#I've been sitting on this all week trying to figure out at what point in the game I wanted to answer this

[notbecauseofvictories]

I'm cautiously gearing myself up for a conversation with bff where I tell her that we need to recalibrate our relationship, and....I genuinely don't think I've ever had a serious, emotional conversation with someone I care about before.

I've never been a Conversation Haver; I tend to take the approach that people can't significantly change without meaningful reason, and since I am not and never have been someone's Reason, I cannot prompt change. Therefore, my choices are (a) live with what is; or (b) end/limit the relationship.

But....this is my best friend in the world. I do love her. I just can't keep on as we've been going, where it's less a friendship and more ten minute intervals where I talk about my life, after which the focus switches. I once sat in a bar for two hours waiting for her; afterwards, she asked if I wanted to stay in her hotel room like I didn't have to get up in another 5 hours and drive to work. She texted me during my recent trips, and when I said I was traveling she asked no further questions. Said nothing unless it was about what she was reading, what she was doing. I'm not even sure she realized I was traveling at all, just unavailable to her.

I can give a high-level summary of her PhD thesis. I'm not confident she knows where I work.

Truthfully, part of this is that we simply have different social styles....but still. Coming back from my family trip, I said I was tired and trying to get work straightened out, she should go ahead and plan something for the holiday! I was free! Only for me to text a week later....and promptly have her join me, for my previously standalone plans. Oh, and she asked me to bring my camera, because she wants headshots for her new job.

I still love her very much, but if this is the kind of relationship we're going to have? I need less of it.

[captivemuses]

Dan Heng, what's your opinion of marriage?

A question he never really pondered before. The life of a Nameless was not one that included much leisure time, or a truly extended amount of time to form bonds of that intensity that such an event could be led up to. Memories in the form of dreams had long since been something he experienced on a semi regular basis, showing him days past of his previous incarnation spending intimate time alone with a man who clearly meant a certain way to him that no one else in his inner circle did, a man he was clearly in love with.

But those days for Dan Feng were not those of him in the present, and though Dan Heng had met many people during his time with the Express who had become allies for the Nameless, none had yet left such an impression on the Vidyadhara that he felt such a thing could be possible for him. The shrug of the noirs shoulders was so slight it could have been missed, the expression on his face not conveying much of a reaction when there wasn't much for him to say.

"With my life currently the way it is, it is very unlikely that such a thing is in the cards for me. Traveling the cosmos as a Nameless is a constant, and setting down roots somewhere for a bond like that to be found with someone else doesn't seem very likely. That's not to say it's impossible, but my place right now is on the Express with my friends and it's not something I'm really prioritizing for myself."

[firewasabeast]

this is mostly just Eddie and Tommy talking when Eddie comes into town for Bobby's funeral. It's the most pointless fic I think I've ever written. Enjoy!

A knock on the door startled Tommy. He’d been laying down for a couple of hours now, not quite asleep, but not fully conscious either.

He got out of bed quickly, but carefully, and made a beeline for the door before the knocking started up again.

He swung the door open to Eddie on the other side, fist raised and ready to bang on the door again.

“Oh.” Eddie’s eyebrows furrowed as his arm drops back to his side. “Hey, Tommy.”

“Hey, Eddie,” Tommy greeted, moving to the side. “Come in.”

Eddie stepped inside, looking around at how things had changed.

Tommy shut the door, then motioned for Eddie to take a seat on the couch. “Evan said your flight was getting in tomorrow?”

“Uh, yeah, it was, but an earlier flight popped up and I just… wanted to be here, with everyone.”

Tommy nodded, pointing toward the kitchen. “You want something to drink? I’m gonna grab a beer.”

“Sounds good.”

Tommy wasn’t gone long, returning with a beer in each hand. He handed one to Eddie before sitting down at the other end of the couch. “Evan’s asleep,” he informed him. “He hasn’t been resting much lately, but I can wake him if you want.”

“Oh, no. No, I- I know it’s gotta be hell on him right now. Let him sleep.” Eddie twisted the cap off his bottle and took a sip. “What the hell even happened, Man?” he asked, shaking his head. “I heard from Ravi first. He tried telling me what went down, but it sounded like something out of a bad horror movie. Trying to talk to Chim or Hen wasn’t much better, and then Buck’s been… well, I guess you know how Buck’s been.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I do.” Tommy took a deep breath, letting it out slowly before he began. “You know about the virus stuff, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, I kinda came in halfway through that emergency. Stole a helicopter-- again. Had a standoff with the FBI and the army. It was all a setup, giving Athena time to find Moira and the anti-viral. We thought…” His voice trailed off. He tapped his finger against the bottle in his hand. “We thought we were trying to save Howie. Thought that we’d, um, that we’d get him and Hen to the hospital and everyone else would be fine. But Bobby...”

“Ravi said he did it to save everyone else; that there would have been four funerals if it weren’t for him.”

Tommy nodded. “A couple minutes,” he said, taking a sip of his beer, “and everything would have been different. Everyone would have been out.”

“Sounds like you’re blaming yourself.”

“Took me too long to get away from the damn FBI.” He shrugged. “It’s not just me though. Everyone trying to stop us, all the obstacles. Two minutes, Eddie. Two minutes and everything would be fine.”

“It’s not fair, Man, but it’s not on you.”

"Mm," Tommy hummed, and Eddie could hear all the words he wasn't saying. “I don’t believe you, but I’m not giving myself time to think about it right now, so let’s let it go.”

There was silence. An awkward lull in the conversation before Eddie broke it.

“So, you’re here,” he noted.

“I’m here.”

“I guess that means you decided to stop being an idiot and get your head out of your ass.”

Tommy huffed out a laugh. “Well, tell me how you really feel.”

“Sorry, I… I shouldn’t have said that like that.” Eddie ran a hand over his face, rubbing at his eyes. “I haven’t gotten much sleep the last couple days.”

“None of us have.” Tommy quickly drank down half of his beer. “And it’s fine. You’re not wrong.”

“But you two, you… you figured everything out? Got it sorted?”

Tommy stared down at his bottle, watching as it started to sweat. “I apologized for the things I said,” he confirmed, “when we were up in the chopper. He did too. A lot of misunderstandings and, well, me being an idiot.”

“So no more insane ideas about me being competition?”

“Really, really love how you two communicate everything with each other.”

“He didn’t tell me, dumbass. Chimney called last week, caught me up.”

“That doesn’t make me feel any better.”

“Wasn’t trying to.”

Tommy sighed. “Should I apologize to you too then?”

“Eh, I found it kinda funny at the time.”

“Yes, well, Evan did not.”

“Yeah, because he’s in love with you.”

Another sigh. “That’s not-”

“Oh, don’t even start with me. I was there for the baking and moping and the ‘should I call him? I should call him. What if he needs me? What if he’s in trouble? He’s bubbling me, Eddie. Now he stopped. Now he’s bubbling. He stopped. He’s bubbling.’ Over and over again. Thought I’d go insane.”

Tommy squinted. “I don’t know what half of that means."

“It means he loves you, and you clearly love him, and both of you should stop acting like I’m some hurdle standing in your way. I like my ankles the way they are.”

“I’m not-”

“Don’t get me wrong, Buck’s a great friend. Love him like a brother, but we would absolutely kill each other if we lived together for a long weekend, let alone a lifetime. I always need a nap after we hang out for a few hours.”

There was a sudden sharpness in Tommy’s chest. A wave of anger he couldn’t quite place. He quickly shoved it away. Now wasn’t the time.

He set his bottle down, then leaned back into the couch. “I’m not even sure I know exactly what we are. We cleared things up in the helicopter, but we were also trying to evade the army and the FBI, so it’s not like we got to clarify where we stand.”

Eddie stared at him. “But you’re here?”

“I don’t want him to be alone right now.”

Well, I’m assuming you’re not just making yourself at home against Buck’s will.”

“What? Of course not. He asked me to stay, and I wanted to stay anyway, so I’m staying.”

“You two are both exhausting.” Eddie shook his head, “And damn near perfect for each other. Don’t screw it up this time.”

“Eddie-”

“Oh, and by the way, Buck may not have told me the whole ‘he thinks you’re competition’ crap, but he did tell me that I was a child for cutting you off when you guys broke up. See, I thought I was doing the right thing by siding with my best friend. Apparently, there were no sides and I’m a moron.”

“I didn’t really expect you to keep hanging out with me, Eddie. It’s no big deal.”

Eddie scoffed. “Not to you, maybe.”

Tommy shifted in his seat, uncomfortable. “We don’t need to talk about this stuff right now anyway. It doesn’t matter.”

“Really? Because I think it matters more than ever, Tommy. You’re wasting time when you could let yourself be happy instead.”

“Are we fighting right now?” Tommy asked, eyebrows furrowed. “It feels like we’re fighting.”

“We’re not fighting. I’m just trying to stop you from being stupid. I meant it when I said you two were perfect for each other. You’re here, at this house, for a reason, Tommy. You may not wanna believe it, that he loves you, but it doesn’t stop it from being true. Might as well accept it.”

“I don’t-” A shuffling sound coming from the bedroom had Tommy snapping his mouth shut.

“Tommy?” Buck called as he started down the hall. “Wh- Where’d you- Eddie?”

Buck stood at the end of the hall, confused. His looked exhausted, like no amount of sleep would ever be enough. His eyes were red and puffy, hair a mess, and it looked like he hadn’t changed out of his sweats and hoodie in a couple of days.

“Hey, Man,” Eddie said, getting up and walking over to Buck to give him a hug. “You doin’ okay?”

“I…” Buck sighed. “No, not really.”

“I know.” Eddie gave Buck’s shoulders a squeeze before letting him go. “I’ve been trying to wrap my head around it for days now. Don’t really want to believe it’s real.”

Eddie opted to move to the chair as Buck walked over to Tommy. Tommy reached his hand out for him, and Buck practically fell into his side. “Thought you’d left when I woke up,” he muttered, resting his head on Tommy’s shoulder.

“No. I’m not going anywhere, Evan.” Tommy pressed a kiss to his head. “Eddie got an earlier flight, so we were just talking while you slept.”

“Chris didn’t come?”

Eddie shook his head. “Wanted to, but he’s got finals coming up.”

“What… Where’s your stuff?” Buck asked, lifting his head to look around. “Did you forget to bring a suitcase?”

“Already at the hotel. And,” he added quickly, “before you say anything, my mom had a lot of points about to expire on a credit card, so she told me to use them. I’m good at the hotel.”

Buck nodded, leaning in close to Tommy again. “Spare room’s ready, if you change your mind.”

“Appreciate it.” Eddie glanced down at his watch, taking a breath. “Chim said the whole team is going out tonight for drinks. You two are coming, right?”

“Oh, I- I don’t-”

“Come on. You can’t just stay locked away in here forever. It’ll do you both some good to get out.” Eddie pointed to Tommy, “And don’t you dare try and say you’re not part of the team. You are and if Buck’s coming then so are you.”

Buck looked up at Tommy as he thought it over. Tommy shrugged. “Might be good for us,” he said, thumb brushing up and down over Buck’s shoulder, “like Eddie said.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I guess so. Just for a little bit.”

“Good.” Eddie stood, clapping his hands together. “I’m gonna head to the hotel to shower and change. I’ll meet you guys there.”

“I think I'll go shower too,” Buck replied, slow to move away from Tommy and stand. “Been moving a little slower than normal lately.”

“Understandable, Man. See ya in a bit.”

They gave each other one more hug before Buck headed back for the bathroom.

Once he heard the door close, Eddie glared over at Tommy. “You ‘don’t know what you are?’”

Tommy got up, walking to the door. “I told you, we haven’t fully talked it out yet.”

“So in the meantime you kiss his head and he snuggles you like you’re two bunny rabbits in a burrow?”

“Oh look.” Tommy reached for the doorknob, motioning with his free hand as he opened it with the other. “You were just leaving.”

Eddie rolled his eyes. When he reached the doorway, he turned back to Tommy. “Tell him you love him, Dude. Stop wasting time.” He reached out, giving Tommy’s shoulder a squeeze. “Take it from me, life’s too short.”

“I, um, I should go check on him.”

“Mhm. Seven o’clock. Be there.”

“We will.” Tommy closed the door, then made his way to the bedroom.

Buck hadn’t quite made it to the bathroom yet. He had some new clothes laid out on the bed, but he was just standing at the window, staring outside.

Tommy leaned against the doorway, thinking over some of the things Eddie had said. That Buck could be tiring, exhausting, and that he’d never be able to live with him.

Tommy couldn’t understand that. Evan was a lot of things, but Tommy had never found him tiring. He loved Evan’s excitement for life. Loved spending as much time with him as possible. Loved… loved him.

He took a deep breath, pushing himself away from the doorframe and walking over to Buck. “You okay?” he asked, wrapping his arms around Buck’s waist.

Buck shook his head. “No. I… the thought of showering made me tired all of a sudden.”

“Why don’t I get it ready?” Tommy offered. “I can get in with you. I’ll even give your head a massage.”

Buck turned in his arms to face him, his eyes wet with tears. “You don’t mind?”

“Of course not, Evan. But, um, before we do that, I… there’s something I need to tell you.”

[drabbles-mc]

Lucky For You

Tyler Owens x F!Reader

Warnings: 18+, fluff, mentions of hospitals/injuries, no use of "y/n"

Word Count: 1.4k

A/N: earlier tonight i lied to myself and said i wouldn't work on any new oneshots until i finished a wip. but I've been marinating on this idea since last week and i just had to write it down. just a short cute little fluffy somethin'! my first twisters fic. hope you enjoy!

You were shaking your head as you walked back over to the side of the picnic table that Tyler was sitting at. You had a beer bottle in one hand, the other resting on Tyler’s shoulder as you stepped in so you could plop back down beside him at the table.

“I’m still trying to figure out what you guys told Lily to say,” you gestured to Lily then Kate with the bottom of your beer bottle before taking a quick sip, “to get Kate to cave so quickly.” You gave Lily a playful smile. “What’d you say to convince her? Hm? ‘Cause lord knows it wasn’t either of these two,” you said as you nodded to Tyler first, then Boone.

Both men looked at you with dramatic looks of offense. “What?” Tyler asked, grin starting to curl his lips as he spoke. “You don’t think we were charming or convincing enough on our own?”

You rolled your eyes as he draped his arm around you. “No, I don’t.”

It got another wave of laughter. Tyler took the momentary distraction as an opportunity to lean in and kiss your temple. “Seemed to work just fine on you.” He reached across and stole your beer bottle from you, taking a sip before allowing you to snatch it back. “And you said yes to a way more dangerous proposition.”

You shook your head even though you were smiling, even though you could feel your cheeks warming. It was no great secret, or even breaking news at this point after the last few years you’d spent married to the ridiculous man sitting on the picnic table bench next to you. Sometimes, though, you couldn’t help the cheesy grin that crossed your face when you became a little more aware than usual of the wedding band on your hand.

“That’s different,” you said, not that it mattered, not that it helped your case at all as Tyler continued to nettle you good-naturedly.

“How’d you two meet, anyway?” Kate asked.

It was a fair question. You didn’t chase with the rest of them, never had. You’d met and fallen in love with Tyler before he decided to make a career out of it. The journey wasn’t always a smooth or easy one, but you never doubted him, or your relationship, not even for a second. Even in the hard times. A lot can happen over the course of six years, but you still clearly remembered when you first met him.

Tyler had started watching you the second he realized where Kate’s question was going. He watched the little twitches and shifts of your hands and facial expressions as you went rapid-fire back down memory lane. When you ended up with a little smirk on your face, he knew that you were all too happy to tell the story.

You took another drink from your beer bottle before just handing it back to Tyler, rather than trying to make him steal it again. “When I met Tyler, I’d say about, oh, seventy percent? Yeah, seventy. About seventy percent of his face was covered in bruises and bumps. Fractured cheekbone, split lip.” You turned and looked at him even though you were talking to Kate. “He was lookin’ real cute.”

She laughed, but you could see the mild confusion in her eyes as she looked back and forth between the two of you. “You find him after a rough chase, or…?”

You smiled and shook your head. “We met back before he was the infamous Tornado Wrangler.” Leaning forward, you braced your arms flat on the picnic table, Tyler’s hand sliding from your shoulder down to the center of your back, his palm warming you through your tank top. “They brought him to the hospital that I work at after he got stomped out by a bull at the rodeo.” You felt his fingers drumming against your back and your smile stretched a little wider. “I wasn’t even supposed to be checkin’ in on anyone in the wing he was in, but the nurse who was supposed to help discharge him had to leave.”

Tyler had a cocky little smirk on his face. “Lucky for you though.”

You gave him a look that didn’t pack nearly as much of a punch as it should of since you were grinning. “Yeah, real lucky for me that Jay’s kid got in a fight at school so he had to leave and he left you to me.”

Tyler laughed. “He was cute but I gotta say, I think you’re a little cuter.”

You gave him a playful shove, which he responded to by looping his arm around your waist and pulling you closer again. You shook his head at him before looking back at Kate. “Anyway, as I was saying. I go into his room to talk through some of the paperwork with him, and with one eye practically swollen shut still this man right here is tryin’ to get my number.”

“Actually, if I remember right—”

“You were concussed into next Tuesday—I doubt you remember much of anything right.”

“If I remember,” he repeated with a laugh, “I was actually tellin’ you that you should just jot my number down from my patient forms so you could call me sometime.”

You looked at Kate with a feigned nonplussed look. “Told me somethin’ about making a ‘house call’. Real bold for a man who was about half an inch away from some serious brain damage.”

“Probably what gave him the confidence to ask in the first place,” Lily piped up with a laugh.

Everyone was laughing, and listening. Kate might’ve been the only one in present company who hadn’t heard the story before, but it wasn’t as though it was something that the two of you were constantly rehashing all the time. The two of you usually kept the retellings amusing enough anyway, allowing the rest of the crew to throw in their two cents even though they hadn’t been there when it all started. After all, Tyler might’ve been the one you met first, and under some pretty dire conditions, but you’d been around to help out the rest of the team plenty of times since then. Whether you were making sure they were all alright after a rough chase, or meeting up with them in the towns that had been blown through to see who you could help even if you weren’t off the clock. You might not have chased with the rest of them, but you were still part of the team.

“How long did it take for him to wear you down, then?” Kate asked.

 The shit-eating grin on Tyler’s face grew tenfold. He lightly bumped his shoulder against yours. “Go ahead. Tell her.”

You dropped your forehead so that it rested on top of your forearms for a moment before looking up and at Kate again. “I gave him my number after I pushed him to the lobby in his wheel chair.”

“Doctor’s orders, by the way,” he interjected with a shake of his head. “I didn’t need it.”

You rolled your eyes but kept going. “He was pretty persistent the whole way down, so I told him if he still remembered my name and number by the time his fractures all healed up, I’d meet him for a cup of coffee or somethin’.”

“Cup of coffee ended up bein’ a split six-pack and a failed bonfire at her cousin’s place, by the way,” he added on with a chuckle.

“Yeah, and your lip still wasn’t fully healed.”

He smirked. “Didn’t stop you though.” You lightly swatted his chest with the back of your hand but you didn’t say anything to refute his statement. “So really, what I’m hearin’, is that you shouldn’t be havin’ any doubts about our charms.”

“Sayin’ yes to a date is nothing like—”

“You also said yes to marryin’ him,” Lily added on, always happy to stir the pot just a little. “Y’know, with the ring that he almost lost in a chase.”

Tyler rolled his eyes. “If I left it at home I was sure she’d find it!”

“Yeah,” Lily laughed as she argued, “and if the chase went wrong somebody on the other end of the county would find it. Then what?”

Tyler laughed and shrugged. “Corner store sells Ring Pops.”

You had no shot at tamping down your smile. “Prob’ly still would’ve said yes, too.”

(divider by @saradika 💞)

Twisters Taglist (please let me know if you'd like to be added to any of my taglists): @garbinge

[heavyhitterheaux]

Mo' Money Mo' Problems

See Me Through You Blurb

Synopsis: Asking for help has always been hard for you, but when you aren't left with another option, your recently drafted NFL boyfriend comes to your rescue

Pairing: Boyfriend!Joe Burrow x Girlfriend!Reader

Requested: by a gorgeous anon 😍

Series Masterlist

Please Do Not Repost My Content Anywhere

Erin looked at you as you sat down across from her and sighed. This had been going on for the past week and you had now given yourself a headache trying to figure out what you were going to do.

“Call your boyfriend.” Erin told you as she threw your phone for you to catch it, but you quickly shook your head no as you caught it before it hit the floor.

“I am not calling him.”

“And why NOT?” She exclaimed and looked at you as if you were crazy.

“Because this is my problem and I'm going to deal with it. I don't have to run to him for every little thing.”

“YOUR BOYFRIEND PLAYS IN THE NFL! AS A QUARTERBACK! Or did you suddenly forget?”

“Just because he plays in the NFL doesn't mean I’m going to take advantage of that.” You said as you crossed your arms.

“Bestie, I love you but you fucking annoy me so much sometimes. So let me ask you this, Joe doesn't have a problem asking you for sex correct?”

“What in the world are you getting at?”

“Answer my question.”

“No, he doesn't.”

“And he fucks you raw simply because you had a fucking pregnancy scare two semesters ago when he won the Heisman.”

“Erin, get to the point already. I was scared out of my damn mind.” You replied as you rolled your eyes.

“My point is that you shouldn't have a problem asking your boyfriend who fucks you raw for money. At the very LEAST like bare minimum he can give you a little cash.”

“I get it but..”

“Uh no you obviously don't. And you know how he is. First thing out of his mouth is going to be why didn't you tell him. I'm convinced that man would drink your bath water if you let him.”

“I swear you get on my nerves.”

“Welp been doing that since we were three and that's not changing any time soon.”

“I don't know. I feel kind of weird asking people for anything. Like not just him and I’ve always been like that.” You said as you got up to go into your kitchen with Erin following close behind.

“It's not like he's going to want you to pay him back. I guarantee you that he'll give it to you without a second thought. You never know unless you try. Surprised he hasn't put your name on the bank account yet.”

“Something is wrong with you.”

“Bitch, don't act like he's not going to put a ring on your finger. Surprised he didn't do it our first semester.” Erin told you as you turned to look in the freezer for ground turkey to make homemade burgers for the two of you.

“Yes, obviously but not yet.”

“He is literally just waiting for you to graduate to do it.”

“And how do you know all this?” You asked as you began to cut up red onion along with some green bell peppers.

“I just do and like I said, he would drink your bath water.”

“Ew, Erin that's nasty.”

“Just calling it like I see it. But if you don't fix this in 48 hours when your rent is due, I'm calling Joe.”

Twenty four hours later you were finally lying down in your bed after a long and exhausting day, your phone rang indicating a facetime call coming through and you rolled over onto the other side to answer it. When your boyfriend's face came into view, you instantly smiled.

“Hi my love.” You quietly said and wrapped yourself tighter in the blankets that were covering you while propping up your phone.

“Hey baby doll. How was your day?” He asked while it looked like he was sitting up against the headboard.

“Hmm, long. I've been up since 4 in the morning. But you know I never pass up an opportunity to talk to you. I miss you.”

“I miss you too and Erin called me.”

“What? Why?”

She literally only gave you 24 hours and not 48 like she promised.

“You tell me. Something going on that I should know about?” Joe asked and you continued to look at him confused.

“Uh, not that I can think of.”

“Let me ask you this then. Have you paid your rent this month for your condo?”

“No and I have no idea why she called you. I told her I would take care of it.”

“Because you miscalculated your bills for this month and they added a whole bunch of fees and you decided to suffer instead of calling your boyfriend for help.”

“I…”

“Is that it?”

“I didn't want to bother you.” You quietly said and Joe just looked at you.

“Seriously? When are you ever bothering me? I have another question for you.”

“Yes?”

“You plan on being with me for a long time, right?”

“Yes.”

“And you know that I'm going to take care of you right? Especially when you graduate and move up here.”

“Yes.”

“So, why wouldn't I take care of you now?”

“I know you will, but if I can do it on my own, I'm going to try to.”

“But I'm here and you don't have to. Aren't you a WAG now?” Joe asked as he smiled at you.

“I want to be the W and not the G.” You replied without skipping a beat.

“Who’s to say that I don't already have your ring?”

“Well, my finger is still bare so? What does that do for me?” You told him as you held it up so he could see your hand.

“Touché, princess.” Joe told you as he smirked.

“Mm hmm, that's what I thought.”

“But next time you come up here we're picking out a house.”

“I…”

“Me and my future wife along with my future kids need a place to live so we can start looking. Or we can have it built, your choice."

“And a new car, mine is on its last leg.”

“Name it and it's yours. That goes for whatever else you want to.”

“NO! I'm going to get it! You are not going bankrupt buying someone who is not even your wife expensive things.”

“You ARE my wife; it's just not on paper yet.” He told you as he shrugged while your cheeks began to heat up.

“Babeeeee.”

“What? I'm not saying anything that isn't true. And besides, I'm not spending any money from my contract. Just my endorsement deals. But back to our original problem, you're good for the rest of the year.”

“I… JOEY! That was like 4,000 dollars!”

“Money is not a factor when it comes to you. If you need it, I'm getting it. So can we move on?”

"Fine, while I have you in a giving mood, I want an elephant." You replied and Joe simply gave you a blank stare.

"Best I can do is the Cincinatti Zoo, you gotta work with me here."

"Well, you said 'name it and it's yours'."

"Baby, I meant within reason and an elephant is not within reason."

[deerspherestudios]

I've been struggling with how to write this out, but the ask box closing gave me an excuse to sit down and make an official attempt at it. Apologies if it's long but I don't think I can compact it without missing some points I wanted to ramble about

I downloaded and played Astronought back in November. I love all its little details, and of course Atom itself.

From the purposefully misspelled title (nought like not/nothing instead of naut like nautical), to how utterly charming Atom is (their general mannerisms, and their laugh… sounds like chittering……), this game is something that has stuck itself in my head

After getting my first ending (route?) it was too late to play a second one & I ended up in the files (wanting to get more of them and this was the easiest way. also curiosity), and THE FILE NAMES? I'M SANE. ABOUT THE FILE NAMES. (Finding out my favorite CG was named "whipped" was very funny, because YEAH. IT TRULY IS, ISN'T IT.) The music that was ALREADY my favorite present in the game AND REALIZING IT'S NAMED "IT SIGHS AND YEARNS AND BEGS TO RETURN" IN THE FILES? YOU REALLY HAD TO DO THAT TO ME, HUH. Very fitting, I applaud you for tugging my heartstrings. At first the SFX named "your favorite" confused me. Until it hit me that it's the lights changing to your favorite colour. ITS THE. AGUHHH. I thought that was a very neat detail and I enjoyed figuring that one out. There's a lot of names in there that I had fun looking over, even if they weren't really meant to be looked at by the average player (?) The game's backgrounds are very well done, too. All of them feel very cohesive :]

Now, onto Atom themselves. Your honour, the worms have unfortunately charmed me. NOT TO MENTION THEY'RE JUST SO FASCINATING? ALL THEIR LITTLE QUIRKS AND EVERY LITTLE FACT. I have a great many questions that I've managed to forget while typing this but I'll try to write them down next time I remember them. However. I love how inhuman they truly are. Their diet is different (THEY can eat kibble, why can't you), their morals are different (murder is okay if it's in retaliation, etc. etc.) HOW THEY CAN GAIN INFORMATION BY EFFECTIVELY CONSUMING SOMEONE? THEY CAN CHANGE THEMSELVES TO BE DIFFERENT MATTERS???? The fact they may as well be buzzing at any form of affection you offer them (They pause when you offer to shake their hand and practically vibrate when you pat them on the shoulder) while still usually being restrained enough to avoid possible issues (it's noted the worms have an odd texture in game, and they don't immediately jump you and instead gingerly wrap a single worm around your finger) is,. oughg I LOVE THE REASON THEY CALL YOU LUNA NOVA, TOO. IT'S ADORABLE Even when they're being a bit more fucked up I still adore them. I got the softer route at first (couldn't say no to them, even if it was a bit illogical in the current situation), and even when I went back for the other route (and by god is that likely a different impression) it just made me MORE interested in it. I could go on.

I went into playing the game knowing the twist, I will admit, but the scene of the reveal was still quite impactful! (possibly quite literally. Atom did take a blunt force hit there) Not to mention how enthralled I got in the escape pod section. It delivered on the tense atmosphere quite well! Each scene was a good build up to the true reveal of what they are and writing this out makes me want to play it again I won't lie to you

Speaking of that general section, Moon Waltz. I got curious and I ended up screenshotting the lyrics it mentions (because I couldn't tear myself away from that moment to look it up right then) and afterwards looking it up (I found it very fitting for it to mention THAT lyric of all of them. think I said something similar out loud). I ended up listening to the song and got it stuck in my head for nearly 3 weeks straight. It's still one of my favorites to this day :]

Even when I tried getting to bed I was still kept up by writing down little ideas I had for them. I do not think I've ever had a game revive my spark of creativity as fast as Astronought did. I still have a lot of those ideas to get to and I honestly hope I do.

Hopefully this wasn't too much, I'm still getting used to telling creators that I love their work and am a bit new to this, but in summary: This game is incredibly charming and has wormed (HAH) its way into my heart. thank you for creating Astronought, and I wish you well on your future game endeavours o/

Aaaa I don't wanan be self indulgent on main but waaaaa aghaaa,

Working on Astronought last year was meant to be a break from writing MO. I think I manifested something when writing for Atom, they're such a goofy obsessive goober with absurd sci-fi logic almost to the point of comical sometimes and I just had fun with it!!

To think someone noticed all the silly little details that were just meant for me to see when it comes to the file names and references and even the title when I was working on it means so much!! This one is definitely a message I'll come back to over and over, especially for a short one-shot game.

Thank you so much <3<3<3!

[steddieas-shegoes]

assistant to the dm, steve harrington

for @steddielovemonth prompt 'secretly studying nerd shit' rated t | 1,361 words | cw: mild language | tags: friends to lovers, getting together, d&d references (could be inaccurate since i don't actually play), banter that's also flirting

🐉🐉🐉🐉🐉🐉🐉🐉🐉🐉🐉🐉

"I just don't understand why you needed to borrow my character sheets. You don't even know what most of this means," Dustin said as he handed over the papers.

"I just need to see something," Steve replied, taking the papers and adding it to his mess of a kitchen table. Other character sheets were strewn all over, most filled out, but some empty. A couple of books were open on random pages, recognizable images of weapons and monsters visible to anyone who walked by.

"Why does it look like you're studying for a college degree in D&D?" Dustin asked.

Steve looked up at him, eyes blank, mouth in a straight line. "Because I finally got accepted to Indiana State. Go away."

"Fine! I want those sheets back though!" Dustin said as he left Steve to his studying.

Hours must have passed, the light outside turning to dusk before Steve thought to take a break. His head hurt, his vision was blurry, and he didn't feel any closer to understanding a god damn thing.

He thunked his head against the table, letting out pained groan as his head throbbed.

"Are you looking for something or have you decided to finally play with us?" Eddie's voice said directly behind him, making him nearly fall out of his seat. "Shit, sorry. Thought you heard me come in."

Eddie's hands were on Steve's arms, squeezing, centering.

Like he knew exactly what he needed to lose the slight hint of remaining panic left in his chest.

"I was just trying to figure out if there actual dragons in this game or if that was also made up," Steve said, sitting back and putting distance between them. He couldn't breathe when Eddie was touching him, which was often. He was starting to worry about oxygen deprivation to his brain. "Disappointed to find out the dungeons part seems like it's up to the DM."

"The whole thing is pretty made up, Stevie. That's the point," Eddie smirked, but it fell away when Steve turned back to the messy table. "Are you, like, wanting to play?"

And this is why he wanted to keep it a secret. Maybe he shouldn't have had everything spread out in the open like this, but he'd assumed he was safe in his own home. With the door locked. And with Eddie supposedly playing the Hideout tonight.

He looked back at Eddie. "Why are you here?"

"Dustin said something about you not answering the phone after he left hours ago and you seemed pissed off or something," Eddie shrugged. "Just wanted to check on you."

"The phone? It didn't ring." Steve didn't think so anyway. He had admittedly tuned his surroundings out entirely once Dustin was gone. "But it's Tuesday."

"Uh huh. It is Tuesday. How long have you been sitting at this table?"

"Ha. Funny." Steve rolled his eyes. "You play the Hideout Tuesdays. Tuesdays are for Corroded Coffin, Wednesdays are for dinner with Wayne, and Thursdays are Hellfire."

Eddie blinked at him. "Yes, usually that's true. But, wait. Sorry. You have my schedule memorized?"

"I mean, some of it, yeah. The parts where I know you won't be nearby or easily reached."

Steve knew it was ridiculous, but how the hell could he make sure he was safe if he didn't even know what Eddie was doing?

Eddie looked like he wanted to say something else about it, but must have changed his mind. He pulled out the chair next to Steve, turned it towards him, and sat down.

"So you've been studying this stuff for..." Eddie leaned in, eyebrows raised in silent question.

"I dunno. A few weeks. I didn't have most of the sheets until a couple days ago though," Steve gestured towards the papers spread out. "I still don't really get it."

"You've been studying for weeks? Stevie, why didn't you just ask me or any of the kids to help explain it?" Eddie almost sounded hurt. "I've been playing for half my life! And I've been a DM for half of that!"

Truthfully, Steve was trying to learn so he could have conversations with Eddie about the stuff he liked. That was basically lesson number one on how to get someone to like you, and Steve had already tried the music thing and failed.

He just wasn't that into the echo of loud guitars and angry drums.

He couldn't exactly ask Eddie to teach him everything and then turn around and try to use what he taught him to flirt with him. That was lame and embarrassing.

"Steve?" Eddie had his hand on Steve's leg, leaning in further towards Steve. He must've been trying to get Steve's attention while he was lost in thought. "I'm kidding. I mean, I wish you'd said something sooner, but if this is how you get into it, I'm not gonna stop you."

"I just wanted to surprise you."

Steve could hear how pitiful that sounded, could hear the whine in his voice that he wasn't able to pull his plan off. As if Eddie would even care! Eddie was the most easygoing, laidback, chaotic person he'd ever met. He would just be happy to have someone else in his little club.

"Surprise me? For what?"

He was also incredibly slow when it came to feelings.

"Because I want to spend more time with you! Because I like you! Because I want you to like me!" Steve tried not to sound frustrated, but his headache was turning into a real problem, and he was tired, and sick of hiding things. Robin told him to just be honest, so he was. "I wanted to surprise you the next time Hellfire was here and have all this knowledge, but it's hard! I don't even know how you keep up with most of this, let alone all the characters? There's like...at least 800 options for how to use weapons and spells. I can't even remember half the races or classes or whatever. I don't even know if those are the same thing. And I keep getting distracted thinking about how you look when you stand at the end of the table and do one of those stupid accents."

"Are they stupid if they're this distracting?" Eddie was smirking, suddenly more confident than Steve had maybe ever seen him.

"They are stupid. That's why it's distracting. And I'm stupid for letting it get to me!" Steve leaned forward, put his head on Eddie's shoulder. The angle wasn't the best, but he didn't care. "You get to me so bad, Munson."

"You're kinda easy to get to, Harrington." Eddie's lips briefly pressed against the side of Steve's head. "Been waiting for you to catch up."

"What do you mean?" Steve pulled away. "I've been trying to get you to realize for months!"

"You came to one show at the Hideout. I think Robin's been to more shows and she's a lesbian."

"She told you?!"

"Steve, she spilled every secret she's ever had when she kept me company in the hospital. I think I know things you don't even know."

Steve let his head fall down against Eddie's shoulder again. "I should've known you were teaming up."

"I wouldn't call it that. She just wanted to look out for us," Eddie's hand cupped the back of Steve's head. "So what did you learn?"

"Probably nothing useful."

"Well, it's easier to be an active learner. I could use an assistant on Thursday if you want some hands on experience," Eddie's fingers scratched at Steve's scalp, melting his brain and making him feel like he was completely weightless. "If you just wanna watch, that can be arranged too."

"You don't let people watch," Steve mumbled against his shoulder, his weight sagging against Eddie.

"I think I can bend my own rule for my boyfriend, right?" Steve could feel Eddie's heartbeat quickening beneath his ear.

His face felt warm as he realized what Eddie was implying. "Only if your boyfriend can sit next to you."

"I think that can be arranged."

"Oh, and I'd like to trap Dustin's character."

Eddie snorted, kissed Steve's head again. "That can be arranged, too."

[mochinek0]

Daminette December: 9-You call that Art?

"Do you really expect us to believe your scribbles are art?" a guy called out.

Marinette looked around to see a guy glaring at her.

'Is he talking about my designs?'

"Art is expressed though different mediums" Marinete shouted, slamming her hands on her desk.

"Coloring isn't art." he pushed, rolling his eyes, "Princess."

Marinette opened her mouth but a voice rang out instead, "Yet, you consider your demented word scribbles 'art'. You take spray paint to walls; a child could do that."

Doug glared at him, "Of course you would defend her!"

'Huh?'

Everyone looked around, trying to figure out Doug's outburst.

"It's obvious!" Doug continued to shout, "The Wayne favortism strikes again! Wayne has to defend his new little sister!"

"What?" Marinette cried out, pointing at Damian, "I'm not related to that guy!"

"Neither are his brothers, but when has that ever stopped his Dad?" Doug countered.

"I'm....confused." Mari stated.

Damian sighed, "Father tends to adopt children. They usually have black hair and blue eyes, as their characteristics."

"Why?" She asked.

The Wayne heir shrugged his shoulders, "They were here before I was. Also, Marinette is not adopted into his family."

'It is possible he was looking for children with his likeness. Although the others have turned it into a joke, as today displays.'

"I'm here on scholarship." Mari declared.

"By the Wayne family!" Doug cried out.

"Yes, but-" Marinette tried to explain.

"See!" Doug continued.

"Will you shut the fuck up?" Marinette shouted.

Doug remained silent. He never expected her to fight back against him. Damian was the only Wayne that was known for fighting back in public.

"I don't know what crawled up you ass and died, but I didn't join the foreign exchange program to get bullied by some rich asshole again!" She shouted.

'Foreign exchange? Isn't she another adoptee by the Wayne family?'

"I'm on the foreign exchange scholarship." Marinette continued, "My parents, both of them, are very much alive and I'm from Paris, France. These 'scribbles' as you so-called them, are part of my fashion business! I have created countless fashion designs and I make money off of these. I have had these 'scribbles' on Paris runways and people wear them, performing at concerts! As for what Damian said, your 'word scribbles', I consider that art."

Marinette brought up a picture of Alix, "She is the daughter of one of the Louve curator's, but she prefers the same art as you. She knows more than anyone that art comes in many mediums but if you want to come after me; I'm ready this time!"

Doug remained silent, realizing he had underestimated her. He assumed right away, she was Wayne material simply from her looks.

"Sorry." he mumbled, sitting silently.

Marinette turned around and took her seat. As the class dismissed, Doug quickly made sure to avoid her.

It had been three week, since that day, and it was extremely noticeable that Damian Wayne had taken to hovering over the Parisian girl. The only solace that others received was that she seemed annoyed with him.

"Really?" her voiced came out, excited, "I've been looking for some art supply stores. All the ones I found weren't really good quality or it was just children's school supplies."

"I can take you after school." Damian suggested.

"Wait?" Marinette countered, "You're taking me?"

The Wayne heir nodded.

"You can just give me the address, you know." Marinette replied, "I don't want to disturb your day. I'm sure your busy."

"Not at all." Damian declared.

"Uh, okay then." Marinette smiled, "I'll see you after school."

The bell rang, ending the conversation. Doug watched as the halls began to clear out, but he was the only one who seemed to noticed the Ice Prince's smirk.

'Well, fuck! She hadn't been Wayne material before, but it seems Damian wants her to be now.'

@maribat-calendar-events

TAG LIST- DAMINETTE: @meme991001 @umbreon-worshipper @stainedglassm @jasmine-the-fox @psychicdelusionwerewolf @vixen-uchiha @mysteriouschar @missmadwoman @kanamexzeroyaoifangirl @dissarraymania @tundra1029 @abrx2002 @mrsjacuinde @ledalasombra @animegirlweeb

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[spanktony]

“LEFTOVERS” - lee doona.

summary: lee doona was so full of herself and you hated it. until, you understood.

words: 4.2k +

warnings: 18+ g!p reader, p in v, oral (d receiving), doona’s kinda an ass but not really because she’s wifey, and i think that’s all.

notes: once request open back up more doona requests guys 🙏🙏🙏🙏 she’s so underrated

navigation. request.

you had never met someone so full of themselves; well, that was up until the moment you had your first interaction with doona. you had just finished lacing up your sneakers, your compression shirt hugging your torso and your workout pants snug and comfortable.

the day was still cool, perfect for a run, and you were looking forward to clearing your head after a long day of work.

being a server was no joke.

you popped your headphones into your ears, selecting your playlist before closing and locking the main entrance door behind you, completely oblivious to the pair of eyes that had been watching you from across the courtyard.

it was a beautiful evening, and you smiled as you started singing, off-key but nonetheless singing, while you warmed up and stretched before your run. you didn't notice the figure sitting nearby until you were almost past them.

doona.

she was sitting on the brick fence that surrounded an old tree, one leg crossed over the other, and a cigarette dangling from her lips. the smoke swirled lazily around her, and she exhaled slowly, watching you with a bored, detached look as you bopped your head to the music in your headphones.

you were in your own little world, head down, and pounding music that drowned out everything except for your own thoughts.

but then, just as you were getting into a good groove, doona stood up abruptly, taking a drag from her cigarette.

without missing a beat, she stepped directly into your path, her body blocking your way.

you came to a halt, pulling your headphones down to your neck.

"excuse me," you said, raising an eyebrow, already feeling the irritation start to build. you hadn't been expecting anyone to stand in your way, let alone her.

doona regarded you coolly, the smoke curling from her lips as she blew out a cloud and gave you a pointed look. "what's your deal?"

you blinked, confused, your jaw slightly dropping. "what?"

doona took another slow drag from her cigarette, her eyes narrowing slightly as she studied you. the calm, almost calculating look on her face made you feel even more confused.

"you've been staring at me for weeks," she said, her voice laced with something you couldn't quite place. was it annoyance? amusement? "every time you run by, you look up at my apartment. i see you. you're watching me."

you blinked again, the irritation from before quickly turning into bewilderment. "what? i'm not—what are you talking about?"

doona's expression didn't soften. she flicked the ash off her cigarette, still maintaining that intense gaze. "don't act like you haven't noticed me. you've been eyeing me from across the courtyard every day, practically tracking my every move. and now you're singing my songs like some kind of weird obsession. what's your deal, stalker?"

a small laugh escaped you, almost out of reflex. "are you serious? i've just been doing my thing—i'm not stalking anyone."

doona raised an eyebrow, clearly not convinced. for a moment, there was a pause between you two, the sound of your heartbeat in your ears as your confusion started to shift into something else.

"yeah, right." she took another drag, blowing the smoke into your face, causing you to close your eyes and cough slightly. your jaw tightened at the action, but you still tried to keep your cool. the last thing you wanted was to give her any kind of satisfaction.

doona tilted her head to the side; the two of you studied each other intently, the tension thickening between you as the seconds dragged on. her gaze was sharp, predatory even, and her lips twitched into a small smirk.

you, on the other hand, were trying your hardest not to show how irritated you were. it wasn't like you cared that she thought you were some sort of stalker. in fact, you were far more interested in getting away from this confrontation and finishing your run.

but as you stared back at her, you couldn't help but feel... curious. who was this woman? why was she so damn confident and dismissive?

finally, you exhaled sharply, pulling your shoulders back when it finally hit you. she was lee doona, from dream sweet!

your confusion morphed into a mix of surprise and disinterest. you weren't particularly impressed by celebrity status, and honestly, you couldn't care less who she was. all you cared about was getting back to your routine and putting as much distance between you and this strange encounter as possible.

you stared at her for a beat longer, trying to mask the faint surprise flickering across your face. doona's eyes held an intense gaze, scanning you almost like a puzzle to be solved.

but when you didn't immediately react the way she expected, her expression faltered for a fraction of a second, and she flicked the cigarette again, sending more ash into the wind.

"so, what?" you said, cutting through the silence with a firm tone, finally over the awkwardness. "you're accusing me of stalking you because i run by and look up at the apartments? that's a stretch."

doona narrowed her eyes, seemingly a bit put off by your nonchalant attitude. she opened her mouth, but something in your demeanor stopped her. maybe it was the fact that you weren't fawning over her or hanging on her every word like people usually did.

maybe it was the confusion you still had about her unexpected behavior. she seemed a little unsure of herself for the first time in the conversation.

her voice, when it came out, was slightly less accusatory, but no less annoyed. "it's not just about running by, alright? it's the way you look at me. like you're always waiting for something."

you paused, taking a moment to process her words. you tried to read her, but she had the same expression as before, guarded and defensive. her posture was relaxed, but her eyes were sharp.

was she really this caught up in a casual interaction with someone she thought was obsessed with her?

"i'm not 'waiting' for anything," you replied before brushing past her, putting your headphones back in, and jogging out of the courtyard towards the street.

over the next week, doona's presence became hard to ignore. she had a way of appearing at just the right moment—whether it was passing you in the hallway or casually lounging on her balcony as you stepped out for air.

her presence was like a constant shadow, always hovering just out of reach but never quite out of mind. you couldn't deny that her mysterious aura intrigued you, but you weren't about to give her the satisfaction of knowing that.

each time you crossed paths, whether she was perched on the balcony with a cigarette or standing in the doorway as you passed by, she had that same intense, unreadable gaze. it was like she was trying to figure you out, but at the same time, she never seemed to want to make the first move.

you, however, had other things on your mind—your routine, your runs, the work that needed to get done. doona wasn't a part of that, no matter how much she seemed to want to be. you kept your head down, trying to block out the distraction that was her presence.

but one day, when you returned home after work, still dressed in dress pants and a black button-up shirt, you saw doona sitting outside.

you hesitated for a second, unsure if she'd approach or if you should just keep walking. but before you could make up your mind, she called out to you.

"hey."

you stopped, caught off guard by the lack of confrontation this time. she wasn't blocking your path or looking at you like you were some strange specimen. she was just... there. waiting.

"are you going to keep ignoring me, or do you actually want to talk?" her tone wasn't harsh this time, just curious.

for a moment, you felt a flash of irritation. who did she think she was, acting like she had the right to dictate when you should talk to her? you had enough of these mind games. you glanced over at her, seeing her kicking her feet outwards like a child.

she wasn't smoking this time, and she wasn't giving you that intimidating, piercing stare either. instead, her eyes were warm, and there was a small, inviting smile on her face.

something in your stomach twisted slightly, but you managed to hold yourself together. you stepped forward, crossing your arms, but your stance was more relaxed now, less defensive than before. "what's this about, doona?"

she leaned back against the fence, leaning back on her arms and tilting her head slightly. "i don't know. maybe i was wrong about you."

"wrong about me?" you repeated, confused. "what do you mean?"

doona let out a sigh, her gaze flicking down to the ground before meeting yours again. "i misjudged you. thought you were... obsessed or something."

a soft chuckle escaped you, and you raised an eyebrow, still unsure if you were understanding correctly. "and now?"

her stomach growled audibly before she could answer; doona's eyes flicked down, a faint blush coloring her cheeks as she ran a hand through her hair, clearly embarrassed.

you couldn't help but chuckle at her. "lucky for you, i've got leftovers from work," you said, tapping the backpack you had slung over your shoulder, which contained a portion of the evening's meals from your restaurant job.

"leftovers?" doona raised an eyebrow. "what, you think i look like i'm starving?"

"maybe not starving," you said, "but it's not like you're going to turn down free food." you held out the bag, shaking it slightly, almost teasing her.

she eyed it for a moment, then pushed herself off the fence, moving toward you with a slow, deliberate step. "you're lucky you're offering," she muttered, taking the bag from you with a slight smirk. "i wasn't going to beg for your charity."

"right," you said, shaking your head. "just take it, doona."

for a second, she seemed to hesitate, as if weighing whether to offer a witty remark, but instead she just muttered a quick thanks, her fingers brushing yours as she took the bag.

the next evening, when you returned from work again, there she was, sitting by the same spot, her eyes trained on her feet. she didn't seem to notice your approach until your foot scraped against the concrete.

this time, she didn't wait for you to say anything. the moment she saw you, she stood up and walked toward you, eyes gleaming.

"got any leftovers today?" she asked, cutting straight to the point.

you were taken aback for a moment. had she really come just for food? "still hungry, huh?" you asked, grinning despite yourself.

"very," she replied, with that same smirk you were starting to recognize all too well.

you shrugged, reaching for your backpack and pulling out another container. "here, take it."

days passed, and each night when you came home, doona was there, waiting for more of your leftovers. her presence had become a routine, like a weird, unspoken agreement between the two of you. you'd offer the food, she'd take it with little fanfare, and sometimes, if you were lucky, she'd stay for a little conversation.

one evening, your manager practically forced you to stay late, almost two hours after your shift had ended. when you finally arrived home, exhausted and hungry, doona wasn't waiting for you. it was late, so you don't know why you would expect her to be there.

but as you made your way up the stairs and towards your apartment, you noticed something odd. a faint sound—footsteps. someone moving quickly, almost purposefully. you paused, glancing around.

there she was.

doona stood at the foot of your building, her eyes scanning the space like she was looking for something—or someone. her gaze locked onto you the moment you stepped into view, and for the briefest of moments, there was something almost sheepish in her expression.

you stopped in your tracks, the exhaustion from your late shift quickly replaced by a flicker of amusement. "i didn't think you'd be waiting tonight," you said, adjusting the strap of your backpack, almost expecting her to snap back with some witty retort.

she didn't. instead, she bit her lip, her eyes darting around as if unsure of herself. "i thought you might have forgotten," she said with a small shrug.

you blinked, the words catching you off guard. "forgot?"

"yeah." she looked down at her feet for a moment before meeting your eyes again. "the food. i've... been getting used to it."

a weird, inexplicable tug in your chest made you pause.

"i haven't forgotten," you replied, your tone a little lighter. "i just got stuck at work longer than usual. but i brought something for you."

you opened your bag; instead, it wasn't the usual takeout you usually brought her. instead, you pulled out a small cake—chocolate with rich frosting and a simple "happy birthday" written on top in delicate icing.

doona blinked in surprise, her eyes widening a little. "what... is this?"

"it's your birthday, isn't it?" you asked with a small, teasing smile. "i figured you'd appreciate something sweet, instead of leftovers for once."

she stared at the cake for a long moment, not even noticing you turning away and walking upstairs toward your bedroom, the door closing behind you with a soft click.

doona lingered by the doorway, still staring at the cake. something about the gesture touched her, and her mind raced with questions, but none of them would formulate into coherent words.

after a long, thoughtful pause, she made her way up the stairs with the cake in her hand. when she knocked on your door, you opened it, already anticipating her arrival. you weren't surprised to see her standing there, her expression unreadable as she walked past you, heading straight for your bed and setting the cake down on your desk.

you raised an eyebrow as she made herself at home, flopping down on your bed without a care in the world. it was a little jarring, considering how much she had thrown off the idea of getting close to you just a few weeks ago. but there she was, casually reclining on your bed, like it was the most natural thing in the world.

you stood by the door, not quite sure what to say. "you just walked in without even asking?"

she shrugged, her eyes not leaving yours. "it's not like you're going to stop me."

"what makes you so sure?"

"you wouldn't have let me in otherwise."

that was a fair point. you sighed, moving to unbutton your work shirt, but instead of heading to your closet, you stayed near the door, keeping a safe distance from her. "what do you want?" you asked, trying to sound casual but failing miserably.

"i just wanted to see if you missed me," she answered, her voice unexpectedly soft, though laced with that playful challenge. her gaze held yours, and for a second, you could have sworn there was a hint of affection in her expression.

you swallowed, breaking the gaze and looking away. you didn't want her to catch the flush creeping across your cheeks.

doona smirked, watching the way your fingers fumbled with the buttons on your shirt, the way you tried so hard not to show any sign of vulnerability. you chuckled, though there was a hint of nervousness in your laugh.

"miss you?" you took a few steps further into the room but kept your distance, not wanting to make the moment feel too awkward. "you've been showing up for leftovers, and now you're asking if i miss you?"

doona raised an eyebrow, which dropped when she let out a sigh, glancing around your room. it was her first time ever being up here. "you looked for me tonight," she muttered. "i didn't think you cared if i was around or not."

you paused, the weight of her words hanging in the air. for a moment, you felt exposed, like she had somehow cracked through the barriers you'd carefully put up around your thoughts and emotions. you'd been so intent on brushing her off, pretending that her presence didn't matter, that you hadn't realized how much she'd started to occupy your mind.

"i didn't look for you," you said quickly, though you weren't entirely sure if you believed it yourself. "i just—" you rubbed the back of your neck, averting your eyes, not wanting to meet hers. you took a deep breath, forgetting about taking off your work clothes and instead focused on trying to maintain your composure.

doona's gaze softened slightly as she watched your struggle to keep your cool. she could tell you were trying to downplay the shift in your emotions, but it wasn't working. there was a crack in your facade, and she was starting to notice it.

"right," she said, her voice dropping into something softer, more teasing than before.

you shifted uncomfortably, rubbing the back of your neck again as your eyes flicked to the cake you had given her earlier. for some reason, the sweetness of the gesture now felt like it was hanging over both of you, making everything feel more real, more vulnerable. you had never meant for this to become more than just a simple exchange. leftovers. a casual moment. yet here she was, in your room, in your personal space, making things feel... complicated.

"i didn't expect you to be here," you muttered, trying to sound indifferent but failing. "i didn't think you'd care if i gave you a cake or not."

doona let out a soft, almost wistful laugh. "you really are bad at this, aren't you?"

the way she said it caught you off guard. there was something affectionate in her tone, something beyond just teasing. you had never thought she would soften up like this, not after all the weird tension that had built up between you two. but there it was.

you swallowed, still not quite sure how to handle the shift in the air. it was no longer about leftovers, no longer about the small interactions. she was making you confront something you hadn't expected to feel—maybe even something you hadn't wanted to feel.

"doona..." you started, but she cut you off before you could finish.

"stop overthinking it," she said with a small, half-smile. "i'm not here to make you uncomfortable. not really. i just... want to see how far you'll go."

"go where?" you asked, still confused but unable to stop the questions from rising in your chest. "what do you want from me?"

she sat up from your bed, the air between you two thickening with every word. "i just want to know if you're more than the girl who gives me leftovers. are you?"

her gaze was intense now, and her words hung in the air, a challenge and an invitation all at once. you didn't have an answer, and you didn't know what she was hoping for. you just knew that whatever this was—whatever you two were turning into—it was no longer as simple as it had been when she first asked for leftovers.

she stood up from your bed, her hands falling to the buttons of your shirt, her eyes never leaving yours. you felt the soft cotton of your shirt, now being unbuttoned by her, slipping off your shoulders as she leaned in closer.

her fingers traced along the lines of your collarbones, slowly, gently, a small, amused smile playing on her lips. it was such a gentle touch, such a light caress, yet you couldn't help the way your breath caught in your throat, the way your heart skipped a beat.

she tilted her head slightly, her smile growing as she watched you, the intensity of her gaze making it clear that she was enjoying this. enjoying seeing you get flustered, enjoying seeing you react to her touch.

and then, her hand moved to your hip, and she pulled you closer, pressing her lips against yours.

you could feel your pulse quicken as the kiss deepened, her fingers digging into your hip, her other hand reaching up and tangling in your hair, tugging slightly. as she pulled you closer, you could feel her body pressing against yours, her breath mingling with yours, your mind going blank as her tongue swiped over your lips, tasting, teasing.

you hadn't expected this—hell, you didn't even know if you were ready for it. but doona wasn't giving you a chance to overthink. she was just there, and all you could do was follow her lead.

when the kiss broke, you found yourself looking into her eyes. they were dark and full of want and something else, too. you swallowed, feeling your stomach twist with a mixture of nerves and anticipation.

doona leaned in again; this time you didn't hesitate, kissing back with the same intensity and hunger she was pouring into you, her lips soft and insistent against yours, while her arms dangled around your neck.

the kiss deepened again, your hands fell to her waist, and doona began walking backwards; you followed her like a puppy on a leash, falling on top of her as her back hit your bed. her eyes were half-closed, but they were still looking at you. she ran her hands up and down your sides, caressing you. her touch was light, but you felt it go right through you. doona smiled up at you, her hands going to the hem of your shirt and lifting it up, her fingers grazing your skin as she pulled the material up over your head.

her hands fell to your core, fingers trailing against your stomach. her touch was making you shiver, sending waves of pleasure through you.

you bit your lip and closed your eyes, focusing on her touch, looking down to see a singular finger moving along the top of your pants, tracing the outline of your belt, teasing. she was taking her time, exploring your body, watching and listening to your reactions. it was making you painfully hard, and you wanted nothing more than to have her fingers wrap around you.

finally, doona moved her hands back up and unbuckled your belt, sliding it out of the loops and tossing it aside. then, she popped the button on your pants and lowered the zipper, sliding your jeans down, exposing your black boxers.

she was gazing at you, her pupils blown wide with lust. doona licked her lips. she was waiting for you to say something. but all you could do was nod and kiss her.

her tongue slipped into your mouth, and you moaned into her mouth, the sound muffled by her lips. doona's hand was in the front of your boxers, rubbing your cock through the material, feeling how hard you were. your hands gripped the sheet beneath you, and you took in a sharp breath.

you let out a grunt as her hand moved under the waistband of your boxers, wrapping around your shaft, squeezing and stroking. "wait," you said, breaking the kiss. you pulled back a little and looked at her. "let me help you."

she bit her lip, nodding, letting go of your cock. you sat down on the bed, kicking your pants away, and watched as she slid off her own pants, her hips raising from the bed before lowering again.

doona had you in a spell, your eyes glued to her every movement; you wondered if she was aware of the effect she had on you. she was wearing a pair of black lace panties, which contrasted beautifully with her creamy skin. your gaze lingered on her breasts, which were covered by a coordinating bra.

she lay back down, her hair fanning out on the pillow. you couldn't stop staring.

"see something you like?" she teased.

you nodded, crawling back on top of her, afraid that any words that left your mouth would make her change her mind.

instead, you kissed her again, one hand cupping her cheek, the other sliding behind her back, deftly unclasping her bra. you felt her body shiver as you slid the straps off her shoulders, and the garment fell away, exposing her breasts.

"you're so beautiful," you murmured. she smiled, pulling you closer.

you lowered your head and began kissing her neck, working your way down to her breasts, licking and sucking on her nipples, making them harden under your touch. the soft sounds of her moans only encouraged you further, along with the grip she had on your shoulders, pulling you closer to her.

her hands tangled in your hair as she whispered, "don't stop."

you moved lower, kissing her stomach and then her thighs. anywhere your lips touched, she shivered with pleasure.

your fingers hooked into the waistband of her panties, pulling them off her legs. you were staring at her now, more than ever, taking in her naked form, her body flushed and warm, her chest rising and falling as she breathed heavily, her eyes locked onto yours.

you moved forward, settling between her legs, spreading them open, your hands gripping her hips. "please," she whimpered. "i need you."

you pressed your face against her thigh, kissing it softly, your hands gripping her thighs firmly as you trailed kisses up towards her core. she arched her back, silently begging for more, her fingers tangling in your hair as she guided you closer to where she needed you most.

"stop being an ass," she whispered in frustration in her voice. "just give me what i want." you chuckled softly, then moved higher, your tongue finding her wet folds. her breath hitched, and her hand tightened in your hair, a low moan escaping her lips as you gave her exactly what she desired.

you lapped at her cunt, your tongue moving up and down her slit, tasting her. she was writhing beneath you, her back arching off the bed, her pulling at your hair so much it was starting to hurt. her moans grew louder, more desperate, "oh, god..." she moaned, her voice thick with arousal. "that feels so good."

you continued to lick her, your tongue sliding up and down her slit, teasing her, before you focused on her clit, flicking it with the tip of your tongue. she was panting now, her legs trying their hardest to trap your head between them as she bucked against your mouth.

"fuck... oh, fuck..." she was breathing hard, her moans increasing, her thighs squeezing tighter around your head. you knew she was about to cum, and you didn't want to disappoint her, so you quickened your pace, swirling your tongue around her clit before sucking on it gently. she let out a loud gasp, her legs tightening around your head, her back arching as she came hard.

her whole body shook with the force of her orgasm, her nails digging into the sheets beneath her as she rode out her pleasure. after a moment, her grip on you loosened, and she let out a long, content sigh.

you looked up at her, a smile on your lips, and she grinned back at you. "see," she said breathlessly. "i knew you could be a good girl." you wanted to roll your eyes and disregard the pet name, but your body's response was instantaneous, and you felt yourself grow twitch as the words escaped her lips.

you climbed up her body and kissed her, allowing her to taste herself on your lips. "do you want more?" you whispered against her lips, and she nodded. "i want you inside me."

you moved to the edge of the bed, sitting down as you pulled off your boxers, revealing your cock, fully erect, glistening with precum. the dark-haired girl smiled seductively as she crawled towards you, straddling your lap and guiding you inside her with a moan of pleasure.

the sensation of being enveloped by her warmth was overwhelming, and you both moaned in unison when doona's hip began moving achingly slow. she was trying to get a reaction out of you, and you were so lost in the moment that you could barely form a coherent thought.

your eyes left the sight of your member buried deep inside her to meet her intense gaze, your mouth agape and your hands gripping her hips tightly. "pretty," she muttered, her voice husky, kissing the outline of your jaw before trailing down your neck.

your mouth took in her breast, savoring the taste of her skin as she arched into your touch, a soft gasp escaping her lips. she started riding you faster, her hips rolling in a rhythm that was better than any song she had ever sung.

"doona," you managed to gasp out, your hands gripped her waist tightly, your mouth falling against her shoulder, trying to contain yourself.

you didn't know what the two of you were going to be after this, if she would continue playing that stupid game she loved so much, if you could just stay as friends, or if you could somehow get closer, but for now, none of that mattered. all that mattered was her and her soft body.

her hands dug into your hair, and you buried your face in her neck, breathing in her scent. her pussy felt so tight and wet, and you groaned against her neck, your teeth biting at her skin. she started moving faster, and you knew she was close. a loud whine left her throat, and her fingers tightened in your hair, yanking you back to look at her.

"y/n," she whined. "fuck, please. are you close?"

you nodded.

"fuck, baby. you feel so good. come with me, y/n. please." you reached down and circled her clit with your thumb, and her mouth dropped open, her head thrown back as her entire body tensed, her pussy tightening around your dick, pulling you over the edge with her. you groaned, pressing your face into her neck as your cum filled her.

she collapsed on top of you, and the two of you caught your breath.

[sanguineterrain]

Idk if you know that scene from friends where Rachel kisses Ross while they're in the laundromat and Ross hits his head on the washer door afterward 😭🩷 it makes me giggle sm. Anyway thinking about that kind of kiss with Spencer. Genius left speechless!

very cute prompt thank u! gn!reader. your kiss surprises spencer—his kiss back knocks the wind out of you.

****

This is an impossible case.

You throw down your files in frustration and rub your temples. "I'm gonna quit and join the circus. I suck at this."

"Hm?" Spencer looks up from his computer. It's just the two of you staying late. The cleaning people have already come and gone. You're both working on a case that's stumped the team for three days.

You're here because you're new and, yes, you need to prove yourself. Spencer's here because... well, you're not actually quite sure why he's here late. He doesn't usually stay. But he'd offered when you said you were going to. His company is certainly welcome.

"This is fucking impossible. I've gone over these lists three times. There's no pattern, no commonalities, nothing! I'm such an idiot."

"You're not an idiot," Spencer says, getting up and joining you at your desk. He pushes some papers aside and sits on the corner. "Can I see?"

His long fingers brush yours as you pass him the lists. Gloomily, you scratch at your notepad with your pencil.

"Why are you trying so hard on this case?" he asks, fingers tracing the paper as he reads.

"Because I know you guys don't really need me here and I wanna prove that I'm valuable."

Spencer stops reading. "You are valuable."

"You're sweet, Spence."

"No, you are. You're smart. More brains are always better when it comes to this job."

"I think you've got enough brains for all of us," you say, half-smiling.

"Everyone provides skills that I don't. That's why we're a team."

You hum, pushing your pencil around. "Yeah, sure."

"We can figure this out," he says. "Let's think. Okay, no connections with the names or the ages. Gender and race is random. Did you check the locations of their deaths?"

You nod. "Did. No shapes, no nothing. Garcia ran every algorithm she has."

"There's sixty-three names on here. When did these murders start?"

"About nine weeks ago. But not everyone on this list was murdered. Some of them have been long dead. That's what's so confusing," you say. "The police think the killer will round back and kill the rest, but I don't think so."

"I don't either. Which people were killed?"

You circle them in red. Spencer stares at them.

"That's every sixth name. Maybe groups of seven are the key." He points at the second name on the list. "He's a reverend, right?"

You nod. "Yeah, more than one name on here is."

Spencer drums his fingers. "Circle those."

You do. Suddenly, you're struck by something.

"What is it?" Spencer asks as your fingers fly across the keyboard.

"Solomon Grundy."

Spencer leaps off the desk, immediately understanding and just as excited as you. He kneels beside your desk chair and starts highlighting and circling names in different colored pens. Heat emanates from his body, he's so close. You swallow and try not to think about it.

"Reverends Christened on a Tuesday," he says.

"Every third person was married on a Wednesday," you say. "The unsub is following the rhyme!"

You turn to him, mirroring his joy. "We did it!"

"I told you you'd figure it out," Spencer says triumphantly.

"Are you kidding? You brought up the numerical patterns."

Spencer grins at you. "I wasn't even thinking Solomon Grundy! You're the genius, not me."

You roll your eyes. "Aren't you past modesty, Doc?"

"Aren't you?" he shoots back, raising his eyebrows meaningfully. "You're brilliant."

And something about the rush of solving the puzzle, and the way Spencer's smiling at you, open and happy and proud, it makes you impulsive. You see his round, dark eyes, his fluffy curls, and the way his cheek crinkles from his smile, and you do it. You lean in.

Your hands go to his face for a moment, just enough to steady him as you kiss him. You kiss for two seconds, your touch like a breath on his skin. Spencer tastes like the cherry Chapstick you bought him last week.

He shoots up and away, lips parted, eyes wide. You panic.

"I'm so sorry, I don't know why I did that—" you begin.

"You, um, you just—okay—"

He turns the wrong way and bumps bodily into the side of your desk. You wince as his thigh crashes into the wood.

"Spencer! Jesus, are you okay?" you ask, beginning to stand.

"Uh-hm," he squeaks out, voice strained. "Yeah, fine." He rubs his thigh in a way that suggests he's very much not fine.

You hover, unsure if you should touch him. You know Spencer doesn't love to be touched without warning.

He leans against your desk. He's not running away screaming, which is a good sign, although he's somewhat incapacitated so maybe he wants to but can't.

You go to your desk drawer and get an instant ice pack, shaking and crushing it.

"No, I'm fine, really—" Spencer insists, but you make him take it anyway. He obediently presses it to his leg.

"I know you bruise easily," you say, chewing your lip. "God, I'm so sorry, Spencer."

"This wasn't your fault. I'm clumsy," he says.

You shake your head, lump in your throat. "You don't have to spare my feelings. I know I shouldn't have kissed you. It was stupid of me."

Spencer presses his lips together and looks down, shuffling the ice pack around. "Oh. I-I mean, we can forget about it, of course. I won't bring it up to anyone. No one will know we kissed."

"No, if you want to tell Hotch and, y'know, have my desk moved or something, I'd understand," you say, more glum than when you couldn't crack the case.

"Wait, what? If I told Hotch?"

You shrug self-consciously. "It was unprofessional, to say the least. I made you uncomfortable."

"No, you didn't."

You look at Spencer. He's looking right back at you, pinning you with those bottomless eyes.

"Did you kiss me because we solved the case?" he asks.

You shake your head. "No. I... I've wanted to kiss you for a long time. I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry," he says softly, and then you're getting kissed back by Spencer Reid.

He kisses like he wants to devour you, and it startles you how voraciously Spencer kisses, like you're a well-loved book whose pages he pores over every time he reads.

You're caught off-guard too by his confidence, those big, chilly hands completely cradling your face. The ice pack tumbles to the floor. Spencer takes the air right out of you, sends lightning up your spine.

"Thought you thought you'd made a mistake," he says against your mouth, in between kisses.

You shake your head. "Didn't." And that's all you both need.

You think you'll stay late more often. You suspect that Spencer will, too. It's incredibly productive.

[dreamescapeswriting]

Stray Kids Reaction || Sewing Hearts On Their Sleeves

⤜Copyright: © DreamEscapesWriting - September 2023

⤜MASTERLIST

CHAN:

It had been a long three weeks without seeing you in person and it was starting to put a strain on Chan's work, because how could he write music when you were his muse and you weren't here to inspire him? He sighed a little trying not to get too stressed about everything, he could always start fresh tomorrow and that was when his phone buzzed beside him.

You: Don't forget to go home early, you need some sleep xx

The text flashed on the screen and Chan smiled to himself, it was about ten so he could head home to the dorms now and get some sleep. As he began packing everything up he stopped and stared down at the hoodie that was sitting on the sofa behind him. It wasn't completely obvious but sitting on the right cuff of his sleeve were two little hearts sewn into the fabric, a blue and pink heart and his heart clenched a little at the thought of you spending the time to do that.

MINHO:

The boys relentlessly teased Minho for wearing the hoodie you'd sewn hearts into but he adored it. Not only was it cute but the hoodie smelled like you so he always knew what to do whenever he was missing you.

"Who would have guessed that Minho was a softy." Jisung teased as he watched his older member take out the hoodie from his wardrobe and change into it, taking in a deep breath before visibly relaxing in front of everyone's eyes.

"I can't help it," He mumbled a little glancing at the boys who were all smirking in his direction now.

"They've barely been gone two days," Chan teased before a pillow was launched in his direction by Minho who went back to snuggling into the hoodie.

CHANGBIN:

There had to be over five different hoodies that you'd sewn cute little hearts into, and then there had to be more T-shirts as well and Changbin took every single one of them on tour with him. He did it so that he could feel close to you while you were so far away from each other,

"Are you wearing the heart shirt?!" You squealed, Changbin had called and while you were talking he'd posted a photo of him at the gym. He was dressed in one of the shirts you'd sewn a bunch of hearts onto the chest of.

"I've worn one every chance I've got," He laughed a little before you giggled excitedly at the thought of your boyfriend doing that just because he missed you.

HYUNJIN:

"What are you doing?" You laughed as your boyfriend came rushing into the living room you shared and dropped - what had to be every single shirt and jumper he owned at your feet.

"Can you do it to every single one?" You stared at him a little dumbfounded,

"Hyunjin, I'd be here forever. Do you know how many clothes you own?!" You teased before he sat down beside you, looking at the careful needle work you'd been doing on the sleeve of one of his hoodies.

"Okay...Maybe a couple of my favourites, then I can always have you with me," He pouted a little before you nodded, kissing his pouting lips and watching in amusement as your boyfriend found out all of his favourite pieces.

JISUNG:

You thought Jisung was upset with you at first, he'd come in from work to find you sitting cross-legged on the bedroom floor with your sewing kit around you and his favourite hoodie in hand. Before you could explain what it was you were doing he'd run out of the room and you hadn't seen him since.

"I bought yours," Jisung said as he came back into the room, sitting in front of you and matching your exact position,

"Now we can have matching hoodies." He said as he pointed to the heart on his sleeve and then held out the hoodie for you to start sewing another matching heart into.

"You sure?" You teased, you knew he'd been wanting matching clothes for ages now but could never figure a way around it until now.

"I want matching clothes with you," He whined before you kissed him and began to get to work.

FELIX:

As soon as fans started to see Felix wearing the hoodie they all began to question him on where he got it from since none of them could find it online. Your relationship was still a secret for now and he was nervous about telling them he'd been the one to sew them into it since he would be taking credit for your hard work.

"Tell them, baby, it's fine." You laughed as he asked you if you were sure for the millionth time that day, he gave you a sad look.

"I love them, I love you, and You and I both know who really did it." He told you before kissing you and smiling a little as he blushed.

"I do. Now go," You whined pushing him toward the bedroom where the phone was waiting for him to go live.

SEUNGMIN:

"You're gross," You grumbled to Seungmin as you watched him cradle the hoodie to his chest and shake his head at you. It was in desperate need of a wash, You knew why he didn't want you to wash it but it needed it and you weren't going to let him get away with a dirty hoodie.

"Babe, it has stains all over it." You mumbled trying to take it from his grasp but he only seemed to tighten his hold on it and you sighed at him.

"What if I agree to do another hoodie for you? Will that mean I can wash this one?" As soon as you suggested it Seungmin dropped the hoodie and smirked at you, running to go and find a different one for you to sew into.

JEONGIN:

Sewing things into your clothes had been something you'd picked up over the years, it started when you had nothing else to do while watching a show and now it was something you just did for fun. Which was why it was surprising to you when Jeongin begged you to do it to some of his clothes,

"Can you do little hearts? Two of them! In our favourite colours!" He yelled from the bedroom as he came out with two black hoodies, one for you and one for him and a giant smile spread across his cheeks. How could you ever say no to that?

Tagline: @chiisaiblog @hanasonmi @sw33tnight @taestannie @acciocriativity @scarletemeterio @halesandy @aerastus @laylasbunbunny @critssq @lenfilms @btsiguess-kpop @meowmeowisdaname @imafivestarkpopstan @lost-leopard-beanie @illicee @djeniryuu @backintomykpopphaseagain @choisoorin

[c0smiclatt3]

university!aventurine headcanons

☾₊ ⊹ TAGS: sfw, academic rivals :)), x reader

AN: time to university-beam aventurine :) it's been a minute because i've been away for a long while on holiday... forgive me if this isn't very good.

A business kid - and an infuriatingly good one. Some students whisper that he's only here because he got nepo babied into this school by his adoptive mother, a big figure in one of the biggest multinational corporations. Not that he needed the nepotism, though, Aventurine's mind is sharp as a knife.

He could charm even the most stubborn of professors. With him, once again, the rumors fly: some say that he must have dangled the seniority of his adoptive mother over one prof's head for a grade bump. Others say he must have been taught some sort of obscure hypnosis or subliminal messaging technique.

Color coordinated stationery and an entire Apple ecosystem. Of course.

Much to the disappointment of his group project members, he has a tendency to just go MIA for extended periods of time. Leaving messages on seen but otherwise unreachable and going on his own random tangents. Regardless, he always gets the job done, so there was no point complaining.

He's not a front row keener, he would never be that desperate for the professor's attention. No, much to the annoyance of the front row-ers, he lounges in the back of the lecture hall, speaking only to remark about some flaw in their answer, and when he did he always spoke as if it were the most obvious thing - and many times it was.

What probably infuriates them more is that it all comes so naturally to him - sitting in his seat there in the back with his arm propped up on the backboard, head propped on the palm of his other hand he counters every argument with ease. Even when he seems to be slacking off, whenever he’s cold-called he knows the exact answer.

Even if he didn’t, he’d still talk his way in circles until he’s gaslit you into thinking he’s right anyway.

You were a hard worker infuriated by the ease through which he made his way through the academy. It was all handed to him on a silver platter - you had to fight tooth and nail. One day you find yourself sitting beside him in the back, forced out of your front row seat by some other keener. You crane your head to try to listen to the prof's lecture but can't stand the flickering coin twisting through his hand. The way he twirls his monogrammed pen. It made your blood boil. "Can you quit doing that?" you finally snapped one day. "Am I distracting you?" He flashed you an even brighter grin that made you want to slap that smirk right off his pretty face. You scoff and open your mouth to retort, but the professor scolds you for the ruckus, calling you out specifically. When they return to their lecture you hear Aventurine hum in amusement. And so the bitter rivalry began.

writing masterlist | bot masterlist

AN: i hope this was alright! it seems a lot longer than my old ones. honestly it's been hard to get back into casually writing after being on holiday for 2 weeks lol.

[iwoulddieforher]

Necessary Sting | Alex Cabot x Casey Novak

rewarding my readers with comfort no hurt after all the stuff I've been putting you through lately. :) everyone say thank you rynn

Essentially: Alex has an off day, and Casey comes over with a sore shoulder from softball playing. nonsexual (..borderline at some points but hey, with a body like Casey's in front of you, what did you expect Alex to do?) body worship. Technically written as a continuation of "Rigid" although it is not at all necessary to read the former before reading this. 4.4k words

It was one of the rare days when Alex didn't have work, and Casey did, and Alex was mildly irritated. Not that she had a break, no, but because usually when she took a day off she plotted it weeks in advance to make sure the time spent off would have some purpose- visit a museum she had wanted to see, make plans with a friend she hadn't seen in a while, invite Olivia over for a home-cooked meal that inevitably turned into takeout after Alex burned the food- some, vague but still some, idea of what to do. 

She didn't have anything to do because she had forgotten this day was marked off. It must've been the day for an event her family or bosses wanted her to attend, but after a couple hours of trying to figure out what she was due for, it appeared as though she genuinely had nothing on schedule. A call to her secretary informed her that it was due to some sort of mix-up, and she was free to do whatever she wished, and they’d figure it out. 

Alex did not like making plans on short notice. She needed the time to process what she was going to do and in what order she was going to do it in at least a few hours before doing it, and she had no idea what she even wanted to do today, so she did absolutely nothing. 

It was irritating, doing nothing. She wanted to spend her time on some halfway-useful purpose. 

A call illuminated her dark phone screen and she picked up immediately without registering the caller ID, bored enough that she was fine speaking to genuinely anyone if it provided any amount of entertainment. 

“Cabot,” She spoke out of reflex, although this was her personal phone so whoever was calling her most likely was someone she wouldn't need to be so formal with. 

“Novak,” a woman’s voice responded, a bit of a snort in her voice as she imitated the clear-cut formal tone that had just been used on her. 

“Casey,” and here Casey grinned at the smile so present in Alex’s voice, even though she couldn't see it, “How can I help you?” 

“There's a softball match I’m playing in tonight,” Casey told her, “Would you want to come with? I haven't seen you in a while.” 

Alex paused, internally debating it in her mind. Yes, she had nothing to do, but if she was honest with herself despite how much she loved watching Casey play, the idea of sitting on those grimey bleachers especially with such little time to mentally prepare herself for it was not ideal. Sometimes she could put up with it, as she had before, but today was not really one of the days she could fight against the urge to be somewhere less … wild.

“You can say no,” her … whatever Casey was to her … said seriously over the phone, “I’m not one of those people who offers things with expectations.” 

Alex wished Casey could see the smile that flashed briefly over her face at that comment. It meant a lot to her. She liked when expectations and efforts and intentions were laid out a bit more simply, the people she was raised around where not like that in the slightest. Casey was clear cut in a delicious way. If she liked something she said she didn't, if she didn't she wouldn't, and she wanted her to do something she’d ask, and if she requested something it wasn't a demand.

“I’m not sure I’m in the mood to spectate today,” Alex agreed, but after a quick second decided she did really want to see Casey tonight. “But- would you want to come over, after?” 

“I’m game,” she heard a soft chuckle from Casey’s side of the line, “but I’ll be over later, then, I’d need to go home to shower first.” 

“Shower here,” Alex said before considering it.

She could feel Casey’s eyebrows raise despite the blocks of bustling New York between the DA’s office and her apartment, feel the way they arched as if Casey was shooting her a look, which she was. 

Since the night that had blazed an impression of itself onto Alex’s heart, the moments spent tossing a softball back and forth in an empty stadium, Alex had thought quite a bit about what opportunity might exist within Casey Novak. 

Going back to Casey’s apartment, soft hands on her hips when Casey pushed her down to the couch, easily sliding a leg over to recreate the position they had been in on the field, although this time, Alex had let her stay on top. 

She’d let her decide how much she wanted to take, because if it was up to Alex to offer, a lot more would have been on the table than what they had done. 

But they hadn't done much since then- time was a tricky thing to navigate with the job they worked- so where exactly their relationship lay Alex was not entirely sure. 

“Alright,” Casey said, right as Alex was beginning to tug on her fingers from nerves, “Then- I’ll see you at yours, say, eight thirty?” 

“Sounds good,” Alex nodded, stealing a deep breath. 

“Alex?” 

“Yes?” 

“What’s your address?” 

“Oh,” Alex felt her cheeks color, but she rattled off her place of base hastily and when Casey laughed again before excusing herself and ending the call she was too enthused to be embarrassed. 

Her enthusiasm quickly dwindled when she realized she still had another couple hours to wait until Casey’s arrival, and she still didn't have anything to do, so she sighed and sprawled herself over the couch, deciding to simply read up on case law for the sake of having nothing better to do. She had already read most of these transcripts but she’d reread them anyway. One never knew what specific tidbit of information could cause a case to flip on its head, until it happened, or until you remembered something you could use. 

The sense of boredom then shifted to anxiety. She wasn't exactly sure what she had initiated. Should she try to cook something, or was ordering okay? Or would Casey grab food with friends before showing up to her's? What were they even doing- watching a movie? But then the question of what movie to pick out ahead of time arose and Alex wasn't sure about Casey’s taste in cinema at all, so that just stressed her out, too. 

Eventually, after a lot of staring blankly at her kitchen- it seemed embarrassing to make something simple, but she knew anything more complex she’d run the risk of fucking up- she sighed and decided to text her defeat. 

← Takeout okay? I’m behind on groceries 

Casey → Oh, you’re feeding me?

Alex blinked slowly at her phone, then placed it on the table with a small huff. What was that supposed to mean? What was Casey expecting? But then again, she had been the one to offer, so- wait, did Casey think this was a hookup? ‘Come over’ had been a vague thing to say. 

When she picked her phone up again she realized Casey was sending chain texts, so that wasn't all she had to base a reply off of, and her fears were somewhat alleviated. 

Casey → That's sweet of you 

Casey → What do you normally get? 

← ‘Normally’ I’m only ordering things that are easy to eat so it’s less risky to eat over my laptop and won't ruin if I’m called out in a spur

← What do you prefer? 

Casey → If it's alright with you, Chinese? But don't worry about it, I’ll pick it up on my way over. No reason for you to waste money on delivery if I’m on my way around anyway. 

← You’re on your bike? 

Casey → What did you expect? 

Casey → :) 

Alex glanced outside. There was still an hour or two of sunlight left, but regardless, she didn't like the idea of Casey being out on her bike alone at night. 

But it wasn't her place to interject on that. If Casey wanted a ride Alex could only hope she’d trust her enough to ask- the way she had the first time- but otherwise it was Alex’s job to trust Casey knew what was good for her, and if this was it, then she’d accept it. 

← Drive safely. See you soon

With that, her source of entertainment stalled again, so she went back to her articles, sighing idly.

She was now wracked with an equal amount of anticipation and anxiety that she didn't quite know how to focus properly on such a nonemergent cause like case files, so she stood and instead decided to pace idly in her kitchen, trying to decide what wine paired with whatever possible combination of food Casey might bring. 

..

..

Dishes were in the sink, a nonsense movie was on the screen, and Alex was sitting on the couch trying to pretend she wasn't listening to the water splashing as Casey showered, although that wasn't a particularly devious thing to do regardless. 

A bottle of wine had been cracked and it was nearly empty now, sitting like a proud lion on the living room table next to two empty glasses.

Alex was trying very hard to figure out what was happening. Yes, she had invited her over and also told her to shower here, but the expectations for after the shower was- very … nonexistent. Casey had said she wanted to eat quickly while the food was warm and then shower as quick as possible, because she didn't like lounging around in dirty clothes for any longer than necessary, and she had already seemed slightly freaked out about being in Alex’s expensive apartment in clothes she had sweat in. When Alex had complimented the way her hair fell so naturally in the messy ponytail she had pulled faux blonde hair into, Casey had chuckled almost nervously. Hopefully she’d be calmed by the shower, clean clothes, and washed hair.

But now Alex was getting more anxious, and hearing the water run was making her heart pound- not in a bad way- because she couldn't stop … imagining. 

Wet hair clinging to her back, her lips parted slightly as water ran down the length of bare skin- no, she couldn't be thinking about that, but it was all she wanted to think about. The muscles on her lithe, agile frame- her pale skin, the rosy tint it must be taking on from warm water. 

Her hands, god her wonderful hands, across her own chest- oh, Alex was going to get a nosebleed if she kept thinking about that, feeling her face grow warm from the thought alone. Fuck, fuck. She needed a cigarette.

She cautiously took a pillow and laid it in her lap, digging her fingers into the plush and trying to think of anything else but Casey tilting her head back in the shower, steam clouding the mirror and floating in a haze around her nude form.

“Hey, you.” The woman she had just been fantasizing about chirped, wandering back into the room. Her hair had been towel dried and then brushed through, so still damp and unnaturally straight, although her wavy curls were starting to form at the ends. She had switched into shorts that rode up on her thighs and a shirt that was too large for her, but Alex couldn't tear her eyes away from her face. 

“Oh,” Alex cursed herself, the shower must have turned off minutes ago for Casey to already be dry like this, “Nice shower?” 

“Yours is considerably bigger than mine,” Casey grinned, rolling her shoulder twice before flopping back on the couch with a groan. 

Alex studied her side profile, illuminated from both the dim lighting in the kitchen a ways away and the soft glow from the TV, still paused where they had left off before Casey had excused herself to shower. Her face was rosy and looked deliciously soft, her lips wetted and her hair was absolutely begging for Alex to toy with it. She was still warm from the shower and still radiating the humid comfort gained from it.

Casey rolled her shoulder- the same one- again, and Alex frowned softly, broken out of her inspection.

“Is it bothering you?” She asked, motioning to the shoulder Casey kept trying and failing to stretch out.

“Yeah,” Casey affirmed, closing her eyes and shaking her head softly. “Carrying the bag with all the equipment around did a number on me.” 

The throbbing of her body seemed to ripple into her hands, and Alex felt her fingers twitch. She ran her tongue along her suddenly dry lips, her heart starting to beat faster. 

“I could try to work it out,” Alex breathed, quiet and tentative, “I’ve been told I’m decent at that kind of thing. All the hunching over textbooks at law school, you know.” 

That was over-justification, and she grimaced slightly, but she wanted to touch her so bad- so ridiculously bad- and when the response she was met with was only a gentle scoff at her enthusiasm, Casey was content to settle under her ministrations. 

The faux blonde turned, back facing Alex, and the elder woman coaxed her upwards, her thighs bracketing Casey’s body. Casey sighed deeply, relaxing into the space, and Alex felt herself genuinely swooning. 

The seconds her hands met Casey’s body she felt herself muffle a moan at the feeling of her- okay, yes, through a shirt but still- in her hands. Holding her felt better than ecstasy, but she had a job to do, so she set about doing it.

Casey was watching the TV half intently, and Alex realized she had unpaused it- her attention was completely fixated on the younger woman now so she wasn't surprised she hadn't seen. She placed her hands evenly on the top of her shoulders and then began to explore her traps gently with her thumbs. The feeling of her body moving under her fingers, the way she could press down and feel the warmth bleed into her, it was all simply too much.

A loose whimper left Casey's throat, higher in pitch than anything Alex had ever heard from her before, and it was followed up with an honest to God moan when Alex’s thumb pressed against a knot of muscles near her spine. Her hand found Alex's thigh and lightly whacked it, landing a series of gentle insistent taps that reminded Alex of a dog’s tail wagging.

“Right there,” Casey gasped, “Fuck, that hurts, but it- keep going, right there.” 

Alex smirked to herself, feeling elated and triumphant. She felt like she had won some kind of victory, being able to hold Casey like this.

She kept repeating the same motion, rolling the muscle that had tensed with her thumb, and Casey kept shifting, kept letting small sounds leave with her breathing as she did it. It was utterly intoxicating. It hurt her but it healed simultaneously, the necessary burn to agitate the knotted muscles to smooth back out, leaving her waking up tomorrow without the usual sore.

Her hand snapped down against Alex’s thigh again, harder this time, needing the comfort of some kind of movement to expel the energy the stimulation of an area in pain provided her with, even though it was a good sort of pain. She glanced back apologetically, her hand smoothing along Alex's thigh to take away any sort of a sting her movement had left, but Alex only smiled and pressed her leg a bit closer against Casey’s body. If her tapping made it better, she was more than willing to let Casey slap her hand against her, and regardless, it hadn't hurt at all. 

The sting felt almost good, actually, it felt like a reward. She was helping. She was making Casey feel. The sounds felt like a reward, too.

“Wait,” Casey breathed, and Alex drew back, watching Casey sit up. 

Alex’s breath caught in her throat and she nearly swooned again- she came considerably closer, she noted, the edges of her vision had gone black just like a vinaigrette- as Casey reached one hand to the center of her back and then in a smooth motion pulled her shirt clean off of her body.

“There,” She said, her tone as triumphant as Alex felt, and settled back in the space she had been in, her body so warm and so deliciously close. There was no time wasted in reconvening her hands with Casey’s body, and now that it was skin on skin, it was even better, more intoxicating.

“God, it hurts,” Casey muttered, her back arching suddenly when Alex forced her thumb against the knot in her trapezius, “But it feels good, I- fuck, don't let me ever volunteer to carry that thing around ever again…”

Alex very selfishly wished Casey would carry that equipment bag every day for the next few years so she’d have the excuse to run her fingers along pale, warmed and softened skin, and soothe the hurt away while listening to the small sounds Casey made as she did so. 

She smelled good from the shower, her hair now adorned with the same scent of shampoo as the one Alex used, and something about it made a small ember of possessiveness inside of her purr at the realization. She was all smooth skin, all firm yet sleek muscles, breathy sounds and soft touches. Casey’s hand slid to grip at Alex’s thigh, needing the support, which Alex was happy to let her.

She supposed overworking that one muscle must cause it to burn at some point, so her hands wandered down, exploring her shoulder blades, her lower back. Casey groaned as her hands moved, and Alex felt the way she squirmed the slightest bit against her fingers at some spots. 

Alex began categorizing them, making mental notes of where Casey responded the most, where she was more sensitive and where she needed more stimulation before a response. Where she got bored, her body relaxing, and where the feeling caused a spike through her nervous system that caused Alex to wince at the feeling of Casey’s hand clenching down on her thigh. She used them in combination and the gasp Casey released made her abdomen shift comfortably in her stomach.

“That’s all I can reach from here,” She said finally, after the movie had long ended and she had traced every single inch of Casey’s back twice over.

“Then,” a pleasure-drunk Casey muttered, “I guess we change positions? If your hands aren't tired.” 

Her hands would never be tired enough to stop before Casey told her to quit.

They switched places, now with Casey on her stomach on the couch, Alex being granted the honor of straddling her thighs so she could dig into the places on the lower back that were previously too awkward to reach. From here, though, Casey couldn't grip her thigh, and although at times it had hurt it had felt meaningful to her. Perhaps they could go back to the former position later, or maybe they could do it again another day.

“Alex,” Casey cried out at one point, and Alex had cooed softly in response. “I felt it,” she affirmed, her thumb tracing a circle around a point where Casey was particularly tense, “I’ve got it, I’ll keep working.” 

“I know,” Casey mumbled, her cheek pressed against the couch material, “I just- saying your name feels natural.” 

“...then say my name as much as you like,” Alex said softly in response, glad Casey’s eyes were closed so she couldn't be teased about the flush that had spread across her cheeks.

She loved the way Casey was laid out for her, her ability to now admire every inch with no awkwardness, expectations clear. The expectation was to touch as much as she possibly could and she was very, very eager to do so. She let her hands roam freely, symmetrical across the axis of her spine but otherwise unbounded. She traced a line up the rhomboid, from near her arm to her neck, and when Casey squirmed she laughed softly and traced the length of her spine to soothe. She found the spot that had started it all on her neck again and noted the way Casey’s jaw clenched immediately. 

“You feel so soft,” Alex whispered, “so perfect.” 

“Are you drunk?” The eye that wasn't pressed into the couch blinked open, an eyebrow cocking at her, and Alex glanced over at the almost empty wine bottle with a bit of bashfulness in her expression, but Casey was only teasing. 

“Maybe,” she admitted, “But all it's doing is lowering my inhibitions. I’ve always thought you were … I’ve wanted to…” 

“You’ve wanted to touch me?” Casey asked, as though she was surprised about it, which Alex thought was rather ridiculous now.

“Obviously.” Alex grumbled, deciding to shut her up by kneading her thumb into one of the spots she had deciphered earlier, and just as she had expected Casey’s eyes squeezed shut and her mouth closed immediately. Alex grinned smugly. When Casey’s eye opened again it was scrunched in a playful glare.

“You have all of me at your disposal, then.” Casey’s voice lowered, huffing softly with amusement at the way Alex stopped breathing when she said that. 

“Flip over,” Alex breathed after only a few seconds of hesitation, lifting up on her knees so Casey had the space to writhe onto her back rather than her belly. 

Green eyes looked up at her expectantly, and Alex kissed her.

Her hands kept exploring, even though her mouth was preoccupied. Her tongue slid into Casey’s mouth, probing gently and exploring, and her hands did the same on her collarbones, sliding up to smooth over her shoulders again and wrapping her fingers around for a quick, smug second to feel Casey moan into her mouth when the knot was stimulated again. 

“Alex,” Casey hissed, and then again more insistently when Alex did it again. Alex laughed, softly, kissing the bridge of her nose and her forehead, agreeably letting her hands travel lower. 

The solar plexus was a point at which she knew she could provide the delightful responses she had been basking in, but she wanted to take her time doing so. 

Her lips were so plump and so perfect, so soft and so warm. Alex could drown in the way her body was made, in the way she used it when she pressed her hips upward to be closer against Alex’s own, in the way her arms felt tangled around Alex’s shoulders. She kissed her, and then they broke for air and she kissed her again, never wanting to stop.

Eventually she let her go because she could feel the way Casey was panting, her chest rising and falling faster, her face coated in a blush that needed a longer pause. Alex smiled, kissing her jawline, then the space at which her jaw met her ear, making her way down. 

Her neck was soft, her pulse fluttering under her skin when Alex bit lightly on her pulse point, and Casey groaned. Alex’s hands slid under her arms to grasp at her shoulders, making room to press her lips against her collarbone, making her way down and across the length of one before lavishing the other with the same attention. 

“You touch me as if I’m something fragile,” Casey muttered, and Alex paused. 

“I touch you because you're someone special,” she smiled, pressing her cheek against Casey’s skin so she could let Casey see the genuine adoration in blue eyes, “And I want you to feel like you are.” 

Something in Casey’s eyebrows twitched, as though it was a necessary pain to hear that. Alex felt her eyes soften, widen slightly before she could disguise the realization, but instead of closing down Casey grasped her by the collar and pulled her up to kiss her again, which Alex more than happily indulged.

“I like it,” Casey whispered to her when they separated a little time later, “I like the way you touch me.” 

“Good,” Alex kissed her cheek again, “I want to keep doing it.” 

Casey scoffed a soft laugh, arching her back high as if showing off all the skin that was for Alex’s taking. Alex grinned and indulged her in that, too. She picked up where she had left off, kissing trails down the flat of her chest.

Casey had said her entire body was on limits, essentially, Alex had her consent, but she decided tonight was not for sexual conquest, she only wanted to feel, to make warm, to relax. Besides, despite the occasional wriggle or protest from Casey, it seemed like the faux blonde was on the verge of falling asleep, lulled by a combination of intense exercise, food, a warm shower and Alex’s hands into a blissful haze that Alex did not want to interrupt. 

Because of that, Alex skipped over her breast, leaving her bra on to admire but not engage with. She traced the faint outlines of Casey’s ribs, and revealed in the contented sigh that Casey made as she did so. She pressed a kiss to Casey’s sternum, right above the place at which the bra cups connected and again once right below it, her hands tightening in grip slightly in a way that she knew would feel good as she slowly slid her hands down to grip at Casey’s waist. Casey groaned again, shifting one way and then the other, as if she wanted to feel the pressure even tighter on both sides. Alex pressed her down and closer and a small huff was elicited, which she smiled at, pressing her lips against the space below the one she had just done.

The TV shut down automatically after receiving no input for long over an hour, so they were bathed in darkness, the backrest of the couch shielding them from the little light the kitchen could shine into the living room. Alex couldn't see her smile anymore but she could feel it which she was utterly content with. 

Alex kissed against her upper abdomen, her hands resting comfortably around Casey's waist as she lowered her lips to kiss a line down the linea alba, smoothing her tongue over the soft ridges of Casey’s abs. Casey squirmed, tilting her head back as her hands reached to smooth into Alex's hair. 

She smoothed her hands lower, thumbs extending as far as she could while remaining by Casey’s sides, traveling down to grasp at her hips, before gathering at the line of symmetry and then pushing gently back up. Casey’s leg kicked out automatically and Alex grinned triumphantly. 

“How do you know how to do this?” Casey’s voice was slightly higher, her tone almost like a loose whine that sounded delicious in the rasp that came with her vocals. “I- I’ve…”

“I know,” Alex pressed a kiss to her navel, and then with a teasing bit of smugness, “I’m very good.” 

Casey’s eye roll was noted in feeling even when Alex couldn't see it and she laughed, softly, kissing the small ribbon on the woman's pajama pants before finally raising her head again, stretching her arms over her head to ease some of the tension being hunched over her form had so long had created. It was a necessary kind of soreness, one she was exceptionally proud of.

“You are very good,” she admitted after a pause, and then felt Casey’s hands tugging at the top of her thighs, pulling her slightly off balance and pulling her down against her. 

Alex breathed out, slowly, her thirst for Casey’s form satisfied, and Casey kissed her hairline and then began to run her fingers through the silky blonde hair gently.

“Do you want to turn the TV back on?” Alex asked, even as she nuzzled her head gently into the crook of Casey’s neck, a position at which she surely would have no clue what was playing if it was.

“No,” Casey murmured, “I want to stay like this.” 

“Mm,” Alex smiled and kissed her neck, her arms settling gently to frame Casey’s face, and she felt her sigh deeply. 

“I’ll wake up sore despite all your effort if we fall asleep like this,” Casey smiled, but it was gentle, not a real argument.

“Then I could do it all again tomorrow morning,” Alex responded sleepily, having finally achieved a position at which she was the epitome of comfort. Casey laughed softly, kissed the side of her face, and closed her eyes.

[sissylittlefeather]

I'm sorry this took me a million years to write @sloppiest-of-jos! Anyway, I hope it lives up to what you were wanting!

Searching for You

Warnings: 18+ minors DNI, kissing, cussing, p in v penetrative sex, unprotected sex, creampie, and touch of angst

Word count: ~2.5k

"Elvis, you have a WIFE and a CHILD. Tell me again how you think this could possibly work out?!" Elvis sits in a chair, watching you pace around the room from behind his silver sunglasses.

"Honey, I've told you and told you. Those are my problems, not yours. I love you. I want you." He stands up and walks over to you, taking your hand gently and rubbing small circles on the back of it with his thumb. You look up at him and almost melt. Then, you yank your hand away and walk across the room.

"No! This has gone on for way too long." Memories of how you met on the set of the Singer special in '68 come screaming back to you. You think about him noticing you, a humble back up dancer for the bordello scene. He had walked straight to you and asked your name, not even bothering to pretend like he didn't like you. You'd seen him with the other girls and couldn't believe he was actually talking to you. But something about you caught his attention and he wasn't letting you get away. He invited you up to his dressing room after filming was finished and it didn't take long at all for you to end up naked on the couch, squirming as he brought you pleasure you had only ever dreamed about.

That was two years ago.

No matter how hard the two of you tried, you couldn't stay away from each other. The space between you was electric and you made ways to be together as often as possible, despite his marital status and your guilt. You fell hard and fast for him and he insisted he felt the same way, but he never entertained the possibility of ending his marriage.

On this particular occasion, you pace the floor half-dressed insisting this will be the last time. You're leaving California, removing yourself from the equation, and he is not pleased. Once you pull on the rest of your clothes, you point your shoe at him and yell.

"I'm done, Elvis. I'm done with being your back up girl to keep you company when your wife is gone. It hurts too much."

"Honey, it's not like that! You're the one I want! If anything, she's the back up girl."

"Then why won't you leave her?"

"I-I I can't."

"Yeah." You stuff your shoes on your feet and head for the door. "Goodbye, Elvis."

This isn't the first time you've had this argument, by far, but what Elvis doesn't know is that this time you're really leaving. You pack up all your things with tears streaming down your cheeks and head for home. The drive is long, but you've hit the end of your capacity for loving Elvis like this. You wonder how long it'll take him to figure out you're gone. Will he even care?

******

Elvis gives you two weeks to get over this most recent fight, sure that all he has to do is call you when Priscilla goes out of town. But when he does, your phone's been cut off. He hangs up and looks at the receiver in confusion. Surely you didn't actually leave.

He gets in his car and drives to your apartment. Maybe you've just changed your number and he needs to appeal to you in person. But when he knocks on your door, a man he doesn't recognize answers. He gets over his initial wave of jealousy and asks about you.

"Uh, I'm looking for y/n?"

"No one here by that name. Wait are you-?"

"Thanks." Elvis turns and walks quickly back to his car before the guy can ask him for anything.

When he gets back to his house, he calls all of his Memphis mafia into the living room and gives them an assignment. They need to find you and he wants it done yesterday. The guys all look at each other in mild panic and then head out to see what they can do while Elvis sits on the couch smoking a cigarillo trying to process his shock. You're really gone. Where on earth did you go?

******

After a week of Elvis wracking his brain and the guys bribing neighbors and friends, Sonny finally has a breakthrough.

"I was able to get ahold of her best friend at work."

"Yeah, and?"

"She went home to Kentucky."

"Home to Kentucky. Where in Kentucky?"

"She didn't know, but she said she knew it wasn't far from Nashville." Elvis rolls his eyes.

"What the hell does that even mean?! There are a lot of places in Kentucky that aren't far from Nashville. How does she define far?" Sonny looks at the ground and shakes his head.

"I don't know, boss. That's all she knew."

"Goddamnit." Elvis kicks the nearest table and Sonny looks at him hard.

"Might be time to give up on this one." Elvis meets his eyes with his eyebrows raised and then shakes his head.

"No. She's... no." He turns and heads for his bedroom. When he comes back with a suitcase, Sonny tries to stop him.

"Where you goin'?"

"Well, I guess I'm going somewhere in Kentucky that's not far from Nashville."

"You're really gonna go after her then?"

"Yes." Elvis gets in his car and starts on the road East towards Kentucky and you.

******

When Elvis finally makes it to Kentucky, he drives from small town to small town looking for you. He has a picture of you that he took one night that he shows to people. He has lots of pictures of you, but this is the only one appropriate for public consumption. He thanks God that he thought to take one with your clothes on one time. Honestly, it's his favorite photo of you because it's so naturally beautiful, your smile gentle and your hair a little messy from lovemaking.

The more he looks for you, the more it becomes apparent how much he loves you. He's been saying it for a while, but the emptiness he experiences at not knowing how to find you makes him know exactly how true it is. He loves you so much that he's driving around Kentucky just to find you again. How did he think he could give you up?

He's starting to lose hope when he comes across a preacher in a small town called Franklin. Exhausted and hopeless, he shows him the picture of you.

"That's y/n!"

"Yes!" Elvis looks up, shocked. "Do you know her?"

"Of course I do. I baptized her, didn't I?" Elvis laughs and hugs the man.

"Is she here? Where can I find her?"

"I haven't seen her in a long time, but if she's in town, she'll be at her parents' house." He gives Elvis the address just as it begins to rain. For the first time in weeks, Elvis is filled with hope and he decides he'll do anything to get you back.

He pulls up in front of the address that the preacher gave him and his heart beats wildly. He's so close to being with you again. The steady rain soaks him to the bone and he knocks on your front door and waits for someone to open it.

You see him through the windows and panic. How the hell did he find you here?! You know you won't be able to resist him if he talks to you, so you run outside and jump in your car, backing out of the driveway quickly.

But he sees you and tries to run to the car.

"Honey, wait! I just wanna talk to ya!" You focus on the road ahead and step on the gas to get away. Elvis runs back to his car and jumps into the driver's seat, starting the engine and throwing it in drive. He tries to catch up to you, but you're driving like a crazy person. The rain is still coming down pretty hard and he starts to worry about you driving like this. As you head out of town, your car spins off the road into a ditch and he realizes he was right to be concerned. Thankfully, because of the spinning, you don't hit the ditch too hard. He parks and jumps out of the car to run to you. You manage to get the door open and stumble out.

That's when you feel strong arms around you. The familiarity of them makes you cry and you shake with sobs as he holds you. He stands there in the soft rain, stroking your hair and whispering to you.

"You're okay, honey. I've got you. You're okay." After several minutes of this, you pull away from him and yell.

"What are you doing here Elvis?!"

"I needed to see you."

"Why?!" He pushes a piece of rain-soaked hair behind your ear.

"Because I love you, baby." You look up at him, your eyes wide as the rain continues to fall on you both.

"No! I'm not falling into this with you again!"

"Honey, I drove across the country to find you. Is that not enough to prove that I'm serious?!"

"Where's your wife, Elvis?" He groans and pulls his wedding ring off of his finger.

"I don't care." He turns and throws the ring into the patch of trees and you gasp.

"Elvis, that was worth a lot of money!"

"Maybe, but I don't want it anymore. I don't want her anymore. I want you, ya stubborn brat."

"Why?" He rolls his eyes. His patience is wearing thin as the two of you stand in the cold rain together.

"Because I'm so in love with you I can't even think straight when you're not around."

"I don't believe you."

"Y/n! Do you know how many small towns I've been to in Kentucky looking for you?! I love you so much I can't even imagine my life without you." You contemplate what he's saying. This is a long road to travel for casual sex. Maybe he does love you as much as he says he does, but there's still too many complications.

"How, Elvis-?"

"I'm leaving Priscilla." Your heart stops. Is he serious? "I can't live another minute without you. You're all I think about from the moment I wake up until the moment I go to sleep. Honey, I will do anything to prove to you that I want you and no one else."

You look up at him, your heart so full of love for him that you feel like it might burst.

"You'd really do that? Leave your wife and the mother of your child. For me?"

"Yes. I should never have married her in the first place."

"Elvis..."

"All my life I've been searching for you. I just didn't know it. I should've waited. But I'm here now and I'm telling you. I love you more than life itself. Let me love you, honey."

And then you utter two syllables that will change your life forever.

"Okay." In the blink of an eye, he wraps himself around you, his mouth pressed to yours in a passionate kiss. He grabs the back of your thighs and lifts you so that your legs are around his waist, his lips never leaving yours. The rain has softened, so he carries you to the hood of his car and sets your bottom down. You've never kissed anyone with such fervor before. It's like you're trying to melt into one another with the way you press yourselves together. You arch your back as he rolls his hips forward into you, his erection pushing against you through his pants. He runs his hands up your thighs and pulls your panties down under your mini skirt. His thumb runs up your slit to the bundle of nerves at the top and he begins to rub circles there. You drop your head backwards and moan loudly. Without another thought, you unzip his pants and pull his cock out, stroking it slowly with your hand. He groans and kisses down your neck, while you pull him to you and run the tip of his dick up and down your entrance. He mutters against your lips.

"You're such a tease, honey."

"Yeah, but you love me."

"God, I really do. So fucking much." He thrusts his hips forward and pushes into you, almost filling you in one motion. You cry out with pleasure when he does and lean back against the car. He pulls out and thrusts forward again, grunting. This time his hips meet yours as his entire cock is inside you. He makes a sound that's somewhere between a whimper and a moan and begins to slide in and out of you, pounding you to the steady rhythm of the rain.

The sensation of him slamming against you is enough to push you over the edge and you tumble headfirst into an intense orgasm, moaning and writhing and pulsing around him.

"Fuck, honey, I love you." You pull him down on top of you and whisper in his ear.

"I love you too." It's the first time you've ever said it back to him. He whimpers and kisses down your neck to your cleavage, never changing his steady pace of pumping into you. You can tell by the way his thrusting becomes more erratic that he's getting close too.

Finally, he slams into you hard and shudders against you, filling you with ropes of cum. It's also the first time he's ever cum inside you: another indicator that he's serious about you.

The rain has slowed to a drizzle as he collapses on top of you, spent and breathing heavily. He slides out of you and stands up, pulling you into a sitting position on the hood of his car.

"Come home with me, honey." He kisses your cheek affectionately and then backs up to look you in the eye, his blues ones seeing straight through to your soul. You couldn't tell him no even if you wanted to.

"I gave up my apartment."

"I want you to live with me." You raise your eyebrows.

"You still have a wife."

"I won't for long. I'll buy us a house. Just please say you'll come home with me." You nod and lean your forehead against his chest.

"I'm yours, Elvis." He tips your chin up to look at him.

"And I'm yours." He kisses your lips tenderly. "Now come on. Let's get out of the rain."

He drives you back to your parents' house, where you both change into dry clothes and settle on the couch together. Surprisingly, he's perfectly comfortable there with your mom and dad. He stays for a few days with you, letting you give him the grand tour of your hometown. Eventually, you head back to California together. Your car is totaled, so he promises to buy you a new one once you get home.

He wastes no time in leaving Priscilla and starting divorce proceedings. In the meantime, he buys the two of you a cozy little love nest and you're perfectly happy there with him.

The Kentucky rain was a baptism of sorts and you both came out of it changed for the better. It's not always smooth sailing, he is Elvis Presley after all, but you're happy more often than not. You never run away again, though you know he'd chase you if you did. And every time it rains, he holds you close and you remember the cold Kentucky rain.

******

The End

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

@ccab @elvisfatass @elvisalltheway101 @aliypop @18lkpeters @dkayfixates @tacozebra051 @your-nanas-house @deniseinmn @joshuntildawn13 @lookingforrainbows @60svintage @littlehoneyposts @epthedream69 @louisejoy86 @rjmartin11 @from-memphis-with-love @deltafalax @atleastpleasetelephone @cinnamoroll-things @burnthheparaphilia @jhoneybees @cattcb @everythingelvispresley @returntopresley

[oviraptoridae]

research & development is ongoing

since using jukebox for sampling material on albedo, i've been increasingly interested in ethically using ai as a tool to incorporate more into my own artwork. recently i've been experimenting with "commoncanvas", a stable diffusion model trained entirely on works in the creative commons. though i do not believe legality and ethics are equivalent, this provides me peace of mind that all of the training data was used consensually through the terms of the creative commons license. here's the paper on it for those who are curious! shoutout to @reachartwork for the inspiration & her informative posts about her process!

part 1: overview

i usually post finished works, so today i want to go more in depth & document the process of experimentation with a new medium. this is going to be a long and image-heavy post, most of it will be under the cut & i'll do my best to keep all the image descriptions concise.

for a point of reference, here is a digital collage i made a few weeks ago for the album i just released (shameless self promo), using photos from wikimedia commons and a render of a 3d model i made in blender:

and here are two images i made with the help of common canvas (though i did a lot of editing and post-processing, more on that process in a future post):

more about my process & findings under the cut, so this post doesn't get too long:

quick note for my setup: i am running this model locally on my own machine (rtx 3060, ubuntu 23.10), using the automatic1111 web ui. if you are on the same version of ubuntu as i am, note that you will probably have to build python 3.10.6 yourself (and be sure to use 'make altinstall' instead of 'make install' and change the line in the webui to use 'python3.10' instead of 'python3'. just mentioning this here because nobody else i could find had this exact problem and i had to figure it out myself)

part 2: initial exploration

all the images i'll be showing here are the raw outputs of the prompts given, with no retouching/regenerating/etc.

so: commoncanvas has 2 different types of models, the "C" and "NC" models, trained on their database of works under the CC Commercial and Non-Commercial licenses, respectively (i think the NC dataset also includes the commercial license works, but i may be wrong). the NC model is larger, but both have their unique strengths:

"a cat on the computer", "C" model

"a cat on the computer", "NC" model

they both take the same amount of time to generate (17 seconds for four 512x512 images on my 3060). if you're really looking for that early ai jank, go for the commercial model. one thing i really like about commoncanvas is that it's really good at reproducing the styles of photography i find most artistically compelling: photos taken by scientists and amateurs. (the following images will be described in the captions to avoid redundancy):

"grainy deep-sea rover photo of an octopus", "NC" model. note the motion blur on the marine snow, greenish lighting and harsh shadows here, like you see in photos taken by those rover submarines that scientists use to take photos of deep sea creatures (and less like ocean photography done for purely artistic reasons, which usually has better lighting and looks cleaner). the anatomy sucks, but the lighting and environment is perfect.

"beige computer on messy desk", "NC" model. the reflection of the flash on the screen, the reddish-brown wood, and the awkward angle and framing are all reminiscent of a photo taken by a forum user with a cheap digital camera in 2007.

so the noncommercial model is great for vernacular and scientific photography. what's the commercial model good for?

"blue dragon sitting on a stone by a river", "C" model. it's good for bad CGI dragons. whenever i request dragons of the commercial model, i either get things that look like photographs of toys/statues, or i get gamecube type CGI, and i love it.

here are two little green freaks i got while trying to refine a prompt to generate my fursona. (i never succeeded, and i forget the exact prompt i used). these look like spore creations and the background looks like a bryce render. i really don't know why there's so much bad cgi in the datasets and why the model loves going for cgi specifically for dragons, but it got me thinking...

"hollow tree in a magical forest, video game screenshot", "C" model

"knights in a dungeon, video game screenshot", "C" model

i love the dreamlike video game environments and strange CGI characters it produces-- it hits that specific era of video games that i grew up with super well.

part 3: use cases

if you've seen any of the visual art i've done to accompany my music projects, you know that i love making digital collages of surreal landscapes:

(this post is getting image heavy so i'll wrap up soon)

i'm interested in using this technology more, not as a replacement for my digital collage art, but along with it as just another tool in my toolbox. and of course...

... this isn't out of lack of skill to imagine or draw scifi/fantasy landscapes.

thank you for reading such a long post! i hope you got something out of this post; i think it's a good look into the "experimentation phase" of getting into a new medium. i'm not going into my post-processing / GIMP stuff in this post because it's already so long, but let me know if you want another post going into that!

good-faith discussion and questions are encouraged but i will disable comments if you don't behave yourselves. be kind to each other and keep it P.L.U.R.

[huskyscc]

Jenna x female reader

Jenna has had a bad day on set and all she wants to do is see reader. When she gets home reader comforts her and tries to cheer her up. Jenna does get in a better mood after reader comforts her while she vents about her day. Then they go to bed and cuddles on their bed while watching movies!

Just want some Jenna fluff because I’m not seeing much recently.

I hope you have a good day bye!

a/n: yesyesyes of course omg i love fluff!! hope you also have a good day sweetheart 🫶! and please forgive me for how long this took to get out I've had quite a week so far and i'm trying to get another req done by at least Sunday!!

puppy love

pairings - jenna ortega x fem!reader

wc - 2200+ (not proofread)

warnings - none !!

summary - after a dreadful, prolonged day on set, all Jenna wants is to be with you.

masterlist

It was tiring, being on set for more than half the day and putting herself out there; but it was worse because she was separated from you for so long and barely got time with you.

Jenna was having an off day on set. she kept messing up her lines or stumbling over her own words, or forgetting what to do at a certain point of time.

"And I wouldn't- wait, I would..?" Jenna muttered, her voice weak as she messed up her line. "Cut!" Tim said, frustrated. This was the 8th take of the same scene.

-

"I'm gone a day, the room gets trashed and Thing is nearly murdered-" Emma spoke in character, only to cut herself off, confusion shadowing her gaze as she looked at a zoned out Jenna. "Uhh... Jenna?" she muttered.

Fuck.

Jenna cursed herself beneath her breath, forgetting to do as she needed to because she zoned out. how stupid of her.

-

currently, Jenna was sitting at a table with the rest of the Wednesday cast, her mind wandering as she paid no mind to the presentation in front of her.

her leg bounced subconsciously whilst she pondered, humming quietly to herself. she missed you. it had been a long and stressful day already.

she missed your soft voice and how she could play with your hair, and how you'd smile when-

"Jenna!" a voice snapped her out of her thoughts. she glanced up, frowning in regret as she winced back slightly from Tim's voice.

he gave a small shake of his head before resuming his speech with the rest of the cast, his eyes roaming around.

Jenna gave a soft sigh, her shoulders drooping. She was tired, exhausted, even. her eyes were practically closed, her eyelids hooded as she gave a small huff.

Emma looked to her, giving a small, puzzled frown. "you okay?" she whispered, her eyes gleaming with genuine concern at Jenna's figure and her weary appearance.

Jenna looked at her with a slow shake of her head. "I wanna be home with y/n. i'm exhausted and it's already 8-" she started in a compacted whisper, looking at Tim hesitantly as to not be caught.

she felt like a kid in school trying not to get caught cheating.

Emma's face now plastered with remorse, took her phone out and checked the time. "we should be leaving soon.." she murmured back to Jenna with a hint of hope in her gaze, hoping it'd lift her spirits.

Jenna's eyes sparkled momentarily, but just as fast as it had come, it had gone. "hopefully." she muttered as Tim wrapped up his conversation.

"that's a wrap for the day. i'll see you guys tomorrow," Tim said as he turned to the projector, disconnecting his computer. Jenna all but leaped out of her chair, rushing to the door to leave.

Emma called out a bye to her, barely audible upon Jenna's ears as she turned and gave a quick wave before hurrying to her car. she fumbled with her keys for a moment before getting them to finally unlock her car, rushing into the driver's seat as she got her phone out.

"I missed you alllll day. I'm on my way home"

Jenna sent the quick, heartfelt message before setting her phone aside, buckling herself in as she drove back home after her draining day.

you hearted Jenna's message, but you didn't respond. you knew she was driving, so why answer and put your beautiful girlfriend at risk? you finished putting up the last of the dishes before folding a blanket nearby.

you settled into the couch, eagerly checking Jenna's location every other minute as you waited for her to be home at last. you turned to the TV with a small hum, your eyes fixated on the bright screen.

it took you a moment to register the click of the door, blinking as you processed it. you heard familiar keys on the other side and turned with a grin, hopping off the couch as you balled your hands into a fist just above your chest.

as the door opened, you saw your girlfriend for the first time that whole day. she had left super early in the morning before you woke up, claiming she 'didn't want to disturb your beauty sleep.'

you threw yourself onto her, hugging her tightly as you released all your pent up emotions into the hug. it took you a moment to realize that Jenna wasn't reciprocating as usual, and you took a step back.

you give her a weak, feeble smile before you take her bags from her hands, setting them on the carpet in the living room before turning back around to see her slumping into the couch. you crawled into the couch right beside her, leaving some respectable room between the two of you.

you took in her hooded eyes and her quiet demeanor, unlike her usual contrasted self. you felt a small squeeze in your chest of confusion, but only scooted closer to her with a curious gaze. "baby?" you murmured.

Jenna gave a long exhale, as if trying to recollect herself before she turned to you with an attempt of a smile. "hi, sweet girl." she whispered back softly, her eyes softened compared to the weary expression just moments ago.

you crawl up beside her, glancing up at her with a curious gaze as you took in her expression. you could read Jenna like a book, and you knew she wasn't upset with you. well, at least you hoped. she seemed upset as soon as she walked through the door, and you knew it was probably from work.

"you seem tired," you commentated quietly as you tilt your head a bit to get a better glance at her face. she turned to you with a tiny chuckle, her dimples evident. "is it that obvious?" she says as she moves her fingers to rub her eyes.

you nodded with a wince, humming thoughtfully as you wondered for a moment. "what's wrong?" you asked as you take the folded blanket from earlier and drape it over the two of you.

she gives a small huff of annoyance, and you give a frown of apology for asking. she notices, shaking her head at your attempted apology. "nono, i'm not... frustrated with you. I just had an exhausting day on set." she started with a small pinch at the bridge of her nose.

you move her hand away, intertwining it with yours as you kept your gaze steady on her to show her that you were listening to her. Jenna gave a toothy smile of gratitude before moving her gaze down to her shoes, no words leaving her lips.

you squeeze her hand in a way of acknowledgment and knowing, trying to tell her that you were there to comfort her and listen to whatever was bothering her. "what was so bad about it?" you inquired, hoping to get an answer from her and get some tension released from her shoulders.

"I just kept stumbling over my own words and I kept forgetting to focus when cameras were rolling. it's like I couldn't focus, today! I don't even know why." she frowned, her body heavily strained. you give her a small hum of concentration to her words, encouraging her to go on.

"and it just felt like it wasn't... me. i don't usually mess up, I recover. but it's like I couldn't today. like, I was missing something." she sighed. "or... someone." she said with a suggestive glare to you before moving her glare up to the plain ceiling. you nod in understanding. "you missed me?" you asked.

"of course I did, I barely got to see you today. or any day, I don't get to spend much time with you anymore because of work and I know that it's frustrating but it's especially unfair to you and I don't want you to think I love you any less because-"

you listened to her ramble of every little thing that stormed her thoughts, letting her get her words out. when you noticed how her breathing seemed to become more staggered and her jaw tensed, you leaned in and captured her lips in a quick yet affectionate kiss.

Jenna looked at you with a puzzled gaze, her eyes full of confusion as she glanced at you. "you were rambling and getting overstimulated, by the looks of it." you told her with a small smile before kissing her hand once.

she gave you a grateful look, her eyes softening. she knew that you could read her like an open page, words written out for you to read and everything. she'd never purposely try to conceal her feelings from you, she never had to. you just... knew. better than she did, sometimes, which was impressive - to admit.

"I just missed you. all day. and it was a bad day on set and I just... wanted to be home with you." she said in one final breath, her gaze soft as she seemed to sink into the couch cushion.

you crawl closer to her, your knee stirring against hers momentarily. "well, you're home now, baby." you breathe out softly as you take in her appearance. you rub some smeared mascara from beneath her eyelid, kissing her cheek once.

"and I missed you, too. I was waiting for you to come home!" you say, trying to match emotion-wise. she gave a grin at your words, chuckling softly at you before opening her arms. you buried yourself into her with a hum.

"you should shower and then come lay down." you say, commentating on the faint smell of sweat lingering on her body that you over exaggerated with a scrunch of your nose and a dramatic cough. "no offense," you say.

Jenna laughed. "none taken. I do kinda smell." she says before shifting to sit up, giving you one more kiss before getting up and offering her hand to help you. you smiled before taking it, now standing beside her.

"shower, then we can cuddle." you say in a soft tone, your eyes slightly narrowing in admiration. you adored Jenna, after all. the hard work she put in consistently had to be draining, and you knew that she loved you. she just had a lot on her plate and you respected that.Jenna nodded, turning to the bathroom to take a shower.

with the bedroom empty, you took the opportunity to scroll onto Netflix and look at some movies, browsing your options. of course, you wouldn't choose one until Jenna returned, but it was nice to see what options they had.

you flipped onto your tummy, grabbing the neatly folded heavy blanket at the edge of the bed before you stand, dressing the bed with the familiar cover before you get up and walk to the kitchen.

you figured Jenna didn't have a big dinner, she never really did when she was stressed. you cut up some kiwis and strawberries, slipping some popcorn on the side. yeah, it wasn't the healthiest, but Jenna enjoyed it and you knew that.

you went back into the room, placing the bowl of food on the nearby night shelf before you scramble beneath the blanket to find a comfortable spot. you shuffled around for a moment longer before you hear the shower turn off, the water coming to a stop.

you lift your head, waiting quietly in the familiar dim light of the shared bedroom as you say against the headrest. Jenna came out with a towel wrapped around her. you toss her a sweatshirt of yours before turning, giving her privacy to change.

Jenna gave herself a small smile once changed, humming to let you know that she was done before she crawled beside you into the shared bed. "do I smell better?" she joked with a light poke at your side, evoking a giggle from you.

you turned, grabbing the remote as you pointed to the TV. "I figured we could wind down and watch a movie...? I cut you up some kiwis and got you some popcorn, too." you offer as you grabbed the bowl of arranged goods, handing it to her.

her eyes softened with admiration as she realized how hungry she was. "it's like you know me better than myself." she said as her stomach growled in agreement before she shifted to sit against the bedrest and glanced at the TV.

"anything specific?" you asked, to which she hummed. "no, you can choose." she said in a soft breath as she turned to nuzzle into the side of your neck. you clicked on a random Marvel movie, the intro playing in the room.

you bask in the moment you had in hand. Jenna curled up beside you, cleaner and a lot better smelling than previously, and a movie playing. you took in a soft breath, breathing in contentment before you lower yourself a bit.

whilst the movie played, you thought Jenna had fallen asleep. she almost did, but she had one more thing to say before doing so. you heard the faint yet familiar mumble of her words that you loved oh so much.

"I love you."

it was a faint mumble against your neck, her breath tickling your skin before you turn to glance at her sleepy expression. you place a kiss on her head as you spoke back to her in a soft voice.

"I love you." you reciprocated.