweet treats as a bribe anyways. They usually drop the act pretty quite, but it’s really funny for the Hanabros. Especially if Teddie is crossdressing, because that man totally kept his Alice outfit. 

Kanji, unfortunately for Yosuke, uses Teddie as a model whenever he decides to get creative. Yosuke is considering getting a second closet because Teddie shares most of Yosuke’s old stuff. Like clothes (Yosuke is the only one who has stuff in Teddie’s size, and Teddie’s growing a bit anyways), In the winter, Teddie regularly shows up to places wearing Yosuke’s sweaters and jackets, and Yosuke is just thankful that Kanji makes Teddie stuff like that in Yosuke’s size so both of them can wear it. 

TImeskip: Nanako moves to the city with Yu for highschool, so she can attend a more liberal-arts focussed school. Yu doesn’t mind (he’s like, 26 at this point, and probably works some kind of office job (he likes a bit of quiet in his life, after the chaos called his teenage years and having famous idol Rise Kujikawa as a mate) (and also he gets free Nanako time) and Dojima, finally taking more breaks from work, sometimes drops in to say hi and maybe buy dinner.

Yu also gets to shovel talk Nanko’s first boyfriend. Nanko has to spend half an hour reassuring him that Yu is actually in fact a really nice guy….and then turns around to see Yosuke and Rise waiting for their turn to shoveltalk. And while Yu is scary, having your girlfriend’s older brother’s brofriend and Risette staring you down was not a good follow up. Nanako is rightfully mortified, Yu does in fact bake apology cookies, and Yosuke and Risette manage to drag the couple into an impromptu dance session to ease the tension just a little after nearly scaring the poor kid half to death. (The poor kid is someone in the Phantom Theives, because I saw a really cool AU on AO3 and it lives rent-free in my head. And I like the idea of Nanako becoming a Phantom Thief because “it runs in the family, thanks a lot Yu >:l “

Naoto ends up taking Aketchi under her wing. Does she mind? I mean, to her he’s not entirely horrible. Is she pleased with his actions? …that’s debatable

Inaba becomes known for having great weather. Except for the one time Marie catches a bug going around the town, that ends up behind a horrible mid-January snowstorm. .

Those are the ones I have right now. I’m still working my way through everything (HSR is taking over my brain, I love the Astral Express crew dynamic-)

(also I'm really disappointed we didn't get human Teddie dancing with the others. I need that boost of serotine of watching Yosuke and human Teddie try to dance together.)

[monsterrae1]

20 17

Kat! 🖤 thank you so much! I’m gonna put number 17 in here and then I’ll do a post for number 20 on the date! Hope you like it, it’s a little angsty and a little sweet 🖤

17. Miracle

Having a second kid had been something that had been on their minds for the last year.

It started after Maddie and Chim announced they were expecting again, and Buck saw the wistful look on Eddie’s face every time they visited the Buckley-Hans and Maddie had new scans or new things to share with them; sometimes, when he saw that look on Eddie’s face – his shinny brown eyes, and the small smile tugging at the side of his lips – as he looked at their future niece or nephew, he wished he could somehow have kids for him, but unless a bunch of fanfiction suddenly became true, Buck couldn’t bear them a child.

Six months after they got married Eddie finally brough it up, they had just gotten back home from dropping Chris off at a sleepover, and when they parked the truck on their driveway Eddie took a deep breath, turned to Buck and said:

“I want a baby, Buck”

Buck smiled and told him “Me too”

They fucked that night as if that would get them a baby, full of passion and love.

And the next morning they came back to reality and Buck threw himself to one of his research binges.

He quickly learnt that surrogacy, which was the safest option if they wanted to have a baby, was expensive as hell, and with their city salaries combined, a kid on his way to high school, a mortgage and many other grown-up bills, they probably wouldn't be able to afford it. Adoption, which was the most probable option for them, could take years, especially if they wanted a younger kid and while they were open to adopting an older kid, they really wanted a baby.  Fostering, like Hen and Karen did, just seemed like it would break Buck's heart, he just knew that at the end of a single day with any kid, he wouldn't be able to give them back without breaking his heart. 

After weeks and weeks of trying to come up with plans it, after having been put in a waiting list in an adoption agency, after filling they license with the state for emergency foster placement - Buck was working his way up to permanent fostering, but for right now they mostly had kids who needed somewhere to sleep and be placed somewhere permanent in the morning - their heart was still set in a baby for themselves.

"At this point, I think we might just need a miracle" Eddie said one night, tired of wrangling teenagers all afternoon since they had hosted Christopher's friends for a sleepover "Or give up" 

Buck frowned "We're not giving up" they were cleaning the living room, the kids were already in Chris' room, loudly playing video games "It'll happen for us Eds, we just have to wait" 

Eddie smiled at him, leaving the empty pizza boxes on top of the coffee table and walked to Buck, wrapping his arms around his waist and leaning up to kiss him "Babe" Eddie said softly "I don't want you to get your hopes up again, I don't want your heart to break again" 

They had had a nearly success with the adoption agency, a teenager who was giving up their kid had chosen them, but changed her mind at the last moment, Buck cried for days, Eddie did too. 

"I won't, I promise I won't get my hopes up until we have a birth certificate signed" 

Eddie smiled and shook his head, kissing his husband again. 

*

The second week of December someone knocked on their door just past 2 AM; they had just gotten back from work and they were exhausted, Eddie had almost just crashed into their bed, but Buck had dragged him to the bathroom to at least wash his face and brush his teeth, if hadn't been for that, he would've missed the desperate knocking on the door. 

"Buck, did you order something?" 

It wasn't uncommon that Buck sometimes ordered in something on their way back so it would arrive just as they did, but Buck shook his head "No? I don't have any calls from Rachel either" Rachel was the social worker who handled their usual emergency placements. 

Confused and exhausted, Eddie just walked to the door and opened to find out what ever it was that was on the other side of the door. He was even more confused when he opened it and there was no one on the other side, no one even on their driveway. 

"What the..." his words were interrupted by a cry, a small baby cry, coming from the floor. He looked down and found a baby tucked into a picnic basket, a letter on top and wrapped in blankets. Eddie picked the basket up and then quickly walked inside telling Buck to call Athena and Rachel to meet them at the hospital. 

"What? Why?" 

"Someone just dropped a new born in our doorstep, Buck" 

Buck moved quick after that, calling Rachel first while Eddie told Christopher what had happen and to not open the door for anyone else while they were out, Eddie placed the baby very carefully in the baby seat they had had to have installed in one of their trucks in case they needed it, and tried to leave the rest of the basket undisturbed, in case it needed to be taken in for evidence. Buck called Athena on their way to the hospital, and Eddie somehow found himself wishing for the baby to be okay, trying to quiet down the part of his brain that screamed at him that this was their baby. 

Buck, thankfully, thought to call ahead to the hospital, so when they parked on the emergency bay, they were met with the neonatal team who took the unknown baby from them almost right away, while Eddie grabbed the basket and waited for Rachel and Athena in the waiting room.

"Eddie" Buck said softly, eyeing the envelope in the basket with their names on it "Eddie, what if they..."

"Buck, remember what we said? about getting our hopes up?" Eddie interrupted, he couldn't let Buck get his hopes up, his own and Eddie's.

"I know, I know, but… this feels different, doesn't it?" 

Before Eddie could respond, both Rachel and Athena walked into the room. 

They went through everything that happen twice, they told them everything that had happen in the last 30 minutes, and gave Athena access to their security system for her to check their cameras, and then turned to Rachel. 

"There's an envelope, we don't know what's in it, but it's addressed to us" Buck said, bringing attention back to it, Athena had taken the rest of the things in the basket "Can we read it?" 

"It is addressed to you guys, so you're within your rights to do so" Rachel answered, and Eddie had never seen Buck open something so fast and so carefully at the same time. He waited patiently as Buck read it, and then as he read it again, before he was pushing the papers towards Eddie.

“Read it, Eds, you have to read it”

Eddie took the papers from Buck’s hand and read it himself. It wasn’t signed by anyone they knew, Eddie didn’t recognize the nickname they used, but the letter pretty much said that they knew they were good people, and that they wanted a baby, the mother explained that she wouldn’t ever be able to give the kid a good life but she wanted them to have her, to raise her as their own, she was giving them her daughter.

“Rachel, this…” Eddie’s hands shook as he handed Rachel the letter “She says she wants her to be ours”

Eddie was trying really hard to not get his hopes up, but it was hard, he knew a letter couldn’t be a legal binding document, but this could be their daughter, theirs, to take home, and raise, and love.

Rachel took a deep breath “This is a mess” Eddie felt his heart break, and reached for Buck’s hand “I don’t want you guys to think you can keep her, okay? But there might be a chance you can”

Eddie felt Buck’s hand squeezing his tight.

They didn't take the baby home that day, they had driven home almost at 5 am after the hospital assured them the baby was stable, being looked after but she couldn't be released back to them until social services determined what was going to happen with her; they understood, they did, but they still drove home with a heavy heart. 

It was a battle after that, but they were willing to right for their kid - because ever since reading the letter they both felt like she was theirs - it was a lot of meetings with Rachel and the social worker assigned to the baby; she was so young, the doctors had determined she was only a few hours old when she had been dropped at their door step, and no matter how much they tried to find the mother, they never did, nor did an existing birth certificate. 

It was Christmas Eve morning when they got the call, Rachel told them to meet her at the hospital and to bring a bag for the baby; they grabbed it - Buck had had it packed for days now - and rushed to the hospital to meet Rachel. There had been a hearing with a judge a couple of days ago, Buck and Eddie had made their case, and Rachel assured them that while the letter didn't have any legal weight, it could be used as proof that the birthmother wanted them to have her kid.

"Is she ours? For real ours?" Buck asked as they walked in, his hand tightly wrapped around Eddie's "She's coming home with us?" 

Rachel smiled "She is officially yours" She then handed them her birth certificate, while both her birth parents were listed as unknown, there was an even bigger stack of papers underneath "You just have to name her, and sign the adoption papers" 

"Milagro" Eddie said right away "Millie, for short" 

Buck smiled and nodded, agreeing with Eddie right away, and asking for a pen so they could sign the papers already. 

It was still a couple of more hours, Rachel had filed their adoption papers just in time before the offices closed down for the holidays, and on Christmas eve they got to drive home with their new addition. 

Next morning, Eddie found Buck in the nursery, softly rocking Millie as she fell back asleep.

"Hey" Eddie said softly, walking to them and wrapping himself around Buck, rubbing Millie's cheek slowly with this thumb. 

“You named her Milagro” Buck said softly “Miracle”

Eddie hummed, eyes lost in the soft breathing of their daughter in Buck’s arms “She is our little miracle, coming to us just when we needed her”

He saw Buck smiling from the corner of his eyes “She really did” Eddie smiled and kissed Buck’s cheek “Do you think Chris’ going to like getting a sister for Christmas?”

“He’s gonna love her”