#I've seen it so often now that I see past the pun

[thescribblings]

Long post ahead! I type a lot .^.

Here's a lil something I've spent some time on! I'm definitely nearing my goal of being able to draw comics! .^.

However, keep in mind that I'm very much an amateur artist, so there will be imperfections😅.

Here, I've drawn a lot of new (and scary) poses, expressions, perspectives, and clothes! I never draw clothes! I've also never even tried to draw them in the same clothes from different perspectives like this before. I also mainly draw without references

And i know i know, it's always better with references but i always just get distracted while looking for a good reference and most of the time i give up before i even find one and just draw it without anyways, lol

Rant over now! Promise

Here's a page I've been working on non-stop for literal days. It was a lot of fun! And it helped me try out a new art style :]

Individual pictures and context under the cut! i will be referring to future leo as nardo or leonardo, and present leo as, well, leo!

Here we have the doodle that started it all! I did use a cat as a reference, and i personally found that hilarious

Anyways, leonardo is being held like the cat that he is. Meanwhile, leo is held next to him vibing, not a thought behind those eyes

✨️co-existing✨️(with iced coffee)

They decided to have a day of leo to leo Bonding and got iced coffee for the occasion, probably spending some time clothes shopping and going equally crazy over a random article of clothing with a unicorn on it

This one has a bit more story behind it, they went on a day outing with the fam, nardo had grabbed a map of the city and they decided to stray from the group to explore, and they quickly got lost.

Leonardo helped leo get on his shoulders to see if there were any familiar landmarks around, and while leo enjoyed being roughly 12 feet tall, nardo texted the others asking where they were and looked around the area.

(Shirts lovingly made by mikey)

Entirely lost, leonardo decided to ask a pair of yokai ladies for directions. They turned out to be extremely helpful, one of them pointing out where on the map they were and where the landmark raph had sent them is.

Meanwhile, some backstory here: ever since leonardo had stopped staying in the lair 24/7 and actually started coming with when the others went out, leo had become an expert at keeping flirtatious yokai of all shapes sizes and genders away from his eldest brother

Leo noticed one of the yokai women was trying to make a move on him and stepped between her and nardo, making for a hilarious scene when he told her to stay away from his clearly adult brother

Leonardo is entirely oblivious as to the amount of yokai that find him attractive, which is exactly how leo wants it to be, for some reason

It's even funnier with the fact that leonardo is, in fact, very gay.

They thanked the yokai (leo doing that gesture where you point at your eyes then at the person as an unspoken "i got my eyes on you" behind nardo's back) then stepped away from the crowd and planned when and where everyone would meet up (they quickly decided on a food spot that accommodated everyones needs, and they had often gone there for lunch or early dinner in the past)

While they waited, the two decided to browse some stores, window shop etc.

Leonardo bought himself a backpack and proceeded to purchase knickknacks, snacks, and gifts for the fam, including some that he snuck in there for leo without the teen noticing (he was the greatest ninja the world had ever seen, once, after all)

While nardo walked, leo was chatting away happily on his shoulders, the elders tail wagging along as well, especially when leo told a pun or two, once a leo, always a leo. (Leonardo chipped in with some puns as well)

(leonardo personally believes his tail is pretty damn useless since it's so short. He has stated, "The only thing it's good for is waggin' " in the past. However, the rest of the fam think that's a perfectly adequate reason to have a tail)

They spent the entire day out having fun and walked around with just a handfull of breaks, so i think it's safe to say they'd be pretty drained by the time they got home

On another note, nardo being a war veteran and all that, I'm not 100% sure how that works but i like to imagine he'd get rather overwhelmed by all the crowds, different smells and loud noises (in other words overstimulation) so i think he'd be WAY more drained than everyone else by the end of the day (save for maybe mikey, i bet he'd be pretty drained too)

Either way, nardo basically just flopped onto the nearest plush surface and went out like a light while everyone else went to bed like regular people. This is a common occurrence after long, exhausting days

But sometimes...

Sometimes he dents the floor

(Bonus doodles)

I don't even know why this came to be, but it did

Thank you for reading!

Have nice day

[poisonedspider]

I am going to say the most controversial head canon that is going to get me screamed at, maybe hate anons, maybe even loser followers (okay no that's dramatic af but you know...I'm prepping myself).

I've been thinking a lot about this, and if we are talking immediate post-canon (I don't think I'll agree with this down the line as things develop more but...hear me out), if Angel was asked to choose between Valentino and Husk, I don't think he'd be able to. So many people are like "omf Angel would choose Husk no question" but...I disagree with that.

For one, domestic violence relationships are a bitch. And even if you know you deserve better deep down, or even if someone SHOWS you better, there's a lot of mental olympics around that. Gaslighting is huge. The whole 'no one will love you like I can.' And Angel, especially, would have these feelings. It's so obvious he's falling in love with Husk (I see you sappy look in the finale), but he also doesn't want to damage Husk by being with him. I truly think Husk feels the same with Angel, because both of them think they're damaged goods. (Let's not forget Loser Baby was not just to cheer up Angel, but also was very transformative for Husk feeling seen for once).

Due to his past relationships, he would also have a lot of doubt. Trust issues. Fear. He knows Husk doesn't just want him for his body like everyone else, which is already a huge start, but. He also doesn't think anyone fully accepts him the way Valentino does. This is where I get smacked a bit, but I stand by my word that Angel is a huge sexual flirt (COKED UP DICK SUCKING HO EVERYONE), and Husk adamantly denied all his advances. Understandable, yes, and it was Angel being fake - but not fully. Valentino doesn't care if he gets high as a kite, sucks a bunch of dick, blows a bunch of money. And while Angel is stepping away from that - it's still what he enjoys. I saw a post about how Bee is what Angel could be if he was allowed to live his lifestyle in a healthy way. And I agree with that.

Also, let's add Alastor into the mix once he finds out - you're telling me this son of a bitch won't fuck with Angel's mind about how he isn't good enough, that Husk won't want him once he realizes how fucked up Angel is, blah blah.

So right now, Valentino feels safe. I mean, he obviously isn't for all the abusive reasons, but it's safer than Husk. Safer than this unknown. Safer than completely abandoning the very small affection he knows will never go away (even if he wishes it would) for someone that he doesn't even know is interested in him back. Angel isn't used to slow burn. Angel goes into things hard and fast (pun intended?) Until he knows with absolute certainty that Husk loves him regardless. Until they both have big talks and long cries and work through their traumas. Until they both can trust again. I have no doubt in my mind this is going to happen for us, and then my head canon will change. But for now, it's like walking a tight rope. One way has certainty, the other way doesn't. The certainty might be abusive, but people are often known to stay with what they know. Change is terrifying. Self-sabotage is a real thing.

So no, he wouldn't just be like "well Husk, duh." That basically eliminates everything that Poison stood for. Yes, through the course of the song he starts realizing that it's getting worse and worse - first he was living like there's no tomorrow, now he's wishing there was something to live for tomorrow. But he does still acknowledge he's drowning in it. There's no escape. And it isn't just because the contract. It's because abusive relationships are terrifying, and can take years...and years...and years to get out of. Sometimes it's too late.

And before I get hate anons that I'm a Val simp or something, or I ship ValAngel, no. I'm writing Angel from a very real perspective as someone who is a therapist. As someone who did a Seeking Safety group for three years which was for victims of domestic violence. As someone who told my therapist the other day that I write ValAngel because it is important that these dynamics be known, up front and dirty, rather than shied away from.

Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

[meimi-haneoka]

Certain scenes in Clear Card become clear (pun unintended) only when you re-read them several times, and sometimes you have to linger on the text in Japanese to get the right key to understand them.

I run a daily account for Akiho on Twitter, and I was browsing again through the scenes of chapter 78, to see if I could feature one of those scenes today.

This page caught my attention once again, despite the fact that by now I must have seen it a hundred times:

Of course this scene makes me always smile a lot, because of how Akiho is literally shouting at the dragon to talk to her, exerting her assertiveness once again, and she looks so desperate and fed up! And the dragon stops suddenly (expressed eloquently by that ピター sfx) with that seemingly "surprised" expression. I looked over and over at his expression and tried to go deeper about what could've caused such an abrupt "change of mind".

I mean yes, I've always given for granted that this was standard Kaito being unable to deny Akiho anything.

But is it really all that there is, to this scene?

My eyes glided over that 「お話」 (ohanashi, lit. "story, talk") present in Akiho's speech bubble.

The literal translation of her entire line is "Please! Have a [talk] with me!".

And you've probably heard me many times pointing out how CLAMP in Clear Card went maniacal in the use of punctuation marks and anything in the text that could guide us through the understanding of the scene, without needing to spell it out at every corner.

In particular, they use 「 」 a lot to bring the attention to specific important words.

So that 「お話」 .... I started to think, "why is it between 「 」 ? What is it that Ohkawa sensei wants me to think about? What do I need to remember or spot?".

So in my usual game of treasure hunt, I started to think....and I didn't really need long to start remembering that it wasn't the first time that Akiho had asked Kaito to have a "talk" in that way....it happened in a very important scene, once.

Chapter 48. Right before making her covert love confession, Akiho asked Kaito もう少しだけお話しても良いですか, which means "Can I talk to you just a little bit more?". When Kaito answered "If it's ok with you, Akiho-san" he was replying specifically to this request. And he seemed surprised but then very happy to walk and talk to her (or rather, mostly listening to her talking, as he's quite the introvert and contemplative type 😆), as we could see from the additional bits in chapter 49.

Another time we see Akiho asking Kaito to talk is chapter 61.

For how intimate those two talks were (truth to be told, we're often shown Akiho and Kaito talking comfortably in their living room and talking about the day or something else, but these were different), we can assume that, in general, talking is something that Akiho and Kaito love to do together. It is the main way through which they learn to interact and know eachother. It is not something that Kaito likes to do with everyone, but definitely he likes to do it with Akiho.

Once again she uses お話しても良いですか, just like in chapter 48. Kaito this time gives a "stronger" and more convinced reply, "Sure, go ahead".

And just like in chapter 48, it was a quite intimate talk, where Akiho spelled out to him (and to us) her traumatic past, and Kaito threw all of his composure out of the window and almost lost control of his emotions, for the rage that all of that caused to him.

So when Akiho, completely devoid of any recollection of Kaito or what she did with him in the unrewritten world, said that "can we have a talk?", almost shouting it, that was a shock for Kaito. Because it was something that she used to ask him and they did when she still remembered about him. It must have shaken something inside of him, and brought him so many memories.

He had erased any trace of himself from her, and yet she asked him that again. Just like back when they were still close, and shared that deep bond.

This is why he stops suddenly, and turns around, ready to listen and to finally cave in to her request. Because, I think, he could feel his "old" Akiho in her. He could feel the presence of their bond, as if it was never destroyed by what he had done.

Putting 「お話」 between those brackets meant that the scriptwriter, Ohkawa, definitely wanted us to pay close attention to that word. You could consider it as if she formatted that word in bold.

And I think today I finally found a satisfactory explanation for it, and for Kaito's sudden reaction. 🩷

[crplpunkklavier]

I'm rereading Exorcism (now that its finished! yahoo) and I love Kitty Poes sm shes such an interesting characterrr would you wanna tell me about your process for developing her? ig I couldve DMed you but I myself love a chance to rant publicly so here you go lmao. I am unfortunately only on chapter 14 (though I got further than that last time) so if you wanna be spoilery just give me a warning and I'll read it later >:3c

kitty my best friend kitty

i think i can go over this without any spoilers past chapter 14! you have already seen her big arc and i am sooo happy people liked her <333

so! i've never mentioned this to anyone before, but kitty is a bit of a riff off of one of my oldest OCs. when i was about 18, i was big into katekyo hitman reborn, mostly because i was even bigger into organized crime as a general topic. catalena foggia was the youngest of four, and after a rival family took out her parents and all three of her older brothers (you know, the sort of backstory you give people as a teenager) she very grimly stepped up to the throne.

now whenever i need a female character with a "hello, i Run This Place" air about her, my mind goes to catalena, who of course was called cat by all her friends.

and i knew that i wanted a character like that as klavier's manager. generally, whenever i get to make OCs for my aa fics, i try to make most of them women if they aren't already implied to be men by canon like the rest of the gavinners, since aa refuses to have adult female characters that don't die. the gavinners started out as a bunch of teenage guys, the music industry is tough as nails, LA is horrible..... nobody but cat could've done it, man.

the whole dutch connection sort of happened on the fly. i knew i didn't want to call her catalena foggia, even if nobody but, like, the two irl friends i still have who knew me at 18 lol, knew of that oc. it was still important to me to differentiate, because this wasn't cat, this was a new oc who was very similar to and inspired by her. i remembered that kitty is a valid first name, so i went for that, because i like to think i'm funny. :^)

once you reach the end of exorcism, you'll find a little gdoc with bonus content i left in the end notes there, which among other things contains explanations for all the pun names i've used in the fic. including kitty's, but i'll reiterate here: the reason i stuck with a cat theme was that klavier gavin, in my mind, is absolutely a golden retriever, so i wanted to give him a manager/babysitter who is a cat. a big cat. kitty is short in stature, but i mention her lion's mane of hair often enough in the text, so, u know.

that's also part of what i wanted her to be. yeah, she had to be tough simply for the industry and for the fact that she was managing teenagers for a while, but i also knew that i wanted to give klavier friends, and people in his life who really care about him, and will stick with him through all this. kitty is lawfully loyal: if she doesn't agree with something, she has no trouble walking out, but once she actually takes to someone like she took to klavier, she will be fiercely protective. i never mentioned her age, but i imagined her in exorcism to be somewhere in her mid to late 40s. she's seasoned, she's experienced, she's capable - she's what klavier deserves!!! that's what i wanted. kristoph and daryan are so painfully incompetent, when it comes down to it. klavier needs people in his life who know what they're doing.

so, i wanted a big little lion lady for my dog boy. i sort of just clicked through my various dictionaries for a while looking up different cat terms in different languages to see if any of them sounded enough like a last name, and that's how i landed on poes. only after that did i decide to make the dutch conundrum A Thing.

thank you for asking about her <33333 enjoy the rest of the fic, feel free to keep me posted about ur reading experience too :3c

[kendrixtermina]

Giving Doctor Who a New Chance, Part 2: Wild Blue Yonder

While the idea of Donna not being able to restrain herself from making a pun is great, I kinda don't like the cheap pun in the prologue, its just making everything too light & silly

It just doesn't work if you know the historic Newton was pretty cranky, not cheerful & like other things about him that could've been better used, also this ignores the whole latin roots of the word gravity

i dunno was the show always this un-serious and it's just a while since I've seen it? like there was some silly-ass shit but not in this immersion-breaking manner

I do appreciate Donna's concern for the poor, poor TARDIS

haha they're snapping right back into doing the investigation routine

I think with "I say things like that now" the Doctor means he's more open & honest but Donna of course took it as meaning that he also likes dudes.

David Tennant can still communicate a whole lot with his expressions

It's a nice scene of them panicking together but still comforting each other in their panic

and of course Donna wants to speak to the manager

hm, liking this one so far. it has a couple of mysteries & nice creepy ambiance

it's a nice parallel in the differently lit room, Donna wondering what will happen to her family & the Doctor wondering what will happen to the TARDIS, this low-level fear of the world going on without them - the Doctor saying how much he likes Wilfred & lamenting that the TARDIS is all he's got left etc. It's an eerie little dialogue I like it.

The shapeshifters are having an "AI can't draw hands" problem. Worry not, humans too struggle to draw hands. In this we are alike

I wonder if they are repeating stuff or talking to ach other. Is it two entitites or just one?

It was bound to happen and just ignoring it would be wonky in its own way but just having some of Chibnall's decisions mentioned reminds me of how he was SUCh. a BAD. WRITER like making big destruction happen without weight or stakes. With the past writers when something major went poof you "heard" it the next few seasons, but Chibnall torched the whole backstory, Galligrey AND a big chunk of the universe without any real narrative weight

Like it just happened and there wasn't really - like, the characters didn't react to it, it wasn't given meaning. It's not just that he made changes I disagreed with but that the execution was So! Bad!

Still, I have often been fond of saying "there are no shitty ideas, only shitty executions" or " a competent writer can make any idea work" - so, like, no matter how shitty the idea, a better execution can salvage something. in this short time RTD managed to make this character express some actual feelings & attach a personal meaning to the event- so the backstory reveal means Gallifrey "got complicated", the widespread destruction of the flux is another thing to feel guilty of... see, see? It isn't so hard! Character! Having! Emotions! I don't envy RTD for having to try his best to salvage this mess while being respectful /professional/ non-petty.

The average 15 year old fanfiction writer is a better writer than Chibnall! Ok. enough ranting now.

I like these quiet episodes that just let the characters marinate in their feelings a bit in a closed loop environment. another thing I've messed: atmosphere! the bland, nondescript settings for so long

The Doctor's response here is probably a mix of caring alot about Donna specifocally & just general done-ness

I like the creepy atmo of this thing & the concept of the creatures not quite understanding how existing works & gradually figuring it out

Pouring one out for the long-dead spaceship captain

it was an interesting twist how the actual Donna couldn't actually make sense of the information from the metacrisis, but still gets a sense that a lot of heavy stuff has happened from the way he's asking. I think he kinda wish she knew so he could get a hug from somebody who knows.

that was a good one, overall, pretty creepy.

They're really going with this idea of the world being in constant wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey flux, hm... like it was always there as a sort of excuse but they're kinda making it a more explicit part of things.

I love how the Doctor & Wilfred are SO glad to see each other & it rly calls back that bond they had at what, for the Doctor, was a pretty difficult time. I got feelsy.

OK that was a good one. I always like the creepy, abstract ones.

And of COURSE the earth has been hit by some misfortune while they were away. OF COURSE.

[pink-strawberry-kissess]

While I do agree with that last ask that Ada's outfit is truly not appropriate as a spy, I kinda wanted to put in my own little input. For one thing I totally agree with the fact that her outfit is something I could very much see a woman dressing for herself choosing. Not that women don't choose to dress super skimpy, but Ada's outfit in RE 4 Remake is, in my opinion, a pretty popular Fall/Autumn outfit among feminine presenting people (I mean people even joke on Tiktok about how Autumn is stylish black boot season lol) Other than her stilettos, her outfit is not that out there, in terms of comfort even. It's a knit dress top. Those are some of the more comfortable dresses, even if it is body con. It might be tight, but it's not modeled so tightly that it's "weird" if you get what I mean, and it's knit, and it can have some stretch, and it's moveable. (I feel like I can say that as someone who has worn a very similar dress and had to walk for several blocks in the winter) Respectfully, I really disagree that her current outfit is "less appropriate than her original outfit." If you've ever worn a maxi dress, one can know how impractical the long length/can be unless you were to like, tie it to the side or whatever. Shorter dress can be out of the way of your legs. I feel like if you removed her stilettos and gave her more practical boots, it's really not that crazy of an outfit. Frankly, just because a woman dresses femininely, doesn't mean it's a bad thing. Also honestly....? Just because someone has a cold personality doesn't mean they can't be stylish? Like....Wesker's new outfit is pretty stylish as well if we're going to be fully honest. As a female-presenting person, I don't think Ada's outfit has so much overt sex appeal. It's just something I've seen so often as an outfit for this season, and something I've seen other female presenting people reach for when it gets cold. Her boots are kind of doing all the legwork if you'll excuse the pun. I dunno! Maybe I'm just delulu, but yknow?

I also just wouldn't think it'd be Ada if her design didn't communicate some level of flair. RE 4, despite now having a more serious undertone compared to its original, I feel has always been the kind of silly and unrealistic game anyway compared to the others. I mean the Merchant throws a rave when you do well at target practice. You eat raw fish and eggs....? There were Ganados that wore Leon's jacket and Krauser's hat for some reason???? There's a request where you literally are just told to egg a portrait of Ramon Salazar. Ashley is secretly a scene/emo kid???? Me personally, I appreciate this design compared to the past of game design. Could it be better? Yeah, sure. But it's SOMETHING imo. I totally get that we want to go from point A to B, and that we shouldn't accept the bare minimum, but sometimes things also take baby steps. I've noticed the slow shift in other games as well. Mortal Kombat's female characters had people upset because they looked "too" practical and "not sexy enough." League of Legends has been slowly updating its designs (i.e. Janna and Nidalee in their recent Legends of Runeterra art) Aloy from Horizon Zero Dawn is designed to look like a realistic person. I dunno!

One thing I will agree on is the game's camera with the ass shots. I can only really remember one (that scene where Ada sees Ashley being taken by one of Salazar' bug guard) but yeah, that was unnecessary. I don't think they did entirely bad by Ada in my opinion because there were several scenes where this male gazey shot did not happen.

Anyway sorry that this ask is super long. I had a lotta thoughts lol.

Respectfully, I really disagree that her current outfit is "less appropriate than her original outfit." If you've ever worn a maxi dress, one can know how impractical the long length/can be unless you were to like, tie it to the side or whatever.

yeah i think i struggle a lot with trying to understand how her original outfit is more appropriate than her remake one. it's COLD, there was no reason for her to be in that type of dress. and the long skirt of the dress is also impractical as hell. i agree that the changing of her boots to a more flatter boot would make her outfit fairly appropriate. we're also kind of assuming that her tights are fairly well fitting since she's not constantly pulling them up lol

but yeah i agree that i think her outfit isn't overtly sexual. it's provocative sure?? the heels are mostly the thing that makes it not practical.

i think that there's a bit of an interesting push for more realistic depictions of women, and the horizon zero dawn reaction was insane to me, but entirely not unexpected. in another case, people were mad that ada's heels were removed in dead by daylight lol. EVEN THOUGH her flats were more practical, people wanted her heels anyways

i feel as though the shots that they used were also not so terrible in terms of male gaze-y. we also got ✨⛓the chain scene ⛓✨ for leon which was literally on the tiktok fyp for just horny video game scene that like SO MANY MEN JUST DID NOT GET.

but the singular ass shot of ada i think was, sure a bit much. but it wasn't so much that i was like, WOW THAT'S SO SEXUALIZING HER, cause i was also like oMGGGADA ADA ADA ADA ADA ADA so maybe im no better than a man lmao

but yeah! i mostly agree with you ty!

[wifegideonnav]

clicked on your blog, chuckled at the eyes of v.k. serkleburg, and didnt even make it past your pinned post before i was like well i simply must let them know that i too have read the bartimaeus trilogy. i'm in my middle 20s now, we had them as a kid, i think they belonged to my oldest brother but my dad was the one who said i should read them, both of them were really into that style of fantasy stuff that was coming out in like the 2000s. i read all three and ig liked them enough that my dad got me the prequel for my birthday one year and i read that too. sadly i remember extremely little about them but i may be inspired to reread now bc like i also realized i've never seen anyone else talk about them! i think a lot of books from my childhood are like that, like, stuff that was often "for boys" and part of a large wave of middle grade literature trends where a lot of things just never got as popular as like. eragon or atremis fowl etc. ykwim? anyway best wishes, i'll actually look at your blog now lol.

HI omg im so sorry, i didn’t see this til now! first thank you for appreciating vk serkleburg lmao, im such a lover of stupid puns and im always so delighted when other people laugh instead of groaning lmao

and yay! im literally so glad that i put the bartimaeus thing in my pinned post, like i love that so many people have turned up to talk about them! and yes i absolutely know what you mean abt reading “boys” fantasy books like, im so glad that even as a kid i was smart enough not to fall for that bullshit.

thanks for sending in this ask!! i love chatting with new people on here. hope you enjoyed my blog lol

[darklydeliciousdesires]

Beyond the Blood Tie - Chapter Twelve.

Since I'm going to be working all weekend (BOOOO!) I'm updating now, besties! Enjoy! :)

Previous Chapters - One  Two, Part One Part Two  Three  Four  Five  Six  Seven  Eight  Nine  Ten Eleven

Words - 5,877

Tag list - In the comments. Please DM to be added/removed

Warnings - 18+ content throughout. Minors DNI!

Edie's POV 

"Come here, big fella. You've got guacamole in your beard!" I tell Ahmed, leaning across the table and wiping the spot of green with a napkin, while we're sitting in the gorgeous late afternoon sunshine on Tuesday getting drunk. Technically, we should be at work today, but we've got a slight problem with a family of racoons who moved into one of the air conditioning vents, and half of the CD chambers have to be taken apart to get the little furry fellas out again. Aileen and I had to be forcibly removed from the building yesterday, being all womanly like and gushy as Max put it, because we wanted to see the racoon babies. They should be done tonight, meaning we can go back in tomorrow. 

"Appreciated, dude. I was saving it for later, but oh well," he jokes as we sit and demolish a huge plate of nachos. 

"So, how was your night after I left on Saturday, since I completely forgot to ask you yesterday," I inquire, taking a sip of my drink.  

"It was really great, yeah. Shame you left early really. I erm, I met a girl. One I plan on seeing again too.” Oh? He's very, very fussy with women, my boy here. Hence my surprise that he's finally found one it appears he'd like to begin dating. 

"Oh really? Do tell, buddy," I ask, swiping the last jalapeno covered nacho and shovelling it into my mouth. I adore spicy food. Anything that makes my tongue tingle and I'll eat it. I remember when Ahmed's mom came to visit him and she cooked a spicy potato tagine with olives when I came for dinner one night. I was in heaven. Damn, Mrs Khamir can cook! 

"Her name is Brooke, she's twenty-three and works on the reception of that new gym that's opened up just outside of Vegas, we're into all the same kinda stuff and she loves all of my scars with the kind of interest I've never really seen in a woman before. Oh, and if the way she kisses is anything to go by, well, I've got a damn good time coming to me, if you'll pardon the pun," he grins, making me laugh. He hasn't always had the best of luck with women, because he is quite formidable in appearance, his very good looks often get overshadowed by the six-inch scar to his face, the eye patch and all of the other many scars also littering his gorgeous body as well. But if you like your men to look like a barbarian warrior, Ahmed is the guy for you. 

"I'm really happy for you!" I begin excitedly, reaching out and rubbing his arm enthusiastically. "It's about time you met someone nice."  

"It is, I'll agree with you there. What did you do after you left us, just go home and go to bed?” It is here that I decide to let on a little piece of information that I've been keeping from my friends. 

"That was my original intention, but it got side tracked by the fact I had a visitor, or rather someone who was gentlemanly enough to walk me to a cab, so I invited him home. I didn't want to say at first because I wasn't sure, and also, I know your reaction to it might be a little, well, erm..." I begin, trying to find the words. 

"Edie, you know when you say either too much too little? Now is a time you're saying too much, just spit it out!" he interrupts me with. 

"The vampire, he's the one who came home with me. He came to see me last week, and on Saturday I just so happened to be walking past a bar he was in and he zoomed right out and told me he didn't want me walking unaccompanied past vampire bars the way I was dressed, because vampires like taking humans for themselves unless they belong to another vamp," I explain, watching his face twist into many expressions of disbelief as I talk. 

"For real? Edie, how can you trust him, really? I mean, I know you told me about what happened in the chamber, when he made you confess to the secret you've kept about your mom's suicide note and he comforted you and all that, but Jesus fucking Christ, girl! You've a damn short memory to how he was behaving before!" he announces with concern. And so, I sit and explain it all for him, the way Angel has proven himself to be trustworthy to me, how he actually truly does seek friendship with me and how I feel perfectly at ease around him now. 

"Okay, after hearing all that I feel a little better about the situation, and you know I'll never dictate to you who you should and shouldn't hang around with. One thing though, Edie. Are you definitely sure he just wants to be friends and he isn't trying to get between your legs, and that this is the whole reason he's being nice to you?" he then asks. 

"No, no he definitely isn't. He's confessed that he'd like to, but he respects my wishes when I say I'm not interested in vampires. Also, there's a specific reason he isn't interested, and it's the same for all human women. I can't tell you that though, because that's his business and he made me promise I wouldn't.” He nods after a few moments of silent contemplation, looking satisfied.  

"Alright, I can live with it. But I'd pack earplugs when you decide to mention this friendship to people like Vic and Aileen, who both look at you like you're their daughter," he warns, making a cord of memory strike within me. That's exactly what Angel said about Aileen, that he thought she viewed me as one of her own. 

"I'll bear that in mind." I feel the urge to discuss something else with my large friend here, I have to say, but think better on it, biting my tongue and filing it away into the realms of girl talk which I'll have tomorrow lunchtime when I meet up with Sasha and Miley. Ahmed isn't good with all that kind of stuff; he's a guy, after all.  

For the rest of the afternoon and evening, we keep on drinking, getting so wasted that we have to get a cab home, and then once I've slid out, I practically have to crawl up the drive. I stumble to the kitchen upon entrance, force myself to drink half a litre of water and then go straight to bed. Because of the water, I wake up feeling much less hungover than usual. Sometimes I just can't be bothered, my bed calls out to my drunken self much too loudly. 

After taking some painkillers, I keep on drinking water and eating fruit to try and cleanse myself of the slightly icky feeling I have, and then go and take a long bath. It's while I'm lying there reading a poetry book recommended to me by Miley, comprising of works by Edgar Allen Poe (and finding a lot of it hard to understand, actually) that my mind wanders to what I want to talk to her and Sasha about later at lunch, or rather who. Yes, you guessed right. The gorgeous Latino vampire who I can’t seem to shake from my mind.  

I was so surprised to see him at my door on Sunday, and to be honest with you, the first thing I thought, well, I shouldn't have thought it. Something automatic went off in my head and I instantly thought to myself that he must really like me, turning up like that just a day after I saw him, and then remembered that of course, I'm not dating him. This isn’t what it is. 

I really don't know what's come over me, why I'm starting to see him in a much different light. Vampires have never been attractive to me because of the simple fact that they're dead, but he is, and in a way that goes beyond me just noticing that attractiveness now. Now I'm beginning to think about what it would be like to act upon it, even though I know I can't. The tricky thing here is the fact that he's told me he's attracted to me in much the same way as well, and he alludes to it a lot, too. He's very flirtatious with me.  

But we can't. 

I don't want to die.  

How dramatic did that just sound? It's true, though. Perfectly true. Or maybe I'm only thinking this because I can't have him? Because of that exact reason of him being off limits indefinitely. When we're told we can't have something, human nature often dictates that we'll only crave it further. All this and more I voice to my girlfriends over lunch a couple of hours later, and they have some insightful thoughts. 

"Well, something told me to expect as much, that he'd get in touch with you again," Sasha begins, while spearing more salad leaves with her fork. "Everything else you followed with though, well I agree with what you're thinking. You can't have him, for whatever the reason is, and that makes you want him even more. He's got that forbidden fruit thing going for him. I wish you could tell us why, but I respect that you're being a good friend to him, because I've never known you to be anything less, and keeping a secret he's trusted you with shows that," she then finishes, taking another mouthful of the spinach and rocket leaves from her plate. Of course, I didn't reveal to either her or Miley the reason why I can't be interested in him, the secret he entrusted to me. 

"I think it'll get lesser the longer you know him, the attraction and sexual urges, you'll both just get used to each other more and it'll sink in that you can't go there. I mean look at you and Ahmed, you obviously find him attractive and you've actually had sex with him, and you two don't have anything like that lingering any longer. It's all just friendship," Miley then offers to the conversation. She then drifts off a little dreamily, looking up at the ceiling. “There’s a spider up there. Do you think she thinks we’re in her house, or she’s a visitor in ours?”  

Sasha smiles lovingly, stroking her arm. “Who can say?”  

“Hmm.” Miley nods, turning back to me. 

"It's a little different with Ahmed, sweetie. I'd known him a few years before we had sex, it was a onetime thing and not anything either of us planned on repeating, and I just don't feel the same pull to him as I do with Angel. It goes beyond just the physical attraction. I just, well... I feel really happy when he's around. I enjoy his company. I just hope those little feelings don't get in the way of us being friends. That is essentially what I'm worried about," I voice, both her and Sasha nodding in understanding. 

"Well, you know it'll never be, don't you? That's what you have to keep telling yourself. Miley was right with what she just said, that it'll probably calm down a little the longer you know him. I wouldn't worry too much, once it’s sunk in that you definitely can't have him no matter how much you want him, you'll just see him like any other friend and you'll be fine," Sasha assures me, while I go back to eating the rest of my by now cold fries, wondering if things will truly work out that way. 

"Yeah, yeah you're right. I'm twenty-eight years old now, and if I can't handle being adult like and being friends with someone who I want to have sex with but can't, then when the hell am I going to start? It's cool, I'll get over it." I say with a dismissive wave of my hand.  

Our conversation moves on to us all deciding upon places to go and shop for outfits for our usual night out this Saturday, heading to our favourite location of Hell's Gate once more. While browsing the stores, I manage to find myself a new skirt to wear with the little black leather corset I won on eBay for a steal recently (twenty-six dollars!) in record time, leaving me to keep my eyes peeled for my friends since their decision making wasn't as swift as mine. It's while my eyes are roaming around the women's section of the department store we're currently in that I see something that catches my eye, but for my own reasons. 

"Oh, oh hello perfect tattoo design for my cover up." I say to myself as I reach up to the peg that I see a t shirt with a very interesting design on the front of, taking it down for a closer look. Even though my original tattoo has colour in it (but very, very washed out in tone) I want the cover up to be black and grey. I hope that this is big enough to be able to do that. The print on the t shirt itself is of a few stems of lilies all wrapped around each other and spraying out in a cluster towards the top, with trails of ivy and little stars surrounding it.  

Taking my cell from my bag, I hang the t shirt on a lower peg, take the picture and then return it to its proper peg before typing out some accompanying text to go with the picture. 'I just saw this; I'd really like it or something close to it as my cover up. Can you work with this, or do I need to buy the t shirt and bring it to the shop?' I type before sending the message to Angel's cell, ready for him to see when he wakes up at sundown. 

When I do receive a reply from him much later that evening, when I'm taking my break at work, I read the message he sent me roughly an hour ago and see that Saturday isn't going to go how we've planned it. 'Hi Edie, sorry it's a no go for Saturday, I'm afraid. If you can make Sunday though, I can do it then? We're having the front counter refitted, and the only time the guy can come and do it this Saturday night, so we've had to move all our appointments to Sunday and open up then instead. No worries if you can't, just let me know ASAP. No problem with the photo you've sent me either, I'll start drawing something up for you tonight. How’s 10pm for you?' the message reads.  

‘Yep, that’s fine. See you then.’ Sending my reply, I can hardly wait. A new tattoo and getting to see Angel. What’s not to like? Okay, so I’m mostly looking forward to seeing him again, above all.  

I know, I know. I’m ridiculous. I need to extinguish this flame I have within myself for the vampire who is off limits. I really do. Easier said than done, though.  

Angel's POV 

"Oh my word, that's absolutely beautiful," Ursula tells me as I sit at my desk in my room, drawing the design Edie sent me a picture of earlier today. 

"It's just a starting sketch to see how she likes it. I'll need to alter it a little to go with the contours of her body, so I’ll have to adjust once I've measured this to fit her back and such like, and then form the proper line drawing. Unless she trusts me to free hand it," I reply while my creator pulls up a chair next to me and takes a closer look. 

"She must be a special client, for you to be prepared to work on a design for her in your spare time," she observes, twirling a golden lock of hair around her finger as she watches me add shading to the sketch. 

"She is. It's for Edie," I confirm, and then swiftly wipe the big smile off my face that speaking her name often prompts. 

"You're becoming quite fond of this new friend of yours, aren't you, my boy? But yet I sense some unsettlement coming from you. Do you wish to discuss your thoughts? Are you struggling with feeling attracted to her, like you thought you would?" Oh yes, nothing much gets past Ursula. 

"Yeah, I do actually," I begin, putting down my pencil and turning to face her. "I'm becoming attracted to her, but more than just sexually, like we spoke of before. Don't get me wrong, the sexual side of it is prevailing most right now, the urges I have for her in that respect burn brightly, but I have noticed little things that I don't want to. Namely, it’s the fact there's something about her I can't quite put my finger on, something that draws me in closer to her. I don't want to notice it, because in my one hundred and thirty-six years on this planet, there has only ever been one other woman I've felt that with, that unfathomable thing about her that interests me."  

"Luisa?" Ursula asks. 

"Precisely," I huff. 

"Oh dear, please don't tell me you're considering acting upon this? You told me Edie is not attracted to us vampires either, so wouldn't this be massively disrespectful to her wishes if you did try to pursue her sexually? Actually, we need to take that out of the equation. You can't do this, Angel. Full stop," she states, telling me what I already know, and what I am beginning to loathe. 

"Of course, I'm not. She doesn't deserve to end up dead, even if she did change her mind about being attracted to me. I just don't want it hanging over me, I want to try and enjoy being her friend, and although I am, I have the way I felt when I first met Luisa hanging over me so much that it clouds that enjoyment and frustrates me. It's something I don't imagine will get better or more manageable either," I lament, watching Ursula frowning with concern. 

"It is something you must steel yourself to, my child. Give it some time as well, these feelings are likely to settle the more you get to know her, or perhaps go the other way and you find these feelings begin to deepen. If that happens though, you'll only be frustrated further. It is perfectly within your capabilities, to be staunch with yourself and continually remind yourself too that she is unquestionably off limits. Anyway, I just thought I'd come up and check on you before going to visit Sissy, enjoy the rest of your evening." Kissing my forehead, she leaves me to it, departing in a blink. Sissy is a vampire friend of ours, and every time Ursula mentions her, I get the biggest dick twitch ever. Sissy is one hell of an incredible fuck.  

Maybe I should have offered to go with her, but then again it would ruin Ursula's evening with her friend. Sissy and I only have to look at each other and we're halfway to sex. Getting on top of someone would take my mind off Edie, though, and just when I think of calling Natasha to make that happen, I have another visitor in the form of a naked EZ. 

"Fucking faucet is jammed, I'm using your shower," he announces as he walks through to my bathroom, leaving the door ajar. We vampires aren't quite as precious over certain things as you humans. Nudity is one of them. Then again, my brother was exactly the same when he was a human, he's very comfortable strolling around naked. "That's a good drawing you're working on, by the way. I thought you said to me you hated doing flower tattoos?" he then adds as I hear the shower being switched on. 

"I never said I hated them; I said I hated the regularity I was sticking the same flash sheet design upon the women coming in for them. I actually like doing the more intricate and feminine looking tattoos, they're more of a challenge," I reply, suddenly having an idea on how to make this design I'm working on a lot more detailed, beginning to sketch out that idea. Instead of regular stems, I'm going to shape them into filigree patterns to make it look prettier. A girl as pretty as Edie deserves a pretty tattoo, and not that mess Helena 'I can't draw to save my damn life' Smith etched upon her while she was still in business. 

"You're spending your own time doing a drawing for a client? Wow," EZ observes from the shower. I never usually let work encroach my private life, so hence the surprise from both him and Ursula. 

"No, for a friend," I tell him. 

"The girl who beat the shit out of you?" he laughs. 

"You know her name," I chide, laughing a little in reply. 

"Edie. Is it for Edie?" I've told him all about her, of course. He told me it was admirable, for me to seek friendship with a human, and even went as far to say he thinks he's noticed a difference in me since I have. 'You seem a little calmer since you've been visiting her, so that tells me she must be doing you some good, since your visits have only been a recent thing. Just don't mess it all up and stick your dick in her' is the advice he gave me. 

"It is, I'm doing it for her this Sunday," I reply. 

"And you're tattooing her when?" EZ then asks in joke, making me laugh more loudly. 

"Shut the fuck up!" I exclaim. 

"Never!" Exiting the shower wrapped in a towel, he takes a seat next to me, rubbing his hair with a smaller towel, looking closer at the design with a nod.  

"Speaking of humans, Eric wants to go to Hell's Gate this Saturday on a human hunt, and he's roped me into it too. Fancy joining us? There'll be a few of us there, I think," I ask him, deciding to see if I can get him interested in it, a rare evening out with me on a Saturday since I'm usually working. He agrees, and with that our conversation moves on swiftly. What is swiftest though is the passing of time between now and Saturday, with me entering Hell's Gate at 1am with a group of other vampires in what feels like a blink of an eye between then and Tuesday, when I asked EZ to join us. 

“Oh, man. Check that girl out at the bar. Wow,” Sal speaks, nudging my arm. I’m just about to speak of her good looks, when she promptly turns around and throws up all over the floor. As a human, that’s bad enough to smell, but imagine that when your senses are a thousand times sharper. 

"And with that, I’m outta here,” I exclaim. God damnit, that’s gross. 

"I think I'll join you, actually.” We both get up and seek out EZ, who said he was going for a walk around. The club is absolutely massive, on three floors with two rooms per floor, one of which we walk through without seeing much of interest until we head over to the room where they play the dance music, and we see a completely different breed of women, those who aren’t throwing back so much alcohol, they puke.  

Right now, we’re viewing the kind who like to dance all night long, in teeny tiny outfits. They're certainly very pleasing on both our sets of eyes as we stand on the top balcony and look down at the dance floor itself, Sal moving at speed over to a tall blonde who is all tiny waist, big hips and huge green eyes after picking up on her admiring look. He's currently kissing her hand, and she's giggling shyly.  

Turning back to the floor below, it's as I'm watching the many writhing bodies down there that I suddenly spy one I recognise, her violet hair all curled in loose ringlets and tumbling down to just past her shoulders, wearing a little grey and black plaid skirt that barely covers her ass, finishing it off with knee high boots and a black leather corset. Edie, you just took the breath I do not even need to breathe away from me with how you look tonight. Stunning doesn't even begin to cut it. What a body. God, she’s fucking stunning. And I’m stuck being just friends with her. Fucking hell!  

"What's caught you eye?" EZ asks at my side, trying to follow my line of vision. 

"See that girl in the plaid and leather? That's Edie," I point, watching his eyebrows rise significantly. 

"Now I see what all the fuss is about. She's certainly very sexy. Must be hard, knowing you can't go there," he replies, amusedly. 

"I'm managing with it, and I will have to continue to do so as well.” I have no other choice, do I? 

"Well, I couldn't do it, keep my hands to myself around her if I were you. I mean just look at her, look at those legs. Imagine feeling those legs tightening around you in the throes of ecstasy. I think I want to know what that feels like," EZ taunts me with, looking at Edie with the look he gives women five seconds before he advances on them. 

I glare immediately. "If you do, I won't speak to you for centuries. Besides, she's not into our kind, as I told you.” He simply returns a look of pure apathy. 

"She would be if I took her home, but the way you're looking at me, well, while the centuries of silence do sound appealing, I won't. You're annoying when you're pissed off." He then heads over to where Sal is sitting with the blonde and a group of her equally attractive female friends, his attentions now turned away from Edie. She still hasn't seen me, but enough other vampires have seen her, since it seems Eric invited just about everyone he damn well knows (and he's very popular) here tonight, and then they invited their friends, too. Hell's Gate is a human club, but the humans here are wilder, they're more approachable with the idea of vampires fucking or feeding on them, so hence why so many are here currently. 

This isn't good though, because if any of those vampires currently watching Edie (and there are a couple doing just that) know she's here alone, then they'll be all over her like a rash, wanting her to be theirs. Of course, they have to leave her alone if she belongs to another vampire, though. When I see a vampire in particular who Edie really doesn't want anything to do with in the slightest staring at her from the other side of the balcony, I know I have to act fast, so move from my side of it and down onto the floor where Edie is dancing within a blink.  

Latoria Jackson, the third eldest in Vegas after Charles and Ursula is the one with her eye on Edie. To say she's a bitch is putting it mildly. She's pure evil, feared as much as she is respected, and the way I've heard she keeps her humans… well I don't want that for Edie. I just have to hope she doesn't turn and punch me for what I'm about to do. I have to convey strongly to Latoria that Edie is mine (even though she isn't) so she won't try to take her against her will, because that is exactly what'll happen. I've seen her do it to humans before. 

"Do not react to this in a hostile way,” I begin, Edie turning to look at me a little confused. 

“And good evening to you too, Angel,” she says, laughing softly.  

“Seriously, Edie. Go along with it and everything I say and do, and trust me, I'm doing this for your own good.” My hands slide around her waist, moving her hair and beginning to kiss the side of her neck. Oh, god fucking damn, this feels too good. The way she smells, how soft her skin is against my lips, the fact I just felt her pulse quicken sharply. I want her, so fucking badly. This is absolute torture. Still, I wait a moment for her leg to come flying up between mine and hit me right in the dick, but incredibly, she trusts what I said just as Latoria arrives in front of us. 

"She's yours?" she asks, arching an elegantly groomed eyebrow as she stares at Edie, her eyes roaming all over her. 

"I am, very much so," she informs her before I can speak, reaching her hand up to stroke my hair, turning her head to kiss my cheek. That feeling, the warm pucker of lips so soft is beyond the realms of any kind of scintillation I've felt before, probably because I want her so much and I can't have her. But then when she stares at Latoria before slowly turning in my arms and planting her lips upon mine, I want her so much I can begin to feel it slipping, my resolve not to fuck her. It isn't a full-on kiss, but it makes Latoria leave again at speed, back up to her place at the balcony to keep an eye out for the next unattended human she likes the look of. 

"I take it she wanted me," Edie whispers in my ear, our arms still around each other. I don't like this. It feels too good to have her in my arms, which is the very place she can't be. 

"She did, but not half as much as I want you.” Yeah, shouldn’t have said that, should I? The words just fell out, though, continuing to state at her unflinchingly, our gaze heavy, full of what I now realise is entirely mutual longing. The energy grows, the air between us becoming heavy, the atmosphere between us denser, building all the time. As I hold her to me, I can feel her heart thundering in her chest, I can hear it too, beating away with such force I don't even hear the music any longer, the booming bass from a dance song I recognise from my human years, Barbers Adagio for Strings, people all around reaching for the lasers beaming overhead, dancing euphorically, without a care in the world to the beat of synths meeting strings.  

They’re not even here to me, it’s just me and the human I know I'm becoming obsessed with, the sound of her heartbeat like thunder in my ears, crashing against her chest so rapidly, it only tells me one thing. She feels the same, no matter what she said to me before; I know she feels it too. They have their euphoria through synthesised music, and I have mine. Her name is Edie. 

If I needed any further confirmation of that, I receive it when after our faces have begun to drift together again, we kiss once more. This time though, it isn't a kiss for appearances, it's a real kiss, an unbreakable, earth shaking, magmatic kiss of one hundred percent need and longing for one another. It’s everything that has been building between us, for probably a lot longer than either of us would wish to admit. It's a kiss so arousing, so blindingly passionate that immediately my fangs pop out (as they always do when I'm excited or annoyed by something) and it takes me all I have to retract them again so I can kiss her without piercing her tongue on my teeth.  

She clings to me, body pressed against mine as one hand curls around the back of my neck and the other rests on my chest, both of mine still locked around her waist, erotic energy coursing through me so strongly that if I could, I'd have sex with her right here on the damn dancefloor. I can feel myself beginning to draw breath through my nose without even thinking it, Edie suddenly jumping up into my arms, her legs locked around me as we continue to kiss each other hungrily. This girl, this fucking beautiful, amazing girl, she makes me feel like all the dead inside me came alive again. My death just bloomed. I’ve never felt that before. 

This moment we share does nothing but grow in intensity, especially for me, since I can smell very clearly how aroused she’s getting, and it’s like a fucking beacon, my arms tightening around her, tongue circling with hers, my hand moving to grip her thigh, her nails trailing my scalp making me shiver pleasantly, before suddenly, she pulls away from it, clambering down to her feet once more. 

"I thought you said you weren't attracted to my kind?" I ask, realising that this thing being mutual will make it a thousand times worse. That was one hell of an incredible kiss, so incredible I really couldn't think of anything else to come out with other than the stupid, dumbfounded words I just spoke. I also cannot believe I let my resolve completely melt like that, but it felt so good doing it, indulging in a little of what I want so very badly. 

"I'm not. It's you, it’s... it’s just you. Please, excuse me I need to go and be embarrassed by myself for a while, I'm sorry, but I... I just...I can't be around you right now," she cries, moving away from me while I try to hold onto her. 

"Edie you've nothing to feel embarrassed about, it’s okay!" I try and reassure her, hating the fact she's now starting to panic and get upset. 

"Yes, I do! I can't have you and I just went and kissed you! I'm out of my damned mind, acting like this around someone I know can only ever be a friend to me!" she exclaims, this time managing to wriggle out of my hold upon her wrist and fleeing.  

I let her go, but follow her from a distance to see where she's gone to, seeing her heading straight to a table where her friends are, talking to them briefly, watching the three of them then getting up to leave. After – and again from a distance - I've left the club and watched them get into a cab, I head back inside and suddenly really don't feel like partying any longer, for the only person interesting to me in this entire club just left it, and took that bloom she made me feel with her.  

I really hope I see her tomorrow when she's meant to come in for her tattoo, but I wouldn't be surprised at all if she didn't turn up. I think this is the point where being just friends is about to become difficult, now I know that she wants me just as much as I do her.  

Fuck.  

[seradae]

You can read the previous chapters here or on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/43928488?view_full_work=true

The Spire

Chapter 8: Selene Industrial

Erica held Lou's hand as they descended another elevator. She spoke softly, "I know I'm putting your equilibrium through the wringer on this trip, so if you need a break just let me know, okay?"

"What is this place? I couldn't catch what the speakers said -- too many people talking on the train," they said, holding onto her and a handrail for balance.

"Officially, 'Selene Industrial Ring,' but everyone calls it 'moon-lite'," she explained as they felt their weight increase and their clothes started to pull down towards the floor. "Spirans love their puns."

"I was going to point that out, but I really have no room to talk. I'm guessing this place has lunar gravity?"

"Yup! One sixth gee. Most of the glass foundries and chip fabs are here, along with a slew of other industries and a pretty badass trampoline park. But we're not going to see any of that today; pretty sure your inner ears have been through enough." The elevator slowed and then stopped. "I don't come here terribly often, so I'm sorry if I get us lost."

As they walked off the elevator, Lou couldn't help but chuckle. "Okay, so uhhh. Walking is weird here."

"Tell me about it! I still don't really have the hang of it, but if you kind of bunny hop, you'll get where you wanna go."

She led them past some open areas - sparsely furnished - and some non-descript buildings. The walls here appeared to be aluminum, with soft artificial lighting seeming to come from every direction. "This is the polar opposite of the Donut. Like a hospital fucked a submarine."

Erica snickered at that colorful analogy. "Yeah, it's too clean and not seeing the stars sucks. I only ever really come here when there's a special event. Though I'll say, definitely don't punt a vacuum bot if you see one. It's against the rules and totally not a ton of fun in lunar gravity," she said with a wink.

They smiled wide and asked, "really, you of all people abusing robots?"

"Hey, these things are built to handle it," she exclaimed defensively.

Lou chuckled and Erica pulled them toward a hatch set in the wall of a metal building. She scanned her wrist and then she grabbed the handle and opened it up, walking inside.

Along one wall was a large CNC mill, a metalworking lathe, and a row of various enclosed 3d printers. At another was a station filled with metal rods, face shields, gloves, torches, and a variety of welders. The third had a chop saw and racks filled with various metal stock. The floor was marred with burn marks and scuffs. "Holy shit, this is a cool shop! This is the first place I've seen here that actually looks dirty," they exclaimed.

"Pretty awesome, right? People make some incredible stuff here. There are like ten or twelve of these shops, open to all residents. You just reserve it and pay for consumables," she explained, walking around the room. "I was going to show you this later in the trip, but after our lunch I figured it was a good time."

"So," Lou said and then trailed off, turning their back to her.

"So," Erica said softly.

"God, they're going to be so pissed. It's only two weeks until the start of fall semester," they said with a hint of excitement in their voice.

"Wait. Now?!"

"Why wait? I'm already here. And so are you," Lou grinned.

Erica ran as fast as she could in the low gravity and jumped, Lou turning just in time to catch her. They fell backwards, laughing. "I love you so goddamn much, Louisa," she said, tears pooling in her eyes. "Are you sure?"

"I love you too, baby. And you know me: once I'm in, I'm in," they said, pushing her hair back and kissing her softly.

"Well, I guess we have some planning to do."

"Let's hold off on that for a minute. I have something else in mind," they said, kissing her again.

[atomic-thomas]

(Fake ASMR Commission) Your Girlfriend Talks About Bears

------------------------------------------------------------

"Hey babe. I know this is kinda random, but... Have I ever told you what my favorite animal is?"

...

"I figured I didn't. Well, here's the answer."

"Bears"

...

"Yep. That's right. Nature's old reliable. A basic, balanced & well-built creature that thrives in a variety of environments. Bears are this fascinating mix of several different things."

"They're omnivores so they'll eat just about anything. They have a thick layer of fur, fat & muscle that make them very durable & strong. And their behavior is somehow both predictable & unpredictable at the same time. Bears can certainly attack humans, but sometimes they won't. Often times, a bear's behavior depends on your own. Although identifying the species of bear can help narrow down the level of predictability."

...

"Well, let's start with the black bear for example. I'd say this is probably the most common & recognizable species of bear. They can be found just about anywhere. They're pretty small & not all that strong so surviving attacks from one usually isn't very difficult. They're typically docile & fear humans so being loud & aggressive is usually enough to scare one off. And depending on the black bear, you might not even need to do that. Sometimes, they'll invade neighborhoods & cause trouble by knocking over trash bins so they can take from them. Generally speaking, the black bear is the one people have the most experience with."

...

"Ahhh, Grizzly Bears. This one is my personal favorite. Another one of the most recognizable bear species. Much bigger, bulkier, stronger & seen less often than black bears. Grizzly Bears are found in the Northwestern parts of North America. If you live down South or in the East, you probably aren't gonna see any Grizzlies. Unless they decide to travel far from their primary habitats for some reason."

...

"I wouldn't put it past Grizzlies to venture out & populate new land. I've heard of Jaguars being sighted in Southern Arizona near the border of Mexico before. And Jaguars certainly aren't native to that state."

"Anyway, unlike black bears, Grizzlies don't fear humans. You want to stay low & quiet in front of a Grizzly. All being loud & proud will do is get you killed. If you try to stand up tall & the Grizzly responds by standing taller than a basketball rig, you're gonna look really stupid before the bear proceeds to ruin your hopes & dreams."

"But despite how dangerous they are, they're such majestic creatures. There's nothing more beautiful than imagining a Grizzly Bear standing on the edge of a cliff with a scenic view of nature to accompany it. Gorgeous!"

...

"Yeah, I've talked enough about Grizzlies. I wanna move on to Polar Bears now. And lemme tell you... They are a cold customer."

...

"Yes, that pun was intentional. Anyway, Polar Bears are strictly carnivorous & you'll only be able to find them in the high north & deep south of the world. No survival tactics will save you from a Polar Bear if it decides that you're it's next meal. There's an old saying I've heard regarding bears. If it's black, fight back. If it's brown, stay down. If it's white..."

...

"Yeah. Goodnight. You pretty much need a weapon or bear spray to deal with one. Ideally, you want to avoid venturing into Polar Bear territory entirely. Once you see a Polar Bear, it already knows you're there. They have a super keen sense of smell."

...

"Oooh, the Kodiak Bear. This one is especially fascinating. There's only one place on Earth where they're found. The Kodiak Archipelago & it's surrounding islands. So they're a pretty exclusive species. Kodiak Bears are even bigger, more durable & stronger than Grizzlies. Yet despite this, they're actually peaceful. If my sources are correct, there's only been two known human deaths caused by Kodiak Bears in the past century. Talk about gentle giants."

...

"I'm not sure what those people did to provoke Kodiak Bears. But given the species' passivity, they probably deserved it."

...

"Sloth Bears, huh? Don't let the name fool you. Sloth Bears are among the most dangerous. They're generally found in the middle-eastern parts of the world. They're typically hostile meaning it's never safe to be near one. Their claws are incredibly sharp. And due to their habitat, they even duke it out with Tigers on a regular basis. They're pretty evenly matched so it's rivalry with blood on both sides."

...

"Oh yeah. I almost forgot about Sun Bears. They're native to the tropical forests of southeast Asia. And visually speaking, they're quite an unorthodox looking bear. Unfortunately, there seems to be some conflicting information about their behavior online. I've seen mentions of them being shy & reclusive. And I've seen mentions of them being aggressive without reason. What a strange bear."

...

"Ah, of course. The Panda Bear. Found in the mountains of China. A beautiful, scenic habitat for such a well-known bear species. They're usually only aggressive when threatened or irritated. They may look cute & cuddly, but they at least exude reasonable behavior. It's certainly more reasonable than only eating bamboo all the time."

...

"The thing with pandas is that they're biologically designed to eat meat... But they just don't. Bamboo doesn't give them nearly enough energy in normal portions so they need to eat a ton of it to sustain themselves."

...

"Yeah, they're not the brightest creatures out there. We spend millions of dollars just to keep them alive. If it weren't for us, I wouldn't be surprised if they went extinct by now."

...

"Well, I've talked about bears for long enough. I could go on for hours listing off all the different bear species, where they live & how they act... But there's just so many. There's probably some that I haven't even learned about yet."

...

"Oh really. You're a bear? What kind?"

...

"A teddy bear. Heh... You're definitely my teddy bear alright."

------------------------------------------------------------

THE END

[pasiphile]

Okay it literally took me THIS long to get the Cunning Linguists pun and I am furious with myself

Hehehehe

[hellfiremunsonn]

See You At Seven? Steve Harrington x Reader

See You At Seven?

I do not allow my writing to be republished anywhere other than my own blog without my consent

Summary: Losing your virginity to Steve doesn’t go how you thought it would.

18 + IF YOU ARE NOT 18 OR OLDER DO NOT READ OR INTERACT WITH MY WRITING. IT IS NOT INTENDED FOR MINORS. I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE MEDIA YOU CONSUME.

Word count: 4667

WARNINGS: loss of virginity, f orgasm, fingering, dirty talk, blood, painful penetration, Dom!Steve if you squint, aftercare, supportive Steve. 

It was one of those summer days where nothing seemed to cure my boredom. I tried reading, watching a movie, sun tanning, even cleaning my room. Laying flat on my back on my bed I stared at the popcorn ceiling above me trying to think of anything that could help pass the time. I was waiting for Steve to finish his shift at Family Video so we could hang out. He had booked the weekend off for us to spend some time together. Both of us working too much that we weren't making enough time for each other so we decided to change that. It was strange being in a relationship with someone who was actually mature enough to discuss things like that, and even though Steve is well, Steve, he's smarter than he looks.

Glancing at the small pink clock on my bedside table, I figured 4:30 was a good time to phone Family Video and harass Steve on the other end. It was usually dead in the store so we talked often when we could, helped both of us pass the time quicker. Dialling the number I now knew off by heart Robin picked up on the third ring. "Family Video this is Robin!" Her perky voice ringing in my ears and bringing a smile to my face. "Hey Robs it's me" I said leaning against the wall next to the phone. "Oh my god (Y/N) Steve is being so annoying and mopey, all he's doing is leaning on the counter complaining about when he can see you, and I'm pretty sure I caught him laying on the floor at one point just in full despair, I don't know what you've done to him, but I love it and hate it all at the same time-" I stifled a laugh as she rambled on before I heard Steves voice. "Robin give me the phone"

"No I'm talking to her, she likes me more, stop it, Steve don't STEVE!" The clatter of the phone was loud and I had to pull the receiver away from my ear for a moment. A distant "You're disgusting!" was heard and then Steves chuckle vibrated through the phone.

"Babe?" He said still laughing

"What did you do to her this time?" I asked.

"Wet willy" he said proudly. I scrunched my nose up in response.

"So childish" I fake mocked.

"It's the only way to fight back with her, and it works like a charm" I could still hear robin mumbling on the other end and I knew Steve was going to get an ear full (no pun intended) after we hung up. "So as per usual the parents are away, and I was thinking you'd come stay over for the weekend? We can just swim, and watch movies, and eat take out until were both uncomfortably full"

A small blush rising to my cheeks made me thankful for the fact Steve couldn't see me through the phone. "That sounds perfect, I could use some time away from my parents" I sighed.

"Everything okay?" He asked quickly.

"Oh yeah nothing crazy, just parents being parents" I rolled my eyes. My parents truly weren't that bad, and we got along quite well, it was just those normal parent things that were getting on my nerves lately. "Maybe I'm pmsing or something and I'm just getting irritated over nothing" I said thinking out loud.

"That could definitely be it- Hey did you have any movies in mind you wanted to see? Please don't make me watch Dirty Dancing again"

"Don't act like you don't like it Harrington, you stay awake through it more than I do" I teased. "But I suppose I won't make you watch that again" I bit the inside of my cheek thinking of movie titles I've seen in the past. "What about that one" I said snapping my fingers trying to get the name out. "The one with the kid from The Goonies?"

"The Lost Boys?"

"Yes! That's the one!" I said excitedly. "Robin said it was pretty good"

"It's a vampire one though are you okay with that?"

"I'm not afraid of vampires if that's what you're asking Steve" I said laughing. "I'm not a scaredy cat like you" I teased and I heard him scoff in response.

"I'm not a scaredy cat!" He protested. "You're the one who couldn't handle The shinning" He shot back, an audible smile across his face.

"Because it was just so ominous! I still have nightmares about that bloody elevator" I shuddered at the thought.

"Yeah that movie was a bit weird huh? I mean the bits we actually watched" He said trailing off.

The last time we had a so called movie night, Steve and I barely paid attention to the films we kept putting on. The facade of us actually watching them while I straddled his lap, his face buried in my neck as we rocked against each other. Steve and I hadn't had sex yet. I was too nervous being a virgin, and seeing as his dick could barely fit in my mouth I was afraid of having it between my legs. We did almost everything else, so I wasn't shy with being sexual with him, but going all the way seemed so daunting. People made it seem like such a big deal, and I guess it was, but I don't think having a dick in you should or would change you all that much as a person. Steve never rushed me on anything, and not a single word out of his mouth after I said 'stop' was negative or condescending. I had been with a few people before him, and being younger back then sex wasn't really something I wanted, I had barely explored myself let alone to let someone else explore me first, that didn't feel right. But eventually after figuring my own body out and what I liked it was easier to let myself feel good with someone else.

Now knowing I was going to stay with Steve for the whole weekend something in me told me that I was ready, and that I wanted to try. Butterflies flitted in my stomach and I had gotten so lost in my own thoughts I didn't realize that Steve had started speaking again. "So I figured that one, and then like, The Labyrinth, and maybe A Nightmare On Elm Street cause you still haven't seen that"

"You just want to get a scary movie so I'll hide into your chest"

"Yeah, yeah maybe I do"

"Oh and baby?" I said sweetly. Taking a deep breath I closed my eyes. This was it.

"Yeah?"

"You have condoms right?"

He choked, the phone clattered, and I could hear robin laughing in the background. "Steve?"

"Hmm yeah? Hi I uh, yeah, I do, um yeah" He said breathlessly.

"Good" My heart was beating so hard I thought I might throw up. "See you at seven?"

"Seven yeah, s-should be good"

"Bye Stevie" I said hanging up the phone. I leaned my forehead against the cool wall of the kitchen, my hand still holding onto the phone as I attempted to control my breathing. "It'll be fine" I said out loud to myself. "And if it's shit, that's okay, everyones first time is different" I reminded myself. Pushing myself off and away from the wall I made my way upstairs to shower and pack my bag for the weekend.

The showering part was easy. I never felt like any body part had to be baby smooth to feel comfortable around Steve, he never minded a little hair, in fact he encouraged it. "If hair wasn't supposed to be there, it wouldn't be there" he had said to me the first time I showed a small bit of insecurity about it. It even drove him crazy when it peaked out of the sides of my bathing suit bottoms when I didn't have time to sharpen up my bikini line. What stressed me out today, was what I was going to wear and what I was going to bring. I had slept over at Steves countless of times, and he was over here just as often, but we had never spent the whole weekend together. Deciding to pack some basics, I shoved a pair of pj pants and shorts into my bag. Figured I'd give myself another option just incase. Not bothering to add a sleep shirt knowing I would just steal one of Steves. Hands lingering over my folded clothes I played with the strap of this very tight tank top I thought about bringing. It made my boobs look really good and I knew Steve would love it as much as I did. A small smile playing on my lips I slid the top over my head deciding to wear it with a pair of shorts. Steve and I weren't planning on going out anywhere after he picked me up, so the short walk from my front door to his car in this would be totally fine. Shoving an extra pair of underwear into my bag I zipped it up and dropped it at the end of my bed. Now all I had to do was wait.

Almost on the dot exactly I heard Steve lightly honk his horn to signal he was here. Bounding down the stairs and out the front door I threw my backpack in the direction of the car as I ran and jumped into Steves open arms, my arms wrapping tightly around his neck. Bending slightly at the knees he scooped me up bringing my thighs to his was it and holding me in place against him. His balance wobbling slightly, his back hitting the side of his car. "Hey princess" He said a little breathlessly.

"Hi baby" I said releasing the grip of my thighs signalling Steve to put me back down but never letting go of me. "I missed you" I said honestly, my hands tugging at the hair at the base of the back of his neck.

"I missed you more" He said leaning down to press a light kiss to my lips.

"I don't think so" I said sighing dreamily as I looked up at him. His hands traveling to my shoulders he flicked at the thin strap of the tank top I wore.

"I've never seen this one before" head tilting to the side as he continued to slid his finger up and down my shoulder, still under the strap.

"Figure I would save it for a special occasion" I said leaning back from him and reaching for my bag.

"Special occasion huh?" He said turning to open the car door for me.

"Maybe" I said shrugging and slipping into the passenger seat.

The drive to Steves was always short and sweet, giving me no time to continue over thinking which is what I was already doing.

"Alright, I'm gunna hop in the shower real quick, you go get comfy in bed" Steve said placing a small kiss to my temple before heading towards his bathroom.

Falling onto his bed I smiled. Taking a deep breath and reviling in his familiar smell that littered his sheets. I unbuttoned my jean shorts and tugged them off, throwing them onto the floor before crawling under Steves blanket, nestling into his pillow. I hummed in content. How was his bed so much comfier than mine? Settling deeper into his bed I let my eyes close, the soft echo of the shower lulling me into sleep.

"Baby?" Steves hand ran through my hair, moving it away from my face and neck.

"Hmm?" I opened my eyes, squinting at the light of his room. His hair was still damp, a few darkened spots on the shoulders of his t-shirt from lingering drips from his hair.

"You wanna keep sleeping or do you wanna get up?"

I stretched my arms above my head, and sat up slowly, licking my lips to get the moisture back into my dry mouth. "I didn't mean to fall asleep" I said rubbing my eyes. "Is it late? How long was I out for?"

"Not long, bout thirty minutes or so, however long I was in the shower for"

"I missed you" I said reaching my hands out towards him, opening and closing them in grabby hand motion.

He laughed before shifting further up the bed so I could wrap my arms around him. Crawling out of his blanket and into his lap I straddled him and wrapped my arms around his neck. "You didn't dream of me?" He asked quietly, his hands running up and down my back.

"Not this time" I sighed. I could hear his heart beat begin to quicken as I rested my head against his chest. Sitting back up I ran my hands along his shoulders, to his forearms, down to his wrist to where his hands settled on my waist. I looked up at him with a shy smile.

"Oh I know that look" He said with a chuckle.

"What look?" I said tilting my head to the side.

"That's the, 'I want you to ruin me' look" His hands shifting from my waist to hold my face with both hands. The warmth from them spreading across my cheeks and down my neck igniting the heat that sat in the pit of my stomach.

"I don't know what you're talking about Harrington" I said trying to play it off, avoiding his eyes.

"Oh really?" His voice low, one hand moving from my cheek down to the base of my throat. "If I slid my hand into your panties right now, how wet would you already be hm?" He mocked playfully. My hips twitched slightly at the change of tone in his voice. "Bet you've already ruined those cute little pink panties huh? Just being this close to me gets you all wound up doesn't it?" his thumb grazing the divot between my collarbones and throat. Shifting slightly his hard erection bumped against my crotch and I had to hold back the small whimper threatening to leave my mouth. "Don't hide those noises from me pretty girl"

"Steveeee" I whined, grinding my hips ever so slightly in attempts for some relief. His hands back at my waist, guiding my hips to continue rolling them against him.

"What is it baby?"

"Don't tease me" I whimpered with a pout.

"But you're so pretty when you get all desperate"

"I'm already desperate" I admitted, my eyes flicking up back to his for a moment. "I've been thinking about you all day" I rolled my hips a little harder agaisnt him, my head falling into this crook of his neck. I kissed softly at the exposed skin I could reach without moving the fabric of his shirt. I was too focus on my movements to try anything else.

"What did you think about?" Steve said, his breath hitching slightly.

"Your hands"

"What about them?" He encouraged.

"How they feel when they touch me. When they touch me everywhere" My words coming out almost as whispers, the coil in my stomach slowly growing, but not fast enough.  "Please Steve" I said leaning back to press my forehead against his. Small moans falling out of my mouth and into his.

"Please what baby?"

"Touch me?" I leaned back again to look at him, his pupils blown out; only the smallest sliver of his honey brown eyes visible.

Shifting so he was now hovering me, he pressed his lips to mine. Sloppy kisses, our mouths and cheeks covered in each others saliva as our hands chased each others bodies. Feeling them like it was the first and only time we'd get to be this close. Steve made quick work, his hands tugging at the sides of my underwear until I lifted my hips slightly for him to pull them off the rest of the way. He didn't hesitate before sliding his fingers between my folds, groaning at the wet slick that instantly covered his fingers.

"Oh my god" I hummed, my head rolling to the side.

"I was right" He chuckled. "Look at you, so pretty like this. Soaking and desperate for me to touch you" Fingers circling my clit his lips came back down, attaching themselves to me, and absorbing my moans. He teased my hole slightly with his middle finger, but never going in. I whined.

"Steve, please"

"What do you want?"

"Touch me" I said quickly.

"I am touching you princess" he smirked.

"Finger me" I said in a huff, no shame in how audible the desperation was in my voice. "I wanna cum"

"Well you don't need me for that" He threatened.

I shook my head back and forth. "No I want you to make me cum"

Please with my response his finger slid into me a second later. My back arching every so slightly.

"My pretty pretty girl" He cooed while leaning down to kiss my neck. Nipping and sucking lightly until he reached the top of my breasts, that were almost spilling from the tight fabric of my tank top. "Take this off for me yeah?" He asked. I sat up quickly, grabbing the bottom of my top and flung it over my head and off to the side. He continued kissing my chest, his mouth leaving wet kisses a long the doughy skin until taking one of my nipples into his mouth, licking and sucking at it lightly. He added a second finger and I clenched around him instantly. Pulling up away from my chest he began curling his fingers up into me, and brought his other hand down to continue rubbing circles on my clit.

"F-fuck Steve" I spat.

"Feels good?" He asked.

"So fucking good baby, you always m-make me feel s-so good"

"Awe my poor baby can barely get her words out" He teased, pumping his fingers a little faster, and I knew I wouldn't be able to last much longer. Taking all of my strength to reach my hands down and into Steves to pull them from me, on the brink of my orgasm.

"What, what's wrong?" Steve said searching my face.

"N-Nothing, I wanna cum, um, on your cock" I said shyly.

Steves face reddened and he leaned forward to give me a quick soft kiss. "Not yet, I want you to cum on my fingers first, and then we can try okay?"

I nodded, my breath still rapid as he placed his fingers back into me. His fingers slipping into me almost easier this time. "Fuck look at the way you take my fingers baby" he said watching his movements, his fingers pumping in and out of me, curling up into my g-spot. "C'mon baby, I know you're close, cum on my fingers like you wanna cum on my cock" His movements never faltering as the coil in my stomach began to tighten, until my back arched off of his bed.

"Oh my god, just like that, please don't stop, please, please, don't stop" I begged, my hands fisting the fabric of his sheets beneath me.

"I won't baby, cum for me, you're right there"

Tingling heat soared through my body, through my stomach until that coil snapped and I was cumming around Steves fingers just like he wanted. Lewd whimpers and moans escaping me as Steve continued his moments until the high of my orgasm slowed. Sitting up I leaned forward until I reached the him of Steves sweatpants. My hands fumbling as I tried to free him from the restraints of the fabric. He grabbed my hands. "Hey, hey, slow down" He said softly.

"I still want" I swallowed, glancing slightly at his bedside table where I knew he kept his condoms. "I still want to try"

"You sure? We don't have to"

"I want to, I'm ready"

"Tell me to stop at any point okay?" He said holding my face in his hands.

I nodded. "I promise"

Leaning over to the table, he opened the small drawer and pulled out the box of condoms, ripping the cardboard open and taking one of the foil packages out and placing it next to us. He got up and walked towards the bathroom bringing back two towels. I raised my eyebrow.

"Just incase there's a little blood" He said reassuringly. Folding one in half, he placed it on his bed and tapped it so I would sit on it.

Removing his sweat pants and boxers and shirt he pumped his length a few times before tearing the foil packaging and removed the slippery condom from it. He rolled it onto himself and I watched intently, for when I was able to do it for him. He situated himself between my legs, rubbing the tip of his dick against my wet folds. "Here gimme one of your hands" He said reaching forward. Taking my hand into his he interlocked our fingers as he kneeled between my legs, his other hand directing his dick against me. "Ready?" he asked.

And I nodded.

"Verbal confirmation please" He said with a pleading look.

"Yes Steve, I'm ready"

He lined himself up and began to push into me slightly. Instantly I let out a hiss, my hand coming out to press against his abdomen. "F-fuck" I stuttered. It hurt. Way more than I thought it was going to.

"Want me to stop?"

"No, no, just" I took a deep breath and closing my eyes. "Just go slow"

He continued ever so slightly, pushing in by millimetres, stopping with each hiss and hitch of my breath. Pushing a little more I felt the rest of his tip slip into me and I tipped my head up slightly with a "Fuck" muttered through my teeth. My hand tight around Steves, and I knew I would leave him with tiny crescent shaped nail imprints in his skin.

"Just keep breathing baby, you're doing so well" His breath was ragged and I could tell it was difficult for him to be so slow, but I appreciated it so much.

My forehead scrunched and my eyes closed tightly I focused on my breathing until Steve tapped my head lightly. "How we doing in there?" I could hear the smile in his voice. I was afraid to open my eyes, knowing if I did tears would roll down from the pain. "Okay" I said quietly. "Keep going" and he did. So slowly, it felt like time had slowed with each push of his cock, stretching me painfully. I started breathing through my nose and out through my mouth.

"Do you want to stop?" Steve asked again.

"No? Yes? I don't know"

Steve sat up slightly, not removing himself just yet from me. "Look at me baby"

Reluctantly I opened my eyes, and the tears that were held behind my closed lids slipped out and down my temples with ease. "Talk to me" He said rubbing his thumb against the skin on my hip in soothing circles.

"It hurts" I choked. "I-I thought it would be better" A small sob bubbled in my chest.

"I'm gunna pull out okay?"

"No no, don't" I said whimpering, trying to pull him back to me but hissed when I made him move a little deeper into me.

"Baby please? We can try again, this was good for a first try, I don't want you crying in pain under me"

"Just... Is it okay if you put it all in? Then we can stop"

"Are you absolutely sure?"

"Yeah, please? Just that"

"Okay" he removed his hand from my tight grasp and moved so he was leaning down more towards me. "Hold onto me if you need to okay?"

I nodded, my hands resting on his shoulders. He began again, slowly pushing himself into me, small whimpers from my mouth echoing into his skin. "So close baby, you're doing so good" he praised. With a slight grunt I felt him bottom out, his rough pubic hair rubbed against mine. "Fuuuuuck, you feel so good baby, you did so good, look how well you're hugging onto my cock baby"

We stayed like that for a moment, his head now tucked into my shoulder and my arms firmly wrapped around his neck.

"No more, I'm done" I whispered.

"Okay baby" he said giving me small kisses as he leaned back up. "Just keep breathing for me okay?" He slowly pulled back out, and it still hurt, but not as much as it did going in. When he was fully out I glanced down at him, the condom slightly pink with blood. My bottom lip quivered as I tried to hold back my tears.

"Baby it's okay" Steve said. "Lemme get this off, and I'll clean you up okay?" He made quick with his movements, discarding the condom into the trash, and slipping his boxers and sweat pants back on. I curled up into a ball, sobbing into my hands. "C'mere" Steve said quietly after tugging his shirt back over his head, pulling me into his chest. I held onto him, the fabric of his t-shirt tucked tightly into the balls of my fists as I cried into him. He pulled his blanket back up over me and traced his finger tips against my bare back soothing me. "You're okay" he repeated.

After a few quiet moments, the grip I had on his shirt loosened and my breathing relaxed. Tilting my head I looked up at Steve. His eyes were closed and maybe he sensed me already looking at him because his eyes opened and immediately met mine. He smiled.

"I'm sorry" I said, new tears threatening to fall.

"You have nothing to be sorry for"

"But, you didn't get to finish, and it was shit, it wasn't even sex"

"When has me finishing ever been a priority? Cumming is just a bonus, as long as we're both having fun, and getting some sort of pleasure out of whatever we're doing, then I'm happy babe" he said tucking a bit of hair behind my ear. "What's got you so upset about it?"

"I thought it would have been better, I knew it wouldn't be great, but everyone makes it seem like it's this insane thing, and it was just shit" Angry tears fell down my cheeks as I sat back up, crossing my legs in front of me. "I had it all planned out in my head, and for it to just be the complete opposite sucks"

"You know my first time wasn't that great either"

"Really? I don't think we've ever talked about it"

"I don't think it ever came up, but it was weird" He laughed a little. "All the motions of sex were there, but I had no idea what I was doing, and this older girl just took full control, and I think I blacked out at one point cause then it was over and I was putting my clothes back on and I never saw her again"

"How old were you?"

"Uh like 14 I think? Too young that's for sure, I didn't even really know what happened until I got older" He sighed. "Sex didn't really get good until the end of high school, but then I met you and I realized I liked making you cum more than even the thought of sex" He toothy smile spreading across his face. "Although I will tell you, your pussy felt amazing"

I rolled my eyes and smacked his arm. "So much for that nice little moment" I sniffled lightly, wiping away the last remnants of my tears.

"Wanna hop in the shower with me? I'll get you all cleaned up and we can order pizza and start our little movie marathon"

I blushed. Steve really was amazing, he went into caregiver mode so effortlessly and it made my heart squeeze.

"Yeah, that would be nice" I said quietly.

"And baby?" He said. "Everyones first time is different, and they're not all perfect like they are in the movies, it sometimes takes time and practice, but we'll get there okay?"

I pouted, looking down at my hands.

"Hey, no pouting, it's all a learning process" He tilted my chin up to look at him. "It'll get better" he gave me a light kiss on the lips. "I Promise"

[sakuracentric]

1.Hi! Do you happen to have any ideas about Sakura's parents? I'm new to the fandom but wanted to write a Sakura-centred story, but I'm not sure how to handle them. Most stories I've read portray them as abusive/neglectful. I'm still reading manga (and watched anime; prefer manga) but as far as I know, they never appeared there. In anime and RTN they didn't make a good impression on me (borderlying emotional abuse, and her dad seems to be dismissive of her feelings and always makes stupid jokes)

Hey, no worries, anon! Now, for your question, I understand perfectly where you’re coming from. 

I will confess that I’m not an anime watcher and don’t intend on being one, but I understand your frustrations. One consistent thing about SP we can ‘depend’ on is their rather annoying penchant for portraying her as horribly as possible and taking her flaws and dialing them up to unbearably high levels. If her portrayal was more congruent with how she is in the manga, I doubt the bandwagon of hatred for her would be as severe, but I digress. 

On to the topic at hand, but as a fellow fanfic writer who frankly loves Mebuki and Kizashi but hates how SP handled them (considering how Kishimoto-sensei designed them himself, it feels like more salt in the wound for us manga fans), I do have some workarounds on how to approach them, and how their inclusion can actually enhance Sakura’s potential with some Sakura-centric trope staples.

Now, with what we’re given, we do approach some problems with them:

Characterization: One of the biggest issues I’ve been able to discern is that both Mebuki and Kizashi seem to tag-team in being horrible to Sakura. Not only is Mebuki pigeonholed in the domineering, naggy, bossy personality trope that almost every Naruto woman has or eventually comes to exhibit by the time they become a housewife, but she also seems to be quite big on devaluing Sakura, too. We see her rag about how much of a slob Sakura is (let alone how she can’t cook; keep your headcanons, SP, I don’t want them) in front of others, but that doesn’t necessarily make Kizashi much better. Why? Well, he seems like he’s whipped in the bad sense of the word, often agreeing with Mebuki and not speaking out against what she says. His redeeming quality is that he seems more laid back and likes to crack puns/dad jokes (I like it, at least), but together? Well, it doesn’t add up to parents that seem to support their daughter. Hell, if canon is anything to go by, it might not be that ridiculous to assume Sakura might’ve cut ties, if it least is alienated and distant. Not what we want here!

Background: Or rather, the lack thereof. Now, while I see this as a huge positive, others don’t. Why? Well, there’s next to nothing on them while almost all of the Rookies have fleshed out backgrounds. Mebuki and Kizashi, meanwhile, are just run-of-the-mill civilians with no real past. Kizashi seems to be a genin while Mebuki is simply a housewife. Whether she was an active kunoichi at some time or not, I doubt we’ll ever know. 

So, how do we fix this train-wreck? These are just my solutions, at least, and how I’ve come to work around these glaring problems.

Kizashi and Mebuki’s dynamic: From what I’ve seen, I really feel that these two’s personalities could actually be really amusing if redirected, so that’s my first piece of advice: redirecting where their vitriol goes, or distributing it more evenly could really salvage their characters without making them OOC. Mebuki’s a nag? Well, I find softening her blows or inserting some humor can help diffuse any potential toxicity. For example, if Mebuki feels the need to carp at Sakura at how messy her room is, maybe Mebuki can toss in some humor and mention that her pile of dirty laundry is starting to become sentient and that she heard it growl at her while she was vacuuming the hall. With Kizashi, I like to have her actually take part in his jokes as the straight man (like manzai that exists as a form of Japanese humor). As for Kizashi, I think the simplest fix would just not o have him take part in any degrading. However, if you eliminate it entirely (which I do and recommend), he can become an active, jokey participant instead of a doormat (which I absolutely do, too), would help loads. 

Mebuki: Like I stated above, you can keep most of her personality while removing the sharp, jagged bits and not have her be unrecognizable. Instead of making her the one who devalues Sakura, make her the tough love, realistic/brutally honest advice parent. What this means is, for example, having Mebuki sit a pre-series, young Sakura down and tell her that being a kunoichi is really tough and that she won’t have an easy time in the Academy. For Interlude-era Sakura when she’s training under Tsunade, make Mebuki snatch away medical textbook Sakura was cramming at midnight and tell her she needs to sleep and has been looking like a zombie in the morning. After one of her deadly spars with Tsunade, have Mebuki blow up at Sakura out of worry, not because she doesn’t think Sakura can’t do it. Have them get into quarrels about how stressed Sakura is, that she should ask Tsunade to ease up a little. Stuff like this, where it’s still flawed but not toxic.

Kizashi: Like I said above, Kizashi is a little rough, but with a little polish, it doesn’t take much to make him shine. Personally, my favorite thing to do with him is make him the parent Sakura confides in and receives really tender advice and assurance from. I see him as the more affectionate of the two, for sure. The one who gave tiny Sakura bear hugs after really rough treatment by her bullies, who tells her they were probably jealous of her. That kind of dad, really. However, what I really love doing is playing with Kizashi’s background as a Genin and make him the one who actually helped train Sakura in the basics. We know Sakura was really adept with shurikenjutsu, trap setting, genjutsu identification and dissolvement, chakra control, and the like? Well, have Kizashi be the one who helped his kid out! Maybe he helped her memorize the Shinobi Rules, who coached her on her aim, who taught her how to expand her chakra control, stuff like that. 

Background: Now, I know this one is a big head-scratcher for many creators, but it’s what I find to actually be the biggest strength and source of inspiration for Sakura-centric AU’s. Why? Because fleshing out her background is oftentimes a massive component, if not plot point! I go into a lot more depth with it in this meta I wrote awhile back with one of the chapters that explores specific tropes, but some of the most fun you can have with Sakura’s lack of background is fleshing it out. And keep Kizashi and Mebuki as her parents because they, too, like Sakura don’t have explored backgrounds. This can entail everything from fleshing out a clan for her (Haruno clan, anyone?) to making Kizashi and Mebuki the descendants of another (Senju and Uzumaki are popular choices) or even inventing kekkei genkai or other cool jutsu unique to their family. The sky’s the limit, really, with where you can take this!

In conclusion, I hope this can be of help to you, anon! Mebuki and Kizashi are a tricky subject to handle, but with a little patience and polish, can be better reflections of themselves instead of the distorted mess that SP warped them into. 

If you have any further questions, don’t hesitate to ask!

[saksukei]

wen junhui college au

other college aus; wonu minghao mingyu

you're damn right if you think that wen junhui is a theatre arts major because he iS and that too with humanistic studies as a minor aH and he's also on the rowing team,,, he started rowing as a joke and now he has one of the best times??? like. how.

and everybody knows he has too much energy and he uses it in the best way possible

like the plays? dude has a separate fanclub

you keep on seeing new tweets about “who’s the black haired guy in the play?” like wen junhui’s popularity is straight up no joke,, EVERYBODY KNOWS HIM

you on the other hand are an exercise physiology major with nutrition as a minor and you're also part of the rowing team,, and you have the best time for the women’s team,, which means,, you see junhui every other day,,

the coach pairs you guys often,, but there’s only one small issue,,,

YOU HATE WEN JUNHUI

he's such a pain in the ass,, he teases you every time he sees you,,, he always challenges your skills and makes you doubt yourself,, oh the amount of times you’ve wanted to deck him in the face,,

and today was the same as well

“you're not dead yet?” you hissed, as you saw jun approach you,,

“dont sound so disappointed, I might think you don't like me,” he retorted, a smug expression on his face, as he set his bag right beside yours.

“but I really don't like you,” you roll your eyes,,

jun chuckled, as he clapped his hands together, getting everyone's attention.

you guys were practicing indoors, on the rowing machine because there was some trouble with the equipment and the coach had to go get new stuff

which also meant he left jun in charge,, the teams assembled,, looking at junhui for directions,,

“alright everyone, warm up for ten and then start with a thousand metres,” he instructed. “and y/n, you're my partner.”

you rolled your eyes while everyone was whistling or smirking

it was no secret that you and jun didn't get along and he purposely tried to get on your nerves,,, heck everyone in the club said you two would fall in love at one point or another but you assured them by saying you'd rather choke

“your IQ is lower than room temperature junhui if you think that I want to train with you,” you hissed, as the two of you walked towards the machine.

“oh I'm sorry, I don't compare my intelligence quotient to someone who was deprived of oxygen when they were born,” he snapped, as he started warming up.

“you know what,” you spoke. “i'll just aggressively ignore your existence until you disappear.”

“maybe you should try doing it with that bird hair of yours, looks like worms will crawl out of it soon”

“why don't you look at your face first– ass clown?”

“why don't you look at your face first ass clown” he mimicked in a high pitched tone and all you wanted was to stab him there and then

“CAN YOU TWO SHUT UP WE'RE TRYING TO PRACTICE?” one of the team members yelled, causing you two to fall silent and warm up.

the next day,,, one of your best friends had begged you to go to her department because she had misplaced one of her things,, you only agreed on the basis that you'd be getting pizza

you were passing by the theatre to the class she told you to go to,, and you heard someone rehearsing their lines,, you went ahead to see who it was,,

of course it was jun with a script in his hands,,

and you don't know what it was,, but something just pulled you into the room,, maybe it was the way his words echoed of the walls,, the emotion in those alluring eyes of his,,

you actually sat down and listened to him instead of wanting to kill him,,, understanding what the hype was around him,,

like? you didn't even know this side of junhui existed??? excuse me? he was the biggest dick alive to you so you never really paid attention to anything nice that he did but this,,

you didn't even realize he had stopped until someone snapped you out of it

and you saw jun standing right in front of you

“well well well, it looks like I have a fan,” he smirked, folding his arms as he bent down to your level

“h-heck no,, I was just,,, looking for the um.....” you cursed your memory internally for forgetting.

“umm?” he teased,,

“shut up, I really was looking for something,” you snapped

“alright, alright” he surrenders,, raising his hands in defeat. “how was it though?” he asked.

“what?”

“the lines,, i'm sure you heard some of it.”

“they were um,,, good,” you reply,, shyly,, you've never been used to giving him compliments,,

jun nods as an awkward silence befalls the both of you,, you take it as a que to leave,, but then his voice stops you,,

“hey,, why don't you rehearse with me?” he suggested. “my actual partner is really busy and I need someone to rehearse with.”

“uh,, yeah sure?” you reply,,, as he hands you the script,,

jun started reciting his lines and you responded with the same enthusiasm

but the only thing that worried you was the last,, scene

in the script, it was written that jun's chracter would walk over to where you were, push your character against the wall and would try to initiate a kiss but your character would push him away

and so jun recited his last line, “i don't think I've ever tasted lips so fine, heck i'd taste them over and over again” he walked towards you, eventually pushing you against the wall

and your hEART WAS LIKE BADUMP!!

and his face was an inch from away from yours and you could feel his breath tickling your ear and you realized,,, how pretty wen junhui was,, how perfectly sculptured his face was,, those lips,, those cheekbones?? wait what??

and you were so mesmerized with how he acted on stage you didn't really realize you had to play a part as well

jun broke his stance, “you know you're supposed to push me away right?”

AND YOU BECAME RED

“y-yeah uh–but I–um remembered that I left the stove on!” you lied. “aND I DID SO BYE JUN!” you grabbed your bag and yEETED YOURSELF OUT OF THERE

and jun was confused but he ignored it and started rehearsing again

you on the other hand were trying to calm yourself like ???? It's just wen junhui? what the FUCK? Why is your heart racing so fast?? you were so confused? wHY? why is this happening

and the next time you saw him at training, oh dear god

“well if it isn't miss sunshine,” jun grinned.

“shut up jun, your existence makes me want to die,” you muttered,,, you felt your cheeks getting warm,,

“well, great, I think I'd be doing the world a favor.”

“jun if you're going to bother me one more time during practice I'm going to kick you so hard you will lose the ability to entertain a partner” you hissed, as you started warming up.

“nah,, you don't have the balls to do it,” he grinned, especially proud of the pun he used.

“you know what,,, I don't give a damn, so just leave me alone.”

“you give so many damns, they're visible from space,,,” he says,, his face is close to yours,, and you stop BREATHING

jun grins,, he thinks he has rendered you speechless,, as he goes up ahead to train with the boys,,

aND YOU FELT YOUR HEART WAS GOING TO JUST POP OUT OF YOUR CHEST

and now you were noticing all of these little things about him,, from his silly smile, to how he rolls his eyes, copies every small thing someone else does, to his goofy jokes, how his hair falls on his face, or just,,, him in general

all the while trying to keep your angry/annoyed facade so that he wouldn't pick up on it

but oh boy, it's wen junhui

and he notices every goddamn thing

including how much you've been staring at him especially in today's training session

he knew you were acting really weird since the rehearsal thingy but he was letting it slide because he thought you were upset or something and he didn't want to get on your nerves more

regardless, you decided to ignore jun from today onwards,, to stop feeling whatever you were feeling,,

and every thing was going great

you barely talked to him in rowing practice, you didn't attend the plays or even go anywhere near him

and jun,,,, he stopped annoying you as well

for two months

the whole damn university noticed but nobody dared to say anything ,,,,, in fear that you guys won't talk again

you were casually walking to the cafeteria and you heard something that just ,,,,, made your heart stop

“did you hear that jun got injured really badly? He was practicing in the theatre and this glass fell on his foot,,”

aND YOU DID A FULL 180 AND RAN AS FAST AS YOU COULD TO WHERE HE WAS

you had no idea why you suddenly cared so much like sure yeah, it was bad he got hurt but you were running so fast you felt your heart would pop out of your chest

the nurse eventually led you to where he was

and you saw his leg covered in bandages???

and your heart just broke

“hey what are you doing here?” jun asked. “i haven't seen you in like,,, two months?”

“jun I'm sorry–” you felt tears slide down your face. “i'm sorry I ignored you every time you tried to make a conversation with me or whatever I just,,, I had all these feelings that I couldn't figure out and I got scared–”

“hey hey hey, it's okay,” he cooed, as he opened his arms wide, only for them to wrap around you, as you cried in his chest. “no harm done, I promise.”

“no but jun– I was really inconsiderate and I just kept on feeling like I was missing something but I couldn't figure out what it was,” you cried out. “i felt ignoring you would be a solution but I just, I don't know?”

“hey, okay listen to me– what happened in these past two months happened–” he wiped the tears from your face. “but I hope you understand that the only reason I used to bother you a lot was because,, well,,, I really geniunely like you.”

“l-like me?” you stuttered.

“why do you think I annoy the crap out of you?”

“because you're an idiot, you like doing stuff like this,” you answered.

“but you're the only one I annoy?”

“okay that part I missed,” you give him a weak smile,, jun chuckles,, ruffling your hair,,

“in all seriousness though, I hated these two months. I felt like you were upset or something and I didn't want to risk hurting you even more so I stopped talking altogether because I thought you'd talk to me if I did,,” he admitted.

“its my fault this happened in the first place,” you responded. “and I now realize how stupid I am.”

“you're not stupid, you're just an ass clown,” he joked, a playful smile on his face.

“but i'm still sorry, junhui,” you sighed. “i really didn't want this to happen.”

“hey, it's okay– we both were right in our own places.”

“so um now what do we do?” you asked.

“well it depends,” he answered. “does someone want a cute, charming, handsome and brilliant boyfriend?” he grinned.

“only if he wants an amazing, beautiful, smart and talented girlfriend,” you answered.

“oh he sure as hell does,” jun grinned.

[chicoriii]

Season 4, Episode 7 - Pirkell (Sole Crusher)

I want to keep a tradition of writing a post about every single S4 episode, but this one is hard to me. I have no idea what to write about it, as this episode is not the most exciting I've seen in this show. I have some thoughts about it, but I have problems with writing them in a language which isn't my first one. Though, I'm going to try like always.

I'm not trying to judge Zoé as a character after this one episode. I need to see her in few more. But it doesn't look like we're going to see her often, since she's in an another class.

It seems she had been living around other spoiled kids like Chloé, if they had trouble accepting her when she tries to be herself, as she's extremely nice and sweet to other people. Good for her that she has moved to Paris and found friends in Marinette's class. Actually André was more interesting to me than Zoé in this episode. We discovered something new about him, his better side. He isn't really a bad father, he spoils Chloé, because he can't refuse her wishes. Although we can't say he is a really good person, as he's still a corrupted politician. But at least he could be a better father for Zoé than any of her birth parents. Her real father is also rich, and probably he completely neglects her, Audrey seems to prefer Chloé now. It looks like Zoé and André are compatible with each other and they can get along well.

I didn't like how Chloé's bad behavior was exaggerated in this episode. I know it was for comedic effect, but it didn't work for me. Especially Sabrina in the closet. It was just awful. I remember seeing somewhere Thomas (probably) saying that Chloé and Sabrina toxic relationship is going to be addressed someday, and I'm looking forward to it even more now.

I haven't watched any of trailers of this episode, because I've been trying to avoid spoilers as much spoiler I could, but I've seen some screenshots from it and I've been really confused seeing the akuma looking exactly like Chloé (and I didn't know who is akumatised for sure before watching it). It's not my favourite akuma design or power, but it makes perfect sense combined with her French name which means "worse then her". I wonder what they are going to do with it in Polish dubbing, because neither French or English pun would work.

I liked they showed another Kwami using their power without a wielder and see its consequences. It seems all the Kwamis know where Plagg is and that they can try to reach to Chat Noir if needed.

The thing which was the most exciting to see in this episode is in the screenshot above... until I've seen Thomas tweet mentioned on the Miraculous wiki. I was sure it shows Tomoe Tsurugi when she was younger, but Astruc said she's just a random character. Unless he's lying. It's hard to believe they made a model of character that resembles Kagami so much, while it could be one of the background characters if she was supposed to be someone irrelevant. That's suspicious. So or Thomas tries to troll us, or the show itself. The first option is definitely more likely. ;) Tomoe being an actress in the past would be very interesting and it would link her with the Bourgeois family.

---

Pirkell (I like the French name of akuma much better, because of the pun) won't be among my favourite episodes, but Queen Banana looks much more interesting, so I'm looking forward for the next one! :)

[phoenixhalliwell]

Well Helloooo Nurse

Pairings: Will Miller  X Gender Neutral Reader ( Nurse Lark but goes by the name of Birdie) 

Word count: 1887

Author's Note: Good Evening all, welcome to the Will Miller show. Please be gentle as it’s my first time writing for him. I also have no idea how the inside of an ER works, i’m just winging this whole thing lmao  I hope whoever stumbles on this enjoys it :) 

Hope you don’t mind the tags: @lilacyennefer​ @cinewhore​ @dignityneeded

Thanks to his idiotic brother, Will ends up in the ER. Benny in an attempt to make amends, tries to be his wingman. 

Throwing yourself down into your chair, you let out a small cry at the relief at finally being off your feet. To say it's been a long week is an understatement. Your back is in agony, your stomach won't stop growling  and there's a throbbing pain behind your eyes . The ER has finally quietened down after a disastrous morning and you're counting down the minutes until it's home time.  

'Is it just me or is time moving slower?'

You glance at the clock. Another 20 minutes  and you are free for the next two days to do absolutely nothing. Closing your eyes you smile at the thought of the large glass of wine, warm bath and take out that awaits you when you get home. Your happiness is short lived though when you hear your name being called out.

'Urghhh, just leave me alone'

"Birdie, my good friend. How are you? You are looking fiiinnneee today, is that a new pair of scrubs."

Opening your eyes, you glare at your friend Letti who is currently batting her eyes at you. You scoff. You  know for a fact you look like shit. Your hair looks like a bird's nest ( no pun intended) and you're pretty sure that your scrubs have seen better days.

"What do you want?" you narrow your eyes at her.

"You know how you're my absolute best friend and you love me so much? Could you find it in that golden heart of yours to stay on just a little longer and cover the end of my shift. It's only a couple extra hours. I wouldn't normally ask but Scott has managed to ship the kids off to his mum's tonight and it's been so long since we've had adult time, if you catch my drift. Please. Help me out here Birdie I am dying" She begs.

'Pfft least you're getting the option for adult time' you think to yourself.  You watch as she clasps her hands to her chest and starts to give you the sad puppy dog eyes .You can feel your resolve start to crumble. Groaning, you throw your head back in defeat.

"Fine, but you owe me one and you better believe I will collect" you sigh. Letti fist pumps the air before grabbing your face and giving you a quick kiss on the cheek.

"I fucking love you Birdie. I will name my next child in your honour"  she promises.

"Yeah like I haven't heard that before" you snort, wiping your cheek. Letti suddenly thrusts a clipboard into your hand before rushing  you through your next patient, eager to get home to her husband. You're not really listening to her, nodding along  every so often as you try to decipher the chicken scratches on the paper in front of you.  

' Did a child fill in this form?'  

You hear snippets of what she is saying: "Hotter than sin..... If I wasn't married...  wouldn't be able to walk straight"

You are finally able to pick out the important information:  

Exam Room 3 - William Miller, 40, laceration to left arm.

'Ok I can work with that'

Calling out your goodbyes to Letti  and telling her to have a good time, you make your way to exam room 3 to get started. Drawing back the curtain, you step into the room and  call out

'Mr Miller?'

"Yes?" two voices answer at the same time.  

" They are talking about me Dumbass, I'm the one that's currently bleeding no thanks to you. Please excuse my brother, he was dropped on his head a lot as a child"  your patient apologises to you. You let out a snort at the quip.  It's not until you get a proper look at his face that  your laughter is quickly cut off.

'Oh' is all you can think before your mind goes blank. Sitting in front of you is a man you can only describe as an Adonis.  Even though his face is twisted slightly in pain, you would gladly stare at him  for the rest of eternity. Beautiful  blue eyes, soft blond hair, a well groomed beard. Your mind  takes you to some bad places when you think about that beard.

'Hotter than sin indeed...."  

A choked out laugh causes you to tear gaze away from William and over to the other man in the room who waves at you looking far too amused.

'Oh god, he knows I was checking out his brother' You cringe internally.

"Hi I'm Benny in case you were interested" the other man jokes. He is also a fairly attractive man  -you can see some similarities between the two. However, Benny has nothing on his brother. You shyly nod your head in greeting before making your way to Will's bedside.

"Ok Mr Miller, I am Nurse Lark. From what I could make out from your form, it says that you have a laceration on your left arm. Is this correct?"  you ask the older Miller.

"Yes that's right. Sorry about the scrawl, Benny didn't make it past the 3rd grade."  Will  teases.

"Fuck you dickhead" Benny hisses back.

"Boys, settle down, this is an ER  not a playground " you interject. Both men mumble their apologise and you try not to laugh. Gently picking up Will's arm, you turn his arm left to right to get an idea of  the extent of his injury. He's lucky in the fact it's not too deep. Unfortunately it cuts directly through the tattoo on his lower arm. Potentially a future scar but that was out with your control. Raising your head, you notice how close you are to each other's faces. Will stares back at you and you lose yourself for a minute.

"For fuck sake, get a room" You hear Benny mutter behind you. You cough and busy yourself getting the equipment you need to start patching Will up.

"I'm sorry but this might hurt a little"  you warn him in advance.

" Don't worry about me, I'm tough as nails " He smiles reassuring you.

You nod before getting started. So focused on your work, you didn't notice Will admiring you from where he sat. He liked the way  your eyes never wavered from your task despite Benny blabbering on in the background. How your nimble fingers made quick work of his wound. He thought the way you stuck your tongue out slightly in concentration was the cutest thing.

Benny was quick to notice his brother's heart eyes and started snickering.

" You know what Will? Maybe if you're a good boy the nice nurse will kiss it better once they are done"

You glance up in time to see Will's face turn scarlet. 

'Just when I thought he couldn't get any cuter'

"That's it, Benny get out now!" Will  growled.

Benny sighs dramatically and sulks out the room but not without muttering "just trying to help you get laid dickhead". You glance back at Will who is now staring up at the ceiling, looking as though he wants the ground to open up and swallow him whole.

"It's days like these I really wish my parents had got me a puppy instead of a little brother"

"Well from what I've seen of him so far, the man is basically a gold retriever in human form" you joke back. The laugh he lets out catches you off guard.

'I  could get used to that sound.'

You had to stop yourself from sighing and scolded yourself for acting like a love sick fool instead of the professional you are.

The conversation came easy for you both after that.  You started by telling him your name before the both of you shared little tidbits about each other. Will seemed like an interesting man from what information he gave. He was funny and incredibly smart.

'He's perfect'  is all you could think. However, it didn't take long after Benny got asked to leave to finish patching the rest of Will's arm up.  

"Well Mr Miller, I guess that's you done. Please make sure to keep the area as clean as possible and have someone help you change your bandages"

You feel sad at the idea of him leaving. It is evident that he feels the same by the way he stalls collecting his things. He looks like he's debating with himself before he finally turns to you looking determined.

" Would you maybe like to go to dinner with me sometime? I know we haven't met under the best circumstances but I had a really great time talking with you. I'd end up hating myself if I didn't at least ask"

Your heart races at the question and you don't hesitate to tell him yes. His face lights up and you find yourself falling a little more for Will Miller. Grabbing a pen from your top pocket, you hastily write down your phone number and hand it to Will. You both wish each other goodnight before parting ways. You find yourself grinning and bite your lip to try and contain your glee.

" Guess  I will be naming my first child Letti"

 Outside the hospital

Benny leans against the wall (pouting like a child) and waits for his brother . He still can't believe he got thrown out of the room. It feels like forever and a day before Will finally makes his appearance with a smug grin on his face.

'He looks like the cat that got the cream'

' What's with the grin man? Did they give you the good shit for the pain or something?"

Will shakes his head before showing Benny the piece of paper in his hand. A set of digits.

"William, you sly dog" Benny laughs in delight before he slaps Will's arm. He's quick to realise his mistake when his brother grunts in pain clutching his bad arm. Benny panics and makes to touch him but is stopped in his tracks.

"Don't . Fucking . Touch me.  Just get in the fucking car. " Will hisses. He marches off to the car park, swearing under his breath.

'Well that victory was short lived' Benny thinks, following his brother.

Bonus Scene - Date night

'Is it just me or is time moving slower?'

You glance at the clock for what feels like the millionth time. Another 10 minutes before Will is suppose to arrive. It's been so long since you were last on a date and you can't remember being this nervous. You look down at your outfit and run a hand over it to make sure there wasn't any creases. Will had text earlier to let you know to dress casual for your evening out but wouldn't give you any more information. The sound of the doorbell interrupts your thoughts and you let out a nervous giggle.  Trying not to seem too eager, you give yourself a beat before  opening the door. You feel yourself go weak in the knees. Will is dressed to impress - A black leather jacket over a soft grey t-shirt with a nice pair of black jeans that does wonders for him. He lets out a soft laugh at the way you are blatantly eyeing him up before doing the same to you. He lets out a low whistle.

"Well hellooo nurse"