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imaginesofeverykind · 5 years ago

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Snowed In || Joel Miller x F!Reader

(Its ironic because this smut is 6k words so it didn’t do that quickly AT ALL LMAOOOO) This took me too many fucking days to write, its so hard to get into smut mentality like holy fucq

YALL I FINALLY FUCKING FINISHED IT HOLY SHIT

Pairing: Joel Miller x Female Reader

Request: Can I request some Joel Miller fluff (mayyyybe some smut?) I could totally see getting snowed in with him 😏🥰

Word Count: 6k

Warnings: S M U T and S W E A R I N G annndd implied age gap but its not stated (reader is probs like thirties or older) AND you guys being the biggest pain in the ass for Joel :)

Also @ me stanning how yall interract with each other because the banter is highkey lowkey fun lmaoooo

“Ah, shit!” You cursed loudly, your feet stampeding desperately in thick snow while increasingly aware of the group of hunters — that managed to get the jump on you — were probably still tailing you. Your hands clamped down harshly on the wound you bled profusely from, droplets of crimson blood stained the snow with each step.

“Joel!” You shouted in desperation, approaching the lookout as you internally prepared yourself for getting blasted by the old man for being reckless — or better yet, leading the hunters to the lookout. You didn’t want to linger to long on those thoughts, not while you quite literally had an arrow protruding out of your side.

It wasn’t the first time you’d inconsequently been impaled by something or other, and it most certainly wouldn’t be the last. You had at least hoped that the impending snowstorm worsened and covered your blood trail quicker than you were making pace.

Breathlessly, you lean against the lookouts outer walls, scanning the area for potential hunters. Luckily for you the progressively heavier snowfall deterred any prospect of human threats. You rap hard and heavy on the metal reinforced door, holding onto your side as a wince escapes your lips.

“Joel! For fucks sake… Open the damn door!” You gritted, the bite of the cold air finally hitting the wound you so desperately tried to keep covered. It was incredibly clear that the older man was tactful and cautious, having been on plenty of runs, watches and patrols with him opened you up to his reserved nature.

However, it was getting ridiculous considering the urgency in your voice that now of all times, he decided to cautiously approach.

The door was pulled open, after a succession of noises that were no doubt the barricades being moved. Joel poked his head out, looking around before settling on your hunched figure, “what the hell did you do this time?”

You rolled your eyes, pushing past him as you yearned for the warmth and safety of the lookout, “I’m great — thanks for askin’.” You stumble over to what was once most likely a bar, the remnants of liquor bottles and on tap beer seemed to be a good indicator of that.

Readjusting the barricade, Joel finally makes his way over to you. Concern wasn’t a typical expression he showed to anyone other than toward Ellie, seeing it flicker across his face as he approached you nearly knocked you off the stool you sat on. It was brief but you absolutely noticed it.

“You mind fillin’ me in on what happened out there?” His brow was raised as he gestured to your wound. He was taking his time to gather the gauze and alcohol to patch you up, but he was acutely aware that if it was something to panic about he’d be much quicker.

Joel had known you for a while, in the time you two spent together on patrols he knew that if anyone could handle an arrow through the torso it was most definitely you. He admired your grit — although he’d never admit it, you were one of the only people whose company he enjoyed.

“Pissed off some fuckin’ Hunters… Don't think they liked me killin’ one of their buddies,” your words staggered with intermittent shallow breaths. You eyed your companion as he almost deliberately slowly made his way in front of you with the appropriate supplies needed to patch you up.

His hardened personal walls had attracted you like a moth drawn to a flame, from your first meeting to now, you had been determined to understand the mysterious man who just so happened to also be your neighbour. “Old age really must be gettin’ to you old man — leave me to just bleed out why don’t ya?”

“If it was serious I’m sure you’d be dead ‘lready.” He retorted, unphased by your not so subtle jab at him. And there it was. That little playful glint in his eyes that you’d only witnessed a handful of times prior, it proved to you that he wasn’t completely closed off and coarsened by the shitshow life turned out to be for him.

You scoff at him, a smirk grazing your lips as you make good use of the whiskey beside you, “well ain’t I lucky to be accompanied by someone so concerned about my life,” you took a swig of the bottle, hoping that the smooth liquor would ease the pain permeating from your side.

He chuckled at the harshness in your voice, “concerned? That’s a funny way of puttin’ it… C’mon by the fire I need a better look at this.”

Looking back at him stunned, you pulled a face that was somewhere between shock and delight, “did I just get two jokes from Joel Miller? In succession? You get bit or somethin’ while I was gone?” You eased yourself off the stool and slowly staggered toward the fire, obliging Joel’s request.

You propped yourself up against one of the weathered armchairs, time had not been kind to the piece of furniture as seen by the cracked leather and copious amount of stains. Before getting too comfortable, you shrugged off the outer layers of jackets you typically adorned to protect yourself from the harsh winters around Wyoming.

The flannel you had over top of the long sleeved thermal shirt you wore was unluckily pinned to your side by the arrow, it used to be a dark blue with green accents — now it was almost black with the pooling blood soaking into the fibers.

Joel was looking at you in thought, memories resurfacing of Colorado and reliving his own time having been impaled due to Hunters. Although the arrow stuck inside you was practically a small scratch in comparison to the metal rebar he intimately came to know.

“Starin’ won’t get this arrow outta me, Joel.” You huffed, taking things into your own hands as you pull off one of your gloves, “here —.” you stuffed it between your teeth and gripped onto the arrow tightly before pulling it out. Your muffled cries of pain had thankfully been mostly silenced by the glove.

“Jesus christ, what in the hell are you doin’?” Joel kneeled down by your side.

“Fast trackin’ the healing process — not… so great… of an idea…” You mumbled out breathlessly, your shaky hands completely covered in blood. Your bright idea of taking things into your own hands backfiring, as you grew progressively light-headed.

Now Joel was slightly panicked and annoyed that your recklessness and impatience always seemed to get in the way of his own brooding and thoughtfulness. “Do you even think before you do things? I ain’t here to babysit you goddammit.” He grumbled, wiping away at the wound so he could inspect it.

You airily laughed, feeling tired and exhausted, “babysit? I’m the only person who’ll deal with your bullshit on patrols, cowboy.” Your limbs started to feel incredibly light and numb as your words became more slurred.

You weren’t wrong in that aspect, but what you weren’t aware of was the fact that you were most often paired with Joel on patrols because the man had asked for it, not because of the excuse Tommy told you; ‘everyone has a hard time with him except for you’.

His nimble hands made quick work at the suture needle and stitching, you only wincing when the needle pierces through your broken skin. He was careful and calculated while he patched you up, grateful that you had been quiet for just a few moments as he paid your back the same amount of care for the front.

By the time he had finished, you had long drifted off in a sleep. He was regimented in making sure you were breathing consistently and every fifteen minutes or so, he would wake you up to ensure you weren’t going to die on him.

After two hours of nothing out of the ordinary coming from your peaceful state, he let you rest peacefully undisturbed.

———————————————

When you woke up, you weren’t too sure what to expect. Pain was one thing you anticipated… And the pain didn’t disappoint. Perhaps it was because you woke up in a completely different position and place within the lookout than when you fell asleep. No longer by the fire downstairs, but in the makeshift bedroom loft beside a smaller fire.

The headache that thumped through your head was arguably the most painful feeling that was occurring in your body. But that didn’t stop you from slowly rising up, a hand instinctively placed over the wound as it twitched in pain. Sounds of distant guitar chords echoed through the open area, you hadn’t even taken notice that Joel brought his guitar when you two left Jackson earlier in the morning.

Not that you were really paying him much attention earlier in the morning, freely exploring your own mind and memories. Something Joel envied in you was your ability to be so free spirited, despite the apocalyptic fuck fest that was everyday life. He initially chalked you up to being naive and foolish, but the time he’s taken to get to know you had informed him otherwise.

You hesitantly remove the mound of blankets on you and start your attempt to get up. It was a struggle to say the least, your thumping headache and aching wound made it quite the difficult feat to pull off.

All effort aside, you finally carried yourself slowly down the stairs, nursing your wound and instantly missing the warmth that the fire at your bedside provided. By the dimly lit interior it was well and truly deep into the night, which made you wonder how long you’d been asleep for.

Judging by the stillness of the atmosphere, that also meant your earlier encounter with hunters didn’t attract unwanted attention to the lookout.

Joel was seated by the fire in an amicable state, he was seemingly unaware of the fact you’d woken up or even noticed you had seated yourself on the armchair closest to the fire. His eyes shifted toward the movement, surprised to see you had made your way down the stairs without so much as a voice of complaint.

“You sure you weren’t a country singer before this? I’m getting some Billy Ray vibes… Bitta Keith Urban too..” You smile at him, admiring the way the firelight bounced off his features, the scene before you looking like some cozy cottage fantasy.

He put his guitar aside, if he was amused by your joke — you didn’t see it.

You tilted your head to the side, trying to gauge his mood based off the evident shift that occurred between you falling asleep to now. He appeared to be annoyed (not surprising) and closed off more than usual, which meant that he was most definitely not in the mood to be talking.

But you didn’t care, because you had just woken up and felt like enlightening Joel’s darkened front with some excitement at least. “What’s got you in such a delightful mood, country boy?” You shifted your weight off the wound, alleviating the slight pain that kept pinching every so often.

It became apparent that you weren’t going to leave him some peace unless he relented and indulged your attempts to getting him to talk. If he was stuck with anyone else in this situation he’d be visibly more perturbed, it was either dumb luck or fate that the two of you happened to be paired while this already shitty situation got worse.

“Storm came over while you were sleepin’... Get cozy ‘cause we’ll be here for a while.” He gestured lazily to one of the windows, which upon further inspection was completely shadowed from the snow fall, not because it was incredibly late.

You groaned, following up with a sigh, “fuck I’m bored just thinkin’ about bein’ stuck here… Wish I brought a book.” The throwaway statement managed to crack the hard exterior of Joel, earning the slightest chuckle which in turn boosted your ego. Getting that man to express emotions beyond anger or annoyance was something to be met with like a lifelong skill, high risk and low reward.

He reached over to his bag, “might not like it, but if it’ll keep you quiet for a while… here —,” he pulled out an old leather bound book, the spine had been cracked and the pages barely held together due to decades of weathering. You met his outstretched arm halfway to grab a hold of the book, the weight of it unexpected but you caught it nonetheless.

“Lovecraft? I meet a lot of people, but you are by far the strangest man I’ve met.” You mumble out loud while you appreciate the cover and embellishments decorating the edges. You hadn’t intended for him to hear you, but of course he did.

“Figured Ellie might ‘preciate it…” He trailed off, stopping himself from saying a word too many in fear that he gave away too much of an inside peek at his inner thoughts. Upon hearing him you looked up, surprised that he even mentioned his surrogate daughter — considering your observations of the two had been particularly volatile as of late.

You thumb the raised lettering of the title and look at him, his eyes were sad which contrasted his stature. You weren’t one to pry, despite being impressively curious by nature, “kid’s got a gnarly taste in pop culture… I was out on a run and saw one of them comics she likes… y’know she has those hoarded all over Jackson, yeah?”

His eyes flickered over to you, he was trying to get a read on you and sense any plausible reason why you’d bring up Ellie. He knew you weren’t one for ulterior motives but he didn’t like discussing a whole lot about the young girl with many people, no matter how much he enjoyed your company.

“What are you doin’?” He pressed, turning his body to face you front on with his hands clasped together between his knees.

Your eyebrows knit together in thought, unsure what prompted such a serious question and change in demeanour, “Uh… making conversation?” It seemed like an obvious statement, you refrained from being too direct just in case it provoked him further.

“Right…” He merely uttered, standing up from his position on the couch and moving toward the bar. You looked at him with confusion, unsure where the outburst came from and why it even happened in the first place. It wasn’t the first time you’d brought up Ellie in conversation but now it seemed like it was a soft spot for him.

“Okay… I’ll bite — um… what the fuck?” You strained your neck to face him, not wanting to move your entire body to prevent unnecessary pain, “did something happen between you two bec—“

“Y/N… Don’t.” His voice was low, almost like a guttural growl to fend you off from pressing further.

You threw your arms in the air and shook your head, “jesus fuck, Joel you’re a real asshole sometimes… You’re so broody and temperamental I feel like I'm walking on eggshells just to talk to you… Y’know not every person is out to get you.” The words hung in the air for a moment while you started to move yourself off the chair, wanting to have your own space by the upstairs fire.

Watching you struggle to get up from the armchair admittedly did break the tension Joel brought into the room, he sighed loudly to set aside his pride as he slowly shifted toward you, “don’t move… Let me change your dressings over.”

His voice barely made it to your ears, but hearing them made you loudly groan and sit back down, “jesus fuckin’ christ — I cannot deal with you right now,” you mumbled to yourself. Despite Joel being notorious for his outbursts, they rarely featured up front and centre like tonight; particularly around you.

But when they did, it was exhausting to deal with to say the least. Given that almost every time they occurred, you never knew the exact reason why. Things would be much easier for the both of you, if one participant was just that little more vocal.

“Just give me the shit and I’ll do it myself, take your bullshit energy and fuck off over there.” You pointed to the bar where he previously stood, very blunt in telling Joel how much you didn’t want to fight with him knowing you both were snowed in together for who knows how long.

Being as direct and as blunt as you were had been one of the many things Joel came to admire about you, feeling a tangible sense of guilt for blowing up at you like he did. He knelt down beside you, motioning for you to shimmy forward into the light of the fire better.

You huffed in response, not making eye contact with him as you pushed yourself closer to the edge of the chair.

He was careful and delicate once again, inspecting your wound after discarding the used gauze. You found it exceptionally difficult not to look down and watch what he was doing, mainly because you were inquisitive by nature but you couldn’t help but be fond of his closeness.

One of his fingers grazed the carefully done stitches, prompting a wince from you, the action almost snapping you out of your angry facade, “you definitely weren’t a fuckin’ surgeon in your past life, huh.” You call back to the conversation you had earlier, an attempt to help ease the tension between you two.

“And you weren’t no comedian, either…” he bit back, attaching the dressings on the exit wound.

“So you go from grumpy to jokey just like that?” You raise a brow, fully aware you were rattling the cage at this point, but him even cracking a retort of the sarcastic variety was enough of an indicator that he was trying to make reparations.

He taps your thigh and motions for you to turn so he can start on the entry wound, “I ain’t too good at this whole… People... business,” he admitted, stating it like it wasn’t already overtly obvious to any conscious person with a functioning brain.

“Oh what? You’re joking, right? You are such a people person,” you mock, turning your head down to give him a playful smirk.

His eyes met yours, a glint of something you weren’t entirely sure of just yet. Returning his gaze back to changing over the final dressings on your back, “that was uncalled for,” he murmured, pretending not to notice the smile present on your lips.

The simple fact that he admitted to you outloud seemed to be a step in the right direction and for that, you were incredibly grateful.

“How long do you think we’ll be stuck here for?” You ask, feeling Joel's fingers lift from your skin as he finishes patching you up. Missing the sensation it made you feel. You turned back to face him properly, not expecting him to still be seated so close to you, not that you minded at all.

“Hopin’ that we’ll be out by tomorrow… Worst case scenario, we’ll be here for a few days.”

You throw your head back over dramatically, “be stuck inside here with your grumpy old ass — what fuckin’ atrocities did I commit to deserve this?” You jest, smiling even wider seeing the light amusement evident in his eyes, “ah! I’m so close to getting you to laugh, one of these days I’ll get you, cowboy.”

“Definitely weren’t a comedian…” He reiterated, a content smirk tugged at the corner of his lips.

The thought of a comeback was completely lost on your part as you simply admired his features up close. From when you first met to now, his hair had grown out longer which you thought looked nice on him, even if it would hang over his face just that little bit.

His hazel eyes were your favourite feature of his, and in the orange glow from the fire they seemed all the more alluring.

It was a happy silence, one filled with just the two of you trying to read each other and guess what the other was going to do. For someone so direct, you were quite talented in not telegraphing intended movements or motions. It made you a hard person to pinpoint which both intrigued and infuriating someone like Joel who was quite adept in reading people.

You were the first one to break away from the stillness, taking the book you were given to pass the time, “as much as I’d love to stare into your dreamy eyes all day, I’ve gotta book to read and a whole lotta time to kill… Thanks for being a shitty nurse… did better than what I could, anyway.”

Joel stood up, giving you ample space to shift. He holds out a hand for you to help yourself up, which you take thankfully. Your throwaway compliment didn’t go unnoticed by him, nor did the way your eyes scanned his features moments ago. He lived through life long enough to know what look you were giving him.

It was a look he’d often see you give him, whether it was subconsciously or not— that, he was unsure of. He was always apprehensive when he saw your eyes darken the way they did, but it was his own inability to allow himself to get close to anyone that caused his uneasiness.

You looked at the man standing before you, his face crinkled in thought as if his mind was elsewhere. You felt a compulsion to ask what he was thinking but weren’t too sure how far that conversation would get before it got messy… Despite his change and attitude, the man was notorious for switching in an instant and you knew better than to prod him too much.

Then again… your favourite pastime was exclusively getting under the man's skin.

“What’re you thinkin’ ‘bout there cowboy? Thinkin’ mighty hard about somethin’.” Being much taller than you were, you ducked to meet his thoughtful gaze. His internal struggle barely showing in his face, only being tossed aside the second his eyes found yours.

“You.”

That had taken you aback, your eyes growing wide as a slight tinge of red dusts your cheeks. Naturally, unable to process compliments or situations like these, you turn to jestful remarks as a way to assess the mood, “should I be concerned? If it’s about who's gonna eat who when starvation starts settin’ in, I would ‘preciate it if you didn’t carve me up.”

“Can you stop talkin’ for just five seconds,” his voice was low and eyes scanning your features.

Intrinsically, you keep talking to fill the void of silence as you aren’t completely sure how else to alleviate the tension, “well… I can consider but —.”

You hadn’t got very far in your smug retort, cut off by the man's abrupt and unexpected decision to shut you up by pressing his lips to yours. It seemingly came out of left field and only took you just a moment to reciprocate, pushing all astonishment aside.

For someone who sported a rough exterior, you were pleasantly surprised at how gentle Joel was, caressing your face with his calloused hands so delicately. You discard the book that was once in your grasp, trading it for his firm chest while you gripped onto his shirt.

Pulling away, you bite down on your lower lip as you look deeply into his eyes. You considered uttering a witty remark, but the look he was giving you was one of warning. And as much as you would love to find out what would happen as a consequence of speaking out, you were content in continuing whatever had already started.

Your hands trail up to the back of his neck, leaning up to press your lips back onto his. This time with a little more desperation, you swipe your tongue on his lower lip, prompting a short but low growl from your companion. One of his hands was pinned to your *good* side, the other remained on the side of your face.

The feeling that pooled in your stomach, matching the hammering of your heart would almost make you concerned if you weren’t in the safe grasp on the man you’d shamelessly pined after.

Despite the hunger and desperation on your part, Joel was still pleased at going at his own pace; which was painstakingly slow. Savouring the moment you two were sharing, as if you were going to disappear in an instant.

“Gotta say — didn’t peg you as the romantic type,” you whispered breathlessly, eyes never straying from his darkened hazel ones, your hands stroking his firm torso, “but we’re gonna have to speed things up.” You brush your lips against his, hovering daringly close while your hands eagerly undo the buttons to his flannel.

He didn’t seem at all bothered by your impatience (it was typical of you after all), but it was bothering him how much of a tease you were being. Far be it for you to not be a pain in his ass even in an intimate manner. Your soft hands kneading his bare chest — which was ripped, you noted to yourself mentally as he shrugged his flannel off.

Your fingers trace the outlines of numerous scars present, regardless of his age and living in a dangerous time for humanity. The healed wounds did little to impact his figure, instead sprinkling slight imperfections across him as if it were to keep him humble.

Joel dips his head to your jawline, trailing small wet kisses down your neck and nipping at some skin to earn the slightest little noises from you. Oh how that made you feel. You squirm in his hold, squeezing your thighs together in an attempt to provide some friction to appease the wetness between your legs.

There was little to no hesitation as he pulls your shirt up over your head, surprised at your bare torso. Sure, you both had seen better days but the scars from knives, bullets and arrows were telling of the journey you’d gone through to get to this point; including your most recent addition.

The warmth his hands provided while they trailed over scars and rise of your breasts left your skin tingling. You notice his eyes wandering over your features, knowing he wasn’t judging your looks merely pondering over what story was behind which scar. You’re confident in that sentiment, considering you felt the same way whilst you thumb the scarring on his collarbone.

“You good?” You whisper, your breath hitching as the pad of his thumb grazes your pert nipple. This man…

“Just takin’ in the view.” His voice was low, prompting a smile from you. The man was a hopeless romantic at heart, that was clear enough — any other time you’d gladly lap it up happily, but right now you needed something a little less idealistic. Desire possessing you further (it seemed like you’d have plenty of time together anyway.)

You press your lips back onto his feverishly, trailing your hands down his torso to his jeans. The bulge in his pants growing more in response to your hand giving him a sensual squeeze, he moans into your mouth which is enough of an indicator for you to start undoing his belt.

His hands cupped your breasts progressively harder, taking in your nipples between his thumb and finger. The sensation pulsing downward enough to make your toes curl and thighs clench. You could’ve fucked him there and then, pleasure pooling inside you.

“Sit down,” You ordered, pushing his chest toward the couch to which he obliged, enjoying the fact you were so eagerly prepared to take charge. As a man of tradition, he’d typically lead but found it incredibly arousing to heed your demands and listen. You’re quick in kicking off your shoes and discarding your jeans, welcoming the chill to the air as it cools down your burning skin.

The sight of him on the couch, shirtless and showcasing the tent pitched in his pants was so remarkably inviting you couldn’t wait a second longer, straddling his hips and bringing your lips back onto his as you begin grinding down on his bulge. The friction alone was enough to bring moans of pleasure from both of you, you tugging at his hair harder the more aroused you became.

He pulls away, running his hands up and down your sides - vigilant in not wanting to knock your wound - before bringing his lips to the valley of your breasts, ensuring to leave short kisses on every indent or raised section of scarred skin before settling down on one of your nipples. The free hand that wasn’t anchored at your hips, was kneading your other breast.

A whimper tumbles from your lips, grinding your hips harder against his. You bring a hand down, frantically trying to undo his pants all the while feeling the euphoria coming from just merely grinding him. Yes it had been a while since you felt this good.

He lifts his hips up, giving you enough space to yank down both his jeans and underwear. The feeling of his cock flush up against the thin material of your panties caused you to gasp and grip onto his shoulders tightly.

Both of you moaning at the absolute bare minimum of stimulation of your most sensitive areas. His cock throbbed the second the tip rubbed up against the dampness of your panties, it being far too long since he partaken in anything sexually charged in quite some time. The same goes for you.

Now it was Joel’s turn to get impatient, bringing one hand up behind your neck while the other dipped down into your panties, his fingers stroking your wet slit. You jolt forward at the feeling of his fingers circle your clit, the sensation pooling desperately as your hips buck, riding his fingers.

His calloused fingers seemed to hit the right spot with every roll of your hips, it made you wonder how his lips would feel and tongue would feel if he seemed to be making you feel this good with his fingers alone.

“Fucking hell, Joel.” You cry out, resting your head on the crook of his neck, leaving small love bites along his collar bone. His scent of eucalyptus mixed with wood was ever so welcoming, the aroma that drove you insane whenever he stood a little too close.

Your high began to climb, grinding your hips more desperately against him while he expertly finger fucks you until hitting the right spot, sending your body rigid as your walls close in and around his fingers, pulsating while you ride your climax out.

“Eager, are we?” His breath tingled your ear, even though you weren’t looking at him you could tell he was fashioning some smug smirk. You laugh breathlessly, sitting upright and sliding off your panties.

One of your hands closes over his length, pumping painstakingly slow, all the while watching his eyes roll to the back of his head. Your soft hand wrapped around him felt leagues better than the familiar roughness of his own. His hips bucked to help quicken the pace you had set, to which you smirked and pinned him flush against the couch.

You kept on pumping his throbbing length, positioning yourself more comfortably on his lap. He leaned his head back, lips parted to let the soft grunts pass through while you continued to torment him slowly. If his fingers felt that great, you were eager to find out how well his cock felt.

You position his tip at your entrance, not wanting to torture the man or yourself any longer, sinking down onto his cock while his length stretches you out. Whimpering in sync with his growls, neither of you moving momentarily as you simply bask in the pleasure.

He thrusts his hips up first, a strangled moan escaping your lips as you meet his pace. Your lips brush gently up his neck, stopping just shy of his ear lobe. The faint mewls rolling out of your mouth sending him further into bliss with each roll of the hips, ignoring the painful irritation emitting from your wound.

His hands were anchored firmly to your thighs, fingers digging hard into your skin which would no doubt leave bruises in the morning. You nip at his ear and neck before returning your lips to his, muffled moans stifling out from the both of you with each sloppy kiss.

The sounds coming from you were near on pronographic, coupled with the quickening pace of you riding him, every insatiable thrust filling you more with a desire you weren’t aware you needed until now.

You dreamed of similar scenarios such as this with Joel, but the meager fantasies had nothing on the real thing. How his lips felt on yours, the way his hands caressed every part of you with care yet also commanded it, the way he made you dripping wet without much effort and most of all; the way he felt deep inside you.

He threw his head back, choked breaths preventing him from rasping out the words needed as his climax began rising. You noticed his staggered breathing and picked up the pace, gripping his hair tightly coaxing a guttural moan out from him.

One of his hands squeezed the back of your neck while the other clasped your breast roughly, his hips became rigid while a series of moans filled your ear just as you feel his cum spilling inside you. He slumped back into a comfortable position panting heavily, eying you in your incredibly typical perky demeanour.

You pulled yourself off him, his semi-flaccid member flopping out of you. Thankful past you had the forethought to pack rags, you rifle through your bag to clean yourself up, “you’ve got a surprising amount of stamina, cowboy,” the compliment earned you a smug smile from him, pride being an aura on Joel you never thought you’d see.

“If I’d have known this is all it took to shut you up, I would’ve done it sooner.” He states, as if thinking retroactively would change your ability to annoy the absolute life out of the man.

Tossing him a rag lazily, you chortle at the idea of thinking Joel - of all people - could be someone to get you to stop your antics forever, “Oh you knew — don’t lie to me mister. You just like to see me suffer in silence.” You were as transparent as one could be, yet your intentions were almost always misread as you did well to keep it muddled. Joel was a perceptive man, often finding you hard to read to the point of irritation for him, but - as you anticipated - he figured you out slowly but surely.

“I just like to see you silent,” he retorted, finally moving from his position to clean himself off, “but you ain’t wrong…” A man of his age knew a thing or two about what your not-so-subtle looks meant (even if it took him longer than usual to realise what you were actually wanting) and knowing you for the time he did also meant the possibility of things going south between you two went higher. He respected you too much to commit to something that might eventually be taken away from him in an instance — or vice versa.

“I’m never wrong, actually…” You confidently state, eying him with the same smug smile he sported only moments ago. The arrogant stature you held broken with a grimace as you clutch your injured side, “maybe a little bit wrong… probably shoulda let you lead there…”

He merely shook his head, allowing a chuckle to audibly sound which always felt you with a sense of satisfaction. The man shrouded in mystery was finally opening up to you more, that alone was a privilege you couldn’t be more proud of.

#request #imagines #imagine #joel miller #tlou #tlou imagines #reader insert #one shot #smut #Joel Miller x Reader #Joel Miller Smut #joel miller imagine #pwp #one shots

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maggotmouth · 4 years ago

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hillo sexthy legends !! i’m nora and i’ll be writing margo colby n probs sm1 else bcos lets be real, i lack self-control. u can find her pinterest here n some info abt her sexy self below the cut. plot with me on discord ( hot girl midsommar#8664 ) or in my ims !! x o x

* CAMILA MORRONE, CIS WOMAN + SHE / HER | you know MARGO COLBY, right? they’re TWENTY-THREE, and they’ve lived in irving for, like, ELEVEN YEARS? well, their spotify wrapped says they listened to SCRAWNY BY WALLOWS like, a million times this year, which makes sense ‘cause they’ve got that whole BLEACH WHITE SNEAKERS POUNDING ON A GYMNASIUM FLOOR, USING THE SAME BLUNT SCISSORS TO HACK THE SLEEVES OFF AN EXES T-SHIRT THAT YOU USE TO CUT YOUR 3AM FRINGE, A WALNUT-SHAPED ACHE IN THE PIT OF YOUR STOMACH FOR THE PERSON YOU COULD HAVE BEEN thing going on. i just checked and their birthday is AUGUST 8TH, so they’re a LEO, which is unsurprising, all things considered. ( nora, 25, gmt, she/her )

CLICK ANYWHERE ON THIS SENTENCE FOR SEXII GOOGLE DOC!!

bullet point summary of margo.

— born margaret but NOBODY calls her that. its colby, coach or margo, and go to the privileged few. margo grew up in the creek commune n then dropped out of school cos of a teenage pregnancy so she was a bit of a cautionary tale back in’t’day (said tht in my yorkshire accent). she now works for summer camps coaching pee wee soccer and pee wee cheer, as well as helping out her beekeeper dad on his honey farm, which is jst north of abernathy creek, and working at scuba on the off seasons.

— its just her and her dad, and has been for as long as she can recall !! everything she knows about her mum could fit on the back of the weathered passport photo she keeps in her wallet of a stranger who shares her face - her name’s melody, or at least tht was name she used when working as a dancer, she’s from argentina and dropped mag’s dad as soon as someone w more money came along.

— margo’s father is a beekeeper with his own organic honey company. margo and her dad moved to irving in the early 00s, the summer between grade school and middle school, because her dad had heard about the communal living in abernathy creek and wanted to lend his skills there and live off the fatta the land in a very lenny from of mice and men kinda way.

— for a few years of middle school margo was bullied for living with the ‘freaks from the creek’, but when they realised how chill her dad was with underage drinking, margo ‘keg-bringer’ colby soon gained popularity among the more renegade students. every so often, the high school parties would happen at her end of town, occasionally with members of the commune even offering the high schoolers a spiritual experience they’d never forget (often in the form of mushrooms) which meant people tried to stay on her good side. to get an invite to a margo colby party handed you a free pass to make up the most ridiculous shit about the commune you liked and nobody else could say anything, because they’d never been to the creek.

— at school, margo had a lot of ‘behvioural issues’ bcos of undiagnosed adhd, she found it difficult to sit still for hours n write down huge chunks of information n her restlessness was seen as laziness. she was encouraged to do sports, as were most of the kids who weren’t that academically inclined, but she turned out to be pretty hot shit at sprinting, because she grew up surrounded by bee houses and he who runs slowest gets stung, baybeyy!! so yea, in school sports became her LIFE. she was gonna get a sports scholarship to college but ended up dropping out of school in senior year n becoming one of those kids who could have had it all but lost it.

— she had sex with sutter at a house party when she wasnt really ready because it felt like the right thing to do at the time and everybody else was doing it. she’d attended health class, she’d seen the corny videos. she knew about all the statistics, but she also knew that it had never happened to anyone she knew and the pull out method was basically safer than the morning after pill and way less expensive.

— a teenage pregnancy knocked her out of the runnings for prom queen and meant she had to leave school early. she didn’t go to college when her friends did, instead she spent the time interviewing potential foster candidates and eating her weight in lindt chocolate while marathoning love island in her room.

— she had a son, who she passed off to someone else a couple of towns away. it was a closed adoption which seemed like the best idea at the time, but she now wishes she had access to his life.

— after peaking in high school and jumping between jobs for a few years, she got a more permanent role at scuba which she loves with all of her heart and soul, but unfortunately a bar job doesn’t pay the rent.

— she works at summer camps coaching junior soccer and netball on the side. she’s extremely competitive and takes it very personally if her team lose. the kids all call her, coach colby n write her longwinded letters about how they’ll never forget this summer camp before they go back to their suburban picket fence houses n she keeps all the letters in a drawer n takes them out to read when she’s feelin depressed.

— enjoys surfing and worked for a number of years on resorts like mila kunis’ job in forgetting sarah marshall. she went on to work 18-hour days as a stewardess on luxury yachts which is a part of her backstory i added after watching season one of below deck because i guess i really am that fucking impressionable. met most of her surf friends doing tht but said she’d never in her life do it again bcos it was mostly just picking up after rich white ppl for shit pay. she came back to irving n thats when she started doing the summer camp jobs so she could move out of the creek n get her own apartment.

— she never actually finished senior year so she’s currently going to night school at the community college to get through her exams and is trying to save to go to college or open university. she wants to major in criminology. she’s super ambitious but also super adhd so she fluctuates between thinking she can achieve anything to just feeling like a failure n thinkin whats the point

— used to shoplift to feel joy and as an act of resistance to her hippy commune routes, but now sees herself as a reformed, bin-diving freegan (sims 4 eco living can i get a hell yaaaa). also she thinks it’s totally wrong to steal when you have enough money and clearly don’t need to steal to survive, ppl risk imprisonment for basic necessities, so for her to do it for a brief thrill and some new shades felt a bit derogatory

— was raised jewish. became a vegetarian as a child because it seemed, at the time, easier than having to explain which foods she was and wasn’t allowed to eat together, so she just cut out meat entirely. still a vegetarian now and dabbles in veganism, although its become less about not eating certain meats in the milk of their mother and more about her global impact / carbon footprint

— nurses little animals to health in her garden. has a hedgehog name OJ short for orange juice not the other one filthy pig. her and her dad have always been huge animal rights activists and existed on a vegetarian diet. the only one in their house who isn’t vegetarian is their cat, auggie. (short 4 augustus gloop)

— has a lot of stupid ass stick and poke tattoos. there was a phase during her years as a barmaid where she wanted to train as a tattoo artist n would mostly practice on herself or any friends who would let her

— she doesn’t form many long lasting friendships cos she tends to be super excited when she makes a new friend and just see them all the time but then it wears off and she can ghost a bit. she’ll always coming pinging back but she’s not the most predictable or loyal friend, sometimes she’ll sleep in your house every night for a week and then you won’t even get a text from her for a month. her best friends are elderly neighbours and houseless people she meets when volunteering at the foodbank. she thinks they’re more authentic than most of the ‘fake posers’ she meets down the vela pier

— calls herself a butch lesbian but still has sex with men when she wants validation. sexually attracted to some men, especially effeminate men, but only romantically attracted to women. very possessive of the gals in her life.

— stopped giving a shit about getting older or adhering to anyone elses bullshit standards, realised it was all fake p much as soon as she dropped out of school and one by one her friends just stopped texting her

— lives in one of the lofts in port apartments. it’s open plan with rugs and lava lamps everywhere. she has a palette bed. its all very ‘sustainable chic’. like, oh wow, a pallet bed that im supposed to think you made from scratch but i KNOW you got it off ebay because you thought it looked trendy

— constantly says shes poor but still buys clothes from urban outfitters. sus.

— frequently found at fannies flirting with the cute bisexual bartender with a choppy black bob.

general vibe / personality

vibrant, vulgar, self-absorbed, tenacious, veers bewteen apathetic and dogmatic, temperamental, flighty, unreliable, magnetic, charismatic, passive aggressive, likes to play devil’s advocate, takes the moral high ground. estp and a leo

likes: 70s music, john wayne movies, black mirror, philosophy, cowboy chic culture, dc comics, the smell of locker rooms,, deep red lipstick, lacrosse sticks, smoking weed from a bong, dogs, karaoke, pet rats, kate moss, late-night strolls, hawaaiian shirts worn open over a bralette, skinned knees, thai food, picking the apples at the very top of the trees, zip-lining, cigarettes, the idea of pegging but not the practical application of it, decorative lamps, LGBTQ+ pin badges, worn-out furniture, twangy electric guitars.

dislikes: girls who call other girls ‘pick me’ girls, woody allen movies, mental mathematics, wealthy children, quentin tarantino, ironing, institutionalised misogyny, the imaginary future, french literature, ‘dump him’ feminism, wes anderson films, spoken word poetry nights, college-educated bar staff who act like they’re better than you, indie softbois, the general mentality of cheerleading squads.

aesthetics

orange peel, the smell of bleach, skeleton drawings in the margins of a journal, thumb holes poked through the cuffs of your sleeves, bleach white sneakers pounding on a gymnasium floor, setting dumpsters on fire for the hell of it. a hit flask of vodka decorated with hello kitty stickers, split knuckles, alien conspiracy theories and sci-fi paperbacks, doc martens with fraying laces, a child in an oversize bee keepers suit, scabbed knees, not eating your greens, smiling with a mouthful of blood, and piercing your own ears with a safety pin when your dad wouldn’t take you, a tennis racket you punched through in a fit of temper, feet pounding the earth until your soles bleed crimson, sleeping in a cherry lip balm and scrunchies to keep the wild locks from your eyes.

hoo boy this is getting LONG AS FUCK but here are my wanted plots

wanted plots

ok margo’s been in irving since she was like 10. she’s quite a vivacious person?? she dresses completely instinctively without any sense of cohesion so she stands out. a guy once told her she was wearing the ugliest outfit he’d ever seen and he thought that was so cool and brave of her. but anyway where was i going.. she grew up in the abernathy creek so stuck out like a sore thumb,,,, maybe ppl who were super interested in the creek or maybe poked fun at her bcos of it idk.....

b4 she dropped out, margo used 2 b in with the cool kids at school bcos her dad would buy them booze and rarely ask for the money. maybe a fun plot cld b with some of the ‘it girls’ she used to hang around with b4 she got pregnant n dropped out and they all went off to college n stopped texting her.

frinds !! unlikely friends !! toxic friends !! some1 she feels like she knew before irving ???

since margo literally can’t differentiate between romantic and platonic love, she’s got off with so many of her mates, so i want awkward friendships where they nearly dated, or exes that have now just turned into weird friendships. fwbs. enemies with benefits. all the angst. all the slow burn mutual pining we hate each other narratives

locals who play sports. margo wld be all over community soccer n take it way too seriously. maybe ppl she plays hockey with. girls who she’s like, weirdly intimate with but its not a thing cos the other girls straight !!! what do u mean !! aha just fun !

she works part time at scuba. i want a mate that just goes and sits in there talking to her until her manager gets angry.

she's also a surf instructor and occasionally works as a lifeguard!! gal has like 7 jobs ik but regular swimmers hmu

ppl she coaches at the gym !! she wants to be a personal trainer

i reckon she might have recently started meditating to try and calm down her mind cos its always bustling with thoughts, n i think she’s p interested in buddhism so if anyone’s a buddhist hmu

someone she’s trying to make a zine with on female empowerment and women in film and art, etc. just a very feminist zine.

TLDR: angry sports gay, former high school track prodigy turned drop out, who likes feminist literature, wearing leather jackets over slip dresses, and smudged red lipstick.

this was so long !!! im sorry !! if you’ve read this far have a biscuit, love x

#aaaaaaa #we back boys #irvingintro #hmu for plots bayybeyyy

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plush-anon · 4 years ago

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Happy Halloween Scooby Doo! Review

Muahahhhahahhahahaha! Thanks to the Walmart tradition of stocking movies for sale weeks before the intended release date, I have myself a copy of what claims to be Scooby Doo’s FIRST Halloween adventure!

…in spite of movies like Witch’s Ghost and Goblin King, holiday specials like WNSD’s A Scooby Doo Halloween (which had a haunted Scarecrow too…), BCSD’s EL Bandito (for Dia de los Muertos - obvs not the same, but most companies act like it) and Halloween, The NSDM’s Halloween Hassle at Dracula’s Castle, and the DTV short film Scooby Doo and the Spooky Scarecrow (which, ironically enough, did NOT take the opportunity to feature Dr. Jonathan Crane).

So let us take a look now at Happy Halloween Scooby Doo! and see whether this film will be a graveyard smash of a treat, or a black licorice bomb of disappointment.

Full review (and SPOILERS TO GO WITH IT) are below the cut in my new review format; if all goes smoothly, I’ll go with this for future Scooby films.

WARNING: This review is very long.

One minor note before we begin: the Special Features actually include BCSD’s Halloween, WNSD’s A Scooby Doo Halloween, and PNSD’s Ghost Who’s Coming to Dinner

...so they were AWARE this was not the first Halloween adventure of the Scooby gang, and yet still use that tag line. Hm.

Still, kudos for including them - this’ll help boost the reasons to keep this movie, if it turns out to be a real Milk Dud of a movie *ba-dum tish* :D

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The movie starts off rather abruptly, actually - no slow pan over the setting, just WB Animation credit and BOOM, we’ve cut to a Halloween parade and Elvira is talking.

I’m of a mixed opinion including Elvira on top of having Bill Nye and a Batman Rogue - while she most certainly fits the Scooby aesthetic, it doesn’t feel as grand an impact after her weird little cameo in Return to Zombie Island (ugh) and I’m not sure how well the movie will balance her in wait a minute

wait just a

WAIT A MINUTE

Did - did that parade float skeleton just sing Crystal Cove as the town’s name?

oh no.

Oh No.

....also their song is terrible and they should feel terrible.

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Fred: We got him! Banh Mi Shop, second floor!

me: the heck is a Banh Mi Shop? *mild googling noises*

So I guess Jonathan Crane really had a craving for a Vietnamese sandwich before he enacted his Halloween scheme.

...you think he’s a lemongrass chicken type of guy or a BBQ pork guy? It’s always hard to guess at these things, esp when coffee and pumpkin spice aren’t on the table (as per fanon, of course)

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Velma: We have a flawless track record!

So I guess WB is just gonna ignore the past few DTV retcons established in 13 Ghosts and Return to Zombie Island?

I mean that rather defeats the purpose of them existing at all, but fcuk YEAH I can get behind throwing that retcon garbage out of canon!

And STAY OUT!!

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Shaggy, talking about ghosts being real: I’m like the boy who cried wolf - I keep warning you but like, you won’t believe me until I finally get eaten!

Yet again, Warner Bros makes a wolf reference to Shaggy. Yet again, I am torn asunder between wanting werewolf!Shaggy in a new Scooby property, and fearing for the appearance of werewolf!Shaggy in a new Scooby property.

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Velma: Point is, being afraid is a waste of time!

Scarecrow, LITERALLY EXPLODING THROUGH A BRICK WALL three buildings away:

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He’s floating through the air and t-posing to assert his dominance 🤣🤣🤣

Gods bless animation 😁

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Daphne @ Shag and Scoob locking themselves in the van: Are you serial?

Me: wait, SERIAL? *re-reads captions* yup, that says “serial”.

Is this an editing mistake? I don’t think that works here…unless that’s supposed to be a joke on how they always do this. But then why would that be an irritating surprise, they literally do this EVERY episode 🙄

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Oh hey, Red Herring’s Party Screams truck has Red Herring running out of it

Could this be a hint to how the story goes? The villain appearing on a literal Red Herring?

Naaaaaah, WB’s not THAT smart

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So if we take @captainbaddecisions crack theory on Jonathan Crane being Shaggy’s uncle seriously, does this mean that Jonathan is using magic to fly, float fear toxin orbs around himself, and making things explode, a la the family trait of Crack Theory A?

Logically he’s probs using wires or magnets or some shit, but it’s a fun thought to entertain 😁

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Welp, we finally get the opening credits! … with Jonathan Crane smashing through the Mystery Machine’s windshield, set to a slow poppy song straight from the 60s, and spewing the title of the film out in glittery pink mist.

All the while Scooby and Shaggy throw candy at each other, deliberately obtuse to the cloud of fear toxin enveloping their friends and the townsfolk, the steady destruction of the Mystery Machine they’re laying in as multiple cars crash into it and send it spiraling, and the general mayhem and destruction that Scarecrow is causing

Never change, guys, never change

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I just choked on my lemonade

There’s an article plastered to the roof of the Mystery Machine titled “Talking Dog Confounds, Ignites Ethics Debate Over Dog Labor”

ahahahahaha

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Annnnnnnnd there goes the Mystery Machine, tumbling in the air and over the roads with Shaggy and Scooby still inside without seat belts. Will they perish in this horrible road accident? Will Death finally come to claim them at last?

Of course not. This is Shaggy and Scooby we’re talking about - I’m almost positive they can survive anything up to and including a nuclear bomb. This is child’s play to them.

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So they “capture” Scarecrow… by pinning his cape to a tree with crossbow bolts.

And they do not try to at least tie up his arms or his hands in ANY capacity.

JUST the cape.

...you know, Velma, for a team with a “flawless” track record, you guys are making a hecking TON of mistakes in facing against one of Batman’s ROGUES GALLERY, ESPECIALLY with no Batman in sight, good freakin’ grief. 😩

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Yaaaaaaaaas, this Scarecrow design is LUSH

He’s got the lank, the height, the BTAS costume colors, the elongated face with beaky nose and pointed chin and angular cheekbones, the eyebags like Gucci, the furrowed brow… honestly the only thing missing is the more reddish color hair, and even that isn’t mandatory. I love 😍

Not to mention the HOT DAYUM voice he has - low and velvet rough and so godsdamned particular in a way that could either tie in to obscuring a southern accent as in fanon or just as a stringent academic, oh my yes. He’s voiced by someone called Dwight Schultz, who’s most well known for playing Captain ‘Howling Mad’ Murdock in the OG A-Team show, and someone called Reginald Barclay in Star Trek TNG and Voyager, if any of y’all know that character in particular.

And of course, the first line he says is a delightfully wry “Oh, but I AM getting away with it,” with the sort of smirk that absolutely lends credence to why he’s a threat to Batman, and not some simpering wimp that can be defeated with some crossbow bolts in a tree.

I think I’m going to enjoy this movie at least somewhat, so long as we get to see him 🥰🥰🥰

(tho on a side note: Daphne why on EARTH are you trying to film Crane saying the meddling kids line? Do you have a video compilation of past villains who’ve done that, and you hope to add his to it? Was your phone damaged when you went up against the Riddler a few DTVs ago and you want a second shot at recording a Gotham Rogue saying it? Bc I don’t think a Gotham Rogue would be too pleased with seeing himself as a Mystery Meme on the Youtubes, you get what I’m saying?)

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Okay, so the floating orb things are explained away as fear toxin bomb drones somehow… despite looking nothing like the other drones and being much smaller with no visible propulsion, while also flying unassisted through and around objects to explode against places once flung…

(tho interesting note, none of them are aimed directly at the crowds, just behind them - odd, that)

But how did he heckin’ FLY at the beginning?

Yeah, they show him wearing wrist-mounted grappling hooks at the end of the intro song sequence, but they are NOWHERE IN SIGHT at the beginning - and I do mean in sight, since he emerges against a backdrop of flames. There was nothing there (see the T-pose above for further evidence), and nothing there when he FLEW THROUGH THE MYSTERY MACHINE’S WINDSHIELD AND FLEW BACK OUT AGAIN. And these things are pale silver, which stands out like crazy against the darker backgrounds, so no hand-wavy ‘they were always being used’ bullcrap we’ve seen in other movies.

Hmmm *scribbles in notepad* note to self, add notation concerning Crack Theory A on magic!Shaggy to “Uncle Crane” theory files - evidence denotes that Crane is able to fly (or at least hover in mid-air unassisted) for terrorization purposes. May boost strength of CTA by family association, lending credence to magic inheritance along the bloodline...

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“Avocado Toast Generation”? Crane, I honestly don’t know if you really mean that, or if you understand just how much that phrase gets under any Millennial/Gen Z kid’s skin. Having seen multiple variations of your character, it really could swing either way (tho kudos on the dead switch idea - very nice 👍🏻)

Although this does lead to an interesting stand-off: Fred, upon seeing the town threatened with 3 days worth of fear toxin, immediately moves to let Crane go, while Velma stops him and refuses to consider compromising if it means Crane escapes. They both look legitimately frustrated at the other for taking the stance they do.

Fascinating~

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Hmmm

Crane honey, I don’t know if your drones are made of flash paper and hope, or if Scooby and Shaggy are using the reeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaally old candy (the stuff made about ~3 years ago most neighborhoods give out to the teenagers that knock around midnight on Halloween) to shoot them down, but either way you may wish to speak with the manufacturer about this

Then again, this IS Shaggy and Scooby - they probably could’ve spat marshmallows at the drones and brought them down with equal success and explosions

(and good on them for shooting those down! Atta boy 👍🏻)

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Aw dang it

1. They still have Crane captured and now in handcuffs (despite having… you know… NOT been bound by anything except cross bolts in his curtain cape thing)

2. Dwight Schultz has decided to pitch his voice higher and more nasally than what he has. Hopefully this is more of an incredulous sort of pitch than something that sticks for the rest of the movie, ugh.

Also, I think they’re framing the movie to be more Velma-centric this time around - she’s the one explaining to Crane how they tracked him down, apparently through a piece of fan mail he sent Elvira (is that the only reason she’s there? Also why was Velma examining random pieces of fan mail for toxins, Elvira probs gets hundreds a week irl) and it looks like they’re framing something up on how fear isn’t something you can pretend isn’t there. neat!

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whajit

53rd?

53rd?!?!

ONLY 53rd?!?!?!?!

Boooo, Scarecrow’s WAY more popular than that! I call foul

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Okay why is Daphne’s schtick so far to spit laaaaaaame slang after every sentence Velma says

I would rather this not be her schtick

Actually could she go back to filming mystery stuff, bc at least I can pretend it’ll build into the OG Zombie Island Daphne

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Phew, his voice has returned to its low, raspy goodness

also, Crane needs to learn about personal space, good grief

(interesting clue brought up tho - Crane only steals tech that CAN’T leak his toxin, ergo it can’t be tracked until he releases it. Sensible use, given that Batman probs tracks it if it does.)

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Velma: I’m not afraid of you, Crane. Fear is an illogical reaction to an imagined threat.

Crane:

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Crane: Fearless, then. Intelligent. Proud and stubborn. You remind me very much of the one person in this world I care about.

uhhhhhh

Yourself? Harley? Edward Nygma? Ichabod the raven? Idk, I’m honestly curious as to where this thread will go 🤔🤔🤔

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Fred, leaning against the Mystery Machine: Guys, it’s gonna be okay. She told me!

O_o

Fred? Honey? Are you sure you weren’t supposed to join Crane in the transport vehicle back to Arkham?

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OH SWEET JESUS SHAGGY GREW YAOI HANDS

WHAT THE HECK

THAT’S WAY MORE UNNERVING THEN YOU GUYS NOT BEING AFRAID ANYMORE

(although the fact that they’re both unsettled by NOT constantly shaking or having their heart racing is honestly kind of heartbreaking. Y’all need therapy, good grief)

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Shaggy and Scooby just chewed up candy (wrapper and all) to make themselves a Halloween costume of… what looks like barfed-up candy (ew)

Before then proceeding to dance so well that everyone around them also starts dancing in a 60s-70s era rainbow light show and giving them candy

I worry for these two sometimes - that kind of power seems to be getting to their head 😬😬😬

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Oh hey, acid green toxic waste is spilling from an 18-wheeler onto the Fear Toxin drones and emitting a purple pink haze that envelops a pumpkin patch! That won’t do anything suspicious at all I bet!

(wait is Poison Ivy going to come into this at some point)

(also major kudos to the music here - very 80s horror synth, I like)

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So the Pumpkins have grown faces, limbs, consciousness, the ability to fly and a lust for human flesh

And they appear to be led by the Pumpkin King of the Pumpkin Patch mentioned in the Charlie Brown Halloween special

He’s not as friendly as I pictured him being, sadly 😕

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Why is this random ass cop coming up to FD&V to say that they’re in over their heads… AFTER the mystery’s been solved?

Like dude, you’re only making yourself suspicious at this point, go home

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Huh, interesting - the gang are being interviewed for a tv news network while they’re considered the town heroes

Why am I getting bad vibes from this…

Eh, it’s probably nothing

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Velma: {Shaggy and Scooby} are, um… REALLY into the Halloween spirit.

Shaggy: THIS ISN’T COSPLAY, VELMA!

I’m dying 😂

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Holy Shit

Velma just snapped and went off on Shaggy and Scooby for acting scared and doing nothing to help wrap up the mystery

(even though these guys are the ONLY reason that the gang didn’t have to choose between setting Scarecrow free and poisoning the entire town for 3 days straight, but hey, what do I know - I’m just writing an in-depth reaction post to this movie and taking note of details like this, clearly I know nothing *eye roll*)

Last time I saw Velma critique the guys’ usual mystery solving shenanigans, it was much more low-key and without knowing they were nearby

But I’m sure that’s just a coincidence

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What the

Bills?

Bills?!?!

Fred just mentioned that fixing the Mystery Machine was going to leave a hefty bill and that they may need to get dishwashing jobs to earn money

Which is more of a job you might expect a high schooler to get on the go and yet

They actually have to pay bills

How old are they here??!

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wait a tic

THIS is how they introduce Bill Nye?

He just calls up Velma with no explanation other than Velma saying “Oh hey, it’s Bill Nye!”

I just - what?!?!

How do you know him so well that he can just pull up your number and call you, and then geT YOU A NEW FREAKING CAR LIKE

WHAT?!?!?!?

Was there a Scooby episode with him in the past two years where the fcuk did this come from

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Also the car is dressed like Bill Nye

And he can talk to the gang directly as the car

So that he can solve mysteries with them whenever he wants

This… this was not what I was expecting to come about from the Bill Nye cameo

(alas, poor predictions of being Crane’s roommate, you will not come to pass this day) 😔

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Ooooo, purple haze throbbing on the horizon! That’s always a good sign of things to come! 😀

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And now Daphne’s… asking Elvira to mentor her fashion wise. And Elvira’s taking her on as her unpaid intern/personal assistant.

Yooo, movie, can you pick a direction and stick with it for Daphne? You’ve gone from her spewing outdated slang to wanting a costume for trick-or-treating, and now this.

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Welp, now I can say I saw a giant pumpkin dog vore an old woman

I didn’t WANT to see that mind, but I guess I can say it now 😐

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OH SHIT NO

IT TURNED HER INTO A FLYING PUMPKIN SHAPED LIKE HER FACE

ABSOLUTELY UNSETTLING, 0/10 WOULD NOT RECOMMEND

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At least we get a nice scene of Daphne kicking the pumpkins’ collective butt

Something normal

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Elvira: WOW! You’re a regular Mary Sue!

*falls over cackling*

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And now there’s a giant purple fissure opening up in the concrete to swallow the town of Crystal Cove whole

(good, i whisper softly into the darkness of my living room. Let it fall)

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Man, I feel so bad for this single father right now

He’s gotten wrapped up in all of this nonsense with his daughter, and he is just Distraught at being chased by Jackal Lanterns, having the town collapsing under his feet, and having to gorge jump in his sedan to get away from the worst of it

It’s okay, Mike Dad - we would feel the same way in your shoes

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Hologram Bill Nye is wearing Cat ears and cat whiskers/nose, and is cleaning his hands like a cat cleans its paws

Why was this the movie we found out Bill Nye was a furry

Why Warner Bros

Why would you inflict this upon us in a Scooby Doo-Scarecrow mystery

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Hey, can Jonathan Crane return now? The movie needs its dignity back.

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A clue on the whys here - the town was built on top of a MASSIVE lithium deposit, with the talks to mine it being scrapped due to environmental concerns. That’s actually a decent lead in for why some

-------

Welp

The Jackal Lanterns just went full Mad Max with the Halloween Parade floats and cars

No, I don’t have any idea why either, just roll with it

-------

Nice, they confirmed that Fred’s full name is still Frederick Herman Jones XD

Also a great little action sequence with Daphne - while there’s not much movement, they frame the scene dynamically, with some good quick wordplay. Very nice.

--------

Velma has a mind palace

Aight

--------

Velma: Shaggy, I could kiss you!

Oh, to hear this as a child, when I still hardcore shipped Shelma *sigh*

------

Oh thank gods we’re going back to Scarecrow again

------

Shaggy ate some Scooby Snacks, leapt out of a moving vehicle, and onto the backs of two flying pumpkins that he promptly reined in to fly to Crane’s prison transport

...yet again, I am amazed at the sentences I am led to type for Scooby Doo DTVs

------

Ah, how very Hannibal Lector of you, Jon

Man, he actually looks very meek in normal clothes - red long-sleeved shirt and grey slacks

-----

Hmmm

So Crane ISN’T behind the Jackal Lanterns - in fact he’s outright befuddled by them. This means his whole spiel to Velma earlier about both of them being caught in the same trap was… metaphorical? The breakdown doesn’t actually go into WHY he thinks they’re in the same trap - Crane’s whole schtick is tied to accepting fear, not denying it, so why would they be the same?

Either way, someone is using both him and Mystery Inc to do something to Crystal Cove (please be Red Herring, please be Red Herring, please be Red Herring)

Actually, that reference at the beginning really WAS a red herring - they framed it as being Jon the whole time when it wasn’t. Kudos!

Additional kudos to having Jon be seen more out of mask than in - he is a looker, and I aim to look as much as I can ;)

-------

Annnnd Daphne’s now trying to convince Elvira to switch clothes with her

I don’t get it - how on earth did we get from Daphne trying to find a good costume for trick-or-treating to asking Elvira to switch oh there it is nevermind.

-----

There is literally a scene where a giant buzzsaw is slicing towards Crane

and he just

stares at it

going “huh, that’s different”

And I LOVE IT

------

And here we have another fascinating scene: Velma going to free Crane from his cell, as Daphne tells her to just leave him to die by pumpkin

I’m wondering if they meant to draw a parallel between the two here - Velma starts by reciting a nursery rhyme, then overcoming her fears in order to release madness to take control. It’s not done very cleanly - mainly bc we barely have any time with Crane in this movie - but I wonder if they meant to insinuate that Crane was like Velma once, where he refused to acknowledge he was afraid, which caused him to lose focus on his initial goals

Idk, ignore my ramblings

---

Crane, smirking: I’ll need my personal effects - extenuating circumstances.

Me, fanning myself: I’ll need you to remove yours first

(i am not even kidding, Crane is an absolute DILF in this movie and it flusters me. Stupid sexy animation)

---

YAAAAAAAAAAASSSSS

SCARECROW TO THE MOTHERFCUKING RESCUE BABY, SCYTHE AND FCUKING ALL!!!

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

----

FCUK YEAH THE GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING

HE HAS A DANCE LIKE QUALITY WITH SOME OF HIS FIGHTING MOVES

VIOLENT DANCING BRINGS THE GIANT JACKAL LANTERN DOWN BABY

THEN HE BACKFLIPS AND GYMNASTIC SWINGS INTO THE VAN

ROCK IT SCARECROW FCUKING ROCK IT

(minor note here, but the subtitles show Dr. Crane instead of Scarecrow - unsure if that’s more that the movie calls him Dr Crane or if it indicates he’s acting more heroic than villainous)

---

GODDAMNIT

THE GIANT PUMPKIN SNUCK VINES INTO THE VAN AND STOLE HIM BACK

WHEN CRANE WAS... wearing a seatbelt before, but isn’t now.

...

BOOOOO

---

Yet again, we find a Scooby movie that attempts character development, but with Velma

Unlike Shaggy’s Showdown however, I’m mixed on how successful it is.

For starters, Velma hasn’t been this cocksure in other DTVs we’ve seen, so it’s a bit odd to see it now. While not 100% out of place - after all, the gang DID capture one of Batman’s Rogues Gallery on their own - it still feels a touch forced. Compare that to Shaggy’s Showdown, where Shaggy has ALWAYS been a coward (one that, in more recent years, writers have had willing to abandon his friends for safety), so the character development there feels more natural.

The progression of events with Velma actually work somewhat okay - but again, here’s where past DTVs come to bite them in the ass. The past handful have had the gang be wrong, have had them fail, or catch the wrong guy. This makes Velma’s attitude here at odds with the other films, something that sticks more due to a character that’s appeared in the past few films as a minor inconvenience - a Sheriff who keeps telling the gang not to interfere, they’re doing things wrong, etc. If this had been a character who was completely wrong in the past AND SHOWN TO BE WRONG FOR HIS OPINIONS, while the gang never guessed wrong, this would work much better. Unfortunately, it doesn’t, and here we are.

I think it would have flowed better if Velma’s cockiness came solely from catching Crane on their own. Have a random cop character or reporter or whatever (just not the recurring cop), insinuate that the gang is in too deep with Scarecrow, that he should be handled by the adults or professionals or whatever. Velma could bristle, overcompensate, and THEN fall from her pedestal like we see, reach out to the gang and commiserate over feeling scared, and grow. Again, it’s not too far to reach for, but they handle it poorly; as a result, the outcome feels a little more shoehorned in.

It’s an honest shame, bc we haven’t had a Velma centered story since Frankencreepy, and we all remember what a hideous fcuking mess THAT was *shudders*. Still, it somewhat gets its point across, I guess.

---

Fred why did you rip your shirt off

Actually better question why do you not have nipples

---

Awwwwwww

Velma just apologized to Shag and Scoob for snapping at them earlier, and admits how she doesn’t appreciate how much they make Mystery Inc what it is

Also she eats a Scooby Snack with them and admits they taste pretty good

----

Huh

Velma’s mind palace is the Mystery Machine driving through space

Also Shaggy and Scooby are able to telepathically follow her in and communicate with her

Literally, they actually followed her into her head telepathically, and show her their memories of things she hasn’t gotten to see tonight (while also possibly enhancing her ability to remember things, given how much DETAIL she captures perfectly of things that she would maybe have glimpsed in a millisecond AT MOST)

...another tally for Crack Theory A of magic! Shaggy and Scooby *scribbles*

-------

Fred, be very very thankful that there are no people operating those pumpkins in person cause uhhhh

Those traps would be spraying red instead of orange

------

Another weird music choice - the gang goes up to fight the Jackal Lanterns, but the music is the same 60s bubble we heard earlier

Not terribly atmospheric, really

(wouldn’t a Smashing Pumpkins cover of Scooby Doo be more appropriate, or did you guys spend all your money on hiring Elvira and Bill Nye?)

------

Dang

Velma just admitted her fears and jumped into the mouth of the Mega Pumpkin, before getting Fred to use the app from earlier to shut it down, revealing it to be a giant drone surrounded by smaller pumpkin drones

This feels… counterintuitive, but I’ll try to explain at the end

---

Okay

I’ll admit it

The Whodunnit is actually pretty decent in concept

There was a sprinkling of tidbits that could be assembled for the final conclusion and still make a decent amount of sense, all to find the sheriff doing it

Only he isn’t a sheriff

He’s a former Tech CEO who was also busted by the gang years ago in a case the Sheriff kept bringing up throughout the movie - due to his prison sentence, he lost more than half his wealth and the opportunity to expand it further with the Crystal Cove Lithium deposits

He was also someone who sold tech to Crane for his fear toxin distribution, where he got the idea to frame him for it

(tho on a side note, Crane is an absolute dork and a terrible liar - just look at the email he sent XD and that profile pic, my gods)

He deliberately picked at the gang for the past few DTVs (specifically 2: Return to Zombie Island and Curse of the 13th Ghost) to fracture their confidence, undermine them, etc - all so that in one fell swoop, he could retake his fortune, frighten everyone in town away from the mines so they couldn’t interfere, frighten away the gang (while also ruining their reputation as mystery solvers), and take Crane off the docket so he couldn’t identify the CEO when he pretended to be the sheriff

This… is actually a pretty damn good plan, for a Scooby villain. He was patient, manipulative, and clever, learning how best to tie up loose ends and win back what he lost. A clever revenge story that came so close to coming to fruition, and could have honestly been sold convincingly…

...if it hadn’t been done so much better in Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed.

Yeeeaaaah, this movie basically lifts the rough framework up from that one - past mystery villain comes back to attack the gang and ruin their reputation (tho this one decides to also make his fortune back and tie up loose ends with former criminal contacts, a la Crane). Gang is embarrassed in front of the news folk, another villain is framed for it (like Old Man Wickles of the Black Knight fame), and the gang must reconcile to foil the villain for good.

Although it also??? Merges elements of Frankencreepy in it?? The movie is focused on Velma, who is struggling to admit when she’s wrong (which ties into her fear, somehow… I’ll think on that point a little) and things purportedly go haywire when she won’t bend. This… isn’t illustrated as well here, since there’s very little direct cause-and-effect from Velma’s actions that would prove this point - that insisting her way is the right, best, and therefore only way to go ends up making things worse.

As much as I despised Frankencreepy (and I DESPISED IT), it did do that part well - showing that refusing to budge on something can lead to you hurting your friends (literally, in that one), and that admitting you were wrong and need help isn’t the end of the world.

(that movie also had former villains returning to gain vengeance upon the gang using psychological warfare, hm - may need to go over that one again, unfortunately).

It’s a shame, too - the basic elements for this plot are all here, they just need to be polished and reworked a bit to make a really fascinating movie.

------

Anyways, back to the asshat CEO who just… faked being a sheriff. Because white people can get away with that so long as they have the outfit and the car *throws up hands* (the sad part is this is probably something that actually happens)

As he drives away we see a familiar silhouette looming in the cornfields, watching him approach

Velma had Bill Nye on speaker, so he could record the entire confession for the federal officers nearby (who were taking Scarecrow back to Arkham), and track the phone signal to his exact location

And right as his holographic call cuts out, we see the shadow of a Scarecrow looming over him, causing him to scream.

When the feds arrive at his final location, both his body and the money have vanished. The car still sits, engine running, before the crows leering over him from the field vanish into the sky.

-------

Now that he’s dead, the gang walks and finds themselves at a Halloween party, with friendly faces and good food. The mystery is solved, though the culprit may never be found again.

Then Daphne admits to NOT trying to steal Elvira’s costume for Halloween, but instead trying to steal Elvira’s identity and replace her.

Something that she’s apparently nearly gotten away with on past mysteries working with Phillis Diller

*sighs* movie, why couldn’t you just stick to the costume schtick? This is just… so much worse.

-----

From there, Elvira walks off to wrap things up, reveal the monster face on the back of her head sans wig (which was also a monkey), and start the credits, where we see the gang working to bring the Mystery Machine back to its former glory a la Frankenstein pastiche.

This movie… this movie is a hot mess, but at least it’s an OKAY hot mess.

It really does feel like someone started writing a decent Velma-focused movie concerning the Scarecrow and a past Mystery Inc villain interfering, but was bogged down by notes from higher-ups: Wait! Write in Elvira! Also write in Bill Nye! Hey, let’s have a Mad Max car chase with the Jackal Lanterns! And have Daphne obsessed with literally becoming Elvira! Also make reference to things that we’ll insist be explained this way instead of a way that makes sense! Great!

(seriously tho, we never find out who Crane cares about most that reminds him of Velma, what the heck?)

It’s like two or three different scripts were smooshed together without being cleaned up - stuff is said that doesn’t get resolved, the celebrity guests don’t get to breathe much and feel squished together, and the build-up for the villain feels… less impactful, even knowing that he’s been in the past two films.

It might have worked if he’d been in… let’s say like 5 or 6 DTVs in a row, speaking roles for dissing the gang growing in each (ex start with “Good job kids! But maybe next time, leave it to the professionals, okay?” and growing more bitter from there), but only 2 feels kind of meh. Still, I do appreciate the clues we got to collect together, and they all work in the final breakdown of the scheme - some DTVs can feel like they pull stuff completely out of nowhere, so kudos there.

I appreciate what they wanted to do with Velma - give her a character development arc similar to Shaggy’s in Shaggy’s Showdown. Unfortunately, it wasn’t set up quite so neatly: they blended her ‘refusal to admit fear’ with her overconfidence that she was always right, and it led to a weird conclusion. To face her fears, she leapt into the Giant Pumpkin, which… proved that she was right all along about it being fake, and that solves things somehow. It doesn’t address how she can get something wrong sometimes, it doesn’t really address what she’s afraid of (which is honestly quite good: she’s afraid of failing in a way that allows bad guys to escape justice and in a way that hurts her friends), it’s just a bit of a mess. Points for aiming the focus the right way (and in a way that DOESN’T sexualize the underage teenage girl, unlike some DTVs cough cough Frankencreepy cough cough), but it’s very very messy how it goes about it.

The movie actually balanced pretty well for the whole gang - no excessive focus on one leaving the rest in the dust (too much at least - Fred was a touch underdeveloped, but nowhere near as annoying as past iterations have been. Shaggy and Scooby were kind of meh in some places but great in others, while Daphne was just odd. I think they were trying to recapture the BCSD Daphne characterization, but they failed. Still, she did spend some good time kicking ass with the pumpkins, so that was fun.

Now for the Rogue, Jonathan Crane. If you like Crane, this movie gives you: maniacal Scarecrow, calm and creepy Crane, a brief glimpse at fanboy!Crane (he admits in his own awkward way that he’s a fan of Elvira, and later tells her he loves her work - it’s fun), and (best of all for me) a heroic Crane - one who helps the protagonists and ends up kicking ass pretty damn well, brief as it was. And while DILF Crane is always a treat, he feels underutilized in this. In comparison, Scooby Doo/Batman Brave and the Bold really utilized a lot of different aspects of Riddler, to the point he actually does feel pretty menacing by the third act. It’s a shame we don’t quite get that with Crane, but I do love seeing him 1. More out of mask, and 2. Acting as a good guy (in his own way), so he’s enjoyable on the whole.

I kind of wish that the whole movie was spent more with Crane, but again, the script is a bit of a mess on this part - the fact that he’s not completely screwed over is a goddamn miracle.

Elvira was… okay. She didn’t have much of a purpose beyond getting the plot started and giving Daphne some hooks to play off of. Bill Nye (abrupt as his introduction was) did provide some necessary elements to the mystery, as well as the tech; he wasn’t too bad by the end. (still a touch bitter we didn’t get ex roommate Nye, but hey, what can you do)

Humor was… mixed. Some good, some meh, but very few long enough to feel painful. Some bits felt extraneous at times, but they did help to build to the conclusion, so points for effort.

At the end of the day though, I’m probably keeping this more for Jonathan Crane than anyone else. It does have a lot of fanfic potential tho 🤔🤔🤔

That’s all from me tonight, folks! Hope you enjoyed my own little breakdown of the movie.

#happy halloween scooby doo #plush reviews: final thoughts #jonathan crane #scarecrow #spoilers

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inagetawaycarxo · 5 years ago

Text

Under The Moonlight | Alpha!Jake Gyllenhaal {A/B/O AU}

— Can I request smut for Alpha!Jake Gyllenhaal and Omega! reader? -Anon + Can I request for A/B/O Dynamic for Alpha!Jake G. x Omega!Reader when reader in heat? -Anon

Pairing: Alpha!Jake Gyllenhaal x Omega!Reader

Featuring: feral alphas (four in total)

Summary: Jake saves you from a group of feral alphas, through the mist of his saving, your heat makes you get extremely turned on by his aggression.

WARNINGS: smut, sex, sex in the woods, rough sex, dirty talk, prob bad smut writing, my editing, degrading, knotting, biting, marking, heat, supernatural themes, a/b/o dynamics.

Word Count: 1631

The sound of your heart thumped in your eardrums, as you ran faster through the dense forest. The branches on the trees scraping your skin, as you ran past them.

You had to get to your cabin and lock yourself in the basement before those feral alphas get to you. You shouldn’t have even been out of the cabin in the first place. But you needed air, you were feeling stuffy. So you decided to get some fresh air and walk around for a bit. Unfortunately for you, you caught a whiff of four alphas. You quickly took off running. Praying they didn’t catch your scent or you. But your prays fell on deaf ears.

Just as you saw the sight of your cabin, a body collided with yours. Tackling you to the ground. The feral alpha pushed his whole body weight on you, as he pinned you against the ground.

You glared at the feral alpha. The rest of his buddies coming to stand near you.

“Oh, you got here.” One of them spoke. Making all of them laugh.

“Get your sick hands off of me. You mongrels. I don’t want you.” You spat out. Trying to get out of his grip, but failing miserably. The scumbag had the nerve to grind his crotch against your pelvis. Of course, you didn’t feel anything from it. But your body, on the other hand, betrayed you. Arousal starting to form, making the feral alpha smirk.

“Your body says otherwise.” He smirked.

“If you don’t get your grimy hands off me, I will rip all your throats out with my teeth.” You snarled. Blaring your teeth at the feral alpha that was holding you down. All of them laughed.

“Aw, look at that fellas. Don’t worry, princess, we just want one thing from you, and once we get it, we will leave you alone.” the feral alpha spoke.

“Fuck you.” You spat out. Spitting on his face. The feral alpha growled. Eyes flashing red, as he wiped the spit from his face with his shirt. Still pinning you to the ground.

“You omega’s are only good for one thing, and that’s fucking and breeding.” Another feral alpha spoke. All of them chimed in agreeing.

“I will kill all of you. I will hunt you down, and tear your throats out with my bare teeth.” You growled out. Your eyes glowing amber.

They all chuckled at this. Making you even more livid. At this point, you wanted to rip their heads off and tear them into shreds.

“Aw, princess, I’m quivering in my boots. Now let’s get to the good stuff. Boys hold her down.” He spoke. Signalling the rest of the feral alphas to hold you down.

“Get off me, before I tear you to shreds.” You snarled, through clenched teeth. You growled. The feral alphas held you down, while the one that was previously holding you down, started to undo his pants.

A loud growl broke through the night. All of them stopped.

“GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF HER.” A deep familiar voice growled out in a commanding tone.

All the feral alphas stood up, scurrying to stand in front of you.

Your saviour walked out of the tree-line. Eyes glowing red. Fist clenched by his sides. Snarling. Your eyes widen in realisation as you saw Jake.

“Leave her alone.” Jake growled. The feral alphas scoffed.

“What are you going to do about it?” one of the feral alpha’s spoke.

“Her body is practically begging for us to fuck her.” Another feral alpha spoke. Only making Jake more livid.

“That doesn’t mean she actually wants you. She is on heat.” Jake snarled out. Glaring at them.

“I think otherwise.” The feral alpha that pinned you to the ground first spoke. Smirking evilly.

Jake stepped closer. Blaring his teeth at the group of feral alphas.

“I won’t warn you again. Get the fuck away from her. Before I shred you all into tiny pieces.” Jake growled.

The four feral alphas looked at each other. Smirking.

“Do the maths stupid…there is four of us, and well there is only one of you. You are outnumbered.” One of the feral alpha’s spoke. The rest of the feral alpha’s laughed darkly.

Jake smirked. Taking intimidating steps towards the feral alpha’s. While you slowly crawled towards your cabin.

“I’m not scared of being outnumbered.” Jake spoke. Smirking at them. Two feral alphas charged towards Jake.

You stopped suddenly as you heard the sound of a low growl, and the sound of claws sinking into skin, then the sound of gurgling noises. And the smell of blood. You stopped crawling, turning your head towards the feral alphas and Jake.

Jake had his claws digging into the two feral alphas throats. Ripping them out, and discarding them on the ground. You felt your core ache, as you kept looking at Jake. You weren’t going to lie, the way Jake just sunk his claws into those jerks throats and tore them out then threw them on the ground. Turned you on. In fact, Jake’s angry facial expressions aroused you. You wanted him. You need him. You bite your lip hard, drawing blood, but you didn’t care.

Just as Jake was about to attack the last two feral alphas, they took off. Leaving Jake and you.

Jake lowered his hands to his sides. His claws retracting.

Jake turned his attention towards you. You hastily got up. Still biting your lower lip.

“I thought I told you to stay in the cabin through your whole heat cycle.” Jake grunted. Giving you a scowl. It only made you wetter.

“It was so stuffy, I had to get some air.” You whined. Taking small steps over to Jake.

“They could have killed you y/n. They could have fucked you, then slit your throat, or kidnapped you, and use you as a sex toy, or impregnate you.” Jake snapped. Feeling irritated by your stupidness.

“But they didn’t. You saved me.” You responded. Getting hornier by the second. Jake licked his chapped lips before responding.

“Go, back inside.” Jake commanded. Looking away from you. He could smell your arousal. Jake clenched his fist, his claws digging into his skin. Drawing blood. Doing everything in his willpower not to rip your clothes off, and fuck you.

“No. Not without you.” you growled out. Finally reaching him.

Your palm resting on his jaw. Jake flinched. Closing his eyes. Shallowing hard. Jake turned his face away from you.

“Y/n.” He warned.

“Give in to temptation Jake. I know you want to. I want to. I want you, I want you inside my wet slick heat. I want your thick cock inside of me. My walls clenching around you with every thrust. I want you to fuck me hard. I want you to mark me as you fuck me, and knot me. Filling me up with-” You spoke, through heavy breathing. Jake cut you off before you could finish.

Slamming you onto the ground. Taking your breath away. You stared up at Jake in surprise. Licking your lower lip. Jake felt his dick twitch. Pre-cum coated his tip. That was Jake’s undoing. He quickly lowered his mouth down towards yours. Capturing your lips with his in a passionate hot kiss. Kissing each other fiercely.

In the midst of the heavy making out session, and grinding, both of you tore each other’s clothes off.

Jake grabbed his throbbing cock. Rubbing the pre-cum on his tip. Using it as a lubricant. Jake rubbed the tip of his cock on your wet folds. Making both of you moan.

“Fuck.” Both of you groaned out.

Without warning, Jake slid into you. Making both of you moan loudly. Your arms wrapping around the nape of his neck. Claws digging into the nape of his neck, and his back. Making Jake let out a low growl. Deepening his thrust. Both of you getting lost in pure bliss. Eyes fluttering closed.

Your walls clenched around his shaft with every thrust. Jake felt closer to his release and so did you. Jake suddenly flipped you onto all fours. All the while his cock still buried inside of you.

Jake started to thrust harder, and deeper. His hips slamming hard. The sound of skin slapping against each other drowned out the other sounds in the forest.

Jake gripped your hair. Pulling it back towards his chest.

“You feel so good around my cock, little omega. Almost like you were made for it…fuck.” Jake groaned out.

“Jake.” You moaned. Eyes squeezing shut. As you felt your orgasm get closer and closer with every thrust.

Jake lowered his mouth down towards the shell of your ear. Nibbling it slightly, before speaking.

“Are you going to come, baby. Coat my cock with your juices.” Jake growled out. Making your orgasm arise. Which caused Jake’s own climax to arise.

Jake lowered his mouth down towards your shoulder blade. As he felt a knot inflate in the base of his cock. Locking him in place. Not that he would slip out anyways.

Both of you orgasmed at the same time. Moaning each other’s names. Jake’s mouth clammed down on your shoulder blade, biting hard. Sending another sensation through your body. Slipping his seed inside of you.

After about fifteen minutes, both of you collapsed to the ground. Jake collapsing on top of you. His dick still inside of you. Cum leaking out.

Jake moved your hair to the side. Planting a tender kiss on the crook of your neck. Making you moan.

Rolling your head to the side.

“I love you.” Jake mumbled in the crook of your neck. As he placed more tender kisses in that spot. Trailing his lips to your neck, then your jawline.

“I love you.” You barely gasped out…

#jake gyllenhaal #jake gyllenhaal x reader #jake gyllenhaal x you #jake gyllenhaal smut #jake gyllenhaal imagine #jake gyllenhaal imagines #werewolf au #a/b/o #au meme #au prompt #celeb x reader #celeb imagines #jake gyllenhaal fanfiction #jake gyllenhaal fic #jake gyllenhaal prompt

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marveloussupernerd · 4 years ago

Note

Hey! I was wondering if you would match me with a character from Mystic Messenger and Marvel? I have no gender preference so go hog wild. My form is pinned to my blog so I hope it wont be too inconvenient for you. I just find that humans have a tendency to be more complicated than 500 characters so it is difficult to accurately represent myself within those limitations. Thank you in advance, dear!

No problem!! Sorry this took a while but I hope you like it!!!!

Mysme

I ship you with 707!

I just finally reached the clarity that his real name is a spoiler for ppl that like they get upset if they find out so uh, I’m correcting that now lmaoo

Well you’re about as tall as him

Until you wear your boots

Then you’re taller

I know sometimes that bruises men’s egos but it literally does not affect him at all

Except when you’re walking too fast he whines that you need to slow down because your legs are longer than his

The first time he saw your resting face it kinda freaked him out

What did he do wrong? The two of you were just watching tv. Did you not like the way he had his arm around you?

Now that he knows that’s just how you look he doesn’t worry about it

He teases Yoosung by using it to his advantage

“Yoosung I think you pissed her off. Oh my goodness! Didn’t you know!? She can’t stand the color purple. Gives her bad memories. You’ve probably scarred her for life”

And then Yoosung is apologizing to you and you have no idea why

It’s Seven’s way of messing with both of you

The first time he tried to make his move by putting his arm around you and you flinched, he almost cried

No literally

He just... he hadn’t realized it was a thing to dislike it like that

Respects it so much

But he wants hugs so bad :( someone needs to hug this poor boy

So when you eventually invite him over and cuddle up to him during a very late movie night?

His heart jumps in his chest

He tries to tell you that you don’t have to!! He understands how it makes you feel weird and it’s okay; he likes you so so much and respects you a lot

But secretly he looks forward to whenever you want to cuddle with him; the rarity of it makes it even more special

707 is the king of witty comebacks

The first time the RFA sees the two of you bantering with each other they think you’re fighting? Because you’re both so passionate about being better and wittier than the other

You laugh about their confused faces later that night

He’s an over the top flirt too

Tries to woo you with ridiculous romantic gestures

He’s literally a theater kid too you cannot convince me otherwise I was a theater kid as well so I know

Literally every romantic gesture in a romcom? He does it

Of course he expects a reaction out of you but. You. Never. Budge.

Not even after he stole the microphone during the latest RFA party to confess to you that he was carrying your child

Which made NO SENSE

He’s not allowed microphones anymore. Or stages.

When you tell him you’re asexual he’s so respectful (as always)

You literally don’t have to do anything like that if you don’t want to

He’s more than happy with your cute lil domesticated life together

Okay this is off topic but I’VE ALWAYS WANTED TO TRY AERIAL SILKS

When he first sees your bruises he FLIPS

did someone hurt you? Who? He’ll hack into their computer, give them hell

The first time he sees you perform... wow

YOU’RE SO COOL AND GRACEFUL AND ELEGANT

he wants to try it and literally begs on hands and knees for you to teach him

He’s bad at it. Learns he’s afraid of heights too

But he tries to watch you perform as often as possible

Noticed you don’t give out compliments often

So it’s his job to come up with a creative new compliment to give you every single day

It ranges anywhere from “I like your shirt” to “you’re so beautiful” to “I admire that you’re able to parallel park my babies.”

Please help him with procrastination

You literally will not hang out with him if he has work to do

He pouts and whines, but ultimately gets his work done

You’ve really helped out his work and his work schedule

He literally hates parties and clubs and bars

Much prefers taking you out at night to look at the stars

If you’ll let him, he’ll drive you to a secluded place in the mountains so that you can see them better

After reassuring you 800 times that he isn’t gonna murder you (you weren’t worried, but he was afraid you thought he would)

He likes to watch murder mystery movies with you

It’s really just a contest to find out who guesses it right first

But after he kept losing he changed it to how ridiculous of a motive he could describe and how close to correct it may be

“She said she has a twin right? Well her eye color is different from her photos. How do we know they didn’t grab the twin on accident? Or the twin isn’t pretending to be her or something”

HOW could he have guessed that

Sigh this is rlly inspired by me bc I did this exact thing and guessed the plot twist

Overall, he’s just really respectful of you. Drinks respect women juice 24/7. Loves complimenting you and spending time with you and never letting you forget how amazing you are.

Marvel

I ship you with Loki!

The Seven one was kinda easy

Prob because there aren’t that many mystic messenger characters

But BOY I struggled here

Until I thought of Loki, I hadn’t even considered him at first (my sister brought him up, as she helps me come up with who to match ppl with)

And YES

He was first drawn to you by how elegantly you carried yourself

Most Midgardians just kind of, slouched through the day

But you stood with impeccable posture, resting most of the weight on your toes. He thought you were some form of royalty at first

And then he saw you perform hoo boy

Okay first of all he definitely had no idea what was happening for a majority of the show

But he kinda liked you and so when you invited him to go he was THERE

Couldn’t stop complimenting you. He thought you were elegant before oh wow

He’s literally not intimidated by you at all, think of all the people he’s had to meet and BS he’s had to deal with

You’re touch-adverse? That’s fine by him

Honestly he doesn’t like cuddling or anything like that himself. Blame it on his childhood or something idc

He will throw insults right back at you. In fact, he usually doesn’t hold back

Okay they’re never inherently mean but I don’t know they may be kinda questionable

He wouldn’t insult you if he knew you couldn’t handle it

He is NOT very flirty

And by that I mean he will not flirt. Like he just cannot

He still gets lowkey pouty when you flirt with other people, but he can’t blame you. It’s not like he does a good job showering you with that sort of attention and compliments himself

But he does give you attention in other ways

He likes to sit with you, watching as you bake or write or something. He finds it very relaxing

In those moments, that’s when he lets the compliments run wild, talking about how you’re so talented and he likes how you look when you’re concentrated

These moments are the softest he gets. He doesn’t like showing this vulnerable side around anyone else

HAHA can you PLEASE go knife throwing together

You’re both very competitive about it

You know that scene from brave where she shoots her arrow THROUGH another arrow!?

That’s all I can picture but with knives

Homeboy is doing 0 archery with you 0 horseback riding he doesn’t trust those disgusting creatures and archery makes him think of dealing with Clint

He makes fun of you when you see a moth

Like does not let it go

“I thought you weren’t afraid of anything. You’re afraid of this little creature? It doesn’t even know up from down,” he chuckles, pointing at the moth flying around and hitting walls recklessly

Needless to say though he takes care of it for you

He throws an Asgardian party just so he can show you off

Thor’s girlfriend was very unimpressive but you!? You’re so charming to everyone

He really just wants to brag about it to his brother, and you know this full well and let him do so

Y’all like to read together before bed

By reading together I mean sitting on the same couch reading your own books

When you yelp when you’re surprised???

What happened to your poker face?

As much as he wants to find different opportunities to jump out at you and make you squeal, he refrains himself from doing so

It makes the moments when you do freak out much more entertaining

I’d say you’ve very on par with Loki; you have a lot of things in common and a similar approach to life in general

#marvel #mystic messenger #mysme #matchup

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neshabeingchildish · 5 years ago

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Hensley & Char: Friends or Whatever || Part 4

@just-a-j-reallly @junknstu1f @henryharts

Hey, Friends. Mama has had A LONG week. Only a partial off day, and it was mostly crammed with stress of trying to get a friend miles away off of the streets, and also period probs and other pains. So, even though I know y’all ain’t rude about updates and are nice kids that allot me the time, I really wanted to get an update out to y’all. Thanks so much for reading this little thing.

Girl Code

Hensley. Was. So. Tired.

Between trying to be Kid Danger, keep it from not only her two best friends, but her unofficial girlfriend, Chloe… Who… It was difficult to work with on a daily basis because Chloe still wasn’t sure if she actually liked girls or not, but was certain that she liked Hensley, so Hensley just… never knew what they were supposed to be. Charlotte offered very little assistance, as she wasn’t a huge Chloe fan. Jasper offered no assistance as he was terrible with most girls in every way. Hensley was just about ready to give up on Chloe. Maybe some space was necessary. That would at least take away some of her stress...

It didn’t take away enough. Hensley was tired and Ray was not very attentive to her plight. Charlotte was forbidding her the very necessary usage of large quantities of coffee. Jasper was trying to talk to her about her bodily changes! And whenever she tried to cut corners, like with her Puerto Rican History test, things went wrong in inexplicable ways. Hensley was not a good liar and having to try to lie felt alien and awkward.

And now… Jasper had the AUDACITY to talk smack about Kid Danger??? She was hurt, offended, pissed off. The killing part was that she couldn’t even express WHY.

She couldn’t tell Jasper that he hurt her feelings for trash talking Kid Danger as Captain Man’s sidekick, because then she would undoubtedly break the oath, which was the most important deal that she had ever made in all of her 13 years.

“If Kid Danger were a boy, do you think she’d be better?” She asked, arms folded, glaring. Charlotte’s eyebrows raised and she and Hensley stared Jasper down.

He scoffed and asked, “Did you just assume Kid Danger’s gender?”And NOW, Charlotte was giving HER the look that she should have been giving Jasper.

Hensley fumbled over her words, and finally landed on, “She identifies as a girl, I’m sure I’ve heard somewhere, so no, I’m not assuming. But, you’re deflecting, and being sexist, anti-fair, ummm… using gender identity as a smokescreen AND only even considering the possibility of Kid Danger being someone other than a girl because you don’t value her services, or her womanhood.”

Jasper gasped, “I would never do those things!” he had his hand over his chest in disbelief of even the implication that he would be so sexist. Sure… he was… not a feminist icon or anything, but he was at the very least your average teenage boy.

Charlotte nodded, “Yeah, Hens… Jasper’s an idiot, but he’s not a bigot… I sure hope…” She looked suspiciously at him again, because for all she knew, maybe he WAS. He didn’t frequently have nice things to say about his mom... Jasper scoffed and gave Charlotte a pleading look. If Hensley was going insane, that was one thing, but he needed Charlotte, the voice of reason and respect to be in his corner for this. Their stares studied each other a while. “He’s not, he’s not..” Charlotte landed on. Focusing again on Hensley, she wondered, “Why are you getting this worked up? I’ve literally heard you say and watched you do things that were teeming with unbridled internalized misogyny. The dynamics of your little relationship with Chloe is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to even you being counterproductive for women’s rights and respect. When did you get all ‘Girls Rule’ on us?”

“It’s the power of Kid Danger. She’s helped me see my problematic gay area and also inspire hope in Swellview for not just kids, but GIRLS, Charlotte, and what’s Jasper suggesting? That he, a boy, would just BE a better sidekick? What are even his qualifications? Does he think bucket knowledge and overactive glands will catch the Phone Shark?” Charlotte started laughing.

Jasper shouted, “Hey! NOW who’s not being fair?” He looked seriously hurt, and felt like that was a low blow, but...

“Still you,” both girls answered. Jasper looked at Charlotte in disbelief, though she wasn’t sure why he thought she’d take HIS side, but Piper soon came in to terrorize him anyway, so Hensley was at least free from that distress. But, only a moment later, she had to rush out to work, on a Sunday, no less! Charlotte was suspicious. It wasn’t the first time that Hensley had left her at her house alone, but on a day that her job wasn’t closed and with a ridiculous excuse, piled on top of the fact that non of that feminist word vomit sounded sincere, even to Charlotte, someone who held feminist values very dear and often butted heads with Hensley for being a girl traitor. Once, she even said, “Piper has more Girl Code than you do!!!” And since then, Piper and she had been doing a thing where they call Girl Code, and Hensley can’t participate because she’s a girl traitor… But… Kid Danger made her see the err of her ways? In the midst of a Captain Man failure? “Something’s going on with that girl…” Charlotte mused to herself.

Hensley should’ve known that she couldn’t keep this secret for very long from Charlotte. She was too smart. She was as smart as she was cute, but how cute she was didn’t matter right now! She cost Hensley her job… the one thing that she was so fond of actually doing! She wasn’t necessarily GOOD at it, as firmly stated by Jasper, but it mattered to her, and Ray barely gave her a chance to explain herself. He fired her. On the spot. She came to him and honestly told him how her supersmart friend figured it out, and what should she have done? Continued to deny it and make a fool out of herself for trying to fool Charlotte, who knew, at that moment, that it was the truth? Should she have denied it until she was red in the face and Charlotte was consumed by the anger of her grasping so tightly to the lie? Should she have just sacrificed her friend and kept her oath?

The truth was, she had every intention of doing all of that. Of keeping the secret and moving forcefully forward with the lie, but for that moment that she saw that Charlotte knew, she realized that she had her best friend back. There were no more secrets between them and Charlotte wasn’t even mad at her for keeping this secret. She was just curious and felt accomplished that she figured it out. When nobody else did. Nobody else noticed that her hair and Kid Danger’s hair were growing at the same rate. Nobody noticed that they were the same build and size. Nobody noticed that her lies didn’t make any sense. Nobody except for Charlotte.

Hensley had always liked attention. She was a friendly baby and toddler. She was a class clown in elementary. She was the one that roasted her friends in small gatherings. She had nights that she cooked dinner and days that she hosted the group hangouts. But in her quest to keep her oath and in her mission to be the best Kid Danger that she could be… she had to fade into backgrounds a little. If she was going to be a secret super sidekick, she had to step out of the limelight some, at home and at school. She had to be noticed less and not stand out, even as the gay girl. She let her hair grow out and wore it down, brushed it and pinned it on one side. She wore bracelets on the arm of her Whiz Watch and stopped trying to find cute clothes. Her flannels were fine. She tossed her skirts. She had basically a casual uniform. Regular degular girl with no fashion sense, and a small sense of humor.

And it hadn’t taken long for kids to forget what they used to think of Hensley Hart. Mitch Bilsky still called her Henry and cackled at how unoriginal he was. Chloe still only kissed her in secret and pretended that she was just one of her friends in public. But, aside from that, everything else for Hensley had to change to fit her new sidekick narrative. Even her relationships with Jasper and Charlotte. She saw them both less and they saw each other more. She knew that they felt neglected at times, but… she believed in what she had committed to. Ray didn’t even ask her any of this. He declared, “You took an oath,” and lost all trust in her because she had one smart friend that she couldn’t bare the thought of leaving out another moment, and certainly couldn’t stomach the chance of losing her to a lie.

Charlotte felt terrible. Hensley was mad at her and they hadn’t actually had a fight since the first year that they met. It sucked, too. There was something very troubling about having Hensley look at her differently. She was still talking to her, but she was sad and sounded depressed and basically let Charlotte know that she blamed her for this. Well, Charlotte could be a lot of things, but someone who lets her friends down was not one of them. She couldn’t for sure tell if it was because she had so few friends in the first place or if it was because Hensley happened to be the single most important person in her life, but at any rate… She quickly took action to make this right.

Typical smart girl things - research, networking, and calling Hensley to make sure that she got her butt to business and did what needed to be done to save face in front of her kind of obnoxious box, Charlotte was starting to guess, but she’d have to figure that out later. Right now, she had a Hensley to fix.

And YAYYYYY! They saved the day! Well, Charlotte did, anyway. At least led Hensley to it. She couldn’t take credit for punching the guy and capturing him. But, now they both had a job in the Man Cave! She. Was. Working. For. Captain. Man… Who… She couldn’t deny it, was a little bit of a mess. But, she knew that with her around at the very least to keep Hensley on the up and up, maybe, just maybe, she could help out the hero of Swellview too.

After they went up the tube, Charlotte screaming and holding on to Hensley for dear life, they came out on the other end, from one of those old walk in phone booths that Charlotte had often passed and wondered to herself, “Why the heck is that thing still standing?” Hensley realized that she was still Kid Danger, checked her surroundings, and blew a bubble to get back into her regular clothes. She stepped out of the booth and reached for Charlotte’s hand.

Both girls’ adrenaline was still pumping. Charlotte’s because she had just for the first time been propelled through miles of tubing, like some type of amusement park thrill ride, and Hensley because she wasn’t alone anymore.

To be fair, she adored Ray/Captain Man, but that was a grown man with bizarre habits and less than ideal solutions. Charlotte was her best friend, and the smartest person that she knew. She was always getting her out of trouble and having her back and lifting her up. She threatened to slug her sometimes, and sometimes did take a swing at her, but also… nobody else would have worked to get her back into Captain Man’s good graces and take basically no credit for all of the work she did. She did that JUST because they were friends. Hensley smiled down at her and Charlotte looked at their hands and pulled hers back, suddenly. “That’s enough contact for one day,” she said.

Hensley shrugged her shoulders and they began to walk. “Thank you, by the way. You were right what you said back there. We really DO need you.” Hensley wrapped an arm around Charlotte and they continued walking. Charlotte was going to remind her that she’d JUST SAID that it was enough contact for the day, but… This was pretty comfortable. She didn’t mind just a little bit more contact today. Besides, the adrenaline was still coursing. She needed a nice, leisurely pace right now.

“You’re welcome,” Charlotte eventually said. She had been walking and thinking. It was unfair of Hensley’s boss to fire her that way and it actually wasn’t really Charlotte’s fault that she was smart enough to figure out the secret, so despite the fact that she felt bad that Hensley blamed her, she didn’t HAVE to do any of the stuff that she did. But, she did it, and she knew she would do it again. In fact, now, it was her job. She would actually be getting paid to take care of Hensley - something she’d sort of been doing since they became friends. She was grateful to have her friend back fully, but she also knew her worth. She deserved that thank you, and it was only polite to respond in kind.

#Friends or Whatever #Hensley and Char: Friends or Whatever #Hensley Hart #Girl!Henry wlw AU #Henry Danger #Nesha HD Fics

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obeymefanfics · 5 years ago

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Venting

Pairing: Satan X Ester

Summary: Enjoying the rare quiet evening in the house of Lamentation, Ester was catching up with a few things until she hears from Satan that he needed her to come by.

It was the evening time as classes were done for the day and I was humming to myself softly while checking up on my blog. Sitting with my legs criss crossed on my bed with a piece of pretzel hanging out of my mouth while I slowly munched on it. I was replying to a few questions, typing diligently I was making great progress until I heard a door slamming. Though the sound was faint it was still enough to break me out of my train of thought causing me to jump a bit to briefly look up from my laptop.

Deciding to ignore what was possibly one of the boys throwing some fit I looked back down to my laptop to go back to answering some more questions. As it seemed that I wasn’t able to get to many more when my D.D.D started going off which I looked over to the side to see who was messaging me to see Satan had texted me. Picking it up and unlocking it to see what he said:

Satan: I’M SO MAD!

Satan:I CAN’T STAND THAT GUY 😡

Me: Let me guess, Lucifer again??

Satan: Yup.

Me: Want me to come by?

Satan: If you’re not busy

Me: See you in a lil bit

And with sending the last message I put it down so I could turn off my laptop and hide it away from someone like Mammon or Leviathan from snooping in it though they wouldn’t be able to get in without the password. Having put it in it’s safe spot, picking up my D.D.D, and slipping on my pair of slippers I headed out to go pay Satan a visit. Walking through the halls and avoiding getting ran over by either Mammon or Levi who was chasing him for who knows why, I made it to my destination. Knocking on the door a few times I instantly heard Satan call from the other side “Come in!” Reaching for the doorknob I turned and opened the door to reveal the familiar sight of the mass collection of books. As there stood the avatar of wrath himself, pacing back and forth muttering to himself while aggressively throwing his arms in the air, swinging them in the air.

“Whoa there, keep thrashing around like that and you’ll knock over all your books right on top of yourself,” I said while shutting the door behind be before carefully navigating my way over to him. Seeming to catch his attention he stopped all movement and looked over to me with his emerald green eyes. “Thanks for coming,” he said seemed to calm down a bit by how his body relaxed though as I got closer I could still see the rage in his eyes. Giving him a smile I went over to one of the piles of books to pick one out. “I mean you really don’t gotta thank me, but it’s no prob,” I said as I gently glided my fingertips over the spins of books determining which one I wanted.

This had actually became routine ever since I made a pact with him; any time he’d get angry I’d come over and read to him while he’d rest his head on my lap. And I’ve come to really enjoy these moments because he’s always sweet and such a gentleman as I hated seeing him get so angry as he’d look so conflicted on how to exploit it. Picking up one that had became one of my favorites, I went and got myself situated in a comfortable sitting position on the bed before patting my lap. “So what happened,” I asked like I usually would while Satan came and made himself comfortable resting his head on my lap looking up at me. Letting out a frustrated sigh, Satan said, “For once I was just going to him for some advice even if he wasn’t that knowledgeable, but regardless I figured he’d be of some help. But he ended up just telling me how I wouldn’t be good enough.” I raised an eyebrow as I listened as on instinct I asked, “Not good enough for what?”

His eyes softened and looked away from me starting to frown, the expression he had made a small prickly feeling in my heart like if a pin had poked it. “There’s… Been someone I’ve come to really like and… I guess for some time I’ve been trying to think if I should even tell them how I feel because ya know being the avatar of wrath and all,” he replied as his words struck a chord in my heart, of course he’d like someone which instead of saying anything I listened to everything he had to say as he repeated everything Lucifer told him. “And then that’s when I came back here in a rage,” he finished telling his story while I softly ran my fingers through his golden hair. “That’s… That’s really rough,” I started to speak trying to find the right words to say as I didn’t want to say too much to give me and my feelings for him away. “I mean the only one who can really determine if you’re good enough or not good enough for them is the person you’re interested in. Aside from what you are, WHO you are is the more important aspect; because if the person felt the same way about you they would accept all of you,” I said honestly as whoever the being was, is very lucky to be the one Satan seems to care about so much.

Looking down I saw him nodding his head, taking in all that’s been presented to him. “Right, thank you. You really do give amazing advice,” he said praising me resulting in my face to grow warm so I looked away to hide my face though I was more than happy to make him feel better. “O-Of course, it’s only the truth,” I responded quickly before taking a breather in an attempt to collect my nerves. “Uh… How about I go make some tea to help you relax,” I offered being able to look down at his handsome face again now that my face has calmed down. Carefully moved lifting his head I managed to move, sliding off the bed. Before I was able to put my slippers on, I felt two arms wrap around my waist pulling me backwards resulting in me letting out a small yelp.

“Just stay, I don’t need the tea,” he said feeling his warm breath against my neck only caused my heart to beat more and my face to grow warm as thank whoever so him not being able to see my face. “A-Alright, I can read to if you-” I started to say until he cut me off. “I don’t mind just laying like this… Th-That is if it’s alright with you,” he said as though I couldn’t see his face I could imagine how shy he looked which I couldn’t help but giggle a bit. “I don’t mind,” I simply said relaxing as I had to keep mentally repeating to myself that it was nothing more than friends just relaxing. In silence we laid on his bed until I decided to turn over so I could face towards him; however it didn’t go according to plan as while rolling over I was pushed until I was laying on my back and suddenly Satan was looming over me.

“S-Satan what are you-” I started to ask feeling my face get extremely hot from the proximity along with his fingers intertwined with mine pinning them to the bed. “I love you,” he declared confidently staring into my eyes, I could feel my heart beat against my chest as if it could burst out any second. “I was nervous to tell you because I know your time here is limited, but I don’t care because you’ve become special to me. You’ve always listened to me, you’re always around when I need help calming down, you’re patient with me and you’re a blessing that I don’t want to lose,” he said sincerely with a loving look in his eyes only making me melt at his words. Letting out a small giggle I started to smile more as hearing those words meant the world to me. “I love you too Satan,” I reciprocated to his confession earning to see his face turn bright red, feeling his hands slightly give my hands a soft squeeze. Lowering himself down closer to me I closed my eyes not completely sure what to expect until I felt his slightly cold lips against mine. That night I spent the night in Satan’s room wanting to spend some alone time together without being bothered.

~~~ Bonus ~~~

House of Lamentation

Mammon: WHERE’S ESTER?! She isn’t in her room

Leviathan: Why are you even in her room at this hour? It’s super early in the morning. LOL

Mammon: I was gonna drag her to the mall with me 😳

Asmodeus: I may have an ideal of where Ester is~ Since there were definitely sounds coming from Satan’s room last night 😉💦

Mammon: WHAT?! You’re lying!

Leviathan: How unfair

Lucifer: Are you seriously having this kind of conversation at such an hour. Honestly I have no clue what I’m going to do with you all.

Satan: First off, whoever is the one screaming like a banshee could you shut up before you wake up Ester because if you wake them up, I’m going to have to punch you in the face. And secondly you wish you were hearing sounds last night Asmo

#swd obey me #swd #obey me #obey me fanfic #obey mc oc #oc #ester bibi bareli #satan #lucifer #mammon #leviathan #asmodeus

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crazy-little-cool-cat · 5 years ago

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Hand in Glove - Chapter 21 | Ben Hardy x OFC

A/N: I know y’all probs forgot about this, but I haven’t. Life has just been kicking my ASS relentlessly, but I decided to kick its’ ass back and here we fucking are. Took me about 4 months to finish, but it is what is it. Also, I am a bottle of wine and a half down and not sure how this is going to end up, but let’s pray to the gods that Tumblr ain’t gonna fuck shit up. Dropping mic now.

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9, Chapter 10, Chapter 11, Chapter 12, Chapter 13, Chapter 14 , Chapter 15 , Chapter 16 , Chapter 17 , Chapter 18 , Chapter 19 , Chapter 20

Word Count: ~fucktonK. Don’t judge me.

Warnings: the usual? idk. Ben gets quite frisky, I’ll tell you that much. Also not sure how much of this was beta’d or proofread so fucking forgive me father if I have sinned.

The shrill sound of the alarm and Ben's low, gravelly swearing snapped Annie back to reality. Her eyes fluttered open in the soft light of dawn. She fumbled for her phone on the nightstand to shut the alarm off and look through her notifications. Ben stirred behind her, snuggling as close to her as he possibly could.

"Mornin'..." he murmured and pressed a kiss to her shoulder.

"Go back to sleep, Benny." Annie smiled when he pulled her in and engulfed her in his embrace. "It's too early."

"Frankie needs a walk." Ben yawned. "And you need breakfast."

"I can do both of those on my own."

"You can," Ben nipped at the curve of her neck, "but I won't let you."

The bedroom door edged open, revealing the tip of a snout poking through. A soft whine alerted Ben and Annie that Frankie had heard the two "magic words" Ben had just said - "Frankie" and "Walk" - and was making her presence known. Ben clicked his tongue three times and Frankie came scrambling onto the bed, her entire body swinging from side to side as her tail wagged. She dove right in to Annie's face, licking and whimpering excitedly.

"Oh God!" Annie shook her head from side to side, trying to escape the assault. Frankie had other plans. With a paw on Annie's shoulder, she tugged at her until she was flat on her back and climbed onto Annie's chest, pinning her down. "No! Stop!"

"Franks, I was actually hoping to be the one to give mum a morning snog..." he grabbed the dog and kissed her nose, earning a few licks for himself. "Aw."

Annie seized the opportunity to sit up and stretch her arms high over her head. She slouched down with a slow exhale and gave Frankie a rub behind her ears. Out of the corner of her eyes, she spotted Ben's Suitcase and duffel bag. She sighed and stood up, scratching her cheek as she marched over to the ensuite bathroom and flicked the light on.

"All done packing?" She asked as she examined her sleepy form in the mirror.

"Mhm." Ben shuffled behind her, pulling his sweats up over his hips. "I know, I'm a freak for doing it a week ahead of time."

"You're a freak for a whole myriad of reasons, Mr. Jones." Annie rolled her eyes and chuckled as she squeezed toothpaste onto her brush and then turned to Ben, who waited patiently with his toothbrush in his outstretched hand, nonverbally asking her to please put some toothpaste on his brush, too. "So you're that desperate to leave, huh?"

"On the contrary, my love." He winked at her and squeezed her bum before brushing his teeth.

Annie shook her head with a smile and leaned into his arm, resting her head against it. When they both felt their mouths were foamy enough, they took turns rinsing. Ben decided to finish this morning's ritual with a searing kiss.

"I plan on spending every waking moment that I have left with my girls." He mumbled against her lips before pulling away and walking to the toilet. Lifting the toilet seat up, he pulled his sweats down to his thighs.

"Seriously?"

"What?"

"You're taking a piss when I'm right here?"

"Love, I've watched you give birth." Ben smirked. "Peeing is not half as nasty as that."

"Do you want me to watch you pee, Benny?" Annie smirked back, crossing her arms tauntingly. "Is that a sex thing?"

"Want you to?" Ben pretended to mull it over. "Nah. But if you want to hold it for me..."

"Freak." Annie scoffed and walked out of the bathroom.

"So no?" He called after her.

###

If there’s one thing Annie hated, it was not knowing where time went. One minute she’s shoveling eggs in her mouth in a hurry to leave for work, the next she’s got a baby attached to her boob again and it’s night outside. Annie walked into the bedroom, groggily rubbing her eyes after feeding Rory in the middle of the night. A full moon illuminated Ben, laying sprawled across her side of the bed.

"You stole my spot!" Annie huffed and collapsed onto Ben's side of the mattress.

Ben's arms quickly snaked around Annie and pulled her to him, squeezing her as close as he could to his body. He tucked her head under his chin and mumbled incoherently, wrapping a leg around her as well. Locking her in.

"Ben, I need air!" Annie squeaked against his chest and tickled his sides in a futile attempt to make him move.

"Shh." Ben pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "S'night time. No talking. Just sleeping."

"But oxygen!"

"No," Ben grunted and rolled over, right on top of Annie, careful not to put all of his weight on her. "Imma Human blanket now."

"Hey!" Annie flailed under him before giving up and relaxing, letting his body squish her into the soft bed. "Fine."

"Good girl."

###

Ben sat with Rory on his lap, both looking at the phone with goofy smiles on their faces. He'd just gotten the notification that Annie's series had posted a new story to the Instagram page, followed by a text message that simply said "show Rory".

The story was a boomerang of Annie in full costume, blowing a kiss at the camera lens. The next story was another boomerang, this time of Annie doing 'finger guns' and winking at the camera with her lopsided grin. Rory tried to grab the phone out of Ben's hands, babbling happily.

"So much for daddy-daughter time..." Ben murmured against Rory's soft tufts of blonde curly hair.

While he'd usually spend his day with Rory on Annie's set or with his mates, Ben decided that he needed some alone time with his baby. His departure was mere days away. Although on the outside he was his usual self, internally, he wasn't handling this too well. He knew Annie could sense that and he appreciated her efforts in trying to play it down and pretend everything's alright.

With a sigh, Ben turned the screen off and chucked his phone aside, much to Rory's dismay. She tried to crawl off his lap in pursuit of the device, but was captured and tickled by her father. Ben gently tossed Rory in the air, smacking a kiss to her cheek every time he caught her.

"You know what?" He cooed at Rory, who clawed at his face with her fingers. "We're going on an adventure! You wanna go see uncle Joey and uncle Gwil?"

At the mention of Joe and Gwil's name, Rory squealed. It was so high pitched, Ben couldn't help but blink in awe.

"Did Roger teach you how to do that?"

###

"How are you holding up?"

"I'm absolutely devastated." Joe lamented. "The mere fact that we only have a few days left is just -"

"I was asking Ben." Gwil rolled his eyes, interrupting Joe's rant.

"I'm fine." Ben shrugged and took a sip from his beer. Rory and Frankie played on the floor at Gwil's flat. "Gwil you have to duck, okay? You'll ruin the fort."

"Who's idea was this, again?" Gwil groaned, adjusting the corner of yet another blanket he managed to mess up. "Also, why are we in the fort?"

"If you're going to be grouchy, you can leave the fort, Mr. Lee." Joe stuck his tongue out at the tall man. "No grouchy people allowed."

"I'm not grouchy." Gwil retorted. "Plus, this is my flat, meaning that this is my fort, so I make the rules."

"You do realize that Rory is the actual baby here, yeah?" Ben raised an eyebrow.

###

"How are you feeling?" Mike asked between bites of ravioli during lunch break. "Jonesy all packed?"

"Mhm." Annie sighed and pushed the food around on her plate. "Got his passport extended today, too. Took Rory with him."

"Seriously?" Clara snorted. "He's taking her everywhere?"

"Yep."

"It's sickening." Jamie chimed in. "It's like they're siamese twins."

"Aw," Mikey drawled. "Bet he's gonna miss her terribly!"

"Do you think she'll even notice?" Jamie mused. "She's, what, five months old now? She just figured out she's got hands. She'll be fine."

"She loves her daddy." Annie poked Jamie in his side. "She figured her hands out two months ago, you knob."

"Could've fooled me," Jamie muttered.

"Don't be ridiculous, James." Mike pointed at his co-star with his fork. "She's going to daycare, she'll only see her mama in the early mornings and evenings. She'll notice there's an entire human missing."

"She'll have her uncles and aunties to keep her distracted." Clara winked. "Lucy and I already planned a whole Girls' Day."

"Um?"

"What?" Clara blinked innocently at her best friend.

"Why wasn't I invited?"

"Because you have more work than I do." Clara shrugged. "Gonna do it on my day off, Banana."

"Well, it's just you, Rory and Lucy, then?"

"Well," Clara looked at her plate sheepishly. "And Joe. And Rami. And Gwilym."

"What the actual fuck, huh?" Annie threw her fork down and huffed.

"Hey, you'll get to hang out with these two delicious chunks of mankind all day!" Clara smirked.

"Clearly, the superior chunks of mankind, mind you..." Jamie added, tongue-in-cheek. "We haven't had "us" time in forever, Banana."

"Don't you Banana me!" Annie hissed and turned to look at Jamie. He flashed her his best puppy dog eyes. "Oh, not the face."

"What face?" He feigned innocence.

"You know what face. Don't do the face."

"What," Mikey sighed, mimicking Jamie's expression. "Don't you want to hang out with your own brother and husband?"

"Oh, for fuck's sake."

###

The next day was an entire mess. It started off well enough for everyone involved, really. It’s during the afternoon when things took a really, really bad turn. Ben tried to contain himself while Rory was napping, but his mind was racing. It was a chill day with "the band", as they now liked to refer to themselves.

None of them gave a second thought to the familiar sound of a notification rang through the living room. Then, it was dead silent for what felt like an eternity.

"Well, then!" Rami was the first one to break the silence, turning his screen off and tossing his phone on the coffee table. "Anyone see any good shows lately?"

"Ben? Buddy?" Joe shook Ben by the shoulder. "Dude, you haven't blinked in an hour."

Ben stared into space, his thoughts running wild. It was just a silly, candid, behind-the-scenes picture. Nothing more. However, he couldn't help the bubbling rage. There she was. His girlfriend, snuggled up to her ex-boyfriend turned reconciled-best friend. Her head resting on his chest, tucked under Jamie's chin. Her arm flung around his waist, his arms holding her close. One hand laced through her long hair. They looked so peaceful.

Ben knew how hard they worked. How tired Annie was all the time. How early she got up and how late she came home, trying to get as much work done while Ben was still around to be with Rory. He'd visit the set often, only to find her catching a snooze in her trailer. Stifling yawns between takes.

Yet he couldn't help but feel jealous. There was something beautiful and serene about the picture, especially when both Annie and Jamie were in full costume. The caption was what got to him most - "marital bliss".

"Mate, it's a picture." Gwilym brought Ben back to earth, cutting off his train of thought. "God knows, Clara had her pictures taken snuggled up to just about anything and anyone."

"Marital bliss?!" Ben sneered. "Marital fucking bliss?!"

"They're in costume!" Gwil retorted. "Those aren't Jamie and Annie. Those are Henry and Anne."

"That's Annie." Ben pointed at the screen. "That's how we always fall asleep."

"You're reading too much into this." Rami quipped. "Jamie isn't a threat to you."

"I'm going to be a continent away, while this arse is just lurking around..."

"He's engaged." Rami reminded him.

"It’s a bloody farce of a PR stunt and you know it just as well as I do. It's a sham."

"Why are you so riled up?" Rami's eyes squinted in confusion. "It's a stupid picture. They look pretty in it. End of story."

###

When Annie arrived later that night, Rory was fast asleep and Ben was losing his mind - slamming drawers and cupboards shut in the kitchen, cursing under his breath. He didn't even hear Annie come in.

Annie got a heads-up from Joe earlier that evening, letting her know that Ben had seen the Instagram picture. "He's definitely, 100%, not okay. Brace yourself."

"You alright?"

Ben's eyes shot up and looked at her. He wasn't just angry - he was positively fuming. Annie squared her shoulders, prepared for impact.

"I'm going out for a run." Ben muttered and walked right past her.

Annie followed him to the door, her arms crossed. Her brows knotted, she tried to figure out what to say. It was almost midnight. Ben never pulled an "Annie" before. He never walked out on an argument.

Before Annie could form a coherent sentence, Ben was out the door. She heard him stomping down the walkway, opening the gate. A shrill ringing startled her - he left his phone behind.

Annie took a deep breath and climbed up the stairs to check on Rory. After rubbing Rory's back gently and tucking her in, Annie went about tidying up. She picked up toys - baby's and dog's - and random articles of clothing. She straightened the sheets, organized the mail, stacked the coasters neatly. Anxiously waiting to hear the front door open again.

When it did, Ben walked right up the stairs without giving Annie an acknowledging nod of his head. She was prepared for an onslaught of accusations, but none came. Feeling perplexed, she absently followed him, wishing her stalking presence was enough to make him turn around to look at her.

It wasn’t. Taking his sweaty clothes off, he tossed them in the hamper and went in the shower, leaving the door open. Ignoring Annie's existence all together. Her guilt - not that she really knew why she should feel guilty - was quickly replaced with seething anger.

She stomped into the bathroom, stopping right in front of the glass shower doors. She glared at Ben, her hands on her hips. He started whistling and turned his back to her as he washed himself, suds forming on his skin. This wasn't just a cold shoulder. This was a butt-naked, frigid silent treatment.

"Are you joking?" Her voice bounced off the tiles. "Is this a bloody joke?"

"Had a good nap?" Ben snarled, still not facing her. "Looked refreshing."

"It was, actually." Annie raised a challenging eyebrow. "Woke up feeling recharged."

"Oh, yeah?" Ben turned the water off shook his hair. "Glad to hear."

"You're unbelievable." Annie scoffed as Ben reached for his towel and wrapped it around his hips. "How dare you?"

"How dare I?" Ben's eyebrows were so far up, they almost merged with his hairline. "I'm not the one snuggling my ex!"

"I also snuggled Clara!" Annie hissed. "Let me know when your little hissy fit is over, okay, love?"

"Fuck you, Annabelle." Ben loomed over her, his green eyes boring holes into her very soul. "This isn't a hissy fit."

"What is it, then?"

"I'm leaving, Annie. Leaving. In two days." Ben pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. "For months."

"I'm aware." Annie said through gritted teeth. "You're also coming back."

"Will I have something to come back to?" Ben opened his eyes. "You've already replaced me as your sleep-aid..."

"Have you gone absolutely bonkers, Ben Jones?" Annie barked out a laugh. "What are you on about?"

"I'm fucking scared, alright?" Ben hissed.

"Of what?!"

"You!"

"Me?" Annie's eyes were wide. "You're scared of me?"

"Annie, I'll be gone. You'll be fair game."

"I'm not some deer you can hunt!"

"I won't be here to protect -"

"Protect me?" Annie laughed, cutting him off. "From what? The Big Bad Wolf? Jamie?"

"Well, thanks for mocking me." Ben brushed past her, bumping his shoulder with her. "Real mature."

"Ben, you're throwing a fit over nothing!" Annie followed close behind him. Ben unwrapped the towel from his hips and dried off his torso. "I'm not mocking you!"

"We've been going through every aspect of me leaving." Ben chucked the towel to the floor. "What to do with Rory, what to do with Franks, when I'll be back for a visit..."

"I know." Annie sat down on the bed. "We've got this. We're prepared."

"Every aspect except our own bloody relationship. And all this time, you've been so calm about this!" Ben grabbed his head as he sat down next to her. "You've gone on a few benders, yeah, but even then - you were so calm."

"What?"

"Annie, I'm going crazy over this. I'm devastated. Freaking out. I don't want to leave." Ben laid back. "And you? You're acting like everything's fine. Having cuddles with your ex. Looking like…” Ben sighed and balled his hands into fists. “Do you even care that I'm going away?"

Annie took a shaky breath and shook her head, running a hand through her hair.

"You'll have Joe, Gwil, Rami, Clara, Lucy, Mike..." Ben rubbed at his eyes. "Jamie. I'll have no one."

"You know they'll leave for the press tour soon."

"Yes, which I'll miss out on." Ben chuckled bitterly. "You'll still have your own mates with you."

"You'll make new friends."

"I bloody know I’ll make new bloody friends, Annie, It’s not that!" Ben scoffed and mumbled incoherently under his breath. "See? This is what I'm talking about!"

"Huh?"

"It's like you're not even sad about it all!" Ben waved his hands about as he spoke. "You're out there, snuggling your cast-mates, working for hours on end, living your best life -"

"You think I'm not sad about this?" Annie spoke through gritted teeth. "Really?"

"Well, are you?"

"Of course I am!" Annie climbed onto his lap and straddled him. "Ben, are you having a psychotic break right now?"

"You're so cheery and positive and -"

"Because I didn't want to upset you!" Annie smacked his chest. "You blithering idiot!"

"Really?" Ben's voice oozed snark. "Seems like it backfired, no?"

"You're an arse." Annie smacked him again. "You're an idiot and an arse! Who on earth leaves his wi-" Annie huffed just as the word slipped her lips "-girlfriend alone with a baby for months?"

"Annie, stop hitting me!"

"No!" Annie punched him in the arm. "You wanted to see me upset? I'm fucking upset!"

"Annie!" Ben grabbed Annie's wrists and pulled her to him. She braced herself on her haunches to avoid head-butting him. "Stop. It."

"Do you honestly think I'd replace you?" the hurt in Annie's voice was evident. "Do you really think I'd go fuck someone else while you're gone? Jamie, of all people?”

She stared into his eyes, waiting for his answer, but there was none. Annie nodded and started to pull herself up, only to have Ben's grasp on her wrists tighten. She bit the inside of her cheek and tried to pull away again. Ben restrained her, not taking his eyes off hers.

"Ben, let go." Annie's voice was low as she tried to shake her hands free. She stared down at Ben's hands holding her wrists.

"Look at me." Ben squeezed her wrists tighter. "Look. At. Me."

Annie fixed her eyes on him. His usually bright green eyes were clouded and darker, a mixture of sadness, anger and need. He bit his bottom lip as he lowered his gaze onto their hands. All of his sadness, all of his tension had finally reached a boiling point. A crimson flush crept up from his chest to his neck, his muscles clenching with ever jerk of Annie's escape attempts.

"Let go of me. Ben, I’m deadly serious. I hate you right now." Annie hissed, still tense under his grasp. Ben snarled at her choice of words. Annie noticed it and pouted tauntingly. "What, did that hit a nerve? Is that all I needed to say to get a reaction?"

"Shut up."

"Oh, poor Benny. Did I hurt your feelings?" Annie's voice lilted condescendingly. A vicious glint danced in her eyes. "Did you really think you could call me a cheater," Annie's voice was so sweet as she said that, "that you could call me a slag?"

"I never called you any of these."

"You didn't have to." Annie chuckled. "It was heavily implied. Especially when you didn’t even answer my bloody question.” Annie smirked bitterly, tongue in cheek. “So right now? I. Hate. You."

Ben felt as if his entire body is on fire under her. Pins and needles raked through his body, a tingle rushing over his naked skin as they stared each other down.

"Who in their right mind," Annie tilted her head to the side, "leaves their girlfriend and 5-month-old baby for three months and then has the balls to be paranoid about her moving the fuck on without him? Hm?"

Ben clenched her wrists tighter, his upper lip curling up.

"I know who," Annie murmured. "The same guy who'll fail to appreciate his girlfriend's efforts to keep morale high, even though she's hurting. The same guy who's so afraid she'll cheat on him when he's gone, for no fucking reason, other than his own fragile ego, it seems."

"Watch it."

"No, fuck you. Fuck being careful." Annie retorted. "What will it take for you to stop being an undercover jealous prick? Huh? What, do you actually need to mark me as your territory?"

Ben's cock involuntarily twitched at the thought, grazing the crotch of Annie's leggings. Making their eyes lock on each other again. Sending a flurry of butterflies loose in both of their bellies.

"Oh, you can't be serious." Annie scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Unbelievable."

Ben licked his lips and made his move. Now that Annie was distracted, he used his body weight to roll them over and pin her down to the bed under him. His green eyes burned with raw need.

"Shut. Up." He grunted as she tried to wriggle her way out from under him while he held both of her wrists in one hand, up over her head. "Stop it."

Annie's breath hitched when Ben ground his hips into hers, his erection rubbing her inner thighs. He kissed her searingly and growled when she moved her head, pulling her lips away.

"Did I say you can move?" He whispered, his grip tightening on her wrists as his hand worked its' way to her legs. He kissed her again, physically taking her breath away, pushing her leggings down. She pulled back, gasping. "Do. Not. Move."

"Air!" was all Annie could whine before his lips crashed onto hers again, muffling her moans.

"Do I need to punish you?" He whispered against her lips, his free hand snaking under her t-shirt. "Don't move. Be quiet. Don't want to wake the baby, now, do we?"

Annie shook her head slightly, looking up at Ben with big, doe eyes.

"Good girl." Ben cooed and nuzzled the crook of Annie's neck before pulling her shirt over her head, bunching it on her arms. "Do you hate me, still?"

"Mhm." Annie smirked.

"Guess I'll have to change your mind, then." Ben ground his hips down again.

###

After waking up all alone in their bed in the wee hours of the morning, Annie's sock-clad feet padded softly on the hardwood floor as she shuffled to the living room. She paused at the doorway, looking at the back of Ben's head. The soft, colorful light from the TV illuminated him like a halo. His head propped up on his closed fist, his arms on the back of the sofa.

Sensing her presence, Ben glanced over his shoulder and nodded his head, beckoning Annie to come to him. Smiling, she closed the distance between them and curled up on the soft cushions next to her boyfriend. He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her onto his lap before pressing a kiss to the top of her head.

"Baby monitor?" He mumbled against her hair and smiled when Annie reached in her hoodie's pocket and pulled it out. "Did she give you a hard time?"

"My arms are dead."

"She wouldn't let you put her down, then?"

"Does she ever?"

"Solid point."

"What are we watching?" Annie blinked at the bright screen in front of them and groaned when her face appeared on the screen. "Oh, no."

"I have a lot to catch up on, okay?" Ben tickled her sides as she buried her face in his chest. "I'm not sure I'll have time to binge on this while in Arizona, you know."

"Why do you need to binge on this at all?" Annie's muffled voice whined.

"Because." Ben shrugged.

"Right, then." Annie leaned back and grasped at the fabric of his long-sleeved shirt. "You won't mind me binge-watching East Enders, then?"

"You do what you gotta do." Ben sighed and leaned forward.

He grabbed his cup of tea off the coffee table and took a long sip. Annie's gaze followed his every move.

"Ben?" Annie tilted her head as she bit her bottom lip.

"Yeah, love?"

Annie caressed his cheeks as a million thoughts stormed in her mind. A sad smile tugged at the corners of her mouth.

###

For the life of him, Ben couldn’t figure out how on earth it was night again. It seemed like everything was moving on double speed, nonstop. Exhausted, he laid sprawled on the bed like a starfish, with Frankie gently nibbling at his toes. One arm draped lazily over his eyes, the other tucked into his sweatpants waistband ever so slightly. The TV was on but on a low volume. Background noise.

He felt Annie's presence while his eyes were still closed, lurking at the doorway. He opened his eyes just a crack, enough to catch a quick glance of her face, and could feel his how his heart is breaking just from her expression alone.

"Don't give me that look."

Annie blinked and shook her head lightly as if her mind was an etch-a-sketch and she could just erase whatever thoughts popped up so Ben wouldn't see what they were. Considering that this very night would be Ben's last night at home, they both walked on eggshells, high on the tips of their toes.

"What look?" Annie asked sweetly and walked over to the bed. Ben stretched out his arms, inviting her in for a cuddle. "I wasn't giving you a look."

"Must've been imagining, then..." Ben mumbled with a sigh. He raked his fingers through her hair lazily, enjoying the warmth her body radiated. "Banana?"

"Hmm?" Annie purred and snuggled up as close as she could.

"I'm sad."

"I know." Annie propped herself up on one arm. “I’m sad too.”

“I need to you promise me something.”

“Ben, for the last time, I’m not going to cheat on you with Jamie!” Annie poked his side. “I swear, I’ll only cheat on you with Joe.”

“That’s not what I was going to say and you would never!” Ben grabbed her wrist gently. “Promise me you’ll always text me good night and good morning if you can’t call.”

“I promise.” Annie smiled.

###

“You know what?” Ben stopped in his tracks on his way to queue for his flight check-in, “I think I’ll stay.”

“The hell you are, Ben!” Annie moved Rory over to her other hip. “She needs toys! And food! And diapers!”

“But Arizona is so bloody far!”

“Jesus Christ, not this again.” Gwilym chimed in and handed a bottle of Coca Cola to Ben. “Be a big boy, now, Benny.”

“God, I’ll miss you.” Ben sighed, his eyes closed.

“I’ll miss you too, babe.” Gwil replied instead of Annie.

“Do you two lovebirds need a minute alone?” Annie snorted. “I’ll miss you too, Ben.”

“And I’ll miss you the most!” Ben cooed and grabbed his baby, kissing every exposed inch of her skin.

“Thanks, love.” Annie sipped from his Coke. “I really appreciate that.”

“Ben, you’ll miss your flight, mate.” Gwil scratched his head as he looked at the huge departures sign. “You better hustle.”

“I’m staying.”

“Go!” Both Gwilym and Annie barked at him.

“I love you.” Ben murmured, his lips pressed to Rory’s cheek. “Take care of mum, yeah? Be a good girl?”

“Are you -” Gwilym tilted Annie’s head up to get a better look, “are you crying?!”

“Shut up!”

“Oh, fuck.” Ben’s eyes locked in on Annie’s face, prompting a wave of tears from his own eyes. “We said no tears!”

“Stop it, Ben!” Annie pawed at her cheeks to wipe off her tears. “No crying!”

“Goddamnit!” Ben hissed and shrugged one shoulder, wiping his tears on his hoodie. “Alright. Alright. No crying.”

“I think this is the perfect moment to separate the two of you.” Gwilym said, taking Rory from Ben’s arms and bouncing her on his hip. “Come on, children. Just like we practised.”

Annie leaped up and wrapped her arms and her legs around Ben, holding on for dear life. They kissed, one last time, their tears mixing together. Ben squeezed his girlfriend as close to him as he could and inhaled her scent as he pressed a thousand kisses all over her face.

“I’ll call you as soon as I land.” He whispered in Annie’s ear. “I love you.”

###

TAGLIST: @ramibaby @xgoingdownx @qweenly @violetpond @sweeterthancheese @drummerqueenrmt @westansstuff @justgivemethekeys @blondecarfucker @cheeseedreams47 @rogerspoison @deacy-dearest @pinkmarvel @onceuponadetectivedemigod

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softwrite · 6 years ago

Note

hey 👋🏻 i wanted to ask if you are still in the mood to write a scenario??🙈 if yess could you write something cute yet funny?? like being unable to do basic things because you hurt/ broke your hand and yoongi needing to do everything e.g cooking and stuff and complaining about it 24/7 but secretly enjoying and loving it?? no probs if you don’t!! have a wonderful day❤️

pairing; boyfriend!yoongi x reader

genre; fluff, established relationship au, grumpy yoongi, lots & lots of whining, also surprise! soft in luv yoongi!, small kithes, slight crack, cussing

wc; 2.9k

summary; after an extremely ridiculous incident that resulted in your hand malfunctioning, you deem your dear boyfriend, min yoongi, as your new servant for the time being. you know, until you get better of course.

a/n: i hope this is what u wanted anon! i luv this idea thank u for requesting :( here comes the shit storm that is this fic. thank u. if anyone wants to request a scenario of their own, plz send it thru the ask option!

“Yoongi! Stop walking for a second, you’re going to make me drop it!”

“Well you’re the one who’s moving too slow. Not my fault you take baby steps.”

“I’m literally walking on an incline carrying a whole ass table right now, can you please be a little more considerate?”

“Jesus Christ just keep moving! My hands are about to give out.”

“Wait wait wait stop, stop! I’m about to!-”

CRASH.

“FUCK!”

“What did I just fucking say Y/N.”

- - -

“So basically, your wrist is just sprained,” the doctor spoke, his deep voice resonating through your eardrums as you sat there on the crumpling paper bed sheet.

You’d been sitting there for so long listening to him explain your injury that you might just have an ass imprint. All of this for a stupid sprained wrist.

“Oh, that’s good. Considering you screamed bloody murder for like 20 minutes straight, I was expecting the worst,” your boyfriend replied, his monotone voice practically vibrating the whole room.

Scrunching your features together in annoyance at his words, you rolled your eyes, crossing your arms, though wincing slightly as the white, stretchy material of the gauze wrapped around your right wrist irritated the injury.

“Listen, I swear it felt like I broke it or something. I thought I was gonna die,” you exaggerated, though in the moment you didn’t care you sounded like a whining child.

“Well, I can assure you that wouldn’t have happened,” the doctor responded, raising his eyebrow in a matter-of-fact manner towards you. “Anyways, at this point you just need to go home and rest. I would recommend not doing any physical tasks that may injure your wrist further for the next week or so,” he stated. “Taking small dosages of some acetaminophen will help with any lingering pain. Other than that, you’re all good to go!”

“Thanks Dr. Kim. I’ll be sure to keep this wild animal on house arrest,” Yoongi joked, extending his right hand outwards towards your left, uninjured one as you hopped off the tall table. The white paper beneath you crackled obnoxiously and nearly stuck to you as you began to head out the door of the small room.

“Thanks Dr. Kim!” You copied, his figure disappearing out of sight as you circled the corner with your boyfriend leading the way. As you two stepped towards the exit doors, you peeked up at him as his blonde, fluffy hair nearly masked his current expression. Though you could guess what he was about to say.

“You’re literally so dumb,” he muttered under his breath, his voice still completely loud enough for you to pick up on it.

“For the love of God Yoongi, you’re the one who wouldn’t put the table down so I could get a better grip on it! My arms were literally shaking and you watched me perish,” you argued.

“Oh okay sure. Whatever. Let’s just go home before you somehow end up breaking your leg by just breathing,” Yoongi laughed, his shoulders bouncing up and down as he tugged you along towards his awaiting, parked car as you shook your head, a frown apparent on your lips.

- - -

“Yoongi, can you get me a water from the fridge please?” You mumbled, your body currently buried within the comforting covers of your bed, your eyes focused rather intently on the television screen projecting a movie the two of you had chosen to watch together.

“I distinctly remember the doctor saying it was just your wrist that was sprained. What, suddenly your legs don’t work either?” He grunted, his chest that was pressed up against your temple rumbling.

“Pleeease, I just don’t want to miss anything. I know you’re not even watching it asshole, you’ve been on your phone like the whole time,” you accused, causing his body to momentarily tense beneath your head. “Are you really gonna be this rude to a cripple?”

“You’re not a cripple. Your hand is just stupidly weak, but fine, I’ll get it, but just this once. Just because you hurt your wrist doesn’t mean I’m going to do everything for you, Y/N,” he firmly responded, poking his skinny, pale index finger against your cheek for emphasis.

“Okay whatever, thanks babe,” you grinned, a knowing gleam entering your eyes as you shifted your body against the pillows as he got up to leave to retrieve your water from the kitchen down the hall.

It’s funny how wrong he was.

Just a few hours later that same day, around 6 PM, dinner time finally rolled around and you were fucking starving. You had been so engrossed in the movie, and in your mission in trying not to move as much as possible, you barely noticed how late it was.

“I think my stomach is about to eat itself. I can’t move, can you cook tonight instead Yoongi?”

Yoongi, who had been sitting at his desk scribbling on sheets of paper, his large, black glasses adorning the top of his nose, turned around to face you in disbelief. “I cooked last night Y/N what the fuck. Tonight is your night.”

“I know but my wrist is starting to hurt again,” you pouted, a whiny tone entering your voice. Sprawled atop of your shared bed, uncaringly looking like a mess, you visibly cupped your injured hand with your opposite. “The doctor said not to do any physical activity either, so, suck it,” you added, a large, childish smirk gracing your lips as you stuck your chin up at your boyfriend in triumph.

Staring dead straight into your eyes from the side of the room, Yoongi’s expression was rather blank as his dark eyes observed your smug frame. You noticed his pupils roam across your lips for a brief moment longer before he snapped them back towards your eyes.

“No,” he finalized, swerving back around to face the task he had previously been working on.

“Bitch!”

“Sorry, I’m a little deaf, you’re going to have to speak up some more if you’re trying to say something important,” he muttered, his voice set low as his hand picked up the pen he was previously holding.

“Yoongi…”

Silence.

“Yoongi please.”

You could practically feel the dead air.

“Yoongi, my love, please, I will even let you make shrimp ramen for dinner.”

Your boyfriend’s writing momentarily froze at your words, though picked back up once more after a brief few seconds.

Pursing your lips together in indignation, you observed the back of Yoongi’s white strands of hair, a single tuft poking up at the top that always refused to cooperate.

“I guess I could make salmon for dinner again…” you began, eyeing his form through your peripheral vision as you slowly maneuvered your legs to dangle off the side of the bed.

At that, the sudden slamming of a pen on Yoongi’s wooden work desk caught your attention, his chair flashing backwards almost at the speed of light.

“I’ll make dinner tonight! Don’t worry about it babe! I got it!” He rushed out, nearly stumbling towards your figure as you were halfway off of the bed, one leg on and one leg off, brushing the tips of your toes against the carpet. “Why don’t you stay in bed and I’ll bring it to you? Just, please, don’t go in the kitchen,” he begged, wrapping his long fingers around your upper left arm, a pleading look visible within his nearly black eyes.

Attempting to conceal the victorious smile that nearly slipped from your features, you slowly nodded, purposefully acting clueless and hesitant. “Oh, well if you say so,” you hummed, lifting your shoulders upwards in a slight shrug. Moving your body back into the same place that it had been in for basically the entire day, the very corners of your lips curled upwards.

“I’ll be back. Don’t move,” he demanded, eyeing your position with a deadly glare as he made his way towards the opened bedroom door. Using his index and middle finger, he acted out an ‘i’m watching you’ motion before his short figure exited the room.

“This is too easy,” you whispered to yourself, resting your wrapped hand against your chest while you used the other to curl behind your head against the pillows, propping your skull upwards.

20 minutes later, Yoongi returns with a steaming bowl of ramen, nothing less of what you expected from him. A slightly disgruntled look entered your eyes as you could smell the faint traces of shrimp drift into the air of your bedroom.

You hated seafood, but you suppose you could swallow it for the sake of your boyfriend’s struggles.

However, as he handed you your individual bowl, you immediately glanced up at Yoongi in confusion. “Did you-”

“Yes, I did,” he mumbled, already placing himself back down at his desk that he had been occupying. “I ended up making you chicken ramen. Didn’t want to hear even more of your complaints,” he grunted, seemingly annoyed, though you were able to see through his facade.

A fond smile graced your lips as you swirled the golden, curly noodles within your bowl with your chopsticks, the delicious scent of your favorite flavor of ramen euphorically drifting through your nostrils.

“Thanks babe.”

As you began to slurp down your ‘home-cooked’ meal, eyes now darting back to watch whatever was playing on the TV, Yoongi’s actions in scarcely glancing back towards your now elated frame were completely unknown to you.

You happened to miss the slight quirk in his own pale pink lips as he noticed a drop of ramen juice decorating the corner of your naturally pouty lips as you continued to devour your small dinner.

- - -

The next day, you finally had decided it was time to at least get out of bed.

Yoongi had left a short while ago to pick up something he needed, you didn’t really hear what, considering your were basically blacked out asleep when he left, but now that you were awake, you were a bit bored waiting for him to return.

Seated on your small living room sofa, you surveyed the layout of your house, pressing your lips together in a firm line. Kicking your legs back and forth in a thoughtful motion, you tapped your fingers along the soft cushion of the couch as the silence basically engulfed your brain.

“I guess I might as well do something productive. Our room is a fucking mess,” you muttered to yourself, heaving out a long sigh. Already not looking forward to the task though knowing it needed to be done, you stood up from your spot on the couch, stepping down the wooden hallway to enter your bedroom. Eyeing the state, a groan passed from your lips.

“Why are we disgusting?” You complained under your breath, kneeling down and keeping your knees tucked underneath your chest in order to balance your frame, you got to work by gathering all of the clothes strewn across the carpeted floor with your left hand. After your hands began to get full, you began holding the bundle with your injured one, one of Yoongi’s shirts barely dangling from your elbow.

However, as you struggled to gather all of them by yourself to dispose of them in the hamper located in the corner of the room, you missed the sound of the front door opening.

Cursing under your breath in annoyance as you padded over to the white bin, you frowned as you dropped some articles of clothing on your journey there. “For fuck’s sake how is life this stupid without one arm?”

“What on Earth are you doing?” A deep voice sounded from behind you, causing you to let out a loud shriek of surprise, resulting in you to ultimately drop the entire pile of clothes.

Spinning around, you glared at the figure of your boyfriend, who stood with a slightly amused expression adorning his features as he watched all of the dirty items tumble to the floor.

“For your information, I’m trying to be productive and clean up around here - unlike some people,” you sassed, placing your single non-wrapped hand against your hip.

“Uh huh, well, I see how that’s going,” he mused, gesturing towards your failed attempt that now looked like it exploded on the bedroom carpet. “God I can’t believe I have to do everything for you. Just go in the living room, I’ll do it you big pouty baby,” he teased, ushering you aside as he entered through the threshold of the opened door, crouching down to take your place.

“Oh shut up, at least I’m not the one terrified of killing a tiny spider in the bathroom, tough guy,” you jabbed back, arching a single eyebrow as you walked around him.

“Out!”

You cackled.

“Thanks for the help you big dummy,” you beamed, pecking his pale cheek in appreciation, once again completely missing the slight reddening of his cheeks at your affectionate action.

Eventually exiting and making your way back into the living room where you had been prior before he came home, you briefly released a tired yawn. You guessed you were a bit drowsy because of the medicine you had been taking.

As you emerged into the open floor plan set up, you were able to peek at the sliver of a plastic shopping bag on the kitchen counter. Blinking to yourself, you faintly remembered hearing your boyfriend mention going to the store, but again, by the time he finished his sentence you had already buried your face back in your pillow.

Stepping onto the tile flooring of the kitchen, your bare feet stuck to the smooth, chilled surface as your eyes glimpsed the faint outline of what seemed to be a container of sorts inside the single bag. Curiously, you used fingers to pry open the crinkling bag, peering inside.

Almost immediately, a large grin appeared on your features at the sight of two pint containers of vanilla ice cream.

“God bless,” you mumbled, your voice barely audible as you dug your hand inside the shopping bag, wrapping your fingers around the cold ice cream container. Bringing it out, you instinctively opened the wooden drawer beside your hip, pulling out a silver spoon. Shutting the drawer with your backside as you headed out of the kitchen, a slight skip in your step, you maneuvered to the inviting looking couch.

Curling up into the corner that, at this point, probably had your name on it, you popped open the lid, an excited grin on your lips, you began to devour the ice cream. Uncaring to any mess you might have been making as you held the container between your knees and used your available hand to scoop out each spoonful, you wiggled your toes in delight.

“Maybe that complainer in there is actually useful for something,” you hummed thoughtfully, though barely considered the idea as you continued to devour the comforting dessert.

Back in your shared bedroom, the clothes that had decorated the bedroom floor had been properly relocated to the dirty clothes hamper.

Yoongi, having decided to briefly take a shower, the sound of the water pattering against the bath tub floor eventually shut off, silence overtaking the connected bathroom and bedroom once more.

Clambering out of the tub and drying himself off, he quickly dressed, opening the closed bathroom door and beginning to make his way down the small, dimly lit hallway towards the living room where he expected your awaiting being.

However, as he arrived, his eyes darted around the living room in confusion at the rather quiet environment, the only sounds being that of the television quietly broadcasting a random show. Stepping around the back of the couch, he peered over the arm, immediately being greeted by your slouched figure.

Rolling his eyes, he fully swerved around the edge of the sofa, preparing to strike up a conversation, ready to complain about another task you may force him to perform, yet he ultimately paused in his action upon noticing your sealed eyelids.

You had fallen asleep.

Though, not just a simple, cute power nap, no.

The surrounding corners of your mouth were covered in now slightly dried vanilla ice cream, the now basically empty container having fallen to your lap, the spoon delved inside. Light snores could be heard from your parted lips.

Grunting under his breath at your uncaring nature, he quietly made his way over to your side of the sofa, taking up the now lukewarm container and gently setting it down on the coffee table in the center of the living room - the same table that had sent you into hysterics just the previous day.

Turning back towards your curled figure, he just barely looped his skinny yet sturdy arms underneath your propped up legs, securing his hold on your limp body by resting your head against his flat chest.

Heading back in the direction of the bedroom, he easily lied you back down on top of the sheets, hovering over your passed out being with a knowing look crossing over his round features.

“You never change Y/N,” he mumbled, his deep voice hardly even audible within the quiet room. “I still have to do everything myself even while you’re asleep.” He huffed, though as he spoke, his dark pupils roamed your relaxed, happy face.

Ever so gradually, a miniature, tender smile adorned his pink lips as he leaned forwards, leaving a faint kiss upon the top of your head.

“But I guess a perk of that is getting to see you like this every day,” he whispered fondly.

Though of course, he would never let you know that.

#softwrite works #yoongi #min yoongi #suga #suga bts #bts x reader #bts fanfic #bts au #bts fanfiction #min yoongi x reader #yoongi x reader #suga x reader #bts x y/n #yoongi x y/n #bts request #softwrite requests #ask box #asks

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spideythot · 6 years ago

Text

Control pt. 2

Hey everyone - it’s late and I stayed up to write this so I imagine it’s not amazing

Thanks for waiting around for it and there’s probs gonna be at least one more part; maybe two??

Warnings: dark!tony (for real), very dubcon/noncon, mind control/mind break

——•——

Tony had to eventually let Peter go. The boy’s disappearance would’ve raised unwanted questions. He had family and of course, his so-called ‘teammates’. Tony shooed Peter our of the penthouse, the boy anxious and confused. Tony let him remember most of the night they had shared. Peter knew that Tony had convinced him to participate in multiple sexual favors and escapades - he just didn’t know how Tony had done it.

While Peter was resting after their playtime, Tony modified the boy’s suit, ensuring his programming would continue to train his toy. Tony had also imbedded some triggers deep in Peter’s mind, so when the boy returned to him, he could easily take him down again.

Plans were brewing in Tony’s head. He needed to establish himself in Peter’s brain as his only ally. He wanted the boy to himself. He couldn’t stand to share with Rogers - that self-righteous bastard. Tony was going to rub it in too; show Rogers what he’d done to precious little Peter Parker.

Tony was lost in his work when Peter returned to the Tower around a week later. The boy was in his ridiculously bright colored suit again. He tugged the mask off as he entered and searched the penthouse. “Mr. Stark!” He called. “Hello?”

Stark’s AI spoke to him. “Mr. Stark is currently in his workshop,” she chirped, “I shall inform him of his Good Boy’s arrival.”

Peter felt his face flush. “What?!” He shouted.

The AI didn’t answer, but moments later Tony was strolling into the penthouse living area. His outfit - a light gray tank top and dark jeans - was a far cry from the silvery armor Peter met him in. But the nanotech housing still sat on Tony’s chest.

“Mr. Parker,” he greeted, sly smile stretched over his lips.

Peter hesitated for just a moment. “What did you do to my suit?” Peter asked, cursing the way his voice wavered.

“I gave you an upgrade,” Tony explained, “Free of charge, you’re welcome.” He walked over to the kitchen space and started making himself coffee.

“You did something else,” Peter said, “You did something to my head.”

“Did I?”

Peter glared at the back of the man’s head. “Your AI called me something,” Peter said. “And I keep... I can’t...”

Tony turned to face him, eyes dark and hungry, grin resting on his face. “You can’t what?” He prompted, “I can’t help you if I don’t know what’s wrong.”

Peter sucked in a deep breath and focused his glare on the floor. “When I touch myself, I can’t... finish,” Peter muttered.

Tony raised an eyebrow and chuckled to himself. “I know you did something,” Peter said, “You did something to me that night we...”

“The night I made you my plaything,” Tony answered for him, delighting in the way Peter turned bright red.

Peter shook his head. “What did you do to me?” He asked quietly.

Tony stepped toward Peter, cornering the boy between himself and the sofa. “I simply made you a Good Boy,” he said.

Peter visibly shivered, biting his lip to keep the moan from escaping. His eyes glazed over for a brief moment before he shook his head and glared once more at Tony.

“Mind control...” Peter gasped out.

“That’s right, smartie,” Tony praised, his tone sweetly sarcastic. “You want your prize?”

Peter pushed Tony back and jumped toward the window. “You’re not going to get away with it!” He shouted.

“I already have,” Tony shrugged in reply.

“I’ll tell Steve,” Peter threatened. Tony bit back his laughter - oh, this boy was too cute. “He’ll break your control, and then we’ll come for you!”

Tony rolled his eyes. The liquid metal of his suit slowly slid out to cover his chest, a small threat of his own against the boy. Peter jumped again, and moved more quickly to escape. He threw open the doors to the balcony, ready to swing off the edge when Tony spoke again.

“Peter,” he called, “Playtime.”

Peter froze on the spot, his body reacting perfectly to Tony’s voice. He swallowed hard but waited for his next command.

“That’s right,” Tony purred. He came out to the balcony and picked Peter up. Tony carried the spiderling back to his room. “You’re already mine.”

Peter’s eyes widened. “N—no,” he managed to whimper.

“Don’t worry,” Tony assured, pressing a kiss to the boy’s forehead, “Daddy’s gonna make it so good, baby.”

Peter shuddered again. “Daddy...” he repeated.

Tony set Peter on the bed and stripped him out of his ridiculous costume. “You’re Daddy’s good boy, aren’t you?” Tony pulled Peter further down. The boy’s eyes glossed over against he grinned up at Tony.

“Yeah” he agreed, “M’ma good boy.”

Tony kissed Peter as a reward. He left the boy to lay naked on the bed while he grabbed the new piece he’d been working on. Tony placed a visor over Peter’s eyes and watched as the nanotech in it locked itself in place.

“Daddy?” The boy asked, slight panic in his voice.

“It’s okay, baby,” Tony cooed, “Daddy has a new show for you. You watch, like a good boy, as Daddy plays.”

Peter nodded. “Okay.”

On cue, the new program began to play in the visor, right in front of Peter’s eyes. The boy was limp for a moment, and then his little cock began to twitch. Peter whined and wiggled his hips. His fingers tangled into the bed sheets and he bucked his hips in short jolts. “D-Daddy!” He gasped.

Tony trailed his fingers over Peter’s chest, quickly giving each nipple a flick. He laid between Peter’s legs and used his armor to hold them apart.

Tony bit into Peter’s thigh, relishing in the boy’s scream. He sank his teeth in until he could taste blood, and pulled back quickly when Peter wrenched a leg free from the suit’s tendrils. Tony cursed; he’d broken the boy out of trance.

Peter kicked at him, but more occupied with attempting to tear the visor from his face. “Let me out!” Peter shouted, “You sick sonofabitch!”

More of Tony’s armor descended and tentacled out to keep Peter still. Tony managed to keep him relatively pinned down. The program was still running, though Peter has likely closed his eyes. Auditory stimulation wouldn’t be enough to get him back down - without triggers anyway.

“Lay still, Toy,” Tony commanded.

Peter’s body immediately went lax. He could feel the boy’s panic. Calling him toy didn’t turn off Peter’s main consciousness, it just gave Tony full control of his physical body.

“Stop!” Peter begged, his voice lilted higher with fear, “Don’t, please...”

Tony clicked his tongue with disappointment. “I tried to make it good for you, Peter,” he grumbled, “But now you’ve been bad.”

Peter panted, his whole body trembling. Tony pulled off the visor and tossed it aside. Peter peeked at him with one worried brown eye. The liquid suit maneuvered Peter’s limbs, raising his arms above his head and spreading his legs even wider. Peter tracked them with fully opened his eyes. “Please...” he whispered.

Tony presses a finger to the boy’s lips. “Bad boys get punished,” Tony said. “So I’m going to show you what slut you are without any conditioning.”

“I’m not a slut! I won’t break!” Peter retorted. He returned Tony’s stare, defiant but still afraid. Tony snorted. He went back to where he’d been laying between Peter’s legs. Peter huffed with effort, willing and failing to move his body.

“Let me go!” He shouted again.

“Good Toys don’t speak.” Tony snapped.

Peter’s jaw shut tightly, his words dying in his throat, teeth grinding together. He breathed hard through his nose, tears welling in his eyes. He gasped suddenly, his body jerking involuntarily, as he felt Tony’s tongue press to his hole.

“Ah...” Peter tried to say something to stop him, but only a moan escaped him.

Tony ran his tongue over the rim of Peter’s hole, slowly circling it and lapping at it. Peter desperately willed himself to ignore the sensation. But his body refuses to listen. Tony shoved his tongue past the boy’s tight ring and fucked him open. Peter cried out, his back arching into the sensation. “Oh!” He groaned.

Tony continued to torture him, licking out his insides like Peter was the most delicious meal he’d ever eaten. In a sense, he was. And Peter was certainly enjoying the attention. He moaned and writhed under Tony, his cocklet leaking all over his abs. Tony could tell Peter was close, his moans turning into short gasps. If he could speak, he may have been begging for release. But he couldn’t, so Tony pulled away before Peter could finish.

Peter gave him a strangled little moan in return. Tony sat between his legs and then placed two fingers on his lips. “Suck,” he ordered.

Peter’s eyes narrowed. Still disobedient. Tony sighed. “Suck or I’ll go in dry,” he warned.

Peter carefully parted his lips and Tony crammed both fingers into his mouth. He pushed on Peter’s tongue and the boy began to wet the fingers as much as he could. Tony didn’t really give Peter time to coat his fingers well. This was punishment after all.

He removed them and sank both of them into Peter’s hole. Peter yelled and his body stiffened at the intrusion. Tears rolled down his cheeks and he gave Tony another sweet cry. Tony scissored his fingers inside of Peter, ignoring the grunts and wordless pleas. When he deemed Peter loose enough, he pulled out his fingers and slowly drove his cock into the boy’s tight heat.

Peter screamed again - too much, too fast - but Tony bottomed out anyway. He waited until Peter was gasping out quiet sobs before he started to thrust. Tony rolled his hips first, not wanting to really hurt Peter anymore. Peter moved with him, his body finally adjusting.

“Aaahh...” he moaned.

With the encouragement, Tony thrust more, pressing in deep. He angled himself to bang Peter’s prostate with each snap of his hips. Peter moaned again, his voice shaking just slightly. He gazed down at Tony, at where they were connected, his eyes wet from crying but pupils blown with lust.

“Speak,” Tony said.

Peter groaned, throwing his head back against the bed, “Please! Please let me cum!”

“That’s it, good boy,” Tony purred his praise. Tony thrust faster, pounding into Peter wildly.

“Da- ah!” Peter cut himself short.

“Say it, Peter,” Tony ordered, “Say it and I’ll let you cum.”

“Daddy!” Peter keened, “Yes, Daddy! Wanna cum, please Daddy!”

Tony gripped Peter’s hips and rocked his body in time with each thrust. “Cum for me,” he said.

Peter did: his whole body shook with the force of his orgasm and he painted himself white. Tony fucked him through it and finally came inside the boy’s hot, wet hole as it clenched tightly around him. Peter’s chest heaved as he sucked in breath after breath. Tony’s armor finally released him, and his limbs dropped useless on the bed.

“What do you say?” Tony asked.

Peter met his eyes and gave Tony a soft smile. “Thank you, Daddy.”

Tony grabbed one of Peter’s hands and brought it to his lips for a quick kiss. Peter was his Good Little Boy. And Tony couldn’t wait to show him off.

#starker #peter x tony #au #nff #ironspider #dark!tony #superior iron man #control au

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jcmorrigan · 5 years ago

Text

Shattered and Mended

The F/O? XR from Buzz Lightyear of Star Command. The S/I? Rachel Sparks - fifth ranger of Team Lightyear with a big heart for justice (and no glasses in this ‘verse because I suppose Nebula would surgically augment my eyes to make sure Zurg couldn’t rip the glasses off and stomp on them, which is a Zurg tactic). The writings I did for XR are actually from a rather structured AU that runs alongside the whole show, and tell versions of episodes that are impacted by my s/i’s existence. This one goes with the ep “Eye of the Storm,” though it takes off after that ep’s timeline ends and does a whole other act that’s just basically a sickfic. This is actually probably the longest selfship piece I’ve written, but I love it because of the shenanigans.

Also, if you can guess what three works of fiction I appropriated for the bingewatch show, cookies for you.

***

It was a typical week for Team Lightyear. Answer a distress call, discover it was made by the daughter of a mad scientist (former Star Command researcher Spiro Lepton, in fact, though he now preferred to go by “von Madman,” apparently) in order to lure Team Lightyear into said mad scientist’s clutches, beat mad scientist after literally everyone on the team made him stronger by consecutively using energy-based attacks on him despite seeing the previous efforts fail, send mad scientist to jail, learn that mad scientist’s daughter isn’t so bad after all, learn that mad scientist’s daughter has a crush on your team leader, go out for group lunch at Cosmo’s.

Cosmo knew by this point that he was best served getting Booster’s order off the oven first, meaning Rachel had to try and keep the saliva of hunger from escaping her lips as she watched him devour an entire plate of squirming curly fries in one go. Hot, crispy, lightly-spiced curly fries. Maybe she should’ve ordered that, she wondered, instead of the spurfion rings. At least this time, XR hadn’t forgotten he couldn’t eat curly fries and tried to put one in his mouth.

Booster remarked that it was the perfect way to top off the day after defeating evil, and that seemed to be the cue for the reply: “Daddy wasn’t always evil. He used to be a good man.”

Rachel wondered how exactly Bonnie had tracked them all down. It was a little creepy. In the grand scheme, however, that hardly mattered, as Rachel could read the dismay on Bonnie’s face. It couldn’t have been easy, living with the burden of having a man who literally renamed himself “madman” as your parent.

Bonnie concluded her statement with “Just like Buzz” and turned to place her hands on Buzz’s shoulder and forearm.

Rachel could sense Buzz’s discomfort immediately; he’d tensed up so hard, she could feel it from across the table. They’d all been briefed on Buzz’s history with Bonnie, and Rachel could hardly blame him. Erasing the memories he had of her as a child couldn’t be easy. Rachel pictured it for a minute – looking at Bonnie’s sultry expression and overlaying a grade-schooler’s gap-toothed visage over top. This prompted a shudder. Creepy.

It got worse; as Buzz tried to convince Bonnie that her father had gone off the deep end (his black-and-white morals would be the death of him, but wasn’t that what made him lovable?), Bonnie begged him for attention, climbing into the booth, crawling toward him, attempting to pin him down. Rachel suddenly lost all sympathy for Bonnie Lepton. She now seemed almost predatory, physically positioning herself to fence Buzz against the window, making it clear what she wanted. Rachel wondered if she should step in, but found herself frozen, unsure exactly what move to make.

Mira, as usual, decided to go the direct route, pulling Buzz toward her by the collar and hissing, “Can’t you see she has a huge crush on you?”

Upon affirming this, Buzz returned to Bonnie; “It’s perfectly natural for you to have feelings for me. But they’re meaningless! It’s the classic damsel-in-distress syndrome. I rescue you, you go all moony!”

That wasn’t how Rachel would’ve described Bonnie’s demeanor.

Mira had nothing to say to this but a facepalm.

It got worse when Buzz said he’d seen this dozens of times, to which Bonnie told him “I thought I was special,” and Rachel didn’t know where she could’ve gotten that idea at all, seeing how Buzz had done nothing but brush her off and turn her down and was she physically unable to take a hint?

“Sorry, kiddo,” Buzz told her. “Just doin’ my job.”

At least Buzz had been able to stand up for himself. Rachel felt quite protective of him in that moment; Bonnie certainly wasn’t the sort who would give up the chase easily. Could she not see how uncomfortable she was making him? Did she not get the concept of how their history was complicated? Did she not –

But as Bonnie was pulling away from the table, XR tried to intercept her. “Hey, I think you’re special!” he said, pouring on the charm far too thickly as he clasped one of her hands in both of his own. “Aaaand, since you’re new to civilization and all, I should tell you – “ He whipped about to produce two mirrors from his inventory. “I am considered quite the looker!”

Now Rachel had something to be even more upset about.

Mira hissed “XR!” at him, not without a quick, pointed glance toward Rachel that informed her of the pure rage surging through the blonde.

“That’s all right,” Bonnie said, flirtily planting a kiss on XR’s helmet –

It’s that easy? Rachel thought. What makes you think you can just do that?

“At least he’s treating me like a GROWN WOMAN,” Bonnie asserted.

No, Rachel thought, he’s treating you like a piece of meat, and this should be why I’m glad we’re just friends, why I’m glad he doesn’t do this shit to me, but that still doesn’t explain why I’m the only woman in the entire galaxy he hasn’t even looked at –

“Unlike a certain STUFFED-SPACESUIT JARHEAD ROCKET JOCKEY I KNOW,” Bonnie fired off as XR whooped his joy at having been kissed.

There was nothing about this Rachel didn’t hate.

“What?” Buzz asked when Bonnie had left. “What’d I say wrong?”

“I don’t even KNOW where to begin,” Mira grunted.

“Oh, no, Buzz was fine,” Rachel growled. She leaned out over the table to point accusingly at XR; “But can YOU stop being a perv for literally TEN SECONDS? Or is that a standard function of your programming, to be a complete and total creep toward every woman you cross paths with?”

“If I can remind you, SHE was the one who kissed ME,” XR boasted proudly.

“That was a pity kiss,” Rachel snarled. “You’re lucky you didn’t get your entire head smacked right off, which is what I would’ve done if I were her and didn’t know you.”

“You’re just jealous that I’m a babe magnet,” XR teased. “You WISH you could get the attention I do.”

Of course, he didn’t know exactly how hard that hit. That didn’t make a lick of difference.

Rachel made a loud, wordless scream of frustration before forcing herself to be calm long enough to say “Mira…Booster…please let me out so I can storm away in a rage.”

Seeing Rachel’s temper flaring as hard as it was, Mira and Booster wasted no time evacuating the booth so Rachel could stomp angrily toward the women’s restroom.

Buzz watched her in confusion. “Is she…ah…is she gonna be okay?”

“I just want it on record that I did NOTHING wrong here,” XR stated, arms folded.

Mira buried her face in both hands. “Booster, you, me, and Rachel are the only three smart people left at this table.”

“But Rachel’s not at the table,” Booster pointed out. “Maybe you should go after her, since…you know…you’re the only other woman here…”

“No,” Mira sighed as she raised her face, “she needs to be alone right now – “

Buzz was already making way toward the restrooms.

“I SAID SHE NEEDS TO BE ALONE RIGHT NOW!” Mira yelled, to no avail.

“SOME people just don’t know when they’ve crossed the line,” XR commented, earning him angry glares from Mira and Booster.

Rachel paced back and forth across the women’s room for a bit, reminding herself not to examine the floor too long for fear of seeing the level of grime that was actually there and touching her boots. How dare he? No, he couldn’t know, but the fact that he was accusing her of being jealous of his ability to attract attention (which he didn’t even have; Bonnie was just as much of a shameless flirt as he and he had the luck to cross her path) when in fact, she did want to be able to attract attention, but only of one person, the worst person, the person who should have just proven she shouldn’t want to be anything more than friends with, and he was lucky to even be that –

Frustratedly, she began to sing in hopes of getting rid of some excess negative energy, hardly thinking about the song itself.

Why did she even still like him? He’s terrible, she told herself. But she couldn’t believe that anymore. Not after he’d engineered that entire scheme to get her un-fired from Team Lightyear. Not after their conversations regarding how messed up they both were in the head. Not after their deal, trading janitorial work for office work. No, they were at the very least friends now, and Rachel had to live with that, and the very act of being friends with XR kept reminding her of what was good about him, and what made her admire him, which clashed so horribly with when he did things like this – said things like that –

The sound of a flushing toilet. A woman exited the stall and fixed a rather disgruntled look upon Rachel, who was silenced sheepishly as the woman began to wash her four hands. Perhaps, Rachel realized, it would’ve been a good idea to check the restroom for occupants before pacing around it singing lyrics like “IS IT LOVE? IS IT LOVE? OR JUST THE DRUGS PULSING IN MY VEINS?”

The singing had worked a little bit, anyway. There was no reason for Rachel to be that angry. Her friend was a womanizer-wannabe, he’d managed to find someone his charms temporarily worked on by the sheer scope of trying them on everyone, they’d had a moment, she wanted someone else all along. No big deal. This was just Rachel’s problem. Pining made a person overreact.

Jealous of getting the attention he did, indeed.

There were things you just didn’t say, even if it turned out you were right about them.

Shortly after the other woman left the restroom, Rachel did the same, practically colliding with Buzz Lightyear as she did so. After both gave a “Whoa!” and backed off, Rachel was reminded of the other problem.

“I, uh…” Buzz began, “I just wanted to make sure, you know, that you were okay.”

“I’m fine,” Rachel said with a forced smile. “Who doesn’t get fed up with their teammates every once in a while?”

“Even I know that feeling,” Buzz admitted with a smile, “though don’t tell them that.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t say anything,” Rachel blurted. “When Bonnie was doing…the stuff she was doing.”

“What do you have to be sorry for?” Buzz asked. “Like I said: the damsel-in-distress syndrome. Besides, the more I think about it, the more I wonder if taking her up on the whole date thing wouldn’t actually be that bad of an idea.”

Rachel flinched. “Buzz, do you even LIKE her?”

“What’s not to like about Bonnie Lepton?” Buzz asked. “She’s a confident woman who sees the good in people. Everyone should like her!”

“No. I’m asking if you LIKE her. YOU KNOW HOW I MEAN.”

“Well, uh…” Buzz met Rachel’s piercing gaze with a rather hollow look. “Not right now, but you never know. Things can happen.”

“Are you thinking about asking her out because she PESTERED you?”

“She wasn’t pestering!” Buzz argued. “She happens to have a mild crush on me – “

“A MILD crush.”

“ – and there’s a chance we’re compatible, and this will make her happy!” Buzz insisted.

“Yeah, but…she makes you REALLY uncomfortable,” Rachel argued. “Don’t tell me I’m wrong. I SAW you two.”

“It wasn’t that bad!” Buzz argued.

“I’m just afraid that if you give in because she bothered you into it,” Rachel told him, “then you’re gonna end up even more uncomfortable. Or just hurt.”

“Listen, Rachel,” Buzz said patiently, “I’m a grown man. I can take care of myself. It’s gonna take more than a bad date to hurt me. It doesn’t even take EVIL EMPEROR ZURG to hurt me!”

“I’m just trying to look out for you, okay?” Rachel insisted. “I know you can take care of yourself, but…I get worried. It’s what I do. She shouldn’t have put that kind of pressure on you. It isn’t RIGHT. Even I…”

And here’s why it really wasn’t that easy. She’d known it since the Petra incident.

“…I had this guy I liked, once,” she said meekly. “A lot. But I knew he wasn’t interested in me at all. And I NEVER wanted to put him through what Bonnie’s putting you through. Even if it was hard having to see him and keep it all bottled up. I just…I can’t – couldn’t do that to him. Even if he was an asshole who deserved a little punishment sometimes.” She sighed. “If you wanna go out with Bonnie, that’s fine. I just don’t want this to go wrong for you.”

“I’ll be fine,” Buzz assured her. “I appreciate the concern, though. You’ve got a good heart.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Rachel made to head back to the table. “Let’s go get our food. They probably brought my spurfion rings, and I’m starving.”

“Rachel.”

She paused, her back turned to Buzz. Her head swiveled to get a good look at him.

Candidly, Buzz stated, “Any guy who wouldn’t see how amazing you are is a MORON.”

She said the only thing she could say: “That’s exactly the problem.”

He didn’t ask, so she didn’t elaborate. They returned to the booth, where their orders were in fact waiting, and it seemed that already, Rachel had missed the time-honored ritual where XR had attempted to casually steal a spurfion ring off her plate only to remember the hard way, yet again, that he wasn’t able to consume food. She gave this the barest acknowledgement, re-taking her seat by the window and making a point of not looking directly at XR for the rest of the meal.

Buzz began to spell out his ideas for the date he was planning with Bonnie: “So I was thinking I’d take her to good old Cosmic Crunchies – “

“Buzz,” XR sighed, “I thought the point was that you were treating her like a grown-up. That COMPLETELY defeats the purpose. Also, Cosmic Crunchies? Really? How old are YOU, again?”

Rachel just barely managed to disguise her inappropriately-placed laugh as a cough. Curse him. (Though now was obviously a bad time to say that she herself wouldn’t be opposed to Cosmic Crunchies, so she kept that one secret.)

Buzz laid out the rest of his plans, and Rachel couldn’t help but think that this was about to go terribly, horribly wrong.

***

Things had gone about as badly as Rachel could have predicted if not worse. Lepton (or “von Madman,” as he preferred, apparently) had somehow enlarged himself to monumental proportions, solidified his crystal shell, and carried Bonnie off into the city. By the time the majority of the squad arrived on scene, it seemed all that was left of Buzz was a Buzz-shaped imprint in the ground.

“Poor Buzz,” Booster whimpered, looking at the site of the damage, “he’s gone!”

“Life will be so empty without him,” XR moaned.

“I can’t believe – “ Rachel attempted.

“By the way,” XR interrupted, “who gets his car?”

“Wow,” Rachel huffed. “Mr. Sensitivity, aren’t you?”

Thankfully, Buzz hadn’t actually been crushed, crawling up out of where he’d been punched into the floor. Booster excitedly plucked him from the indent, crying, “YOU’RE ALIVE!”

Rachel let out a sigh of absolute relief.

Buzz wrenched himself from one of Booster’s bone-crushing hugs, barreling toward the edge of the rooftop where they had all gathered to try to intercept Lepton (or “von Madman”…apparently) as he barked, “No time for mushy stuff, rangers! Madman is loose!”

“Hey, yeah, about that?” Rachel called after Buzz as he barreled to the edge of the rooftop. “Just thought maybe we should discuss how this is related to what we talked about earlier regarding – “

“No time for that either!” Buzz called back as he made a flying leap off the building.

Rachel all but deflated as the rest of the team followed. Eventually, she mustered up the willpower to give chase. If he’d just listened to her, none of this would be happening, she thought.

A direct attack on Lepton (“von Madman,” apparently) failed thrice in a row, and the blasts of pure energy he emitted to attempt to eliminate Team Lightyear en masse ended up causing collateral damage when they missed. Buzz’s argument that he and Bonnie were on a date rolled off Lepton (“von Madman,” apparently)’s back like water off a duck.

“Seriously,” Rachel groaned, “this can NOT get any – “

“DON’T,” XR warned, “SAY IT.”

That was when Lepton (“von Madman,” apparently) commandeered the city’s main generator and erupted into titanic size.

“That had NOTHING to do with what I just said!” Rachel barked as the group landed on another nearby rooftop to assess.

“Oh, really?” XR countered. “Haven’t I warned you about what happens EVERY TIME ANYONE SAYS THOSE WORDS?”

“It’s a coincidence,” Rachel grunted.

“This and every other time?” “It has not happened every single time.”

“NINETY TIMES out of the past NINETY-FIVE that someone has said ‘this can’t get any worse,’” XR pointed out, “it has GOTTEN WORSE.”

“You kept TRA – “ Rachel shook her head. “Of course you kept track.”

“Plan?” Mira asked. “Anybody got a plan? Because we could REALLY use a plan right now.”

Buzz surveyed the generator before making his decision: “It’s up to you, XR. You’ve gotta reach the cutoff valve. We’ll stall him.”

“I’m sorry,” Rachel broke in, “XR does what?” “I agree,” XR repeated; “XR does what? One false move, and someone could be blown to bits! Maybe me!”

“That’s why it’s up to you,” Buzz insisted, giving the robot a gentle push toward the edge of the roof.

“Ummm…I don’t like this plan,” Rachel argued. “I REALLY don’t like this plan.”

“But if anything happens to XR,” Booster reminded her, “he can just be rebuilt.”

“I thought you were mad at him anyway about the Bonnie thing,” Mira whispered in Rachel’s ear.

“I am,” Rachel hissed back. “That doesn’t mean I have to like the plan where he’s required to make the suicide move.”

“Then which one of us SHOULD make that move?”

“Uh…” Rachel had no answer for that.

“It’s not ideal,” Mira reminded her, “but it’s our only play.”

“Fine,” Rachel huffed. “But I want to remind EVERYONE LISTENING HERE that we would have to go through NONE OF THIS if Buzz had just NOT CAVED TO BEING PESTERED BY A WOMAN HE DIDN’T LIKE!”

“We would have to go through none of this,” Buzz countered, “if Lepton – “

“Von Madman, apparently,” Rachel broke in.

“If Lepton hadn’t pushed the limits of his research too far,” Buzz concluded. “Now let’s MOVE!”

Four blasted off; Buzz, Mira, and Booster made a beeline for Lepton (“von Madman,” apparently)’s line of vision while XR made a break for the assigned valve. Rachel stared after them all in exasperation for a solid thirty seconds before yelling, “WHEN DID THE I-TOLD-YOU-SO SQUAD BECOME THE I-TOLD-YOU-SO RACHEL?”

Then, knowing full well what she had to do, she blasted off to join the diversion effort.

Buzz tried to appeal to Lepton’s humanity. Mira argued that Bonnie needed a normal life. Rachel knew she had to chip in her two cents, to be as loud as ever in order to draw attention, but her eyes kept darting over to the valve, where XR was suctioning his way up the generator. He’ll be fine, she told herself. If he gets smashed, we just piece him back together again. And after hitting on Bonnie, he deserves to be smashed anyway. Multiple times, in fact.

She turned back to Lepton. “BONNIE’S DOING JUST FINE!” she argued. “THERE ARE WAY WORSE GUYS SHE COULD’VE PICKED THAN BUZZ LIGHTYEAR! AND SHE LOVES YOU! WHY WON’T – “

A faint, metallic scream. Rachel was cut off midsentence. She whipped to look; XR had somehow gotten one arm wrapped up in the valve, then had that arm accidentally extended so he was dangling off the tower. Not that this is my problem, Rachel insisted to herself. Typical of him, anyway.

“DR. LEPTON!” Booster added. “YOU HAVE TO LISTEN TO – “

The glow of the crystals dimmed. Perhaps, Rachel thought, Lepton (“von Madman,” apparently) had decided to take their words to heart, to give up his power grab –

Or perhaps XR falling halfway down the tower and screaming had alerted him to what the team was trying to do.

Yes. Definitely that second one.

A low growl formed in the scientist’s throat. He balled up one enormous hand into a boulder-esque fist.

I am absolutely not getting involved, Rachel told herself. This is not my problem.

The minute she finished that thought, she blasted off.

She intercepted XR before Lepton (“von Madman,” apparently) could shatter him. Seeing as Rachel hadn’t really planned this, acting more upon instinct than anything else, she didn’t exactly focus on keeping airborne, and the sudden added weight of an entire robot in her arms drove her path in a decidedly downward direction. She did, however, have the presence of mind to roll over in midair as the pavement loomed. After all, she hadn’t risked her life to stop Lepton (“von Madman,” apparently) from shattering XR only for him to get dashed on the road.

Rachel landed on her back, slamming into the pavement hard, and the subsequent shooting pain in her right shoulder informed her that this had been a very bad idea. Unbidden, a shriek escaped from her lips. As XR positioned himself to standing, she sat up agonizingly, still whimpering from the shooting pain running through her shoulder.

“Whoa, nice save!” XR told her. “If you hadn’t done that, I would NOT have come out of that in one piece aaaaaaaaand you didn’t come out of that in one piece, did you?”

So he’d finally noticed that her eyes were misting up with tears. “No SHIT, XR,” she snapped.

“Oh,” he replied, “wow. Yeah, okay, that…that doesn’t look good. You should DEFINITELY get that checked out.”

“Oh, God,” she moaned, “don’t tell me it’s broken. Is it out of place?”

“Well, it’s hard to say at this point, but – what EXACTLY are you worried is broken?”

“MY FUCKING SHOULDER,” Rachel growled, immediately regretting her harsh tone the moment it had come out – though, in her defense, the fact that her shoulder might have, in fact, been broken wasn’t doing her temperament any favors. “What did you THINK?”

“How would you expect ME to know?” XR replied. “All I know is the look on your face is NOT the look of a person who doesn’t need medical attention.”

Rachel’s gaze was diverted upward; Buzz, Mira, and Booster had tried and failed to engage Lepton (“von Madman,” apparently) in direct hand-to-hand combat, and now the crystalline villain had leapt off the generator, stalking Buzz down.

“We can’t stay here,” Rachel grunted as she used her left hand to pivot into a standing position less than gracefully.

“You’re telling me!” XR cried, seizing Rachel’s hand and making a break for it –

Her right hand.

He let go after she shrieked even more piercingly. “THAT WAS THE SHOULDER,” she yelled.

“Again,” he retorted, “HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW THAT?”

“Just RUN, dumbass!”

They bolted, Rachel’s shoulder feeling no better as time elapsed. Once they’d reached what seemed to be a safe distance, they observed the grand finale playing out.

The entire generator was destroyed in the melee, but it was Bonnie herself who struck the final blow, dealing a hit to Lepton (“von Madman,” apparently)’s weak spot on his chest and bringing him back down to humanity. Rachel would’ve fist-pumped in Bonnie’s honor if she weren’t still distracted by the burning in her shoulder.

“You think it’s safe?” she asked after Lepton (no longer “von Madman,” apparently), Bonnie, Buzz, Mira, and Booster had been conversing for some time.

“You can NEVER be too careful,” XR told her. “Luckily, I can assess the situation by reading their lips from this distance.” After a moment of observation, he muttered, “Pretty sure he just said ‘Donut candelabra’ – “

“Okay, no, that’s not gonna work.” Rachel made her way to the others, every curse she knew firing off in her brain as a result of the shoulder. Fuck Lepton, she thought, for making me have to do that. Fuck Buzz for not listening to me. And fuck XR in particular for being the exact reason my shoulder is probably wrecked.

“How do we know we can trust you?” Buzz was asking Lepton as Rachel approached.

“I promise,” Lepton replied.

That seemed to be where it ended, prompting Rachel to say, “Oh, that’s IT? We’re going to trust him just like THAT?”

“It really wasn’t his fault,” Bonnie asserted. “The crystals were affecting his brain.”

Rachel wasn’t sure how far that explanation would fly. After all, substance abuse could make people act severely out of character, but she was under the impression Lepton had at least some control over his actions. Then again, she wasn’t the judge or the jury here. That honor fell to Buzz, so she looked at him.

“Well, uh, okay,” Buzz stated. “After the LGMs CLEAR him.”

Rachel could accept that. Whatever misgivings she had, Buzz had yet to be wrong when it came to judging character.

“And if you’ll, uh…let us finish our…y’know, ahhh…” he sputtered.

“Dinner date?” Bonnie finished.

So that was still on, Rachel thought to herself.

“Right,” Buzz confirmed. “What she said.”

Rachel might as well accept this. Maybe Buzz actually did have feelings for Bonnie that went beyond pitying her pestering. Maybe this would actually go somewhere. After all, it wasn’t like things could get –

No. She was not about to become statistic ninety-six. Not even mentally.

“YAY!” Booster cried, doing a small jump for joy. “Everything worked out PERFECT! Great job, everyone!” He gave Mira’s left shoulder and Rachel’s right shoulder a simultaneous, hearty clap.

Which got Rachel to scream again, putting all eyes on her. That jolt had hit hard, and now she was crying again, which she really resented.

“Are you okay?” Mira asked in concern.

“No,” Rachel answered softly, at least feeling a little better that Mira’s response was so caring. “I think I broke my fucking shoulder.”

“Uh, yeahhhhh,” XR confirmed (when had he gotten here? Rachel bristled at his presence). “I hate to break up the happy family reunion, but we have a ranger that needs a trip to the ER, stat.”

“And whose fault is that?” Rachel growled.

“Ranger,” Buzz reminded her, “I specifically assigned XR to that valve because he could take the risk of damage without any lasting effects.”

That, Rachel couldn’t argue with. Maybe the person she should be angry with was herself. Her eyes flicked downward to the pavement.

“Still, that was an admirable display of loyalty for your fellow ranger,” Buzz told her. “I can’t get too mad at you for wanting to protect your teammate and friend. Even if he is infinitely more durable than you are.” He took three steps to get right in front of Rachel. “We’re going to get you back to base for an examination of that shoulder.” Pivoting, he said, “Sorry, Bonnie, but – “

“No,” Rachel said quickly. “Don’t. I don’t need the whole squad to go with me. You’re on a date. Go enjoy it.”

“You, uhhhh…” Buzz regarded Rachel with confusion. “You WANT me to be on a date with Bonnie?”

“If that’s what your heart wants,” she replied, “then – no. Forget it. Just – you’re an adult too. This is your decision.”

“All right,” Buzz told her. Then: “Mira! Booster! XR! Take Rachel back to the Star Command med bay, and watch that shoulder.”

“Right!” Mira responded.

“Righty-o, Buzz!” Booster agreed.

“Consider her shoulder WATCHED,” XR concluded.

Rachel didn’t want to see him. She didn’t want to be anywhere near him. Logically, she was aware that this was completely her fault, but she wanted to pin the blame on XR for making her care, for not caring back, and for unwittingly orchestrating this entire situation without a clue.

Though, that was the thing: unwittingly. He had no way of knowing how angry it made her to see him so casually trying to pick up Bonnie. He had no way of knowing anything. It was all on her. On her, on her, on her –

“So, uh, Rach?”

They’d all begun walking back to cruiser 42, and there he was, right on cue. Rachel looked down to meet XR’s eyes, dealing him a very sour look.

“I reaaaaaaaally owe you one for this,” he told her.

She flinched, surprised. Touched, even. It was only one sentence, and she had no idea if he’d even follow up, but it went miles toward making things better.

***

“You did WHAT?”

Rachel sat on an examination bed, the LGMs crawling about to observe every part of her body they could assess. She was now clad in a loose-fitting tunic and pants rather than her suit; getting them on around her shoulder was more hassle than she’d have liked. The hurting hadn’t subsided; she’d just gotten used to it. Somewhat.

Mira, Booster, and XR were hanging back against the wall, watching the examination go down with concern plastered on all of their faces. Nebula was overseeing, and it was he who was less than happy with Rachel.

“I said,” Rachel sighed, “I hurt my shoulder in a rescue attempt.”

“WHOSE RESCUE ATTEMPT?”

“…XR’s,” she admitted. “I was trying to stop XR from getting shattered by von Madman.” It sounded even worse when she said it out loud.

“Ranger!” Nebula cried – yes, he was angered, but Rachel could still tell from his tone that it stemmed from a place of worry – “XR is literally built to be destroyed and reconstructed! His name stands for ‘Expendable Ranger’!”

“Experimental,” Rachel said without thinking. “It’s ‘Experimental Ranger.’”

She heard a mutter from the wall of “You know you’re in trouble when Dad uses your FULL name…”

“If XR gets blown to bits,” Nebula continued, “we can just build him again from the ground up! We CAN’T do that with YOU! You aren’t replaceable! What if you’d been killed pulling off that maneuver?”

“I know,” Rachel said softly. “I was being a dumbass.”

“LANGUAGE, ranger!”

“Sorry.”

Nebula sighed. “This could’ve been a lot worse. I just don’t wanna see you get hurt permanently from making any more reckless decisions!”

“I’ll play it safer,” Rachel said sheepishly. “I promise.”

“You better. I don’t wanna lose you from the ranks!”

That statement probably should’ve made Rachel feel better, warmer and fuzzier, but it ultimately didn’t do anything to reduce the size of the swirling pit in her stomach. Now she was here having to dance around the fact that she’d nearly gotten herself killed over an unrequited crush, and she was saying this to the head honcho himself. How could she possibly convey to him that she just couldn’t stand seeing XR put in what for an organic would be mortal danger – especially when Nebula was incredibly right and she’d just injured herself needlessly?

“Finished assessment!” one of the LGMs announced.

“What’s the prognosis?” Nebula asked.

“Not broken!” the LGM declared. “Sprain!”

Rachel let out a sigh of relief at that.

“Well, that could’ve been worse,” Nebula remarked. “That can be patched up with a simple enough operation. After that, you’ll have to stay off duty for two weeks.” “TWO WEEKS?” Rachel shrieked. “No. NO. I can’t be off duty for two weeks. Zurg will attack, Torque will run another prison break, NOS-4-A2 will go on a murder spree, this will probably ALL HAPPEN WITHIN THE SAME DAY, and I HAVE TO BE THERE!”

“Two weeks, ranger,” Nebula barked, “and that’s an order!”

All considered, two weeks probably wasn’t bad. Rachel thought she’d heard once that in the old days, before medical technology had advanced to this point, a sprain could have a person out for a month or two. That was unthinkable.

“Get her under,” Nebula demanded. “I want her patched on the double. The sooner she can start the recuperation period, the sooner she can finish.”

“On the double!” several of the LGMs chorused.

She was whisked away before anyone could say anything more. Though she did catch the fading sound of Booster saying, “Gosh, two whole weeks? That’s gonna be tough!” and Mira responding, “Yeah. Poor Rachel. I just can’t – “

They were out of earshot before Rachel could hear whether the one most closely tied to this little debacle had anything to say.

Maybe that was for the best.

***

Since Team Lightyear was on active duty, the four who didn’t have Grade II shoulder sprains remained at base. Rachel, however, was confined to bed in her and Mira’s shared apartment.

“You gonna be okay?” Mira had asked before leaving.

“Yeah,” Rachel sighed.

“You don’t sound convinced,” Mira pointed out.

“Mira,” Rachel reminded her, “I just sprained my fucking shoulder saving an invincible person from a non-fatal experience because of a misguided and one-sided crush. I am as fine as I’m gonna get.”

“Well…” Mira shrugged. “At least your heart was in the right place?”

“I just…hate seeing him get hurt,” Rachel replied. “But don’t tell him that. I am REALLY mad at him now.”

“Lips are zipped!” Mira promised. “Okay. I really do have to get going. Anything I can get you before I leave?”

“Nah,” Rachel replied. “I can at least get to the kitchen and back. That’s all I’m gonna need.”

“’Kay,” Mira said. “I’m heading out.”

“Have fun!” Rachel told Mira, mustering up a small show of happiness.

“As much fun as I can on Tanker Alley duty,” Mira said with a wink. “Be GLAD you’re missing this one.”

Then Rachel’s roommate was gone, and Rachel was left alone to stew. Which she did in silence for about half an hour. Then, realizing she needed to take proactive steps toward not spending two weeks in a swamp of self-pity, she picked up the remote on the bedside table, flicking on the television and opening up the streaming selection.

Her heart skipped a beat when she realized that Bulletproof Hearts: Despair Days had updated by two episodes without her even noticing. That would kill some time and put her mind on something more positive. Would today be the day that Spice Skomaru would finally figure out the mastermind behind the evil horde? Would her premonition of the future finally be given context?

Before Rachel could click the episode into playing, there was a ring at the doorbell.

Solicitors, she thought, or door-to-door religious converters asking her if she’d heard of the gospel of Narflak. So she ignored it.

Only for the doorbell to ring again. And again. And again and again and again and again –

“God dammit,” Rachel muttered as she slid out of bed. At least her pajamas were conservative; if she had to answer the door to sign for a package or anything, she wouldn’t have to worry about the delivery person seeing more than they should. Almost to the door, she had the presence of mind to test the waters by calling out, “WHO’S THERE?”

“ROOM SERVICE!”

She knew that voice. She would be able to pick that voice out of a crowd of one thousand. And there was absolutely no reason for the owner of that voice to be here, now.

In utter disbelief, Rachel opened the door –

And XR breezed into the apartment, nearly knocking her over. “Worry not!” he proclaimed. “Nurse XR is here to tend to your every need!”

Rachel could only stare at him dumbfoundedly.

He shifted from a chipper demeanor to staring her down (insofar as a person could do from a two foot height difference), hands on where hips would have been on a person. “Shouldn’t you be in bed, missy?”

She regained her ability to counter. “If I was in bed, I wouldn’t have been able to open the door, dumbass.”

“I don’t wanna hear aaaaaany more excuses! Back to bed! Go on! Scoot!”

Wondering if she was actually asleep and having a fever dream, Rachel obeyed, walking back into the bedroom and climbing back into the bed – ever more thankful that her pajamas didn’t show much off.

XR followed her into the bedroom, pausing just before the bed to pop his drawer and rummage about in it. “Let’s see here,” he muttered, “I brought one fleece blanket – don’t ask where I got it – one very fluffy pillow – don’t ask where I got it – one Jo-Adian-sized ice pack – don’t ask where I got it – and several extra-strength painkillers not on your prescription; DEFINITELY don’t ask where I got those.”

“I, uh…” Rachel realized she had to give in to the nonsense and stop trying to figure out what in the galaxy was happening. “I could use all of those things except the illegal narcotics.”

“You see, I THOUGHT you might feel that way,” XR remarked, “so I’m just gonna leave them in the drawer in case you want them later – “

“PLEASE DO NOT LEAVE ILLEGAL NARCOTICS IN MY APARTMENT WHERE THEY COULD BE FOUND ON A SWEEP,” Rachel said fiercely.

“Fine,” XR said haughtily, replacing the bag of variously sized and multicolored pills in his drawer. “I’ll keep them with ME unless you change your mind. But if you want them while I’m on mission tomorrow, that’s just too bad for you.”

It took Rachel a moment to stop thinking about how she was already on thin ice for the antidepressants hidden at the bottom of the panty drawer and realize what he’d just said. “On mission…tomorrow? Don’t you have one TODAY? Tanker Alley?”

“About that,” XR replied. “I put in a word with Commander Nebula and I just so happened to mention that I am VERY behind on my paperwork. I have literally MOUNTAINS of reports to file. So I got a free pass for the day in order to get a head start on those hours and hours’ worth of reports that need filing.”

That didn’t exactly clear things up. “So…why are you – “

“Hours and hours’ worth of reports,” XR clarified, “that I’m NOT GOING TO DO.”

“Oh,” Rachel realized. “Wait. So you lied to get a whole day off to – “

“Stop you from going insane having no one to talk to, yes.”

“You say that like talking to you doesn’t inherently make me more insane.”

“Har-dee-har.”

“Did Booster and Mira guilt you into this?” Rachel asked.

“Guilt?” XR repeated. “No! No-ho-hooooo! Not one bit! True, they MIGHT have mentioned on separate occasions that because you got that sprain trying to protect me, that means I’m INDIRECTLY responsible for your injury, in the TECHNICAL sense, but there is no GUILT here. All sincerity, this wasn’t their idea anyway. It was mine.”

“Why?” Rachel asked, dumbfounded.

“Because, like I said,” he reminded her, “I owe you one. One VERY BIG one. And I’m paying you back right now. Now hang on juuuuuuust a minute – “

He breezed around the room, throwing the blanket on top of Rachel and suddenly getting on the bed on her left side to tip her forward and settle the pillow and the absolutely enormous ice pack, and she barely had time to register how erratic her heartbeat became for that moment. Then he was back on the floor, and Rachel had to admit she was much more comfortable.

“You don’t have to do this,” she told him. “I mean, yeah, you do owe me one, but I’m fine. I’m not gonna go stir-crazy. There are new eps of Despair Days, and – “

XR shot a glance at the television. “Bulletproof Hearts?” he realized. “Now THERE’S a nostalgia trip. Are we gathering research for more fanfictions?”

“Let it die.”

“The files may be deleted, but the memories remain, Rach. Distinct memories of Vexyrian, Romyx, and oatmeal.”

“I DON’T EVEN SHIP THEM ANYMORE!” Rachel cried, a bit too loudly.

“What was this even about, anyway?” XR asked.

“Despair Days?” Rachel answered. “It’s a spinoff, actually. It focuses on Spice Skomaru, who’s Red’s half-sister. See, Spice has the ability to predict the future, and that put a bunch of hitmen on her. So when Nort figured out about her powers, he captured her and put her in isolation on an ice planet filled with robots who seem to be brainwashed to try and kill her, but she escaped, and now she’s trying to make her way through the frozen wasteland with – “ She realized she’d been infodumping. “It’s basically the same kind of drama as the main series.”

“That summary doesn’t actually help me,” XR replied. “See, when I asked, I meant what the WHOLE THING was about.”

Rachel gave him an utterly dumbfounded look. “You…don’t know what Bulletproof Hearts is about.”

“Not a clue.”

“We went through that whole incident of you trying to turn my old fanfictions into erotic fiction, and YOU DIDN’T EVEN KNOW WHAT THE SHOW WAS ABOUT.”

“I was aiming to make transformative work! Did I NEED to know what the show was about?”

“Oh my God,” Rachel sighed. “Bulletproof Hearts is – it’s simultaneously the best and worst piece of fiction of our generation. It’s my LIFE. It’s my OBSESSION. And you DON’T KNOW WHAT IT’S ABOUT.”

“Well, forgive me if the summaries of episodes of a television drama aren’t logged in Star Command’s database!”

Another heavy sigh from Rachel before she launched into another infodump: “So Bulletproof Hearts is about these kids who go to an academy to train for fighting evil. Like our academy – well, the academy Buzz, Mira, and Booster went to – but the fantasy version for younger teens who have weirder weapons. They’re divided into four teams that do assignments together, but all sixteen are best friends. The problem is the evil Nort and his flunkies want to challenge the gods and bring the light of hope and the darkness of despair into a clash that will remake the world, so they have to travel around to different planets, get wrapped up in the adventures of the locals, and put together the pieces of how to stop Nort. The problem is that Nort’s right-hand general, Monokrome, tempts them on every planet with a reason to kill each other off, and every so often, she succeeds and one of the kids ends up killing another, and they all have to work together to figure out who the murderer is. The main character, Red Kazora, is seriously my favorite. Like, he’s perfect. He’s this geeky mechanic type who starts out with major trust issues but then kinda falls in platonic love with everybody and makes friends at first sight. His best friend, Snow Hajiku, is more of the deadpan snarky type who seems cold at first, but their dynamic is just SO perfect, and they’re SO in love. Though, actually, Red’s canon love interest is Victory Chiakairi, who has a really troubled past because she – well, that’s a spoiler. But the thing is, she came from – no, that’s also a spoiler. But the whole fan treatment of Victory is complicated because – fuck. Spoiler. Wait. Why am I dancing around spoilers? You are NEVER going to watch this fucking show.”

“I wouldn’t say NEVER!” XR argued. “Now I want to know what my best-seller was going to be based on! Also, you made it sound kind of interesting just now.” He looked back to the television. “You’ve got it streaming?”

“It’s all on demand,” Rachel confirmed. “What, you want to binge it with me?”

Had she seriously just invited him to do that? In her defense, he had all but suggested it himself!

“Well, we have a whole day together, don’t we?” XR reminded her. “Fire it up.”

“XR, this show has a LOT of lore. It’s SUPER fucking complicated. There is a RUNNING FANDOM JOKE about how the plot is overcomplicated and doesn’t make sense to anyone except hardcore fans.”

“Are you saying I can’t keep up with a TV show plot?”

“That is exactly what I’m saying,” Rachel stated.

“Well,” XR replied, “CHALLENGE ACCEPTED.”

In one movement, he had hoisted himself onto the bed next to Rachel’s left side, and the ice pack was overclocking keeping her body temperature down from the proximity. He reclined back on the pillow on that side, hands tucked behind his helmet.

“Okay,” Rachel said, “but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

The problem about showing your special-interest fandom to the guy you liked, who really didn’t seem all that interested in fantasy fiction in the first place, was that if he didn’t end up liking it, you either had to doubt the integrity of your feelings for the fiction or your feelings for the guy. Both of which really deserved to be questioned, in her case, Rachel realized. This may very well have been the worst decision of her life.

Second worst, come to think of it, after getting her shoulder sprained trying to save an immortal robot from getting smashed.

If being attracted to XR was at all her decision, of course, that would be a solid first worst.

Still, she cued up the pilot episode, tense in anticipation of XR’s reaction. “Oh, by the way,” she mentioned, “I’ve seen this, like, a hundred times, so if I start saying the lines out loud along with the characters, smack me on the back of the head.”

“Duly noted. No takesies-backsies on that.”

A click of the remote and they were off.

Two hours in, there was a bowl on Rachel’s lap from which she casually ate popcorn while answering the early-season questions every Bulletproof Hearts rookie had:

“So…Noir hates Snow because…”

“Spoiler.”

“Am I picking up that Amarillo is hiding something?” “Yes.”

“What’s Snow’s specialty again?” “It was never said because you’re not supposed to know.”

“I don’t trust Castella.”

“WAIT FOR IT.”

It occurred to Rachel eventually that XR was not only miraculously following the plot of Bulletproof Hearts, but getting invested in it. That was a load off. This wasn’t going to be so bad after all.

***

“I’m starting to see what you mean about Red and Snow. Seriously, just KISS already.”

“THANK YOU.”

“Though Red and Victory aren’t bad either.”

“Just so long as you don’t ship Red with Castella Komisa.”

“People do that?” “People do that. And it is the literal worst. Besides, Reynard is right there! Why WOULDN’T you put Castella with Reynard?”

“Not seeing THAT chemistry.”

“Right. That’s not until episode seven. Just hang in there.”

***

“So THAT’S your boy toy.”

“ROMYX IS NOT MY BOY TOY.”

“You’re into mullets and eyeliner?”

“No I’m – are you going to make fun of me and Romyx or are you going to watch how actually good of a villain Romyx is?”

“I’m a robot. I’m built to multitask.”

***

“Geez, they wasted no time killing off Romyx, did they?”

“Yeah. He’s kind of an intro villain.”

“Does he come back?”

“No.”

“That’s ALL HE DOES?”

“Yes.”

“Why do you like HIM so much? He barely did anything!”

“BUT HE DID IT WITH SWAG. NOW SHUT UP.”

***

“Well, well, THERE’S a familiar name. …Wait, are you telling me Romyx and Vexyrian never meet?” “Not onscreen, but they both worked for Nort, so obviously – “

“And you wrote such PASSIONATE romance between them.”

“Is this Relive Rachel’s Most Embarrassing Hits hour? No. No it’s not.”

“Now, you see, THIS guy, I can get into as a villain. THIS guy has the chops. And unlike Romyx, he’s actually gonna stick around.”

“Uh…yeah.”

***

“Rach.”

“Yeah.”

“All the villains you love die.”

“I know.”

“Everything you touch dies.”

“Yes it does.”

“I mean, I guess this is something Romyx and Vexyrian actually have in common: they both die WAY too quickly.”

“AHA! SO NOW YOU ADMIT ROMYX WAS GONE TOO SOON!”

“GONE TOO SOON TO ACTUALLY BE A CHARACTER!”

***

The popcorn bowl was refilled.

***

“Well, here’s news for you,” Rachel muttered under her breath along with the villain of the hour. “You’re crying over Noir dying, but she isn’t dead. Because you can’t kill anything that never existed – HEY!”

She had received the lightest, most playful cuff on the back of the head from a metal hand.

“You told me to do that,” XR told her as he faced the screen, deliberately avoiding her look of playful scorn. “And you agreed to no takesies-backsies.”

***

“Sooooo…is now the wrong time to tell you that I actually do think Red is best off with Castella?”

“THAT’S IT. OUT. OUT OF MY APARTMENT NOW. RIGHT NOW. LEAVE THE ICE PACK.”

***

Sniffle. “Rach…when you tell this story later…you don’t tell anyone I cried over Victory.”

“Secret’s safe with me. I cried the first time I saw it, too.”

“She was – she had so much potential! She was so innocent!”

“I know. And it was just the most BULLSHIT death, too.”

“What kind of a HEARTLESS MONSTER is writing this stuff?”

“I might actually invite you onto my BH forum after this.”

“…You’re on a forum?”

“…Maybe.” “Do you still write – “

“NO! Also, you’re disinvited from the forum.”

“Well, THAT’S telling. Looks like I have another pen name to go looking for.”

“NO YOU DO NOT.”

***

“…WHAT?”

“Yes. YEEEEEES.”

“You’re telling me…this whole time…Braigel was…”

“YES! HE WAS! OH MY GOD, I HAVE NEVER ACTUALLY SEEN ANYONE GET BLINDSIDED BY THAT REVEAL IN REAL LIFE! DO YOU KNOW HOW SATISFYING THIS IS?”

“This…explains a few things and yet raises SO many more questions than it answers.”

“WELCOME TO BULLETPROOF HEARTS.”

***

“I never said thank you, did I?”

Rachel didn’t realize, at first, that this wasn’t a comment on the show. “I’M not the one who froze Ashe to death.”

“Not convinced she’s dead, but that’s not what I meant.”

“How could she have survived that?” Rachel said in an attempt to disguise the very obvious plot twist being set up. “And what ARE you talking about?”

“Just this whole business saving me from getting crushed by the crystal creep.”

Rachel froze, not having expected that to come back up. She took a chance to glance over at XR, and sure enough, he was looking at her, not the screen, and her eyes met his softly-glowing yellow lights. She wasn’t sure how to respond at first, but honesty got the better of her: “I just don’t like seeing you get hurt.”

“And let me tell you, does it SMART,” XR confirmed. “Sure, all it takes is a few screws tightened back in place, but it is a MAJOR inconvenience. Admittedly less of an inconvenience than a Grade II shoulder sprain. Which brings me back to my point: I never said thank you.”

She could’ve passed off some kind of reassurance and pretended it didn’t matter, or that she hadn’t noticed. But despite him having said he owed her, and owning up in a roundabout way to the fact that her injury was related to him, he hadn’t once said the specific words “thank you.” He knew that. She knew that. He knew she knew that, she knew he knew she knew that, and ad infinitum. “No,” she said. “You didn’t.”

“Well, I’m saying it now, and you can put this on the record,” XR told her. “Thank you.”

She almost said “you’re welcome” out of habit, but that would imply that he didn’t actually owe her anything for the save, and if he thought he didn’t owe her anything for the save, they wouldn’t be having as much fun as they were right now. What she ended up with was “Don’t make me do it again, dumbass.”

“If Buzz didn’t always assign me the life-threatening half of the job or insist on using me as bait, maybe I wouldn’t HAVE to.”

“Like I keep trying to argue him not to have you do?” She immediately regretted saying that; eventually he would have to figure out that she attempted to look out for him far more than anyone else on the team, and what exactly that meant.

Yet it seemed to have sailed right over XR’s head. “Next time,” he insisted, “I get the cushy job distracting the villain. HE can shut off the volatile circuit.”

“He does actually care, you know,” Rachel said quickly, worrying this would get out of hand; she didn’t want to breed a schism in the team by accident. “He just has to make tough decisions. Being team leader does that. I know I couldn’t handle it.”

“Funny: I KNOW I could handle it. Buuuuuuut I’m not going to gun for the title out of respect.” Which Rachel knew was code for a heavy trust in Buzz’s decision-making and a value of him as a friend.

“The day you become team leader,” Rachel said with a smirk, “is the day I quit.”

“The day you quit,” XR replied, “is the day I get your seat on 42. I’ve always wanted the window view.”

“If you’re at the window, who’s going to run analytics?”

“Like we NEED analytics. Whatever happened to winging it? Improvising? Making it up as we go?”

“You’re forgetting one crucial thing, XR.”

“What? Are you going to try and tell me my analytical skills are irreplaceable and we’d be nowhere without me working in that corner?”

Yes, Rachel thought. That is true. And I’m incredibly jealous of and impressed by how you’re able to crunch the numbers you do. “No,” she replied mischievously. “In this situation, I quit because you’re the captain, so why are you sitting in MY seat when Buzz’s is yours by default?”

“Wh – that wasn’t – “

“Don’t answer: it’s because you’re a dumbass.”

“Oh, you think you’re so smart,” XR huffed.

“I don’t think I’m smart,” Rachel replied. “I KNOW I’m smart.”

“Yeah, well,” XR replied, swiveling his head back to the television, “I’ve got news for you, sister – WHEN DID POSEIDON GET POSSESSED?”

“Shit,” Rachel hissed. “We’re gonna have to rewind a few scenes.”

Spitting vitriol at each other felt strangely comfortable. The insults, insincere at this point. All Rachel had really heard was “I never said thank you.” And all XR had really heard was “I just don’t like seeing you get hurt.”

***

It wasn’t until Rachel started waking up that she realized she’d fallen asleep. When had that happened? Without opening her eyes, she took stock of what had happened, trying to recall exactly when she’d wrapped up last night’s binge and kicked out her irritating if charming houseguest.

Observations: there was a constant stream of noise in the background – the sound of people talking. That was odd. Rachel’s position: propped up rather than laying down, though not as uncomfortable as one would expect, given that her back was against a very soft surface – several pillows, presumably. She’d slumped to the left a stitch, and was leaning on something quite solid.

That was when it hit. She hadn’t wrapped up the Bulletproof Hearts binge. She’d fallen asleep watching it. That was the noise: an episode still playing. Nor had she sent XR packing. He was still there, and she’d fallen asleep leaning against him.

Like the crack of a whip, adrenaline surged through Rachel’s body. Her eyes snapped open; she let out an instinct-driven, blood-curdling scream.

XR had apparently entered sleep mode around the same time she’d dozed off; the sound of the scream jolted his AI out of idling and brought him to consciousness. And when he realized, first of all, that he was being screamed at, and second of all, where he was, his immediate reaction was to let off an almost equally blood-curdling scream.

The symbiotic scream feedback continued for about a minute before both parties involved finally fell silent, staring at each other in panic.

Rachel scrambled for the words that were appropriate for this situation. True, it was completely chaste and innocent, but she’d just spent an entire night (how many hours? When, in fact, had she lost consciousness? Now the memories were becoming clearer; they’d both gone way past midnight, their commentary on the show getting increasingly more boisterous until they’d started getting tired) sleeping in the same bed as the man she had a hopeless and ridiculous crush on, and if there was a single part of her epidermis that wasn’t bright pink with a blush right now, she’d have been very surprised. The ice pack was finally spent, so that didn’t help. Her heart seemed about ready to beat itself to death and pop right out through her sternum, thundering in her veins.

As usual, however, XR had words where others would be speechless. “All right, all right,” he said in a tone that might have sounded breathless if he actually needed to breathe, “just calm down. Yes, apparently we fell asleep like that. But what matters here is that neither of us did, said, or meant anything that would make this at all what it looks like from the outside.” And he was adamant about that.

Did? Of course not. Said? Nope. Meant? Depended on your definition and whether or not you were referring to something sexual or something simply stirring to the heart. Rachel shoved that aside. “And…nobody saw,” she added. “We’re alone. It’s fine. It’s fine! This isn’t weird!” Her voice cracked, slipping into falsetto. “IT’S NOT WEIRD!” Trying to drown out that accursed heartbeat.

“No,” XR told her, now perfectly calm and cocky as per usual. “It is most certainly NOT, so you can dial it down a notch.”

She paused. Bit her lip. Said the next words in a low, semi-chilled tone: “You’re the worst pillow in existence.”

“Well, if I’d have known I was going to have an organic try and use me as one, I MIGHT have been generous enough to activate an airbag.”

“I did not TRY – “ Rachel grit her teeth. “Did I go out first or did you?”

“I don’t remember!” XR protested. “All I know is we ran out of commentary, I’m reading an episode title card, next thing you know, I’m off to dreamland with the electric sheep.”

Rachel leaned her head back against the wall. “This never happened.”

“The only thing anyone needs to think I fell asleep on is that mountain of paperwork that’s still sitting on my desk.”

Rachel flinched. “There’s actual paperwork you’re behind on, isn’t there?”

“Well, gee, I happen to be DOWN ONE COPY EDITOR, so yes, there is.”

“I forgot you’d actually have to try and write at at least a third-grade reading level for two weeks.”

“Excuse you; I’m up to a fourth-grade level at LEAST.”

Arguing pettily put them back on their usual level. The awkwardness was subsiding, at least on Rachel’s part. On XR’s? She couldn’t read him. He didn’t seem fazed, but was that really a surprise? The bigger surprise was that he hadn’t tried to make some kind of lewd comment out of this. That, once again, brought Rachel to the eternal conundrum of being glad he didn’t obviously ogle her and yet frustrated that she was the only woman he didn’t.

She glanced over to the clock. “You have to get moving, don’t you?”

“Well, not for another hour and a half,” he admitted. “If you wanted to yell at one more episode for a palate cleanser. I’m just saying.”

A cleansed palate was exactly what Rachel needed right now. “I’m down,” she stated. “Where’d you leave off?”

“Where’d YOU leave off?” “It literally does not matter,” she reminded him. “I’ve seen this show a hundred times, remember?” She took the remote in hand, barely able to hold it steady with the shaking. How had it gotten this bad again? Less than twenty-four hours ago, they were just lounging with each other on the bed like normal friends, and Rachel had felt less jittery and far more comfortable with XR than she could’ve hoped for at this point. Now that had just been erased like a chalkboard swiped with a soaking sponge. She managed to pause the running television: no mean feat.

“The last thing I saw was the title card for Funhouse of Horrors,” XR related.

So she’d gone out first, Rachel realized, but only by a few minutes. Maybe fifteen. Then the topic she should’ve been concerned with immediately sprang to her lips: “Wait. Funhouse of Horrors? THAT episode? Oh, that is NOT an episode you just watch and LEAVE.”

“I feel like you’re implying I can’t handle it.”

“IT’S A TERRIBLE CLIFFHANGER.”

“Please. I eat cliffhangers for breakfast.”

“That…literally makes no sense, XR.” She flicked through the menu. “But it’s your funeral.”

***

The ending of the episode, as Rachel had predicted, left XR staring slack-jawed (or the equivalent when one’s jaw was hinged) at the screen. She stopped the credits roll, letting him gape in silence for a moment as her smirk grew ever smugger.

At last, he managed, “Okay. Who did it?” “Spoilers,” Rachel said mischievously.

“I mean it,” XR urged. “Who killed Oregano?”

“SPOI…LERS.”

“Now you and I both know this is the time when I have to take my leave, as much as I know you’ll miss me.” (You have no idea, Rachel thought.) “Just give me the name of the murderer and I’ll be on my merry way.”

“I’m not telling you,” Rachel replied. “If you wanna know, you’re gonna have to watch it yourself. You’re IN now, so I’m not going to ruin it.”

“Okaaaay, new angle. Obviously, you’re not going to tell me who KILLED Oregano, so at least tell me how he DIED.”

“Nnnnope,” Rachel held out.

“Come on, you can at least confirm if it was the same person who unleashed the genetically modified ghost army.”

“No I can’t.” Rachel was enjoying this far too much.

“Look,” XR practically snapped, “you and I both know that without Oregano’s expertise, none of the rest of them are going to be able to get through that casino-themed torture chamber. Not to mention while they’re all starving to death. And even if they do, Ashe is waiting on the other side with Larxeo, which I have to admit was a REALLY poetic touch, giving her Romyx’s leather jacket like that, REALLY made you feel for the villains for once, but if you’re GOING to leave me on that note, at least tell me WHO…KILLED…OREGANO.”

Rachel made a motion of zipping her mouth shut and locking it with a padlock.

“You’re heartless,” XR accused.

Rachel nodded in affirmation.

“I’m going to be thinking about this all day,” XR continued as he shifted off the bed, treads hitting the floor. “And if this throws me off my game, it’s gonna be your fault.”

She dealt him the most wicked grin she could muster.

“Well, I’m on patrol,” he relented. “What are you gonna do?”

“Probably catch up on those last two eps of Despair Days,” Rachel answered, “then slip back into a coma for another twelve hours. …A NON-NARCOTIC-INDUCED COMA.”

“Well, good luck with that,” XR told her. “My work here is done.”

All she could say at first was “Um, yeah.”

“And with that,” XR declared jovially, “your doting caretaker bids you adieu.” A playful bow.

“Wait,” Rachel said before he could leave.

“Yeeees?”

This was one of those times when it was hard to drop the banter and just be honest with him. Yet it was crucial. “Thanks for visiting. I had a lot of fun.”

“The pleasure was mine,” XR replied with a wink. “You know, we should really hang out more often.”

“For the record, you don’t actually drive me insane to talk to.”

“I knew that, Rach. And, full disclosure, you’re a real pal, got that?”

That was almost more meaningful than an I-love-you. “I got it. Now get out of here before I come to my senses and stop being honest.”

“Consider me gone.”

And then he was. She heard the apartment door open, then click shut, and Rachel was alone, half wondering if she’d hallucinated the past day.

Letting herself smile because he really did like her, after all, even if it wasn’t exactly the way she could’ve asked for, and they had just spent hours upon hours together, she went back to the final two episodes she’d been meaning to watch from the beginning.

The cutoff point ended with exactly as many dangling plot threads as the rest of the show, and that gave Rachel’s mind plenty to grind on as she settled back down into the bed, ready to fall asleep in a more comfortable position and kill as much time as she could that way, now that she had no one to talk to.

A familiar scent twitched at her nostrils, and it suddenly occurred to her that she hadn’t drawn the conclusion of its presence two hours ago. It very faintly smelled like the pillow next to her was smoldering. Of course. XR had been laying on it for hours; his burned-marshmallow scent had transferred right over to it.

Rachel’s left hand grabbed at the pillow, drawing it up to her face. Up close, it definitely smelled like it had a lit match dropped onto it at some point, though the fabric was undamaged, yet again suggesting, bafflingly, that the scent was not the sign of some malfunction. Now Rachel had two choices. She could go full tsuntsun and chuck that pillow to the far end of the room, to be forgotten about until laundry day. Or she could fall asleep hugging it like some kind of perverted stalker. (A taste of his own medicine, hm?) Just putting it back in place was not an option.

Throw it, she told herself. Increase the denial.

What won was the argument was that it wasn’t that creepy, really, not when she didn’t have actual predatory intentions – just to have a sensory input that reminded her of someone she liked being around.

Sleep took her over as she cradled that pillow close, breathing in what could have been the odor of the aftermath of an arson scene.

***

Rachel was awoken by the sound of the doorbell. After the first ring, she waited a moment to see if another barrage of ringing would follow.

Instead, when she didn’t answer, it was a sharp knocking that came at the door. A slight disappointment.

She crept out of bed, calling out tentatively, once more, “WHO IS IT?”. What time was it, anyway? A glance at the clock told her it was ten at night.

“DELIVERY FOR RACHEL SPARKS!” That actually was the voice of the regular deliveryman. All hope was doused. Then again, receiving a package was a pretty rare event. Rachel couldn’t imagine what the delivery was. As covert as she’d tried to make her antidepressant acquisition, she hadn’t scheduled anything for this time.

Prying open the door, she saw the deliveryman smiling his biggest at her; did this guy seriously mean it every time he smiled like that, or was it a façade to hide an ennui with his job? She hoped it was the former. “What’s up?” she asked.

“Rachel!” the deliveryman greeted. “Special delivery just for you! It was just sent out this evening!” He extended a clipboard.

“I, uh…” Rachel gave him a sheepish look. “Can’t really use my right hand right now. Can we just do the retinal scan and call it good?”

“Sure thing!” He acquiesced; a mild laser made Rachel’s eye twitch but confirmed her identity enough for the package to be handed over. It was stuffed into a bubble-wrap-lined manila envelope, barely small enough to be contained by its manila skin. Rachel had a strong guess that it was a tape based on that. Goodness knew she’d tried to mail tapes that way before. Who hadn’t?

She told the deliveryman thank you, and he gave her a jovial “Haaaave a nice day!” before gallivanting off into the night, hopefully not to stay out too late making other deliveries.

Rachel shut and locked the door, bringing the envelope back to the bed to open it up as best she could with one hand (which turned out to be a bit of an ordeal; her teeth got involved). As she’d thought, it was a tape: unlabeled. That could mean anything from an anonymous death threat to a video will informing her she’d inherited two million unibucks from a great-uncle she’d never heard of.

She inserted it into the player, tuning the television to the proper reception signal and clicking the tape into play.

It began with a countdown of a “3…2…” on a spinning gray circle that had obviously been added in post-production. The next thing Rachel knew, she was looking at a view of Buzz Lightyear, Mira Nova, and Booster Munchapper on a desert plain, all three of them smiling in her direction.

“AAAAAAND WE ARE ROLLING!” XR’s voice declared; Rachel realized he was the one filming, probably right through his eyes. “Spotlight’s on you, people! Let’s hear it with FEELING!”

“Hi, Rachel!” Mira began, waving.

“How’re ya doing?” Booster asked before realizing, “Wait…you can’t answer. Sorry.”

“It’s just not the same without you, ranger,” Buzz added. “But thanks to XR here, today, you get to sit back, relax, and keep healing while we do the dirty work.”

“And you get a front-row seat to all the action!” Booster agreed. “And boy, is this a big one today.”

“Way, WAY bigger than Tanker Alley,” Mira added. “Sorry you have to miss it, but, then again, this also means you don’t have to have your life threatened today, so…silver lining?”

“It’s life-threatening indeed,” Buzz stated somberly. “We’re on a mission to stop Zurg from engineering a duplicate of the Motzrothian senator and using his guise to order lax labor laws – “

“Come on!” XR urged. “Can’t you make this all a little more DRAMATIC? The EVIL EMPEROR ZURG has accessed superior cyborg cloning technology that, in the wrong hands, could bring the entire galaxy to ruination, AND IT HAPPENS TO BE IN THE WRONG HANDS! Only the bravest team in all of Star Command has any hope whatsoever of stopping him! And the key to Zurg’s destruction lies with one man in particular: the bravest, most intelligent, and most ATTRACTIVE robot to ever cross his path – “

“Okay, we’re stopping there,” Mira interrupted.

That was when a hover platform bearing Zurg floated down from the sky behind the team, and the evil emperor himself pointed accusingly: “LIGHTYEAR! So you and your team of has-beens decided to show up after all! It’s about time! I was expecting you thirty minutes ago! Does punctuality mean NOTHING to you hero types? Oh, well, no matter. There’s still PLENTY of time for you to hear about how I’ve factored your demise into my newest fiendish plan!”

“Yeah, why don’t you tell us what you’re planning to do?” Mira asked innocently.

“Gladly,” Zurg told her. “For, you see, I want you to have a chance to DREAD the excruciating pain I have in store for you.”

In a low whisper that Rachel knew only she could hear, XR narrated, “A classic gambit. Our heroes trick the overly egotistical villain into bragging about exactly what he plans to do to them…” He’d begun rolling, moving gingerly away from Zurg. “…giving their secret weapon, i.e. me, a chance to find the evil device he’s planted on this planet, disable it before he notices, and then – “

“OH, NO, YOU ABSOLUTELY DON’T!” Zurg suddenly bellowed mid-monologue. The camera whirled; Zurg was pointing directly at XR. “You think you can get your ROBOT to slip away while I’m instilling dread!” Suddenly he’d zoomed right up before XR, filling the screen. “Just for that, I’m upgrading your torture to the DELUXE package. Intense pain, simultaneous psychological torment, and I get a smoothie. You’ll WISH you were going through your friends’ basic torture package.”

“Speaking of my friends,” XR said cockily, leaving it at that.

“Wait – “ Zurg spun a 180, and XR peeked around him to capture on film that while Zurg was distracted threatening XR, the other three had scattered. “WHHHHHAT?”

“Man, is this guy a moron,” XR commented.

“WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME?” Zurg screamed, turning back to XR.

“To put it in context,” XR explained, “I’m filming this for a friend, hence the narration.”

“Wait a minute,” Zurg realized. “Is it the blonde ranger? The one whose name I can never remember? Because I NOTICED she wasn’t here today, but I wasn’t about to SAY anything. I was rather hoping she’d perished when I wasn’t looking, though. But maybe it’s better this way. I mean, now I do get the pleasure of killing her myself. Eventually. Whenever she shows – NO. ENOUGH STALLING!”

He knocked XR into the sand before taking off to pursue the others.

Rachel watched the entire mission play out, from Zurg thinking he had the upper hand to his eventual foiling and his rocketing away, crying, “CURSE YOU, BUZZ LIGHTYEEEEAAAR!”. Rachel did in fact wish she were there to live out the magic herself, but really, this was the next best thing.

“All right, team,” Buzz directed, looking to the wreckage of Zurg’s cyborg cloning device (which admittedly did make Rachel curious as to how exactly it worked). “Time to get this evidence wrapped up and confiscated before some other miscreant comes along and – “

“Oh, you think you’re gonna pack this all up and ship it off, do ya?” a deep voice broke in. XR’s camera swiveled immediately to observe a familiar figure holding up the device’s energy core in one hand and hovering the other over his chest plate. “I got a better idea. I sell this back to Zurg for the big bucks, and whichever ones of ya I don’t finish off here, he gets to later.”

“TORQUE!” Buzz, Mira, and Booster chorused.

“Now, how’s THAT for a plot twist?” XR cried triumphantly.

Team Lightyear was soon engaged in a battle against the Torque Armada, which was at least seven strong – Rachel kept losing track of exactly how many duplicates were on the field. At one point, one of the Torques was advancing upon XR, declaring, “Now, you, baby, you’re some high-tech stuff. I could use your components.”

“Hold on,” XR replied, which halted Torque in his tracks. “Could you say that again, but a little louder, with more clarity? And try to sound a little more threatening. You’re the villain here, after all.”

“Huh?” Torque regarded XR with confusion. “Hey, wait…you filmin’ this?”

“You may have noticed we’re one short today,” XR informed him. “I’m sending this back to her so she can be here without being here, if you catch my drift.”

“Oh, this is for Blondie, ain’t it?” Torque realized. “We-he-hell…” He drew himself upright, puffed out his chest, and stood at an angle. “Be sure to get my good side.”

“Any well-wishes for our out-of-commission teammate?” XR asked.

“Yeah, I got one,” Torque affirmed. “Hey you, Blondie, you keep on keepin’ on, ya hear? Even when the chips are down and it seems hopeless, ya gotta keep fightin’ the good fight. For instance, you’re probably gonna feel real down after I STRIP YOUR LITTLE ROBOT CAMERAMAN FOR PARTS.”

That prompted XR to whirl about and head in the opposite direction as quickly as he could, crying out, “THAAAAAT’S ENOUGH OF TORQUE’S CLOSE-UP!”

Rachel couldn’t help but giggle. After all, she knew he (and the entire team, for that matter) had come out of this okay, or the tape wouldn’t have gotten edited and sent back to her.

After Torque was subdued, the camera suddenly cut to a view from atop a high plateau; down below, in the desert, four figures were battling. Rachel recognized them as Buzz, Mira, Booster, and someone she really should’ve expected at this point.

“So, it turns out that our viewing audience was one hundred percent correct,” XR narrated. “Zurg, Torque, and NOS-4-A2 did in fact all strike on the same day. Now, since NOSy is a particularly tough enemy with a sordid history with Star Command, I thought the epic showdown was best filmed from more of a wide angle bordering on bird’s-eye. After all, I don’t want to get cl – YOU don’t want to miss a second of this action! As usual, of course, our heroes are getting the upper hand, and – where’d he go? No, seriously, where is he?”

NOS-4-A2 had disappeared from the battlefield, and Rachel could see that Buzz, Mira, and Booster were all exchanging shrugs and searching for him in a panic.

All of a sudden, NOS-4-A2’s face filled the camera, a sly grin plastered across his face. “Playing a little game of hide-and-seek, are we, little one? Hm?” he chuckled. “I do so enjoy the thrill of the chase.”

The last thing Rachel heard before the visuals cut out was XR yelping “OKAYYOUFOUNDMEYOUWONNOWLEAVEMEALONE – “

The immediate next scene was of NOS-4-A2, powered down and clamped into iron bands that bound his limbs and prevented him from spreading his wings. “I never doubted for a minute we’d get him,” XR proclaimed. “Of course, it was my idea to play the sitting duck and draw him in so the others could make their move. YOU’RE WELCOME!”

“I thought it was us who saved you,” Booster said in legitimate confusion. “You were REALLY scared – “

“WAS NOT,” XR argued.

Mira chuckled. “I think we’ll leave Rachel to make that call. She probably knows EXACTLY what happened on that subject.”

Rachel did know exactly what had happened. He was a fraidy-cat moron. He was her personal favorite fraidy-cat moron.

One more shot of the team grouped up, smiling and waving. “Sorry again you had to miss that, Rachel!” Booster cried.

“I hope you’re feeling better!” Mira added. “And I hope you had fun watching XR get chased around by all the bad guys!”

“That is an INCREDIBLE oversimplification of what happened,” XR argued.

“Lookin’ forward to when you can join us on the adventure again,” Buzz concluded. “Now you get some rest, Rachel.”

“And so concludes another epic episode of The Adventures of Team Ligh – no, wait,” XR mused, “there has to be a better title for this. Star Command’s Ranger Lightyear? Buzz Lightyear and the Rangers. No, wait, BUZZ LIGHTYEAR OF ST – actually, scrap that: THE ADVENTURES OF XR, ROBOT RANGER.”

The giggle that came out of Rachel’s throat was riding on a snort.

“Aaaaand SCENE!” With that final declaration, the tape ended.

Rachel made a childishly high squeal. He’d really thought to tape the mission for her so she wouldn’t miss out. She could hardly have been happier at that point.

Way past midnight, again. Time to get back to sleep. Cuddling that burned-marshmallow-smell pillow even tighter; who was around to judge?

***

The doorbell rang.

Rachel had lost all sense of time. There was sleep, there was the state of waking, and there was the doorbell to facilitate the transition from one to the other.

The doorbell again. And again. And again –

Perhaps she was a little too eager to leap out of bed. Her shoulder twinged, reminding her that she had to take it slow. Without even asking who was there, she opened the door.

XR sped right past her once again, parking in the midst of the living room and swiveling to face her. “How’s the patient?” he asked, his seemingly chipper smile betraying a hint of hidden frustration. “Feeling better? Resting up? Getting her strength back? On the mend? WHO KILLED OREGANO?”

“So THAT’S what this is about,” Rachel laughed. “And you did SUCH a good job of not letting it show that cliffhanger was bothering you in the tape.”

“There’s a time for business and a time to resolve cliffhangers,” XR explained. “So are we going to or not?”

“I am SO looking forward to seeing your face when you see this revelation,” Rachel said with a grin.

“Ten minutes for popcorn and I’m there,” XR told her. Rachel was at first flattered again that he was concerned with supplying her with food until she remembered that he continually, bafflingly forgot that he couldn’t eat food. It always was rather humorous to watch him try.

They settled on the bed in their previous configuration. Rachel had discreetly put the pillow back where it had been, feeling almost sneaky in hiding how she’d cradled it in her good arm for the past two nights. XR had at least had the presence of mind to tote a second ice pack – or, perhaps, at this stage, it was a little more than “at least.” Rachel shoveled a fistful of the popcorn that XR was seconds away from remembering the hard way that he couldn’t eat into her own mouth, clicking the next episode of Bulletproof Hearts into play.

When the mystery was solved (“AN ELEVATOR? Also, I was SURE Castella was behind this one!”) and the action had died down a bit, Rachel asked, “What was your excuse this time?”

“Well, without you to manage the spreadsheets,” XR explained, “we have a huge backlog of spreadsheets that need to be organized. Which I took it upon myself to do. And that’s what you’re going to tell Nebula if he calls and asks where I am.”

Why would he call here to ask where you are? Rachel wondered. It’s not like anyone outside the team would draw a connection between me and you. Then, suddenly stricken with dread: “XR, these are fake spreadsheets you made up to get a day off, right? They don’t actually exist, right? WE DON’T ACTUALLY HAVE A BACKLOG OF SPREADSHEETS I’M GONNA NEED TO DO WHEN I GET BACK ON DUTY, RIGHT?”

XR was dead silent, staring ahead at the screen.

“XR. DO…THESE…SPREADSHEETS…EXIST?”

His head swiveled to face her, his eyes appearing half-lidded with emerald light (really, Rachel couldn’t be the only person in the world who noticed how many colors his eye-lights could be, could she?), and he said in the least reassuring tone possible, “SPOILERS.”

***

For the next two weeks, some days, he was there, and it was a neverending stream of snark at the television. Bulletproof Hearts was finished –

“Am I supposed to feel satisfied or disappointed about that finale? Because both of those are gunning for it.”

“I dunno what the crew intended, but that’s EVERY fan’s reaction.”

Despair Days knocked out –

“So does Spice ever, you know, join the actual main plot?”

“Not yet. But there ARE rumors of an official next season of BH in production. Nothing confirmed, of course, but – “

“And you just HAD to get me to the point where that would actually affect me, didn’t you?”

And after that, just whatever they could find that either was relatively interested in watching, or, more appropriately, interested in yelling and/or laughing at in between synchronized slurps of diet orange soda and 0W SAE J300.

Some days, he wasn’t there, but at the end of the day, there was always, always a tape chronicling whatever expedition Rachel had missed that day, complete with requests of well-wishes from whoever XR crossed paths with. So far, he’d managed to accumulate:

· A sullen “Don’t die” from Dr. Furbanna.

· A tirade from Eon about how fragile primitive lifeforms were, and how he couldn’t imagine living in a body where stressing out a single shoulder could put you out for more than an hour.

· A “Gargantia wishes its hero well!” from Ambassador Major.

· A “GARGANTIA SPITS ON YOUR NAME!” from Monumentus.

· A gruff “You better be staying in bed, ranger. Oh, and get well soon.” from Commander Nebula, with a chorus of chirps from the LGMs in the background.

· An “Isn’t that the blonde one? Okay, yeah, feel better!” from Petra.

· A “GOOD. I mean, oh, yes, of course, I have no reason to NOT want you pursuing me!” from Rentwhistle Swack.

· An “XL is destroying everything, and you want me to say WHAT?” from Savy SL-4.

· An “I’m trying to destroy everything, and you want me to say WHAT?” from XL.

· An “ARE YOU KIDDING ME?” from Warp Darkmatter while Evan Aries discreetly made a heart shape with his hands in the background, aiming it at Rachel with a sheepish expression.

The more the days progressed, Rachel thought, she really ought to lighten up on calling XR a dumbass. He’d more than made up for being the reason for her sprain in the first place. This while chastely cuddling her pillow that now smelled like it had been tossed on a barbecue grill.

***

Finally, she regained the mobility in her shoulder, with only a light tenderness to remind her of the damage, and that would fade soon. Medical cleared her for duty, and she reunited with the rest of Team Lightyear in the mess hall.

“Good to have you back, Rachel!” Buzz just about gave her a hearty clap on the right shoulder – then remembered and repositioned himself to deal the affectionate blow to her left instead. “It just isn’t the same without all five of us on the team. It’ll be good to have XR back, too.” He shot a glance toward XR. “Not that I don’t approve of you taking time off to spend with Rachel, since…you know…”

“It WAS his fault she got hurt,” Mira said coldly.

“Hey now!” XR protested. “We talked about this!”

“I was going to say because he’s a good friend,” Buzz finished. “And that’s what good friends do. Not that we’re not ALL good friends, but we couldn’t have taken the entire team off the field, and XR was the one who volunteered – “

“I getcha,” Rachel said with a nod. “Don’t worry. I’m not gonna hold up your analyst anymore. Provided he doesn’t sprain anything else on me.”

“I make no promises,” XR replied, “but I will try my DARNEDEST. Yes, I said DARNEDEST, so you know I’m serious.”

“How’d chilling out without us go, by the way?” Mira asked, and Rachel could see the question she was really asking written on her face.

“Yeah!” Booster echoed, obviously picking up the same thread. “Did anything SPECIAL happen while you two were hanging out?”

As Rachel, positioned behind XR, frantically made “please no” gestures at the gossipy pair, slicing her hands through the air, XR replied, “As a matter of fact, yes.”

Even Rachel froze, wondering what he was referring to and hoping against hope - “Rachel ruined my life by getting me addicted to her stupid show and now I can’t actually not care about what’s going to happen next season.”

Rachel’s heart restarted beating.

XR swiveled to look up to her; “You’re SURE we don’t have an airdate on that, by the way?”

“Not until they finish Despair Days,” Rachel asserted.

“Yes,” XR snarked, “because we need to focus on this side plot that has NOTHING to do with the remnants of Nort’s plan, has NO connection to Ashe and Braigel picking up the pieces with the relics, and won’t even ADDRESS the fact that Spice and Red are related and whether that means Spice has the golden eyes. I HATE that you made me actually know what I’m talking about.”

“BUT…IF SPICE AND VERTHANDI BECOME CANON …”

“Then a thousand fanfictions will be written,” XR said with a smirk, “and it will be that much easier to find your new pen name.”

God forbid. That would lead him to GEAvillain and a whole can of worms that needed to stay shut. “You’ll never find me,” she said cheekily, covering up the panic associated with the hypothetical that he might, in fact, figure out the identity of JCMotzroth. Changing the subject by force, she looked Buzz in the eye. “Sooooo. How are things with Bonnie?”

“We, uh…” Buzz rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “We kinda…sorta…didn’t work out.”

“Oh,” Rachel replied. She’d seen that one coming a mile off, but that didn’t lessen the pain for him, and she knew it. “I’m sorry.”

“No, no,” Buzz explained, “I was the one who called it off. There was just no spark there. Pun not intended. Anyway, you were right. I shouldn’t have said yes. Only reason I did was because I didn’t wanna let her down, but it just…well, it didn’t feel right after our history! I should’ve just listened to you – “

Rachel’s stomach began to stir. Being right wasn’t the victory she’d hoped it would be. First of all, it still couldn’t have been easy on Buzz to figure out the relationship was going nowhere. Second, she’d almost put stock in him and Bonnie changing her mind. If Bonnie could turn Buzz’s interest her way, certainly that meant there wasn’t any harm in Rachel putting the subject on the table regarding a certain someone else.

A certain someone else who chose that moment to say “And WHEN are you going to learn that Rachel and I are always, always, ALWAYS right?”

That broke the spell. “HEY!” Rachel yelled down at XR. “You weren’t with me on that one at ALL!”

“Yes, I was,” XR argued. “I definitely didn’t want those two to date. I believe I made that PERFECTLY clear.”

“Yeah, because you wanted Bonnie for YOURSELF,” Rachel argued. “Not because you thought she was making Buzz uncomfortable!”

“I knew she was making him uncomfortable, which is why I so GRACIOUSLY stepped in to divert her attention – “

“Bull SHIT.”

“It’s all back to normal around here, all right,” Mira said teasingly.

Heading out of the mess hall, XR told Rachel, “You know, now that you’ve made a diehard Bulletproof Hearts addict out of me, I have to pay you back.”

“What do YOU have that you could POSSIBLY get me into?” Rachel asked.

“I bet I could make a gambler out of you,” XR teased, knowing full well that had a snowball’s chance in the sun’s core of happening.

“Yeah, no,” Rachel told him. “Keep dreaming.”

“Wanna bet? Ten unibucks says you get into it.”

“I’ll take tha – OHHHH. I SEE WHAT YOU ARE TRYING TO DO. AND IT IS NOT GOING TO WORK. NO BET.”

They glared at each other, as was customary, before their expressions softened, allowing each other a smile.

Far be it from Rachel to sacrifice a good friendship over feelings she had no business even having. All the same, it felt sour within to know that she could never tell him. She wasn’t about to become his Bonnie Lepton. And she wasn’t about to be his mistake.

#selfship #electric love #xrach

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cycwrites · 6 years ago

Text

The Middle

Alternatively titled: Can Beca Come Out and Play – Or that time Stacie Got Bored

A/N: A post Nowish Stechlobree/PolyBellasSquared fluff and smut oneshot. Cause why not. And the Beta demanded I write her smut. Gotta keep @tiny-maus-boots happy.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Rating: Mature

Words: 18,000ish

Also on AO3 and FFN

All other works in my A Shared Lifetime AU can be found here though I do recommend reading it in the Written Order series on AO3.

~C~

Friday, September 1st, 2017

Chloe settled back against a pillow and grabbed her magazine from the bedside table. She’d just gotten out of the shower and planned to read a bit before she had to think about dinner. Beca had worked from home that day and was still in her studio, though she’d promised Chloe she’d be done soon.

When her phone chimed twice in a row, she picked it up and smiled.

Stacie: Oh baby! Why don’t you just meet me in the middddllllle

Stacie: I’m losin’ my mind just a littllllllllle

Chloe: Are you drunk?

Stacie: Maaaaaybe. Bree had to go back to work for a few hours and I got bored so I made something fruity.

Stacie: Speaking of fruity – can Beca come out and play?

Chloe laughed out loud.

“What’s so funny?”

She looked up and saw Beca walk into the room.

“Stacie’s singing ‘The Middle’ to me again. Bree had to go back to work and Stacie got bored. Wants to know if you can come out and play.” She grinned when Beca mock rolled her eyes as she went to their dresser.

“Doesn’t she know that song is about… like… a fight and compromise, not ‘come out and play in the pool between our houses’?” Beca rummaged through the drawers and set out some shorts and a t-shirt.

Chloe shrugged. “I know I’m not the only one who thinks it’s adorable when she drunk serenades us with it.” She waited and while Beca remained silent, Chloe could see her smiling in one of the mirrors. “In fact, the last time that happened, I’m pretty sure you were the one who stood naked in our back door until she noticed you. At noon. On a Saturday.”

Beca turned around. “Hey, Bree dared me to.” She grinned wider. “She wanted to see how long it’d take Stacie to see me.”

Chloe laughed. “I remember.” It had been less than a second. Aubrey had literally timed it. ‘.751 seconds. That’s my girl.’ Stacie had been by the pool and homed in on Beca like a shark, pushing her back into the kitchen almost before Chloe had even realized Beca had opened the door.

Beca wiggled her eyebrows. “That was a good day.” She hip bumped the drawer close. “A really good day.”

Chloe nodded, grinning. It had been a great day and the four of them had barely made it upstairs before things had gotten serious. Well, as serious as they could be with Stacie and Beca giggling like teenagers; until Aubrey had gotten her hands on them, at least. Things had gotten a little (lot) more breathy then.

“She’s been drinking today too…” Chloe trailed off as watched as Beca stripped down for her shower and threw her clothes in the hamper. “What was I saying? I got distracted.” She bit her lip, ever appreciative of Beca’s naked form.

Beca grinned over her shoulder as she walked into the bathroom. “Have her come over; I’ll be out shortly.”

Chloe looked back down. “Right. Stacie. Texting.”

Chloe: So pull me closer Why don’t you pull me close? Why don’t you come on overrrrrrrr

Chloe: B just got in the shower and I’m just reading in bed, so come on up.

Chloe didn’t get an answer and after only a few seconds she had a silent bet with herself as she threw her phone to the side and held up her magazine again, though she looked over the top instead of reading it.

Either Stacie was just heading over from her house and wasn’t going to bother with answering, or… A shadow in the hall told her it was option two: Stacie had originally texted from the back door, if she wasn’t already in the kitchen. Chloe had a second bet with herself – would Stacie be clothed or not – but she knew there really was only one answer.

Chloe started to sing. “I need you on my skin, just come over, pull me in…”

Chloe broke off and drew in a deep breath when Stacie appeared in the doorway. Expected or not, the sight of a completely naked Stacie Conrad was something that she didn’t think she would ever get used to. Or get enough of. Hell, she wasn’t even really used to a naked Beca after all these years. Throw a naked Staubrey on top of all that… ‘Maybe not the best way to phrase it.’ Chloe grinned up at Stacie, desire already coiling through her. ‘Or the perfect way, I suppose.’ She bit her lip as Stacie stalked into the room, her eyes intent on Chloe’s, a small smile playing across her mouth.

Reaching the bed, Stacie slowly eased onto it on all fours and, not for the first time, Chloe thought she was like a giant jungle cat. All smooth muscle, liquid movements and focused solely on her prey. Chloe felt her body start to tingle in anticipation as Stacie paused just before she reached Chloe’s outstretched legs.

Chloe swallowed as she watched Stacie lower her face down until it was just above one of Chloe’s shins. Her tongue came out and delicately touched skin as Stacie continued her slow pace up Chloe’s body, her tongue lightly moving from shin to knee to thigh until stopped by Chloe’s shorts. She looked up, mischief bright in her green eyes, before tugging once at the bottom of Chloe’s shorts with her teeth. Chloe’s breath hitched in her throat as her legs automatically parted to allow Stacie’s shifting body between them.

Then she simply pressed her nose into Chloe’s thigh and moved upward, dragging the hem of Chloe’s shirt as, just like a cat, she pushed her head down and against the bottom of the magazine Chloe had forgotten she was holding. When Chloe was too stunned to move, overwhelmed a bit by all that skin, Stacie sat up and plucked the magazine from her hand, smiling as she tossed it gently to the side. She immediately resumed pushing Chloe’s shirt up with her nose, allowing her tongue free access to trace across Chloe’s stomach. She shivered under Stacie’s touch, her fingers tangling in honey brown tresses without conscious thought.

They’d all fallen so easily into this new realm that Chloe almost couldn’t remember what it was like before. Where she didn’t have the memory of what Stacie’s skin felt like against her own. How it tasted. Where she didn’t have even the thought in her head to reach out to either Stacie or Aubrey and pull them into a kiss. She much preferred this world where suddenly Naked Stacie and Sex Voice Aubrey often appeared like magic and Chloe didn’t have to keep her hands to herself.

With one last nip of teeth above Chloe’s belly button, Stacie pulled back slightly but before Chloe could even whimper at the loss, Stacie had lowered herself to slide the entire length of their bodies against each other until their hips rested comfortably together and her mouth covered Chloe’s.

Chloe also thought she’d never get tired of how Stacie would simply sink into whoever she was kissing. It never felt like she was pinning them down, merely trying to get as much of her touching as much of them as possible. Especially if she was naked. Chloe wrapped her legs around Stacie, pulling her close and deepening a kiss that had already pulled the breath from her.

Chloe worked her arms under Stacie’s until she was able to grip Stacie’s sides, holding on tightly as Stacie began to slowly thrust against her. Chloe pressed upward, helpless to do anything but respond to the deliberately building rhythm. She heard herself whimper and was shocked at the need in it as she’d gone from zero to ‘fuck me’ in less than a minute.

Her hands skimmed up until she could rake her nails back down the length of Stacie’s spine, her fingertips finally flattening to smooth against the dip that led to the swell of her ass. Which, since it was there, Chloe palmed as much as she could from that angle and pulled her closer.

With a groan, Stacie pulled her lips away but before Chloe could chase her down or beg that she return to what she’d been doing, Stacie’s head dipped and she dragged the flat of her tongue firmly up the column of Chloe’s throat. It was Chloe’s turn to let out a moan that turned to a sharp hiss as Stacie’s teeth found her pulse point and gripped before her lips locked against Chloe’s skin and she began to suck.

“Jesus, Stacie.” Chloe breathed out, once again reminded of why Beca loved the feeling of this so much. She felt Stacie practically purr against her skin, hearing in it her love and the need to claim.

Stacie finally pulled back and licked delicately at the mark she’d left. “What do you need, love?” Humor laced her voice as she looked up into Chloe’s eyes, but her own were still fire and desire that scorched Chloe’s skin. She was still very much the predator intent on her prey and Chloe loved every thrilling second of it.

“Inside me,” Chloe answered breathlessly, already aching between her legs. “I need you inside me.”

“That can be arranged.” Stacie claimed her lips again but far too quickly before she pulled back. “But first I need to go get our girl out of the shower.” She kissed Chloe again, her tongue plunging hard and fast and Chloe felt the memory echo of it in her core. Stacie sat up, resting on Chloe’s thighs; her grin cocky and confident as she took in Chloe’s panting body. “We’ll be back, I promise.”

Chloe felt her heart flutter at Stacie’s grin. Part of her initial attraction to Beca had been that cocky smirk she’d given when they first met – especially when Aubrey had called her a bitch. Something about all that cool confidence made Chloe’s pulse beat faster and now she had two of them who had it in spades. Aubrey did too, though hers was a more controlled power and poise– less cocky and more a sheer force of nature – that had drawn Chloe to her from the beginning.

She held up a hand. “Help me up.” Stacie took it and tugged lightly, helping Chloe sit up. “Thanks.”

“No prob-” It was Stacie’s turn to hiss out a breath as Chloe immediately took her left nipple in her mouth and rolled her tongue around it. Stacie’s hands tangled in Chloe’s hair, holding her there as her hips pressed downward. “Chlo…”

Chloe sucked lightly, almost teasingly, before flicking the hardening tip with her tongue. When she was satisfied with the sounds Stacie was making above her, she let the breast slip free and turned to the other one. Her attention on that taut peak was much shorter, though no less ardent. Instead she lowered her mouth until she could pull in some of the skin on the underside and suck, creating a matching mark that had Stacie writhing against her.

Reluctantly she pulled back and looked up into emerald heat. “Then I guess you better go before I tip you onto your back and give instead of take.” It was all Chloe could do to keep herself still and not push forward until she could lower herself to run her tongue through Stacie’s center. Chloe’s body memory was strong there too; she knew how Stacie felt against her tongue, how she tasted.

Stacie’s thighs tensed around Chloe’s hips as she hesitated for the briefest second and Chloe could see the effort it took to roll off her and push herself to the edge of the bed. She did it quickly as if she didn’t trust either of them to really stop and it made Chloe crave more.

As Stacie walked to the bathroom, Chloe couldn’t help but watch the sway of her hips and think how lucky she was that she could look at that amazing ass whenever she wanted. When Stacie looked over her shoulder, Chloe didn’t even care that she’d been caught or that she’d been in the process of licking her lips at the time.

Stacie grinned at her. “Aca-perv.”

Chloe only lifted a shoulder. “Guilty.”

Stacie’s eyes flicked over her. “As cute as you look, you’re wearing far too many clothes.” With a decidedly more salacious slowness than Chloe had done, Stacie ran her tongue over her bottom lip and disappeared into the other room.

Chloe let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding and fell back onto her bed. “Holy shit.” She and Beca had been thrilled when Staubrey had shown them just how much of their passion they’d been… not holding back, exactly, but they were apparently more reserved until things had settled. She knew it hadn’t been intentional or that they were afraid of scaring she and Beca off, but she could understand saving part of yourself in case the worst happened. To lay everything out and then have it blow up…

Chloe shook her head, unwilling to even entertain the thought of not having them in her life. To lose them now would be as devastating as losing Beca. She’d meant what she said to Beca the night they’d talked about being more while standing in their kitchen. Chloe had given her heart to both of them long before July and she was in too deep to even consider that there had been a possibility of something else. Where before she might have worried about that, worried about her heart getting hurt, she had no fear anymore. She wasn’t alone in this – Beca felt everything as deeply as Chloe herself and it was returned twofold by their other half. She half frowned. ‘Or was that halves. Quarters?’

She knew in the beginning that Beca had also kept part of herself hidden, to a lesser extent, because she was an extremely dirty minded and inventive woman. Aubrey and Stacie had joined Chloe in teasing Beca about being so prudish that she couldn’t say “sex” in normal conversation, but in the moment, she was as vocal and detailed in what she wanted to do or have done to her as the rest of them.

Now none of them held anything back and it was like being constantly bathed in a low flame that could spin into a firestorm at a mere glance. She’d never met anyone else who could convey a mental undressing in the span of a heartbeat and now she was surrounded by three gorgeous women who did it as naturally as breathing.

Chloe laughed as a shrill but short scream came from the bathroom, followed by an extremely loud “Jesus fucking Christ, Stacie! You scared the hell out of me!”

She couldn’t hear Stacie’s response but as Chloe made a decision and reached for her phone, she heard Beca moan. “Guess Stacie’s making it up to her.”

She pulled up Aubrey’s messages and typed out a quick text.

Chloe: Are you somewhere you can talk on your Bluetooth? If so, give me a call. Don’t panic, everything is fine. I just have a question for you.

She didn’t have to wait long before her phone was ringing.

“What’s up?” Chloe could hear people talking in the background and figured Aubrey must still be at work.

“Stacie got a little drunk and is currently in the shower with Beca. She was supposed to just get her out, but, well, Steca apparently got distracted. Again.” Chloe rolled to the end of the bed and stood up. “I was wondering if you’d like to listen.”

Aubrey’s sharp inhale was all the answer Chloe needed, but she chuckled at Aubrey’s careful, “Yes please.” She knew that only she, Beca and Stacie would hear the desire woven through those two simple words. There was the sound of a bell and the voices in the background faded away to be replaced by street noise. Then she laughed. “Did you just say Steca?”

Chloe grinned. “Yeah, it seems easier. Like Jessley.”

Aubrey laughed again. “You’ve got names for us all, don’t you?”

“Not yet, but I can start thinking of them.” Chloe heard another moan and bit her lip. “But maybe later. Because...” Chloe walked into the bathroom and stopped in the doorway, her own breath trapped in her throat.

Beca was leaning in the back corner opposite the spray, which had been aimed down and toward the wall, and Stacie was kneeling between her legs with Beca’s left thigh up and over her shoulder. Beca moaned again and the sound echoed in the bathroom. Chloe bit her lip as Aubrey let out a quiet gasp in her ear when Chloe began to relay in detail what she was seeing. It dawned on her this was the first time they’d engaged in any sort of activity without all four being present, or at least only a short backyard walk away after a quick text. She wasn’t sure if it was making it more exciting or worse to describe it, but since Aubrey didn’t ask her to stop, Chloe figured she’d just continue. But for now…

She fell silent as Beca’s moans grew louder, Stacie’s right hand moving from where it rested on top of Beca’s thigh to slide between her legs. When Beca cried out, Chloe couldn’t hold back her own moan. “They’re so fucking gorgeous, Bree. Stacie’s inside her now, Beca’s head is back and her eyes are closed, her hands in Stacie’s hair.” Stacie had pulled her hair up into a messy bun and Beca’s fingers had sunk into it as she held on and pulled her closer.

Chloe could hear Aubrey’s quick breath in her ear and hoped she wasn’t anywhere where her coworkers could see her. While Aubrey wouldn’t care in the moment, she’d definitely care later if it came up in casual conversation or some sort of public lewdness reprimand.

Chloe fell silent again, lost in watching the two of them moving against one another until suddenly Aubrey yelled “Damnit!” in her ear.

Chloe’s attention snapped back to the phone. “Are you okay? What happened?”

Aubrey growled as Chloe heard the beep of the car alarm. “I just spent three minutes trying to get into my car. Except it wasn’t my fucking car, it was a damn Fiat two rows over!” There was the slamming of a car door and the sound of the seatbelt being pulled.

Chloe laughed with relief and amusement. “Aubrey, you hate Fiats.”

“I know! That’s what makes it more annoying!” Aubrey started the car. “I’m on my way.”

“Please be careful.” Chloe looked back toward the shower. “Should… should we hang up? So you’re not distracted?”

“No!” Aubrey yelled.

“Alright, calm down there, horny pants.” Chloe teased, knowing full well she was a hypocrite. “Speaking of, I’m putting you on speaker for a bit. Stacie said I had too many clothes on earlier and I need to fix that.” She chuckled quietly as Aubrey let out another moan, knowing her best friend was picturing her naked. “I’d say we’ll be waiting for you, but I have no idea what’s going to happen when they get out of there.”

“You’re the worst.” Aubrey whined.

“You mean we’re the best.” Chloe said as she put the phone on speaker and set it down. She quickly stripped out of the clothes she just put on, folding the shorts and shirt on the counter but already knowing she was going to need a different pair of underwear when she got dressed again. ‘Whenever that is,’ she thought with a shiver.

Not wanting to distract a driving Aubrey with the details – though the moaning that was intensifying in the shower should give plenty of them – Chloe left the phone on speaker and leaned against the counter beside it. She got lost watching them again, filled with desire, love, need and overall a sense of home that pulled every single string in her heart. She was so lost in it that she didn’t even hear anyone come in but suddenly there was a naked body pressed against her back and arms looped around her waist.

"Oh thank god, I didn’t miss it completely.” Aubrey whispered in her ear before her teeth nipped at Chloe’s neck.

“How… how did you…” Chloe started to ask but Aubrey’s hands slid up and cupped her breasts; she decided it didn’t really matter and it wouldn’t have surprised her in the least to learn Aubrey had willed herself into spontaneous teleportation. “God you feel good.” She let her head lean back to rest on Aubrey’s shoulder and just enjoyed the attention and the view. Aubrey’s hands drifted up and down her stomach, nails scratching gently along her ribs, one slender finger dipping between Chloe’s legs, making her realize just how wet she’d become since Stacie appeared like a naked Goddess in the bedroom doorway.

Beca’s head dropped down and her eyes half opened once, then more fully, though Chloe could see she fought to keep them open. “Oh shit…” She broke off with a cry as Stacie pushed against her. “Bucky… the girls are watching. We’ve been caught.”

Stacie lifted her head and looked over her shoulder, smiling even as she licked her lips and Chloe felt Aubrey’s teeth sink into her skin. She understood all too well, her own body clenched at the memory and the promise she’d been given.

“Becs,” Stacie turned back around. “Do you think you could… maybe brace yourself somehow… so I can…” Stacie trailed off as she shifted her left arm until it was under Beca’s right leg.

“Holy shit.” Chloe didn’t know who said it, her or Aubrey, but they both gasped as Stacie lifted Beca’s other leg over her shoulder until Beca’s weight rested on her upper arms, her forearms braced against the wall to hold Beca in the air.

Beca’s eyes opened wide as she stared down in shock. “Holy fuck.” Stacie leaned forward again and obviously gave an experimental lick because Beca’s whole body jerked in reaction. She shifted slightly until she was apparently satisfied with her access and angle and buried herself between Beca’s braced legs. Beca’s eyes closed once more, her hands still buried in Stacie’s hair. “There, oh god, there… “

Chloe let her hands drift back and ran her nails across Aubrey’s thighs. Aubrey pressed closer, her hands still over Chloe’s breasts but now her fingers toyed with nipples that were so hard they ached. They were helpless to do anything more than watch; the two women in the shower would have held their focus anyway, but seeing Stacie actually holding Beca in the air was breathtaking.

“Fuck!” Beca’s toes curled as her cries grew louder and Chloe knew that she was close. So did Stacie, because – somehow – she managed to turn her hands until they were able to cup the sides of Beca’s breasts. “Stace… oh god…” Beca let out a sharp cry. “Faster, please…” Stacie must have and Chloe felt her own muscles tensing in anticipation as Beca panted and writhed until Stacie’s name echoed from the walls and Beca’s body went rigid.

Aubrey’s body was rocking against her and Chloe pressed back, the sensation of Aubrey’s own hard nipples against her back adding another layer to the fire slowly burning through her. “I could watch that all day.” Aubrey whimpered in agreement as Beca’s body slowly relaxed, though Stacie still nuzzled against her.

Stacie gently helped guide Beca’s legs from her shoulders and stood, helping to keep her upright when it became obvious that Beca’s legs weren’t quite ready to support her. When Beca finally found her balance, Stacie leaned around the spray and turned the water off. Reluctantly Chloe pulled herself away from Aubrey and handed her the towel that Beca had laid out. “One for you.” She turned to the cabinet and got another one. “One for me.”

Stacie opened the door and gently urged Beca out first and Chloe stepped forward to loop the towel around her. Beca’s eyes were still a little glazed and her body trembled against Chloe’s like a newborn colt. Chloe gently began to towel her dry as Stacie stepped into Aubrey’s arms and pulled her into a deep kiss. Aubrey moaned deep in her throat, the hunger in it sending lightning up Chloe’s spine, and pulled Stacie even closer. Chloe, intimately familiar with that particular moan, knew it was because she could still taste Beca on Stacie’s lips; Aubrey hadn’t wanted to admit it at first, but once the other three had gone down on each other, then kissed her and the sound was the same, she admitted that it was a personal kink she’d recently developed. It was also the last time any of them had felt awkward about admitting something they liked or desired. There may be some light teasing, but never judgement or shame.

Beca let out a sudden sigh, as if she was just then finally able to draw in a deeper breath than the shallow panting she’d been doing. Chloe smiled at her even as she began to dry Beca’s hair. “You okay, love?” Beca nodded, her eyes still dazed. “Not able to talk yet?” Beca shook her head and Chloe chuckled softly. “That happens.” Beca stood patiently, still possibly not in control of her limbs, and let Chloe dry her off and run a comb through her hair. Beca’s face was still adorably slack and Chloe kissed her gently, feeling Beca slowly come back to herself as her lips firmed and her hands curved around Chloe’s ribs.

Beside them, once Aubrey had let Stacie come up for air, the other two were repeating much the same ritual though Stacie had managed to keep her hair mostly dry. As they stepped into the bedroom, Stacie turned and pulled Beca back into her arms, kissing her as thoroughly as she had Chloe and Aubrey.

“Thanks for letting me crash your shower, 8 seconds.” She ran her hands down Beca’s back and squeezed her ass.

Beca let out a laugh, her eyes finally clearing. “I’m pretty sure I should be thanking you for the shower invasion.” She pursed her lips. “Which seems to be a theme for the women in my life, apparently.” She looked over at Chloe and the warmth of her smile bathed Chloe from head to toe. “Since it’s what led us here, I’m not complaining at all.”

“Mm.” Aubrey chewed her lip briefly. “While I may have been shocked all those years ago, I have to say that I’m grateful Chloe briefly lost all sense of propriety.”

As Chloe turned to climb onto the bed, she heard Stacie ask, “How’re your legs, B?” She settled diagonally on the bed and watched Stacie pat Beca’s leg.

“What?” Beca looked up and blinked.

“Your legs. They working okay?” Stacie’s smile turned the slightest bit smug. “Or do you need more time?”

Beca’s eyes narrowed and Chloe bit back a grin. It wasn’t even like Beca could argue, Chloe had felt her trembling. “I may still need a moment.” When Stacie laughed, Beca poked her in the side. “It’s your fault, sweeping a woman off her feet like that.”

“Your toes actually curled.” Chloe pointed out helpfully. “Like, literally curled.” She grinned when Beca looked at her, eyes glazing slightly at the memory.

“I think my everything curled,” Aubrey sighed as she sat on the edge of the bed. “That was beautiful and hot.” Chloe stretched her arm out and ran her fingers down Aubrey’s arm who turned and looked at her. “You’re beautiful and hot too.” She pushed herself over next to Chloe.

Chloe smiled and pulled Aubrey down by a lock of hair. “I feel the same way about you, love. C’mere.” Aubrey pressed against her side and deepened the kiss immediately. Chloe rolled to her back, more than willing to let Aubrey take the lead as she leaned over and licked down into Chloe’s mouth. Aubrey’s left hand ran down her side before returning to cup her breast, causing Chloe to gasp into her mouth and arch her back.

A second weight hit the bed and Chloe pulled away to see Stacie crawling towards her. It was déjà vu all over again – except Stacie’s expression was more predatory, definitely more smug, and without any clothes as a barrier, she didn’t even bother with starting at the shin. Chloe’s breath stopped in her throat as Stacie’s head dipped and she gave a very firm, very slow lick up through her center.

“Oh my god.” Her eyes slamming shut, Chloe’s back arched further off the bed and she cried out as Aubrey’s fingers pulled at first one nipple then the other. “Oh my god.”

“I always keep my promises.” Stacie pulled away long enough to purr.

Chloe looked down the length of her body, finding Stacie stretched out on The Expanse and her mouth already back on Chloe’s suddenly even wetter core. She cried out again, unable to look away as Beca slid up onto the bed and onto Stacie’s back. As Chloe fought to keep her eyes open, Beca’s hands slid along the inside of Chloe’s thighs and pushed them apart, giving Stacie more room.

“Stacie… please…”Chloe couldn’t stop the roll of her body, already desperate for their touch.

“It’s okay, Chlo,” Aubrey whispered into her ear, her fingers still alternating between rolling and tugging. “We got you.”

Chloe let herself go, knowing she was safe because her three were always there to lift her up and catch her when she fell. She’d once thought that she was an instrument that only Beca could play – but the past two months had shown her what it was to be part of a symphony.

With a slight lift of Chloe’s hips with her strong but gentle hands, Stacie’s tongue traced her center, teasing along the edges before plunging in over and over. Beca’s hands tightened on her thighs before her left slid over and her fingers began to circle Chloe’s clit – never firm, never the friction that would push her closer to the edge - merely enough to keep her on edge, begging and desperate.

Those brief moments where she could force her eyes open showed Beca alternating between watching Chloe with enough heat to scorch and watching Stacie tongue fuck Chloe until she was ready to scream.

“You always sounded so good, Chlo.” Then there was Aubrey, whispering in her ear when she wasn’t leaving open mouthed kisses along any portion of Chloe’s skin she could reach. “I’d listen to you at night, with whoever had caught your attention, and wonder what it would be like to be the one making you make those delicious sharp gasps.” Her timing was perfect as Stacie’s tongue curled inside Chloe and she gasped, her whole body jerking as she tried to push herself closer to both of them at once.

“Why…?” Chloe tried to speak, tried to pull enough of herself together to ask Aubrey why she’d never given any indication, made any move, but all her focus was split between the myriad of sensations they were creating with fingers and tongue and she broke off with a cry. “FUCK!” Stacie’s chuckle rumbled against her – inside her – and Chloe thought she’d die from how sinfully self-satisfied it sounded. She could practically see the smirk that would’ve accompanied it if Stacie’s mouth wasn’t otherwise occupied.

“It wasn’t my place or time.” Aubrey said, her fingers still torturously circling, tugging and pulling at breasts sensitized to her touch. “Not that I knew we’d end up here – ” Aubrey pulled Chloe’s earlobe into her mouth and bit down gently before letting it slip free. “But I was more than happy being your best friend and wasn’t going to risk that if you didn’t feel the same way.”

“Oh Bree,” Chloe breathed out. Blindly she reached up and pulled Aubrey to her lips, needing to kiss away the sadness she felt at the thought of Aubrey alone in her room – knowing that Aubrey was both right and wrong. It wouldn’t have ruined their friendship and in fact Chloe was slowly becoming convinced she’d had deeply buried feelings for Aubrey since the beginning. And right because Chloe wouldn’t go back to change anything and risk never having the three of them like this in her life.

“You know I have to ask this,” Beca’s husky voice sent a shiver down Chloe’s back and she wasn’t surprised to feel a mirroring tremor where Aubrey was pressed against her. “How many times did you touch yourself listening to Chloe?”

If Chloe had any breath left to her – though Stacie had slowed her pace as she listened – she’d have laughed. It wasn’t until they’d entered into this relationship with Staubrey that Chloe realized just how voyeuristic Beca really was. While Beca loved to take part, she was equally as content and happy to watch and listen – half the time Chloe was convinced Beca could, and had, come from that alone. A small orgasm, perhaps, but it only made her more sensitive when one of them finally got their hands on her.

“Every time.” Aubrey confessed after the smallest hesitation. “Chloe had Titanium and I had Chloe as my secret lady jam.” Chloe’s mind went blank at the thought of Aubrey stroking herself in time with her cries, wondered how many times they’d come simultaneously already and she never even knew it. Somewhere, at some point, she was going to pin Aubrey down to have a discussion about this new information, preferably naked, but for now… Beca let out whimper, her fingers stilling for several heartbeats as Stacie moaned low in her throat, once more vibrating through Chloe’s center and pushing her that much closer to the edge.

“Stacie,” Chloe begged. “Please… oh god, please.” She hadn’t finished speaking before Stacie had lowered her hips and slid two fingers inside her. “Fu–” She broke off with a cry as Stacie’s lips wrapped around her clit and she sucked, sending Chloe’s body into overdrive. Almost simultaneously Beca’s lips landed on the inside of Chloe’s right thigh and Aubrey’s latched on Chloe’s throat, both of their mouths pulling just as hard and Chloe felt herself explode into a thousand pieces, each colored a different shade of blue and green as three souls wove around her and put her back together.

When she could open her eyes again, Beca had cuddled into her right side and was planting kisses all along Chloe’s cheek and brow. Aubrey was nuzzling Chloe’s neck and Stacie was kneeling between her legs, stroking lightly where Chloe’s thighs met her hips. Chloe licked her lips, knowing from the way Stacie’s eyes roved over her that she had something else in mind.

A feeling that was confirmed when Stacie reached out and gripped Beca’s ankle and tugged. “C’mon, B. Can’t keep the ladies waiting.” She pushed herself backward with her right hand, keeping her left on Beca as she went.

Chloe felt her stomach tighten in anticipation and turned her attention to Aubrey until the other two came back to bed.

~B~

Beca looked down at Stacie’s hand on her ankle, and back up as she was pulled gently to the edge of the bed. “Jesus, did you eat your Wheaties today or what?” She shivered slightly at the body memory of being lifted into the air passed over her. “Cause it’s really working for me right now.”

Stacie laughed as Beca slid off the bed and stood next to her. “You like to be womanhandled, that’s good to know for the future.” Before Beca could even think of an argument – though apparently Stacie wasn’t wrong, it just wasn’t something Beca had realized until tonight –Stacie leaned down and whispered in Beca’s ear. “I hope your legs are better, because Aubrey looks… hungry …”

Beca didn’t miss the way Aubrey’s eyes had darkened or the way she was looking at the two of them from her spot at Chloe’s side. Her legs were still a bit sketchy, but that was Stacie’s own fault. That entire encounter in the shower – Beca closed her eyes as another tremor washed over her and her thighs tightened involuntarily. “Oh, no. I’m good.”

Beca followed Stacie off the bed and let herself be guided over to the dresser where she opened the bottom drawer and gave the usual snicker at her IOU for Chloe’s birthday sitting on top. “How many times have we redeemed this now, Chlo?”

“Not enough,” came the cheeky reply. “We’ll have to fix that soon.”

“Just say when, babe.” Stacie knelt down and grabbed the original harness/underwear that Beca had bought back in college. “This one for you, I think.” Beca grinned and stepped into them only to catch her breath as Stacie slid them up her legs and cupped her still sensitive center when they were in place.

Stacie rose slowly to her feet and turned Beca back toward the bed. “How can they just keep looking hotter every time they do that?”

Chloe had pulled Aubrey down into another kiss and Beca felt her mouth go dry as she was presented with the rear view of an Aubrey on her elbows and knees, her half lowered body slightly angled to Chloe’s left, as if she’d been about to push up off the bed.

“Oh god.” Beca breathed out as she walked toward them, helpless to do anything else. She crawled up behind Aubrey and ran a hand up her spine. “Stacie’s right, you guys are...” She trailed off, her hands still roaming across the expanse of Aubrey’s back, watching the muscles twitch in her wake. “Beautiful.”

Stacie was suddenly pressed against her from behind, her left hand pulling the underwear from Beca’s body while the right one slid the toy into the hole in front and locked it in place. She leaned against Beca and ran her hand down the outside of Aubrey’s right thigh. “Baby.”

Aubrey’s head snapped up to look over her shoulder as she pushed up. Instantly and almost faster than Beca could follow, she’d widened her legs, allowing Beca’s knees to fit easier between them. It never failed to amuse Beca that she and Aubrey were alike in this way and had the same reaction to the other wearing one of their strap-ons ever since that first time – Now please, more, harder, faster. Beca could never decide if Aubrey was begging when she said it, or able to remember her manners even in the middle of intense sex. Not that it really mattered, the end result of both was the same as when she dropped the please entirely and just demanded.

Looking over Beca’s shoulder, Stacie’s hands settled on Aubrey’s hips as Beca reached down to guide the shaft inside but with a shifting of her body, Chloe stretched her arm out between Aubrey’s and gripped it first. Beca whimpered softly and looked up, but Chloe was hidden behind the curtain of Aubrey’s hair. She slipped her fingers around Chloe’s and squeezed lightly in a silent ‘I love you’ and let go to slide her hands under Stacie’s.

It was always like this and Beca felt her heart soak it up like a sponge. The simple touches between herself and Chloe, an unneeded but constant reassurance; Beca ensuring her connection to Stacie by the touch of their hands; all of them focused on Aubrey – it was never about who was with who or secret desires. It was always about the connection between the four of them and the love they shared: unreserved, unhesitating and everything. They had been four individual parts that made up one complete person for so long, even before they’d gotten into bed.

Both brunettes watched as Chloe’s fingers moved between toy and Aubrey, transferring the evidence of Aubrey’s arousal to the shaft. Panting, Aubrey closed her eyes and she let her head drop to Chloe’s shoulder, though Beca could still feel her tremble and twitch beneath them and easily pictured Chloe’s fingers sliding through her center.

Just when Beca thought she couldn’t wait anymore, Chloe slid it into position and Stacie pulled Aubrey’s hips toward them even as she pressed Beca forward. Aubrey groaned as the head eased in and Beca and Stacie paused, giving her time to adjust. Beca pulled back slightly and pressed forward, sliding another inch or so inside and Stacie whimpered as Aubrey let out a soft cry.

“I love watching you together.” Stacie said softly. “I love being part of it...helping you make love."

“It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.” Chloe agreed, though Beca still couldn’t see her behind blonde locks. “Any combination of you… us.” Beca felt fingertips just barely graze her thigh then slide between her hands and Stacie’s. “Make her feel good, loves. Just like you made me.”

Aubrey let out a half sob and dropped back down to kiss Chloe. “Stop making me cry during sex.” She sniffed slightly. “It’s…”

“Beautiful.” Beca said again as she interrupted, tightening her grip and feeling Stacie do the same. “We’ve got you.” It was something that they never got tired of saying, never tired of hearing. It went back to the constant reassurance and connection – the reminder that they’d always be there, no matter what happened.

Beca continued to push deeper in short thrusts that she knew would drive Aubrey insane. Every inch was slow, sometimes Stacie puling Aubrey back toward them, sometimes pushing Beca forward; each time Aubrey let out a soft cry and tried to push back, but their combined grip on her hips kept her under their control. Beca knew that Chloe must be continuing to let her fingers stroke and wander as Aubrey’s cries were sometimes sharper that their intentionally torturous movements would account for.

Finally her hips were flush against Aubrey and Beca couldn’t help but grind, loving every single gasp and keen that fell from Aubrey’s lips. Stacie slid her hands from Aubrey’s to Beca’s hips, squeezing lightly before letting go with her left to move Beca’s hair out of the way. She placed a soft kiss against Beca’s throat and nipped lightly before moving away. Beca shivered, always affected by sharp sting of their teeth against her skin, and tightened her grip on Aubrey’s hips.

She pulled back smoothly, leaving just the tip inside, and pushed back in; though her movements were strong and deep, they were slow and designed to see how long it would take for one of them to break, regardless of which position they happened to be in at the time. It was a war between Beca’s desire to bring Aubrey to a screaming climax and her, possibly somewhat twisted, need to have Aubrey begging her, “Fuck me already!”

College Beca would have never believed that in a few years the idea of Aubrey ordering her around – IN BED no less – was something that she’d not only give in to (eventually) but something she found she kind of liked. A lot. Then again, Beca had once pointed out if Aubrey had used her Sex Voice in practice things might’ve been different. Stacie had pulled Beca onto her lap and told her, “8 Seconds, if she’d used that voice on you before you were ready, I think you’d have run away screaming instead of dealing with all the repressed lust between you two.”

Beca turned and Aubrey’s head lifted as Stacie slid onto the bed, wearing another harness; Stacie’s eyes were intent on Chloe but her hand ghosted down Beca’s arm and pressed briefly against Aubrey’s back. By sheer force of will Beca kept her hips moving though her attention was split between them and Aubrey. Stacie crawled forward until she could lift Chloe’s legs and slide her spread knees under them, remaining upright and sitting back on her heels. Chloe’s left leg fell naturally along Stacie’s side, but Stacie kept a grip on her right, raising it up to rest Chloe’s heel against her shoulder. Even as she placed open mouthed kisses along Chloe’s calf, Stacie’s right hand was between their legs, coating and guiding and Beca had the perfect view as Stacie slid forward and into her.

A quadruple moan echoed around the room as Stacie filled Chloe on the first thrust, her left hand loosely wrapped around Chloe’s raised thigh. Her whole body rolled as she pulled back and thrust again, slow and languid. Aubrey had flipped her hair and Beca could see Chloe as she bit her lip, the hand that had been between Aubrey’s legs sliding to wrap around Aubrey’s left arm and up until she gripped her shoulder as an anchor. Aubrey’s head dropped, her moans growing somewhat muffled as, Beca assumed, she kissed Chloe hungrily.

Beca dropped her hips a bit, thrusting upward at a different angle and Aubrey’s sharp cry slid through her veins like quicksilver. She couldn’t help the jerk of her hips, burying herself fully in Aubrey with a grunt just to hear it again. Beca tightened her fingers, her hands sliding forward just a bit to grip where thigh met hip and ground upward.

Of course, the problem with any type of contest in bed between the two of them was that half of the time it was rendered completely moot by the two women who shared the bed with them. Watching Stacie and Chloe together almost always threw any plans Beca had of making Aubrey wait completely out the window. Most of the time as Stacie sped up Beca would unconsciously follow because having Chloe and Aubrey screaming out their release together was one of the hottest things she had ever seen. Though, on reflection, any combination of her three girls coming at the same time was something Beca would never tire of. On those occasions the four of them reached the peak at the same time… Beca whimpered at the memory, grinding herself against the insert on her side of the strap-on. That was heaven, as far as Beca was concerned.

Of course, then there were times like now when they would never be able to declare who won – a detail that Aubrey would say was important because she was a Posen and Posen’s always win. Beca wasn’t sure who broke first but suddenly Aubrey was yelling her name and Beca’s hands had slid up to Aubrey’s shoulders as her hips quickened, sharp and fast. It wouldn’t have surprised her in the least if it was simultaneous; she was more than half convinced she was already as connected to Staubrey as she was with Chloe, knowing what they needed before they even spoke.

Aubrey’s head dropped to Chloe’s shoulder, her left arm stretching across Chloe’s chest to clutch at her side as she cried out. Beca loved to see Aubrey like this, any of them really - body beginning to bead with sweat, muscles in sharp relief as she pushed back against Beca’s hips. Beca lowered her chest to Aubrey’s back, the soft skin almost too much against her hard and sensitive nipples, but it just made Beca press harder against her, arms wrapped around Aubrey’s chest and her hips speeding up until the room was filled with the sound of skin against skin.

A sound that was doubled as Stacie tightened her grip on the tops of Chloe’s thighs, the right still extended upward and the left resting across Stacie’s own, her hips almost a blur as Chloe writhed, gorgeous and straining, beneath them all. Chloe’s voice blended with Aubrey’s as they both cried out, panting, begging and pleading for more, harder, faster, right there, please god just don’t fucking stop.

As individuals blurred, they became one entity made of four moaning, desperate parts, the names of the other three dropping from their lips with increased need and desire.

Beca leaned back, pulling Aubrey upright with her as her hands slipped around Aubrey’s front, immediately covering and kneading her breasts. Half kneeling, Aubrey rocked against her, her back bowing as she pushed her chest into Beca’s hands.

“Beca, I…” Aubrey broke off with a moan as Beca’s fingers rolled over her nipples.

Beca slid her left hand down to Aubrey’s center, her hips speeding up. “I love you.” She meant all of them; knew they understood that, here in this room she and Chloe had declared was just as much Staubrey’s as it was theirs. Her fingers brushed Aubrey’s clit, swirling once, twice, Aubrey’s body jumping with each touch until finally Beca applied pressure and rotated her middle finger. Aubrey’s cry filled the room as she came, shuddering as Beca kept up her thrusts and the pressure, trying to keep Aubrey up for as long as possible.

Chloe’s voice suddenly rang out, her body rolling against Stacie’s hips and the thumb firmly planted between her legs. Beca felt herself shudder, Chloe’s cries mixing with Aubrey’s causing a second, smaller orgasm to rock her and she pressed deep within Aubrey, rubbing against the insert and half wishing Stacie had picked the harness that had the second shaft for the wearer.

Aubrey slowly lowered herself back down, resting her head on Chloe’s chest, both of them trying to catch their breath. Beca’s hands stroked Aubrey’s back and sides, hips still pressing as she stretched forward to run her hand down Chloe’s arm before reaching out to rest her fingertips against Stacie’s knee. Stacie’s hips still moved, slower now, her own hands running over Chloe’s stomach and smoothing Aubrey’s hair back from her face. She leaned down, letting Chloe’s right leg finally drop to wrap around her waist and kissed Aubrey’s forehead, then leaned up to kiss Chloe on the lips.

“You’re all so… incredible.” Stacie sat up and leaned over to kiss Beca. “I swear every day just gets better.”

“I would agree, except my brain has dribbled out my ears.” Chloe said before she whimpered as Aubrey’s mouth closed over her nipple. “And I don’t think I’m getting it back any time soon.” She cradled Aubrey to her, eyes closed in bliss.

Reluctantly Beca eased back, pulling free from Aubrey and hearing the disappointed whimper as she did. “I’ll be back.” She ran her hand down the curve of Aubrey’s ass. “Just need to clean up a bit.” Stacie did the same and they watched with amusement as Chloe and Aubrey immediately wiggled together with contented sighs, their hands wandering even as their lips met. Beca slid off the bed and tugged Stacie’s hand. “Faster we clean these off the faster we can rejoin them.”

Stacie let herself be led into the bathroom where Beca turned and slid the harness from her hips, kneeling to let Stacie step out of it. Even as her hands freed the shaft so it could be washed, she leaned forward and licked through Stacie’s center, loving the way her hips twitched forward at the lightest touch.

“Don’t you start that in here...” Stacie laughed as she reached down and tugged Beca up by her shoulders.

“Sorry.” Beca said with complete insincerity. Stacie merely reached back and pinched her on the ass as she slid Beca’s underwear down her legs. “Just couldn’t help myself.”

“Mmhmm.” Stacie ran her hand up Beca’s inner thigh and smiled as Beca whimpered. “Oops.” She set both sets of underwear in the tub to be dealt with – or maybe used again – later.

Standing side by side, they cleaned the strap-on the other had used and Beca was struck again by how normal this all seemed. They’d literally just been making love to each other’s wife with the toys in their hands and none of it ever felt weird. They were all committed to this new four person relationship; even their use of the title ‘wife’ was more of an inside joke between them at this point. Not even the first time they’d crawled into bed had it ever been awkward.

It should have been, she knew that, had read enough stories on the internet, that couples just didn’t jump feet first into the deep end of polyamory without a bit of awkwardness… but they had. At least, as far as she knew the others hadn’t felt any twinge of strangeness, not once they were all on the same page and knew they were thinking the same thing. Beca knew even Aubrey’s reluctance had been because she wasn’t sure she was allowed, not because she didn’t want to. But once Beca had helped her past that, all hesitation had been gone and the four of them had just… loved. Without hesitation or reservation. From the first second Beca had reached out for Aubrey, while Chloe and Stacie watched them from the bed, it had never been about sex. It was about how those three women completed her in ways she didn’t understand until the last barrier was gone. And in ways she was still discovering.

Even now, standing naked beside Stacie and spreading a hand towel on the counter so their strap-ons could dry, she felt nothing but home and comfort. And, okay maybe still incredibly turned on and in need of having one of those used on her before too long, but they had time and she had someone else she had to take care of first.

She waited for Stacie to walk back into the bedroom first, enjoying the view as she followed behind. Stacie crawled back onto the bed, sliding behind Chloe and nuzzling into her shoulder. Chloe and Aubrey were still attached at the face, but Aubrey’s left hand slid from Chloe’s neck to the back of Stacie’s head and pulled her forward into what Beca knew was a messy, but hot as hell, three way kiss.

Licking her lips, Beca slid onto the bed and, when the three of them finally broke for air, pushed on Stacie’s hip.

“Whatcha doin, B?” Stacie looked over at her and let herself be guided onto her back. Chloe turned in the circle of Aubrey’s arms, their eyes avid and eager.

“Taking care of you.” Beca said as she stretched herself out between Stacie’s legs, her right hand going under and around Stacie’s thigh.

“You don’t hav-” Stacie’s voice broke off with a gasp as Beca didn’t even hesitate and slid her middle finger into Stacie’s core. Beca couldn’t help the moan when she felt how wet Stacie was and she pushed herself closer.

“I want to.” Beca said, unsurprised by the rasp in her voice. She began a slow thrust, curling as she withdrew. “I need to.” She added a second finger and Stacie pushed back against her, legs widening to give Beca room.

Even as Beca leaned forward, her mouth already anticipating how Stacie would feel against her tongue, Chloe had stretched herself along Stacie’s side. Stacie cried out as Chloe’s mouth descended on her left nipple, Chloe’s hand reaching across to roll the right one between her fingers. Aubrey had pushed herself tight to Chloe’s back, her own left hand caressing Stacie’s stomach before pressing against her lower abdomen.

All of them were flushed and absolutely beautiful and Beca felt like her heart would split with how much she felt for them. Somehow, each second of every day, she fell deeper in love.

Beca circled Stacie’s clit with her tongue, feeling each twitch beneath her as Stacie’s muscles squeezed her fingers. She briefly wondered if she should’ve brought one of the vibrators with them, but decided to save it for later – she couldn’t have stopped now if she tried. She looked up the line of Stacie’s body, past the hands and Chloe’s gently moving lips and met Stacie’s eyes, hooded and hungry. Stacie always made sure everyone was taken care of and now it was their turn to take care of her.

Beca wrapped her lips around Stacie’s clit and sucked firmly, using the grip she had on Stacie’s leg to try and hold her in place when her hips lifted from the bed. She kept her eyes on Stacie’s face, even when Stacie’s eyes closed, loving the way she bit her lip before her mouth went slack, panting for breath.

Beca added a third finger, searching for and finding that ridged spot inside. She rubbed lightly, keeping up the suction and Stacie’s eyes shot open again. “Jesus!” She closed her eyes briefly as she pushed against Beca. “God don’t stop…” Her body rolled and Beca increased the pressure of her fingers and sacrificed a bit of suction to run the tip of her tongue over Stacie’s clit. “Bec… a…” Stacie’s breath hitched and Beca knew she was close.

She began to flick her tongue rapidly, not stopping as Stacie’s body began to writhe, following every movement of her hips to keep her mouth exactly where it was. Beca began to thrust her hand in short strokes, keeping her middle finger rubbing back and forth in a way that had Stacie going stiff as her climax crashed through her.

Beca felt a hand, then two, run through her hair, cupping the back of her head and keeping her where she was, something she was more than happy to comply with. She kept her fingers circling, but used her mouth to nuzzle and lick from entrance to clit, though she avoided that bundle of nerves for the time being.

Turning her head, she licked Stacie’s thigh before gently biting down. After soothing the sting with her tongue, she began to suck lightly, increasing the pace of her thrust, feeling Stacie’s hips begin their roll again as Beca marked her claim on the woman arching under her. When she thought she had a lasting mark, she let Stacie’s thigh slip from her lips and kissed the darkening skin.

While she’d been busy, one of the hands had slipped from her head and was lazily stroking along Stacie’s folds, helping build her up. A quick glance upward revealed it was Aubrey, her eyes catching Beca’s with their fire. Splitting her attention between Aubrey’s avid gaze and Stacie’s face as she worked against them, Beca licked around Aubrey’s fingers as they circled Stacie’s clit. With the both of them working in tandem, it wasn’t long before Stacie came undone beneath them, collapsing to lay limp against the bed.

“You okay?” Chloe teased as she finally lifted her head, leaving Stacie’s nipple with a final kiss.

“Ngph.”

Aubrey laughed. “I think we broke her.”

Beca crawled up until her head was even with Chloe who lifted her lips for a kiss. “It’s only fair; you guys break me all the fucking time.” She shifted so that Stacie’s right leg fit between her own – unwilling to give up the feeling of Stacie under her but not wanting Stacie’s legs to get sore because Beca was lying between them.

“It is one of our favorite things.” Stacie said weakly.

“Mm.” Chloe hummed in agreement and pulled Beca’s hand to her chest, cuddling it even as she wiggled back into Aubrey’s embrace.

“Mine too.” Beca sighed as she rested her head on Stacie’s upper chest.

“Aca-perv.” Stacie ran her hand down Beca’s back. “And I love you for every single dirty thought you ever have.”

“You should, considering you’re one third of the reason I have them.” Beca felt Aubrey’s hand rest on her back and let her eyes close in contentment.

They cuddled in silence, hands lightly stroking wherever they felt like it, and Beca was reminded of her earlier thoughts. Even that first night, when Aubrey had shocked Beca into a full five minutes of staring at her, it wasn’t from being awkward; it was because Beca had been so turned on at the thought of Aubrey using the strap-on that it had short circuited her brain. It hadn’t been anything she’d thought of prior, but once it had been said, her mind had broken itself trying to picture it.

Prior to that moment, Beca and Chloe had used it once in a while, but afterward… Aubrey had taken to it like a duck to water and changed how all of them had viewed that particular accessory. They still thoroughly, and often, enjoyed each other without it but none of them would deny that they all really loved bringing them into bed. Or against the bed. Or in the shower… Beca shivered slightly and felt Stacie pull her closer.

“You okay, babe?”

“Yeah.” Beca burrowed into Stacie’s side. “I’m great.” She opened her eyes and met Chloe’s, seeing the same happiness she was feeling reflected back at her. They’d have been perfectly happy if this path hadn’t been taken, but both of them couldn’t deny that the other two made them better. Made them whole.

Her mind, already nostalgic, thought of their first time back in college. Beca had been so nervous prior, but once she’d made up her mind –okay, so when she realized that she loved Chloe and there was no reason to hold back anymore – all her nerves had faded away. The alcohol buzz she’d been feeling had faded by then and –

Beca’s mind suddenly jumped tangents and she spoke without thinking. “We’re all friends here, right?”

Stacie began to laugh. “I’m pretty sure I can still feel you inside me and we were just essentially balls deep in each other’s wife.” Even as Chloe laughed, Aubrey gasped in shock.

“Stacie!” Aubrey chided and Beca grinned when she saw that Aubrey’s face was a perfect mix of scandalized outrage and horrified amusement.

Stacie shrugged. “Sorry not sorry? Also, it’s not like I’m wrong.”

Aubrey began to laugh. “I love you.” She pushed against Chloe, who obligingly moved her head out of the way so they could kiss. When they finally broke apart, she looked at Beca. “I think that covers your question.”

Beca nodded. “Okay… so. I was thinking of how none of this feels awkward between us - and hasn’t. Ever.”

“That’s because you love us. And we love you.” Stacie kissed Beca’s forehead then Chloe’s. “Duh.”

“Right, but we didn’t know that at the time. It should have been weird.” She freed her hand from Chloe and held it up when Aubrey would have spoken. “Except even though we didn’t know… I think our hearts knew.”

“You are so fucking mushy sometimes.” Stacie stroked her fingertips down Beca’s back. “I love it.”

“Shh, that’s not the point.” Beca didn’t want to lose her thought before she got to her question. “And it made me think of our first time.” She cupped Chloe’s cheek. “And how once I decided to stop being a coward and take a leap of faith…”

“It wasn’t awkward at all.” Chloe finished, turning her head to place a kiss in Beca’s palm. “Not from the second you stepped into that shower. Nerves, sure but never awkward.”

“Exactly.” Beca smiled at her.

“What does this have to do with you making sure you can ask a question of us because we’re all friends?” Aubrey asked curiously.

“Okay – so. I know we’ve talked about out ‘first times’ long before we fell into bed together, and even more after because we’re all aca-pervs.” Stacie raised her hand in agreement, causing Aubrey to snort. “So we know all about the Lodge after Worlds, but… There’s one question I realized I never asked and haven’t thought about in a long time.”

“I can’t imagine anything we haven’t discussed yet, but…” Aubrey watched her narrowly. “What’s your question?”

Beca pushed up a little so she could look between them. “Did you guys hook up that drunken karaoke night too?”

“That’s the big question you’ve been holding on to?” Stacie began to laugh. “Beca, you’ve literally asked me what you taste like on Aubrey’s lips when I kiss her after she goes down on you.”

“You also just asked me if I ever touched myself while listening to Chloe have sex down the hall.” Aubrey pointed out, though there was a faint flush to her cheeks.

Beca squirmed, sure she was instantly blushing all the way down her chest. “That’s the kind of stuff you ask in the moment and there’s nothing off limits then because… because of how turned on I am and how badly I want you three. Plus the four of us are involved at the time and sometimes other things, like prior couple things, are sacred.” She forced herself to stop speaking, sure she had another five minutes of babble in her.

“She’s got you there, guys.” Chloe said as Aubrey buried her face in Chloe’s neck with a giggle.

“No, she had us earlier.” Stacie pointed out and Beca poked her in the stomach.

“You guys don’t have to answer, if you don’t want to, I get it… I just…”

“Yes.” Aubrey interrupted Beca before she could ramble any further.

“You did?” Beca began to grin. “I knew I should’ve bet Chloe!”

“You had a bet?” Aubrey asked carefully.

Beca immediately stopped laughing and reached for Aubrey’s hand. “I swear we didn’t talk about it a lot.” She began to have flashbacks to that horrible moment after the semi-finals. “Just like, maybe two or three times my entire freshman year.”

“Hey.” Aubrey squeezed her fingers. “It’s okay.” She pulled Beca’s hand up and kissed her knuckles. “I know you didn’t.” She smiled and Beca felt her shoulders lose tension she didn’t know she had. “I was just curious what the details of your bet were.”

“I don’t think we ever got as far as making wagers. Beca was too eager to shovel French toast down her face.” Chloe winked at her.

“You called her Bree.” Beca looked down at Stacie. “When you came to get us that morning. I think it was the first time I heard you do that. So I wondered.” She looked up again. “You guys gave nothing away at breakfast though. I’m impressed.” She pursed her lips as that night came back to her. “Was it because Stacie told you what she was thinking of while she slept in your bed?”

Aubrey laughed. “No. Stacie was actually extremely sweet.”

“Babe.” Stacie sighed. “You’re going to ruin my reputation.”

“You’re telling me you didn’t masturbate in her bed?” Beca grinned.

“No.” Stacie said immediately. “That would’ve been just… not right.” Then she grinned slyly. “But I thought about it a lot so I went into the shower and did it there.”

Chloe laughed. “And I heard nothing?” She shook her head. “I think I’ll be retroactively sad about that.”

Aubrey rested her chin on Chloe’s arm. “Stacie actually offered to sleep in her roommates bed – or the floor if she came home unexpectedly – and I was still just drunk enough to tell her that was silly.” She sighed, though looked affectionately at Stacie. “And that was my downfall because I couldn’t keep my hands off her, even after I was sober.”

“I have the same problem,” Beca muttered ruefully. “But… You mean to tell me you had all this…” She waved her finger up and down Stacie’s body. “And then you went cold turkey? For three years?” She made sure to keep her tone light – she knew how Aubrey felt about pushing Stacie away. “You are either the strongest woman I know or the most stubborn.” She pretended to think about it for a few seconds. “Or both.”

“We both needed to age a bit more,” Stacie offered easily.

“Like fine wine?” Beca asked, tracing Aubrey’s lips with her thumb. “Seems accurate.” Stacie turned to face Chloe and Beca snuggled up behind her, already nuzzling into her neck before something struck her. “Chlo?” She looked over Stacie’s shoulder.

“Hm?” Chloe looked up from where she’d been about to kiss Stacie.

“You don’t seem very surprised by this revelation,” Beca noted.

Chloe bit her lip. “Uh…”

Beca pushed up on her elbow, laughing. “Oh my god, you totally knew all this time! And you didn’t tell me!”

Chloe at least looked sheepish. “I’m sorry, I didn’t think it was my story to tell – especially when things were just getting settled between us all.” She looked up, pleadingly. “And I didn’t know until after the ICCAs!”

“What?” Beca frowned. “What brought it up there?”

“I was the first one to wake up that day.” Chloe looked over her shoulder at Aubrey. “These two were-”

“Totally snuggling!” Beca snapped her fingers as the memory popped into her head. “I’d forgotten about that – plus I’d half convinced myself I’d dreamed getting up and all Aubrey’s ‘boundary pillows’ were on the floor.”

“It was cute – I woke Aubrey up, she was extremely reluctant to leave her Stacie-cocoon – until she realized where she was and who she was holding onto.” Chloe settled down between them. “I understand; I like this cocoon too.” Stacie poked her in the stomach and Chloe grinned. “But I was the good friend and didn’t say anything until we got back to Barden and I made Aubrey tell me everything.”

“She waited until the rest of you were back at the dorm and pounced on me.” Aubrey lamented. “We were lying on my bed, still kind of in shock at the trophy sitting on my desk, and she gave me a hug.”

“And refused to let go until she’d told me everything.” Chloe said in satisfaction. “Well, not everything – I let her keep the actual details of ‘the sex’, as Beca would call it,” Chloe grinned at her when Beca let out a wounded gasp. “Don’t even try; you say it all the time.” She kissed Stacie gently. “And that’s how I knew you were definitely worth Aubrey’s heart. Because you weren’t even hinting that you had something to kiss and tell about.”

“Nothing happened in the hotel, by the way.” Stacie offered and Beca felt the underlying deflection. “I was minding my own business, finally having fallen asleep after getting the image of you two fooling around out of my mind, and the next thing I know Aubrey had attached herself to my side in her sleep.” She reached up and brushed Aubrey’s cheek with her fingers. “I was petrified for a good five minutes, afraid to move and not sure if it was because I thought Aubrey would sleep grope me – she didn’t – or because I was afraid she’d move away.” She smiled softly. “Eventually though, I finally fell asleep.”

“And we didn’t talk about it for another three years.” Aubrey said, almost sadly.

“No, but that night gave me hope that there was something more to us, even if I didn’t know that’s what I wanted.” Stacie sighed. “I should have just sleep groped you.”

“Nah, you’re as much a gentleman as Beca.” Chloe leaned forward and kissed her cheek. “You guys worked out just the way you were supposed to.”

“I didn’t even know that Aubrey had told you until just before we proposed to each other,” Stacie said and turned to look up at Beca. “She never brought it up in all the times she tried to push us together.”

“Still wasn’t my place,” Chloe shrugged. “It just meant I was more frustrated when you guys were so obstinate. The very fact that neither of you discussed it was like neon signs spelling out ‘WE LIKE EACH OTHER.’ If it was bad one of you would’ve cracked much sooner.” She ran her finger down Stacie’s nose. “You always did protect Aubrey’s heart from the start.”

Stacie lifted one shoulder. “I knew from that night under the mistletoe something was different about her. The night she stayed over just confirmed it. She… you… made me feel something different than anyone else had before.” She cupped Aubrey’s cheek and Beca saw Aubrey’s lips tremble slightly. “You meant something to me. Before that night. I was just so certain I would never fall in love, I missed what was staring me in the face. With those big, gorgeous green eyes. So I kept it to myself and tried to put it out of my mind. Failed miserably.”

“Now who’s so fucking mushy?” Beca teased, running her nose along Stacie’s shoulder.

“I blame you.” Stacie reached back and patted Beca’s hip. “You’re contagious.”

“You say the sweetest things,” Beca linked their fingers together. “It’s almost like you love me-” Her phone suddenly rang from the other room.

“Ah shit. That’s the bosses tone. I’ve been expecting him to call all day.” She reluctantly slid to the edge of the bed. “I’ll be back.”

“Hurry, my ass is already cold.” Stacie called after her.

~A~

Aubrey laughed as Beca shot a middle finger over her shoulder just before she disappeared out the door. Beca’s voice came back a second later, full of confused laughter. “What the… Again?” The phone rang again. “Hold your tits, I’m coming!”

She felt herself drawn down into Stacie’s kiss, Chloe’s lips sliding against her throat from between them. Aubrey whimpered and shifted against Chloe’s ass, loving how well they fit together. She ran her hand down Chloe’s arm and over to Stacie’s hip, getting lost in the feel of them against her skin.

She didn’t know how long they spent that way until Beca came back, but suddenly there was a fourth body in the bed and her question pulled Aubrey back to the present.

“Whose bra is hanging from the newel post and whose is hanging from the chandelier and why are there two sets of clothes leading up the stairs?”

Aubrey bit her lip, remembering her frantic stripping the second she hit the stairs. “Um...”

“Actually,” Beca said when Aubrey trailed off. “I know Stacie’s bra is the one on the top newel post. Which means Aubrey is the one throwing her clothes in the air this time.”

She sniffed and lifted her chin. “It’s your own fault for getting me all worked up to the point where I couldn’t wait until I got in the room.”

“My fault?” Beca threw up her hands. “I think I was in the shower being ravished by Stacie.”

“Mmhm.” Aubrey licked her lips in the way she knew drove Beca crazy. “Chloe called me to let me listen in.”

“Dirty bird.” Stacie bit Chloe’s lower lip. “I love it.”

Chloe shrugged. “I figured she could use a little break at work. I didn’t expect her to just… suddenly be here.” She turned to look over her shoulder at Aubrey. “But I will never be opposed to Naked Aubrey magically appearing. I’d already had suddenly Naked Stacie show up in the doorway, so this was like a double treat day.”

“And this isn’t the first time you’ve had my clothes left on your stairs, so I don’t know why you’re surprised.” Stacie rolled over to look at Beca, one eyebrow arched in challenge.

“True.” Beca nodded.

“What’d the boss want?” Chloe asked her.

“OH!” Beca bounced in place. “Okay. So, as you know, Emily recorded the song we’re using to showcase her writing ability to the boss.” They nodded, waiting with various degrees of impatience. “And you know that while she thinks I was just producing it for him, I actually treated it like a new single I wanted to release on the radio.” Aubrey made an impatient sound in her throat and Beca winced. “Sorry. I know you guys all told me you loved it but the boss finally listened to it this week. He told me he’d call me today with his thoughts.”

“Beca that’s awesome!” Stacie rolled to her back and held up her hand for a high five.

“Thanks!” Beca slapped their palms together. “He told me it was GREAT and that Emily’s got the internship!”

“That’s aca-mazing!” It was Aubrey’s turn to bounce. “When are you going to tell her?”

“Soon – I honestly thought he’d take longer and I’d be able to tell her on her birthday in Vegas, but there’s no way I can hold onto this for another two months.” Beca was practically vibrating in her excitement. “I’m so proud of her – I think he wants to put it on the radio next year – after some tweaks and stuff, but I really think Legacy could make it as a singer if she wanted.”

Chloe nodded. “She’s come such a long way from the ‘let’s not be dicks about it’ girl we met years ago. Seriously, can we take any credit for it?” She looked up when Beca remained silent and Aubrey noticed Beca was biting her lip. “What aren’t you saying?”

For the first time Beca was hesitant. “I don’t… I don’t really want to talk about it right now –” She held up her hand when Chloe started to speak. “Because this is something that we’re going to need to think about, all of us.” She looked at all of them one at a time and Aubrey couldn’t remember the last time Beca had looked so serious; though, in hindsight, it was probably the day they all committed to each other. “Before all… this…” she waved at all of them. “And the naked – I was going to ask Chloe if she thought Emily could move in with us. Since she’s basically got her own room here anyway.”

“That’s a great idea!” Chloe said immediately then paused as she realized what Beca was saying. “Oh.”

“Right.” Stacie was nodding. “All the naked that happens in the houses could present a problem.”

“It would definitely change the dynamics,” Aubrey mused. She still thought Emily knew there was more between the four of them than just friendship. “But we managed fine when she was here for those two weeks over the summer.”

“Sure, except the dozen or so times she almost walked in on one of us kissing someone who wasn’t our ‘official’ spouse because we couldn’t keep our hands to ourselves.” Chloe grinned.

It had definitely been amusing at how many times they’d gotten carried away and almost caught. Not that they were ashamed, not in the least. But it was new and theirs and they wanted to keep it that way for at least a while longer.

“And it’s not just Chloe and I anymore, who get to have a say in this. It’s you guys too.” Beca chewed on her lip. “So just… we’ll just think about it for a while and then sit down and lay everything on the table.”

“You can’t say that, Beca.” Stacie said immediately.

“What? Why?” Beca looked bewildered.

“Because now I’m picturing you laying Chloe out on Bree’s table in her office.” Stacie said with a hint of a purr in her tone. “Or any of us with any of us. The possibilities are endless.”

“Well now I am too.” Aubrey said as she forced herself to push the thoughts away. “I think it’s still mostly your decision, because it’s your house – yes I know, we all have two homes – it means a lot that you’d consider our feelings in this. We’ll definitely give it some thought.” Aubrey grinned. “But seriously, she’s going to lose her mind when you tell her about the job.”

“Right?” Beca beamed and bounced in place again. “I’ll wait until we’re all able to be there for the next Skype date so we can take bets on if she faints.”

Aubrey reached over and slapped Beca’s knee. “Behave.”

“No, Beca’s right. There’s every chance Emily will get lightheaded and pass out.” Stacie said slowly. “I think you need to make sure that Katherine is there too. She’s going to lose her shit almost as much as Emily will.”

“Ooh!” Beca’s eyes went wide. “Good point! It’ll be awesome – but definitely for another day. But for now…” She turned around and plucked something off the bed behind her and placed it in her lap. “What’s this? It was sitting on the hall table.”

Aubrey winced at the sight of the plain brown bag. “Oops.” She’d forgotten she had that in her haste to get upstairs and undressed. ‘At least I didn’t throw that too.’

Beca looked down and back up. “I didn’t look in it.”

“Such restraint.” Aubrey smiled at her, knowing Beca was dying of curiosity. “You can, though.”

Beca immediately reached in and pulled out three small boxes and Aubrey heard Chloe’s breath catch.

“Bree?” She turned to look up at her. “Is that where you were?”

Aubrey nodded, and Stacie looked back at her. “I thought you were at work?”

“Well… I had intended to, but I decided to make a detour.” Aubrey chuckled slightly. “And then I just never went.”

“That’s how you got here so fast!” Chloe said, snapping her fingers. “I wondered how you got from the parking lot to here in less than half an hour.”

“Parking lot?” Beca asked, still looking down at the boxes in her hand. She finally looked up. “I guess I missed more than I thought.”

Chloe explained quickly. “When Stacie went to get you out of the shower, I texted Bree to see if she could talk on her headset. Because I thought she was at work and didn’t want to take the chance of anyone in the office overhearing you two moaning in the shower.”

“Their loss.” Stacie shrugged.

“Right, but while I was half describing what you guys were doing – stop looking so shocked Beca, you’d have wanted me to if things were reversed.”

Beca nodded. “Point taken. Continue.”

“I heard her go outside, but got distracted until she started cursing.” Chloe broke off and Aubrey knew there was no chance she wasn’t going to tell the rest of it when she started laughing. “Aubrey had been trying to get into a car that wasn’t hers. For three minutes.” She lowered her voice and whispered. “It was a Fiat.”

Stacie started to laugh and Aubrey tickled her side, making her laugh harder.

“You hate Fiats!” Beca crowed. “I think I’m flattered that you were so distracted you didn’t realize how ugly the car you were trying to get into was.”

Aubrey sighed. “You’re not going to let this go, are you?”

“Nope.” Beca grinned in delight. “It’s teasing gold, Bree.”

“Be good or I won’t tell you what’s in the boxes.” Aubrey teased back, having no intention of following through but Beca stopped laughing immediately.

“I’m sorry.” She held them out. “I’ll be good.” Then she smirked. “For now.”

“Incorrigible.” Aubrey shook her head and sat up behind Chloe. “Thanks.” She took the boxes and set them beside her. “I kinda wanted to do this individually, but…” She broke off as Beca made to slide off the bed.

“We can leave you two alone.” Beca said immediately.

“Beca,” Aubrey laughed. “This is your bed.”

Chloe shook her head. “No, this is our bed and you know it. We don’t mind.”

Aubrey felt herself melt a little. It wasn’t the first time they’d said it and knowing they meant it with everything they were always meant the world to her. It proved that her impulsive shopping spree was exactly what she’d needed to do.

“No,” she said softly. “You guys can stay.”

“I’ve got an idea.” Beca scrambled up to the top of the bed and pulled back the covers. “We’ll just be in here till you’re ready for us to come out.” She slid under them and peeked back out at Chloe. “C’mon.” She ducked back down, giggling and Aubrey smiled as her heart swelled in her chest.

Chloe gave Aubrey one more considering glance and smiled, wide and breathtaking in its beauty. “I’ll be with her.” She slid out from between Aubrey and Stacie to follow Beca under the covers.

Stacie sat up and faced Aubrey, sitting cross legged, though she turned to look at the two giggling lumps that gradually became one as the giggles stopped and the sounds of kissing could be heard. “They… are… adorable.” She looked back at Aubrey. “Seriously, how can I love them even more just because they’re making out under their covers to give us privacy?”

Aubrey shook her head. “If you figure it out, please let me know.” She turned and mirrored Stacie so their knees touched. “Hi.”

“I love you.” Stacie said simply and Aubrey suddenly felt like crying at the pure love she felt emanating from her.

“Tu es le soleil dans mon ciel. Je t'aime.” She had to whisper it, afraid her voice would crack from the emotions that had suddenly risen up inside her in the space between heartbeats.

“Hey,” Stacie took her hands and squeezed them. “I’m here. It’s okay.”

Aubrey cleared her throat, half embarrassed. “This isn’t the way things were supposed to go.”

“I do tend to throw a wrench in the grand Posen plans.” Stacie said lightly. “It’s my overwhelming charm. Just ask your mom.”

“While I don’t think that’s exactly what she’d say, you do have that in spades.” Aubrey drew a centering breath. “I got a bonus a few weeks ago for bringing that contract in without too much haggling from their agent.”

“That new hip hop guy… what was his name?”

Aubrey felt her lip curl. “Pimp-Lo.”

“Oh god, that’s right.” Stacie groaned. “Why hasn’t anyone talked him out of that?”

“I’ve no idea, but I feel for Beca because she’s the one who has to work with him.” Aubrey shook her head. “Honestly, I have no idea how that’s going to go.”

“I’ll make the popcorn,” Stacie said then squeezed Aubrey’s hands again. “But that’s awesome, babe. Congrats on the score and the bonus!”

“Thanks.” Aubrey ran her thumbs over the back of Stacie’s hands. “I decided to do something I never really do and splurge a little. I special ordered some jewelry.” She bit her lip. “For the three of you.”

“Just us?” Stacie looked down at the boxes sitting on the bed. “So you left today to go pick them up?”

“Yes. I was going to go into the office to do some paperwork, so when I told you I had to go to work I wasn’t a complete liar.” Aubrey shrugged, feeling sheepish. It was important to her that Stacie didn’t think Aubrey would ever start lying to her, and she felt this was skirting a line she’d drawn herself.

“Bree.” Stacie tugged her forward and whispered against her lips. “I know you’d never.” She leaned that last bit of distance and covered Aubrey’s mouth with hers, a warm and constant pressure that soothed muscles she hadn’t even realized had tensed. When she pulled back, she wiggled in place. “What did you get me?”

Aubrey laughed at the eager look on her face and picked up the largest of the three boxes. “For you, my love.” She watched as Stacie gently took it from her hand and opened the lid.

“Oh, Aubrey.” Stacie said, her finger stroking along the bright metal. “It’s gorgeous.” She gently lifted the bracelet out and let the small sun charm hang freely from it. “Is that…” Stacie lifted the charm on her fingertip.

“You, my sun.” Aubrey took the bracelet from her and slipped it around her right wrist. “I wanted you to have something with you that would… remind you of that. That you’re the center of my universe.” She thought the platinum looked perfect against skin tanned from all the time spent around the pool. “And that I love you more than anything else in my life.” Stacie finally looked up at her and Aubrey was shocked to see the trail of two tears tracking down her face.

“You’re my only.” Stacie said, her voice hoarse as she rose up on her knees, pulling Aubrey with her. “I love you with every molecule of my being and nothing will ever change that.” She wrapped her arms around Aubrey, pulling her in tight. “I fall more in love with you every day and thank whatever in the universe that wove our threads together.” She kissed Aubrey, instantly slipping her tongue inside and deepening it until Aubrey had to pull away to gasp for air.

Aubrey rested her forehead against Stacie’s. “I’m glad you like it.” She reached up and wiped away the tracks on her cheeks. “Once I thought of it, I knew I had to do it.”

“I love it, Bree.” Stacie kissed her again, softer this time. “I love you.” They traded lazy kisses until reluctantly Stacie pulled back. “I could sit here all day and do this with you, but do you want to give them theirs today or…” She looked back at the still moving lump under the covers that they’d both forgotten about.

Aubrey let out a somewhat watery laugh. “I probably should, since they gave us privacy and all.”

“I think they forgot about us, honestly.” Stacie grinned. “Should I get them both or just send one out to you?”

“Chloe?” Aubrey said slowly. “How do you plan to…” She broke off when Stacie gave her one last deep kiss.

“I’ll go make out with Beca and send Chloe out.” Stacie turned and tapped the blanket over them, saying, “Knock knock.”

“Come on in, the waters fine.” Beca said after a minute and the audible sound of two tongues pulling away from each other.

“How about I trade you me, for Chloe?” Stacie said cheerfully. “Bree needs her.”

“Well, if Bree needs her…” Beca pushed the covers back and two pairs of blue eyes blinked at them. “I suppose that’s a fair trade.” She pushed Chloe’s hair away from her face and pulled her chin up from where she’d fastened her lips to Beca’s throat when she’d taken her mouth away. “Honey… wife swap!”

Aubrey could almost feel the eye roll Chloe must have given because Beca stuck her tongue out while Chloe slid out from under the covers. She watched affectionately as she pulled Stacie down into a kiss and then, with a pat on her ass, she sent her under the covers with Beca. Where the giggling resumed; it sounded like they were having a tickle fight underneath the covers and the thought made Aubrey grin.

“Seriously, it’s like they’re teenagers.” Chloe shook her head and settled down in front of Aubrey. “Hey.” She leaned forward and kissed Aubrey soundly on the lips. “Miss me?”

“Always.” Aubrey resumed her cross legged pose. “Did you hear any of that?” She looked back at the struggling lump which had suddenly gone still with an indrawn gasp and smiled again.

Chloe shook her head. “Nope, Beca’s really good at distracting people when she wants to be.”

“I’ll say,” Aubrey rolled her eyes before she explained the contract and the bonus. “So I ordered something for each of you as a…” She winced at how cliché it was. “As a token of my affection? That sounds queerballs.” Chloe grinned widely at her appropriation of Beca’s word; it was the same grin she got when Aubrey insulted her brothers by calling them dicklicks. “But I really wanted you to always have something that reminded you that I love you.”

“Aubrey.” Chloe put one hand over her heart and the other on Aubrey’s. “As long as these are beating, I will always have something that reminds me of that.” She slid her hand up to the back of Aubrey’s neck and pulled her forward even as she rocked up on her own knees. Their lips met in one of the softest kisses they had ever shared and Aubrey’s heart gave a painful double thump. In that one sentence, in this one kiss, Aubrey felt everything they had ever been to each other wash over her:

Suffering under Alice’s regime, almost like they were in a war for three years.

Sharing each other’s deepest secrets and fears in the middle of the night.

Chloe sticking by her through that last year when by all rights she should have left Captain Posen behind.

Aubrey could feel the love in that kiss, sense the depth of it and was shocked all over again at how it matched her own. Knew that it was mirrored in the two women in bed beside them.

‘How in the hell did I get so lucky?’

“Well,” Fighting back a new threat of tears, because Chloe’s words were extremely close to making Aubrey ugly cry, she picked up the box marked with a small ‘C’.” I definitely agree with that, but I got this anyway.”

Taking it, Chloe sat back and opened it with the same care that Stacie had. “Oh, Bree.” She picked up the necklace and let it hang from her fingers. The platinum star pendant caught the light as it twisted slowly in the air. “Will you put it on?” She held it out with fingers that trembled.

Aubrey took it and Chloe immediately spun around, moving her hair out of the way so Aubrey could drape it around her neck. It took several tries to get the clasp – her own fingers shook – but once it was secure, Chloe turned back around to face her. The chain was long enough that the pendant rested just below the hollow of her throat, looking like it had always been there.

“You’ve always been my guiding star, trying to keep me from losing my way.” Aubrey remembered the talk she’d had with Stacie as they tried to figure out this new dynamic between the four of them. “I know I’ve kind of talked about it, but I wanted you to have something tangible too.” She touched just beneath the pendant and let her hand drop to Chloe’s knee, just needing that extra bit of closeness.

Beca had given her the idea, with the pitch pipe for her birthday. Even though she said she hadn’t realized it at the time, it was entirely Beca’s way of saying that she loved Aubrey when she hadn’t found the words yet.

Chloe had literally stared Aubrey’s personal demon in the face and wrestled it to the ground to try and get through and save her from herself. Aubrey was better at explaining her emotions than she used to be, but this still felt too huge to encompass. She cherished Chloe’s fierce loyalty as much as she cherished her giant heart and this was the only way Aubrey knew how to express that right now.

“I love it.” Chloe covered it with her hand. “I will never take it off.” She twisted her lips. “Except maybe to shower.” Grinning, she quickly climbed onto Aubrey’s lap and straddled her. “Thank you, Bree. It’s gorgeous, just like you.”

Whatever answer Aubrey was going to give was lost as Chloe kissed her with every bit of passion that Aubrey knew rested in her heart. When they finally came up for air, all Aubrey could say was “You’re welcome.” But Chloe just smiled at her, fully aware of the things left unsaid: Thank you for always being by my side; thank you for not giving up on me; thank you for kicking my as when I needed it.

Thank you for loving me.

“I know, love.” Chloe kissed away her tears before they could even fall from her eyes. “No waterworks, you know Beca will panic and think she did something wrong.”

“You’re right.” Aubrey ran her hand through Chloe’s hair. “I love you.” She touched the star against Chloe’s chest.

“Love you too, Bree.” Chloe kissed her one last time. “I’ll get Beca.”

Aubrey watched as the process repeated itself and Beca scrambled out from under the covers, her face flushed. She pulled the covers up over Stacie and Chloe, patted their hips before sitting cross legged in front of Aubrey.

“So you got me a present?” Beca said without preamble.

“I did.” Aubrey picked up the box. “And as much as I would like to tease you about whether or not you deserve it…” She held it out. “This means too much to wait.” She was nervous; while she knew that Stacie and Chloe would understand what she was trying to say with these gifts, this level of relationship with Beca was new. It was no less precious and important, which is why Aubrey had gotten the gift, but she wanted to make sure Beca understood that. There was still room to make a mistake and Aubrey couldn’t stand the thought of hurting Beca ever again.

Beca picked up and opened the lid eagerly before she froze. “Aubrey?” She looked up, her eyes wide in shocked pleasure. “This is too much.”

“No it’s not.” Aubrey let her own happiness rise as Beca slowly lifted the ring from the box. The platinum band was etched with the different phases of the moon. It was another outcome from her talk with Stacie. “In college, you reminded me that I can change without losing who I am. Giving up control of the Bellas was not a failure – especially because I had already lost myself in Captain Posen. It took both you and Chloe to help me find my way back.”

The moon in the sky, despite its variations, was constant. Like Beca had been constant ever since they’d resolved their issues before the ICCAs. Constantly caring for Chloe and Stacie, or even Aubrey when she’d been in town to visit. Still always challenging Aubrey, yes, but in a way that made Aubrey better – re-examine her rules, be more and braver. After Worlds, Aubrey had made the fastest decision of her life without hesitation or regret. She’d agreed to move in with Stacie and across the country with Beca and Chloe. Beca’s presence in her life was comforting and safe, just like Stacie and Chloe. She needed this sometimes exasperating woman to keep her balanced and focused, or to laugh and let go.

Beca was tracing the platinum band with her fingertip. “I don’t even know what to say.” She looked up, her eyes soft. “I know you’ve said it before but to get a gift like this brings it home.”

“You don’t have to say anything, Beca.” Aubrey took the box and set it with the other empty ones. “You tell me every day what I mean to you. I just want you to have something from me, in return.” She needed Beca as much as the others and she needed Beca to know it. She took a breath. “You’re as precious to me as Chloe and as necessary as Stacie.”

Blinking back tears, Beca slid the ring onto her left thumb, which was where Aubrey had hoped she’d wear it. She’d stolen one of Beca’s other rings when she’d gone in to special order everything. “Thank you, Aubrey.” She had to clear her throat as her voice cracked. She turned her hand, eyes following the ring. “This must have cost so much… too much.”

“I’m pretty sure all three of these gifts combined didn’t cost as much as my birthday present.” Aubrey raised one eyebrow as Beca looked at her sheepishly. “Right, so I got a bonus for finalizing the contract with your new artist and decided to spend it on my girls.”

Beca made a face. “Can we not talk about him? I’m not looking forward to that after the first of the year.” She suddenly tugged Aubrey into her lap. “I’d rather make out with you as a thank you for this amazing gift.”

Aubrey simply tangled her fingers in Beca’s hair and pulled her down, letting Beca take control of the kiss the second their lips touched. Knowing that Beca was deeply touched by the sentiment resting around her thumb and knowing she was better at showing her feelings than she was speaking them. Beca kissed her tenderly, both hands cupping Aubrey’s cheeks as she moved to place soft kisses all around her face before dropping back to her lips. The kiss deepened, growing more needful until Beca pulled back, leaving Aubrey trying to chase after her, not ready to stop yet.

“Let’s join them under the covers? I feel the need to celebrate.”

“Deal!” Aubrey said, sliding off Beca’s lap and up to the head of the bed. She slid down under the covers and found herself wrapped in Stacie’s arms as soon as the other two realized they were no longer alone. Beca slid in on the other side and pulled Chloe close.

“I, for one,” Beca began as they all tangled together in a pile. “Suggest that we all thoroughly thank Aubrey for her incredibly thoughtful – almost made me cry – gifts.” Beca pulled her lower lip through her teeth and Aubrey felt herself shiver in response. “For the rest of the night.”

“Seconded.” Stacie said immediately.

“Oh yeah.” Chloe purred as she slid against Stacie’s side. “Great idea, Becs.”

Aubrey closed her eyes as three pairs of hands reached for her and pulled her into the middle where she was covered in kisses and stroking fingers that didn’t stop until exhaustion claimed them all.

~S~

Saturday, September 23rd

A few weeks later Stacie opened the front door to a quiet house as she sorted her mail. It was the Saturday after Beca’s birthday and they planned to go out with Jessica and Ashley later that night. Stacie had gone into work to check on some tests she was running and had expected to find the other three ready to go to lunch.

“Hello?” Stacie frowned at the envelope in her hand and tore it open. “This has got to be bullshit,” she muttered to herself as she looked up. “Anyone home?”

She saw Beca’s hand rise from in front of the sofa and assumed that, for some reason, she was sitting on the floor with her laptop instead of on the couch. As Stacie stepped around the side, she saw Beca on the floor, laptop sitting on the coffee table, as expected. Beca had already refocused on her work though she did give Stacie a distracted smile when she first came into view. She also saw why Beca was sitting on the floor.

Aubrey and Chloe were stretched out behind her, making out like a couple of horny teenagers.

Chloe was on her back, her shirt unbuttoned and Aubrey’s hand had pushed up under one of the cups of her bra and it looked like her fingers were busy kneading and rolling. Their legs were tangled as they moved against each other, completely oblivious to her arrival and Stacie didn’t know if she wanted to burst out laughing or rip off all her clothes.

‘Both.’ She decided as she toed off her shoes. She couldn’t help but chuckle as Aubrey leaned to the side and tilted Beca’s head back; Beca, for her part, immediately turned her head and upper body so Aubrey could kiss her before breaking off and latching onto Beca’s throat. Stacie could see several marks already darkening her neck in various places and wondered just how long they’d been at this.

Tossing the mail down on the table, Stacie slid her jeans off her hips, the soft thud bringing three pairs of eyes around to her where they fastened in various degrees of hunger. She paused and finally asked, “I know it’s noon thirsty and all, but what if Jessley had been the ones to walk in the door?

Aubrey shrugged from her position on top of Chloe. “I knew they were working today.”

“But if they were off early, then Bree is just giving me a massage.” Chloe offered, running her hand down Aubrey’s side.

Beca turned and looked at them. “From the front? With her tongue? While lying on you?”

“I’m a really dedicated friend,” Aubrey answered sincerely and without hesitation. “I believe in doing a job right and meticulously.”

“I really do love that about you,” Chloe sighed happily as Aubrey’s hand still moved under her bra.

Stacie laughed and pulled her shirt over her head.

“What’s bullshit?” Beca asked suddenly.

Confused, Stacie looked up before she remembered her earlier comment. “Oh. The DMV sent Aubrey a speeding ticket.” Stacie stopped undressing when Aubrey looked up at her. “They said you were doing 55 in a 30 zone.”

“What?!” Outraged, she pulled her hand from under Chloe’s bra and held it out until Beca gave her the ticket lying on top of the rest of the mail. Stacie watched her skim it quickly then pause, her eyes going distant as she thought. “Oh.” She began to laugh. “Yeah we’re going to have to pay this.”

Stacie sat down on the table, wincing as the cool wood touched her skin. “You never speed, Aubrey. I refuse to believe you’re calm right now.”

“That was three weeks ago.” Aubrey said, her lips pursed.

“And?” Beca turned around, looking as confused as Stacie felt.

“That’s the day that Chloe called me while you guys were in the shower.” Aubrey said as she lay down between Chloe and the back of the couch. “I blew past one of those speed vans and didn’t realize it until after it took the picture.” She handed the ticket back to Beca who read through it.

“That’s why you got home so fast!” Chloe started to laugh. “I’d honestly decided you just teleported yourself home.”

Stacie grinned. “Then Beca has to pay for half of it.”

Beca looked at her as she set the ticket down on the table. “Will you accept service in trade?”

“Yes.” Aubrey said immediately and only batted her eyes in a close imitation of Chloe when Stacie looked at her.

“Oh – wait.” Beca turned until she was on her knees facing the couch. “You said it took a picture? Were you in your car? Are we going to have a cop show up at the door because you accidentally got into a Fiat one day?”

Aubrey groaned and buried her face in Beca’s shoulder. “I will murder you, you know this.”

“You can’t live without me.” Beca sang at her.

Stacie carefully bit back her laugh. Ever since that day, any time they were out and about, Beca would point out every single Fiat and say, “Look Aubrey, it’s your car” and cackle like she’d just said the funniest thing in the world.

“Guys?” They all looked up at her. “As the bruise on Chloe’s ass two weeks ago will prove, these couches aren’t big enough for all four of us. Before I get completely naked, what say we pile upstairs into our tiny king sized bed and continue this discussion somewhere more comfortable?” She immediately contradicted herself by taking off her bra and dropping it with the rest of her clothes.

Stacie turned and walked toward the stairs, a lot more sway in her hips than necessary and stopped at the bottom step. She put her hands on her hips and slid her underwear down, bending all the way over as she removed one leg and then the other, feeling three pairs of eyes watching her.

She turned and tossed her underwear at the pile, completely unsurprised that it landed neatly on her bra. “Nowish?”

Aubrey tried to push herself off the couch but ran into Beca, both of them falling to the floor in a tangle of limbs and curses. Chloe, somehow, avoided them both and was heading for the stairs, already stripping.

“You, Conrad, are terrible. You know what that does to them.”

Taking a step backward up the stairs, Stacie grinned. “Yeah, but it’s so much fun when they make me pay for it.” She turned and ran up the stairs, hearing Chloe follow her and, further back, two more pairs of feet began to give chase.

#Beca Mitchell #Chloe Beale #Aubrey Posen #Stacie Conrad #Bechloe Fanfiction #Staubrey Fanfiction #Poly Bellas Squared #wlw #A Shared Lifetime #cyc writes

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