#I’ve been sleep deprived for the last few days and now the family wants to go to mass for Palm Sunday AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH

[catria-whitewing]

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[theemporium]

Cece babyy...can I request a violent purple drink(gonna pause right here to say you're just sooo talented and creative!!!) with Carlos and butterfly when she tells him she's pregnant?🥲🥲🥲 With "You just have this glow about you." And maybe if it fits"Your body feels like home to me." ?? Thank youuuuu

thank you for requesting!🫶🏽

42. “You just have this glow about you.” 

series masterlist

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You had been racking your brain to find the perfect moment to tell him.

You didn’t like keeping secrets from Carlos, quite the opposite if you were honest. Your relationship with Carlos brought a lot of realisations and firsts for you, including such open and honest communication. It was something that was severely lacking in your previous relationships, familial and platonic and romantic. 

But with Carlos, it was different. 

You never went to bed angry with each other, always determined to talk it out and get your feelings out on the table even if you needed a few hours apart. You wore your heart on your sleeve and he returned the gesture, never hiding his emotions from you. And you never kept secrets. Not because it was some rule between you but because you and Carlos genuinely didn’t keep anything from each other.

And now you felt like you were holding the biggest secret from him and you felt like your whole body was going to explode. 

You had taken the test on a whim, frowning when you looked at the calendar and realised you were a few days late. It was nothing too concerning, you were used to your cycle being a bit off with the constant travelling and stress of work. You don’t even know what pushed you to take the test, just a random gut feeling that you ultimately thought would lead to nothing. 

Until you found yourself staring at a positive test, alone in the bathroom with Carlos hundreds of miles away in Maranello for some team meetings. 

You had a few days to work out how to tell him, to figure out some sort of plan and speech to give when you told him you were pregnant. But all of it went flying out the window when he arrived last night, cowardice taking over as you kept your mouth shut and tried to act like everything was completely normal. 

“Did you change something?” 

You blinked, lifting your head from the screen you had been helplessly staring at for the last fifteen minutes to look at Carlos by the stove. “Hm? What? No. I’m the same as I’ve always been.”

“No?” Carlos hummed as he turned to look at you over his shoulder, smiling knowingly. “You just have this glow about you. It suits you.” 

“Glow? Pfft,” you waved him off, feeling your stomach churn a little. “I think the sleep deprivation is getting to you. Maybe you should take a nap after breakfast.” 

“Really? Maybe I’m affected by pregnancy hormones too,” he commented casually.

“That’s not how—” You paused, his words hitting you properly for the first time and your lips parting in surprise. “You know?!” 

Carlos could only laugh as he turned off the stove, rounding the counter so he could settle between your legs and cup your face in his hands. “I saw the test last night. You didn’t hide it very well, amor,” he mused, his thumbs brushing over your cheeks. 

“And,” you swallowed, your hands resting on his chest. “How do you feel about it?” 

“I will support you in whatever path you want to choose,” Carlos whispered with a sweet smile. “You are my first priority, always. And I will back you up no matter what.”

“Yeah?” You whispered, your tears welling up because even after so many years, you couldn’t quite grasp how you got so lucky with him.

“Yes, mi mariposa,” he murmured with a grin, pressing a chaste kiss against your lips. “It’s you and me before anything else.”

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[smilesheartshugs]

Soulmate au:

A continuation of this:

Jason’s return:

Attack on titans tower

Tim, sleep deprived and on his 15th cup of coffee was woefully unprepared for when the red hood appears in front of him. It takes an embarrassingly long time for time to realize that a) yes the red hood is really here and not a hallucination and b) the red hood is here to fight him.

One fight later and the red hood has Tim pinned. Some how this is the first time the two touch. Redhood watches as a bond form on Tim’s wrist, a sickly Lazarus green bond. This shocks Jason enough to stop his attack.

Tim doesn’t notice the bond forming, but he does feel it when a sudden scene of safety flows through him. Being the safes he’s felt in a long time combined with the fact he hasn’t slept in a few days he falls asleep in Jason’s arms

Tim now has his second soul second soul bond (he doesn’t let Alfred patch him up and Bruce never touches him outside of training which involves gloves so no real contact has been made.)

Running into Nightwing

Some time later after Jason’s attack on the tower, Jason runs into Nightwing. Nightwing is justifiably angry with him. All he knows is that this crime lord attacked his baby brother.

Que another fight where Jason only fights half heartedly. Dick gets Jason pinned mid fight where he find his soul bond with his dead brother on this crime lord. Confusion takes hold which leads to a verbal spar and eventually to a heart to heart.

Yes his brother has really returned from the dead. Nightwing traps the red hood in one of his infamous octopus hugs and cries. Jason kinda awkwardly pats his brothers back as he realizes just how much he was missed. He’s not ready to face Bruce yet, and Dick won’t force him to.

Jason, Tim, and Dick have weekly meet ups and brotherly bonding sessions. This usually results in nap times and the best sleeps any of them have.

Grandpa

A few weeks later when the bat was away Dick and Tim some how convinced Jason to come visit Alfred

Alfred being Alfred, he already knows something has been making his grand babies happier than normal, he thought it was a new friend or a soul bond. In a way he was right he just didn’t guess it was his lost grand baby returning home.

It’s not often Alfred had a greyed bond return return its color. Hugs, tears, and mandatory tea time.

Alfred now occasionally joins the bat boys on their weekly get togethers

Tim gets his third soul bond when Jason drags him into a group hug. Alfred is more than happy to have Tim as an official soul grand baby even if he has already considered him as one.

Facing the bat

It’s been a few months and Bruce is going crazzy trying to figure who the red hood is and what does he want.

After a long day of hunting Bruce returns to the cave early only to find the red hood there. He appears to having tea with Alfred. Whats going on? Oh Tim and Dick are here too.

It’s not often the big bad bat is stunned into total silence but boy did Jason get a good laugh at his face before promptly freaking out that he’s returned early.

Dick and Alfred explains what’s going one before anything has a chance of going south which leads to a hug.

Damian

Eventually the others notice that Jason has a new soul bond that wasn’t Tim’s and ask who’s it is. Jason explains the brother he’s made with a certain young assassin. This leads to them trying to get Damian early.

A stranger in the house

Everyone is suprised when one day a girl just showed up in their house. They were all weary at first only for her to just walk up and touch their face. Oh, uh… new soul bonds for everyone?

This is how Cass joins the family

Okay I think I’ve milked this for all it’s worth, maybe I’ll think of something more later? Idk lol

Okay last update

[homeslices]

I’m Sorry

A/N: Guess who’s backkk. Sorry for taking so long again, school has been stressing me out. Also my newest hyperfixation is The Last of Us (naturally) and so I’ve decided I want to write for it tooooo. I am still writing for Alice in Borderland but writer's block kinda hit me with that (I’ll be up and writing for it soon and I have all of your requests already in mind). I realized there was very little Ellie x a maternal figure fics and decided I needed to change that.

Summary: A little pre-apocalypse the rest post-apocalypse, you comfort Ellie when she has a nightmare. Ellie may be a little ooc but I tried my best.

Pairings: platonic!Ellie Williams x motherfigure!reader, Joel Miller x wife!reader

Word Count: 1.5k

Warnings: Spoilers for season 1, mention of Sarah’s death, David, mentions of attempted SA

You have always wanted children, wanted to be a mother.

And you got that chance once before in what feels like another life.

You’re step-daughter Sarah, who you helped raise and thought of as your own, was the light of your life.

You, having recently moved to a new neighborhood, couldn’t help notice your neighbor struggling to take care of his baby daughter by himself. You could tell he was running on little to no sleep and when he about had a fit trying, and ultimately failing, to put in a car seat into the back of his truck you finally stepped in and helped him.

All of the pieces soon fell together afterward. You helped him when he needed it, babysitting Sarah when he was about to collapse from sleep deprivation, teaching him how to put in a car seat correctly, and bringing over dinner when you could tell he had a long day at work. Similarly, Joel also lent you a hand when needed as well. Fixing your car when it wouldn’t turn on, helping repair your new house, and also listing that same house when you fell in love and moved into his home with his daughter. That same daughter whose second word was mama- dada obviously being the first.

The day that Joel proposed to you was the same day that Sarah asked you to be her mom officially, by adopting her. Your wedding was when you all decided to sign the adoption papers, and you legally became not only a wife, but a mom as well.

Life was blissful. You had the family you always wanted and were the happiest you could ever be.

But then the world ended, literally.

The day of the apocalypse officially starting, was the same day that a piece of you died inside.

Your daughter died in Joel and your arms that night terrified, calling out for you and her father to make the pain stop.

It changed the both of you.

The person that brought you both together, was now gone, and all that you could do now was hold on to each other.

So when your friend Tess, your husband and you went to see Robert about the car battery, you were also roped into smuggling a young girl to another firefly base across the country.

You tried to keep her at an arm's length. Ellie reminded you so much of your Sarah, the humor, the attitude, the persistence, and you didn’t know if you got close to her and she suffered the same fate as your daughter, that you would be able to recover again.

But somehow, Ellie wormed her way into your heart, and there was no going back now. You love that girl, just as you love Sarah, and the maternal urge to protect her from any harm overwhelmed you.

So when you found out that you weren’t able to protect her from a twisted individual that wanted to do something worse than kill Ellie, it made you see something more violent than red. You could’ve burned the world down with your rage, and honestly you still could.

You blamed yourself in all honesty. Because both Joel and you were injured, Ellie wanted to protect the pair of you. In doing so she got captured and not knowing where she was, you and Joel found her only after she walked out of a burning building, covered in that monster’s blood.

As you take watch a few weeks later, your attention snaps over to Ellie as she mumbles in her sleep. You’ve been more hyperfocused on her ever since him, making a promise to both her, and yourself, that you’d never let anything like that happen again.

With a sign, you return your attention to the darkness surrounding you and the people you care about. Joel was sleeping next to you, still recovering from his injury, and Ellie was on the other side, moving and muttering every once and a while.

However, the sudden jerk of Ellie and the distressed scream she let out in her sleep immediately made you jump in surprise and scramble towards her.

Her eyes were screwed shut, eyebrows were furrowed, and her breaths were coming out in hard pants. She was terrified, you could tell, and the second her mouth parts again to let out another petrified cry you firmly, but gently, try to shake her awake.

“Ellie,” you say in a low tone. “Wake up, it’s just a dream.”

Her eyes immediately fly open, and out of fear and what seemed to be the cloud of sleep plus the threat of her nightmare still hanging over her, she flips open her knife that she recently started to sleep with and slashes it blindly towards your hand.

Realizing your mistake, you quickly pull your arm away, but not before a gash forms on your hand drawing a hiss from you.

Ellie’s eyes were no longer affected by sleep and panic, but now were filled with horror at her actions.

“I-” she chokes. “I-I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to-”

You cut off her apologizes with a gentle hush.

“Ellie it’s okay, it was an accident.”

Moving slowly, like you would with a wounded animal, you gently remove the knife from her grip, then hold her hands in your own- albeit after you wiped the blood from your hand on your pants.

“Are you alright?” You ask, scooting closer to her not in a hovering manner but more so she knows you’re there mentally, emotionally, and physically.

“I’m the one who should be asking you that. I hurt you, almost stabbed you! What kind of sick-”

You interrupt the young girl off once again.

“Ellie it was my fault I shouldn’t have woken you up like that.”

She doesn’t reply to that, instead her eyes were focused on your still bleeding hand.

“It’s not bad at all, just a flesh wound,” you try to comfort her. “Doesn’t even need stitches.”

Ellie looks away from you, however, you could hear her mumble, “but it could’ve been,” in reply to your first statement.

Raising your uninjured hand, making sure it’s in Ellie’s line of sight so she doesn’t get startled, you comfortingly rub her arm. Her body seems to relax from her tense state slightly, shoulders drooping as proof.

“I’m sorry,” she says once again, voice small and eyes glassy.

Ellie was emotionally stubborn, similar to your husband, and seeing her like this broke you. You have only seen the girl in this vulnerable position a handful of times before, and it always made you want to hold her close and never let go.

“Ellie listen to me,” You make eye contact with her, just so she can truly understand what you’re about to say. “That was not your fault. You had a nightmare and I startled you.”

You pause for a second trying to figure out how to word the next part of your reassurance.

So with a gentle voice you finally start speaking again.

“I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure nothing like that ever happens to you again and-” your voice cracks with emotion. “I’m so sorry Ellie. I’m so sorry that I wasn’t able to stop him, and I’m so sorry that I wasn’t there for you when you needed me the most.”

Her eyes that were previously glasses were now overflowing and falling down her face.

Then, in a blink of an eye, the young girl that you’ve grown to love like another daughter, crashes against you. Her face pressed against your left shoulder and her arms wrapped around you tightly as if you would make her let go. Not a chance in hell you would.

Your arms surrounded her and at this point, her body was shaking due to her tears.

Soon you heard Ellie’s muffled, shaky voice speak out.

“It wasn't your fault. It was never your fault.”

At that point your tears were falling down your face as well. Gently, you rub your hand in comforting circles on her back and sway the both of you back and forth.

Ellie’s shaking soon died down. It took some time but exhaustion finally hit her, so now she was fast asleep in your arms, snoring softly.

You let out a watery chuckle, emotions still running high, as you continued watch with Ellie in your arms.

The sun soon rises a few hours later. Joel’s eyes flicked open ready to wake up and start the day’s journey. Nevertheless by doing so, he was met with the familiar sight of his wife holding a sleeping young girl, eyes focused towards the sun in the distance, and couldn’t help the small smile that crossed over his face.

Both Joel’s and your thoughts were very similar at that moment.

You’d both do anything to keep your family safe.

[serafilms]

song 3! i’m in love with you (the 1975) + tartaglia (spotify wrapped event)

there’s something i’ve been meaning to say to you, baby (hold that thought), yeah, there’s something i’ve been meaning to say to you, baby, but i just can’t do it

Tartaglia, or Ajax, as he asked you to call him, is a very strange man.

Much of his time is divided between business for the Fatui, battling and training, visiting his family, and frolicking around the nations he travels to. But there’s a fifth category too, and it’s the time he sets aside to bother you.

He returns to Liyue a lot, apparently the Fatui poster boy for good international relations with the Land of Geo. And every time he’s here, without fail, he whisks you away from your plans to spend time with you.

Right now, you’re sitting across from him, surveying him as he eagerly cuts into a steak. He cuts a large slice with some elegance, then raises it to his mouth and tears another chunk off with his teeth.

A strange man indeed.

The restaurant he’s chosen is pretty fancy, and boasts authentic and experimental cuisine from regions all over Teyvat. The steak he’s currently depriving the life out of is from Mondstadt, but with a few additional Liyuean twists.

“Man, this steak is so good. You’ve got to try some,” Ajax says, gesturing to your plate, where the same steak sits untouched. You had been too preoccupied with watching him and wondering why he invited (forced) you out to eat, when all you’d wanted to do was sleep. You pick up the knife and fork and cut into it as he looks at you.

You take a bite. Tender, salted perfectly with just a tiny hint of something sweet and a little spice. It is good.

Ajax looks satisfied as you nod at him, and takes another bite for himself. You watch him again as he chews, eyes darting down every now and then to your plate as you cut another slice slowly. It’s been a while since he last came back to Liyue, and since he returned he’s been dragging you around town almost every day. You’ve lived here your whole life, so you know very well all the places he’s brought you to, but you still listen as he chatters on about them.

You can’t really put your finger on it, but something seems different about him these days. If not because he seems almost too eager to hang out with you, then because of the strange silences that overcome him sometimes when he looks at you.

As you swallow another bite of your steak, you squint at him. “So.”

Ajax looks up at you. There’s that strange look again.

“So, what?”

You wave your fork around in his direction as you ask, “Why were you so insistent on having dinner today?”

“What?” he says, grinning, “Can’t I hang out with my favourite person in Liyue?”

You don’t miss the way he freezes before he grins, and your brows knit together. “Would’ve thought Zhongli took that spot.”

“Aw, come on. You’re different to him.”

“How so?”

Ajax pauses and opens his mouth, but he seems to hesitate on his words. Almost as if he has something important to tell you.

“Well, actually, there is a reason. I, uh—“ Bingo. He shifts in his seat and you watch him, waiting as he avoids your gaze.

He stares down at his steak, looking contemplative.

“Well?” you prompt him.

He looks up at you, and something flickers behind his eyes before he shakes his head and is smiling again. “It’s nothing, not a big deal.”

You want to press him further, but he’s already cutting a piece of his steak and holding it up to your mouth. “Come on, don’t let the food go cold now.”

The topic doesn’t come up again for the whole lunch. Ajax pays for your meal and you don’t protest. He’s loaded with cash and you’re still a little confused by the earlier interaction anyway.

“I’ve got some business to deal with now, but I’ll walk you home.”

As he drops you off at your door, you see that strange look again as he pauses, right when you’d expect him to say something. He looks to be debating something, but apparently decides against it when he shuts his mouth again for a moment, then smiles at you and says, “I’ll see you later?”

“Yeah,” you say, “see you later.”

You watch as he leaves and wonder what’s going on with him, then shrug it off. He’ll tell you one day. He’s a strange man, you think, but you like him anyway.

[demvalhaken]

HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!! Just some super cool arts

If I EVER had the patience to write and draw the Catecis comic, it’d look like this

This is just a grasshopper sailor out on the Waspian port

I was thinking about naming him Sir. Irian like the Iris flower. The thing is I have to differentiate him from Iris, a male monarch Butterfly across the entire world. Or Sir. Astroway as his last name is Astroway due to his sailor family using stars as a way to travel.

About my long break: Look guys, I haven’t been doing well mentally. I am in a depressive state, I am sleep deprived, I am done with life. To draw so much and pour your time and skill into an artwork only for a few likes can be frustrating. I don’t post my art for fame or love, I do it to share my ocs and ideas, I don’t want the masses to flock, I just want recognition for my work. I didn’t really mean to take a break, I get distracted very easily and forget to post. I wish I could post more but art takes time, I have to develop ideas and passion due to my constant art block and burnout. The only good thing in my life is just being alive. There is a large scar on my neck because I gave myself a friction burn with my lanyard at school due to anxiety :( I have mental problems, whatever I have, it isn’t good and will probably slowly deteriorate me to a depressive glob of my former self, but I will never get diagnosed. My family is constantly angry at me for no reason, I get that my clean obsessed behaviour can get annoying especially when I panic and get water everywhere, but I hate to be yelled at for something that I cannot control or fix. They say I am overreacting and will got over it, but I’ve tried, there is no fixing this. That’s why I’ll probably never ever get a diagnosis or therapy session. I lied, I am actually not as okay as I say I am. If I ever don’t post for a period time, please know that it’s either from lack of art or mental issues. I am sorry for not posting in awhile as my usual breaks take a time of 3 days or 2. I am deeply sorry.

Bevel, Snow, and Berry.

I drew these in my math book, very classic place to doodle, I know. There’s not a lot of doodles in my book though, I am usually trying to do equations and get an 100 on my test

I finally got a haircut, though my hair is now a short messy thing, I feel quite confident even if I don’t fully look masculine. My arm hair should be quite an indicator and the trans pin inside my backpack, haha! That pin was made by a friend of mine, don’t worry he’s very fruity and slay. Idk if it’s just my senses but my hairdresser was definitely an ally, he slayed, my hair is hairing. Also I have giant eyebags and a cowlick, like I literally have Dem’s cowlick.

Here’s some more little oc ideas. Eclipse is my first transfem oc, I know I know I’m slaying. She’s has a twin sister, Luna! Yes, Eclipse and Luna are Hornet twins, from the same egg btw. I still don’t know how it works, I’m too tired to research though. Arctic and Viper are a married couple, I like to think Arctic is just a lesbian and her/his wife is a crazy queen with schizophrenia who totally didn’t kill her family. They’re both from Bloodlust’s time period, though a little older.

I don’t want to talk about it… This is really gross but because Snow’s family wanted to keep the bloodline “pure” she’s SHORT and albino but like literally no one else in her family is albino… poor Snow… GUYS DONT MARRY YOUR SIBLINGS AND COUSINS… Bevel transmasc headcannon, I’m not making it cannon yet because Bevel is a lesbian.

Layze, Funkyfrogbait, and Bevel with one tooth

@purpledemonss asked for this minus Bevel, that was my idea

OKAY I LOVE YOU GUYS SM, EAT THIS UP, STAY A MENACE TO SOCIETY JUST DONT EAT LEATHER UNLESS YOU ARE DEATHLY STARVED

[thistransient]

- In addition to complaining about it, occasionally I do attempt to improve my lot in life: beyond the new bicycling endeavour, I have also finally extricated myself from my Chinese tutoring (under the guise of it being temporary, but really I think the relationship has run its course), and continued going to the “rope jam” evening I tried out last month. It was very rewarding the second time, persistence pays off! However, it came to light that the host also organises a monthly artist networking night, which at first I felt unqualified for when I looked at the sign-up form (I’m not a professional by any means), but was encouraged to go regardless. Sure. Okay. But one is recommended to hand out business cards? Dress smart casual? Have some sort of established social media? I only made an IG account a few months ago, with the sole purpose of looking at plastic surgeon results (I do NOT need another app to scroll endlessly on). I have nothing resembling a brand name, I do have a lot of imposter feelings because I never went to art school (backstory: my mother is a professional artist so I grew up around it, and was on the verge of applying for an art program for uni, but ended up getting a scholarship from a different place for foreign languages and settled for that instead). I am gonna do this though, and see what comes of it. I’ve had the vague intent for years and years to round up all my projects and make some kind of proper portfolio, maybe I’ll be motivated to follow through at long last?

-  I’ve decided I am really truly done with taking language class just to stay in the country. I am going to leave and come back on a visa-free entry, and optimally find a job within 90 days, but if it takes longer than that, so be it. The destination is...*drumroll*...

Seoul. No I did not see that coming either. With Japan being ruled out on account of flight prices, and my Chinese visa being invalidated, I decided it was down to Bangkok or Manila (and possibly Palawan, as a friend from my Australia days is there visiting family). However, Bangkok simply did not spark joy, and all of the cheapest flights from Manila were red-eye (I refuse to do the sleep deprivation hangovers anymore). At some point it dawned on me that separate budget airlines to and from Incheon could be an option. My adventure/ordeal in Korea is the whole reason for the founding of this blog, and it’s been ten years since I left (without cancelling my phone plan, hopefully that doesn’t cause issues but I have a new passport now anyways). I feel it’s only fitting to return for some closure (emotionally, not of the phone plan), and experience everything anew as my current self (vs. severely depressed while working for a tyrannical hagwon boss). I was a little miffed to discover the government has implemented an “Electronic Travel Authorisation” that one must apply for to enter- it’s not a visa, and yet there’s a fee, but it’s good for two years? Whatever.

I was going to lament my dilemma of whether to keep my current guesthouse booking or try to find something cheaper on Airbnb, but in writing about it I’ve convinced myself it’s better to stick with the guesthouse- I’m not keen by any means on staying in hostel dorms at this point in my life, but I’d still like some measure of socialising, and it’s in a nice location near Gyeongbokgung Palace. I just want to wander around slowly taking blatantly touristy photos of things, and eat some good food!

[daisynik7]

HI MY PRECIOUS ANGEL BABY SNOOKUMS<3 i missed you so so much, and i've arrived with a boatload of love and cuddles to make up for the eons i was gone, hold me. i write to you while mildly sleep-deprived (the amount of spelling and grammar errors 🤡), binging dog kennel shows, and on my third peach green tea Celsius (caffeinated energy drink) but overall nourished and (maybe) over-hydrated lol.

oml, when we last spoke i said i’d be in for a busy week HOWEVER i wasn’t expecting the shitshow awaiting me all i can say is (tmi) uti’s suck 🫠 long story short i’ve been staying with/ helping family who was admitted to the hospital a few nights ago and staying the night but i’m actually running on fumes a.) i’m not sleeping in my bed and i take forever to adjust b.) because i’m fucking paranoid the wrong meds will be administered because it’s happened before 🥲 luckily recovery is happening and hoping for discharge soon:)

but i miss you dearly enough about my shitshow, how have you been????????? i’m penciling time to catch up but did the office let you work from home? and of course, how was your weekend spent? anything special plans? or just catch up on rest? i hope you’re being extra kind to yourself and spoiled yourself with something nice, even small things! 

i hope this week goes swimmingly for you, i’m not sure if the weather is warmer but regardless i expect you to stay warm and cozy, stay hydrated and nourish your body, a polite reminder to step away from the things that you simply can’t control because you my sweet don’t deserve nor need that kind of burden and negativity! and as we’ve agreed, if i say it, then it must be so and this is especially non-negotiable 🥰 

i hope the day starts and ends well for you, i’m not sure if the tech issues at the office have been resolved, or if you’re still wfh, but you’ve got this! proud of you! your message was well received and kept safe and cherished in my inbox 💞 even if i'm not here daily always here for you and by your side! sending so many cuddles! so much love! so many hugs! so many kisses! i love you daisy!!!!! <3

i want to say i tried to comb through my rambling but the caffeine said no lol 🫣

WIFEY AHHHHH I'M SO HAPPY TO HEAR FROM YOU!! I've missed you so so much too snookums.

I'm really sorry to hear about the uti, god that sounds so painful and uncomfortable. please keep me updated with how you're feeling and when you're finally discharged. I'm glad to hear you're on the way there. sending you kisses, flowers, and snuggles for you to get well soon. also, I really hope they don't give you the wrong meds!! 😕

I've been okay! I had to go into the office, but it's fine. I had a pretty chill weekend and got some writing done. then yesterday I had some friends over for pizza and gossip, which is always fun hehe. I'm always working on being kinder to myself and I think I'm doing a good job at it so far! please remember to be kind to yourself too after the week you've had! I feel so bad you had to suffer through that!

It's still cold here, but not as much as before! Is it getting warmer for you too? I know you're not in your usual bed right now, but I hope that you have something there to keep you cozy and comfortable!

Thank you for these important reminders! I've been much better about not focusing on things I can't control and that's made my experiences much more positive.

I hope today and the rest of your week goes well! Rest up and take care of yourself! I can't believe you have to deal with this right now, I feel so bad. I wish I could somehow take away the pain and discomfort you're currently feeling. Sending you so much love, good healing vibes, and my most loving kisses. 💗 I love you so dearly thea

[melodyvsthesea]

Worst things I ever did

1. Once i dove into a strangers truck in the back and when they confronted me I accidentally spilled cool ranch Doritos in there and then ran away

2. I burned a hole in my mattress and some unreplaceable photos and it set off the smoke detector so I started pouring water all over the floors. Then when the fire fighters got there I admitted everything instead of telling them I was just cooking and it got Smokey

3. I flashed my lady bits to a group of EMT’s while claiming that I was Rick Sanchez and Albert Einstein. And I believed it too and I told them while pointing at my vagina “is this what you want” then let them take me to the hospital only after my roommate convinced me

4. I kept everyone wide awake yelling that I hate all of them (my exes family) for two nights straight

5. I had sex in a park with a guy I met on tinder at 2 am and a guy with a dog walked by but I kept riding him

6.I had a meltdown about catching HIV on two separate occasions (I didn’t have it). I sent essay paragraphs to people I had sex with, freaking out about it

7. I told a guy I wouldn’t have sex with him because we were both the same mix of race and it would be too “meta”. The truth was I just didn’t want to do it because my mother was in the other room

8. I walked out of my house a few times in the middle of the night with no pants because I was sleep deprived and paranoid

9. I had such loud sex with my ex girlfriend in our apartment that several people complained and one even mocked us to our face and said we “moaned better than hookers”. One of the complaints was from a mother of 3.

10. I convinced my ex girlfriend to go to another country and give her child away to the baby daddy so we could be free because we were broke and stressed and the kid wouldn’t eat so I thought she would get worse.

11. I lived with my exes family for 6 months and didn’t pay rent nor did I look for a job until I thought my visa was expiring at the last minute. I let my ex not work too and we’d eat takeout a lot and go on dates using the grandparents money.

12. I’ve made my mother cry several times by saying she was the worst mother ever, but I’ve heard of worse.

13. I have led on and the blocked countless men. I have cursed out so many people too and destroyed their character with words. There are many who can’t stand me due to this.

14. I am very easy and slutty. I’ve given head to about 40 people, kissed 100+, and had normal sex with 30+. I swallowed every time too. It’s a miracle I never have gotten and std

15. I slapped my girlfriend twice while in severe psychosis and mania. I also choked her when she said she looked down on me for not getting a college degree. Now we still talk idk how

16. I slept with my friend of many years bf because she had always been mean to me and calling me ugly every day. I did it intentionally to hurt her feelings.

17. I took LSD with a guy I had only known for a year and I killed a huge insect in the sink while high and I could feel it hurting but I kept flushing it down the sink with water.

18. In kindergarten a bunch of me peers decided to dogpile on top of each other. I said I wanted to join but I was tall and they said no. So I jumped on all of them with my full weight because I was angry that I was being excluded. It hurt some of the kids and I got in trouble. When the principal asked why I did it I lied and said I didn’t know what would happen, but I definitely knew.

19. I’ve crawled on the ground sexily in the mental hospital and even kissed a man (consensual) that was a stranger, had sex with a stranger there, and kissed another guy (non consensually) with my COVID mask on and then apologized.

20. I riled up a very strong tall man in the mental hospital so much that he threw a chair at the window.

21. I pretended to be about to jump out of my sisters car so she would take me to the ER.

[galladeblades]

had an epiphany last night while doing brain defragging. terrible sleep but something major clicked and i need to journal about it excuse the bad vibes

don’t got anywhere else to talk about this kinda stuff, so im back to scream into the blank void of my tumblr.

i’ve always been rather self conscious about how quiet i am. family has gotten annoyed with my minimal word replies and non spoken gestures. and its usually always the one thing strangers pick up on and poke fun at me for. i’ve always chalked it up to, “well i don’t like talking to people i don’t know. we don’t have anything to talk about so im not gonna talk”

but still all this persists later now i’m more sociable. i think. at least, compared to how i was.

i have friends. i have people i enjoy hanging out around. yet verbally speaking is still such a struggle for me. hell even sometimes text chatting with people can be a major drain

that’s when it clicked

talking to people feels like taking damage over time from video games.

in a desert level and the heat will slowly drain away your health a single or few points per second an aquatic character losing health from being away from water for too long a kimura trying very hard to keep track of socializing rules and pay very close attention to hidden meaning behind words

and it’s not just the socializing hard thing

hearing noise is painful. especially when i’m super tired and down (which is most of the time)

having to speak verbally means creating noise. which hurts me ears & brain

one of my fav lines to use is “i wish to be locked away in a sensory deprivation tank for [insert comical number] years”. maybe not the for years part, but i do desperately desire quiet.

and no one ever seems to understand that. people usually say how mad they’d go from being in silence for so long. yet its something i actively crave and enjoy.

and despite what people keep saying, it’s ok to want to be alone and in silence

i think i’m fully beginning to grasp that now

i got non verbal moments and usually always minimally verbal. i don’t know and don’t care what other people think, but this makes sense to me and it finally clicked.

now to continue on with the rest of the day lmfao

[yoursleepingbaby]

Sleep Training and Attachment

Sleep training and attachment…. This is the question that I get asked more and more regularly. “Is my baby gonna be ok if I sleep train?”. It’s a hot topic regarding baby sleep and is passionately debated anytime sleep training is talked about. You have two camps…. One that believes that teaching a baby to sleep is a gift to both the baby AND the family. Then the other camp that believes sleep training is evil and no loving parent would ever consider subjecting their baby to any such thing.

Verbiage like “unresponsive parent”, “unattached”, “disengaged” and “selfish” are all words that are thrown around by people that believe that sleep training is just outright bad.

I can tell you that in all my years working with families I’ve never worked with a parent that fits that description. I mean, where do they come up with this stuff??!!

Sleep training does not affect the secure bond and connection that a parent has built with their baby. A few days or even a few weeks of teaching a baby the skill of independent sleep does not destroy all the hours that those parents have spent lovingly caring for and meeting the needs of their baby. Babies are not so fragile in their attachment that something as simple as sleep training could break that connection.

And this is not just me saying this. This topic has been studied and it’s been proven that not only does sleep training NOT harm mom or baby but it actually strengthens the family’s overall wellbeing.

This Study pretty much says it all…. “ Behavioral sleep techniques have no marked long-lasting effects (positive or negative). Parents and health professionals can confidently use these techniques to reduce the short- to medium-term burden of infant sleep problems and maternal depression.

Whew! Isn’t that good news? Now let’s move on to the next…

This shows that babies who get consolidated night sleep have higher cognitive scores. It also shows that they have an easier temperament, are more approachable, less distractible, and more adaptable. Now, who doesn’t want that?!

This has absolutely been my experience with the families that I work with. Once everyone is getting a good night’s sleep mom and dad both express how much MORE they are enjoying their baby. And enjoying each other! Baby is happy and alert. Gone is the fussiness and unsettledness that was once so much a part of their life. Mom and dad now have time to take care of themselves AND each other. And they now have the emotional and physical energy to care for their baby. Gone is the exhaustion and depletion that was once a daily part of their lives. Life begins to look considerably brighter as parents go from survival mode to thriving and attachment remains secure.

Here’s another Study that shows that sleep training doesn’t harm attachment. Attachment is multi-faceted and the bonds of the child-parent relationship are NOT easily broken. Thank God for that! Trust me on this. If the parent-child connection was so easily harmed we’d all be in BIG trouble!!

Quality and quantity of sleep actually lowers the stress levels in the house exponentially. Long-term sleep deprivation puts a strain on every relationship in your home. Your marital relationship as well as your relationships with your other children.

Here’s another study that looked at maternal stress levels. They measured cortisol ( a stress hormone) in both mom and baby and here is what they concluded:

“Maternal stress decreased over the first month of sleep training. Infant Stress, measured by salivary cortisol levels, also decreased slightly. The security of child-parent attachment was not different among the sleep training and nonsleep training group”.

The conclusion also showed “significant improvements in maternal anxiety and depression”

It’s common knowledge that postpartum depression is worsened through sleep deprivation. Quanity & quality sleep has a substantial positive effect on mental health, and mental health certainly affects your ability to bond and connect with your baby. A well-rested mother is more easily tuned into her baby and able to respond consistently and appropriately. Bonding and attachment supports a new mom being present and able to meet her baby’s needs in a timely manner. Compare this with a mom who is at the “end of her rope” and is feeling resentful or desperate. Which one is going to be the better mama?

Yes, learning a new skill does introduce a certain level of intermittent stress. But, let’s also not forget that there are different levels of stress. We all experience stress to varying degrees and there is a big difference between normal stress that actually helps our babies/kids to learn. Whcich, in turn, helps them to learn resiliency and reduce toxic stress that is rooted in chronic neglect. All stress is not the same. So while learning a new skill can be intermittently stressful in the short term, the long-term benefit for every member of the family FAR outweighs the short-term, intermittent stress that most families experience.

While each family and baby is different you can certainly expect a few months of being tired after you have a new baby. However, once your baby is 3–5 months you should certainly feel that sleep has improved. And, at this time, you are no longer up multiple times per night tending to or feeding your baby the way you were when they were brand new. If your baby is older than 4 months old and you feel you are beginning to unravel from being sleep deprived, reach out if you’re ready to start sleeping again.

I will help you to determine what age-appropriate night wakings should be for your baby based on a variety of factors and you can decide if you’re ready to move forward with sleep training.

So I hope after reading this that you feel a little more confident that your bond with your baby is secure. That sleep training and attachment CAN go hand in hand and know that mom guilt does not need to plague you if you decide to sleep train. YOU are the best Mama or daddy for YOUR baby and I want you to know that your attachment is not at risk if you are hitting a wall and are ready to start teaching your baby how to become an independent sleeper.

So while sleep training may not be the right fit for every family it is a viable and safe option for any family that feels that they are not able to cope any longer in their current circumstances.

Don’t hesitate to reach out if you want to learn more or just want to chat about your current situation. I’m here to support your family in a way that feels right to you. And, know that I ALWAYS support healthy attachment!

Some Things to Consider Before Putting Your Child in Daycare 5 Tested & Proved Tips to Transition Your Toddler from Napping to Quiet Time Tips to Reduce Toddler Bedtime Struggles

[sukirichi]

sweet lies [03.final]

His lies were way too sweet – and you were too addicted to make him stop.

cw. toxic! megumi, SEXY TOXIC MEGUMI 🥵, toxic college settings, oral (f receiving), multiple orgasm, orgasm denial, explicit smut, car sex, biting, scratching, sukuna is a sex god, MEGUMI WITH A LIP RING, slight angst

note. FINALLY FINISHED THIS SERIES AAAAHHH I HOPE YOU GUYS LIKED THIS I HAD A LOT OF FUN WITH THIS SERIES TYSM FOR EVERYTHING! lotsa lub lub for each and everyone of you! anyways let me just say...sweet lies sukuna can politely rail me.

series masterlist | 01 | 02 | 03

It’s…a different story when you have to move back and forth between your newly made acquaintance slash fuck buddy, Sukuna, to your actual fuck buddy and crush, Megumi.

Sukuna’s polite enough to not meddle into your business as he’s promised, which you’re extremely thankful for, but you should’ve known the bubble of happiness would pop the moment you stepped out of your apartment. You’ve left your phone unattended and on silent, earbuds always placed inside to ignore Megumi’s calls.

It’s funny, actually, that he’s never replied much to you before other than occasional dick pic and ‘you awake baby?’ but ever since you’ve been…pre-occupied, suddenly you’re on top of his contacts.

You grumble at the vibration of your phone, Megumi’s name flashing on the screen. Back then, you would’ve soared and jumped to pick up the call, voice sultry and toes pointed at the ceiling as you try to keep in your giggles. Now, you’re dreading it, glaring at his annoyingly handsome contact icon that used to make your heart skip a beat. You’re studying in the library and have been doing a terrific job at avoiding him so far, and today won’t be any different.

With a sigh, you completely flip your phone upside down and turn back to your book. You’re on the second line of the paragraph when you feel large, warm hands caress the back of your neck, tilting you upwards to meet his curious – and certainly annoyed – blue eyes.

“Babe,” Megumi drawls out, minty breath fanning your cheeks.

He looks absolutely stunning today, plain and casual yet so handsome in just a black hoodie and sweatpants, his dark hair slicked back to reveal his forehead. For a guy who sure pounded into your skill he had no interest in you that went beyond sexual, he sure did know you well enough, the slight tugging of his lips a sign he could easily read through you. It makes you huff away from him, scooting – trying is the keyword – away from his touch. Megumi’s persistence leads him into you placing you right above his lap and cages you between his arms, chin on your shoulder and his breath floating over your ear.

You can’t help but squirm in embarrassment. Half of the students in the campus library have turned to look at you, and Megumi merely smiles at the attention, audacious enough to kiss the shell of your ear.

Fuck him, fuck him, fuck him! In reality, you really do want to fuck him.

“Why have you been ghosting me?”

“I wasn’t ghosting you, Megumi, it’s called being busy. You ever tried doing homework?”

“You’re so mean to me today,” he pouts, but that pout soon brightens into a smile when you scowl at him. Megumi, albeit never really paying attention to you, your facial expressions have registered as second nature to him now. It doesn’t take much before you soften under his hold, still as mushy as ever, and the nasty fucker basks in it proudly. “There’s a party tonight at Okkotsu’s house, said his parents were away in Greece or some rich family shit. Wanna come and get wasted with me?”

“I don’t know, Megs, I have an essay to finish…”

“Come on, it’s just one night. It won’t hurt,” he shrugs and sways you to side to side, causing your heart to sway side to side in giddiness. It’s this – moments like this – that really fools you into believing Megumi likes you. And that sweet lie only turns sweeter from his words that drip like honey, “Plus, I’ve missed you. Can’t think straight when we’ve been apart for too long, baby.”

You pretend to think about it.

That slight falter in a split second brings about a waver in Megumi’s confident you didn’t think would be possible. Not that you can blame him; you never did have to think about it whenever he invites you to fuck around with him. In fact, you say yes a lot faster than he can ask you something, but something’s been changing you lately – or rather someone.

In the end though, you’ll circle up right where you belong.

Relishing in the rarity of having Megumi coddle you with kisses and affection, his perfume still as boyish and vanilla that deluded you into his faux aura of a sweet boy, you melt one more time. Hopefully, it would transition into a one last time before Megumi’s completely wrapped you around his finger.

“Fine. I’m leaving if it’s too noisy though.”

“Awesome,” Megumi chirps, pulling you in for a long, solid kiss. It takes you back by surprise that you end up wide-eyed above him, stiff hands on his shoulders as you feel him smile through the kiss. Then, just as you’re about to kiss him back with the same passion, Megumi separates himself from you and squeezes your ass. “Promise we’ll have fun, babe. I’ll even bring extra condoms.”

You’re not surprised he left afterwards.

But are you hurt? Most definitely so.

Fuck Fushiguro Megumi.

You were going to leave him, block him, ignore him, avoid him, and carve him out of your heart for good. It’s what you deserve – to be freed from such a toxic guy like him. His pretty face shouldn’t be an excuse for you stick around any longer. That party…well, it would be your last one, you’re never going back!

Still, it’s not that easy to let go. Years of following him around with puppy eyes and spreading your legs open for him like it’s the most natural thing to do isn’t just going to disappear in a day.

It’s for closure, you lie to yourself. That’s all it is – you just need closure. So for one last time, you’ll fuck around with Megumi, then you’d leave him. For good this time.

And yet – your mind still races back to him. His throaty, boyish laughter and the stupid way his eyes crinkle into half moons, his large hands slapping his knees when you tell him a really silly joke. Okay, he didn’t really laugh that much because he’s already passed out in the times you crack jokes after sex, but the few times he did, though? It’s magical, beautiful, phenomenal.

He’s so awful yet so irresistibly charming it’s a huge tug of war between your rational mind and foolish heart.

You couldn’t focus anymore in the library. If you wanted to pass your exams, you need to be somewhere that won’t remind you of him, in a place where a stronger aroma would conceal his lingering scent. The best option was to hang around in a local café closer to your apartment than on campus, and you’ve completely ditched your usual get up to just opting for lookinglike a complete shut in – bags under eyes, heart torn over a stupid boy, the usual Iced Vanilla Latte with the condensation sticking to the wooden table and soft lofi music playing in the background – it’s just the perfect atmosphere for you to wallow in self-pity.

And wallow in self-pity you did, your cheeks squished against the pale furniture while you sighed for what seems like the hundredth time that day. At the back of your head, Megumi is still giving you one of those slow, long kisses reserved for only when he’s half-sleepy, your heart doing insane back flips as you reminisced whatever moments you once had.

You’re so lost in your own train of thought you fail to hear the scraping of a chair, followed by a heavy body plopping across you. “Well, this is kind of gloomy…”

At the sound of that awfully familiar, deep voice, you sit up straight in a frenzy. Sukuna smirks at your reaction as he loudly sips from his matcha latte – which you would’ve never thought he likes – and sits back at his chair, legs crossed against one another. Unlike Megumi, he doesn’t seem to pose any other malicious intent, so you bury your head in your arms, wishing for the ground to just open up and eat you already.

“I’m sleep deprived and haven’t eaten anything except Red Bull and coffee,” you try to explain, “I look horrible.”

“Don’t say that. You’re gorgeous all the time.”

From under your arms, you scowl at nowhere in particular, ignoring the heat rushing from the back of your neck. Sukuna didn’t seem to be flirting with you, and one peek at him swirling his straw inside his cup proves your theories.

However, the offhanded compliment falls so naturally from his lips it takes you a back, and not in a good way. Defensively, you cross your arms against your chest. You knock your toes against Sukuna’s knees under the knees to get his attention, the taller man peering at you under his lashes, tongue innocently swirling around his straw.

I fucking hate men! – is what you want to say, but something different comes out. “Why are you even here? Aren’t you asleep in the morning because of work?”

“It’s my day off,” he sets his cup down, placing his chin on both of his palms. Sukuna’s gaze travels from your face down to the abandoned papers before you, a scowl immediately making its way to his face.  “Got too bored to cook so I came here for a light snack. As for you…ew, are you doing essays? I hated that shit in college.”

“Yeah, I hate it too,” you numbly agree, “Can barely function right now.”

Sukuna’s eyes lit up the moment you nearly fall on the table again, his palm quick to caress your cheek. If he can feel the intense heat of your skin from the sudden gesture, he makes no comment about it. Instead, Sukuna hauls you from your seat, nodding to your bag and papers before he rushes you out the door.

When Sukuna said he could make you feel better, the last thing you thought of was going to the nearby park. Now, you find yourself sitting comfortably with him, aggressively licking on the vanilla ice cream he’d gotten you from an ice cream man that passed by. It’s a great way to kill the time – or just to enjoy the day despite the rough start – because the sunlight feels warm on your skin, the trees above you shading you from extra shade.

Next to you, Sukuna is surveying his ice cream with the least interest, his brows furrowed as he notes, “Your crush is toxic. I suggest you cut ties with him and get it all over with.”

In part of making you feel better, Sukuna’s subtly given you clues you could tell him whatever’s going on in your mind. It makes you wonder if maybe you’ve been that obvious that even Sukuna could read you, but you’re thankful that he understood, because you really did want to rant about it. Your friends are just a one call away, but they’re not any better. They’ll keep claiming ‘Megumi just needs time’ because they know it’s what you want to hear to make yourself feel better. Though, every once in a while, you needed to talk to someone who could actually slap the harsh reality at your face, and who else would be more suitable than a mature adult like Sukuna?

Looking at him now, the contrast between your roommate and your crush is immense. Where Megumi is all bark and no bite, all needy and never giving, Sukuna’s silent and compliant, an extremely good listener with the patience of a monk.

“It’s not that easy.”

“Yeah it is. Just block his number and avoid him. He’ll get the answer soon enough.”

“You don’t understand,” you groan in defeat. Sukuna faces you with worry written all over his face, seemingly tender in comparison to the tattoos marking his skin. Sometimes, it’s so easy to forget he’s actually a lot more decent than Fushiguro fucking Megumi, but you end up slipping anyway, turning to the sky just as tears prick at your eyes. “I…I love him, okay? I’ve always been in love with him even though I know I’m just someone who warms his bed. I know that much and yet…I can’t seem to let him go.”

Sukuna is silent for a full minute. You thought he’ll offer you some adult wisdom only people like him would now, but Sukuna simply snorts, happily licking at his ice cream as if you didn’t just break down in front of him. “Shit’s tough then.”

“You’re great at comforting, you know that?”

“Oh, I wasn’t comforting you,” he smiles and pats your knee, “Come on, let’s go home. I know just how to take your mind off things.”

With the way he’s caressing your thigh and his voice turned an octave lower, you chastise yourself for feeling aroused when you wanted to cry just seconds ago. But his fingers are inching closer and closer to your inner thigh, and he’s warm and strong – so fucking nice too that perhaps fucking him wouldn’t be such a bad idea.

But like always, Sukuna never fails to surprise you.

You expected he’d take you right to his room the moment you’ve crossed the door, but Sukuna dashes for the TV before carrying a huge blanket and heaps of pillow. You watch there, stunned. He makes quick work of fluffing the pillows before grabbing your wrist and pulling you above him the same way Megumi did a while ago.

The only difference? Your heart doesn’t skip a beat. You’re not intoxicated by his scent. You’re not trying to squirm away from him nor do you feel like a silly little schoolgirl who’s fallen in love at first sight.

Where Megumi is deceivingly charming, Sukuna is more like a strong pillar to lean on, which you do exactly. Your head rests on his shoulder, both of your legs tangled under the blankets he’s covered you with. He’s blinking as Tangled plays on the TV, the faint sensation of his fingers playing with yours comforting and way too comfortable. It should feel weird to hang out with a guy like this without him wanting to shove his dick deep inside you minutes later (your movie marathons with Megumi never really finish as previously planned) but with Sukuna?

It feels natural. It feels great. It feels like home.

You’re gaping at him long before you realize it, one of your hands absentmindedly playing with the strings of his hoodie. Sukuna hums along to I Have A Dream with a small smile on his face, one that forms into a playful glare as he catches you staring at him. “Don’t look at me like that. Disney is a classic.”

You fight back a smile. “Wasn’t complaining,” burying yourself deeper into his warm embrace, you’re lulled into an early slumber with Sukuna’s humming combined with the steady rhythm of his heartbeat.

His plan worked efficiently – for a moment, you forget your heart was aching to begin with.

After screaming internally for a good hour and a half, you arrive at the party anyway. The stench of weed, alcohol, and sex hanging thickly in the air is more than familiar to you by now. You ignore the catcalls you receive as you make your way to Megumi and fuck, he just had to look even sexier tonight.

He’s ditched his e-boy getup with a plain white shirt, black ripped skinny jeans, a Converse, and that black leather jacket he always refused to wear. Megumi really woke up and chose violence today, the minimalistic silver chain around his neck only adding to his appeal. You should’ve run away then – he literally screams trouble – but you’ve never been one to shy from that. Truth be told, you’re only pulled in harder, swaying your hips side to side as you sashay to where he’s laughing along with his friends.

Clearing your throat to get his attention, Megumi finally lays his eyes on you.

You’re glad you took the extra time to dress in your best outfit today – a lace orange mini dress that accentuates your cleavage just enough for a tease, paired with black combat boots and a white purse slung from your shoulder. Pride pumps through your veins when Megumi steps away from his friends, his hands encircling around your waist almost possessively. He smirks through your hair, those addicting lips trailing lower and lower down to your neck until, “You smell like another man.”

Now that you weren’t expecting. He doesn’t seem to be mad, perhaps a little jealous judging by how he’s grinding his crotch to your abdomen and tugs you closer, but this is Megumi in the question. He never gets jealous, so you flatten your palms onto his chest, eyes daring and red lips upturned into a smirk as you ask, “Why do you care?”

Megumi raises a brow – which really shouldn’t have been such a sexy thing – at your spunk. Normally, you’re too sweet and submissive to him, never would’ve even dared to dress something as revealing like this, but maybe you’re tired of being sweet.

Maybe this time, you wanted to match Megumi’s spice, fight fire with fire.

Megumi chuckles above your lips and swipes a thumb over your lower lip, humming when the coating doesn’t stain his fingers. He’s mentioned before he hates washing the lipstick off his dick, and the fact you remember that has him groaning at your ear. Unsurprisingly, Megumi’s already hard. He nibbles at the shell of your ear, possessive hands brushing over your collarbone as a silent promise of what he’ll be doing to you tonight.

“Like I said, this pussy is mine.”

You should say no. It’s evident in the darkness of his eyes he’s daring you to say no, but it’s too much. The cramped space that diminishes space until it becomes a myth, his hands rubbing circles at your hip, the glint of his new lip ring under the disco lights and anything, everything about Fushiguro Megumi just makes you feel so weak you can’t say no.

Satisfied with your silence, Megumi sweeps you upstairs. There’s already a round of Truth or Dare going on with a bunch of drunk and half-high college students, the lights red and the aroma of weed thick in the air.

It bothers you so you stick close to Megumi, nose stuck at the collar of his leather jacket. He’s not satisfied with just you sitting next to him; Megumi is territorial. He makes sure you’re comfy and using his lap like a throne, clasping both your hands in your lap while he boredly stares at his friends. Okkotsu Yuta, the host who used to be super shy in his freshman year but became one of the most sought after guys in his junior year, sits across from you in the circle. He’s already giggling in his drunken state while Nobara Kugisaki makes the mistake of choosing dare, flinging her bra straight at a very enthusiastic Yuuji.

They spin the bottle and it lands straight at you. Megumi hums in anticipation at the crook of your neck, his little sounds mixed with his heated touches sending fire straight down your core. It’s inebriating to have him this close, but you need to keep a straight head if you want to survive.

Fighting the arousal pooling at your stomach, you offer a flat smile. “Truth.” As expected, the crowd isn’t pleased. They holler, “Booooo,” with their hands cupped around their mouths, the others snickering at you, though you’re quite satisfied with the safety of your choice. You could be crazy with Megumi, but being crazy around others isn’t something you’re comfortable with.

Thankfully, Yuta shushes the crowd dramatically with a threat he’ll kick them out with his infamous Katana that’s been passed down by an ancestor. Once everyone’s calmed down, Yuta smirks at you, eyes wiggling as he asks, “Who’s the best dick you ever had?”

You don’t think twice about it. Someone else’s face pops up for a split second, but it’s so natural, so obvious that you would say – “Megumi.”

“Speak louder, baby, they won’t hear.”

“It’s you,” you suddenly grow shy at the attention, whatnot with Megumi shamelessly trailing hot kisses down your neck now for everyone to see. He’s shameless as he rocks you back and forth on his thigh, all the while keeping eye contact with the other guys whose eyes are zeroed in on the swell of your breasts that are an inch away from popping out from your dress. It’s the best time to submit, the perfect time to give him what he wants, and his expert hands prompt his name out of you with a single suck at your neck.

“Fushiguro Megumi.”

“Damn, Megumi, you’ve trained your bitch well.”

“’Course I did. My dick does all the disciplining,” Megumi cups your jaw to tilt your face at him, cooing at you as you flush embarrassed from everyone’s snickering. “Aw, don’t pout baby, it’s all just harmless jokes. You know I treat you like a goddess when we’re alone.”

“Yo, man, get a fucking room!”

Megumi ignores Yuuji’s comments and makes an offhanded comment the latter is just jealous because he hasn’t had his dick wet in days, ensuing a close dog fight between the guys. Maki has to step in and kick the strawberry haired boy back to his seat, scolding her cousin to back down. Meanwhile, you cling to Megumi like a scaredy-cat, head empty with nothing but the way he’s never hold you this close and proudly before.

Just one last time.

“Megs, your turn.”

“Dare.”

Yuuji slaps his palm over Yuta who usually gives the dares. The older guy rolls his eyes but lets it slide, knowing that Yuuji could also let loose with his dares. Megumi isn’t afraid though, he stays docile around you, leaving little nibbles at your ear and even squeezing your boobs at one point. You know he’ll never back down from Yuuji’s dares, even as his eyes darken with mischief. Now, Yuuji is a nice guy, but something doesn’t quite feel right with the way he’s staring Megumi down.

“I dare you to kiss the hottest girl in the room.”

Megumi freezes.

Time must’ve stopped because everyone is chanting, “KISS, KISS, KISS!” but he makes no move. You stay there, staring up at him wide eyed with your arms looped around his neck. Your heart is beating a mile a minute in your chest the moment Megumi’s eyes gaze down to your lips, smirking as he leans closer, leans down lower, and you close your eyes, waiting for the salacious kiss that would sear at the back of your mind. But it never comes and a gust of wind flies by through you, and before you know it, Megumi’s leaned over your shoulder, his hand cupping the cheek of this girl named Alicia who you’ve heard about from your friends before that she’s Megumi’s current pick.

Alicia was never supposed to kiss him back. Your friends told you, they promised you she wasn’t the type of person to fall for the likes of Megumi, and yet she’s smiling through the kiss. You’re still in Megumi’s lap but your vision is of the audience, their jaws dropped and Yuuji slapping Yuta’s thighs. “Oh, shit! That’s gotta hurt!”

You don’t think twice.

You push yourself off Megumi and run out the room, the sounds of their chaotic laughter mocking you to no end. You know – you fucking know – you’d never quite belong in Megumi’s circle. Everyone knows you’re just another one of his bed warmers, and they also know how much you’re hopelessly in love with him, begging, hoping that one day he might return your affections.

It makes perfect sense with each step you take further from the room. This has to be staged, intentional, because there’s no way Yuuji would’ve said that if he didn’t already have an idea maybe Alicia reciprocated Megumi’s feelings.

But what about your feelings?

Does no one really care? Were you really reduced to just another body count?

Your chest squeezed uncomfortably as you pushed past the crowd, ignoring everyone’s protests from how rough you were. You don’t stop until you’ve locked yourself inside a restroom, tears freely falling down your face. With trembling hands, you fall back to the floor, dialing the only person you could trust right now.

He picks up not three rings later, voice still gruff and laced with sleep. “Hello?”

“S-Sukuna,” you whimper, pathetically wiping your tears away with the back of your hand. “I’m – can you please pick me up?”

From the other line, you can hear Sukuna shuffling for something in the background. Keys dangle and he locks the door, the sounds of his rushed footsteps so relieving to your senses. “Where are you? What’s wrong? Did someone force themselves on you?”

“No, I just…I want to go home.”

“Text me the address. I’ll be there soon.”

You text him the address and end the call. From the outside, the bass is thumping so hard it makes your head pound. You’re already feeling dizzy from crying so much, hands clutched around your chest because it hurts so much.

Stupid Megumi, fucking stupid Megumi – but aren’t you the stupider one? You’re the one who chose to keep being with him despite the warning signs. You’ve heard what everyone said about him, his reputation as a fuckboy isn’t exactly a secret, but you hoped, you sincerely hoped you could at least be good enough. But you’re not not good enough – Megumi just simply doesn’t deserve you. You deserve better and he needs to go to hell, so then why does it hurt so much the more you picture how he’s humiliated you like that?

Your dress is beyond soaked from how much you’ve cried. At this point, you just feel achingly numb. The pounding in your head is matched by the soft knocks rapping against the door, and thinking it’s Megumi or one of his lackeys, you wrap your arms around your knees.

“GO AWAY!”

“Sweetheart, it’s me. Open up, let’s get you home,” It’s Sukuna. Scrambling for the door, you push it open and jump into his arms without a second thought. Sukuna effortlestly catches you, and the dam you thought had dried up in you breaks again. He stiffens as you cry on his shoulder, fists balled around his shirt in a vice-like grip. “Who the fuck made you cry? Is it him again?” he growls, “I seriously want to knock the living daylights out of him.”

“Don’t start a ruckus, Sukuna.”

“I won’t, I promise,” he visibly softens at your state. Sukuna rubs your back soothingly and lets you cry like that, shielding your vulnerable state with his arm. He moves you to hide your face in his chest and kisses the crown of your head, so gentle and unbelievably tender. “I don’t pick on someone weaker than me. That’s bullying.”

You don’t utter another word as he leads you out of the house. He mutters under his breath on how kids are so wild these days and he really can’t imagine he was once like that. Sukuna’s car is parked on the curb, and you rush for it, eager to go home until he stops you. He wraps his jacket around your shoulders to offer you some modesty and you offer him a weak smile, allowing him to embrace you from the sides to guide you.

“Hey!” Megumi calls out, “Hey, what are you doing with her? Let her go,” his footsteps echo behind you just as you clench your eyes shit, “I said let her go!”

“Don’t punch the kid, don’t punch the kid, don’t punch the kid,” Sukuna mutters to himself like a mantra.

“Yo, steroid guy, you deaf or what? I said let my girl go—” Megumi falls on his ass. He stares up at whoever punched him, eyes wide at Sukuna’s arm raised, but his eyes are on you. “Ow! You fucking bitch, you broke my nose!”

“Shit,” Sukuna laughs beside you as you wince at the soreness of your knuckle. “That was hot.” Somehow, you find the ability to smile. You’ve always wanted to top Megumi, but seeing him below you like this, weak and clutching his broken nose while whining about it like a little bitch, it feels a lot more satisfying.

You want to scream at him, to release all the profanities that have manifested your anger throughout the years. But Megumi crawls back with something unreadable in his eyes, the edges of his lips tinted red with a smack of lipstick, probably from Alicia.

The sight has you scoffing. Maybe you don’t have anything to worry about after all – Megumi hates lipstick stains with a passion. If he ever gets with her, they won’t last long enough.

That fact is enough for you to flip your hair over your shoulder, glaring at Megumi one last time before dragging Sukuna down by the collar. His laughter ceases the moment your lips collide, your hands teasing around his neck to brush at his undercut. Sukuna moans through the kiss, the way he’s explicitly grabbing the flesh of your ass a sign he’s aware what kind of game you’re playing. You make a mental note to apologize for this later, but for now, you’ll shamelessly savor his tongue and the minty aftertaste, grabbing at his large frame that picks you up with no ease.

You leave Megumi gaping at the lawn after that, your finger middle raised right before Sukuna speeds off.

Fuck, that has never felt so good. This feeling…it bursts through you. There’s this certain satisfaction in finally having the power at your fingertips this time around, and you you’re your wicked smile through your hair, too absorbed in your own feelings that you don’t register Sukuna’s worried tone at first.

“So…do you want to talk about it?”

“No.” He doesn’t pry afterwards, just shoots you a curious look. Just moments ago, you were crying and feeling like you’re on the verge of breaking down, but this adrenaline rushing through absolutely cannot fuck around anymore. The image of Megumi realizing he’s lost you is so exhilarating, and you twist your torso to face your roommate, grinning at his handsome features. He looks so delicious like this, black button up shirt left open at the top, his veiny, muscular arms driving one hand on the steering wheel and the other gently caressing your thigh. You suck in a deep breath, licking your lips as you purr, “Hey, Sukuna.”

“Yes?”

“Pull over.”

“Wait, why? We’re so close at home.”

“Pull over, I’m done,” you insist with a glare, although the animosity isn’t directed at him. Sukuna keeps his eyes on the road before he spares you a glance, smirking at how you’re already unclasping your bra from your seat.

“Oh, I see how it is. You’re going to use me as a stress reliever.”

At his words, your arms still behind you. You glance up at him with wide, worried eyes that immediately reach out for his hands in assurance. “N-No, I didn’t mean—”

“It’s okay, sweetheart. Usually, sex is a lot crazier when the other is angry. Use me as you will – I don’t really care,” he licks his lips and suddenly slams on the brakes under an empty parking lot, already flipping something in the engine. You’re taken aback as Sukuna discards his shirt in a second, his large arms carrying your frame to the backseat with him. Sukuna spreads your legs as he helps you get rid of your dress but it’s too tight that you just give up, leaving the material bunched under your boobs instead. Sukuna’s eyes darken at the lack of material under your dress, his fierce gaze shooting up to yours as he massages your inner thighs, his breath labored.

“What position do you want?”

“Fu-fuck, I don’t know, just fuck me,” you whine, spreading your legs farther to make space for him. He’s a tall guy with long limbs that he shrinks even with his fancy car, but he doesn’t seem bothered by it. Sukuna seems a lot more focused in fucking you in that moment because he’s unhooking his belt, diving down for one more kiss that is a lot heated and rushed than the previous one for show.

“I want to get rid of his face from my mind, I fucking hate him so much,” you can’t help but bite down on Sukuna’s lip, hard enough that it draws blood. Sukuna groans into your mouth, the sound so utterly deep and sexy you drip down on his seats even more.

“You’ll still go back to him after this?”

“No…it would be stupid if I did,” you roll your eyes.

“Good girl,” Sukuna praises as his lips leave a wet trail from your jaw down to the valley of your breasts. His smile is quickly replaced with a sinister grin, one of his hands cupping your breasts at the same time his teeth dart out to playfully nip at your breasts. He really shouldn’t look so enticing under you like this, and you’re so caught by his devilishness you fail to realize he’s already rummaging through your purse. “But I think lover boy still doesn’t get the message. We’re gonna have to punch it through his dumb skull.”

He hands you your phone, Megumi’s contact right before you.

“Sukuna, what’re you doing?”

“Call him,” Sukuna moves up to fish a condom out of his wallet and slides it to his already throbbing cock, chuckling at the way your eyes widen at his girth as if you hadn’t taken him before. “Call him and let him hear how I fuck you better, sweetheart. Boys like him won’t get the message unless you tell them directly.”

His hands clutch the backseat until his knuckles turn white, aligning himself with your entrance. You’re wet enough that he slides in easily and you moan loudly at the intrusion, pretty little gasps a sign of your pleasure. Helplessly, you grip at his bicep while your legs shake from how tense you are, the tantalizing movement of his hips pulling breathless moans from you. “And what better way than to take what’s his, right? What did he call this? His pretty pussy?” Sukuna scoffs, “Fuck that, stupid little boys can’t even fuck you right, don’t you think, sweetheart?”

“Ngh, Sukuna, that f-feels good, right there!”

“Right here?” he teases with a stroke of his cock that brushes against your tight walls. Sukuna’s face contort into pleasure when your tight pussy sucks him in, falling forward just to rasp in your ear. “Call him. Then, I’ll fuck you however you want me to.”

You don’t know how you’re able to swipe on Megumi, but he picks up in the speed of light like never before. Sukuna mouths loudspeaker and you follow his commands, Megumi’s voice booming through the sex-filled air of the car. “Where the fuck did you go? The party wasn’t over yet and you’re hanging out with some beefy, tattoed guy? It’s your roommate, isn’t it?” Megumi curses at someone before continuing, the aggravation evident in his tone. “He’s such a fucking creep, I swear if he lays his hands on you again I’ll—”

“You’ll do what, kid?” Sukuna challenges, “Oh and mind you, she’s the one who asked me to fuck her. As her concerned roommate and the more mature adult, I believe it’s my duty to listen to her complaints and make her feel better, especially when she keeps whining she’s not being fucked good.”

“Sukuna!” You whine and slap his arm, but you’re smiling, the pleasure and satisfaction of slapping Megumi this harshly making you feel greater than ever.

“Are you sleeping with her?” Megumi sounds like he’s losing his shit, and you sincerely hope he does. “Gosh, Y/N, how low can you be? I thought you were my girlfriend.”

“Girlfriend? Since when?” you attempt to scream, but Sukuna’s gripped your thighs and pulls your lower body closer to his cock in time to meet his thrusts. Your body slides off the seat and you’re left screaming Sukuna’s name, the latter wearing a shit-eating grin at the way you’re creaming around him. Somehow, your attention reverts back to Megumi’s whining. “You’re a fucking dick, Megumi, I honestly hope you choke on your small dick!” you shout and end the call, slapping your hand on your face as you throw your phone away. “I hated saying that.”

“Because you still like him or…?”

“No, because he was actually a good fuck and his dick is huge,” you say through pants. Sukuna must’ve hated how you’re talking about Megumi’s dick when he’s literally rearranging your insides, and Sukuna grabs your leg, manhandling you into the position he likes. You’re immediately on your knees with your back flat to his chest, your arms locked between your bodies as Sukuna takes you from behind. Your head falls back to his shoulders where Sukuna leaves messy open-mouthed kisses to your sweaty skin. “I fucking hate him. He’s such an asshole.”

“Hmm, well don’t spend too much energy thinking about him anymore,” Sukuna snarls at your skin, releasing your hands just to rub at your swollen clit. “Just let loose and let me take care of you. I’ll fuck you so hard you won’t even remember meeting him.”

The honest side of you wants to moan, the familiar tightening of your abdomen appearing already. He’s hitting all your sensitive spots that you can barely think, only feel, but you also feel so powerful and enraged that you cup Sukuna’s cheek, narrowing your eyes at him. You hit his thrusts by pushing back against his cock that causes him to slide in deeper, the large man groaning deep within his chest.

“You sure about that?”

“Oh, hundred percent confident, baby.”

“Let’s see what you got then,” you teased him. Pretending you’re not seconds away from coming is an even bigger challenge than leaving Megumi, but for the sake of riling up Sukuna, you would do it.

“You’re challenging me?”

“If I don’t cum at least twice, then that’s going to be a damn shame.”

“Twice? That’s not even the minimum,” he shakes his head tauntingly at you, increasing his pace until the sounds of his balls smacking your ass and both your groans are filling the dead silent night. It’s so lewd and dirty that your tongue lols out from the pleasure, eyes shut tight because you’re close, so fucking close! “You’re going to lose your fucking mind,” Sukuna said as a final warning.

You didn’t think too much of it until he pulls out of you seconds before you came. The crestfallen look written all over your face makes him laugh, but Sukuna only turns your body and goes down on his knees, hitching your legs over his shoulders. Your chest falls up and down as he dives down to your sopping, abused cunt, hands threading through his hair before he rudely flicks it away. “No. Hands to yourself. You’re not allowed to touch me,” he hissed, but his roughness is softened only by a little bit when you whimper so sweetly for him. “Don’t pout, sweetheart, you’ll get your chance when we get home. For now, since you’d so rudely woke me up and left me without inviting me for dinner, I’m starving.”

Sukuna dips between your thighs, tongue poking out to take the first taste of your juices. Your reaction is instantaneous and gratifying; head thrown back, nails dug into the seats, legs quivering and falling open wider to welcome the warm, wet muscle that licks flat from your entrance up to your clit.

“Fuuckk, Sukuna, slow down, ngh—”

“He ever ate you out this way?”

“No, I don’t know, I don’t know.”

“Can you take it, sweetheart? Should I stop?” You know he’s teasing you, the sniggers muffled from your pussy lips are still heard but you can’t fight back, not when your legs turn to jelly at his ministrations.

“Keep going, fuck, please, I will slap you if you don’t make me cum tonight,” you threaten, and Sukuna smartly responds by sucking your clit into his mouth. He rolls it between his teeth, careful enough not to hurt you while plunging two fingers deep inside you, curling it into a come-hither motion that stretches you pleasurably. “Too, oh, shit!”

“You can’t even talk properly,” he chuckles, and the vibrations that come afterwards shatter your entire world. “And this is just my tongue. Feels too good?”

“Yes, yes, too good!” you cry out, “Sukuna, em coming!”

Your orgasm has no build-up whatsoever. You lay there panting with a silent scream as your nails scratch against his seats, toes curled as it comes down into you in one, hard slap. Sukuna hums as he licks up the arousal trailing down your pussy to not make even more of a mess. “Already? I haven’t even started yet,” he sighs sarcastically, “Don’t think I’m done with you. I did say you’d lose your mind, right?”

Sukuna has now joined you on the seats, flipping you to the side where he hooks one leg under his arm, your other leg extended to your side that remains flushed at the seats, his thighs squishing yours. It’s utterly challenging to move in this position and you’re completely at his mercy, the sight of his tall, dominating figure above you forcing you back into a submissive space. He doesn’t give you much time to recover before his cock is pushing past your pussy once more, bottoming out in one, swift thrust.

“’Kuna, too sensitive, mhhm—”

“You’ll take it,” he breathes out while peppering kisses at your ankle, “Come on, you’re a good girl, yeah? Give me one more.”

“Su-kuna, it’s too much!”

“Just one more.” Sukuna elicits moans from you the harder he thrusts, leaning forward until you’re crying out from the stretch of all the muscles in your body. He’s being nice today by letting you cum more than twice in the exchange of holding back his, because he’s absolutely throbbing inside you. He picks up a rougher pace from where he left off, saying your name through gritted teeth as you tighten around him. You’re squealing and whimpering from behind your fists, overly sensitive still from your previous orgasm.

His hips roll in such a mind-numbing manner before Sukuna rams into you utterly deep, your bodies flushed so close you can feel the heat pulsing from his skin. Sukuna tenses above you before he brings you to your orgasm, with him following not long afterwards.

Sukuna pulls out with a groan and ties his condom in a knot, discarding it above his clothes. Upon hearing your soft sighs, he immediately rushes your side and pats your cheek to wake you up. “Hey, look at me,” he commands, though his voice is gentle and soft. “You good?”

“Yeah,” you breathe out through fluttering lashes, “Yeah, I’m just tired,” extending your arms to him, you wrap your legs around his waist to bring him close. “Come here. Want cuddles.”

Sukuna gives in to your request for a few minutes and stays wrapped up with you. It’s perfect to be in this state, to be held so close and not just touched, the intimacy of it all bringing about unfamiliar warmth that only ever makes itself present when he’s here. ��As much as I want to stay like this, we’re sweaty and sticky,” Sukuna murmurs through your hair, his hands roaming all over your skin. There’s no other sexual meaning behind it even as his rough palms graze past your mound. His touches are more like him exploring your body out of curiosity, out of the desire to just have you this close. You’re unsure what to feel about it and your mind is uncannily clear after an orgasm, but Sukuna’s already sitting up with you above him before you could ponder about it any longer. “Let me take you home first, then we’ll cuddle. What do you think?”

“Oh fuck,” you cut him off upon seeing the flashing of your screen. “It’s Megumi. Fifteen missed calls.”

“Lover boy is crazy,” Sukuna snickered behind you.

“Good thing I’m crazier,” you shut your phone off and throw it to the passenger’s seat, beaming up at Sukuna and giving him the puppy eyes from behind your shoulder. “Can we get milkshakes on the way?”

“I think you got enough milk.”

“Sukuna!”

“I’m kidding, I’m kidding!” he raises his hands in surrender. You pout until you feel something hard and wet poking your bottoms, and Sukuna smirks, gesturing to his erection that you haven’t noticed. “You do know that I’m still hard, right? I’ll fuck you again when we get home.”

“You could’ve just let me suck you off.”

“Nah,” he refuses, “I want to feel you come around me,” Sukuna cockily winks at you, and your mouth falls open, gasping in disbelief at how vulgar he could be. He steals a quick kiss then as he tugs his pants up, the sight of him rolling his sleeves back up to his elbows thoroughly…compelling that you’re left salivating at the ripples of his muscles. “I’ll just wait ‘til we get home. Right now, I need to treat someone like a princess and get her some food.”

“You should stop saying that,” you blurt out defensively, “Sweet lies won’t get you anywhere.”

“I wasn’t lying about anything. I meant every word I said.”

The tension thickens in an instant. Sukuna looks at you warily – or perhaps worriedly? – before he situates himself back in the driver’s seat, starting the car right after you’ve fixed your appearance. Considering it’s already late, he’s struggling to find any restaurant or diners open to appease your cravings, though he doesn’t complain about it.

You fiddle with your hands on your lap, unable to find a proper explanation to his behavior. “Sukuna…” you start off nervously, refusing to look him in the eye. “Do you uhm…do you like me?”

“What kind of question is that, sweetheart?”

“I meant…maybe you just like me for my body, you know?”

“Oh, don’t worry about me, sweetheart,” he tilts his head towards you, “I’m too old for drama and playing with people’s feelings. Like I said, the cards are all in your hands now. If you want us to just have casual sex, I don’t mind, but if you also want to be, uhm…” Sukuna awkwardly rubs at the back of his head with a clear of his throat, the tables turned because now he’s the one who can’t meet your gaze. “…something more, then I won’t refuse that either. I’m up to whatever you want to do.”

“And if I said that…maybe I’m considering getting to know you better?”

“Then maybe I would happily say yes.”

You smile at how easily he lightens up the mood, feeling a smile already playing on your lips as you giggle. “Just a maybe?”

“Just shut up and kiss me,” he groans, averting his eyes from the road (it’s empty anyway) to get a quick peck. You whack his arm and his laugh only grows louder; he knows you’re not really angry, because he kisses really good and you like it a lot more than you’ll admit.

“I’ll be a hundred times of a better boyfriend than what you’d expect.”

“You’re really confident, huh?”

“Oh, I’m confident I can treat you well,” he nods proudly, head tipping back to the backseat. “I did just let you ruin my leather exterior and let you walk away while I have a raging boner. Do you have any idea how much self restraint a man has to have to let that happen?”

“Probably an immaculate one. Megumi would never let me go unless he’s came.”

“Yeah, well, fuck that guy,” Sukuna doesn’t even bother to try and hide his hatred for your former crush, and you’re smiling like a lovesick fool on the seat. “You’re with me now. So, since I want to spoil you, how many milkshakes do you want?”

Back then, you were always too addicted to lies that seemed so sweet that you couldn’t be able to stop. But now that you’ve met Sukuna, perhaps the blissful truth is a lot sweeter, and it’s a much healthier addiction you’ll take any day.

taglist: @thesimpsclub @uwubby-1 @expectoscamander @your-consulting-fangirl @dora-the-grownup @cosmotoic @charlie-xo @kittaliapenn @sukunas-cult-leader @flowersgirl02 @cloudsinthecosmos @90s-belladonna @averysheart-raleighsdick @generousstudentpsychic-bat @kat-su-ki @issamomma @sklycan​ @ggsmashgg​ @dora-the-grownup​ @ninefuckingoneone​ @ambiguous-something​ 

[loud-mouth-loser]

in the alps: chapter one

summary: you never expected to meet anyone this far in the middle of the alps, especially not a sleep deprived gift-shoppist

pairing: [eventual] steven grant x reader, marc spector x reader, jake lockley x reader

rating: a little angst?

warnings: descriptions of depression-like symptoms

wc: ~1.3k

a/n: an intro to in the alps

-------

Inheriting a cottage out in the middle of the alps was never something you expected, but you’re glad that it happened. 

You’ve been stuck in an endless loop of life in London, barely able to tell each day apart, simply floating between your apartment, the bus, and work.

There was a gray filter that ceaselessly inhibited you from being happy with yourself or anything around you. Perpetually absorbing every sliver of light that could sneak itself into your life.

It was to the point that when you’d wake up, you just wanted to go back to sleep, not seeing the point anymore. 

You were a fresh-faced kid right out of college when you decided to foolishly take the first opportunity out of the states, thinking life could only get better once you escaped. But you were scooped right back into a little fish bowl, swimming in circles without anyone to lean on. You stupidly left the few friends and family you had to search for a new start, a new beginning for your dream life. 

Then you got a call. Or rather, you received quite a few emails, letters, and voicemails. You were never good at keeping up with inboxes, or actual mailboxes for that matter.

Used to empty conversations and junk mail, you didn’t feel the need to open anything if they weren’t your bills or paycheck. You’d leave them in a drawer to collect dust, too exhausted to go through anything after a day of work, or sometimes, just a day of living.

You were taking a much-needed nap when you were jolted out of your peace by the vibrations of your phone next to you. You tried to wait it out, but as soon as the first call ceased its ringing, another one followed.

You childishly groan out, begrudgingly open your eyes as it restlessly taunts you. You curse your pre-nap phone habit as you pick it up, ignoring the unrecognizable number.

“Sorry, I’m not interested.”

“Wait, hold o-”

You hang up without another thought, settling yourself back into the warmth of your nap spot, shivering at how satisfyingly comfortable it is. You’re about to fall back into unconsciousness when it starts to buzz again. 

“You’ve gotta be kidding me.” This time, you blindly reach for the phone, still laying on your back as you answer. “Yes?”

“Ms. Hawthorn?” Oh great, one of your distant relatives is giving out your number now.

“Sorry, you must have the wrong number.” You’re about to hang up again, already grumpy from your interrupted nap when you hear your full name. That catches your attention.

“...Are you aware that you are the prime heir to Florence Hawthorn’s monetary and property assets?” Your breath catches in your throat. Your great aunt is dead. This is the last thing you expected to hear.

You had never met her, but you heard that she lived the life of a rich spinster, closed off to the rest of the family after she refused to marry young. You heard stories about her from your mother and her parents, but when they passed, the stories went with them, only a whisper-trace remaining in your memories. 

The only evidence of her existence was the Christian Christmas cards she’d send every year, signed off with her signature “Yes, I’m still alive” written in barely decipherable cursive. 

“H-heir? F-Florence?” 

“Yes, I’m sorry to report she passed away 3 months ago.”

“But–I’ve never met her. How could I possibly be-” You are speechless, mind overwhelmed, unable to process what you’re hearing. 

“Ah, but you are. Being that your mother is no longer with us, you are the next in line.” 

“Well, uh, what am I supposed to do?” 

“The insurance company will send over some papers for you to verify your identity and relation to Ms. Hawthorn, and the details of what you will receive will follow.” 

—-

The decision to leave London was easy. Actually, it was hard thinking of a reason to stay. All you had was a tiny apartment and a deadbeat job. No friends and no family, not even a fish to hold you back.

Aunt Florence’s cottage sits in the middle of a vast field, miles from any sign of civilization. 

It’s kind of daunting, but coming from a bustling city, you could kind of understand the desire to have some peace and quiet away from others.

If it weren’t for the pleasant breeze brushing up the side of the mountain, the bike ride to town would be impossible. It’s supposed to take you approximately 30 mins to bike there one-way, but it usually ends up being an hour or so with all the breather stops you take.  Thankfully, someone created a man-made path straight towards the town’s church and though it’s barely a few feet wide, it at least remains relatively flat. 

When you arrive on the edge of the small town, you’re greeted by a disintegrating church. The  graying structure of the building looks like it’s been eroded by years of dust and rain, clearly, it’s been out of service for a while.

It makes you wonder why your aunt would continue living here if there isn’t a church around because literally, the only things you have ever associated with her are money and Christianity. 

As you explore deeper into the town, you realize it’s all built around one fountain, every bakery, boutique, and home, ripples around the intricately decorated water attraction.

After walking through the cobbled roads and visiting a few shops for essential items, you decide this town is exactly how you hoped it to be: quaint and slow-paced with a nice sense of community.

Everyone seems to know each other, whether they’re passing by a neighbor's house or ordering their ‘regular’ at the coffee shop. It’s a nice change of pace from city life.  

—

You wake up in a dark room, stretching yourself until your leg starts shaking vigorously. It’s your three-week anniversary with this cottage, and you still haven’t gotten used to waking up with the sun. You can hear the faint noise of birds singing outside your window, ready to start the day at dawn. 

Might as well join them. 

Your days usually consist of making meals, reading books, and hanging with Sardine. 

Sardine is the roommate you found yourself sharing the cottage with. It took you approximately a week to find out that your aunt had an outdoor cat.  After a couple of nights of scratches against the front door and screeching meows, you realized he wasn’t just passing through, he was a permanent resident.

He is an affectionate cream and gray spotted calico who is not afraid to scream for a meal and who never stays the night. You decided to name him Sardine, simply because he’s a cat and eats fish. He doesn’t seem to find it very amusing, but you literally have to hold back giggles every time you call for him. 

After spending afternoons with him purring softly in your lap as you absentmindedly pet him, you never knew how you went without a pet. He's good company. Never one to judge or make comments about the dumb shit you admit to him. He’s as content as you wish you could be, simply enjoying life as a cat. 

With a steaming cup of coffee in one hand and a hefty outdoor cat under your other, you take a deep breath of the crisp fresh air around you, finally feeling peace.

“Hello?!” You squint your eyes at the vast field in front of you, thinking you heard a faint yell. “Helloo?!” You can barely see a man waving his arms in the distance as he rapidly approaches the cottage. 

[aro-aizawa]

whumptober 2022!

okay im gonna try and get a headstart on writing for whumptober this year because i am determined to get further than filling 5 prompts bc if i can pass that goal then i’ll be in a better shape to keep the momentum going and do even better next year. THAT BEING SAID i v much would love to continue in the same manner and take requests. so! here are the fandom’s i’ll be writing for this year, and the characters i gravitate towards:

batfam (i have almost zero canon info outside of all the movies and whatever i read in fanfics but i love the family dynamics sm, and this is my current hyperfixation so prompts are v much more likely to be filled): - tim drake

miraculous ladybug - marinette dupain-cheng

danny phantom - danny fenton

avatar the last airbender - zuko

fullmetal alchemist - edward elric

my hero academia (maybe - my mha fixation is like the furthest orbit rn so no clue if it’ll come around before the end of october but if the prompt is good who knows - midoriya izuku

you’re allowed to request as many times as you like! however, sometimes i just won’t have any inspo from the request so it might not make the cut, sorry! i’m also pre-emptively replacing some prompts and blacking others out so i don’t have to write anything that makes me feel icky or just isn’t my jam, or so i can write prompts that are v much my jam. so here’s the prompt list!

1. a little out of the ordinary - stabbed / marinette ✔  [ao3]

adverse effects | alt: stabbed | "this wasn't supposed to happen”

2. nowhere to run - caged / izuku ✔  [ao3]

cornered | caged | confrontation

3. hair’s breadth from death - gun to temple / edward ✔

gun to temple | “say goodbye” | impaled

4. dead on your feet - hidden injury / marinette || can’t pass out / marinette

hidden injury | waking up disorientated | can’t pass out

5. every whumpee’s needs - hyperthermia / tim

blood loss | running out of air | hyperthermia

6. proof of life

ransom video | “i’ve got a pulse” | screams from across the hall

7. the way you shake and shiver

shaking hands | seizures | silent panic attack

8. everything hurts and i’m dying - stomach pain / tim

stomach pain | head trauma | back from the dead

9. the very noisy night

sleeping in shifts | tossing and turning | caught in a storm

10. poor unfortunate souls - waterboarding / zuko

taser | whipping | waterboarding

11. “911, what’s your emergency?”

sloppy bandages | self-done first aid | makeshift splint

12. what could go wrong?

alt: ambushed | cave in | rusty nail

13. can’t make an omlette without breaking a few legs

fracture | dislocation | “are you here to break me out?”

14. die a hero or live long enough to become a villain

desperate measures | failed escape | “i’ll be right behind you”

15. emotional damage

lies | new scars | alt: touch starved

16. no way out

mind control | paralytic drugs | “no one’s coming”

17. hanging by a threat

breaking point | stress positions | reluctant caretaker

18. let’s break the ice

“just get it over with” | treading water | “take my coat”

19. enough is enough - knees buckling or repeatedly passing out / danny

knees buckling | repeatedly passing out | head lolling

20. it’s been a long day

going into shock | fetal position | prisoner trade

21. famous last words

coughing up blood | “you’re safe now” | take me instead”

22. pick your poison

toxic | withdrawal | allergic reaction

23. at the end of their rope

forced to kneel | tied to a table | “hold them down”

24. fight, flight or freeze - blood covered hands / marinette

blood covered hands | “i don’t want to do this anymore” | catatonic

25. silence is golden

lost voice | duct tape | “you better start talking”

26. no one left behind

separated | rope burns | “why did you save me?”

27. pushed to the limit

muffled screams | stumbling | magical exhaustion

28. it’s just the tip of the iceberg - sensory overload / edward

alt: sensory overload | punching the wall | headache

29. what doesn’t kill me...

sleep deprivation | defiance | “better me than you”

30. note to self: don’t get kidnapped

manhandled | hair grabbing | “please don’t touch me”

31. a light at the end of the tunnel

comfort | beside vigil | “you can rest now”

[georgiapeach30513]

Those last two dabbles - SO CUTE🥺 can we see when Kitten and Ran bought little baby Blade home? I can imagine Ran battling sleep deprivation because he really wants to help Kitten with the night feeds/if Blade is just being fussy and then the next day imagine finding Ran asleep doing skin to skin with his little boy🥺🥺 and just like that I’ve burst my own ovaries with the image 😢😫-🦋

Bladey!! Anytime there's some Bladey baby, I always get in my feels, but just thinking of Kitten falling in deeper in love with Ransom because of how good he is with Blade.

🖤🖤🖤🖤

Perfect and Comforting

Summary:  Ransom gets to be a daddy to a newborn

Pairings:  Ransom Drysdale X Reader

Rating:  FLOOF

Warnings: DILF!Ransom Drysdale, 18+ ONLY!

Word Count:  650

Desperate Lives AU Masterlist

Desperate Love Masterlist

Ransom had been worried when it was time to bring Blade home.  He worried he wouldn’t be a good father, worried that Aster and Iris would feel neglected, even thought he wouldn’t be a good husband.  Of course you assured him, that there would be an adjustment period, but that everyone would be fine.  

He was an amazing father.  When Blade would start to cry, he wanted to be the one to go and get him.  Change him if he needed changing, and then bring your beautiful little boy to you.  Always snuggled against Ransom’s naked chest.  That man never wore a shirt to bed.  He hated to hand him over to you, but also knew that his boy was hungry.  

His arm would wrap around you, propping himself up, so he could watch Blade over your shoulder.  His lips always kissing at any exposed skin.  “Your body is amazing.”

“Shut up,” you giggle at him.

“I’m serious.  You made him, and now you make his food for him,” sometimes it would overwhelm you how thoughtful he was.  Just how much he wanted to be involved in Blade’s life.  Sometimes you just had to take a deep breath at how amazing he was.  Because every minute he wanted to spend it with his family.  Even took off time at work, just to be with you guys.

Turning your head to look at at him.  His lashes almost touching his cheeks, you hope that your baby boy gets his eyes, “What?” he looks up at you.

“Nothing, just I love you,” he pulls back a bit to give you a slow, and lingering kiss.  Inhaling your sweet scent.  

He didn’t just stop with helping with Blade.  He always let you get extra sleep in the morning to get the girls ready and off to school.  He tried, but he had to get a few lessons in pigtails and braids.  Now he was a champ with doing their hair.  The night before you and them would pick out their outfits, and then it was just Aster, Iris, and daddy time.  

One day he came back home, making grabby hands to your sleeping cherub, “Go take a bath.  Let me take him, you go take some time for yourself.”

“And then, my pretty husband, I need you to take time for yourself,” he shakes his head no, and you nod back, “Why do I get special treatment, and you don’t?”

“You being here is enough.  Go, I’m going to spend time with my boy.”

Going into your ensuite bathroom, you let the water run, pouring in some oils and bubbles.  Melting down into the warm tub, and relaxing.  Your bathroom becomes much sweeter when you hear Ransom’s voice singing, ‘You Are My Sunshine’.  Loving him, once the two of you got out of your heads, was easy.  But everyday when he showed you not only how good of a dad he was, but how much he enjoyed his children, it was such a gift.  It’s one thing to say you want kids, but he also wanted to enjoy time with them.  Laughing at their silly jokes that didn’t make sense.  Chasing them around the townhouse with threats of tickles.  Making sure that they clean up after themselves.  Even going on evening walks with Axel. 

Ransom always insists on holding Blade.  Strapping on the carrier, to have him right on him.  It works out well, because Ransom is a furnace.  Keeping your little boy warm, while your now family of five and half walk your crazy dog.  Staying outside as long as possible, weather permitting.  

But when you walk back into the bedroom, and you see Blade nestled up tightly on his daddy’s chest, Ransom’s thick fingers just combing through those fine baby hairs, his voice still singing that sweet song.  You give him a smile, and walk over to the bed with him.  Your head leaning over on his shoulder, while you watch your baby boy sleeping on his daddy.  Your own eyes drifting close with how perfect and comforting this moment feels.

Masterlist

[mochegato]

Even the Losers

Chapter 18

Chapter 1     Chapter 17

Mari waved up at Nightwing before turning toward the café.  He grinned and waved back.  No sense of embarrassment at getting caught like Red Robin had the day before.  She didn’t know enough about him to know if it was because he wasn’t hiding, Red Robin had given him a warning that she knew someone would be there, or because he had no sense of embarrassment, or most likely, a combination of all of those.

Adrien looked up and grinned too.  “What time did he take over?”

Marinette shrugged and cut through the café’s outdoor seating.  “Later than yesterday.  When did Dick leave?  It was some time after that.”

Adrien looked at him for a moment and shook his head. He looked back at Marinette before the memory of sleep deprived Marinette hit him.  He grimaced.  It was hit or miss whether she would be funny, emotional, or a danger to herself. If Batman was the same… “I really hope Batman doesn’t have a day job because with all the all-nighters he’s pulling, he would have to be a zombie at work.”

Marinette giggled at the idea.  “Can you imagine Batman with a day job?  What do you think he does?  Like, could you imagine him as a kindergarten teacher?”  Marinette’s giggles grew into full blown laughter. She finally was able to gasp out, “Batman complimenting some little kid’s rainbow and assuring them that making the entire rainbow the same color was extremely creative and beautiful.  Or trying to guess what animal they drew.”

Adrien laughed and patted her arm to get her to stop.  “Wait, wait. Batman crouching next to a toddler and explaining for the eighth time in the last three minutes that Pete the Cat is in fact a cat, not a dog before patting them on the head and walking away to scream into a nap mat.”

Marinette Laughed hard enough she almost missed the door handle.  She jumped when Adrien suddenly grabbed her arm.  She turned to him wide eyed but she immediately relaxed.  He was bouncing on the balls of his feet with excitement.  “No, no, no.  A PA to some… NO, to M. Wayne!  Batman as M. Wayne’s PA.  Oh my God, can you imagine?”

Marinette giggled and shook her head at him, pushing through the door.  Well, that would certainly explain why the bats seemed so close to the Waynes.  She spotted Duke and waved.  He jumped up and waved them over.  “Hey, Duke.  I hope you don’t mind that I brought Adrien.”

“Not at all,” Duke gave them both a hug.  He looked toward the bathroom with a smile. “Good to see you again, man.  I hope you don’t mind that Cass and I both brought someones too.”  Cass and Stephanie were walking toward them with a red headed woman in a wheelchair. Duke leaned toward them and lowered his voice so the women approaching couldn’t hear him.  “Brought is a really liberal term for what happened.  I am so sorry.  I knew we shouldn’t have mentioned meeting with you in front of Stephanie.”

“Hey Cass,” Marinette called out.  She and Adrien waved at her.  “Good to see you again, Stephanie.”

Cass waved back and nodded with a wide smile. “Marinette!” Stephanie chirped. “I’d say what a coincidence we ran into you guys here…”

“But that would be a lie,” Barbara finished for her. “Hi,” she held out her hand for them, “I’m Barbara.”

Marinette smiled and stepped forward to shake her hand. “It’s nice to meet you.  I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Well yeah we crashed,” Stephanie rolled her eyes and dropped into a seat across from Marinette.  She sent a playful glare toward Duke.  “You guys have been keeping her all to yourselves all week.  It’s our turn to hang out with her again.  Not to mention I wanted to catch up with the woman who fed the Riddler’s own balls to him for everyone to see.”

“And we wanted to see how you’re doing after it,” Barbara added with a chastising look to Stephanie.  She turned to side eye Duke.  “We tried to check with the boys but they were less than helpful.”

Marinette shrugged and leaned back slightly, not enough for anyone else in the café to notice but everyone else at the table picked up on it.  “I’m fine. It wasn’t bad.  More embarrassed he caught me in the first place.”

Stephanie waved her off.  “Please,” she scoffed.  “He had to knock out like an entire block just to get you.  That’s better than some of the bats.”

“Well, you look like you’re healing well,” Barbara nodded with a supportive smile.

Marinette smiled as naturally as she could and tried to control how much she was shifting in her seat.  She really, really hated talking about the whole thing with not only people who didn’t know she had been a superhero, but with the Waynes after that dinner, so that was two strikes against discussing this right now.

She’d been able to joke about it and moan about how contrived the whole setup with Alya and Nino.  They’d laughed all night about the audacity.  Not only had he thought he could stump her with a question about Chat Noir, he thought he would win against her in a game that relied on luck or rather bad luck not striking.  It was almost enough to make her forget the way the dinner had ended.  It was exactly what she had needed.  But she couldn’t do that here.

“Yeah,” she chuckled anxiously.  “My cheek seems to be doing well.  I’m hoping I can cover it with makeup by next week.”

“How’s your shoulder?” Duke asked motioning toward the shoulder she’d rammed into the doorframe when she was running away.

Marinette blinked at him a few times before she quirked her head to the side, her face scrunching in confusion.  “How did you know about that?”

She could see the rest of the table tense up, Adrien included but for the same reason as her, confusion on how he’d known. She had no idea why the rest were tensing up.  Duke chuckled awkwardly, sending looks over to the women at the table.  “He’s covering for me,” Barbara finally spoke up.

“Why is… what is he covering up for?” Marinette asked cautiously.

“My father is the police commissioner,” she said quietly.  “I may have snuck a look at the police report… slightly illegally… and read about your injuries.”

Marinette shook her head.  “But, I didn’t tell them about that.”

“No,” Barbara acknowledged, “but Signal did.”

Marinette nodded, trying to process that information. “Huh,” was all she managed to eke out. Her mind raced trying to figure out what to say next.  She was saved from trying to figure out how to move the conversation along by the waiter. The topic seemed to fade away naturally as everyone put in their order.

As soon as the waiter left, Duke clapped his hands with a bright smile.  “So, Steph, you said again.  I take it you guys have met before?”

“At the gala,” Adrien nodded.  “Only briefly though.  We,” he motioned between him and Stephanie, “spoke for a little bit, but Marinette only spoke with her for a few seconds.”

Stephanie grimaced at the reminder.  “Yeah… not exactly the ideal meeting.”

Marinette waved her off.  “Not your fault.  Don’t worry about it.”  She sent her a sincere smile.

“No,” Stephanie agreed.  “It’s Bruce’s.”

Cass pulled out a credit card with a wicked grin. “On Bruce.”

Barbara nodded.  “Exactly.  Therefore, this lunch is on Bruce.  Maybe we should go shopping after this too?”  She raised an eyebrow at Marinette.

Marinette giggled and shook her head.  “No, thank you.  That’s okay.  I’m good.”

Stephanie’s eyes lit up.  She leaned closer to Marinette like she was sharing a secret. “Speaking of the gala, how did you get tickets to the gala anyway?  We never figured it out.”  Barbara groaned lightly and smacked her on the shoulder.  They had just changed the subject.  Marinette probably did not want to talk about the gala, where they raved about their family and the newest member, which was not her and did not did not include her.

Instead of freezing up or withdrawing, like Barbara worried she would, Marinette started laughing.  Her eyes were sparkling with mirth.  She leaned closer to them over the table and lowered her voice. “I pimped out my friend,” she confided with a smirk.

The rest of the table froze until Adrien groaned and Stephanie and Duke started laughing loud enough to draw disapproving looks from neighboring tables.  Cass raised an eyebrow, but her lips were quirked up in amusement.  “Say that again,” Barbara prompted.

Marinette shrugged and took a sip of her drink.  “I don’t know if it counts as pimping if he did it willingly.  He was willing to do it for Max.”

“Oh my God, Marinette.”  Adrien ran his hand over his face in exasperation.

“What exactly was he willing to do?” Barbara’s voice was now less amused and more wary.

“That was the worst possible way to say it,” Adrien groaned.

“You know, maybe I don’t want to know the answer to that…” Barbara hedged.  She leaned away from Marinette cautiously.

Marinette laughed at Adrien’s frustration and bumped his shoulder with hers.  “I offered up a date with Luka Coffaine to Audrey Bourgeois’ PA in exchange for the tickets she turned down,” she explained.

There was absolute silence for a few seconds until Stephanie broke the silence.  “You know Luka Coffaine?” she yelled.  

Everyone in the café turned slowly to look at them. Marinette’s eyes widened and looked around at them.  She gave them an awkward smile and a wave before turning back to the table.  Before she could chastise Stephanie, Cass was already on top of it.  She pointed sternly around the restaurant and back at Stephanie.  Stephanie nodded guiltily.  “Yeah, yeah.  Sorry.” She turned back to Marinette excitedly. “I just…” she lowered her voice and leaned closer to Marinette.  “You know Luka Coffaine?”

Marinette rolled her eyes at her excitement.  It was always so bizarre to see people’s reaction to Luka.  It was Luka. Just Luka.  Calm, reserved, laidback Luka.  The hysteria around his name just never seemed to fit.  “Yeah, I mean, we dated for a while so… yeah.”

“You dated Luka Coffaine!” Stephanie yelled again, receiving glares from everyone at the table.  Marinette shrunk down in her chair and gave a strained, apologetic smile to the rest of the café.  Cass slapped Stephanie’s shoulder and shook her head.  Stephanie waved her off and focused back on Marinette.  “Yeah, yeah.  Discretion.  Whatever. She dated Luka freaking Coffaine,” Stephanie insisted, motioning to Marinette.

“You dated Tim Drake,” Duke pointed out.

Stephanie snorted.  “That’s just Tim.  He’s just a big dork.  She dated…”

“Yeah we got it,” Barbara cut her off.

“Really, so is Luka,” Adrien shrugged.  “Probably more so, just about music.”  Marinette cocked her head to the side in thought for a few seconds before nodding in agreement.  He really was.

“Holy shit.  Did he introduce you to his dad?”  Stephanie was bouncing in her seat at the idea and the potential for an inside scoop on Jagged Stone.

“No,” Marinette answered.  She smiled internally at the way all their faces, except for Adrien’s fell, just a bit, almost imperceptibly, as if trying to hide their disappointment.  “I already knew him.”

“You know Jagged Stone?” Stephanie yelled. Marinette cringed as she sent the other patrons another apologetic smile.

Duke leaned over closer to her so he could whisper in her ear, though his voice intentionally carried across the table. “Maybe we shouldn’t talk about this anymore.”

“No!” Stephanie screeched, before catching what she did and settling down, a mask of composure settling on her face.  “I’m fine now.  I just needed to get that out.  I’m calm.” She stared at them for a few seconds before almost lunging across the table.  Adrien deftly moved his and Marinette’s drinks before she knocked them over in her zeal.  “Please tell me more.”

Marinette’s eyes widened and she started laughing.  “You realize you’re basically a daughter to the richest man in the world.  If you wanted to meet Jagged Stone, you could.”

Cass shook her head.  “Different.”

Barbara nodded.  “She’s right it is different.  You dated his son.  That’s a different type of knowing someone.”

“So you met Luka through Jagged?” Stephanie pressed.

Marinette suddenly looked uncomfortable.  She was not really excited to talk about their family dynamic and secrets.  It was a little too close to her own and she really, really wanted to move past that, not dwell on it more.  “No… I met Luka through my friend Juleka, his sister.  We went to school together for ages.  They’re both some of my best friends.”

“And she introduced you to Jagged?” Duke asked curiously.  He could tell something was off about this based on the way Marinette responded, but he wasn’t sure what.

“No… um…” she stuttered.  “I met Jagged through a school project.  Designed some sunglasses for him and we’ve been close ever since.”  Adrien grabbed her hand and squeezed it under the table

Stephanie looked between the two of them and plastered on a bright smile.  “So what I’m hearing is you can hook us up with some tickets next time he comes into town.”

Marinette laughed lightly.  “Either one of us could, yes.”

“Or for Clara Nightengale,” Adrien added in. “She loves Marinette, too.  She wanted her in one of her videos.”

“She wanted you in it too,” Marinette reminded him.

“No,” he corrected her, “Gabriel got me into it. She just had to deal with it.  She didn’t choose me.  She chose you.  She worked to get you in the video.”

Marinette opened her mouth to refute that but snapped it shut quickly as the words resonated in her head.  She meant more because Clara chose her.  He was thrust on Clara.  But it didn’t mean he was unwanted.  She looked down at her food and took a bite, trying to cover her sudden inability to breathe.  Trying to give herself time to process.  She needed to pack that away for later when she could properly unpack that statement, deconstruct it, and then finally reconstruct it in some skewed, perverted version of the original situation.

Adrien immediately froze seeing her reaction. He opened his mouth to say something but Marinette squeezed his hand under the table before he could, a silent message they could talk about it later, when they were alone, or at least not with an audience comprised of Waynes.

“So how did you meet Mons…” she stuttered.  It felt strange to call him M. Wayne when everyone else at the table was calling him Bruce.  Should she call him Bruce too?  Like they did.  Like Dick did?  Or B, like Jason did?  “…M. Wayne?” she finally settled on.

Duke grimaced.  They had a cover story, but was he really going to give Bruce’s daughter the cover story?  The truth involved Batman.  But Bruce hadn’t told her about that part of their lives yet, and even if he had told her, he certainly hadn’t told Adrien.  “It’s a long story…”

Marinette smiled encouragingly at him.  “We have time.” She saw him falter and felt her own smile falter.  She took note of the way the women had frozen up as well.  God, what was she doing?  M. Wayne had said how they met.  Why was she bringing that up now?  What was she thinking?  Even if he was okay discussing that trauma, he probably didn’t want to open up about it with a stranger.  

“You don’t have to tell me,” she assured him.  “It’s… it’s fine.”  She looked around desperately for something else to talk about, a change of topic to make the conversation not so awkward.  “You graduate from school next year, right?”  Duke blinked a few times before he let out a breath and nodded.  She let out a breath as well when the rest of the table seemed to relax at her question.  “Do you have plans for after you graduate?  Are you going to take a gap year or go to university or get a job?”

“I haven’t really decided yet.  Go to Gotham University, I guess,” he shrugged.

Marinette smiled disarmingly at him.  “You don’t have to decide now.  You have time.”

The waiter interrupted Marinette’s response with their food.  They gave their thanks and started eating.  “So what have you missed the most while you’ve been here?” Barbara asked.

“My parents’ cooking definitely,” Marinette grinned as she looked at her food. It didn’t look bad, but compared to her parents’ cooking… well not much compared.  “And the atmosphere.  Gotham is…” she looked around them as she thought of an unoffensive way to end that sentence.

“Dreary as Hell,” Stephanie finished for her.  “Yeah, we know.”

“I swear you guys have more gargoyles than we do though, which is just strange to me,” Adrien added.  “We were supposed to have the market cornered on gothic architecture.”

“Oh, you still do.  We just took the most depressing, dismal, gloomy, nightmare inducing parts and ran with it,” Duke grinned.  “But I would like to see Paris sometime.  Go see the Eiffel Tower… and jump off it.”

Barbara, Stephanie, and Cass all groaned at him.  Barbara gave him a stern look and pointed a warning finger in his face. “Not during the day.”

Duke laughed at her.  “Well I’m not going to do it at night.”

“Do it at sunrise,” Marinette advised.  “Less gendarmerie around then and if you angle it correctly, you get the most gorgeous view of the sunrise.”

“Bring sunglasses if you jump that way though.  I didn’t and I saw spots for hours.  Oh, and stretch first too,” Adrien added.  “You’re going to have to parkour for quite a while to try to ditch the GN.”

The rest of the table stared at them, jaws dropped in shock.  There was absolute silence at the table except for the sounds of Marinette sipping her drink and Adrien chewing his food. “You’ve…” Duke started almost too in awe to be able to finish the sentence.  “You’ve jumped off the Eiffel Tower?”

Marinette nodded and motioned between the two of them.  “Both of us have.  Both during an akuma attack and not.  Not was much preferable to during.”

“Isn’t that illegal?” Stephanie asked slowly.  She was like 90% positive it was but during akuma attacks, who knew what was legal anymore and Hell, maybe they had days where they gave exceptions. Stranger things have happened.

Marinette speared a bit of food and pointed it at her.  “Only if you get caught.”  She popped the food in her mouth with a triumphant grin.

Barbara blinked at her a few times and shook her head because dear God, there was another one.  She was going to fit right in.  No wonder she and Duke got along so well.  Both creative, smart, kind, thrill seeking, dumbasses.  “I’m pretty sure that’s not how that works,” she deadpanned.

Adrien shrugged and took a sip of his drink.  “I don’t know.  We didn’t get arrested, so I’m pretty sure it is.”

Duke and Stephanie started laughing hysterically.  They looked over at Cass with raised eyebrows when they settled down. Cass stared intently at Marinette and Adrien for a few seconds, staring into them like she was reading their souls. Marinette and Adrien looked at each other with identical unsure looks and subconsciously leaned back at the same time, shuffling in their seats.  Cass stared at them for just a few more seconds before she nodded.

“Holy shit,” Duke muttered in awe.  “You were telling the truth.”

Marinette looked back over at Adrien for an explanation he clearly didn’t have, judging by the blank look on his face before looking back at Duke.  “Uh… yeah?”

“What just happened?” Adrien asked tentatively.

“Sorry about that,” Barbara sent them a disarming smile.  “Cass is kind of like a human lie detector.  She is exceptionally good at telling if someone is lying.  She just confirmed that you two were not.”

Marinette blinked at Barbara a few times before turning to Cass and blinking at her.  “Huh… good to know,” she nodded slowly.  Her eyes stayed on Cass but it was clear her mind was running a mile a minute behind them.  After a few seconds she spoke up again.  “Can you tell the lies people tell themselves too?”

Cass quirked her head to the side and studied Marinette for a moment and shook her head.  “Have to know.”

Marinette nodded and silently took a bite of her food. “Well, that has to come in handy,” Adrien chirped.  “Remind me to take you with me when I meet people.”

Marinette could feel eyes boring into her.  She looked back over at Cass and raised a curious eyebrow at her.  “Hero,” she finally said.

Marinette coughed for a second and looked back at her with her most convincing blank look.  “I’m sorry.  What?”

Cass nodded toward Marinette.  “Eiffel Tower.”

Marinette chuckled disarmingly and shook her head. “You think I’m a lot more honorable than I am.  You think it’s more likely that I was a hero than that I knowingly, intentionally, purposefully violated the law for fun.”  She leaned closer to Cass with a smirk.  “But I can assure you, I regularly did.”

The others at the table looked to Cass.  She quirked her head to the side and gave a small smile before nodding.  “Truth.”  Cass pointed to herself.  “Next time.”

Marinette grinned and nodded excitedly. “Absolutely.”

Duke cleared his throat.  “And Duke,” Cass added.

Marinette chuckled.  “Of course.  We can make a New Kids Club event out of it.”

“And me!” Stephanie chirped.

Barbara sighed and turned to Adrien.  “Dick said you had a job interview yesterday.  How did it go?”

Marinette beamed at Adrien as he responded. Adrien’s face lit up.  “It went well I think.  I think I’d really enjoy working there!  I met the department chair and other professors.  It looks like a really supportive department and University, very research oriented.”

“Where is it?” Duke asked between bites.

“Metropolis,” Adrien answered, his fondness he’d already developed for the city bleeding into his tone.

“Oooh, Conner lives there.  If you’re still deciding if you want to live there or if you need a tour guide, or recommendations on where to eat, he’d be more than happy to help,” Stephanie offered.

Marinette’s smile turned into a pointed smirk and Adrien groaned quietly.  “Conner, did you say?”

Stephanie looked between them, her brow furrowing in confusion.  “Yeah?”

“That wouldn’t happen to be Tim’s single friend would it?”  Her eyes never left Adrien as she asked, her smirk somehow getting even sharper.

Adrien groaned even louder when he looked over and saw Cass’ smile matched Marinette’s and Duke and Stephanie both had devious, familiar looking glints in their eyes.  This was clearly payback for all his attempts to set Marinette and Chloe up with different people.  “Why yes, yes it is.  How about that,” Duke grinned.

Cass pulled out her phone and moved her finger around the screen for a second then finally looked up with an innocent looking smile.  Adrien groaned and dropped his head into his hands.  “I’m not even in this family.  Why am I being punished?”

Barbara laughed and popped a bit of food in her mouth. “That’s funny.  You think just because there’s no paperwork, you haven’t been adopted already.  I made that mistake at first too.”

Chapter 19

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